Jennifer "Jinx" Wheeler woke up suddenly, disoriented. Where was she? Her bed in Jump City Pen was hard and lumpy. This one was soft, and comfortable, and oh, so warm...
Memories of the day before flooded back to her, and she realized where she was. She opened her eyes to see a brightly-lit room, nicely furnished. The sound of regular breathing came from her left side, and she turned her head to see Rufus curled up asleep on her pillow.
She smiled, resisting the impulse to pat the little friendly creature, and wake him. She sat up and looked at a clock. It was 10:30 AM on Sunday. She got up, yawned and stretched,
and looked around. There were three bags sitting by a vanity, two labled "Club Banana",
and the other "Middleton Pharmacy".
She looked in the Club Banana bags. Clothes, undergarments, and shoes. A note was folded on top. She picked it up and read it.
"Hey, girl, this is just a thank-you for what you did last night. Don't worry, Marcie didn't see you, and I haven't told anyone what you did, since Kim asked me not to.
Hope you like what I picked out. If anything doesn't fit, or you don't like it, bring it back and I'll take care of it.
See you soon!
Mon"
She grinned, the tears falling silently from her eyes. Then she looked in the other bag.
There were basic toiletries for her, all brand new. She shook her head. What incredible luck she had landed in such agreat place, with such fantastic people!
There was another note on the vanity, and she read it:
"Jenny-
Since you'll be staying with us for a while, and you had nothing with you, I took the liberty of getting you some things. Come downstairs when you're ready.
Anne Possible"
Jenny sat down on the bed and started to cry. NOBODY EVER had been this nice to her. It felt so weird, like she didn't deserve it. Like she was dreaming, and would wake up to the cold, noisy prison she deserved to be in.
Suddenly a small weight jumped into her lap.
"Jenny okay?" asked Rufus with concern.
She picked him up, holding him at her eye level, and patted him. "Yeah, Rufus, I'm okay.
In fact, I think I'm the best I've ever been. Thank you!" And she hugged him until he squeaked in protest.
She put the mole rat down, grabbed the bag of toiletries, and went into the bathroom that was attached to the guest room.
After a shower, she came out with a towel around her, and started rummaging through the Club Banana bags. Everything she came out with was perfect. Just her style and preference.
And size. How on earth did Monique know? She couldn't imagine. She grinned. Maybe that was HER super-power.
She put her selections for the day on the bed, and started to take off the towel, when she remembered Rufus.
She looked, and he was sitting on the bed, watching her.
"Whatta you lookin' at?" she asked with a grin, took off the towel, and covered him with it.
KPKPKP
Kim and Ron were in the living room on the couch, watching TV. Mr. Possible was reading the Sunday paper, while Mrs. Possible was looking through a medical journal. The twins, now 13 years old, were talking quietly in their own language.
Jenny appeared in the door, Rufus on her shoulder, and looked for a long moment at the tranquil domestic scene she had never had in her own life. She felt like an outsider, invading their privacy, even after everything they had done to make her feel welcome.
"Morning," she ventured, hesitantly.
"Come in, dear, make yourself at home," said Mrs. Possible.
"Hey, buddy," said Ron, looking at Rufus. Rufus scampered down Jenny, and ran to Ron,
who scooped him up.
As she stepped in, Mr. Possible put down the paper and stood up. "Welcome," he said,
shaking her hand.
"Uh, thanks, sir," she said, with a small smile.
"Boys...?" said Mrs. Possible, and Jenny looked at the couch. Kim's twin brothers were sitting like stones, staring at her, mouths wide open.
"She's..." said Tim. "...beautiful," said Jim.
"Why, thank you, kind sirs," said Jenny in a coy voice, and doing a curtsey.
Ron stood up, letting go of Kim's hand. "You hungry?"
Jenny put a hand on her stomach. "As a matter of fact, yeah," she answered.
"Good! Cause Chef Ron is on the job!" he said, and headed for the kitchen. As he started past her he stopped. "Any food restrictions or preferences I should know about?"
"Nah, I'm pretty much omnivorous," said Jenny.
"Om- what?" asked Ron.
"She means she'll eat anything," said Kim from the couch.
"Good enough!" said Ron, and disappeared into the kitchen, Rufus on his shoulder.
Jenny looked at Kim, who smiled. "He can be a goof sometimes, but he's a wizard in the kitchen," she said. "By the way, that looks good on you."
Jenny was wearing a dark purple t-shirt, dark blue jeans and a purple belt, black socks and purple sneakers. "Thanks! I don't know how, but Monique picked out everything I liked, in the colors I liked. I'll have to find some way to repay her."
Kim laughed. "She has a gift for that. Just knowing you're pleased will be payment enough for her."
"Well, I'll come up with something else," promised Jenny.
KPKPKP
Kim's words proved to be true, as Jenny enjoyed the best breakfast she had ever had in her entire life. A huge Western omelette, bacon, toast, and orange juice, all perfect, topped off with a cup of real coffee.
Afterwards, she returned to the living room. Ron had sat down by Kim again, and Jenny sat down on her other side. She started watching the TV program, some cartoon she'd never heard of, when arguing caught her attention.
"I wanna sit by her," said Tim.
"I do too!" said Jim.
"Me!" said Jim.
"Me! said Tim.
Jenny stood up. "How about this?" She sat Jim down by Kim, sat Tim down at the end of the couch, and sat between them. She put her arms around them both, causing the brothers to blush furiously. But they didn't move away.
Kim touched Jenny's arm to get her attention, and winked. Jenny grinned.
"Tweebs, I've been waiting a LONG time to say this," Kim said.
"What?" asked the twins in unison.
Kim cupped her hands and shouted, "Jim and Tim have a giiiirlfriiiend!"
Jenny and the others cracked up, while the twins turned even redder, if that was possible,
even for a Possible.
As everyone caught their breaths, and wiped away tears of mirth, Jenny leaned the twins to her. "To make it up to you, if you have something you don't mind being destroyed, I'll show you my magic."
"No magic in the house," said Mr. Possible, firmly.
Jenny let her eyes glow pink briefly, just for the twins.
"Cool," they said together.
Just then, the Kimmunicator beeped.
"What's the sitch, Wade?" asked Kim, hitting the connect button.
"Let me talk to Jenny, please," said Wade, and Kim handed it to her.
"Hi, uh, Wade," said Jenny.
"Hi. I'm afraid I have bad news for you. I sent a sensor drone into the warehouse where you appeared, and scanned for every type of radiation that exists. I found nothing. It's not going to be possible to trace the wormhole back to your home dimension. You're stuck here, quite probably for the rest of your life," he said.