It Finally Happened: Part XV

Not long after the twins were born, Kim's father finished part of the attic into a loft, freeing up her old room for the boys so they could be closer to their mother when they were tiny and (in theory) give her some privacy when she got older, considering she was four and half years older than them. In practice, it seemed more like a highway sometimes, with the remaining attic being accessed by a hall running along one side of her room and an open stairwell in the center of the room with a hatch that was almost never closed. In hindsight it was likely her 'open hatch policy' that led her parents to trust Ron to be up there with her so much.

Of late, she had taken to closing it when she came home, partly because she spent a good deal more time taking care of how she looked, but for the simple fact that, having a steady boyfriend for the first time in her life, she wanted a little more actual privacy. There wasn't anything dirty or perverse about it, but she found herself wanting just a little more time to be alone, with time to think or to daydream.

Kim wasn't daydreaming that afternoon sprawled out on her bed. She didn't even think to change out of her olive and black dressy clothes, she just lay there, puzzling out what may have happened. It really wasn't like him to mope like that, not when it came to Tex-Mex food. Like he said, it was the manna of life for him. Had they told him the company was folding anyway? That didn't seem likely, considering the overall mood of the staff at the headquarters. Plus Hego said it himself, his restaurant in Go City was part of the relaunch. Companies shutting down didn't spend so much energy on a lost cause, did they?

She was so engrossed in her thoughts she didn't hear her mother get home early by at least two hours. Kim nearly jumped out of her skin when she entered through the attic hall door, carrying a basket of freshly laundered clothes.

"Kimmie, you're not out with Ron?" she asked, sorting the folded clothes from the hanging, laying it out so Kim could put it away later.

"No, Mom, he just wanted to go home after we got back from Bueno Nacho." She rolled onto her back, propping herself up with her elbows.

"Bueno Nacho? I thought they were still closed."

"We drove to the headquarters. I think he was thinking he had some kind of surprise for me, but we were there for about an hour and he just up and wanted to come home."

"Was he upset?" She set the empty basket on the floor and sat on the foot of her daughter's bed.

"Ferociously, but he wouldn't talk to me about it."

It was becoming clear to Anne that Ron's mood had rubbed off on her. "That's a really long drive for him not to say anything."

"Tell me about it. He was so out of it I made him give me the keys and I drove back."

"Wow, and that didn't scare the truth out of him?"

"Mom!"

She smiled, knowing Kim hated digs about her 'heavy handed' driving skills. "Well, he'll come around. If it's so bad he doesn't want to talk to you about it, that means he's got to sort it out for himself first."

"But I hate it when he gets like this. Mom, if he feels for me half the way I do about him, how could he keep something from me?"

"Because, no matter how much you love him, no matter how much he loves you, you're still two different people. Besides, look how long it took him to tell you how he feels about you. I'm sure this isn't as important as that. Give him some time, maybe give him some room, just for a couple days."

"But what if he needs my help?"

"If he needs it bad enough, you'll know it. Either he'll ask or your instincts will take over before it gets out of control."

"My instincts tell me he needs my help right now." Kim rolled onto her side, her eyes remaining downcast.

"I don't think those are your instincts, dear. I think that's your 'mother hen' attitude getting in the way. After all, you know what's best for him, even if he doesn't."

"Mom! How long are you going to hold that over my head?" She rolled onto her stomach and started pounding her forehead on a pillow.

"Oh, until you figure it out. You know what might be good for him, but sometimes what's best for him he'll have to figure out on his own. Take it from me, honey, sometimes men need gentle guidance, not just commands from on high."

"I don't 'command from on high' Mom. Ron just needs help sometimes."

"Sometimes, but that's where the gentle approach comes in. Look at the good things that have happened to him lately. It all comes about when he figures something out and acts on it for himself. Do you know how hard it was to keep from pushing the two of you together? My heart was breaking for him when you were going out with Erik, but if I said something, either you would have resented it or he would have run back behind the wall he built around his feelings. He's the one who figured out that the way he felt for you was more important than the risks.

"Kimmie, I know you love him but along with love, you have to have respect. Right now he's hurting and you want to go to him and kiss it and make it all better. If you do that, all you are doing is putting a band-aid on a scratch without cleaning it first. It feels better for a while, until it gets infected.

"Besides, this doesn't sound anywhere as serious as the blow-up the two of you had last week."

"How did?" Kim blushed crimson.

"Dear, we may not be cool, but we're not dumb. Plus, other people notice you two. You're lucky you haven't been on the front page of the scandal rags. As it is, other kids talk, their parents listen, then they talk. Things get around. Now, I don't pretend to know what Earth-shattering event caused your tiff, but when the two of you show up separately for the big lake party and have to be pushed back together by not only your friends, but Ron's Rabbi? Puh-lease. The only thing that bothers me, besides the fact you didn't come to me or your Dad about it, is that some people are whispering that he might have tried to go too far with you and that caused the blowout."

"No, Mom, it wasn't…like that." Kim bit her lower lip, wondering how much further her mother wanted to pursue that line of thought.

"I wouldn't begin to think it was like that. Ron is too good, but you have to remember, people talk and sometimes it can be hurtful, very, very hurtful, so you have to be aware of how things look to other people. Anyway, give him some space for a couple days. Don't press the issue unless you have to."

"I just don't like being apart from him like this. How am I supposed to know if he needs me if I'm not with him."

"Honey, you can't spend every waking minute with him. There are going to come times when the two of you have to spend not just some time, but some great distance apart. That's when you have to really love and respect him, to know that no matter whether the two of you can be together at the time.

"Besides, giving him space doesn't mean you can't be with him. Why don't you change into something a little more your style and go over and see him. I think he might appreciate that. He might even be a little upset with himself for keeping you out today."

"Thanks Mom, you rock."

"Don't let that get out, or they might take away my parent's license." She said, retrieving the laundry basket.

Kim lay on her stomach, watching the door for a few minutes, digesting what her mother said. Yet, she just couldn't shake the feeling that she really had to do something. It also really bugged her that she really didn't know what had actually happened. Something that fundamental that Ron cared about was out of sorts and if it was hurting him, it was hurting her.

As she changed into her white shorts and a cropped sky blue t-shirt she started formulating a plan. Oh, it wouldn't go into effect today, not unless more drastic measures were called for, but by tomorrow her Ron would either tell her what was bothering him or would completely forget about it.

Slipping on a pair of sport sandals, she trotted downstairs, heading for Ron's house at a light jog.

Ron sat at his desk in his boxer shorts, his dress shirt unbuttoned and his tie hanging limply around his neck. He listlessly played with a tiny plastic keychain shaped like a Naco attached to a lanyard. The only keys on the end were to his house and one for Kim's. He felt a golden glow when her father entrusted it to him when the missions had started getting really serious. It really was just for convenience's sake, but it was still a strong indication of the trust the elder Possible had in him, all joking about black holes aside.

Yet here, in his own home, with his own family he had to actually ask to borrow a set of keys for the two cars. He had no illusions about his driving skills, being all too aware of just how hard it was for him to even get his learner's permit. Still, it would be nice to know they could trust him enough to have keys to at least one of the cars.

No, they didn't trust him. What's more, they couldn't trust him with the knowledge they were working to ensure his stake in the new Bueno Nacho. The things he had learned in that meeting were, to say the least, hurtful. He had gone in there, thinking they really wanted him, just him to help put the company back on its feet. Instead he found out that his parents had been meeting regularly with an attorney trying to start a lawsuit against the flailing company.

There were a whole hosts of reasons Gene Stoppable wanted to take the fast food giant to court. He had been harboring a dislike for the chain since the time Ron had hired on part time. For one, he was only fifteen at the time, only a by a couple months at that. Next thing he knew, his son was the assistant manager of the restaurant, a position that should have gone to an adult, not just a child who shouldn't have been given a job like that in the first place. Child labor laws had either been bent or broken.

Then there was the whole issue of the Naco royalties. The company had for the longest time been saying it wasn't so much a royalty, but a settlement, a payoff, if you will, for the invention. His lawyer found that wasn't the case. Instead, it was discovered that the funds were being diverted for some time into a special account. It didn't take long to figure out who was in control of that account.

The whole deal that had been presented to Ron today was merely a formality. The commercial, the resumption of royalty checks, all of that had been decided on and signed for by his parents long before he arrived at the headquarters that morning. What started off as a chance to finally have a little of the limelight for himself turned into another slap in the face. Yes, he could agree that he was still legally a minor and his parents were the ones who had to agree to all of this, but how could they have done all of this behind his back without so much as a mention? Why couldn't they have asked him?

He looked at his keychain again. I can be on a supersonic jet inside of an hour. I can be alone on a boat, approaching a Caribbean island by just after sundown, yet I can't drive across town? I don't have a car, heck, I don't even have the money to get another scooter!

They weren't even home for him to confront about it. They were planning to ride back to Denver with that slick big-city lawyer and be home later that evening. That left him to stew at home with only Rufus to lend a sympathetic (if hard to see) ear.

Ron was also getting more and more upset with himself for not telling Kim what had happened. Why did he do that? Why did he clam up? Lord in heaven if anyone knew when he was upset it was her! Finally he couldn't take it any more. He picked up his cell and hit one. He could almost imagine hearing the familiar BEEP BEEP DE BEEP of the Kimmunicator.

It rang once more. This time he realized he was not imagining he was hearing it. The familiar beeps were coming from right outside his bedroom door.

"Ron, are you decent?" Kim's voice made his heart leap.

"Um, gimme a sec, KP." He grabbed a pair of swimming trunks and slipped them on, not bothering with his shirt. "Okay!"

Kim walked in, her face a mask of concern. Moments later she had him in a crushing hug. She gave him a quick, gentle kiss, then let him sit back down. She sat on the floor in front of him, her legs crossed, looking at him expectantly, lovingly."

"Kim, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Ronnie."

"Can I be trusted?"

To Be Continued!