Shego's pregnancy became the cause célèbre of Middleton. Some offices established betting pools for who the father would turn out to be. Dr. Drakken was the odds on favorite, with ‘never established’ being number two on the list, and ‘a henchmen no one has heard of’ coming in at number three. Kim, as the result of some mad science experiment came in just behind Ron Stoppable… Had Ron known of the betting pools he would probably have been upset not to place higher on the list. And, despite the fact she received regular examinations by an obstetrician, the idea the whole pregnancy was a hoax remained slightly more popular with the betting public than the proposition Kim could actually be the father by any sort of voluntary, non mad-science method.
National news had moved past Shego by the time she went into the hospital on a Thursday evening. Her departure from national and world news would not last long. Labor lasted through most of Friday, and early on Saturday morning a baby with dark hair and brilliant green eyes entered the world.
The birth certificate proved to be impossible to fill out. Shego refused to give a last name for herself or the baby girl, saying it would jeopardize the safety of her family. She even refused to give a real first name for herself, simply saying, “Shego is enough,” and listing “Catherine,” for the baby's name. For father's name she insisted the hospital put in “Kim Possible,” which the hospital administration refused to do -- saying they would not be part of this publicity stunt and such a thing was impossible. Shego hoped the headlines on Monday would be ‘Hero Stands By Family‘ for her efforts to keep the family name secret, but things were already starting to move faster than even she could have predicted.
A small sample of the baby's blood was, of course, taken for typing. The hospital objected to the medical experts who were there for the paternity test, but court orders required them to be present when the blood was tested. An hour later the hospital lab erupted in chaos as various technicians denied their own findings. Those who were not present when the sample was taken insisted there was some sort of contamination of the sample, while those who were present when sample was taken insisting they had taken the sample correctly and someone in the chain of custody had to have switched the sample.
A fast call was placed to the head of neurosurgery in the hospital, “Dr. Possible?”
“Yes?”
“Can we have a blood sample?”
“Why?”
“Paternity test.”
“Paternity test? You aren't treating that lawsuit like it has any merit, are you?”
“Well, the initial blood work on the baby showed two different sets of MtDNA--”
“That's impossible!”
“We know. But since the mitochondrial DNA comes completely from the mother, and we have Shego's DNA… I mean, since Kim's MtDNA will be exactly the same as yours, we'd like a sample of your blood.”
“You'll be taking a second sample of the baby's blood?”
“Yes--”
“Not until I get there. I'll stay with you and give you a sample of my blood in the lab.”
The baby girl was in the room with her mother, nursing, when a large contingent of medical personnel came in.
“What's this all about?” the pale woman demanded.
“Need a second blood sample from the baby. We're worried the first may have been contaminated.”
“I don't want you turning my baby into a pin cushion,” Shego protested.
“Nor do we want to do that to her,” a woman voice came from the back of the crowd and Jean Possible pushed her way through. “But I want to make sure you aren't running some sort of con game.”
“Look, Kitty, grandma,” Shego pointed the red-haired woman out to the baby, “She doesn't love you.” She kissed the little girl and reluctantly handed her to one of the medical workers. “Don't let her,” she said, indicating Dr. Possible, “touch my baby.”
“We won't, we don't want any chance of contamination.”
Dr. Possible stared at the baby's green eyes, so much like Kim's, and wondered if this could actually be her granddaughter. Even with what she'd heard of Kim's the whole story still sounded like nonsense.
A technician, who had stripped to a tight t-shirt and shorts so there was no place to hide any other sample took the blood, then gave the crying baby to her mother, where she returned to the comfort of the breast. Medical technicians from the hospital, those from the media, and those hired by both sets of lawyers threw a cordon around the technician as they returned to the lab - everyone watching everyone else carefully. Back in the lab the small sample was divided among four teams, each representing a combination of technicians from different groups. Each found the same unique combination of mitochondrial DNA.
“Dr. Possible, we'll need a sample from you also.”
After the miraculous presence of a double set of MtDNA Dr. Possible was not surprised an hour later to learn that one set matched her own.
“We'll need a blood sample from Kim to confirm the nuclear DNA matches her unique DNA and actually establish paternity for the courts - if it matches.”
“That's quite all right, I understand.” “And it will match, I'm sure of that now.”
“Um, Dr. Possible,” one of the medical technicians hired by a news channel asked, “would you make a comment about how--”
“No!” she snapped.
There was no point in trying to get any work done at the hospital that day. She'd seen her patients in the morning and now all anyone would talk about was the new baby. All she'd be able to think about was the baby so it was pointless to even attempt paperwork. She decided to go home early, but before leaving the hospital Jean Possible stopped in the maternity ward, she stared through the glass window into the newborn room. She knew, without asking, that the guard on the door would not let her enter. She couldn't take her eyes off the bassinet. It was her grandchild. “Dear God, what have Kim and Shego done?”
The lead story on the evening news, “Baby with two mothers born in Middleton hospital.”
Even without the testing of the nuclear DNA all hell broke loose in the news media as reporters who had interviewed Shego in Cuba or since her return to the US dug out their notes for follow-ups.
Watching the news in bed with his wife that evening Sampson Brass swore as he heard the announcement. He wondered how he could have been so stupid as to promise Shego he would drop her fees by seventy-five percent if the DNA evidence supported her claims. His phone started ringing ten minutes later and he realized he had just become the most famous lawyer in Middleton.