Things sure have changed a bit in the short time since I last updated, huh?

I've been feeling the stress and anxiety lately, as I'm sure many of you have, but some good news is that this has caused me to focus and spend more time on my writing! I'm even working on a special project I think you guys will enjoy, but for now, I wanted to get another fun one shot up to serve as a nice little distraction from all this craziness.

Aiden and Michelle: 2 years old


Nighttime Twin Trouble

Michelle grumbled quietly to herself as she stared up at the ceiling. She hated being in her crib. She hated nighttime. She hated being in her crib at nighttime.

This was usually the point where she'd start screaming bloody murder, and one of her parents would come in and comfort her. Before she could make a fuss, however, something began to rattle and distracted her.

Michelle turned her head just in time to see her twin brother climbing out of his own crib across the room. She knew he knew how to do it, but she had never actually seen him climb out. It was fascinating! Sitting up, Michelle inched closer to the side of her own crib, gripping the bars and peering through them to watch Aiden land on the floor.

"Denny?" Michelle squeaked.

Aiden looked up towards his sister and beamed. Standing back up, he toddled over to her crib and pulled at the bars, giggling as he yanked.

"Shelly!" Aiden squealed in response.

"Out!" Michelle cried.

Aiden blinked and tilted his head, not understanding what his sister meant. Growling lowly, Michelle began tugging at the bars, far more roughly than her brother had been just moments before.

"Out!" Michelle repeated.

Aiden's mouth formed a little 'O' shape, finally understanding what his sister wanted. Turning around, he scurried over to the rocking chair in the corner, pulling a blanket off the seat. He ran back over to Michelle's crib, tossing half of the blanket over its side. The back half of the blanket landed atop Michelle's head, covering up the little girl and causing her to flail in surprise until it slipped off and she could see again. The little girl narrowed her eyes at her brother, but Aiden didn't seem bothered.

"Take!" Aiden cried, pointing at the end of the blanket that was draped over the side of Michelle's crib.

Keeping the scowl on her face, Michelle grabbed onto the end of the blanket, confusedly staring up at it. Once she had it tight, Aiden began to pull on the other end, hoping to lift his sister over the edge. All it did, however, was pull her into the side of the crib, causing the girl's scowl to deepen.

"Uh oh," Aiden squeaked, letting go of the blanket.

While Michelle groaned and rubbed at the side of her face, Aiden looked over his shoulder at the rocking chair. Running back towards it, he grabbed on and started dragging it towards Michelle's crib, which took a bit of time and effort considering how big the chair was and how small Aiden was. Eventually, however, he succeeded in getting it there, and once it was in place, he climbed atop it rather easily, even with his small frame. Once Aiden was standing on the chair, he grabbed onto the top of the crib's bars and pulled himself up, smiling at his sister from the other side.

"Hewe!" Aiden squeaked, holding his hand down towards her.

Michelle hesitantly grabbed onto his hand, shrieking once he pulled her up. She collided with him and knocked both of them into the back of the rocking chair, sending it gliding back and forth. Aiden giggled afterwards, while Michelle whined and shook her head.

"Fun!" Aiden commented, scooting himself off the chair and back to the floor.

Michelle grimaced, but hesitantly followed after her brother. He was flitting towards the corner of the room, where a pile of toys was sitting. Throwing himself down in front of it, Aiden began to sift through the collection, looking for exactly what he wanted to play with. Michelle sat down beside him (doing so far more gently than he had) and began to look at the toys he had already discarded, including a few stuffed Pokémon and plastic goodies like stacking rings and blocks.

"Ha!"

Michelle's eyes widened. She turned her head towards Aiden, who had just unleashed that throaty laugh, and found he was now holding onto a stuffed poke ball.

"Po ball!" Aiden announced.

"Ya," Michelle murmured, assuming that had been obvious.

"Go!" Aiden yelled, tossing the toy at Michelle. It bounced off her chest and landed on her lap, leading the girl to raise a wry eyebrow. Aiden started laughing again, amused by his sister's expression. "I –atch you!"

"Nuh uh!" Michelle refuted, beginning to laugh as well. Picking up the toy, she tossed it back at her brother and shrieked, "I –atch you!"

Aiden's laughter only became wilder as he threw himself down on his back, rolling around in delight. He grabbed at the poke ball and jumped back up, waving it over his head. "I'ma –atch you again!"

"No!" Michelle shrieked with laughter, scrambling to get to her own feet and run away from her brother.

XXX

Unbeknownst to the toddlers, all of their shrieking and giggling was garnering the attention of someone else in the house.

Pikachu had wandered downstairs a little while ago, thirsty and in search of water. Now that he'd managed to get his paws on some, he was headed back to Ash and Misty's room, but stopped in his tracks when he heard the noise coming from the twins' room. Ears twitching, Pikachu inched closer and gently nudged the door with his nose. That slight move increased the volume to a near unbelievable level, leading Pikachu to wince. He peered through the crack in the door and saw the twins chasing after one another, grabbing various stuffed toys and throwing them across the room. Even in the relative darkness, broken up only softly by Michelle's nightlight, Pikachu could see that the room was a total mess.

"Pi…" He murmured. Then, it suddenly struck him that neither Ash nor Misty had come running towards the room yet. He didn't know how long the twins had been at this for (it had to have started after he'd already gone downstairs) but surely their parents had heard it by now? They seemed to have supersensitive hearing for those two…perhaps even more sensitive than Pikachu's.

With some concern, Pikachu ran down the hall to Ash and Misty's room, squeezing back through the door like he had before to leave. As soon as Pikachu entered the room, he was greeted by Ash's snoring, which was both louder than the twins' giggling and non-existent when Pikachu had let before. The electric type sighed and jumped onto the bed, scurrying up to his trainer's head and poking at him.

"Pikapi…" Pikachu beckoned.

Ash snored again and rolled over, nearly right on top of Pikachu. The electric type yelped in fear and just managed to jump out of the way, accidentally bumping into the back of Misty's head. That, on the other hand, was enough to wake the gym leader up, although it didn't seem to cause her any extra alarm.

"Pikachu?" Misty asked groggily. "You okay?"

"Pikachupi!" Pikachu gasped, jumping in surprise.

Despite her tired state, Misty giggled as she rubbed at her eyes. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Shaking his head, the electric mouse began frantically chattering, "Pipika pi Pipikachu pi pika pikachu pi!"

Misty appeared bewildered. "Did you just say something about Aiden and Michelle?"

"Chu!"

Misty breathed and sat up, stretching her arms above her head before reaching out for the baby monitor on her nightstand. "How come I didn't hear anything through here?"

Ash snored loudly again, causing Misty to deadpan, "Well that definitely doesn't help."

She lifted the baby monitor to her ear, listening for a moment before scowling and shaking it. Once she lifted it to her ear again, she groaned and lowered it to the bed. "Great, the batteries must've died."

Pulling the covers off of her body, Misty slipped out of bed and started walking towards the door, which Pikachu had left just barely open. Once she was gone, Pikachu gently swatted at Ash's head with his tail, which failed again to wake him up. Once Ash unleashed another loud snore, Pikachu sighed and charged himself up, giving his trainer a light jolt. Of course, it was still an electric shock, so Ash practically went flying out of bed, yelping as the attack coursed through his body. He landed back down safely on the bed, his hair standing on end as he glared at his partner.

"I hate it when you do that."

"Chu."

XXX

When Misty got closer to the twins' room, that's when she heard noises coming from it…obviously what Pikachu had come running to her about.

"What in the world?" Misty muttered to herself.

She peered through the crack of the door, and just about instantly, her eyes widened.

It was clear, even without much light, that the twins' toys were strewn everywhere. A shadowy figure went darting by the door, not realizing someone was peering in. Normally, Misty would've panicked, but she could tell just from the figure's stature that it was one of her toddlers, obviously wide awake and causing mischief.

"Whoa, looks like a twin tornado went off in there."

Misty stood up straight and scowled at her husband. "How did this happen?"

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know! I just got here too, ya know."

Misty rolled her eyes, not appreciating the sass. "I'm afraid of what's going on in that room."

"Guess we won't find out until we go inside," Ash sighed.

Knowing he was right, Misty pursed her lips and, without another word, reached out to push the door all the way open. This caught the twins' attention, causing them to stop in their tracks and whip their heads towards the door.

"You two should be sleeping, not playing," Misty sternly informed her children, too tired to give a much lengthier lecture and skipping right to the point. "How did you even get out of your cribs, huh?"

"Denny!" Michelle cried instantly, pointing at her wide-eyed brother.

Ash chuckled. "Michelle never hesitates to throw her brother under the bus."

"Right now, I'm a bit more concerned that Aiden can apparently get out of his crib on his own," Misty grumbled. "That's super dangerous!"

Ash hummed before looking over at his son. "When did you learn to do that, champ?"

"I dunno," Aiden squeaked, shrugging his shoulders.

Misty groaned and rubbed at her eyes. "Okay; it's too late for this. We'll have to deal with that in the morning. But for now, it's bedtime."

Stepping fully into the room, Misty lifted Michelle up and placed the whining toddler back into her crib. She next did the same thing with Aiden, although he protested less. Once that was completed, however, she paused and looked thoughtful, confusing her husband.

"What's up?" Ash asked.

"I'm worried that if Aiden crawls out of his crib again, he's going to fall and break his neck," Misty sighed, shaking her head.

Ash frowned. "That's kind of dark, Mist."

"Maybe, but it's also valid," Misty shot back. "It's not safe for him to be doing that! We can't just get rid of his crib in the middle of the night, though. That's not practical, and I'm not going to have him sleep on the floor."

"Pika!"

Ash and Misty turned their heads as the electric mouse let out an excited squeak. He scurried over to the blanket that Aiden had used to pull Michelle out of her crib and dragged it over to the humans, beaming up at them. Misty's face lit up with realization as she knelt down to take the blanket.

"This is perfect!" She crowed. "Thanks, Pikachu!"

"Pi!"

Ash, on the other hand, was completely lost. "How's a blanket going to help us stop Aiden from climbing back out?"

"It won't," Misty replied simply, earning a bewildered look from her husband. "There's nothing we can do to stop Aiden; at least not tonight. But we can use the blanket to prevent him from getting hurt."

Ash blinked his eyes before replying, "Yeah, I still don't get it."

Groaning, Misty decided it was best to stop talking and just show him what she meant. Kneeling down, Misty laid the blanket on the floor, folding it neatly into several layers without making the surface size too small.

"Get it now?" Misty asked, standing back up to her full height as she crossed her arms.

Ash's face lit up with realization. "Oh! It's like a crash mat!"

"Very good," Misty sighed, jerking her head towards the door. "Now let's get out of here so these two can finally go to sleep."

Pikachu, however, chose not to follow the adults and instead curled up on the blanket that Misty had laid down. Ash looked over his shoulder, observing Pikachu before smiling at the electric mouse.

"You're gonna keep an eye on these two, aren't you?" Ash asked kindly.

"Pi," Pikachu confirmed.

Misty too beamed at the Pokémon. "You're so sweet, Pikachu! Thank you."

"Cha!" Pikachu squeaked.

Ash and Misty walked out of the room, quietly pulling the door behind them and leaving it open just a crack. Pikachu yawned and laid his head on the blanket, preparing himself to go back to sleep.

That attempt was short lived, however, as a sound caused the electric type's ears to shoot up. He lifted his head, grumbling tiredly, and gasped when he found Aiden had scrambled back to his feet and was pulling at the bars of the crib.

"Pipika!" Pikachu cried.

The boy looked down at the Pokémon and grinned cheekily, much to Pikachu's horror.

"Pi…" Pikachu whined, leaping to his paws and jumping up, climbing the side of the crib until he could push himself over the side. Aiden had watched the entire time in sheer fascination, lowering himself back to a sitting position. Once Pikachu landed beside him, the boy started to giggle and clap his hands, amused by Pikachu's skill.

"Fun-ny!" Aiden squealed.

"Pipika, pi Pikachu," Pikachu pleaded in a hushed voice.

"I do dat," Aiden declared, getting back to his feet.

"Chu!" Pikachu yelped, biting at the leg of Aiden's pajama pants.

"Let go!" Aiden whined, gently shaking his leg. Fortunately for Pikachu, the little two-year-old wasn't very strong, so the move didn't do much to deter him.

Pikachu growled and shook his head, refusing to let go of Aiden's pants. The little boy finally gave up, huffing as he threw himself back down. He was scowling at Pikachu, but the mouse was hardly affected. It wasn't fun when the twins got fussy with him, and it used to be much harder for the Pokémon to accept, but Pikachu knew he was acting in Aiden's best interest. He didn't want the boy to get hurt, and he knew that Ash and Misty would be devastated if such a thing happened. If the tradeoff was having Aiden be a little mad at him for the time being, then Pikachu was going to roll with it.

Despite the boy's sour disposition, Pikachu rubbed up against him, encouragingly murmuring, "pi-ka, Pipika. Pi pikachu!"

Aiden grumbled, not wanting to move from his position. Pikachu nudged him a bit harder and kept at it until he finally succeeded at getting the boy to tumble down.

His previous frustration seemingly forgotten, Aiden burst out into a fit of giggles, rolling over onto his back and stretching his arms and legs out. Pikachu hopped on top of Aiden's left arm, intending to snuggle himself there, but was surprised when the toddler instead wrapped his arms around him and hugged him close.

"I -ove you, Pikachu," Aiden murmured, rubbing his cheek against the Pokémon's head.

Pikachu's ears perked. Kids sure were fickle! He thought Aiden would've stayed mad at him for a little while longer than that, but he was definitely pleased his attempts to cheer the boy up had worked so well.

"Pi pikachu, Pipika," Pikachu murmured, tilting his head back to lick Aiden's face.

The boy giggled in response, much softer and gentler than he had before when he'd been playing with Michelle or laughing at Pikachu scaling his crib. Before long, the toddler had finally fallen asleep, Pikachu still in his embrace. The mouse felt a great sense of relief wash over him and, with a long yawn, he snuggled more deeply against the toddler's chest and was soon drifting off himself. The twins' room was now, at long last, totally silent.

Across from where Aiden and Pikachu now slept, however, Michelle was now sitting up in her own crib, staring into the darkness. Pushing herself up onto her hands and knees, Michelle managed to stabilize herself before getting to her feet and grabbing the top of the railing. Sticking her tongue out of the corner of her mouth, Michelle hoisted her leg up and managed to get herself over the bars. She hung there for just a moment, slightly afraid, until she managed to stretch her legs enough to get her foot between two of the bars. She then did the same with her other foot, and once she felt more secure, climbed her way down to the floor.

Michelle turned away from her crib with a big smile on her face. She had done it! She had learned to climb out, just like her brother!

With a little giggle, Michelle toddled towards the door of the bedroom, pulling it open and wandering out into the hallway. Standing there for a second, Michelle locked her eyes on the room at the end of the hall and allowed the smile on her face to widen.

Her parents were going to be so excited to see what she had learned to do!


In case you were wondering, the first thing Ash and Misty did the next morning was go out and buy a pair of toddler beds ;)