It's May 22nd, which means it's Ash's birthday! I say it every year, but I love writing for his birthday because it's two days after mine. May birthdays are totally the best, if I do say so myself ;)


Birthday Pride

Little Ash's eyes began to sparkle as soon as he opened the refrigerator door.

Today was the boy's sixth birthday, and just above his head was his favorite part of the day: his super special cake.

Every year, the night before Ash's birthday, his mother would come home from work and stay up practically all night to bake him a cake. She was so good at cooking and baking; Ash always thought his mother's food tasted so much better than anything that came from a restaurant or bakery, and that's why he looked forward to his birthday cake every year. Leading up to his birthday, Ash had such vivid dreams about that cake, to the point where he'd wake up drooling.

This year, the round cake was covered in bright blue frosting, the edges piped in red and the sides covered in colorful sprinkles. If it looked that amazing, Ash could only imagine how good it would taste.

Peering over his shoulder, and seeing that he was indeed alone, the little boy figured it wouldn't hurt to sneak a bit. Reaching up towards the cake, Ash stood on his tippy toes to try and get as close to the treat as possible, his pointer finger extended towards one of the tufts of red frosting.

"Ash Ketchum!"

The boy yelped and stumbled backwards, finding that his mother had suddenly appeared behind the fridge door.

"Where'd you come from?!" Ash cried.

"Does that matter?" The woman asked rhetorically. "I'm here now."

"Yeah, but why?"

"My mom senses were tingling because you were doing something naughty," Delia replied with a smirk.

Ash furrowed his brow. "That's not real!"

"Of course, it is! How else would I know what you're doing?"

The boy stared at his mother in silence for a few long moments before admitting, "I don't know."

Her smirk growing, Delia carefully closed the refrigerator. "You can wait a little while longer for a taste of your cake. After all, you've waited a whole year already!"

"And a year takes forever!" Ash groaned dramatically. "I don't know if I could even wait a whole -nother minute!"

"Well, you're going to have to," Delia patiently countered. "You haven't even eaten dinner yet! Not to mention we have to wait for Professor Oak and Gary to arrive."

The mention of that name caused Ash to scowl. "How come you had to invite Gary?"

"Because he's your friend!"

Ash fervently shook his head. "No, he isn't! He's the worst!"

"Oh, Ash, that isn't nice," Delia sighed. "Gary is always so polite! Besides, you can't expect me to invite his grandfather over and not him."

"Why not?" Ash pressed.

Delia shot her son a warning look, to which he huffed and backed off. Smiling sympathetically, Delia knelt down and kissed Ash's forehead, causing the boy to groan. "You have such a big heart, Ash. And I know you know how it feels to be left out or teased. So, I also know that you would never do the same thing to someone else. Even Gary."

Ash resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He highly doubted Gary ever got picked on the way he did; his grandfather sent him to some fancy school outside of Pallet Town that was full of rich, snobby kids just like him.

Ash also knew, however, that his mother was right. He was not the kind of kid who would bully others…even if they were as mean as Gary. The boy tried his best to be friends with everyone and was, for the most part, unwaveringly positive. His mother had always said she'd loved that about him, and so Ash always tried his best to remember that.

"Okay," Ash murmured, sheepishly looking into his mother's amber eyes. "I'll be good."

"That's my boy!" Delia cheered, engulfing her alarmed son into a hug. "You really are growing up so fast…it makes me very proud!"

"Um…thank you?" Ash squeaked unsurely, trying to wiggle out of his mother's grasp. "But can I go now? I want to play with my presents more!"

Delia pulled away and smiled encouragingly at her son. "Of course, you can. Go on!"

"Thank you!" Ash called out with much more fervor as he ran from the kitchen. Delia just watched him go, amazed that her little boy was maturing right before her eyes. She wasn't exactly sure where the time had gone; it seemed like just yesterday that he was a newborn. And although he could drive her crazy sometimes, Delia loved her son fiercely and was his biggest fan. Already, at a still tender age, he was so determined and strong willed. She was amazed by it and couldn't help but to be proud of her boy.

I just know he'll be able to accomplish whatever he wants to, Delia thought to herself. And who knows? Maybe the older he gets, the better he'll become at staying out of trouble!

XXX

Two decades later, in that same kitchen, another young boy stood in front of an open refrigerator.

"Do you see it?"

"Uh huh!"

"What's it look like?"

"Good!"

"No, I know that! I meant like…what color is it? Or what's it decorated with?"

"Mmm…it's white, and there's yellow on it too. Oh! Electric!"

"Aiden, sweetie, what're you doing?"

The boy squeaked and peered around the fridge door, where he found his grandmother standing.

"Oh…uhh…I'm hungry!" Aiden replied after some brief stammering, grinning at the woman. "I was lookin- for a snack!"

"Aw, dear, you could've just asked me for something!" Delia giggled, moving in front of the fridge. "Let's see…how do some apple slices sound?"

Aiden's eyes lit up. "Yeah!"

Smirking, Delia reached into the fridge and pulled out a small plastic bag full of the fruit wedges, handing them over to her grandson. "Here you go!"

"Thank you!" Aiden cheered, running right past her with his snack.

Her lips twitching, Delia closed the refrigerator and sauntered over to the doorframe on her left, where she found a grown man slinking away on his hands and knees. "Ash Ketchum, you cannot be serious."

The man hesitantly looked over his shoulder before sighing and sitting back on his knees. "Alright, you caught me. How do you always manage to do that?"

"I've told you a million times, I have mom senses," Delia teased. "They don't go away just because you're an adult now!"

"Well…could you try to get rid of -em?" Ash practically pleaded.

"No," Delia replied simply. "And what do you think you're doing having your son do your dirty work for you? That's no example to set for him!"

"He wanted to help!" Ash cried, fully turning to face his mother. "He gets just as excited about the birthday cakes as I do, ya know. So, he wanted to see what it looked like this time."

Delia sighed and shook her head. "Does Misty know about this?"

"No," Ash refuted in short order. "Why would I tell her that Aiden and I were up to no good?"

"You wouldn't," Delia answered. "Not that you'd have to."

Ash appeared confused, but quickly went wide eyed as he saw his wife came down the stairs holding their baby daughter. "You're unbelievable."

"Were you eavesdropping?!" Ash cried.

"No," Misty scoffed. "Aiden came running up with apple slices that he told me Delia gave him while he was snooping in the fridge for you."

Ash groaned and hung his head. "Why does he always snitch on me?"

"Because he doesn't have a filter," Misty giggled, proving she wasn't all that mad about the situation. "He'll say anything and everything, whether he realizes he's snitching or not. Don't take it so personally! I mean, think about all the times Aiden's told you something intensely private about me."

Ash thought about it for a second before his eyebrows crawled up his forehead. "Oh, are you talking about last week when he followed you into the bathroom? And then came to ask me why you were using diapers like Elizabeth?"

"Yeah, exactly that," Misty grumbled, her cheeks flashing red.

Delia, although she was sympathetic to her daughter-in-law's plight, couldn't help but to giggle. "He's a total carbon copy of Ash when he was that age!"

The Pokémon Master whipped his head around to face his mother. "What? I never did stuff like that!"

"Oh, Ash, of course you did, all the time," Delia sighed amusedly. "You did and said all kinds of things that made me blush, sometimes even worse than Misty! But you were such a sweet boy that it made up for it most of the time, especially since I knew you were just curious about things."

"Aww," Misty cooed, now causing Ash to blush. "A sweet, curious little boy! I could totally see that."

"Dada!" Elizabeth shrieked, causing her mother to laugh.

"Can you see it too?" Misty asked with a smile.

That brought a smile to Ash's face as well, and he got to his feet in order to approach his wife and daughter. "You think I'm sweet, little pumpkin? Well, I think you're even sweeter!"

He plucked the baby from Misty's hands and held her above his head while she shrieked with laughter. Delia beamed at the sight, ecstatic to watch him play with his baby daughter. She had always known what Ash was capable of, and believed in him so strongly, but this was better than she could've ever imagined it. He had accomplished his dream of becoming Pokémon Master, made countless friends, married a strong and beautiful woman, had three sweet children, and captured so many friendly, well-trained Pokémon that were an extended part of his family.

Of course, he still hadn't figured out how to stay of trouble, but Delia supposed she could forgive that.

"Ash, would you mind coming back to the kitchen with me?" Delia asked suddenly.

The man seemed surprised by his mother's request, but quickly replied, "uh, sure!"

He gave Elizabeth a kiss on the forehead before handing the baby back to Misty and watching as she took a seat on the nearby couch, placing the happy infant on her lap. Once he was sure they were settled, Ash followed his mother into the kitchen.

"So, what's - "

Ash cut himself off, however, as soon as his mother enveloped him in a massive hug. "Uh…heh, what's this for?"

Pulling away, Delia pressed her hands against Ash's face. "I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you."

Ash blinked. "Yeah?"

Delia giggled and nodded her head. "I know I tell you that all the time. But maybe because today's your birthday, I just wanted to remind you. It really amazes me how much you've grown in 28 years. You're successful, you're an amazing husband and father, and you're still as sweet as you've always been!"

"Aw, thanks, Mom!" Ash chuckled warmly. "You're the best."

Delia leaned in for another hug, which Ash reciprocated this time around. Once she pulled back again, however, Delia had her brow furrowed, and she added, "I do wish you'd find a way to outgrow your nose for trouble, though."

At that, Ash smirked. "Hey, it's like your mom senses. I can't just get rid of it!"

Delia sighed and shook her head. "Alright, I guess I had that one coming."


I really liked the idea of juxtaposing young Ash and adult Ash and how Delia views him at those different ages. It's also always fun to compare Ash to Aiden at those same ages because they have so much in common.