Happy Pokeshipping Week everyone! I had every intention of writing a story for each day of the week, but unfortunately that just didn't pan out this year. But I still wanted to take part in some way, so I do have one Ash and Misty focused one shot that I wanted to share to recognize the occasion!
Flower Language
When Ash peered into the hospital room he had (unfortunately) become quite accustomed to, he was met with a sight that brought him instant relief.
"Hey there, Mist."
His wife, who had been fast asleep when he'd last left the room, was now awake and sitting up in her bed, an open book on her lap. As soon as Ash had spoken, she'd picked her head up and beamed at him, clearly excited that he was back.
"Hey!" She greeted with the most fervor that Ash had seen from her over the past few days. Her face suddenly turned a bit more concerned, however, and she timidly asked, "Where'd you go?"
"I just had a quick errand to run," Ash replied. Before Misty could prod any further, he pulled a bouquet of white roses out from behind his back, causing her eyes to light up.
"Oh, those are so beautiful!" She gushed.
"Yeah, just like you," Ash chuckled, which led Misty to blush softly. "I thought they'd make the room feel a little less stuffy!"
"Well, hopefully I won't be in this room much longer," Misty huffed, watching as Ash walked over to her nightstand and placed the flowers in a waiting vase.
"You are looking a lot better," Ash commented, turning away from the flowers and smiling sweetly at Misty. It was good to see the color back in her face, which had been missing for a while. "You sound better, too. Livelier!"
"Guess having all that blood in your veins really does help," Misty quipped, although her voice still fell a bit flat.
Ash's smile faltered a little. He wasn't able to find much humor, if any, in "the incident" just yet. Ash assumed that was just Misty trying to lighten the mood, although judging by her tone, it seemed that even she was uncomfortable about such an attempt.
He recovered, however, and added kindly, "I don't think it's just because of that, though. I think you're also in a much better place mentally now."
Misty smirked, knowing exactly what Ash meant. She looked over her shoulder, where not far from the bed, two plastic basinets stood. The first few days had been rough, with their newborn daughter in the NICU and Misty too weak to visit her as often as she'd like. Michelle had made great strides, however, and was now able to be in the regular nursery (with intense supervision) along with her twin brother. It also meant she was able to come to Misty's room, where the young mother was finally able to hold and cuddle both of her babies at once.
"That helps too," Misty agreed, turning back to Ash with an even wider smile.
He returned her expression and moved around the bed so he could get closer to the basinets, and he found that both babies were fast asleep, wrapped up in their receiving blankets.
"I fed them while you were gone," Misty informed him. "So, they'll probably be out for a while."
Ash turned around with a pout on his face. "Aw, and I missed it?"
"Don't worry," Misty giggled. "There'll be plenty more feedings, trust me."
"I know," Ash groaned slightly. "But I don't like missing any of them! They're so cute when they're eating."
Misty laughed again, unable to help herself. "The nurse tried to bring them back to the nursery once they were done, but I asked if they could stay here. I kind of used you as my excuse…sorry."
Ash playfully rolled his eyes; Misty's "apology" was hardly sincere. "Really? And what excuse was that, might I ask?"
"All I said was that you'd want to see them when you got back," Misty replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Not a total lie, right?"
"No," Ash admitted, smirking at her. "But I don't know why you wouldn't just tell her the truth. Why would it be so hard to believe that you don't want to be separated from them?"
"I think most new mothers want a break while they're in the hospital," Misty murmured, sounding a bit more thoughtful. "After all, you don't get to have that once you're home. And I try to remind myself of that! But…it never works. I still start to panic any time they try to take the twins back to the nursery. I just feel better having them here with me."
"You're probably right," Ash conceded, moving closer to Misty's bed and taking a seat on the side of it. "But you've also been through a lot. So, I think it's totally understandable that you get nervous."
"Yeah, because you're my husband," Misty laughed weakly. "You have to say that. I'm pretty sure anyone else would just say I'm crazy and overprotective."
"Hey, I don't have to say anything!" Ash guffawed. "I don't remember being told any sort of rule like that before we got married."
"You probably just weren't paying attention," Misty teased right back. "But trust me, it's a rule."
"Right," Ash chuckled, glancing down at the book on her lap. "What're you reading?"
His question seemed to suddenly remind Misty that the book was there. Picking it up, she admitted, "I have no idea. It's just something I found in the drawer of the nightstand. I'm bored out of my mind here."
"So, you're just scrounging up random books to read?" Ash amusedly surmised.
"Apparently," Misty muttered, flipping the book closed and casting it aside. "I didn't want to turn the TV on and potentially wake up the babies, so I needed something quiet to do. Honestly, I just want to go home. Well…to your mom's home, anyway."
Ash smiled sympathetically at her. Now that Misty was feeling better, she had voiced this desire repeatedly. Considering this instance was already the second time he'd heard it since coming back from his little errand, Ash knew that Misty was only becoming even more hellbent on making her wishes known.
"Trust me, I know," Ash soothed, placing his hand on her knee. "I want the same thing! But before we can do that, we have to make sure that you and Michelle are in the best of health."
Now it was Misty's turn to pout. "You said I look better."
"I did, and you do," Ash confirmed, nodding his head. "But I'm not a doctor, so what I have to say doesn't hold much weight."
Misty ever so slightly narrowed her eyes. "I wonder if the doctor doesn't think so. That I look better, I mean."
"Don't worry, I'm sure he sees it too!" Ash assured her. "But there's more to it than just looking better. I would know, considering I still thought you were the most beautiful woman in the world while you were unconscious."
Misty shot him an unimpressed look. "Gee, thanks."
"Hey, it's a compliment!" Ash laughed.
Misty scoffed, but showed off a little smile, indicating to Ash that she wasn't really all that mad. Once the conversation had trailed off, Misty once again looked over at the roses Ash had brought her, carefully taking in each delicate petal of the blooms. Ash noticed her practically studying the bouquet, and his own smile managed to widen.
"Know why I got you white ones?" Ash asked.
She slowly turned back towards Ash and shook her head.
"Because white roses mean pure love," he replied, watching as another light blush spread across Misty's cheeks. "Apparently, different colored roses have different meanings! Did you know that? The lady in the flower shop told me so."
"Aw, you learned something new today!" Misty cooed. "I'm so proud of you!"
Ash raised an eyebrow. "Are you making fun of me?"
"Only just a little," Misty admitted, her eyes twinkling. "Really though, that's very sweet of you, Ash. Just the flowers alone would have been nice! But the fact that you took the time to pick out ones that had special meaning…it really does mean a lot to me."
"I just want you to know how much I love you, and how much I appreciate you," Ash continued. "You went through so much to have our babies, and you were so strong the entire time…a lot stronger than I was."
Misty hummed and placed her hand over Ash's. He looked down and frowned a bit when he saw the IV still stuck to her. "Don't say that. You were plenty strong! I wouldn't have been able to be half as strong as I was without you."
Ash just smiled sheepishly. He wasn't quite sure what to say to that. He had pretty good self-esteem, and was overall quite confident, but he still thought Misty was a whole lot tougher than him; especially after the past few months.
"So…did this nice flower shop lady teach you about any other rose colors?"
Ash glanced back up at Misty, who was smiling at him. He was pretty sure she was trying to change the subject, or at least trying to get their minds off of things. Ash's smile strengthened at that, and he was more than willing to play along.
"Yeah," Ash confirmed, nodding his head. "At first, I was looking at yellow roses, because I know you like the color yellow, and they were really bright and reminded me of sunshine! But then the lady told me that yellow roses represent friendship. And I think we're more than just friends."
"You think?" Misty asked playfully, shifting her eyes down towards their ring fingers.
Ash chuckled nervously and picked his hand up, spinning his wedding band around. "I know, I know."
Misty smirked and inclined her head. "What else?"
"Well, after that, I started looking at red roses, because that's like the type of rose everyone thinks of, right?" Ash elucidated. "The lady said that red roses are for passion. Which still could've worked; I think we're very passionate about each other! But for now, I just kind of felt like 'passion' wasn't what I was going for. Almost like it didn't feel right? I don't know. I think that was the part where I started overthinking stuff."
Misty giggled sweetly. "You didn't have to overthink it, you know. I would've loved any kind of flowers you brought me!"
Ash frowned. "Now that I think about it, maybe I should've just mixed a bunch of colors together."
Misty sighed and sunk back deeper against her pillows. "You're still overthinking!"
Ash blinked. "I am?"
Misty laughed heartily and nodded. "Yeah, you are. But don't worry; it's actually very cute."
"Cute?" Ash repeated, now blushing himself.
Misty choked back yet another laugh and suddenly grabbed Ash's hand, pulling him closer to her. He yelped in surprise, stopping himself just short of falling directly on top of her. Instead, they ended up with their noses touching, staring deeply into one another's eyes.
"Y-yeah, you're definitely feeling better," Ash stammered, unsure of what else to say.
Dropping her restraint, Misty began to giggle wildly, gently tugging at Ash's collar until he'd settled down beside her. She snuggled up against him, causing Ash to relax and tuck her head under his chin.
"Don't ever change," Misty softly pleaded. "You're perfect. Even when you're overthinking."
"You think so?" Ash murmured.
Misty grinned and responded, "of course! I already knew that; but any guy who tries to get you just the right flowers is definitely perfect."
"I don't know about that!" Ash laughed nervously. "I just wanted to do something nice for you."
"Yeah, that's why you're perfect," Misty reiterated. "You've gone out of your way to be here for me over the past week. No matter what it's been, whether I've asked you to or not, you've done everything you could in this kind of situation. I don't know how I could ever really thank you for it."
Ash pulled away, a look of surprise on his face. "You don't have to thank me. I did all that because I love you! I couldn't just sit here and do nothing."
"I know," Misty assured him. "But you'd be surprised how many guys wouldn't bother. You're different. I always know I can count on you, Ash."
She turned towards him and gave him a very delicate kiss on the lips. Ash seemed a bit surprised; in his defense, they hadn't done much of that recently, for obvious reasons. But he quickly regained his bearings and returned the action, chuckling inwardly as he felt Misty smile against his mouth.
She pulled away, admittedly a bit sooner than Ash would've liked, but more than made up for it by nestling herself against his chest.
"You tired?" Ash asked, his voice only half playful.
Misty didn't seem to want to answer, but after a long pause, she finally offered a tepid, "maybe."
Ash smirked and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "Hey, nothing to be embarrassed about! No one expects you to be able to run laps yet or anything like that. Take a nap!"
"Taking naps is all I do now," Misty grumbled.
"Yeah, because your body's been through the ringer," Ash muttered. "Seriously, if you're tired, go to sleep! I'm not going anywhere; promise."
Misty smiled and reluctantly closed her eyes. "Fine. But if you want to go get me more decorations for this lousy room, well, I wouldn't complain."
Ash just smirked and shook his head. "No way. You know that I love you, but we're trying to get out of here…I don't want to make it too cozy!"
Misty giggled and snuggled even deeper against him. "See? I told you you're perfect."
I think because Ash is so action oriented, when he actually takes the time to think something through, he'd probably start overthinking it because he's not used to taking that approach. And that's why Misty thinks it's so sweet!
