Chapter Text
He couldn't remember the last few weeks after the wedding, especially nights. Every night was the same; Jessebelle in that gaudy négligée, the sickly-sweet scent of Vileplume's Stun Spore, the sickly-sweet sound of her voice, giggling and moaning as she kept him prisoner, locked in the honeymoon suite the whole night, not able to get away... He always felt... Icky afterwards, and was prone to taking long baths to feel something other than numbness...
Still, he could never really get rid of the feeling of guilt and shame, no matter how much he showered.
Even when they got home, nights locked in their bedroom, Stun Spore was sprayed on him, and the nights blended together in a hot, sticky awful time...
Eventually, she just stopped. One night, after being so browbeaten, James prepared for another night, when Jessebelle walked past him and went straight to sleep. He looked at her sleeping form in the bed, confused, but went to his own bedchambers with Growlie.
"I hope it stays like this, Growlie." He pet his beloved friend's head. "I don't think I could have survived another night of Stun Spore and..." He trailed off, looking up at the moon up out the window, remembering when, once upon a time, he couldn't wait to see Jessebelle, crying to himself as Growlie did his best to comfort his distraught human
~~~
The very next day, the Morgan family invited over the Finches, Jessebelle's parents, for an afternoon tea or whatever. James dressed up, feeling stiff and uncomfortable in the suit. Nothing but suits for the foreseeable future.
At the table, James wasn't really paying attention to the talk, until Jessebelle rose, forcing James to stand up as well.
"Momma, Daddy... James and I are going to have a baby!"
James was horrified to find this out. His stomach sank and felt a sudden chill.
Jessebelle as a mother?! James terrified himself at the thought, but said nothing, not really paying attention to what was going on.
While James was horrified, both Horace and Rosella congratulated her, excited at the family Morgan family line continuing, while Walter and Elsie-May Finch couldn't be more happy as they fawned over their daughter.
"Perhaps this is what our good-for-nothing son needs to settle into being a respectable gentleman" Horace announced, and Rosella nodded in agreement, not taking her eyes off her embroidery.
"Oh, Horace, James is a fine young man. Maybe a little... off... but, who isn't?"
"Elsie-May, you are too kind."
The parent's talk dissolved into a sea of incoherent voices again as James was left to stew in both horror and outrage
"Wait, you can't be serious?!"
"James, that's no way for a gentleman to speak."
"After what she did to me, you-"
"James, it's ungentlemanly for a man to speak about boudoir activities, especially when ladies are present." Horace stood up and looked at his failure of a son.
"Are you saying you're fine with your child being raped if it means it's good for the family line?!" and at that, Horace slapped James clear across the face as Jessebelle started to cry. Rosella comforted her daughter-in-law, then scolded Horace, "Really dear, in Jessebelle's delicate condition?"
Horace cleared his throat and apologized to his beloved daughter-in-law, "Forgive me, dear, I keep losing my temper at that boy, no matter how much leeway I give him."
"Oh, it's alright, Mister Horace. I don't know what came over me, really." That syrupy voice again...
James stewed and muttered before leaving the room, "Do you congratulate the soil for growing the crops the farmer planted?"
~~~
Magnolia May Morgan-Born May 19, 20XX
The day of her birth, Maggie's name was the name inscribed in the family Bible by Rosella in her lovely calligraphy.
One peek at her in the ancestral bassinet, and James was smitten. She was so beautiful; almost like a cherub, as he reached to pick her up, he was smacked by his mother.
"What was that for?!" He yelled out as Rosella lectures him, "Gentlemen do not pick up babies, especially daughters. That's a job for the nanny."
"A nanny?! Jessebelle doesn't work! What does she even do all day?!"
"James, carrying a child is exhausting. Jessebelle needs as much rest as possible." James was skeptical as several maids tended to Jessebelle at her bedside, who already looked quite well-rested.
"A lady needs to make a good impression on her child, James, dear." Jessebelle was tended to by the maids as she, Rosella and Elsie-May talked about little Magnolia May's future; she was to be educated at boarding school when she turned six, then go to a finishing school in Kalos (the best Poken could buy!), and finally, while her marriage would not be arranged until she was at least 15, she was to marry a boy of high status.
Everything in poor Maggie's life had been planned out.
And she wasn't even a whole day old yet.
~~~
Everyone had already gone to sleep. Except James. James decided to not let his daughter be raised by people who clearly saw her as nothing more than a doll.
It was risky, but Maggie's happiness was worth that risk.
He picked Maggie up out of her bassinet, along with a few other things, and left the room, holding her close. But where could he go? The estate was so far away from everything.
This time, he did take Growlie. He knew his parents couldn't have cared less about whether or not Growlie was there, and James needed some comfort, so he summoned him into his Pokeball and headed off.
Still, where could we go? James thought as he was finally off the estate.
Perhaps Nanny and Pop-Pop? Sure, they lived in Hoenn, but Hoenn and Kanto we're so close together.
It was decided. He'd go to Nanny and Pop-Pop. They'd know what to do.
"I'm going to see Nanny and Pop-Pop."