Disclaimer and Author's Notes: The series Kim Possible is wholly and legally owned by The Walt Disney Company and its subsidiaries. This is only a hobby of mine to keep my mind from decaying into a withered lump of mush. (It's happening anyway but writing slows the process.) Our teens are Seniors at Middleton High and Bonnie Rockwaller is lonely since Brick is off to college. She's thrown herself at Ron and he's balking. Plans are now in place to tear down the Food Chain with a demonstration of unity at school but first Bonnie must face her parents.

Bon Bon and the Food Chain

Chapter 10

Bonnie Rockwaller flitted about her new apartment of only one day, tidying things that didn't need to be tidied and making sure everything was spotless. Ron helped here and there when she asked but generally he sat on the sofa, watched and offered his assistance which was always shot down immediately with a, "I'll get that!"

"Bon Bon, the apartment looks good," Ron tried to assuage her qualms. "Why don't you take a minute and breath before you get dressed?"

Bonnie stopped in her tracks, glanced around the room one more time before she looked down at her bare body. "Oh Snap, I'm Naked!"

"Is that so bad?" Ron begged in slight confusion. "You told me you sit around bare bottomed out by your parent's pool all the time. That's a CFZ and so is the this place."

"The pool at home is," Bonnie yelled as she dashed into the bedroom and started digging through her closet for something to wear, "but inside the house isn't. When my parents get here they'll expect their rules to be fully clothed inside will apply here too!"

"But it's your apartment," Ron hollered back not moving from the couch and still naked as the day he was born. "You should be able to make your own rules shouldn't you?"

"You think so?" Bonnie pondered aloud as she stepped from the bedroom buttoning up a blouse. "I don't know. My parents are kind of overbearing and this is a totally unique situation for them... and me." She finally noticed Ron wasn't wearing anything, stamped her bare foot in panic and shouted, "Will you put your clothes on, they'll be here any second!"

"Anything you want Bon Bon," Ron shrugged and proceeded to get dressed. "So you only get naked in the house when the 'rents are off at a tournament?"

"Whenever they're out of town," the teal-eyed brunette said as she ducked back into the bedroom. "And don't call me Bon Bon around my parents Ron Ron. I'm trying to break them of that habit so you'd better back off for now too!"

"Yes Bonnie dear," Ron hollered back with a snicker to the brunette who was doing something in the bedroom that he couldn't figure out from the sounds that emanated from within. "Do you need some help in there?" Ron begged in concern when he heard a small crash.

"No no, I'm fine," Bonnie shouted back. "I meant to do that!"

"So why the bare feet?" Ron asked out of curiosity. "I mean you were barefoot on Friday when I came over and yesterday too."

"It's a bit of a protest against the 'rents," Bonnie hollered from the bedroom. "That, and I hate wearing shoes; Always have. Ever since I was small mom would make me wear sneakers even when I was swimming in the pool and slippers and socks when I went to bed. I had to have something on my feet all the time."

There was a light knock at the door and Ron looked over to the bedroom door before he shrugged and went to answer it. "Hi Mr. and Mrs. Rockwaller," Ron greeted the older couple, "come in. Bonnie's in the bedroom doing... something."

"Hi Ronald," Mr. Donald Rockwaller greeted the blond boy and shook his hand. "What are you doing over here? Is there a meeting of the cheer squad? Is Kim Possible with you?"

"Nope, Kim ain't here," Ron answered and stood to the side to allow the couple to enter the living room. "Bonnie and I got paired up in a class to write a paper is all."

"Oh, so Bon Bon hasn't come to her senses and married you yet," Mrs. Vonda Rockwaller stated, slightly disappointed. "Well, working on a project together is a start. It could lead you two to dating and maybe more."

"Mrs. R," Ron playfully chided the woman with a chuckled, "you know Kim and I are engage, don't you?"

"Yes, Bon Bon has mentioned you two are hot and heavy," Mrs. Rockwaller sighed, "but a mother can always hope and dream."

"Von Von dear, remember," Don Rockwaller berated his wife, "a watched pot never boils and a pushed daughter never marries."

"I know Don Don," Vonda sighed, "or they marry poorly."

"Hi mommy, hi daddy" Bonnie sunnily chimed as she stood in the bedroom doorway with her hands primly folded in front of her. She was dressed conservatively in a knee length puce skirt and lavender long sleeve shirt. The skirt was accentuated with the belt held by the ruby buckle and she wore the earrings and necklace too. The only thing amiss in her attire was her lack of shoes and socks. Ron inwardly smiled at that.

"Hi Bon Bon," Vonda sang as she went over and hugged her daughter. "Are you okay? What are you doing moving into your own apartment like this?"

"Mommy," Bonnie whined and tentatively returned the embrace, "don't call me Bon Bon. Not in front of my classmate."

"But you used to love that name," her mother whined back, still clinging to the slightly struggling brunette who was trying to extricate herself from the embarrassment.

"Ah Yeah! When I was like four!" Bonnie snarked in disgust as she finally broke from her mom's arms and went over to kiss her father on the cheek. "I'm a big girl now. I'm eighteen and a Senior in high school."

"Bonnie's right Vonda," Mr. Rockwaller said with a sigh to his wife before his face set in a scowl and he turned back to confront his daughter. "Your mother and I know you're eighteen now but we feel you're not old enough to move out of the house. Not until you head off to college. That's the proper stepping stone to feel your way into the big, cold World."

Ron started to slowly sidle his way to the front door. "I think I'll just head home now and get something to eat Bonnie. I'll call you later."

"No Ron," Bonnie harshed to the blond boy as she went over to the computer desk and retrieved a piece of paper stored there, "you stay right there." She turned to her parents and held out the paper for her father to read. "I think this is the perfect stepping stone to see if I can make it on my own."

Donald Rockwaller snatched the piece of paper from his daughter's hand and read the sheet. A sly knowing smile emerged as he read. "It seems like you got yourself a Sugar Daddy."

"Aaack!" Bonnie screeched in disbelief as she folded her arms defiantly. "I don't think so. He..."

"Or she," Ron interjected.

"Or she, haven't identified themselves or asked for any favors."

"Yet!" Don Rockwaller insisted with a finger jab in the air. "Nobody is purely philanthropic nowadays!"

"Right here!" Bonnie jabbed an index finger in Ron's direction. "Kim and Ron go out two or three times a week and travel all over the globe to take down the evil in the world for no reward! I'd call that philanthropic!"

"I'm not sure why Kim does it," Don said with a frown, "but we all know where Ron stands."

"We do?" Ron queried in confusion.

"Don't you dare daddy," Bonnie said angrily to her father. "Ron may not be a straight A student but he's a hard working, decent guy."

Ron was totally taken aback by Bonnie's defense of him. "Thanks Bon."

Don didn't pay any attention to the blond boy, focusing solely on his argumentative daughter. "And we all know where that usually leads. It leads to a low class, chump change job only fit for a moron."

"Ron is not a moron!" Bonnie shot back as she got in her father's face. "He's smart enough to catch a tell in your game!"

"I don't have any tells!"

"I'm sorry to disagree with you Mr. R," Ron calmly stated with a wry smile, "but you have a minor hole in your otherwise flawless poker strategy."

Don Rockwaller stood tall and defiantly folded his arms across his chest. "What?"

"Don't say a word Ron," Bonnie harshed in a serious tone as she went back over to the desk and retrieved a deck of cards from the top drawer. "Daddy, get ready to be schooled old time. Let's do this in the kitchen."

Bonnie led the way and stopped inside the kitchen doorway to whisper something to her mother. Ron and Don sat opposite each other at the table and Bonnie came over and took the chair between the two. "I'll deal out six starting hands of Texas Hold Em and another for the dealer," she explained to the two men as she expertly shuffled the deck. "Daddy, you'll play all six hands, one at a time. All you have to do is tell Ron whether you'd play the hand or toss it in."

"That's unfair to Ron," Don said shaking his head. "I'll know what the hold cards are for the previous hands played. With that knowledge I can calculate better odds for the later hands."

"That's okay," Bonnie smirked as she dealt out the cards, one card face down for the seven hands and then another one face up. "This is only a way to show you your tell. Ron," Bonnie turned to the blond boy, "you know what I'm asking for right?"

"Yeah Bonnie but you should know," Ron said looking terrified, "I've only played the game once... and that was Stud Poker... and I lost big time... on the first hand!"

"You won't be playing Ron Ron," Bonnie kindly said to her new friend, "you're only looking for daddy's tell like you saw on television."

Ron let out a huge breath and relaxed. "I can do that."

"Are you ready daddy?" Bonnie winked to her mother who was standing behind her husband, arms folded and looking down at her wristwatch.

"I don't know what this will accomplish but..." Mr. Rockwaller shrugged and peeked at the hold card of the first hand under an upturned Four of Diamonds. He glanced at the upturned cards of the other six hands and back at his hold card. Don turned the Four of Diamonds over. "Fold this hand." He went to the next hand and peeked at the hold card under an up card that happened to be the Queen of Hearts. He paused for a time before he folded his hands on the table in front of him. "I'd play that hand."

"And you'd be bluffing," Ron stated flatly.

"You're right," Mr. Rockwaller said in surprise. Bonnie saw her mother was in shock, staring at the cards and barely nodding.

The game proceeded and Ron call Don's bluff in other hands. Bonnie shuffled the cards and dealt again. After the fourth shuffle and deal Donald Rockwaller threw his arms in the air. "Okay son, I give up. How do you know when I'm bluffing?"

"Twenty seconds," Vonda Rockwaller said in shock as if it just dawned on her. "You take exactly twenty seconds whenever you're going to bluff on the hand."

"What?" Don asked in disbelief and swiftly spun around to his wife. "Exactly twenty seconds?" He turned back to Ron with a questioning face. "How did you figure that out?"

"I don't know how Mr. R," Ron shrugged, slightly chagrined, "it's just something I noticed when I watched you on TV. You always take exactly twenty seconds to bluff and twenty two or more if you're gonna play a decent hand. I noticed it during that tournament in Las Vegas when you lost to Jaime Goodwin. I think he caught on to it too."

Mr. Rockwaller stared at the table as he absentmindedly rolled a poker chip end-over-end across and back over his knuckles. "I remember that game. Jaime did seem to call my bluff on a lot more occasions than normal."

"See daddy," Bonnie said condescendingly to her father, "Ron has something going on upstairs."

"Okay," Don ceded with a sigh to Bonnie, "I'll grant you Ron's not the dullest tool in the shed but his grades don't impress me much." He turned to the blond boy sitting opposite him at the kitchen table. "What do you want to do with your life once you get out of school next spring?"

"I'm not really sure." Ron scratched the back of his head. "KP and I will get married and move in together wherever she goes to college. While she's attending classes I thought I find a job somewhere as a chef or maybe take a few cooking classes to fill the time. The only problem with that plan is I don't know if I can find a job that'll let me leave at the drop of a hat to go off on a mission."

"Ron is an excellent chef," Bonnie interjected. "When he took over the school cafeteria a couple of years ago he did some marvelous things in the kitchen. They even had businessmen coming in with reservations to eat there."

"We know," Vonda Rockwaller said with a sheepish grin. "We ate there twice during Ron's reign in the kitchen. Your Veal Cutlets were excellent and the Beef Stroganoff was to die for."

"Thank you," Ron said in appreciation. "My other idea is to start my own restaurant. That way I can fully staff the kitchen and bail when a mission comes up. I wouldn't leave the kitchen staff shorthanded and could help out when they needed it."

"Where would you get the capital to pull that off?" Mr. Rockwaller asked. "You'd need at least a million dollars to start your own restaurant."

"I have my resources," Ron smugly stated, "but I can't reveal em."

"You..." Bonnie went into shock as she stared wide-eyed at the blond boy and pointed a nervous finger at him, "you didn't happen to get another royalty check?"

"You mean a nickel for every Naco?" Ron smiled broadly. "Maybe, but you didn't hear it from me."

"What are you two talking about?" Mrs. Vonda Rockwaller begged in slight confusion. "What do Nacos have to do with you Ronald?"

"Ron invented the Naco a few years ago," Bonnie informed her parents. "He got a big fat royalty check for it but went through the money fairly quickly."

"I was so immature back then," Ron sighed and bowed his head in embarrassed.

"He bought me this ruby belt buckle," Bonnie chimed showing off the trinket, "but Dr. Drakken stole the rest of Ron's money so he ended up with nothing."

"What does a nickel a Naco add up to," Don asked. "Ten, maybe twelve thousand dollars?"

"The first check was for ninety-nine million dollars," Bonnie chuckled to her father. "That was four years ago so Ron should have received three or more checks since then."

Ron waved his hands defensively. "That first check was so big cause it covered the two years between the time I invented the Naco and the time the check arrived. The yearly ones coming in now aren't nearly as large as that first check," He peered sternly at Bonnie, "and I wanted to keep the money a secret. I tried to show off and make myself out as a big shot so everybody would like me with the first one and that didn't go so well. I learned from that mistake. No one knows about the money now, not even KP, and I want to keep it that way."

"I'll keep your secret Ron," Bonnie snarked to him, "but only if you buy me a matching pinky ring to go with my other jewelry." It suddenly hit her. "Wait a sec. Ron, did you buy me the necklace and earrings?"

"Why would I do that?" Ron quickly denied and wiped his nose with the back of his hand as he looked away and started to breath hard. "That would make me your Sugar Daddy." He saw the shocked look on Mr. and Mrs. Rockwaller's faces. "Hey, that's your term for it Mr. R."

"You're bluffing Ron," Don Rockwaller chimed suspiciously, wagging a finger at the boy. "A first year player could see that tell from a mile away."

"Ron," Bonnie became very serious as she stood up and sat on the edge of the kitchen table in front of him, "tell the truth now. Did you rent this apartment for me?" He peered down at his folded hands in his lap for ten whole seconds before he nodded once in resignation. Bonnie gasped at the confirmation. "Why Ron? Please tell me."

"It... it all started with the bonding incident last year." Ron took a deep breath and launched into one long run-on sentence. "KP told me about meeting Connie and Lonnie and she said she saw the concerned look on your face when you thought she wasn't looking so then I started to notice when we're at cheer practice and you'd dread going home after and wanted to go shopping with Tara and the other girls and would insist when they begged off so it looked like you didn't want to go home so I thought maybe you'd be better off living away from home and..." Ron took another deep breath, "... I took so long to think about your sitch and then I could see you needed a change somewhere in your life but I couldn't decide where you could go and the girls were talking about the parties you throw and the rules of the pool so I thought you needed to be somewhere that had a pool but where you didn't need a suit for your tan and I've been helping Hiram with some of the repairs for a coupla years now so I knew this place would be the ideal place for you but I wanted to think it over before..." Bonnie slapped her hand over his mouth to silence him.

"You've been working on this for over a year now?" Bonnie asked still keeping her hand over Ron's mouth. He nodded, his eyes expressively sad and apologetic. "And you thought doing this would get rid of Queen Bonnie and we'd become friends?" Bonnie begged, hoping for the best. Ron's eyes went wide as he shook his head vehemently in the negative. "What?" Bonnie questioned in confusion. "You didn't think about getting rid of Queen Bonnie or you didn't think we'd become friends?"

Ron mumbled something from beneath her hand before Bonnie remembered she still had his mouth covered. "Neither."

"Then, why did you do it?" Von Rockwaller kindly asked as she sat in the chair vacated by Bonnie.

Ron slouched further forward in his seat, folded his hands again and meekly spoke. "I just wanted to see you happy Bonnie. KP and I are happy. Tara's happy. Jessica, Marcella, Crystal and the rest of the squad are happy too. Why shouldn't you be happy? Then I realized Brick went off to college and you were alone. I thought about trying to hook you up with someone else but... well I didn't know what you needed in a boyfriend. I just wanted to see you smile." Ron looked up at her weakly. "You have a pretty smile."

Silence fell over the kitchen for two minutes before Don let out with a laugh. "That is the biggest load of bull..."

"No it's not!" He was soundly cut off by a sharp backhand across the back of his head by his wife. "It's Ronshine!"

"What?" Don Rockwaller begged. "What's Ronshine?"

Von Rockwaller looked fondly at Ron and sighed. "It's something Ron's mother and I have talked about for years now. Ron likes to bring a little happiness and sunshine into everyone's lives. She and I call it Ronshine."

"KP thinks something else should be called that," Ron snickered wickedly as he turned his head and blushed, "but that's neither here nor there."

"So, you don't like living at home?" Don asked his daughter. "What's so bad living with us?"

"Daddy," Bonnie whined, "it's not living with you that so bad right now, it's living without you most of the week. I don't see you from when you take off for a tournament on Wednesday until you get back on Monday or Tuesday and then you jet off somewhere for another one. With Connie and Lonnie off at college right now I'm alone in that big old house five or six days out of the week! It was terrible when Con and Lon were still living at home. You filled their minds with all those ideas that they were the best and I got shoved aside like an old shoe." Bonnie mockingly tried to imitate Connie. "'I got the looks, Lonnie got the brains and you got what's left.' Geez Louise what a crock of bull! I thought I'd be free of that now that those two are off at college but I sit alone in that big empty house and it mocks me." Tears filled her eyes as the flood gates opened. "When was the last time either of you attended a football or basketball game and watched me perform!?"

"I came up to chaperone that ski trip of yours," Von said weakly.

"That was my Freshman year mom!" Bonnie wailed, turned and collapsed onto the table in an all out bawl.

"We've been busy trying to earn a living," Don said as he stood and put his hand on her back. "We do it to keep you in the finest fashions and things."

"That's all well and good," Bonnie sobbed as her crying subsided, still draped part way atop the kitchen table, "but did you ever think I might like to go along and root for you too daddy? To travel and see some of the resorts you stay at? All of the fabulous cities you get to see?"

Mrs. Rockwaller looked over to her husband. "We haven't taken any of the girls along with us anywhere."

Bonnie stood tall and turned around, facing her father. "I understand you're trying to raise my standard of living and you might not want a young girl along that could be a distraction, but have you ever considered that I might not be a distraction? That I might be a good luck charm? That I'm your daughter and all I want is to be loved and considered a part of a family?" Bonnie frowned and her voice rose in anger as she went on. "I watch all of the other girls sitting down with their parents for a family meal and talking about the events of the day. When was the last time we all sat down to eat at the same time and simply talked? I'd rather be alone here with nice neighbors than stay in that mansion with bad memories and no one to talk to!"

The waterworks burst again and Bonnie collapsed onto Ron's lap and cried. He patted and stroked the brunette's back as she curled up in a ball in his lap. After a few minutes Ron gathered the brunette up in his arms, stood and carried her into the bedroom. Mrs. Rockwaller followed and stayed in the room with her daughter after Ron laid Bonnie on the bed and went back to the kitchen.

"I-I never thought..." Mr. Rockwaller stammered as Ron sat heavily in his chair.