Hi and hello! Welcome, one and all, to my first winter break update, right on schedule and ready for perusal. What thrills and troubles are in store for our favourite couple this week? Keep reading to find out!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon; Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri do.

INCONCEIVABLE

CHAPTER 15-TOUGHER THAN IT SOUNDS

In mid-August, the repairs on the Bell Tower suffered a setback.

The section that had originally been scheduled for renovation was nearly done, but another section, higher up the tower, had begun to show signs of fatigue. No-one could explain it; it could just have been age, or some wayward Pokémon could have caused the damage. All anyone on the site knew was that they'd be working a whole lot longer than they'd anticipated.

The news was met with mixed reactions. Ash didn't really mind; he'd be working longer, but it meant he was still employed and still able to support May without digging too deeply into their accumulated savings. Biff and Sully had nothing to say either; the former had resigned himself to the fact that these things happened, while the latter kept his usual stoicism intact, not exhibiting any signs that might indicate his opinion on the matter. Among some of the workers, though, there was grumbling, and wild theories as to how the damage could have occurred made their way around the site.

"Don't pay any attention to those guys," Biff told Ash when the younger man mentioned the discomfort among the other workers. "Some of 'em will find anything to gripe about, so it's best if ya just ignore 'em. Just concentrate on your own work and you'll be fine."

The new assignment meant that Ash and Buizel were back at work cutting up beams to reinforce the new section. They were experts at this by now, with Buizel's Water Gun cutting perfect edges on the beams, which Heracross took to the higher area in the tower to be fitted. Keeping Biff's suggestions in mind, Ash simply went about his work with no visible emotion or enthusiasm; the older worker had warned him that such behaviour could mark him as a target for the malcontents. So they just worked through the hours, barely pausing except for lunch or to get a quick breath.

As the days went by, Ash continued reading the newspapers Biff brought to work, looking for signs of May's rivals in the Contest section. Even he knew she must be missing the Contest circuit terribly, so he thought that keeping her up to date would make her happy. He saw stuff that interested him as well; the Unova League may not be until early April, but reports from the Gyms pointed out that Iris and Cilan were maintaining a strong record against their challengers; Iris had been appointed as a stand-in Gym Leader in Opelucid City, and on the occasions she did battle she often came out victorious. Sometimes, he'd see one of his own rivals' names there; Cameron, despite his scatterbrained nature, had won a few side competitions, and Stephan's name was usually right next to the forgetful trainer's, showing that he hadn't lost his edge either.

Ash often wondered what the rest of his friends were up to these days. He knew that Brock was training to become a Pokémon Doctor, and Misty ran the Cerulean Gym in her sisters' stead, since it had long been established that Daisy, Lily and Violet preferred performing to being Gym Leaders. He thought about the friends he'd made in other regions too. Had Paul accomplished his long-stated goal to beat Brandon yet? Where was Harrison these days? Tyson? What about Barry, or even Morrison? He hadn't contacted anyone in so long, even though he knew his and May's isolation was voluntary and necessary. He drove the images of his friends and rivals from his mind; he had a job to do, and it wasn't going to get done if he kept this line of thinking up.

A week after the new assignment came in, Ash started out to door to work to find Biff standing there waiting for him.

"Hey, Biff, what're you doing here? I thought you'd be at work by now."

"Normally I would be, but I'm not gonna be goin' down there today."

"Why not? Are you hurt or something? What's wrong?"

"No, I'm fine." Biff sighed, then broke his news. "I'm not gonna sugar-coat it, Narazaki. They've gone on strike down at the site. The guys down there are looking for a pay rise because of the new repairs they've gotta do, and the city doesn't want to give it to them. Because of that, we're not gonna be working until they've hashed this out."

"Wait, they stopped the project?" Ash didn't know much about this sort of thing, but it sounded serious. "I know they weren't happy about the extra work, but why would they stop altogether."

"It's complicated, Narazaki. One one hand, the workers want to get paid more for the unexpected extra assignment, but on the other, the city considers it to be part of the original project. That said, I'm not getting involved, and neither should you; you've got a girl to take care of, so focus on her for the time being. I'll keep you posted on when and if we're goin' back to work, but don't expect that to be anytime soon. This could take a while to settle."

"Okay," Ash said, realizing what this meant. No work meant that there would be no income, so they had to take stock of what they had saved and decide how best to use it. May would welcome him being home, but he'd rather be working and supporting her than sitting in the apartment; that was, of course, why he'd insisted on finding work in the first place. "Keep us posted, and we'll keep a distant eye on things as well. Since we're not going down to the site, you want to stick around for breakfast?"

"I wish I could, kid, but I've got stuff I gotta take care of at home. Sandra said she's coming around later with the girls, so maybe I'll come over then."

"Is she?" Ash knew May and Sandra had talked during their meeting at Biff's home, but she never mentioned anything about the older woman visiting the apartment otherwise.

"Oh, yeah, she's taken a liking to your girl in there. The daughters apparently like coming too; I think you remember Kathryn's love for Contests, and she says that your girl knows all about them."

"Really."

"Yeah. Anyway, I gotta go, there's work at home to be done. See ya, Narazaki."

"Alright, Biff. Take care." Ash watched his coworker leave, then closed the apartment door and shed his vest and jacket. May came into the room as he did so, and she gave him a confused look as he turned to face her.

"Ash, what're you still doing here? I thought you were going to work."

"I was, but something came up. The guys down on the site are 'on strike', so Biff told me not to go down there, or get involved. I don't like it, but that's the way things go."

"It doesn't matter. We've got enough to live on for now."

"I know, but it still bothers me. The reason I got the job was to support you, and now that it's on hold, I feel like I'm not keeping up my end of things."

"Ash, it's fine. These things happen. We'll get through."

"I hope so." Ash walked over to the armchair and slumped down into it, realizing just how tired he was. Unlike May, he wasn't much of a morning person, so the feeling was awful. May sat down on the couch and smiled, hoping to cheer him up. They could both use it now, she thought. Things were getting tough again.

Around mid-day, Sandra and her daughters arrived at the apartment like Biff had mentioned. Biff himself wasn't there; according to Sandra, he'd taken on household responsibilities for the day, including preparing dinner. May looked stunned, but Sandra laughed and reassured her that Biff was a competent chef and wouldn't blow up the house while she was gone. Ash slumped down in his seat at this; he empathized with Biff to a point, having taken on culinary responsibility in the apartment. He knew he wasn't terrible, but his skills weren't anything like Brock's or Sandra's.

"Satoshi, I think I owe you an explanation of why I'm here." Ash shook himself out of his self-inflicted torment to look at her with confused interest.

"Yeah, I was actually wondering that. What are you doing here?"

"Well, Haruka and I had a little chat when you guys came over for dinner that one time."

"Okay. That still doesn't..."

"She knows I'm pregnant, Satoshi." May decided to get to the point before Ash confused himself even more. "So do Mary and Kathryn. Sandra is, and has beeen, helping me through the process, and the girls are along for the ride."

"We're always happy to help, Miss Haruka!" Kathryn, as usual, was eager to put herself forward, while Mary simply nodded her head and returned to her book. Sandra gave Kathryn her usual look of disapproval before turning back to Ash.

"I've been coming up here for some time now, while you and my husband are at work. Haruka explained how you two didn't want too many people knowing about it, and I promised her I'd keep it to myself. I hope that's alright, Satoshi."

"It's...fine. I know Haruka definitely appreciates the help, since we're kinda new to this whole thing. The only parenting I've seen done outside of my own mother was a friend of ours taking care of baby Pokémon, and that's nowhere near comparable to raising a child."

"You'll get through, don't worry. Biff and I certainly had a challenge when we had Mary." Sandra turned to her daughters, anticipating that the conversation was turning to something she didn't want them involved in. "Mary, Kathryn, could you take the Pokémon for a run-out? I'd like to talk to Satoshi and Haruka alone."

"I'll go with them, Sandra." May got up and motioned for Pikachu and Glaceon, who were lying together in a corner, to follow her. "I haven't been out with these guys for a while, anyway."

"Are you sure?" Ash wasn't sure about it, but May just smiled at him.

"I'll be fine. It's only for an hour or so." Ash just nodded, not wanting to argue, and May walked out with Mary and Kathryn in tow. As they left, Ash heard Sandra say something inaudible, and he turned to the older woman, confused.

"What was that?" he asked her, and she looked at him with a half-smile.

"You really love her, don't you?"

"I do. Most, if not all, of what I've been doing is for her benefit. That's why the work stoppage is bothering me so much. We've got enough to be going on with, but I want to support her as best I can."

"I'm sure she appreciates it. And I'm sure she appreciates you staying with her through this."

"What do you mean?"

"Many young men your age don't stay with the mother of their child. The fact that you care enough to stay with her says a lot about you, Satoshi."

"I...yeah," Ash blushed at the older woman's words. "I really do love her, Sandra. I'd sooner give up training Pokémon than leave her at this point."

"And that makes all the difference." Ash nodded at this, knowing his words, and hers, were true.

Down in the small courtyard, May sat on a bench next to Mary while Kathryn ran about, playing with the smaller Pokémon in the couple's team. She didn't even seem to care that Muk smothered her every time she let him out of his Pokéball, which surprised May a little. Mary was content simply to sit and observe, reminding May of her sibling dynamic with Max; her brother was the hands-on type, always trying to get up-close and personal, while May preferred to keep her distance at first.

After a few minutes, Kathryn ran over for a rest, breathless from her exertions. May smiled; the younger girl really loved hanging around the Pokémon, and the Pokémon looked like they were having a good time with her. Well, except for Buizel and Heracross, but they didn't know Kathryn very well yet.

"So, Miss Haruka," Kathryn said, after getting her breath back, "my mom says you and Satoshi are really in love with one another. Is that true?"

"What?" May was taken aback; Sandra may have been forward, but not like this.

"Kathryn!" Mary scolded. "You mustn't ask questions like that. Miss Haruka..."

"Might not want to talk about it, I know, Mom told me the same thing. But I think it's so sweet! I can only hope my future boyfriend is like him!"

"Well, listen to you," May giggled, forgetting her troubles for a moment. "You're already thinking about that, and you're how old?"

"I'll be ten in February, then I can get my first Pokémon and become a Coordinator! There's probably hundreds of cute boys out there, maybe as good-looking as Drew Stanton!"

"Who?" May feigned ignorance, hoping the conversation would turn so she wouldn't have to discuss her rival."

"You don't know who Drew Stanton is? He's the second-best Coordinator on the circuit, only May's better than he is!"

"Is she?"

"Yeah! May's the best, but Drew isn't too far behind!"

"Wow, you really know your Coordinators, don't you?" May felt a pang as she remembered her travels on the Contest circuit, including Drew's advances. It had been quite a task to reject him at one point, but once she'd reunited with Ash the green-haired Coordinator had already moved on.

"Of course I do! If I'm gonna be as good as them, I have to be up to date on who's who on the circuit, right?"

"I guess so."

"Have you ever battled one of them, Miss Haruka? You said you were a Coordinator once."

"I...never have. I guess I was never involved in a Contest where they were participating."

"That's too bad. You even have some of the same Pokémon May has, and they're really strong."

"We're Pidgey of a feather, I guess." They sat in silence for a few minutes after this, watching the gang run and mock-battle. Soon after, Kathryn spoke again.

"Are you gonna marry Satoshi, Miss Haruka?" May blushed; Kathryn's ability to shift gears in mid-conversation was impressive.

"Um, I don't know? I haven't really thought about it."

"But my mom said..."

"Kathryn," Mary warned her sister. "I think Miss Haruka has already talked to Mom about this. You're asking her a lot of personal questions, and Mom said it's not for us to know."

"But I really want to know! I..."

"Alright, stop arguing, you two." May got up from the bench and started calling the Pokémon over. "I think we should head back up, your mom's probably ready to go home by now." Mary closed her book and started recalling some of the group, but Kathryn crossed her arms and huffed in defiance.

"All I wanted to know was if Miss Haruka and Satoshi were gonna get married. I think they're really cute together." Mary shook her head, and May blushed again as she gathered the team together. Kathryn had started the great debate in her head again, and it was really starting to bug her.

O-kay, we're done! Chapter 14 is in the books, and May is once again being asked the big questions; kinda heavy stuff for a fanfic, I know, but what the hey, right? Ash is outta work right now, which isn't good, and hopefully things won't hit a nadir anytime soon.

Alright, standard operating procedure is in effect. Please read, REVIEW and tell me how it went! Until next time, namárië!