As with every chapter before and every to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

The remainder of the night was comparatively uneventful.

Wade double-checked the biometric sensor and settings to make certain that he, Kim, Ron, along Mr. and Mrs. Possible could disable the grid at both the room entrance and at the patient bed as well as with the handheld control.

Once everything was set, Ron and Wade said their "Good Nights" and headed home, but not before swinging by the 24-Hour convenience store to get Wade a Giant Slurpster.

With Ron's car parked and idling in front of Wade's house, he and Ron reviewed their plans for the remainder of the weekend.

"Ron, I'll do a remote systems check and complete set of diagnostics as soon as I get up to my room. If there are any problems, I'll call you on the Ronnunicator. Then I'll get hold of the Middleton Police and see if they've impounded those thugs' computer for evidence. I want to take a look at the Internet Header of that "Wanted" e-mail message."

"Will that tell you if the message was real?" asked Ron.

"It might, but I doubt it'll be that easy. What the Internet Header will do is give me some definite clues where to begin digging."

"Well, call or beep me if you dig up something big. I'm heading home to shower and crash. I promised Mr. Dr. P. that I'd relieve him for watch duties at eleven o'clock."

Turning to Wade, Ron reached across the console and they exchanged a "brother" handshake. "Thanks, bro', for always being there for me and Kim."

Ron waited until Wade had walked up the driveway and entered his house, then did a U-turn and drove home.

While the drive from Wade's to Ron's house wasn't more than ten minutes, it was a lonely ride without Kim or Rufus for company.

"Man, what a night! After everything that happened, I'm wondering if maybe guardian angels aren't just a Catholic thing. Wade, Felix and Monique sure were my guardian angels tonight. I'm going to have to talk with Rabbi Katz about that sometime."

Ron powered on his car stereo, punched the first FM station memory button and cranked up the volume. The car came with an older Pioneer system that, although lacking a cool-looking multi-colored display and other bells and whistles, had a hyper-sensitive FM tuner and overall specs that put all but the most expensive new systems to shame. All that was lacking was a thumping subwoofer, and Wade's dad, who was something of a car stereo audiophile, had promised to watch the online auctions for a unit.

A few songs later, Ron pulled his car up the Stoppable driveway, parked, and went inside. The shower was great, the clean clothes felt fantastic and the fresh bed sheets were heavenly. He was sound asleep and snoring away moments after his head hit the pillow.

Back at the hospital, Mr. Possible and Kim were having a little late-night father/daughter talk.

"Dad, thanks for staying here with me tonight."

"It's been a long time since I've stayed up with you at night. In fact, the last time I remember us doing it was for a science project of yours, when you needed to use the high-powered telescope at the Mount Middleton Observatory. I think you were in Seventh Grade at the time… "

"Eighth Grade, Dad, but close enough", corrected Kim with a grin.

"That's right. I was able to get you access and decided to come along, figuring you would appreciate the company… "

"Which I did, by the way."

"…and hopefully help you stay awake until you had finished your assignment."

"Which you did, Dad, although it wasn't exactly the way I expected you to do it. You started yawning soon after we got there, sat down in one of the chairs, pulled up an ottoman and after maybe ten minutes you were fast asleep --- and snoring."

"Oh, I wasn't that loud, was I?"

"Well, the acoustics of the Observatory probably made it sound louder than it actually was, but even if you take that into account you were plenty loud, Dad."

"But it worked, didn't it?"

"It worked great, Dad. I had no trouble staying awake and lots of motivation to get the assignment done as quickly as possible. After that I understood why Mom would sometimes end up sleeping on the couch in the family room."

"…or why yours truly would end up sleeping out there. It all depends upon who had the rougher day at work and, since even that can be debatable, it frequently comes down to a coin toss. That's one of those things they don't teach in Marriage Preparation Class."

Mr. Possible stood up from his chair, leaned over the bed and gave his daughter a loving hug.

"I think it's time you got some more rest, Kimmie. I'm going to dim the lights, get myself situated and read a little before calling it a night."

"Okay, Dad. 'Nite. Love you."

"I love you too, Kim."

Lying there in bed, Kim slipped out the Kimmunicator from under the covers and typed herself a short journal message. As she was doing so, she checked the Kimmunicator's digital clock display. After finishing the message, she closed her eyes and her thoughts turned to Ron. She hoped he was getting a good night's sleep. She was also very much looking forward to him coming back later in the day to "stand watch".

Her train of thought was interrupted by a loud snort. Glancing at the Kimmunicator's digital clock, she smiled and wrote in the journal "Four minutes, twenty-three seconds. Well, that's another million you owe me."

Sunrise at the Possible home was greeted by the sound of eggs being beaten, pancake batter being mixed and sausage sizzling on the stove. Kathleen Possible had never been much for sleeping in Saturdays, even as a child, and this particular Saturday, with two unexpected overnight guests, she decided an extra special breakfast was in order.

The twins were accustomed to sleeping in whenever they could but the sound and smell of breakfast were enough to wake and lure them into the kitchen even at this early hour.

"'morning, Mom", said Jim, rubbing his eyes.

"Good morning, Jim. And a good morning to you too, Tim. Did you both get a good night's sleep?" asked Mrs. Possible.

Tim yawned and scratched his head, "I sure did."

"Then you should be raring to go for the J-V soccer tryouts. Why don't you two boys go shower and get dressed? Breakfast should be on the table in about fifteen minutes."

"Okay, Mom", the twins replied in unison and headed out the kitchen to their bedroom. A moment later, they reappeared with puzzled looks on their faces.

"Mom, why is Mrs. Stoppable sleeping on the couch?" inquired Jim.

"Well, Jim, let's just say for now that Kim and Ron had a rather unusual night last night. We'll talk about it over breakfast. Now, go shower."

Walking back down the hallway toward their bedroom, Tim whispered to Jim, "What do you think happened to Kim and Ron last night?" Entering their bedroom, Jim answered the question with a question, "I don't know. You don't suppose they got picked up again by the cops for breaking curfew and Dad let them stay in jail overnight?" Tim quietly laughed, "Wouldn't that be rich? I wonder how long he'll wait 'til he bails them out?"

The twins weren't the only ones awaken by the sounds and smells emanating from the kitchen. Rufus wasn't far behind Jim and Tim, headed in the kitchen door the second time they were headed out.

"Good morning, Rufus", greeted Mrs. Possible after taking a sip of coffee. "You look like you slept well. Since you didn't come out with the twins, I'm guessing you were up on Kim's bed last night."

"Not only that, Kate, but he was curled up under the covers snuggling with Kim's Pand-Roo."

Kathleen turned to see Rachel Stoppable standing in the kitchen doorway, leaning against the doorframe.

"I hope Kim doesn't mind", continued Rachel. "Rufus just looked so natural and cute and I would have hated to wake him."

"Oh, I'm sure Kim wouldn't mind a bit, Rachel. Did you sleep okay? That couch isn't the most comfortable thing to sleep on. I ought to know. I've had to sleep on it many a night when Jim would fall asleep before me. His snoring tends to keep me awake."

"I slept just fine, Kate." Rachel poured herself a cup of coffee and properly doctored it. "Did Ron come here last night?"

"Not that I could see", replied Kathleen.

"He'd be out here drooling over the pancakes and sausage by now if he was here", commented Rachel. "I suspect he's at home if he didn't stay the night at the hospital."

"Ron told Jim that he'd be at the hospital by eleven o'clock to relieve him from "watch duty". Should we call over there and invite him for breakfast?"

"I appreciate the offer, Kate, but I'd imagine Ron would rather have a few more hours of sleep. Let's make him a plate. I'll take it over to him later and he can microwave it before he goes to the hospital."

"What time does Jon's flight get in?"

"It's a non-stop that leaves about two-forty and gets in here about four-thirty. He left his car parked out at the airport, so as long as he can find it, I'm looking for him around dinner time."

A time zone away, Jon and Bob Zimmerman were sharing breakfast in Orlando.

"Wow, Jon, sounds like that was too close for comfort."

"Yeah, it was, Bob, and they weren't even out on a mission. This time the trouble found them."

"How is Rachel handling it?"

"Like a trooper, as always. When Ron first called, she wanted to rush down to the hospital. Ron said he was fine and urged her to go over to Kim's home and watch her twin brothers so their parents could go down to the hospital."

"You have quite a son there, Jon."

"Yeah, I guess he has a lot of his mother in him…"

"…along with a good deal of his father. If you won't give yourself any credit, Jon, then I'll gladly do it for you. Ron is who he is in no small part because he has two terrific parents in you and Rachel."

"Well, turnabout is fair play, Bob. Your wonderful daughter Mary is who she is thanks largely to you and Alicia. And that, my friend, is a perfect lead-in to you telling me what you've been up to since NYU."

"Still won't let me off the hook, will you, Jon?"

"Not a chance. There's still almost three hours before I need to head to the airport. That should be plenty of time, even for you", Jonathan said with a big grin.

"So, Jon, where should I begin? Well, as you may remember, I was dating Alicia, who you remember was going to Columbia University, when you and I graduated. Like you, I wanted to hold off proposing until after I got my first job."

"As we both remember only too well, the economy was in recession then, so the job market was tight. Thankfully, my dad had some connections, called in a few favors, and by mid-July I was hired on with a firm in the City. The week after I started, I bought a ring, took Alicia out to a nice restaurant in mid-Manhattan, and proposed to her on bended knee."

"From there everything just seemed to fall right into place. We chose the beginning of November for the wedding to allow time for preparation. Alicia graduated after summer session and within a few weeks incredibly landed an entry-level position in her field. We somehow managed to find a clean, affordable apartment about the same length of commute from each of our jobs. Like I said, it was remarkable how things came together…."

" …it was a rough pregnancy, but both of our folks helped out and covered the medical bills. Alicia wanted to name her "Mary Elizabeth". I had no objections. I figured if when she grew up she got tired of being called "Mary", she could always go by "Elizabeth", or "Liz" or "Beth"."

"What's she look like? I sure hope she got her mother's looks and not yours."

Bob laughed. "Oh, don't worry. She has her mother's looks alright, although she does have my blonde hair."

"You mean what used to be your blonde hair, right?"

"Yeah. Let's just hope she didn't inherit my receding hairline."

"And you said she's a senior this year, graduating mid-term and headed to Coastal Carolina University on a full-ride scholarship, correct?"

"Good memory there, Jon. Yeah, Mary's about ready to leave the nest."

"Any other kids?"

"No. For whatever reason, we were allotted just one. Not that we didn't try to have more. It just never happened."

"How's Alicia doing?"

"She's doing great. Once Mary started school, Alicia took on some part-time work but wanted to be there when Mary came home. Now that Mary's about to head off to college, Alicia is pondering whether or not to go full-time. I've told her not to rush into a decision. We're doing fine money-wise."

"And what have you been up to all this time?" asked Jonathan.

"Oh, I stayed at my first job until the economy picked back up, then I got on with a larger firm in the City a little closer to home. I stayed there for another five years or so, while I built up my own actuarial business on the side. The summer after Mary graduated from junior high, we moved out of the City and bought a place in north Jersey. I've been running my own actuarial business out of my home office ever since."

"So, Jon, with all that went on overnight, did you get a chance to talk with Rachel about having another hairless member of the family for a couple years or so?"

"Yeah, Bob, we discussed it and, while we haven't checked with Ron or Rufus, it's a "go" unless you hear from us otherwise. I'm planning to spring the surprise on Ron and Rufus tonight over dinner."

"Fantastic! Mary will be so excited! I don't know if I told you, but she's had a huge crush on Ron through most of high school."

"Uh, Bob. About that: are you aware that Ron and Kim are now seriously dating?"

"No, Jon, I wasn't aware of that."

"I figured as much. It's one of those "minor details" that isn't general public knowledge outside of Middleton and they'd rather it stay that way."

"Well, that will definitely put a damper on her enthusiasm. Would you rather I didn't tell her about that part, and just have Raquel shipped out?"

"That's up to you, Bob, but as far as I'm concerned Mary is welcome to come. I just don't want her get there with certain expectations only to be hurt or disappointed."

"Jon, I'll be sure to tell her. Besides, it's only a crush. She's a senior now. I'm sure she'll get over it just fine."