Hello :P It is Wednesday and I am back with a new chapter. This story like the title suggests features a lot on Ash's mother, Delia Ketchum. This one was such fun to write. I really loved going back to mostly canon characters and it got me excited for writing a lot more about that kind of thing for uploading in the month of November. Not only does this give some good insight into Delia, but Gary as well. You get a feel for their relationship. And Ash and James' when they were a lot younger, too! I hope you enjoy :3
Ages:
Ash: 20
Misty: 20
James: 26
Gary: 21
Ben and Katie: 1 Month Old
Eddie: 3 Months Old
Delia: 38
Disclaimer: I own the story and the OCs mentioned!
I couldn't stop myself from staring and smiling to myself at the photo memory on the wall before I complied to my best friends wishes and took it down, removing the last of the thing before moving on. Time had certainly moved on from that occasion too! But as I looked at the beaming faces of the people whom I loved very much in the photograph of the frame, it was like things had hardly changed at all.
And because I felt all of these nostalgic and heart-warming feelings deep within my chest, I was transported back. I was taken back to the very day that we all moved into the apartments together. Maybe time had moved on. But the smiles and the laughter and tender moments remained at the forefront of my mind and at the core of my being also. And because of this, I remembered it all so very clearly.
The lavender haired male smiled to himself in a mysterious yet readable kind of soft way as the rest of his family members and truest love ones headed towards the entrance of the brand spanking new and inviting apartment building. And before they could leave his sight for good, James playfully touched each one on the top of their heads as they went by!
Even Meowth who was last in the queue and was simply there for the grand occasion - but naturally, he didn't look very pleased about the gesture from the male ex Team Rocket member!
Nevertheless, the lavender haired male continued smiling thoughtfully to himself as he watched each and every family member of his and loved one head into the building that would soon very much be home. And though no doubt did he want to continue gazing – his watchful eye lingering and thinking about all the memories that they would all go on to make together – something actually did manage to pry his attention away from the love that he had for his clan.
And that person that encouraged him away from dwelling on these affectionate feelings was none other than my raven haired best friend! Ash somehow effortlessly managed to draw the ex-rocketeers attention onto him and only him. And he did this by moving away from lulling against his orange haired girlfriend (very nearly clinging onto her lovingly also) and reaching down to one of the babies in the twin baby carriers.
As he did this, he let out a cooing and adoring sound through clenched teeth, like he was really trying to control himself but actually couldn't.
"Awww baby Ben Ben! I know you're asleep but won't you open your eyes and see? It's almost time for our new beginning." The raven haired young adult spoke to his equally raven haired infant son and after lifting him out of his carrier; he drew him right close to his face and nuzzled the baby's cheek with his own one. He didn't even give Benjamin a chance to open his eyes as he continued cooing and doting on him. "We're going to have so much fun together."
While I watched from Misty's shoulder, I couldn't help but notice that she had a far different reaction to all of this from the lavender haired male. Although initially she did hesitate and almost gasp to herself, thinking that her boyfriend really should have left the baby to sleep after waking for feeds most hours of the night, she also couldn't stop her heart from swelling in her chest. And all of this emotion was shown on her face, I could see it.
While the orange haired female reached up to me to almost hold my paw while resting her hand over her own chest, James' head turned in one swift motion. Yet despite this, it was done gracefully even so. The lavender haired male's neck slanted and his eyebrow rose as he watched Ash continuing to nuzzle Ben, and he saw the infant's eyes beginning to open and he let out little mewling noises.
It was after these sounds escaped the infant's lips and Misty and I shared a look that united us as well as our hearts thumping with love, James couldn't stop his own sounds from escaping his mouth. With arms moving to fold over his chest in the long sleeved white shirt that he was wearing, he turned his whole body to face Ash as he addressed him.
"Do you not realise that you aren't supposed to wake a sleeping baby?" the lavender haired male uttered and the way that his eyebrows began to draw together after they rose made it very clear that he himself was aware of that sort of thing. An unusually competitive gaze took over the ex-rocketeers youthful face but then again, it wasn't too out of the ordinary for the two of them to butt heads. James proved this by adding, his gaze wandering between Ash and then Misty too. "Don't you want your girlfriend to have a minute's peace by not being on feeding duty?"
Instead of glancing over at the orange haired female when she was brought into the conversation, I focused on my best friend. And rather admirably (and unusually for him) he managed not to retaliate when she was brought into the conversation.
Ignoring James' name dropping and ignoring also the way that Ben's mewls were beginning to change to mildly cranky as he continued being in his father's hold, the raven haired male stuck his nose in the air and retorted back promptly.
"Why don't you go back to working at a call centre if you're so good at giving advice?" Ash responded snarkily back and needless to say, while Misty and I's eyes wordlessly widened (and Gary hooted to himself from coming back out of the front entrance door of the apartment and hearing the interaction) the ex-rocketeers arms folded more over his chest. Ash simply kept his nose in the air and switched his new-born son to lulling over his shoulder for a back rub before adding, a competitive knot forming in his brow. "Why do you think you're such a good father compared to me?"
"I don't." replied James and he finally untucked his arms from being folded over his slim chest at the same time that Gary properly joined the scene, making a point of nudging his hip against Misty's while holding his own son against his other one. He was ignored. Everyone was waiting for a response from the lavender haired male. There and then it came while reaching to tie his long lavender locks into a ponytail. "I've just been at it longer than you have."
From watching from my position on Misty's shoulder, I noticed the way that Gary's eyes swivelled in his sockets, watching what was going to happen next between the two males. From his position and from my position as well, he could see the way that despite Ash managing not to react to his girlfriend being brought into the conversation; he was beginning to get a little wound up at how nonchalant the older male was then being.
Gary saw and I saw and Misty probably did too the way that my best friend continued frowning all the more so while holding Ben close to him. Yet before he could utter another snarky comment or a downright rude one in response to the lavender haired male, something happened. Or rather, something changed.
Switching up from playing with his own hair, instead of glancing over at Ash all over and continuing to engage in a petty argument that was most likely going to be brewing between the two of them, James' demeanour changed entirely. And it changed entirely based on one tiny thing that happened.
Perhaps hearing or sensing the continuous quiet but not incessant mewling noises that were coming from her twin brother's mouth, the girl infant in the other baby carrier began moving her little fingers while she slept. And even sooner than her very own mother caught onto this, James took notice of the precious and involuntary gestures from the orange haired baby girl.
Letting out a quiet sniff that could also have been interpreted as a gulp, James didn't stop himself from bending down and reaching into the baby carrier, pulling her as close to his chest as Ash had been doing to her twin brother. He murmured to her softly, wanting to speak just for her but we all of course could hear.
"Awww, do you want to look at your new home as well? You do have the most beautiful eyes, don't you?" James cooed to the orange haired infant girl and while Misty and Gary were united then in their reactions of deadpanning, Ash just stared for a couple of moments at the lavender haired male! James didn't seem to care. He added to the perfect and curly pink ear of baby Katie. "Take a peek then, my love."
However, before any words could escape my raven haired best friend's lips or he could begin to show off quite the displeased frown on his face, although the orange haired infant girl didn't comply to her Uncle James' words at all, she did so something.
Katie's little rosy pink star fish hand that had been clasping and unclasping in her sleep suddenly stretched outwards along with her arm and it made contact with the loose strand of hair dangling to the side of James' nose. She yanked on it hard. James tried not to grimace. Ash couldn't stop himself from very obviously smiling.
Regardless of the pain that was on his face and Gary smirking right near him as well, James put on a smile and continued speaking adoringly to the sweet new-born baby girl.
"Such a clever little thing, aren't you? You're always aware of everything." He complimented her and it was my turn to suck in my own cheeks along with Gary at the way that Ash almost rolled his eyes there and then but it would've come across that he was being mean to his new baby girl!
The young Pokémon Master thought to himself for a couple of moments while still having Benjamin lulling on his shoulder and then he at last spoke to James. As well as this, he closed the bit of distance that was between the two of them and I knew that Misty noticed it as well when the raven haired baby boy's noises quietened down considerably as he was even closer to his twin sister.
"Oh, so it's not okay for me to wake a sleeping baby but it's perfectly okay for you to do it?" Ash spoke obviously to the ex-Team Rocket member and I was stood correct in my assumptions that James wouldn't break away from his own little world and his own little mumblings towards baby Katie. His head turned to the younger male straight away. He had quite the blank and composed expression on his face while Ash began to frown all over again. "Let her go back to sleep, man. She was up for most of the night anyway and doesn't need your face giving her premature nightmares."
I hopped onto Gary's shoulder from being continually perched on Misty's one at the same time that the auburn haired Pokémon Researcher's eyes widened as large as saucepan's! However, he managed not to let out a whooping or chuckling approving noise in such close proximity of the lavender haired male and his girlfriend's father.
Instead, he merely shared a look with his own young son who was on his hip. Eddie smirked in response. But then again, he usually got up to the same mischief as his father! Misty had a very different reaction and was quickly beginning to feel a little appalled by the immature (and embarrassing) bickering and her hand laid over her chest for a different reason.
James' nostrils did flare the tiniest amount at the insult and he did exhale out of those same nostrils, but the ex-rocketeer being the ex-rocketeer, he was effortlessly able to continue back and forth-ing with the younger male.
It then appeared to be that it was most definitely wishful thinking when I thought the feud between "twerp" and "rocket" would end when the journeying stop and the "R's" stopped being printed on the chests of the lavender haired male and his magenta haired wife as well as Meowth too. The more things changed the more things indeed stayed the same. It was nearing three years since the metaphorical truce and it was still going on.
But still, I supposed at least it gave the both of them a chance to exercise their brains. They most definitely made the most of exercising their mouths! James exercised his mouth again then and there and muttered to the raven haired young man.
"Let him go back to sleep, kid." The lavender haired male began and it was clear that he as well as the raven haired young adult was intent on having the last word. I mused to myself in between the scene how amusing it was that it was the older of the two who was the less competitive but still never liked to let himself go down without a fight. I just had to be glad that it never usually ended in calling on Pokémon to do the battling for them. "Your son has a healthy appetite, doesn't he? Surely you want that to continue and him not to feel nauseous being close to you for too long?"
A silence ensued at that point. It wasn't an intense silence, nor was it an uncomfortable one. It was merely a telling one. While little Benjamin and Katie finally crept their sweet new-born eyes open and they prepared to look around for one and other, Ash and James' eyes locked onto each other too but in a very contrasting way.
Meadow green orbs met those with a chocolate brown hue. Their eyes were both narrowed. Their eyebrows were both knotted together. Their breaths were hitched in their throat as they both prepared to add more words, determined to get the last word in that seemingly very real bickering that they were partaking in.
Nevertheless, before any of this could take place or Gary or Eddie either could make their amusement known – or I could fiercely shake my head and let my disapproval be known if it went any further, someone else decided to speak up at last.
The orange haired young woman that was Misty took control of the situation and she effortlessly barged in between both of the males, showing that she really was the one who wore the pants in the relationships with them both.
Giving the two of Ash and James very telling looks and a disapproving head shake as well, she took command. She didn't even need to fold her arms over her chest.
"You're going to both let my sweet children be in peace and you're both going to stop this nonsense right now." Misty told the nineteen year old young man and the twenty six year old long haired man. Her arms still didn't twitch to fold over her chest. And then she added plainly while the two male's expressions weakened immediately and they listened. "Give them to me now. You can both watch as I show them their lovely new home. "
And in spite of the fact that Gary there and there let his chuckles be known and heard as he smirked along with his son and folded one of his own arms over his chest, I couldn't help but feel that he was impressed.
It was natural for the orange haired young woman to be nervous about the sort of parent that she was going to be to her two new-born twins when they grew up, it was completely obvious to me and hopefully Gary too that she was going to be simply wonderful. She was going to be firm but fair. She was going to make sure they got their points of view in but always have the last word if it was necessary. That was the sort of mother she was going to be. I would break it to her later on that she was potentially secretly practicing with both Ash and James!
Needless to say, the raven haired male and the lavender haired one muttered some things under their breath towards one and other but after Misty gave them both a look while cradling her infants in her arms, they soon knew that they needed to wise up. That was another thing that made me laugh. That was another thing that made Gary laugh. That was another thing that made Eddie laugh too.
And after the three of us shared a little bit of a look while I continued residing on the auburn haired Pokémon Researcher's shoulders, Gary and I's eyes wandered over to the same place on the grounds of everybody's wonderful new home. Our orbs found themselves travelling to where Delia was absentmindedly and thoughtfully resting up against the sign labelling the new apartment block.
And because of this, after barely any time at all that our eyes had wandered over towards the chestnut haired woman; our legs made us wander over to her as well. Well, it was the junior Professor Oak who did all the walking! But Eddie and I were happy to be there. We were more than happy to go over and talk to Ash's mother.
Yet for once it took her a little moment to look as though she felt the same way. She appeared to be a little bit lost in thought. Gary didn't seem to notice. Or, Gary didn't seem to mind. Instead, he spoke to her like he always spoke to her. He approached her casually and in a friendly manner, leaving the trio of Ash, James and Misty behind him and folding just one arm over his chest all over again.
"A crazy bunch aren't they? God help me for still living in close proximity of them all. Bet you're happy to see the back of us?" Gary spoke to Delia amusedly and regardless of the fact that I too very much noticed how her chocolate brown orbs that she passed onto her son were hazing over with a quality that I couldn't quite put my finger on, it didn't take more than a few seconds for her to react to Professor Oak's grandson when he spoke to her.
Delia tilted her head on one side briefly when she knew that she was being spoken to and then when the words became clear in her mind, she showed off a smile and her body language perked up and the haziness in her eyes disappeared a fraction. With choppy bangs flicking in front of her face, she gracefully stood taller and tittered before replying with her own words.
"Oh, they're the craziest bunch and that includes you, Gary! But you are all going to have so much fun together." Delia responded with an airy smile and I noticed that the way that she nodded was rather demure. While I was observing this, the auburn haired Pokémon Researcher couldn't help but notice that she hadn't really addressed the second part of his musings, if at all. Still, before he could make this be known with words or Delia's eyes could haze over reflectively once more, she added between reaching out and stroking Eddie on the chubby cheek. "How are you feeling about it being the big day? The end of a chapter?"
And looking back now and telling this to you now, I have to admit that even though I didn't really at first catch on to everything that was being felt between Gary and Delia and especially with Delia, I still knew that I wasn't mistaken when I saw the expression on the junior Professor Oak by being shown his side profile.
It really was true that one of the words that I would always describe Gary as was obnoxious. But as time went on and even in those times, I meant it fondly! He was a person who liked to say what he thought off the cuff. He was a person who didn't much think about the words that came out of his mouth. It was admirable to some. It was downright off putting to others. But what I was beginning to learn about Professor Oak's grandson was that he was an observer also.
And there and then he most definitely observed how it was strange that Delia was the one to be uttering those words to him when he had secretly come over to her to ask her the same things. I knew I wasn't mistaken when along with the words that came out of Delia's lips, I heard Gary's mouth beginning to utter the first syllable of them but he was cut off when he heard the older woman talking.
But then when he heard the words properly come out of Ash's mom's mouth – and he focused wholeheartedly on that rather than any potential annoyance that he had been cut off – as Delia's manicured fingers lingered on Eddie's cheek, Gary shook his head. And as he did this, he spoke words that showed what he was thinking.
"Why are you asking me that? Why are you asking me? I came over to ask you the same thing. You're the one being left behind." Gary reminded Delia rather bluntly and while Eddie hiccupped against his father's hip and my eyes darted in between the two adults, I also managed to observe that Delia's eyes didn't haze over too much at all. Maybe she was used to his straightforwardness after multiple decades of it. Or maybe she couldn't hide a single thing in the face of directness. Whatever it was, Delia just listened and reacted softly. Gary responded to this by adding, moving closer to her and switching his son to the opposite hip before bumping the other one against the chestnut haired woman's. I wonder if that was him breaking the ice once more. "What are you going to do with yourself? It's the first time you'll have an empty house yet again for a couple of years!"
I found it easy to notice there and then how pretty Delia Ketchum was and how youthful she was as well. She definitely didn't appear old enough to have a son who was moving out of their family home, let alone be a grandmother! My heart silently thumped in my chest for my best friend's mother and those affectionate thoughts flew around my mind all the more so with the expressions she exuded next.
A twinkle in her eyes appeared and she sat up all over again. No longer making contact with the jolly baby boy on Gary's hip, instead she youthfully reached out and gave Professor Oak's grandson a poke on the chest. She pretended to gasp, that twinkle in her eye prominent. I felt myself going a little rosy pink when she danced her gaze between all of us. But first and foremost, I listened to her bubbly words that came next.
"Oh, what will I do? What will I do? How on earth will I find time to do anything at all now that I don't have to run around you lot and prepare even more meals and join in with your antics when I really don't have the time?" Delia joked with Gary and in return, the younger male showed that this was very much part of their relationship by quickly grinning.
And as well as this, dare I say that he even ducked his head a little bit?
After I smiled to myself over this possibility, I then had almost as hearty of a grin as Gary when Delia then took her turn to chuck me under the chin before tickling it. It was then and in that moment that I decided to move onto her shoulder. And I was welcomed with open arms. Quite literally!
Instead of allowing me onto her shoulder, she clasped me to her chest and facing outwards so I could still be near to her and part of the conversation. I suddenly got a wave of emotion coursing through my veins and causing the breath to hitch in my throat as well.
I knew that it wasn't the tightness of the hug that Delia was giving me. I knew that it was down to something else entirely. It was the realisation that I wasn't going to wake up to the sound of her humming in the kitchen anymore, no matter the time of day and no matter the kind of weather. And I knew if I continued thinking of that, then I was going to feel very sad.
I will say to you now that it's usually quite rare for Gary and me to be on the same page. It had been that way since we had first met and the auburn haired male was an eleven year old - and somehow even more obnoxious! The auburn haired Pokémon Researcher and I were hardly ever on the same page.
But in that moment we were. In that moment, I knew that we were. Though Gary had laughed along with Delia and most definitely felt fondness in his chest – and Delia at that moment didn't show off any reflectiveness in her face – Gary couldn't stop himself from making a point of saying. He couldn't stop himself from turning a little more serious and bringing up a second time.
With a hand running through a softer part of his maturing spiky locks, he edged closer to his best friend's mother a couple more inches.
"But seriously, how are you… feeling?" Gary tried all over again and from being clutched against the chest of Delia, I noticed Professor Oak's grandson's oncoming hesitance rather than fluctuations in the chestnut haired woman's heart rate. In fact, I couldn't really feel anything at all at that point. But I could see something. I could see everything. I could see that the twenty year old was trying to be serious and it was causing his feet to dance all about invisibly in his shoes. He almost said the next part his words in double their usual speed. "It can't be the easiest thing in the world for you."
I allowed my entire body go floppy as I was held in Delia's arms and I let it be up to her how she continued holding me. She continued holding me firmly. And that was the moment that I began to feel her heart beating against my spine. But it slowed down. It slowed down against me as Ash's mother tried to let out an exhalation of breath and wave her hand haphazardly.
But Gary was there. Eddie was there. I was there. Some of us were watching. Some of us were merely present. But we were all there. And without saying anything, some of us spoke volumes of how it was okay if Delia wasn't feeling okay. And that person was Gary. That person was Gary.
Because his hip was very close to brushing close to Delia's all over again and in a meaningful way rather than a playful one, after trying to continue her usual act of acting like every little thing was perfectly okay, Delia couldn't do that anymore. Or rather, she realised that she didn't need to do it anymore.
I get the inclination even looking back that it probably didn't feel like the most natural thing in the world. But she probably took note of how Gary's usually brash and cocky self actually made a point of checking up on her. So because of this, she couldn't help be a little bit real in return. Though of course, it came across completely different to the younger male. After all, she still was and always would be completely and uniquely her.
"I do feel strange…" the chestnut haired woman began and after I tilted my head up towards her, while Gary nodded his own head at her beginning guardedly, I followed her gaze over to where the other three of us had come from. It was clear that more words floated into her mind as she watched and because of this, they soon fluttered out of her mouth. Words and honesty floated out of her mouth as she watched her son doting on his new-born children with his beloved girlfriend. "I do feel like I'm losing him a little bit and that is so silly of me. I do feel like I'm losing him. But losing your son to the most wonderful girl and the most beautiful babies is all a mother can dream of, isn't it?"
I felt a little bit of a hitch in my throat and my heart too then and the reason for that was Gary. It flashed across my mind so very gently but very poignantly that he might not actually remember what kind of dreams a mother would have.
My attention and my eyes followed him next because of this. But I could see no pain or hurt, nor could I see any nostalgia or knowing upon his face. It seemed to me that he was too busy reacting to how Delia was feeling and he reacted to her finally getting her feelings out a little bit by exhaling quietly out of his mouth and jiggling Eddie on his hip, playing with his feet in his socks.
Needless to say, Eddie burbled and hiccupped when he felt this and murmured for more. It caused Delia to wanly smile. But most of all, her eyes travelled even further to where Ash was lolling about with his new very own family of his own.
That in particular caused Gary to nod his head like he knew what exactly she was thinking. I listened to his words as well as focusing on the thudding of the chestnut haired woman's heart against my spine. While she thought of how quickly time went by, I was thinking how slowly it went also. I remembered each and every detail of living with her and her son and many other people, it seemed. And those memories that day were simultaneously tearing my heart apart and fixing it together all in one.
"Better than losing your son to the road." Gary started and from the way that I noticed him glancing between the scene that was behind him as well as the face of Delia reacting to it to the side of him, I got the feeling that he knew that his words were only just about floating in her ears. She didn't mean to be distant. It's just a lot of very old memories were in the forefront of her mind and seemingly blocking her ears a little bit. The auburn haired Pokémon Researcher continued all the same. And he continued while switching his son in his arms so he was being cradled. "At least you'll know where he is this time. At least you'll know that he'll call. Or at least, Misty definitely will!"
My own ears pricked up when Professor Oak's grandson's voice raised a little bit at his own words but Delia's did not. She really was in her own world. Looking up and taking in every part of her face that was showing feelings and emotions she then couldn't stop herself from displaying despite her priding herself in a very together and forward moving and positive woman, I saw a mix of everything on her features.
Her chocolate brown orbs which she did indeed pass onto her son and her new grandson too were threatening to brew and water. Yet at the same time, the corners of her eyes were creased and decorated with such joy. There was such joy on her face as well as she witnessed her son planting a kiss on the cheeks of his girlfriend, his son and his daughter too. And even James appeared approving – and dare I say – happy about that as well?
There was such a contrast on Delia Ketchum's face. But out of all the contrasting things in all of the world, as well as looking youthful, she most certainly didn't look old and haggard. Though she was indeed facing a very big life change as her son embarked on a life change, she didn't appear exhausted by it. It was almost as though she was fuelled by heartbreak. She was fuelled by anything because she could really turn anything into a positive.
All while showing every part of this and exuding each and every one of these things, Gary wordlessly watched and waited. Gary wordlessly watched and waited. And it was most likely down to the silence of her that he couldn't help but bump his hip against hers all over again while leaning against the sign of the new apartment building with her for good.
"I did try to get him to stay in better contact with you…" Gary murmured and it was his turn to get my full attention. And this was absolutely down to the way that he uttered his words.
Despite the fact that he had approached her and he had approached her so casually yet with the full intention of checking up on her at that point he felt himself feeling like a bit of a small child. It wasn't like he was uncomfortable with feelings of sadness or other people's displays of sadness, not really. But there was a part of him seeing a mother being emotional and silently hankering after the lost days with her son that evoked something rather deep in him.
It evoked something so deep in him that it very nearly made him desperate and it made him want to say something, anything to make the mother stop looking so forlorn and look at him instead.
I swallowed a bit of a lump in my throat as Gary finally looked down while Eddie was none the wiser and burbled and giggled and clutched onto his father's t shirt. And whether it was Professor Oak's grandson expelling his own little bit of distance or not – whatever it was – slowly but surely, Delia started to come back to the present all over again.
Though she longed to look at her son and his new family and take in every moment of the way that they were with one and other, she looked over at Gary who was very much family to her Ash as well. In actuality, he was very much family to her as well.
Snapping herself silently and gracefully out of it, Delia allowed me to move up onto her shoulder and after she exhaled gently and smoothed her skirt down as well, she broke even more of the spec of distance that was between her and Gary. She bumped her shoulder lightly against his with a wan smile. And then she moved in front of him, taking hold of his shoulders with a brave smile.
"This is not a sad occasion. This is not just a loss, if it's one at all. There is so much to absorb and to treasure and to feel grateful for." Delia began to the twenty year old who she had almost spent as much time with as she had done with her son. In response, I could sense that Gary felt like her display was a little bit phony after her true emotions of it all. The chestnut haired woman clicked her teeth very softly to disagree. And she held Gary's shoulders even more as she looked up at him. "Look at you. You've got adventures of your own to be had. You've got things as well to be grateful for. A lovely girlfriend. Beautiful children of your own to hold dear. Look at you… When did you become a man?"
And I knew that it was a very rare occasion for me to see that sort of thing so like how Delia advised the younger male, I absorbed and was grateful for all of that too. I absorbed with every part of me and was grateful to see the way that Gary softened and definitely did duck his head under the touch of his best friend's mother.
That was yet another thing that kept my heart together. In truth, I too started to focus on the joy rather than the change and the loss.
Gary shuffled his toes in his shoes all over again and continued craning his head towards the floor but his hazel eyes looking upwards. He squirmed. But he squirmed in an enjoyable sort of way. And perhaps it was this reaction or it was this silence – or just him in general – but it caused Delia to add.
And as well as this, she brushed her hand over Gary's forehead as if to move strands of hair away even though there wasn't a single one out of place.
"Your parents would be so proud of you, Gary, I hope you know that." The chestnut haired woman uttered as directly as it was usual for words to tumble out the junior Professor Oak's mouth but needless to say, they tumbled out so very intentionally and softly. And because of this, they were extremely well received. Because they were from Delia, they were extremely well received.
Although at first Gary didn't really know what to say and he didn't know how to react, and even Eddie's chubby cheeks fell and he went decidedly quiet, he couldn't stop his heart and his mouth from reacting honestly back.
It was a bit of a vulnerable occasion and it wasn't usually the type of occasion to be as unfaltering as he usually was but maybe he was able to comfortably show that side of himself to Delia. And because of this, he uttered back. And has he spoke back, his face and his voice shook just a little bit.
"Well… I don't know about that." He started a tad stiffly because of the wavering in his voice and so, Delia brushed her hand across his forehead one more time before doing the same to Eddie. The baby boy still didn't perk up. He was listening. I certainly was. With fluttering sensations in my heart, I listened and I watched. I watched and I listened as Gary bravely found his voice again. "I don't know about that. Truthfully… If you're proud of me then that is enough for me. I mean… You're not just like a mother to Ash, you know?"
Gary couldn't get the rest of his words out. Gary couldn't get the rest of his words out and he couldn't get the rest of his point across. But it got itself across. He didn't really need to finish his sentences.
Maybe he did speak out of turn one too many times and maybe he did intentionally wind people up. Maybe he had work to do, as we all did. But when he said things, he truly meant them. And when he kept his mouth shut, he meant it even more.
So because of this and because of the heart of his un-uttered words were as clear as day, Delia had the gentlest smile on her face and her eyes changed so very far away from the haziness at the beginning of out interaction. They lit up. Yet they didn't light up in an overbearing way. It was a gentle sparkle that found its strength the more that time went on. Just like Delia. And like Gary too.
Naturally, after this momentary exchange and words hadn't been exchanged because they didn't need to be, Delia wrapped her arms around Gary's shoulders all over again and pulled him in for a hug. Being so very close to them both, Eddie and I were pulled in as well but the embrace really did feel as though it belonged to the chestnut haired woman and the auburn haired male as well.
But that was okay. Truly that was okay. The meaningfulness and the tenderness transpiring from the hug between those two people was enough to warm the hearts of Eddie and me as well. And I wholeheartedly believed that we were united by this. And we were united by the words that Delia then couldn't help but utter into Gary's ear as she continued holding the young adult tight.
"We are all so proud of you… I am so proud of you both…" Delia very much nearly whispered into the ear of Gary and like how he didn't even need to finish her sentences, she didn't either. The chestnut haired woman didn't need to utter the words "my boys" when referring to both Gary and Ash.
It was plain as plain could be without ever having to be said. And the mutual love and respect between Gary and Delia was as plain as plain could be when the two of them finally pulled away from their embrace and looked at one and other.
They didn't look at one and other for long. They actually soon both ducked their heads and grinned sheepishly and looked to the floor. They didn't look to one and other out of shyness. They didn't look to one and other to hide their brewing and oncoming watery eyes. And then they didn't look to one and other because they were encouraged to look elsewhere.
All bickering between Ash and James had well and truly come to an end at last. All affection between Ash and Misty had come to an end as well. All playfulness between James and Misty had come to an end also. They were beginning to move onto new things. They were beginning to move onto new things in small and in full, like we all were. And the orange haired female wanted to commemorate the occasion.
Misty very obviously and clearly if a little sheepishly like Gary and Delia still were, called over to the rest of us and with her camera in her hand. She waved to the rest of us while the raven haired male cradled the raven haired little boy and the lavender haired male cradled the orange haired little girl. She bit her lip.
"You guys coming over for picture time? I want one with us all right here and right now before the others come down!" Misty beckoned to the four of Gary, Delia, Eddie and I, and I for one didn't hesitate to leap down from my best friend's mother's shoulder to be there! It was clear that wherever my loved ones went, I would go too.
And the same could definitely be said for other people in the group. Delia's heart would go wherever Ash's heart went – wherever and whenever he went. That was something to be extremely certain about.
Yet I also knew that it was the same way for her with Gary too from the way that they finally looked at one and other before walking over together.
And speaking of hearts, I found my own one beaming at the way that Ash grinned to me and looked right at me as soon as I came closer to him. With his baby boy still in his hold and with his eyes very much open at that point, he jiggled the little bundle and grinned all the more.
The raven haired male exclaimed and then questioned who was actually going to take the photo as he moved back into prime position where the new building that was home could be seen from the photograph that would go on to be taken.
In spite the fact that Misty was holding onto the camera and she made the lavender haired male proud by obviously jiggling it in her own hold and pulling a blunt face, Ash didn't catch on to how endearing (dense) his words appeared. Ina actuality, nobody probably thought much of it until the ex- Team Rocket member decided to speak.
"Misty should take it of course. After all, she does have the best eyes." James spoke matter-of-factly but with a very real glint in his eyes and a very careful delicate edge to his voice. Despite Ash managing to hold his words back at the very start of our story, I knew and everybody knew that that was not going to be the case for that time!
Adding a single letter at the end of one particular word could change its meaning and its intention so very much. And even Ash caught onto that.
But thankfully before his face could redden as much as the hair of the baby girl in the lavender haired male's hold and being doted on after his smart remark, Delia suddenly called out. And she took charge as effortlessly and unfalteringly as her orange haired future daughter in law.
She waved a hand towards Ash's oncoming rage filled face and Misty's embarrassed (albeit flattered) eye roll and Gary and Eddie's chuckles. She joined her future daughter in law by her side and rested a lady-like hand on her hip.
"I will be the one to take it. But I'll need a copy of this wonderful moment for myself!" the chestnut haired woman very much almost sung after her heart-felt interaction with the auburn haired Pokémon Researcher.
However, to contrast this very much indeed and to contrast the brave and very truthful airiness that was coming out in Delia's tones, everyone else had a very different reaction. Almost as soon as she said these words, everybody groaned! I was the only one who didn't and because of this, I confusedly looked around. I looked around as everyone continued groaning.
Ash grumbled. Gary grumbled. Misty grumbled. Even Eddie grumbled! Infant Benjamin and Katie's contented mewling noises appeared to turn to disheartened. And then of course, while I blinked and Delia did as well, it was the most outspoken of the gang to speak up with their whole heart. It was the most outspoken of the whole gang to speak up with his whole chest.
Gary folded an arm over his own chest and Eddie appeared to imitate him.
"Delia needs to be in the photo for sure. There's no way that it isn't happening without her." The grandson of Professor Oak announced and though James and Gary were two of the other people most out of sync at the best of times also, while allowing Katie to pull on his hair all over again, the lavender haired male managed not to grimace in between saying his words.
In fact, he very much smiled.
"Delia, you have to be in this photo, no question. You're the reason none of us have gone crazy. Well, almost!" the ex-Team Rocket member finished his kind words towards Ash's mother with a sheepish gentle smile that was followed by a playful eye crossing look.
And in response – in response to both of James and Gary's expressions of plight – Delia stopped blinking and started blushing instead. She waved a hand all over again and tried to smooth her skirt down, disagreeing.
But in spite of this, soon enough it really was all agreed. And soon enough also, everybody who had been outside with me was piled up in front of our new home and I was the one with Misty's camera in my hold. But I didn't mind. Really, I didn't mind at all. In actual fact, I don't think I could have minded anything less!
I really wanted to capture that moment and on that day. And so I did. Delia Ketchum had captured our hearts from the moment that we all met her. And that became so very clear from the way that everybody clamoured to have her right by her side for when the photo was being taken.
Gary was still holding his doppelgänger mischievous son but nonetheless, he wanted Delia right by his side. Misty wanted to be sandwiched right between her lavender haired best friend with her daughter and with her boyfriend who was holding her son. But in spite of this, she wanted to be close to Delia as well.
The lavender haired ex-rocketeer wanted to be right up close to Ash's mother too! Even after everything that he had put her and her son through. He smiled and tried to hold his hand out to her while cradling Katie in the crook of his arm and pushing his strand of her away from her point of vision for good.
"Where would any of us be without Delia? Where would any of us be without you? Come stand next to me." The lavender and long haired male offered to the chestnut haired woman and on any other given day, I know that she would have jumped at the chance! She still did there and then and on that day even though she ducked her head and blushed and tried to play it off.
Even if she was considering being next to James out of everyone, there was someone else who reached out to her and took her for himself. And that was of course her very own son.
With a heart-warming smile on his own face and gratitude and adoration in his eyes, Ash reached out for his mother and wrapped his arm so very tightly around her. He wasn't doing it for show at all or for the camera one bit. Ash wasn't doing anything for any sort of reaction for once when he continued wrapping his arm around his mother before planting a kiss right on her cheek.
Delia blushed tearfully enough at this. But she most certainly did at the words that came next.
Smiling towards the camera in preparation but his heart reaching out to the woman who had raised him all the same, my very best raven haired friend uttered.
"You're not just a mom to me. But I sure am glad that you are mine. And the best one at that." Ash spoke to the chestnut haired woman right next to him and while he effortlessly smiled – and everyone nodded their heads and smiled too – then I pressed for the camera to take the photo.
And I'm sure that you can see why it is simply one of my most treasured memories and treasured photographs, even on the day that everyone is moving house for a second time all of those years later.
All the smiles and the laughter and tender moments really did not only remain on the page and visible for anybody who passed that photograph by or around in their own house, but they lived on in my mind as well.
The memories with each and every person whom I loved would always be on the forefront of my mind. I was almost glad not to be solely caught up in battling anymore. It left room for other things. And it would be those other things that really kept my heart so very strong – and provided me with a lifetime of adventure.
The End.
There you go! Thanks so much for reading and hope you enjoyed :3 I've definitely said this before whenever I upload about Gary, but I always really enjoy getting to tackle his character. I intend to do that more in the next year. Yes, I really did enjoy almost going back to basics and writing this sort of thing. Like I said, there will be more of that to come in November. After I conclude the story of Justin and Eli with three more about them in October :) Thanks again and I will be back next Wednesday once again so see you then!