Delia entered her room baked in a nervous, sticky sweat. She actually felt comforted as she closed the door quietly behind her, the whole night replaying in her head over and over in swirls. She leaned on her bed and breathed steadily, her mixed feelings at a bloody war. She closed her eyes and held her throbbing head, too overcome with excitement.

Now that she was away from Jay, she sighed heavily and considerably, letting all bundled up within her out in one breath. She rubbed her temples over and over again, confused and slightly afraid at what was suddenly taking place -- something she would have never expected.

Freezing a little, she finally made her way over to her jewelry box, which sat atop her dresser. The top part opened to display all her regular jewelry, but that was not on her mind. Gently, she dug underneath the mess of bracelets and necklaces, all the way to the bottom of the box. They almost shone out at her, and with a hesitant pause, she plucked her two rings out.

She held each in a separate hand, the beautiful, extravagant rings glistening in the dim light of her bed lamp. She looked fondly but sadly first at her diamond-studded engagement ring, the same one Jay had presented to her that warm August night. How that had shocked both her and their families. But she accepted it, recalling how she ecstatically threw herself into his arms, sobbing in happiness.

Then she looked at her gold wedding ring, the same one he had slipped onto her finger on the altar of her church, vowing his love for her. Vowing. How that had gone wrong. Looking at him that sunny, October day, she recalling the day that they had met.

She remembered it clearly, the day before the long anticipated Viridian City High School Senior Prom. How much she wanted a date to the prom! She was going whether or not she had one, a small group of friends arranging the whole thing. But Delia was the only one without a date. And although she made her friends believe she didn’t care, deep down she was dreading the upcoming, lonely night.

That’s when she spotted Jay. When school let out that day, there he was, leaning against the fence outside the school, a little group of people surrounding him. At the first glimpse of him, her stomach did a somersault, her eyes fixated on the most gorgeous guy she thought she had ever seen. Suddenly, she had felt drawn to him, and noticing one of her good friends among the small group, she immediately made her way over.

Turned out Jacey Ketchum was the cousin of that good friend, and it took no hesitation for her to be introduced to him. It was a casual, friendly introduction, but the two hit it off immediately, Delia finding it interesting that he was on a Pokémon journey, something she never got the chance to do. He felt sad at that, telling her that he would show her his Pokémon later on if she wished. With an ecstatic leap, she agreed to meet him that afternoon, since he was staying at her friend’s house anyway.

Asking him to the prom was something she had pressed against the back of her mind, put beside the wild dreams and fantasies she had concocted. But she had had such a great time with him that day, becoming totally immersed in his charming personality and sense of humor, and asked him in passing if he wanted to come to the prom the next night. She almost had a heart attack when he said yes.

How those few months went by so quickly! But they were great months, and Delia felt that in that short time she had discovered the meaning of true love. Because she had found hers. It was confirmed ultimately when she found herself sick each morning a few months later, making her dream of creating a family come true at just the young age of nineteen.

Staring down at the rings, Delia felt the urge more and more to try them on. She hadn’t worn them since the day Jay had confessed to her that he had slept with another woman, and remembering that suddenly made her shiver, but she couldn’t fight it any longer. She grasped the diamond ring and began to slip it over her finger.

The unexpected knocking on the door brought her out of the dream state she had fallen into, and only a second later did the door open slowly. Delia quickly scrambled, stuffing the rings quickly back into the box.

"Mom?" Ash’s voice came floating from behind the door, relieving Delia’s fear that it would have been Jay doing the knocking.

"Oh, Ash," she said. "Hey, sweetie."

Ash came modestly into the room, a little hesitantly out of nervousness.

Delia held her arms open, and Ash, who was relieved, strolled over into them, and the two wrapped in a hug. Delia rocked him back and forth, kissing him on the top of the head and rubbing his back vigorously. Slowly, she pulled out of the hug, and folded her arms in front of her.

"Had a little fun tonight, Ashton?" she said, giving him a sudden stern look that made Ash’s heart take a leap.

His face fell and a look of fear swept to his eyes. Delia kept the stern look, but deep down she was giggled at how easily he could get worried. Finding it a little cruel, however, she replaced it with a sincere ‘just kidding’ smile that made Ash sigh in relief.

"I’m teasing you, silly!" she said. "Goodness, you’re such a bundle of nerves!"

Ash giggled and blushed, happy that he wasn’t in trouble again. "Uh, yeah, I guess."

She rubbed his shoulders. "That was really sweet of you, Ash. It was really nice."

"It -- it was?" Ash asked, but looking down at the ground. He didn’t know what to say at that point. Was his mom being serious, or was she just hiding the fact that he placed her in an incredibly uncomfortable position? He giggled again, feeling a little embarrassed. "You . . . you’re not mad at me?"

"Of course not," Delia replied, ruffling his hair. "But I know what you’re up to."

Ash looked away. "I’m sorry. But I . . ."

Delia immediately cut him off. "No, no sweetie. Listen . . ."

She gazed down at him, smiling softly. He knew. He had to know. Now was the time.

"Ash?" she asked, bringing his head up. "Can I ask you a question?"

He stared into her eyes, which looked a bit uneasy and worried. This worried him, as well, but he slowly and confusingly nodded his head.

Delia took a deep breath and bit her bottom lip. "Does . . . does your dad really want the divorce?"

Ash’s heart bounded for his throat, and he quickly gulped, almost thinking that it would calm it. His eyes widened at the question, which Delia no doubt noticed, but all the same he needed to answer.

"I -- I don’t know," Ash said quickly, his eyes finding the ceiling. "I don’t know."

What a lie. He hated to lie, especially to her. And Ash had blown it to boot. So many times had Jay told him that he wanted to make things right. But Delia knew that, didn’t she? How long had he been waiting for that question? Perhaps it was the suddenness of it that had set him off course.

Thankfully though, Delia knew he was lying. The mother’s gift, and Ash felt it illuminating from her by the way she was somberly looking at him. With a small sigh, he stared into her eyes.

"No," he said simply, blinking once slowly. "He doesn’t want the divorce. He never did."

Delia looked at the floor and nodded, but came back again with another question. "Is he sorry?"

Ash was shocked by that question. The first had been sudden but normal, an innocent quest for the truth. But this question! Although Ash was excited, he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with the pressure that Delia was placing on him just then.

Ash didn’t lie this time. This was the opportunity that he had craved, and it had come so quickly that he barely even realized it. "Yes, Mom. He’s sorry." At that, his voice cracked a little, and he fought back an emotional sob. "Wh -- what are you thinking?"

"Nothing," Delia replied quickly, turning away from him. She reached over and shut her jewelry box closed.

"Then why were you just looking at your rings right now?" Ash asked, his enthusiasm urging the question out of him.

Delia froze and kept her back to him, her hand resting heavily on the box. She scrunched her face up as her eyes suddenly became warm with tears. She shut them closed tightly to seal them within her.

"I wasn’t looking at them," she muttered, fighting the tears more and more.

Ash got nervous, not liking the way she was acting. "Ma . . . ?"

Delia suddenly turned to him, and her eyes opened and two tears fell from her flooded eyes, and Ash immediately embraced her, grasping his arms firmly around her waist. He felt her chin rest on his head and each vibration as she began to cry, clutching at his shirt for support. His eyes teared up as well, totally overcome with the moment that he didn’t know if he had accidentally fallen asleep and was dreaming.

"Oh, Ash! I don’t know what to do!" she blurted out in between sobs, holding Ash tightly.

"What do you mean, Mom?" Ash asked, burying his head into her. Tears began to slip from his eyes.

"I don’t know if I’m making the right decision," she cried. "I thought I was, but now . . . now, something just doesn’t feel right."

Ash didn’t care anymore about holding back what he believed. "Because you love him, Mom! I know you do."

Delia was silent for a moment. "I . . . I don’t know . . ."

"He loves you!" Ash told her. "Dad loves you. He wants to be with us. He’s sorry! He’s sorry for what he did!"

"I know," she replied softly.

Ash looked into her eyes. "Then why are you doing this? If you love him, and he loves you, why are you making yourself do this?!" All this came out in what seemed to be pleas. Delia’s eyes fell, and she appeared to fall into deep thought.

"I’ve only been doing this because I thought I needed to. I’ve been following my principles, Ash. I shouldn’t ever take him back, and I know I shouldn’t, but it’s hard. It’s so, so . . . hard . . ."

"Shhhh," Ash soothed, wanting badly to wipe his wet face. They held each other for quite a few minutes, Delia’s crying finally dwindling down as she held her son closely to her. She thought of Jay, too, probably getting all ready for bed. On the couch. No, she didn’t want that. She wanted him to hold her. She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted him to . . .

No! she told herself, shutting her eyes tightly. Why are you thinking this?! Her conscience returned dreadfully again, viciously battling her feelings for Jay. The Jay that hurt her. The Jay that hurt Ash. The Jay that had promised to give himself to her and to no one else. She had made the same promise, but she had kept hers, and he didn’t. She shouldn’t forgive him, no . . . not ever.

But how she wanted to.

I need some time . . . Finally, Delia sniffed and patted Ash lovingly on the back. "I’m going to think more on this, I promise. But I think it’s time for you to go to bed, mister."

"Oh . . . okay," Ash said sleepily. He was tired, but he didn’t know if he was going to be able to sleep that night. Hell, he had done it! All he could think of was the impossibly high odds he had put on it actually working, and it had surpassed them. But it wasn’t over yet.

Delia stroked his face and kissed his cheek. She held the kiss there for sometime, then released it softly. "Good-night, my baby boy."

Ash rolled his eyes, but gave her a warm smile. "Night, Mommy," he said with a laugh, as he turned to leave. Delia gazed at him lovingly as he left, replaying Stars Fell on Alabama in her head.

With his hand on the knob to open the door, Ash looked back at his mom. "There’s not much time left," he said seriously and a little downcast, and she nodded. His voice fell a bit. "Maybe . . . maybe you should start listening to your heart."

"I know," she replied nervously. "I have some serious thinking to do."

"I love you," Ash said.

"I love you, too."

Ash smiled warmly at her and left her alone. He closed the door quietly behind him, and although he was incredibly tempted to run to tell his dad the news, but he decided it was best not to. He bounded to his room swiftly, the effect of the evening suddenly filling him with hyper happiness.

Misty and Brock were crashed on the bed together, their faces inches from an open Pokémon magazine that they were both looking at.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu cried excitedly, bringing both their heads up from the magazine to notice Ash in the doorway. The Pokémon leapt into his arms, and Ash rubbed his head.

Misty and Brock stared at him, their eyes wide in anticipation. Ash stood there speechless for a moment, closing his eyes as a small smile of bliss took over his face.

"What?" Misty asked, beginning to get up from the bed.

"What happened?" Brock asked, waving his arms to encourage him to spill it.

Ash took a deep breath and smiled widely and proudly. "We did it," he said simply and silently.

Misty and Brock gawked at him.

"We . . . we did?" Misty asked, astonished.

Taking a deep, sweet breath, Ash nodded.

Misty burst into happy, excited laughter. She clasped her hands over her mouth, which fell wide open. She leapt off the bed and ran to Ash, who she threw her arms around to embrace in an ecstatic hug.

Ash almost toppled over as Misty crashed into him, but he returned the hug. Misty began to hop up and down while she held onto him, which caused him to return to keep up with her fractious reaction.

"I can’t believe it! I can’t believe!" she cried into his ear. She pulled away from him and smiled. "Oh my God, wh -- what happened?"

"Calm down, Misty, calm down," Ash said, restraining her gently. He was laughing crazily, as well. "Sit down and I’ll tell you."

"I can’t sit down!" Misty screeched happily.

Brock walked up to them. "Come on, Ash! What’s happening down there?"

Ash beamed. "I went to see Mom, and she’s, like, totally ballistic right now ‘cause she . . . she doesn’t know if she wants to go through with it."

"You’re kidding!" Brock exclaimed.

"You mean it was that song that did it?" Misty asked, surprisingly, her heart pounding from all the excitement. "That was all she needed?"

"Well, no," Ash explained, wringing his hands to keep his anxiety down. "I don’t think she wanted to do it this whole time."

"So we helped her," Misty came to the conclusion.

"Seems that way," Ash replied. He started to do small little hops. "I can’t believe it, though. It’s . . . it’s just so sudden."

"Well, I’m glad I told you to go down there," Brock said. "And to think you were scared to do it!"

Ash giggled. "Well, I’m glad you convinced me, buddy," he said, holding out his hand for him to shake. Brock grasped it tightly.

"No problem," Brock replied.

Misty patted Ash’s shoulder. "So what now?"

Ash shrugged, wondering just how he was going to get through this night. "I dunno. I guess we’ll see tomorrow morning." A small shiver of excitement swept through his veins.

Misty and Brock seemed to take deep breaths in unison. What a night they had all had! Neither of them could believe Ash’s outrageous account of Delia’s reaction. Although their hopes were high, a little part of them expected Ash to come back miserable, bringing with him bad news that it hadn’t worked, or worse yet, that he was yelled at or punished for the uncomfortable situation he may have caused. But to their delight, it had worked out just as they had imagined, or pretty damn close to it.

Misty watched as Ash made his way to his roll-away bed, where he collapsed. He looked up at the ceiling, and Misty could see that he was in a state of pure shock. At that moment, she wanted to run to him to hug him again, telling him how she never knew he had it in him. He did have a romantic side to him after all! Ash knew what love was, and he knew how it worked. She sighed happily to herself, and climbed the ladder to Ash’s bed to pull her pajamas out from under the pillow.

They all fell silent as their heads hit the pillow that night. None of them spoke, but neither were they asleep, the whole night spinning in their minds. Ash stared up at the dark ceiling, watching the shadows of the trees dance across it. He smiled happily to himself as he stroked Pikachu’s fur, who was purring softly under his trainer’s touch.

Oh please, God, Ash prayed in his mind, closing his eyes slowly to become more immersed in the prayer. Please help Mom. Please let her know what to do.

At that, Ash lost consciousness, and drifted into a deep and pleasant slumber.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .