I don't own these characters. I don't own the original premise behind this saga. I don't own the Care Bears.
Reason Thirty-six: Surgical precision
When the kids are away, the parents will play.
Shego and Kim were sitting on the sofa. The redhead was on Shego's lap with her legs around her spouse's waist and they were engaged in a kiss that could only be a prelude to more active goings on that could actually take place in the living room since they were alone. The pale woman's hand snaked up from around Kim's waist to her torso, stroking her through a ratty, old t-shirt that she was wearing. The slim hero moaned into her wife's mouth and then they pulled away for miserable air.
"God, Pumpkin, I need to get you naked right now," Shego desperately hissed as Kim attacked her neck with vigor, kissing and nipping at whatever her mouth could reach.
The hero smiled against her wife's flesh. "You know I'm always happy to oblige," she replied, her breath on Shego's neck caused the green-skinned woman to shiver in anticipation. Kim did not help matters by grinding against her mate, causing her to hiss again.
"Bad girl," Shego scolded her spouse in a low tone.
"Just the way you like me," the redhead remarked with a wicked smile.
The couple was getting busy on the couch because they did not have to worry about their kids coming in and seeing them. Jayden and Todd had been shipped off to Middleton as their grandparents had happily offered to take the pair for spring break, which was something the doctors Possible tended to do. It gave Kim and Shego a week to be alone, which they genuinely appreciated and were looking to make the most of it, which was why they were about to get freaky in the living room.
"Fuck, you feel so good," Shego breathed as she tugged at Kim's pants, trying to actually just rip them off. Kim could only hope that she succeeded it because it would save her from having to get off of her wife's wonderful lap.
The only thing that interrupted their play was the phone ringing. Shego cursed under her breath while reaching for the phone to see who was calling. She groaned when she saw the number was the Possible house, meaning it was probably one of the kids. She did not even want to think of them at the moment, but she had to answer to make sure that there was nothing wrong.
"Yo," Shego answered while Kim was busy trying to get her out of her shirt, but she was resisting since one of the kids might be on the phone.
"Hey, She-she," Todd replied.
"What's up, Smiles?" Shego inquired. The name of their son did make Kim stop for a moment. It would seem that she found it difficult to do anything with being reminded that the kids existed, too.
"I just wanted to let you know that we got to the house with no problem," Todd reported proudly.
"He almost hit a duck!" Jayden shouted into the phone, telling on her brother just because it was entertaining most of the time that she did it. Todd had driven to Middleton for the first time on his own. Usually, their grandparents came to pick them up. He was quite pleased that their parents trusted him enough to make the trip by himself with his sister riding shotgun for the whole trip.
"Don't listen to her, She-she. You know how Jade likes making up stuff and everything," the teenager commented in a bit of a nervous tone. Yes, he had almost hit a duck on the way and worse yet was that he did not see it because he was busy arguing with Jayden over what music they were going to listen to. He had allowed himself to be distracted by nine-year-old. How immature, he thought.
"I'm not!" Jayden objected to the fact that her big brother was making it seem like she was lying. She was no liar, especially not when speaking with their mothers.
"Anyway, we made it. Grandpa and Meemaw say hi. We'll talk to you later," Todd bid their mother farewell.
"Okay, don't drive your grandparents too crazy. I don't want them to ship you back to us," Shego remarked with humor in her voice.
"What makes you think I'd drive right back? I got the car. I'm a crazy man!" Todd joked, laughing as he spoke.
"Like you're going to go anywhere tugging your nine-year-old sister along, especially when you know she'll just tell on you when you get home anyway," Shego riposted smugly. Jayden was a good little alarm system for her, informing her almost immediately if Todd or Kim did anything out of line. The great thing was that she blew the whistle on them, even if she was involved and had a good time. Jade was not a tattletale on purpose, but usually was just so hyper that she spilled the beans while trying to relay an exciting story.
Todd did not have a rebuttal for that one, so he hung up the phone. Shego turned the phone off and turned her attention back to her wife. Kim wasted no time going back to doing what she was doing. Apparently, she could easily wipe the phone call from her mind. Kim's actions got Shego back into things. They were back on task within seconds and remained that way for quite a while.
"Bye-bye shirt," Shego remarked, tearing Kim's t-shirt away. Her hands immediately went to Kim's uncovered bare skin.
Kim moaned and arched into her wife's touch. Not to be outdone, Kim relished in Shego's hands for a moment before starting her own assault. Yanking off Shego's shirt, she attached her mouth to a pale green neck and kissed her way down to tantalizing, hot flesh. Shego cried out as eager lips wrapped around one of her nipples.
"Fuck, Princess," the older woman growled as Kim devoured her.
Shego was not sure how, but she managed to put her hands back where they wanted to be, massaging Kim's breasts. Kim moaned, but she was hardly distracted. Her mouth switched treasures, one hand played with the neglected gem, and the other hand crept down Shego's toned stomach. Shego whimpered and Kim pressed on. The whimper turned into a loud moan as Kim's nimble, questing fingers found yet another treasure and wasted no time plundering the precious cache. Shego arched against her and Kim smiled to herself, not letting up a bit.
-8-8-8-8-
"A week of this … you might actually kill me," Shego quipped after a near hour of delicious coupling. She and Kim were now lying nude on the living room floor. The petite scientist was curled up against her side.
"You'll go with a smile on your face," Kim commented with a wide, rather proud grin on her face. "Stop acting like such an old woman," she added to tease the elder female and she kissed her pale spouse's cheek.
"Not all us can be brats our whole lives," Shego riposted, moving her arm around her wife. She pulled Kim closer, even though she knew it would only encourage her spouse's further attempts to put her in an early grave.
Kim did not seem to like that remark much and showed as much by leaning in to kiss Shego on the mouth, thus shutting her up. It would seem that she was going to kill her partner with pleasure because she moved her body over Shego's, teasing her with the promise of touching skin. Shego was pretty sure that she would go with a smile and she was not going to complain as Kim pressed down, giving them full, naked body contact. Shego could not even think after that.
-8-8-8-8-
Jayden and Todd were getting settled into their grandparents' house. As usual, Jayden took her Mom's old room. Todd took his uncles' old room. They had both already discovered all of the fun things in the room from past visits. They now found it necessary to start leaving little things of their own in the rooms for when their cousins started staying in the areas.
Yes, they had cousins. Both Jim and Tim had gotten married and had kids. Jim had a little girl recently while Tim had had a son almost two years ago. Jayden and Todd wished that they had had cousins sooner, but they were happy with the arrival of the babies.
Shego's brothers had failed to produce offspring, much to Isabel's disappointment, so Todd and Jayden did not have cousins on that side of their family. Hego did not seem interested in settling down. Shego suspected that he could not find a woman looking to put with a man that worked at a taco fast food place when he was in his forties. Mego did not seem interested in having a family of his own, having Jayden for his niece really seemed to be enough for him. There were stories now starting to sprout up about his sexuality, even though their father denied any and all whispers. The Wegos just could not seem to keep steady girlfriends, probably because they still had the crazy idea in their heads that they were a single guy. Ladies just did not seem to think that was cute as far as everyone could tell. Isabel was hoping that her sons got their acts together because she did want more grandchildren, even though she sort of had more than she could deal with already.
Once the siblings got settled in, they went to go see what kind of trouble their grandparents had for them to get into. They were never short of activities when they were with the doctors Possible. Ann often took them to the hospital, where she still worked at, even though she was getting on in years. She was just as sharp as ever, though. James took them to the space center a great deal of the time as well. Jayden enjoyed things more than Todd did, but Todd did have a good time.
Jayden had more fun than her brother because she was just excitable for one. But, there was also the fact that she learned very easily through observation, so she was always taking in new information and storing it away for some future date, in which she would probably use it to get in trouble Todd often thought. Sometimes, Jayden did not even seem to notice that she was taking in information, which her brother only thought was worse. All she needed was to realize that she knew how to do something because he knew that realization would not come at a good time.
"So, Meemaw, how about we all go see some open surgery?" Todd suggested with a grin as he and Jayden joined their grandparents in the living room.
Ann laughed a bit. "How about we hold off on that for a day?" she replied with a teasing smile.
"Aw, man!" Jayden groaned in disappointment while cuddling up next to her grandmother on the sofa. For a girl that liked acting so grown around everyone, she seemed to turn into something close to a baby when she got close to Ann. The neurosurgeon did not care; she loved it when Jayden snuggled up to her.
"Don't worry, sweetie. I'll take you to the hospital soon enough and we'll watch some surgeries," Ann assured the child while wrapping her arm around the little girl and smiling softly. Jayden signed contently, just enjoying being near her Meemaw.
Ann, of course, adored how eager Jayden was when it came to medicine, but she never considered the idea that Jayden might become a medical doctor as she had done for Kim. She knew what Jayden was going to be already, even if the girl was interested in the medical field. Jayden just seemed destined to be a herpetologist. With luck, she would make a mark in the field just as big as Kim's, even though Kim was making herself a tough act to follow. Of course, Ann was proud of that.
"Well, what about to some rockets, Grandpa?" Todd asked while sitting across from their grandparents.
"In a couple of days, Smiley. We've got a Rocket Boosters meeting," James declared with a smile.
"Cool," Todd said sincerely with a nod. Unlike his Kimmie, he never got the feeling that he was getting too old to go to the Rocket Boosters, but it might have had something to do with the fact that James did not treat Todd like a child as he used to do with Kim. James saw his grandson as a grown man more or less now.
"Yay, I get to launch a satellite!" Jayden proclaimed with a joyous grin.
"He didn't say that," Todd pointed out, looking to burst his little sister's bubble.
"Nobody can stop me, though," Jayden countered with quite the serious little look on her face. Her eyes seemed to be calling her brother a dumbass for even implying that someone could stop her from succeeding in her goal.
James and Ann laughed, even though they knew that Jayden was totally serious. The girl made it a point to launch something when she went to the space center, whether or not people wanted her to. It was brought on through her capacity of learning from observation and that was why Todd knew the trait got her into trouble more often than not. Her grandparents suspected this was something that she got from Shego, feeling like she could do what she wanted because no one could stop her, even if it was wrong and she was totally aware that it was wrong.
"How about I start dinner and then we watch a movie?" Ann suggested to start the visit off slowly. She thought it was amusing how Jayden and Todd always wanted to get into everything the moment that they arrived.
"Brain loaf?" the siblings asked with hope shining in their eyes in regards to dinner.
"Of course," their grandmother answered, which caused the pair to grin. It was uncanny how much they looked like Kim, she thought.
Ann was glad that her grandkids appreciated the "brain loaf." Thanks to them, she had been trying to come up with other food designed to look like body parts. Their favorites, after the brain loaf anyway, were cupcakes that she made that looked like hearts. One time, Todd pretended that he coughed up his own heart, but it was a cupcake. Jayden had died of laughter for about two hours straight. The dinner guests that he had done it in front of did not find it quite as amusing.
"Brainzzzzz," Todd said, imitating a zombie as he watched Ann prepare the meal. Jayden called herself helping, but this mostly consisted of her asking questions as to what everything was.
As zany as the siblings could be, Ann and James enjoyed having them around, which was why they took the pair for the spring break. They tried to take the kids over other breaks, too, but sometimes they had to schedule long in advance because Kim could come up with adventures for her and her kids at the drop of a dime. There was also the fact that they had to beat Isabel to snatching up the pair because she liked having them around just as much as the doctors Possible.
"Hey, Meemaw, have you ever considered making bread skulls or something to serve the brain loaf in?" Todd suggested.
"Oh! That would be spanking!" Jayden agreed.
Ann laughed. "I've never considered it, but I'll look into it."
"I'm not eating brains out of a skull," James objected.
"Don't worry, Grandpa. We'll take care of any bread skulls," Todd promised with a grin. James could only laugh.
The family had dinner together; Todd and Jayden thoroughly enjoyed the brain loaf. They talked and beamed from being around each other as always. Then they watched a movie, which they enjoyed, even though Jayden felt the need to yell at almost every scene. Her grandmother generally quieted her down by pulling Jayden just a little closer to her, as Jayden cuddled into Ann on the couch.
They played a trivia game together when the movie was over, creating their own rules to it because the siblings thought that made it more entertaining. They all had a good time, which they knew they would because they always did.
-*-(New day)-*-
Jayden was pressed against the glass in the observation room in the hospital. Her breath was fogging up the glass slightly, even though she was making sure not to breathe too hard. Her eyes were wide, taking everything in, while her nose was being smashed uncomfortably on the surface. She did not think anything of the discomfort. She was looking down into a surgery and that had her full attention.
Ann brought Jayden and Todd to the hospital upon request by the kids. They both seemed rather fascinated by medicine and Ann really wished that they would follow in her footsteps, but she knew that was not going to happen. Well, she had other grandchildren that she might be able to talk into becoming medical doctors, she reminded herself.
"So, Smiley, ready for college?" Ann asked Todd, who was sitting next to his grandmother.
"As ready as I'll ever be," he answered, dividing his attention between his grandmother and the surgery going on down below. From the look on his face, one might assume he was watching a suspense movie. Really, if he were not so certain that he wanted to be a paleontologist, he probably would give medical school a try.
"Are you going to be playing football for the school, too?" she asked.
"Yeah, the coach talked to me and he says he could use someone like me on the team. I still need to try out and everything, but I'll probably be playing there. I think it'll be fun to keep playing football in college."
"Well, what are you going to do if professional teams start recruiting you?" she inquired, being very sincere. It seemed possible for that to happen if he was going to continue playing on the collegiate level and Go University was popular as far as sports went.
It never seemed to cross the teen's mind that he could possibly play professional football, which might explain why he laughed at the question. The idea seemed very ludicrous him, even though his grandfather Jason was trying to encourage such a dream. He played football for fun, though. He wanted his career to be in paleontology.
"You think my She-she is gonna let me play pro ball after paying for four years of college? She'll beat me up to use my degree," Todd remarked, still smiling up a storm.
"Is she paying for school?"
"Well, she likes to think she is. After all, she's always yelling at me about it if I do something silly in school. 'You're not going to go to college and waste my money doing that, Smiles.' I'm pretty sure I'd kill me if I dare point out I have a scholarship and some grant money coming to me."
Ann laughed a bit, not just from the words, but the fact that he did a very good impression of his She-she. She was not so sure about that, but knowing Shego, she would demand that her son use his head to make his way in the world and not football. Todd could not even imagine telling his Kimmie that he wanted to be a paleontologist, so it was not even on his mind to tell his She-she that he was not going to use his degree at all.
Besides, he believed that he was a mediocre football player at best and highly doubted that he would get a chance to play professionally. He counted himself lucky to just be able to play in college. Others probably would have disagreed with him, including his She-she and Kimmie. He was good at football, just like everything else he got into, but he failed to notice it most of the time.
Ann was going to say something else to Todd, but Jayden suddenly got her attention. The girl seemed to be well on her way with merging with the glass dividing their deck from the operating room. Ann decided to pull the child back just a little bit, if only to get her off of the barrier. Jayden remained standing up, but she was no longer pressed into the glass. With that done, Ann turned her attention back to her grandson.
"Hey, Meemaw," Todd said in a low, close-to-worried tone. His emerald eyes squinted for a moment, as if he was pondering something.
"Yes?" Ann replied, intrigued by his voice. She wondered why he sounded that way and looked as he did. She hoped that everything was all right with him.
"How'd you know you wanted to be neurosurgeon?" the young man inquired curiously.
"Hmm…" Ann had to think on that for a while. It seemed like such a long time ago. "Well, I always wanted to be a doctor, I know that. I think as I got older, I just got more and more fascinated with the human nervous system. I mean, it's a complex thing, the human body I mean and within that complex system, there's another complex system, which is the nervous system. The brain is just … interesting to me," she answered. She was not sure what else to say.
Todd nodded. "Were you following in the footsteps of one of your parents?" he asked. He did not know anything his Meemaw's family, mostly because Ann's parents had not taken Kim's marriage to a woman well and had basically cut her off.
"No, my parents were both in business," she answered.
"Did they want you to follow in their footsteps?"
"Yes."
"So, were they disappointed when you became a doctor instead?" he asked.
"I don't think any parents are disappointed when their child becomes a doctor," she answered with an amused smile. Her parents were very proud of her when she became a doctor and they used to catch wicked attitudes when one of their friends or just some acquaintance got things wrong and referred to Ann as a nurse. Calling her a nurse in front of her parents, it was like calling down the thunder.
Todd nodded to that information, taking it in. His eyes seemed intense, which they usually were, but there was something different to them now. They usually seemed powerful like his mothers eyes, but right now they seemed to just show that he was in deep thought.
Ann looked at her teenage grandson curiously. He was going to college in the fall, Go University of all places. He seemed nervous about it in her opinion because of all of his questions. She thought that was odd because she had never known Todd to be anxious about going some place; well, not since he got older anyway. She knew that he had been a bit nervous as a child, but now he was a very outgoing and courageous young man, so she wondered what was wrong with him.
"Smiles, you know you'll do fine in college, right?" Ann said in a reassuring tone.
Todd grinned. "I know, Meemaw. It'll be fun," he stated confidently. He was not nervous about going to college.
"It will be. You'll have a great time."
The teen nodded. He was going to ask his grandmother something, but decided against it. He would wait and bring it up to his grandfather. Besides, the operation was over, so they were going to have to get moving anyway.
Jayden practically bounced out of the observation room. She was skipping of all things. She wanted to go talk to the surgeon that they just watched in action and she had been to the hospital enough to know where to find him. She was delayed by a number of nurses, who were familiar with her and Todd. The nurses thought they both were too adorable. Jayden because she was a little girl that understood medical practices as well as they did and Todd just because he seemed a bit shy when he spoke to the women around the hospital. Todd gave off the shy vibe because of his voice, which was very soft and really did not fit a guy his size and build. He also had the strange habit of looking away from women when he spoke to them while men, he would easily look dead in the face.
Jayden was happy to talk with everyone about the surgery that she just watched and the nurses loved to get her going anyway. They loved her energy and enthusiasm. Todd thought it was funny because they only knew one side of Jayden, which was the cute side. He doubted that they would believe their eyes if they saw her when she was at school or with her friends.
The surgeon that Jayden wanted to see eventually found her. He had seen her in the observation deck peering down on him like some intrigued bird, so he knew that she would be looking for him. As soon as she spotted him, she began singing his praises while going into all kind of technical terms to describe what she saw. Todd did not jump in, which was odd because he was typically right with his little sister, talking about the operation. The hospital could not believe when Ann told the staff that her grandchildren were not going to be doctors, no matter how great they thought the field was. Ann was just in awe of the pair. Kim and Shego were doing a fine job in raising those two as far as she was concerned.
-*-(New day)-*-
Jayden loved going to the space center with her grandfather, just as much as she loved going to the hospital with her grandmother. She just did not like that her grandfather wanted her to wear the bland shirt with the rocket on it. She did not like the color and she did not like that she was wearing a shirt that did not have a Care Bear on it. She bore the annoyance because she could not tell her grandfather "no." She just loved him too much to say something that she thought would hurt his feelings.
Todd did not mind the shirt that his grandfather insisted he wear when they went to the space center, but he wished that there was a larger size. Every time he went to a Rocket Boosters meeting, he needed a new shirt. The last meeting that he attended, he had to leave early because he accidentally flexed in the thing and the shirt tore open in several areas. Jayden had followed him when he left, laughing behind him until they got back to the house.
At the moment, the redhead was starting to consider that he might have that problem again. The shirt just did not stretch as much as it needed to, as far as his torso was concerned anyway. Next time he came, he was going to request a Rocket Boosters' jersey or something, something where he was not going to rip out of the sleeves if he curled his arm or where he would not tear the shoulders if he reached down to pick something up.
The Rocket Boosters meeting went as usual and then they were taken on a tour to observe what the space center was working on. Jayden was mesmerized by a group of engineers working on a rocket. Upon closer inspection, she realized that she was familiar with them and so, she ran over for a closer look.
The engineers were of mixed opinions when they saw Jayden. They loved and hated her enthusiasm, as it was that enthusiasm that led her to launching things without permission. Since she was only looking over their shoulders and not making a pest of herself, they did not say anything, but then the other kids in the Rocket Boosters started to do the same. So, the engineers had to shoo them all back, including Jayden, which she did not particularly like. The slight frown that she left with should have acted as a warning to them that they probably were going to regret driving her away.
Jayden wandered off, which was something that she generally did when around her grandfather. He was wrapped up in explaining things to the other kids and Todd was assisting in that. She figured that she would be back before they knew that she was gone. She just wanted to see what everyone else was working on. Todd and James did not notice Jayden was gone, even when the kids stopped for snacks. They did not notice because Todd kept his grandfather's attention.
"Grandpa, what if I told you I don't wanna be a herpetologist?" Todd inquired.
"Do you want to be a rocket scientist?" James asked with hope in his voice; the emotion shined in his eyes, too. The twins had gone into robotics instead of rocket science, so he was still looking for someone to follow in his footsteps.
Todd looked down a bit, not enjoying that he was going to have to burst his grandfather's bubble. "No, I don't wanna be a rocket scientist," he answered in a bit of a mumble.
"No? Then what would you do if you didn't go into herpetology? I mean, you're just as into cold-blooded animals as Kim. I'm sure she can't wait when you come to school and she can see you in action."
Todd shifted uncomfortably. "Grandpa … I wanna be a paleontologist."
"Paleontologist? They don't work with reptiles," James told his grandson, which caused Todd to laugh a bit.
"I know, Grandpa. I don't want to work with reptiles."
James blinked and then his eyes went wide with absolutely shock from the news. He would probably look less stunned if it was proven that the world was actually flat. Yes, he had long ago known that Todd was interested in prehistoric life, but he never thought that Todd would decide to study such a thing rather than becoming a herpetologist. His collection of amphibians and reptiles rivaled Kim's in size, even though it did not rival her collection in exoticness. He always seemed as enthused about the subject as Kim did, to the point where it annoyed the hell out of Shego. James could not imagine Todd not being a herpetologist.
"Does Kimmie know about this decision?" James inquired.
"I haven't been able to tell her. You think she'll be mad at me?" Todd inquired, looking down as if he was ashamed of himself.
It was James' turn to laugh. Kim mad at Todd? He had never seen it and he doubted that such a thing would happen just because the teen wanted to a paleontologist instead of a herpetologist. He was certain that Kim would just be proud that he already knew what he wanted to do in life and that he had a passion for the subject.
"You're not kidding, are you, Smiles?" James asked when he noted that his grandson did not laugh with him.
"I'm serious. I don't want to disappoint her," Todd answered.
"She'll be fine with it. Just talk with her. I'm sure she'll be happy with your decision," the rocket scientist tried to assure the teen, placing his hand on Todd's massive shoulder as he spoke.
The redhead's eyebrows furrowed. "You think?" He wondered if things really could be so simple.
"I'm positive."
Todd was going to say something else, but an alarm started sounding. He and James looked around with puzzled expressions. They wondered what was going on and then they looked at each other.
"Jade," they deadpanned. What were they supposed to do with that girl?
"Jade!" over a dozen people hollered as they realized that there was an unscheduled launch going on.
-*-(New day)-*-
Todd and Jayden had a good week with their grandparents, even though Jayden did cause some trouble at the space center with the unauthorized launching of a satellite. Despite Jayden's antics, the siblings were still welcomed at the space center, but Todd was scolded about not keeping a better eye on his little sister by the staff there. Todd did take responsibility for his little sister's actions, even though everyone was well aware that she knew better.
The farewell between the grandparents and grandkids were long and heartfelt. In fact, Todd and Jayden were supposed to leave in the morning, but they were not on the road until the late afternoon. The ride home was much like the ride to their grandparents' house with them arguing over the radio.
"Stop touching it," Todd ordered the girl while thumping her hand away from the buttons on the dash with his middle finger.
"This song sucks," Jayden argued while taking the hard thumps like nothing and continuing to reach for the presets. She started hitting his hand away when the hits annoyed her.
"I like this song and I'm driving," Todd countered while trying to avoid her hits and going into flick her some more.
"So the hell what? I hate this song and I'm in the car same as you," she stated. The ride was pretty much like that on a continuous loop.
They entered the house in their usual loud fashion, which Shego and Kim were thankful for because it was like a warning for them. The parents rushed into some house clothes that they had waiting for when the kids came back. They were out of their bedroom by the time the kids hit the stairs.
"Hey, Mom, Mommy!" Jayden grinned when she caught sight of her parents and charged up the stairs to meet her mothers.
"Hey, mini-monster," Kim replied, grinning herself. Jayden pretty much tackled both women to the ground and hugged them.
"This is so your daughter," Shego groaned when she hit the floor.
Kim only laughed. Jayden then went into telling them about the great time that she had staying with her grandparents, which they expected. Todd waited until she was done before he came in for his hug and to convey how much he loved staying over at the Possible home. Their parents expected as much and listened intently to both of the kids as they spoke.
-8-8-8-8-
Kim was pacing in the living room with a worried and concerned look on her face. Shego just watched her go with an eyebrow arched in curiosity. Jayden had been put to bed after she had fallen asleep against Shego when they were all watching a movie.
"Pumpkin, what's wrong?" Shego finally asked.
"Smiley wants to talk to me later," Kim answered without ceasing her movements. She did not even look at her spouse as she spoke.
"So?"
"Alone," Kim added, halting in her tracks and spinning to look at the older woman. The hero's eyes showed terror, which explained why her heart felt like it was in her throat and beating three times faster than it should.
Shego was now interested. "Alone?" she echoed as if she did not understand what that meant. "Now, now, what has the boy wonder gotten himself into?" she wondered aloud while folding her arms across her chest.
"What indeed," the redhead replied nervously while rubbing her hands together to prevent them from shaking. Todd never requested to speak to one of them in private.
Shego rubbed her chin. She hoped to heaven that it was nothing serious, but Kim's demeanor was not helping her believe that. She tried to assure herself that Todd was their kid with common sense. He was their well-behaved child, to a degree anyway. He would never do anything truly stupid. What could he have gotten himself into that he only wanted to tell Kim?
When Todd came into the living room, he had so kindly volunteered to do the dishes, which was something that he did every so often, Shego left the room without a word. She knew that Kim would fill her in what was going on, especially if it was serious. The two redheads faced each other.
"So, kiddo, what do you want to talk about?" Kim asked, trying her best not to sound as nervous as she was. She was not doing the best job, but she did not sound half as nervous as she was.
"Um … Kimmie … I wanna talk about college," Todd replied, looking away a bit because of his anxiety. He was holding his hands behind his back to keep her from seeing them tremble.
Kim wanted to sigh in relief that it did not sound serious. Unless, of course, Todd informed her that he did not want to go to college. Then, she was going to promptly faint and leave it all to Shego, who would more than likely burn the house down because from uncontrollable anger.
"Um … what about college?" Kim asked with more confidence in her voice than before.
"I wanna … I wanna … I don't wanna be a herpetologist," he informed her, speaking quickly to get it out in the open.
Kim did sigh in relief that time, her shoulders dropping into a relaxed state as she exhaled. Wow, he just did not want to be herpetologist. Okay, it's not something serious. I was scared there for a minute. Her heart rate calmed down and she finally felt comfortable about everything.
"That's it?" she inquired in a light tone to let him know that it was not a big deal.
"Yeah. You're not mad, are you?" he countered, looking at her with his head bowed.
"Of course not!" she answered vehemently to set him at ease and she walked over to embrace her son. "I'm glad it wasn't something serious! You can be whatever you want to be, Smiles. I just want you to be happy."
"So, you're totally okay with me being a paleontologist?" he asked just to be sure, as if he could not believe it. It was so easy, after all.
"Of course, boog. I just want you to be happy. What, you thought I'd pressure you into being a herpetologist just because I'm one?" Kim asked incredulously, motioning to herself with her hands.
"Well, I did think you'd be disappointed in my decision," he admitted with a slight shrug.
"It's your life, Smiley. I'm only going to butt in when I think you're going to hurt yourself and I don't think this is going to hurt you. I know how much you love past forms of life anyway. I hope you make a big splash in the field," she replied sincerely.
"Thank you so much, Kimmie."
"Don't thank me, Smiles. It's your life."
Todd could not help smiling. Apparently, he had been worried over nothing. He should have known, but he still felt like he would be letting Kim down by not being a herpetologist. He needed to confirm that he was not disappointing her and now that he knew she was not disappointed in him, it felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.
-8-8-8-8-
"So, what did the booger want to talk about?" Shego asked as she and Kim settled down to go to bed. It was probably going to be the first time that week that they were going to be in bed and steamy, freaky sex was not going to happen. Despite that, she was glad the children were back in the house.
"He just wanted to tell me that he's not going to be a herpetologist when he grows up," Kim answered as she made herself comfortable against Shego.
"That's it? I thought he was going to have something juicy," the raven-haired woman remarked, even though she was glad that it was something minor. She was starting to get nervous, but now she knew that there was no need for the anxious feeling.
"Please, you know you didn't want it to be juicy," Kim called her love's bluff.
"Damn right I didn't. I thought our sane kid was going to prove that he's out of the little mind he has, too," Shego commented while putting an arm around her mate.
"No, he was just nervous about telling me that he doesn't want to do herpetology. He didn't get a girl pregnant or anything like that," Kim said, as if she knew that Shego had jumped to that conclusion.
"He better not get a girl pregnant. Not after I saved all this damn money to send his crazy ass to college."
Kim just laughed. They lay silent and still for a moment, letting the subject fade into the night since it was over and done with, and then Kim leaned over. She started caressing Shego's sides and she pushed herself up to kiss Shego on the mouth.
"The kids…" Shego pointed out lamely when Kim pulled away for air. She had a bit of a fear of Jayden walking in on them more than anything else since Todd was not going to bother them once he went to bed. Besides, he would knock if he came to the door while Jayden would just burst in.
"Door's locked, love. So, you're mine," Kim stated with a demonic smirk.
Shego grabbed Kim as she was leaning in and gave the redhead her own devilish smirk. "I don't think so. I'm still in charge and you're mine," she riposted.
"We'll see about that," the little hero challenged her spouse.
-8-8-8-8-
Next time: The kids go out for the summer with Isabel.