It's been a while, eh? I've been so swamped with work and school...bleh. I decided I needed a break, though, and gave myself the time to proofread this one I've had saved up!
Aiden and Michelle: 3 years old
Tempered Tantrums
Anyone who knew Ash Ketchum would tell you he was one of the easiest going, happiest guys they'd ever met. It took a lot to test him, as he usually just went with the flow, all with a smile on his face; no matter the challenge at hand.
His children, however, were proving to be pretty good at breaking all of that down…at least recently.
It's not like they'd never had tantrums before, but as soon as Aiden and Michelle hit the age of three, it felt like constant meltdowns…and generally, they were over very minor things. Aiden was told he couldn't have a cookie? Tantrum. Michelle being asked to put a toy away? Tantrum. Trying to get both kids into the tub? You guessed it; tantrums. And sharing with one another? That was a huge issue and had become the number one trigger for big tantrums.
Misty had reached her wit's end long before Ash did. She had figured out pretty early on that if the twins were going to act like that, she would just walk away and let them throw a fit until they wore themselves out. Ash, however, was more sympathetic to the children's plight and frequently tried to talk them down whenever they threw one of their tantrums.
"Why do you waste your time?" Misty asked Ash over Michelle's latest breakdown; this one because one of her crayons had broken. "You know there's no getting through to them when they're like this."
"I might as well try," Ash pressed, looking over his shoulder. He was kneeling down by Michelle, where he'd been trying to coax her back into calmness. "Maybe it'll work this time!"
"You always say that," Misty grumbled, resting her head in her hand. "Seriously, come here. She'll tire herself out."
Ash took one last look at the miserable toddler before sighing and approaching his wife, sitting down beside her on the couch. She too was watching Michelle, her eyes tired and her arms crossed against her chest.
"These freak outs may never end," Misty sighed miserably.
Ash shot her an incredulous look. "Come on; they'll have to grow out of it eventually! They're not gonna be 10 years old and throwing tantrums."
"I sure hope not," Misty muttered, shaking her head. "I guess it's just hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel right now. We're constantly walking on eggshells around these two; we don't know what's going to set them off. It's exhausting."
Michelle suddenly sat up, looking straight at her parents. Her face was red and streaked with tears, but she looked tired, and it seemed that she was finally done carrying on for the time being.
"Are you ready to take a nap?" Misty patiently asked. The little girl nodded and rubbed at one of her eyes before reaching out towards her mother. With a weary breath, Misty got up from the couch and lifted her daughter into her arms. "Mommy is too…"
Ash smiled at the sleepy Michelle before Misty carried her up the stairs, presumably to her bedroom where she'd be laid down for a much needed nap. It didn't take long for Misty to return to the living room, somehow looking even more worn than she had five minutes ago. Groaning, she threw herself down on the couch, resting her head on Ash's lap.
"I'm tired," Misty whined with a muffled voice, sounding scarily identical to her and Ash's two young children.
Ash chuckled and rested a hand on her back. "So why don't you take a nap, too?"
Misty slowly turned her head to frown at her husband. "I haven't gotten a decent night's sleep in three years, let alone taken a nap."
"Yes you have," Ash scoffed playfully.
Misty narrowed her eyes at the challenge. "My life hasn't been in my own control since you put those kids in me."
Ash smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "But you're not actually mad about it, right?"
The gym leader sighed and relented, "no. I love them way too much."
"Thought so," Ash boasted, puffing his chest out. He was always pleased when he was right; it seemed to be a rare occurrence when Misty was involved, although he'd gotten much better at it over the years.
"I just wish they'd stop with the tantrums," Misty complained, putting her head back down.
"They will eventually," Ash reiterated.
"I also wish you'd stop trying to talk sense into them," Misty added.
Ash sighed. He knew this would come back up. "I just feel like if I get on their level and explain to them that what they're upset about isn't such a big deal, they may understand and calm down a lot quicker."
"It's a logical thought," Misty agreed. "But, unfortunately for us, three year olds aren't logical. In fact, they're pretty much the exact opposite. I don't want you to get frustrated trying to chill them out."
Confused by this, Ash replied, "You get frustrated with it all the time."
"Which is why I walk away," Misty was quick to remind him. "It's not worth getting stressed out about. That's what I'm trying to have you avoid."
Ash thought about it for a moment as he threaded Misty's hair through his fingers. Finally, he determined, "I won't get stressed out."
Misty was not convinced, but she chose not to broach the subject any further. "Hey, I'll take a nap if you take one with me."
If she had looked up again, she would've seen a near foolish grin appear on Ash's face. "You've got yourself a deal!"
XXX
The gym was unusually busy the next day.
It wasn't abnormal for Misty to have challengers, or even multiple challengers in one day, but this particular day seemed to be pretty extreme. There was one challenger after another, and they just kept on coming.
So Ash's day off, which he had been hoping to parlay into time with his family, had turned into him watching his moody three year old twins alone. He figured if he could keep things light, and not get the twins overly worked up, they wouldn't have any tantrums and the day would go smoothly.
That lasted for all of about 15 minutes.
He had decided to play with blocks with Aiden and Michelle, figuring it was a pretty calm activity that they could all do together. Even Pikachu was able to join in on the fun! Michelle had built herself a "pwetty castle" from the colorful wooden bricks that she was quite proud of. As Ash complimented her on it, however, Aiden reached out and knocked the tower down. Immediately, Michelle burst into tears, while Aiden just looked bewildered.
"Aiden!" Ash scolded. "That wasn't nice! Apologize to your sister."
Instead of doing what Ash had instructed, Aiden started wailing as well.
"Pi…" Pikachu whined, glancing sadly at the toddlers.
"Hey, stop crying," Ash gently ordered his son. "I didn't even yell at you! I just want you to say sorry to Michelle for knocking her blocks over!"
Aiden only cried louder. Michelle, who was still sobbing as well, leaned over towards Aiden and smacked his arm. Somehow, the little boy managed to amp the volume up even more.
"Michelle!" Ash gasped. "No hitting!"
The little girl continued to cry, throwing herself down on the floor and kicking her legs.
"You both need to say sorry to each other!" Ash growled over both of their sobs. "Don't make me count to three!"
Both kids continued crying, not even attempting to speak to one another. His frustration starting to build, Ash crossed his arms and declared, "If you guys can't settle down and apologize, you're both getting a time out."
That threat did nothing to the twins. They were too far gone in their own misery to even hear it. Clenching his teeth, Ash got to his feet and picked the two up, carrying them into the kitchen as they both continued to carry on. He placed Aiden in one chair and Michelle in another, turning them away from each other. They were still throwing their tantrums, but Ash was too worn down to care. He trudged back into the living room, leaving the screaming twins behind, and sunk down onto the couch, burying his face in his hands.
"Pikapi," Pikachu murmured softly, scurrying over to join his trainer on the sofa.
"Misty's right," Ash groaned, slowly lowering his hands. "There's no talking to them."
"Pi ka."
Ash sighed and glanced towards the kitchen. Aiden and Michelle were still screaming and crying. Part of him was tempted to go back in and try to rein them in again, but he knew it wouldn't do him any good. If anything, it'd probably only make him feel worse.
"Well, they can't keep screaming forever," Ash huffed, picking up the remote. "Might as well try and pass the time until they settle down."
He started flipping through the channels, trying to find something to watch. Pikachu had sprawled himself across his trainer's lap, keeping his own eyes on the screen as well. There didn't seem to be much on, however, and Ash was quickly beginning to lose interest in it. Fortunately, just as he turned the TV off, Aiden and Michelle came slinking back into the living room, both of them finally having calmed down. Ash turned his head towards the two and raised his eyebrows.
"Are we done being naughty?" Ash asked patiently. Aiden and Michelle both nodded. "Good! You guys want to play something else?"
"Ya!" Aiden squeaked, causing Ash to chuckle.
"Alright," he replied, getting to his feet as Pikachu jumped to the floor. "Hey, I have an idea! Daddy needs to groom his Pokémon. Would you two like to help me?"
They both grinned and nodded, this time more vigorously than before. Aiden and Michelle were starting to get really into Pokémon, and they always wanted to help out with them. Things like feeding and grooming were easy enough for a couple of toddlers, so Ash and Misty always tried to get them involved with those tasks.
"Kay, let's go!" Ash cheered, waving the twins back towards the kitchen. "Follow Daddy!"
Michelle hopped alongside him, excitedly babbling, "bwush the Po-mon! Bwush the Po-mon!"
"Yeah, you're gonna brush the Pokémon," Ash replied, opening up the backdoor. Aiden, Michelle, and Pikachu ran past him into the backyard, leaving Ash to close the door behind him.
"Daddy, Po-mon!" Aiden cried, reaching his hand up.
"I've gotta let them out first," Ash said, taking his poke balls off his belt. "You wanna see who Daddy has today?"
Aiden beamed and nodded his head.
Tossing the spheres in the air, Ash released Donphan, Noivern, Buizel, Hawlucha, and Staraptor. Pikachu ran over to the other Pokémon, jovially greeting them and earning an equally pleasant response from the group.
"We're going to give everyone a bath," Ash informed the twins. "Then we can dry them off and brush them!"
"Bwush!" Michelle repeated.
"Yep," Ash chuckled. "So, who should we start with?"
"Beezel!" Michelle shouted, pointing at the sea weasel Pokémon.
"Buizel?" Ash asked, earning a nod from Michelle. "Okay then! You're up first, Buizel!"
"Bui bui!"
It was a good choice by Michelle. Since Buizel was a water type, he didn't mind being bathed. Ash would've liked to think Michelle knew that by virtue of spending so much time with her mother, but Ash knew it was likely because Michelle really liked Buizel. She thought he was cute and cuddly, and even though Buizel wasn't always in the mood to be fussed over, he generally sucked it up and let Michelle do just that.
Ash went to retrieve the hose, turning on the nozzle as he dragged the rubber hose towards his patiently waiting water type. Pikachu had already fetched a bucket to fill up, and Aiden was holding a bottle of shampoo in his hands.
"Aiden, you want to pour some of that soap in the bucket?" Ash asked.
Aiden nodded and tilted the bottle over so he could squeeze it in. Michelle, however, started to fuss and reach over for the bottle, wanting to pour it in as well.
"No!" Aiden whined, moving it away from her.
"Mine!" Michelle cried, running to Aiden's other side to try and get a better grab at the bottle.
Ash groaned internally. "Guys, don't fight! I can give you something to do too, Michelle."
He held a sponge out towards the girl. Fortunately, she was interested enough in it that she gave up on trying to snatch the bottle from her brother's hands and gravitated towards the sponge instead.
"You're gonna put this in the bucket and then use it to wash Buizel, kay?" Ash asked. Michelle nodded and took the sponge from him, doing exactly as he'd requested. "Here, Aiden! I have one for you too!"
He gave Aiden the second sponge, and the boy followed his sister's lead. Michelle, however was displeased with sharing the responsibility of washing Buizel. She wanted to do it on her own.
"No!" Michelle whined, holding a hand out towards Aiden. "I do it!"
"You guys can both do it," Ash informed his daughter. "It'll go faster that way!"
"Nooo," Michelle cried. Reaching over, she grabbed Aiden's sponge and tried to rip it from his grasp. Aiden started to protest loudly, trying to pull the sponge back towards him. Buizel watched the twins nervously, trying to back away from the quickly erupting fight.
"Michelle, stop it!" Ash warned. "Leave your brother alone!"
She finally succeeded in taking Aiden's sponge, falling down as she did so. Aiden started crying, because his sponge had been ripped away, and Michelle started crying, because she'd hit the ground. Buizel's mouth hung open, and the other Pokémon also seemed bewildered by what was unfolding before them. All except for Pikachu, of course, who was used to this kind of occurrence and simply sighed.
"You two are out of control today," Ash grumbled. He put the hose down and got up to lift Michelle back to her feet, taking Aiden's sponge from her and giving it back to the boy. Aiden stopped crying once he had it back, but Michelle only started to cry more. "Michelle, you're going to get another timeout. Is that what you want?"
The little girl shrieked and began stomping her feet. Growling, Ash picked Michelle up and carried her over to one of the patio chairs, sitting her down on it as she continued to scream and cry. "You can stay right here until you decide to relax and apologize to Aiden."
He walked away from his daughter, who was valiantly continuing her tantrum, and resisted the urge to start screaming himself.
XXX
"Ash, I'm ba-what happened to you?"
Misty had been met with the sight of her husband, who was back on the couch but looking far more disheveled than when he'd been sitting there before. His hair was a mess (even more so than usual) and he looked totally worn down.
"Aiden and Michelle have been fighting and having tantrums all day," Ash replied statically, still staring at the wall across from him. "I lost track of how many time outs I put them in."
Misty was about to say something, but suddenly changed course when she asked, "wait, you actually put them in time out?"
Ash nodded.
"Wow, they must've been really bad," Misty remarked, sounding almost impressed.
"It made me realize why you gave up on ever trying to talk them down," Ash sighed.
"Mmm," Misty intoned and walked over to sit beside him. "It's a lot. I know."
"You may be right," Ash continued, resting his head in his hand. "They might never stop."
"Oh, don't listen to me," Misty scoffed, waving a hand at him. "I was just being a little dramatic yesterday. You should know to tune me out when I get frustrated like that!"
"But then I'd never be able to talk you down," Ash gently challenged.
Misty thought about it for a moment before tilting her head. "Good point."
Ash smirked. Giggling softly, Misty leaned back and wrapped her arms around herself.
"They'll stop eventually," Misty declared. "It'll just take some time. We can definitely work on the sharing thing. I've already started looking up methods for that, and I think I've found some that might help us. And they'll figure out sooner or later that not everything warrants a meltdown."
Although Ash still wasn't convinced, he nodded his head in order to move on from the subject. Misty seemed to sense that, so she just smiled and decided to start a different conversation.
"Where are they now?" She asked conversationally.
"Upstairs, taking their naps," Ash replied.
"The one upside about those tantrums is that they really wear those kids out," Misty murmured. "At least that gives me time to relax a bit before I start making dinner."
Ash remained silent for a short moment before asking, "You want to take a nap with me?"
Misty looked up at Ash and smirked. As soon as she did, he did as well.
"You've got yourself a deal!"
