Chapter 1
Misty Waterflower sat in the just vacuumed living room of Delia Ketchum's small, quaint house, nestled in a quiet neighborhood of Pallet Town. She clutched onto the small, egg-like Pokemon in her arms.
Togepi peered at her, sensing it's owners uneasiness but of course not understanding why. It was early afternoon, just after twelve PM and Delia was cooking lunch. Misty sat awkwardly alone in the living room after being declined of her offer to help Mrs. Ketchum out with the lunch she was preparing.
It was Christmas time, normally Misty's favourite time of year but she had other things on her mind to think about.
The redhead crossed her legs and soothed Togepi into it's routine afternoon nap. She absently rubbed her hand across her stomach and her mind began to drift back to that night after the Jhoto League.
Delia poked her head around the corner into the living room. "Misty, sweety, lunch is almost ready. Have you been able to get a hold of Ash on his cell phone?"
"No." She replied, rather sadly.
"Oh, that Ash, he probably has it turned off. Could you try him one more time?" She asked in her normally sweet tone.
"Uh, sure, Mrs. Ketchum…" Misty picked up her own cell phone out of the small pocket of her yellow sundress. She quickly dialed Ash's number and after three rings, it finally picked up. Misty almost dropped the phone when she heard the voice that answered.
"Hello?"
"Uhm…Brock?"
"Hey! Misty!" He said, sounding rather cheerful. A complete three-sixty from his rather irritated 'hello'.
She tried to steady her voice and calm her beating heart down. She hadn't spoken to Brock since the day she left for Cerulean City a whole three months ago. "W-what took you so long to answer?"
Brock leaned back in the driver's seat of the car as he drove down the familiar streets of Pewter City. "Sorry, our phones lost signal on Mount Moon. You at Mrs. Ketchum's house yet?"
"Uh…yes…I've been here, actually."
Brock raised an eyebrow, sensing the apprehension in her voice. He momentarily took his eyes off the road to glance to his side where May leaned up against the window, snoring into her pillow and then into the back where Ash was laying down in the back seat, snoring just as loudly with Max in the floorboard.
There was a small pause. "Everything OK?"
"Yes, Brock." She answered rather quickly as Delia sat down a tea set in front of her. "Everything's alright."
"How long have you been there?" He asked, seeing the sign for the Viridian Forest exit. He couldn't quite hold the phone steady, his nerves were jumping the closer he got to Pallet Town. He knew what would pass between them when they saw each other. The heated looks, the passionate stares. It was going to take everything in him just to act normal around her after what happened between them.
"Brock, it's not important. Really…"
"Well, who covered for you at the gym?"
Sighing, Misty picked up a small cup of tea to relieve her dry throat. "Daisy ended up getting Mono and they all had to come home. So, Lilly and Violet are running it." She said, really wishing he'd stop prying. "Besides, I haven't been gone that long."
She heard him sigh. "Well, as long as your OK. I'll see you when I get there. I'm driving through Viridian Forest right now."
"Alright, Brock….bye."
"Misty, wait…I-I miss you."
Delia looked up at Misty with concern as her blue eyes started to water. The young redhead had confided in Delia about everything. About Brock, about her feelings, even about the one thing she wasn't sure he wanted Brock to know.
The older woman placed a soft hand on Misty's shoulder for comfort. "I miss you too, Brock."
His strong, rough voice came over the speaker again after he cleared his throat, sounding much louder and less intimate then it had before.
"Bye Misty."
"Bye Brock." She hung up and laid the phone on the table. "They're in Viridian Forest."
"Is everything OK between you and him?" She asked. "I know how tough this can be…I was there once, sweety."
Misty stared back out the window, knowing that within the next twenty minutes she would see the familiar, dirty, dark blue pick up truck that belonged to Brock Harrison would pull up right in front of it.
"Yes, everything's fine between us." She promised Ash's mother. The older woman stood up, reassured that the younger woman was indeed feeling alright, and headed back into the kitchen.
"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Misty asked, pulling a small blanket tighter over Togepi. The winter was proving to be brutal, despite that Delia had the heater on.
"I'm sure." She said from in the kitchen. "You don't move a muscle. You just sit right there and relax. You and Brock are just the same. Always wanting to help out in the kitchen…" She said with a laugh.
Misty couldn't help but smile at that comment. She remembered how much she enjoyed watching Brock and Mr. Mime fight over the household chores. No matter what, Brock could always make her laugh and maybe that was part of the reason she fell for him.
She wasn't sure when her crush on Brock became apparent to her, but it probably didn't happen until after he had come back from Professor Ivy's lab on Valencia Island. An overwhelming jealousy struck her when she saw him flirting with another women, so that's why she decided to pull him away by his ear.
She only did that because she was afraid he would actually leave her again like he did that morning. Misty couldn't bare the thought of losing Brock again like that. Especially to another woman besides herself…
And now…
Brushing her hand across her stomach once again she glanced over at her sleeping Togepi. The room's silence was quickly shattered by a loud knock on the front door.
"Oh, that must be them!" Delia exclaimed. "Misty, dear, could you get the door for me?"
"Sure." Misty replied, standing up from her seated position and approached the door. The walk to the front door seemed to take forever. Her legs felt as if they were made of water, her throat felt like it was made of dry, hot, sand and the only thing she could hear was blood pumping through her brain and her own heartbeat.
The doorknob felt cold and hard underneath her palm as she steadied herself. On the count of three, she opened the door to see the four of them standing there. Max was the first to speak.
"Oh, cool, a Togepi!" He exclaimed, receiving a rather annoyed glance from his older sister May.
"Hey, Misty…" Ash said with a smile as he entered his own home. May simple waved shyly and Misty returned it. Max had already made his way into the house to examine the sleeping Togepi more closely and then stood Brock, his arms weighed down by all their luggage.
Despite that her brain had practically turned to mush and her bones to liquid at the sight of him, she offered to help with the bags, alleviating atleast some of the weight off his shoulders.
Brock let out a sigh of relief as he discarded the rest of the bags by the wall. Then he looked up at the pretty young woman who had waited for him to put his bags down. He gave her a lopsided grin and opened his arms wide.
"You know you have to give me a hug right?"
Misty smiled as he pulled her into an embrace. She buried her face into his chest, reveling in the fact she was in his arms once again, being held close to that comforting body that was so warm against her skin. That familiar smell of cologne and detergent she always associated with Brock filling her nostrils once again.
It was enough to make her cry.
She looked up at Brock with both eyes full of tears. "I missed you."
Brock looked away from her for only a second, his eyes scanning the living room and making sure no one was watching. He didn't want things to be weird for Misty, especially with Christmas only a few days away.
"I missed you, too." He told her sincerely, looking deep into her cerulean eyes. His presence was making her heart do weird things. "C'mon…we…we better go in there with the rest."
"Oh, right…" She said after a moment. She had actually gotten lost in his gaze. His deep, dark eyes; Mysterious and beautiful all at the same time. Everything about him still seemed so unapproachable, even after they had made love. He seemed so far out of her reach and she wondered if she'd ever feel the way she did that night again.
Ash's voice was the first to become clear to them as they entered the living room from the foyer. "Brock! May's picking on me!"
"I am not!" May protested. "I just can't stand to hear you brag!"
"I'm just showing off all my awesome trophies!"
"Exactly!"
Brock sighed. "Alright, you two, cut it out. That's all you two did on the way here until you finally fell asleep in the car. I regret even waking you two up."
"He started it!" May pointed towards Ash at her defense and he furrowed his brow.
"Your just jealous!" Ash snapped back at her and Brock was becoming irritated. Why did he come back from Pewter City to travel with them around Hoenn?
"Cut it out! I mean it." Brock demanded rather firmly.
Both Ash and May let out a small squeak of surprise and then quickly obeyed. "Y-yes, sir." They both said in unison and Delia let out a small giggle.
"I'm glad to see someone's keeping my little Ashy in line while I'm not around." She said, holding a trey of sandwiches. "Brock, you are making sure Ash changes his underwear everyday now aren't you?"
Brock let out a small laugh. "As always, Mrs. Ketchum."
"Good." The brown-headed older woman said.
Ash grabbed a sandwich and sat beside the large Christmas tree in the living room and started to rummage through his gifts. "Wow, mom, are these all for me?"
"Most of them, sweety, but some are for your friends. Don't you dare open any yet, Ash." She warned. "Or Santa Clause won't come on Christmas morning and bring you any more gifts."
"Oh, c'mon mom, you know I don't believe in Santa anymore…" He said, standing up. "I'm a grown man now. Isn't that right, Brocko?"
The spiky-haired gym leader just peered back at Ash and chuckled. "If that's what you think."
Delia simply giggled. "I made some lemonade. Brock would you mind helping me make the drinks for the kids?"
"Not at all, Mrs. Ketchum." He stood up, giving Misty a light tap on the knee, silently assuring her he'd be back. She watched him disappear around the corner, listening faintly to the voices from the kitchen. His voice was a deep muffle, while Delia's was a light, cheerful tone.
Ash took a red Solo cup from his mom, without so much as a thank you and continued to search through his gifts once again, shaking a box every so often and trying to guess it's contents.
May took a cup from Brock and thanked him, and Max did the same to Delia. Misty sat on the couch, staring down at her feet until she felt someone loom above her. She looked up to see Brock, offering her a cup of lemonade.
She smiled up at him and took the plastic cup gratefully. "Thank you, Brock."
He smiled at her and took his seat beside her, leaning back and casually putting his arm around the back of the sofa. She couldn't help but feel awkward about it, yet comforted. It had been so long since she was this close to Brock.
Ash finally stood up from his position at the tree and stretched his legs. "Where's the bathroom at again, Mom? I really have to go number one."
Delia took a sip of her drink and sighed. "Ash, I can't believe you've forgotten already. It's at the top of the stairs to your right."
"Oh, that's right." He said, heading towards the staircase that led to his old room.
"That boy is so scatterbrained sometimes." She said, smiling at Misty as she saw that Brock had chosen to sit next to her. "So, Brock, how have you been?"
"I've been doing alright." He said, relaxing against the back of the couch. "I just went back and visited my family last month."
"Oh, in Pewter City?" Delia asked. "Your mother wrote me a letter a couple months ago. We've joined a book club in Viridian City. She's really a very nice woman."
"Uhm, mom?" A familiar, raspy voice sounded from up above them. Ash Ketchum was leaned over the rail, his eyes big with excitement.
"Yes, honey?" She asked, without looking up.
"What's this? I found it in the trashcan…" He held up a small, plastic stick between his pointer finger and thumb. "It has a plus sign on it…is it a calculator?"
Delia jumped up from her seat and rushed up the stairs. "Ash Ketchum, you give me that right now!" Her tone was more frantic than angry and Brock couldn't help but notice the look of concern Ash's mother shot down at Misty from the top of the stairs, or the deep, red blush that now crawled it's way across her cheeks.
Ash held it over the balcony trying his best to keep it out of his mother's reach. "Brock, what is this?"
Brock covered the grin that played at his lips. "Ash, that's an EPT."
"An EP…what?"
Delia grabbed it from his hands and quickly ran into the bathroom to toss it back into the trash.
"Ash, it's just a pregnancy test…" Max blurted out, innocently taking another sip of his lemonade. "This is really good, Mrs. Ketchum."
Misty buried her face in her hands and Ash's eyes grew wider. "Mom? Your…your pregnant?"
"Ash, can we not discuss this please?" She asked, hurrying down the stairs. Misty's face was almost as red as her hair and Brock was clueless as to why she was so embarrassed, but he rubbed his hand up and down her back anyway.
Ash followed his mother and remained on his feet as the older woman sat down. "Mom, your way to old be having children."
"Ash Ketchum, I am not old!"
"Mom, I'm 15! Your old!"
Delia scowled at him. "Sit down, Ash."
Obeying his mother, he sat down on the couch, but didn't stop with the interrogation. "Mom, how could you get pregnant? The only man you ever go around is Professor Oak and he's…." Ash slapped a gloved hand over his mouth. "You and…Professor Oak?"
"No, Ash!" Delia said, finally becoming fed up with her son. "It's not--"
"Ash!" Misty blurted out, looking as if she was ready to burst out into tears. "The test is mine!"
Ash's mouth fell open and the whole room fell silent. Brock's heart thumped in his chest and his mouth suddenly went dry. Misty's pregnant?
Delia folded her hands in her lap. "Mr. Mime, I thought I told you to take that trash out a week ago."
"Mr…Mr. Mime…." It said, a frown coming to it's clown face.
"Misty, I'm really sorry…" Delia apologized but Misty simply shook her head.
"No, everyone needed to know." Her blue-green eyes fell on Brock only for an instant. "I'm pregnant."
Brock tried to swallow, but his throat was just too dry. He finally found his voice and the words came out in a rush, sounding more concerned then he intended.
"Misty, how long have you known?"
"Only a couple weeks…" She said, her knees shaking under his intense stare. "Uhm, Mrs. Ketchum, do you mind if I go upstairs and use your shower?"
"Not at all, dear." She said.
Misty graciously hurried up the stairs and Brock let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding until now.
"Wow, Misty pregnant…" Ash absently picked up one of his presents and examined it more closely. "Who would have thought?" He was silent for a moment, as May awkwardly swirled the lemonade in her cup. Then it finally hit Ash.
"Hey, don't you have to be with a man before you can get pregnant?" He asked, innocently.
May sighed and picked up the sleeping Togepi that was frantically looking around for Misty. "Yes, Ash, you do."
"Well, who the hell could she have been with?" Ash asked curiously, to no one in particular.
Brock stood up, excusing himself from the room. "I don't think we should be discussing Misty's love life." He said. "I'm going up to try and talk to her and make sure she's alright."
Delia simply smiled at him and watched him ascend the stairs to the upstairs bedrooms.
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