Elizabeth and Aiden have both gotten some focus over the past few stories, so I decided to choose one that focused more on Michelle this time!

Aiden and Michelle: 2 years old


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Ash jumped a little when he felt something attach itself to his side.

When he looked down, however, he realized it was just his young daughter hugging him. Ash chuckled, causing the little girl to glance up at him with wide, emerald eyes and a big smile.

"Aw, you're so sweet, Shelly!" Ash cooed, patting the girl's head.

"I wove Daddy," Michelle babbled, still smiling up at him.

"I love you too!" Ash replied.

"Ash, are you guys ready to go?"

He looked over his shoulder at his wife and smiled, nodding his head. "Yep! Come on, Shelly. Time to head out!"

Michelle tilted her head. "Whewe?"

"We have to go meet Grammy for dinner!" Ash answered. "Remember we talked about it this morning? You and Aiden were very excited to see her."

"No, Gwammy come hewe," Michelle refuted, shaking her head.

"We're going to go out this time!" Ash tried. "That sounds like fun, right? You get to wear your nice dress and everything!"

Michelle pouted, while Misty let out a sound of warning. "Ash, she doesn't like to be dressed up. That isn't exactly a selling point."

"But look how pretty it is!" Ash fussed, motioning towards the crystal blue dress Michelle was wearing. The sleeveless top was made of lace, and the skirt was made of tulle. "It looks just like something a princess would wear! And you are my little princess, right, Michelle?"

The little girl suddenly perked up and nodded her head.

"She gets it," Ash chuckled as he got off the couch. "Let's go, princess!"

Michelle frowned once again and shook her head.

"No?" Ash murmured.

"Up!" Michelle squeaked, holding her arms up towards her father.

"Oh, I get it," Ash breathed. "You don't want to walk! That's okay, I gotcha."

He gathered the little girl into his arms, which brought the smile back to her face. Misty was already beginning to look exasperated, but Ash knew it was mainly because she was always anxious about taking the twins out in public. They were pretty well behaved kids, but they were still kids, and the potential for meltdowns was always in the back of her mind.

"We'll be fine," Ash assured his wife. Turning towards the couch, he addressed both Pikachu and Vaporeon. "And you two will be just fine watching the house, right?"

"Pika, pikapi!" Pikachu confirmed.

"Vay," Vaporeon purred in agreement.

Ash grinned in response. Both Pokemon had already been fed and were perfectly content. They didn't mind staying behind in some peace and quiet.

"See?" Ash prodded his wife. "Just fine!"

"Stop saying it, you're going to jinx us," Misty groaned.

"Jinx us?" Ash repeated with a laugh. "Now how could I do that?"

XXX

"AAAAAH!"

Misty shot her husband a vicious look from the passanger seat. "Like that."

As it would turn out, Michelle had not wanted to leave her father's grasp, and as soon as she was placed in her car seat, she'd started screaming bloody murder and had yet to stop. Aiden was quietly watching her from his own seat, seemingly impressed by his sister's dedication to the tantrum.

"Michelle, I told you I can hold you again when we get out of the car!" Ash yelled over her wailing. "But I can't do that while I'm driving…"

That did nothing to placate the toddler. She continued her blubbering, and Ash just sighed and narrowed his eyes.

The couple's only saving grace was that the restaurant wasn't far from their house. Misty had chosen a place in downtown Cerulean named Kaigara that was nicer but still on the casual side. She knew it was important for the twins' sake, as well as her and Ash's sanity, to go somewhere that wasn't too stuffy and had a decent food selection for them. She and Ash liked the place themselves, which was a bonus.

Ash found a spot on the street and parked there, eager to get out and hopefully stop Michelle's bawling. He all but jumped out of the car as soon as it was parked, racing to get to the back door. He managed to do all of this before Misty had even gotten out of her seat, which she would never admit to him she was impressed by. Aiden, on the other hand, just found the whole thing funny and started to laugh as soon as his father opened up the door on Michelle's side and poked his head through.

"Alright, no more fussing," Ash sighed, unbuckling Michelle's seatbelt. "I'm here, see?"

He lifted her out of her seat and, as soon as she was in his arms, Michelle quieted down. She put her head down on Ash's shoulder, acting as if she hadn't just freaked out for the entire car ride over.

Since Ash had his hands full with Michelle, Misty took it upon herself to get Aiden out of the car. He was usually the twin who caused the most trouble, so Misty was more than happy to deal with her pleasantly peaceful son instead of her cranky daughter.

"You're being a very good boy," Misty complimented her son, tickling his chest and causing him to giggle some more. "I'm so proud of you! Are you going to keep being a good boy inside the restaurant?"

"Uh huh!" Aiden chirped, rapidly nodding his head.

"Aw," Misty crooned, hugging him tightly. "That's my little guy!"

Ash raised an eyebrow and glanced down at Michelle, who still had her head resting on his shoulder. "What about you? You gonna be a good girl, Shelly?"

Michelle fluttered her eyelashes, but otherwise said nothing.

Ash and Misty carried the twins into the restaurant, where they found Delia already waiting for them in the lobby. Her eyes lit up as soon as they entered, and she was quick to jump up as soon as they got close enough.

"Hey, Mom!" Ash greeted.

"Hello!" Delia replied. "Oh, look at my little grandbabies! They look so precious all dressed up!"

She reached for Aiden's face and kissed his cheek. The little boy had basically no reaction, because he was distracted by a nearby aquarium full of small water types.

"Po-mon!" Aiden cried, pointing at the tank.

"What?" Misty questioned, following his arm. "Oh, you see Pokémon."

"Po-mon!" Aiden repeated.

"Why don't you take Aiden to see them?" Delia suggested. "I know how much he loves his Pokémon!"

"Are you sure?" Misty asked.

"Of course!" Delia replied. "We have all of dinner to spend together. Let him have of a bit of fun!"

"Well, he has been behaving…" Misty mused before gazing down at her son. "You want to get a closer look?"

Aiden nodded his head, still pointing at the tank. As Misty carried him over, Delia approached Ash, smiling at her granddaughter. That smile disappeared, however, when she realized the little girl's face was quite red.

"Oh my, has she been crying?" Delia fussed, reaching into her bag as Ash raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Ash answered. "How could you tell?"

Delia pulled out a clean tissue, gently cleaning Michelle's eyes and nose. "Ash, I'm a mother and a grandmother. I know full well what a child who's been crying looks like!"

"I didn't cry that much," Ash scoffed.

"No, but you cried enough that I can tell," Delia challenged, bringing a blush to her son's face. "Now, what got my little sweetheart so worked up?"

"She's being really clingy with me today," Ash sighed. "It was super cute at home when she was being all snuggly and giving me tons of hugs! But when we got in the car, and she had to sit in the back away from me…it wasn't good."

"Aw, so she just wanted to be with her daddy," Delia crooned. "That's precious!"

"I guess…" Ash muttered, sounding unsure.

The group was soon being called to their table, Ash holding his breath as soon as he saw the two highchairs already set up. He had a sneaking suspicion that as soon as he put Michelle down she'd start freaking out again. Once he sat her down, however, she was instantly drawn to her paper menu and crayons. She began to scribble away, and didn't make a peep. Ash let out a sigh of relief before slinking away to his own seat.

"This place is beautiful," Delia commented as Misty sat down beside her. "I can't believe I've never been here before!"

"It's one of my favorite restaurants in Cerulean, which is saying a lot," Misty replied. "There are so many good ones, especially downtown! But I really think they have some of the best food."

"I might need a recommendation then," Delia mused. "This is quite the expansive menu!"

"They make an awesome burger," Ash commented, his eyes scanning his own menu. "The steak is really good too. Oh, and so is the seafood pasta!"

Misty smirked and leaned over. "In case it wasn't obvious, Ash likes everything here too."

Delia giggled at the comment. "Sounds like my son alright!"

"Pwetty Denny, pwetty Denny…"

The adults looked over towards the toddlers, and Misty's eyes widened almost instantly. Michelle had taken one of her crayons to Aiden's white and mint green striped polo shirt and was attempting to color in the sleeve. Aiden was watching her with a big smile on his face, excited by the prospect of being his twin's canvas.

"Uh uh, no!" Misty warned, getting up from her seat and gently guiding Michelle's hand back to the paper menu in front of her. "Michelle, do not color on your brother."

The little girl whimpered and frowned up at her mother. Misty was not deterred, however, and gave her daughter a final look of warning before heading back to her own seat.

"Michelle can never keep her crayons to herself," Ash chuckled. "The whole world might as well be a coloring book to her!"

"She's already colored all over our nice white walls," Misty sighed, shaking her head. "It took me hours to get it all off."

"It's okay, though," Ash continued, causing Misty's eye to twitch. "She just wants to be creative is all! Michelle really likes coloring. Maybe she'll even grow up and become a famous artist!"

"Maybe, but it'd be a lot better if she didn't practice on the walls," Misty groaned.

"It only happened one time," Ash calmly countered.

"Easy for you to say when you didn't have to clean it up," Misty growled.

Delia laughed nervously, sensing that the two were about to get into one of their famous dust ups. "Kids certainly can be a handful! But they're definitely worth it, I'd say."

Misty reluctantly smiled, knowing exactly what her mother-in-law was up to. "For sure. Aiden and Michelle may drive me crazy sometimes, but I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world."

And then, as if to test that declaration, Michelle burst into tears, wailing much like she had in the car on their way to the restraunt. Delia let out a soft gasp and covered her heart, while Misty frowned and got back up to return to her daughter.

"What's the matter?" Misty crooned, kneeling down beside the girl's highchair. "Are you mad at Mommy for stopping you from coloring on Aiden?"

Michelle just kept blubbering, not bothering to even shake or nod her head in response to her mother's question.

"Come on, Michelle, don't cry," Misty murmured. "There's no reason to be so upset! I'm not mad, you know. I just didn't want you to get your brother all messy! But you can color on your menu all you want!"

Still, Michelle continued to cry. Misty stood back up to her full height and crossed her arms, looking rather dejected.

"Why won't she listen to me?" Misty grumbled to herself, although Delia and Ash had both heard her. "Michelle, if you don't stop, I'm going to have to take you outside. Do you want to go outside and take a little break?"

More sobbing. With a frustrated growl, Misty lifted Michelle out of the highchair and held her in her arms, preparing to carry her out. That only riled the little girl up more. Michelle's howling increased dramatically, to the point where Misty was basically paralyzed in mortification.

"Poor thing," Delia breathed. "Maybe she's just tired. Would you like me to take her for a quick walk?"

Before Misty could reply, Ash got up and took the screeching toddler from his wife with little effort. As soon as Ash had her in his grasp, Michelle silenced herself and nestled her head against his chest.

"Seriously?" Misty deadpanned.

"I told you, she's being clingy," Ash sighed, glancing down at the now content child.

Misty groaned and pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes. "Is this phase ever going to end?"

"Hard to say, considering it only started like an hour ago," Ash mused.

Misty threw her arms down to her sides, her eyes narrowed. "I meant this whole 'terrible twos' phase."

"Oh," Ash murmured. "Well, yeah! Once they turn 3!"

The gym leader whimpered and threw her head back. "That's months from now!"

Delia smiled sympathetically and grabbed a hold of the slender leather menu that had previously been perched in the center of the table. "Would you two like me to pick out a bottle of wine?"

"Wove Daddy," Michelle mumbled, snuggling up more deeply against her flustered father.

"Please," Misty groaned.


I'm dedicating this chapter to the most fantastic news that Misty and Brock are coming to Sun and Moon in just a few weeks! I found out last night and pretty much cried over the news. This is something I've personally been waiting for FOREVER...so these 2 episodes are going to be sooo great!

Best. News. Ever.