Happy Mother's Day everyone! This year, I didn't write a traditional Mother's Day story, but it's still got a motherly theme to it!
Mom's Night Off
When Ash returned to his and Misty's bedroom after tending to Elizabeth, he was pretty shocked to find his wife missing from the bed. It had definitely been his turn with the baby, he knew Misty hadn't come into Elizabeth's room while he was there, and he hadn't passed her in the hallway on his way back.
And then, as Ash continued to stare at the empty bed, he noticed something else: Pikachu was also missing.
Normally, that wouldn't have been unusual. Sometimes, Pikachu chose to sleep in the kids' rooms. But tonight hadn't been one of those nights. Pikachu had been fast asleep on Ash's pillow when he'd left the room. And now, he was gone too.
What the heck is going on…?
Twisting his mouth, Ash began to think about where he would sneak off to late at night when he couldn't sleep. It didn't take him long to get an idea, and he quickly left to go see if his suspicions were correct. And, as soon as he got down the stairs, Ash was able to confirm his theory.
"There you are!"
Misty, who was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup in front of her, slowly looked over at him, her eyes bleary. "Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."
"Nah, I wasn't worried," Ash assured her. "I'm actually pretty confident you'd never run away from me in the middle of the night!"
Misty smirked, turning her attention back onto her mug. "Is it weird that all I can think about is sleep yet I can't actually fall asleep?"
Ash shook his head. "I'm pretty sure that's normal, especially when you have a newborn and two other kids to take care of." He pulled out another chair at the table, taking a seat next to Misty. "Is there something else that's bothering you?"
"No," Misty sighed, leaning back in her seat. "I'm just exhausted and feel like my eyes are being held open by force."
Ash frowned. "How long has this been going on for?"
"Probably close to a week at this point."
"Did you try to take anything that might help you fall asleep?"
"I can't. Not while I'm nursing."
"Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot."
"It's fine. I don't expect you to remember everything, especially in the middle of the night."
Ash nodded slowly. They both remained silent for a little while, but then Ash informed Misty, "I was with Elizabeth before I came down here. I think you already knew that, but…"
"Yeah, I did," Misty giggled softly once Ash trailed off. "Is she okay?"
"Oh, yeah, she's great!" Ash chuckled warmly. "She just needed a diaper change, that's all. But this was an easy one, fortunately! And then she just wanted to cuddle. It was so sweet."
Misty smiled at Ash. "You're such a big help."
"Well, I can be an even bigger one," Ash replied, causing Misty to raise an eyebrow. "Why don't you try and get some sleep? I'll take care of Elizabeth for the rest of the night."
"But we're supposed to take turns," Misty reminded him.
"Yeah, I know, but I don't mind doing yours too for a little while," Ash replied.
Misty still seemed hesitant, however. "What about feeding her?"
"Do you have any milk in the fridge?"
"Yeah…"
"So it'll be fine! I can just heat up bottles for her."
Misty winced. "I just feel so bad."
"Don't!" Ash cried. "You need sleep a lot more than I do!"
Misty pouted. "You don't want to look like a zombie at work."
"Come on, you think I care about that?" Ash scoffed. "That's like…the last thing I'm thinking about! To tell you the truth, sometimes I go to work without even brushing my hair."
"Yeah, I don't think that's much of a secret," Misty assured him with a snicker.
Ash playfully rolled his eyes. "Good to know you're not too tired to keep on teasing me."
Misty grinned and shook her head. "Never."
She then let out a long, unintentional yawn, which led Ash to chuckle. "Alright, let's head back to bed." Reaching for her mug, he asked, "you all done with this?"
"Yeah," Misty sighed. "I don't even remember making it."
"Did you drink it?" Ash asked amusedly, peering into the cup.
"Yeah," Misty repeated, which Ash was able to figure out once he saw it was basically empty. "Didn't really enjoy it, though. I was just drinking it like a robot who was programmed to do it."
Ash stood up and placed the used mug in the sink. "Maybe you can have another one tomorrow that you'll enjoy more!"
"Maybe," Misty breathed, rubbing at her eyes. "Sorry, I'm so out of it."
"Don't worry about it," Ash assured her, walking away from the sink and wrapping Misty up in his arms. "We'll get you some sleep."
Misty nodded and rested her head against Ash's chest.
"Oh, wait a second!" Ash gasped, Misty snapping her head up in response. "Do you know where Pikachu is? He was missing from the bed, too."
It took Misty a second to process what Ash was asking, but finally she replied, "yeah, he came down with me. I think he was worried. I kept telling him I was fine, but he wouldn't leave my side. It was pretty cute. After we were down here for a couple of minutes, I gave him a ketchup packet as a thank you and told him he could go back upstairs. He must've seen you were still with Elizabeth and went to one of the kids' rooms instead."
Ash raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you always the one telling me not to give Pikachu late night snacks?"
"I am," Misty unabashedly confirmed. "But I only gave him one. And he deserved it."
Sighing, Ash tucked Misty's head under his chin. "Alright, fine. We'll put this on hold for tonight. But I think we should talk about it again!"
"Mmm…" Misty groaned. "Talk about what?"
"Alright, I get it," Ash snickered, turning Misty around and guiding her towards the stairs. "Tired, bed, go."
XXX
At first, it had been hard for Misty to not jump out of bed whenever she heard Elizabeth cry over the baby monitor. She'd relax a bit when she felt Ash get up instead, but it didn't take very long for the anxiety to creep back in.
What if she wants me? What if she gets upset that I'm not the one getting her? What if something happens that Ash can't handle? What if it's something serious?
It had also been hard for Misty to not ask Ash what Elizabeth needed whenever he returned to bed. If she did that, then Ash would know she was still awake. Misty had only been able to convince herself to relax by reasoning that if there was a real problem, Ash would have let her know. He was always looking out for her, but she knew he'd never lie to her when it came to their children, especially if it was something serious.
And eventually, Misty must've fallen asleep, because her eyes suddenly opened and were shocked by intense rays of sunlight.
"Ugh," Misty groaned, rubbing at her eyes to try and help them adjust faster. That actually helped, however, and soon Misty was sitting up and looking around her quiet, empty room. "Hopefully everything's still in one piece out there…"
She slid out of bed, shuffling out of her room and down the stairs. It was there that she found the rest of her family in the living room, to no surprise watching a Pokémon battle on the TV.
"Okay, now watch what Abomasnow does!" Ash directed. Aiden and Michelle were sitting at either of his sides, Pikachu snoozing on the back of the couch, while Elizabeth was sprawled out on his chest.
"Daddy, how many times have you watched this battle?" Michelle asked, raising one of her eyebrows.
"I'm not sure," Ash admitted. "But it's a really good one!"
"Yeah!" Aiden agreed. "I'd watch this battle a hundred thousand times!"
Misty smirked and moved closer to everyone else. "I should've known you'd all be watching a battle!"
Michelle instantly looked over as soon as she heard her mother's voice and quickly bolted off of the couch, attaching herself to the older woman's legs. "Mommy!"
"Good morning to you too, sweetheart," Misty giggled.
Glancing up at her mother, Michelle pleaded, "don't make me watch it anymore."
"Don't make you watch it?" Misty repeated with a laugh, that only strengthening when Ash went wide eyed.
"Hey, no one was forcing you to watch it!" He protested. "You didn't have to if you didn't want to."
"But everyone else was," Michelle replied with a pout.
"Shelly, I hate to sound like a stereotypical parent, but if everyone else was jumping off a cliff, would you do it too?" Misty asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.
"No," Michelle answered as though it were obvious, scrunching up her nose. "I'd get hurt! Only Aiden would do something like that."
"Yeah, I'd go first!" The boy chirped.
Misty pointed at her son. "That's extremely concerning and yet I'm not surprised."
"Well, me, Aiden, and Elizabeth have been enjoying watching the battle," Ash stated, smiling down at the baby lying against him. "Right, Lizzie?"
The baby mumbled and raised one of her tiny fists towards her face. Aiden chuckled and leaned into the baby, poking his nose against hers. "She's really been watching it, Mom!"
"Has she?" Misty asked with a giggle. "I'm not so sure about that, little guy!" Misty picked the little girl up, holding the infant against her as she cooed. "Is Aiden right? Were you watching the battle, little sprinkle?"
Misty continued to snuggle the baby as she sat down beside Ash in Michelle's former spot. Once her mother did that, Michelle was quick to scurry back to the couch, settling in next to her mother instead.
"Were you able to get any sleep?" Ash hopefully asked her.
"Yeah, I was," Misty replied, smiling at him. "Thank you!"
"Of course!" Ash chuckled, reaching over to toy with a lock of Elizabeth's hair that was sticking up. "You never have to be afraid of asking me for more help."
Giggling, Misty went to work at trying to flatten that same piece of hair. "And what about you? How did your night with Lizzie go?"
"Oh, not too bad…" Ash hesitantly replied.
Misty smirked, and before she could say anything, Michelle giggled and rested her head on her mother's shoulder. "Daddy's lying!"
"What?!" Ash cried. "No I'm not!"
"Funny, because I was going to say the same thing as Michelle," Misty snickered. "What did Lizzie do?"
"Nothing!" Ash insisted.
Aiden, who was now grinning himself, leaned over so he was closer to his father. "That's not true!"
"My goodness, what are you not telling me?" Misty asked her husband, Aiden's comment only making her grin even harder. "Elizabeth can't do that much!"
"Remember before when I said we had a pretty easy diaper change?" Ash groaned. "Well…she got me on the next one."
Misty giggled and buried her nose in the baby's hair. "You gave Daddy a bit of a hard time, huh?"
Elizabeth's eyes creaked open, lazily looking up at her mother.
"Didn't she also spit up on you?" Michelle asked her father, causing Misty to snap her head back up.
"Did she?!"
"Um…yeah," Ash admitted, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't think there's anything wrong with her, though!"
"I don't either, that's perfectly normal," Misty assured him with a laugh. "But Elizabeth hardly ever misbehaves like that! She's usually such an easygoing baby."
Ash shrugged. "Maybe she just missed you, that's all."
Groaning, Misty complained, "see? I knew I shouldn't have slept the whole night!"
"Mist, come on, you needed to catch up on your sleep," Ash scoffed. "You were acting like a zombie last night!"
"A zombie?" Aiden repeated, his eyes widening. "Cool!"
"No, not cool," Ash sighed, shaking his head.
"I know, I just feel bad that Lizzie gave you such a hard time," Misty replied.
"Nothing I can't handle!" Ash boasted.
Michelle blinked. "But Daddy, you were complaining -bout it when you came downstairs this morning."
Ash groaned and buried his face in his hands. "I wish you two would quit calling me out…"
Misty giggled. "They can't help themselves. They take after me."
"Trust me, I know," Ash muttered with a smirk. "Fine, I did complain a little bit. But I don't regret letting you sleep last night! Especially since I can't actually be mad at Elizabeth. Just look at that sweet little face!"
Misty did just that and smiled as soon as she locked eyes with the baby. "Yeah, she's a real cutie."
"What about me?" Michelle chirped, batting her eyelashes at her smirking mother.
"Yes, you're also very cute!"
"Am I cute?" Aiden asked.
Misty nodded. "You are!"
The boy grimaced and stuck his tongue out in disgust, leading his parents to laugh.
"Well, thank you for putting up with a mischievous Elizabeth," Misty said to Ash. "I really do appreciate it!"
"Of course!" Ash replied. "Everyone deserves a day off, but especially moms!"
Misty smirked at him. "Don't you mean a night off?"
"Gotta be honest," Ash sighed, "I don't really even know what time it is anymore."
Unable to help herself, Misty started to laugh all over again. "Yeah, babies will do that to you!"
Even as a baby, Elizabeth manages to cause trouble for Ash and I love it.
