I have been holding onto this one for a long time. I just kept writing up other one shots I got too excited about and this one kept ending up getting pushed to the side...but this happens to be a very sweet one, so I'm happy I'm finally getting around to sharing it with you all!
Love Like You
Misty would never forget the first time she held her children.
Their newness and innocence had been overwhelming. She'd held them separately: Aiden first, Michelle second. The circumstances, despite the babies being twins, were entirely different.
She had gotten to hold Aiden only about a minute or so after he was born. He had screamed and cried so loudly ("the loudest baby I've ever heard," the doctor had remarked) but as soon as he was given to Misty, he became silent. She'd held him tightly against her chest, the warmth of their flesh intermingling. Once he was quiet, the first thing he did was reach his arm out, placing his hand right over her heart. Misty's breath caught, and all she could do was stare at the baby lying against her.
"What do you think?" Ash had asked breathlessly. Misty glanced up at him, surprised that for once in his life Ash was practically speechless. He was staring at the baby, his eyes full of mystification and wonderment.
"I think you have some competition," Misty finally replied, gently placing her hand against the back of her son's head.
"I'm okay with that," Ash breathed, leaning in closer to his newborn son.
Misty smiled weakly. Of course Ash was okay with it. Their son was perfect. Besides, she knew she'd have competition soon as well…in the form of their baby daughter. With one hand still on her baby boy, Misty moved the other down to cradle her large stomach, which still housed the second baby.
It was only a few seconds later when Misty was told they'd have to begin delivering the second baby, and take the boy for tests in the meantime.
Misty knew this was necessary, but it still broke her heart when they took her son away from her and he began to cry relentlessly once more. She'd looked up helplessly at her husband, who gently shushed her and pressed a delicate kiss against her lips.
"He's going to be okay," Ash whispered against them, raising a hand to stroke his wife's bright red hair. "Focus on giving birth. Then you'll have two babies to hold for as long as you want."
Once their daughter was born, however, Misty wasn't able to hold her right away. Not like her brother. Michelle was ill, and it was clear from the moment she had been delivered. And so, it wasn't until a few hours later that Misty was finally able to hold her daughter.
That, of course, had done nothing to diminish the moment for her. It was just as perfect as when she'd held her son for the first time just hours before. The only difference between the two was that her daughter didn't want to stretch out much like her brother had. Instead, she wanted to stay tucked in tight, everything from her arms to her face.
"It's alright," Misty murmured as she stroked the little girl's bright red hair. "It's just Mommy and Daddy now. No one is going to come poke at you, I promise."
Ash frowned as he gazed at the baby. "You think she's scared? They did run a lot of tests on her, after all."
"She might be," Misty replied softly. "It has to be scary to come right into the world and start getting prodded by strangers."
Timidly, Ash reached out for the baby girl and delicately touched his fingers to her head. Misty slowly looked up from the newborn, instead setting her gaze on her husband. He looked quite serious, though his features were still gentle and kind.
"We're here," Ash breathed, his eyes locked on the baby. "Mommy and Daddy will protect you. You're going to be okay."
The baby squeaked and turned her head just enough so her face was no longer buried in her mother's chest. Misty smiled at her husband, who was returning the action to their little daughter.
"You're so good," Misty murmured, finally regaining Ash's attention. "The sweetest, most loving person in the world. How did I get so lucky?"
Ash smirked and slightly turned his head. "I could ask you the same thing."
Misty's smile faltered. She didn't want to say it out loud and ruin the moment, but she didn't quite agree with her husband on that one.
She didn't think she could compare to him.
XXX
That had been 8 months ago.
Aiden and Michelle were now much bigger. They could sit up on their own, roll over, and were just starting to crawl and talk. Both also had a few teeth already and frequently showed those off whenever they smiled or laughed.
A lot of that was reserved just for their father.
The twins were happy babies, for the most part. But it seemed that everything Ash did was funny to them. Often, all he had to do was shoot them a look, and they'd both start giggling like crazy. The bond between the three of them was something that Misty found simply incredible.
She sat on the couch and watched as Ash, who was lying on his back on the floor, held Aiden up in the air by his sides. The baby boy was squealing with delight, holding his arms down towards Ash and switching his gaze between his father and the ceiling.
"Isn't that sweet?" Misty commented aloud, a slight giggle accompanying it.
"Aiden loves when I do this," Ash chuckled. "Michelle doesn't…not as much as Aiden, at least. But there are other things I do that she really likes!"
Misty continued to watch with a smile as Ash lowered Aiden, pressing kiss after kiss against the boy's cheek. He mumbled happily, grabbing at his father's face with little hands.
"You know, they're just like you," Misty stated, resting her head in her hand.
Ash tilted his head back to shoot his wife a teasing look. "I hope that's a compliment."
"Oh, it is!" Misty cried almost too quickly. "I'm glad they're just like you. It's much better than them being like me."
Ash's teasing look melted into one of bewilderment. "Huh?"
Misty shrugged, not bothering to move her hand from her face. "I don't really think I have the best personality to inherit."
Ash sat up, placing Aiden down on his lap. The boy cooed curiously and continued reaching up towards his father, pulling at the man's shirt. "That's not true, Mist. You have a great personality! Besides, I think the kids definitely have parts of them that come from you."
"Well, I hope you're wrong," Misty sighed. "I was kind of a bratty kid, Ash. I admit it. But I don't want our kids to act like that. And I highly doubt they ever will, because they're both the sweetest things in the whole entire world."
"That doesn't mean they won't have their moments from time-to-time," Ash reasoned with her. "Besides, don't be so hard on yourself. I wasn't the most angelic kid, after all."
Misty scoffed and indignantly turned her head away. "Yeah, right."
"Not all the time, I wasn't!" Ash argued. "Come on, I'm sure my mom's told you stories."
Misty pulled her shoulders back before reluctantly admitting, "she has."
"Yeah, you're just choosing to ignore those at the moment," Ash teased, a smirk reappearing on his face. "But the next time you want to get on my case, you'll bring it right back up!"
The gym leader just rolled her eyes. "Ash, it doesn't matter. I know your mom has told me those stories, but you still were nowhere near as bad as I was. If our kids had turned out like me, I'm not so sure you and I would be able to handle it. I barely understand how my grandmother managed it."
"Mist, quit saying that," Ash gently chastised. "The kids do have traits of you. And they're all good!"
Misty sat in silence before continuing, "do you remember the first time I got to hold both of them?"
"Yeah, of course I do," Ash replied.
"They were so sweet, and loving, and precious," Misty sighed, her eyes fluttering closed in sheer awe. "And they still are. Nothing's changed, and that makes me so happy."
"Okay, but I don't see how any of that proves they're not like you," Ash reasoned.
"Because I'm not any of those things!" Misty blurted. As Ash silently stared at her, Misty sighed and leaned back against the couch. "But you are. They get those traits from you. And I'm really grateful that they do."
Ash twisted his mouth. "Maybe. But I happen to think that you're very sweet, loving, and precious yourself."
Misty let out a bitter laugh at that. "Yeah, right."
"I mean it!" Ash cried.
"Ma!" Aiden squealed, squirming on his father's lap.
Ash glanced down at the baby and let out a small chuckle, catching the infant's attention and causing him to smile. "Hey, sounds like Aiden agrees with me!"
The little boy inched his way off of Ash's lap, crawling unsteadily towards his mother and latching onto the woman's legs. Misty raised an eyebrow and glanced down at her son, who was grinning up boldly at her.
"Look at that," Ash chuckled. "He loves you!"
Misty returned the little boy's smile, although hers was more muted. "Aren't you just the sweetest?" She bent over and lifted the child onto her lap, hugging him close to her body. The little boy cooed contently in turn, leaning his head against his mother's chest.
"You know, babies have a better sense of people than adults do."
Misty blinked and looked over at Ash, who had a thoughtful look on his face.
"What?" Misty murmured.
"Babies are a better judge of character than adults," Ash reiterated. "Same thing with Pokémon. They have heightened senses that older humans don't have, so they can sense if someone is really good. Professor Oak taught me that."
"Oh," Misty breathed, her eyes falling back onto Aiden. "That's interesting."
Ash smirked, knowing that Misty was skirting around the heart of his comment. "Misty, Aiden would not be cuddling up to you like that unless he knew that you were good."
The gym leader scoffed at that. "Please, you expect me to buy that? He's my son."
"So?" Ash challenged. "If you were really that bad of a person, Aiden wouldn't care if you were his mother or not. He'd probably freak whenever you held him. And he definitely wouldn't crawl over to you on his own."
Misty puffed out her cheeks in frustration, causing Ash to laugh. Once she let the air go, she shot her husband a pointed look. "How are you so good at making me feel better?"
"Because I know how to get through to you," Ash replied with a smile. "It'd be pretty bad if I didn't."
Misty smiled and lolled her head to the side. "I love you, Ash."
He grinned back at his wife, giving her a small nod. "I love you, too."
Ash reassuring Misty is a personal favorite of mine. In all facets, honestly. Reading, writing, watching...whatever it is, I love it!
On a (slightly?) related note, Pokeshipping Week is less than a month away! I've already started writing my stuff for this year and I'm very excited about putting those up and reading and seeing everyone else's work! So get excited for that y'all!
