"Shego."

"Hm?" The older woman rolled onto her side to look at Kim.

"What do you think of pet names?" Kim was staring at the ceiling, so Shego couldn't read the redhead's facial expression in the dark as the question was asked.

"You mean, terms of endearment?"

"Yeah."

"I don't particularly hate them, nor do I love them. Why?"

"Hana mentioned that we were... stiff with each other..."

"Because we don't have pet names for each other?" Shego chuckled. "Her logic is funny."

"It is." Kim smiled and rolled to face Shego. "What would you call me, if you wanted to..."

Shego grinned. "'Pumpkin'? Or maybe 'Princess'?"

"I'm hardly a princess-"

"-Ah, but I'd do my best as your knight in shining armor to take care of you."

"You're sweet."

"I try."

"And 'Pumpkin'?"

"Well, you do have red hair..."

"Wouldn't 'Pepper' or some red vegetable be better?"

"Kim, don't ruin the moment," laughed Shego. "I don't know... 'Pumpkin' and 'Princess' seem to suit you."

"Ah... Ok, then."

Shego snuggled closer to Kim on the bed. Their faces were almost an inch apart. "Kim, I'm not lying... I will try my best to take care of you."

Kim smiled and murmured, "I know" as she leaned in for a kiss.

"So you have no pet name for me?" chuckled Shego.

"I can't think of anything that might not sound revolting when I say it aloud in public..."

"Haha, revolting? I doubt it."

"It would sound weird if I call you 'babe', wouldn't it?"

"Not really, but it doesn't sound as... Special...?"

"It is pretty generic..."

"Kim, call me what you want, but I'm fine with just my good ol' name... Don't really need a pet name."

"Ok, Shego."

"That's my name... You can wear it out," Shego yawned as Kim draped an arm over her waist.

"Hey Shego!"

The woman turned and saw Hana waving at her in the supermarket. "Hana, hey. Getting real food?"

Hana laughed. "Might as well... Kim seriously needs real food in her fridge. Well... Not that it matters much since she's been over at your place for most of the week..."

Shego shrugged. "It's a good thing you eat healthily..." She peered at her own basket of groceries. "I try."

"Are you almost done? Wanna grab coffee?"

"Sure."

Hana fiddled with her coffee mug. Shego had driven them to one of the coffee shops near the Middleton Space Centre.

"So, what's up?" asked Shego as she sat down with her drink.

"Not much, just been chilling since I've been back. Kim seems to be glued to your place."

"I think she wants to give you space and all... It's been a while since you've been in Middleton."

"I guess... We'd used to hang a lot when I came visit... Not much now... It's like she's avoiding me."

"She's not." Shego took a sip of her caramel macchiato. "I think she's just busy with work."

"Shouldn't you be busy too then?"

"Bonnie gave me the afternoon off. Kim's just been busy since she wants to take a Christmas holiday this year."

"It's odd, you know, whenever I ask about you, she sort of has this annoyed look on her face... Did I do something wrong?" Hana genuinely looked a bit hurt, which made Shego uneasy.

"She told me about your 'questions' about our relationship," Shego said slowly. "While some are just plain funny, there were some that weren't..."

"Oh... So in other words-"

"-In other words, Hana, I think you know your sister's a bit sensitive about certain topics. It's not we're both afraid of commitment, we just have a lot of emotional baggage to move past before we take things further or whatever you assumed about the relationship." Shego sighed. "It's not your fault Kim's been staying over at my place this week... I don't know, we both don't like the feeling of waking up alone, so the company is nice..."

"I was going to say that I shouldn't be too nosy... But I sort of get the feeling of waking up alone." Hana turned to look out the coffee shop's window. "When my parents died, all I had was my brother and Rufus, his pet naked mole rat. And when that accident happened, I think Kim was more devastated than me... We got through it together, but there's always that kind of feeling that I have no one in my life..."

"You have Kim and her family." Shego patted Hana's hand. "And I guess, by association, me too."

Hana turned to look at Shego and smiled. "So I guess I should apologise to Kim..."

"I guess... She's not exactly mad, it's more she just doesn't want to field anymore questions about our relationship... I think."

"Ok." Hana genuinely looked a bit happier. "Oh! By the way, I met your brothers the other day when I was over at the Space Centre with Mr. Possible. They're totally like Tim and Jim... It's a bit scary..."

Shego laughed. "It is... They're all doing some sort of work and research in physics... Both sets are twins... Same age too... Double the trouble..."

"More like four times the trouble... Wait, you came over during Thanksgiving, so they all must've met each other."

"Yep, and they sort of ruined the Possibles' basement." Noticing Hana's amused expression, Shego added, "They were building a proton accelerator and it clearly backfired on them."

Hana laughed. "Mr. Possible also mentioned you had two other brothers... Are they just as wacky or..." Hana noticed that Shego was shaking her head. "Sorry, I ask too many questions..."

"No, it's all right. The craziness is limited to just the twins. Horace, the eldest, is a prick, and Matt... Well, he lives in his own world and isn't as annoying as Horace."

"Must suck being the only girl... I can't really imagine having so many brothers... I remember when my parents first adopted me, Ron definitely didn't like me... He thought his parents would forget about him and just focus on me... But his jealousy was for naught... We got along wonderfully," Hana smiled sadly.

Shego nodded. Kim was right, she thought. Hana's pretty down to earth once you break through her shell. It must have been terrible for her, losing her family not only once, but twice.

"Anyway, having four brothers must be quite an adventure growing up and all..."

"I'm the middle child, I guess. Matt is only a year older than me, and Horace two... To be honest, Horace is the one who stands out of all of us."

"But you said Matt lives in his own world...?"

"He's just conceited. Everything is 'me, me, me' but Horace is a different story. He lives in a world of justice and black and white. To think we're related, sheesh," Shego exclaimed. "Horace actually has issues that I go out with women, not men."

"Ah, the proverbial thorn in your side."

"Yup, he'll be in for a treat if he starts harping on Kim when she comes over for Christmas."

"You're bringing Kim to meet your family?"

"The twins gossip; I've already gotten texts from both Horace and Matt asking to meet her the next time I'm in Go City... So it's surely a given that even my parents know."

"Fun... Or not. Dang, that's tough, having siblings who gossip."

"Doy," Shego remarked. "It shouldn't be too bad. The parents are laid back, Matt would probably tell Kim all about himself and Horace will probably preach to us about how it's wrong we're seeing each other. C'est la vie."

Hana laughed. "You know, you're pretty funny."

Shego smiled as she took a sip from her mug. "I try." Suddenly, she grinned. "How about you come over for dinner tonight?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I don't think Kim would mind. Besides, I don't like this awkward atmosphere between the two of you. You guys are sisters, through thick and thin."

If one could measure the brightness of a smile, one would be blinded by how brightly Hana was smiling. "Sure! Do you want me to prep anything?"

Shego waved her hand. "Nah, I've got it under control." She quietly muttered, "I just hope it's edible..."

"Kim, I'm home." Home. It hit Shego like a tonne of bricks as to what that meant. Kim hadn't really moved in with her - she just liked to spend the nights over, but that also meant that they had dinner, spent the evening in each other's company, and even slept in the same bed. But it wasn't really living together... right? Well, at least not anyway, Shego thought. Kim hasn't really moved any of her stuff over, but just brought changes of clothes in her overnight bag. "Hana's with me, I ran into her earlier today and asked her to come over for dinner."

When she didn't hear a response, Shego frowned. She walked into the living room and found her redheaded girlfriend sprawled over the couch fast asleep. Hana chuckled and commented, "She must be really wiped from work."

"I guess." Shego gently tapped Kim. "Kimmie, wake up."

Kim rolled away from Shego's touch. "Five more minutes..."

Hana stifled her laughter as Shego gently shook Kim. "C'mon, Princess, time to wake up, Hana came over for dinner."

Noticing the inquisitive look that Hana was giving her, Shego mouthed 'What?' as Kim slowly opened her eyes. Hana shook her head in amusement and mouthed the word 'Princess', which then made Shego a bit self-conscious of using the pet name in front of the younger woman.

Kim opened her eyes slowly. "Ah, I must've dozed off after I came over." As she sat up, she noticed that Shego wasn't alone. "Hana? Hey."

"I'll leave you two while I go prep dinner," commented Shego as she disappeared to the kitchen.

"So..." Kim ran a hand through her hair. She knew that Hana probably figured that she was avoiding the younger woman, but didn't know what to say.

It was Hana who initiated the conversation. "Kim... uh, sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier... er, more like for the entire time I've been back. I know you probably got annoyed with me always asking questions about Shego and all, but I just really wanted to make sure you weren't dating another jackass like... like him."

"It's fine, Hana... no big, really. I know I probably didn't like the..." Kim paused to use air quotation marks, "...'interrogations' you gave me, but I know it was out of concern that you asked me these things."

"I mean, Shego's actually not bad at all... I ran into her when I was at the store getting some food for your naked fridge and she took me out for coffee and everything. So... I hope you don't mind me crashing here for dinner."

"Why would I mind?" Kim patted to the seat next to hers and motioned for Hana to sit. "Hana, I admit I did get annoyed for a bit, especially when we were over at my parents' place for dinner, but Shego rationalized everything from your point of view... and well, it made me feel like I was being a jerk. I'm sorry for not being around the past few days. I didn't mean to neglect you... I know what that feels like, so sorry for being like that."

Hana smiled and gave Kim a hug. "It's ok, I guess I should've toned everything down a bit... but hey, I think Shego's getting used to having me around, eh?"

Kim laughed. "I guess so! I wonder what she's making..."

The two women got up to peer into the kitchen, where Shego was apparently slaving away at making dinner.

"Shego, do you need any help?" asked Kim.

Her girlfriend just waved her hand without looking at her audience and said, "It's all good, I've got it under control."

"You sure we'll be able to eat it?" Kim teased.

"Definitely," huffed Shego as she opened the oven to put in a dish that was covered in tin-foil.

"What's that?" asked Hana.

"Magic. You'll see in about an hour," smirked Shego. "I'm trying something new. C'mon, let's just hang in the living room for a bit." As she took off her oven mitts and her apron, Kim mused that her girlfriend looked good in that outfit, especially since her hair was tied up in a ponytail.

Noticing the glazed look on Kim's face, Hana laughed and nudged Kim. Snapping out of her thoughts, the redhead found her girlfriend smiling smugly at her. "What?"

Hana and Shego grinned. "Oh, it's nothing," said Shego while Hana replied with, "Nothing, nothing at all."

Hana ran off to turn on the television, leaving a confused Kim to deal with a smug Shego. "Seriously, what? Did I do something strange?" asked the redhead.

Shego put an arm around the redhead and whispered in her ear, "You totally were checking me out as I took off that apron, weren't you? I mean, even Hana noticed..."

Kim turned crimson at Shego's remark and dared not to look her girlfriend in the eye. "I, uh, know when to appreciate the female form," she had found herself saying before Shego grinned and kissed her temple.

Author's Notes: Flirty.

Seriously, Shego with her hair up and in an apron is pretty hot... Or maybe it's just me. Of course she's wearing something underneath, doy.

I'm not really treating Hana as Kim's BFF's sister, but actually as Kim's sister. Hana's sort of been adopted twice: first by the Stoppables, and the Possibles are now her guardians. (If anyone was wondering why Shego referred to Kim as Hana's sister in the dialogue.)

Chapter title is from "Everlasting Friend" by Blue October.