WD: Ash's Mother

Cerulean City, Kanto. 17th February, 2019. Three days after the proposal. 1:23pm.

"Hurry up, Mist!"

"Geez, give me a minute!"

Misty ran down the wooden steps, glancing at herself in the mirror one last time before turning to her fiancé. "Let's go now." she spoke. Ash chuckled slightly and grabbed her hand as they stepped out the door and into Ash's blue convertible.

Ash made sure to put down the ceiling as he got in. He knew Misty loved being outdoors and in the sun. Plus, the weather was warm and sunny; it would be a shame to not enjoy such a beautiful day.

Misty sighed contently. She was still partly in shock that Ash had proposed. He was her fiancé now. Husband in a few months. Misty Ketchum. Cerulean City Gym Leader, Misty Ketchum. Man, it was addicting to say it. Misty Ketchum. Ash's deep voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Whatcha thinking?" he asked, eyes still staring ahead at the road. Misty shook her head. "Nothing. Just…our wedding. What made you want to propose to me so suddenly anyway?" she asked, genuinely curious. Ash scratched his head.

"So you know Serena, right?" Misty thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Well, she…before I left back to Kanto," he started slowly as Misty eyed him suspiciously. "she, uh. Kissed me?" he glanced carefully at Misty. She looked a little conflicted. A few moments later, she spoke up. "What happened?" she whispered slightly. Ash ran a hand through his messy black hair.

"Well, I was at the airport, right?" The redhead nodded. "And I was waving goodbye to my friends in Kalos, when Serena just started running up the wrong way up the escalator. Then, she came up close, and kissed me. Right there, in front of everyone. She pulled away a couple seconds later, seeing as I was not responding, and just left. I was like, paralyzed. Shocked. Then when I came back to my senses, I was immediately reminded of how I was saving my first kiss for you, when I won a league." Ash stopped at a red light and looked down slightly shamefully. "I just wished I'd won sooner, you know?" he gave her a sad smiled as he shrugged nonchalantly. Misty pondered over his explanation.

"Wait, but your Kalos trip was three years ago!" she exclaimed, almost accusingly. Ash stepped on the gas as the light turned green. "Yeah, but that's when it happened. When I lost my mind." he said as he entered Viridian City. Misty furrowed her brows. "What?" she asked, concerned. Ash let out a breathy chuckle.

"I lost it. The only thing I could ever think about was you, and how I need to win a league so I could return to you, victorious. I did, a couple months back, but you already knew that. So, as soon as I won, I ran home, picked up a ring, told my mom that I was gonna propose, and left. I didn't even see Tracey, or Gary, or Professor Oak. I haven't seen them in like, three years. I always just came, and left."he sighed as he pulled into Pallet Town.

"You haven't seen them in years?" Misty murmured softly, grabbing his hand and tracing her thumb along his knuckles. Ash sighed again. "Nope." he muttered slightly, as he parked outside Professor Oak's lab. Misty squeezed his hand. "You'll be fine. Let's go?" she offered. Ash nodded as he shakily stepped foot in the old lab he hadn't seen in over three years.

Misty cupped her hands over her mouth. "Professor Oak!" she called. A minute later, a messy haired brunette came downstairs, clad in a white lab court and shorts. "What's up?" he asked groggily. A tidy long haired brunette stepped up beside him, smiling amusedly. "Sorry about him. He stayed up late trying to memorize the-Ash?" she gasped loudly before squealing and throwing herself at the raven haired boy who squeaked in surprise. That woke Gary up.

"Ashy-boy?" he exclaimed in surprise before he smiled and walked up to the man and gave him a fist bump. Ash was genuinely shocked. Was this Gary? Why was he so nice? And who is this brunette? The girl let go of Ash and put her hands behind her back. "Hi Ashy-Ash!" she grinned. Ash's eyes widened considerably. Only one person called him that. "Leaf!" he grinned. She gave him a playful smile. "Hey, you remembered!" she laughed.

Ash gave her a lopsided grin. "What're you doing here?" he asked. Leaf smiled at him; sincerely this time. "Well, I'm here as a research assistant for Professor Oak! And I'm also here because of Gary." she shot the brunet a fond smile that he returned. Ash recoiled a little in shock. "You're dating?!" he exclaimed. Gary smirked. "And have been for the past two years." he reported smugly.

Ash gasped sarcastically. "Who knew Gary of all people had the ability to date someone for more than a couple days?" he teased as Gary growled and chased after Ash as he ran away laughing. Misty shook her head. "Anyways, we're staying here for a couple days; we have some news to tell you guys and Ash's mom." she explained. "But, we wanted to tell Delia first, because she's… well, Ash's mom. That's okay with you guys, right?" Leaf smiled. "Sure is. Dinner tomorrow?" she offered. Misty winked. "You got it." they laughed as Misty grabbed Ash and they walked out the door. Before they left, Ash turned to Gary.

"Where's Professor Oak?" he asked. Gary tapped his chin. "Well, he should be here by tomorrow…You guys are coming over to dinner tomorrow, right? So he should be there by…" he calculated a few numbers in his head in order to give them an answer. "5:09-ish in the evening." Ash nodded and he and Misty waved them goodbye as they walked to Delia's house.

Delia started cleaning up, with the help of Mr. Mime. Placing the freshly baked cookies in a jar, she grabbed a kitchen cloth and started scrubbing. Only, to interrupted by the door bell a couple seconds later. She sighed as she ran to the door. "Coming!" She called.

Opening the door, she inwardly squealed as she saw Ash holding hands with her favourite red headed gym leader. She stepped aside in order for them to step in.

Misty and Delia faced each other calmly. Suddenly, their face contorted into utter joy, and they began squealing. Loudly. Ash and Mr. Mime covered their ears and winced at the volume. They stopped squealing and started jumping around instead, much to Ash and Mr. Mime's relief.

Delia stopped as gazed into Misty's eyes dreamily. "You're my daughter in law…" she sighed. Misty nodded, her eyes shining gleefully. "And you're gonna be my mother in law!" she squealed again. Delia pulled the twenty one year old in a tight embrace. "I'm so happy." she murmured as she beckoned Ash to join in, which he did. Holding them tightly, she let a few tears escape.

"My Ashy's growing up so fast…" she said as she pulled back. Both Ash and Misty smiled and nodded in understanding.

Delia wiped her tears and smiled at them before running to the kitchen to get them the cookies she had made a couple ten minutes ago.

Ash smiled goofily as he saw the cookie jar. He opened in up and popped a cookie in his mouth. "Thns mem," he said, his mouth stuffed. Misty closed the cookie jar, much to Ash's dismay. "Eat before you speak." she scolded him. "Also, that should be enough for now. You do want to save some for later, don't you?" she asked. Ash nodded and wiped his mouth as he chewed. Then, he swallowed. "Thanks Mom," he said.

His mom nodded slightly, though she was observing the whole scene in shock. Did Misty just…tell Ash not to eat so much? And did he just agree? This had to be a dream. She had tried to get Ash to save some food for later, or not stuff his face , but he'd never listened. He just did that for Misty? Delia smiled softly. They really were a perfect pair.