Happy Monday! Felt like sharing a bit of fluff today, so here we are!

Aiden and Michelle: 3 years old


A Little Cold

"Oh, no."

Ash, who had been shamelessly stuffing his face with cereal, quickly looked up from his bowl and caught sight of his wife with a concerned look on her face.

"What's up?" Ash asked after he swallowed his latest mouthful.

Misty frowned and nodded towards Michelle. The little girl was sniffling and wiping her nose against her hand, causing Ash to wince.

"Yeah, that's pretty gross," he commented.

"That's not what I meant," Misty sighed, shaking her head.

Ash was perplexed. "You don't think that's gross?"

"Of course, I do, but that's not the point," Misty grumbled.

"Then what is?"

Rolling her eyes, Misty replied, "her nose is obviously runny."

"Oh," Ash murmured. "Should we be concerned?"

After a short pause, Misty decided, "no. She's not coughing or wheezing or anything like that. It's probably just a little cold. But I think she's best off staying in the house and resting for today. I don't want it to turn into something worse."

"Good idea!" Ash agreed warmly. "Are you going to stay with her?"

Realization seemed to have suddenly hit Misty, as she groaned and buried her face in her hands. "I can't!"

"You can't?" Ash repeated, tilting his head.

Lowering her hands, Misty muttered, "I forgot I've already got a couple of gym battles lined up for today. I can't cancel them all so last minute."

"I'm sure they'd understand!" Ash tried, beaming encouragingly at her.

Arching an eyebrow, Misty quipped, "would you have understood as a 10-year-old, brand new, impatient Pokémon trainer?"

Ash hesitated before ultimately answering, "well, no, but- "

"Then there's your answer," Misty interrupted, shaking her head. "I don't know what to do! The only one of my sisters who's around is Violet, but I need her at the gym to man the front desk and watch Aiden. I want to try and keep some distance between him and Michelle so he doesn't come down with a cold too. And it's not fair to ask your mother to come out here on such short notice."

Ash was not always the most emotionally in tune person, but he could tell, despite her relatively calm demeanor, that Misty's internal stress was mounting. That was not something Ash wanted her to have to deal with when she was already worried about work and their sick child, and so he decided to put an end to it right then and there.

"I'll stay here with her!" He offered.

Misty was taken off guard by his sudden outburst. "Ash, you have to go to work too."

"I can do my work from home," Ash assured her. "It's no big deal!"

"Are you sure about that?" She asked hesitantly. "You might want to call Goodshow first and ask."

"Nah," Ash refuted, getting to his feet so he could deposit his empty bowl into the sink. "It's fine! I'll just explain to him what's going on."

Misty sighed and shook her head. "You're too confident for your own good."

Ash smirked and strode up to Misty, kissing her cheek. "Thanks!"

The twins' giggling got their parents to turn around but go wide eyed when they saw Aiden attempting to put Michelle's hand in his mouth.

"No!" Misty scolded, quickly swooping in and lifting the highly amused boy up out of his chair. "We're not going to do that."

"You're both being so gross this morning," Ash complained, gently pulling Michelle off of her own seat from underneath her arms. "Come on, let's go wash your snotty little hands."

Michelle tilted her head back so she could look at her father and, as soon as he was in her sight, started giggling all over again. Ash quickly noticed this and couldn't help but to laugh himself.

"You're usually my sweet, polite little girl," Ash playfully chastised the toddler as he carried her to the sink. "What's going on this morning, huh? What's making you naughty? Is it that little cold of yours?"

"Ya," Michelle chirped as her father helped her wash her hands.

"Well, at least you're in a good mood," Ash chuckled. "That's how I know you're not feeling too sick!"

"Ash, I'm just going to quickly take Aiden upstairs to get him out of his pajamas and into clothes," Misty called, having already moved towards the stairs with the squirming boy in her arms. "You can set up camp with Michelle in the living room if you want! That should leave enough room for you to get work done and keep her entertained."

He placed Michelle down on the floor in front of him, asking, "you think that sounds good, Shelly?"

"No," Michelle squeaked.

"No?!" Ash gasped, causing Michelle to laugh. "Ah, I know you're just messing with me!"

He scooped the girl back up and ran with her into the living room, Misty watching on in amusement. Once Ash made it into the next room, he gently dropped Michelle off on the far end of the couch, the young girl continuing to laugh wildly the entire time. She only stopped when her father draped a blanket over her, thoroughly befuddling Ash.

"Hey!" Michelle cried.

"I don't remember asking you what Ponyta's favorite food is," Ash chuckled as he sat down on the other end of the couch.

"Nuh uh," Michelle grumbled, not finding his joke to be very funny. "I don- need dis!"

She dramatically threw her arms out, the blanket hanging over both of them. Ash snickered at the reaction before replying, "that will keep you nice and cozy!"

"Why?" Michelle murmured.

"Because we're gonna hang out right here for today, little princess!"

"Why?" Michelle repeated.

"Because you're not feeling well!"

Michelle stared incredulously at her father, which he had to admit he was impressed with. Ash wouldn't have thought a three-year-old was capable of such a look, although he supposed anything was possible with Misty as her mother.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Ash laughed somewhat nervously.

"The gym's fun," Michelle grumbled before crying, "I wanna go to the gym!"

"Not today," Ash sympathetically denied the toddler. "Mommy and I don't want your cold to get worse! You and I will have lots of fun here."

Michelle scowled and ducked beneath the blanket. Ash watched the scene unfold with a frown on his handsome face. He and Michelle were best buddies; she never pouted about spending time with him. This was not any kind of reaction Ash was used to, and he didn't like it.

He was soon granted a reprieve from his little pity party, however, when Pikachu came scurrying into the living room, looking quite content. He sidled up beside the couch, causing Ash to smirk and reach down in order to scratch between the mouse's ears.

"Hey buddy," he greeted. "All done with breakfast?"

"Pi!" Pikachu confirmed. He then looked up towards the blanketed figure at the other end of the couch and squeaked, "pi-ka Pipikachu?"

"Yeah, she's not too happy right now," Ash sighed. "She's got a bit of a cold, so Misty and I wanted to keep her in the house for today. But Michelle is used to going to the gym with Misty, so that's where she wants to go."

Without a second thought, Pikachu jumped up on the couch and used his nose to lift up Michelle's cover, crawling beneath the blanket to join her in her huddle. From beneath the blanket, Ash could hear his daughter's muffled little giggle, and felt a wave of relief wash over him. At least his trusted partner could put his daughter in a good mood!

Someone came trampling down the stairs, and when Ash looked over his shoulder, he found Aiden flying down the steps and racing towards the front door.

"Bye, Daddy!" He shouted, jumping for the doorknob.

"Hey, where's Mommy?" Ash called. "You're not going anywhere without her, champ!"

"Ya I am," Aiden dismissed him, although the boy's impish smile said otherwise.

"What're you two talking about?" Misty asked as she descended the stairs herself.

"Aiden's trying to run off to the gym without you," Ash informed her with a playful wink. "You're just lucky he can't reach the handle, or he'd be halfway there by now!"

"Aiden!" Misty playfully gasped, causing her son to laugh heartily. "You silly little boy."

"Good luck with your battles today, babe," Ash breathed as Misty approached him to toy with his hair.

"Aw, thank you!" Misty cooed before blinking and looking around the room. "Hang on…where's Michelle?"

Ash silently nodded towards the lumpy blanket sitting across from him. "She's kinda ticked about our arrangement for the day."

"Seriously?" Misty sighed. "I thought she'd love the idea of spending the whole day with you!"

"That makes two of us," Ash grumbled, tilting his head back to show his wife his sorrowful eyes.

"Don't take it personally," Misty gently pleaded with him. "You know Michelle just doesn't like any kind of change, that's all. We have our routine, and this is a deviation. She'll go back to being her sweet, cheerful self in no time!"

Walking down the length of the couch, Misty grabbed the blanket and gently pulled it down, revealing a wary looking Michelle with Pikachu sitting patiently in her lap.

"Hello there!" Misty greeted with a giggle.

"Mommy, I wanna go wif you," Michelle whined, reaching up for her mother.

"I know you do, seashell," Misty murmured, leaning down to kiss the top of the girl's head and smooth out her messy red hair. "But I want you to stay here for today, okay? I don't want those sniffles of yours to get worse! That wouldn't be good."

"But I like going to the gym an- playing wif Aiden," Michelle continued, frustration clear in her voice.

"And you'll be able to do that tomorrow, if you feel better," Misty assured her daughter. "But for today, you and Daddy can stay here and play together!"

Michelle started whimpering as her mother walked away. Pikachu frowned and began pawing at the girl's shoulder, trying to cheer her up.

Ash, who hated to see his daughter so upset, was becoming more and more anxious with each passing second. Biting his lip, Ash quickly blurted out, "it's okay, come here, princess!"

He reached for the girl and held her in his arms, Pikachu hopping away to sit by Ash's side instead. Michelle hung onto her father's neck and gave it a gentle squeeze, which managed to bring a relieved smile to Ash's face.

"You've got everything under control?" Misty asked a bit hesitantly.

Ash turned his head and grinned. "Yep! We'll be just fine!"

Misty smiled sympathetically at her husband. "Just call me if you need help."

"Don't worry, I won't," Ash assured her, sounding deceptively confident.

Misty nodded her head before glancing down at their young son and beckoning, "let's go, sweetheart. Aunt Violet is probably waiting for us!"

Blinking, Aiden cried, "Aun- Vi-et's never there -fore us!"

"Yeah, I know," Misty sighed, reaching for the boy's hand before opening the door. "But Mommy can dream, can't she?"

As soon as the door closed, Ash glanced down at Michelle and playfully murmured, "Mommy and Aiden are gone. Do you want to play now?"

Michelle sniveled and shook her head.

"No?" Ash asked. "You just want to keep hanging onto me?"

He had been mostly joking and was a little surprised (and dismayed) when Michelle nodded that time around.

"Pii…" Pikachu sighed, glancing up at his trainer.

"Yep, I walked right into this one," Ash muttered. "And now I've gotta call Goodshow…man."

Reaching into Ash's pocket, Pikachu pulled out his trainer's phone and held it up for him. Smirking, Ash took the device from his partner and crowed, "thanks, Pikachu!"

"Ka!"

Ash dialed in his boss' number and held the phone up to his ear, keeping his other arm wrapped securely around Michelle.

"Not used to seeing your name come up on my phone so early in the morning, Ash."

The young man smiled to himself. "Good morning to you too, Mr. Goodshow."

"I'm assuming you called to talk about something important," the businessman sighed wearily. "What've you got?"

"I can't come to Indigo Plateau today," Ash calmly informed him. "Michelle's a little under the weather, but Misty's got a ton of challengers lined up at the gym today, so I'm the designated stay-at-home parent."

"I see," Goodshow breathed, suddenly sounding much more energized. "It's nothing serious, I hope."

"Nah, just a little cold," Ash assured him. "But Misty and I wanted to keep her in the house and have her get some extra rest for the day. I can try and do some work from home, though!"

"No, don't worry about any of that," Goodshow refuted.

"You're sure?" Ash asked.

"Of course, I'm sure, don't sound so surprised," Goodshow chuckled. "You just take today to spend with your little girl."

Ash's smile widened. Goodshow sometimes got a bad rap because of how serious he was, and he was definitely easy to tease because of it, but Ash knew he really was a good leader for the league, and an even better person. "Thanks! Considering I've currently got her hanging onto my neck like an Aipom, this will make my life much easier."

Goodshow laughed again and concluded, "I'll see you back here as soon as Michelle feels better. Please, give her my best."

"Will do!" Ash chirped. "Thanks!"

And with that, he ended the call. Michelle finally pulled her head away from her father, gazing up at him instead. "Who's dat?"

"My boss," Ash replied, stuffing the phone back in his pocket.

"Mommy?" Michelle asked, tilting her head.

Ash started to laugh heartily at that response. "No, my other boss. At work! You remember Mr. Goodshow, don't you?"

Michelle pursed her lips and slowly nodded her head.

"He told me to spend today hanging out with you," Ash informed the girl, gently tapping her nose and getting a little giggle out of her. "He also wanted me to tell you that he hopes you feel better soon!"

"-ank you," Michelle murmured, smiling bashfully.

Ash snickered and kissed his daughter's head. "You're so sweet! I'll be sure to tell him you said 'thank you' as soon as I see him."

Michelle finally let go of Ash and crawled quickly back to the other end of the couch. Pikachu's ears stood up and he followed after the girl, sidling right up to her as Ash chuckled. He thought it was so cute how protective Pikachu was of the twins.

"What're you up to?" Ash curiously asked his daughter.

"Hiding," Michelle quickly replied, trying to crawl back under the blanket.

"Again?!" Ash cried. "I just got you out of there! Why don't you come out so we can play, huh?"

Michelle turned around and playfully smiled at her father, simply replying, "no," before throwing the blanket back over her head. Ash frowned, but then a thought hit him.

Maybe Michelle isn't being standoffish…maybe this is just how she wants to play!

Smirking to himself, Ash crawled forward and grabbed the blanket as gently as he could, hoping Michelle wouldn't notice. Once he had a hold of it, he abruptly pulled it down to reveal Michelle, who was grinning wildly at him. She burst out into a fit of giggles, cheerfully crying, "again!"

Ash chuckled and once again covered Michelle with the blanket. He waited a short moment before yanking at it again, which only resulted in more sparkling laughter from his young daughter. Ash soon joined in as well, finding Michelle's own amusement to be positively infectious.

Constantly covering and then removing the blanket from over Michelle's head in order to bring her immense joy reminded Ash of when she was just a baby; back then, she'd been quite the fan of peek-a-boo, and could've played it for hours. Michelle had grown up so much since then, but hearing her squeaky giggles definitely reminded Ash that his little girl hadn't changed too much over the past three years.

Eventually, Michelle seemed to tire of their game a bit. She would still smile when Ash pulled down the blanket and make a silly face at her, but her laughter had subsided considerably. Staring into his daughter's eyes, Ash could tell that she was becoming worn out…likely a side effect of the cold that was ailing her.

"You tired, princess?" Ash cooed.

Michelle didn't want to answer at first, but after a brief pause, she slowly nodded her head. Ash smiled and reached over, picking the toddler up beneath her arms and holding her against him. He then took the same blanket they'd just been playing with and laid it over her before reclining back against the couch's armrest.

With the little girl lying on his chest, Ash began to toy with her bright red hair, gently running his fingers through the silky strands. Michelle let out a small yawn, snuggling more deeply against her father as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Pikachu, who had yet to move from the spot where he'd been sitting beside Michelle during their game with the blanket, finally got to his paws and scurried up to Ash, squeezing past him and settling on the armrest beside his head so he could remain close to Michelle.

"You don't want to let her out of your sight, do you?" Ash asked lightly.

Pikachu smirked and shook his head. "Pi."

Ash chuckled and pressed his lips against the top of Michelle's head. "Pikachu's the best buddy, isn't he?"

Michelle mumbled in her sleep, but otherwise didn't move.

"Alright, guess we can all take a little nap…" Ash sighed, closing his eyes himself. "Anything you want, Shelly. You're the boss…"


Ash absolutely lets his toddler daughter be the boss of him, let's be real.