Happy Father's Day! I've been working on quite a few one shots that really highlight Dad!Ash (because he's just my favorite thing in the world to write, really), and was going to post one of those today, but I always like to write up stories featuring the actual holiday...

So it's actually better; just more stories to share!

Aiden and Michelle: 6 and a half years old

Elizabeth: 10 months old


Father's Day On

When Misty woke up, she was surprised to find both Ash and Pikachu missing from the bed.

Maybe they went out for a run, Misty thought to herself. She then reminded herself that waking up early was not Ash's forte, particularly on the weekends. And on this weekend in particular, it was even stranger.

Twisting her mouth, Misty slipped out of bed and exited the bedroom, striding down the hallway and quietly popping her head into each of her children's rooms. Aiden and Michelle were still fast asleep in their own beds, but when Misty reached Elizabeth's room and looked inside, she found the white crib against the far wall was vacant.

Her heart instantly sped up as a reflex. In reality, Misty had an idea of what was going on, but her nerves had a habit of flaring up regardless thanks to all of their run-ins with Team Rocket and other ill meaning people. Groaning softly, Misty spun around on her heel and swiftly left the nursery, moving quickly towards the staircase and descending its steps with just as much fervor. Much to her relief, all it took was reaching the final step to see that her initial assumption was correct, and all was well in the Ketchum residence.

Ash was sprawled out on the couch, his left arm folded behind his head as he stared intently at the television across the room. His right arm was braced around baby Elizabeth, who was curled up in a deep sleep on his chest. Pikachu, meanwhile, was snuggled up against his left side, his own eyes closed and ears bobbed down.

"There you are," Misty sighed softly, tearing Ash's attention away from the screen.

"Morning, Mist," Ash greeted quietly, sounding a bit tired but also not wanting to disturb their slumbering daughter. "Where else would I be?"

"When I saw you weren't in bed, I thought you might've gone for a run," Misty replied. "But then I found Elizabeth's crib empty, and I had a feeling I'd find you three down here."

"Sorry to scare you," Ash apologized, a small smile accompanying his apology.

"I wasn't scared," Misty quickly refuted, folding her arms.

"Okay," Ash chuckled, turning his gaze onto Elizabeth as his smile widened.

Misty huffed at Ash's jibe, but quickly released her exacerbation. "You don't have to wake up so early on Father's Day, you know. It's kind of the perfect excuse to sleep in."

"Nah, it's fine," Ash countered, shaking his head. "Lizzie was crying, so I figured she was probably just lonely. Besides, spending time with the kids is all I really want to do for Father's Day!"

"Wait, she was crying?" Misty repeated, furrowing her brow. "How come I didn't hear her?"

"It was really quiet," Ash explained. "More like whimpering, I guess. I only heard it because I was half awake at that point."

"You could've woken me up," Misty sighed.

"I didn't want to disturb you," Ash murmured. "It was easy enough for me to get up and check on her. But when I did that, it woke Pikachu up, so he decided to tag along. As you can see, he was still pretty tired."

Misty took another look at the sleeping mouse and giggled softly. "Yeah, you're the only one who didn't fall back asleep! Why's that?"

Ash nodded towards the TV. "I got really into this battle. I put it on for Elizabeth to watch, but- "

"She passed out instead, like a normal baby?" Misty snickered.

Ash blushed a bit. "She's almost a year old! She does watch them sometimes, you know."

Misty was quite used to Ash's insistence on showing their children Pokémon battles from an exorbitantly young age. It had started when she was still pregnant with the twins, and he'd play the sound to her stomach (which Misty often had to stop, as it had actually managed to get them quite worked up). He continued it once they were born, convinced that they'd be able to pick up something the more of it they saw. Now that they were older, Aiden and Michelle both adored Pokémon and loved to watch battles, and so Ash was sure his entire plan had worked and was now repeating the same concept with Elizabeth.

Of course, Misty was pretty sure the kids would've turned out to be big fans of Pokémon regardless, but there was no talking Ash out of his beliefs, and so she'd simply resorted to lightly teasing him about it.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

"We found you!"

Shrieking with unbridled excitement, Michelle and Aiden came racing down the stairs, their eyes bright and smiles as big as could be. Their shrill cries, however, had proven to be too much for their baby sister, who unleashed a powerful wail as she unfurled her body against her father's chest.

Ash groaned and sat up carefully, wrapping his left arm over his right so Elizabeth was being fully hugged against him. His sudden movement also awoke Pikachu, who grumbled unhappily before wincing at the combination of the twins' squeals and Elizabeth's piercing sobs. "Hey, hey! I'm happy to see you guys too, but let's try and not be so loud, kay?"

The twins skidded to a halt directly in front of their father, realizing that they had startled Elizabeth.

"Oh, we're sorry!" Michelle gasped, jumping up on the couch and giving her younger sister a hug. "Don't cry, Lizzie!"

"Yeah, it's okay!" Aiden added, hopping forward and rubbing the baby's head the same way he had since the day she was born. "C'mon, Lizzie!"

Elizabeth's sobs turned into nothing more than soft whimpers; the same kind that had gotten Ash out of bed. Within a matter of seconds, the whining stopped completely, and Elizabeth was instead cooing and giggling at her older siblings' beckoning that had now transformed into the nonsensical babbling that the baby loved so much.

Pikachu let out a sigh of relief, slumping down beside his trainer once more. Ash, on the other hand, began to chuckle as he looked between the three children. "Great, everyone's in a much better mood now!"

"It sure is sweet when they all get along," Misty agreed, nodding her head. "I guess that's their gift to you for Father's Day!"

Ash raised a playful eyebrow as he looked between the twins. "Is that true? This is my Father's Day present?"

"Nuh uh!" Michelle quickly refuted. "That'd be a boring present, Daddy."

"Yeah, presents should be fun!" Aiden agreed.

"I think you guys getting along and being nice to each other is fun!" Ash crowed.

"No," Aiden dismissed, causing his mother to scoff.

"At least they're honest," she quipped.

"We hid your present in a super-secret spot!" Michelle exclaimed to her amused father. "We didn't want you to try and find it."

"Really?" Ash droned teasingly. "You think I would've gone looking for my present?"

"I know you would've, Daddy," Michelle sighed.

Ash frowned, while Misty let out another quick laugh. "Oh boy. Come on, you two, stop teasing Daddy! It's his special day, after all."

"But Mommy, you teased Daddy before," Michelle noted, crossing her arms.

Misty suddenly looked less-than-pleased, which in turn got a chuckle out of Ash. "Why don't you and Aiden go get Daddy's present, huh?"

Neither child needed to be told twice. Not only were they excited to give their father his gift, but they also knew when they'd done a bit too much pushing of their mother's buttons. Aiden scurried towards the stairs, while Michelle dismounted the couch and ran right after her brother, the two of them flying up the stairs as fast as their little legs would take them.

With the twins busy fetching their gift, Misty sat down beside Ash and took the baby from him, who smiled joyfully at her mother and began babbling "mama" over and over again. When she glanced up from the little girl, however, Misty was met with the sight of her husband yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Ash, seriously, you can go back to bed if you want," Misty prodded. "I'd be more than happy to take the kids for the day!"

"No way!" Ash refuted, quickly shaking his head as he lowered his hands. "I know you like peace and quiet, Mist, but that's not really my thing. I'm totally happy spending my Father's Day chasing after these little rascals."

He reached out and patted Elizabeth's head, his smile widening as the baby unleashed a delighted squeal upon contact. Misty giggled and stood the baby up on her legs, cooing, "your daddy is just the best, isn't he?"

"You think I'm the best?" Ash asked, inclining his head.

"I know you're the best," Misty giggled, leaning forward to kiss his cheek.

"Okay, we got Daddy's present!"

Aiden and Michelle burst back into the room, Michelle holding a poorly wrapped gift in her hands.

"Oh, wow, look at that!" Ash marveled, laughing nervously.

"I offered to help them wrap it," Misty sighed, shaking her head. "They said no."

"Mommy, it doesn't matter what it looks like on the outside!" Aiden cried. "Only as long as what's on the inside is good, which it is!"

Ash chuckled and winked at his wife. "Aiden Logic!"

"Not all that different from Ash Logic," Misty teased, smirking back at him.

Michelle carried the gift over to her father, unceremoniously dropping it off on his lap before hiding her hands behind her back. "Open it!"

Ash picked up the present and examined it for a quick second before tearing the bright blue wrapping paper off. Elizabeth shrieked excitedly as it rippled in front of her, reaching out eagerly for the discarded packaging. Ash laughed and picked it up, handing it over to the enchanted baby.

"Hey, why do we buy you all of those toys if you're perfectly happy playing with stuff like that?" Misty asked, raising an eyebrow as Elizabeth shook the torn paper.

"Aiden and Michelle weren't any different," Ash noted with a laugh. "I think all little kids are like that!"

He looked down at his newly opened gift, and his smile grew even wider. In a clear box, he could see a blue mug with the image of a Pikachu popping out of the front.

"Wow, this is so awesome!" Ash marveled, picking up the box and showing it off to Pikachu. "Check it out, buddy! You're on this really cool mug the twins got me!"

"Pi-ka!" Pikachu squealed.

"Look at the back, Daddy!" Aiden exclaimed, reaching over to tug at the box. "It's even better!"

Ash flipped the box around and chuckled once he saw Pikachu's lightning bolt shaped tail bursting out in a similar fashion to its front end.

"It's his butt," Aiden added helpfully, giggling afterwards.

"Ka…" Pikachu groaned, shaking his head.

Chuckling, Ash patted the mouse's head. "Come on, it is pretty funny!"

Pikachu seemed to think about it for a moment before tittering himself, much to Aiden's amusement.

Ash, meanwhile, was beaming. "Thanks for the present, you guys! I love it!"

"You're welcome!" Michelle chirped.

"-cept Lizzie didn't get it for you," Aiden informed his father, inclining his head towards the baby who was still playing with the discarded wrapping paper. "Only me and Michelle! Lizzie doesn't have any money."

"Neither do you and Michelle," Misty reminded her son. "I bought you two that mug."

"Yeah, but we still picked it out!" Aiden squeaked.

"I'm sure Lizzie would have picked that mug too," Ash assured his son. "Besides, she's still just a baby! Her gift to me is being super cute and sweet."

Elizabeth, meanwhile, dropped the wrapping paper and giggled excitedly as she watched it fall to the couch.

"You mean we didn't actually have to get you a gift?" Aiden asked, his mouth falling open. "-cause me and Shelly are cute too!"

Ash snickered when Misty sighed noisily. "I don't know why I bother."

"Because you're a good mom!" Ash laughed. "So…what should we do today, guys?"

"Uh, I think we should be asking you that question," Misty noted.

"Oh, I know!" Michelle cried. "Let's go visit your Pokémon, Daddy!"

"At Professor Oak's?" Ash asked, leading Michelle to nod. "Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun!"

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?" Misty asked, leaning in closer to Ash. "You don't have to appease the kids all the time, you know."

"Nah, that sounds great!" Ash cheered. "I love spending time with my Pokémon just as much as I love spending time with you guys! The weather's perfect for it, too. I definitely wanted to be outside today, no matter what we did."

"As long as you're okay with it," Misty replied with a smile before turning her attention onto the twins. "I'm going to start getting breakfast ready so we can eat before we head to Pallet Town. Why don't you two go get dressed in the meantime?"

Aiden and Michelle cheered out as they once again rushed up the stairs, leaving behind their amused parents. Turning back to Ash, Misty continued, "I'll take Elizabeth with me into the kitchen. You just sit here and relax!"

"You can leave Elizabeth with me," Ash offered, holding his hands out for the baby. "We'll have lots of fun together!"

Misty groaned. "You seriously don't want any time alone?"

"No," Ash replied as though it were obvious. "That's boring!"

Giggling, Misty finally gave up and handed the baby over to Ash. "You and I are so different. But as long as this is what you want, then I'm more than happy to give it to you!"

"It is!" Ash babbled in a baby voice, moving Elizabeth close to his face so he could rub their noses together, causing her to giggle. "Oh, you're so sweet!"

Misty smiled and bent over, kissing the top of Ash' head and earning a smile from the man. "And so are you. The sweetest dad in the whole world!"