Our Place in the Food Chain: Part III
"Oh Kim! Loverboy is here!" Tim and Jim singsonged as they let Ron and Monique in.
"Good morning Ron, Monique." Anne Possible said, casting a quick look at the twins.
"Morning Mrs. Dr. P. Ron said, peering up the stairs, waiting for the moment when Kim would appear.
"Why don't you go on up there and see if she's ready for breakfast." Kim's mother said. Ron didn't have to be asked twice, mounting the stairs two steps at a time. "Would you like something to eat, Monique? I'm making breakfast Nacos"
"Just some coffee would be nice, Doctor Possible. I already ate with my folks."
Ron hesitated at the bottom of the stairs leading to Kim's loft, having been scorched once for barging into a room unexpectedly. "Kim?"
"Come on up, Baby." She said musically.
She was in a pink bathrobe, toweling the last bit of dampness from her long red hair. She smiled broadly, almost running up to Ron for a big good-morning kiss. The faint scent of lavender and soap almost made his eyes roll back in his head as she kissed him.
"Still trying to be the 'bad boy?'" She asked, playing with the lapels of his jacket.
"Yeah, I was going to ride the bike over and I didn't know it was raining until I opened the garage. Couldn't hear it since Mom and Dad put up those triple pane windows."
"Mmm mmm, tell me you came in your Mother's car." She rubbed her nose against his, still holding on to his lapels.
"Sorry, KP, Monique picked me up, we're riding in her car."
"Snap." She pouted as she picked up a stack of clothes and went behind her privacy screen. Out of habit Ron turned modestly away. Moments later she put a hand on his shoulder. "Well, what do you think?"
He turned around and smiled, drinking in the sight of her from head to toe. "Absolutely badical, but I thought you said you weren't a 'sun-dresser?'"
Kim twirled around once, fluffing out the knee length skirt. "It's not really a sun dress, I just though I'd be a little more feminine this year." The dress was soft pink, highlighting her summer tan. It had a square neckline that was just low enough to show off her entire neck and collarbones. The white sneakers looked very slightly out of place, but sandals or pumps were out of the question in this weather.
Ron could just stand and stare. She was so beautiful. He could count the number of times she wore anything with a skirt (not counting her cheerleader uniform) to school on one hand. In fact, the only time he was positive about was the first day school a year ago when she had worn a dark red mini-skirt. After that it had been back to capris, jeans and sweat pants. Then over the summer she had suddenly taken to wearing them constantly, on almost every date. He loved that a woman as beautiful as her wanted to look even prettier for him.
"Hmmm. Something's wrong." She said, tapping her foot as she looked at Ron.
"My cowlick standing up again?" Ron said, trying to plaster the errant tuft of hair down with his hand.
"Ah, I've got it." She stepped back up to him, once again grabbing the lapels of his jacket, only this time pulling it off, hanging it on the back of her deck chair since it was still slightly damp. Then she proceeded to unbutton his shirt.
"Um, KP, much as I like the thought of being undressed by you, uh, I think breakfast is ready." He said in a shaky voice as she stripped the bowling shirt off, throwing it on the bed.
She smiled at him and went to her dresser. Before he could say another word she pulled a navy turtleneck over his head, followed by another familiar piece of clothing. She gently folded the collar down and smoothed the clothes down on his chest. With a quick ruffle of his unruly hair she was done.
"Now there is the handsome man I fell in love with." She said to a grinning Ron. "We can't break a Middleton High School tradition, now can we?"
"Naw, it'd mean nine months of bad luck."
"Nine months what?" James Timothy Possible asked as he came up the steps into the room. He was eyeing Ron warily, one eyebrow up, his hands going to his hips.
Ron just stood there looking confused, wondering why Kim's father was angry. It was Kim who realized exactly what her father had overheard. He loved and trusted Ron but always had it in the back of his mind the two of them might be taking their relationship too far for their own good as far as he was concerned. The image of the two kids in her room, mentioning nine months…
"Daddy, he's talking about the school year." She put her own hands on her hips, lightly glaring at her father.
"Oh, um, sure. Come on down, kids, breakfast is on the table." She rubbed the back of his neck, turning away quickly to hide his slight blush.
"What was that about?" Ron said, still looking a bit confused.
"Ronnie, think about it. We've been practically joined at the hip for the last three months, We've been together constantly over the last week, a lot of that time in complete privacy, then he overhears you saying 'nine months?' Think about it."
His eyebrows alternated as the gears turned slowly in his head. Then his eyes got wide. "Oh, he though we…I…you."
She just shot him a look that said uh huh.
"Go on down, Ronnie. I'm just going to touch up my makeup."
"You look beautiful just the way you are, KP."
She smiled, then gave him another look that clearly said go!
"Don't eat everything before I get down there. That goes double for you, Rufus!" she hollered as a little pink head popped out of his cargo pocket.
A tiny squeak that sounded like "Nacos!" drifted up to her as they headed for the kitchen and the breakfast table.
Once she was sure she was alone, Kim opened the second drawer of her nightstand, taking out a small jewelry box. She was sure her father would not understand what she kept in there. Oh, he would know what it is, but he would jump all the way to the worst possible conclusion is he knew she had them. It had been her mother's idea, primarily because it would help clear up the acne that was starting to plague her as she neared her fifteenth birthday and it would even out her cycle which had started about that time as well.
If it wasn't for that, why would I even bother? She asked herself, palming one of the tiny tablets, heading for the bathroom and a glass of water. As she ran the tap into the small glass she wished once more that it had been her eighteenth birthday almost a month ago, not her seventeenth. Her father had nothing to worry about where nine-month periods of time were concerned. That would have to wait at least until both of them were legal adults, much as she sometimes wished she was already there herself. To a girl of seventeen, eleven and a half months seemed like an utter eternity.
They both had been tempted to break that promise, yet standing on the edge, ready to step off they both found themselves frightened. They were in a place where if either of them had made a move, they would have both gone willingly into that next stage, yet neither had been able. Doing so would have meant defying her father, leaving her to either lie to him about it or to come out and say that she had been totally intimate with Ron. Either way it would most likely damage both the relationship with her father and with her boyfriend. That was a thought she just plain could not stand.
She popped the pill in her mouth and chased it with the water. Finally she checked herself in the mirror. Her emerald earrings sparkled, their color matching her eyes perfectly. She pulled the tiny heart shaped locket on the end of her necklace out of her dress, letting it rest on her modest bosom. She had finally taken some pictures and had them reduced, putting them inside. They were taken from her Pre-K class photo the day she met Ron.
By the time she got downstairs he was already well into his breakfast. Monique was sitting across from him, her coffee mug only halfway to her face as she watched, wide eyed as he put an entire breakfast Naco in his mouth.
"Ron, can you for once in your life eat like a human being." Kim scolded as she sat down beside him.
"Sorry, KP, gotta keep ahead of the bottomless pit." He pointed at Rufus who was in the process of devouring a Naco from the inside out.
Kim put one of the last remaining home-made Nacos on her plate, picking a tortilla chip out of it with her fork.
"You calling Rufus a bottomless pit? Ron, you've got some serious PKB issues." Monique said, sipping her coffee.
Ron just wagged his eyebrows, taking the last one from the tray and chomping over half of it.
"What, you already know what that means?" She asked, confused they didn't need a translation for 'Monique-speak.'
"Pot, Kettle, Black." Ron said, his mouth still full.
"Ron learning Monique-Speak? I don't know if that's spankin' or just wrong." Kim said between bites of her breakfast.
"Maybe Dude-boy and I are finally getting on the same page." She said, smiling at Ron, who suddenly started choking slightly on the last bite of his food.
Kim patted him on the back, letting her hand linger there. "You okay, honey?"
"Yeah." He said, swallowing the last of it. "One of the chips went the wrong way." He shot Monique a quick glance, narrowing his eyes for half a second.
"We'd better hit it. Assembly's not until eight, but I want a good parking space in the Senior lot before they all get gone." Monique said.
Ron ran back upstairs and grabbed his jacket and backpack. "Kim! Do you need a jacket or something?"
"Get the pink raincoat! It's in the hall closet!" She shouted up at him, slipping her own pack back off so she could put on the coat."
It was still pouring rain, seven-fifteen looking more like six. Even with the sun up, the storm was so heavy they couldn't even tell where it was. Kim and Monique flipped up their hoods and Ron pulled his jacket up over his head as the three made a break for her car.
Monique watched with interest as the two squeezed into the back seat. "Nobody's calling shotgun?" She said as she slipped into the driver's seat.
There was no answer. The moment the door closed their lips had met, their arms around each other's waists. The tiny space in the back of the small car didn't seem to matter to them
"Did you bring enough of that to share with the whole class, Mister Stoppable?" Monique said as she pulled out of the driveway.
Ron just leaned forward, planting a big kiss right on her cheek. "Happy now."
Monique just laughed, looking in her rearview mirror at the two lovers cuddling in the back of her car.
As they left the subdivision, Kim pulled a small package out of her backpack. "Here, an end-of-summer present."
"Kim, I didn't get you anything." He said, accepting the gift.
"So not the drama. Go on, open it. It's really more from Wade than from me, though I told him to make it."
Ron suddenly had an inkling what it might be. He ripped the pastel paper off and opened the small cardboard box. The shape was familiar, but it was slightly smaller and only about half as thick as he was expecting. The outer casing was a dark chromed pewter color instead of the familiar greenish blue. Otherwise it was completely the same as Kim's, the same buttons, the same red multi-media pickup at the top. He hit the on button and instead of a KP logo, a cartoon picture of a Naco appeared.
"Wow, my own Kimmunicator, finally." He said, giving Kim another kiss.
"Correction…Ronnunicator." She smiled at him.
"Cool…but kind of weird sounding." He said, also getting the strangest feeling he had heard something like that before. "Maybe we should just call it a Communicator."
"Okay." She reached into her bag and pulled out another new one. This time it was the more familiar color, though it was slightly more metallic looking. "Wade finally redesigned the whole thing. It's got a lot more built in function, so if we get cut off from the satellite feed they're not completely useless. He calls these Kimmunicator Mark 2.0."
"Booyah! He said, stuffing the device into his empty cargo pocket, opposite Rufus.
She looked out the window. The school could be seen in the distance, just past the car dealership. "Not much time left. The moment we get out of this car, summer's over." Kim warned.
Ron got her meaning, leaving Monique to roll her eyes as her friends made out in the back seat of her car.
Kim Possible and all related characters © Disney