If your belief in Santa Claus is strong, please read responsibly.

I'm sure you will see more than a few references to different classic Christmas stories, but I hope the story itself is completely unique. This is my entry into Zaratan's Holiday Story Contest. I think this may be the first time I've entered a story into a contest that's not a one-shot. Hope y'all like it!

The wonderful disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, and any references to actual stories, movies, or products therin are not owned by me either.

Yes Kimberly, There is a Santa Claus

College graduation… Wow… They had actually made it! Both Kim and Ron were graduating from a prestigious school in the next 6 months, and neither of them could believe where the time had gone. In one moment, Kim was the lowest on the totem of the College's cheer squad and Ron was, well, Ron… and the next, Kim was the captain of the Cheer Squad, and Ron was… still Ron.

"Six months to go Kim… Can you believe it?" The young blond man (yes, MAN) was almost giddy at the prospect of actually graduating with a college degree. "I mean, who would have thought it Kim? I was voted 'Most Likely to Fail' in Freshman High School, and now I'm going to graduate from college with the most badical, beautiful GF in the whole wide world!"

Kim couldn't help but smile at her fiancé's enthusiasm. She also couldn't help but marvel at the fact that he was going to graduate with a double major of Business Admin. and Culinary Arts.

Did I just think fiancé? Kim thought to herself and smiled as she gave him a peck on the cheek, making Ron pause in his 'giddy moment'.

"What was that for Kim?" He asked with obvious surprise on his face.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Meh… just for you being you." Kim then smiled roguishly and scooted over to him as they sat on the couch in their off-campus apartment. "Now shall we practice a bit more for our wedding night?"

""Kim!" Ron said with obvious over the top shock. "I'm appalled… I thought we talked about cutting back on the Hanky Panky so that our wedding night would be extra special… And the Puppy Dog Pout will not change my mind. It makes things harder to resist… so much harder… but I want to stay true to our promise. Besides, it's Christmas Eve. I so wish the school started their break earlier so we could have left for home today, or even yesterday. And that last mission really torched our schedule. We need the rest tonight so we can make the drive and get home by noon tomorrow."

Kim sat there for a bit, still with the PDP in full force, and finally the corners of her lips curled up into a smile. "That was a test… and you passed with flying colors. Congratulations. You get… a kiss." She then leaned over and planted a kiss on Ron's lips that made his toes curl. Unknown to Ron, the toe-curling was mutual.

"Now…" The red headed vixen said as she slid closer into the warmth of her boyfriend's body, "I'd like to talk about something important."

"Ron placed his arm around her shoulder pulling her in more. "What's up?"

"I know we've talked about children before, but with Christmas tomorrow, it got me to thinking about something." She took a deep breath, wondering how to approach this subject, as she had been dreading this for the last few weeks. Kim had been wanting to talk to Ron about this, and she knew it would be a touchy subject with her soon-to-be-husband.

She forged on, and Kim being Kim, she just laid it all out on the table. "I'd like to tell our children the truth about Santa Claus." The silence was almost deafening, and Kim absently wondered why the ticking clock on the wall was suddenly very loud.

"I… But I thought it… would be better to let them find out for themselves." Ron stammered out. This was one of the few things that Kim had said in their lifetime together that had utterly surprised him.

Kim took a deep breath. "Well… I think it would be better if we told them at a certain point so they don't believe in Santa too long. That way, they won't suffer any crippling trauma, and get mad at us for lying to them for so long."

Ron's jaw worked a bit, and then he thought of how to respond. "But if they find out on their own, then they will grow up realizing the importance of the belief. If we outright tell them, they might not ever believe in anything ever again."

Kim sat up straight. "I don't want our children growing up relying on gifts given to them until they are 16, Ron. I stopped believing when I was 7, and it never affected me." Without realizing it, Kim's voice was starting to rise.

"Belief is a strong thing Kim. I don't want our children to be raised in a family that doesn't believe in anything. Who are we to decide what they believe or not believe? Or when to believe in something and when to stop?" Now Ron's voice was starting to rise, and he also didn't realize it.

At this point the two young people, who thought they were in love, were now sitting apart from each other on the couch feeling a bit more than animosity towards each other. A simple discussion was spiraling out of control. This was the worst argument the two had had in a very long time, and this was an important one. It concerned the raising of their future family.

Ron crossed his arms, pushed himself back into the couch, and muttered something under his breath. "What did you say?" Kim asked in a dangerous tone, and her eyes narrowed.

"I said, maybe I don't believe we will have kids at all then." Kim was utterly shocked at this statement by her fiancé. "Maybe I should have listened to Mom all those years ago when she said I should marry a nice Jewish girl."

"Ronald Dean Stoppable…" At this point Ron knew there was going to be trouble. Kim only used his full name when she was really angry. "All I wanted to do was discuss the merits of revealing the true nature of Santa Claus, and you turn this into a… a Jewish thing? I thought we had gotten past that looong ago. If we haven't gotten past that yet, then I shouldn't have ever said 'Yes' when you asked me to marry you!"

Kim then stood, and stomped through the room to the front closet. She pulled out her coat, and opened the front door. A blast of cold air came in, making Ron shiver. But he wasn't shivering from the cold, it was the fact that the love of his life was standing at the front door angrier than she had ever been, looking like she was going to leave him for good.

"Where are you going?" He asked, and Kim's response was quick and sharp.

"Out. I don't know where yet."

"Well be careful. It looks like a storm is moving in. You know how these Midwest storms can be." The door slammed shut, and Ron turned up the TV as a warning had just come on.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, your local radar has picked up a line of snow storms coming off the Rocky Mountains that just might dump more than a foot of snow on the entire area. I would suggest that you all just stay home tonight, and huddle up with your significant other in front of a fireplace. It could get rough. So stay safe. We now return you to your evening movie, Sleepless in Seattle."

"This is not good." Ron said to himself. He suddenly missed his little pet Rufus more than ever now. The little guy had passed away just last year from old age, and it had deeply affected him. Kim was there to help him through, but he still felt lonely for the little guy at times, and this was definitely one of those times. Quickly he ran to the door, and pulled it open to yell at Kim and ask her to come back, but it was too late. He saw the tail lights of the Sloth disappear in the distance.

…x x x x…

Kim didn't know where she was driving, she just had to drive. Her tears were flowing, making it hard to see through the now blowing snow. She had the wipers going at full speed, and it wasn't helping much. The bright lights of the sloth were helping, but not much either, and she could barely see the edge of the road. When Kim realized where she was actually going, she paused.

"Why am I heading home?" Kim said to herself. "It's too far to drive in weather like this." She then cursed at herself for being so scatter brained, and flipped on the GPS on the dash. The screen was almost ominous.

"No Signal Acquired".

She then pressed a button that normally connects her immediately with her good friend Wade Load. All Kim saw on that screen was static. "Man… This must be some storm." She flicked on the radio, and finally found something on the AM dial.

"Folks, this looks a Century Storm. It's hitting fast, and hard, and it might stay for a while. So stay off the roads, and batten down the hatches."

Kim reached down to adjust the radio as it started to fuzz out a bit. Then out of the corner of her eye he saw something suddenly dart in front of the car. It looked like a dog or something, and she swerved to try and miss it. It was just her luck that the tires were on a sheet of almost pure ice, and the sudden change put the car into a sideways skid.

Quickly she remembered to turn in the direction of the skid, and Kim saw a steel guardrail heading right for her. Somehow the tires of the sloth gained traction, and she stopped just inches before hitting the barrier. Kim sat there for a bit gripping the steering wheel and breathing hard trying to get her nerves back. After only a few minutes she was able to steer the Sloth back onto the road. Kim knew that if she had crashed through that barrier, she most likely would have ended up in Mid-River.

"I can make it home, I can make it home." Kim said to herself as she drove down the road at a much slower pace. The headlights illuminated a sign up ahead, and she saw that it was the 'Welcome to Middleton' sign. "Huh… I didn't think I was on the road that long."

The rest of the trip to her house was uneventful, and Kim pulled up into the drive. She got out of the car, and went to the front door since the garage was closed to block out the cold wind. She rang the doorbell, and absently wondered why the front door was red. "I thought they repainted this last year?" She thought.

When no one answered the door after a few minutes, she shivered a little and pressed the doorbell again. This time she knocked as well. I know they're home.

She shivered a little more and waited a bit longer. Just when she was about to ring the bell again, the door finally opened, and Kim quickly slipped inside. "Thank-you Daddy. I was beginning to wonder if you would ever open that door."

Kim looked at her Dad, and then did a double take. The gray in his hair was gone. Then she noticed something else that was different. He wasn't looking at her. It was as if he was looking at the mirror in the foray with his brow furrowed a little. Then she heard him mutter, "Huh… Thought I saw something. Oh well."

Then Kim heard her mother call out. "Who was at the door Dear?" Kim turned, and once again she had to do a double take. Her mom looked so… young! Her hair was a bit longer and more rounded on the bottom, and she was wearing a white headband that she hadn't worn in years.

Her Dad shrugged. "No one I guess. I would have sworn I heard a knock. You heard it too, right?"

"Yes I did. Maybe it was the storm." Anne said, and Kim's Dad just nodded, not really responding.

"Mom? Dad?" Kim said with a shaking voice. "Is… is that really you? You look so… so…" Both of her parents then walked back into the kitchen as if they hadn't even heard her.

Suddenly a shrill voice yelled out from up inside her room. "Moooommm! Do I hafta wear this sweater tomorrow?"

She then heard her mother respond, "Oh Kimmie… Your Nana Possible knitted that for you for our yearly family skit this year! Since she will be here tomorrow, you do have to wear it"

Then Kim's jaw dropped again, but this time it fell all the way to the floor. There bounding down the stairs from her bedroom, wearing a hand-made Nana Possible Original Sweater, was non-other than a spitting image of herself when she was only 7 years old.

To be continued…

I guess you could call this a classic story with a definite Kim Possible style, and just a bit of whitem flair.