The drive to the Possibles' was quiet. A little too quiet, Kim thought. The twins had returned to the car looking like they had swallowed lemons, whereas Shego looked a bit unraveled.

I feel bad having her come to this, Kim thought. Maybe I shouldn't have asked her...

Kim was lost in her thoughts during the drive over, but managed to glance over at Shego every now and then. By the time they got to the Possibles' driveway, a pair of twins appeared from the garage.

"Kim!"

The Possible twins tackled Kim into a hug when she stepped out of the car. Noticing the new faces, Jim and Tim quickly introduced themselves with handshakes.

"So."

"You're Kim's..."

"...girlfriend?"

Shego nodded. "Can you not do that?"

"Do..."

"...what?"

"Finish each other's sentences. I get enough of that already with my own twin brothers."

The Possible twins did something too weird for Shego: they high-fived and said, "Hicka-bicka-boo? Hoo-sha!" before entering the house with her own brothers.

When she came to her senses, she heard Kim chuckling at her. "You look so confused."

"Twins speak their own language, don't they?"

"Yes, yes, they do," said a voice Shego couldn't recognise. The front door was open and a spit image of Kim (but older) walked over to shake her hand.

"Anne Possible."

"Sheridan Godeaux, but everyone calls me 'Shego'," replied Shego with a firm handshake. Now or never, Shego thought, time to make a good impression.

"Come, let's go inside. Kimmie, your father wants to speak to you quickly in the study." Anne led Shego to the living room, where the boys were talking excitedly over some sort of rocket fuel.

Kim hesitantly knocked on the study door. The door swung open, revealing a greying Doctor Possible.

"Kimmie-cub!" He enveloped his daughter in a bear hug before releasing her and giving her a look-over.

"Hi Dad," Kim said weakly. She was running through all the different possibilities and reasons as to why he wanted to speak to her in private, but was drawing a blank.

"Sit, sit," said James. He moved a stack of papers from a chair.

Kim sat down, unsure of what might happen next.

"Your mother told me you brought a guest today."

"Uh, yes, Sheridan... But you can call her 'Shego' if you want."

"How long have you been going out?"

"Dad! I'm 28! You need to stop asking me these things..." Kim exasperated. Seeing the unwavering look in her father's eyes, she weakly responded with a "almost three months."

"Kim. You know your mother and I can't help but be skeptical about the people you meet... We just don't want to see you hurt."

"I know, but there comes a point and age where I'm solely responsible for my own choices in life and, well, I have to pay for them if they're mistakes or that I had a lapse in judgement."

"How serious are you about this relationship?"

"Dad, I came home to have dinner with my family, not to be interrogated about my love life!"

"Quite serious then. Your reaction says it all." James clasped both of his hands and stared at his daughter. "Kim, we're just looking out for you."

"I know, Dad, and I'm very thankful for that. Really." Kim got up, taking her father's statement as her cue to leave. He stopped her as she was about to head out the door.

"Ask Sheridan to come by. I'd like a few words with her."

"So what do you do, Shego? In the brief conversation I've had with Kim, I don't think we ever came across the topic," said Anne as she handed Shego a glass of water.

"Thank you," murmured Shego. "I'm in graphic design, I work with a small firm in the city, and we've been recently doing some work for the paper." Realizing that her response could raise a few questions about her work ethics, she hastily added, "Kim and I met before we started working together though."

Anne laughed. "Relax, Shego, don't worry about it. I don't bite people's heads off - I'm not that mean, at least I would hope Kimmie didn't say that I am."

"No, no, she didn't, I know she said you're a brain surgeon, but nothing about you being mean..."

"What did you say I said?" Kim reappeared into the living room and placed a hand on Shego's shoulder.

"Your poor girlfriend is a nervous wreck, Kim, did you scare her on the way over here?" laughed her mom.

Shego laughed sheepishly, as a pinkish hue appeared on her cheeks. A sudden clang in the kitchen caught everyone's attention, and Anne took this opportunity to leave to see what happened.

"Are you ok?" Kim put a hand to Shego's cheek - she could literally feel Shego's embarrassment written all over the older woman's face.

"Yeah, just fine..." Shego took a gulp of water and asked, "How'd it go with your dad?"

"He wants to talk to you."

"Oh... now?"

Kim nodded. "I'll go with you if you want..."

"No, it should be fine. I have nothing to hide, and it's not like I've already done something to piss him off, right?"

Kim took Shego by the hand and led her to the study. "I'll be out here, ok?"

Shego nodded and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Author's Notes: I realized I never gave Shego a last name when I first started writing this...

Clarification: There appears to be some confusion as to why I put Thanksgiving dinner on a Sunday. Reason: I live in Canada, and Thanksgiving is usually on a Monday (second Monday of October, actually); people tend to have the dinner on Sunday, but this differs with every family. While I realize Middleton is supposedly in the United States (according to series director Steve Loter), this invalidates having the dinner on a Sunday, but I won't be changing when the dinner is held in this story.

Chapter title is from "Starry Eyed" by Ellie Goulding.