A/N: As always, thank you all so much! I hope you like this new instalment!

To cake0108: Thank you, I'm happy that you like them :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover (though I did edit it).

Days

The day Dawn makes a decision

Dawn

Thursday, December 26th

"Are you sure you'll be alright, Dawn?" Johanna asked, already standing in the doorway with a bag in her hand.

"Yes, Mom, you go ahead and do your shopping, I'll be fine," she answered, waving at her mother from her position at the kitchen table. Piplup mimicked her.

"You can always call me," she said. "I'll see you tonight. Get your rest, okay?"

"Yes, Mom," Dawn replied with a fond smile.

"Alright, bye, bye," she called, and after a last wave finally closed the door behind her.

Dawn sighed and rested her head in her hands. A light lunch stood in front of her, though she had not touched it yet.

"Pip, pip, piplup?"

"Yes, I'm feeling better, don't worry," Dawn said to her worried Pokémon when he poked her arm. She hadn't been able to keep her breakfast down this morning, and now the nausea was finally receding.

"I'm just not that hungry, yet," she said. She sighed again, happily expressing her true feelings now that her mother's watchful eyes were gone. Johanna had gone to Sandgem Town for the groceries, since the few stores in Twinleaf were closed with the holidays.

"At least Mom thinks I'm just having some kind of stomach flu," Dawn muttered, warily looking at the toast in front of her.

Piplup carefully pushed the plate towards her, and after another sigh, Dawn picked up the toast and started nibbling on it.

"I still can't believe it," Dawn said, for what must have been nth time since the start of her holidays. "I can't believe it." She took a breath. "I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant. The test was positive. I'm actually pregnant. I'm expecting a baby. Knocked up. By Paul. Paul, of all- oh, Arceus!"

She dropped the toast back on the plate and rubbed her face. Piplup made a sympathetic sound, even though he had heard this particular rant before.

Dawn shook her head slightly, and then picked up the toast again. "Sorry… You're right, of course. But it still feels unreal."

"Piplup," her starter said, nodding in understanding.

It had been a week now since she had had her suspicions confirmed by a pregnancy test. It felt both shorter and longer. She had felt in a daze for some days, focused on acting as if everything was normal, but the doctor's appointment last Monday had really driven home reality.

The condom must have been faulty, had been the doctor's conclusion (yes, thank you, she had figured that out herself as well). She had gotten prenatal vitamins for the baby's health, though it had thankfully seemed healthy on the ultrasound.

And she needed to decide what she wanted with the pregnancy.

"Right. Yes. So, there were options," Dawn said, starting to count on her fingers, even though she had run through the options many, many times in her head.

"Abortion," she said slowly. "Nothing would change then…" She still had a few more weeks until that option was completely ruled out.

Though she named the option out loud, she knew she had already made a decision on that. It was extremely tempting to think that nothing would change, an easy solution, but Dawn was not naïve enough to think that having an abortion would have no emotional aftereffects on her.

"No, I don't think so… Adoption is possible, too…"

The child would grow up in a stable, loving home with parents who desperately wanted a baby…

"But I wouldn't be that bad of a mother, would I?" Dawn said quietly, taking a careful bite of the toast. "I mean, I'm an adult, and I have quite some money saved…" Even if her career was in a bit of a rut right now, she could take care of herself, and she knew she could find a job if she put her mind to it.

She didn't know when exactly she had made her decision, but even as she considered the other options, their reasonable arguments couldn't convince her to change her mind.

"Pip, lup, lup, piplup!" Piplup said encouragingly.

Dawn smiled at her oldest Pokémon and nodded. "Yeah, I can do this." She chewed on her toast thoughtfully, a frown coming back on her face.

"Mom won't be happy."

"Piplup?"

"Well, yeah, you know, with Dad…"

Piplup's confusion cleared and he nodded. "Lup!"

"Yeah… But I'll do it differently," she said, and forced a laugh. "No way I'm going to marry Paul just because it's his…"

She shook her head. "Besides, Mom and Dad were already in a relationship, so the situations are completely different."

But despite that her mother would not be happy at first, Dawn knew that she would support her.

Paul was another matter entirely.

"Lup?" Piplup waved at her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry, I was just… zoning out a bit." She took another bite of her toast, relieved to find that her stomach seemed to have settled. "Mom won't be happy, but she'll help, I'm sure…"

"Pip…?"

"But… Paul…" Dawn shook her head. "He doesn't really seem like the fatherly kind of guy, right?"

"Piplup…" Piplup shook his head.

While they had often spoken about the future, that had always involved their separate careers, not whether or not they wanted a family. And even if he did, Dawn doubted he had imagined getting a family like this.

"I'm pregnant," Dawn repeated again. Nine weeks, the doctor had said, though she knew conception was only seven weeks ago. But that was just the manner of counting. Fact remained that she was.

"And I'm going to keep it," she said, nodding slowly. "I'm going to be a mother."

"Lup." Piplup clapped his fins together, full of confidence.

Dawn closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose, before exhaling. "Nine weeks. My due date is the first of August." She looked at her Pokémon. "It still feels unreal."

Her oldest Pokémon snuggled up to her, and Dawn patted his head.

"It's still far away. And I'm so… I don't know… I still don't really know how to feel about it," Dawn muttered. "Scared, I guess."

Piplup snuggled closer, and Dawn smiled a bit. Scared, yes, but not as panicked as in the beginning. Nervous for what the future would bring. But there was some relief that she had made her decision.

"But Mom did it, too, and I turned out fine, didn't I?" she said, and Piplup made an encouraging sound.

"But Paul…"

She had no idea how he was going to react, she didn't even know how she wanted him to react.

"Still, I'm only nine weeks along… I suppose I can wait a bit longer, right?" The doctor had said that there was still a risk of miscarriage in the first three months, after all. And this way she herself could get used to the idea before dumping it on Paul's plate.

"Piplup?" he asked, stepping away from her hug and looking at her questioningly.

"Yeah, it might be for the best to wait a bit longer… That way I'll be sure when I tell him. That's better, right?"

"Piplup!" Piplup nodded full of certainty.

"Right. Yes." And she didn't even know when she was going to see him again, anyway. They had decided to meet again after the holidays, but was that the second of January, or did he want to wait after the weekend? She still needed that Gym Badge…

"I'll contact him the first weekend of January," she decided.

"Lup!"

"And we have to pick up training again," Dawn said. "It was nice relaxing for a bit-" though, with all those worries, it could hardly be called relaxing, "-but it's time to get back into business. We have to win the Tournament!"

"Pip, piplup!" her Pokémon cheered, obviously relieved that his trainer was as cheerful as he knew her.

Perhaps it was a trivial worry, winning the Tournament, but it gave her something specific to focus on. It had always been a goal to win the Wayland Tournament, as a way to get her career back on track and to make money, and, not unimportantly, as a tribute to her mother, who had helped set up the Tournament. But with these new developments, that goal had an extra dimension. Dawn felt as if time was running out, and plus, if she could win this Tournament, then surely she could manage raising a child, right?

They were awfully philosophical thoughts and Dawn hastily devoured the rest of the toast, suddenly hungry and feeling full of energy.

"Alright!" She jumped up and quickly put the dishes away, Piplup enthusiastically helping her.

"Now, Piplup," she said, clapping her hands together. "Let's start training!"

"Piplup!"

A/N: Thank you all for reading! At first this chapter only had Dawn's thoughts, so it was sort of a monologue, but I hope that with adding Piplup it was easier to read. It was a bit strange to write only a Pokémon as conversation partner, so I hope I managed it. Also, I hope Dawn's thoughts about abortion and adoption and keeping the baby didn't offend anyone, that wasn't my attention. Anyway, reviews are love, and thank you! :D

Recommendation:

Hobbit: The Five Wives of Kili Durinson by kaotic312. FFN. Rated M! A so-far unfinished multi-chaptered story telling the humorous tale of Tauriel marrying Kíli, and then finding out that he has, accidentally, married four others as well. Culture differences and funny situations follow.

Recommendations are welcome!