I know, I know, I'm super late on Misty's birthday one shot (almost a week in fact...yikes!) I've finally gone back to work and have had like zero time to myself lately. So I made sure to buckle down this weekend and get this one finished!

Aiden and Michelle: 6 and a half years old

Elizabeth: 11 months old


The Slippery Slope Birthday

"Aha, gotcha!"

"Daaaa!"

"Come on, Daddy! We have to talk about Mommy's present!"

Ash chuckled and lowered Elizabeth from where he'd been holding her up in the air. "Sorry, Shelly! You know how distracted I get by your baby sister."

"Yeah, she's cute," Michelle agreed, inching closer to her father. "But you gotta focus!"

"Alright, I'm focusing!" Ash declared, gently pounding a fist against his chest. Elizabeth giggled at the action before reaching out for Ash's hand, yanking on it with her own little fingers. Laughing, Ash surrendered his hand to the baby, opening it up and grinning amusedly as she smacked her own little fist against his palm.

"Daddy!"

Ash whipped his head back towards Michelle, who was visibly irked. "Okay, okay, I'm ready!"

Aiden laughed at his twin's pout. "Shelly's always takin' this stuff too seriously!"

"Nuh uh!" Michelle argued. "Mommy's birthday is just super important!"

Ash smirked. "Your sister definitely has a point there, buddy."

"You like Mommy's birthday just as much as we do, don't you Daddy?" Michelle asked with a giggle.

"Of course!" Ash exclaimed. "Mommy's birthday is very special! After all, I could never imagine what life would be like without her."

Aiden furrowed his brow. "You think about that kinda stuff?"

"Well, sure!" Ash replied. "Your mom is really important to me! So, I'm very grateful that she was born."

"And that you guys met?" Michelle warmly presumed.

"That too," Ash confirmed with a chuckle.

Scrunching up his nose, Aiden complained, "I don't get any of this."

Ash laughed again. "Don't worry, champ, you will when you're older!"

The boy didn't protest any further. Normally, he'd be extremely persistent in his efforts to have things explained to him that he didn't understand. After all, Aiden could be pretty nosey, and he liked to know just about everything. But matters of the heart were pretty much the one exception, and so he didn't bother pressing for more details.

"So, what should we do for Mommy's birthday?" Aiden blurted out, eager to change the subject.

Smirking, Michelle playfully rolled her eyes before suggesting, "I think maybe we should get her a big, gigantic cake!"

"Oh yeah, cake is a no brainer!" Ash chuckled.

"But it's gotta be big," Michelle stressed. "Not like any normal cake!"

"Uh huh, as big as the whole room!" Aiden exclaimed, throwing his arms out before falling onto his back.

Elizabeth giggled wildly at her brother, causing their father to smirk. The baby thought Aiden was the funniest, most entertaining person in the world, and Ash found it to be totally adorable.

"I don't know about getting one that big," Ash reasoned with the highly amused twins. "We'd never be able to eat all of that!"

"You and Aiden could," Michelle calmly argued.

Ash hesitated for a moment before coyly replying, "maybe…still, it's probably not a good idea."

"Okay, fine," Michelle sighed. "Can it still be a big cake, though?"

"Sure, as long as it's not the size of the house," Ash snickered. "But we also have to talk about things other than the cake. Like…what do you actually want to do with Mommy for her birthday?"

"Something with water," Aiden distractedly chirped, having become more interested in one of Elizabeth's nearby toys than the conversation itself.

"That's a great idea!" Ash complimented his son, getting some of the boy's attention back. "We could go to the beach, or a pool, or – "

"Water park!" Michelle interrupted gleefully.

"The water park?" Ash repeated, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know, Shelly…Mommy might not like that so much."

"Why?" Michelle chirped.

"Because the water park isn't relaxing," Ash replied. "It's a lot of running around, and I think Mommy would prefer to chill out on her birthday."

"Nuh uh, Mommy likes the water park," Aiden refuted, finally looking up fully from Elizabeth's toy. "I know she does! She told me so."

"Did she?" Ash chuckled.

"Yep!" Aiden confidently chirped.

"I guess we could suggest it to her," Ash mused. "And if she doesn't want to go, we just won't go."

"Nah, Mommy will want to go," Aiden casually replied. "Watch!"

XXX

Misty's birthday rolled around a few days later, and it didn't take long for Aiden and Michelle to present their idea to their mother.

"We want to take you to the water park for your birthday!" Aiden blurted the second he ran down the stairs and saw his mother.

"…what?" Misty breathed, standing up straight to look at her son.

"The water park!" Aiden repeated. "You told me how much you love it!"

Misty smirked and folded her arms. "When did I tell you that, little guy?"

Aiden shrugged. "I don't remember, I just know you said it!"

"Me too!" Michelle chimed in from her spot at the table.

Ash, who was sitting beside her, simply groaned as Elizabeth giggled at his reaction. "How did I know you two were just making that up?"

"We weren't!" Aiden insisted. "Mom just doesn't remember, that's all."

Ash shot his son a deadpan look. "Mom remembers everything."

"That's right," Misty confirmed, winking playfully at Ash. "And I definitely don't remember ever saying that."

Michelle frowned. "Does that mean you don't wanna go?"

Turning to look at her sister, Elizabeth quickly adopted the same expression and babbled, "Ma wa ga!"

"Oh…no, of course I'll go!" Misty fussed, relief washing over her as her children instantly perked back up. "Just because I never said I love it doesn't mean I don't!"

"YAY!" Aiden and Michelle both cheered, while Elizabeth let out her own excited shriek for good measure.

Ash, on the other hand, was just plain confused. After all, he knew Misty probably didn't want to spend her birthday at a crowded water park. "Mist, are you sure about this?"

"Mmhm!" Misty hummed, quickly nodding her head. "I think it'll be fun!"

Hopping out of her seat, Michelle squealed, "I wanna go pick out my bathing suit!"

"Me too!" Aiden agreed, following right after her.

Shortly after the twins had gotten up and left, Ash slid out of his own seat and strode up to Misty, hissing, "you're a liar!"

Misty gasped rather dramatically. "I resent that!"

"Come on, Mist, I know you better than that," Ash sighed. "You don't want to spend your birthday at a water park."

Although she seemed hesitant to do so, Misty finally admitted, "it's not really what I had in mind, no."

"So, why'd you tell the kids we could?" Ash prodded.

"Because you saw how excited they got! It was so cute!" Misty cried. "I don't want to disappoint them. Besides, this is exactly the kind of thing you would do for them, even if you didn't really want to! So, if anything, I'm just taking a page from your book."

Ash let out a long breath before chuckling. "Alright, fair enough. I just feel bad about it!"

"You don't have to," Misty assured him. "Even if it's not ideal, it'll still be fun!"

Grinning, Ash kissed Misty on the cheek and boasted, "that's why you're the best! And don't worry; we'll do something for your birthday later that you'll probably enjoy a whole lot more."

"Ooh, I do like the sound of that," Misty purred, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Ma! Da! Ya!"

Giggling, Misty turned around and walked over to Elizabeth, lifting her out of her highchair and cuddling her. "Don't think I didn't notice those faces you were making, little girl! You're becoming just as mischievous as your big brother and sister, aren't you?"

Elizabeth pursed her lips and made noise before laughing and reaching for her mother's mouth. Misty kissed the baby's fingers, which only made her laugh harder.

"See?" Ash prodded. "Now you know why I'm always buckling!"

"Yeah, they're real good at that," Misty agreed. "Makes for some interesting days…birthdays included!"


Who can blame them? I'd have a hard time saying no to those little cuties too ;)