Chapter two

The kitchen was eerily silent after the three adults had told their stories. The only sound was that of Ron cutting thin slices of steak for sandwiches on the counter. Kim and Wesley sat at the table each looking into their coffee cups trying to process what had been said.

Wesley was floored. The Stoppables seemed like a tight knit family, but after hearing the story of what Kim and Ron had gone through during and after their high school graduation to protect one another, the circumstances around C.J.'s birth and how Rufus their beloved pet, friend and teammate had laid down his life to protect the newest addition to the family, the feeling of love in the house was almost tangible. Likewise, Kim was trying to wrap her mind around how Wesley had come to raise his niece.

Kim slowly raised her head to look at her guest and her mouth started working for a moment with no sound coming out as she struggled to find the words to say. "So… Let me get this straight. Shego just left Sarah outside the door of your apartment with a note, and you didn't even see her?"

"Yep." Wesley replied dejectedly. He then pulled out his wallet and opened it up to fish out a small piece of folded up paper about the size of a dollar. He handed it to Kim. She unfolded it and read the note.

Hey Wes, this is my kid, Sarah, do your big sister a favor and look after her for me.

-Shego.

P.S I just heard about Walter, sorry bro.

Kim just stared at the letter in shock. Her shock was soon replaced by anger at her old enemy that made what she had felt the night of her junior prom pale in comparison. However, instead of wanting to kick Shego into the electrical tower like she had done that night, now she felt an urge to run up the stairs and wrap her arms around the poor little girl that Shego had abandoned.

While Kim was lost in her thoughts, Ron chimed in still preparing lunch. "This was after the invasion right? So on top of this, your twin brother had just died?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yep." Wesley repeated himself in the same tone as he had before. "My family and I are tough, but we're not immortal." He replied still gazing at his drink.

"And the others?" Kim asked looking up from the note. "You said that Me-…sorry Michael is sending you money from Go city? And that Hego doesn't know about Sarah, right?"

In response, Wesley took a deep breath and let out a long sigh before replying, "You guys need to understand that in the months before the alien attack, my brothers and I realized what, I guess, Shego figured out a long time ago, that Hego has some serious issues. The invasion and Walter's death only made things worse, and Shego being pardoned after it was over, sent him off the deep end. Every time we talked to him after that, he would go on and on about how wrong it was for Shego to be walking free. He even made the crack when Osama bin Laden was killed, that the military wasted bullets on him and should have been hunting Shego! I honestly don't know what he would do if he knew that Shego has a daughter, and I don't intend to find out." Here he paused and took another deep breath before saying. "I've lost my big sister, my big brother, my twin and Michael doesn't really talk to me that much. Sarah's basically the only family I've got. I just want her to be safe and happy." At the end of his sentence, Wesley let out a slow overwhelmed and exhausted sigh.

Kim put the letter down on the table and slowly slid it back towards Wesley. "I… I'm so sorry Wesley. Is there anything we can do to help?" She asked as he put the note back in his wallet.

After placing his wallet back into his pocket, Wesley let out a sigh before replying, "Not really. Just let Sarah keep playing with C.J. if you don't mind. She hasn't made friends very easily. It's kind of strange. Even if other children try to be friendly, usually Sarah's powers scare them off, and you told me that C.J. said on the way home that he knows about them already. I would have thought that they would have freaked him out too, unless of course he has superpowers also." He finished his statement chuckling.

This caused Kim to glance down and nervously play with the end of her hair hanging over her shoulder, a habit she picked up from her husband. "Um… Yeah, about that…" The conversation was interrupted when they heard Ron stumble and mutter "What the heck!" Kim and Wesley looked quickly over towards the kitchen area where they saw Ron, standing next to the counter on one knee using one hand to support himself by holding on to the counter. The other hand was rubbing his forehead like he had a headache. Looking closer they also noticed the blue flame burning in his eyes. "Ron?" a slightly panicked Kim asked, "What's happening?"

Before Ron could answer, the ominous sound of screeching monkeys was heard coming from the second story. The three adults bolted out of the kitchen with Kim in the lead, Wesley behind her and Ron bring up the rear. After a quick stampede up the stairs and a sharp turn, the three of them came to an abrupt stop outside the open door to C J's room. What they saw left them with their eyes wide and mouths slightly open.

On the bed in front of them were C.J. and Sarah facing each other, sitting cross legged and close enough that their knees were touching. However it wasn't the position their children were in that had the adult's attention. The two best friends each had a hand clasped in between them with Sarah's hand lit with plasma. CJ's hand that was holding Sarah's appeared to have the veins lit with a soft pulsing blue light that was following his heartbeat. The parents watching also saw his eyes blazing with a similar blue fire, but the most noticeable thing about the entire situation, was the phantom like monkey tail that extended out from behind C.J. and was made of the same blue flame that danced in his eyes. What was even stranger was that the mysterious appendage had itself gently wrapped around Sarah's body.

Although stunned by what they were seeing Kim and Wesley started to notice a pattern. As Sarah's hand burned brighter the veins in CJ's hand pulsed brighter as well, then after a moment his eyes and tail would follow and after that the plasma on Sarah's hand would become more intense causing the cycle to start over. This was enough to make Kim and Wesley panic, in their experience large amounts of energy building up quickly was never a good sign. As the two of them were preparing to go in and separate their children, Ron put a hand on both of their shoulders from behind and said. "Wait…"

The other two adults turned and looked at him strangely before Kim asked. "Are you sure Ron? What's going on?"

Wesley nodded his head in agreement saying. "I agree with her on this Ron. Your son is sitting there with his hand covered in plasma and my niece has a ghost monkey's tail wrapped around her, and am I the only one that is hearing the screaming monkeys when there aren't even any in the room! I don't know what's going on but we need to end it before the kids get hurt!" Wesley finished, raising his voice to be hard over the unnerving noise.

Still holding on to the two of them, Ron slowly shook his head before replying in a calm voice. "I don't know what's happening either but whatever it is, I get the feeling that it's a good idea to let this play out." For some unknown reason Ron's statement actually caused the other two to remain still and watch.

Outside the Stoppable house, a figure watched with interest at the events unfolding inside CJ's room. Hiding behind a bush on the edge of the backyard, looking into the same window that the redheaded boy had certainly spotted him out of a few moments ago. "So… this is where it begins." The figure said to himself smiling.

Inside the room, oblivious that they had an audience the two children continued to exchange power. The flow of energy continued until the sound of monkey screeching was deafening and the lights coming from the phenomenon were so bright that the adults couldn't look directly at their children. Finally C.J. and Sarah decided to end their experiment. Looking to the door the kids noticed their parents standing there in shock.

"Mommy! Daddy! Guess what… me and Sarah are best friends!" C.J. told his parents excitedly.

Walking into the room a little, Kim shook her head to clear it then replied. "Wow… That's great but um… What was that just now?" She asked her son, a little flustered.

C.J. looked at his mother a little bit confused before he shrugged his shoulders and replied. "I don't know… maybe our powers are best friends to!" He said his voice rising with excitement at the end, clearly not seeing what the big deal was.

Hearing this, Ron looked at his family for a moment before shaking his head clear of confusion then asking. "Ok… how bad is it that, that actually made sense to me?"

At this his wife chuckled to herself and thought. "Full of childlike wonder." Turning to face him she asked. "I don't know… What do you make of this Ron, you're the monkey master right?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders and answered. "No clue. I think we should call Sensei."

Kim nodded at him in agreement before Wesley spoke up, standing next to the bed where he had been making sure that Sarah was all right. "Um, does anyone mind telling me what just happened?" He asked, raising his voice a little in shock.

Kim turned to him with a sheepish look on her face before replying "Well…Um you know how you made that joke about C.J. having superpowers? Well he-" Suddenly Sarah spoke up cutting her off.

"C.J. doesn't have superpowers, he has mystical monkey powers." The little girl said with a bit of attitude. Then looked at C.J. with a smile on her face, proud that she had remembered what he had said.

This caused Wesley to look at her with a raised eyebrow in disbelief, while Kim and Ron looked at their son questioningly. "You told her about the MMP C.J.?" Kim asked.

C.J. looked at his mother slightly confused before answering. "Yeah, she's my best friend." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yep, definitely calling Sensei." Ron said still standing by the door.

Looking back at their guest Kim asked. "Wesley, why don't we go back downstairs and I'll explain this… as much as I can anyway." Looking back at her husband she said. "Ron, you can go ahead and call Sensei while we're talking."

"You got it KP." Ron replied, he didn't know if it was a good idea to tell Wesley about the MMP but it was clear that his wife had gone into "mission mode" and he knew better than to argue.

"Ok you two, no more using your powers while playing in the house. Mystical or superpowers understood?" Kim said addressing the children.

"Yes ma'am…" Both the children replied, disappointment in their voices.

"Ok then." Kim said, satisfied that the children understood. She then turned around to speak to her husband and they started talking at the same time.

"On second thought, why don't we wait until after lunch to talk about this? I'm sure everyone's starting to get hungry." They said together. At this they both chuckled until Kim called "Jinx!" which was followed by Ron's usual response. "Aw… man!"

Watching this, Wesley just shook his head. He remembered when he and his twin did the same thing but this was the first time that he had seen two people that weren't related so in sync. Just as they were all about to exit the room Ron's cell phone went off in his pocket. This caused him to freeze in the hallway, standing completely straight with his eyes wide.

Solely turning to look at his wife he said. "I know Sensei can do some pretty weird stuff KP, but if that's him calling me right now I just might freak out a little bit."

Looking back at the stairs, Kim found Wesley hesitating on the top step while the children had raced down to the kitchen. Seeing this Kim smiled at him and said. "Go ahead Wesley, we'll right down." Nodding, Wesley continued down the stairs. Once he was gone Kim turned to see Ron answering his phone.

Still looking a bit nervous, Ron held the phone to his ear and said. "Hello?..." Then a look of relief crossed his face as he smiled and replied. "Oh hi mom… I'm doing good, how about you and dad?..." His face change again to a hesitant expression as he rubbed the back of his neck with the other hand before saying. "Well, I don't know if it's a good time right now… What? Thirty minutes? I don't know mom. We've kinda got stuff going on right now and….. No, no we love having her over bu-"

Kim winched at the sound of a "click" on the other end of the call. Then she watched as her husband let out a sigh, hung his head and put his phone back into his pocket. After a moment Kim asked. "Well?..."

Ron took a deep breath and let it out slowly then turned to Kim and said. "Hana is coming over in about half an hour."

Giving an irritated huff and rolling her eyes, Kim said. "Ron, I know your parents are getting older, but if this keeps up, Hana's going to think we're her parents."

Rubbing the back of his neck again Ron replied. "Sorry KP, my mom kind of hung up on me before I could say no."

Shaking her head with a tired smile, Kim remembered that although her mother in law worked at the bank she also had a part time job as a saleswoman. Which she's apparently very good at. Kim thought to herself as she turned to go down the stairs. Calling over her shoulder as she went down, she said to her husband. "We better get everyone fed before she gets here. Lord knows they'll need the energy."

Stepping down the stairs to follow her Ron said chuckling. "Yeah, you're right… Oh wait! KP?"

"Yes?" she asked looking over her shoulder, pausing on the middle step.

"The jinx?" Ron asked. "You never said what you wanted."

Kim responded in a playful voice with a smile. "No I didn't. I couldn't say it with the kids around." Saying this, she continued down the steps swaying her hips a little bit.

Ron stared at his wife for a moment, not moving. Then he shook his head clear and continued after her while thinking to himself. I wonder how C.J. Would do as a big brother?

For lunch everyone had a roast beef and pepper jack cheese sandwich, which was actually made of sliced steak. The meat was served on baked garlic bread with a side of fresh homemade Ranch mashed potatoes. For the sake of time with Hana arriving soon, the adults ate in the dining room to give them another chance to talk, while the kids ate at the small table in the kitchen.

Without their parents watching, C.J. and Sarah did what most four year olds would do when presented with the same meal, which was devour the entire sandwich without touching the mashed potatoes. Once they were finished, they were left with nothing but a plate of mashed potatoes and their utensils. Both children look down at the mashed potatoes, then glanced at the utensils they were holding and looked up at each other smiling. In silent agreement they loaded a small amount of mashed potatoes, pulled the silverware back to form a makeshift catapult and opened their mouths as wide as possible.

They both released their edible ammunition at the same time and each hit their target perfectly. After swallowing the two giggled at their success and tried again. When they achieved the same result they picked up the pace and soon, both plates were clear. Incredibly the two friends had managed to launch the entire serving of mashed potatoes, into each other's mouths without a single misfire. At the end of the battle not a single spud was left anywhere except where it was intended to be. And so the kitchen was left spotless so that C.J. and Sarah knew that they won't have to worry about getting in trouble.

In the dining room Kim and Ron sat side by side at a large round table, with Wesley sitting across from them. As they had finished their meal, Kim and Ron had explained to Wesley about the mystical monkey power, to the best of their ability.

"Oh… K, so when you guys were in high school Ron fought this guy that was obsessed with monkeys?" Wesley asked.

"Yes." Kim and Ron said together.

"And… you wound up with this, what did you call it? Mystical monkey power?" He continued.

"That's right." Ron replied.

"Then you used this power during the invasion, to kill the aliens and save Kim?" Wesley wondered in disbelief.

This caused Ron to look down at his empty plate in silence, while Kim took his hand then nodded at Wesley. Kim knew her husband didn't like to think about that day. The moment when he was forced into taking two lives, all be it to save her and the world, still haunted his dreams. Sensing that he had brought up a sensitive issue, Wesley stuttered for a moment trying to move the conversation along. "Oh, so… um C.J. has it to? The power I mean? And do you know how strong he is?"

Coming out of his brief depression, Ron answered. "Yes to the first question, the second one is kinda… complicated. You see, Sensei said that the warriors who had the power before Monkeyfist and I, were monks and they weren't allowed to have wives or children. So when Kim got pregnant, we were kind of in uncharted territory. We know he has the MMP but we have no idea how strong it is or how strong it will be."

"So… the two of you have no idea what just happened upstairs?" Wesley asked.

Kim shook her head and answered. "None what so ever. What about you Ron?" she asked, turning to her husband.

"Well…" Ron said, rubbing the back of his neck while thinking. "I don't know what's going on, but I got the feeling that it was a good thing. I think their powers are connected somehow, but I have no idea why."

"Does that mean your, your… th-that you are connected to Shego somehow?" Kim asked her husband in shock, an angry questioning look forming on her face.

Turning to his wife, Ron quickly backpedaled. Raising his hands in front of him, in a gesture of surrender Ron said, "No, no, no, no!... Let me rephrase. Um-that is, I mean to say, that, uh… I think Sarah and C.J. are connected. And-uh-and that I think that connection is manifesting itself through their powers?..." He finished his revision with a nervous smile and sweat running down his face.

"Oh, ok. For a second there I thought that I needed to worry about something." Kim said relaxing, accepting his explanation.

Letting his guard down, Ron muttered to himself. "Nothing besides plasma wielding grandchildren…"

"What was that, honey?" Kim asked, not catching what he had said.

Panicked, Ron quickly cleared his throat before saying. "Oh nothing KP. Nothing at all, whatsoever. Nope, nada, zilch, zero, nothi-"

At that moment the doorbell rang, much to Ron's relief. His wife got up to answer the door before Ron could continue rambling, leaving the two men alone for the moment. Ron turned back to his guest who was chuckling at the situation, having heard Ron nearly put his foot in his mouth.

"Well if that doesn't qualify as "saved by the bell" I don't know what does!" Wesley continued to laugh softly.

Ron groaned with his face in his hands, before replying. "You have no idea dude. C.J. is her baby boy, more so than usual. She still has nightmares about me dying because he wasn't born, leaving her completely alone." Ron then sat up to look at Wesley before letting out a sigh and continuing. "I wonder how many children wind up spending the night with their parents, 'cause there mommy had a bad dream? I'm definitely going to have my hands full when he starts to grow up. Kim won't admit it but she takes after her dad a lot. I'm afraid any girl that likes him is gonna be threatened with sixteen styles of Kong Fu." At the end of his sentence Ron was already rubbing his temples, dreading when that day would come.

Knowing that his friend probably needed a distraction from his current train of thought, Wesley asked. "So, any other surprises you want to warn me about?"

"Yeah, now that I think about it." Ron said, looking up and rubbing the back of his neck. "You know my baby sister that just got here?"

"Yes?..." Wesley asked with a raised eyebrow, becoming nervous.

"Well, she's kind of a… Super ninja..." Ron said hesitantly, still rubbing his neck.

Wesley groaned and slapped his palm on his forehead, before saying. "Ron, are you trying to tell me… that three super human children, are now in the same house together?"

TBC….

AN OK I am so sorry that this chapter took this long! To put things simply, Murphy's law has been beaten into my head over the past few weeks. I hope it was worth the wait! Please read and review.