Happy New Year's Eve! I don't have a special New Year's one shot for you guys, but I do have a wintry one, and it's been freezing here lately, so I figured this one would be a good way to end 2017!
Aiden and Michelle: 3 years old
Hot Chocolate
The twins' eyes sparkled as their grandmother walked over to them with a colorful mug in both hands.
"We have to let them sit for a little while, okay?" Delia sweetly instructed the two. "They're very hot!"
"Hot?" Aiden repeated, tilted his head.
"Yes," Delia confirmed. "See the steam coming from them?"
She pointed towards the top of one of the mugs, where visible vapor was rising into the air. Aiden and Michelle both leaned in to get a better look at the fog before nodding their heads.
"That's why they call it hot chocolate," Misty added, smiling at her mother-in-law as she placed another mug in front of her. "It wouldn't be nearly as good if it were warm or cold!"
"But you can't dwink it hot," Michelle complained.
"That's true," Misty mused. "But only when it's too hot! Like right now. It's okay to drink it once it's less hot."
Michelle furrowed her brow and grabbed her head. "Dat's ca-foosing!"
"Confusing?" Misty giggled. "Maybe just a little."
"I can't wait to see them drink hot chocolate for the first time," Delia commented, carrying her own mug over to the table. "I bet they're going to love it!"
"Anything with sugar is good by them," Misty snickered. "I'm fully expecting them to drink the whole thing and be absolutely wired for the next few hours."
"The joys of having children," Delia giggled, pulling out a chair and taking a seat at the table.
"I don't mind sugaring them up and siccing them on their father," Misty quipped, her eyes twinkling with mischievousness. "Ash needs to spend some good one-on-one time with them after an entire day at Indigo Plateau. Wait…is it one-on-one or one-on-two?"
"I believe one-on-two," Delia helpfully replied.
"Guess it doesn't matter," Misty sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "Half the time it feels more like one-on-a hundred. Two-on-fifty if Ash and I work together."
Delia giggled, but abruptly stopped when she realized her grandson was reaching out towards one of the mugs. "Aiden, sweetie, not yet! They're still too hot!"
The boy pouted in response. "Grammy, I wan- it."
"I know, baby, but I don't want you to burn yourself," Delia reasoned with the antsy preschooler. "There might be a way we can cool it down quicker, though! Do you want to try?"
Aiden rapidly nodded his head. Twittering, Delia got up from her seat and headed over to the cabinet, pulling out a bag of mini marshmallows. Both Aiden and Michelle began to clamor for them, earning a snicker from their mother.
"More sugar?" She teased.
"Might as well go all the way, right?" Delia whimsically questioned.
Misty showed off a sideways smile and shrugged her shoulders. "Go big or go home!"
Delia opened the bag and offered it to her grandchildren. "Do you two want to put your own marshmallows in?"
"Ya!" They both squealed.
"Okay, let's take turns now," Delia softly requested. "Aiden, do you want to be a little gentleman and let your sister go first?"
Aiden didn't seem thrilled, but he managed to squeak out an, "okay."
"That's so nice of you, buddy!" Misty fussed. "Michelle, what do you say to your brother?"
"-ank you," Michelle babbled, giving Aiden a quick hug.
"Aw, so sweet!" Misty chirped.
Delia handed the bag over to Michelle. "Just pull some out and put them in your mug. As many as you want!"
Michelle nodded and reached into the bag, pulling out a small fistful of mini marshmallows and dropping them in one of the mugs. "Done!"
"That's enough?" Delia asked.
"Uh huh," Michelle murmured.
"Alright," Delia laughed. "Your turn, Aiden!"
The little boy happily accepted the plastic bag from his sister and pulled out as many of the mini marshmallows as he could, tossing them in his own mug. Some of the marshmallows tumbled out onto the floor, which Vaporeon was quick to snatch up. Aiden then repeated this action again, and attempted a third time before Misty gently grabbed his wrist.
"Sweetie, let's have a little bit of hot chocolate with our marshmallows," Misty playfully requested.
"Mommy, I wike mawshmallows," Aiden informed her.
"Yeah, they're really tasty," Misty agreed. "But if you fill your mug with them, you're not going to be able to taste any of the hot chocolate! And that's really tasty too."
She managed to wrestle the bag away from her son and placed it towards the end of the table where he wouldn't be able to reach it again.
"They should be cool enough to try now," Delia murmured, touching the outside of each mug. "Yes, perfect! Now they're just warm."
"Alright, you two," Misty breathed, pulling the mugs towards the children. "Make sure you hold on with both hands, okay? And take small sips."
Aiden and Michelle excitedly grabbed onto their mugs and lifted them up towards their lips, taking a small, quick sip to follow their mother's orders. As soon as they put them down, they showed off big, goofy smiles, earning laughter from their mother and grandmother.
"What do you guys think?" Misty asked. "Yummy?"
"Ya!" They both squealed, lifting up the mugs to take another sip each.
"Oh we've created a couple of monsters," Misty sighed, smirking at her mother-in-law.
"The cutest monsters I ever have seen!" Delia exclaimed.
The front door of the house opened up, although no one inside seemed alarmed or even surprised. Ash poked his head in, and Pikachu quickly flew past his face, scurrying into the kitchen without a second thought.
"Hey there, Pikachu!" Misty greeted, holding an arm out towards the mouse. He squeaked excitedly and jumped up, making his way onto the young woman's shoulder. "Did you and Ash have a nice time?"
"Chu!" Pikachu confirmed.
"It would've been a lot better if it wasn't freezing out," Ash grumbled, yanking the scarf off from around his neck. "But Travis and Emily were nice enough to give me some extra firewood so we don't have to trek out there again any time soon."
"Ah, that was nice of them!" Delia agreed. "Of course, that doesn't surprise me. Those two are always looking out for everyone else!"
Ash nodded as he pulled off his gloves and began to unbutton his winter coat. "Hey, you guys are having hot chocolate?"
"Mmhm," Misty hummed. "Your mom made you a mug."
"Thanks, Mom!" Ash chirped, hanging up his coat before stepping into the kitchen and stopping behind the chairs of his two children. "Huh, they look like they're having a great time with theirs."
"I wasn't exactly expecting the hot chocolate experiment to bomb, but the reception has been even better than I thought it would," Misty giggled. "Those two have barely said a word since we let them take their first sips."
"I hope you guys put marshmallows in there," Ash spoke to the twins, causing them to swivel around to look at him. "That's the best part!"
"We did, Daddy," Aiden confirmed.
"Gwammy gave us!" Michelle added.
"Okay, good!" Ash pretended to breathe a sigh of relief. "I was worried."
"No wowwy!" Michelle refuted.
"I'm not now," Ash chuckled. "You guys put that to rest!"
"Aiden actually tried to dump the entire bag into his mug," Misty snickered. "I managed to stop him just in time."
"He gets that from me," Ash admitted, scratching the back of his head. "I used to do the same thing all the time as a kid. I liked to see how long it would take Mom to realize what I was up to."
Pikachu sniffed the air, getting a good whiff of all the hot chocolate around him. Squeaking excitedly, Pikachu jumped off of Misty's shoulder and onto the table, shuffling over to one of the unguarded mugs and taking a quick lap of the liquid inside.
"Pikachu!" Ash groaned.
The mouse picked his head up and twitched his ears. "Chu!"
"Aw, he wanted some too!" Misty giggled.
Ash sighed, but showed his partner a smile. "Alright, I'll share with you."
Misty smiled at the twins, who were back to quietly drinking from their own mugs. "Isn't it nice that Daddy is willing to share his with Pikachu?"
"Uh huh," Michelle squeaked once she'd swallowed her latest sip.
"Would you ever share your hot chocolate?" Misty asked.
"Nuh uh," Michelle quickly refuted.
"No, didn't think so," Misty snickered.
"I don't blame them," Ash said, taking a seat at the table and moving his mug closer to Pikachu so the mouse could take another lap at it. "I probably wouldn't share my hot chocolate either! But Pikachu is my best buddy, so I can make an exception for him."
"Pi-ka!" Pikachu squealed.
"Mowe!"
Misty blinked and glanced down at her son, who was holding his mug out towards her. "More what? Hot chocolate?"
Aiden nodded his head, and her eyes widened.
"Did you really drink that whole thing?!" Misty gasped, gently raking the mug from the young boy and peering inside. "My gods, you're like a drain."
She had muttered it, not meaning for Aiden to hear, but he must've because he started laughing wildly. Misty sighed and put the mug down on the table, offering her giggly son a sheepish smile.
"I think that's enough for one night, little guy," Misty reasoned with him. "There was a lot of sugar in there."
"I wan- mowe," Aiden whined, sinking down in his chair.
Ash raised an eyebrow and glanced at the clock that hung above the kitchen doorway. "It is getting pretty late, for those two anyway. You really thought it was a good idea to let them drink those before bed?"
"No," Misty quickly replied. "I just thought we'd deal with it when we got to it."
"And now we've gotten to it?" Ash deadpanned.
Misty took a sip of her own hot chocolate before lowering the mug. "Just about."
Aiden suddenly jumped up straight in his seat, his lips bending up into an almost twisted smile. "I wanna pway! I wanna pway!"
Before anyone could respond, Aiden jumped out of his chair and went flying out of the kitchen, practically yodeling as he bolted into the next room.
"Mmm, there's the sugar rush," Misty sighed, resting her head in her hand.
Ash's face, meanwhile, seemed to reflect a sense of disbelief. "He just went from zero to 60 in half a second."
"Yeah, our son never ceases to amaze me," Misty breathed, shaking her head as she lowered her hand. "I could write a book, I swear."
"That would make an excellent sequel to the book I could write about Ash," Delia mused, earning an unimpressed look from her son.
"You could make a ton of money off of that," Misty remarked. "I would seriously consider writing that book."
"Misty!" Ash whined.
"What?" Misty innocently replied. "I just want to see your mother make a small fortune! It was a nice comment."
"For you guys, maybe," Ash grumbled, taking a sip of his own hot chocolate.
"I'm gonna fwy!"
The three adults in the kitchen exchanged looks of concern once they heard those words come out of Aiden's mouth from the next room over.
"The worst part of them not being able to make every sound a letter should is not understanding every word they're trying to say," Misty sighed. "I have no idea if he means 'fry' or 'fly'."
"Either way, it's not good," Ash muttered.
"I'll go check on him," Delia offered. "Let's see if I can wrangle that sugared up little boy!"
"Thanks, Mom," Ash sighed tiredly, taking another sip of his hot chocolate.
Michelle, on the other hand, pushed hers away and flew out of her chair, speeding after her grandmother. "I wanna come! I pway! I pway too!"
Ash shot his wife a wide eyed stare, who shrugged in response. "Alright, so the hot chocolate was a mistake. Sue me."
"You'd better have something special up your sleeve if we're going to be up all night with these maniacs," Ash quipped, nodding towards the doorway where Aiden and Michelle's excited squeals could be heard drowning out Delia's calm pleading.
"I always have something special up my sleeve," Misty smoothly assured him. "You've just got to stay sane enough to get it."
Aiden and Michelle both shrieked simultaneously, causing Vaporeon and Pikachu to jump. Ash groaned and tilted his head back, staring up at the ceiling as Misty smirked at him.
"Arceus is testing me."
Who doesn't love some sugared up shenanigans?
I'm so happy I was able to share another year with you all! Here's to a healthy and happy New Year to everyone. See you guys in 2018!
