When Drakken returned to the kitchen his mother was washing their drinking glasses.
"Mother," he chastised gently. "You...shouldn't be doing any work while you're here. You're a guest."
"Drew, if you've had a busy day you ought to just go to bed. I can manage for myself."
"You've had a long day too," he said as he sat back down. "I know what those flights are like."
He wolfed down his cold macaroni in just a few bites, and then looked at her barely-touched Shepherd's pie.
"Mother...are you sure you aren't going to eat this?"
"Oh, no sweetie. You go ahead."
He dug into her meal, less cold, and watched as she put away the three drinking glasses. He was glad he had finished his milk before she decided to start helping.
"Mother, please don't do any work. I have people I pay who can do the dishes."
His mother sat down. "Does Shego do your dishes for you?"
Drakken swallowed a large bite. "Eh...not really."
"Drew, don't you think it's odd that your assistant lives with you?" she asked, her brow furrowing in worry.
"The hen—interns live in apartments here, too. Downstairs. Shego lives upstairs...because, ah...she's my right-hand woman."
"That's a title most men would reserve for a wife," his mother said with a little frown.
His mirrored hers as he took another bite.
"She seems awfully familiar with you. Are you sure she's not a gold-digger?"
Drakken swallowed the food and smirked. He knew better than to comment on that. "Mother, when you first met Shego you liked her. You even suggested I should date her."
She leaned forward conspiratorially. "Son, I'm afraid she may not be as good as you are."
His brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"I mean...she might still be secretly doing villain things. Especially after that ride back from the airport. And I've looked her up since this summer. Did you know she's wanted in fifteen countries?"
"Mother...she and I were both pardoned after we saved the world."
"I remember dear, but...I just think you should watch your back around her."
He swallowed the last of the Shepherd's pie and carried the trays to the trash. He dropped the forks in the sink.
"G-give her a chance, Mother. I think you should get to know her better."
"If you say so, Son. I'll see you in the morning. Breakfast at seven?"
"Yes, Mother," he said, quickly washing the forks. He suddenly realized his head was still throbbing. He supposed it had gotten worse in the last five minutes, too.
What had happened during the hover car ride to cause his mother to think Shego was still a villain? And how on earth would she take it now, when they told her about the engagement the next day?
"Oh!" he looked up in a panic, realizing he hadn't said good night. But his mother was gone. He dropped the forks on a dish towel and ran back out of the kitchen and down the hall. He spotted his mother just as she was opening her door. "Good night, Mother!"
She looked at him with a small smile. "Good night, my Drewbie."
Drakken forced a smile and waved until she disappeared. He leaned heavily against the wall with a sigh.
'Arf!'
"Admiral Cuddles," Drakken said, looking down at the dog, who for once wasn't smiling. "Where have you been?" The dog whimpered once, and Drakken scooped it up. "I'm so sorry boy. I'll give you a treat with your dinner, all right?"
He headed into the kitchen where the food bowls were, and after setting the dog down he gave it a double portion of wet food. He refilled the water bowl too, finding it empty. Then he dropped a fake bacon strip atop the food.
He watched the dog's tail wag more fiercely in its joy, and he smiled before turning to go into the living room. He knew based on that day's events that the dog couldn't yet be trusted around a Christmas tree overnight. He picked up the crate that his mother had left by the door and headed back into the kitchen.
When he arrived, the dog had completely finished its meal and was chewing on the bacon strip.
"You were as hungry as I was."
'Arf!' the dog barked in reply, looking up with its tongue-hanging-sideways smile.
"You're such a good boy! Come on Cuddles, come into the crate for Daddy."
The dog whimpered and took a step back, its smile fading.
"I know you spent all day in here, but...but it's for the best, for now. I'll figure out something better tomorrow."
The dog reluctantly came back, and Drakken pushed it gently into the crate and set the latch.
After turning out the lights, Drakken headed down the hall to his room carrying the crate. The dog whimpered the whole while.
When he stepped inside, Shego had changed into her nightgown and was sitting atop the bed covers. Her other clothes were laying nearby on the bedspread, and it was apparent she had changed the bandage on her leg.
"Oh no. He'll just bark all night, like last time," she said as greeting.
Drakken bit his lip. "He wouldn't if we let him out."
Shego frowned. "I'm not sleeping with that thing up here. And besides, he can undo the latch. I watched him at the vet's. He'll need to be somewhere else."
"But Shego...what if he destroys something again?"
Shego paused in her repacking of the first aid kit and blinked. Then with a scowl, she sighed.
"I don't want it up here."
"I-I know," he said, setting the crate down. The dog began barking.
Drakken crossed the moat and headed to the bedside. "Can I hang your clothes in the wardrobe?"
"Sure. Remember my ring's still in the jacket pocket."
After gathering the items Drakken hung up the t-shirt and jeans, and then began going through the pockets of her leather jacket. He found a receipt and his credit card.
"Two hundred and twenty-one dollars!?" he cried.
"What's that?" Shego asked, snapping the latches closed on the first aid kit.
"This vet bill!"
"Oh, yeah. The X-ray was extra, and...I think it was technically an ER visit so there was a really high flat-rate."
Drakken grumbled as he smacked the card and receipt down on his dresser and continued going through the pockets of the jacket. After finding the ring, he slid it onto his pinky while he hung her jacket up over her t-shirt.
"You still look sexy in those clothes," Shego said. She lowered her voice. "And when you're mad...you look even sexier."
Drakken glanced at her with a slight roll of his eyes. "Please...don't tell me you want to have sex again?"
He ducked as a flaming green blast was suddenly tossed at his head. He stared in stunned terror as she frowned deeply and turned away, arms crossed.
"Unflattering much, Drakken."
With a gasp he ran toward her waving his hands in innocence. He sat down next to her on the bed. "No, no! That's not what I meant, I— I'm just...really tired, is all, but...but if you want to, we can— I mean, I'm always...I always want to, um...no, that's not... I don't always want to, but I—"
"Shut up."
Her frown diminished slightly as she glanced back and saw his panicked face.
"No, I don't want to. I was just...admiring you," she shrugged.
"O-oh..." He blushed.
"Ring?" she said, holding out her open hand.
He dropped the ring from his pinky into her palm, and she slid it back on her finger.
"I'm too tired anyway," she said, her frown fading. "And I don't want to tear those stitches."
He followed her gaze to the new bandage on her leg, where a tiny spot of blood showed through.
"Were they torn?"
"One was. I restitched it."
His eyes widened. He set the first aid kit down next to the bed, and then went to go change himself.
"So the ride back from the airport...?" he began cautiously.
"Was hell," Shego said, slowly scooting back until she leaned up against the headboard. "Detailed commentary about her flight for almost an hour."
"Anything else?"
"She talked about you and what a 'great hero' you are," she said with a smirk. She yawned and folded her hands in her lap as she pushed her toes underneath the blankets.
Drakken tossed his dirty clothes into the bathroom with the rest of the pile and shrugged into his pajamas.
"Nothing out of the ordinary?" he asked as he stepped back over the moat and climbed on top of the bed.
Shego's brow furrowed lightly. "What do you mean?"
Drakken hesitated. "You heard her whispering, didn't you? She told me again, just now... She said that after the ride, she thinks you're still evil. I don't think she's going to take our engagement very well."
Shego pursed her lips slightly, but her eyes were thoughtful. "I don't think I said anything... I did tell her that Cuddles was why I got stabbed with an icicle and sprained my wrist."
Drakken rubbed his chin a moment in thought, and then began pulling the blankets back on his side of the bed.
Shego yawned again and mirrored his action, albeit more awkwardly. "So you got this place cleaned up really fast."
"The henchmen actually helped...after I yelled at them."
Shego chuckled.
"It's no laughing matter," he said, shaking his head. "I've had a headache ever since."
"Aw," she said sympathetically and patted his head as he climbed under the blankets.
He scowled. "I'm serious. It really hurts."
She rolled her eyes. "Well, I've been nauseous almost all day. I thought it would go away after I ate, but it hasn't."
His expression softened.
Just then, a metal clank brought both of their eyes to the dog crate where Admiral Cuddles had just sprung the latch. Barking gleefully, the dog bounded out of the crate and leapt over the moat and started trying to hop up onto the bed.
"I told you he'd be trouble," Shego growled.
"Nyeh... Cuddles, no. Down!"
Drakken sat up and shook his finger at the dog, who only wagged its tail. But then suddenly...a flash of yellow surrounded Drakken's face as six massive flower petals emerged from places unseen to the casual observer and framed his face, as if his head were the center of a very large flower.
The dog yelped in fright and jumped back over the moat and ran back into its crate, whimpering.
Drakken grumbled as he heard laughter behind him.
"Someone forget to take their medicine this morning?"
"Nrrgh...and whose fault is that!?" he burst out, turning with a frown.
"Yours," Shego said, as she pulled open a small drawer in the headboard and took out a vial and syringe. "You want it now?"
"Nngh...yes," he said, pulling his shirt off and turning around.
The serum he'd invented only suppressed the plant mutation for a period of hours. If he didn't take injections on a regular schedule, it would emerge as it had at first with its own seeming consciousness or will...which, he had yet to fully discover. It was something he worked on regularly but had been ignoring for days in favor of the holiday.
"On the bright side, I think we've found a solution for keeping Shorty out of bed with us," Shego said.
Drakken looked at the frightened dog as Shego depressed the needle into his spinal cord. His anger faded.
"It's all right Cuddles... It's still your daddy."
"Do not say that where I can hear you again," Shego said as she put away the vial and syringe.
Drakken pulled his shirt back on. "I'm not...forgetting the injection every day just to keep him out of the bed."
"Nah, don't do that. But maybe you can invent a...petal-popping thing. A fake, to scare him."
"I don't want to scare him!" Drakken said, frowning again and ripping the petals out of his neck.
"He's not getting into this bed with us. If he gets in, I get out."
Drakken grumbled as he sank down beneath the blankets and turned off the light. He felt Shego slide down next to him, more slowly.
He closed his eyes and set his palm on his forehead.
"Your head hurts?" she asked. He recognized genuine care in her voice.
"Mm. I think I strained something when I yelled at the henchmen. They did almost nothing for two whole hours."
"Sounds like them... Which ones stayed again?"
"Brooks and Garth."
"Yeah...I have no idea who they are."
"Old guy, looks like he's in the wrong business. And the gentle giant with the deep voice who looks like an obese sasquatch."
"Oh, them..." Shego said thoughtfully. She snuggled up into his side.
"How's your wrist?"
"Getting better."
He sighed and brought his hand down from his forehead to find hers, and then rested their joined hands on his middle.
"I'm still nauseous though."
"If you puke, don't do it on me."
"It's not that bad."
He sighed again. "We didn't eat enough today. Not even Cuddles."
She rested her head on his shoulder. "Tomorrow will be a better day... We'll make it better."
Outside, a heavy rain began falling, but the sound barely reached their ears inside the thick rock walls. She tilted her head up and kissed his jaw. He turned and kissed her temple.
"Tomorrow will be better."