Serena woke up with a piercing headache around 9ish that night. She rolled over to look at Ash who was messing around on his laptop.
"Hey Serena. I got you some water and ibuprofen over there." He pointed at the nightstand.
"Thank you." Serena weakly reached over for both. She took the medicine and chugged the bottle of water. "I'm sorry I was such a mess earlier. Are you mad at me?"
"I'm not mad at you." Ash took her hand. "I am worried about you, but I'm not mad at you."
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you worry like that. I just wanted to forget about everything for a day, you know?" Serena looked up at him.
"I know. Just promise me you won't get like that again, okay? You were like barely conscious. It really scared me. I was worried you had like alcohol poisoning or something." Ash pulled her in close to him.
"I promise I won't. I'll be more careful from now on." Serena was sincere.
"But there is something you should know, but you can't tell Shauna I told you." Ash made her promise not to tell.
"Oh my gosh, what is it?" Serena shot up from lying down.
"Shauna lost her job Wednesday. I guess her performance numbers weren't good, so they let her go." Ash said.
"Oh my God." Serena clasped her hands over her face. "I'm over here bitching about my problems and my best friend is in trouble?! She never told me."
"I know, she was going to tell you but she just knew you had a lot going on. But Tierno had a favor to ask of you. I think Shauna is planning on telling you like probably this weekend, when she does tell you, he wondered if you wouldn't mind suggesting that she helps you out at the business for a while. He's really worried about her." Ash really hoped Serena would agree to this.
"I would have suggested that even if you didn't ask me. Shauna is so much help. I can't believe they did that to her. They are so stupid to fire her." Serena was livid.
"I know." Ash felt terribly for Shauna.
"I'm such a selfish bitch." Serena became noticeably upset. "I'm over here just going on and on about my problems, meanwhile, Shauna is having real issues and can't even talk to me about them because I'm so worried about my own life."
Ash scolded her for thinking so badly of herself, "Don't say that. You are one of the most kind and generous people that I know. It was Shauna's choice not to tell you."
"I know. I still feel so bad. I've just had a lot on my mind." Serena looked off into the distance.
"We know that, babe. Nobody is faulting you. You're an amazing woman. My amazing woman." Ash pulled her back towards him and kissed her. Serena kissed him passionately back. "You know, I never thanked you properly for taking such good care of me earlier, Ash Ketchum." She said in a sultry voice.
"Serena, you are the most selfless woman I know." Ash continued to kiss her. Serena then pulled away, removed his boxers, and positioned herself on top of Ash. She threw Ash's shirt that she was wearing off into the corner.
"Well this is different." Ash commented.
"I wanted to switch things up on you." She lightly scratched his chest with her acrylic nails.
"Well I'm not gonna lie, the view from this angle ain't bad." Ash laughed. The young couple made love into the night.
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Over the next several weeks, Ash and Serena tried to adjust to their new normal. Shauna finally confessed to Serena that she had lost her job and Serena gladly agreed to let her help with the business. Both girls started coming to grips with what had happened to them and continued to hit the bars as most young people do, but watched each other to make sure they were both drinking a little bit more responsibly.
The Andersons finally closed on Grace's house and judging by the pictures that they had sent of Ryhorn and Fletchling, the two were adjusting well. Serena thought of her mom everyday and continued to put her whole heart and soul into the business. Ash was so proud of her for overcoming so much in such a short amount of time. He continued to fall deeper in love with Serena because of this.
That Tuesday started off as a particularly normal day, Shauna came over that morning around nine like she did every other morning. The girls had been to Señor Frogadier's the night before for Monday Fun-Day like they did every week. Serena was mixing ingredients with her girls before Shauna and Ivysaur arrived.
When Shauna and Ivysaur arrived, Braixen put the first batch of Pokepuffs in the oven and they started to cook.
All of a sudden, Serena exclaimed, "Oh my God, what's that smell!"
"That's your Pokepuffs, dumbass. They always smell like that." Shauna back-sassed her.
"Oh God, it smells terrible." Serena suddenly became green in the face and raced off to the bathroom.
"Serena?" Shauna became concerned and ran in after her. "Dude, how hungover are you?"
Serena vomited until her stomach was completely empty. "I only had a shot of tequila and a glass of red wine. I shouldn't be that hungover."
"Damn, no you're right. Maybe it's stress. You think you're straight to come back out?" Shauna asked. This wasn't the first time Serena had thrown up after a night of drinking. It was time to rally and finish working!
"Yea, girl. Let's do it." Serena washed her face and walked back out to the kitchen. As soon as she smelt the Pokepuffs, she became nauseous again.
"God, what is wrong with me?" Serena sat down on one of the kitchen stools. "I just can't take that smell."
"I don't know girl, they smell good to me. They smell okay to you guys right?" Shauna turned to all of the Pokemon who nodded in agreement.
"Yea, I don't know." Serena shook her head.
"Damn girl, if I didn't know any better I would say you were---" Shauna stopped herself in her tracks. "Never mind, that's impossible."
"What?" Serena was curious.
"You're on birth control, there's no way you would be--y' know-- pregnant." Shauna shrugged her shoulders.
"Fuck. Oh, fuck fuck fuck." Serena got up and started pacing around the kitchen.
"Oh my God, fuck what?" Shauna looked totally freaked out.
"I missed my pill a couple times with the funeral. Ash and I didn't have sex when we were in Vaneville Town but we did have sex that Friday after we got back. Remember that day we got really plastered?" Serena remembered.
"You guys don't use condoms?" Shauna asked.
"We've never had to. We've only been with each other and I've always been on birth control." Serena buried her head in her hands.
"Oh God. What if I am pregnant? What the hell am I going to do?" Serena started to cry.
"Okay, look, there's no sense in getting upset until you get a test and find out for sure. I mean, in all seriousness, your mom just died, you're trying to adjust to your new normal. You did drink last night and as we all know sometimes the food at Frogadier's can be sketchy so I wouldn't freak out yet. Please don't worry about it, okay? Let's just go to the drug store and get a test." Shauna put her hand on Serena's shoulder.
Serena and Shauna scurried off to the local pharmacy and bought two tests. One as an initial screening and one to confirm. Serena really wanted to be sure. As soon as they got home, Serena drank a bunch of water so she would have to go to the bathroom quickly.
"Okay, I gotta go. Let me get this test out real quick." Her sweaty hands fumbled with the box until she was able to get the test out.
"Okay, Shauna, it's calculating or whatever." Shauna and Serena's Pokemon stood outside of the bathroom nervously awaiting the results.
"It's negative!" Serena exclaimed.
"Oh thank God." Shauna wiped the sweat off her brow.
The girls continued to make Pokepuffs until about 4 pm until all of the orders were out and ready. Shauna went home to lie down and Serena and her Pokemon were in bed watching tv before Ash got home.
Serena couldn't shake this weird feeling that something still wasn't right. She went into the bathroom and pulled the pregnancy test out of the trash can, looking at it again. The test started to look a little less negative and a lot more inconclusive.
"I'm gonna take this other test, just to make sure." The other test read differently, according the box, it either read "pregnant" or "not pregnant".
Serena decided she was going to take the test, just to verify the earlier results.
"Give me a second, girls!" Serena called out to her Pokemon.
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Ash walked through the door right around 5. "Serena?" He called out. "I brought home a pizza! No worries on cooking tonight."
Serena didn't respond.
"Serena?" Ash walked into the bedroom and saw Serena sitting on the bed.
"Hey." Serena looked down.
"What's wrong?" Ash took his shoes off and crawled up in bed next to her.
As she looked at him, her lips began to tremble and she burst out crying. "I'm pregnant, Ash."
"Wait, what? How?"
"You know how." Serena looked away, noticeably upset.
"Are you sure?" He put his hand on her leg. She handed him the test which very clearly said "Pregnant" on the face.
"Babe, it's okay." He wrapped his strong arms around her and she continued to bawl. "A little earlier than we were expecting, but we were going to have kids eventually."
"You're not mad are you?" Serena looked up at him.
"Mad? How could I be mad? The love of my life is carrying my child. Our child. We really are going to be a family." He kissed her on the head.
"I'm just not ready. It's a horrible time." Serena thought of all of the things that had been going on lately.
"Is there ever really a good time?" Ash chuckled.
"I guess not." Serena laughed through tears.
Ash wiped her tears from her cheeks and looked her in the eye and said, "I love you. I have always loved you and I always will love you. We will get through this, Serena Yvonne."
She nodded her head. She lied in Ash's arms until she fell asleep. He knew Serena was scared, but they were finally going to become a family. Ash was preparing for the next step in life.