It was nearly midnight when Ash pulled his car into the driveway of his home. As the headlights swept over the side, he was surprised and curious wondering why May's car was parked out front.
There was no real reason for him to stick around after the proposal. Once the bash was over, he was to lead the Jets into a mission out north. Part of him felt sadness. She was bright, sweet and had the looks to be featured on the cover of a sports magazine, but instead of him, she chose Drew.
Was it because she was pressured by him? Her father? She was a consenting adult and had the free will to refuse. Now that would be a risk as the billionaire could cut of financial support if she and Ash were in a struggle, but he had a stable job and it seemed that it wasn't bound to leave unless he was unable to continue. He still had a few months left to pay off, but overall, he was quite proud of his new home.
Ash felt like he was being watched and looked at the window as he engaged the brake.
Standing in the front door was May, looking out at him. She shivered in the cold night air and wore long sleeved clothing. No jacket. She casually leaned on the column by the porch almost expectantly.
The Commando emerged and popped open his trunk to retrieve his gear. In one hand, he had all his protective vest and armor and in his other, he held his assault rifle.
"Congratulations," Ash flatly said, "I wish you all the best."
"Ash,"
"What?"
"Please hear me out." May pleaded.
"Hear you out on what? I'm not exactly in a talking mood right now so can it wait until the morning?" Ash snapped, "I need some sleep. Are you coming in or not?"
He moved past her and closed the door. May immediately noticed he had not bothered to hold it open for her and right now she didn't blame him.
Now it felt as if everyone except Dawn had turned their backs on her. Drew pretty much revealed his true intentions; Norman knew her decision and Ash wasn't going to be convinced otherwise.
She had some making up to do.
Ash was sitting on his bed after setting the furnace when May entered. She never had seen him look so defeated and for the first time, she saw him just as someone else.
The twin black thunderbolt tattoos went down the front of his shoulders and he had his head down. May smelled a fresh citrus scent of deodorant, wondering why he put it on at night. In reality, Ash applied it twice a day due to the amount of perspiration he had.
"I gave Drew the ring back," She stated, "I should have known right from the start that he and I were not meant to be."
"Are you saying that to make me happy?" Ash asked, "Or is it because it's truly what you want?"
"Why are you mad at me?"
"I'm not mad at you May, I'm just disappointed. It feels as if everything we've worked on was thrown down the pipe in an instant. I suppose you would only know if you've ever had your heart broken before."
"And what?" She argued, "Disapprove in front of my father? He'd cut off any support, plus I don't want to disappoint him!"
"You've already disappointed him!" Ash shot back, "Your father hates my guts and I still don't have a damn clue why!" He sighed heavily, "May, you know that we have something here that neither of us intended to happen, but we let it flow and look what ended up. I had just hoped that you would've already figured it out! Just like I said to you back on that island, I would never leave you. And that is exactly what you did to me."
"I did figure it out," She whispered, sitting beside him, "Ash, have you been so lonely your whole life?"
She looked over when he didn't respond.
"No."
"Was there ever a Mrs. Ketchum?"
He paused, before slowly nodding, "Yes, there was."
"You break her heart?"
"She broke mine."
The fact that he had been down this road before made her feel ten times more guilty about putting him through this. She thought that one heartbreak was bad enough and here she was trying to save it from happening again.
But could the damage be undone?
"Ash," She put an arm around his shoulders, "I'm so so sorry." Tears began to form in her eyes as she sniffled, "I'm sorry I broke your heart again,"
Rather than reply, Ash brought her face up to him and he leaned down. They kissed and May suddenly felt an electric shock of a sensation as he snaked his tongue past her lips. The feeling was completely foreign to her, but the bliss level had multiplied.
She worked with a frenzy with her free hands, making her way down to the boxer shorts he wore to sleep while his hands felt along her backside, positioning himself atop her. Never in his life had he wanted to strip the clothes off both of them and go for a wild ride inside the sheets.
"Apology accepted." Ash smiled.
They kissed again and it almost happened.
"May," Ash protested, "May, we can't."
"Why not?" She was breathing heavily from all the kissing and their make-out session. "I want to…for real this time."
"Sex is not something to be taken lightly," Ash reminded her, "Same thing with virginity. Once you've lost it, there's no getting it back."
"But-"
"There's a time and a place for an adventure like that." He quipped, "Now is not that time."
May knew he was right, but make up sex would have sealed the bond between them forever. Still, she was touched by the fact that Ash was intending to preserve her virginity until the right time. From what Drew had told her when she gave back the ring was the complete opposite. His goal was to take it.
"You do know what a good adventure would be?"
"What's that?"
"Would you ever consider going skydiving?"
"Skydiving?" May felt a rush of adrenaline just from thinking about it, "How would I know what to do? I haven't even taken lessons."
"We'd do a joint jump. You'd be strapped to me."
"You've skydived before right?"
"I've done over a hundred and twenty drops. Some of them at night."
"Okay," She worriedly said, settling into his arms. Ash pulled back the blanket to his bed and she snuggled against him, "What if I change my mind."
"It's your decision May. If we're about to jump out and you change your mind, that's okay." He assured her, "Just remember that something like this isn't for everybody and if you don't do it, neither I nor anyone else will think any less of you."
"I'd do it!" She triumphantly declared, "As long as you're there."
"I'll always be there," Ash said. He pulled the covers over the both of them and began to settle into sleep.
"Ash?" May asked after a moment, "What are you doing tomorrow? I thought we could spend the day together."
"I've got a debriefing with the military and then I'm headed to Decker's for a barbeque for Thanksgiving."
"I want to come."
"I'd like that."
After Ash had completed his debriefing, he headed back home to pick May up and they reached Decker's neighborhood in the afternoon.
Brendan lived on the south side of Petalburg in a city called Blinzer, a place where a lot of military families lived due to the proximity to Wagner AFB. Many of Hoenn's personnel were lenient and full-time families took advantage of the benefits offered, living inside the base's perimeter.
Decker however had resided with his wife outside the base and when it came time to retire his service for the time being, finding new residency was no trouble at all.
May had grabbed some craft beer from her favorite store while Ash set to work on baking a triple chocolate brownie pie that his mother used to make. He knew better than to show up for a gathering without something to bring on his own, but he wasn't exactly the greatest cook and had only remembered to take the pie out when he passed right by and felt the heat from his oven.
The top was a little overdone, but it turned out to be better than expected.
"Haven't been home for three days now," Brendan said as the three of them walked up the small steps to his house, "It's going to be nice sleeping back in my own bed again."
He unlocked the screen door and opened it up, holding it as Ash and May followed.
The interior was rather spacious with a nice coffee table that opened up into a lounge with a computer on a desk in the center. On the right side was a large portrait of Brendan in his military uniform, a neatly arranged row of medals and multicolored ribbons. Beside him was a young woman who Ash had to guess was his wife and in between the two of them was…
"Is that your-"
"DADDY!" An excited squeal came from the lit kitchen behind the wall and a small girl bounded around, lunging for Brendan. She had shoulder length black hair and gray eyes, just like her father.
He caught her, chuckling at her approach and hoisted her close to him, "Hey there 'Ster! You being a good CO while I was gone?"
She suddenly went wide-eyed and used her free hand to give a salute. Both Brendan and Ash couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Yessir. Sowwy. Excited you were coming."
"It's okay sweetie. C'mere, give daddy a kiss," With that his daughter's tiny lips pecked the side of his cheek, "Oh, this is Ash and May, friends of mine." He introduced, "Ash, May, this is my daughter. Aster."
"It's nice to meet you Aster." Ash smiled, only for her to bury her face into her father's neck.
"Not used to meeting new people I take it?"
"She'll warm up to you. It takes a while," Decker grinned, "When I mean a while, it's usually ten minutes." He gestured to the back of his house, "C'mon, let's drop off the stuff in the kitchen and head out to the patio."
As they walked out into the kitchen, they noticed a woman standing in front of the fridge that was identical to the one in the portrait.
She had short black hair with an hourglass figure and eyes that seemed almost red in color.
Overall she was very beautiful and some of her complexions could be seen in Aster too.
"Hey honey," She greeted, "I brought the grill out and your flamethrower."
"Excellent," Brendan moved over and they kissed with Aster trying to join in, "Welcome home."
"Thanks," He looked over at Ash and May, "This is Ash Ketchum, my boss and May, his girlfriend. Guys, this is Zinnia. My wife."
"It's a pleasure," Ash stepped forward, but found himself surprised when she embraced him into a friendly hug.
"So nice to finally meet you Ash," Zinnia said, "My husband talks highly of you all the time."
"Now that we're all here, why don't I get dinner started?"
"What about the rest of the team?"
"Damien and Jewell are doing their own thing and I haven't heard from Zack, just that he wasn't able to make it."
"Okay."
Ash accepted the bottle of beer from Brendan as the two relaxed behind a stainless steel grill. Steaks sizzled over the fire with the smell of a combination of meat and gasoline with his "special" whiskey marinade and occasionally, he was checking them with a pair of tongs.
The backyard had a couple trees and just behind the black fence was another backyard with a similar look. They were also close enough to the coast to hear the waves rhythmically washing up on the side.
"You have a very nice place," Ash said. He wasn't lying. Brendan's house must have cost just below half a million.
"Thanks. Took a lot of time to earn it. Thankfully Zinnia's job as a curator for Petalburg's museum with Hoenn's ancient history paying her well and we paid it off in less than three years."
"A curator? If she's one of those, you know you can afford more right?"
"Yeah," He flipped a steak, "But to be honest; this is a nice neighborhood. That's why I like your house, it reminds me of here. Plus it's close to the base."
"So you're going through financial troubles?"
"No, we're actually quite stable."
"Then what is it?"
Decker took a deep breath, "Zinnia is a Draconid."
"A Draconid?" Ash asked aloud, "You mean those mythical people who worshiped ancient dragons?"
"They're not mythical, in fact, they're quite real. Although their numbers have been dwindling."
"What does her being a Draconid have anything to do with you living here?"
"If you did your homework, you'd know that Draconids are strong believers in fate and destiny."
Ash nodded.
"When Zinnia was raised by her parents, her destiny was prophesied that she would search extensively for a mate who was brave and selfless and together, they would live in harmony with four offspring."
Now that made sense. "So it's not the fact that you two can't afford another place, it's that you're saving up for more kids." Decker gestured for the plate, "How long have you two been married?"
"Four years, when I was twenty."
"Wow, that's young."
"Twenty's legal," He set two of the steaks onto the plate. "Had Aster the next year."
"Well what's stopping you from having the other three?"
Meanwhile, May found herself being tugged by little Aster into her bedroom. The girl was a complete bundle of joy, having already warmed up to her minutes after being introduced. She was already talking about how much fun she was going to have with "Unca Ash and Ant Mei"
"Aster you have a really nice room!" She exclaimed, trying to find a place to sit, but the only place was a yellow bean bag occupied by the room's owner herself. May had to settle for the bed.
"Look Ant Mei!" Aster bounded back with a giant stuffed Salamence, "This is Sal! He's a Salmonce!"
"Wow!" May took it and gave it a once over. The Salamence doll looked a bit worn, but it was certainly a well loved object. "What does Sal do?"
"He watches over and protects me and the whole wide world. Just like Astah!"
"You have a plushie named after yourself?"
"Yeah! She's a Whismah though, but together they stop disasters and bring peace to Hoenn!"
"And she loves to play Sal and Aster as superhero duos," Zinnia's voice came from the doorway, "Together they fight the bad guys and prevent disasters from coming to the world."
"Dats right!" Aster bounded over and hugged her mother, "I love you mama!"
Zinnia couldn't help but laugh, "I love you too sweetie. Go see if your dad needs some help."
When the little legs scampered off, May got up off the bed. "She is absolutely adorable!"
"Aster can be a handful, but you're right. She's a sweetheart and I couldn't imagine life without her or Brendan."
"Mrs. Decker,"
"Oh please call me Zinnia."
"Right," May cleared her throat, "Zinnia, thanks for inviting us over."
"Of course. I think Brendan wanted to introduce you two to us and for me to get to know his boss better." She sighed, "You never know when you might be getting a letter from him with condolences."
May nodded. Ash seemed like the guy who people just couldn't defeat, but realistically, he was more vulnerable than any of them. "You seem happy."
"Couldn't have asked for a better husband," Zinnia led the way outside Aster's room, "Although things do get tense."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but that's what happens when you have a husband who shoots things for a living,"
May knew that Ash wasn't perfect, but he was for her. If things were to be worked out and if he could forgive her for her actions, she wasn't sure if everything could go back to normal and even the normal might not be the same.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Brendan comes in and although he's not suffering from PTSD, he feels like he has a lot of weight on his shoulders," They both came to the window and could see Ash and Brendan talking to one another with the latter stroking Aster's hair, "He's not the same person I married; instead being more distant."
Laughter from outside caught their attention and Zinnia smiled again, "Thankfully those times where he does that are quite rare and even then, it's been a while since I've seen him this happy. When he's happy, Aster's happy and that's all I care about."
"You two seem very happy." May agreed. Brendan's story sounded like something she and Ash harbored for one another, "Perhaps Brendan is doing that to protect both you and Aster from all the things he has to face."
"Possibly."
"I just hope me and Ash can have something similar to what you two have."
"Like four kids?"
May's eyes widened, "You have four kids?"
Zinnia laughed, "No. Well at least not yet."
"I guess that's good for child planning."
"Well it is my destiny. See I'm a Draconid and my fate was that I would find penance in life by marrying a brave selfless man and eventually having a family of four kids. Sadly, I don't know if that will happen."
"Why not?"
Before she could answer, Brendan opened the screen door, "Alright. Dinner's ready. Hope everyone's hungry!"
"I AMMM!" Aster squealed, "We gonna have dinnah with Unca Ash and Ant Mei for the first time evah!"
Lots of things covered here. Ash and May seem to have reconciled and we get to meet Brendan's family for the first time! I have to admit, it was fun writing the family introduction.
Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.