Looking back, Paul was grateful that his entire family came with him on the field trip. If he had stayed at home, he would have missed out on the opportunity to witness Holly Hillcrest, the daughter of the owners of Big Bear Apple Farms, bring out banjo players and performing elephants, among other things.

It was one thing to have elephants show their tricks while banjo players played music for the spectacle, but it was another thing to have a fire-breathing monkey arrive on a unicycle. Of course, he had to mention that Holly Hillcrest herself was known for being fond of anything peculiar, and naturally, she wanted to create an unforgettable memory for the students and their chaperones.

Certainly, Paul's mother, Daphne, would be talking about this field trip for days on end, but he could blame his mother for doing so. However, he would never admit this to anyone, especially not to Ash and Dawn. Sometimes, he wonders if perhaps Ash should have gone to Dawn instead, but alas, it was Ash's late mother who requested Ash be under Paul's care.

His reminiscences were abruptly interrupted by a foreign object being thrust inside his mouth.

"Just what do you think you are doing?" Paul asked Ash, the latter of whom was currently smiling sheepishly at him.

"I thought you wanted to try a slice of their famous Holly Anne apples because they won't be in season for long," Ash answered, once again, the young middle schooler attempted to feed another apple slice to his guardian.

Frowning, Paul ate the apple slice before saying, "No more."

With that, Ash stopped trying to feed apple slices to Paul and instead tried feeding them to Misty, but she was too preoccupied staring at the koi fish in the pond.

"He makes it so obvious," Dawn commented, pointing at Ash and Misty, who were now feeding tiny pieces of the apple slices they cut up to the koi fish.

"It's pathetic, really."

Rolling her eyes at Paul, she shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I, for one, think it's rather sweet just how fond he is of her. Despite him being a thirteen-year-old, he treats women way better than men who are twenty years older than him."

"Oh, are you talking smack about my brother now? Is that it?" Maylene placed one arm on Paul's shoulder and another arm on Dawn's shoulder, bringing them closer to each other than they are comfortable with. "It's a good thing you're in our lives, Dawnu! I do not think that I could live without your constant remarks about Paul. It's about time he gets a taste of his own medicine!"

Paul grumbled, "Some older sister you are."

Waving him off, Maylene continued her compliments toward Dawn, "Seriously, though, I am glad that you're not one of those brainless bimbos who only ever like him for his looks and money!"

Pointing at Paul, Dawn scoffed. "Him? Why would I ever like him for that? In the industry I work for, men with good looks and money are a dime a dozen! Trust me when I say that if I ever wanted to be a gold-digger, I'd be a smart one and have higher standards than whatever your younger brother is!"

"It's a good thing that our mother isn't here, she would have defended Paul like there was no tomorrow!"

"I mean, that's what a mother does, is it not? I would defend Misty to the ends of the earth, too! But, I am being for real when I say that I have no desire whatsoever to marry Paul! I'd much rather marry that unicycling banana juggling fire-breathing monkey Holly Hillcrest brought over instead!"

"All men are monkeys, anyway," spoke up Misty.

Misty's declaration resulted in Maylene and Dawn giggling together while Ash looked towards Paul with uncertainty.

Ash asked, "Are you really going to let her say that?"

"Why don't you do something about it instead?"

"No, thank you!" Ash furiously shook his head from side to side, recalling the moments where he had witnessed Misty showing others a thing or two about when it comes to messing with her.

Even now, almost eighty percent of the boys in North Veilstone Middle School feared Misty because her wrath was something else. Dawn, however, was even more so dangerous, and maybe that explains why the two of them got along so well. They both were like dynamite.

Near the end of the field trip, Big Bear Apple Farms gifted everyone a basket of their prized Holly Anne apples to take. Ash, ever the food-loving glutton, was over the moon at the prospect of having so many apples at the house because that means Daphne would come over and make different apple dishes for them. Although Ash had no longer had any grandparents by the time he was five years old, he always had a fondness for Brandon and Daphne, especially Daphne, because she was a lot like his mother, father's mother, the late Ashlynn Ella Marie.

Despite Cheryl Madam's always sweet demeanor, she did not take kindly to students not displaying proper manners, but fortunately, everyone gave their thanks to their hosts for having them over and for gifting them the baskets full of apples. Cherly Madam was a few years older than Reggie and Maylene, but the husband and wife both could recall frightful tales where Cheryl would teach people a lesson or three about kindness. Today, everyone was spared from her lessons on what it means to be a human being and show kindness.

During the car ride home, Ash had dozed off after having five too many apples. He did not even wait until he was at the house where he lived with Paul to start enjoying his gifts. For the entirety of his nap, he held onto Paul's arm while his head was on Paul's shoulder. Surprisingly, Paul said nothing about this.

"Aww, how sweet is this? Don't you two look so cute," Daphne cooed, holding the family video camera to record this rare moment.

"Shush! Let him sleep, it's been a long day," Paul whispered.

It was a late Saturday afternoon when Ash woke up from his bed, wondering how on earth he arrived in his bedroom, as he had no recollections whatsoever of ever going inside the house. His theory was that Reggie must have taken him inside, as surely, Paul would never bother carrying him.

When he arrived downstairs in the living room, he found a large plate of freshly baked cinnamon apples topped off with vanilla ice cream, caramel syrup, and sprinkles, along with a handwritten note. Recognizing Daphne's dainty handwriting, he read the letter out loud.

"Paul told me not to wake you up, but I figured you'd be awake by the time you are reading this! Don't worry, Paul has already had his share, so please, eat to your heart's content! I love you so much, Ashykins!" Lifting the plate from the table, he found another handwritten underneath, and this one was from Maylene because she always had scribbles and doodles whenever she wrote notes to the family. "P.S. Paul was the one to take you to bed, so be nice to him for the remainder of this week and next week, okay?"

"They didn't have to write all that, both of them," Paul mumbled, arriving inside the room to hand Ash a package.

"What's this?"

"Your Nintendo 3DS XL, that's what! It's finally been repaired."

"Yippie, I can finally beat you in Pokémon Y."

"As if. Finishing your food first, and we'll see what happens next."

"Yes, Sir."

With that, Ash took off to eat the dessert Daphne had made for him. Paul rolled his eyes at the mess he had made, but he supposed that having Ash around made the house he owned far less empty and lonely than it was when it was just him living alone. On the downside, there were far too many apples in the house, but Paul knew Ash would finish them before Monday arrived.

The End.