Cross Country: Chapter 10
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When Ron had first brought their new SUV home the night before their trip began, it had the typical 'New Car' smell – an admixture of the chemicals used to treat the carpets, the glues holding it down and the various other plastic and leather smells, all coming together to tell the senses "I am new." Kim often wondered if that was just something the dealers would actually mist around the inside of a new vehicle, but there never was any real proof. One company had even marketed something called "That New Car Smell" but it was really just some over-sweet deodorizing spray.
After two and a half days of hauling five people from Colorado to North Carolina, the Glissade now longer had that pleasant, indistinct odor. Instead, it was starting to get ripe enough that Kim was about to order Ron to turn off at the next exit and find a store, any store be it a tiny family-run general store or a freaking Smarty Mart, she was going to run in and buy a bottle of that fabric spray that was supposed to destroy odors and hose down the inside of the once-luxurious vehicle.
It didn't help that they stopped from lunch at a Bueno Nacho. It wasn't her first choice, but that was where Amethyst wanted to eat, and they were not about to deny her choice that mid-day. The slight little girl managed to put away a mountain of food that shouldn't have fit into her tiny body. It was a good thing the Stoppable family never had to pay at the Tex-Mex eatery, or she would have put a pretty good dent in their travel budget (despite being 'comfortable', they always set a limit on what they would spend while away.)
CJ just watched with her eyes bugged out as her normally quiet and polite roommate basically ate her way through the entire menu board, something she had only seen her older brother do (and only when his wife was not around.)
Amethyst, and the quantity and variety of food she consumed, was not the problem, however. Considering the nature of her power, she was not prone to getting the belly flips, or any of the other unpleasant side-effects of the spicy, bean laden food. She simply curled up in the back seat and napped once more, snuggling what, at one time, had been an immensely valuable 'Super-Star Edition' Pandaroo, but was now just a ragged shadow of a plush doll.
No, the problem was that the two male humans and one male non-human in the SUV had gotten into a Chimirito eating contest – a bean filled Chimirito eating contest. Kim had been so busy staring at her god-daughter packing away Nacos and Mucho Caliente Cheesidillas that she failed to notice the boys eating such potentially explosive foods.
Thirty minutes down the highway, another type of competition started, one that only males would think of and enjoy. It got so bad it even woke up Ammie, who looked like she was about to throw up, possibly for the first time in her young life.
"Ron! That is just…man. Please, for the sake of my nose, for all our noses, roll down your window. For that matter, roll down all the windows and keep the AC cranked up all the way." At least they weren't burning extra gas that way.
With his trademark 'lil Diablo' grin, GJ responded to the audible (and fragrant) challenge issued by his father, making Kim wish the boy was actually still in diapers.
"Excuse you." She admonished, her eyes open in surprise.
Grinning from ear-to-ear, Ron rocked slightly to the side and issued his rebuttal. Kim simply clamped her hands over her mouth and nose. "Please, the two of you, just stop."
It wasn't his voice GJ used to answer his mother, and, if all that wasn't bad enough, Rufus emerged from his nap-spot under the seat and joined in the fray.
"I'm gonna be sick." CJ complained, scooting as far away from her nephew as possible. He let a whiner and she wasted no time scrambling over the back of the seat to where Ammie had been trying to nap.
"The next one who passes gas in here is going to finish our ride strapped to the luggage rack, and that includes you, Ronald Eugene Stoppable." She jabbed a small index finger his direction. He didn't respond, except to look back at his son, reflecting the each other's smiles.
The mist and rain had been left behind in the mountains, the sun appearing once they were properly out in the open. The only problem was they had not counted on how humid the southeast could be. The temperature was in the low nineties, just as it was expected to be back home, but the moist, warm air was like a sauna to them. It wasn't long before the windows were rolled back up, letting the powerful air conditioning of their SUV cool them back down.
Just as the cabin started getting comfortable once more, Kim's nose suddenly wrinkled up. Seconds later, she had her hands clamped over it again. "Oh my God, who did that?"
Ron seemed to sag down in the driver's seat, a distinct look of utter relief on his face. "Sorry, KP."
"That's it. Vacation rules are suspended. No more BN, no more beans, no more heart-attack-on-a-plate breakfasts. We're eating good, healthy food from here on out."
GJ chimed in, "Beans, beans, they're good for your heart, the more you eat, the more you…"
"Gene!" Kim shrieked. That only served to him off laughing again, which in turn gave him a opportunity for a few 'cheek-sneaks' to relieve his own growing pressure. "Ron, you and your son are doing way more damage to the trade-in value of this thing than Motor Ed did. You can fix a bumper, I don't think we're ever going to get this smell out of here."
He rolled down his window to let in another blast of humid, yet fresher air inside. Only this time it backfired. Something else was carried on that moist, warm air. Something fouler than the effluvia being produced by the two males and one mole rat. It turned all six of them greener than Amethyst's mother when she was using her powers.
The full force of the odor didn't last terribly long, though it seemed to linger, even with all four windows open once more. "Gah! What was that?" Ron asked, waving his hand in front of his nose.
Ammie leaned over the back of the middle seat. "I think it might have been a hog farm. I was reading an online article on North Carolina last night, and they're supposed to be one of the largest pork-producing states in the country."
Ron glanced at the girl in the rearview mirror, then at his sister, who had a somewhat smug look on her face. "That came from pigs?"
The young brunette wrinkled her own nose again. "Might be a hog-pond. Trust me, you don't want to know."
Kim was doing her best to keep her own lunch down, which was a feat unto itself considering how easily she could get nauseated while pregnant. She reached over and put a reassuring hand on her husband's upper leg.
"Maybe there's something to all that kosher stuff anyway. The whole point is that swine is supposed to be…unclean. I always thought it was just a cultural response to those trick-a, er tri…"
"Trichinosis." Kim supplied.
"Yeah, that. At least that's what my professors all tried to say, but if that's what they smell like, ug…and here I was looking forward to some North Carolina-style barbecue while we're here."
"Pew, traife." Rufus squeaked from his perch on Ron's shoulder.
Kim gave his leg a good squeeze. "I think all it will take will be a good whiff of hickory-smoke and you'll change your mind right back, especially since that's what Moni said we're having at the rehearsal dinner tonight." Her eyes drifted to the back once more, as GJ emitted another sound that made the condition of his briefs suspect.
"Excuse me." He said, stifling a giggle.
"I know I'm going to really get if for asking this," Kim said, sitting back in her seat, "but are we almost there? I am so done with sitting like this. I need to stretch my legs, not to mention getting some breathable air."
"Here's our exit." Ron proclaimed happily. "Welcome to the mighty metropolis of Durham, North Carolina, home of the Duke Blue-devils!"
"He said Dookie!" GJ squealed, giggling playfully in his booster seat.
"No, he said…oh, never mind." Kim was too relieved to correct the boy, considering that was exactly what Ron would call the team's basketball team when they regularly slaughtered the Middleton College team in their annual meeting.
The navigation system had once more recommended a direct route using state highways, not far from the multi-interstate junction in Greensboro, NC, but given their experiences over the last couple days, they elected to stay on Interstate 40 all the way to the city. It added a few more miles to the trip, but neither of them were complaining about the extra time.
The area reminded them of their home, though it was a little less hilly. There were no mountains in the distance, though they were just as close to them as they were in Middleton. It was just that the Appalachians were so much smaller than the more-familiar Rockies. Durham was butted up against several other cities, including Raleigh, the state capitol, much the way Middleton was nearly joined with Upperton and Lowerton. In fact, the city was actually divided from Chapel Hill pretty much by the interstate itself.
Monique Jenkins and her fiancé Felix Renton had a small house not terribly far from the Duke University campus. She had rented an apartment during her Junior year and opted to make her living there rather than move back to Middleton after she graduated. At twenty-seven, she was already a fairly high-ranking executive with Club Banana, serving both as a regional manager and as a fashion consultant.
Felix had moved down there with her from Massachusetts after graduating from M.I.T., following in his mother's footsteps working on a doctorate in robotics while working as a junior scientist for a Research Triangle firm. Just like Kim and Ron, they remained engaged for quite a long time, with him popping the question during their senior year.
Kim thought it funny that they were one of the last couples to actually tie the knot. With them hitched, that left Hope as the only one, though it didn't seem likely she was going to follow that road any time soon. Of all the former cheerleaders, she was the only one who had a very dim view on the whole prospect of marriage, and it didn't seem that it was because she had not met the right guy yet, though she did hold out hope her friend would eventually change her mind. Most of them had found real happiness in their relationships.
She didn't expect to see very many of her other friends at the wedding. In reality, only Felix's mother and herself were Monique's real remaining ties with Middleton. Not long after it became apparent she would be living on the east coast permanently, her father was transferred once more. She also wasn't as close to the rest of them as Kim was and it had actually been a couple years since they had seen each other face-to-face, though they did spend quite a bit of time talking over a video-phone hookup. With a sigh, Kim realized that sometimes growing up really did mean growing apart, though it was a bit ironic that it ended up being her and Monique doing that rather than her and Ron.
After a couple wrong turns, which could easily be forgiven since neither of them had ever set foot in the city before, they finally found their way to the modest home. Once they were on the cul-de-sac, it wasn't hard to figure out which house it was, considering the number of cars parked there.
Monique must have been sitting by the window waiting for them, since she rushed right out of the house before they could even get GJ out of his car-seat. Growing up apparently also meant cutting her hair, as it no longer hung past her shoulders, though she still had little curly ringlets hanging in front of her ears.
She rushed right up to Kim, wrapping her up in a ferocious hug.
"Look at you, girl, you are AH!"
Kim simply inclined one of her eyebrows, not always knowing what her friend meant with her acronyms.
"You are absolutely huge." She looked down at Kim's belly, still holding onto her shoulders.
She smiled at her friend, knowing that, at least between women, such a comment was actually a compliment when directed at a pregnant woman. She looked down at her friend, noticing a certain tell-tale bulge as well.
"I could say the same thing about you, Moni! You never told me you were expecting."
Monique finally let her friend go. "Yeah. I've still got three months to go. That's why we moved the wedding up. Turned out the doctor said my due date was exactly the day we planned on getting married this fall. What about you, girlfriend?"
"Two months to go." She put a hand on her belly. "So, dish, what's it going to be, a boy or a girl?"
"Don't know. Oh, they've done all the tests, but Felix is wanting to be old-fashioned about it so we won't know until it comes."
Kim gave her friend a quick visual appraisal. "Hmmm. Seems like you're carrying it all out front. Looks to me like you're going to have a little boy."
"Shush, girl. If I had a nickel for every time I've heard that, well, let's just say I'd be driving a swanky ride like the two of you have. Speaking of Naco money, where's the world's second best kisser?"
As if on cue, Ron came from around the big vehicle carrying his son in his arms. Monique quickly moved in for a hug, surprising him with a warm, though still platonic, kiss on the lips. "See, I told you, that boy knows what he's doing."
"Good to see you too, Monique." He set his son down, who regarded the dark skinned woman with a little distrust.
"Look at you. Last time I saw you, you were nothing more than a little tiny thing in diapers. Come give your Aunt Monique a hug, Little Gene."
Kim and Ron both laughed heartily as the little boy tried to escape her embrace. She followed it up with a quick pinch of his cheeks, making him almost scream to get away. He went and hid behind his father's leg, eyeing the African-American beauty warily.
"Still can't believe the two of you drove all this way."
"Neither can I." Kim said dryly.
"You're late.' Another voice called out. They all turned as Felix rolled up in his wheelchair. They had expected to hear him coming, but instead of the fancy cyber-robotic chair his mother built for him when he was a teenager, he was in a simple, though very hi-tech in its own right, hand-powered chair.
"My man Felix!" Ron gave his MBF a high-five. "We'd have been here sooner, but you know us, we had to stop in West Virginia and deal with an old friend of yours."
"S'ha, right. More like you and Kim had to stop at every motel along the way, if I know the two of you. News flash for you, Stoppable, you can't get her any more pregnant than she already is."
Ron actually blushed. "Hey, looks like I'm not the only one." He nodded toward Monique.
"Yeah, what can I say. Come on, Dude, I've got an advance copy of Steel Toe Cyber slam VI in the console. You up for some primo gamage?"
"Badical! You're going down."
"So not, you're the one going down. I know for a fact there aren't any cheat-codes out for this one yet."
Kim shook her head as the two of them headed into the house.
"Not gonna go all gell on us, are you?" Monique asked, putting her arm around her old friend. "You know we're going to have to cut off the power when it's time to go to the rehearsal later."
"It's no big. He's been looking forward to hooking up with Felix for weeks now. Just don't tell him that Ron's already had Wade hack the game for him." She turned to the kids. "Why don't you girls go in the house and see if there are any more kids you can play with. Gene, you go with them."
"Don wanna." He whined, latching onto his mother's leg.
"Go on, Gene. Aunt Moni and I have a lot of catching up to do.
He pouted, but Kim simply extracted his hand from her leg. Ammie took his hand and led him toward the house.
Monique shook her head. "Hard to believe that's actually Shego's daughter."
"Sometimes. There's a lot more to that little girl than meets the eye. So, what's up?"
"Want all the juicy details?"
"Please and thank you."
Monique led her to a small car. "Ack, not more driving."
"It's just a few minutes. They don't have everything in walking distance like you're used to in Middleton. If you want to get anywhere, you've got to drive." They both climbed into the car, Kim realizing it was the same small hatchback her friend had owned since high school. She glanced over her shoulder, trying to think how she managed to make out with Ron in the tiny back seat.
"Please tell me you're staying with us tonight."
"Well, we've already got a room at the Best Western."
"Please, Kim. I don't know if I can take too much more. If you and Ron have the spare room and the kids are sacked out in the den, that means I won't have to put up with Mama Renton tonight. Do you know what it's like when she's here with that beau of hers?"
"Don't tell me she's still with Dr. Freeman."
Monique rolled her eyes. "God yes. You would think that guy has no use for women, but the two of them, carrying on like that at their age."
"Hey, Ron and I do our own 'carryin on' thank you very much."
"Not the same thing, girlfriend. We're all the same age, and knowing the woman who's going to be your mother-in-law in less than twenty-four hours."
"I'll ask Ron, but you know that's going to mean the two of them are going to be glued to that game console until the wee hours of the morning."
"One step ahead of you there. Felix is staying at a friend's tonight, just so he won't see me before the wedding. Told you he could be a little old-fashioned."
Kim glanced at her friend's belly. "Not all that old-fashioned, it seems."
Monique laughed. "More like I had something to do with that. Still got it goin-on, ya know."
"What's with this." She touched her much shorter-than-expected hair.
"Eh, got tired of messing with it, especially when I really started getting big. Thought by now you'd have gone that route too."
Kim tossed her hair. It was halfway down her back, bundled in a loose ponytail at the base of her neck. "Actually, I got it cut a couple weeks ago. It was all the way down to my butt and I was getting ferocious split-ends."
"I mean really getting it cut."
"So not. If she wasn't three inches taller, people would already be having a hard time telling me apart from my Mom. Hope I look that good when I'm in my fifties."
They needn't have worried about prying Felix and Ron away from their games. Hours later it took a cell-phone call to drag them back for the afternoon's events.
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Ron sat down on the bed, quickly undoing the bow-tie that had encircled his neck for the better part of the day. Despite his slim nature, he always felt like he was choking to death whenever he had a tie on, to the point he actually wore a chef's jacket to most of his business meetings involving his restaurant. His short tenure as a district manager for Bueno Nacho had been real torture for him, requiring a real tie be worn, rather than the short clip-on the managers and their assistants wore for quick removal in case of a grease fire.
He didn't complain, though. As Best Man, he was expected to wear one, and he always came through for his friends. At least he didn't have to wear what Kim did in her position as Matron-of-honor.
She was busily changing out of the bright-red taffeta dress. It was actually the third time she had been forced to wear one of the things, though the first when she had to do so seven months pregnant. "You would think a woman who is a qualified and respected fashion designer would have had us wear something that was actually…pretty." She fussed as she stepped out of the crimson horror.
"At least it wasn't like that southern-belle thing you had to wear at Tara's wedding." He commented.
Kim frowned. She didn't get a chance to speak to her old fellow cheerleader, who simply showed up with the rest of the guests and departed before the reception. Tara still lived in Middleton, but she rarely got a chance to see her, especially once the divorce went through. What had once seemed like yet-another fairy-tale romance quickly went sour, leaving the normally bubbly blonde a wreck of her former self.
To think there might have been an outside possibility she would have married Josh Mankey herself if they had not drifted apart back in high school. She never got the details, but she suspected one or the other of them might not have been completely faithful. That line of thinking gave her pause. It wasn't that there was any real possibility of Ron or herself ever taking that path, but a rational person did sometimes have to consider it.
That was the only bad spot in what was otherwise a beautiful wedding. She was certain some tongues were wagging at the fact Monique wore a white gown she had designed herself, but she didn't care. She had lived with Ron for more than a year before their own wedding and wore white herself, though she didn't end up expecting until several months after the ceremony.
Felix surprised everyone when he entered the church. Multiple Sclerosis had robbed him of his ability to walk when he was a pre-teen, trapping him in a chair seemingly for the rest of his life. Yet, for his wedding day, the doors opened with him standing with the aid of crutches, Ron close at hand to help him if needed. It took longer than if he had used his chair, but he made it to the front of the old Baptist church on his own power. There was even applause when he finally got there.
Exhausted, he was back in his chair for the reception. His new wife spent the greater part of that party in his lap, her arms wrapped around his shoulder.
Another seeming miracle occurred that day. Somehow all three kids managed to behave themselves, though Ammie was a little put-out that CJ got to be the flower girl since Monique really didn't know the little girl all that well. Little Gene looked like a consummate gentleman in his tiny tux, bearing the rings on a little pillow made of the same fabric as the traditionally detestable bridesmaid dresses.
Kim didn't know the other two girls in the service, hammering home the fact that the old friends had really gone their separate ways after high school. Of course she couldn't be jealous that Monique made other friends while she was in college and beyond, but it did cause a pang of nostalgia.
"Think Monique and Felix are enjoying themselves?" Ron asked as he undid the frilly top of his tuxedo shirt.
"Oh, they're still on the plane, honey." Kim slipped on a nice travel dress, buttoning it up the front.
"Just hope they like it. Feels good returning the favor like that."
The newlyweds were on their way to a tiny island in the Caribbean, where the two of them had spent their own honeymoon just over five years earlier. Not only that, they were going to be staying in the same room, and Ron had given Felix secret instructions how to find the secluded waterfall with its pristine swimming hole. The trip was their gift to them, in return for the room they had gotten the still-seventeen year-old couple after the senior prom.
Kim sat down beside him, putting her hand on the small of his back. "Ronnie, how much do you love me?" She nuzzled his neck softly.
"You don't even have to ask. I'm running out of new ways to say it."
"I want you to do something for me." She took his earlobe gently in her teeth, tugging on it slightly.
"Uh, KP, you do know we've got to get on the road before long. We've got over eighteen-hundred miles to cover."
"But Ronnie, I want something from you. I need something from you, if you know what I mean." She sat back, the pout just starting to take shape on her face.
"You mean you're not worn out after last night? The way Monique looked at us at breakfast this morning…"
Kim got up, laughing. "Not what I meant, though if you really wanted to… anyway, I was thinking, there's a major airport here. How much do you think it would cost to have the Glissade shipped back to Middleton?"
"Ship? Huh? We've still got a few days left of our vacation. Thought we could spend some quality time together."
She rolled her eyes. "Quality time I can deal with, but not three more days in that SUV. Ron, I want to fly home and sleep in my own bed. The kids want to too. Do you have any idea what it's been like for our son the last few days, basically strapped into that stupid booster seat?" She straddled his lap, wrapping her arms around his waist. "We could even send the kids to stay at Mom and Dad's for a couple nights. Might even be the last chance we have before the baby comes."
"But…"
"Please?" The pout came out full-force. There had been times in the past when he could resist it, but he was actually as tired as she was, and she did have a point. Sleeping in a different bed was fun, but there was nothing quite like being in your own bed. Or the couch in front of the fireplace…
…or the rare treat of the den, with the kids out of the house.
"Sure, KP, but you're gonna owe me."
"How about an advance." She got up and locked the door, smiling broadly as she crossed the room back to his arms.
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