A/N: Far future Drakgo fluff inspired by a random comment by split-n-splice, and by Gothicthundra's 13th chapter of "Lipsky Family Shorts."

Couldn't pick a title, so this one gets two. You finally get to see a smidgen of my future headcanon. Enjoy!

Pancakes/Surprised

Shego wasn't surprised by much anymore, given the way her life had changed.

She wasn't surprised to wake up alone, since, at nine months pregnant she tended to sleep in, and her poor sweet husband still barely slept for six hours a night despite years of her training him.

She wasn't surprised to hear sounds of voices and utensils coming from the kitchen—and she was grateful their bedroom was far from it—as their daughter was an early riser like her husband. She also wasn't surprised that her husband had been making a point of waking before their young daughter for the last several months, to make sure she didn't come bounding into the bedroom and 'disrupt her beauty rest' as her husband put it.

More like, avoid making the pregnant woman grumpy, who might then take it out on the blue man with glowing green fury. It was a self-serving motive. Or, that's what she told herself on her bad days. She knew of course, his motives were pure.

When she arrived at the kitchen, she wasn't surprised to see her husband clad in an apron, and the shiny black hair of their three-year-old daughter just visible above the top of the counter. A wooden spoon was being waved in the air by a tiny hand that came from somewhere below the counter, near the hair.

"Can I stir?" the small voice said.

Drakken smiled a bright greeting at Shego as she silently entered the room, and then he reached down and hefted their daughter up to rest on his hip as she waved the spoon without coordination toward the large, metal mixing bowl. Shego watched Drakken try to hide the wince on his face from the effort, but he could no more hide that from her than he could the gray in his hair. She was grateful they'd had kids right away, so that Drakken could enjoy the years when the children would have boundless energy before nature forced him to slow down.

The wooden spoon held by the tiny fist descended into the bowl, and it hit the side with a soft metal thud, doing so more than it actually seemed to stir. After a small drop of batter was flung out of the bowl and hit Drakken's cheek, his spoon joined the process.

"I want to stir... Mama!" The excited grin on her daughter's face made Shego's own grow. "We're making pancakes!"

"I see that. Is Daddy letting you stir, AJ?"

Drakken gave her a look, and Shego only gave him a knowing smirk. He hated the nickname that she'd given their daughter, and the conversation about it was still repeated many, many times.

"We need to get her used to it."

"It's a boy's name!"

"And it's what everyone is going to call her in school, so she may as well learn to like it from us."

"They won't call her that!"

"Do you not remember being a kid?"

That was where it always stopped. But it didn't prevent Drakken from bringing it up again almost every day. But he never did so in front of their daughter, so Shego knew she could get away with it for awhile.

"Daddy, why doesn't Mama cook?" Abby asked, peering up at her father.

"Yeah Daddy," Shego echoed, "why don't I cook?"

Drakken gave her a look, and Shego's smirk grew. Neither expression lasted as they kept eye contact throughout Drakken's response.

"Mama does cook sometimes," he stated simply, continuing to stir the pancake batter which their daughter had abandoned as she stared at her father's chin.

As long as it had taken them to get used to calling one another by their real names, which still sometimes felt out of place, calling one another by their parental appellations had been very easy. And it usually brought an extra joy that they shared through a look, as they were now.

Being parents, especially as difficult a journey as it had been to arrive there, meant everything to them.

"Grandma says that Mama can't cook."

Shego's brow rose as Drakken startled and looked down at their daughter in shock. He cast a wary glance at his wife and winced as he saw that Shego's jaw was clamped shut.

"When did she say that?" Drakken asked cautiously.

"When you were on your trip. She th-..th-..." the girl stuttered slightly while thinking of the word, "th-threw away Mama's cookies. And my lunches."

Shego's teeth were bared as she glared at Drakken, who kept casting fearful glances in her direction as he quickly set their daughter back on the floor.

"Down you go, Abby Joy," he said a bit shakily. "Would you like to set the table while I cook the pancakes? Mama can help you get the plates."

"Yes!" the toddler said brightly.

Shego slowly rose, a hand over her belly as she tried to quell the swirling anger and heat rising within her. She'd worked really hard on the food for Abby while she and Drakken had taken a weekend trip for some alone time.

As she got the plates from the cupboard she noticed another pan on the stove with something dark reducing, like a caramel. She sniffed the air and thought she recognized the scent, but she wasn't sure.

"Be careful, AJ," she said, handing the three plates to her daughter who was beaming with pride for being trusted with the task.

Shego sidled up to Drakken.

"I had no idea!" he whispered anxiously, giving her an apologetic glance as he flipped a pancake.

"After this kid comes out I'll find a way to get her back," she muttered in reply.

"Shego!" he whined quietly, his eyes pleading.

Just then, a shatter.

"Uh oh."

Shego and Drakken whirled to see that the top plate on the stack of three had slid to the tiled floor and broken into several pieces at their daughter's feet.

"Don't move!" they both cried in alarm. They looked at each other as Abby's face began to redden and her eyes crinkled with the onset of tears.

"I'll—"

"No," Drakken interrupted, "you finish here. I don't want you trying to get on the floor."

Drakken pushed the spatula into Shego's hands, and she stood dumbstruck for a moment and watched as her husband crossed the kitchen in two large steps, put the remaining two plates on the table, and then scooped their wailing daughter up into his arms.

Shego listened to his soft murmurings that they weren't mad and that it was just an accident, cradling their daughter close to his chest as her tears fell. It was only when Shego smelled burning that she spun around and saw that the pancake on the griddle was smoking. She bit back a curse and lifted the entire pan up to slide the ruined pancake onto the short stack Drakken had already cooked. She could eat that one...

While Drakken dealt with the broken plate and comforted Abby, Shego focused on the task she'd been given as she understood it. Butter the pan...ladle the batter...wait for bubbles...flip. And then wait again and hope she guessed right. Pancakes were easy, Drakken had told her a few years back when he'd taught her. She couldn't mess up pancakes...right?

The burned one was still making her nervous, but the others were going well so far. Her baby bump made things a bit awkward, and she stayed a step back from the stove just in case.

A soft bump against her leg startled her, and she looked down into her daughter's tear-bright eyes.

"Mama needs to concentrate, Sweetie..." she said gently, looking back at the pan as her daughter hugged her leg.

"Daddy said to stay with you while he cleans up the broken plate."

"Okay," Shego said. She peered down at the dark hair again and the face pressing against her stretch pants. "You did so well helping Daddy with the pancake batter. They're going to taste great!"

Abby looked up with a shy smile, and Shego grinned confidently at her. Their daughter was already showing a mixture of traits from both of them in her personality, with her matter-of-fact way of talking but her shyness in approaching unknown things. It didn't feel like she'd been theirs for three years, as some days it felt like it had been forever and other days like they were brand new parents. But it was always a joy.

Shego reached down and ruffled the girl's hair. "My Abby Joy."

Abby giggled, and then turned as Drakken spoke.

"All done!"

Abby ran over to hug her father around the knees, and then she scampered away to parts unknown. Her rapidly shifting attention and focus was another trait of Drakken's. Also very typical for her age. Shego noted that not only was the broken plate cleaned up, but the table was set and ready with plates, utensils, and toppings. All that was missing were the pancakes.

Drakken stepped up and looked at where Shego had created a large, haphazard pile of the steaming breakfast cakes on a paper towel. He lifted his brow at her.

"So I can't stack. At least I've only burned one."

His brow rose higher.

"Maybe four. But only one is bad."

Drakken grinned and started organizing her pancake pile. "This is more than enough. We'll save the rest of the batter for tomorrow."

Shego felt a wash of relief as she dropped the ladle in the mixing bowl and tossed the spatula into the sink. She turned off the burner and then glanced at the other pan where whatever was reducing had thickened more.

"Uh...should I have been watching this?" she asked.

Drakken glanced up and smiled. "No. But you can turn the burner off, it's ready."

Shego did so. "What is it?"

Drakken carried the pancake stack to the table and glanced back at her with a sly smile. "Taste it. But be careful, it's—"

"Hot, yeah, I get it."

She dipped in the spoon he'd been using to stir at one point and watched the thick, translucent, reddish-gold liquid drip off of the metal. She waited several seconds before testing it with the tip of her tongue, and then licked at the sweet concoction a bit more. It was very familiar, but she couldn't place it.

"What is it?" she repeated as Drakken came back to her side.

He set his arms around her from behind, one hand holding her shoulder as the other gently rubbed her large baby bump.

"You can't tell?"

She shook her head and leaned back into him. He furrowed his brow and took the spoon from her and tasted what she'd left of the sticky substance there. She watched as his face twisted further in confusion.

"It tastes like it should... Maybe your taste buds have changed," he said with a sigh.

"I still like it," she encouraged him. "What is it?"

He set the spoon down and held her shoulder again.

"It's watermelon caramel."

Shego's brow rose. Suddenly the familiarity of the taste became clear. She turned around to face him, setting her arms around his neck as her belly pressed into him.

"Where have you been hiding a watermelon?" she asked with a grin.

"At the back of the fridge," he said. "It was a small one."

Her brow crinkled. "None left?" she asked, pressing closer to him. His arms went around her waist.

"I used it all. It was a very small one. They're out of season," he explained with an apologetic smile. "You can put the caramel on your pancakes."

Shego pulled him closer until their foreheads touched, smirking all the while.

"Unless..." Drakken grinned and lowered his voice, "you'd rather have some sugar?"

"I'd love some," she said, just before their lips met.

Shego lost herself in his touch, as she always did, until a bump against her legs brought her back from the soaring high of his kiss. Drakken however, didn't seem to be aware as his lips floated over hers and his tongue skimmed the edge of her teeth, attempting further entrance.

"Mama? Daddy? Are the pancakes ready?"

Drakken opened his eyes and peered down along with Shego, though their lips didn't part.

"Mm-hm," Drakken acknowledged their daughter, turning his attention back to Shego. He pulled away just enough to look into her eyes and he gave her a dangerous look. "We haven't really said 'good morning' today," he said in a hush, his voice deep.

Shego felt her heart race and in seconds was again lost in his kiss, gentle and tame as it was in front of their daughter.

"Stop kissing. You're always kissing!" Abby complained at their feet, her tiny hands pushing on their legs.

Shego turned her head out of the kiss slightly to grin down at their frustrated little angel. She was short-tempered at times, and demanding; both traits of her mother's.

"We can't stop," Shego smiled against Drakken's lips. "We're stuck together."

Drakken's shoulders shook with silent laughter at the familiar joke as Shego returned to their kiss. It had only fooled Abby once. Briefly.

"No you're not!" Abby whined, wiggling between them and pushing hard on their legs to separate them.

They gave in and stepped back, Shego leaning against the counter as she chuckled while Drakken picked up their daughter and hugged her close.

"We could kiss you instead?" he said.

"No!"

In unison, Drakken and Shego leaned forward to kiss Abby's cheeks. The girl squealed and wiggled in Drakken's grasp, so that he stepped back and held her tighter.

"It tickles!"

Drakken continued kissing her cheek as she squirmed and laughed until he plopped her in her booster seat in her designated chair. Shego slowly took her seat, and Drakken stepped over just in time to help her push her chair in before heading back to the stove. He poured the caramel into a dish while Shego put a pancake on Abby's plate and began cutting it into small pieces. Just as she finished, Drakken returned without his apron and placed the caramel in front of her.

"How many?" he asked her, beginning to set pancakes on her plate.

"Three."

He served himself the same and then sat down as both he and Shego dressed their breakfast to their preference.

"Butter..." Abby said, watching with a smile. "Blueberries for Daddy... Strawberries for Mama... And both for me!"

"And both for Abby Joy!" Drakken echoed, spooning some of the fruit onto her plate.

Abby's attention however had shifted to Shego, who was pouring the watermelon caramel over her pancakes instead of maple syrup.

"What's that?" Abby asked, pointing.

"Your Daddy made me watermelon caramel. It's like syrup, but it's thicker and it tastes different," Shego explained.

"Can I try?"

Shego took Abby's fork and dipped it in the thick liquid, handing it back to her once the blunted tines were coated. She and Drakken watched as their daughter stuck the fork in her mouth and sucked on it. After a few moments she made a face.

"Hmm... I don't like watermelon," she declared.

Shego froze and looked up at Drakken who was equally startled. They blinked at each other for several seconds before bursting into laughter that was loud and long.

"Mama? Daddy? What's so funny? Stop laughing! What's so funny?"