"Come in."
Shego straightened her dress shirt and walked in. What she saw surprised her a little; Kim did mention that her dad was somewhat clumsy, but this man wasn't the man she envisioned to be Kim's father. Instead of a stern-looking man, she found a greying Doctor Possible, one who looked like he could be everybody's buddy in a time of need. He got up to shake her hand.
"James Possible."
"Sheridan Godeaux, but everyone calls me 'Shego'."
"Huh, does this run in the family? Your brothers told me I could call them 'Wego'... despite the fact that they both don't have the same first name..."
"Um, yes," replied Shego. So far so good? He wasn't all scary or mean to her... "They're just nicknames that my siblings and I had picked out when we were really, really young."
"There's more than just the twins?"
Shego nodded. "Horace is 'Hego' and Matt is 'Mego'... seems we opted for the ones that started with anything that rhymed with 'he', 'me', 'she', and 'we'..."
"I see, but why end with '-go'?" James was genuinely interested; Shego was a bit baffled since not even Kim had asked about this.
"It serves as a short form of our last name, and I guess the fact that we're from Go City."
"Hmm, Go City, that's a ways from here."
"Um, yes, I moved here a year and a bit ago... And I guess my brothers found themselves here with their job and research opportunities."
James leaned forward and clasped his hands, elbows on the table. "And what exactly do you do?"
Unnerved by the sudden focus on her work life, Shego coolly responded with "Graphics design. I'm working for a firm that's helping out with some designs for the paper."
"So this is an office romance?" James raised an eyebrow.
"No, sir, we had met before working together." Shego clarified further, "Kim's removed herself from all projects that I've been working on, as an added measure."
"I see." James stared hard at Shego, possibly hoping the woman would flinch, but she coolly kept her gaze.
"How old are you, Shego?"
"Thirty three." She thought to herself, I don't see why age would really make a difference.
James simply nodded and got up. "Come, let's go out to the living room."
Shego was confused. Were they done talking or will they talk more out in the living room?
James opened the door and saw his daughter out in the hall.
"Kimmie-cub, what are you doing here?"
"Huh, waiting for Shego..."
"Don't worry about it, Kim, everything's fine. Isn't that right, Shego?" He flashed both ladies a genuine smile and walked off to the living room.
"Uh, yeah, fine..." Shego mumbled. "What just happened?"
"I think he's just glad you're not some gangbanger or something," laughed the redhead. Kim slipped her hand in Shego's and tugged her girlfriend in the direction of the living room. "C'mon, let's go... our brothers are being too geeky talking about rockets and physics."
"So he's ok with us dating?" Shego was still fixed in place, a bit skeptical about what just happened.
Kim shrugged. "I guess we'll find out soon? It didn't seem like he was mad or anything when he walked out of the study." She entwined her fingers with Shego's. "C'mon, they're probably waiting for us."
"Ok." Shego smiled as Kim kissed her as a form of reassurance.
When the two had returned to the living room, they found their brothers hovering over a portable whiteboard, and writing down physics-related formulae. James was standing on the side, as if he was refereeing some sort of physics-a-thon.
"Girls, you're just in time... To help me in the kitchen. The boys are off doing their own thing again," remarked Anne. "Come, come..." She ushered them into the kitchen where delicious smells wafted around.
"Shego, how do you fare in the kitchen?" asked Anne as she gave both Kim and Shego an apron.
"Ok, I guess... I can only make basic things, like salad, pasta, toast..."
"Much better than Kimmie here then."
"Hey! It was just that time in home ec that I..." She trailed off when she saw that Shego was giving her an incredulous look. "What? I took a home ec class in high school..."
"And she somehow blew up the oven," laughed Anne.
Shego chuckled at the thought and was handed a bowl of whipped cream. "If you can please just put some dollops of cream on these dessert cups, Shego. I didn't have time to do them last night because I had an emergency surgery to attend to." Anne turned to her daughter and jokingly said, "Kim, why don't you toss the salad... That shouldn't been to explosive or messy for you, I hope."
Embarrassed, Kim started tossing the salad together. "Mom, I can cook just fine on my own... It's not as bad as you think."
Anne laughed. "I think the last time you made something for us to eat was during the July 4th weekend." She turned to Shego and cracked a smile. "She accidentally mixed up the sugar with salt in her cake."
"Mom! Stop it, please!" Kim was really embarrassed since Shego hadn't had the liberty of trying her cooking. Now that she thought about it, they had never really cooked for each other when they went over to each other's apartments for date night. Well, this is something we need to change, she thought.
"Oh, Kim, don't get so flustered. Everyone makes mistakes, you just need to pay more attention when you're cooking, isn't that right, Shego?"
Shego gave Kim a sheepish smile. "Yeah."
"Have you ever had any of Kim's cooking?" Anne asked.
Shego shook her head. "I haven't had the pleasure yet. She might not like my cooking either though."
"Then maybe you both should start taking notes," laughed Anne. "Although, I made most of the food before you arrived... But, Shego, dear, if you ever want some pointers, just ask."
"Uh, ok." Shego was a bit startled that Anne was being really nice to her, and even inviting her to contact Anne in the future.
Kim smiled to herself as she was tossing the salad. So far, so good, she thought.
"Boys, it's time to eat," shouted Anne from the kitchen.
The sounds of a portable whiteboard being abandoned and the sudden cluttering of utensils told the women that the men were seated at the table.
When Kim and Shego emerged in the dining room, they noticed two seats, that were side-by-side in-between James and Jim, were left empty for them. Shyly, Shego took the seat beside James as Kim took the other seat beside Jim. Anne had slipped into the seat across from James as she brought out the turkey.
"Well, everyone, let's say grace before we dig in," said Anne. She looked at Shego. "Would you do the honours, Shego?"
She could hear her brothers snicker across the table - they were sitting in-between Anne and Tim, and were giving their sister smug looks. It had been maybe fifteen years since Shego last said grace at dinner.
"If you don't want to, that's ok too. Actually, how insensitive of me, I should've asked whether you and your brothers are religious," said Anne.
Shego shook her head. "No, it's ok, we grew up agnostic, but our parents did ask us to say grace on occasion, especially when we had our more religious relatives come over for Thanksgiving dinner... It's just been a while since I've said grace, that's all..."
"Try fifteen years," snickered Wallace.
Shego gave her brother a look that could curdle milk. After clearing her throat, she said, "Dear Lord, thank you for this food we are about to receive. Bless those who have prepared it, and those who provided for it. Amen."
Anne smiled at Shego. "That was well said."
"Come on, everyone, let's dig in," remarked James.
Author's Notes: I grew up agnostic, but never really had to say grace, so I hope that was decent...
Chapter title is from "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come" by Leigh Nash. (From her Hymns and Sacred Songs album.)