Chapter 4 - A Tough Call

About five miles from where Sentinel and Cajunbear were staying stood a modest two-story house in a neighborhood of Middleton. Priced around $400k, it was a five bedroom, six-and-a half-bathroom house and had a three-car garage and was roughly around 3900 square feet. It also had a pool, a barbecue area, a small wet bar, and a whirlpool to round out the amenities. An additional guesthouse had an extra bedroom and bathroom.

This was the house of Kim and Ron Stoppable, the most well-known couple in town.

Both of them were 28 years of age and have been married for five years. Also, for the same length of time, they've been a part of Global Justice and were regarded as their best agents.

They've taken on a lot of big-name villains and Kim literally had the scars to prove it. She received some on her face, one running down her left arm, and one across her forehead after a vile alien leader that wasn't of Lorwardian descent smashed her head through a control panel. She's also had an upper ear stud and a star cluster tattoo on her wrist since her freshman year in college.

The two went through a very rough patch during the college years, even resulting in them nearly breaking up. But after recommitting and coming to a deeper understanding of themselves, Team Possible's bond, was stronger than ever before.

Ron and Kim exchanged their vows in their own hometown with the entire world watching, even a few of the former villains she faced during her high school years were shedding tears as they exchanged the rings.

After a wild and unpredictable honeymoon involving Murphy's Law, the newlyweds finally settled down back in Middleton. A few months into their gig at Global Justice, Kim found out that she was pregnant with her first kid, so she was relegated to doing desk duty while her cousin, Joss, filled in. She didn't enjoy the work at first, even jawing with her cousin a couple of times. However, she settled into the routine until she finally gave birth to the Stoppable's first child, a boy. Justin Davis Stoppable was born on June 15, 2013 at a healthy 6 lbs 8 ounces. Kim and Ron were now proud parents.

Fourteen months, and many more successful GJ missions, later, Kim was pregnant again. The reaction to Ron's face, as she recalled, was to simply faint to the floor.

Their second child, Alexa Ann Stoppable, a girl, was born on March 4, 2015, weighing at 6 pounds 11 ounces.

So now here was Kim and Ron: balancing a family, paying the bills, raising two kids, and taking on super-villains bent on world domination with the help of their GJ team.

But, as a famous saying by a former world-saving cheerleader, she can indeed do anything.

On that fateful March night, Ron was making dinner for their growing family, which consisted of grilled chicken, broccoli and rice. Nothing much changed about him physically except that his voice was deeper and he regrew the soul patch he shaved off before getting hitched with Kim. Rufus, meanwhile, was the same naked mole rat as he always has been since high school.

He was always the expert cook in the family...unlike his wife.

Alexa was already cooing and developed a few words and was already walking on her own by her first year.

"Goo-goo! Da-da!" Alexa babbled on her high-chair at the end of the dining room table. Rufus, still there after all these years, served as the entertainment for the baby by tapdancing on the table!"

"Daddy will be there for you, sweetie! He has to cook for the fam! Yummy-yummy for your tummy!" Ron said with sweet talk to his daughter while sauteing the chicken.

"Rufus, I may need your help to add in the spices!"

"Coming!" the naked mole-rat squeaked, heading to his master to prep the food.

Kim, in the meantime, was in the den with the oldest of the two kids. She was wearing a denim jumpsuit with a pair of high-heeled boots. About three of the buttons were unbuttoned but she had an undershirt underneath. She also accessorized it with several gold and silver bracelets, three long gold and silver necklaces, and large hoop earrings.

"I don't wanna eat brocolli..." the young four-year old Justin whined.

"Why?" Kim asked while scrolling down her high-tech tablet, "Your dad's good at cooking veggies for you."

"Carrots are my favorite veggie." Justin replied softly.

"Fine, carrots it is for you." Kim replied with a smile. "Someday, you're gonna grow big and strong!"

"Just like you, Mommy?" Justin asked.

"Yes..." Kim grinned, "Like both me and your dad."

The phone from the kitchen, however, began to ring.

"KP! Phone!"

"Coming, Ron!" Kim replied as she came into the kitchen.

She then picked up the phone while turning on the faucet to get a glass of water.

"Watch Justin for me for a few minutes." Kim instructed her husband.

"Yay, Daddy!" Justin cheered, hugging his dad's leg.

"Little guy's growing up so fast!" Ron sniffled a little.

Kim asked, "Hello! Who's this?"

"It's CajunBear on the other end!" the recipient replied on the other end.

"Oh, hey, CB! What's been the sitch on your end?" Kim asked, taking a sip of water. "You reviewed a few good stories as of late?

"Yeah. We're finally setting up the 12th Annual Fannies this year!" CajunBear said.

Kim walked into the den, drinking the water. "That's spankin'! But I thought you had budget problems stemming from last years' Fannies! The whole automated system thing was Whitem's fault!"

"Don't blame me if he played mind tricks on us!" Cajunbear replied on the other end. "Anywho, we finally got someone that will pay for the whole shebang!"

"And who would that be?" Kim asked with a smile while taking a sip of water.

"Bonnie Rockwaller" came the reply from Cajunbear's mouth.

Hearing that dreaded name, Kim spat the water from her mouth in complete surprise and yelled, "BONNIE MARIE ROCKWALLER?!"

In that instant, both Alexa and Justin started to wail and cry openly.

Ron, whom had finished cooking up the dinner, came to the den and stuck fingers in his ears to try to hold off the crying. Rufus stuck his fingers in his ear too.

"KP, we've agreed not to mention her name in this house!" he sighed, "Come on, pony up the money..."

Kim sighed, putting down the phone. She gave Ron a $5 bill.

Ron then took the bill and put it in the jar, titled 'The Noddle Incident Jar', and it was overflowing with a lot of bills.

"Thank you for doing business." the former sidekick-distraction-now-husband said with a smile, "Now, me and Rufus will tend to the changelings while you continue with the call with Cajunbear."

"I'm going to take it upstairs, Ron. I'll be back down for dinner!" came the reply from Kim as she headed upstairs to the master bedroom, trying not to make her offspring upset again.

_Once she was in the master bedroom, she resumed the call on her phone.

"Sorry, CB. A whole new sitch developed with the changelings when they heard that brunette's name." Kim said.

"No probs, Kim! I know that feeling!" Cajunbear replied on the other end. "So, as you know now, the Rockwaller mansion is paying for the whole thing. The statuettes, the food, the rights to her opera house and banquet hall...everything. All she asked in return is product placement, top billing, and me and Sent working at her mansion for a couple of months."

"Seems like a fair deal..." Kim said, begrudgingly "...for her!"

"Looks as if 10 years hasn't changed her one bit." Cajunbear laughed a little.

"It hasn't. The 'all-that' Miss Rockwaller nearly had me arrested a couple of times, one during high school!" Kim bitterly complained.

Cajunbear remembered, "Oh yes, that was the one with Ron wearing baggy pants showing his underwear on your date and..."

But Kim cut him off, "Not another word about it!"

"Good!" Kim muttered, "Now, is Miss 100-ft Gold Statue of Herself going to host the ceremony?"

"I don't know, Kim! All she said is that she wants you and Ronald to come over with us to her house to discuss on what to plan for the Fannies!" Cajunbear said.

"No...no way am I going to set foot in her house of Egoville!" Kim angrily sneered. "I'd rather host the thing at the Cow N' Chow!"

"Kim! Listen to me! We have to continue this tradition! Did that ever stop us holding the ceremony when the great authors passed on...?"

Her anger subsided into a private sadness on the reflection of the loss of one of the great voices of the fandom. "I know...I was there at Argus' funeral. It's hard losing people that are so connected to a fandom of...well...me, Ron, Rufus, Wade and the rest of the crew."

"But I am just not comfortable with Bonnie hosting the Fannies this year!" she continued. "She'll probably only use it as a four-hour propaganda film to glorify herself and set the stage to humiliate me and Ron in front of the others!"

"She's not actually HOSTING the ceremony, she's just footing the bill!" Cajunbear explained. "Despite all the stuff we've been through, we still have to continue on the tradition, no matter what happens in the fandom or where we host it!"

Kim reluctantly agreed, "Very well, CB. But if I, or any of the members of Global Justice, detect anything illegal that Miss Rockwaller is hiding, I will escort her out her own mansion in handcuffs!"

She continued on, "I will be picking up you and Sent tomorrow. On that note, he'd better not blab about that million-word story in my face, or I will have the judge put a restraining order on him!"

"Sent is all tight-lipped on the story, I promise, Kim!" Cajunbear replied. "No word of it will come from him!"

"Good! I'll talk with the hubs about this. I'll see you and Sent tomorrow!" Kim said.

"OK, laters!" Cajunbear replied, ending the call.

AN: Some of the elements that I plan to use within the story are Hotrod2001's and KPRS4ever's ideas and they both gave me permission to use them. So all credit of those ideas go to them.