When Shego and Kim drug themselves downstairs only Susan was up, watching the start of the Rose Parade from California. “I'm not going to try to fix breakfast with people getting up at all hours. There's cold cereal in the pantry, milk in the fridge.”
“Can you make cappuccino, Mom?”
“I don't touch that machine or any of your father's instruments. You can face his wrath if you want, or you can wait for him to get up.”
“You want to try it Kim? He won't yell at you when you're carrying his granddaughters.”
“I'm not the coffee junkie you are. I can wait.”
Eventually the whole household was awake and George made cappuccinos and lattes for everyone. As the women finished their coffee, however, eight Wegos and Shego's dad voted for switching from the Rose Parade to the bowl games
The O'Ceallaigh men watched football on TV while Susan set out bowls of snacks and the cake and cookies she had made the day before on the dining room table. “Kim, would you fill the ice bucket, please? Sharon, there are some two liter bottles of soda on the back porch. I hope they didn't freeze. Could you bring them in?”
“Want me to put out any beer?”
“No, dear. If your dad or Henry wants a beer he can get it out of the fridge.”
The women were almost done putting the snack buffet together when Hego arrived with cans of peanuts, cashews, and almonds. “Let Mom finish,” Shego told Kim. “Come upstairs I want to talk with you for a minute.
“I needed to tell you about Hego's dumb idea a couple days ago. He roped an old enemy of Team Go in on his plan. She's out of the business now. But she has a couple kids. I thought maybe we could go talk with her for a little while this afternoon.”
“That Bella woman?”
“Yeah… I guess that doesn't mean anything to you. But she was kind of special to me.”
“How so?”
“Oh, a couple reasons. Hego didn't think a man shouldn't fight a woman. He wasn't going to let me appear with him and Matt until I was sixteen, but when Bella joined the Gang of Evil he brought me on the team early so I could fight her. We fought several times over the next couple years.”
“That doesn't really explain special.”
Shego took a deep breath, “I'm not sure how to say this. Maybe she just looked really hot in her leather outfit. I was only fifteen, no experience with relationships. No experience with anything really. I always felt funny when I was fighting her. I think she was my first fem crush… It was really weird to see her the other day.”
“Do I need to be jealous that you want to go over there?”
“No. She never had any interest in me. I never said anything to her. I knew so little at the time I didn't even know what I was feeling -- mostly confused. It wasn't until years later that I sorted it out…
“It got me wondering, did you have any kind of feelings for me when we were fighting? Was I just another evil doer to you, or was I something special?”
Kim thought for a minute.
“I haven't had years later to sort things out… But I think you were different. I enjoyed stopping Drakken more than anyone else. Maybe that was because I got to see you. We talked in a way I didn't do with anyone else. And I really liked it when we worked together, like when I met your brothers or when we were in the pan-dimensional vortex inducer. If Monkey Fist or Frugal Lucre had called and wanted to go out for coffee I know I wouldn't have gone. And I don't think my heart would have been pounding the way it was for anyone else. I know the confused part… So I guess you were special for me.”
“If you don't want us to go see her, that's all right. We do need to talk with some parents to start getting ideas on how we are going to raise our girls. Should I call her and see if we can go over, or not?”
“You can call. It will be interesting to meet the woman who was Shego when you were Kim Possible.”
“Hello? … Yes, this is Shego, I was wondering if you had any time today when we could stop over? … No, that's fine … Okay, we'll see you in about an hour and a half. … Goodbye.”
“Her husband had to work today. She wants to do some straightening before we get there. Oh, and Kim?”
“Yes?”
“She thinks my significant other is a man.”
The worst of the cold snap was over and it was only seasonably cold for the drive.
Shego pressed the button for 3F and Bella buzzed them into the building. It took a few minutes for them to realize the elevator wouldn't be coming, and they climbed the steps to the 3rd floor. The hall smelled vaguely of cat urine, and Shego believed what Bella had told her about money being tight.
“What kept you?” Bella asked as she opened the door.
“Elevator wasn't working,” Shego explained.
“Yeah, happens several times a… Who is this?”
“Bella, I'd like you to meet Kim, my significant other. Kim, this is Bella, an old enemy.” Bella stared at the pregnant woman in disbelief. “We're going to have twin girls.”
“You're a guy in drag?”
Kim laughed, and Shego glared at her.
“No, I'm a woman. It's a long story. Are you going to invite us in or not?”
Bella hesitated for a minute, not quite certain what to do, then stepped back, “Ah, come in. Would you like a beer or soda?”
“Nothing for me, thanks. How about you Kim?”
“No, we've been eating so much over at Shego's place I'm stuffed.”
“Sit down anywhere… Do I want to hear this story?”
“No. You probably don't, and even with what you've seen you wouldn't believe it anyway. Oh, hey, is that one of yours?”
“Yes, that's the four year old.” Turning to the boy, “Is your brother still sleeping?”
He nodded his head yes. “Mommy, why is that lady green?”
“It's just the way she is, sweetie, people come in all colors.”
“And does that lady have a baby in her tummy?”
“I have two girls inside me. They will be twins.”
“Can I have a twin, mommy?”
Bella laughed. “It's a little too late for that. Don't wake your brother. Just play with your blocks while Mommy talks with these ladies.”
Kim and Shego stayed for more than an hour. It took some time, but Bella began to relax and talk freely with them. The two year old came in and, too shy to talk, insisted mommy hold him while the strange women were there.
“You aren't seeing him at his best. When he is with people he knows he jabbers up a storm.”
“That's where we'll be in two years,” Kim told Shego. “Amazing isn't it.”
They held no unrealistic expectations for the elevator, which still wasn't working when they left. As they walked down the stairs Kim asked Shego, “Is it too early to buy some of that special teething formula she recommended? She said the drugstore up here was the only place in the world you could find it.”
“Let's skip the teething medicine. I've just got a funny feeling about it.”
Back at the O'Ceallaighs' Shego grabbed some pretzels and a beer and joined her dad and brothers in front of a bowl game. Susan asked Kim to join her at the dining room table.
“I'm sorry I haven't talked more with you. I'm just so glad to have Sharon back I haven't thought about much else. And… You can probably tell I'm not really comfortable with you and Sharon--”
“It's not easy for my folks either.”
Susan smiled at her. “I don't know if I'm ready to hear about you two as a couple. But I want to know more about the mother of my grandchildren. Where do you want to start telling me about yourself? …”
Two hours later Susan shouted into the living room, “Henry! I called an order in to House of Chan; you need to go pick it up. Will! Ed! I need one of each of you in to help set the table. We'll eat as soon as Henry gets back -- I've been too busy talking with Kim to cook.”
“Can we eat in here, Mom? There are only a couple games left.”
“No, we will all eat in here -- and no splitting. This is the last night Sharon and Kim will be here and we're going to eat as family. The television has been on all day.”
Shego's family frightened Kim. Despite the fact the children all possessed super powers and together they played enough instruments for an orchestra they were all so normal it was abnormal.
Hego returned with two large sacks filled with small white boxes, packets of duck sauce, Chinese mustard, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce, napkins, fortune cookies, plastic forks and wooden chopsticks. Everyone began opening boxes to discover the contents.
“There are two vegetarian orders -- vegetable lo mein and spicy tofu in garlic -- make sure Sharon gets all she wants first. The rest of us probably want the beef and chicken dishes anyway.”
Kim noticed that she and Shego were the only two using chopsticks, everyone else preferred forks.
At the end of the meal the twins and their father went back to finish the bowl games while Hego helped his Mom put away leftovers and clear the table.
“What's wrong?” Kim whispered to Shego, “You seem nervous.”
“I'm trying to decide whether or not to say something to Hego.”
“A good thing or another threat?”
“That's just it, I'm not sure.”
A few minutes later Susan asked Kim a question, and while the redhead answered Shego went into the kitchen where Hego stood at the sink washing. Kim could see Shego saying something to her brother, but could hear nothing.
The whole house, however, could hear Hego's shout of joy, and Kim watched him pick up his sister and give her a big hug, “Thanks, Sis!”
“Why was Hego so happy?” Kim asked, as they got ready for bed.
“I told him something… He and I just see the world so differently… I think I'm pulling a dirty trick on him -- he thinks I'm doing him a favor.”
“You still haven't told me why Hego is happy, and I'm wondering what in the world you're talking about.”
“Just hold my hand Kim, if I can remember the number I'm making a phone call I swore I'd never make.”
Puzzled, Kim sat down on the bed by Shego and held her hand. “Okay Kim, this won't work if you take me too literally. Let me punch in the number first, then you can hold my hand.”
Shego smiled as the phone on the other end kept ringing, hopefully no one would answer
“Damn,” she whispered. “Hello, this is Shego … Yes, I know its been ages, how are you darling? … Really? … No! … Look, I would really like to see you tomorrow, would that be possible? … No, here in Chicago, Jackson Park, I'm sure you can find the coordinates for it, plenty of space. … Great! … Oh, I was thinking about ten o'clock. … Ciao.”
“Who was that?”
“You'll find out tomorrow. Oh, God, I feel sick. Please hold me tonight. This scares me.”
“Shego, you're freaking me. Tell me what's going on.”
“It would take too long to explain… Wade knows. Hey, just pretend I'm only doing this to get back at you for telling my folk about us and the babies so fast that first night.”
Kim breathed a sigh of relief, “That's all this is? Your revenge?”
“No, but tell yourself that. It will make you feel better.”
I'm tempted just to stop here, since The Humbug loves cliffhangers so much. But the identity of the person on the other end of the phone is revealed when the story wraps up tomorrow.