Kim Possible and related characters are the property of Walt Disney

I spent a day this summer a with a broken down central cooling unit; it was 96 degrees inside. Naturally this came to mind.

GO, CHRISTMAS, GO!

It was Christmas Day at the Go house, that meant too much paper, too many presents, and way too much money spent. Mom had worked evenings at Grinnich's Department Store all of November and December, and would for most of January. Daddy would be taking every moment of overtime possible for the next few months. Fortunately it was the cold and flu season. There would be plenty of work for the iron man.

The kids had done their part also. The long agonizing wait to see Santa, the torturous good behavior, the endless Christmas Eve Mass. All that was now rewarded by a huge pile of presents carefully handed out by the beaming parents.

"Here's another for Sasha."

The little girl grabbed the box with a zeal matching any of her brothers. She tore at the wrapping paper. A crown sparkled on the doll in the box. "Picture Perfect Princess."

"Every little girl wants one." Mom smiled. "It was not that easy for Santa to find."

Sasha stood up so she could whisper. "I know there's no such thing as Santa. I just pretend for the twins. Thanks, Mom."

"You're welcome."

Sasha looked around as she opened the box to remove the doll. Mike was strumming his new guitar, dreams of superstardom playing before his eyes. The twins were enjoying the boxes, while their presents risked being thrown out with the discarded wrapping paper. Hank was picking up some trash to make room for the next round of gifts.

Every girl wants one. I didn't. The Princess had the same huge Lavender eyes as in the t.v. show that all her class mates watched. They talked about it a lot, enough to make her sick. Who cares about parties and boys?

She finally got the bindings undone. There was a comb and mirror. They were magic in the show. The mirror could see inner beauty, so it had a sticker of the Princess's face on it. She began to brush the long blond hair.

"I don't have blond hair." Sasha muttered.

"Wow! Thanks, Mom, thanks, Dad!"

Hank had opened a huge box. There was a man and a horse. Then she saw the bags of armor. "Sir Havoc! Just what I wanted! Thanks…Santa!"

"Oh come on, Hank, you know he doesn't…"

"That's enough, Mike." Daddy looked at him sternly.

"Yes, sir." Mike returned to his playing and his dreaming.

Sasha watched Hank assemble the armor. He was so clumsy and he didn't even know the names for the pieces. They aren't gloves, they're gauntlets. But he soon held up a figure in gold armor.

"Behold, I am Sir Havoc! Knight of the Realm! Defender of the Faith! Protector of the Weak! Fear me, ye evildoers!"

Hank put the knight on his horse and charged around as Sasha continued to comb the Princess's hair. She did not want to disappoint Mom. The Princess had been hard to find. There had even been t.v. news stories about that.

"Sasha, there's something else for you."

Daddy put a box in front of her. It was as big as the one Hank had opened. She carefully set the Princess aside on her box as she began to tear the new one open. Her eyes lit up as she saw the label. Nakasumi. They only made one thing for this Christmas Season.

The scarred face grimaced at her. The armor was dark and in the gothic style. Good and spiky. This was the one she wanted. Why get a wimpy long sword when you could have the curved falchion? And he had the spiked ball on a chain. She loved that they called them 'Holy Water Sprinklers'.

The armor went on in a flash. She had studied armor in the books at the school library. Sister Francine had given up trying to shoo the girl away from the older kids' books. She knew all the terms: sallet, rerebraces, vambraces, poleyns, greaves and the rest. There was also not a weapon she could not name.

She stood up and looked into her Daddy's face. "Thank you." Then the whisper was very soft. "It's just what I wanted."

Sir Mayhem was in her right hand. She picked up Picture Perfect Princess in the other and pushed the knight against her.

"You're mine, Princess! HaHaHaHaHa!"

"Oh! Help! Save me!" she squealed, looking over at Hank.

"Fear not, Fair Maiden!" Hank was over in a flash. "Unhand her, you fiend!"

"Never!" Sasha grinned. "You will have to fight me!"

The knights crashed their horses into each other. Lances fell useless to the floor. Each child dismounted their man and equipped him for the melee. Hank chose long sword and shield; Sasha went for falchion and holy water sprinkler.

Nakasumi's design worked just like in the video game: any solid hit caused the struck piece of armor to fly off. Soon discarded armor littered the ground. The men were controlled by buttons on their backs, which allowed the two to create attacks and defenses. Sasha had watched Willis and Ricky, the rich kids at school, play with their knights for weeks. She knew all the moves.

"You will never have the Princess!" Hank was as melodramatic as ever.

"And who will stop me, you?" Sasha's eyes flashed as she launched a new set of attacks which took away all of Sir Havoc's leg armor. "You cannot defeat me. I AM EVIL!"

Daddy smiled and shook his head. Mom's eyes could not hide her concern over the way her daughter uttered those last words. She saw that concern, and for the first, and last time, Sasha Go threw a fight.

Havoc was bringing his shield around for a haymaker. The counter was obvious: move in and finish him with a upper thrust of the falchion. Instead Mayhem fell back, avoiding the shield but ending up a perfect target for the long sword. The sallet went flying.

"Ah, I am slain!" She was in her best acting voice. "All my evil plans ruined! Curse you, Sir Havoc!"

Hank grinned at his victory, and then was shocked when Sasha took the Princess and shoved her into Sir Havoc's arms.

"My hero!" Sasha made kissing sounds. "Now we will go to my Father and we'll have a big church wedding and lots and lots of babies!"

The parents clapped at the little production. Daddy looked up at the clock on the wall. "Well, I gotta go. Sasha, go get my coat, please."

While he went back into the bedroom for his gear, Sasha pulled the heavy coat out of the closet. She waited like a squire would for her knight.

He came back into the room. The smile was gone. His face was formidable, cracking just a bit when she came up to him. "Thanks. Now, you kids go to bed when Mom tells you. You have a whole week to play with your new toys, so I don't want any reports about kids staying up late."

Mom came up to Daddy. "I'll still be up; we haven't exchanged all our gifts yet."

Now his game face broke down completely. "I won't be late."

The kids came to hug Daddy. Then everyone crowded the bay window to watch him drive off. They cheered when he flashed the lights for them. The boys went back to their play, leaving Sasha in her corner standing on tip-toe. You could see another half second that way.

Snow was falling. She watched the tail lights vanish into the white.

Thanks, Daddy. You always get me what I ask for. But you can't get me what I really want. Hank says they're too soft to make it now, and they never made it for girls anyway. I want a uniform, and a badge…just like yours.

"Shego?"

"Huh?" Shego started as she leaned against the window of the car. "Sorry. I was somewhere else."

"Well, I'm glad you're back, we're on the verge of getting lost." Dr. Drakken hid his scowl. Sorry? Shego never apologizes, not even sarcastically. "I'm looking for Belleau Wood."

"Try France."

"Ha ha, very funny. The drive, not the restaurant."

"You dropped out before they could kick you out, didn't you? It should be the third left coming up."

"There's a map in the glove box."

"Look, I know Go City, all right?" The cross expression actually relieved Drakken. The apology had him rattled a bit.

"I don't want to be late, Shego. Professor Dementor has gotten rather fanatical about cookies as of late."

"Who's hosting this shindig again?"

"A would-be new super villain, Disaster Master. Can you believe the name?" They laughed together. "I hear he has some bank. You may want to see what you can see while we're there."

"Fine, but I'm not romancing. Get somebody else for that."

"Don't worry. If that ever comes up again I have a new series of BeBes that are just the ticket! Ah, here we are."

As they turned up the street the snow began to fall. Big, fat flakes. They called it 'Lake Effect Snow' and it would leave a foot or more by morning. Memories floated down to Shego with each flake. Memories of sledding at the park, of the snowball fights that she never lost. She remembered her Daddy's laughter, and her Mom's hot chocolate, NOT coco moo, that was made by melting real chocolate into sweetened cream. You could only have a little cup, but who could drink more than that? In the hyper-macho world she traveled in, she could never admit it: she loved that snow.

"Your mind's wandering again. Probably to whatever resort you're going to this year. When you're there, give a thought to those of us spending time lighting menorahs with Mother."

Who are you kidding? You adore her. And be glad you still have her. I can't even go to the cemetery, they're watching. Always. "Hey, it's called planning your vacation. You should do it sometime, Doc."

The rental cars were parked in the long curved driveway. Apparently this new guy had some green, if not much sense. What else would you say about someone who invited the world's most dangerous people over for a Christmas party? Drakken stopped the car and they got out.

"How do I look?" Drakken had a blue and white Santa cap on in addition to the usual blue lab outfit.

"Like always."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Drakken puffed his chest out. "Well, let's not stay out in the cold."

Shego hid her smile. "Before you do something dumb, Happy Holidays, Dr. D."

"Merry Christmas, Shego."