Recovery

Author's Note: Content Warnings are spelt backwards below. If you view CWs as spoilers scroll past them.
citsemod ecneloiv, esuba

“The guys at the lab were great. Cinnabar was beautiful. Unfortunately I wasn’t over Tom, it takes time to get over the kind of hold he had on me. Especially since he left, without saying anything. I hate it, but it’s the truth. Everyday part of me still hoped Tom would come through my door.”

“I would have a hard day, and I would think of how Tom would hold me at night. Or when I didn’t know what to do, Tom would’ve told me what to do. If I messed up somehow, I would hear Tom’s voice in my head, ‘Stupid.’”

“Oak, can you double check my math on the sequencing?” Harlow asks, pointing at his computer screen.

You sit at his station, looking over the lines of code he has. Correcting typos, a missing semicolon there, and “Hey, Harlow? What’s this? It looks like it would be an infinite loop?”

He puts a hand on your shoulder as he leans in, your body tenses up. It’s Harlow, not Tom. “Um, oh that should be a less than, it counts the markers along the typing sequence.”

“Oh, you’re calling the wrong function here, this one returns booleans, you want,” I open a second window, scrolling to the appropriate function, “this one.”

He looks over the new function. “Oak, you’re a genius!” He pats your back. “Stupid.” Tom’s words.

“Thanks,” you say, “I’m going to go out for lunch.”

“No, seriously thank you, Oak.”

There is a little barbecue place a couple blocks from the lab. You’ve had it so many times over the past weeks. You rub your belly, the pregnancy starting to show, it must be cravings.

While looking down at your stomach, you shoulder bump someone. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where,” you stop when you see who it is, “Maddie?”

“Sessile!” she says looking you over. You can see her checking your face, your arms, any exposed skin for bruises. “You look amazing!” and her jaw drops when she spots the bulge under your shirt, “Are you pregnant?”

“Yes,” you say, then you spot her hand, “Maddie, what is that? Are you engaged.”

She blushes flashing you the ring on her finger, “Paul asked me while we were passing through the Seafoams.”

“Congratulations,” you say, on the verge of tears. “I’m sorry, about-about,” you break down.

Maddie pulls you in, hugging you tight, “Shhh shhh, you’re okay. I’m okay.” She lets you cry on her shoulder for a moment, “Hey, I’m meeting Paul at this barbecue place, you should join us. We’ve missed you.”

“Cinnabar Flame Ring?”

“Yes, that’s it. You know it?”

“It’s been my cravings, the baby has been demanding flame cooked meats. And I’ve missed you, too.” She wraps her arm around your shoulder walking to the restaurant in stride.

Paul greets you outside the restaurant. He kisses Maddie before realizing that you’ve joined her. “Sessile!” his gaze searches for bruises, then he scans the crowd, obviously looking for Tom. “You’re looking great,” he says, and then he notices, “You’re pregnant?”

“Yep,” you say smiling while you rub your belly.

“Is it T—“

“Paul,” Maddie hisses, hitting his arm.

“It’s okay. Yes, it’s Tom’s baby.”

“Is he—“

“No, he’s gone. He left me in Celadon. I’m working in a research lab now.”

With the Tom issue settled, they get a table for all of you. They tell you about where they went after leaving. How Maddie had struggled continuing her gym journey. So she put off some of it, to allow Paul to keep going without leaving her behind. They’re hoping he’ll earn enough off the League so they can buy a place all their own. Then Maddie can make trips to the appropriate gyms.

You tell them all about your work at the lab. Paul and Maddie just smile and nod along when you go off on a tangent about how Sawsbuck and Stantler might share a common ancestor if you go back far enough. And how that could point towards a lost pre-evolution of Stantler that corresponds to Deerling.

You only stop when you realize that your lunch break is nearly over. You hug and promise to keep in touch.

They spend a couple weeks on the island while Paul trains to fight Blaine. You and Maddie meet up during your lunches, catching up, talking about the future.

You and Maddie talk about finding places next door. Raising your children together. “What about Daisy?” Maddie suggests a baby name.

“Daisy,” you say, rubbing your growing stomach. “I like it, but what if it’s a boy?”

Maddie thinks for a moment, “I mean Matty has a nice ring to it.”

“Matty? Maddie,” you smirk, and the both of you burst into laughter.

It is nice having Paul and Maddie around, but eventually Paul beats Blaine and they leave again. You continue working at the lab, leaving messages with Nurse Joys for Maddie, talking to Maddie on the phone. Until the day comes when your water breaks in the middle of the lab.

Dad flies in and stays with you for a couple weeks. He loves Daisy so much. The guys at the lab love it when Dad stops in. Everything starts piling up, Daisy takes up more time than you expected, and it limits how long you can spend in the lab. Before long you can’t manage everything and move back to Pallet Town.

You continue working on your research in your free time. You, Dad, and Daisy watch Paul compete in the League Tournament on tv. He goes out in the 3rd round, but that should be enough to help them get a place.

After talking to Paul and Maddie, you run the idea by Dad about selling them a plot in Pallet. The town is owned by the League, kept small to protect the surrounding wilderness, but Dad could likely get them a place.

They build a place next door and move to town. They love watching Daisy which gives you more time to do research. You start a Wurmple sanctuary outside town. Everything is looking up, friends, family, and your research.

Knock, knock. You open the door, surprised to see him standing there. “Sessile,” he says, a devilish grin on his face.

“T-Tom,” you say, stunned as he pushes past you into your house.

“I froze, I didn’t know what to do,” you say, staring at Daisy. “I wish I’d thrown him out then and there.” “Stupid,” you flinch at the echo of Tom’s voice even now.

Daisy squeezes your hand, grounding you, “We’re okay Mom.”

You swallow knowing the end is near, “It started like it always did. With Tom being nice.”