It's been a minute! I lost track of how long it's been since my last upload; I was so busy finishing up my semester and switching offices at my job! Very excited to be bringing you all a new one today!
Aiden and Michelle: 8 years old
Elizabeth: 2 years old
Ash Sitting
"Could you please give Elizabeth these Goldeen crackers?"
Ash blinked hard as Misty thrust a pink plastic snack cup in his face. "None for Aiden and Michelle?"
"They didn't ask," Misty puffed. "Well, technically, Elizabeth didn't either. She demanded. Then I reminded her we ask nicely for things…and she demanded again."
Ash chuckled and took the cup from his wife. "Sure, no problem! I think I'll pour some for the twins too, just in case. And maybe also me."
Misty smirked and shook her head; a rare reprieve from her mounting stress.
Being married to Misty gave Ash the opportunity to better expect and understand her various moods. Today, he knew she was tense because the Pokémon Inspection Agency was coming to check in on the gym. He hated to see her worked up, but was also relieved it had nothing to do with him.
"Are you sure you don't want me to call your mother, or mine?" Misty asked nervously, turning towards Ash. He had busied himself with pouring more Goldeen crackers into an additional three snacks cups, but stopped and raised an eyebrow when Misty posed the questions. "Or even my sisters! I know they can drive you crazy, but-"
"Mist, I'm more than capable of watching after our kids," Ash scoffed, returning to his current task. "I don't need an extra babysitter."
"It's not that I don't think you're capable," Misty calmly defended herself. "It's just with Elizabeth being a two year old and the twins being, well, the twins…the three of them all together with only one adult can be trying. Even I want to pull my hair out with all of them sometimes."
"I will have them under control," Ash promised. "And if things start to get too crazy, I can just turn to Michelle and plead with her. She's more like a small adult than a kid most of the time, anyway."
Misty groaned and furrowed her brow. "I guess…"
"You're already worried enough about the gym," Ash continued, gathering the now full cups in his arms. "You don't need to add me and the kids on top of that. Just head over there and don't think about anything that's going on over here."
"Easier said than done," Misty challenged.
"Fair point, but you've gotta try!" Ash pressed. "So go. And don't think I won't know if you start thinking about us! I'll be able to sense it."
Misty scoffed. "Sense it? Really?"
Ash nodded his head. "Our connective powers are quite alarming, really."
"I'm sure," Misty purred as she playfully rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll do my best."
"That's the spirit!" Ash cheered.
She quickly kissed him on the cheek before heading out the front door, officially leaving Ash alone in the kitchen. Grinning to himself, he walked out through the foyer and into the living room, where the three aforementioned children were all gathered. Elizabeth had been hanging over the side of the couch, but as soon as she saw her father, her eyes sparked to life and she jumped up.
"Aw, you're happy to see me, Lizzie?" Ash cooed.
The toddler eagerly pointed to the cups in his arms. "Go-deen cwackews!"
Ash faltered as he remembered what his daughter had really wanted. "Oh, right…"
She slid off the couch and ran up to him, desperately reaching up for her snack. Ash knelt down, and as expected, Elizabeth grabbed the pink cup and scurried back off with it.
"You brought all of those for Lizzie?" Aiden asked incredulously, having finally looked away from the TV.
"No, I also brought some for you, me, and Michelle!" Ash replied cheerfully.
Michelle beamed and abandoned her book to instead take one of the extra three cups from her father. "Thanks, Daddy!"
"Goldeen crackers?" Aiden scoffed.
"What, you're too cool for them?" Ash teased.
Aiden blushed a bit before begrudgingly admitting, "No, I love those." He too got to his feet and took his own cup, carrying it back over to the TV.
"So Mom's at the gym for most of the day," Ash reminded his children. "The inspection is today, and-"
"Oh, is that why she was so testy this morning?" Michelle asked before tossing one of the cheddar crackers into her mouth.
"Um…yeah," Ash replied, blinking.
"I almost thought she was gonna throw a chair at the wall," Aiden chimed in. "That would've been really cool!"
"No, don't give her any ideas," Ash groaned, sinking down on the floor next to his son. "When your mother is that stressed out, anything is possible."
Michelle contemplated it for a moment before responding, "I believe it."
"Anyway, while she's out, it's just you guys and me," Ash continued. "Maybe we could do something fun together!"
"You know what's fun?" Aiden asked before pointing at the TV.
Ash blinked and looked towards the screen. "The Starmies game from last night?"
"Yeah, because it was so thrilling the first time around," Michelle droned, rolling her eyes.
"Uh, it actually was," Aiden growled back. "It was a super exciting game! They hit four different home runs!"
"Doesn't mean you need to watch the whole thing all over again," Michelle nearly snapped.
Ash laughed nervously, hoping to diffuse the situation. It seemed to do the trick, for now. "Well, we can do something other than watch TV!"
"Like what?" Michelle asked, although she sounded rather disinterested. She had already returned to reading her book, lazily picking Goldeen crackers out of the cup she'd perched on the armrest next to her.
"Uh…well…"
Aiden allowed his eyes to trail from the TV screen back to his father as he struggled to come up with something. Elizabeth, who had been watching quietly the whole time after getting back up on the couch with her crackers, slid down once more and flitted over to Ash.
"Daddy?" Elizabeth squeaked, catching his attention.
Ash looked over at the toddler and smiled. "What's up, baby girl?"
The toddler dramatically threw herself down on his lap, alarming him. "Bowed."
"Oh, you're bored," Ash sighed. "I'm trying to think of something fun to do, sweetie!" Suddenly, he perked up, and a smile quickly followed. "I know! Why don't we go for a nice walk?"
"A walk?" Aiden repeated, frowning. "That sounds really boring if we're not actually going to do anything."
Ash was surprised. "You used to love going for walks!"
"Yeah, when I was a kid," Aiden calmly argued.
"You're still a kid," Michelle scoffed. "You might actually be an even bigger kid now."
Aiden's face started to burn red, and Ash knew the two were about to start some kind of fight. "Alright! Come on, let's head out! Maybe we'll find somewhere fun to go, Aiden. Like…oh! I know! How about the bakery downtown? We could pick up some cookies for later! I bet that'd make Mom really happy, too!"
Although he still seemed annoyed by his sister's comment, Aiden managed to settle down and mutter, "Yeah, that's fine."
"Great!" Ash practically heaved a breath of relief. He picked Elizabeth up in his arms and got to his feet, motioning with his head for Aiden and Michelle to follow him. Aiden and Michelle exchanged looks, unsure of what was about to transpire from this little excursion (things hardly ever went as planned when their father was in charge). Regardless, Aiden reluctantly turned off the TV, and Michelle mournfully put her book down before getting up themselves and trailing behind their father.
He was already at the front door, putting sneakers on Elizabeth. Pikachu, who had been napping somewhere upstairs, came running down as soon as he heard Ash pick up Elizabeth's shoes. He may have enjoyed his naps, but he would never turn down the chance to spend time outdoors.
"Do you want me to go get Lizzie's stroller?" Michelle asked.
Ash looked over his shoulder before shrugging. "Nah, we don't need it."
Michelle pursed her lips. "Uh…are you sure?"
"Yeah!" Ash replied cheerfully. "She doesn't really like sitting in it anyway. I'm sure she'll be happy to walk with all of us!"
Michelle was not convinced, but knew it wasn't worth it to keep trying to convince him. She had learned from her eight years of life that not only was her father a bit unorganized and unpredictable…he was also pretty stubborn.
Once everyone's shoes were on, Ash held his arm out towards his partner. "Pikachu, let's go!"
The mouse squeaked excitedly and ran up his trainer's arm, perching himself on the man's shoulder. With everyone finally ready to go, Ash opened up the front door and freed them to the outdoors, ready for what he believed would be a fun, low key little adventure together.
XXX
"Daddy, I'm tiwed…"
Ash glanced down at Elizabeth, who was starting to drag her feet.
"Lizzie, we're only halfway there," Ash reasoned with the girl. "I know you've got more energy than that!"
Apparently disagreeing, Elizabeth whined and sunk to the ground. Ash stopped, but Aiden and Michelle kept going, only halting when they realized their father and sister weren't following after them.
"Seriously?" Aiden groaned, shooting his younger sister an unimpressed look.
"Tiwed…" Elizabeth grumbled.
Michelle, on the other hand, was less impressed with her father than Elizabeth. "I told you we were gonna need her stroller!"
Ash rubbed the back of his neck. "I thought she hated that thing!"
"She does, but she always wears out eventually," Michelle sighed, shaking her head. "I tried to warn you!"
Elizabeth frowned and threw herself down on her back, sprawling out on the ground. Pikachu's brow furrowed in concern as he watched the child, muttering a soft, "chu…"
Ash sighed and knelt down beside Elizabeth. "Kiddo, are you really not gonna walk anymore?"
Elizabeth shook her head, not moving from her spot. Knowing he wasn't going to convince her otherwise, Ash reached down and lifted the toddler into his arms, standing back up.
"Guess this is how we're gonna head to the bakery then," Ash muttered.
Michelle kept a smug look on her face, while Aiden shrugged and kept on going. Now that she was being carried, Elizabeth was in a much better mood, smiling and reaching over to pet Pikachu.
The second half of the walk felt much longer…for Ash at least. Elizabeth certainly wasn't heavy (she was only two years old, and smaller than most kids her age), but it still wasn't a walk in the park to carry a toddler for that long. His arms were starting to get stiff!
I'm actually kind of jealous of Aiden and Michelle…they don't have to lug a little girl around.
Ash's face suddenly lit up with realization. "Hey, guys! What if-"
"Daddy, if you suggest that Aiden and I take turns holding Lizzie, you're crazy," Michelle cut him off, throwing the man an exasperated look over her shoulder.
Ash frowned, while Aiden started to laugh wildly. "Wow, Michelle totally called that!"
Elizabeth started to giggle as well (she didn't understand what was being said…she just enjoyed copying Aiden) while Ash rolled his eyes. "Right. Let's just get to the bakery."
Fortunately for him and his aching arms, it didn't take much longer to reach downtown Cerulean. The twins had committed to memory where the bakery was, and were able to head in that direction without any prodding from their father. Which was a good thing…Ash's sense of direction still wasn't the best, even after living in Cerulean for the past eight years.
The family soon arrived at a quaint storefront with large glass windows and a pastel blue and white striped awning.
"We made it!" Aiden cheered. "I hope they have my favorite cookies."
"Which ones are your favorites?" Ash asked.
"The ones with the jelly on the inside," Aiden replied. Ash was about to respond, but Aiden cut him off and continued, "and chocolate chip, and the ones with the sprinkles on 'em, and the frosted ones, and-"
"Okay, so you like all of the cookies," Ash chuckled.
"Well, yeah!" Aiden chirped.
Ash smirked and pushed the door open with his free hand, the sound of a ringing bell hitting his ears. "Alright, get inside you crazy kids."
Aiden and Michelle both started to giggle as they scurried into the doorway. Ash followed behind, looking around the familiar store. Behind the counter, he instantly recognized one of the women who worked there and grinned at her.
"Hey, Dulcie!" Ash greeted kindly.
"Good afternoon, Ash!" Dulcie returned. She was on the younger side, and like many of the younger people around the city, had been flustered the first time she'd met Ash. She'd hastily called him by his proper title, which in turn had flustered Ash, and surprised Dulcie. It was then that she'd learned just how down-to-Earth he was, and by his request, had called him informally by his first name ever since.
"Hi, Dulcie!" Aiden added, beaming at the young woman.
"Hi, Aiden," Dulcie giggled, smiling at the boy. "What brings you here today?"
"We want to get cookies to bring home for our mom," Aiden replied. "She's really mad cause she's got a gym inspection today, so we want to do something nice for her!"
"Isn't that sweet?" Dulcie cooed.
"Ooh, look at these!" Michelle squealed from the other end of the display case. "These cookies look like different water type Pokémon! Mommy would love these!"
"Let me see!" Aiden cried, running over to his sister.
"Me see!" Elizabeth chimed in.
Ash sighed, bending down to place Elizabeth on the floor. "I know, you have to do everything the big kids do."
Elizabeth toddled over to her older siblings, squeezing between them to look into the display case. "Wuvies!"
"Aw, Elizabeth loves the cookies too?" Dulcie asked.
"Nah, that's how she says Luvdisc!" Aiden refuted, pointing at one of the cookies in the water type's likeness.
"I think she does love the cookies though, too," Michelle giggled. "Isn't that right, Lizzie?"
"Ya!"
"Daddy, could we get these for Mommy?" Michelle asked, pointing at the shaped cookies.
Ash chuckled and nodded his head. "Yeah, we can get some of those!"
"And the ones with the jelly in the middle, too?" Aiden prodded.
"Sure, those too!"
"Ooh, what about these cupcakes?!" Michelle squealed, turning towards the side display case. "They have glitter on them!"
Ash started to laugh nervously. "You guys are giving Mommy a run for my money."
Michelle looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Don't you mean her money?"
"No, I mean mine," Ash confirmed.
"I can start boxing those cookies up for you," Dulcie offered. "How many of each would you like?"
"All of them!" Aiden cheered.
"Uh, no, nice try," Ash scoffed. "We'll start with five of each."
"What?! No!" Michelle cried. "That's not enough!"
"How is that not enough?" Ash groaned. "There are five of us!"
"You're not including the Pokémon," Michelle accused, pointing at Pikachu.
The electric mouse suddenly looked offended, causing Ash's face to turn red. "W-well, we can't feed all of the Pokémon cookies, Shelly! There's way too many of them…I'll run out of money and clean Dulcie out of all her merchandise."
"It's okay cause we're being nice to the Pokémon," Aiden calmly argued.
"Ya, nice!" Elizabeth chirped, finally prying herself away from the display case.
Ash huffed and shook his head. "No, we're not going to feed all of the Pokémon cookies. We'll get two extra cookies so we can share with Pikachu and Vaporeon, and another day we'll go to the gym and the lab and give all the other Pokémon different treats. How does that sound?"
All three kids appeared to be thinking over the proposition, causing Ash to groan once more and hang his head.
"Okay, that's fair," Michelle finally decided, nodding her head.
"Thank you," Ash sighed. "So then…seven of each of those cookies."
"Seven it is!" Dulcie called back, turning to retrieve a box to put them in.
Once the cookies were all packaged up and paid for, Ash, Pikachu, and the kids bid Dulcie farewell and walked out the door.
"Mommy's gonna be so surprised!" Michelle giggled.
"I bet she's really gonna like them!" Aiden agreed.
"Hopefully it'll put her in a good mood," Ash murmured. "Those inspections are no joke."
"Daddy, if you're the Pokémon Master, how come you can't have those people go easier on Mommy?" Michelle asked.
Suddenly, Ash was flustered, much to the confusion of the children.
"Michelle's right," Aiden commented. "Couldn't you just tell them to pass her all the time?"
"I could, but that wouldn't be right," Ash replied, scratching his cheek. "It's basically like cheating. None of the other gym leaders have an opportunity like that, so it wouldn't be fair of me to make exceptions just for Mommy. Besides, she wouldn't like that anyway. Getting special treatment because of me tends to make her really uncomfortable. I think you two are getting old enough to understand how that feels, right?"
Aiden and Michelle exchanged looks before nodding their heads.
"Yeah, I don't like it when people want to be friends with me just cause you're my dad," Aiden confirmed.
"Or when they think we can give them stuff just cause you're our dad," Michelle added.
Ash smiled, relieved the twins understood. "Right! It's the same thing with Mommy. Giving her a free pass on inspections would probably make her life a lot easier, and she'd be way less stressed, but she and I both know it's wrong."
"I don't think Lizzie gets any of that yet," Michelle murmured.
"I don't think Lizzie realizes any of it yet," Ash chuckled. "You guys didn't when you were her age. She will eventually, just like you two. But for now, I really like it that way! It's nice to be around someone who doesn't care that you're famous."
"Up!"
Ash blinked and looked down, realizing that Elizabeth was at his feet and reaching up towards him.
"Wait, Lizzie, we just took a nice long break in the bakery!" Ash cried. "Don't you have enough energy now to walk?"
Elizabeth pouted and shook her head. "Up!"
Michelle tried to stifle a laugh, but failed. Ash shot her a look, which worked only slightly in getting her to settle. Sighing, Ash held the box of cookies out towards her and relented, "well, if I'm gonna have to carry your sister all the way home, the least you could do is carry this for me."
Michelle smirked and took the box. "Sure, I'll do it. Just cause I feel really bad you didn't listen to me!"
XXX
One would've thought the migraine that was brewing inside of Misty's head would only flourish when she walked into her house full of shrieking kids, Pokémon, and Ash.
Instead, it all made the pain go away.
She peered into the living room, the smile on her face growing as she watched Aiden, Michelle, Elizabeth, and Ash huddle around a board game, chattering excitedly amongst themselves as they played.
As soon as Elizabeth picked her head up and saw her mother, however, all of the toddler's interest in the game went away. She jumped to her feet and trampled on top of the board to get to her, much to the ire of everyone else.
"Mommy!" Elizabeth squealed, holding her arms up towards Misty, who giggled and bent down to pick the child up.
"Hello baby," Misty cooed. "I'm so happy to see you!"
"What about us?!" Aiden cried, jumping to his feet.
"Of course I'm happy to see all of you!" Misty laughed. "I would've much rather spent my day having fun with you guys instead of being at the gym with a stingy inspector. What did you all do today?"
"Ooh, Daddy, can I tell her?" Michelle pleaded, batting her eyelashes at her father.
"Yeah, sure," Ash chuckled.
"We walked all the way downtown and bought cookies to share!" Michelle announced.
"You did?" Misty gasped.
"Yeah huh!" Michelle giggled. "We thought it'd make you feel better after the inspection!"
"Just being with you guys makes me feel a whole lot better," Misty sighed happily. "The cookies are definitely a bonus, though. Thank you!"
"Why don't you guys get the box and we can each have one?" Ash suggested, much to the children's delight.
"Ash, before dinner?" Misty groaned.
"It'll be fine!" Ash assured her.
Aiden and Michelle both started laughing and ran past their mother, into the kitchen. Elizabeth whined and tugged at her mother's shoulder; wanting to be put down. Misty smirked and placed the toddler on the floor, watching as she scurried after her older siblings. Once all of the kids were gone, Misty turned her focus onto Ash.
"Who's idea was it to go all the way downtown to get cookies?" She asked teasingly.
"Mine," Ash replied effortlessly.
"Any special reason?" She prodded, walking over and taking a seat next to him on the floor. Pikachu, who was ecstatic to see her, hopped into the woman's lap, earning a giggle from her as she scratched behind his ears.
"Yeah, to make you happy!" Ash cried.
"You knew I'd be happy just coming home," Misty snickered. "And you could've just gone to the supermarket down the street to get cookies."
"Yeah, but not cookies as good as the bakery makes," Ash scoffed.
Misty's smirk widened. "Ash."
He sighed, knowing Misty was seeing right through him. "The kids were all bored and Aiden and Michelle were about to go at it, so I needed to do something to distract them. I did also think the cookies would cheer you up, though."
Misty giggled. "Well, that was very sweet of you guys. So thank you."
She leaned over and kissed Ash on the cheek, earning a slightly embarrassed squeak from Pikachu. As she pulled away, Misty laughed and started scratching the mouse's head again, teasing, "Hey, you should be used to that by now!"
Ash chuckled and placed his hand on Misty's knee.
"So Aiden and Michelle didn't try to kill one another?" She asked him, sounding highly impressed.
"Not while we were out," Ash grumbled. "Michelle just teased me a lot."
"Teased you?" Misty repeated, amusement in her voice. "For what?"
"She said we should've brought Lizzie's stroller with us and I said we didn't need it," Ash sighed.
"So…you didn't take it?" Misty prodded.
"Nope."
"And let me guess…Lizzie got tired of walking pretty quickly? And you had to carry her the whole way?"
"Yep."
Misty started to laugh heartily, much to Ash's dismay. "You know, when I said Michelle was like a small adult, I didn't really mean a small version of you."
"I know, but she is," Misty murmured. "And I'm not going to lie – I love it!"
"I know you do," Ash chuckled. "I can't say I totally hate it. It's like I always have some of you with me, even if you're somewhere else!"
"Aiden, stop! You're gonna drop the cookies everywhere!"
"No I'm not! Quit being such a baby!"
"I'm not being a baby! You're being careless!"
"No I'm not!"
"Yes you are!"
Misty sighed and hung her head. "Okay, this is the part I don't love."
She handed Pikachu over to Ash, both of them watching as Misty got to her feet.
"Uh…you want me to break them up for you?" Ash asked timidly.
"No, I've got it," Misty grumbled. "Surprisingly enough, this is still easier than dealing with the Pokémon Inspection Agency…"
