ilyiw TADE: nine months, two reasons
Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. The original lyrics to the songs referenced in this story and the music are the property of the respective authors, artists and labels. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time).
This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.
Enjoy! Please read and review.
A/N Forward:
Tara, Wade, Kathrine, Ned, Bonnie, and more to come…seriously.
Thanks in advance for reading, and please review.
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Chapter 1: ...and twins make for five...
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Tara Load could not ever, not even in her wildest dreams, imagine her life like it was today.
She had pulled her car into the garage of her new house, the house that she's dreamed of, the one that had been built for her by her new husband and, now, the father of her daughter that she loved more than life itself.
And, she had a secret that she wasn't going to tell either of them until Christmas morning, in just a few days:
She was pregnant.
She knew that her husband loved children: he taught at MIST, and he had even started helping out at the elementary school where their daughter attended ('our daughter!' she grinned.), and the kids there all loved him. Even their daughter wanted him to come to the school, and now even more than ever, especially since she could now introduce him as 'My Daddy.'
'Yes, Kathrine's in love with Wade, almost as much as I am,' Tara grinned as she opened the door from the garage to the house and punched the button to close the garage door.
"Good evening, Miss Tara," came with a chuckle from the Wadebot that greeted her with a Southern accent. "May Ah take your coat and briefcase?"
"Why, thank you, kind suh," Tara giggled, "jus' the coat. I ne-ud the briefcase," she replied in as poor a Southern accent as she could generate, and she handed him her coat with a smile.
"Dr. Load," the Wadebot 'lost' his accent, "has been home for a bit, and Miss Kathrine just got home from school and Jess' house," the Wadebot followed her into the living room. "I took the liberty of pouring you a small something when you pulled into the driveway; I hope that I was not presumptuous."
"Not at all, but I trust that it's nonalcoholic: I'm not feeling up to any this afternoon, for some reason."
"Not a problem, ma'am. We have some of the Lopez vineyards 'sparkling,' already chilled. I poured the white, but I can pour a red."
"The white, please and thank you," she replied, and the Wadebot handed her the wine glass containing the sparkling grape juice and headed into the kitchen while Tara laughed inside.
'Please, and thank you: I never did that until after I met Wade…but, it just seems so right.'
The call she'd received from her doctor just after lunch was a shock, but a pleasant one. She'd told Tara that her 'upset stomach' would go away after a week or two, but the 'full feeling' she had would remain for another eight months.
Scarlette ran into her boss' office when she heard the resulting scream, and she guessed immediately when she saw the grin on Tara's face after she hung up the phone.
"You're preggers, aren't you?" Scarlette wagged her finger at Tara. "And, you know I'm right, don't you?"
"How…?"
"That's not your 'just beat the pants off of opposing counsel' grin, and there's nothing in the litigation hopper right now. Plus, you've been grinning like a mad woman every day you come into the office ever since you went out with him, so I assumed that he must have 'gotten under your skin,' sooner or later," Scarlette laughed, and Tara smiled warmly.
"You can't tell him, Scarlette: I'm saving it for our first one, that morning: it seems to be perfectly timed.
"So, what did it for that magic moment, Boss: did you wear 'the little black dress' that you wore on your second date, the "OH! MY! GOD!" nightgown that you bought for your honeymoon, or the cheer outfit: I'm guessing, knowing what you've told me about Wade, it was the cheer outfit," Scarlette laughed when her boss blushed a medium red.
"Well, Wade did really like me in it," Tara grinned.
"And, I bet he liked getting you 'out' of it, even more," Scarlette laughed as she raised her eyebrows up and down, and Tara laughed along with her as she nodded vigorously while her blush, amazingly, deepened to an even darker red.
"You little minx, you," Scarlette purred and grinned. "You DO realize that this means decaf for you for the next – what, 8-10 months, maybe even 12?"
"Awww, man: not decaf again?" Tara moaned, and Scarlette laughed. Her boss was a wonderful woman, but she was a coffee addict, and she loved her daily espresso in the morning. The realization that that was now gone for eight months just hit, and Tara wailed, "NO MORNING ESPRESSO!!"
"If you try to sneak one, I'm calling MoonNickel's and telling them to cut you off," Scarlette chided.
"Yes, Mother," Tara stuck her tongue out, and Scarlette laughed as she left the office.
When she closed the door, both ladies, unbeknownst to each other, pumped their fists into the air and shouted:
"YES!!
"And, no, you can't call Wade and tell him, Scarlette!" came from the other side of the door, and Scarlette grinned.
"And, that includes Kathrine and the Wadebots, too, Scarlette!" came moments later, and Scarlette winced. Her boss knew her too well…
'But not well enough to know what I'm helping Kathrine do for her mother and father,' Scarlette grinned as she took her seat out front and changed the coffee orders for the next 18 months to 90 per cent decaf, 10 per cent regular, and she sent the updated order through to her supplier, the ever-timely BBGG Coffee Service.
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The crowd had enjoyed Christmas Day at the Load's residence:
Ron Stoppable, his wife Kim Possible-Stoppable, their three kids Ronald Dean, Jr., Timothy Ryan, and June Jamie-Anne; Stephen Lopez, his wife Jocelyn Possible-Lopez, their three kids Jason Michael, Hannah Esther, and Samuel David Lopez; Ned Rorem and his wife Bonnie Rockwaller-Rorem, and Jessica Giggs, all spent the entire day enjoying each other's company and time with Wade, Tara, and Kathrine. The Wadebots had taken the lead in chaperoning the young people and making sure that the guests were never without refreshments of any kind. The Lipskys: Drew, Shirley, and their daughter Ann, had left mid-afternoon to spend some Christmastime with Drew's mother and brother.
Wade, Tara, and Kathrine Load all enjoyed being hosts and hostesses, and they enjoyed the telling and retelling of the events that led up to their becoming a family and the 'quarterversary' party that Kathrine had hosted. Wade and Ron told stories about Kim, and Kim and Bonnie had everyone laughing with their stories of Ron and the cheer squad. Ned had everyone in stitched with his stories about Ron and Kim, and really got going with his 'Tales of BonBon,' as he called them, most causing Bonnie to either blush or throw pillows at her husband, much to the enjoyment of the listeners. Stephen told Wade some stories about Jocelyn that were certain to get him whacked across the head, and Joss had no problem accommodating him, much to the continued delight of everyone there.
The laughter and friendship made Kathrine lots more comfortable being around Mikey, and they finally got up the nerve to sit next to each other and talk: Kathrine told him what she knew about her dad, and Mikey told her what he knew about his mom. The more they talked, the more they both relaxed and let their guards down a bit, and they went to the dinner table laughing with each other, much to the amusement of Samuel and Jessica., who had hit it off almost immediately.
Samuel liked the fact that Jessica was not shy about talking to him or about herself, and he really got a chuckle when he told her that she was pretty; she pooh-poohed him, telling him that she wasn't all that pretty. 'We'll have to fix that,' Samuel thought, and he started by telling her that she was, indeed, 'all that' and DDG, so why did she think she wasn't pretty? Jessica blushed a deep red, and she refused to tell him whatever it was that 'ground her beans,' as Samuel had heard his uncle James say on many an occasion. On the way to the table, though, he offered her his hand as she stood. She took it, stood, and was shocked when he bent over and kissed it. 'Delicious,' he thought, and he lifted his head to the blush and giggle that told him that she liked it…a lot.
Joss nudged her husband as the two sons came into the room, each escorting a young woman. "We're gonna be busy fightin' fires, it looks like," Joss whispered.
"And, that's different from your dad's fun, how?" Stephen whispered back, and Joss pinched his arm.
"That was different," she whispered back, and Stephen chuckled.
"Of course, Joss, that was very different: you're female, and our sons aren't," Stephen explained, and he got another pinch.
Mikey asked Tara about the plastic plants in the front yard, and Kathrine squirmed and blushed when her mother told the story of what Kathrine did.
"So, you like yellow roses, Kathrine?"
"They're my fav, Mikey."
'That's good to know,' Mikey thought, 'since we passed a vendor on the way here: I hope he's still open after we leave, tonight.'
They were, and Mike had just enough time to get one, return it to the Load house and give it and the note he wrote to Tara before he went home that night.
Stephen was chuckling as he watched his son return from the floral delivery.
"Joss, should we consider adding another to the corral?"
"Only if you're planning on carrying this one, Stephen," she replied sweetly, and Hannah laughed as they entered the OmniTube station.
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"Wade?" Tara called from the bathroom as Wade came in the bedroom and closed the door.
"Yes, my love?" Wade pulled off his BlazeIT! polo and put on his pajama top.
"You never told me what you thought about the idea of being a father of twins," she stated from the stool where she sat.
Wade walked in and saw her.
"What are you doing?"
"Well, d'oi: removing my makeup," she laughed.
"I can't believe you even wear makeup: I've never been able to tell, not unlike some of my undergraduate students at MIST."
"The diff, my dear husband, is that I'm not trying to hide zits with my makeup or poorly-maintained skin," she grinned.
"But, Tara, your skin was always perfect, and it still is," Wade countered. "I've never understood why you needed to do anything to perfection" Wade explained, and Tara stood, turned, and gave her husband a bug hug and kiss.
Wade wasn't complaining, but he was confused.
"What was that for, dear?"
"Telling me I'm beautiful, when I've just finished a long, hard day."
"But, you are, and you are going to be even more beautiful as the mother of three."
"Wade," she took his head in her hands and stared into those big browns of his, "are you ready for twins? You know, to be the father of them?"
"I'll talk to the expert: Doctor James. If anyone knows about it, it's him," Wade dead-panned, and Tara punched him in the side and laughed.
"You never said much while we were talking this afternoon and evening about the twins: that's why I was asking."
Wade reached over, pulled his wife to him, and kissed her passionately.
When they separated, he grinned. "Does that answer your question?"
Tara smiled and gave him a quick peck on the cheek and then pulled him to her tightly.
Wade had no complaints.
"I'm definitely gonna keep you around," she whispered when she placed her head on his shoulders, "especially since I'll need somebody for the food runs."
Wade looked confused. "Food runs?"
"Yes, for the cravings, dear," she replied.
"'No big,' Tara," Wade smiled.
'Oh, snap,' was Wade's only thought. He imagined pickles and strawberry ice cream, or hot dogs and marshmallows.
That would have been the G-rated version of what her real cravings turned out to be, he was to learn a few weeks later….
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The caller-id on the PosComm flashed Tara's private number, and the beeps let Wade know it was an urgent call.
Wade touched his earbud and smiled: "Yes, my queen?"
Silence, and then Wade reached for a pen and paper.
"I'm ready, dear. You need what?"
Wade wrote, grimaced, wrote, grimaced again, and continued to write and grimace.
"Got it, dear. I'll bring it home for dinner. Love you," and he punched the button.
Wade dropped his head into his hands and moaned for a few minutes, then lifted it and began to type Tara's food requests for the grocers to pull and box so he could pick it up on the way home:
Fresh tuna salad.
Strawberry jam, for the tuna salad.
Fresh squid salad.
Grape jelly, for the squid salad.
Chunky peanut butter.
Limburger cheese.
Mongolian beef, raw baby corn, and canned cheese spray (the beef from the deli next door, he noted)
Pepperoni and gherkin pizza.
Fresh whipped cream.
Dark chocolate sauce.
Grape jam.
He scratched off the grape jelly and jam from the list as he thought of Kat's 'Extra Christmas project' and the jars of the requested items that were stored in one of the storage rooms in the house and then emailed the order to the grocers'; 'that should get some attention at BBGG,' he chuckled, and he mentally made a note of the requested dishes for tonight's dinner:
Eggs, over easy and buffalo sausage, covered in a dark chocolate Hollandaise, all covered with sautéed jalapeño peppers, onions, and sliced garlic, for the first course, to be followed by:
A fried egg, peanut butter, banana, mayonnaise, and catsup sandwich on grilled rye.
'This is gonna be a long, stomach-curdling experience,' he thought, but suddenly could not stop a smile and a chuckle at the thought of what Rufus might say if he saw the menu for tonight: "No dinner is complete without the Cheese, and I'll have the Gouda please and thank you."
He was looking over the Regent's announcement for the new facilities, still smiling about the honor that had been bestowed on his parents, when he heard a beep in his ear: incoming email arrived.
He punched his desk's virtual keyboard, and the email appeared on the holo-screen above his desk. He started to read and , broke into a full bore laugh as he read the order acknowledgement email from the grocer:
"Dear Dr. Load:
"We received your order and will have it ready for your pickup at the drive-thru in 30 minutes.
"By the way, congratulations on your upcoming event, and please send our congratulations to Mrs. Load, as well.
"from, your friends at the Middleton branch of the BBGG,
"your Black, Blue, and Green Grocers.
"PS:
"Oy, Nerdlinger!
"This sounds worse than mine ever were, and Dr D. hurled at least twice a week with the 'Sweet Gherkin and Ballpark Kielbesas' topped with 'melted marshmallows, butterscotch, and melted Cheddar Cheese!'
"…Shirley"
'Well, at least she didn't want any more black-eyed pea pie, topped with anchovies,' Wade grimaced when he remembered seeing her eat that, just after New Years', and he laughed when he saw Kathrine, covering her mouth, running to her bathroom.
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Wade carried the last of the bags in from the BBGG and started to put the dry groceries away. Kathrine took one look at the counter and ran upstairs, holding her mouth.
The first Wadebot laughed at Wade's predicament and helped him put the groceries away into the refrigerator while the second just stared at the dinner menu.
"Sir, is this a mistake?" The Wadebot stared at the list with severe confusion.
"I wish it were; oh, how I wish it were," Wade laughed.
"Sir, I'm not sure if either my neural nets will be able to process this concoction or if my olfactory senses will be able to withstand the assault."
"Get ready, then, 'cause here it comes," and Wade began to slice garlic.
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"Gotta go to Jess' for dinner," Kathrine yelled as she ran past the kitchen for the front door as Wade finished the first dish.
"Chicken," he called out, and Kathrine clucked as she closed the front door.
"Was that a drive-by daughter?" Tara came into the kitchen and sat at the table.
"You look tired, dear: something to drink?"
"Yes, please, and thank you," Tara giggled. "I mixed up my own special concoction, and it's in the blue pitcher in the fridge."
"All right," Wade said, and he went to the cabinet first and got down two glasses, placing them on the counter.
"Make sure you put plenty of ice in mine," she added, and Wade stuck her glass underneath the ice dispenser and filled it, then filled his.
He then opened the 'fridge and pulled out the blue pitcher, feeling it slosh as he carried it to the counter: it was full of whatever she had made. He opened the top and poured the light brown liquid into her glass, filling it, and then his.
Something looked familiar, so he picked up his glass and sniffed. Grinning and saying 'it can't be,' he took a sip and broke into raucous laughter.
"What's so funny, Wade?" Tara asked from the table.
"Your choice of drinks," he replied as he cleaned the counter from where he'd spewed liquid, picked up both glasses, and carried them to the table, handing one of them to Tara.
"Why is this funny?" she looked at the glass. "I drank it while I was pregnant with Kathrine: it was the only thing that kept my stomach calm."
"Yes, but you weren't married to me, then," Wade laughed, and Tara looked confused.
He held up the glass and said six words that caused Tara to soak his shirt with the liquid:
"Sweet Tea, my darling: Sweet Tea."
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Author's afterward:
Well, we're back.
(Kathrine Elizabeth Load) It's about time, 'neb! And, thank you all for voting for me in the Fannies.
(Tara Load) And, thank you all for naming our little tale the Best Romance for 2007.
(Wade Load, grinning) Well, I certainly thought it was the best romance for 2029.
(Tara Load, blushing) WADE!
(Wade Load) I hope you enjoyed Tara's menu for twins.
(Tara Load) The Mongolian beef with the canned cheese spray and raw baby corn was especially yummy.
(Kathrine Elizabeth Load) MOM! You wanna make everybody hurlers? Thanks, everyone, and especially whitem for believing in me. Now, (smiling) if I can just get Mikey to ask me to next year's Fannies…
(Wade laughs) James, how did you live through this? Please, call or email me: I'm begging you!
(Kathrine Elizabeth Load) It's your fault, Daddy: you bought me when you paid for the adoption, and now you're stuck with me.
(Tara Load, rubbing her swollen stomach) And, this is definitely your fault, Wade!
(Wade, grinning) Yea…my fault…(giggling) right, as if I was the one wearing the cheer outfit.
(Kathrine Elizabeth Load) No, that would have been 'Old Dad...'
(Tara groaned). At least you didn't see what she did to the Tade Pie: sick and wrong on soooooooo many levels!
(cpneb) I couldn't even write it down (shudders).
(Tara) Anyway, we'll be back, and soon: Time waits for no twins….
(Kathrine) hey, 'neb: did you forget that Aunt BonBon's pregnant, too?
(Wade) Oh, snap (then looks over at Ned, who suddenly realized what Wade was talking about).
(Ned groans) Oh, snap!
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Thanks for reading, please review, and fair warning: don't drop by either the Load or Rorem homes for dinner for a few months unless you have a very strong stomach…..
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