"Wow."
"Wooooow."
"Boys, don't open your mouth like that at the dinner table," remarked James as he poured everyone, even Hana, a glass of red wine.
Jim recovered first. "This is amazing, Mom! Hana, did you cook most of this?"
Hana blushed and shook her head. "I merely helped Anne with a few things..."
"Don't be so modest, Hana, you did as much as I did... Probably even more."
Hana mumbled something about it being a team effort as everyone gazed at the spread.
It was a very impressive spread that included a ten pound turkey that was oven-roasted to an exquisite golden brown colour, mashed and roasted potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, steamed vegetables, mini mince pies, and plum pudding.
"How long did it take for you to prep all of this?" asked Shego. She was genuinely impressed and had wondered whether it did take Hana and Anne an entire week to prepare the meal.
Hana counted silently with her fingers. "About four days? The plum pudding took a while since I was looking around for the right ingredients. It was actually my first time making it, so I hope it turned out ok."
"I'm sure it did," replied Anne as she patted the young girl on the shoulder. "Let's say grace and dig in."
"Ohhhh, I'm so full that I think I'll just fall asleep in my chair."
James laughed. "Don't fall asleep just yet, Shego. It's a Possible tradition to watch the Snowman Hank Christmas special on Christmas Eve."
Shego nodded. "My brothers loved watching that special too. We'd all huddle around the TV when we were kids."
"Come, let's go to the living room then."
Kim, Hana, and the twins were already in the room when Shego and James entered. Shego sat beside Kim on the floor as Hana put in the DVD. Anne had come in with eggnog and several cups on a tray, and passed cups around to everyone.
As the special started playing, Shego noticed that Kim was holding onto Hana's hand. The teen had a pensive look on her face, as of trying to dig out a memory from the recesses of her mind. It was not exactly a sad expression, nor was it happy. Remembering what Kim had said about Ron and Snowman Hank (and the Fearless Ferret), she understood why watching this Christmas special became a tradition: it was Hana's way of remembering her brother and her parents. While they weren't with her, they lived on in her memory, and within the Christmas spirit at the Possibles'.
Noticing that her girlfriend appeared fixated on her hand atop Hana's, Kim took her free hand and clasped it onto Shego's. The clasp transformed into entwinement and a smile appeared on Shego's face.
Anne and James noticed the exchange and smiled to each other. Shego was initially quiet during dinner, but by the end of it, she had joined in on everyone's conversation. James had taken a liking to the woman as she appeared, much to Kim's surprise, knowledgeable in a range of topics, not just about graphics design, physics, or business. He had a lengthy discussion with her about the different types of wines and vineyards, as she discussed with Anne about the various breakthroughs in neurobiology.
Prior to serving dessert, James had retrieved the wine glasses from the table and spoke with his wife who was taking out Hana's pudding from the fridge.
"What do you think?"
"About what, dear?" Anne knew what her husband was asking about, but wanted to humour herself with the question. She, too, was surprised about Shego's knowledge of neuroscience and had answered Shego's questions in detail, boring the twins and Hana whereas Kim listened intently.
"Shego and Kim?"
"We're having this conversation again?"
"I'm just surprised about how knowledgeable she is. She's not what I thought she'd be."
"Is that a bad thing, James? It takes time to warm up to the parents... Usually."
"You can understand my hesitation and skepticism, Anne."
"I do, but we trust Kim's judgement, so we can't do much. She's very much her own woman now, not our fifteen year old daughter who still has a curfew."
"I know. It's just that I am actually impressed with Shego. She's intelligent, has a great sense of humour, and suits our Kimmie."
"I'm glad you think that, James, because your opinion does matter to Kim."
"I know. I just don't want to see her hurt-"
"Dad? Mom? What's taking so long with dessert? The Tweebs are whining..." Kim had walked into the kitchen, unaware that her parents were, well, gossiping about her.
"Your father and I were just reminiscing about how all of you have grown," said Anne as she winked at James.
"Kimmie, it's just so hard to believe how much time has passed since you were just a little girl."
"Aw, dad, don't be like that. We can't help it if time just flies by."
"I know," replied James. "We're just so proud of the beautiful, young woman you've become. And we're glad you're happy. It makes your mom and I happy too."
Kim hugged her parents and said, "Me too." She motioned towards the dessert. "Shall we? I think the twins might drive Hana crazy if they keep whining."
And that they did. When the three Possibles entered the dining room, Hana and the twins were causing a fuss while Shego watched them with an amused expression on her face.
"Boys, stop fussing, dessert's here," said James.
The twins stuck out their tongues at Hana and sat back into their seats, while the young teen scoffed and took up her seat beside Shego. She asked, "What took so long?"
"We wanted to give all of you ample time before stuffing yourselves again," smiled Anne.
"I'm not sure whether I can move... I'm just super full," replied Shego as she patted her stomach for emphasis.
"You'll work it off later anyway... With Kim," snickered Tim.
When Shego and Kim turned red, the twins high fived. "Hicka bicka boo? Hoo-sha!"
Anne wanted to laugh, but kept a serious face as she said, "Boys, don't embarrass our guest like that." Turning to Shego, she smiled, "I guess this is what holidays are for - eating well after all that hard work. I know for a fact that Kim doesn't eat well unless Hana and I feed her."
"Mom!" exclaimed the redhead. Her blush had darkened when she said, "It's ok, Shego's been feeding me and making sure I eat actual food..."
"Good, good," replied Anne with a hint of amusement in her voice. "Come now, let's eat Hana's pudding."
Shego leaned over and whispered into Kim's ear. "And I've been feeding you how? I know you've been eating-" Before the woman could continue, Kim kicked her girlfriend under the table.
Wincing in pain, Shego stifled a laugh as Kim hissed quietly. "No dirty talk at the table!"
Jim and Tim looked up to see a smug Shego and a flustered Kim. They turned to each other and grinned.
Author's Notes: Shego's bold. Talking about this stuff at the dinner table. ;-)
I looked at the time stamp on the draft of this chapter. I wrote this in late May... and am only uploading this now in late July. Whoops.
Chapter title is from "A Great Big Sled" by The Killers.
