December 23

Shego woke up the next morning to the soft calling of her name. She opened up her eyes and saw Drakken's silhouette in the crack of light at the door. He was holding something.

"Shego?"

"Ungh..." she groaned. The crack of light at the door widened.

"Can I come in?"

She nodded and rolled over, realizing she was laying on her bruised hip. He turned the lights up to halfway, and she saw he was carrying a breakfast tray. She saw the sad, worried look on his face and her anger from the night before faded.

"I...made breakfast, if you're hungry," he said as he approached. She sat up with a wince, and his brow furrowed. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know... What would you call being bruised, burned, and having a sprained wrist?"

His lips parted as he stared at her. "What?"

He sat down on the edge of her bed, the tray still in his hands.

"What happened?"

She frowned, quickly becoming irritated again. "Your dog, dingus. Were you paying any attention yesterday?"

He had the decency to look a bit ashamed, but he still looked confused.

She sighed and pulled her shirt off. "Look," she said, turning around. She pointed to the burned line up her side and on her back. "That's where the cocoa spill got me."

His eyes were wide.

"And here," she pointed to the long horizontal bruise on her back, and the darker one on her elbow. "That's where I hit the coffee table, and fell on the floor. And..." She rose up on her knees and pulled the side of her pajama pants down, revealing the bruise on her hip. "That's from when I fell down the stairs. And I landed funny on my wrist trying to protect the groceries. That you forgot to put away," she said, resting the injured limb lightly on her leg.

She sat down again with a frown and looked up at him. He looked surprised, sad, concerned, and was blushing slightly. She noticed his eyes dart briefly, almost reflexively to her bare breasts. She sighed and pulled her shirt back on with a slight fluttering feeling in her chest.

She held up her sore wrist and rubbed it. "All you care about is...is that stupid dog."

He looked down sadly. "I'm sorry."

She lay back with a silent sigh, and her eyes fell to the breakfast tray.

"What'd you bring me?"

He lifted the tray to present to her. "Strawberry waffles, with fresh whipped cream. And coffee."

"Did you remember the—?"

"Vanilla in the whipped cream? Yes," he said quickly.

She pursed her lips to conceal the smile that was starting to form. She reached her hands out for the tray, and he set it across her lap. She cut a piece of the waffle with her fork, adding a strawberry slice and spreading some of the whipped cream on top. When she put the bite in her mouth, she found the waffle was the perfect temperature. She grinned up at him despite herself.

"Good?"

She nodded, and began cutting a second bite. He scooted closer and took her injured, left wrist between his hands and held it gently.

She looked up at his worried face and pursed her lips. The breakfast was good. And she could tell he was sorry. But she still wanted to be mad at him.

"I hope you're not expecting me to clean up that mess in the living room..." she said between bites.

"I had the henchmen clean it up."

"Hmm. Bet they loved sticking around for Christmas for that..."

"Mm..." Drakken said, turning her wrist over gently.

"What about the dog?"

She saw him tense slightly.

"It's...in a crate, in my room."

"In your room?" She glared at him.

"I—I'll move it to the lab. Shego..." His furrowed brow caught her attention. "Where's your ring?"

He was staring worriedly at her bare finger.

"Oh... It's here," she said, looking over at her nightstand. The ring sat behind the phone, just out of his line of sight. He leaned forward until he could see it, and then picked it up.

"I...didn't know you took it off at night."

"I don't," she said, looking down at her plate as she spread the whipped cream around.

When she looked up he was staring at her with scared eyes and holding his breath. She set her fork down and sighed.

"I still want to marry you," she said.

His whole body seemed to relax, and his fingers curled around hers. After a moment she let go of his hand and stretched her fingers out. He cradled her wrist gently as he put the ring back on her finger with his other hand. She admired the diamond with a soft smile, but when she looked up again he still appeared worried.

"I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention yesterday."

She pushed the tray back and sat forward, setting her forearms on his shoulders.

"It's okay."

"I've been...very distracted, with my mother coming... I know it's not an excuse."

"I still think we should just go to New Jersey," she said with a raised brow.

His brow twisted. "After...all the work we've done here?"

She sighed. "No..."

He set his hands on her hips, and she looked up at him with a tired and resigned smile.

"When you're ready to get up, I'll wrap your wrist for you," he said.

"Okay," she said, pulling the tray of waffles back in front of her. He lightly squeezed her hand before leaving the room, and her smile grew as she watched him go.

She took another bite of the strawberry waffles and grinned at the memory of the gentle way he'd held her wrist, and how delicately he put her ring back on her finger. No one else would know, based on the way he acted when he was trying to take over the world, just how sweet he was.

She smirked as she remembered the way he'd glanced down at her chest when she'd taken her shirt off to show him her bruises. He'd been trying so hard not to look, she knew. He was always acting like an old-fashioned sort of gentleman with her, until she got him worked up past his point of resistance.

She pushed the waffle tray back and got up, hurrying over to her dresser where her new lingerie was wrapped in a small box. She'd intended it as a Christmas present...but she was sure he wouldn't mind getting it early. She cradled the box to her chest and scampered off to his room.

When she got there, she could hear the dog barking from the hall. Her brow furrowed, and as she went inside and turned on the lights the dog's yipping grew more excited. She spotted it running around on the far side of the room, trapped by the moat. The crate it had been kept in was open next to the bed.

"Now did he let you out, or did you learn how to pick locks..." she muttered as she stepped across the moat toward the small animal. She tossed her lingerie box onto the bed.

As she expected, the dog jumped up and began pawing at her legs, its tongue lolling to the side out of its mouth. She scooped it up and shoved it in the crate and locked it before the dog had a chance to realize what was happening. It began yipping in protest at being confined, and she shook her head.

She picked up the crate and turned to head out of the room. No way would she have that thing making noise in there with what she intended for the morning. The dog was running around inside the small crate, making it shake as she carried it. She let go with her hurting wrist and carried the crate with just her right hand as she headed toward the lab.

Drakken was standing at his work table putting something inside of a box when she arrived, and he turned quickly at the sound of the dog barking.

"Admiral Cuddles, how did you—? Oh. Shego."

"You forgot this," she said, setting the crate next to his desk.

"Why aren't you dressed?" he asked, looking at her green pajamas.

"Come back to your room and see," she said with a smirk as she turned to go.

She saw him raise his brow quizzically before he turned back to his box. She walked slowly back down the hall, knowing he would finish whatever task he was absorbed in first. She didn't mind. It would give her time for some primping.

About half an hour later she was standing behind the wardrobe door, admiring her work in his full-length mirror. She had done an excellent job of making herself look appealing, fluffing her hair to perfection and putting on just enough mascara and a red lip gloss to match the lingerie, which fit her like a second skin.

If this doesn't make him drop everything, he isn't a man.

She heard the door slide open, and her heart fluttered in excitement. She heard him pause momentarily, and then continue into the room.

"I thought you said you bought wrapping paper—"

She stepped out from behind the door of the wardrobe as he was speaking, and watched his jaw drop.

"Want one of your presents early?" she said seductively, lightly biting her lower lip as she walked toward him.

The large box he'd been carrying slipped from his hands and crashed to the floor.

Shego woke up suddenly, surprised only for a moment at the weight crushing her body. Then she sighed in contentment and lazily dragged her fingernails down Drakken's back to his hip, letting her hand rest there.

She coughed slightly, her lungs not quite able to draw a full breath due to his weight. He responded instinctively and shifted half of his body to the side and rested his face next to hers. She glanced at him and saw his eyes were closed, but his breathing suggested he was awake.

She supposed she must have only been asleep for a moment, if he was still awake. He always fell asleep.

He hadn't used to, when they had first gotten together, but she supposed that was because of the novelty. Now that they were comfortable together he would murmur eloquent love proclamations into her ear until he fell asleep. And they were always different. She smiled at the newest memory.

"I fell in love with you so long ago...and I'm still falling. Words don't exist to describe how much I love you...but I'll keep searching for them, so I can try to tell you."

She wondered if he looked for love quotes on the web, or if he came up with them all off-the-cuff. The latter seemed more likely, considering he was always half-conscious and delirious from their love-making when said them.

His eyes opened then and she turned her face toward him, smiling tiredly. She lightly squeezed his shoulder and brought her other hand up from his hip to find his. He grasped blindly over his shoulder until his fingers entwined with hers, and their joined hands dropped to the sheets on her other side.

"You okay?" he asked.

It took her a moment to realize he was talking about her wrist, which he'd insisted on binding before they'd gotten started. It was the hand he now held, and it definitely felt better for being immobilized.

"Yes," she said, rubbing his hand with her thumb.

"You're so perfect... You make me so happy... Did you know that you're perfect? You need to know that."

"Keep talking like that...and I might believe you," she said with a yawn.

"It's true," he said, inching his face toward hers. She met him halfway with a soft, lingering kiss.

When their lips parted he hummed in delight and his eyes fell closed again. She knew he would be dead to the world before long, and they'd lose a lot of the morning unless she made him get up. But she'd never actually done that before and wasn't keen on the idea of leaving his arms anyway.

"Oh..." he suddenly groaned, and she was surprised to see his brow furrowed in regret.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"I'll have to rebuild the vacuum..."

"...What?"

"The gift I built for my mother. It's a self-operating vacuum."

"A robot?"

"Mm. It was in that box I dropped."

Her eyes narrowed and she slapped his shoulder lightly.

"Drakken... If you were thinking about your mother while we were—"

"No!" he said, his eyes flying wide open in a panic. "No, no," he shook his head firmly. "I promise."

She sighed and settled her head back against the pillow, but her eyes remained narrowed. "Good. Because if you ever did...it would be the last night I spent in your bed."

"No," he said, and she watched as he moved over her again to look her in the eyes, his own wide and worried. "I just think of you...and how lucky I am."

"You'd better believe you are."

He flinched, his brow twisting in concern. She saw the hurt enter his eyes right before he slowly moved back and lay next to her. She turned her head to look at him and watched his anxious staring at the ceiling and the sad frown on his face.

She sighed at her own recklessness and reached towards him. "That's not what I meant. Come back here," she said, tugging at his arm.

She watched him grimace and then pull away from her, rolling out of the bed. Her heart began racing.

"Drakken. I didn't mean that like it sounded."

She sat up. He was frowning and gathering up his clothes.

"Come on, come back," she said, standing up and running to stand in front of him. She grabbed one of his hands which caused him to drop half of his clothes and she started tugging him toward the bed, giving him a sultry smile.

He blushed briefly, but then pulled his hand back.

"N-nice try," he said, averting his eyes. She moved to be in his line of sight again and snaked her arms up around his neck. He tried to pull away, but she kissed his shoulder gently. He tensed under her touch.

"I didn't mean that," she murmured in between kisses, lightly nibbling at his skin. "I didn't mean it. Come back to bed."

"...What did you mean?" he said after a moment.

She rose up on tiptoe to kiss under his jaw. "Nothing..." She thought quickly. "Just...every man is lucky to have found his woman."

She saw the small look of acknowledgment in his raised brow, and she started pulling him gently back again. This time he went with her, the rest of his clothes slipping from his hands to the floor.

She pushed him gently down with one hand on his chest until his head hit the pillow, and then she crawled over him with her knees on either side of his waist. She bent forward and kissed him long and slow, her hair cascading around them as she hummed in pleasure at the answering caress of his lips.

She leaned back with a smirk and then brought her hips down and with torturous slowness rolled them against his. The way his breath caught delighted her, and then she broke the sensuous touch. His eyes opened in annoyance.

"This is going to be one of those days, isn't it?" he asked.

"I hope so," she said, repeating the action of her hips. His breath caught again and he dug his fingers hard into her shoulders. When she pulled away that time he frowned at her.

"You're evil."

"You know it," she smirked.

He growled, and with one impressive move he had them flipped over. She laughed into his fierce kiss.

" I don't need to dream anymore... My dreams come true every time I look at you... You're more wonderful than anything in my imagination..."