Lifes Little Miracles

Chapter Five

It was quite a while before people began showing up at the Ketchum\'s residence. The first to arrive were Gary, Tracey, the twins, Eevee and Marill. The gay couple had brought a beautifully and some what lavishly decorated basinet for the new born, they had been working on it for a month, however since they did not know the sex of the unborn infant, they used an off white antique lace instead of a colored one. They presented this gift to the new parents who couldn\'t be happier. As for the twins, the two five year old siblings were more than excited to see the baby and each had a hand made gift to give the new born infant, along with a giant pink card all decked out in ribbons, which they had hurriedly made upon hearing the news. The two little children seemed to be more excited about the baby than her parents were. Misty smiled after reading it; she loved the twins they truly were great children, she hoped that her daughter would grow up to be as well behaved, smart and talented as they were. They were now standing in the bedroom Tom and Ann were talking to Misty, asking her about everything she had gone through.

“Oh my god Ashy boy…” Gary sighed as he held the newborn baby in his strong arms. “She\'s beautiful… I can\'t believe you actually made this…”

Ash rose an eyebrow at the weird comment.

“Let me hold her…” Tracey carefully took the baby into his own arms. “Hello Aqua… I\'m your Uncle Tracey… Oh Ash, Misty, she\'s priceless. I have to make a sketch! Good thing I brought my largest sketch pad!”

“Can we hold her?” Questioned Tom.

“Of course you can.” Misty replied with a smile. “Tracey can you bring the baby here please?”

Tracey handed Misty her daughter, he couldn\'t help but smirk when he saw how eager Tom and Ann were to hold the new born. For a few short moments he wished that he could give the twins a baby brother or sister, secretly he still wished he and Gary could each father a child, he envied how Ash felt about Aqua. Or course he loved Tom and Ann with all his heart and soul, yet a child of ones own was a different kind of love all in its self. This thought quickly left him though, when Misty positioned the twins so they were sitting properly, then one after the other they each got to hold the tiny infant, who looked so big in their arms.

“She\'s heavy isn\'t she Tom?” His sister asked him.

“Uh huh… but she\'s so cute and warm…” Tom whispered. “You\'re our cousin Aqua… oh look she\'s smiling!”

“Yup she is, she already loves the both of you.” Misty giggled. “The three of you are gonna have so much fun playing together when Aqua gets older.”

“When\'s that?” Inquired Ann.

“When she can sit up and crawl, that\'s when you can really play with her.” Explained the new mother. “That\'ll be when she\'s about five or six months old.”

“But what can we do until then?” The little boy sounded really disappointed.

“Well… you can talk to her and sing to her, read her stories…” suggested Misty. “I read in a book that that\'s the best way to introduce babies to language.”

“So we can teach Aqua everything we know!” Ann\'s face lit up as she turned to her brother.

“Wow, I hope all this excitement isn\'t disturbing the baby.” Said Brock as he came in the bedroom. “We have more visitors… Jesse, James and Meowth are here.”

“Did someone say trouble?” James\' high-pitched voice asked.

“No dey didn\'t.” Said a very annoyed Meowth.

Ash mentally sighed, where was his mom? He was happy to see everyone in the room but he was hoping more than anything that his mother would be the first to see his newborn daughter. Nevertheless, he couldn\'t let his distress interfere with one of the happiest days of his life; therefore he shook off the dismal feeling and greeted the three members of Team Rocket.

“Hey guys thanks for coming.”

“One thing twerpo…” Jesse pulled Ash to the side. “When did this all happen? I mean we knew the two of you had a thing for each other, but uh this… I mean you\'re kind of young aren\'t you?”

The infamous smirk appeared across the adolescents face.

“One thing led to another… it just sort of happened.”

“Well regardless of what happened…” James interrupted; he was now holding the baby. “I must congratulate the both of you… you\'re daughter is simply beautiful.”

“Thanks, um my mom called you guys right?”

“No I called them Ashy boy.” Gary interrupted. “Your mom told Grampy and he told us. Was she supposed to call everybody?”

The sixteen year old nodded. He looked from face to face; they could all tell he was worried.

“Ash? What\'s wrong?” Inquired Misty.

“I don\'t know… I don\'t think my mom\'s coming.”

Brock once again walked into the bedroom, he was still wearing his frilly pink apron, but this time, he was mixing something in a bowl.

“Hey um Ash.” The rock Pokémon trainer called. “You\'re mom and Professor Oak just pulled up in the Cadillac.”

From the living room the doorbell could be heard. Ash became nervous and anxious. How would his mother react? How would the Professor respond? His heartbeat quickened with each second that passed, then the moment arrived, his mother and the Professor walked in the room.

“Good evening everybody.” Professor Oak stated somewhat cheerfully.

“Hello…” was the general reply with the exception Gary and the Twins who squealed a little bit to enthusiastically “Hey Grampy!”. Mrs. Ketchum decided to remain silent; she slowly strolled over to her son, stared up into his brown eyes for quite a long time and then finally hugged him.

“Mom…”

“Don\'t you dare mom me Mr.!”

Ash was confused; did his mother just come here to yell at him, and what for?

“Do you know the reason as to why I was so hesitant to visit?” The teen father shook his head. “Well… I didn\'t think so… I didn\'t want to come tonight because it would remind me of how much you\'ve grown, and holding my grandchild in my arms would remind me of you when you were a baby… Ash the point is… I don\'t want to think about that… it breaks my heart to see you becoming a man, to know that you\'re not my little boy anymore.”

“Mom… I\'m always gonna be you\'re little boy.” His mother had tears in her eyes, and so did a few others across the room. “I may have changed… but that\'s something that can never ever change”

“Oh Ash… my baby boy… I love you…” His mother gave him another tight squeeze and a huge kiss on the cheek. Once she let go, upon realizing that her beloved son was dieing from humiliation, she turned to James who still held Aqua. “Now where is my grandson?”

“Granddaughter!” Nearly everyone corrected her, including the twins and of course the Pokémon who had erupted with shouts of “pika”, “toge”, “marill“, and “evwee“.

“Jeez mom…” Ash shook his head in embarrassment. He carefully took his daughter in his arms and introduced Aqua to her grandmother. “I\'d like you to meet your granddaughter.” Ash emphasized the last word. “Her name\'s Aqua.”

“She beautiful Ash… beautiful…” For a long while, Mrs. Ketchum held the tiny infant in her arms, she simply couldn\'t help but smile at the marvel that was her granddaughter. Ash\'s mother sighed and the baby yawned. “I think someone needs to sleep… Here honey, take her, we\'ll go in the living room now, Misty needs her rest too.”

Ash noticed how Professor Oak had not held Aqua; he had simply walked out of the bedroom as soon as Mrs. Ketchum mentioned leaving. He wondered why the old man showed in the first place.

“Come on everybody out, you too Pikachu I mean it! I got ketchup… and other refreshments are in the kitchen… mommy and baby need their sleep.” Brock shoved all the guests and four Pokémon into the hallway. “Come on daddy, I got champagne, cigars and a cabinet full of liquor, along with some of the best imported crackers and cheeses this side of Kanto, you coming for the party or no?”

“Ash, don\'t go… stay here… I\'m not tired.” Pleaded Misty.

“I think I\'ll pass on that one Brocko.” The boy smirked. “Listen do me a favor keep the noise down, don\'t get drunk and get the party goers out by eleven.”

Brock closed the bedroom door with a salute and left the family alone. Ash walked back to the bed and sat down next to Misty, while lying the now sleeping baby gently down between the two of them.

“We should put her in the basinet.” Misty suggested. The teen mother stood up and carrying her daughter, carefully put Aqua in the gift Gary and Tracey had given. Ash came next to her and together they both gazed down at their newborn daughter.

“You know… I never imagined my life would start so early.” Mentioned the Pokémon trainer. “I\'m really lucky it did though… I have a beautiful wife and a beautiful daughter… I\'m the luckiest guy in the world.”

When her husband was finished Misty leaned in for a deep kiss, which the young man was more than eager to enjoy. This day marked the start of a brand new way of life for the novel parents. It was like the day Ash first began his journey and how he saw the legendary fire bird Ho-Oh fly through the rainbow, as if it were part of the pallet of colors in the sky, with its massive shimmering wings powerfully beating to the rhythm of life. He knew his life actually had meaning know, the adolescent had two people who would always love him and he\'d always love them… forever.

The End