Shego sighed as she walked into her first class of the semester. Chemistry 105, the advanced basic course for fast tracking degrees that counted as two gen ed courses. It wasn't as intimidating as she'd expected. Getting her GED at 14 after getting 'special permissions' - pulling a few government strings and all that bureaucratic fun - and hooking herself up with college early was probably one of the smarter ideas she'd ever had. No reason to waste her time on high school when she could easily get out of it faster!
She looked around the room, scouting out potential lab partners that she could hook up with for an easier A. In the corner she spotted a dorky-looking older man, maybe mid-20s if she wasn't mistaken. Then again, there was something a little weird about him. He had an air of a younger, more wily man. So he might just look old for his age, just like she did.
Whatever. All that mattered was that he looked like he had half a clue about what he was doing.
"Heya," she said, hopping onto the bar stool next to him.
"Hmph!" He gave her an evil eye. "What makes you think you can sit there? Maybe I'm saving the seat for someone!"
Shego made a show of looking around. "Where is this nebulous 'someone'?"
The man cringed. "I said 'maybe'!"
Oh man. She could already tell this guy was gonna be a hoot.
Cutting to the chase, she said, "We're gonna be lab partners."
He did a double-take, like the idea was a foreign concept. "Us? Partners?"
"Yeah…?" What was so weird about that?
"You willingly want to be my partner?"
"Yes." Now she got it. Man, this guy must be a grade-A loser if he can't even get a lab partner in a college class…
"So, what do I call you? Miss Priss?" he asked, watching her warily.
Shego snorted. "My name's Shego."
"Shego? That's, erm, unusual…"
"So what?" She smacked his arm.
"Ouch!" He glared. "That certainly doesn't endear you to me, you know! I don't have to be your lab partner!"
"You'll give up the chance to have a hot woman like me as your lab partner for an entire semester?" Shego teased.
He flushed and sputtered for a minute, trying to form words and failing miserably.
Chuckling, she decided to let him off the hook… For now. "What's your name? Captain Loser?"
"Nnnnngh…" He grit his teeth, but ground out, "My name is Drew, thank you very much!"
Drew, huh? Well, there were worse names one could have.
"Nice to meet you, Drew…"
This semester was gonna be a lot of fun…
"And THAT," Drew dusted his hands off and flourished their project to the professor, "is how you can make gold from lead!"
Their professor coughed. "You do remember that the project was to titrate enough sodium hydroxide to neutralize the sodium nitrate, correct?"
Shego rolled her eyes. Once again, Drew got caught up in his experimenting to remember the basics of their class. "Consider this another extra-credit project, prof. The actual project is over here…" She waved her hand vaguely at the basic, rather warm beaker that was seated next to her.
Testing it with a pH strip, the professor nodded. "Good, good, glad you got it…" He eyed Drew's massive project and sighed. "I'll double-check your results, but if you managed it I'm willing to give some extra credit for the work… Again…"
Shego smirked. Thanks to the wildly creative coursework her partner kept coming up with, her grade in the class was a whopping 115%. Not too bad of a semester if she said so herself.
This was their last project. They'd spent the semester working together, her mostly being the assistant that was snarking at him and keeping him on track while he did most of the work. It was a strange dynamic, one that she was going to be sad to see go.
...she didn't have to see it go… She was certain that he got up to the same craziness outside of the lab… And it wasn't like she'd built many friendships while there. The second she mentioned her age, most people dropped her like a hot brick. Her odd complexion didn't really help either.
But this guy, he got her. Their back-and-forth was some of the most fun she'd had in years, not since before her parents died.
No, she was not about to give this up.
"Hey, Drew?"
"Hm?" He looked up from his notebook where he was scribbling in his chicken scratch writing whatever it was that he was planning next. "Yes, Shego? What is it?"
"Did you want to…" she almost cringed at the fact that she was actually asking him this.
"To…?" The confusion was plastered on his face.
"...hang out? After class?"
He stared.
"Like, get pizza and shoot the breeze?" Rushing, she corrected, "Not a date, though."
Suddenly he let out a breath. "Oh, thank goodness! For a second you had me scared!" Drew laughed nervously and squirmed. "Okay, erm, I guess." He hastily noted, "But you're paying!"
"...so the derivative of a square root of x…"
Drew was trying to explain the math problems that he was working through again. Shego didn't understand any of it. Related rates, derivatives, differentiation… All Greek to her!
Maybe he really was some kind of genius. Math and chemistry one, maybe. His English sucked, though, which was how they ended up with their weird study buddy system. She helped with his English class, he helped with her math.
"Okay, Drew, I'm not getting it." She shot a breath out, blowing a piece of hair out of her face.
"What's not to get?" he asked like it was obvious. "All you have to do is take the inverse of x-.."
"I. Don't. Get. It," Shego growled.
Drew cringed away. "Okay, okay! I get it! Breaktime!"
"It's a damn good thing I don't need to take more than this class for my degree…" Shego grumbled.
"Oh?" Drew eyed her. "Y'know, I never caught what you're studying…"
"Child psychology," she said automatically. "I wanna be a child psychologist."
"Huh." Her study partner nodded. He answered the unasked question, "I'm planning on getting a PhD in mechanical engineering."
"Naturally," Shego snarked. Drew sputtered a little, but said nothing, instead taking a nibble of the ramen that he'd made.
They were currently studying in his crappy one-person studio apartment. It was barely the size of the closet she had at Go tower, with the bathroom communal and the bed taking up a good third of the room. He'd set up a plug-in hot plate in one corner where he cooked his ramen and macaroni, and had arranged another corner to be Shego's own personal hang-out space.
Idly, Shego thought back on the last year. They'd hung out a lot. It had been probably the best year of her life, really. Drew was her best friend. No matter how snarky or severe she got, he hung around, sometimes even giving as good as he got. Even better, it wasn't purely from desperation from him. She knew if he'd wanted he'd just kick her out of his life.
She wondered…
"Hey, Drew?" She scooted over to him until they were knocking knees.
He looked up, slightly startled. "What is it She-.. Mmph?" His question was hushed by her lips on his, and her hand grabbing the one he'd been holding his pencil in. It took a moment, but eventually he kissed her back.
It felt like minutes, but it was a few seconds later when they broke the liplock. As far as first kisses went, Shego was pretty sure it wasn't half-bad.
"Sh-.. Shego…" Drew turned beet red. "I, erm, uhm… I just, ahm…"
"Aww, what's wrong?" She gave what she knew was a cat-like grin. "Cat got your tongue?"
That got him to stop sputtering. "Shego! I can't believe you just-.. What are you thinking, doing that to me…!"
"Did you not like it?" Shego tried to keep it cool, but she couldn't hide the hurt in the words.
"It's… It's not that… Just…" He began playing with his hands, a hard feat that he somehow managed even with her holding one of his hands. "I mean, are you sure about…?"
She thought for a second, understanding just what he meant. "...yeah, Doc, I'm sure." She went in for another kiss.
This one actually did last for a few minutes.
It was Shego's birthday today. Turning 15 wasn't that big of a deal, not to her at least. Hego had wanted to come to the Lowerton campus to celebrate, but Shego had countered that they couldn't leave Go City unprotected for that long. So, instead, her brothers had sent her flowers. Not too bad of a present, and not too bad of a cover.
Drew knew it was her birthday, but not how old she actually was. He could be pretty smart when he put his mind to it, and she'd apparently left enough clues for even him to pick up on it. He'd insinuated that he was going to get her a present that he was pretty sure she'd like, but what it was she couldn't guess.
Today, they were hanging out in her own apartment. Hers was a good deal bigger than his, with separate rooms and enough room for a small couch and kitchenette. He'd grumbled about how her financial aid must be through the roof but didn't say much beyond that.
He was late in showing up, but when he presented her with a poorly-wrapped present, she found she couldn't be too angry with him.
"What'd you manage to spring for? A roll of toilet paper?" she teased, looking the present over. It was a cardboard box that rattled when she shook it. The sound of liquid splashing made her pause. Did he get her soda or something?
"Go ahead and open it!" he said, practically bouncing on the spot. She shrugged and tore the paper off.
"Surprise!" Drew looked so excited. She, on the other hand, wasn't sure how to react.
Beer. He'd gotten her beer.
"Shego?" He paused, twiddling his fingers. "Just… You've mentioned before that you like drinking beer every now and then…" A filthy lie that she'd casually told. "...and this one's one of the more expensive brands… Did I… Nnnngh…"
He was clearly mentally kicking himself for not asking first. Chuckling, Shego shook her head. At least he'd put some thought into it. "It's fine, Drew. I'm just… Surprised, is all. I mentioned it, what, once?"
"Twice," Drew said proudly.
"Yeah. So the fact that you remembered…" It meant a lot. Not that she was actually going to say that.
"So…?" He stared. "Are you, erm, gonna try it?"
She paused before boldly opening the box, taking a can, opening it, and taking a swig.
The dark beer's strong bitter flavor nearly overwhelmed her taste buds. The feel in her mouth was so heavy that it made her almost want to chew. It felt almost… Like milk? She struggled to swallow it, but once she did it didn't seem as bad as she'd initially thought it was.
"Well?" Drew eagerly waited for her assessment.
"It's…" She searched for the right word. "...acceptable." The beaming smile she got in return made drinking the rest of the can worth it.
He took his own can and made a toast. "Happy… Erm…" Drew looked at her. "How old are you?"
"I'm…" She paused. "...I'm 18."
"18?" He gave her the side-eye. "Are you pulling my leg?"
"No." Lie, lie, lie some more. "I'm 18, as of today."
"...so I've been dating an underage girl?!" He began to hyperventilate.
Great.
"Haha!" Drew smirked his normal victorious smirk as he finished off some kind of equation in his notebook. "Got it!" He beamed at Shego. "Finally done!"
"Good job, Doc," Shego said. And she meant it. He'd been working on that particular problem for hours with a focus that she envied. How he was able to just incessantly work like that she didn't have a clue.
"So, Shego…" he closed his notebook, now done with his work for the day. "What did you want to do today?"
She sat, pondering. "I think that-.."
"Drewbie~" A series of loud, incessant knocks interrupted her thoughts.
Drew gasped, checking the date on the calendar he had hanging on the wall above his hot plate. "Oh no!" He grabbed Shego by the arm. "I'm so sorry! I forgot the day…!"
Shego protested, "What's going on?"
"I'm sorry, but you need to hide!" he hissed quietly, trying to shove her under his bed.
"DREWBIE!" The knocks grew louder, even more insistent than before.
"Who is-.."
"My mother," Drew said with the dread of a thousand men.
Shego remembered him mentioning her before. Overbearing tyrant that could barely handle him being a mere thirty minutes walk away and living on-campus. As offended as she was at being shoved under his bed, she was also glad that he wasn't up to parading her around his mother.
"Okay, fine, I'll take the hit this time," Shego grumbled as she rolled underneath his crappy mattress, making sure to note that he owed her BIG TIME for this.
"DREWBIE!" The noise was almost overpowering now.
"Coming, Mother!" He was partially hunched over - so not like how Shego was used to seeing him - as he opened the door. "Hello, Mother! Fancy seeing you here."
Shego peered out from under the bed. In front of Drew was a short, sagging older woman, bright red hair done up in a beehive, with a flower patterned dress on. It screamed 'I have not updated my wardrobe since the 50s', and it didn't seem like the woman was at all interested in updating her look either.
It was obvious that they were related. The rounded chin, short and stubby nose, and ears that stuck out a mile wide were clear indicators of their relation.
"Drewbie!" She adjusted her hair and scowled at him. "I can't believe you! Leaving your poor mother out there in the hallway!"
"I'm sorry, Mother," he said, cringing. "I was just, ah, cleaning up." Drew straightened for a moment, like he'd had a brilliant idea, and continued, "Yes! I was cleaning up! You deserve something better than my dirty old apartment."
"You deserve better than this too, Drew!" Shego couldn't really disagree with her on that point. "Why you need to live on campus I have no idea-.."
"Because I don't have a car, Mother," Drew sing-songed with tightly clenched smiling teeth. "I wouldn't be able to make it to my classes otherwise."
"Why do you have to go to school so far away!?"
"Mother, this is the closest college to the house," Shego's boyfriend said, not quite able to leave the deadpan out of his voice.
"Drewbie! How could you talk to your mother like that?!" His mother put her hands on her hips and glared at him.
Again, he cringed away. "I'm sorry, Mother!"
"As you should be!"
The entire visit ended up like that. Drew's mother harangued him on everything: the campus, his social life, his lack of grandbabies, his major… Everything she could criticize, she did.
Finally, eventually, she winded down. Apparently out of things to hassle him about, she gave him a big kiss on the cheek.
"Happy birthday, Drewbie!" she finally said, giving Drew an almost literally back-breaking hug. Shego could hear his vertebrae groan in protest.
Ah. That's the day he forgot about. Suddenly Shego felt like kicking herself. How had she not realized it was his birthday?
"Mama just wanted to drop by and make sure that you weren't forgetting about her…" His mother sounded genuinely sad.
"I don't forget about you, Mother," Drew said defensively. "I just… I've been busy!"
"That's no excuse to not visit your poor old mother!" she protested. "Maybe next time you'll visit sooner than a whole week! A WHOLE WEEK, Drewbie!"
"Again, Mother, I've been busy!"
"Just don't get too busy for any romance!" his mother tsked, beginning to make for the door. "I'm not getting any younger; I want to see a grandbaby before I die!"
Shego could see Drew roll his eyes, but he managed to keep the exasperation out of his voice as he said, "Yes, Mother, I'm certainly keeping my eye out for anyone who would be willing to do that with me."
"Good!" With one last bone-breaking hug, Drew waved his mother out the door.
It was another minute of Drew leaning against the door, listening closely, before he gave a sigh of relief.
"Okay, she's gone." He collapsed against the door, his face a deep red. "I'm so sorry you had to see that! Hear that! I, nnnnngh…" Drew hid his face in his hands.
Shego rolled out from under the bed and eyed her boyfriend. She'd been considering punishing him for forcing her to hide… But it looked like he'd been tortured enough.
"Drew?"
He didn't respond.
"Drew."
"...yes, Shego?" he finally said, self-directed reproach in his voice.
"...that woman is not good for you."
"So…" Shego loosely laughed. "...you're tellin' me tha' they laughed ya outta th' college?"
"You don't have to say it like that!" Drew complained, taking a swig of some of the swill he'd gotten his hands on. "It was more of a forced retreat!"
"HAHA!"
"Shego… Nnnngh…" He wiped a hand across his face and under his glasses.
They were relaxing in her apartment that day. It was the weekend. Shego had given Drew a little bit of money to get them some decent booze so they could have a bit of fun. The buzzy feeling in Shego's head certainly felt fun.
"I'm jus' jokin', Drewbie." She lazily threw an arm around him. "Jus' messin' with ya."
"Not funny," he grumbled, taking another sip of his beer. Compared to her, he was a lightweight, which was why he was still nursing his second while she was already on her fifth.
"Even with how much of a fuddy-duddy he was, at least James was a half-way decent person…"
She looked at Drew out of the corner of her eye. Man, was he adorable when he pouted. It made her want to touch him.
Shego found herself climbing on her boyfriend and trailing kisses across his neck.
"Shego?" he squawked, clearly surprised at how forward she was being.
"I wanna be touchin' you, Drew," she said, reaching her hands under his shirt and feeling his wiry frame. This was about as far as they'd gotten in the last year; Shego was too nervous and Drew was probably too afraid to make a move. But, she was finding now that she was decidedly less nervous about it...
Drew eyed her critically. "...I think you've had too much to drink."
She eyed him back. "Wha?"
He pulled her hands from under his shirt and held them firmly. Drew repeated, "I think you've had too much to drink, Shego."
"I dun think I 'ave," she murmured, trying to wrestle him into a kiss.
He dodged out of the way. "Now I know you've had too much."
"I wan' kissy face," Shego said, wiggling around on his lap.
"No." He was strangely firm.
"I wan' kissy face." She grabbed him by his shirt lapel and forced him closer.
"Shego, I said n-.."
"I wan' KISSY FACE!" Her hand that wasn't holding Drew lit up, plasma shifting black and green. She held it threateningly at him, daring him to try and deny her.
Shego hadn't seen sheer mortal terror until that moment. It wasn't something she would've normally minded, if it hadn't been on her boyfriend. And, considering he was a pure regular Joe, she was certain that she really could hurt him that badly.
She swiftly jumped backwards and extinguished her flame. Even drunk she controlled her body perfectly.
"...yer right. I've 'ad too much." Shego waved at him. "I'm gonna go ta bed. G'night, Drew."
To her surprise, he was still there on her couch in the morning, sleeping away. She'd half-expected him to vanish and never speak to her again, considering what she'd done.
She vowed not to drink around Drew ever again.
Shego thought.
She'd been thinking a lot since that night.
Drew had been avoiding the topic of it like the plague, acting like it didn't happen. Shego was okay with that. She didn't want it to have happened either.
But… At the same time, it was making her think. Where was their relationship going? She couldn't deny that she'd been eyeing some of the eye candy on campus… But she wouldn't mess around on Drew. He would've deserved a clean break at least. Not that she would even want a relationship with any of those bozos beyond something casual.
Why was she so nervous about starting the next stage of their relationship? Why was she being such a… A… Teenager about it? It was just physical intimacy! It wasn't like it was something special, no matter the grandstanding about 'virginity' that everyone touted for women. This was the modern era, for crying out loud! And he was her best friend! Even moreso!
That was why she practically tackled him onto her couch a week later and let him have it.
She was relentless in her assault. She trailed kisses all over his shoulders - forcing his shirt off, not that he really resisted - and down his body. Eventually, they found themselves clad in only their underwear.
"Bedroom?" Shego asked, breathless.
"Bedroom," Drew said in a strange rumble she'd never heard from him before. But before they could leave, he stopped her. "Erm… Wait..." He pulled his wallet out of his pants and fumbled around in it. After a moment, he pulled out-..
"A condom?" She tilted an eyebrow at him. "You were pretty sure about this, huh?"
Sputtering, he laughed and said, "I, erm, uhm, better safe than sorry?"
She smirked.
Her birthday came and went rather fast. This time, she'd gone back to Go City to celebrate. She'd debated bringing Drew for something like a half-second before she laughed that idea out of her head. There would've been no way she could've kept her actual age away from him if she'd done that. So she celebrated it, alone, with family.
Now she was on the pill and they used condoms. Drew's mother was strangely pleased with the notion that her Drewbie was at least getting some action. Shego couldn't get them herself - Hego would've had to go with, then he'd ask why, then he'd've freaked out - so they depended on his mother to help out.
If there was one thing she had to give Drew credit for, it was his creativity. Not only with his various inventions and creations, but under the sheets as well. Half of the things they did were from his brilliant mind, and she couldn't help but enjoy it all very, very much.
Until she got sick.
Every morning, for hours on end, she found herself in the bathroom throwing up her breakfast and dry heaving. It was getting hard for her to get to her classes, which sucked as she was so, so close to getting her bachelor's. Drew was, of course, concerned. Eventually he went to his mother to get some kind of folk remedy for the flu.
He came back steaming. The angriest she'd ever seen him, and she'd seen him after an English test where he got every question wrong. He paced back and forth, hands behind his back, unable to say any words while his face flushed a hot pink.
"She sabotaged us," he choked out when he finally managed to say something beyond his angry grunts and growls.
"Sabotaged?" Shego stared at him, curious as to what in the world who could sabotage what with them.
"Our birth control…!" he rasped, running a hand through his hair. "Your pills, my condoms…! I'm never letting that woman near either of us again!"
Shego had a sinking feeling in her gut. It was nearly impossible for it to have happened, really… But since when was she a stranger to impossible? She'd survived getting crushed by a giant comet and came out of it superhuman. What was another impossible feat?
"Doc, don't panic," Shego said. "We don't know for sure-.."
"We will," he growled, pulling out several pregnancy tests from his overnight bag. "A 'gift' from my mother," Drew snarled. "I trust she wouldn't tamper with these. Still in the box, and a false positive wouldn't do her any good."
"Okay…" she sighed, thinking of all the ways they could fix this if it was a thing. Adoption, abortion… Shego took the tests to the bathroom.
Ten minutes later and she was breathless.
Positive. They were all positive. Not a single negative one, or faulty one. They were all very, very clear.
She was pregnant.
Drew groaned, lowering himself to the floor along the wall. "Great. Just great!" He growled and hit the wall. "How are we going to deal with this?!"
"We keep it." The words left her mouth almost as soon as she thought them. He looked at her like she was crazy. Which she probably was. Hadn't she just been thinking about the various ways they could fix this?
But it being reality was far, far different than the idea of a baby.
A baby. She was pregnant, a far shot from what the doctors had said, with a man who she'd been dating for over a year. It wasn't unusual, and it wasn't bad.
They could survive this.
"Shego…" Drew looked at her, face crinkled. "This could ruin your life…!"
"No it won't," Shego said, mind racing now. "I'm almost finished with my bachelor's. Just one more month, and I've got it. You, you're close to finishing your degree, right?"
"If I can just pass the next English course, I'll be set," he grumbled, his mind momentarily taken off of the problem.
"See? We'll be fine! Although…" She sighed as she settled down next to him. As modern as she was, there was one thing she'd secretly wanted before she'd ever consider having a child.
"What?" Drew asked. "What's wrong?"
"Well…" Shego cringed. "...I'd been hoping to be, well, married before I had a kid."
"...let's do it."
"Hm?" Shego looked at him.
"Let's get married!" He looked back at her. "We're both the age of consent, right? We can do it!" He took her hands in his. "Shego, would you marry me?"
Her mind raced. This was a lot. Too much. There was too much going on at the moment.
"I need a few minutes to process this, Drew," she said, thinking as fast as she could. Drew swallowed, clearly feeling in limbo, but he reluctantly nodded.
Hego would definitely show up for her graduation. Could she hide this from him? Would she be showing by then? She was 16, the age of consent in that state… But at the same time, she'd been hoping for a super fancy wedding. There was no way they'd be able to afford anything beyond a formal courthouse licensure. Did she really want to do this?
...why the hell not? Divorce was a thing if everything went south. And they could have a recommitment ceremony when they got more settled.
"Sure, Doc. Let's get hitched."
"What." It was a statement, not a question.
"I flunked. Again." Drew wiped his eyes.
Shego couldn't believe it! After all that work… The studying, the sleepless nights, the quizzing… And he still couldn't pass a basic gen ed course. What kind of idiot was he?
"It's okay! We'll figure this out…" Drew began to pace. "I'll just need to… To… Find a job!" He brightened. "Yes! I'll find a job!"
"Without a degree?" Shego asked, rubbing at her back. If there was one thing she hadn't been prepared for with the pregnancy, it was the back pain.
They'd already agreed that Shego should wait until after the pregnancy to work. But, now that that boat was sunk, it looked like they'd have to scrap that plan...
"Just having college credit can get you pretty far," he assured her. "I just need to find the right pla-.."
He was interrupted by a knock at his door.
"Who in the world could that be this late?" Shego asked, looking outside at the night sky.
"Whoever it is will just have to leave!" Drew grumbled, walking over to the door. He opened it and began growling, "Get lo-.." before he was cut off by the person shoving their way into his room and shutting the door.
The woman was wearing a dark blue outfit with a belt and a holster of some kind on her chest. Her hair was swept back into a high ponytail, her dark eyes piercing as sharp as spears. A strange-looking watch sat on her wrist...
"Hello. My name is Miss Director. I'm here to offer you a deal…"
"I don't care! Buzz off!" Drew said, trying to open the door to his apartment. To both Shego and Drew's surprise, Miss Director easily held the door shut.
"I assure you, you'll want to hear me out." The woman paused, then asked, "How far along are you?"
Drew and Shego's jaws both dropped. Recovering first, Shego said, "Yeah-.. No, not playing this game." She eyed the woman critically. "You're from one of those hoaky secret society things, aren't you?"
"No stranger to them?" Miss Director asked, not denying it in the least.
"I used to do hero work," Shego replied. "I know about quite a few of them…"
"You haven't heard of us," the woman assured them. "I'm a representative from GJ."
"GJ?" Shego certainly had not heard of them. Then again, Go City was strangely isolated. For all of Shego's bluff, she knew she was really out of her depth.
"Global Justice. I would offer a card, but…" She chuckled at her apparent joke.
Shego growled. "What do you want?"
"We want to offer you a job."
"Sorry lady, but I'm gonna be a child psychologist." Shego crossed her arms. "I don't plan on doing any hero work anytime soon."
"Not you, Mrs Lipsky." She turned to Drew. "We want you, Mr Lipsky."
It was so weird being called Mrs Lipsky… But they had tied the knot, which made it official…
"Me?" Drew blinked several times. "Why me?"
"Despite your problems with the English language, your skills are too valuable to ignore." Miss Director looked about the room, amusement in her gaze. "We're offering a competitive salary, full benefits, and insurance, which includes prenatal and postnatal care, as if you had graduated." She smirked, clearly having done her homework.
"Hm… I, nnnngh…" Drew looked helplessly at his partner. It was clear he was going to take her lead on this.
As much as Shego hated it, it sounded like a good opportunity.
"This isn't all some kind of hokey fake bullshit, is it?" Shego asked.
"Would you believe me if I said no?"
Damn. She had her there. "No, I wouldn't."
"You'll just have to trust me on this," Miss Director said.
"Doc?" They shared a look, Shego nodding almost imperceptibly.
Drew then turned to Miss Director and nodded. "Fine. I'll become part of your secret society whatchamacallit."
Miss Director smiled. "You won't regret this…"
Shego woke up, exhausted. The day before had been awful. She would never want to go through that again. 8 hours of agony. Pure, unadulterated agony.
But it was over. Drew was sitting next to her bed, a small crib nestled between his chair and Shego's bed.
And in his arms…
Shego risked venturing forth from the bed, ignoring the sharp and throbbing pain down below so she could take a look at their little bundle.
Drew looked up at her, face alight.
"What do you think?" he said in a rush. "I mean, isn't she amazing?"
She looked at the sleeping baby in Drew's arms.
To Shego's relief, it seemed that the Lipsky family traits were mostly recessive. Besides the rounded face and the forehead, their baby looked a lot more like Shego's family than Drew's. Her nose and ears was all Shego's, and on the top of her head was a tuft of dark red hair.
Shego smirked. "Yeah, Doc, she is pretty amazing…"
"Hehehe!" Drew giggled as he held the baby, which seemed to wake her up. She screamed her little lungs out, large eyes searching and arms reaching out desperately. His face fell. "Oh. Erm…" He shrugged helplessly and asked, "What do I do now?!"
Shego looked at the bundle. Deep green eyes… Shego was certain that it would lighten with time, but for now she found them absolutely mesmerizing.
"Here…" Shego wasn't sure if it was instinct or remembering instructions from the nurses, but the green woman knew what to do. She took their baby and held her close to her breast. Automatically, the baby began suckling.
It was a strange, almost painful sensation, different than when Drew would do it.
"Oh. She's hungry." Drew nodded. "Glad you knew what to do!"
Shego shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a natural." She settled back onto her bed with their bundle, cradling their child with a softness that Shego wasn't used to giving. For her baby, though? She would've done whatever she needed.
To Shego's amusement, she noted that what her mom used to say about mothers always loving their babies even when they were screaming angry messes might've actually been true.
"So, uhm…" Drew looked between their baby and Shego. "...what did you want to name her?"
"Hm?" Shego looked at her husband.
He repeated, "What did we want to name her? Any ideas?"
"Hm…" Shego looked down at their baby. They hadn't really thought to talk about names. They kept putting it off. She had assumed he had a name he was too nervous to say, but now it seemed that he really didn't have an idea.
"...Kimberly." Shego looked at Drew. "Kimberly Go Lipsky."
"Kimberly?" Drew tilted his eyebrow at her. "I'll bite. Why Kimberly?"
"Because…" The green woman stroked their baby's back. "...that was my mother's name."
"Ah." Her husband shrugged. "That's fine with me! I certainly don't have anyone that I want to name her after…"
"So we've got it." Shego kissed the baby's head. "Hello, Kimberly Go Lipsky…"
"I've got to work late tonight."
Shego sighed mid-diaper change and looked at Drew. "Really? Again?"
Drew shrugged helplessly.
"You know we could just live off of my degree, right?" Shego shrugged. "It wouldn't be too hard for me to find full-time work. And then you could stay home with Princess."
Hego had been bothering her again about moving back to Go City, just like he had after he'd graduated. There was no way, no way she was gonna move back with her family. She knew that Hego would try to wrangle her back into hero work, and Shego was certain that she didn't want to be a hero. Not to mention she was still 16… Her birthday was coming up in a couple of weeks. Maybe then Shego could admit everything to her brother without him blowing a gasket.
Not now, though.
"Hmph." Shego finished changing their daughter and picked her up. "You know you're more domestic than I am…"
"Nnnnngh…" Drew grunted. "I'd feel, well, useless if I couldn't contribute somehow!"
"Then get a job at a drive-thru or something! I don't care!" Shego rolled her eyes. "You'd be contributing anyway, keeping watch over Kimmie while I'm at work."
His gaze traveled to the redhead. "Are you sure?"
"Positive." Shego smirked evilly as she noted, "After all, I'm the one with the education…"
He ground his teeth and snorted, "Shego…!"
She laughed.
"That's not funny! That's why I'm stuck with this stupid job in the first place!"
"Yeah, yeah…" the green woman said, waving her hand at her husband. Then , seriously, she asked, "So, Doc, what're you gonna do about it?"
"I, ngh…" Drew sat and thought for a moment. "I, erm, guess I could quit…" Then he rushed, "But not until you have secure employment first!"
"Doy!" Shego went over and flicked his nose with her free hand.
"Ouch!" He rubbed his nose and grunted, "That wasn't necessary!"
"I think it was!" she countered. "Of course I'm gonna find a job first. Until then…" She tried to shrug carelessly, but couldn't quite pull it off. "I guess we'll just have to deal."
"Okay." Drew nodded. "So, for supper tomorrow, I was thinking about making some meatloaf…"
"Ugh," Shego said with a shudder. "I hate meatloaf."
"Well, I like it! Especially with the Lipsky family recipe."
Kimberly began to cry.
"No no, shhhh, it's okay!" Shego said, bouncing the baby on her hip. "Mommy and Daddy are just having a disagreement, that's all…"
She just cried louder.
"Could you?" Shego handed the baby off to Drew.
Drew proceeded to give their baby her blanket and make a variety of funny faces, sticking his out his tongue and puffing his cheeks out. This seemed to work, the baby watching her father with an insurmountable amount of glee.
"How you're so good with her I'll never know," the green woman said. "You suck with other children…"
"Oh, like you're any better Miss Psychologist!" Drew said with a little more heat than was necessary. "I haven't forgotten that substitute teacher debacle from a couple of months ago!"
"Whatever." Shego sighed minutely. "I'll start looking in the morning."
"And we can talk about supper more in the morning too," he nodded.
"Okay…" She went over and gave him a kiss, a long, deep, insistent one.
But he pushed her away and pointed at the clock. "I need to be there in 15 minutes. Not even enough for a quickie."
Shego whined a little, but said nothing.
He handed their baby back to her and got his boots on. He'd already put his chemical-resistant pants and coat on earlier. Drew gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and snuggled her side lightly.
"I love you, Shego."
She sighed and leaned into him. "I love you too, you big dork."
He walked out the door with a wave of his hand.
He never came home.