Shego sighed.

It was already a few weeks ago that she'd said goodbye to Doctor D. Nearly a full month without being able to annoy him, or talk with him, or anything. He was on practical lockdown. They even denied the fact that he was there! If it hadn't been for assurances from Dr Director that it was normal policy, she'd've stormed the place to find him.

She had spent the time looking at colleges. She'd decided to go to Upperton College, mostly so she could bug her lil' princess. It certainly helped that they had a comprehensive psychology path that accepted her bachelor's as the prerequisite.

It wasn't like she had been on the beach, soaking in the sun.

...maybe she should do that. Relax a bit, catch some rays, drink some drinks, look at the eye can-..

No. No more eye candy. It was a bad habit now, looking at other men. As much as she'd enjoyed it before, she can't do it now, not in earnest. It wasn't like she even wanted to, especially since her doc had filled out with age.

It was just an old reflex.

She was looking into which resort to go to - Midas did have the golden touch, though he was probably booked solid for the next few days - when her phone rang.

"What do you want?" she answered without looking at who it was.

"Shego?"

"Oh. Hi Kimmie." Shego looked at her nails. "Didn't expect to hear from you."

"What? Why? Can't I call my favorite mother?"

"Kimmie!" Shego heard in the background on Cupcake's end.

"Sorry Mom!" The green woman could hear the cringe. "I'm just trying to-.. Ah…"

"Butter me up?" Princess was like an open book.

"...yeah," Kim said, sounding down.

Shego chuckled. "It's fine, Bubble-butt." Idly looking through the website for the luxury spa in Greece, she asked, "So then, what did you want?"

"I, uhm, was hoping…"

After a moment, Shego said, "Hoping…?"

"...maybe I shouldn't do this over the phone."

"Do what?" she asked her daughter, exasperated.

"Is it okay if I come over?" Kim asked.

"Eh. Why not? It's not like I'm doing much of anything." Shego paused, thinking. "...actually, Kimmie, would it be okay if we met up somewhere?"

"Sure…?" Kim trailed off. "Where did you wanna meet up?"

Shego smirked at her computer. "Well…"

"The beach?" Kim gave Shego a tilted eyebrow as she took in a large air conditioned building surrounded by smaller, open-air buildings of all kinds nestled on the side of a hill. The beach was, strangely, mostly empty save for scattered couples and singles hanging around. "Is this why you told me to bring a bikini?"

"A resort," Shego corrected, looking at the white sand with a quirk in her lips. "Namely, my favorite resort."

"I can't afford this!" the redhead complained.

"Relax. It'll be my treat. Think of it as…" Shego took a moment to think. "...mother-daughter bonding time."

"I can't stay for too long," Kim pointed out. "I have classes that I need to go to."

"On Monday," Shego noted. "That'll give you a full day, day and a half to stay with me." She elbowed her daughter. "C'mon. What could it hurt?"

"I…" Kim was clearly on the fence.

"At least let me treat you to a hot stone massage."

"...okay. I'll give it a shot."

Bingo.

Smirking, Shego led Kim to a changing room. After they changed to their swimsuits - Kim in a tasteful red bikini, Shego in her favorite green open-back swimsuit - she brought the redhead to her favorite masseuse's open-air building. The green woman saw the light of recognition in the redhead's eyes and resisted chuckling.

It didn't take long to find him. He was, per normal at this time of day, relaxing in his break chair, reading a fitness magazine.

"Yo, Midas, I have a special project for you," she said, waving at Kim as they walked up to him.

He shrugged apologetically, turning a page in his magazine. "I am sorry, Shego, but I am fully booked for-.."

"Rush job payment," she replied. That oughta get him.

"...I will give a truncated massage," Midas said as he set down the magazine and stretched his arms. He got up from his seat and motioned to the massage table. "I will give up part of my break for it. But no more."

"Perfect." Shego turned to her daughter. "Trust me, Princess, you're in for the massage of your life."

"It'll be the only massage of my life," Kim said.

"Even better!"

Midas smirked and smugly said, "I am afraid this will spoil any and every other massage you will ever receive."

The redhead tilted an eyebrow. "Uh-huh."

"Give him a go," Shego said, shoving her towards the table.

"Okay, okay." Kim hopped onto the table and laid down.

Midas cracked his fingers as he fetched a towel from a nearby pile. As he wrapped Kim's hair up, he murmured, "Now, relax… Let your mind wander, and your spirit fly…"

"I'm not sure I can-.." Kim cut herself off as Midas's fingers got to work on her back. As he started the massage, he fetched a few rocks and settled them on her back.

"Shhh. Just enjoy the feeling of your muscles relaxing and your mind easing," he said.

Watching Kim's face droop in pleasure nearly made Shego snicker. She remembered the first time she'd gotten a massage from Midas. It really did make all other massages pale in comparison.

Shego picked up Midas' magazine and began flipping through it, settling into her masseuse's seat.

She could survive the wait.

"Shego?" Kim was relaxing next to Shego on the beach laying on a lounge chair, a layer of suntan lotion on her skin.

"Yeah Kimmie?" Shego opened one eye and looked to her left. "What is it?"

"I, ah…" Kim was trying to not chicken out, but her question was suddenly overwhelmed by her curiosity. And anyway, shouldn't she ask when both of her biological parents were present? "I was just wondering… Are you sure you're going to give up villainy? Like…" Kim tucked a few stray hairs behind her head. "It was a big part of your life. And being a psychologist-.."

"Child psychologist," Shego corrected testily.

"Yeah… That…" Kim's cheeks reddened, but she kept going. "Being a child psychologist isn't that glamorous or money-making." She waved a hand at the beach and resort behind her. "You won't be able to afford to do this anymore."

Shego was silent for a few moments, clearly thinking. Then, hesitantly, she replied, "It'll be worth it."

"Worth it?" The redhead looked at her like she was crazy. What in the world made her think it would be worth it?

"While all of this is nice, being with you is better." Shego shrugged. "Yeah, being known as a great villain is glamorous and all, and I gotta admit, being wanted as a commodity like that is flattering, but it doesn't compare at all to being able to spend some time with my daughter."

"Shego…" Kim's eyes watered, just a little. Knowing she meant more to the former villain than her hedonistic lifestyle was touching.

"Besides, it isn't true that I won't be able to afford this!" Shego chuckled. "I'm plenty loaded as it is, and Drakken is making enough through the patents he's got to bring in quite the nest egg… Heck, the hover technology alone is gonna bring in a very nice sum…"

"Yeah, you'd think that some other villain or hero would've cornered the market by now…" Kim said, pondering.

"Eh. They're too busy with their head-to-head fighting to think of the little guys," the green woman said with a shrug. "They don't really think about how much their tech could change the world."

"Which is pretty sad," Kim said with a frown. "I mean, curing the common cold for one thing? That would've been amazing on its own."

"Yeah, and it was wasted on some bigwig scientists who didn't think about making any back-ups or anything for their machine," Shego said. "Of course, Doctor D's the same, what with all the tech he's gone through with no blueprints made. I'm not even sure he could remake the hypollinator mutagen! Hell, I'm surprised he managed to make what he did when we raided Gemini's base! Pretty sure he didn't keep any of the designs on hand..."

"Anyway…" Kim bit her lip. "It does mean a lot that you're giving up villainy for me."

Shego rolled her eyes. "It's not like I wanted to be involved in the conflict in the first place. Hego was all "Oh, we have powers now, we need to be heroes!"" the green woman said. Kim had to admit that it was a decent approximation of Hego's voice. "I was completely ready to give it all up the second I applied for college."

She eyed the redhead. "I don't particularly care for you participating in heroics myself…" She shrugged. "But you're old enough to take care of yourself. And…" Shego smiled. "...you've proven your fighting chops time and again." Settling down in her chair, she noted, "Just don't get yourself in over your head by tackling someone as crazy as Gemini, yeah?"

Kim chuckled.

"That actually was pretty nice," Kim admitted as she settled down in Shego's room.

She'd gotten a decent amount of sun, had gotten an amazing massage - someday, Kim would have to do it again - and spent some time with her mom just wandering around the complex looking at all the various attractions and amenities after they'd gotten dressed again. What could be nicer than that?

"Have you checked out the beds?" Shego asked from the bathroom. "You should check out the beds."

Kim hesitantly went over to the beds. They looked pretty normal… But Shego wouldn't have said something like that unless they were something special. So Kim jumped onto the one closest to the door of the luxurious suite. Kim's eyes opened in shock. The bed was soft and squishy, yet provided the support needed to make one comfortable. And the sheets… Soft as clouds! She wasn't sure what the mattress or the sheets were made from, but whatever it was was heaven.

"Oooohmygod I need to come here for my honeymoon," Kim murmured to herself.

"It is a pretty nice place. It'd also be perfect for a destination wedding..."

The redhead nearly jumped out of her skin. When in the world had Shego gotten there?

Kim laughed nervously. "Yeah, it is. Just, it's a long way in the future and I don't-.."

Shego rolled her eyes. "Please, Kimmie, stop playing dumb."

"What do you mean?" Kim now knew how Ron felt some of the time when he was backed into a corner.

"I know about you and the buffoon planning on getting hitched."

Kim's jaw dropped. "How did you-.."

"The ring." Shego pointed at Kim's hand. "I'm surprised that no one commented on it yet. Or connected the dots. Did no one think to warn you about trying to keep an obvious secret?"

Kim flushed a bright red. She did not think that part through at all...

"You'll probably wanna take it off when we go get the doc," Shego said with a cat-like grin. "Goodness knows he doesn't need a heart attack after staying in the hospital for as long as he has."

Kim chuckled out of nerves. "Yeah…" She cleared her throat. This was a lot more nerve-wracking than she'd thought… "What do you think about it?"

"About…?" A spark of realization hit. Teasingly, Shego asked, "Oh, you and Ronnie?"

"Yes." Kim resisted puffing out her cheeks in frustration, instead blowing some stray hairs out of her face.

"Well, I think you could do better," her mom said with a shrug. "But it's your choice. If you wanna get bogged down with Monkey Boy, that's up to you."

"Like how you got dragged down by Drakken?" Kim countered.

Shego's eyes narrowed for a moment before she gave a respect-filled smirk. "Exactly!"

"I was curious…" Kim had been wondering it way before the revelations of their sitch, but never had the opportunity to ask. "Why Drakken? Why Drew? What was there about them that got your attention like that?"

"Hm…" Shego walked around the bed and sat down at her own. "Well, I suppose it was mostly his personality…"

"Really?" Kim couldn't keep the incredulity out of her voice.

"Yeah, 'really'," Shego said with some hostility. "He was able to handle me at my worst. Didn't run for the hills like most sensible people would. His reactions when I push his buttons are hilarious. Sometimes he is actually pretty witty. And he can be surprisingly sweet sometimes, even through his ego. He's smart, smarter than I give him credit for sometimes. As for the rest of it…" she shrugged, "He was - and is - cute when you get past the initial stuff. He's kind of an ugly cute. You know, like a pug."

"Uh-huh."

"Most of him survived through what happened to him." Shego sighed. "Yeah, he's a lot more egotistical than he was. He's a bit crazier too. But he's still the same guy under it all…" Her face clouded for a moment before she shook herself loose. She flopped back on her bed and sighed, "I miss my dork…"

"He'll be back soon enough," Kim assured her.

"I just hope they're able to help him enough for that to be true…" Shego muttered.

The redhead sighed and sat up. "I'm sure of it. GJ can have its moments."

"Sometimes." The green woman frowned. "And sometimes they're like a dumpster fire."

Kim couldn't disagree with her, instead agreeing, "Yeah, sometimes they can really suck." Jumping up, she held out her hand and said, "But I bet they'll give their all for this…"

"Heh…" Shego took the offered hand and sat up. "I hope so. For Drew's sake…"

"Time for me to go." Kim sighed as she got up from the bed. They'd decided to take a nap, the beds too tempting to not take advantage of.

"Are you sure you can't stay?" Shego asked, hopping off the bed and stretching.

"Positive," Kim said reluctantly. The redhead was adamant that she had to be back to college that same day. She needed time to do homework, after all, as well as some activities that she wanted to squeeze in that night and the next day.

"Well, I guess I'll walk you to your car…" Shego shrugged, but Kim could tell that she was a little upset.

"We can do more some other time," Kim offered.

"That'd be nice." Shego smirked, her spirit raised. "I'll look forward to it."

The walk to the car was fully of inconsequential talk, mostly about fashion and celebrities. Shego was, apparently, surprised by how many Kim knew personally. That, in turn, surprised Kim. She'd thought it was public knowledge that she'd helped people like Britina and MC Honey?

Sadly, it wasn't long before they found themselves at the Sloth.

"So then…" It sucked that they had to say goodbye. It had been like hanging out when Shego had been reverse polarized: fun, relaxing, and overall nice. But all good things had to come to an end…

"Yeah…" Shego shrugged. "Time for you to go, Princess."

Kim nodded, unlocking her car. Then, on impulse, she gave her mother a hug. "I'm going to miss you," she said, meaning every word.

After a moment, Shego hugged her back. "Yeah, Pumpkin, I'll miss you too."

It took a minute for Kim to willingly let go of the hug. She hopped into her car, trying to think of the next time they'd get to see each other.

"See you later, Kimmie." Shego smirked as she waved behind her at the beach. "If you need me, you know where I'll be."

"Yeah…" Kim nodded. "I'll see you later." With that, Kim flew off in the Sloth.

A/N: Not everything needs to be dramatic. Sometimes a slice of life is a good break.