I've been on such a writing tear lately! This is one that I had a lot of fun writing and I'm excited to share with you guys.
Early Riser
Misty had never been a morning person.
She greatly valued her beauty sleep, and firmly believed that anything she could do in the early hours of the day could be easily accomplished at literally any other time. Granted, she had never necessarily been the type of person who tended to sleep in until noon, but she still didn't feel the need to be up before the sun either.
And then she became a mother.
Sleep was now a luxury for both her and Ash, and suddenly, staying in bed until noon sounded like heaven to Misty. Of course, there was no way she'd ever be able to achieve that now.
Not that she needed the reminder at 4:30 in the morning.
It was at that all too early hour that she was awoken by the sound of one of her babies wailing, and Misty knew it was her turn to tend to the little one. She also knew that if she asked Ash, he'd probably take over for her without question, but she felt too guilty to do such a thing. After all, he never tried pawning any of his turns off on her.
So, she forced her eyes open and slunk out of bed, leaving behind her blissfully sleeping husband and trying her best to ignore the jealousy that was rising in her chest.
As soon as Misty reached the nursery down the hall, she made a beeline for Michelle's crib. She was slowly beginning to be able to tell the difference between the twins' cries, which was quite liberating. Not only was it helpful, but it also made Misty feel like a better mother, even though she'd been assured at least a hundred times (by Ash, Delia, Brock, and countless others) that not being able to differentiate between the two did not make her a failure. Misty didn't necessarily agree, but she knew that ultimately, it was just her own self-doubt talking and not any kind of tangible logic. So, she'd given up on arguing it and had resorted to silently pondering it herself.
One peek into the crib showed Misty that her initial assumption was correct, however, and she let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness.
"Alright," Misty breathed, reaching over and lifting the baby girl out of her crib. "Hey, hey, it's alright. What's wrong, baby? You lonely?"
She knew Michelle couldn't have possibly been hungry; she'd just fed the girl about two hours ago, and Michelle never wanted to eat again that quickly, unlike her gluttonous brother. And she also knew it couldn't have been because the girl needed a diaper change; Ash had taken care of that an hour ago.
Isolation was the only other thing Misty could think of that would be bothering Michelle. She was just barely two months old, but Misty was quickly figuring out her daughter's personality, and she knew for a fact the baby didn't like to be alone. Michelle seemed to be very attached to both her and Ash, and not being able to see either of them set the infant off like no other. Being put to bed and waking up in the middle of the night or early in the morning seemed to be the most frustrating for the child and led to the most intense tantrums.
Those fits were actually worse than Aiden's when he wasn't being fed quickly enough.
The longer Misty held Michelle and gently bounced her, however, the baby stopped crying and resorted instead to soft cooing. Misty glanced down at her daughter, finding that the little girl now had a content look on her face, her lips bent into the faintest of smiles.
"That answers that," Misty giggled softly to herself. Her voice caused Michelle to look up at her, and as soon as her mother was in her vision, the baby's smile widened and she unleashed a squeaky little laugh.
"Oh, hello!" Misty crooned. "That's a new sound, isn't it? You're learning how to giggle now?"
Michelle gurgled and grasped at her mother's shirt, her smile faltering for a moment before growing wide again.
Misty felt her heart swell with joy. Watching Aiden and Michelle smile for the past few weeks had been delightful, but now hearing the baby girl trying to laugh on top of it was enough to make her want to melt. Misty was still able to process that this meant her daughter was wide awake, however, and unlikely to go back to sleep very easily, if at all.
And the last thing she wanted to contend with was a fussy, screaming baby.
"Guess Mommy's morning starts now," Misty conceded with a sigh. "Come on, baby girl. Let's go hang out downstairs."
She figured that was the best place to go, considering she didn't want to disturb her still sleeping son. Misty carried the baby down the stairs and into the kitchen, not wanting to do anything else until she was able to make herself a cup of tea. Fortunately for her, she had mastered the art of doing so with only one free hand and managed to prepare the beverage in what she deemed to be record time.
Misty smirked when she noticed her daughter gazing curiously at the steaming cup on the counter, quipping, "Impressed by Mommy's skills? Pretty good, huh?"
Michelle looked back up at her mother and grinned once more, causing Misty to squeal.
"You are just so cute!" She marveled. "And so alert, too! I think this is the most aware I've seen you so far. Daddy will sure be proud when he hears all about this!"
The baby let out a throaty noise and waved one of her arms around, her wide eyes inquisitively following it.
"You're showing off now?" Misty asked amusedly. "Well, since you're so energetic, should we go play?"
Michelle mumbled and rubbed her cheek against Misty's collarbone, her mother giggling softly.
"Okay, let's go play," Misty breathed, using her free hand to pick up the steaming mug by its handle. Entering the living room, she placed the mug down on the coffee table before kneeling by the twins' play gym and gently laying Michelle down on the mat of the structure.
The play gym was easily one of her favorite things for the twins; not only because it kept them totally entertained, but because it was so adorable. Lana had sent it as a gift before the babies were born, and naturally, it was ocean themed. The blue, white, green, and gray color scheme had proven to be soothing for both Aiden and Michelle, and it had come with various activity toys, all of them resembling different water type Pokémon.
At her tender age, however, Michelle's favorite thing with the play mat seemed to be the stuffed Pokémon that hung above her head. Diminutive versions of Horsea, Squirtle, Krabby, Wailmer, and Frillish in soft colors always managed to catch the baby girl's attention…and keep it.
As soon as Michelle was placed on the mat, her eyes widened upon seeing the hanging toys, and she began bouncing herself, reaching up for them.
"Look at you go!" Misty babbled. "You're so happy to see your little friends!"
The gym leader reached out and gently shook the stuffed Krabby, which had a belly full of beads. It made a soft rattling sound, getting another uncoordinated smile and squeaky little laugh from the baby lying beneath it.
"Should I be telling you all about what kind of Pokémon these are, like Daddy does?" Misty asked teasingly. "I swear you're gonna know Krabby's entire move set before you can even hold your head up."
Michelle adopted a more serious expression as she shifted her gaze over to the largest toy in the middle of the play gym: the Wailmer.
"Oh, you like this guy?" Misty asked. She suddenly heard Ash's voice crying out in her head, however, so she quickly corrected herself, "sorry; you like Wailmer?"
The baby cooed and tilted her head, poking the tip of her tongue out of her mouth. Smirking, Misty pressed the stuffed Wailmer and watched Michelle as the toy began to light up and play music. The little girl's face instantly changed to one of amazement; her eyes set wide and sparkling, and her mouth forming a gentle 'O' shape.
"You are so precious," Misty murmured to herself, resting her head in her hand as she smiled at her daughter. Using her other hand, she reached down to gently tickle the baby's belly, managing to get another smile and more clumsy giggles out of her. "Ticky ticky!"
Michelle swung her arms up and down, wiggling on the mat as her mother tickled her. The off-kilter smile on her face had managed to grow bigger, and Misty was sure she'd never be able to get enough of it. Just one look at that sweet little face and everything felt right in the world.
Even at this unearthly hour of the morning.
Still beaming, Misty sat up straight in order to pick up her tea and was pleased to find it was now cool enough to drink. She worried that taking her hand away from Michelle would cause the baby to become upset, but it didn't seem to matter. The baby was still smiling up at her, gurgling lovingly and now far more entranced by her mother than the toys dangling above her.
Taking a slow sip of her drink, Misty leaned back against the couch, her shimmering eyes set on her joyful little daughter, and murmured, "okay, fine. Maybe sleep is overrated."
Come on, of course Lana was going to send water Pokemon themed gifts! And of course Ash is going to use it as a learning opportunity, hence why Misty literally hears his voice in her head if she doesn't use the actual names, lol.
