Drakken's heart leapt to his throat and he grabbed her shoulders to stop her. She furrowed her brow at him, and he glanced back toward where his mother stood. She was bent over the dog bowls, opening a new can of wet food.
Drakken leaned forward to speak into Shego's ear. "Is your ring in your pocket?" he asked, barely above a whisper.
"What? Yes?" she answered.
"Give me your ring!" he hissed.
"What?" she whispered back as his hands went into her hip pockets, his eyes watching his mother warily.
"We'll do a...a mock-proposal," he whispered back.
"No! That's stupid!" she said, trying to pull his hands back. She could only grab one at a time though, due to her injured wrist, and he easily evaded her. He pulled the ring from her pocket and slipped it quickly into his.
"Mother..." he said. Mrs. Lipsky turned around. Shego scowled and rolled her eyes, turning her head so the older woman couldn't see.
"Yes, dear?"
"Shego is here because...I want her here," he said emphatically.
The woman stepped around the kitchen island to the other side of the table, her brow twisting in confusion.
"You do?"
Shego glared at Drakken and mouthed a 'no', but the facade of a sweet smile he had plastered on stayed firm.
"Y-yes," he said, going down on one knee in front of Shego. "And I want her here...forever."
"Oh! Oh my!" Mrs. Lipsky cried gleefully.
"Fifty..." Shego muttered under her breath, turning just enough to see the red-haired woman's hands in excited fists at her cheeks, her expression having suddenly blossomed into a wide grin.
"Shego, will you marry me?" he asked, pulling the ring from his pocket and presenting it to her.
Shego was still mostly turned away and frowning, her arms crossed. His eyes urged her on even through his forced smile. She let the moment rest. How could he act so...so...childish? Why did he let his mother have such control over him?
"...Well?" she heard his mother say, and recognized the hint of worry in her voice.
Shego's frown started to fade slightly as she considered... She could say no and ruin the whole thing. That would teach them both a lesson. She schooled her face and turned back to face him fully, taking a breath to speak. And then—
"Every moment with you...is a sunrise."
Shego looked at his face, from which the fake-smile had vanished. It was replaced by the intense stare he had given her just before proposing for real, though without the nervous crease of his brow this time. The breath she had taken came out in a wordless gasp.
She slowly held out her left hand, partially covered by the wrist brace. He slid the ring back where it belonged and then held her fingers gently. She felt the band from underneath with her thumb, sighing silently through her nose as she couldn't hold back the little smile that found its way from her eyes to her lips.
"Oh! My son is engaged! My son is engaged!" Mrs. Lipsky chanted happily. Shego peripherally saw the older woman dancing in a small circle behind the table. But she was focused on the man in front of her. He helped her to her feet and she stood up on her tip-toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. His arms went to her waist and pulled her close.
"How do you come up with that cheesy stuff?" she whispered breathily into his ear.
He turned his head so they were nose to nose, a shy blush on his cheeks. "I just...look at you."
She grinned and took his lips between hers, her heart pounding as his answering touch was fierce. His kiss was like fireworks going off in a grand finale, the heat building from deep in her chest until her every extremity was alight and tingling.
"Mmm..." she hummed happily against his mouth.
"Drew Lipsky!"
Drakken's lips left hers as he turned his head to look at his mother. Shego pulled herself more tightly to him and rested her cheek against his, smirking happily.
"Where did you learn such...such raunchy behavior?" his mother continued her scolding.
"Ah..."
Shego's smirk grew as she looked between the parent and adult child, whose eyes kept darting between her and his mother.
"He's got all sorts of behaviors," she said with a grin, adding fuel to the fire.
She caught Drakken's angry glance before he put on an innocent smile for his mother.
"Oh, Shego dear. I'm so sorry if my son has been corrupting you. I always knew his going so far away to college would be a bad idea..."
Shego's grin grew as her shoulders shook with silent laughter. Mrs. Lipsky's visit had suddenly become much, much more tolerable.
"What about his villainous past? Aren't you worried about that?" she asked.
Drakken slowly let go of his hold on Shego's waist, and she slid carefully back into her chair. He stepped behind her and his hands went to her shoulders and held onto them tightly.
"Oh, no dear. Drew assured me that the things he did didn't include anything...savage."
Shego turned and smirked up at him. "'Savage.' That's a new word for it."
Drakken's fingers dug into her shoulders. She patted one of his hands.
"Hadn't you better get on with baking those cookies?" Shego asked.
"Oh no dear, we should celebrate!" Mrs. Lipsky said. She stepped around the table and sat in the chair she had occupied the night before, bringing it much closer to Shego than the green woman would have liked.
"I think some fresh Christmas cookies are the perfect way to celebrate," Shego said, grinning up at Drakken again. "There's still plenty of Christmas Eve left."
"She's right, dear. Now off you go."
Baffled, Drakken looked between the two women and blinked several times. He finally turned and started pulling ingredients out of the cupboard.
Shego smirked and continued. "And I know I heard Drew say something—"
He turned and looked sharply at her.
"—about tying ribbons to candy canes? That sounds like fun!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry. We started without you, dear. But we still have plenty left!"
Shego grinned at where Drakken was staring at her in total confusion as he laid out various sized measuring cups on the counter.
"I'm sure you can imagine... A poor family growing up in urban Go City, one daughter and four sons... My family didn't have any Christmas traditions."
"Oh my!"
"Fifty-one," Shego coughed into her wrist brace.
"Well now that my son is engaged, we can start building some new traditions!"
Shego put on a sweet smile. "That sounds great, Mama Lipsky."
"Oh, you can call me Estelle, dear."
"All right," Shego said. "And before we make the cookies, I think I should change. Unless we're going back to the beach?"
When Estelle Lipsky turned to look at her son, Shego's smile dropped into a critical frown. Drakken twiddled his fingers innocently.
"Ah...no, I don't think so," he said.
"Oh no, dear," Estelle said. "It was lovely, but Christmas should be spent inside don't you think?"
"I completely agree," Shego said, grabbing her crutch and pushing herself up. "I'll be right back," she sang as she turned and quickly hobbled out of the kitchen and down the hall.
Once down the hall and far out of sight, Shego's fake grin vanished and she let out a frustrated groan. What was wrong with Drakken, to just...ignore all of the horrible things his mother had said and throw out a fake proposal as if that would solve everything? And what was wrong with his mother, to suddenly forget her disapproval in light of her son's engagement?
She hurried into her room and after locking the door, stripped out of the bathing suit and hopped into the bathroom for a quick shower. She was glad she'd insisted that Drakken install one of those shower heads on a hose years ago, or else she'd have to re-dress her leg bandage. And she just wasn't in the mood.
True, now that they were officially engaged in his mother's eyes, the visit would go more smoothly. The woman's immediate doting attentions showed that. But they were still living a lie in front of her, and Shego didn't want to keep up with anymore ridiculous pretenses. She and Drakken had been together for months now and it would be odd to behave with that level of comfort if they'd 'just gotten engaged' as Drakken had decided. She was tired of acting like an employee who was a little too familiar.
As she rinsed off the sand and grime from the beach she weighed every possibility in her mind and tried to come up with a plausible story that would work. She decided it was fine to say that she and Drakken had been dating, but that she stayed on as his employee out of fear he wouldn't commit. Of course, that was putting herself down. But who was his mother going to tell that would care?
No one, she decided, as she re-dressed in the track pants and the pink crop top. She added the black hooded jacket that matched the pants this time, not wanting to push the boundary with Mrs. Lipsky too much now that she had accepted her. After shaking the sand off of her sandals, she slipped them back on and hopped out to the kitchen with the crutch.
When she arrived, Drakken had put on his black apron that said 'Evil Chef' on it and was staring down at a cookbook. His mother was next to him looking very upset.
"But it doesn't describe you anymore, dear," she said.
Shego realized she must be worrying about the apron.
"It was a gift from Shego. I'm not taking it off," Drakken said.
"So did you two date at all? Or is this a sudden thing?"
"Oh," Shego said to announce her presence, "we dated."
Estelle Lipsky picked up two glasses from the counter top and moved to sit back down at the table.
"Come and tell me all about it, dear. Here, I poured you some of that lime sparkling water you like."
Shego hopped over, tossing a smirk at Drakken before she sat. She was still mad at him for forgetting her on the beach. Maybe she could come up with a few 'facts' from their dating history to put off his mother... It would serve him right.
"Thank you Mama Lipsky," she said as she sat.
"Oh, I told you to call me Estelle," the red-haired woman said.
"If I'm going to be family I should call you 'mom,'" Shego said, sipping from her glass with a warm smile.
"Oh my!"
Shego smirked. "Fifty-two..." she muttered into her glass.
"Drew, why didn't you tell me your assistant...I mean...fiancée...was so sweet?"
Drakken put on a broad fake smile as he poured flour into one mixing bowl. "Well, I...I thought...it was obvious..."
"So Shego dear, when did you first become interested in my son?"
Shego leaned back in her chair and looked over at the blue man with the furrowed brow. "Probably about a year ago," she answered honestly. Drakken glanced at her in surprise.
"And when did you start seeing one another outside of the professional setting?"
Shego looked back, answering honestly again. "Actually...not until after the alien invasion."
Estelle's grin faded only slightly as she leaned forward in her chair attentively. "I remember seeing that vine wrap you two up on the TV. Did he ask you out to dinner that night?"
"No," Shego shook her head. This was where a lie would need to come into play. Or at least a partial lie. "We just acted like nothing happened. See, you're right about one thing, Mama Lipsky..."
Drakken looked up with a start.
"What's that dear?" Estelle asked.
Shego shrugged. "There's really...not much for me to do here, now that we're not villains anymore."
"It is awfully suspicious," Estelle said, looking between the pair. "One might get the wrong idea."
Drakken blushed lightly, but Shego passed over the comment.
"We didn't get together until we realized there was nothing to keep me here," she explained, "except that we wanted to be together." Shego smirked down into her glass and fought her rising laughter. "So we confessed our love."
"Oh, how poetic!" Estelle said.
'Arf!' Admiral Cuddles agreed. Shego looked down and saw him lying under the table, wagging his tail.
"So we've been dating ever since," Shego said with another shrug. She was pleased with how little lying she actually had to do, not for the truth's sake, but for her own sanity. She hated keeping track of lies.
"And you two kept it secret from me this whole time!"
Shego's grin faded at that. She looked at Drakken, who was biting his lip. He looked at her anxiously and she frowned. Now was his chance for redemption.
"What's wrong?" Estelle asked, picking up on the tension and looking between the two.
Drakken swallowed nervously. "Mother...you... You haven't...been very nice to Shego," he said, a tremor in his voice.
"Oh. Well Drew, she was acting so suspiciously."
Drakken opened his mouth to argue, but his mother continued.
"But now I know you two were just trying to surprise me. You know, you weren't very good at pretending nothing was going on."
Drakken blinked at Shego, and she shrugged. Whatever delusion Mrs. Lipsky wanted to live in was fine with her, if it meant less lying about everything and more getting on with the holiday and getting it over with.
"Ah, y-yes... That was it all along," Drakken said, continuing with the cookies. He poured a liberal amount of milk into the mixing bowl. Shego rolled her eyes.
"Now Shego dear, let me see your ring!"
Shego shifted her chair over to be alongside Drakken's mother and then held up her hand so they could both admire the ring together.
"It's just beautiful! And my Drewbie chose it!" Mrs. Lipsky said with pride, admiring the ring on Shego's finger.
"Yup!" Shego said, glancing over at her apron-clad fiancé as he bent over the recipe book, frowning as he stirred something into the mixing bowl.
Drakken cracked an egg over the bowl as he muttered something to himself, looking up just in time to see a piece of white shell fall into the mix.
"Oh, doodles!"
"Drew! You know how I feel about that doodle language!"
Shego chuckled. "You should hear the language he uses in the—"
"Shego!"
Drakken had jumped almost a foot and was now hurrying around the counter, wiping his hands on a dish towel as he came.
"Ah...Sh-Shego, can you help me in the other room...with the...um...the..."
"Drew, what on earth has gotten into you?" his mother said.
Drakken was helping Shego up to her feet and half-carrying, half-pushing her out of the kitchen.
"I just need...um... I...I'll be right back, Mother. Could you stir the cookie batter for me? And add the fresh ginger to the bowl on the right!"
"Well, all right Son," Estelle said, standing and walking around the counter. Shego barely saw her as she was dragged out of the room.
"Owww!" she complained as soon as they were in the living room. She'd had to put too much pressure on her sprained wrist holding onto him, and now it ached.
"Shego!" he hissed anxiously, looking her in the face. "Whatever else you say, my mother...c-can't know that we sleep together!"
She laughed in disbelief. "Why not?"
"Because she's...very traditional. And so am I. She expects people to wait until they're married!"
Shego smirked, setting her hands on her hips. "Come on, Doc. You're pushing fifty. You're old enough to have adult children. She can't seriously think you've never..."
Her words died at the anxious look on his face.
"...Seriously?"
"Yes. Seriously."
Shego's smirk returned. "Well, considering your dating history it's believable."
Drakken crossed his arms and turned away with an indignant frown.
"Just...make the best of it," he said. "She's happy now."
He turned and headed back into the kitchen, leaving her standing in the middle of the room on one foot.
"Drakken," she said sharply. He whirled around at the warning in her voice. She stretched her arms toward him, and he blinked twice before hurrying back. When he reached her side she looped her arms around his neck and he picked her up.
"Oh, um... S-sorry...about not coming back to get you on the—"
"Just get back in there before she gets suspicious."
Drakken turned to do just that.
"You're not...still mad?"
Shego lightly flared her hand against his neck, and he flinched. "What do you think?"
He didn't get to respond though, because his mother looked up as they re-entered the kitchen.
"Oh that's so sweet Drew, carrying your fiancée so she doesn't have to walk on her injured leg."
"Mm, yes," he said, setting Shego down and walking back around to the counter.
Just then Admiral Cuddles started pawing at Drakken's ankles and whimpering. Drakken bent down.
"Do you need to go out, boy?"
The dog whimpered again, and Drakken picked up the dog.
"Oh...Shego," he said as he headed toward the hall, "while I take Admiral Cuddles outside, why don't you help Mother with the cookies?"
"That's a splendid idea, Drew," his mother agreed with a smile.
Shego stared at Drakken's smug grin as he vanished into the hallway, and she looked over at the counter covered in jars, ramekins, and measuring tools.
"Well, come on dear," Estelle said.
Shego hopped around to the other side of the counter. She stared at the foreign landscape, blinking dumbly.
Drakken was cruel.
"Now you get on with the ginger snaps, and I'll make the snickerdoodles."
Shego blinked again. Somehow ginger snaps sounded easier than snickerdoodles, but she had no idea what to do with either. She wasn't even sure which bowl she was to work on.
She looked between the two mixing bowls and saw that the one closest to her had a darker mixture in it. Gingerbread was dark, right? She picked up the wooden spoon and began slowly stirring the batter as her eyes searched the counter for the recipe.
"These are almost ready..." Estelle said.
Shego looked to where Mrs. Lipsky was spooning batter out onto wax paper on a baking tray. The green-skinned woman glanced to her right and saw a second tray was prepared to receive the ginger snap batter. She cautiously began to get a spoonful out of the bowl.
"Don't forget the molasses, dear!" Estelle said suddenly.
Shego dropped the spoon back into the bowl. "Actually...I'm feeling a bit nauseous. I think I'll just sit down."
Estelle's brow twisted. "Weren't you feeling ill this morning, too? I hope you're not coming down with something."
"No," Shego shook her head. "I'm just...not good at cooking."
She felt relieved. May as well get that out in the open. It wasn't like it mattered that Mrs. Lipsky knew. Drakken did all the cooking for the two of them anyway...
"Oh my! Well you'll have to practice dear. I want my grandchildren to have home-cooked meals every day."
Shego's face paled. "Grandchildren?"
"Yes of course, dear. They'll need to be raised on a healthy diet."
Drakken re-entered the room with Admiral Cuddles trotting at his side, smirking at the sight of Shego standing behind the mixing bowl. Shego hopped back around the counter and picked up her crutch.
"I'm...going to go tie ribbons on candy canes," she said, starting for the living room. "Come on, Shorty."
The dog responded with a small bark of acknowledgement and hurried to her side. The smirk that had been on Drakken's face vanished as he caught sight of hers. But she didn't look at him as she hurried out of the room. Mrs. Lipsky's words were making her more nauseous by the moment.
Grandchildren?
Shego sat heavily on the couch, and the dog leapt up and crawled into her lap. She didn't push him away.
Drakken had never mentioned children. She'd never even thought of children. And the thought now made her entire stomach feel like it wanted to escape her insides.
Shego began scratching the dog's head, and then recoiled in disgust at herself. But the dog looked up at her almost with concern and whimpered once. Did dogs have some special type of empathy?
She pushed him out of her lap but let him sit against her leg. She reached across the coffee table and grabbed a handful of candy canes and ribbons. Maybe the tedious task would distract her from the worrying thought Mrs. Lipsky had introduced.