Chapter 59 - I'll Walk the Finest Line

"Are you planning on going shopping today?" Marion asked the women as they came down for breakfast.

Shego shrugged. "I think I'll just take Kim around to sightsee... The malls are probably going to be crowded since it's Boxing Day... Unless..." She handed Kim a cup of coffee. "Do you want to go shopping?"

The redhead shook her head. "I don't really have anything to buy, I'd much rather go and explore the city."

"Ah, then it's settled... Mom, do you or Dad want to come with?"

The older Godeaux politely declined. "I think your father still has to finish grading and I have to look over some manuscripts. I'll pass for now. I'm sure the two of you will have fun regardless. Make sure to stop by the Go City monument, Sherri. That story is quite a tale."

"Sure," replied Shego as she sat down beside Kim at the dining table. "It's this huge monument erected for the city's founder, Maximillion Golding... I'll give you the history run-down later."

Marion passed them two plates of eggs, bacon, and toast before sitting down with a mug of coffee.

"Kim, is this your first time in Go City?"

The redhead shook her head. "I remember coming by here a few times before college for cheerleading competitions-"

"-Cheerleading? So that's why you were able to do a back flip when the twins were chucking snowballs at us," said Shego. "And... no wonder you're so flex-uh, ok, sorry, carry on." She stuffed a piece of bread in her mouth before she said something embarrassing.

Kim merely blinked in confusion while Marion stifled a laugh. "Uh, yeah, I was here or passed by here for cheerleading competitions, but have never had the chance to go around the city."

"So you did do a bit of travelling before, then," said Marion as she watched her daughter ungracefully shovel food in her mouth.

"Here and there, with the squad, it was mostly within the country... I only really travelled abroad after college. Sometimes for work meetings, sometimes for vacation."

"So have you been to Paris then?" asked Shego as she washed down all the food with coffee.

Kim nodded. "Albeit, it was during a bad period of time in my life..." She took a sip of coffee. She looked at Marion, "My predecessor at the paper and best friend, Ron, had just died... I was there to do paperwork after I found out he named me his successor and I had to wrap up some business-related contracts there."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up a bad memory," mumbled Shego before stuffing more food into her mouth. Maybe she should've let her mother ask the questions.

Kim patted Shego's hand. "Don't worry about it. What's happened has happened... Just got to look forward to the future, right?"

Shego nodded with her mouth full. Marion chose her words carefully before asking, "You haven't been back since?"

Kim wiped her mouth with a napkin. "No. In part, part of the reason why I chose Paris as a vacation spot is to make sure Ron's sister, uh, my adoptive sister, is settled back in school before Shego and I go around the city." She looked apologetically at Shego, who looked rather comedic with cheeks full of food, and said, "I guess I should've asked if that was all right before I gave you the plane tickets..."

Shego had mumbled something, with her mouth full, that sounded like "It's ok, she's your sister... We should look out for her."

Marion merely smiled at her daughter. Shego had changed quite a bit since they last had a heart-to-heart talk. The older Godeaux could tell that Shego was rather fond of Kim, making sure to be careful of how she spoke to her girlfriend and not upset her. Maybe it was because Shego had learned from the past with her arguments with Morgan that having her way with words wasn't always the best idea. That being said, however, Morgan was simply rotten to the core. Marion had never met such a snob before in her life. Of course, the first year or so of dating was where both women tested the waters; Morgan was initially polite but had begun to show her true colours when she somehow wrangled Shego into getting an apartment together and having the younger Godeaux to cover the down payment.

Marion had known her daughter was in over her head when she found out that Shego was covering most of their expenses since the "Morgan is in medical school - it's expensive" excuse was used more than once. Maybe they had started out fine, but the last three years of the relationship had taken its toll on Shego. Marion knew, but Shego had chose to ignore her mother's comments on her health and dwindling finances. Mothers know best, right?

Yet, somehow, Marion knew Kim had no hidden agenda. Heck, she would go as far as believing that Kim had no evil bone in her body. She had, probably much to her daughter's dismay for privacy, done a thorough check on Kim when her sons told her about the redhead. Granted, a majority of the information she found out about Kim was through tabloids, but she didn't believe them. Why? Being in the publishing business much longer than her own son and Kim combined, Marion knew how people could twist words to do more harm than good.

She took the words off the page with a grain of salt and decided that, if Shego felt it was all right to love again, she'd leave it at that. From what she saw and continue to see between the two women, Marion did not feel the need to pry into their private lives unless she had to. Of course, that's where Betty came in by updating her on tidbits of Shego's life every now and then.

"So I guess you'll be sightseeing in Paris, then?" asked Marion. "Sheridan's been there twice, I think. We went when she was little... before the twins were born and another time shortly after she finished college."

Kim nodded. "There are some places I'd like to go see, but we haven't worked out any of the plans since I sort of only told Shego about Paris yesterday."

Marion looked over to her daughter who just finished wolfing down her plate. "If you want any recommended 'must-see' places, just let me know. It's been a while since I've been but I travelled there quite often in my youth."

"Sure."

Shego swallowed audibly before saying, "Mom met Dad in Paris... It's like your classic sappy love story." She laughed. "You'd think we're all French or something with our French-ish last names. Devereaux and Godeaux."

"Well, our roots do go back to France but both your father and my families travelled a lot... We've got a bit of everything mixed in our blood, I guess. Joe was on a study term abroad in Paris when I met him..." Marion stared off into space and focused on a shelf in the kitchen. "I was just travelling with a group of friends. Turns out we both studied at the same school but we had only met abroad. I think both of our families originated in France, but I know the Devereaux travelled around Europe shortly before the First World War and came here after the Second War. Your father's family had been abroad in Asia for a bit before coming here too."

"Wow," said Kim. "I think my family's been in Middleton and Florida for ages. My grandmother lives in Florida... All I know is that we were farming folk before my dad and Uncle Slim went off to study physics in school... I think my mom's family travelled a bit along the west coast, but none of them lived abroad."

"It's nice to know how we ended where we are... To be honest, I didn't really know much about my family until Mom brought it up," Shego chimed in.

"It's good to know a bit about your family history every now and then," replied Marion. She looked at the clock. "Ok, I think I should wake your brothers before the food gets cold."

"Is Dad up too?"

"Yes, he's in his study marking again. If you'll excuse me... Just leave the dishes in the sink, I'll wash them later." Marion then disappeared upstairs, leaving Shego and Kim to finish off breakfast.

"Your dad really wants to get all the marking done," said Kim after draining her cup of coffee.

"He's a family man, I guess he wants to spend more time with us instead of the papers later on in the week... Maybe we should pop by the study and just have a chat with him? I'm sure he'd appreciate it before we explore the city."

"Sure, sounds like a good idea."

They left their plates in the sink as instructed and Shego led them to the study. Knocking only once, she heard her father call them in and had to nudge Kim inside. The redhead looked around in awe at all the books on the shelves.

"Sherri! Kim! Good morning!"

"Hey Dad, we wanted to stop by and say hi before we go around the city," said Shego.

"Ah, sightseeing... That should be fun. The malls might be packed, though, so just don't get into a fight with any of the shoppers," he laughed.

"We'll try not to... I think we're going to take a look at the monuments and maybe stop by the library so I can give Martha that book Horace gave me."

"You always toss out the books he gets you."

"He gets me books he know I won't read," Shego exasperated. "I'm not religious, nor do I exactly share any of his conservative views. I'm sure Kim understands what I'm talking about because he sure as hell gave her some attitude about us being together."

Kim nervously bit her lip. She knew Shego was upset with Horace; heck, she would be too if any of her family members were like that, but she respected his opinions. No relationship could be without any obstacles and resistance, so Kim chose not to get involved. Except Shego was now dragging her into something she'd very much not be a part of.

Joe had noticed Kim's subtle gesture and decided not to pursue the topic any further. "Well, just don't roughhouse him like the last time he ticked you off. He's still your brother." His gaze softened at Kim as he explained. "The last time Horace inadvertently insulted Sheridan... well, let's just say she's got a great right hook."

"Yeah, yeah, Dad, I won't do anything unless he asks for it," muttered Shego. "C'mon, Kim, let's go before my dad grounds me or something."

"Sherri, you're thirty-three, I couldn't possibly ground you." He grinned. "Kim might be able to."

Kim blushed in response as Shego gently nudged her out of the study.

"You really punched him?" asked Kim as she took Shego's hand. Quite frankly, she never thought Shego would be one to be violent when angry, so she was a bit unnerved (and amused) that her girlfriend would hit her own brother.

"I thought I mentioned punching him before... Anyway," Shego pretended to punch the space in front of her. "Right hook in the jaw. They had to take him to the hospital because I had dislocated it for him. Serves him right to shut his trap every now and then."

Kim tugged on Shego's hand, halting them to a stop in the hallway. "Shego... violence isn't the answer, especially with family."

"Relax, Kim, don't blow this out of proportion. I've never really done anything to anyone else... Horace just gets on my nerves a lot more than the rest of my siblings." She sighed. "I'm not... abusive or violent."

"I'm not saying you are, Shego. I don't think you are. But, sometimes it's just better to keep your emotions in check."

"I try. And that incident that my dad brought up was when everything started going sour in my life. I was just in a bad place, mentally and emotionally, at a bad time."

"I understand." Kim hugged Shego and then took her by the hand again. "Come on, it's time for an adventure!"

Author's Notes: Such an awkward conversation at the end, but sometimes when people irritate you, you really want to slug them in the face...

Just a comment about some reviews I got about how I have characterized Shego... It's AU for a reason. I actually dislike writing anything that sticks to how the characters are originally portrayed because I feel like my writing could never do the characterizations any justice. With AU, I feel as though I can muddle some of their personalities and behaviours for a bit. In this story, my intention has to always have Kim draw out bits and pieces of Shego's personality slowly. She's not going to ever be the same as how Shego is portrayed in the TV show, but bits and pieces might surface every now and then. I know there are some situations in the story where TV Shego might've responded differently, but it's how I characterize and personify her in my head that gets written down in the story. Suffice to say, I do apologize if Shego is not meeting up to anyone's expectations...

Also, it's been one year since I started this story. Time flies.

Chapter title is from "I'm Not Your Hero" by tegan and sara.