Hello, folks! I'll bet you weren't expecting any follow-up to my last story, were you...okay, you weren't, but still. This story is a sequel of sorts to Inconceivable, which will continue on from Ash's proposal to May at the end of that tale. There's not much to say besides the fact that I'll be throwing some speculative details about various characters into the mix, based on my own ideas and theories. Anyway, enough talk, let's go already!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon; Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri do.

TOGETHER FOREVER

CHAPTER 1-HOME LIFE

May Maple looked over the balcony in her Ecruteak City apartment and smiled. The sun was starting to sink over the distant Bell Tower, and evening would soon be approaching. A few Pidgey flew past, and May knew that young children would be returning from play, and families just like hers would be coming together for the night. As she thought of this, she laughed to herself. The truth was, she'd never imagined her situation being anything like this just over a year ago.

She'd come a long way since she'd broken the news to Ash about her pregnancy. After Ash's return from the Vertress Conference, they'd spent an ill-advised night of passion together, and both freaked out as they realized the natural consequences. Instead of breaking the news to their families as they should have done, the couple had run away, using the Terracotta Town Pokémon Contest as cover for their flight. Ash had been the one who'd convinced her, told her that fleeing from their families was the right course of action, and had been the driving force behind the events afterward. In her terror, she hadn't questioned him, convinced herself that he was right, that he would come through for her. In fairness, he had done, but eventually homesickness and worry overrode her and they contacted their families, who arrived a little over two months before May was scheduled to have her baby.

As she remembered this, May looked towards the bedroom, where the third member of the family was sound asleep. Baby Stephanie was now four months old, currently oblivious to the world around her. She had been born on a frigid January night, and that one night had been the longest of May's nineteen-year-old life. Whatever the circumstances, Stephanie's birth had brought joy to both May's and Ash's lives, and further codified the love the couple shared.

May looked over the balcony a few moments longer, then headed to the couch to wait for Ash to come home. He wasn't actively working right now, since his contractor hadn't been signed to a project since their successful renovation of the Bell Tower in November, but he liked to take a walk every now and then to clear his head. His sacrifice of his training career to support her had been one of the hardest and most selfless decisions he'd ever made, but as far as May was concerned, he'd have done the right thing regardless.

At that moment, Glaceon sidled over to May's feet, rubbing contentedly against her leg. The Fresh Snow Pokémon still wore May's green bandanna around her neck like a scarf, marking her out from others of her species. May smiled and stroked her partner's ears.

"How are you, Glaceon?" she asked. Glaceon vocalized something indistinct, and May kept stroking her ears. "It's okay, Ash will be home soon, and then we can call my mom. We've got a wedding to plan, after all." After consulting her father Norman, Ash had proposed not long after Stephanie had been born, and May had accepted without a second thought. Unwilling or unable to burn too much money on a ring, Ash had used their shared Terracotta Medal as an engagement token, to no-one's surprise. May supposed that he would have used the medal in lieu of a ring anyway, given how much it meant to them both. For people as young as they were, small tokens like that medal were the best way to signify friendships.

As she contemplated what she was going to say to her mother, May's PokéNav rang, echoing through the small space of the apartment. May swiftly answered the call, hoping that the noise hadn't woken Stephanie up.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hi, May!" a young girl's voice said through the speaker. May smiled as she recognized the voice. "It's Kathryn! How's baby Stephanie?"

"She's doing fine, Kathryn, just asleep at the moment." Kathryn Kernighan, now a rambunctious girl of ten, was one of the friends May had made during her stay in Ecruteak. Her mother, Sandra, had been invaluable in helping May through her pregnancy, and had also helped her confirm her increasingly uncertain feelings for Ash, while her father Biff worked with Ash as a construction worker. Kathryn had intended to begin her Pokémon journey right away, but agreed to put it on hold until she and her family returned from May and Ash's wedding. She had spent much of her time since Stephanie's birth helping give the couple's Pokémon a run-out every now and then, as well as being a regular irritant to her sister. Mary was thirteen now, quieter than her sister, and was rarely found without a book in her hands. The dynamic between the Kernighan sisters reminded May of her relationship with her brother Max: the younger sibling pressing every button, daring the elder to react.

"That's awesome! She's really growing up, huh? I can't wait to see her again, she's so adorable..." Kathryn's voice was cut off as a stern voice echoed in the background.

"Kathryn, how many times must I tell you not to pester May? She's got enough on her plate without you..."

"Sorry, Mom!" Kathryn said, and May giggled; some things never changed. "Anyway, we might come over tomorrow, so hopefully we'll see you then! Bye!" The device clicked and buzzed, and May stowed it in her pocket. Along with everything else, Kathryn was May's self-professed biggest fan, and never missed an opportunity to hang out with her.

As May sat down again, a small yellow mouse emerged from the bedroom and yawned. With his red cheek pouches and lightning bolt-shaped tail, Pikachu had known May longer than any of the others in the group, with the possible exception of Blaziken. The mouse had taken to lying on the couple's bed when Stephanie was napping, providing an extra pair of eyes to watch the infant. May turned to him, and he smiled.

"Is Stephanie still asleep, Pikachu?"

"Pipi-ka, chuu pikachu pika, ka-chu," he answered, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes.

"Well, the PokéNav didn't seem to wake her up, so that's..." Pikachu's ears perked up, and he pointed to the door. "Spoke too soon, huh? I'd better check on her." May entered the bedroom and crossed to the bassinet by the far wall, where Stephanie lay fast asleep, wrapped in her Pikachu-pattern sleeper. Her hair was as dark as her father's, still thin and fine, and when she eventually opened her eyes, they would be blue like her mother's. Pikachu sighed, relieved, while May smiled and headed out of the room to await Ash's return.

Half an hour later, Ash reappeared at the door, carefully closing the door behind him. May ran to greet him, followed by Glaceon, and wrapped him in a hug.

"I've missed you," she said quietly, kissing his cheek as he hugged her back.

The couple's stay in Ecruteak had changed Ash Ketchum in a few different ways. While he had never been truly out of shape in his twenty-one years, he'd grown leaner and more wiry as a result of his job, and his features were much more defined. A thin stubble covered his jaw, and his black hair remained as unruly as ever. However, his brown eyes remained as intent as ever, if a little tired at the moment. But it was his emotional state that had changed the most. Before, he'd been in travel mode, training on the move and preparing for his latest battle. Now, he was focused on taking care of his fiancée and child, putting all his effort into making their lives better.

"Hi, May," Ash said as the couple broke apart. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," May said as she walked back toward the couch. "Stephanie went down pretty easily this afternoon, so that's going well. Pikachu's keeping an eye on her."

"He likes that, I'm sure. As long as he doesn't fall asleep himself." Ash chuckled as he scratched Glaceon's ears as May had done. "Did you call your mom yet?"

"No, I was waiting until you got home. Kathryn called, though; she said she and her family might come over tomorrow."

"She'd definitely coming, then. Kathryn doesn't do 'maybe'." Ash grinned as he remembered the dark-haired girl. "I'll have to cook something special tomorrow, then."

"Maybe. You should get Sandra to help, so you're not doing it by yourself."

"I'm not that bad," Ash joked, and May laughed, taking out her PokéNav.

"I guess not. C'mon, let's call my mom before Stephanie wakes up." May started punching numbers into the device, and Ash leaned close to join the conversation.

As the device buzzed anew, another voice chirped from the speaker.

"Hello? May, is that you?" Caroline Maple's voice was fainter than Kathryn's had been, owing to the distance between Ecruteak and Petalburg Cities.

"It's me, Mom. We called to talk about our wedding plans."

"Right, that. Hold on a minute." Ash and May heard a rustling sound, then Caroline's voice returned, a little clearer this time. "There, that should help. I'm assuming you guys are still set on having the wedding in Pallet Town?"

"That's right. I know the tradition says we should get married in Petalburg, but you guys just don't have the space for everybody. We've got a lot of people to invite, you know?"

"I understand, May. Your father said he would be okay with having the wedding at the Gym, but I told him no. Professor Birch said his lab would be open to us, but Littleroot Town isn't big enough for everyone either." Ash nodded as he spoke up.

"Plus, Professor Oak's lab is larger than Professor Birch's, and he has more space for everybody's Pokémon, too. Pallet Town may be a little isolated, but the express bus to Viridian City is there now, and Viridian's got some decent hotels."

"Oh, Ash, I didn't know you were there too. How are you doing?"

"I'm okay, just a little inactive. I think the buildings in Ecruteak City are built a little too well." May smiled at this, then spoke again.

"So, are you and Dad going to meet us in Pallet Town? We should figure out when we're going to head out there."

"I think a couple of weeks will be fine, we just need to give Delia some lead time. Did you and Ash set a date yet?" May flushed as she looked at Ash; neither of them had thought of this.

"Um, n-no, we haven't..."

"Well, you should do it quickly. We can't plan a wedding without a date."

"Gotcha. Do you want to meet us in Pallet Town anyway? It'll be easier to plan if we're all together."

"We'll meet you there, May, just make sure you guys get that date sorted out. Don't rush it, either; it's got to be in enough time to notify everyone and get everything set up."

"Okay, Mom. Anything else?"

"Not really, May, just take care of yourself and Stephanie. Call us when you're ready to get moving."

"Got it. See you soon." May cut the link, and turned to Ash. "Well, we'd better start picking a date, then. Without that, we can't seal the deal."

"Yeah. We should let the Kernighans know when we leave, so they can come with us." As he looked towards the window, he heard Pikachu stir in the bedroom. "Sounds like Pikachu's awake, which means Stephanie won't be far behind." May smiled, and got up to check on her baby once more.

And that's that, we're under way. I know it was a short one, folks, but it's likely gonna be this way for much of the story. I'm really thinking of this story as a series of short events rather than a drawn-out plot like last time, anyway.

Comments are appreciated. Until next time!