Unhidden Secrets

Chapter Four: No Longer Hidden

Over the next couple of months Ash became very obnoxious. He was getting anxious, and angry and extremely frustrated with Brock. Why wouldn\'t the bastard leave already God damn it! His life and Misty\'s and their unborn baby\'s would be utterly over if the rock Pokémon trainer found out. But Ash wasn\'t stupid, he kept up his act about hitting the road in a couple of weeks, yet Brock seemed to be looking forward to joining his “best friend” on yet another journey. Ash was changing in numerous ways, besides the fact that he became a total jerk, he began speaking with more and more sarcasm, and he used an appalling word in almost every sentence. He was like this around everyone except Misty and his Pokémon. He grew to despise the breeder, and hardly ever talked to him, trying to ignore the twenty one year old man as much as possible.

It was a cool day in the middle of March. Ash came home from his job at the Pokémon Center; and heard Misty crying in their bedroom. He hated to see Misty cry because it made him upset. Therefore he always tried everything he could to make her happy. Except this was something that just really could not be helped. Their secret that they had worked so hard to keep private was coming out of hiding. Misty was now four months pregnant, and it was beginning to show.

“Mist, what\'s wrong?” Ash asked sitting down next to her on her bed and putting his arm around her shoulder.

“None of my clothes fit anymore, Brock\'s gonna find out…” Misty sobbed harder. She had become so sensitive from the pregnancy, Ash had read about how the hormones in a woman\'s body could make her act differently, but this was the complete opposite of his girlfriend. She should have been screaming her lungs out and trying to bite his head off and beat him to a bloody pulp. And if he remembered his reading correctly this should not be happening so early in the pregnancy. Yet here the poor red head sat on the edge of her bed, in her bra and panties crying.

“No he\'s not.” Ash knew that Brock was going to have a fit if or when he found out. He was happier with the “if” factor… he preferred however the word “never”. He was scared as hell; but for Misty\'s sake he didn\'t show it. “Now come on get up, and I\'ll find you something to wear, I bought you lots of new clothes, we\'ll find something… I think you\'re just being stubborn.”

That truly was something coming from the most stubborn person on the planet. Yet Misty stood up when Ash offered his hand to her. When she was standing, he could see the slight bulge of her tummy. He brought his hand to her lower abdomen and made a small circle with his palm. His bare skin tickled her belly, she liked that he had stopped wearing those ugly gloves. His hands were rough and callused, but the feel of skin on skin felt absolutely wonderful to the teen girl. Ash was lost in awe… that was his son or daughter growing in Misty\'s womb… their baby was getting bigger everyday, and in five months would be born. He was mesmerized by simply rubbing the mound; knowing that he had helped create the life that was developing inside her.

“Mist… you\'re showing…” He whispered, a lopsided grin on his face. He was overjoyed. “It\'s incredible.”

Misty looked up into his eyes and placed her hand on top on his, following his motions.

“It feels nice when you do that.”

“How does it feel?”

“I already said it feels nice.”

“No… I mean… well… how does the baby feel inside of you?”

“Oh…” Misty smiled, her whole face lit up. “Well… I can feel slight movement… like Butterfree\'s fluttering around inside me. Overall… it just feels different I guess.”

“It\'s amazing…” Ash stopped his ministrations and looked into his girlfriends deep blue eyes. He took her hands into his own and gently squeezed them running his thumbs over the backs. “We\'re ready for this. I know we are.”

“I hope so… I\'d just feel better if Brock would go home already… Ash, he makes me so nervous sometimes. He\'s gone all day… and then comes home at night and, I don\'t know, it\'s like all he does is watch me and he seems to have changed so much.”

“Hmm… I wish he would go home too. I know what he would say, that we were stupid and made a mistake.” The young man kissed his red headed companion tenderly on the lips, hugging her body close and protectively against him.

He sighed rather sadly and pulled away to look into the closet. He picked out a pretty yellow dress with happy little blue Wooper\'s dancing on the bottom of it, and slipped it over Misty\'s head and buttoned it up the back. He stood back to look at her; she looked absolutely beautiful. Misty smoothed out the skirt, looked at herself in the mirror, and twirled around cheerfully, skirt swirling around her thighs coming down just past her knees. She smiled contently and fixed her red hair, which had grown a few inches past her shoulders. She enjoyed wearing it loose now; it framed her face perfectly, which was beginning to get chubby. The young woman turned to the side and put her hands to her stomach to get another view; her smile quickly turned into a frown.

“Brock\'s gonna find out.” She said miserably dropping her hands to her sides.

“I\'m gonna find out what?” Brock inquired, walking through the bedroom door, which stood slightly ajar.

“Didn\'t anyone ever tell you to knock before coming into a room with a closed door?” Ash said a little bit angrier then he meant to.

“The door was opened, and I shouldn\'t have to knock, I\'m an adult… you\'re not. I\'m in charge, you\'re not, so get used to it, you\'re fifteen the only privacy and closed door you should ever have is in the bathroom… now then, what am I gonna find out?” He asked again much more sternly. The breeder placed his hands on his hips, a very girlish pose Ash made a mental note and smirked slightly. Neither one of them answered, so he asked again, raising his voice, giving it a bit of an edge, his Gym Leaders voice. “What am I going to find out?”

“Nothing.” This time Ash and Misty answered at the same time.

Brock stood there for a long time glancing from one to the other. He crossed his arms and looked at Misty. She thought she was going to die from being so nervous. What if he knew? Brock let out a huge sigh as he dropped his arms to his sides. He continued to gaze at her, staring now, memorizing every aspect of her appearance. After quite awhile, he sighed shook his head and spoke.

“You\'re pregnant aren\'t you?” He asked, the deep unpleasant voice he reserved for gym battles articulate and angry. “I could tell just by looking at you… you\'ve gained a few pounds, but besides that… I\'m a breeder, a Pokémon breeder, but a breeder nonetheless, I know a pregnant woman when I see one.” He chuckled and massaged his temple; he was getting a headache, Brock paced about… letting out a small chuckle here and there as he formulated his next choice of words.

Ash and Misty sat on the bed and looked down at the wood floor. This was it. Brock was going to kill them. He was going to pull out a shotgun and shoot them both, and bury their bloody remains in the backyard. He looked almost insane with the way he was pacing back and forth, chuckling like a mad man.

“When were the two of you going to tell me? When did you find out? Didn\'t you think I would notice?” The rock Pokémon trainer suddenly yelled; startling them both and making them jump. He was now very irritated, and kicked the edge of the bed with his steel toe work boot. “Answer me God damn it!”

Misty began to cry from being startled and Ash held her protectively as a tear slowly trickled down his left eye.

“No.” The boy muttered. He was scared to death, he never heard Brock yell like that before, and he had certainly never known his former good friend to be so aggressive and violent.

“I can\'t believe this, fifteen years old, you\'re going to be sixteen next month Ash, and look at what the two of you did, you ruined your lives, do you know that?” Brock shouted and he picked up a photograph of the couple on Ash\'s dresser and threw it to the floor, sending shards of glass flying everywhere. “Destroyed! Everything you wanted to do or be, gone down the drain! What is your mother going to say? Did you think you could just go behind her back… and mine and screw up everything? This is the biggest mistake you could have made in you entire life! You think placing in the top sixteen at Indigo Plateau is bad? Ha! Wait till the both of you have to stay up all night long with a crying infant! You thought your lives were difficult and strenuous before? What time were you getting up to train Ash? Seven, right? Right… try staying up all night long… no sleep whatsoever, and then try and go to work Ash, see how you get through the god damned day! I can\'t believe how stupid the two of you are, how entirely and thoroughly stupid you both are… What did you just sit down one day and decided “oh why don\'t we have sex, we can have a baby, aren\'t they cute, it\'ll be fun.”? This is the worst possible thing either of you have ever done! You\'ve taken some risks in life Ash, but this is by far the biggest mistake you\'ve ever made!”

What they didn\'t know was that Brock was angry for one reason and one reason only. He was jealous. He never had a girlfriend; he was twenty-one years old and still a virgin. He had never even kissed a girl let alone slept with one. As Ash and Misty sat there crying, fearing for their lives and their unborn child\'s, that particular thought never crossed their minds.

“That\'s it.” Brock growled as he marched over to the night table and picked up the phone.

They didn\'t even hear what Brock was saying, they were to busy hugging each other good-bye. They didn\'t need words to express their feelings; crying in each other\'s arms was all they needed to know that they loved each other.

“Come on, NOW!” He roared smashing the phone across the opposite wall, causing Misty to scream and hide her face in Ash\'s chest. The young man knew that all this commotion was in no way good for the baby. It was making Misty very upset, but all he could do was try and sooth her by allowing her to cry on his shoulder and rub her back comfortingly. Ash stared at his former friend, a mixture of hatred and fear emanating from his chocolate colored eyes.

Ash was terrified but stood up anyway then helped Misty to stand placing a shaky hand on her growing belly, hoping that in some weird spiritual way his son or daughter would feel the protection their father was trying to offer. They followed Brock outside, but he stopped on the sidewalk like he was waiting for someone. After about thirty seconds he told them to wait there and walked two blocks down to a small market. For the first time in his life, Brock lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply. He stood at the corner enjoying the calming effects of the nicotine, his hands stopped shaking from rage and his brow ceased to sweat. He finished his cigarette and threw the butt to the curb then walked back to the couple.

“Hey Brocko!” Gary greeted him in his normal girlish voice. He looked at the young couple and smiled as Ash carefully wiped the tears from Misty\'s eyes with her embroidered handkerchief, then he suddenly turned back and ran into the house.

“Where you going Ash?” Tracey called out after him. He chuckled. “That kid needs to join a marathon… too much energy if you ask me… horrible specimen to sketch too.

Seconds later he descended the porch steps with Misty\'s favorite red hoodie in hand. He helped her put it on and whispered into her ear.

“I don\'t want the two of you getting cold, it\'s still chilly.”

Thankful for the added warmth, Misty was able to settle comfortably down next to Ash in the back of the convertible after Brock had gritted his teeth and spit trying to sound polite to get into the car. Once everyone was situated and Tracey had changed to his favorite punk CD, Gary hit the gas and the car was off. Neither teen knew where they were headed too, Ash had to stop Misty from crying again when she mumbled something about an abortion clinic, her tears were silent, simply cascading down her flawless face from her bright blue eyes. Ash placed his arm around her, whispering into her ear, thankful for the loud music, which blasted up front, and the three grown men in their twenties singing loudly about some drunken Team Rocket member and a prostitute. No one seemed to acknowledge them, if Misty wasn\'t pregnant they both could have jumped out of the back, tucked, rolled and ran to freedom, but of course, they wouldn\'t be in this particular mess right now if Misty wasn\'t pregnant.

“Don\'t worry Misty… this is our baby… and no one can take him or her away from us, no matter what.” He whispered into her ear. “I wont let anything happen to either of you…” Ash suddenly wished he had Pikachu with him, but the Pokémon were all at the lab for the weekend Brock had brought them all over himself, Ash had still not visited either is mother or his mentor. Professor Oak had the job of Pokémon sitter and baby sitter, for he watched the little twins Tom and Ann on a regular basis as well.

They drove for about half an hour; Ash knew they were going to Viridian City, since it was the closest city to Pallet. Gary parked the car in front of a courthouse and everyone got out. The group walked up the stairs and into the large building. They walked into one of the empty hearing rooms and sat down. A man who was obviously the judge walked out from a door in the front of the room. He shook hands with Gary, Tracey and Brock, and then looked at Ash and Misty, with an understanding look on his face. The four men walked into the room that the judge had come out of. They were in there for a long time. Ash and Misty were still crying, but at least now they whispered to each other.

“I love you Misty.” Ash whispered to her as he kissed her cheek.

“I love you too.” She whispered back to him resting her head on his shoulder. She looked up into his face and brought her lips to his.

They kissed until they heard the door open and Gary\'s annoying voice. Brock, Tracey and the judge all came out of the room and stood in front of the stand.

“Aww, they look so cute together! It\'s absolutely adorable!”

“Ash, Misty please come up here.” Said the judge in a friendly voice.

They stood up and walked over to where he stood.

“I understand the two of you are making your marriage legal here in Kanto. I realize the two of you are very young but I don\'t know much about marriage customs in other countries. Here in Kanto, we need a parents agreement, but because all you have is your legal guardian while you\'re in this country, I\'ll be more than happy to give you a marriage license for Kanto and have you married under our laws here.”

They didn\'t know what he was talking about. Apparently Brock had made up some elaborate lie. They felt like Psyduck when they said their “I do\'s”. And a few minutes later they stood before everyone as Mr. and Mrs. Ash Ketchum.

“Oh, weddings always did make me teary eyed!” Tracey said as he dabbed his eyes with a pink handkerchief. He then reached into one of the many pockets of his black wide leg cargo pants and pulled out a tiny sketchpad and pencil. “I need to sketch this!”

“They look so beautiful together.” Gary smiled. “What do you say Tracey? Should we have them over for some tea at our house? Come on the twins are at Grampy\'s, so it\'ll just be us grown ups.”

“That\'s a great idea!” Tracey agreed. “Come on Mr. and Mrs. Ketchum, you too Brock!”

They drove to Gary and Tracey\'s house, and were treated to cake and tea. Everything happened so fast, but they thanked God they were still alive.

“So young, so beautiful, and here they are married.” Tracey sighed contently. “I need to make a quick sketch.” And the strange Goth dressed boy pulled out a huge sketchpad and pencil and began drawing away.

“I know Tracey; they grew up so fast.” Gary said.

“Listen uh, Tracey, Gary thanks for having us over, and thanks for helping with the paper work and being the witnesses, but we have to go, these two have had a long day.”

“Oh ok, well Ashy Boy, Misty, see you later, kiss, kiss.” Gary said as he hugged Ash and Misty.

“Bye!” Tracey waved and he held up the Metallica/I love you sign. “Kiss, kiss.”

“Oh! Ash wait.” Gary shouted stopping the young man from continuing out the door. Gary put something in his hand. “Here Ashy Boy, you might need this for tonight; if you know what I mean.”

Ash ran to catch up with Misty and Brock.

“What did he give you?” Misty asked linking her arm with his.

Ash opened his hand and looked down at the foil wrapped Trojan.

“A condom, hmm; extra sensitive too.” Ash chuckled. He glanced at Misty and sighed. “He was four months too late...”

The young couple took their own slow pace back to their house, they arrived several minutes after Brock and found him waiting on the porch steps, only Ash and Misty had keys, after all it was their house. Ash unlocked the front door, opened it, and they walked into the living room and sat on the couch. They could feel the tension in the air, and they kept their eyes cast down as Brock seemed to burn holes through them with his almost non-existent eyes.

“Now I hope you understand why I did that.” He said slowly, deliberately with an edge.

“No, all I know is that I\'m married and my wife is pregnant.” Ash yelled sarcastically. It was basically the only thing he could say, he seriously had no idea what so ever as to why Brock did what he did.

“So this way you wouldn\'t get in trouble with your mom!” Brock yelled. “If you and Misty weren\'t married than she could easily split the two of you up, she would send Misty back to Cerulean City with her sisters and she would probably ground you for life, and you would never see her or the baby ever again.” The rock Pokémon trainer sighed and sat down in an armchair.

Ash kept quiet he didn\'t know what to say. If his mom ever did that he would never speak to her again. He realized now however, that because he was under aged his mom still had control over him; she was very much capable of filing some weird court order in order to split the two teens up. Now that they were married, they were in charge of their own legal actions, and as far as the marriage license was concerned, Ash\'s mother didn\'t exist. Brock had been their legal guardian since he turned eighteen anyway; he was the one who was able to sign all their papers. But Ash didn\'t seem to care anymore; he was getting tired of the older boy.

“I\'m sorry for yelling at you before.” Brock muttered almost inaudibly.

“You scared me.” Misty whispered.

“I only wanted to keep the two of you together, you\'re both my best friends.” Brock apologized. “I\'m sorry for everything. I just wish you had told me when this happened. I\'ve been telling you two to be careful since you first started this relationship. I\'m beginning to think that I shouldn\'t have allowed it to begin in the first place, I could have prevented this whole mess from happening.”

More silence followed which Misty broke.

“Brock, do Tracey and Gary know that I\'m having a baby?” She inquired with concern.

“No, but then again that dress you\'re wearing makes it obvious.” Brock sighed and glanced down at her tummy.

Ash looked at Misty, put his arm around her, and kissed her. Brock hated when they were being affectionate, he stood up and walked out of the house. Once on the porch he lit another cigarette and decided to stay outside until they went to bed. He knew that when the baby was born he would be the one stuck taking care of it. Misty didn\'t know what she was doing. He hated children and babies… they had destroyed his own childhood when he was younger. Having to take care of ten little brothers and sisters all of his life wasn\'t exactly the most fun thing in the world. “I should have taken her to an abortion clinic.” He mumbled, lips around the cigarette.

Inside the newly weds were making themselves dinner. Ash wasn\'t all that hungry, but the cake from before had made Misty nauseous so she didn\'t eat any and was now practically starving. She rubbed her little tummy happily and whispered to their baby.

“It\'s ok baby, I know you\'re hungry.”

“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes Mrs. Ketchum.”

“Thank you Mr. Ketchum.” She giggled.

Ash smiled at her and gave her a peck on the forehead. All his anger and frustration seemed to completely disappear when he was with Misty. But his hatred for Brock was still burning deep within him; he wanted the Breeder out of their life for good. Ash didn\'t want him around when the baby was born; he was going to ruin everything. After a few more minutes of stir frying, Ash removed their dinner from the burner. He had become quite the chef Misty noticed. Placing two bowls of rice with chicken and veggies on the table he sat down next to his wife.

“This looks really good Ash.”

“I hope it tastes as good as it smells and looks.” He sighed, he doubted his cooking skills; he was a self-taught chef. The knowledge needed to be acquired out of necessity, so he watched a lot of cooking shows and read a lot of cookbooks.

When they were done with their meal, they walked out to the back yard to lie in the hammock. They looked up at the stars for a while; tracing and connecting the dots of all the Pokémon constellations they knew. After some time, Misty leaned over her husband and kissed him passionately on the lips. Welcoming the pleasant act, he pulled her closer to him. Ash felt Misty\'s hand slide up under his shirt, and one was fiddling with the zipper on his pants. Their kissing deepened and the young man was beyond aroused.

“Mist…” He whispered, his voice hoarse with need. “We can\'t.”

“Shh…” She silenced her husband with a sensual kiss and began to massage his penis with her hand. His breathing deepened, and he began to buck his hips ever so slightly, she took that as a good sign and speeded up her motions.

“Mist? What are you doing? Are you ok?” Ash asked worriedly.

“I\'m fine… now just lay back and relax.”

Then he felt it, the most marvelous sensation in the world. His wife\'s lips were around his erection, her tongue swirling around the head, and her hand was still moving up and down along his shaft. Ash came quickly and Misty swallowed every last drop, even licking the head clean.

“Did you enjoy that?” She asked with a smile after she sat down next to him again.

All the poor boy could do was shake his head yes in response. He took her in his arms again, after he had calmed down from his experience and they sat there in silence. Back in the house Brock continued to look out through the bathroom window, which looked out into the backyard. He had been watching them the whole time when he came in to take a leak. After he had pissed, he kept his small member in his hand and began to jerk off. It wasn\'t fair. Tears trickled from his eyes… he came a while after that, left the results on the toilet seat and went back outside for another cigarette. A friendship had been destroyed… Brock wanted his friends back, to the way things were before. But they were keeping everything hidden from him; part of him hoped that Ash got in trouble with his mother… the little bastard deserved it.

The End