KP – One Oh One: Part XXXI – Best Laid Plans

Ron could remember December being one of his favorite times of the year. Because of his enduring friendship with Kim, he not only got to enjoy Hanukkah with his family, but Christmas with hers as well. Only, this year, the Jewish Festival of Lights would begin on the Fifteenth, instead of on Christmas Day as it had the year before. Unfortunately for him, that stuck the majority of his personal holiday right smack dab on top of Finals Week. He had been doing well, especially considering the times he was forced to miss class due to a random mission, but he had to put any thought of celebration out of his mind while he concentrated on what could make or break his college career. In High School, the teachers had a very strict limit on how much weight they could place on final exams. No such stricture existed at Middleton College. In two of his classes, it made up a whopping fifty percent of his total grade.

One thing he found himself looking forward to was taking Barkin's exam. Despite the initial shock of once again having to put up with the military minded teacher-cum-professor for at least one more semester, he found he truly learned in his classes, and doing well there went a long, long way to earning his respect. Over time he came to realize that, the respect was reflected back toward the man. Ron would have had even more respect if he knew that Steve Barkin considered him one of the greatest accomplishments in his career as an educator.

At least he wasn't on edge like he had been leading up to the final exams of his Junior year in high school. That had been one of the biggest pressure cookers of his life, where he had the dual problem of trying to overcome years of poor study habits and lack of general knowledge and having to place higher than he really thought he possibly could in order to even be promoted to his Senior year.

Along the way he learned a couple tricks. For one, he paid attention to how the teachers thought, how they would ask things and he found over time he could anticipate some of the questions that would be on his exams. Knowing what was expected of him went a long way to knowing what and how to study. He also learned he could do most of it on his own, without constantly asking Kim to help. That didn't mean he wouldn't study with her. On the contrary, they spent as much time studying together as their disparate schedules would allow. Kim seemed happy with her new role as a true study partner instead of mostly being a tutor, though there seemed to be fewer of the 'study hard' opportunities from when his situation was somewhat more dire.

He had a sort of mental checklist, one that served him well back at mid-terms. He knew the material. He knew the teachers. He knew there would be surprises and he knew there would be mistakes. There wasn't any reason to beat himself up over any of it, so he relaxed and let his mind focus on the task at hand. He also knew that, before the final, traditional cram-a-thon, that both of them needed a little break.

The first idea had been to ride up to Mount Middleton for some light snowboarding and some heavy make-out time. In fact they had their reservations and Kim promised to bring that short purple nighty she bought for their prom night with her. Their room was going to have a fire place and they could have as much fun in each other's arms as they wanted to. Exams were more than a week away, major projects were winding down and it was time to treat each other like lovers instead of study partners, at least for a weekend.

Then, Friday afternoon, as they sat on the couch, their hands entwined while they watched Ron's favorite cartoon on the Mouse-Ears channel, Jim and Tim rushed up to the windows, looking outside.

"Snow! Cool!" They weren't quite sure which one said it, or if it was both of them. Instantly the cartoon (which, despite Ron's deep love for the series, they had both seen at least ten times) was clicked off and the local weathercaster put up.

"The storm is expected to dump at least a foot of snow overnight, with more expected throughout the day tomorrow."

They looked at each other for a moment before Kim hit the call button on her wrist Kimmunicator. She had taken to wearing it all the time instead of lugging the handheld around, even though it didn't have all the sensor functions the larger.

"Hey, Kim, What up?"

"Have you taken a look outside your window?"

"Oh, you mean the snow storm? You don't even have to ask. I've already IMed a friend of mine at the national weather service. It's a freak storm, but it's a garden variety freak storm. No weather machines involved. Just hope you and Ron didn't have plans." Wade noted the ferocious tweak in Kim's normally pretty features. "Oops. Sorry."

"Not your fault, Wade. Thanks for checking for me." Kim sunk down into the couch cushions as she shut the link down. Then, before Ron could grab her hand again, she got up and walked out onto the deck, watching the large puffs of frozen crystalline water fall to the ground.

Ron followed her outside, trying to catch some snowflakes on his tongue.

"Baby, you shouldn't eat the first snow. It's poisonous."

"Aw, c'mon, KP. That's an old wive's tale. I'm surprised you'd even say something like that."

She leaned on the deck rail, still looking up at the sky, letting the large flakes catch on her hair. It was only just cold enough for the snow to stick, so their sweaters were plenty for a short stay outside. There was already a hazy coating of snow on the grass, and the black pavement of the street was rapidly changing color itself.

The peacefulness of the snowfall did help her mood, though she was still disappointed. "I was just looking forward to some Ron shine this weekend. Oh well, guess it comes with the territory."

"You weren't making any special plans for this trip, were you?" Ron added a delicious grin. They had been interrupted way too many times when they planned that little something extra when they were in private, away from home, for it to be a coincidence any longer.

Kim scooted up against him as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "No. Just wanted some nice private time before all the family starts rolling into town. Some cuddling, some kissing. Pretending you're a big, warm Cuddlebuddy. Waking up next to you the next morning."

Ron stuck his tongue out again, catching more of the flakes. "You ever think it would be okay with your Dad if we did that here? I mean, he's been pretty cool about the last couple times."

Kim stuck her hand up under his sweater. He had a white turtleneck on underneath it, so her cold fingers didn't give him chills, but it was warmer in there. "Ronnie, I wanted to do a little more than I'm comfortable doing at home. Not enough to trigger our 'interuptus' curse, but, well, stuff I like to be totally private about."

"Badical." He whispered as she gave him a light kiss on the lips. "So, how about my place?"

Kim rolled her eyes upwards. Back before CJ was born, Ron's parents were routinely driving to Denver on Tuesdays, sometimes not coming back until late, sometimes not coming back until the next day. Early in their couple-hood they spent much of those Tuesdays in his house, taking full advantage of the privacy that afforded. Well, as full advantage as their relationship allowed at that time, which really consisted mostly of fairly intimate back rubs and a lot of kissing.

After they became engaged, Ron's mother, who before had been wary of their growing physical relationship, fully embraced it. In fact, the only reason Kim didn't spend more nights in Ron's room was the narrow little bed. It was fine for cuddling and making out, but just a tad too cramped for two people to sleep comfortably.

Then, right after they got back from Arizona, Ron's father switched the beds in Ron's room and the guest room. The full sized bed made things a little cramped, but if Kim wanted to spend the night there, it was suddenly far more comfortable. It didn't take her long to realize, though, there was an ulterior motive.

There was a baby in the house.

Gene and Jean Stoppable weren't exactly spring chickens.

Kim was an accomplished babysitter.

All those facts, rolled into one, gave Ron's parents a chance to get away sometimes. So far, they hadn't taken advantage of the situation, but it was coming. In fact it was coming faster than she expected.

Ron's Kimmunicator started going off in cell-phone mode, playing the first few bars of The Naked Mole Rap. "KP, it's for you. It's Mom."

"Hi Jean…uh huh…well, we were, but the roads don't look like they're going to be in any kind of shape…what's that? Sure. I'd be happy to…see you two Sunday then." She hung up and handed the handheld back to Ron.

"Well, I'll give you three guesses where your parents are." Kim said, smiling at her lover.

"Denver?"

"Yep. You know what that means?"

"That the snowstorm is already there and they're stuck until it warms up?"

"That, and the babysitter who's watching CJ doesn't have permission to stay overnight."

Ron looked upwards, as if he was trying to add something together. "That's not good. Where are Mom and Dad gonna find an overnight babysitter in this stuff?"

Kim lowered her head and looked right at him. Slowly it clicked. "Aw, man. I wanted to at least spend one night with you."

She reached over and gently knocked on his scalp with her knuckles. "Hello, they didn't just mean for you to take care of CJ. What do you know about taking care of babies besides changing her diaper?"

"Uh. I know how to put her car seat in correctly."

"Uh huh. Keep going."

"Okay, KP, I'm lost now. So that means I'm not up to taking care of my own sister. Where are we gonna find a babysitter?"

"Oh, I give up." She sat down on the bench, though it was already encrusted with snow, making her backside just a touch damp.

"What?"

"Dummy, she means me. I may be a touch rusty, but I've been taking care of babies since I was thirteen. Jean wants me to go over to your house and relieve Phoebe Katz so she can go home before the roads get too bad."

"Oh, so you're the one who's gonna baby-sit. Um, so, why are you so happy about it?"

Kim raised both eyebrows. "I'm babysitting overnight."

"Uh huh."

"I'm babysitting overnight in your house. The house where you live." She narrowed her eyes at him again.

"Uh huh."

"The house where your father put a larger bed in your room to accommodate both of us? Hello? Did somebody open up a time tunnel and switch you with yourself about two years ago?" She stood up and wrapped both hands around his waist. "Why don't you use that gray matter under that pretty blonde hair. That means we're going to have some private time after all, just with changing a couple diapers and heating up formula for CJ thrown in. We don't have to drive an hour, we don't have to spend any extra money. When we decide to go to sleep, we're in a comfortable place and best of all…you can do that little thing that drives me wild." She finished with a delicious grin.

"What, that thing we did after we left New Mexico?"

"No, silly, I mean you can cook dinner for me…but I am open to suggestions for after we put your sister down for the night."

"Booyah." He whispered, noting a certain brown and white haired gentleman watching them through the window.

Despite the room being nice and warm, despite having his body pressed up against another one clad in long silk pajamas, and even despite a rather energetic evening of making out before Kim nodded off in his arms, Ron couldn't quite make himself fall asleep. He was too keyed up over something, something he just could not quite put his finger on.

It wasn't his sister. She had been a little angel that night, going to sleep without a peep after her evening feeding. Finally, about midnight they went to bed themselves. They had already spent a great deal of time kissing on the couch after Ron prepared a dinner of fried chicken using Nana Possible's recipe. It wasn't as closely guarded secret as the lemon squares, mainly because it was more of an art than a formula. Kim pronounced his fare very, very good, but it still lacked something subtle. It was the one thing he had yet to completely duplicate. That, and Kim was very, very picky about fried chicken.

As their relationship evolved, Kim had developed a couple habits he would classify as cute. Even though they had seen each other undressed on several occasions by that point, she still went into his attached bathroom to change into her night clothes. Ron found that he didn't really mind that at all. If he asked, she would likely let him watch any time he wanted to, but somehow it added a little mystery back into their relationship, and he found that strangely romantic.

The sight of her sitting on the bed, reading one of her fashion magazines when he came out of the bathroom was perhaps one of the top ten most beautiful things he had ever seen. She picked up the sleepwear the last time they were in the mall. Ron thought, when she dragged him into Alexandria's Confession she was going to pick up something over-the-top sexy like her purple nightgown, so he was just a little disappointed when she picked out the slightly metallic looking golden silk pajamas. Yet the sight of her in them, the way the material clung to her was just as effective, if not more so, as the short teddy.

When Kim finally said goodnight Ron felt like he was just on the edge of dropping into a wonderful, restful sleep like he often had when he was with her. It was just he didn't seem to be able to push himself over that edge. It didn't feel like anything was wrong, it was just he couldn't fall asleep. It wasn't his nerves either. He was calm, relaxed, utterly comfortable, yet sleep wouldn't come.

The moon was high and still about two-thirds full, so the room was bathed in a soft glow. With the baby, his Dad finally relented and raised the thermostat a little bit, making the house much more comfortable even though there was already quite a lot of snow on the ground. Kim stuck one of her legs out of the covers and wrapped her body partially around them, so he contented himself with watching her sleep. The only thing to mar the perfection of her beauty that way was the fact he could not see her green eyes.

It was just about three in the morning. The clock was going to go off in an hour so they could get up and feed CJ, then they could crawl back into bed for a few more hours, since the only thing they would have to do the following day was hang around the house and care for the infant.

Finally, he closed his eyes tightly and pulled himself closer to Kim, putting his forehead against hers. She shifted slightly, easing her leg back under the covers, wrapping herself around him like she had the blanket moments earlier.

"You awake, baby?" She whispered, not opening her eyes.

"Yeah."

"Can't sleep?"

"I'm okay." He answered. "Not like we've got to get up early or anything. Like Phoebe said, Rabbi Katz has already canceled services in the morning."

He felt her lips brush against his. Moments later, they were kissing passionately. Ron's top was still unbuttoned, so all that separated their upper bodies was the cool, thin layer of silk. He could feel her curves pressed against him, making him more and more excited. It was obvious Kim was feeling the same way, especially when she shifted her weight halfway onto him.

She switched to kissing his neck, first placing light little busses just below his earlobes, then kissing him harder. It wasn't hard enough to leave a mark, since they pretty much had outgrown leaving hickeys on each other. Then she rested her head in the middle of his chest.

"Love you so much." She whispered in the snow-enhanced half light of the early morning.

"I love you too, KP." He ran his hand through her hair, leaning down so he could breath the scent of her strawberry shampoo in.

She looked up at his face, her green eyes glittering in the moonlight. "I'm ready." She whispered.

He didn't show anything outwardly, but those words hit him like a lightning bolt. In that moment he realized what had been keeping him awake the last few hours.

Ron had been feeling exactly the same. There was something subtly different than all the other times they had nearly taken that step. The fear was gone. He didn't feel like there was anything wrong with it, that it would plunge them over a cliff of emotions their young hearts just weren't ready to handle. They always told each other when the moment came, they would both know it. He knew then that had been right. They were no longer sneaking behind their parent's backs. They weren't dodging chaperones whose job it was to prevent such things from happening. Plus, in accordance with being two healthy young adults, their bodies were ready and willing as well.

At first his only response was to pull her back up towards him so they could kiss again. Only this time their hands went exploring a bit more. Gingerly he undid the three buttons holding the front of her top closed, leaving them that way as they kissed.

Under the covers, Kim hitched her backside just a bit, and moments later dropped the bottom half of her pajamas on the floor. Ron followed suit, their lips never once parting. He could feel not only his heart racing, but hers as well. He shifted, pushing Kim onto her back.

"Are you sure?" He whispered in mere breath. They couldn't have been more than an inch away from being finally joined in their love.

"Absolutely." She breathed back. She tilted her head backwards as he took his turn kissing her neck.

Ron could feel the sweat breaking out on his forehead. It was really about to happen. No strange monsters were about to smash their way into their room. No villains were about to appear out of the woodwork. The moment was finally there, washing away his earlier desire to save this for their wedding night. Their hearts truly were one and it was time for their bodies to be as well.

"You want to do this?" He asked one more time, trying to convince himself it was really happening.

"Please and thank you." She said, a little louder than the whispers they had been using. She had the most beautiful smile on her face.

Was it getting lighter in the room?

Just as his arms were about to tense up to draw their bodies together, light flooded the room. It wasn't like the overhead lights were coming on. It was more like a car had pulled up to his window, shining its high beams into the room, only the light wasn't coming from there, it was coming from behind him.

"What the…" Kim said out loud, pushing him off of her.

There was a circle of light in the middle of his room. It looked strangely familiar, like he had seen it before, somewhere, though the memory would not come to him. The only thing he could think of was Oh no! Not again!

Kim was already reaching for the floor, grabbing her pajama bottoms and struggling into them. Ron could only stand there transfixed as two figures stepped out of the circle of light.

Both their eyes shot open as they recognized the two intruders. One was male, the other female, though both knew what they were seeing was impossible.

For Ron it was like looking into a mirror. The man was…

…him!

"Wow. Definitely my room." The second Ron said.

Kim was scrambling from the bed, hunting for her Kimmunicator. That's when it dawned on the real Ron who the other person was.

"Bonnie?"

There was no mistaking who the two interlopers were, but there were very subtle differences. The two Rons looked almost identical except the new one had an almost world-weary look in his eyes, as well as deep rooted concern. He also couldn't take his eyes off of Kim.

"That's not her." Bonnie pronounced, holding some sort of electronic scanning device. "Looks like we homed in on this world's Kim."

The new Ron let out a deep sigh. "Well, we're just getting started. Do the scan so we can rule this portal out."

"On it." She made a few adjustments to the device.

Kim finally got her hands on her K-bracelet. "Wade?" She half-screamed into the small device.

Immediately a familiar face popped up on the half-sized screen, only there was something different as well.

"Uh, hi." Wade gave her a small wave. "I know you're kind of confused right about now. I'm not 'your' Wade. While the portal is open, the communication signal I'm using is canceling out the signal to him. There's no cause for alarm, we'll be in and out of here in a few moments."

"What's going on?" Ron asked, finally finding his voice.

"Long story short." The new Ron explained, "I'm you, but I'm from a parallel dimension. Can't go into too much detail, but we're looking for somebody. This is only like the third portal we've tried, so I didn't have my hopes up too high. Like our Wade said, we'll be out of here in a jiffy and you two can go back to whatever it was you were doing." His smile was wide and very genuine.

Ron blinked twice, looking at his doppelganger closely. He was dressed in what looked like an older version of his standard mission gear, which mainly meant the plain black top with normal charcoal cargos instead of the newer rip-stop material he now wore. Bonnie, oddly enough, looked like she was wearing one of Kim's new suits, only the top was fuchsia instead of black and the pants black instead of olive. He also noted she looked very slightly heavier than he recalled, as if she was…

"Okay, got a link to the satellite network. Nope, nada." She shook her head. "The only inter-dimensional signal I'm getting on this world is the one we were expecting from the PDVI. She's not here."

The new Ron waved jauntily as he stepped back toward the pool of light. "Have fun, you two." He stepped into it and was gone.

Bonnie lingered a moment. "Listen, I can't go into how I know, but you two might want to reconsider what you're doing right now. If you don't, you might…well, let's just say you might end up like me." She put her hand on her midsection momentarily, looking straight at Kim. Then she stepped into the disc and disappeared as well.

The light seemed to collapse in on itself, leaving the two teens alone in the dark as their eyes readjusted to the moonlight.

"That was a full ten on the weirdo-meter." Ron said, realizing he was still sitting in the bed wearing only the top half of his pajamas.

Kim's eyes were wide open. "I can't believe it."

Ron looked at her. "Considering some of the stuff that's happened to us, I can believe it pretty well. Freaky yes, but…"

"No, I mean us. I can't believe it happened again."

His shoulders sagged. "I take it that was a big mood killer."

"Understatement much. And what did Bonnie mean by like her? Was she…?"

"I, I think she was, though I don't think that was 'our' Bon-Bon any more than that was me. Hey, what did she mean if we went through with it?"

"I think…oh no."

"What, KP?"

"Ron, I haven't taken…two days. I just plain forgot."

He slipped out of the bed, picking up his pajamas and putting them on. "Well, I'm not going back to sleep any time soon."

"Ron?"

He turned to face her as she crossed the bed and wrapped her arms around him.

"Yeah KP?"

"Don't worry, Ronnie. I had a great night up to this point. We'll have our chance, sometime. Guess somebody's really looking out for us."

He hugged her back. "Yeah, just sometime wished they weren't if you know what I mean."

"Yeah I do, baby. Yeah I do."

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