Heros
'Saturday at the Possible house is like no other day of the week,' she thought to herself. 'It's a nice change to be up to my wrists in dishwater rather than someone's cranium.'
She rinsed off the frying pan she had just washed and gave it a brief glance. As she started to put it on the drain rack she paused and returned it to eye level. She smiled as she examined her reflection in its shiny aluminum surface.
"Who are you today?" she asked her reflection. "The same woman you are every other day of the week," she answered herself, 'but at least the neurosurgeon has the weekend off. That just leaves the wife, mother and homemaker.'
She placed the pan in the drain-rack with the other dishes and turned just in time to see her husband walk into the room followed closely by the twins. Dr. James Possible was wearing his usual suit and tie rather than his Saturday around the house clothes.
He glanced guiltily at the drain-rack full of dishes. "Ooooh, the breakfast dishes were mine today weren't they?"
"Don't worry about it dear," she replied. "You've covered for me enough times. We just have to make sure that we don't make a habit of this."
"Roger that," he said enthusiastically. "But if we want to make the Wednesday launch window we have to start fueling the rocket on Tuesday, but to start fueling on Tuesday we have to have the pre-fueling check done by Monday and if…well, you know the routine." He leaned forward and kissed his wife on the cheek. "If everything goes right," he continued, "I should be home by thirteen thirty hours."
As he turned to leave he gave the twins his 'serious' look. "Boys, I want you to behave yourselves and help your mother while I'm at work," he said in his most fatherly voice.
"Actually, dad, we were kind of hoping…" Jim started.
"…that we could go to the space center with you!" Tim finished.
For a brief moment Mr. Possible looked startled but then an excited grin appeared on his face. "Sure thing boys," he said enthusiastically, "we can …" he paused and a thoughtful look replaced his boyish grin. "Ahhh, not such a good idea boys," Mr. Possible said after a moment. "What I mean is there's nothing interesting going on at the center today, just pre-launce checks. You boys would be bored in no time." 'Then you'd find something interesting to do… and then I'd get fired!' he finished to himself.
"Well we really didn't want to spend the entire day at the center," Jim said innocently.
"Yeah, we were hoping maybe you could just drop us off at one of the old abandoned launch pads!" Tim said hopefully.
A look of mixed suspicion and amusement came to their fathers face. "Aaaaha, and what would you boys be doing at an abandoned launch pad all morning, like I couldn't guess?"
"Wait right here!" they chorused excitedly. Both boys ran out of the room only to return moments later straining to hold up different ends of a large silver and blue rocket. After a brief struggle they had the rocket standing upright. They stepped back and saluted, "The XJ-22 is ready for launch Sir!"
Mrs. Possible fixed the twins with a no nonsense gaze. "Boys, is that rocket fueled?" she asked them sternly.
"No way!" Jim replied sounding shocked.
"We will never ever, ever have a fueled rocket" Tim started, "In the house or garage" Jim continued, "Ever, ever again" they finished I unison. Both boys crossed their hearts.
Mrs. Possible gave her sons a wry smile. "I'm sure our insurance adjuster will be glad to know there won't be any more premature launce problems."
Both boys looked momentarily uncomfortable. Two months with no allowance and helping their father try to fix the gaping hole in the roof of the garage, until it was decided that professional help was needed, had been enough to convince them that 'No rockets in the house' meant 'No rockets in the house,' …at least fueled rockets.
In the mean time Mr. Possible had begun examining the rocket in minute detail. After a brief inspection of the body he knelt down and began examining the rocket nozzles. When he stood up, his face was covered with a boyish grin surprisingly similar to his sons. "Speaking of fuel, what's she burn?" he asked.
"J-200" Tim answered quickly.
"I thought we'd used up all the J-200."
"We thought so too but then we found a couple of liters behind the lawnmower. Not nearly as much as we need, but it's all there is," Jim said sadly.
"Yea," Tim sighed, sounding equally unhappy, "probably not enough to get more than a couple thousand feet."
"What?" their father said in a shocked tone. 'No, No that just won't do. I'm sure we still have some J-200 at the center somewhere," he said thoughtfully, "and if we don't I can always whip some up in the lab."
"All Right!" the twins cheered as they gave each other a flying 'high five'. "The XJ-22's going into orbit!"
Mrs. Possible tried to conceal her smile as she watched the excited trio. The twins knew their fathers weak spot. It was pretty obvious to her that getting their father to provide the fuel had been part of their plan from the beginning. She was sure her husband knew it as well, but he wasn't about to pass up a chance to help the boys launch their latest homemade creation.
"Trying to juggle two launches and keep an eye on the twins might be a bit much dear."
"No problem." He answered enthusiastically. "The boys can spend the morning with Ham in the Junior Rocket Boosters Lab. We'll grab a couple of sandwiches during lunch and head out to Launch Pad 4. Its twelve miles from the main complex so there shouldn't be any problems. We'll do the launch and be back at the complex in plenty of time…if we recover the rocket quickly enough. Last time … "
"We fixed that," the twins cut in quickly!
"Yea, no more lost rockets for us!" Jim said.
"We program the GPS coordinates of the launch site into the rocket," Tim started.
"Instead of the parachute deploying when the motor shuts down," Tim continued.
"It'll nose over and steer back to the launch coordinates,"
"The parachute deploys at three hundred feet,"
"It should land within one hundred feet of the launch site."
Mr. Possible looked from the twins back to the XJ-22 then back to the twins. "Sweeeeet," he said slowly.
"We've made a lot of other improvements," Jim said proudly.
A few minutes later Mrs. Possible watched her husband, the twins, and the XJ-22 head out the door. She smiled to herself.
'This couldn't have worked out better,' she thought. 'The three of them will have a wonderful time together and I really need to have a long overdue talk with Kim.'
A quick glanced at the kitchen clock told her that Kim would be showing up any minute. She set some water on to boil and had just taken out cups and saucers when Kim walked in.
"I'm gone. See you in a couple of hours mom."
"What's the rush dear?"
"I'm meeting Ron at the Mall. I thought I'd get there early and do some window shopping.'
"Big plans for the day?"
"Just meet at the Mall and see where the day takes us," Kim smile, "Annnd get my Saturday chores done,' she finished after a second.
"Do you have a couple of minutes dear?"
"Sure mom, what…" Kim saw the delicate cups, the tea bags and the kettle on the stove. "Mother daughter conference?" she asked.
Mrs. Possible glanced at the tea cups in her hands and chuckled. "Nothing that serious dear," she said, "But we haven't had a chance to just chat in ages."
"Where are dad and the tweebs?"
"Off launching rockets."
Kim gave her mother a smile, "I'll get the cream and sugar."
A few minutes later they were seated at the kitchen table each with a steaming cup of tea. Kim looked thoughtfully into the pale brown liquid for a moment. "Mom, did you and your mother do this?"
"Do what dear?"
"You know, the morning tea, mother / daughter chat time thing."
"No dear. Things were just too hectic most of the time, but she always seemed to know when I needed to talk to her, even when I didn't. She always found the time and we had some nice talks."
Kim noticed that her mother had a distant, happy look on her face. No doubt she was remembering some conversation with her mother. Kim wondered if someday she might have the same look on her face when she thought about their Saturday morning chat sessions.
"Anything in particular you wanted to talk about?" she asked after a few moments.
"Humm, let's start with School?"
"Aces on that front," Kim said enthusiastically. "Grades are solid; no problems with anybody…except Bonnie…who's a pain…but that's just standard Bonnie so no big."
"All right then, Cheer-squad."
"Solid. No one's moving. The new senior squad uniforms are way nice. We have some super sharp new routines for next year. The regional cheer competition will be ours!"
Mrs. Possible put her elbow on the table and rested the side of her head on her fist. As she looked at her daughter a mischievous smile came to her lips. "So, how's your love life?"
"Mom," Kim half shouted, her expression somewhere between embarrassed and amused.
"What dear?" her mother asked, her face the picture of innocence. "Besides, I hear you have a new boyfriend," she continued teasingly.
Kim had played this game with Monique too many times to be thrown off balance for long. She gave her mother a look of mock indignation. "I do not!" she said. "I have the same old boyfriend I've had for … well, weeks now!"
"Goodness, weeks you say," her mother said with a chuckle. "I keep forgetting that weeks is a long time these days. So how are things going with you and Ron?" she asked in a more serious tone.
"Super! Ron and I always get along."
"True, but dating is new territory for the two of you."
"Not all that new. I mean Ron and I have dated other people."
One look at her mother convinced Kim that her answer was pretty lame. Kim stared into her cup for a few seconds. "OK, Sure, that really doesn't mean much. I mean dating Ron and dating Josh are different on every level. I mean Ron's still Ron, … sometimes a little too much, but it's different… He's bigger now."
"Ron's bigger?"
"Don't ask me to explain that because I have no idea what I mean."
Mrs. Possible looked thoughtfully at her daughter for a moment. "Actually Kimmy I think I know exactly what you mean."
Kim looked up at her mother. "You do?" Kim sounded surprised. "Could you maybe explain it to me?"
"Well dear, dating is a pretty big step. It adds whole new dimensions to a relationship. You and Ron are spending more time together, thinking about each other more, and I imagine thinking about each other a bit differently."
"Differently like?"
"O, let's say…Romantically? Like a kiss goodnight instead of 'See you tomorrow Ron.' Holding hands at the movies. Quiet talks or walks in the park when it seems like no one else is around even if there are people everywhere but you just don't notice them because you're with that special guy." Mrs. Possible sipped her tea. "What I mean is your relationship with Ron has grown, he's taking up more space in your life, so he seems bigger. I imagine he feels feeling the same way about you."
"Actually I think Ron's still trying to get used to the idea that we're dating." Kim said in an exasperated tone.
"Still calling in the middle of the night?"
"Yes." Kim gave her mother a pained look. "I mean I can understand it a little. It all seemed sort of unreal, even to me at first, but it's been weeks!"
"Give him time dear. It's only natural to feel a little insecure with a new relationship."
Kim looked at her mother and a dozen emotions appeared on her face in rapid succession. She started to say something but stopped and went back to staring into her cup. "Ron does have some insecurity issues," she said after a moment.
'Aha,' Mrs. Possible thought. She had been pretty sure that something was bothering Kim and now she had her first clue. Was she having second thoughts about dating Ron, or was she worried that Ron was having second thoughts about dating her?
"You know Kim, it wouldn't be all that unusual for you to feel a little insecure as well," she said quietly.
"What, me!? No way mom! Ron and I are a rock solid team on and off the field. I mean he isn't the type to just walk up and dump me for no reason, or walk up and say 'Let's go back to being just friends or…well anything like that!"
Mrs. Possible noticed that what had started as a confident denial had finished with the slightest note of uncertainty.
"But?"
"No buts at all." Kim said cheerfully. " Even if I wanted to find something to worry about it would have to be something crazy …like, Ron and I 'happened' so fast I should probably be a little worried that we might 'un-happen' just as fast." Kim paused for a moment then gave her mother her most confident smile. "Pretty silly, right?"
"Well it's true that people who fall into relationships fast tend to fall out of them just as fast but…"
"You think Ron and I might un-happen!?" Kim interrupted.
The look on Kim's face was enough to convince Mrs. Possible that she had found what was bothering her daughter.
"No, No Kimmy, not at all," She said hurriedly. "What I was going to say is that I don't think you and Ron happened as fast as you seem to think."
"Trust me mom, one second I was looking at Ron, best friend," Kim made a circle with her thumb and index finger and peered through it at an imaginary Ron, "and a couple of seconds later I was looking at Ron, boyfriend. Seemed pretty fast to me."
"Yes, I suppose it did," Mrs. Possible said warmly. She sipped her tea and appeared to be lost in thought for a moment. Finally she continued. "Do you remember the last time you and Ron watched The Six Tasks of Snowman Hank?"
Kim was briefly startled by the sudden shift in the conversation. "No, not really, she replied. "I mean Ron and I do that every year, or we did until it got canceled, but nothing really jumps out about last time."
"Well I remember it very well. As I recall, I was carrying something to the dinner table and I glanced over at you and Ron. You were sitting on the sofa wearing your red 'Christmas' sweater and Ron was wearing his white and blue cardigan. He had his head on your lap and was dangling his feet over the arm of the sofa and your arm was lying across his chest. You were talking about something and, well there was just a glow around the two of you, it just seemed so …"
"Mom," Kim interrupted, a slight blush visible on her face, "that was just Best Friend stuff!"
"Of course it was dear. I'm not saying it was romantic, or even intimate, but it seems to me that even then you two cared for each other very much." Mrs. Possible looked slightly embarrassed for a moment. "For the longest time after that I kept thinking that if Ron had just reached up and taken your hand it might have been the start of something pretty special … but he didn't."
"Mom, Ron and I've always been tight. I mean we've been best friends since pre-k. That sort of thing probably happened all the time."
"But that's just what I mean dear. You and Ron have been best friends for most of your lives, and every day that friendship has gotten a little bit stronger. I could be wrong dear, but it seemed to me that both of you had been right on the edge of taking the next step for quite a while."
Both of them sat for a time thinking their own thoughts.
"Kim, if it isn't too personal, what happened between you and Ron at Bueno Nacho Headquarters?"
Kim looked uncomfortable for a second. "Well it was way personal, but I guess it's no big secret," she said after a moment. "Long story short, got there, started fighting our way through Drakken's goons, got blindsided by his pet syntho-drone Eric, got captured." Kim paused to take a sip of tea and gather her thoughts. "You know, I've never talked about this to anyone. I mean it's one of those moments I'll remember to the day I die but it doesn't sound that big. Well anyway, after we got captured I decided to have a pity party for myself. I turned into a big whiny baby, Drakken has finally won, whine; Maybe I should have stuck to baby-sitting, whine, whine; I can't believe I dated a syntho-drone; whine, whine, whiiiiiiine."
Kim stopped talking as she felt her face reddening. She realized that she had let the story carry her away and had said more than she normally would have. She wasn't used to admitting to even momentary weakness, except to Ron. She began fixing herself another cup of tea to give herself time to gather her thoughts again and relive the events of that evening in her mind. She was surprised at how clear the memories and the feelings still were. Finally she continued, "Well, Ron wasn't having any of that. He was all: Drakken hasn't won; get your head in the game and … Eric wasn't right for you anyway. Then, well he more or less said he wanted to start dating … me … and suddenly … everything was alright again." Kim stopped and wiped at her eyes. "I can't believe I'm getting all misty eyed about it."
"But anyway suddenly Eric was just some 'thing' that Drakken used to play me and sure Drakken and Shego had the upper hand but Ron and I would take care of it … just like we always do. No big."
"What ever happened to Eric? I didn't see him on the news when they were arresting Drew and his henchmen."
"Mom could we maybe never mention the name Eric again. I mean I went to the prom with a bag of programmable slime."
"Don't let it bother you dear, he fooled everybody. Honestly, you got off pretty easy; a lot of girls have an Eric in their past and weren't smart enough or lucky enough to get rid of them on the first date."
Kim looked questioningly at her mother. "Mom, Eric was an 'it,' not a 'he'! I'm the only girl in the world that ever went on a date with a syntho-drone; Believe me that's one distinction I could have done without."
"True dear, he … I mean 'it' was a little more fake than most, but a lot of real boys aren't much better. You know what I mean, he was everything you thought you should be looking for in a boy: tall, handsome, charming, said all the right things, did all the right things, Top of the Food Chain. If he had been human it might have taken you a lot longer to find out how phony he really was … and it could have been a lot worse."
"Top of the Food Chain," Kim said angrily. "Just who decides where you fit in this supposed food chain anyway?"
"Television and movie producers, or maybe it's the directors."
"Television and movie producers?"
"Of course."
Kim's expression went from confused to perplexed. "Not really understanding."
"Well, how often have you seen a movie or television show where the leading man was short, bald, married and had four children?"
"Ahhh, Pretty much never."
"Exactly. The lead actors are always tall, handsome, charming, say all the right things, do all the right things, etc. After a lifetime of watching that you're pretty much conditioned to believe that that's what you should be looking for too, and there you have your Food Chain."
"Great, now I'm one of Pavlov's dogs. You know, I think I'm going to take the Food Chain and put it next to my copy of 'The Unwritten Rules' and the idea that wearing 200 dollar athletic shoes will make you a star athlete and popular too."
"Good plan dear. So let's see if I understand." Mrs. Possible made a circle with her thumb and finger and peered through it. "On the one hand you had just found out that tall, handsome Eric was as phony as can be, then Ron said he wanted to start dating," she shifted the circle over a few inches, "and maybe you saw a warm, caring, sincere boy that you already cared for quite a bit … and instead of thinking best friend you thought … boyfriend, and suddenly the whole dating and relationship thing came into focus?"
"Well, yea, I guess that is sort of what happened," Kim said with a distant, happy look on her face.
"So maybe the reason it seems like you and Ron happened so fast is that all you remember is the Magic Moment?"
"Magic Moment?"
"You know what I mean Kim," Mrs. Possible sounding surprised. "The Magic Moment when the Swan turns back into a handsome prince or the Beast turns back into … well whoever he was before he became the Beast." Mrs. Possible looked at Kim and smiled, "Or maybe the moment when a lifetime of friendship, trust, and caring turns a best friend into a boyfriend."
"I guess..." Kim started to speak but stopped. She sat for a time, her eyes focused on nothing in particular. Mrs. Possible sat quietly as well, not wanting to interrupt whatever thoughts Kim was thinking. Finally Kim seemed to come back to herself. She quickly wiped at her eyes before looking at her mother. "You know, looking back I can sort of see what you mean. It's like all of the pieces were in place but they hadn't come together yet."
"It can happen like that Kim, and sometimes after all the pieces come together things can seem so different that we forget how much lead up to it."
They sat silently again. After a while Kim looked pointedly at the kitchen clock. "Well, I guess I should-"
"Actually Kimmy there is one other thing we need to talk about."
"What's that mom?"
"Sex."
"Sex?"
"Yes dear, sex."
"Sex as in …?" Kim's began blushing furiously. "Because if you mean me and Ron that's soooo not a problem," she continued quickly. "What I mean is it's not on the agenda any time soon … and by soon I mean we're nowhere anywhere near anything like … I mean years away … I mean we may never be anywhere near …"
"Of course dear," Mrs. Possible said calmly. "I'm not saying anything's imminent, but you do see that it's a good idea to have these talks before they become important rather than after?"
"Well, I mean I can see what you mean but … didn't we have this talk before?"
"Yes dear, we did, and we'll probably have it a few more times. Sex is a small word for a rather large subject. Besides, things have changed since the last time."
"Not that much!"
"Yes dear, that much. You're dating a boy you have a strong emotional attachment to. That makes a world of difference."
"I did get an A in Sex Ed," Kim said hopefully.
"I know, but what they teach in school only covers the mechanics."
"Mechanics?"
"You know what I mean, if you do 'A' you might wind up 'B'. All useful information of course but they leave out a lot."
"They leave stuff out?" Kim sounded both surprised and curious.
"Quite a bit actually. I've always felt that they should have made it a two semester course so it could include things like the nature of a romantic relationship."
"We usually cover that subject in the hall between classes," Kim quipped.
Mrs. Possible laughed, "That's how we handled it when I was your age. The trouble with getting your information that way is that you're getting it from people who probably don't know any more about it than you do."
"Yea, over the years I've heard some pretty interesting theories on what true romance really is."
"Probably because there isn't any one answer that works for everybody."
"Well yea, but wouldn't the same general ummmm, looking for a word here give me a second, … ummmm, ideas, emotions, hopes apply?"
"Not always dear. The answer is going to be different for everyone since everyone has their own idea of what to look for. Since there are a lot of people looking for that answer there can be a lot of very different answers."
"So everybody has to find the answer that works for them … and I have to find what works for me?"
"Exactly. The thing is that most romantic relationships have both an emotional and a physical aspect, with emotions being the most important, at least to me. 'Love at first sight' or thinking a boy is 'Hot' is pretty much your hormones doing your thinking. Just so you know Kimmy, hormones are not good at thinking," she said seriously. "Emotional attraction can be a lot harder to see at first because it usually happens slowly. I suppose the best way to describe it is when you discover that the more you get to know someone the more you want to spend time with them."
"But mom, that happens with just regular friends too. I mean the more I get to know Monique the more I like her and I like hanging out with her a lot but I'm not going to ask her to the prom or anything!"
"You're right Kim, it applies to friendship too, but romance has a lot to do with friendship. It's a friendship that occurs at a different level because there's an element of physical attraction, or maybe I should say that it can grow past normal friendship and even best friends. Think of it as maybe Best Friends times two."
"So does Best Friends times two equal Love?" Kim asked with a smile.
"Sometimes. I always think of love as best friends that want to spend the rest of their lives together."
"Yea, I guess that sounds about right," Kim said quietly. "So where do the girls who date guys because they're popular or because they're jocks fit in?"
"Well, I imagine they do it for status rather than romance. If you aren't romantically interested in someone there's no harm in dating off the Food Chain."
"So for them it's a case of finding the right accessory," Kim said with a laugh. "Right dress, matching shoes, and let's see … who will look good standing next to me?"
"Pretty much. But back on the subject of romance and how it relates to sex, the thing to watch out for is when your emotions and hormones start working together, well you can find yourself doing things that might not seem like such a good idea later."
"Tell me about it," Kim said ruefully. "I mean one minute you're … What I mean is that something like that can happen way too easy," Kim said after a moment. "I mean I've heard of it happening with other couples," she added quickly, "I wasn't talking about me and Ron."
"These 'Other Couples' didn't let things get too out of hand?" Mrs. Possible asked, a knowing look on her face.
"No, no nothing like that!" Kim looked at her mother and then looked back at the table as she felt herself start to blush. "I just heard that they … well … things went a little further than …," Kim looked at her mother and then looked back at the table, "Ron and I intended. But I mean just a little, little bit, So Not the Drama!"
"Hormones can be tricky little beasts Kim, at least until you learn to deal with them. It's kind of like driving a car dear. You can read about it all you want and watch all the safety movies but the first time you get behind the wheel you discover just how much you don't know."
Kim laughed in spite of herself. "Not a good comparison mom. I failed my first driving test!" After a moment she relaxed a little. "Ron and I both passed this one though," she said with a smile, "and after we realized that … things could get a little out of hand if we weren't paying attention, we talked it over and came up with a plan."
"You talked it over with Ron and came up with a plan?"
"Sure. We needed to make sure we were on the same page and we needed a way to … well, make sure we didn't wind up someplace we weren't ready to go."
"That sounds reasonable," Mrs. Possible said looking both surprised and slightly confused. She was trying to think of a delicate way to ask a few more questions when Kim started talking again.
"Just so you know mom, Ron and I have decided to take things slow, or to quote Ron, 'Getting in too much of a rush now would be like reading the last chapter of a great mystery / suspense novel first. Sure, you'd go back to the beginning and read the rest of the book but it would have lost most of the mystery and all of the suspense.'"
"That makes a great deal of sense … I think," Mrs. Possible said uncertainly.
"I know what you mean. I mean it sounds right but if you actually stop to think about it it either doesn't make any sense or it's pretty subtle."
"Subtle?"
"Well it could mean that the mystery and suspense are part of the total experience and if you skip to the end you're missing something important." Kim shrugged, "Or maybe it just sounds good, but whichever it is, it works for me."
"So how do you plan to avoid fast forwarding to the end?"
"Well at first we thought about taking turns, ahhh, keeping the brakes on. I'd be responsible on even numbered days and Ron would be responsible on odd numbered days, but that seemed a little bit iffy so we decided we'd both be 100 percent responsible everyday day."
"Well, the second plan sounds better but it still seems a little iffy dear. A lot of good intentions can get forgotten in the excitement of the moment."
"Tough but doable!" Kim said firmly. "Besides its way better than Ron's plan," she said sarcastically.
"Really, what was Ron's plan?"
"Ron wanted to have Wade whip up a couple of bracelets to monitor our pulse. If our combined pulse rate went too high it would set off alarms."
"Alarm bracelets?" Mrs. Possible looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know Kim that really wouldn't be -"
"Mom, they'd be going off all the time!" Kim protested. "On missions," she added quickly when she saw the look on her mother's face.
"Well yes, I suppose they would, but still -"
"Mom, the current plan is working fine … for now."
Mrs. Possible glanced at her kitchen clock. "Goodness, where'd the time go?"
Kim shot a quick look at the clock. "Ahhh, I'm so late!" she yelled. She started to get up but stopped and looked quickly back at her mother.
"Go ahead, we can finish up this conversation another time."
"There's more?"
"Volumes," Mrs. Possible said with a laugh.
As Kim was leaving she turned back and looked at her mother. "Mom, was this one of those times when I needed to talk to you and didn't know it?"
Mrs. Possible stopped gathering the dishes and gave Kim a warm smile, "It's hard to say, that's why it's always a good idea to have these chats once in a while. Now run along and have fun, and don't forget to be back in time to do your share of the housework."
……………………………………………………………………………………………
Mrs. Possible carried two baskets full of neatly folded laundry, one stacked on the other, into the living room. 'Lazy man's load,' she thought to herself, 'too lazy to make two trips so you carry twice as much.' She set baskets on the floor and picked up the top one again. 'Kim, Jim and Tim go through a lot of clothes in just a week. Of course James and I would too if we didn't have to have everything dry-cleaned.' She stopped and placed the basket back on the floor, took a pen and paper out of her pocket and quickly scribbled dry-cleaning on her 'to do' list. As she picked up the basket and started for Jim and Tim's room she heard quiet voices coming from Kim's room. She thought for a moment then set the basket of Jim and Tim's clothes down again and picked up the basket with Kim's clothes. When she reached the top of the stairs to Kim's room she saw that Kim and Ron were laying sideways across Kim's bed looking at several brightly colored flyers scattered at various locations on the floor. She was happy to see that they had taken off their shoes and, she admitted to herself, a little relieved that that was all they had taken off.
"Kim, Ron, I didn't hear you come in," she said cheerfully.
"I shouted."
"I must have been in the laundry room."
Kim shot a look at her alarm clock. "I thought laundry was later?"
"I was there, it was there, it seemed like a good time to get started on it. The next thing I knew I was folding."
"Morning Mrs. Dr. Possible," Ron said with his usual enthusiasm.
"Good morning Ron. What's all this?" She asked as she gestured at the flyers with her chin.
"Travel brochures from the mall. Ron's going to kidnap me and carry me off to a tropical paradise!" Kim said happily.
"Oh, is he now!" Mrs. Possible said trying to sound stern. She tried to give Ron her intimidating 'mother' look but wound up smiling in spite of herself.
Ron smiled back. "Somehow I think I'm losing the element of surprise," Ron complained.
Kim turned back toward Ron. Since he had turned his head to talk to her mother their faces ended up only inches apart. Instead of pulling back to 'best friend" distance she leaned closer until their foreheads touched. "I promise to be surprised!" she said, and gave him a quick, impulsive kiss before pulling back a few inches.
Ron blushed slightly. "Works for me."
"So have you found a nice spot?" Mrs. Possible asked quickly to remind the two teenagers that they weren't alone. She was pleased to see them both turn their attention to the pamphlets scattered on the floor although she was pretty sure that Kim had scooted a little closer to Ron so that now their shoulders were touching.
"Well, right now we're just sorting them into types," Ron said.
"Types?"
"Uh-hu, In this pile we have Hawaii and Hawaii like places."
"Too touristy," Kim sang.
"Arrrrgh." Ron looked at Mrs. Possible. "Tell her there's nothing wrong with
being a tourist!" he pleaded.
"Kim, there's nothing wrong with being a tourist," Mrs. Possible said promptly.
"Except all the other tourists," Kim replied. "If I'm going to be kidnapped I want to spend my time … hummm … sunning on nearly empty beaches, drinking fruit drinks with those silly umbrellas in them, looking at beautiful scenery, and planning which nice restaurant to have dinner at … without elbowing my way through a mob to do any of it."
"Hawaii isn't that crowded and it has everything," Ron said as he pointed to a group of flyers. "Super beaches, incredible scenery, five star restraints, snorkeling, scuba diving, hang-gliding, hiking, Bueno Nacho-"
"Moving along," Kim cut him off, "we have the Caribbean." She reached down and grabbed a group of travel flyers. "Incredible beaches, crystal clear water, super restaurants, and a little more sophisticated lifestyle."
"Which is exactly my point!" Ron said. "It's all geared toward the 22 to 35 crowd."
"Gee, no squealing little kids running up and down the beach with drippy ice-cream cones."
"Ya know Kim, it wasn't that long ago we were those squealing little kids dripping ice-cream on the beach. Seemed like pretty good times to me."
"Yea, they were." Kim's face softened slightly. "OK, I'm not saying there isn't a place for that sort of thing I just …" Kim thought for a moment then smiled brightly at Ron, "I officially give Hawaii and all Hawaii like places to the squealy drippers as their personal sand box!" she declared.
"Mighty nice of you," Ron said dejectedly.
"I thought so." Kim replied happily.
"Any other options?" Mrs. Possible asked.
"Well, we have the Southern Florida group." Ron pointed to another group of flyers on the floor. "Trouble is it's geared toward either spring break or the retirement crowd."
"Over here," Kim pointed to a much smaller pile of pamphlets, "We have the ultra exclusive, one private beach per guest and bungalow built on poles over your private lagoon, hot and cold running everything Rock Star / Billionaire Resort. They even provide a butler and maid if you don't have a pair of your own. O, and if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it."
"And last, but not least we have the places that don't fit in with the other places but are probably real nice anyway … like Fiji, and ummm some place I can't pronounce and uhhh some other place I can't pronounce. But they seem really nice," Ron finished.
"Well they all sound very nice," Mrs. Possible said pleasantly. Despite her casual attitude she was a little concerned. With any other teenagers a quick trip to a tropical paradise would just be a fantasy to kill some time on the weekend, but with Kim and Ron she wouldn't be all that surprised to see suitcases being packed. "But even if you leave right after you get your Saturday chores done I doubt if you'd have time for anything except a quick dip before you had to start heading back to be in time for school," she said.
"Mom, on the scale of none to fun, chores are about this fun," she held her thumb and forefinger so that they were barely separated. "School is about this fun," she held her fingers about an inch apart. "Me, Ron, and a tropical paradise are about," Ron ducked quickly as Kim stretched her hands as far apart as she could reach.
"No doubt they are dear but on the scale of importance, school is about here," she held her hands as far apart as she could reach. "Getting your chores done is about here," she held her hands four inches apart. "You, Ron, and a tropical paradise are about, well let's see," she held her hands where they were almost touching but after a moment moved them until they were almost a foot apart, "I guess about here."
Kim's lower drooped and her eyes suddenly appeared twice their usual size. "But mommm," she said in a childish voice, "I really want to go to a tropical paradise."
"I know you do dear but I'm afraid you're going to have to wait for summer vacation, or at least a four day weekend."
Kim turned back to Ron and buried her face into his shoulder. "Everybody's being mean," she pouted. "Whimper, sniffle."
Ron leaned his head against hers. "It's OK Kim. Someday we'll go to all these places," he said comfortingly.
Kim looked up, her face only inches from Ron's. "Ron, I was only playing," she said, blushing furiously.
"I know," he said, "I'm not. Someday we will go to all these places and not on a mission either."
"Ya big goof." She pulled back slightly from Ron just long enough to put her arm across Ron's back. "What am I going to do with you," she asked as she leaned back in slowly closing the distance between their lips.
"Ahumm!" Mrs. Possible cleared her throat loudly. The distance between Ron and Kim's lips increased instantly. "Since you're here anyway why not get an early start on your chores? The sooner you start, the sooner you finish."
Kim gave the stack of travel flyers one last look, sighed, then turned toward her mother and gave her as sharp a military salute as she could while laying on her side. "Can do, mom! What's left on the list?" she asked as she started to gather up the flyers.
"Well, laundry is pretty much done so that leaves dusting, fixing lunch, the bath room and … How about you start by going a couple of rounds with your arch foe?"
"Doctor Drakken?"
"No dear I meant your other arch foe, the vacuum cleaner." Mrs. Possible chuckled.
"Aaargh, not the evil vacuum cleaner," Kim wailed and promptly buried her face in the mattress.
"You have vacuum cleaner issues?" Ron asked.
"It's evil!" Kim said emphatically, her voice muffled by the mattress.
"I thought you said the blender was evil?"
"The vacuum is possessed by evil spirits; the blender is pure evil in the form of a kitchen appliance!"
"Yeaaa," Ron said slowly, "just what kind possessed are we -"
"It's a self-propelled kind of evil," Kim cut in. "You've seen the commercials where some lady is vacuuming with just two fingers? Well, I have to use both hands just to stop ours from eating the drapes, or chewing the legs off the coffee table, or running over a lamp, or … well who knows what it would do if it ever got loose."
"Look on the bright side," Mrs. Possible said, "once you get the vacuuming done it will make the dusting seem so much easier."
"Somehow that doesn't cheer me up much mom." After a moment Kim looked up at Ron. "You know Ron, we could be out of here a lot quicker if soooomeone helped me."
"Yeeeea, but as I recall the last time I tried dusting it didn't turn out so well!"
"Dusting is not an option!" Kim said quickly as she remembered her father's broken bowling trophy.
"Right, and while I might be able to exorcise the evil from your blender I'm not so sure about vacuum cleaners."
"Hummm. Let's see, let's see, let's see. Mom if Ron were to fix lunch could we maybe split the dusting?"
"Ron fix lunch?"
"Sure. Le Ron has the crazy mad cooking skills!"
"I seem to recall you having mentioned that. How about this, if Le Ron is willing to fix lunch I'll split the vacuuming with you."
Kim turned quickly back to Ron and grabbed the front of his shirt. "You're willing to fix lunch!" she told him.
"KP"
Kim thrust her head against his shoulder. "Please, please, please!"
"Lunch, right, got it covered!"
"Yes!" Kim yelled, thrusting a clenched fist full of pamphlets into the air, "I've already won half the battle and we haven't even started!"
Both teens sat up and started putting their shoes on. Ron glanced at the pamphlets then back to Kim. "KP, I'm thinking since we aren't going tropical any time soon, maybe we should give some thought to a couple of rounds of Mini Golf followed by Bueno Nacho?"
"Humm, well it's not exactly the tropics but … Dibs on the red ball!"
"Ohhh, sneaky. I dibs the"
"Blue ball!" Rufus said as he shot out of Ron's pocket and scampered up to his shoulder.
"Aw man now all the lucky colors are gone!"
"Shoulda dibsed faster." Kim said giving Rufus a wink.
"Hey, we dropped one," Ron said. He picked the flyer off the floor and studied in closely for a moment. "Another one I can't pronounce … Wait, I know this one; it's the place from the song!"
"The song?"
"You know the song in the movie!"
"Well that narrows it down." Kim said sarcastically.
Ron began humming to himself as they started down the stairs leading to the rest of the house. When they got to the bottom he turned to Kim and started singing off key.
"Aruba, Jamaica ooo I wanna take you
Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama"
Kim smiled and joined in.
"Key Largo, Montego baby why don't we go" (Kokomo © The Beach Boys)
Mrs. Possible smiled as she put away the last of Kim's clothes. 'They make such a cute couple,' she thought to herself.
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Hours later Mrs. Possible walked back into the kitchen and gave it a quick visual check. She had been surprised when Kim and Ron had volunteered to tidy it up after lunch and was now equally surprised that they had done such a good job. 'Just enough time to relax a bit and get reorganized before the boys show up,' she thought. With a little help from the microwave she soon had a steaming cup of tea. She sat at the kitchen table and pulled out her to-do list. All that was left was the dry-cleaning, yard work, and a few minor chores for the twins. She took out her pen and made a quick note to get Ron's recipe for tuna noodle casserole. After a moment she made a mental note to have another long talk with Kim next weekend. 'Somehow Kim didn't seem to understand that having your best friend in your bedroom was one thing but now Ron was solidly I the boyfriend class; Lying on the bed with your best friend was clearly different from lying on your bed with your boyfriend; and laying on your bed kissing? Waaaay too easy for the hormones to get out of control, even for them … or especially for them since they're already so close.'
She was halfway through her tea and had added a few things to her list when her cell rang. She fished it out of her pocket and flipped it open.
"Hello."
"Sweetheart, how are things at the house?" Mr. Possible asked.
"Getting there. With a little help from you and the boys the Possible Mansion should be livable for another week. O' before I forget could you stop off and pick up the dry cleaning on your way home."
"Aaaah, little problem on that front."
"Problem?"
"Well, the launch went great."
"Jim and Tim's?"
"O, right, the XJ-22. Seriously dear, I couldn't have done better myself. The boys beat their old altitude record by over a thousand feet!" Mr. Possible said excitedly.
"That's wonderful, dear!" Mrs. Possible said calmly.
"Yea, our boys are something to be proud of! Anyway, when the rocket motors shut off she nosed over and started gliding back to the launch coordinates, as planned. The parachutes deployed exactly at 300 feet."
"So far so good."
"Right, everything was fine up to that point. But … well, apparently the boys didn't realize that sewing old bed sheets together wasn't the way to make a parachute," he said with a note of disapproval. "Well, anyway the parachutes pretty much confettied as soon as they came out-"
"Confettied?"
"O' sorry dear. That means they pretty much tore themselves to pieces as soon as the air caught them. But anyway, they slowed the XJ-22 just enough so that there wasn't enough air moving across the control surfaces, which of course rendered them ineffective and well, anyway … it dropped like a rock."
"No one was hurt were they?"
"O' no, no, nothing like that," Mr. Possible said quickly, "I insisted we use a launch bunker, just in case something went wrong, which turned out to be a good idea."
"So I take it there was a little delay while you gathered up the pieces?"
"Pieces?"
"From the XJ-22."
"O, the XJ-22 is fine, well except for a little damage to the nosecone; the car absorbed most of the impact!"
"The car? Our Car?!"
"Well, uh, yes. My fault really. I should have found a bunker big enough to put it in. But on the good side … remember how we always wanted a convertible when we were in college? Well, we're halfway there!"
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Later, after a second cup of tea and some major editing of the to-do-list, Mrs. Possible called Kim.
"Mom?" Kim sounded surprised.
"Sorry to cut your date short Kimmy but something came up and I'm going to need a little more help around the house."
"Nothing serious?"
"No dear, well, we'll be driving a rental for a couple of weeks but nothing we haven't dealt with before."
"Dad was in an accident? No, wait, the Tweeb's rocket, right?"
"Something like that dear."
Kim sighed. "OK mom. I'm getting slaughtered at Mini-Golf anyway."
"No rush, finish up your game and remember to congratulate Ron if he wins."
"What Ron? Rufus is four under par and we're still on the front nine!"
Mrs. Possible chuckled. "Well congratulate Rufus then. O', mow or edge?"
"Mow. At least then I get to drive something; you know mom, if I had a car …"
"Nice try dear, but you're going to have to wait a bit longer before you get your own car."
Kim sighed again. "See you in about thirty minutes."
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Mrs. Possible stopped and checked her reflection in her bedroom mirror. 'Let's see, shorts, blouse, tennis shoes, gloves, glasses and hat,' she thought to herself, 'ready for yard work.' As she turned away from the mirror and headed for the garage she remembered her thoughts from earlier in the day. "Saturday at the Possible house really is like no other day of the week."