Birth, and Rebirth SI: Christmas Start, and Restart
Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. The original lyrics to the songs referenced in this story and the music are the property of the respective authors, artists and labels. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time).
This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.
Enjoy! Thank you in advance for reading, and please review.
A/N Forward:
Christmas bunny plus music on the radio equals story that demands to be told.
This takes place the Christmas after "particles of hope, a Kim Possible story" and after the ends of both "BE,S 2: Training Table Blues" and "BE,S 9: Reality Happens". There is also a tie-in with kt's wonderful story "Mom, Me, and Mary", and there's a dab of Rocinante, as well (full disclosure is required, however: no skunk butts were roasted in the creation of this tale)
I had fun writing this, the betas had a blast amping it up (sometimes), and I hope you enjoy the read.
This story is dedicated to a certain 13-year-old who has rocked my world on several occasions. Merry Christmas, kt...giggle.
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Birth, and Rebirth SI: Christmas Restart
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chapter 1
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"Oh, Wonnnn-nieeeee?"
Ron Stoppable groaned inside. He just wanted to finish his snack and his review of his business plan, but Kim was back…again. He looked down at the final bites of the fresh, steaming Naco which had been delivered in less than 20 minutes and the third of the sandwich that remained from the plate Kim had brought him just after he ordered the Naco online.
Rufus had drooled when he saw Kim put the plate down. She had worked another pre-holiday culinary miracle, only this one was with a brisket that would have made Ron's great-grandmother smile. Kim had thinly sliced it after allowing it to rest and served it up on one mini and one full-sized ciabatta roll along with a slice of ice-cold tomato, a collection of chilled baby spinach leaves, horseradish, and some of that deep-smoked/fried turkey from the recipe she's managed to horn-swaggle from a Granite Chef. She smiled and handed Rufus the smaller of the two sandwiches "because you left me alone in the kitchen," she explained. He nodded his thanks, took the sandwich, and was now stretched out on the top of the couch, happily burping out mini-horseradish clouds.
"Uh-huh?" Ron Stoppable replied and looked up from what had become second-nature to him, over the years: multi-tasking with two different meals while reviewing important work. This was his business plan for his dream restaurant: he didn't need it for funding, but he needed it to make certain that he had everything covered. He was having a 'friend' review it for him, so he wanted it to be perfect.
After taking in the full view of the expression on his wife's face, he immediately wished he hadn't looked up.
She had the Puppy-Dog Pout on, full-power…again, for the umpteenth time this week.
"KP, for the last time: I'm not telling you what I'm getting you for Christmas," he slammed his eyes shut, hoping that the effects were temporary…this time.
He squinted a bit through one eye: he thought, hoped, and prayed that the PDP would be gone. It was going to be so the drama if it wasn't. Carefully, he opened his right eye all of the way before opening the left.
There, standing before him, was his smirk-filled wife, looking like a million. She also looked like the cat that had just swallowed the proverbial canary. "That's not what I wanted to ask you," she said, and there was something else that he couldn't quite put his finger on.
"I wanted to ask you if you'd come with me on a mission," Kim added, and Ron raised a single eyebrow in question. Inside his mind, he cringed: he was so not ready for yet another Club Banana shopping adventure. Three, in less than five days, was more torture than any man should have had to endure. He was positive that there was something about that in the Geneva Conventions. After all, torture was torture… even if Kim did do some modeling for him, he grinned, remembering the modeling…but, he shook his head to clear his thoughts as she continued to speak.
"To see Mary," she continued, and his mind stripped a gear…
Several gears, in fact.
That was not on his mental list of things that Kim would have rated over shopping this Christmas, but his decision was almost immediate: he nodded, standing from his desk and stepping over to Kim and kissing her cheek.
He now realized that she had been crying more than just a bit, so he took her into his arms. "It wasn't your fault we didn't go last year; who knew that that dam would crack in Alberta?" He felt her relax, but he then heard her sniffle. "I know," he continued, "I miss her, too. Who would have ever thought that someone that we knew for such a short time would have stolen our hearts so deeply, and for so long?"
"I certainly didn't," Kim smiled at Ron's comment as she responded into his shirt, and she lifted her head and kissed her husband on the cheek.
"When do you want to go?" he asked.
"I asked Wade to make sure we didn't have any Christmas surprises, this year," she replied. "So if something pops up he said he'd call Global Justice since Aunt Dr. Director still owes us a couple of favors. He also rubbed it in that I'm still getting emails from guys in that town, wanting copies of that picture of me in the Mrs. Claus outfit" she laughed.
"Aunt DP…sounds like a soft drink, cooked up in the South," he mused, and she swatted at him and laughed at the same time.
"The pictures: can't say as I blame them, Kim; you were a bon-diggity Mrs. Claus; even the kids thought so," Ron smiled fondly as he remembered her attire and received another kiss for his remark. "Ho, ho, ho, I guess Santa's been good this year," he added, and she gave him another kiss for that comment.
"How is our newest Mary doing?" he asked.
"I asked Wade to check up on her as well, since he knew the family better than I," she said, and Ron nodded.
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"Aggie?" Her soft lilt melted his heart, even after all these years…
"Yes, Mrs. Load?"
A snort came from the other room. "Have you seen the boxes with the ornaments that Daddy sent for us?"
"In the entryway closet, second shelf," Wade said after clicking a few keys.
"Thank you," she replied.
Listening, he heard her head for the closet. He smiled as he could see her walking away in his mind's eye. The image of her walk, and the view it provided, changed the smile into a full bore idiot's grin that kept getting bigger and bigger. 'Five months, and I'm still grinning like one,' Wade thought as he finished the final questions for the final exam that he had to give next Tuesday morning.
The wedding had been an event, the honeymoon had been the stuff of legends (or, so he believed…), but the marriage was true bliss, of that he was certain. 'I never knew why Dad was grinning so often, but now I know,' Wade thought. He had taken his Dad's 'bean advice' and, after five months, the gallon water jar he had in the closet in his study was over three-quarters filled with beans.
He was glad that they had waited until their wedding night, but he was certain that the rest of the guests on the floors below them at their hotel had thought otherwise. Over five months had passed since their honeymoon, and he was still getting emails from people he didn't know had been staying there, asking what Sweet Tea was, and how tea could ride anything.
He only showed Joss one email, and she had blushed deep red before running from the room, laughing with embarrassment.
He kept the rest to himself.
Some of them gave him some ideas that he just had to try...'but, I'll save those for our half-a-versary,' he grinned evilly.
The desk vibrated minutely for a moment: his own personalized email notification system. He saw the email originator, and his grin turned back into a happy smile. He clicked on it, opened it, and began to read, smiling even bigger as he read the contents. He quickly wrote a response and clicked 'Send'. His grin turned evil, once again, and he quickly appended a comment to his just-created response for another.
He had just clicked "Send" and closed the original e-mail when a soft knock came, and the door opened to his study.
Joss Load stepped in, and Wade whistled.
"What?" Joss asked.
"You, my bride, can make a sweatshirt and sweatpants look sensual," Wade grinned as she walked over to him and sat in his lap.
"You'd better keep that attitude, Mister, or Ah'm askin' Uncle James to borrow a deep space probe," she grinned back and kissed his lips.
"I'm so glad you agreed to marry me," Wade said.
"Hey, it only took you eight years to finally get around to doing it," she laughed.
"Well, you were 14 at the time, I was 13, so I think I have a legitimate excuse," Wade responded with a kiss and a squeeze of his own. "At least we didn't end up hanging off of a cactus," he added.
"We jus' spent our time snorting pine needles," Joss chuckled.
"Hey, I had nothing to do with drugs or your Nana," Wade replied with an innocent smile, but Joss' belly laugh response caused him to break into a soft laugh of his own.
"I got an email from our godson's parents," Wade continued, unsuccessfully ignoring her comment, and Joss grinned. "Powell and Peggy are doing fine, and Wade Joshua is being a holy terror," he added.
"And, that surprises you, why?" Joss replied. "Look at who he was named after," she added with a grin.
"Well, he does share our names," Wade shot back, and Joss replied with a raspberry.
"Peggy's little sister Mary is doing fine, as well," Wade continued, ignoring the barb. "Her son is doing wonderfully; Mary's back in high school, too, and doing well, according to both Peggy and Steve Barkin," he added with a big grin.
"I'm glad to hear that," Joss said, honestly. "So many girls have a tough time if they have kids while they're in high school, and it's even tougher when they don't have their parents to help them."
"Lucky for Mary, Peggy loves her little sister, and Powell loves having two little boys in the house, so she has a wonderful support system that she can rely on. And Wade Joshua loves having a little brother to dote on," Wade added.
"Trying to get the testosterone level up in the house, huh?" Joss joked, and Wade nodded with a smile.
"Wanna decorate our tree?" Joss asked.
"Our first Christmas tree," Wade whispered wistfully, and he leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I can't think of anything I'd rather do, and anyone I'd rather do it with," he added as he stood, lifting her in his arms and carrying her out of his study, down the hall, and into the living room. He stared at the seven-foot-tall evergreen, standing proud in their front window, and he couldn't help it...
He began to cry.
"Wade, what's wrong?" she asked as she slipped from his arms and stood in front of him.
"I'm so happy, Andrea Jocelyn Possible-Load," he added as he grabbed his wife squeezed her in a hug that said 'nothin' but love.'
"Do you have it?" she asked, pulling back and smiling at him.
"What?"
"The ornament, silly," she explained.
"What ornament?" he asked, still confused.
"The one Stephanie gave you, when you were eight: do you have it, or does your Mom still have it?"
"Oh, that old thing?" he replied, and she pinched his arm. "It's in the study on top of the bookshelf," he admitted. At that height, the small box was barely visible to a casual observer; but, to him, it was a daily reminder of someone who would always be a part of his life and, now, the life of his family.
"Well, go get it, Aggie: that needs to be the first thing on our tree, since she is the reason we're married," Joss smiled.
'The wife Stephanie would never meet,' he thought as he kissed Joss and ran back to the study, returning with the well-loved box. He took her hand, and they walked up to the tree. Kneeling in front of it, they both stared at the tree, looking for the perfect position.
"Here," Wade pointed, and Joss nodded. He opened the box and pulled out the worn tiny plaster-cast mask of a Greek king that Stephanie Watership had given him.
"It's Agamemnon, which in Greek means 'very resolute,'" Stephanie had told him when he opened the box the very first time. She had hugged him and then kissed his forehead and whispered "Merry Christmas, Wade Agamemnon Load," to him that day, so very long time ago.
As he grew older and studied more, he learned that she had made this from a picture of a mask that was purportedly Agamemnon from Greek mythology, but that didn't matter to him: that was the first and last Christmas he'd spent with Stephanie, and he treasured her gift. He hadn't been certain what Joss would think of it, but his fears had been quelled when she spoke, moments ago.
"I'm the luckiest man on the planet," he said to himself.
"I concur," Joss replied, kissing his cheek. "And, the cutest," she giggled.
"Don't start, Sweet Tea; we won't ever get this tree decorated," Wade warned.
Joss took the ornament from Wade's hand and placed it on the tree. "We're decorated," she announced, standing up and pulling Wade to his feet.
"Workout room?" Wade asked.
Joss nodded and purred a positive response, leaning over and licking Wade's ear. "You got it, my hunka-dark chocolate," she smirked, one that would have made Shego jell.
"I'm doomed, but what a way to go," he grinned as she led him to the master bedroom, closing the door behind him.
"Not again," the WadeBot said to no one. "You'd think they're a pair of bunnies," he groused, picking up stray pieces of tinsel.
"You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch," came from the sound system, and the WadeBot lifted its head and sighed.
"Gillian!"
The music stopped almost immediately, but he would have sworn he heard a certain young woman's giggle in the background as it snapped off.
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chapter now complete.
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A/N Afterward:
Started at 2:30, PM CST on Sunday 12/13/2009, completed at 9:50 PM CST the same day.
I';ll share some of the betas' comments at the end.
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