I know it's highly unusual for me to put something out this quickly after a chapter especially since it's not one of my holiday one-shots. I'm on a site dedicated to Advanceshipping and they've got a Fanfic competition on at the minute that I've entered.
Hope you like this.
Freewill
"I can do what I want, I'm 18 Dad!" May shouted.
"I don't want you seeing that boy!" Her father shouted back.
May had started to date a guy in her college, it was all going well until she'd invited the guy over for dinner because her parent's wanted to meet him. As soon as her father had opened the door to greet her boyfriend, Norman had slammed the door shut and forbade May from seeing him again. That was what started the argument, May's mother and brother were stood on the side-lines watching the back and forth between father and daughter.
"Why don't you want me to see Ash?" She asked.
"He's no good." Norman replied.
"How would you know that? You've never met him."
"I just do, you not to see him again." Norman yelled, May's face turned red and she stormed out of the dining room. "Where do you think you're going?" He asked following her out of the room.
"To find Ash." May said putting her coat on, "To apologise to him for what you did."
"You're not going anywhere." Norman grabbed May's arm to stop her but before his grip could fully close May kicked his ankle and ran out the door.
"I HATE YOU!" May shouted as she ran from her home.
"MAY!" Norman shouted through the open door.
"Norman, let her go and explain yourself." Caroline said, putting a hand on her husband's shoulder.
May ran down the street knowing that Ash would probably be on his way home and while she hadn't been to his house she did know the address. As she ran she pulled her phone from her pocket, dialling Ash's number she held the phone to her ear as it rang.
"Hello?" Ash said.
"Where are you?" May asked.
"May? I'm in the park."
"Wait for me by the play area." There was a moment of hesitation before Ash replied.
"Okay but why?"
"We need to talk and I want to do it face to face."
"Alright see you in a minute."
"Bye." May ended the call and ran faster, she reached the play area a few minutes later. She saw Ash waiting for her on a swing moving slowly back and forth. May took a moment to get her breath back before she approached Ash, sitting on the swing next to him.
"Come on Norman, I want an answer." Caroline said, her arms were folded across her chest as she stood in front of him. She was leaning against the kitchen counter as she stared at her husband who sat on a stool, drinking a cup of coffee. Caroline had sent Max to his room while she spoke with Norman.
"May's told us his name so many times but I never made the connection. I only realised when I saw his face, he's the spitting image of his father." Norman said quietly.
"What does Ash's father have to do with any of this?" Norman sighed before he answered his wife's question.
"Richard Edgar Davies, we called him Red. He and I were best friends when we were kids." A faint smile crossed the man's lips as old memories resurfaced. "We were inseparable, he was always getting me into all types of trouble, nothing too bad just usual boy stuff, but when we entered out teens everything changed. He started hanging out with different people and we drifted apart, he became a different person, he turned into a bully, a thug. His life spiralled out of control, he did drugs, got arrested, joined a gang. He was a member of the Rockets, the people he'd started to hang out with were high up in the Rocket hierarchy, one of them was the leader's son Giovanni, and he probably runs the gang now. Not long after he joined the Rockets I heard that Red had gotten a girl pregnant, Delia Ketchum, I didn't make the connection with the name until I saw the boy's face. Delia was a member of the gang as well but I heard that when she found out she was pregnant she left." Norman paused to take another sip of his coffee before continuing.
"Red would come by every now and again asking me for a favour or to lend some money, because we were friends I helped him but eventually I couldn't do it anymore and we lost all contact. A few years later I found out he'd been killed in a gun fight against a rival gang, it was the one my sister was caught in the crossfire of. That was 20 years ago now." Norman's voice cracked a little as he remembered hearing the news that his sister had died and Caroline put a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Don't ask me how but I was able to see a copy of the police report and the bullet that killed Sarah came from Red's gun. I know that I can't hold that boy responsible for what Red did but I don't want May to be involved with him in case he turns out like his father." With that Norman finished his coffee and left the room. "If Red is Ash's father then I don't want him anywhere near this family, I'm not losing anyone else to Red. He's taken enough from me already."
"Where are you going?" Caroline asked.
"To bring May home." He answered before leaving the house and getting into his car to search for his daughter.
"I'm sorry." May said breaking the small silence that had passed since she sat down, not knowing what else to say.
"You don't have to be, it wasn't your fault." Ash paused before asking. "Why did your dad do that?"
"I don't know but he's told me that I can't see you anymore. He said you're 'no good'."
"He's never met me, why would he think that?"
"No idea, I mean everyone likes you, you've got good grades and you're always helping people. If anything you're too good."
Ash smiled and stood from his swing to walk behind May starting to push her on her swing, making her smile happily for having a moment like this with her boyfriend.
"I'm glad you think so." He laughed. "What happened after the door closed?" May's smile faded.
"I got into a fight with my dad, when he told me I couldn't see you again I grabbed my coat and came to find you. He tried to stop me by grabbing my arm but I kicked him and ran…..I told him I hated him then called you." Ash stilled the swing and walked around the front, kneeling down to look into May's sapphire eyes.
"You need to go and tell him you're sorry." Ash said, "You've got your dad in your life, I won't be the one to separate you from your family."
"I don't care, I'm an adult, I have freewill, I can do what I want to and I want to be with you. No matter what." May replied putting a hand on Ash's cheek. "We could run away and be together forever. Free from people telling us what to do." Ash covered her hand, he turned his head and kissed her palm.
"May, I love you." Ash said, causing May to smile and her eyes to widen. It was the first time either of them had said it, May herself knew she loved Ash with all of her heart but didn't want to say anything in case she scared Ash away. "But I can't run away with you, I can't leave my mom, I'm all she's got and she's all I've got apart from you. You need to make up with your dad, I never knew mine. I don't even know if he's alive of dead and whenever I've asked my mom about him she won't answer the question, all she says is that I'm better off not knowing who he is."
"I love you too Ash, that's why I don't want to stop seeing you. I…" May stopped speaking when Ash put a finger on her lips.
"All those girly films you've dragged me to taught me one thing. When you love someone, you do what's best for them, and that's getting you back with your family." Ash kissed May's cheek before standing up and holding his hand out to her. "Come on, let's get you home." May put her hand in Ash's, getting up from the swing and letting him lead her down the pathway. May took her hand out of Ash's choosing instead to wrap her arm around his, leaning against him as they walked.
Norman was driving around trying to find his daughter and take her home. He'd been driving for about half an hour before he saw May walking down the street leaning against Ash. Norman pulled up alongside them and got out of the car.
"May, in the car now!" He demanded, stopping them from walking any further.
"No dad. I'm staying with Ash." May said back and was about to continue when Ash took his arm out of her's and stepped back. "Ash? What are you doing?"
"The right thing." He answered and turned to face Norman. "Mr Maple, I don't know what it is you have against me but I won't come between May and her family. As much as I love your daughter, I want what's best for her and that's to be with her family. If you want us to stop seeing each other then we will."
"Ash, no. I love you and you love me, I don't want to lose you." May cried as she spun to face him, tear welling in the corners of her eyes. Ash smiled sadly and cupped her cheek, his thumb gently caressing her skin.
"Remember what I said, make up with your dad. You've got one, one who wants to know you, to protect you. I never had that, you never know we might find each other again in the future." Ash said softly, he leant in and kissed May's forehead. "Goodbye May, I love you." He said meaningfully and walked away with watering eyes, leaving May stood in stunned silence as the love of her life left her behind. She slowly took a step forward as tears started to stream down her cheeks but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"Come on, let's go home." Norman said as he gently steered his daughter towards his car. He opened the passenger door for her and helped her in before closing the door, he then walked round to the drivers side, got in and drove home the only sound he could here was his daughter's heartbroken sobs.
Arriving home a few minutes later, Norman helped May out of the car and towards the front door. Caroline had heard the car pull up and opened the door, she ran out of the house and took May into her arms.
"May, what happened?" Caroline asked softly but the only answer she received was more tears. She led her daughter into the house and up to her room, Norman followed them into the house and went into kitchen. He opened one of the cupboards, took out a bottle of whiskey and poured himself a drink. He knew that he was only looking out for his daughter but he hated that he was part of the reason for her tears.
He'd been nursing the same glass of whiskey for about an hour when he heard Caroline clear her throat behind him, turning round he was her standing in the doorway. She wore an expression of intense anger, her eyes burned with a barely contained fury and her lips formed a thin line.
"What happened? May's just cried herself to sleep and couldn't tell me anything, the only words I got from her were 'Ash' and 'Dad's fault'." She hissed at him, Norman downed what was left in his glass before explaining what had happened.
"Give her a day or two and she'll get over it." Norman said once he'd finished telling his wife why May was crying.
"I hope you're right." Caroline sighed, "I'm going to bed."
"I'll be up in a minute."
"No, you're on the couch tonight."
"Why?"
"May's right, it is your fault what happened."
"But my back." He'd injured it in a small car accident a few years earlier, nothing too serious but it did flair up if he didn't have enough room to sleep comfortably.
"You should've thought of that before you made our daughter cry." Caroline replied before leaving the kitchen and walking away. Norman dropped his head and poured himself another drink before putting the bottle away and going to get a pillow and blanket. He sat on the couch watching T.V for an hour, catching the highlights of the recent game between the Electabuzz and the Starmie's. Once the highlights had finished Norman got himself ready and lay on the couch trying to sleep.
The Next Morning
Norman woke up and immediately regretted it as he sat up causing pain to streak down his back, groaning he slowly stood up and stretched to try and loosen the knots in his back. Caroline walked into the room and watched him stretch before nodding at the pained expression on his face and carrying on into the kitchen. Norman sighed knowing he was still in the doghouse and went upstairs to shower and get changed, after finishing in the bathroom he stopped outside the door to May's room. He knocked lightly on it and waited for an answer, when none came he knocked a little harder.
"May, can I come in?" He asked softly, once again no answer was given. Norman tried to open the door but found it was locked, he knocked one more time harder then he had the previous time. "May?" He asked and still her received no answer from his daughter but thought he could hear faint sobs.
"Dad?" Norman turned his head to see Max standing in his doorway, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "What are you doing?"
"Just trying to see if your sister's awake yet."
"What happened last night?"
"Nothing, forget it happened, okay Max."
"Okay, but why did you slam the door on Ash? He's a nice guy." Norman stopped trying to open May's door and turned to fully face his son.
"You've met him?" Max nodded.
"Yeah, he helped me with some bullies."
"He beat them up, didn't he."
"No, he told me to stand up to them, show them I'm not afraid of them. I did like he said and they haven't bothered me since."
"Really?" Max nodded sleepily. "Alright, go and get ready for school."
"Yes dad." Max said walking back into his room to get his clothes before going into the bathroom.
Norman walked back downstairs and into the kitchen sitting the counter and pouring himself a cup of black coffee. Caroline was making breakfast and a lunch for Max, humming along with the radio, she didn't greet him or even turn to acknowledge him. Norman knew that she'd heard him enter the kitchen and knew that he was still on her bedside, choosing the wisest course of action Norman kept his mouth shut. A few minutes later Caroline turned around and put a plate of bacon and eggs in front of him.
"Thank you." He said but wasn't graced with a reply, as he ate Norman thought about what had happened. He didn't regret what he'd done, after all it was his duty to protect his daughter from anything or anyone who might hurt her but he hated the fact that May was so upset over the events of the previous night. While he was eating Max came into the kitchen and ate the breakfast that Caroline put in front of him, after finishing Max's lunch and putting it in a bag for him Caroline walked out of the kitchen.
"Dad?" Max asked.
"Yes, Max?" Norman answered.
"What's going on?"
"Everything's fine Max, don't worry about it."
"Why can't May see Ash anymore?" Norman sighed at his son's question.
"It's complicated." The tone of Norman's voice told Max that the discussion was over and he went back to eating his breakfast in silence. Once Max had finished eating he grabbed his lunch and bag before walking to the front door, he shouted his goodbyes and left to get the bus to school. Caroline came back into the kitchen not long after that and started to do the dishes, there was a few minutes of silence before either of them spoke.
"May's staying home today, she's not feeling well." Caroline said.
"Okay." Norman replied, knowing better than to ask why. He gathered his dishes and put them next to the sink, as he went to give Caroline a goodbye kiss she leant away from him, sighing Norman went and collected his things before going to work. He was the manager of the most popular gym in town as well as one of the personal trainers, he didn't have to be on the floor of the gym but he wanted too, it allowed him get along with his employees and let him learn what sort of things needed to be fixed or changed by talking with the public. Helping people when they were training also helped Norman with the injury to his back.
At noon Norman was walking to the door that lead to the staff only part of the building when he stopped, his eyes had landed on a woman that was running on a treadmill. He thought he recognised her but couldn't place her face so he walked a little closer to get a better look. As he grew nearer he realised who this woman was, it was Delia Ketchum, Norman stopped moving towards her turned around and went straight to through the staff only door. Any other time he might've gone up to her and asked how she was doing but after what had happened the previous night and the memories it brought back he decided against it. He'd known Delia a little when he was younger, not too well but enough to make small talk. He knew that she was a nice person even though she'd been part of the Rockets but her temper was something else. Norman had heard tales of Giovanni himself cowering before Delia's rage and once saw her anger for himself, Red had tried to get Norman to join once and another member of the gang had accidentally cut Delia's leather jacket while trying to do a knife trick. Norman had trouble sleeping after seeing Delia's anger towards that unfortunate soul, the memory of the fierce anger that burned in her eyes still sent chills down his spine. Norman spent the rest of the day in his office doing paperwork just in case Ash had spoken to Delia about what had happened.
When Norman arrived home he found Caroline watching a soap opera in the living room and could see Max sat at the dining room table doing his homework. He went to give his wife a kiss but once again she leant away from him, making him sigh.
"How's May?" He asked. Caroline turned the T.V. off and faced him.
"She hasn't left her room or let me in to talk to her. I haven't actually hear anything from her since this morning." She said, Norman looked down feeling worse than he already did. He turned to leave the room. "Don't you dare try and talk to her. It'll only make it worse, she needs time to cope." Norman nodded and went upstairs to the main bedroom, he sat on the bed and put his head in his hands.
"I did the right thing, I did the right thing." He kept repeating to himself quietly, he turned his head and caught sight of one of the picture on his nightstand. It showed him and May laughing at something, May had been around ten at the time. Seeing his daughter's smiling face made Norman hate himself even more, he turned away from the picture and lay on the bed. He closed his eyes and hoped that this would all turn out to be a horrible dream.
A few days later
May had still not come out of her room, the only contact she'd had with her family was with her mother when food was passed through the slight gap May made when she opened the door. No words passed May's lips and all Caroline saw of her daughter was her hand and forearm as she took the food and drink. Everyone was worried about her now, her teachers had called the house to see if everything was alright, the Principal even drove to the house and knocked on the door to ask what was wrong as May's absence was highly unusual. May's friends Misty and Dawn had come round to the house to check on her but like everyone else May didn't answer any of their questions, not even when Misty threatened to break the door down.
"This is getting ridiculous." Norman said, "She's been in there for nearly a week." He stormed up the stairs and knock heavily on the door. "May! Come out here right now!" He shouted as he pounded on the wood. No reply came from the other side of the door. "I'm going to count to three, if you don't open the door I'm going to break it down. One! Two! Three!" Norman threw his weight against the door, causing a loud bang to echo through the house.
"Norman, stop!" Caroline shouted but Norman ignored her as he slammed into the door again. Norman felt the door's lock give but the door itself hardly moved, barely opening an inch. As Norman tried to push the open something smashed against wall, sending shards of glass spiralling through the air.
"AH!" Norman hissed as a piece of glass cut his fingers, he pulled his hand back and the door slammed shut as May pushed it from the other side.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed. "I HATE YOU, I WISH YOU WERE DEAD!"
"Norman go downstairs, calm down and see to your hand." Caroline said as she saw Norman about to attack the door again. Her husband scowled at the door before stalking downstairs to get a bandage. "May, can I come in?" Silence answered her. "Please honey, we're worried about you." More silence. "Is there anything we can do?"
"Just…just leave me alone." May said quietly.
"Okay honey, but you can't stay in there forever." Caroline sighed, she put a hand on the door then turned and walked away. She was glad Max had gone to a friend's house so he didn't have to hear or see what had happened. When Caroline walked into the kitchen she saw Norman flicking through the pages of the phonebook. "What are you doing?" She asked.
"Something I should've done earlier." Norman answered as he found what he was looking for, he closed the phonebook and walked to the front door.
"Where are you going?"
"To get someone who'll get through to May." Norman exited the house and got in his car. He drove through town until he pulled up outside an apartment building. Getting out of the car, he locked it and entered the building. He looked at the elevator before deciding to use the stairs, climbing slowly to the fifth floor. Norman used the time to think about what he was going to say, he stopped outside apartment 25 and took a breath before knocking on the door.
"Be there in a minute." A female voice said from inside the apartment, shortly after the door opened and Norman was greeted by the face of Delia Ketchum.
"Hello Delia." He said.
"Norman?" Delia asked unsurely. "Is that you?" Norman nodded in confirmation.
"It's been a long time."
"What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you. Can I come in?" Delia hesitated for a second before moving to the side allowing Norman entrance. He walked in and waited for Delia to close the door behind him, she lead him to a small lounge. Norman sat down in an armchair while Delia sat on the couch.
"I'm surprised to see you here, we never really knew each other, apart from Red we didn't have anything in common. What do you want to talk about?"
"I want to know about Ash."
May sat on the floor in the dark leaning back against the chest of draws she'd pushed in front of her door, her curtains were tightly closed and her head rested on her knees. She was surrounded by broken picture frames and piles of crumpled up tissues, she felt nothing except sadness freezing her soul. Her thoughts only revolved around what she'd lost, she would never admit it to anyone but she'd already planned her life out with Ash. She knew that there would never be anyone else for her, Ash filled a void in her life she never knew was there. He was always there for her, with a comforting word or excited smile, her mind drifted back to how they'd first met.
One of her classmates, Drew, wouldn't stop harassing her for a date. He'd keep offering her roses and due to her upbringing May would thank him as she took them but she never kept them, she usually passed them on to Drew's fan club saying he'd asked her to give them the flower because he didn't want to show favouritism. Eventually Drew had cornered May and tried to kiss her but that was when Ash showed up, Ash just walked over and took May's hand saying 'I've been looking for you everywhere, come on we're going to be late.' She'd been pulled away from Drew and was halfway down the hall before she knew what was happening. Afterwards Ash apologised for what he'd done saying he could see how uncomfortable she'd looked and wanted to help.
That wasn't the first time May had seen Ash, she'd noticed him around the college a few times talking with his friends and one of the teaching assistants. She'd always though he was cute from the small looks she'd managed to get but that was the first time seeing his face properly and she saw how handsome he was. May and Ash had started talking and spent the next couple of days getting to know each other, it turned out they had quite a lot in common and eventually Ash had plucked up the courage to ask May on a date which she had eagerly accepted having decided that if Ash had waited one more day she would ask him.
As the memories swirled around her head a fresh stream of tears ran down her cheeks, Ash was the best thing to happen to her and now he was gone. It was like her world had just stopped, May had texted Ash and called him numerous times under her mother's watchful eye as soon as she'd gotten home but never got a reply. Once May had woken the following day she'd tried to contact him again with the same lack of success eventually May had screamed and threw her phone against the wall smashing it to pieces. It still lay were it had landed, the screen was still attached to the battery in some way, occasionally flickering on and off showing the background image, a picture of her and Ash laughing together. May wanted to smash the phone again but couldn't bring herself to do it.
She still wore the same clothes as that horrible night and had barely eaten any of the food her mother had managed to pass to her. May knew she looked awful and even though she took pride in herself for always looking her best right now she couldn't care less for her appearance as far as she was concerned she was never leaving her room again. May's only had one way to contact the outside world and that was her laptop, which she'd left untouched. She had tried to get in contact with Ash via e-mail and social media but he hadn't responded, the only reason May hadn't broken her laptop like her phone was that it held the memories of everything she and Ash has done together, from pictures to silly videos they'd made on their dates it was her only link to Ash now and she didn't want to lose it.
May dried her tears slowly made her way to her bed, she was having trouble getting any restful sleep and was tired beyond belief but before she could lie down her laptop beeped. Walking over hopeful that it was Ash, May looked at the screen and her mood dropped back to depression as it was only a message from Max asking if she was okay. A soft smile tried to cross her lips but failed as she sat down in the chair, even though they didn't get along all the time it wasn't fair for Max to have to deal with what was going on. As she tried to decide whether to answer him or not there was a knock on her door, May sighed her throat was hurting enough from crying and screaming at her dad but everyone needed to know that she wanted to be alone.
"GO AWAY!" She yelled hoarsely.
"May," The voice said, May jerked as she recognised it hoping she wasn't hearing things she slowly walked towards the door. "Can you open the door? It's me, Ash." May leant against the wall near the door.
"Prove it." She said quietly, as if speaking louder would scare him away or wake her from this dream she was obviously having. "Where did we have our first kiss?" This was something May hadn't told anyone, even after an hour of being tickled by Misty and Dawn May had held on to this secret. It was something special she didn't want to share with anyone other than Ash.
"In the park, by the lake. We'd just been to the outdoor theatre to see a talent contest and you wanted to get ice cream." Ash said, May was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed listening to his voice, she let it carry her through the memory. "I stopped you, put my hand under your chin and kissed you. That's when I first realised that I loved you." There was silence for a minute before May spoke.
"It was a Saturday and the sun was shining. You tried to get me to enter the contest, you said I had a beautiful singing voice."
"You do. May, open the door, for me, please?" There was more silence for a minute before Ash heard furniture moving from behind the door. May flung her door open and jumped on to Ash wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his neck. Ash smiled and wrapped his arms around May and kissed the top of her head, relishing the scent of her hair. After a few minutes of holding each other passed until May stopped crying and took her face out of the crook of Ash's neck.
"What are you doing here? What made you come here?" She asked.
"Your dad."
"Why do you want to know about my son?" Delia asked.
"I want to know if he's anything like his father." Norman replied, "I may have made a big mistake." He went on to explain what had happened over the past few days.
"Ash is nothing like his father." Delia said, an undertone of distaste in her voice. "Red never wanted anything to do with me once I told him I was pregnant and he never came to see Ash once he was born. I raised Ash to be everything Red wasn't, Ash is kind, gentle and honest." Delia told Norman a few stories of how she'd brought Ash up alone and taught him to be the opposite of his father. Once she had finished she looked at one of the pictures on the wall, it showed herself and Ash wearing party hats and eating birthday cake. "Ash hasn't been himself for nearly a week now, I guess I know why now."
"I realise that I made a mistake and I want to correct it. Where can I find Ash?"
"Right behind you." Norman turned around and saw Ash standing in a doorway behind him.
"Ash, I'm…" Norman started but Ash held up a hand stopping him.
"It's okay Mr Maple, I know you were just doing what you thought was best for May." Ash said.
"And I'm about to do that again." Norman said, standing up to face Ash. "Will you come with me?"
"Yes." With that Ash and Norman left the apartment, went down to Norman's car and drove back to the Maple house.
"That's what I'm doing here and I'm not going to leave you again." Ash said, he leant forward to kiss May but she pushed him back. He looked quizzically at her as she ran back into her room. "May, what are you doing?"
"Go and wait downstairs, I can't let you see me like this." May shouted through the door, Ash laughed.
"Okay, I'll see you in a few minutes." He said before walking down the stairs to wait. May quickly picked out new clothes and ran into the bathroom, she had a shower and washed her hair before drying off and getting changed. She brushed her hair and put her bandana on securely, taking a minute to apply a little make-up and decide if she was presentable she nodded with a pleased smile. May skipped down the stairs and into the lounge seeing Ash sat on the couch talking with her mother, she took a second to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming any of this and welcomed the pain when she felt it. May practically jumped on to Ash and kissed him fiercely, not caring about the look of surprise on her mother's face. The re-united couple separated when Norman cleared his throat and gained their attention.
"I want to apologise to both of you." He said, "I was wrong to assume that Ash would be like his father and I was wrong to think May needed protection from him. Like you said May, you're an adult now, you have the freedom to do whatever you want with your life and spend it with whoever you wish. It's just when I look at you I still see my little girl and I want to stop the world hurting you."
"That's what I intend to do Mr Maple." Ash said, "As long as I'm able to, I won't let anything happen to May." Ash turned to face May, "I'm sorry I didn't answer any of your messages or calls. When I got home that night I was angry and threw my phone into the wall."
"It's okay Ash, I know you only did what you thought was best for me. I probably would've done the same thing in your situation but now we both know what's best for us….each other." May replied before kissing Ash again, knocking his hat off and running her fingers through his raven hair. Norman cleared his throat again in embarrassment to get them to separate again.
"We're all going out for a meal. Ash, can you call your mother for me I think we should all get to know each other." Ash nodded and called home from the Maple's landline, asking his mom to come to the Maple's house and explaining what had happened. While Ash was making the call May was giggling to herself.
"What are you laughing for?" Norman asked.
"You're going to regret this dad." She replied still giggling.
"Why's that?"
"Ash eats as much as I do, if not more." May burst into hysterics as Norman paled at the news and feared for his wallet.
The End