I can't believe summer is almost over. That makes me so sad, even though all the seasons at this point are kind of the same for me (I work every day, no more school...it's still weird) but I like the warm weather and longer days!
Anyway, since I'm still in this super light, happy mood, I decided to upload this cute and fluffy one shot featuring one of my favorite characters interacting with the baby twins...because it's just so much fun to write.
Aiden and Michelle: 5 months old
The Littlest Lab Partners
Professor Oak's lab was one of Ash and Misty's favorite places to take the twins.
Not only did the professor adore the babies, but their Uncle Tracey worked there as his right hand assistant, and of course he loved Aiden and Michelle as well. The two of them frequently took breaks from their work in order to play with the babies or pay them special attention. Professor Oak was especially fond of spoiling them. He treated Aiden and Michelle no differently than his own great-grandson, and almost every time Ash and Misty brought the little ones over, Professor Oak had a new gift for them.
Today, it was a pair of stuffed Pokémon: a Plusle for Aiden and a Minun for Michelle.
"I know it seems a bit cliché, but I couldn't help myself!" Professor Oak chuckled, watching as the twins examined their new toys. "Those two really do remind me of a pair of Plusle and Minun. Always together and so cheerful."
Misty giggled at the very idea. "I don't know if they're always so cheerful! Around you they are. They love you, Professor!"
Professor Oak smiled and reached over to pat both children on the head. Michelle looked up curiously at him, the tip of one of Minun's ears in her mouth. Aiden, on the other hand, was too busy poking at Plusle's face to pay the professor any mind.
"How sweet," Professor Oak laughed, standing back up straight.
"Professor!"
Ash came running into the living room, a huge smile on his face. "I just gaveTorkoal that new food you suggested for him. He loved it!"
"Excellent!" Professor Oak crowed. "I'm glad to hear it!"
Turning his attention onto his wife, Ash continued, "Misty, you should come outside. Tracey is observing the water types and he's noticing all this really cool stuff! I think you'd find it really interesting."
"I would love to, Ash, but I can't just leave the babies here alone," Misty replied with a frown.
"So bring them with you!"
"They're about to go down for a nap," Misty sighed, shaking her head. "And messing up their schedule is a definite no-no."
Ash looked rather disappointed, and Professor Oak couldn't help but to smile. "I could stay here with them, Misty."
Misty blinked hard and turned towards the researcher. "Oh, I couldn't ask you to do that, Professor."
"Nonsense, I insist!" Professor Oak guffawed. "To be perfectly honest, I've been delaying work on my latest book, and I really should sit down and focus on it. If I stay here with the twins, that'll give me the opportunity to do just that."
Misty thought about it for a moment before smiling at the professor. "If you're sure…that sounds wonderful!"
She bent down and lifted the twins up in her arms, carrying them over to the playpen in the corner that was typically used for Gary's son Sam. Misty placed both of them inside, smiling as they kept themselves occupied with their new stuffed Pokémon.
"I won't be gone for long," Misty assured the researcher as she stood back up to her full height.
"Please, take all the time you'd like," Professor Oak replied with a smile. "Aiden and Michelle are safe here with me!"
"Of course I know that," Misty giggled. Looking over her shoulder, Misty addressed the babies, "you two behave for Professor Oak, okay? No causing any trouble!"
Neither baby looked up at their mother; both were still too busy with their toys.
"I'm sure they won't," Professor Oak chuckled. "Have fun, you two!"
Once Ash and Misty left the room, Professor Oak walked over to the playpen and leaned over to watch the twins. Michelle was still chewing at one of Minun's ears, while Aiden was repeatedly pressing down on Plusle's face.
"I must admit, it is fascinating to watch you two together," Professor Oak mused. "Born at the same time, from the same parents, and you're still infants, but already you're so different from one another!"
Aiden finally stopped examining Plusle and reached out towards his sister with the toy, pushing against her side. Michelle released Minun's ear and started to whine, reaching out towards her brother and trying to swat his toy away. Professor Oak chuckled, and succeeded in getting both babies to look up at him.
"Sibling rivalry already I see," Professor Oak playfully mused. "Your mother and father certainly have their hands full, don't they?"
Aiden squealed and threw himself down, Michelle tumbling down after him. Professor Oak hummed, standing back to his full height.
"Ah right, Misty said it was just about your nap time," Professor Oak breathed. "I'm sure me hanging over you two isn't helping to send you both off to sleep! I'll go start my work and give you two some quiet time."
The researcher walked away from the playpen and instead sat down at his desk in the opposite corner, turning the computer there on. Sprawled across the top of the desk, in addition to the computer's keyboard, were several open and bookmarked textbooks, scrap paper full of notes, and a collection of well-used spiral notebooks. He thought with age, it would become easier to sit himself down and focus solely on his work, but if anything, it had only become harder.
Just as the computer was booting up, Professor Oak heard something shuffling behind him. Looking over his shoulder, his eyes widened when he realized the gray playpen was slowly inching away from the wall.
"Oh my," Professor Oak murmured, getting up from his seat and hurrying back over to the playpen. He peered over and found Aiden up on his knees, pushing at the mesh side of the pen. Michelle was sitting by watching him, holding the stuffed Minun in one hand and Plusle in the other.
"Where do you think you're going?" Professor Oak asked playfully. Aiden looked up at him and cooed, tilting his head to the side. "Are you trying to run off?"
Aiden giggled and sat back, placing his hands in his lap.
"Now you're playing innocent," Professor Oak laughed. "Your daddy did the same thing as a baby, you know. He'd do something naughty and then pretend he didn't do a thing!"
Aiden giggled again and reached forward, trying to push up against the side of the playpen like before.
"No no!" Professor Oak laughed, gently pulling the boy's hands away. "Remember what your mother said? It's time to take a nap! Once you wake up, you can play all you want."
Aiden mumbled softly and blinked his wide, brown eyes. Michelle, on the other hand, showed off a big yawn before sprawling herself out on the bottom of the playpen, this time actually showing signs of preparing to nap.
"Ah, you see?" Professor Oak questioned, nodding towards the little girl. "Your sister is heading off to sleep! Why don't you join her?"
Aiden just kept staring at the man. Professor Oak sighed and stood up to his full height, folding his arms across his chest. "I think I'm entertaining you too much. Back to my work I go! Get some rest, little one."
As the professor walked away, Aiden stared at his back, watching him as he sat back down at the desk. After a few seconds, Aiden began to push against the side of the playpen once again, doing his best to inch it up. He eventually succeeded, but the sound of the playpen skidding across the wooden floor got Professor Oak to jump out of his seat all over again.
"Oh, Aiden…"
Before the baby could process what was going on, he was being lifted out of the playpen. Michelle, who was still lying down, simply gazed up with curious eyes. Aiden whined softly as Professor Oak held him against his chest, trying to wiggle his way out of the researcher's arms.
"You certainly did inherit every little bit of your father, didn't you?" Professor Oak questioned. "I feel like I've been sent back 21 years in the past!"
Aiden let out a desolate moan and threw his head back, expressing his true feelings about being restrained.
"Oh, you're not happy, are you?" Professor Oak crooned, carrying the boy over to his desk. "Sam does the same exact thing as you when he's not getting his way! I really think you two will be excellent friends when you get a little older."
Aiden groaned as the researcher sat down in his chair, sitting the grouchy baby down on his lap.
"I'm sorry, but I can't leave you out of my sight," Professor Oak apologized with a frown. "I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to you while my back was turned. It would be a different story if you were taking a nap, but you don't seem very interested in that."
The baby continued to whine, but slowly began to quiet down when he saw the plethora of objects sitting on the desk in front of him.
"So you can help me focus on my work!" Professor Oak declared, smiling down at the baby. "This book isn't going to write itself, after all…as much as I wish it would!"
Aiden babbled and reached for one of the colorful highlighters that had caught his attention. Professor Oak took notice and picked up the yellow one, handing it off to the infant. Once Aiden had the highlighter in his hands, he squealed happily and began shaking it up and down.
"You like that?" Professor Oak chuckled. "I'm glad!"
The boy leaned back against the researcher, sticking the end of the highlighter in his mouth and thoughtfully chewing on the plastic tube. His bright brown eyes floated up towards the illuminated computer screen, and that quickly became even more interesting than the highlighter. Aiden slowly stopped his chewing, allowing the highlighter to slip out of his mouth as he used one hand to point at the screen.
"Ah?" He squeaked.
"Hmm?" Professor Oak hummed. "What is it? You see something?"
Aiden continued to point at the screen, babbling more nonsense that caused Professor Oak to laugh.
"You like the computer, huh?" He asked. "Even more than that highlighter I just gave you?"
The little boy glanced down thoughtfully at the yellow highlighter in his other hand before carelessly chucking it on the floor.
"I guess so," Professor Oak laughed nervously.
Aiden cooed, lowering his pointing arm while keeping his eyes on the screen. He tilted his head to the side, staring at the lighted screen with uninterruptable interest. With silence now achieved, Professor Oak resumed his book work, hoping that if he focused on that and stopped talking to Aiden so much, the boy would finally fall asleep.
And luckily for the researcher, that seemed to do the trick.
Within a matter of minutes, Aiden was fast asleep, his head lolling to the point where it was basically resting on his shoulder. Professor Oak took one look at the baby and smiled. Not only was he happy that his plan had worked, but he couldn't help it. Aiden looked so cute fast asleep!
Just as the professor stood up to put the baby back in the playpen, his parents entered the room along with Tracey. As soon as she saw her son sleeping against the professor, Misty giggled softly and strode over to the older man.
"You got him to fall asleep!" Misty marveled.
"It took a bit of work, but it paid off in the end," Professor Oak chuckled.
"Here, I'll put him down for you," Misty offered, taking the sleeping baby from the professor and cradling him in her arms. "Oh, aren't you just the most handsome boy?"
"Hey," Ash whined, throwing in a pout for added effect.
Misty giggled again and gently stroked the baby's black hair. "Daddy doesn't get that he's a man and not a boy because he doesn't act like one."
Ash narrowed his eyes at his wife, who turned towards him at the exact same time and playfully stuck her tongue out.
"You were asking for it," she quipped before moving towards the playpen.
"I always am," Ash grumbled, rolling his eyes.
Misty put Aiden down and smiled at him once more, rubbing his forehead as she glanced over at Michelle. The little girl was fast asleep as well, gripping both the stuffed Plusle and Minun in either of her hands.
"Professor, I swear, you're like a baby whisperer," Misty complimented, standing back up to her full height and turning away from the playpen.
"Oh no, I'm certainly not that good!" Professor Oak refuted.
"I find that hard to believe," Misty remarked. "It can be next to impossible to get Aiden to take a nap!"
"Well, I did discover a little trick that helped out," Professor Oak admitted.
"Really?" Misty questioned, her eyes widening. "You have to tell me! I'd love to know how you did it!"
"It's something I should've thought of from the start," Professor Oak chuckled as he motioned towards his desk.
"A big mess?" Ash asked, nearly sending everyone to the floor.
"No, not that!" Professor Oak cried, embarrassed both by the idea and the fact he'd left that unsightly clutter in plain sight. "I meant the computer. Aiden really seemed to like the light from the screen!"
"Oh, I see," Tracey breathed. "That makes a lot of sense! Babies usually are easily transfixed by things that light up or are interactive. It's why things like phones and TVs are so appealing to them!"
"I can't believe I never thought of that before," Misty mused. "Maybe I should try letting Aiden watch some TV before I put him down for his naps."
"Something tells me you'll regret that pretty quickly," Ash sighed.
"Why?" Misty questioned.
"You know; vivid dreams, hyping him up…that kind of stuff," Ash replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"Are you speaking from experience?" Misty playfully asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Ash replied guilelessly. "I used to sneak in a lot of TV before bedtime when I was a kid. That was never a good idea. Every time I did that, I had some wild dreams. And that's always how Mom found out I'd been watching it!"
"Only you," Misty muttered.
"Well, now that the twins are finally asleep, I think I'll finally try and get some work done on my book!" Professor Oak announced, catching the attention of the three younger adults.
"Professor, I thought you said you were going to do that before," Ash piped up.
"Oh, I was," Professor Oak confirmed, nodding his head. "But…that didn't work out so well."
"Really?" Ash asked. "How come?"
"I thought staying here with the twins while they settled down would get me to focus better," Professor Oak laughed nervously. "But I got a little too distracted by them to actually focus on the work!"
"Oh Professor," Tracey sighed.
"I'm so sorry!" Misty gasped. "If I had known they would be such a distraction, I would've stayed here!"
"Don't worry about it, Misty," Professor Oak assured. "This book is already behind anyway. Not the twins' fault! In fact, maybe I should take a cue from them and try to take my own nap…"
"But Professor, the book!" Tracey cried.
"It'll get done eventually," Professor Oak chuckled, waving his hand.
Tracey smacked a hand against his forehead, while Ash started to laugh.
"You sure do learn a lot from those two, don't you, Professor?" Ash questioned.
"I do!" Professor Oak agreed. "They're some of the best lab partners I've ever had the pleasure of working with!"
I always mentally compare Aiden and Michelle to Plusle and Minun. Especially since the two are their favorite colors (red for Aiden and blue for Michelle, hence why Aiden had Plusle and Michelle had Minun)
