KP – One Oh One : Part XXIV – What We're Thankful For
Kim awoke to the sensation of someone else's head resting against her shoulder. As her synapses slowly switched over from the subconscious to the conscious, the reality of her sitch started coming back to her. It was much later than she normally slept, but that was because it was a holiday and she would not have to get up early until Saturday so she could go to Temple with Ron.
Normally when somebody else was in the bed with her, it would be Ron. However, the cranium resting on her shoulder was crowned with long brown hair instead of short, shaggy, dark blonde. Almost immediately she remembered that her little cousin Joss was bunking with her since her father had taken the guest room.
Joss actually wasn't so little any more. Just a couple weeks earlier she had turned fifteen and she had grown considerably since the week they spent at her father's ranch in Montana. In fact, save for the color of her hair, eyes and a smattering of freckles, she had become the spitting image of Kim at that age.
Kim was just the wee bit jealous, considering certain parts of the younger girl were a little more developed than they had been for her when she hit that milestone. Apparently her own…shortcomings in that department were a gift from her mother's side of the family.
The moment Kim got home from Arizona mid-afternoon, she was sent out in her car to pick her uncle and cousin up at the airport. He mother was pulling an extra shift at the medical center and her father was preparing a rocket for liftoff the following weeks, so it was either send her or have the two take a cab. Of course, she was more than happy to make the trip, though Ron was dragging a bit. They really did spend the better part of the night just talking about whatever came to their minds before they realized the two sleeping bags were similar enough they could zip them together like they did the ones in their mission equipment. Even then they did more talking than actual making out and it was only the wee hours of the morning when they finally fell asleep in each other's arms.
Kim's jaw almost dropped when she saw her uncle and cousin coming out of the terminal. Slim looked precisely the same as he ever did, with his cowboy boots and hat, his long drooping mustache and ragged long hair peeking out from under his Stetson. It was Joss who had changed the most.
She no longer just dressed like Kim, she looked just like her as well. She had taken to wearing makeup to partially disguise her freckles and had grown out her hair, parting it on the side instead of the middle. A little bit of hair dye and some green contacts and she could pose as Kim's twin, making her wonder if the younger Possible had reverted back to her 'be just like Kim' mentality. She had even foresworn western-wear in favor of a snug sweater and fairly low-cut capris. She had gone from gangly tween to gorgeous young woman seemingly overnight.
Kim was a little shocked when she ran up to hug Ron first. She had a bad moment when she realized that when she hugged him like that, it was a prelude to a kiss. It got worse when they parted and Joss hesitated just a moment, looking straight at his eyes. All the posters she had put up of him the last time they were at the Ranch suddenly took on a whole other dimension.
Could Joss be crushing on Ron?
That thought was dispelled when the crushing the surprisingly strong young woman did was the hug she gave Kim next. She was just being especially friendly. The thought of her having any kind of romantic designs on Ron was just silly. The two had been chatting online on a regular basis and Joss knew they were engaged. Joss even went on to write in their IM chats that she won the bet with her father that the two of them would get together.
The ride home turned out to be the reverse of the road trip with the Stoppables. Joss called shotgun, putting both Ron and Slim in the back seat. Fortunately, there was plenty of room for them back there since the PT Cruiser was a pretty well thought out design. The young teen spent the entire thirty minute ride back to the Possible's going on about her fledgling career helping people in Montana and how she was doing it all herself with just a website that was practically a clone copy of Kim's.
Kim didn't bring up the fact that Wade had been taking a hand in the site, protecting it against hackers and directing some missions her way when appropriate.
Slim, Ron and Kim barely got a word in edgewise. That ran on right into dinner and beyond. Joss took Kim's usual position on the couch, hooking one arm around Ron's and generally paying him a great deal of attention while she prattled on about her adventures in her transplanted Texas twang.
By that point there was no doubt in her mind. It was all there in her cousin's body language. There was even every possibility her room was still covered in posters, with even more added to it as other great shots of him turned up online. There was probably even a shot of him wearing his Senior Prom tux among them by then. Leave it to high-tech ranchers to have a large-format printer in the house.
Kim was not going to jell. Joss was her cousin and probably the closest she ever had to having the sister she wanted before her brothers were born, despite the fact the two only rarely saw each other face to face. She reminded herself again that she was quite aware of their relationship and was just acting out the crush that she developed when she was twelve. It was just a little-girl thing and as pretty as she was, Joss was certain to have a boyfriend back home in Montana.
How easy it was to forget that she didn't actually have a boyfriend at that age, only a largely unrequited crush on Josh Mankey.
Later that night, before bed, Joss literally got into a frenzy of trying on Kim's clothes. That's when Kim noticed something that actually shocked her.
"Joss, is that a…belly button ring?"
"Ain't it cool? Daddy got angry somethin fierce, but hey, what's done was done, so he let me keep it." She let her older cousin have a closer look. It was silver, set with a small turquoise stone that matched her eye color. She had matching earrings on as well. In fact, Joss had a lot of silver jewelry on, including an arrowhead on a silver chain and silver rings on each middle finger, etched with Native American designs.
"I almost hate to ask this, Joss, but what are you into these days. You almost never talk about anything in your IMs except your missions."
"Yer speck'tin me to say I'm still into you? Or are you worried I'm into Ron?"
"Well…" Kim found she couldn't meet the girl's eyes.
Joss went behind the changing screen and pulled Kim's green tank and capris back off. Moments later she stepped out wearing the short black dress. "Don't tell Daddy, but I've sort of got me a boyfriend, so don't you be worryin' I'm after yours. Now, this outfit, it's spankin!" She smoothed her hands down over her hips in a move strikingly similar to what Kim did every time she put the dress on.
"Let me guess, Uncle Slim isn't too keen on boys?"
"Nah, he's alright with them, so long as they're my age and all, or at least still in high school."
"Uh oh." Kim grinned, getting an idea where the conversation was going.
"See, there's this guy who works for Daddy at the Lazy C. He's so…"
"Golden?" Kim supplied.
"Yeah, golden. Kinda like that guy on those AMC cowboy movies, but just nineteen."
"Oh boy. I take it he's a bit too old for Uncle Slim's comfort zone?"
"I think it's got more ta do with him workin for Daddy, but yeah. Kinda funny, since Daddy was almost ten years older than Mama."
Kim smiled at her cousin. "The age difference thing works a lot better once you're past twenty one, I think. You said sorta boyfriend?"
"Well, sorta since we ain't gone on any real dates or nothin'. Daddy's kinda funny 'bout that too. He lets me go all over the place on my missions, but he gets all bent outta shape any time I mention Bud takin me to town or anything."
"Somehow that sounds familiar." Kim smiled even more broadly, recalling the time her Dad pronounced "No boys, ever" back when she was fifteen and he finally realized she was growing up.
She noticed Joss was still looking at herself in the mirror, admiring her figure in the little black dress. "You know, that's Ron's favorite dress."
"I kinda figured that. Daddy would probly take Bud to meet Old Tornado if I went out with him wearin this. How the heck did you get out of the house with it?"
Kim sighed. "Most likely because I've only ever worn it on dates with Ron. A lot of the rules don't apply where it comes to him."
Joss went back behind the screen, this time coming out wearing a t-shirt that hung all the way down past her knees. Kim would have expected the cotton nightshirt to have some kind of cowboy scenes on it, instead, there was a drawing of a kitten curled up in bed, with a logo that said "Sleep Like a Kitten." She stretched out the wrong direction on the bed, on her stomach with her feet in the air.
"What's Ron like?"
Kim lay back on the bed, looking upwards. "He's sweet, he's caring."
Joss looked back at her cousin. "Not 'xactly where I was goin."
"Oh!" Kim blushed, biting her lower lip. "Well, he's pretty good at kissing."
"Uh huh. And?"
She gave Joss a 'look.' "None of your biz." She replied with a sly smile.
"Just askin." She waved here feet a little. "Just couldn't help but notice he's got big hands."
"Oy, what is it with everybody talking about how big Ron's hands are?"
Joss rolled onto her back, trying to determine exactly what it was Kim was looking at. She was grinning like the famous literary cat. "I figured since you two'd been together so long now you'd have known about that."
"Joss, when I was your age, I was a lot more worried that I'd get a chance to dance with a boy, let alone wonder exactly how he was…built."
"So you don't know? Shame."
"I didn't say that. Just that it's none of your business." She sat up on her elbows, looking at the younger girl. "Don't tell me…"
"Nah. Ain't gone there yet, just think about it from time to time. Just like it when guys pay me that kind of attention and all."
Kim stretched back out. The lack of sleep the night before and the late hour were starting to catch up to her. "Guess I really did get a pretty late start. Between school and missions and clubs and stuff, I really didn't have all that much time for dating."
"Yet for Ron you always made time, didn't you?"
"You know, Joss, you're right. It's just, I don't know, I think I took him for granted for so long. It was like he was just some kind of fall-back guy for me. When I couldn't get some boy I was crushing on to notice me or take me out, I'd always end up with him, to the point I started calling Friday nights my 'Ron night' and still I couldn't see we were already dating, after a fashion."
"Yer just lucky I was just twelve when I met him." Joss looked back at her, wagging her eyebrows.
"It's not that easy. Honestly, if we hadn't been best friends since we were four, I doubt I would have ever noticed him. It sometimes makes me sick to my stomach that I could have missed out on him."
"When did you realize he was 'the one?'"
"I think I knew it for a long time before, but I didn't realize it until the night of the Diablos. Then it was just like somebody threw a switch in my head and I realized I not only had deep feelings for him, but I was in love with him. It was so strange, cause he was nothing like what I thought I wanted. He was shorter than me, kind of skinny and he was always such a slacker, but once that light bulb went off in my head I found I not only liked the way he looked, I…well…wanted him. Before, when I was out with a guy, I thought about what it might be like to kiss them, or hold their hand, but it wasn't until Ron I thought about those…other things. Well, thought about them really seriously." She added with a smile.
Joss propped herself up. "That's what I want. Sure, I admit I kinda think about Bud like that, but never real strong-like."
"I think that comes with being a teenaged girl." Kim said. She got up and switched off the main light, leaving only the glow from her computer screen lighting the room. There still wasn't enough moon out to lighten the late fall night sky.
Joss turned around and rested her head on her pillows. After a bit she sat up again. "You 'sleep yet, Kim?"
"Almost." She replied dreamily.
"How do you know?"
"How do I know what?"
"How do you know you're in love? I mean, I like when Bud kisses me, but lovin' him?"
Kim sat up slightly in the dark. "Joss, maybe if you have to ask, that means something. Then again, you just turned fifteen, I don't think you have to worry about that yet. If dating him is fun, go for it. It's when you realize you just can't do without him, then you might have something there. The only reason I'm where I am at eighteen is because I've been with Ron so long now. He's already a part of me and I honestly don't know what I'd do without him. I guess that's it. When you feel like that, you know you're in love."
Joss proper her hands behind her head. "That's what I want. Well, that and a Mustang."
"What's wrong with your robot horse?"
The younger woman just laughed. "I'm talkin' about a car. Daddy keeps tellin' me I won't have one till I get done with school, but I'm gonna wear him down, I think."
"Well, I didn't have a car until I graduated. Get some sleep, Joss. I've had a long day."
In the dim light of the computer, she could see her cousin smiling at her. "Bet you just want me to fall asleep so you can slip downstairs and cuddle up with Ron." He was indeed down there, sleeping on the couch since Slim had taken his usual room. He wanted to start his Thanksgiving creations first thing in the morning, plus he had been pretty much zonked out since around ten anyway.
"I think he needs his sleep. We spent the last couple nights together. Not to mention I need my sleep as well. Speaking of…" She trailed off, turning on her side and wrapping the covers around herself.
The next morning she climbed out of the bed, significantly refreshed. Apparently Joss was pretty out of it herself, considering she hardly stirred. Between getting up to do chores on the ranch and going to a tiny school an hour's ride away, she probably only got to sleep in on rare occasions. She left her asleep there and headed down the stairs.
Kim breathed deeply of the aromas wafting up from the kitchen. She could already hear Ron and her Mom chattering away, fixing breakfast as well as doing the early prep work for that afternoon's big family feast. One smell in particular got her feet to moving. Her lover might not have been the world's biggest coffee drinker, but when he made a batch of Eight O'clock hazelnut it was some of the best she had ever had. Fresh and awake as she was, she just couldn't resist getting some, even if the rest of them gagged at the sight of her drinking it black.
She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and smiled. The twins, her Dad and Uncle slim were in the den, the elder Possibles both reading different parts of the same paper. Jim and Tim were watching the early Thanksgiving day parades. Ron and her Mom were bustling about in the kitchen.
It struck her just how much she was thankful to have a family like that.
With all the extra guests, dinner was one of the largest they had in years. Ron's parents were there, with CJ sitting in her high chair, watching the proceedings since she was still on the bottle. The weather was nice and pleasant, so they set up their feast on some folding tables out on the deck instead of trying to squeeze everyone into the dining room. That way, too, they wouldn't be forced to set up a 'kids' table for the five teens. The twins wrestled the kitchen table outside to set up a sort of buffet.
Anne and Ron combined their talents to set a massive feast out for the. There was a large, traditionally prepared Turkey, a glazed ham with pineapple rings, a roast beef, giblet gravy, brown gravy, marshmallow crusted mashed sweet potatoes, spinach salad, both kinds of cranberry sauce, twice baked potatoes (Rufus was already eying them as they had four kinds of cheese on top) peas, deviled eggs, several kinds of pickles and several loafs of bread with melted bleu cheese inside them. There was enough food there to serve a small army and nobody would go hungry. That meant leftovers for days!
Joss sat with Kim, looking all the more like her twin since she raided her closet again. Kim was wearing a blue tiered skirt with her peasant shirt, while her younger cousin was wearing her cream colored dress. Even the twins had abandoned their usual open shirt/t-shirt combos for dress shirts.
Ron sat at Kim's other side, dressed in a light blue shirt, dark gray slacks and a maroon and blue striped tie. He was the subject of much praise for the food he helped to fix, though his father did tease him some for actually making the ham. That was more of an inside joke since they all knew neither of them were much for sticking to a kosher diet.
Finally, as the meal was winding down, Ron reached for his wine glass. One had been set our for everyone, though the twins and Joss hadn't even considered touching theirs. The were as surprised as anyone when the dark liquid had been poured.
Ron pushed his chair back and stood up.
"Today is supposed to be the day when everyone gives thanks, so I think it's appropriate for me to celebrate the things I'm most thankful for. I'm thankful that I'm part of not one, but two great families. I'm thankful that there is so much love from both of them, but most of all, I'm thankful I have Kim in my life.
"A few months ago, I asked Kim a question, and I was blessed to have her say yes, but over time, I realized I did something wrong. Well, today, I'm going to make it right." He set his glass down and walked over to Kim's Dad.
"Mr. Dr. P. Doctor Possible. I would like to have your permission to have your daughter's hand in marriage."
James choked up slightly and stood. "I would be absolutely honored to have you as my child's husband and my son." He reached out and embraced the younger man.
Once he let go, he went back to Kim. She gasped suddenly, realizing that she had forgotten to give the ring back to him when they returned from Arizona. It was still on her finger.
He seemed not to care about that. He pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket and dropped to one knee. "I hope this time the sprinklers don't go off." He whispered to her as he opened the box.
Inside was another gold ring, only this one had a much larger diamond, wreathed in smaller stones. Flanking the main arrangement were two emeralds that matched the rest of her jewelry.
"Kimberly Anne Possible, will you marry me?"
Tears welled up in her eyes. "Yes, Ron, Yes!"
He pulled the ring out of the box and slipped the old one off, transferring it to the finger where she wore her older promise ring. Then he slipped the new ring on, to the sound of applause all the way around the table.
Ron stood back up and Kim followed him, wrapping both arms around him as she gave him a huge kiss.
Both of them finally felt like they were really, officially engaged. Kim promised herself she would never take that ring off, until the day it would be replaced by a plain gold band on their wedding day.
As if it could not wait for the kiss to end, a sound drifted out of the house, one they had hardly heard over the last several weeks.
Beep-bee-de-beep.
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