I disclaim once again…
Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics... This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me. Do not steal my work!
Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks
Does anyone actually read the disclaimer? I’d be surprised if someone actually did… it’s not even remotely amusing…
Chapter 4
“You’re what? Misty!”
“I need a break, Ash! You have no idea how hard it is to take care of a baby and be a gym leader on top of that!”
“But I can’t take care of a baby for three months! Misty…”
“What is it now?”
“Can’t you… I don’t know, just go to a week or something?”
“Ash! The Water Master’s convention only happens once every ten years! Do you know how long I’d have to wait if I didn’t go?”
“What about May?”
“Hire a babysitter! You can afford it!”
It didn’t seem as if she would back down… and Misty’s mind was firmly made up. She needed to get away from the stifling family life….
The were really too young to deal with it…
That’s why you don’t want to marry so young. Mistakes happen. Those mistakes can hurt quite a lot…
Oh well. Nothing can be done, C’est la vie…
Ash sighed. Now whom could he call to baby-sit May? At least she didn’t need to be breastfed any more. That was good, right? Right?
Hmm…
Sadly, the Champion had absolutely no clue in a million how to take care of a young child… this could prove to be a problem….
A rather large problem…
“Huh?”
“Can you come over and baby-sit our daughter?”
Daisy laughed. “Oh Ash, Lily and Violet and I have water ballet shows three times a day! We just don’t have the time!”
“I… I see…”
So next, he decided to call his mom! She’d be glad to help, right? After all, she loved grandchildren…
“Oh Ash,” Delia smiled, “I’d love to help, but unfortunately, I’ll be going on vacation – don’t worry, it’s only for the first three weeks. After that, I can take care of May. I can’t wait! She’s so adorable!”
Three weeks?
He had to find someone else for three weeks? Oh no…
“Um… Ash, I have no experience taking care of children whatsoever.” Lorelei said slowly. “Why did you ask?”
“Er… Misty is going out of town for the Water Masters conference…”
“Oh, I see. Sorry. Can’t recommend anyone… besides, I’ll be going there too…”
Ash hung up. Who next?
Half an hour later, Clair, Erika, Sabrina, Janine, and Jasmine had all refused him one after another, for different reasons. Most of them had no experience with children…
What to do? What to do?
He could call Whitney, but considering how absentminded she was, maybe it wasn’t a good idea…
Perhaps Luana from the Orange Islands would like to help? She was a mom after all, and her kid was off traveling still…
He got the answering machine, saying that she was on a date with Danny. That was too much information. He banished the thought. People in love were busy people and did not appreciate interruptions.
He’d learned his lesson well form Misty…
So now what? Sigh…
Well, perhaps he could manage by himself for three weeks? Somehow, he didn’t feel too positive about it. Besides, how bad could it get?
He found out on the first day.
May woke him up at two A.M. demanding to be fed, he tripped over a sleeping Pikachu in the hallway and scraped his knee, he couldn’t find the baby formula, when he did finally find a spare box in the back of their refrigerator he accidentally got the water to formula ratio wrong, so he decided to feed her strained corn beef mash stuff instead, but that made her throw up and then he had to give her a bath….
By the end of the day, Ash was sleep-deprived and exhausted…
This was not a good idea! He’d hire a babysitter from the phone book then! Or something… ugh, he was *tired*…
He stumbled into the Indigo Plateau, twelve minutes late. Lorelei stifled a chuckle. Bruno blinked. Lance coughed politely and averted his eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s a large brown barf stain on your shirt… collar.” Bruno choked out.
“Oh no!”
That must have been the prune mash he tried to feed May this morning… he accidentally exploded the formula when he tried to microwave it. Oh no….
What if Misty came back and found their child dead? That would be terrible…
At this rate it might actually happen….
He was a horrible father!
Lorelei tossed him a towel and he hurriedly scrubbed the offending stain off, blushing furiously.
“Problems at home?” Lance asked mildly, glancing down at the file of papers he had brought. Ash nodded meekly.
“That is
none of our business, Lance.”
“My apologies, dear cousin…”
“Do you think you’ll be able to concentrate, Ash? Wait – you left a year old child at home, alone?” Lorelei blanched.
“Er, why not?”
“Go home! Now! She might hurt herself! You have no idea how much trouble a kid that young can get into!”
“R-really?”
“I’ll fly you home.” Lance offered. “You look exhausted.”
“Oh, thanks…”
They went there via Dragonite express, Ash riding behind Lance, and he was startled to find an absence of female features.
Had he imaged it?
Must have been…
Argh! This wasn’t right! Men weren’t supposed to be housewives! That’s why Misty stayed at home while he worked!
Now, he felt stifled.
He didn’t like that feeling at all.
Lance waved goodbye at the door and flew off again. Ash went back in and found May sleeping on the couch. Phew. Nothing bad had happened, but still…
This was not fun at all…
End Chapter
Completed 7/31/05
Whee! Done! ^^
Ash: I don’t understand Lance at all…
Lance: No, cursed rings do tend to have odd effects on people…