Happy birthday to Elizabeth! You know what that means: birthday one shot!
Aiden and Michelle: 7 and a half years old
Elizabeth: 2 years old
Build a Birthday
"Happy birthday, sweetie!"
Elizabeth cooed tiredly as her mother appeared in her blurry vision, slowly coming into focus. Misty giggled softly and lifted the toddler out of her crib, nuzzling the little girl's forehead. Elizabeth, in turn, moaned desolately and forced her head down onto her mother's shoulder, rubbing her little fist against her eyes.
"I know, you're not a morning person," Misty cooed sympathetically. "It's okay!"
She carried the toddler out of her room and down the stairs, where Ash was already sitting at the kitchen table. His face lit up as soon as he saw the toddler, which Misty noticed right away. With a smile, she handed the still sleepy girl over to him, watching as she groaned and slumped against his chest.
"Aw, you're a sleepy birthday girl?" Ash murmured, stroking her dark red hair.
"Not even her birthday can put her in a good mood first thing," Misty noted with a smirk.
"She'll wake up eventually," Ash laughed before turning his attention back onto the toddler. "Right, pumpkin?"
Elizabeth didn't move from her spot, and this time around, didn't even make a sound in response.
"Man, I can't believe she's two years old already," Ash marveled. "It feels like she was born just yesterday…our baby girl is growing up so fast!"
Ash began to pretend to cry, causing Misty to smirk and roll her eyes. Elizabeth, meanwhile, finally perked up, gazing at her father with bewildered eyes. She then reached up, patting his face with her tiny hand.
"Dada!" Elizabeth squeaked.
"Aw, she thinks you're upset!" Misty fussed. "And now she's trying to make you feel better. How cute!"
Ash chuckled and ducked his head down, rubbing his nose against Elizabeth's. "Thank you, Lizzie! You're just the sweetest." Glancing back up at Misty, Ash asked, "so, what's the plan for today?"
"I didn't really have one," Misty admitted, sounding somewhat bashful. "Aside from everyone coming over tonight, I thought we could just take it easy, maybe take the kids to the park or something. Honestly, it's kind of a relief to not have to plan out a whole big party again."
"What?!"
"You're not throwing Lizzie a birthday party?!"
Misty winced and looked over her shoulder. Aiden and Michelle had managed to sneak their way downstairs without her noticing, eavesdropped on her and Ash's conversation, and both looked utterly horrified by what they had just heard. Pikachu was standing between the two, shifting his nervous eyes between the children and Misty.
"It's not that big of a deal, guys, Lizzie is still very little," Misty explained to the twins. "She doesn't really know what's going on! Not like you two do."
"But you threw her a party last year," Michelle reminded her mother. "And that she probably remembers even less!"
"Yeah, but you're kind of supposed to throw a party when a baby turns a year old," Misty explained. "It's more for everyone else, and not so much the baby."
"That doesn't make any sense," Aiden muttered.
"You're telling me," Misty agreed with an amused sigh. "But it's still a nice thing to have! One year old is a big birthday, so it should be celebrated."
"So, you mean we don't celebrate turning two?" Michelle asked with a frown.
"No, of course we celebrate that!" Misty cried. "We celebrate every birthday! Maybe just not with a whole big party. But we do have our friends and family coming over tonight, so that's kind of like a party!"
"But me and Michelle always get a really fun party with all our friends where we can do whatever we want," Aiden pointed out. "So how come Lizzie can't?"
"I mean, she doesn't really have her own friends yet, and it's kind of hard to keep kids your sister's age entertained for too long," Misty replied. "It's just a little easier this way! For now, at least."
That didn't seem to placate either Aiden or Michelle, who both still looked highly disappointed.
"Ash, help me out here," Misty pleaded, spinning around to face her husband.
The Pokémon Master appeared taken off guard, but quickly cleared his throat and added, "don't worry, guys. Lizzie will have a birthday party like you guys do once she gets a little older! For now, she won't really notice. But we can definitely do something together as a family! Your mom suggested maybe going to the park for the day. What do you think of that?"
"No," they refuted at the same time.
"No?!" Misty cried. "You guys love the park!"
"Yeah, but it's not special," Michelle replied, scrunching her nose up. "And birthdays are special!"
"And it's hot, too," Aiden groaned. "Too hot to go to the park!"
Misty sighed and shook her head. "Well, my idea went over like a lead balloon."
"I thought it was a good one!" Ash reassured her. "But since Aiden and Michelle were so against it…do you two have any ideas?"
"I do!" Michelle cried excitedly, bouncing up to her father and younger sister. "I think we should take Lizzie to the store where you get to make your own stuffed Pokémon!"
"Yeah, that's the best idea ever!" Aiden agreed. "Lizzie loves stuffed Pokémon!"
"I wuff," Elizabeth chirped, smiling at her brother.
Ash made a noise of interest. "Hey, that's not bad!"
"It would keep Elizabeth preoccupied, which is always a plus," Misty giggled.
"What do you say, baby girl?" Ash playfully asked his youngest daughter, turning her so she was facing him. "Does that sound like fun?"
"Ya!" Elizabeth shouted, clapping her hands together.
"Aw, yay!" Michelle giggled. "This is gonna be great!"
"Yeah!" Aiden chimed in. "It'll be the best birthday party ever!"
XXX
Elizabeth was a very happy little girl (once she was fully awake, at least) so it wasn't uncommon to see her get very excited over the most mundane of things.
The way her face lit up when she saw the store full of stuffed Pokémon, however, was something no one in her family had ever actually seen before. It was so exuberant and so full of joy it seemed to rival the power of the blazing summer sun that shined outside.
"So cute," Misty giggled, glancing down at her daughter. "This sure looks like fun, doesn't it, Lizzie?"
"Ya!" Elizabeth squealed, swinging her hands back and forth. She had insisted on walking herself, but while holding the hands of both of her parents. Along the way, if either one even attempted to let go, she would look up at them with an almost betrayed expression, which would lead to them renewing their grip. Aiden and Michelle had exchanged looks, privy to their younger sister's approach, but said nothing out loud.
"Let's go see what Pokémon they have!" Aiden cried, running right into the store without so much as waiting for the rest of his family.
"Aiden, hold on!" Ash called, too late for it to matter.
"Pipika…" Pikachu sighed from Ash's shoulder.
Michelle just sighed and shook her head, quipping, "he's very impatient."
Although she smirked at her daughter's comment, Misty reminded the girl to, "be nice" before leading everyone else inside of the store.
The place was definitely a child's wonderland: stuffed Pokémon in all kinds of different clothes were situated all around, stuck in various poses, holding onto accessories, or sitting in furniture. The floor and walls were bright and colorful, and cheerful, poppy music blared in the background.
"Hey, look! I have this one!"
Aiden was excitedly pointing at a Squirtle dressed in a clear raincoat printed with poke balls.
"Oh yeah, you do!" Michelle giggled. "He's so cute!"
The boy continued looking up and down the row before setting his sights on a Vaporeon wearing a shiny satin cape. "You have this one, right, Shelly?"
"Yep!" Michelle confirmed once she saw the stuffed imitation of the water type. "I wanted one that was just like Mommy's Vaporeon! But I named mine Vaypy, because that's what we used to call her when we were little."
Aiden grinned. "Hey, that's what Lizzie calls her now!" Turning towards his younger sister, Aiden asked, "do you want your own stuffed Vaypy?"
Elizabeth took one look at the Vaporeon before shouting, "no!"
"Aw, it would've been cute to have matching Vaporeon," Michelle bemoaned with a pout.
"Guys, it's only fair if we let Elizabeth pick out which one she wants!" Ash chuckled. "It is her birthday, after all."
"Yeah, you're right," Michelle agreed before urging, "let's go see which one you like, Lizzie!"
The toddler giggled and freed herself from her mother and father, following after her older sister instead. Aiden soon joined them, helping the younger girl by picking her up so she could see the various stuffed Pokémon more closely.
"They're so sweet together," Misty cooed. "When they're all getting along, that is."
"Aiden and Michelle never really give Elizabeth too hard of a time, though," Ash mused. "They really love their baby sister!"
"Dat! Dat!"
That excited shrieking led Ash and Misty to turn their attention back onto the children, seeing that Elizabeth was pointing excitedly at one of the stuffed Pokémon on display: an Eevee.
"Eevee?" Michelle asked, tilting her head. "But that's just a less cool Vaporeon!"
"Don't get so mad, Shelly," Aiden snickered. "It's not that big of a deal!"
Elizabeth reached over from Aiden's arms and grabbed one of the unstuffed Eevee from the display's bin. When she held up the shell, however, she frowned and began shaking it up and down. "F-uff!"
"What's that mean?" Aiden asked, raising an eyebrow.
Elizabeth groaned and shook the unstuffed toy again. "No f-uff!"
"I think she's saying there's no stuffing in there," Ash supplied with a smirk, walking over to the kids and gently tugging at the Eevee in his daughter's grasp. "Is that right, pumpkin?"
The little girl beamed and nodded her head.
"Oh, well yeah!" Aiden laughed. "That's the whole point of this place, Lizzie!"
Elizabeth moved the Eevee closer to her face and frowned, obviously not fully understanding what her brother meant.
"Maybe you two should show her how it's done," Misty suggested airily. "She's never done it before; not like you have!"
"Sure thing!" Aiden chirped, placing Elizabeth on the floor. "Let's go, squirt. Shelly and I will help you out!"
Elizabeth giggled and began to playfully stomp her feet, running around herself in a small circle. Aiden raised an eyebrow, while Michelle began to giggle herself, amused by her younger sister's actions.
"I think she's trying to dance," Michelle noted. "There is music playing…and you know Lizzie loves to dance when she hears music!"
Aiden frowned and knelt down beside Elizabeth. "Hey, Lizzie, we don't have time for dancing right now! We have to go stuff that Eevee you picked out."
"-uff?" Elizabeth repeated, stopping in her tracks and gazing up at her brother. "-uff Veevee?"
"Yeah, stuff," Aiden snickered, standing back up and offering his hand to Elizabeth. "Come on!"
Elizabeth waved his hand away with her own before toddling off, leaving her frustrated siblings to follow after her so they could steer her in the right direction. Ash and Misty, meanwhile, simply watched on in shallow bemusement.
"Maybe this won't keep Elizabeth busy," Ash mused.
"I think it'll be fine once Aiden and Michelle actually show her how it works," Misty murmured. "It should be fascinating for a two-year-old, at least."
Once Aiden and Michelle had managed to wrangle Elizabeth up (which hadn't been all that easy, considering Elizabeth was now vehemently against being picked up or holding hands…a typical toddler change of mind) they directed her to a big machine where a young woman was sitting alongside a Leavanny.
"Leafy!" Elizabeth cried, pointing at the bug and grass type.
"Just like Dad's, right?" Aiden asked with a chuckle, knowing exactly why Elizabeth had recognized the Pokémon so quickly.
"Lea-van!" Leavanny greeted, waving at the children.
"Well, hello there!" The woman chimed in. "Did you pick out which Pokémon you liked?"
"We did!" Michelle confirmed. "Lizzie, why don't you hand your Eevee over so we can stuff it?"
Aiden offered the unstuffed Pokémon to his younger sister, who quickly grabbed it and hugged it to her chest. The woman reached out for it, but Elizabeth was quick to whine and turn her body away, shielding the unstuffed Pokémon from being taken.
"Wait, what're you doing?" Aiden cried. "We have to stuff that! You can't just hold onto an unstuffed toy, ya know."
"Mine!" Elizabeth whined, shaking her head.
Misty smiled sympathetically at her two older children as she approached them. "I'll step in here. You two have been doing such a good job with Lizzie, but I know that she can get a bit stubborn!"
Bending down so she was at eye level with the moody toddler, Misty prodded, "Elizabeth, wouldn't you like your Eevee to be nice and soft like your other stuffed Pokémon at home? It would be much easier to hug her, don't you think?"
Elizabeth seemed to think about it for a second before mumbling, "ya."
"So why don't you give it to the nice lady over there so she can help you?" Misty asked, nodding towards the amused young woman.
Once again, Elizabeth waited a moment before spinning around and holding the unstuffed toy out towards the employee.
"Why, thank you!" She marveled, gently taking the Eevee from Elizabeth. "Don't worry; I'll take very good care of your Eevee!"
At this, Elizabeth smiled softly.
"How would you like to help me out?" The woman asked.
"I he-p?" Elizabeth asked, tilting her head.
"You sure can!" The woman confirmed. "See that pedal down there?"
She pointed down towards the floor at a small black lever. Elizabeth looked at it and nodded, earning another smile from the woman.
"If you step on that, it will help fill your Eevee up with stuffing to make her super cuddly!" The woman explained. "Can you do that for me?"
"Uh huh!" Elizabeth chirped. She stepped on it right away, causing her older brother and sister to gasp. Fortunately, however, nothing happened.
"Oh, not yet!" The woman giggled. "I'm sorry; I should've been clearer! That's my mistake."
"Is okay!" Elizabeth squeaked, taking her foot off the pedal and grinning at the enamored employee.
"Stubborn, sure, but also very sweet when she wants to be!" Ash chuckled, Pikachu nodding his head in agreement.
Once the woman was able to properly set up the machine, she slipped a metal tube into the opening on the Eevee's back and grinned at Elizabeth. "Okay, now you step on that pedal!"
Elizabeth did as she was instructed and watched on in amazement as her Eevee toy began to take a much more tactical shape.
"Magic!" Elizabeth cried before giggling excitedly.
"It is like magic, isn't it?" The woman laughed. She slid the toy off of the metal tube and held it out towards Leavanny, asking, "could you stitch this up for me, please?"
"Lea!" Leavanny affirmed, spinning up some thread and carefully working it through the opening in the stuffed Eevee's back.
"Was dat?" Elizabeth asked, pointing at the thread.
Ash chuckled and reached down to ruffle his daughter's hair. "You know what that is, silly! It's Leavanny's thread. You've seen my Leavanny do that before, right? To make clothes for the other Pokémon?"
"Oh," Elizabeth squeaked before chirping, "ya!"
The woman's eyes twinkled with recognition, but she said nothing out loud. Once Leavanny had finished stitching up the Eevee, she smiled and handed it back to Elizabeth, whose face instantly lit up.
"And there you go!" The woman crowed. "A fully stuffed Eevee!"
Elizabeth giggled and began to snuggle the toy, hugging it as tightly as she possibly could.
"See?" Misty giggled. "That's much better than it was before!"
"And now we can go dress her up!" Michelle added.
"Dwess?" Elizabeth asked, blinking her eyes.
"Yep!" Michelle confirmed. "Your Eevee! You can dress her up however you want!"
Elizabeth grinned and placed the toy atop her head. "I wan- pink!"
"A pink outfit?" Michelle questioned, leading Elizabeth to nod her head. "Why am I not surprised!"
The little girl was about to toddle away, but halted as soon as her mother made a warning sound and prodded, "Elizabeth, what do you say?"
The toddler spun around, beaming at the woman and Leavanny. "-ank you!"
"Aw, you're very welcome!" The woman replied.
"Lea-va!" Leavanny agreed.
And with that, Elizabeth scurried off, keeping her new stuffed Eevee atop her head. Ash watched her with a contemplative look on his face, which Pikachu was quick to notice and followed up with a curious, "chu?"
"I was just thinking…Elizabeth loves playing dress up," Ash explained, rubbing his chin. "She'll try and put on everything she owns all at once! Same with her dolls and her other stuffed Pokémon. So…what's going to stop her from doing the same thing in this store? With stuff that we don't actually own?"
The rest of the family seemed to think about this for a moment before mildly panicking and hurrying after Elizabeth, hoping they'd be able to reach her before she could make a mess of anything. Fortunately for them, she was simply surveying her choices at the moment, and had yet to pull anything down or pile anything up.
"I'm impressed," Misty remarked to her husband. "Good thing you brought us all back to our senses before things got ugly!"
"Maybe too cute in Elizabeth's case," Ash chuckled nervously. "With all the pink and sparkles and everything that usually ends up all over the place."
Michelle smiled and knelt beside her sister. "So, what are you thinking of dressing Eevee up in?"
Elizabeth turned towards her older sister and grinned. "Ba-rina!"
"Oh, you want her to be a ballerina?" Michelle asked, earning an emphatic nod from the toddler. "I bet they have a ballerina outfit! Let's see…"
She began looking through the racks full of stuffed Pokémon clothing, frowning when she couldn't immediately locate what she needed. "Aiden, could you help me find a ballerina outfit?"
The boy raised a wry eyebrow. "How am I supposed to know what that looks like?"
Michelle, in turn, shot her brother an unimpressed look. "Come on, you know what a ballerina looks like! Don't be dumb."
"I am not!" Aiden cried before looking over his shoulder. "Mom, Michelle called me dumb!"
"Michelle, don't do that," Misty warned her older daughter. "It's isn't nice!"
"But Aiden's not being helpful!" Michelle whined.
"It still isn't nice to call each other names," Misty reminded the girl. "Apologize, please."
Michelle grimaced, but managed to growl out a short, "sorry."
While Misty was working on the tension between the two older kids, Elizabeth flitted her way to the other side of the display. Ash just noticed it out of the corner of his eye and followed after the toddler, not wanting her out of sight for too long. And it was a good thing he did, because as soon as Elizabeth had gone around, she went right to work on pulling clothes down and discarding them when they weren't what she wanted.
"Hey, hey!" Ash gasped, quickly picking up the toy clothes. "Don't do that, Elizabeth! We can't make a mess here!"
"Why?" Elizabeth squeaked.
"Because it's not our house," Ash groaned, starting to gather the discarded clothes. Pausing, he added, "well, you shouldn't do this at our house either. But still…it's much worse out of the house! And this isn't our stuff! So, we shouldn't make such a big mess out of it."
Elizabeth tilted her head, unsure of what exactly her father was saying to her. Smirking, Ash put back all of the discarded outfits and gathered Elizabeth in his arms, playfully growling as he rubbed their noses together while the little girl laughed wildly.
"Hey, I found a ballerina outfit!"
Aiden scurried over to his father and sister, a sparkly pink outfit for the stuffed Eevee in his hands. Elizabeth squealed with delight and jumped away from Ash, hopping up and down to try and take the outfit from her brother. "Gimme!"
"Elizabeth, that's not how you ask for things!" Ash groaned. "Could you ask a little more nicely?"
Elizabeth blinked before gazing up at her brother and squeaking, "p-ease?"
"Sure!" Aiden chuckled, handing the outfit to his sister. "There ya go, squirt!"
Elizabeth giggled and took it, immediately trying to shove the tutu over Eevee's head.
"Okay, even I know that doesn't go there," Aiden scoffed.
"She's just being silly!" Ash snickered, gently pulling Elizabeth back towards him. "Let me help you, baby girl."
Once Ash was able to get the Eevee fully dressed in her leotard, tutu, and ballet slippers, along with a pink bow on one of her ears, he handed it back to Elizabeth, who quickly returned to giggling and snuggling the toy.
"So, what do you think of your Eevee?" Misty asked the toddler. "Do you love her?"
"Ya!" Elizabeth confirmed before returning to hugging the toy.
Misty giggled at the sweet response. "You know, it was your big brother and sister's idea to take you here for your birthday! It'd be really nice of you to thank them!"
Elizabeth poked her tongue out of her mouth before shuffling over to Aiden and Michelle, grabbing onto both of their legs while keeping her grip on her stuffed Eevee. "-ank you!"
"Aw, you're welcome!" Michelle giggled.
"Yeah, we're glad you liked it!" Aiden chimed in.
Elizabeth let them go and gazed at her Eevee, her eyes lighting up. "Wuff it!"
"So cute!" Ash laughed. "This really was a great idea, you guys! Look how happy your little sister is!"
"Mowe?"
They all looked over at Elizabeth, who was pointing at another stuffed Pokémon; this time a Bulbasaur.
"Oh, no, sweetie!" Misty crooned. "No more! We have to go home now and get ready for everyone to come over and celebrate your birthday!"
Elizabeth twisted her mouth and declared, "no! Not dat! Mowe hewe!"
Misty groaned and glanced up at her husband, who chuckled nervously. "Guess she loves it so much she doesn't want to leave…"
Aiden, meanwhile, couldn't help but to smirk and lightly elbow his twin sister. "See? I knew we could plan a better party than Mom and Dad!"
Yes, it's the Pokemon version of Build a Bear (who coincidentally make their own Pokemon, too!) You know Elizabeth would be ALL over that!
