Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, Disney does.
CHAPTER 33-WHAT TO SAY
"Mom…Joss, hi," Kim quickly exclaimed, desperately trying to not let either hear the unwelcome surprise in her voice or the total look of panic in her eyes, as she opened the door and greeted her mother and cousin.
"Kim," Joss exclaimed with a tired but delighted look on her face as she rushed forward to hug Kim but soon found herself having to stop and think about it for a second as her stomach got in the way.
"I know that she wasn't supposed to come until next week but she," Mrs. Possible started to say with an anxious tone to her voice as she walked into the house, pushing the door shut behind her as she was carrying a couple of Joss' heavier bags.
"I couldn't help myself, I just had to see where my favorite cousin lives," Joss interrupted with her usual warm grin as she let go of Kim and then kicked her shoes off.
"I'm pretty much your only cousin Joss, well at least the only one with her own house," Kim stammered back in reply before she turned away from Joss and went to help her mother with the suitcases.
"Where are Ron and the others," Mrs. Possible asked softly as she leaned in close to Kim, keeping her voice down far enough so that Joss wouldn't hear them as she waddled into the living room, taking everything in as she went.
"Around…heh, they split when you guys showed up, they're probably all," Kim started to whisper back softly with a subtle blush to her cheeks before Kim's mother stopped what she was doing and took a good long look at Kim.
"Is there something that you want to tell me," Mrs. Possible asked with a curious and inquisitive look in her eyes as she crossed her arms in front of her and raised an eyebrow to further add to her look.
"What…like what mom, I mean I'm back where I belong, everybody's happy, your mothering skills are just going into major overdrive with Joss here," Kim offered up in reply with a nervous smile on her lips as she tried to laugh off her mothers concern, though surprised that her mother could already detect a difference.
"Yeah…you're right, that's probably it, it's just that you look different somehow, are you sure that there's nothing that you want to tell me, really…you can tell me anything Kimmie, is there another girl," Mrs. Possible responded with a curious look in her eyes as she wasn't completely buying wholly into what Kim was saying but was still unsure as to exactly what was going on so she didn't want to push things to far.
"Well there is Penny but she," Kim started to mumble out in reply before she heard a sharp gasp of surprise from behind her. She and her mother instantly spun around to find Joss standing in the living room looking back at them as Rosa stood there, in a pretty little dress, waving like mad at Joss.
"Is that," Mrs. Possible started to wonder softly as she turned to Kim in the middle of slipping her shoes off before Kim groaned.
"Rosa…what are you doing out here, where's," Kim exclaimed with a frantic tone of panic to her voice as she rushed forward and squatted down beside the little brunette, kissing her softly on the cheek while wrapping her arms around her, mostly to keep the little lady from running off again.
"Uh Kim, who," Joss started to ask with a confused and surprised look on her face as she laid her hands on her stomach and directed her gaze down and over at Rosa before Yori came rushing down the hallway, having rushed out of her room in such a hurry while in the middle of changing clothes that she had forgotten to put a shirt on as she was only wearing a pair of pink fuzzy socks and a pretty skimpy pair of black panties. She stopped the second that she saw Mrs. Possible, almost passing out from the shock of it all. Torn between her expected shame of being seen topless by someone other than one of her lovers and her need to honor a guest into her house Yori straightened up and stood motionless for a few seconds before bowing quickly to first Mrs. Possible and then to Joss. Kim's mother kept her composure but inwardly wondered if any of Kim's girlfriends could keep their clothes on for more than a few minutes. Joss however stood rigidly still with eyes as big as dinner plates. While she had seen women naked before she hadn't expected to find one in Kim's house, especially with Kim seemingly not being surprised by it.
"I'll explain later, I thought that you and Tara," Kim started to shoot out in full panic mode before she turned back to Yori and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her close.
"I am sorry Possible-san, we only turned out backs for a second, she slipped out when she heard your mother speak," Yori apologized softly with a very guilty and embarrassed look in her eyes as she looked at Kim before taking Rosa from Kim and leaning in and kissing Kim softly on the cheek.
"Kim," Joss wondered aloud with now a completely confused feeling as she watched Yori hurry off back down the hallway with Rosa in her arms, still waving like mad at them.
"Guess I can't hide it any longer, sit down Joss…please, this is going to take awhile," Kim groaned back softly with a the jig is up look on her face as she tried not to hyperventilate from the sudden shock of it all before she and her mother joined Joss on the couch and she launched into an explanation, though leaving one very important secret out of the speech.
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
"Grr…leave it to a Possible to have the worst possible timing," Bonnie grumbled out impatiently as she tried to calm herself down while sitting on the edge of her bed. When Mrs. Possible and Joss had first showed up she had followed Ron and Hope into her own room, directing them there so that they could hide away in case that Kim decided to show Joss or her mother her and Ron's room.
"Take it easy Bon," Hope purred out softly into Bonnie's ear as she walked up and wrapped her arms around Bonnie's now bare midsection, with her only wearing her underwear, before she laid her chin on Bonnie's shoulder.
"Yeah Bonnie, it's not like you can do anything about it, besides Joss isn't any threat to you, she's Kim's cousin remember," Jessica added with a bored tone to her voice as she sat down on the windowsill and looked back into the room.
"Besides Kim's mother knows about all of us and would probably help Kim if anything came up," Monique remarked out softly with a confidant look in her eyes as she stepped back out of the bathroom and turned the light off along the way.
"Everything will be fine as long as we just stay in here and keep our voices down we'll be fine until Mrs. Possible and Joss leave," Ron declared with a commanding edge to his words as he looked around the room before Marcella unhappily poked her head out from underneath the covers and groaned.
"Well then why don't we," Marcella started to offer with a sly grin on her lips as she looked very pointedly at Monique and then at Jessica, both of whom almost instinctively immediately crossed their arms in front of chests and crossed their legs.
"That's enough Marcella, put a freakin lid on your hormone's for a second already," Bonnie growled back sharply, surprising Hope as she let go briefly before sliding her arms back around Bonnie's waist with Bonnie helping, before she let out a sigh.
"Kim's mother doesn't know that she's pregnant and I highly doubt that Joss does either," Jessica finally said softly, after several silent seconds ticked by, with a calm look on her face before she stood up and walked over to where Monique was standing and ducked underneath her arm before she wrapped her arms around the shorter woman's waist and laid her head on Monique's shoulder.
"Exactly, and it's not our place to be the one to tell either of them, Kim will tell them when she wants them to know," Ron replied as he nodded his head and then began to look around for the remote control to Bonnie's television.
"Which is what she could be doing right now," Hope observed with a serious look of concern before she nuzzled into Bonnie's neck and placed a few soft kisses trailing from her collarbone up until she could nibble softly on her ear.
"Nah, Kim would have told us if she was going to tell them, after all Ron should know before her dad finds out," Marcella glumly interjected before she curled up in Ron's lap, wanting more than anything to have some fun but sensing that the others in the room weren't interested.
"Oh right…the whole black hole threat," Jessica mumbled out with a look of understanding as looked concerned before Monique reached up and gently caressed her cheek with the back of her hand in a supportive manner.
"Maybe we're all over thinking this, I mean Kim's pop wouldn't do anything to the father or her baby would he, no matter how angry he got," Monique wondered aloud as she looked around the room awaiting everyone's answer and reaction.
"You're right Monique, he wouldn't, he's to good of a man to do that, he'll be upset when he finds out but he'll stick by Kim and the baby because he loves her so much and knows that Kim and Ron love each other, now if it was one of us," Bonnie agreed with Monique while slightly nodding her head with an optimistic tone to her voice before her hands found their way down to her stomach, rubbing softly in circles as her mind drifted to thoughts of one day being a mother herself.
"I don't see how he hasn't figured it out by now, I mean even when it was just you Bonnie, surely he couldn't have missed all of the signs," Marcella asked with a confused look of disbelief on her face as she impatiently played with the bottom edge of her shirt, wanting to rip it off and make love to Ron more than anything.
"He missed that Eric was a syntho-drone," Jessica pointed out with a hopefully helpful tone to her voice as she lifted her head up off of Monique's shoulder.
"Girl that's no good, all of us thought he was human," Monique said softly with a look of disappointed with herself look in her eyes as she hung her head slightly.
"Hey, come on now ladies it's not your fault, everyone thought that he was a real boy…Mr. Dr. Possible is a very detail oriented guy, he can find the slightest error in like a million lines of code but not notice that he has a ketchup stain on his shirt," Ron pointed out quickly with an intentionally confidant tone to his voice as he hated seeing any of his loves getting depressed about something.
"So what are you saying," Bonnie asked sharply back with a confused look in her eyes and tone to her voice as she turned around and plopped down into her favorite purple velvet chair, dragging Hope down to sit on her lap.
"What I'm saying is that whether he knows it right now or not he'll figure it out eventually, and now with Kim pregnant it'll probably happen sooner rather than later," Ron answered with a calm look of certainty on his face as he nodded his head and then slid an obviously unhappy Marcella off of his lap.
"Maybe one of us should go out there and actually find out what's going on rather than just sit back here and guess at what we're supposed to do next," Hope pointed out with a bored look before she reached up and slid one of Bonnie's bra straps down off of her shoulder, acting as if it had fallen down all on its own
"Good idea…but who," Ron replied softly before he screwed up his face into a contemplative expression and squinted, thinking hard.
"I'll go, Mrs. Possible already knows about Kim and I so there'll be no surprise there," Monique announced with a somewhat reluctant tone to her voice before Jessica lifted her head up off of her shoulder.
"But," Jessica started to pout back unhappily before Monique leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on her lips.
"Don't worry baby, I'll be back before you know it, and if you get lonely talk to Marcella, I have a feeling that she'd be more than happy to help," Monique answered back softly before she extricated herself from Jessica's arms and walked out of the room.
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
Later That Night
"So how'd she take it," Bonnie asked softly as she looked over at Kim, who was curled up in Ron's lap with his arms wrapped tightly around her and her head laying back on his chest, and Ron through the firelight.
"Better than I expected, I think my mom kind of expected that there were more women that I wasn't telling her about, and Joss…well she seemed curious," Kim replied with a tired yawn in the middle of her answer before she shifted her position against Ron so that she could lay her cheek against his chest.
"You mean like," Tara started to ask with an unsure tone to her voice before Kim shook her head.
"Not like that Tara, just curious about how we came to be, I tried to explain it to her but I think that she still had plenty of questions," Kim softly groaned back as she slowly shook her head before Zita spoke up.
"Did you tell her that you were pregnant," Zita asked point blank as she turned to the side a bit so that she could use the firelight to aid her in painting her toenails red.
"No, I wanted to…but it just didn't feel like the right time you know, when I tell her it should be when it's just the two of us," Kim stammered back with an embarrassed expression before Monique chimed in with her two cents.
"Don't worry Kim, if you need any help in that category we've got your back," Monique said proudly in support as she idly began to flip through an album of some of Zita's past work.
"And your front…your," Marcella started to whisper softly to herself before she hid her face behind the want ads and hummed softly to herself, ignoring the stares.
"Nique's right, you need something…just ask," Hope said softly with a very determined and honest tone to her voice and look in her eyes as she began to roll some of her hair in between her fingers, a habit of hers.
"And don't worry about Rosa, I already told her that she was going to have a little baby brother or sister, you should have seen the smile on her face, she can't wait to be a big sister," Zita added with a sincere look of happiness and honesty in her voice as she nodded her head back towards Kim, making sure that she felt the full effect of her words and understood.
"Thank you Zita…really," Kim said softly back with a very heartfelt tone of thanks to her voice as she smiled sweetly at Zita from across the room.
"Don't mention it chica, just be a good mother," Zita grinned back softly with a content and proud look in her eyes as she beamed back at Kim for a few moments before returning to her task of painting her toenails.
"I'll try," Kim softly mumbled back with full knowledge that a daunting task lay in front of her before Ron spoke up.
"Don't worry guys, KP's gonna be the best mother any kid could ever ask for," Ron started to say with a relaxed smile of confidence before Zita looked up at him a little hurt and lost. To try and stave off total destruction he mouthed to her, "present company excluded."
"So do you know what you're having," Tara asked quickly with an awkward smile on her lips as she hurried to change the subject.
"Uh news flash Tara, it's a little to early for that, the baby's probably still smaller than your fist," Monique remarked with a subtle tone of sarcasm to her voice as she held her fist up in front of her face for Tara to see. Tara looked ready to say something but then clenched her fist lightly and quietly stared at it.
"I…we, don't really care whether it's a boy or a girl," Kim began to reply softly with a cautiously optimistic look in her eyes as one of her hands glided down to rest on her stomach, before Ron finished her sentence.
"As long as it's healthy," Ron finished with a silent prayer through his grin as he gave Kim a comforting squeeze and then placed a soft kiss on the top of her head.
"And if it's a girl she gets her looks from her mother," Hope snickered out sharply under her breath with a dirty grin on her lips and an amused fire in her eyes as she looked straight at Kim and Ron as she said it.
"Damn straight," Bonnie joked in addition with a playful smile on her lips as she pulled Hope a bit closer and flashed a telling smile to Ron and Kim silently explaining to them both that she and Hope were just having some fun and meant no harm.
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
The bus pulled away from the station slowly at first and then quickly roared up to top speed. She watched it disappear around the first bend in the road before bending down to pick up her duffel bag. As she walked to the terminal she thought back about the life that she had tried to make for herself in Hollywood. For a time she had found work, mostly because she had been willing to do almost anything, and worked for cheap. She had kept herself in tiptop shape, making sure that the choreographer's would not be able to find one flaw in her form thus excluding her from getting the job. After being in several music videos, dancing behind acts that had one hit and they were gone, she had seemed ready to hit the big time. But then it had happened. During a practice session for another music video she had been practicing her routine when she had come to its end, performing it flawlessly. She had been about to do the final set of twirls when the small dog of the girlfriend of the lead singer had scampered out onto the set. In her sudden rush to avoid stepping on the dog she had fallen off of the stage after several impossible steps. The moment that she hit the floor she knew that it was over. It took her a month before she could even get up the courage to call her mother. She had torn several tendons in her knee and broken her ankle. In one short and painful moment her career was over. She grumbled under her breath as she limped through the terminal doors. The surgery had been a success however she was still months away from being able to walk without a limp or having to wear a large brace on her knee. Every night before going to sleep she would ice her knee and keep it elevated, but that had been difficult on the bus.
"Name please," The attendant behind the counter asked with a sickeningly sweet smile on her face as she turned on her computer.
"Norton, Crystal Norton," Crystal mumbled back softly with a tired and defeated tone to her voice before she had to stop for a moment and stifle a large yawn.
END OF CHAPTER 33
Author's Notes: This chapter starts out with the immediate aftermath of what happened at the end of the last chapter. Kim goes to the door and greets her mother and Joss, who came a week or so early. Mrs. Possible explains that Joss showed up early and Joss is happy to see Kim and see her house. While Joss walks into the living room, after trying to hug Kim directly but her stomach got in the way, Kim's mom starts to ask her some questions. Mrs. Possible senses that something is different but can't quite put her finger on just what the difference is at the moment. She asks Kim about it and Kim blushes but dodges the question. Rosa coming in is mostly an ode to how precocious little kids can be and how you have to watch them like a hawk or else they can slip away. Joss is surprised by the sight of Rosa, as she didn't know that any kids were living in Kim's house. Mrs. Possible wonders if it's Zita's daughter that Kim told her about weeks before. Kim blushes deeply as she runs over to get Rosa out of there and back to her room. She asks Rosa why she came running out when Yori runs up half naked. Being Yori she's torn between being respectful of guests and bowing to them and being mindful that she's half naked and trying to cover herself. She bows to them both and then quickly scoops up Rosa away from Kim, who's glad to hand her off. Mrs. Possible asks again if that was Rosa. Kim takes a deep breath before sitting them both down on the couch and then launching into an explanation.
Next comes a bit with Ron, Hope, Marcella, Jessica, Monique, and Bonnie are all in Bonnie's room given the fact that Kim might want to show Joss her room. They're all talking about what they should do at the moment with Kim's mom and Joss there. They're divided about what to do other than to stay in the room until their guests leave, thus not pushing Kim. Marcella has an idea about how to pass the time but Bonnie doesn't want to hear any of it. Hope tries to calm her down and to a degree it works. They continue to talk about what to do now and the subject of how to tell Kim's father comes up. The talk about how he's a detail guy and hasn't picked up any of the hints that Kim is sleeping with more people than Ron isn't meant to make fun of Kim's dad. Rather it's to illustrate that he can see and understand complex computer problems and circuits, but miss something that's right in front of his face. Bonnie thinks that Ron might be making fun of Kim's dad and defends him with her little speech about him being a good man. Ron counters by saying that he wasn't trying to make fun of Mr. Possible. Marcella tries again to get everyone into the mood for what she has in mind but they decline again. At the end Hope makes a suggestion that perhaps one of them should go out and meet Mrs. Possible and Joss instead of them all hiding out in their rooms. Monique volunteers and then walks out of the room.
Then comes a little bit with Kim sitting on Ron's lap on the couch with the rest of the ladies gathered around a little while after Mrs. Possible and Joss left. They ask how they reacted to the news that she is pregnant. Kim blushes and admits that she didn't tell them that she was pregnant, instead she told them about their living situation. The talk soon turns to the topic of being a mother and being a bit afraid. The various women try to cheer Kim up and bolster her confidence. Zita offers to be a friend to talk to as her pregnancy progresses and Kim agrees. Towards the end of the talk they get to which sex Ron and Kim think the baby will be. I don't see Tara as knowing that much about it all so she makes the false assumption that they'd know the sex already. Monique sets her straight and then Kim and Ron admit that as long as their child is healthy they don't care if it's a boy or a girl. Hope makes a little joke about if it's a girl they'd better hope that she gets her looks from Kim instead of Ron. Bonnie agrees and soon all share a laugh about it.
The final bit tells the background of one of the newly arriving ladies into Middleton. For this particular character I could see her going this way, or at least trying to make it out in Hollywood as a dancer. But her dancing is like in music videos and things like that, not stripping like Jessica. The bit with the dog is to make fun of all of those stars that get a little dog because they think that it's the cool thing to do. Anyway she gets hurt and her dancing career is over, or so she thinks. So she goes back home to rest, recuperate, and figure out what to do next. At the end of the little bit I reveal who it is. The woman in question is Crystal.
In closing thanks to everyone for reading this and the other chapters. I hope that I haven't gotten to far off with anyone and I hope that all of you have as much fun reading these chapters as I do writing them. In the upcoming chapters more fun for the ladies, a mission or two, employment for some of the ladies, and several other surprises. As always my forums are open if you have any questions for me. So thanks again to everyone for reading and reviewing this story.