Kim sat, anticipation tensing her muscles. It was the holidays. It'd been long, grueling months of rehabilitating Drew and catching up on schoolwork. Everything had worked out! Kim was again on top of all her schoolwork. Drew was even well enough to go out in public! Which is what brought them here.
She was waiting in the living room for a knock on the door. Her parents and Nana were in the kitchen and dining room setting the table up with goodies. They'd pulled out the extra leaflets for the table. It would be a full room with Kim's entire family there. They would need the space.
Shego and Drew. They'd been through so much together as a family. It was about time things were back on a happy note.
The front door opened suddenly, catching Kim off-guard. She jumped up in surprise to find Ron was walking through the door with a plate of something in his hands. She instantly relaxed as he shut the door, Rufus waving at her from his shoulder.
"Heya KP!" Ron said happily.
"Hey Ron." Kim asked, "I thought you were going to spend the next couple of hours with your family?"
"It...kinda went sideways." Ron side-eyed the air as he vaguely said, "We kinda gave up when the menorah set the dinner table and the turkey on fire and Hana ran onto the roof in only her undies. Just didn't seem meant to be, y'know?"
"Right." Kim was secretly glad that he was there early. It meant she'd have some more back-up if things went pear-shaped. Curious about what looked like some kind of cookie on the plate, she queried, "What do you have?"
Proudly, Ron said, "It's some leftover haman-" He suddenly cut himself off. "Wait. Drew's coming, right?"
"Yes…?" Kim didn't know what that had to do with anything.
"Uhm, yeah. I think this was a bad idea." Ron turned his head to Rufus. "Buddy, we got an emergency situation! Eat everything ASAP before Drew sees it!"
"Uh-huh!" Ron and Rufus began shoveling the cookies into both their mouths. It wasn't long before all that was left were crumbs.
Kim just sat, watching. Ron was so weird sometimes. She didn't resist the smile at the thought. That was part of why she loved him, after all.
"Oh boy. I really need some milk." Ron smacked his lips together a few times.. "KP, do you mind if I go raid the fridge?"
"That's more a question for my mom and dad," Kim noted in a teasing tone. "Nana might want a word with you too."
"Nana's here already?!" Ron exclaimed. "Was I the last one here?"
"No...we're still waiting on Drew and Shego." Kim sighed and began rubbing her arm. "What if...what if they don't come? They were supposed to be here by now."
"Hey, KP." Ron walked over and hugged her. "It's fine. Better than fine! The fact that they even planned on coming means that there's some major progress."
"Right…" Kim sighed, leaning into his neck, then murmured , "I-"
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Kim felt herself freeze for a moment, her heart stopping. She tore herself from Ron's arms and ran to the door, throwing it open with a bright smile.
"Kimmie!" Shego immediately wrapped Kim in a hug. Kim couldn't help but marvel at Shego's well-matched green-and-black pantsuit and strange fuzzy purple coat. It looked like Shego was trying to make an impression. Kim hugged her back, glancing behind her to Drew.
Her biological father was standing there awkwardly holding a plate of something. His vines were braided over his shoulders, hovering just above the ground in sinewy waves holding what looked like several presents. The clothes he had on were a favor from Wade, a gift a few months previous. It was based somewhat on the Centurion Project. Clothes that rearranged itself around his spikes and his vines, not tearing at the sharp edges or unminded strength. It was a basic shirt and pants that just didn't match with his skin or, well, him. It was very unlike his style. There wasn't much choice, however, as the programming was almost as finicky as with her supersuit.
One thing did catch Kim's eye. She just kinda...stared at Drew. "Are those...corks?"
Drew flushed almost imperceptibly before hissing, "I told you it was too much!"
"Yeah, Pumpkin. Those are corks on his thorns." Shego rubbed her wrist as she said, "DNAmy said at the last session that they have slight bits of mutagen leaking out of them. We didn't think it'd be a good idea to leave them uncovered somewhere unfamiliar considering how clumsy your dork can be and how mischevious your brothers are."
"Huh." Kim was surprised as she realized that none of them had actually come into contact with his thorns like that even when Drew was at his wildest. That was strangely lucky. Deciding to say it out loud, she chuckled, "I guess we all lucked out then!"
"Yeah...none of us touched them…" Shego didn't sound convinced for some reason.
Kim shook it off and opened the door wide. "Come on in!"
Shego easily walked in, likely remembering the layout from her time as Miss Go. Drew trailed behind her before stopping stiffly in front of Ron.
"Buffoon," Drew gruffly said with a nod. He shoved a plate at Ron.
Ron started, "What is-"
"These are proper hamantaschen," the mutated man grumbled. "Mother made them even though she wasn't supposed to."
"Yes I did!" Kim jumped at the voice right behind her. She turned to find Mama Lipsky limping in on a walker. She looked somehow as cheery as ever even past her obvious physical issues. Sneakily she said, "Drewbie was so upset that I did something other than sit around. But I got so bored!"
"Hi Mama Lipsky…" Kim was not prepared for her grandmother to show up.
"She got the jump on us," Shego whispered to her as Mama made her way into the living room as if she lived there herself. "She was about ready to call in the cavalry if we didn't bring her."
"The cavalry?"
"Eddie," Shego said with a roll of her eyes. "Somehow Eddie became her go-to after the...incident."
"Ah." Kim bit her lip uncomfortably. The fact that Kim wasn't there to save Mama Lipsky still ate at her. If she'd been there…
Shego tussled Kim's hair. "Don't get lost in those thoughts. I can see it in your eyes!" Her biological mother locked her in a side hug. "Things worked out as well as they could. Just appreciate that things are looking up."
"Yeah…" Kim shook her head, trying to dislodge those thoughts. It was pointless to get stuck on it. It was better to just be in the here and now, where everyone was better.
"Now then…" Shego made a show of looking around the empty living room. "Where is everyone?"
"The tweebs are hanging out in their room, which the 'rents and Nana are setting things up," Kim answered.
"Not anymore!" two voices said from the top of the stairs.
Kim resisted a groan as her brothers descended from upstairs. They were probably lying in wait for her other family to show up. What they had planned was anyone's guess.
They immediately beelined for Drew and practically began crawling all over him. Tim said from over Drew's shoulder, "So, your spikes are all full of dangerous mutagens?"
Drew slumped down, eye twitching. "Yes."
"Does that mean we could harvest some mutagen from you?!" Jim eagerly asked. Kim blinked as she realized that he was holding a squirt bottle in his hands.
Shego warily eyed the two. "What would you even do with mutagen?"
"Fun stuff!" they said at the same time. Jim continued, "Just imagine loading a spray bottle up and squirting it on some flowers!"
"Mega-vines in our garden!"
"Super-grass!"
"Trees that fight back against pruning!"
"Boys…" Kim's dad walked in from the kitchen. "How many times do we have to say it? No mutating the lawn."
Tim started, "But-"
"No." James looked over at Kim's other parents and grandmother and chuckled. "One more guest than expected? That's fine. Nana always cooks too much ham and turkey anyway."
"I hope you have room for my cookies!" Mama Lipsky said a little forcefully. "They're the BEST cookies."
"I don't think they can beat my lemon bars," Nana said, walking in behind her dad.
Mama Lipsky's eyes narrowed. "Oh?"
Nana pridefully smirked. "Oh yes. Your son over there's had them." She mock called out, "Which do you think is better, Mr. Lipsky? My lemon bars or your mother's cookies?"
Drew sat, deer-in-headlights staring between the two women. While they weren't directly looking at him, both too focused on staring each other down, it would've been foolish to think they weren't watching him. His teeth clacked together nervously.
Sensing an impending minor meltdown, Kim burst out diplomatically, "I'm sure they're both great in their own ways."
Both of the older women's heads snapped to look at Kim. Rebellion was in their eyes. Kim was certain that if they could they would start brawling then and there.
"Whoa now! Nana Possible!" Shego suddenly walked across the room. "Kimmie's told me all about you. You're a master of...what was it? Pang Lang Quan kung-fu?"
Kim saw Drew breathe a sigh of relief as Nana answered, "Tang Lang Quan." Nana looked at Kim. "Kimberly, I can't believe you'd mix up the name of my favorite style!"
Kim flushed red. She was certain that Shego had said it wrong on purpose. Nevertheless, she rolled with it as best she could. "I know so many styles that I just mixed the names up!"
Nana tottered over to Kim. "And I see you're still wearing those revealing clothes! What happened to the sweater I knitted you last Christmas?"
"Oh! So you knit, too." Almost like magic Mama Lipsky pulled out a present from behind her back. "What a coincidence. I brought my granddaughter a knitted cardigan. Fresh from my knitting needles!"
"Hm." The women again sized each other up before both looking at Kim. Nana asked, "Whose sweater would you prefer to wear? Mine?"
"Or the one made by your real grandmother?" Mama Lipsky sniped, glaring at Nana.
Kim found herself feeling just as trapped as Drew did earlier. How was she going to get out of this?
"Now now. No need to be mean," her Possible father stepped in. "I'm sure Kimmie-cub would love to wear both your sweaters."
"Oh yes! I would!" Kim shot her dad a grateful glance. He winked back at her as the two older women grumbled but seemed to stop their hostilities. She zipped her way towards the stairs. "Let me go get my sweater from the closet so I can wear one now and put the other one on after presents are opened!"
She could hear her grandmothers starting up again just out of earshot. Once she was safely in her room she took a deep breath.
"Okay. So. Not going as smoothly as I'd hoped." Kim rubbed her head. "It's fine. It'll just be another...three hours?" She cringed to herself. "I hope it goes better with dinner."
With that hope in her head, she went to dig around in her closet for the hot, itchy sweater Nana knitted her. It would just be asking for trouble if she didn't come back down with it. Kim slipped it on and made her way back downstairs.
When she got to the living room, she blinked. Hard.
Drew had his arms and vines around his mother, holding her close to her walker, while James was doing his best to hold his own mother still. Ron was in the middle acting as a buffer while the tweebs cheered from the sidelines and Shego rubbed her head.
"The great-grandbabies will love me more!" Mama Lipsky shouted across the room at Nana. "They'll get adorable nicknames and matching clothes made just for them!"
"Over my dead body! Those sweet things will love their Nana more than an uptight crone like you!" Nana shouted back, fist raised over her father's shoulder.
Kim looked back and forth, then sighed. They would definitely be seated on opposite sides of the table. Hopefully this wouldn't end up like the time the tweebs built a semi-autonomous catapult and a semi-autonomous trebuchet and used the holiday dinner as ammo.
Still, it could be worse. Kim smiled as she took comfort in the fact that all of her family was there. That was the best thing about this holiday, even with her grandmothers fighting.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I ended up having dreadful writer's block over a 2/3rds written chapter. I ended up scrapping it all and starting fresh. I believe there will be two more chapters after this.