Hellooo everyone! Sorry for going MIA again...I was on another vacation for a bit. But now I'm back, and I'm ready to upload more stories!
I got the idea for this one after seeing an article online about stupid questions people ask about twins. All I could think of was what Misty's thoughts/reactions to those questions would be...and I thought they'd be pretty entertaining.
Aiden and Michelle: 16 months old
Standard Questions
"You must have your hands full!"
Misty resisted the very strong urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she just smiled back at the woman who had managed that comment with a little giggle, as though it were so original.
"Yeah," Misty drawled, keeping that fake smile plastered on. "Just a bit."
Perhaps surprisingly, there were people who weren't super invested in the world of Pokémon battling and the like. Very similar to people who weren't big sports fans. This woman was one of them. Misty may have been a gym leader, but to this random woman at a café in Cerulean City, she was just another woman. Misty didn't mind not being recognized. In fact, she more often than not enjoyed the anonymity whenever she happened upon it.
In cases like this, however, when someone who had no idea who she was and simply saw her with her little twins, Misty didn't appreciate the inconspicuousness quite as much. Because all this woman was seeing was another random woman with two kids of the same age, and that opened the door for all the comments and questions that Misty had heard countless other times and was, quite frankly, tired of.
"Which one's the older one?" The woman asked, switching her gaze between the two toddlers.
"He is," Misty replied, gently patting Aiden's head. The boy was too preoccupied with his snack, however, and didn't bother to look up.
The woman smiled at the little boy. "Do they speak in their own little language to each other?"
"Kind of, I think," Misty answered, shrugging her shoulders. "They can't say much yet, so a lot of it all sounds the same."
"Do they get along?" The woman questioned.
"For the most part," Misty sighed. "They're like any other siblings. They fight sometimes."
"Do twins run in your family?"
Misty leaned back in her chair, surprised by how quickly this woman managed to fire off her questions. "No…"
"Were you surprised when you found out?"
"Yeah, very…"
"Oh, they're just so cute!" The woman squealed, causing Misty to wince. "I miss when mine were that little. Of course, I never had two at once. I can't imagine it!"
Misty sat up straight and furrowed her brow. "Right…"
"It was nice meeting you," the woman said, giving Misty a small bow. "Good luck!"
Misty let out a quiet huff as the woman strolled away, muttering to herself, "I don't need luck."
One of the twins cooed, leading Misty to raise an eyebrow. She turned her head to look at the children, who had both halted their snacking and were now gazing at her.
"Hey, Mommy was very good," Misty commented, grabbing onto the stroller and slowly spinning it so the twins were directly facing her. "I didn't interrupt or say anything bad!"
Aiden and Michelle both beamed as their mother spoke to them. In turn, Misty's face softened, and she giggled softly.
"Everybody thinks they know everything," Misty practically whispered to the toddlers. "They just ask and say whatever they want. Isn't that silly?"
Both twins giggled, causing Misty's smile to widen. She knew they had no idea what she was saying, but it still felt like they were on her side, and that was good enough for Misty.
"Those people just don't realize how lucky I am," Misty continued. "Instead of one super cute baby, I have two! And I love you both very much."
"Mama!" Aiden squealed, tossing his squeezable banana pouch to the ground. Misty sighed and leaned over, picking the pouch up and raising her eyebrows.
"You finished this whole thing already?" Misty questioned.
Aiden nodded his head as he let out another delighted giggle, sticking one finger in his smiling mouth.
"Well, I'm glad you liked it!" Misty giggled, getting up to toss the empty pouch into a nearby garbage can. "What about you, Shelly? Do you like it too?"
Michelle nodded her head, keeping the pouch in her mouth.
"I think it's time we started heading home," Misty decided, grabbing onto the handle of the twins' stroller. "Before someone else starts asking me all those ridiculous questions…"
Misty started to push the stroller down the sidewalk, still smiling to herself as the twins continued to babble nonsense. She just loved it when they were so happy! Not only was it absolutely adorable, but it made her life a whole lot easier too. Happy babies were much easier to care for than cranky ones!
"Oh, are they twins?!"
And almost as soon as she'd started to make her escape, Misty was stopped dead in her tracks by another nosy passerby. She grimaced the moment she realized this new woman was switching her awed gaze between herself and the twins…yet another one who didn't care about battling and didn't recognize her.
What, did they just have a meeting or something? They're all over the place today!
"Yeah, they are," Misty replied, trying to keep her voice level.
"Aw, they're so adorable!" The new woman crooned, bending down to get a better look at the two. Aiden and Michelle stared back at her like she was insane, which the woman didn't seem to process. "Are they a boy and a girl?"
If it had been socially acceptable, Misty would've smacked her own face in response to that brilliant question. Aside from their outfits which Misty had thought were pretty telling (yeah, Michelle's was half blue, but it was also adorned with glittery water type Pokémon…and she was wearing pink shorts…), Michelle's hair was longer than Aiden's at this point. Enough so that it was currently fastened into a set of pigtails.
"Yeah, they are," Misty repeated.
The woman continued to look between Aiden and Michelle, her smile somehow widening. "Which one is the good one?"
Misty nearly fell over. The good one?! Now this was an asinine question she'd never actually heard before! She was almost impressed by the woman's tenacity, and stupidity, to ask it.
"They're both good," Misty huffed, irritated that anyone would even insinuate one of her children was better than the other.
"Oh, no, I meant behavior wise!" The woman exclaimed. "Like…which one is better behaved?"
Misty squeezed the bridge of her nose. She had understood the question the first time. And she had answered it. "They're literally the same. They both have their moments. Sometimes they're happy at the same time, or grouchy at the same time, or one is behaving well and the other isn't. Just like any other siblings."
The woman nodded her head. "Wow, I wouldn't have guessed. That's so interesting!"
Misty clenched her jaw. Her patience was wearing very thin, and she knew she'd have to remove herself from the situation to completely avoid blowing up.
"Yeah, you learn something new every day," Misty quipped. "Anyway, we should be on our way! I have to put these two down for their naps."
"They even nap at the same time?" The woman breathed.
Aiden and Michelle tilted their heads back to glance up at their mother. Similar to before, when she was speaking to them, they had no idea what this woman was saying. The look they were giving Misty, however, was one of near utter confusion, and it took everything in Misty's power to keep herself from bursting out laughing.
"Yeah, they do," Misty snickered just once. "Let's go, you two!"
She gave a nod to the woman before skirting past her, letting out a sigh of relief as soon as she was out of earshot. The twins were still staring up at her, so Misty smirked and asked, "is it just me, or are these questions getting dumber?"
Aiden and Michelle both giggled again; still not understanding their mother, just enjoying the sound of her voice. Misty smiled and stood up straight, continuing to push the twins' stroller.
"I'm thinking we should hide out in the house for the rest of the day," Misty decided. "Or maybe for the rest of our lives…"
She pushed the two all the way home, feeling relieved when she finally got to open the front door and let the twins inside the house. They had been exceptionally well behaved and relatively quiet all morning, and had apparently reached their limit. As soon as their feet hit the ground, they both shrieked and began running around the living room.
"Still better than all those stupid questions," Misty sighed, smiling as she watched Aiden and Michelle dart around. She was about to close the door behind her, but was met with resistance. Narrowing her eyes, Misty glanced over her shoulder and gasped, nearly jumping out of her skin. "Ash?!"
The Pokemon Master showed off his signature cheeky smile, unaffected by the fact that he'd just startled his wife. "Hey, Mist! Funny seeing you here!"
"What are you doing home?" Misty questioned, skipping his little joke.
"Ah, work was real slow today," Ash replied with a wave of his hand. "We did a whole bunch of training this morning, and there was no paperwork to do afterwards, so I just decided to call it a day."
Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and into Misty's arms, chattering happily as he rubbed himself against her chest. Misty giggled and scratched the mouse between his ears.
"I'm happy to see you too, Pikachu!" Misty crooned.
"To be honest, I'm kind of surprised you guys are home already."
Misty looked up at her husband, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"
Ash shrugged. "You just made it sound like you had a bunch of stuff to do this morning. And it's such a beautiful day, I thought by now you'd still be out with the kids."
"Oh, yeah," Misty drawled. "Well, I think I just wanted to head home. The twins seemed to be getting sleepy, so…"
Ash looked past Misty as she trailed off. "They don't seem very sleepy to me."
Misty turned around and found that Aiden and Michelle were still running around like little crazy people, stopping in the middle of the room to grab each other's hands and spin around in circles.
"Fine," Misty grumbled. "They're not. People just kept asking me dumb questions about them and I couldn't take it anymore."
Ash chuckled lovingly. "Yeah, we get some good ones, don't we?"
Misty furrowed her brow. "You mean people ask you stuff like that too?"
"For sure," Ash responded. "Weird stuff too. Like…sutff even I would never ask anyone! Someone asked me once if we tried to have two of them at once. Like we had any control over it!"
"That's so gross," Misty whined. "It's none of their business!"
"Nope," Ash agreed. "I don't think they try and do it to be obnoxious, though. I just think people are really fascinated by twins is all! They are pretty cool."
"They are," Misty agreed. "But that still doesn't mean they should ask all those questions. I mean, they're really stupid questions, but they're also such a waste of time!"
"Don't stress so much about it," Ash chuckled, stepping into the house. "Like you said, it's stupid!"
Misty furrowed her brow once again. "Hey, I'm not stressed about it!"
Ash, however, only had eyes for Aiden and Michelle. As soon as he walked into the living room, they both squealed and ran for him. Ash laughed and knelt down, easily gathering them in his arms despite their persistent wiggling.
"You two are so cute!" Ash laughed. "Everyone else just wishes they could have you! But they're not as lucky as me and Mommy, huh?"
The twins continued giggling, Misty watching on with a smile.
"Pikachu, Pikachupi?"
Misty looked down at Pikachu and giggled sweetly. "Yeah, they're totally worth it."
I have to imagine there'd be people in the Pokémon world not actually interested in the culture of Pokémon battling. I do think of them a lot like sports, so it makes sense to me!
