Hey, everyone! A new chapter hath been posted!

Wow, it's been so long since I last updated. End of December, right after I posted the last chapter, I left on vacation. And January has just been so exhaustingly busy (school), so I haven't had much fanfiction time lately. But I've finished this chapter, so enjoy! And thanks for being so patient too!

Today's topic was inspired by a suggestion from aqua pikachu!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!

Babysitter Birch

Grade One

May (6)

Max (3)

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Honey, absolutely."

"You wrote everything on the list?"

"Yes, I di—"

"About when dinnertime is?"

"Yes, at—"

"And when to give them their snack?"

"Well, yeah. But—"

"Did you specify when their favourite TV show comes on? What about bedtime? Are you sure you indicated exactly when they're to be put to bed? All the bedtime rituals they go through? Are you sure you mentioned what to do if—"

"Caroline, relax. I'm sure of it. I wrote down everything; they'll be fine."

May watched as her mother bombarded her father with question after question about what he put on 'the list'. May wasn't sure exactly what the list's purpose was, but, according to her mother, it was to tell Professor Birch exactly what to do while her parents were gone.

Both Caroline and Norman had been invited to a big, fancy dinner. May wanted to go too, but she wasn't allowed. It was only for grownups, but May couldn't fathom why she couldn't come too. She wasn't little, like three-year-old Max. She could behave herself. But noooo, she had to stay home with her little brother with her father's friend, Professor Birch, as the babysitter. May didn't feel she needed a babysitter, but she figured it was mostly for Max.

"Caroline, don't worry! Professor Birch is a very close friend of mine, and I'm sure he can do the job perfectly fine," said Norman. He chuckled. "Normally, I'd be the one worrying. You're always so relaxed when it comes to the kids."

"Yes, but we normally don't leave them with a man like Professor Birch! He's so…" Caroline trailed off, but May wasn't sure why. She didn't think Professor Birch was so bad. He was kind of fun, with his adventurous trips into dangerous Pokemon habitats, and the exciting way he drove his SUV. Why was her mother so worried?

"Birch is very close friend of mine, Caroline. I'm sure we can trust him," Norman said reassuringly.

"But what about all the specific things our kids want? If some things aren't done exactly how they like it—"

"That's what the list is for."

Caroline looked like she was going to say something more, but just then, the bell rang.

"That must be him. I'll get it." Norman opened the door, and in walked Professor Birch.

"Hello, Norman!" Birch greeted cheerfully. "Hello, Caroline!"

"Hello," Caroline replied, giving a nervous cough. "Sorry about asking you to babysit on such short notice. Their usual babysitter couldn't come tonight."

"Oh, don't worry about it!" Birch said cheerfully. "The kids and I are going to have a lot of fun!" His eyes landed on May, who was sitting on the steps, watching them. "Hey there, May! You ready for Uncle Birch?"

May didn't say anything. She just waved back.

"Aw, come on! No smile?"

"All right, then. If everything is fine here, let's get going, shall we?" Norman said, smiling at his wife.

"Yes…" Caroline trailed off. "Birch, you sure you're okay with this?"

"Positive!"

"And you have the list?"

"The list?"

"The list that— Norman! Did you give him the list? Where did you put the list?"

"It's on the kitchen counter."

Caroline marched into the kitchen, bringing back a sheet of paper and handing it to the babysitter. "Make sure you follow everything it says! Norman has written it thoroughly, so there shouldn't be any problems."

"Of course, don't worry."

"You're sure everything would be okay?"

"Absolutely."

"And you have our cell numbers?"

"Relax, Caroline, everything's going to be fine. The kids love me!"

"Okay… Oh, and they've already had a snack, so—"

"Come on, Caroline, we're going to be late!" Norman interrupted, hurrying her out the door. "Bye May, Sweetie! Take good care of Max!"

May silently waved at her parents as they walked out of the house.

"And bye, Max!"

Max, who had been preoccupied with a pile of blocks, looked up sharply at the call of his name and watched intently as the door closed behind his parents.

"Well!" Birch clapped his hands together enthusiastically. "What do you kids want to do?"

"Can you give me noodles?" May asked suddenly. "I'm hungry."

"Already?" Birch raised an eyebrow. "But didn't your mother say you already had a snack?"

"But I want noodles."

"I'm, er-hm, not very good at making noodles."

"Mommy already made noodles."

"Oh. Do you want me to just give you those?"

May nodded, getting up and leading Birch to the kitchen. She pointed to the big pot on the stove. Okay, maybe her mother had specifically said those were for dinner and dinner only, but if the babysitter were allowing it, it shouldn't be a problem. Right?

"Okie dokie! Let's see what we've got here."

Soon enough, May found herself slurping noodles from a big bowl while Professor Birch went to see what Max was up to. He'd left the list on the table in front of May, not having even read it yet. May had been learning how to read at school, so she tried to see what was written on it. Unfortunately, her father's handwriting was illegible to her eyes.

"Do you want to watch a movie?"

May looked up to see Professor Birch standing there, a DVD box in his hand.

"Okay," she said. "Don't start until I come. I hafta finish my noodles."

"Why don't you just bring your noodles along?"

"To the sofa room?"

"Yes, why not?"

May excitedly got up from the kitchen table, noodle bowl in hand. Her mother never let her bring food into the family room! But she was a big girl now; she wouldn't spill anything.

She snuggled into the sofa beside her little brother, who, from the looks of it, had been given a lollipop to suck on.

"What movie do you guys want to watch?"

"Tarzan!" May cheered immediately. She loved that movie, how adventurous it was. It took place in such a wonderful jungle, with the Vigoroth and Slaking and Donphan!

"No, Little Mermaid!" Max whined.

May frowned. Max only liked The Little Mermaid because of the songs and colourful water-type Pokemon. But May thought Tarzan was better. It was much more fast-paced and thrilling. "No, Tarzan!"

"Little Mermaid!"

"Tarzan!"

"Mermaid!"

"Hey, kids! Kids!" Birch intervened. "How about we watch something everyone would like?"

"Like what?"

"Um, I don't know…" He looked through the selection of movies. "Er, The Pyroar King? How about the Pyroar King?"

"Hm, okay," May said. "But Max can't watch, then."

"I wanna watch!" Max pouted.

"Why can't Max watch? Everyone can watch."

"No. Mommy says Max gets too scared at night."

"No! Max not scared!"

"But The Pyroar King isn't scary."

"But Max gets scared."

"No!"

"Naw, I doubt he'll get scared." Birch ruffled the three-year-old's hair. "He's a tough big boy, right? He doesn't get scared by The Pyroar King!"

By the end of the movie, Professor Birch was snoring loudly while May had become more interested in the many teeth in his mouth.

"See, Max? See how many teeth he has?" May whispered to her little brother as she pointed into the man's gaping mouth.

"Ew," said Max as he caught a whiff of his breath. May made a face and held her nose.

"Look! See his tongue?"

"Pink!"

Birch suddenly gave a loud snore, startling the two, making them hurriedly jump off the sofa and out of the room. May peeked curiously from the corner of the wall with Max following suit.

"Hm? Wha'?" Birch woke up, groggily rubbing his eyes. He blinked drowsily a couple of times and looked around, trying to remember where he was. His eyes widened.

"Hey, kids?" he called, standing. "Where'd you guys go? May? Max?"

May giggled, said 'sh' to her brother, and slowly crept to the stairs. Max giggled and followed his big sister.

"Come on, guys, where are you?"

"Hurry!" May whispered as the professor began approaching the stairs. The two ran up as fast as they could.

"I hear footsteps! You two upstairs?"

"Hide!" May pulled Max with her into her room's closet.

"Ouch!" Max said loudly as he stepped on something.

"Sh, Max! He'll find us!"

"Found you!" Birch threw the closet doors wide open. His face broke out into a relieved smile when he saw the two were there. "Don't scare me like that! I couldn't tell where you guys were!"

"We were playing hide-and-seek!"

"Yes, but—"

He paused at the sound of a ringing phone. He quickly picked it up and checked the number. "Good thing I found them in time," he muttered as he pressed talk and held the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Who is it?" May asked curiously.

"Oh, hello, Norman," Birch said loudly. "Yes, everything is perfectly fine. … Yes, we were playing right now. … What? Dinner?"

"Max hungry," Max said suddenly. Birch frantically made a 'sh' gesture.

"Yes, yes they've had dinner."

"Max hungry!" Max whined louder.

"Yes, that was Max," Birch said. "No, he's not hungry, he just ate. He was saying— What's that? Bedtime? Yes, I'll put them to bed, now that they've eaten and are full. … Yes, I've been checking the list. … Wha'? Caroline wants to talk to May? Erm, all right."

"Mommy wants to talk to me?" May hopped out of the closet and held her hand out, ready to take the phone.

"Hold on one second," Birch said, covering the mouth part of the phone with his hand. "May, please tell your mom I was following the list."

"Okay," May agreed, eagerly reaching for the phone. Once it was in her hands, she starting speaking into it right away. "Hi, Mommy! We're having lotsa fun! We ate noodles, watched a movie, and played hide-and-seek!"

"That's great, Sweetie," her mother said. "And Max's doing all right?"

"Yes, Max is here too. But he's hungry." Birch looked horrified.

"He's hungry? Well didn't he have noodles too?"

"I don't know."

"Did he eat anything at all?"

"I saw him with a lollipop."

"Where did he get a lollipop?"

"I don't know."

"Honey, can you give Professor Birch the phone?"

"Okay." May held the phone out to her babysitter. "She wants to talk to you."

Professor Birch gulped nervously as he took the phone. "Hello?"

May decided she'd lost interest at that point. She wanted to go do something else. She was still feeling a bit full from the noodles from earlier, but maybe get a snack? Like cookies! She loved cookies! She headed for the kitchen to where she knew the cookie jar was located: on the highest shelf of the walk-in pantry.

"Cookie, cookie, cookie," May sang as she pushed her chair into the pantry. She climbed onto it and tried to reach for the cookies. Her fingers could only just touch the jar, but she had to reach some more…

"May? May, where are you?" Professor Birch's voice entered the pantry.

"I'm getting a cookie!" May called back in a sing-song voice.

"But where—? MAY!" The man came running, Max in his arms, when he heard a crash. "May, are you all right?" His eyes widened when he saw a broken cookie jar on the floor.

"It was an accident!" May defended herself immediately, still standing where she was. "I didn't mean too!"

"I-it's okay…" Birch said tiredly. "Stay… stay on the chair while I clean up. Don't want to step on the broken jar, do we?"

It was very boring, watching the man clean up while all she had to do was sit on the chair. May wondered where Max was. Birch had put him somewhere before coming with the dustpan and brush. And, worst of all, May couldn't have any cookies either, since all of them had fallen and broken and gotten mixed up with the broken jar pieces.

Finally, he was done. He sighed, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "Okay, May, let's get you some dinner."

"But I'm not hungry," May said. "I already ate noodles."

"Oh, right. Well, you should get ready for bed instead, then."

When May got out of the pantry, she saw Max sitting at the table, messily eating a bowl of noodles. "Max is being messy," May said accusingly, pointing at her little brother.

"Hm? Yes, I'll get right to it… Why don't you go to bed in the meantime, May?"

"By myself?" May frowned slightly.

"You can go yourself, can't you? You're a big girl!" He winked.

May thought for a moment. She was a big girl. But her parents hadn't let her go because they didn't think so. May sadly shook her head.

"What is it?"

"Mommy and Daddy don't think I'm a big girl."

"Huh? Why would you say that?"

"I can't go to the party."

"Yes, well…" Birch sputtered, trying to figure out what to say next. "Well, I think you're a big girl! And maybe your parents didn't let you come so you could look after Max, because you're his big sister."

"But you're looking after Max."

Professor Birch ran a hand through his hair. "But, well, you can do some things I can't. Like, you showed me where the noodles were and told me when Max was being messy."

"He's still being messy," May informed him, pointing to her brother who had dropped his whole bowl of noodles all over himself and was trying to pick a noodle from his hair.

"No, no, no!" Birch cried, forgetting about the little girl, his attention redirected to the three-year-old.

May stood there, watching as the man panicked as he tried to clean up Max. Then, she slowly walked away, heading off to bed all alone. No one was there to give her her red pajamas (even though she already knew where they were). No one was there to tell her if she brushed her teeth properly. No one was there to make her take a bath. (Actually, May kind of liked that part. Besides, she was clean enough anyways.) And, worst of all, no one was there to tuck her in and read her a bedtime story. She couldn't go to sleep without a bedtime story!

Finally, after a long time, her babysitter walked in bringing along a bathed Max, now dressed in his pajamas.

"Whew," he said as he peeked into May's room. "You okay, May?"

"No. You didn't read me a bedtime story."

"Oh… Okay, I'll get to that. I'll just tuck Max in first, all right?"

"You didn't tuck me in." But Birch was already gone by then. By the time he came back, May had another problem. One concerning food.

"All right!" said Birch, sitting down beside her on her bed. "So how about that bedtime story?"

"I'm hungry."

"Eh, what?"

"I'm hungry now. I wanna eat."

"But I thought you said you weren't hungry because you already had noodles."

"That was a long time ago."

"B-but…"

"I'm hungry. Can I have some more noodles?"

"Well… All right. Come on."

May finished her noodles slowly and sleepily. Professor Birch was looking pretty drowsy too. May wondered if her parents were sleepy as well. After all, if a grownup like Professor Birch was tired, then her parents were probably tired too, right? Maybe they were going to come home now! Too bad she would have to be in bed before then.

Soon, her noodles were gone, her teeth were brushed (again), and she was back in bed.

"Okay, what story do you want me to read?" Birch asked, scanning her bookshelf.

"Umm…"

She didn't get to decide. Because at that moment, Max could be heard from his room. He was crying.

"Hold on…" Birch said, leaving to go to Max's room.

May stayed in bed and waited. But he didn't come back, and Max could still be heard. Eventually, she decided to investigate. She got up, leaving for Max's room. There, Birch was desperately trying to settle Max down.

"What's wrong Max?" Birch was saying, panicking. "Why are you crying? Please, please calm down!"

"Why is Max crying?" May asked.

"I don't know… The list! I should check the list!" Birch rushed downstairs frantically. May stared after him before going to her brother.

"Max, what are you crying?" she asked.

"Scary Pyroar!"

Well, that explained that. May's mother never let Max watch The Pyroar King because Mufasa's evil brother Scar and the Houndoom who worked for him always gave Max nightmares.

"I'm back!" Birch rushed back through the door with a sheet in his hand. "But the list doesn't say anything, and— Oh, you got Max to stop crying?" Max was no longer bawling, sniffling instead.

"He's scared of the Pyroar and Houndoom," May informed Birch.

"Of the… what?"

"The Pyroar King. He's not allowed to watch it."

"Oh… I guess it's my fault, then…." He scratched his head. "All right, Max, you can go to sleep now. There aren't any Pyroar or Houndoom here!"

Max shook his head, too afraid to close his eyes.

"Come on, Max, there isn't anything to be afraid of!"

Max still refused.

"I know!" May said suddenly. "When I was little, Mommy always used to sing a lullaby so I could go to sleep. I know what lullaby!"

And May sang it. It was a tune she knew off by heart since her mother had sang it to her countless times in the past. A melodic hum, no words, but immeasurable comfort. May felt she sang it just like her mother, especially when Max was lulled to sleep.

May and Birch looked at each other and grinned. They both made a 'sh' sound and slowly crept out of the room.

"Well, May, good thing you were here!" Birch said, relieved. "There is no way I would have been able to handle the situation if it weren't for you."

May beamed as she skipped to bed. "Now, story time!"

Birch laughed and followed after her.

May was asleep when she heard something downstairs. Her eyes flickered open when she heard her parents' voices conversing with Professor Birch.

"So, how was it?"

"Perfect! I had everything under control! They're asleep now."

"See, Caroline? I told you they'd be fine."

"That's a relief."

"Well, to tell the truth, we did have one tiny problem. But it turned out all right, thanks to May."

And May smiled sleepy as she snuggled back under her blanket.

Done! The lullaby part was the suggestion, and this whole chapter was written because of it!

This chapter only had May from the main eight. I was trying to see if there was a way I could add in someone else, but I didn't think I should force it. May and Max being the only ones seemed most natural for this one.

Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope you guys enjoyed!

Bye bye for now! Have a great day, and smile the whole way! :)

Reply to Joe:

Joe: Hey, Joe! You had a question, so I hope you don't mind if I just reply here, since I can't PM you. You asked about the Sneezy DeeDee reference in 'Tests, Texts, and the Chair'. It should be briefly mentioned during their texting conversation. I think Paul says something like "cough- Sneezy-DeeDee -cough". If you mean which chapter from this story, it's chapter three: Picture Perfect. As for the poll, it's actually just a way for me to see what the general audience likes, so even if you tell me in a review, of course it counts. Oh, and thanks for your reviews~!