Jessie woke up with that feeling in her tummy again. The boys were moving around. She groaned. They really were going to be a handful when they came up.

James' eyes opened and he immediately reached for Jessie's hand. "Is anything wrong? Are you OK?"

Jessie had to laugh at him. "I'm fine, James...the boys were moving again."

James pouted. "Is it 7 months yet? I want to feel it too..." He put his hand on her tummy, and sighed. "Nothing."

Jessie smiled and shook her head.

James turned serious. "I was having a dream...I stole some paintings and jewelry from my parents' house and sold it to get money for the twins."

Jessie blinked. "I thought I was the evil one..."

James shook his head. "I wouldn't want to do that...but I don't know what else I can do, Jessie..." he stopped himself. He didn't want to worry Jessie. But he was desperate. How would they raise these boys? He cleared his throat. "Anyway, Jessie, you'll catch cold like this. Let's take a hot bath and change into our pajamas."

Bathtime was their favorite part of the day. When they were on the road, occasionally they would find a hot spring and go in together, with just towels wrapped around their bodies or in James' case, sometimes simply carried in front until he got in. They were never shy about undressing or bathing in front of each other, and both were super-confident about their bodies. Plus, it was always nice to have someone to wash your back.

But now, James washed Jessie's whole body, paying attention to certain areas. She giggled and pushed him away. He smiled. She washed his body as well, teasing him a bit and pulling away. He pouted, and kissed her sweetly before taking her hand as she climbed into the bathtub. He climbed in next to her, and when their bodies were warmed they climbed out and dried off, the steam rising from their bodies as they put on their pajamas. Jessie had a nightgown that hugged her expanding middle, keeping it warm, and James had light blue pajamas with Jigglypuffs on them.

They said goodnight to Nanny and Pop-pop, and then crawled into bed.

James pulled Jessie into his embrace, and she fell asleep...but he didn't.

His dream replayed over and over in his mind. He would do anything for those twins, but he had given up his life of crime...His low life on the road. It was over. It was shocking for him. He looked at Jessie. However shocking it was for him, it was her who was going through the hardest part. She was going through physical changes, feeling pain, feeling sick, everything because of these twins. He owed Jessie and those twins the best life he could possibly give them. But he had to do it honestly. No tricks, no stealing, no lies. Those twins deserved to be brought into the world on only good terms.

James' head swam and he stayed on the line between sleep and consciousness for a few hours. The house and the lot were completely dark and quiet. So quiet that the silence was deafening James. He put on a jumper and went to the Pokemon house. The sound of the waterfall and the feeling of all the Pokemon being there with him put him at ease. He sat there for some time, looking at the night sky through the glass ceiling. Growlie walked up to him and gave a quiet "growl?" James reached his hand out and started to pet him.

"Nothing, Growlie, just having trouble sleeping...again."

Then, they heard the sound of a car pulling up to the property.

"Growl?"

"Right, let's go." James and Growly walked to the driveway where they saw the limo pulling into the driveway. James watched, cautious and concerned. The door opened, and a tall, lanky figure stumbled out. James squinted, but the headlights shone in his eyes and he couldn't see. The chauffeur got out of the car to hold the stumbling man up. James walked forward to see who it was, and gasped when the shadowy figure came into the lights.

"..Father?"

James stopped cold as a multitude of emotions welled up inside him. Hatred, disgust, fear, anger, sadness...He wanted to run but his legs wouldn't move. Under the turbulent emotions rushing over him, his heart told him that he couldn't just run away. Nanny, Pop-pop, and Jessie were all in the house sleeping. If any of them woke up and found this situation...James had to handle this quietly. He kneeled down next to Growlie and told him to go back to the pokemon house and go to sleep. Then, he spoke to the chauffeur.

"Put him back in the car, and take him back home."

"But, James, sir, he insisted-"

"He's completely and utterly pissed on alcohol, it doesn't matter what he insisted, he cannot be here in this state."

James' father spoke, slurring his words. "Son, son I just want to talk-"

James' eyes turned an icy green as he looked at his father, careful not to raise his voice. "You had your chance to 'talk' and I think you said quite enough. Go home." he turned to the chauffeur again. "Take him home."

The chauffeur looked troubled. "I'm terribly sorry, James, but I am only acting on orders."

James sighed, exasperated. Rules, rules, rules. But he had to get them away from the house before someone woke up. They couldn't go anywhere because 1, all the restaurants in the nearest town would be closed at this hour, and 2, there were not many places a drunk billionaire and a guy in Jigglypuff pajamas could go anyway.

He took his father's arm, and turned to the chauffeur. "Please, at least, park the car outside of the property. I'll take him to the car when he wants to go home."

"Understood."

James took the half-empty bottle of high-grade bourbon his father was clutching, and led him about a 5 minute walk from the house. The moon was high in the sky.

James let go of his father and he awkwardly sprawled out on the grass. James sat down, opened the bottle, took a swig, and sighed. "Classy, Father."

James' father sat up on the grass, trying to focus. James stared ahead, refusing to make eye contact. "You wanted to talk? Talk, then." he said, bitterly.

"James...James...I'm so sorry."

There was silence. "That's it?"

James' father shook his head. "We tried to give you the best of everything, and..."

"And make me so miserable I ran away."

James' father continued. "Son, as you know you are our only living heir and as a man you have the obligation to continue our family line."

"Which is only acceptable if it's with an equally rich, societal puppet, psychopath dominatrix fiancee, apparently."

"Son...that's what I came here to talk about."

James took another swig from the bottle.

"Half of talking is listening, Father. She shacks up with a pokemon professor and it's OK because he's in the 1%, nevermind if she was engaged, nevermind if it was premarital...And yet when I, your only son, somehow overcomes his strange fear of women, I wonder how THAT happened, father twin boys, something that should make you 'traditional' types jump for joy, they are called "mongrels" and I am disowned. Isn't that called a 'double standard', Father?"

James' father reached into the breast pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out something that looked like a memo pad and handed it to James. James' eyes widened as he took it and examined it, and opened it. "My trust fund...you've reinstated it..." but then James' eyes turned fierce again and he threw it on the grass. "Tell me, if they were girls would you have done it?"

James father slurred his words. "I don't know. But I feel bad for what I've done..and said. Please accept my apology...and my blessing."

There was silence again. James took another swig from the bottle, the chill of the night fading with the warmth spreading throughout his body. James looked at his father. The moon was bright and the shadows on his face were showing his age. And...

James peered closer. That wasn't a shadow on his forehead, it was a bruise. He couldn't help but ask.

"Did you hit your head?"

James' father reached up to touch the spot and winced. And then he said two words that brought James to his side more than any other words he could have uttered. "Your mother."

It made sense now. Mother was obligated to produce a son, and had trouble falling pregnant, and from complications when she was pregnant with James, she was advised not to try for another child. She loved Jessiebelle like her own daughter and wanted James to marry her. James' father wanted an heir with a good pedigree to stay in the high society that he had become accustomed to, so he went along with it.

"Your mother always kept it a secret that you were in Team Rocket...if Jessiebelle's parents found out, they would have called off the engagement. Her mother absolutely despises that organization."

James raised an eyebrow. "So it was a good job she slept with the professor then, right? But I'm curious...why did she despise Team Rocket specifically?"

"Oh, just...one of her sisters ran away when she was young and joined them...and then was sent on a suicide mission apparently and died in the mountains."

James mind was quickly becoming enveloped in a cloud of bourbon, and didn't register that fully.

James' father broke the silence again. "James...you should marry her. Not for the family. For her...My father said she is a lovely girl, and apparently she has told my mother that she loves romantic stories and dreams of being a blushing bride one day."

James rolled his eyes. "For some reason unknown to all of us," he started sarcastically, "I have a fear of marriage."

"James, I am not saying this as your father...but as a man. Over the next few months there will be a lot of changes and a lot of things to be afraid of. But your marriage...should be a happy occasion. Do it for her, and those boys. It can be your way of thanking her, I suppose."

James raised an eyebrow. "Fatherly advice I can actually use. It took you over 20 years, but better late than never, as they say."

James' father picked up the bankbook and once again, handed it to James. "This is yours. I will try to convince your mother again to give you her blessing as well." James looked at the bruise on his head. "Be careful," he said with a hint of a knowing smile.

"And...don't worry about staying here with my parents. I can't work on the garden or help Pokemon like you can, so please help them as much as you can."

James nodded hesitantly. "Uh..anyway, I'll walk you to the car."

James' father looked at his watch. "Oh dear. Yes, I must get home before daybreak. If your mother finds out I was here..."

"Let's hurry then."

They walked to where the car is. The chauffeur was inside, reading a book when they came. He got out and opened the door. James watched his father climb into the back of the limo. His father looked at him. "Son..."

"Yes, father?"

"...Is it that you are wearing Jigglypuff pajamas?"

"...Yes, father."

"You are still my son, so please dress more appropriately."

"...yes, father."

"And please think about the other things I said."

"...and father,"

"Yes?"

"...One night of drunken rambling will not fix everything...but I'm glad you tried. Be careful of mother, and get home soon."

James' father nodded and the chauffeur closed the door. James watched the car drive off, went inside the house for a drink of water, and put the bankbook in his underwear drawer before crawling back in bed.

Tomorrow, he would show everyone the bankbook. But how would he explain it...he sighed. The criminal workings of his mind had worn out, he couldn't think of a proper lie. He should probably tell the truth. He yawned, and looked at Jessie. She looked angelic in her sleep, one hand protectively wrapped around her stomach. He wrapped his arms around her. Her and the twins did deserve better. And since James was the only one able to do something, he would have to step up to the challenge. He kissed her lightly before falling asleep on her hair, taking in the smell of her shampoo before nodding off.