Not OUR Baby (Part 2): "Rose is Confronted"
Rating: PG-13  I dunno…there's a brief discussion about well… "baby-making" between characters. There's nothing bad-really! ^-^
Disclaimer: Yeah, I WISH that I owner these guys.  I only own Rose. And that's good enough for me! ^-^
Editor's Note: I like where this series is going. I really do.  Rose is growing up here.
E-Mail Addy:  Got somethin' to say?  I can take it.  I'm a telemarketer for a living…I'm USED to insults. Lemme' know: Mihorsbscribbles@aol.com
Enjoy!….

"Eww! Those look like maggots!"
"Rose! That's disgusting!"
The red-haired girl grinned sheepishly.  "Sorry, daddy."
He smiled at her now.  "It's all right," he said.  "But, why don't you go bug your mother for a while…hmm?"
Rose could only giggle at this.  "Okay, daddy…"  She kissed his cheek as he bent over for her to do so, then made her way to the living room.  Jessie glanced up at her, and a smile crossed her red lips.
"Hi, baby!"
"Hi, momma."  The girl sat next to her mother and began to innocently peer over her shoulder.  "What are you doing?"
Jessie sighed dreamily and set the romance novel that she had been enveloped in on her lap to meet eyes with her daughter.  "Just getting my daily dose of mushy stuff," she said.  "Your father hasn't supplied much lately."
Rose smiled.  "Are you talkin' about when you guys lock your bedroom door and I hear funny noises all night?"
Jessie blushed.. a deep blush. She could only clear her throat to regain her composure.  "Yes…well. You'll learn about that.  Someday."
"I'm thirteen, momma," Rose informed.  "I do know all about it."
"You do?"
"Yes.  They taught us all about sex the last two years in school."
Jessie blushed again at this and began to desperately try to change the subject.  "Umm..how are your paintings coming along?"
Rose smirked.  "Did I embarrass you, momma?"  She watched her mother stand and clear her throat again.
"James?  Is dinner ready yet?"
"Almost…"
"Good enough for me," Jessie muttered.  "C'mon, Rose-darling.  Get ready to eat."
"But mom..."
"No 'buts'.  Now get moving."
"Yes, ma'am…" She turned and headed up the staircase, her feet dragging the whole way.  Her mother watched until she was out of sight, then headed for the kitchen.
James looked up at her as she entered and took a seat across from him at the counter.  He watched her silently for a moment as she rolled an orange back and forth to occupy herself.  "Jess…?"  He finally spoke up.
She looked up into his eyes and sighed.  "Do you know what they've been teaching our little girl at school?"
"Math?"
"No…Smart guy.  She knows about…well.  All about…human reproduction."
"You mean sex?" he asked bluntly.  "C'mon, Jess.  We're both adults here.  You can say it."  He grinned at her.
"Oh…shut up," she snarled.  "She's too young!"
"She's thirteen, Jessica!" he countered.  "Everyone learns about it at her age."  He leaned close to her and smiled.  "Besides…I'm sure she's heard us more than a few times to know that we_"
"Stop!" she cried.  "I don't want her to know that!"
"Duh, Jess," he sighed.  "How would she assume that she came to be?"  He caught her pouting face as she turned away from him, and it suddenly dawned on him what his wife was so upset about.  "You don't want her to grow up yet…do you?"
She refused to answer, but only continue to stare at the wall in front of her now.  He smiled lovingly and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.  "You know…" he began.  "I never thought that you could be so adorable."
She turned to meet eyes with him again.  "What?"
"You're so cute," he went on.  "The way that you worry so much about our Rose.  You can't stand the thought of her growing up yet."
She pouted again.  "No," she admitted.  "I can't.  I don't want to loose my baby girl.  Not just yet anyways."
He kissed her cheek.  "She's got at least five years to go," he assured.  "I don't think that she'll be leaving the nest just yet."
"James!  We were at the Pok?mon Tech at her age.  We were in a bike gang by 15!  We were in Team Rocket_"
"Shhh!" He cut her off.  "Don't let her find out now.  She's gone without a clue for thirteen years now."
"I know," she sighed.  "I'm still afraid that she'll find out…And she might want to join."
"Not Rose.  She's smarter than that."
"I hope so."
He kissed her cheek again and gave her another tight hug.  "Listen, Gorgeous," he said.  "How about I finish dinner, and you sit her and eat it.  Sound good?"
She smiled at him.  "Sounds great."
"Good," he said.  "Let's eat."


Rose had made a habit of venturing out into the nearby woods after dinner to watch the local Pok?mon.  She had grown to be quite the headstrong girl, and insisted that her visits to the woods would help her with sketches that would later be paintings.  She was also quite the artist, and convinced that her mother's rules shouldn't hold her back from what she thought was inspirational.  So, against her mother's orders, she would sneak out of her bedroom window, and creep to the woods while her parents would talk at the kitchen table.
Today was no exception as she strolled down the woodland path, her notebook in her hand.  She usually walked for a good half a mile before she settled in a thicket and seated herself on what she had named her "inspirational rock".  Normally, the area was booming with life, but not today.  This bothered her, and she hesitated to sit, but walked about instead.
"This is weird," she said aloud to herself. "Where is everyone?"
Her eyes and ears were alert- a talent that she had inherited from her father.  When a twig snapped behind her, she spun around and kicked out at whatever was there.  She had inherited that instinct from her mother.  She didn't expect her foot to meet with the face of a boy.  But it did, and it sent him flying face-first toward the ground.  She could only gasp when she heard the thud. 
"Oh! Jeez!" she cried out.  "Are you okay? I-I didn't think that I'd hit someone!"
The boy sat up, spitting dirt out.  "Man!  What the heck was that for!?"
"I'm sorry," she repeated timidly.  "Are you okay?"
His brown eyes turned up to hers and he focused intently on her.   "That was pretty good for a girl."  He smiled.  "What's your name?"
"Umm… Rose."
"Rose, huh?  I'm Arnold." 
Rose found herself starring at him curiously as he stood and dusted himself off.  He was probably her age.  Slim, brown-eyed, and blond-haired.  The one thing that she found most interesting about him though, was his attire.  He wore all black, except for the large, red "R" on his chest.  "Are you on a sports team or something?" she asked.
He continued to dust his uniform clean.  "Kinda," he replied.  "I'm on Team Rocket."
Her nose wrinkled curiously.  "What's Team Rocket?"
He paused and turned to her.  "You…don't know?"  When she shook her head, he grinned slightly.  "It's only the coolest team ever!"
"Really?"  Her green eyes lit up.  "What do you do?"
"It's easier to show you," he replied.  "And it just so happens that I need a girl for a teammate.  Maybe you'd be interested?"
She smiled shyly.  "Maybe…If you tell me more."
He handed her a card.  "Meet me here," he said.  "Saturday night."
She starred at the card.  "Cassidy Tsai," she read aloud.  "Leader."  She thought hard.  "That name sounds so familiar..."
"That's my mother," Arnold informed.  "She runs the team."
Rose nodded.  "Okay…I guess that I'll see you there?"
"Cool!" Arnold exclaimed.  "I knew you'd come!"  He extended his hand to her.  When she reached out to take his, she felt someone grab her wrist, and she turned in surprise.
"Daddy!"
James glared death at Arnold.  "Stay away from him, Rose!" he demanded.  "You don't know what you're getting in to.
Arnold frowned.  "Who are you to judge, old man?"
"That's none of your business, Twerp!" James barked.  "You stay away from my daughter!"
"Daddy!"
"Shut your mouth, Rose!" James ordered.  "Just do as I say, and go-home!"
"But, daddy_"
"GO!"
She glared at him, tears in her eyes, and turned toward their home.  James watched her until she was out of sight, then he turned on the boy.  He grabbed him by his collar.  "Look, you little punk," he growled.  "If I ever catch you near her again, you will be sorry."
"Oooo! I'm shaking!" Arnold mocked.  James only shoved him backward cast him an angry look.
"You go back to your little organization, and you tell your leader to stay the hell away from Rose."
"No-can-do, Pops," Arnold sneered.  "She's gonna be ours."
"Not my baby!" James protested.  "She'll never be one of you!" Arnold only shrugged at him sarcastically as he turned to head home.  "Stay away, boy!" he called over his shoulder.
Arnold huffed angrily at the man as he walked away and turned to leave himself.  He stopped short, though, when he caught sight of Rose's notebook laying nearby on her rock.  He picked it up and grinned.  "Hmmm…" he said aloud.  "I wonder what mother would have to say about this."

Rose burst into the house, tears still streaming down her face.  Jessie jumped to her feet at this.  "Rose?  What is it darling?"
The girl pushed past her and ran upstairs to her room.  The door slammed and Jessie's eyes widened in surprise.  "Rose?" 
Just as she started toward the stairs, the front door swung open, and James marched in angrily.  "James?!" she cried.  "What happened to Rose?"  When he ignored her and continued on his way, she roughly grabbed his arm.  "James!"
His eyes turned to meet hers now. "What?"
"What's going on?"
He sighed and ran a hand through his own hair.  "She knows."
"Knows what?"
He sat on the bottom step and sighed.  "About Team Rocket," he sadly answered.
"What!?" she yelled.  "How!?"
"I dunno…" he groaned.  "I caught her talking to some punk in uniform when I went out looking for her in the woods."  He could hear her beginning to sob, and he sighed again sadly.  "I'm so sorry, Jess. There's no way that we could've prevented it.  Our past is bound to haunt us."
She wiped her eyes dry.  "She knows about them…" she sobbed.  "They'll tell her about our past."
"No-they won't," James corrected.  "Because we're going to tell her ourselves."
"Oh, James," she said. "Please no!  It'll bring her world crashing down!"
"She has to know, Jess.  She was too curious back there."
"She can't know!" she protested. "I don't want her to know how horrible we were!"
"Jess," he said gently. "If your mother had told you about Team Rocket when you were young, then you probably wouldn't have ever joined."
She starred into his eyes.  "Then I wouldn't have fallen in love with you," she sighed. 
"That's beside the point," he said.  "This is our baby girl.  And you made me swear to keep her away from the team.  That's what I'm gonna do."  He caught her smiling at him.  "What?"
"Now I remember why I love you so much."
"Oh? And why is that?"
"Because you know me so well.  You know just what to say all of the time."  She kissed him tenderly.  "I love you, Kojiro."
He smiled back now.  "I love you too, Musashi," he said.  "Now let's go settle this."
*What will they tell Rose?  Will she join the Team anyway?  You are gonna be SO surprised! ^-^  Stay tuned…I've got plenty more for ya!