It was dark out by the time Bonnie and Ronald got back to the small apartment in Lowerton. It had been a day to remember that was for sure Bonnie thought. Nothing could have prepared her for finding out about Ron and Ronald. She still had some questions that she'd never gotten any real answers about, but that could wait for now. All that mattered was that she was here, in this little sanctuary from the rest of the world, with Ronald. Her Ronald, the man who had so easily and suddenly filled her life with hope. Would it be easy? No of course not. She'd learned the hard way that life didn't care what you wanted from it, so you had to work for everything you wanted and if by some miracle you got it, well you better hold onto it with both hands.

Unlocking the door, Ronald bowed. "Your castle m'lady." in a very poor British accent.

Bonnie rolled her eyes, but gave him a little pat on the head as she entered. "Goofball."

Following her inside, Ronald sported a lopsided grin. "Just remember I'm your goofball."

She turned to face him, tugging lightly on some of her hair nervously. "You sure you still want that?"

Ronald finished locking the door, then closed the space between them, taking her hand in his. "How can you even ask me that?" he said softly, his other hand tucking the loose strands of her hair behind her ear. "If anything I'm the one who should be asking you that? I mean who wants to settle for a copy right?"

Bonnie pressed herself against him, sliding her arms around him so she could feel his warmth. She inhaled deeply, letting his scent fill her. "This isn't a copy. I've never felt anything like this in my life." tilting her head up to so that her chin rested on his chest she smiled sweetly. "This is as real as I've ever felt and it's all because of you."

Ronald was struck speechless. No small feat.

Bonnie went on, her voice thick with emotion. "I don't care if you're a clone of somebody I used to know. I'm not that Bonnie anymore. She doesn't exist. I've changed so much in the past years that I feel like a completely different person." tears began to slide down her cheeks. "I want to be different. I never want to be her again. So as far as I'm concerned Ronald Stoppable you and I are new people. Both of us are real and we are together and that is what I want. I don't care about what was, I want this...right now...I want us."

Swallowing hard, Ronald wrapped her up in his arms, burying his face in her hair. "You got it. All of it." his voice threatening to crack.

They stood like that for a while, just being together. It was a moment where silent promises were made and heard, from one heart to the other.

And yes it was very real.

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Ron flicked the light on the their bedroom as he and Kim entered. Today had been interesting to say the least.

"Still can't get over the fact that clone boy is hooked up with Bonbon." snickering at the very idea.

Kim was taking off the necklace she'd worn to the Stoppable's, but she paused, turning to look at her husband. "I think they're good for each other. Besides I thought you were happy Ronald found somebody to be with?"

Ron walked over and helped with with the clasp of the necklace before setting it down on the dresser. "Kim nobody is happier about it than me, well ok maybe Ronald is, but still." he took a moment to gather his thoughts. He knew lately he'd been on thin ice with his wife and he so did not want to get another night on the couch. "Yes I'm glad he's got somebody. If nothing else it means he won't try anything with you again."

"He never tried anything with me in the first place." Kim said defensively.

"Whoa amp down babe." he said, planting a quick kiss on her forehead. "I didn't mean it like that, but you know...well the whole pretend to be me thing was a bit much. I mean claiming to be me is one thing, but.."

Kim poked a finger lightly into his chest. "Hey mister it's not like you never made mistakes." her tone was light however and her eyes shown with adoration when she looked up at him. "How many pairs of pants are still unaccounted for these days?"

"Ouch! Low blow Mrs. Stoppable." chuckling as he leaned in to kiss her fully on the lips this time.

She all but purred into his mouth, leaning against him as her arms encircled his neck. Never let it be said that Ron Stoppable didn't know how to kiss!

Once they caught their breath, Kim drew little circles on his chest with a finger. "So...I have a favor to ask." The first signs of a puppy dog pout forming.

Warning bells went off in Ron's head. He knew that look in her eyes. "Something tells me I'm not going to like it." he joked.

Kim pulled him into another kiss, really pouring it on. This time when their lips parted Ron was all but brainwashed. His lips still making kissing motions as Kim looked on with a grin.

"Ron."

"..uh huh..."

"I want you to do something for me."

"...uh huh..."

She took the plunge. "I really want you and Ronald to get along, so can you work on that...for me?"

That snapped him right out of the dreamy autopilot his brain had been on. "That's not something I can do by myself you know. Takes two to tango Kim." There was a definite edge to his voice.

She nodded. "I understand that, but just try ok?"

"I've tried before and look where it got me." he countered.

She reached up to cup his cheek. "It got you me."

He couldn't help the lopsided grin that brightened up his face. "Well when you put it like that." He sighed deeply. "I'm still not sure though. You saw how things were today. I just can't get along with him. I mean, it's not like I don't want to..."

"Really?" Kim just had to point out. "Because it seems that you can't help but take shots at him."

"I don't take shots at him." Ron said defensively as he stepped away from her, moving to sit on the bed to take his shoes off. "Heck I'd say I've more than put up with my share of things. The guy tried to steal you away from me, he's basically weaseled his way into my family, even Rufus and Hana treat him like he really is my brother."

Leaning back against the dresser, Kim folded her arms over her chest. "He didn't weasel his way in. They accepted him. What did you want them to do? Just throw him out on the streets? He had nowhere to go. You remember what those first days were like for Ronald. Global Justice wanted to take him in for research!"

"Well he is a clone created by one of our enemies Kim." Ron all but spat the words. He realized he might have been a bit harsher than he meant to when he saw her reaction. Dropping a shoe to the floor he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Look I'm sorry. It's just a lot to deal with all over again. I mean...everybody calls us brothers, but I don't feel like he's my brother ok. There I said it."

"But he basically is." Kim affirmed, blowing strands of hair away from her face.

Clenching his jaw, Ron shook his head. "No he's not. Maybe it's easy for everybody else to say that and pretend everything is ok, but I can't." Looking at her, he tried to make her understand. "Put yourself in my shoes."

"I've been in your shoes remember." Kim pointed out. "Drakken cloned you, me, and Bonnie once. We had to dissolve them with soda of all things."

Shaking his head again, Ron rested his arms on his knees. "Not the same. Those were just evil look-a-likes. Ronald is on a whole other level. He doesn't just look like me, he has my memories, my...my everything."

She stepped away from the dresser and stopped right in front of him. Gently she began running her fingers through his hair. "He doesn't have your everything. I'm here after all."

Ron pulled her close, his arms around her waist as he pressed his face against her belly. "I know and that makes me happier than you can imagine, but I can't just flip a switch and be ok with him. It's not like I don't want to. It's just...I mean how would you feel if there was a clone of you?"

Kim gave that some thought and she knew she would be none too happy about it at all. Then again that also raised another point, one which she shared. "I guess I'd be as upset as you are, but I'd also have to wonder just how upset my clone was."

Pushing away from her just enough so that he could look up at her face, Ron questioned, "What do you mean?"

"Think about it." she said, brushing rebellious strands of his blond hair away from his eyes. "Ronald wakes up alone in a world where he's a copy. Every memory he has is from a life belonging to somebody else. Every feeling he has comes from another person. Yes he is a clone of you, but that doesn't make those memories or those feelings any less real to him. Can you imagine what you would do if things were reversed? Put yourself in Ronald's place and ask yourself...What would you have done if you were told you couldn't have me. That we would never be together. That your family wasn't yours, that Hana and Rufus and everything important in your life didn't belong to you anymore."

Her words were heavy and Ron felt them pressing down on him like a ton of proverbial bricks.

"...whoa..." he said in a small voice.

Kim nodded with a little frown. "Sucks doesn't it? I bet you'd still fight for me though because you love me."

Ron nodded, but didn't say anything.

"So can you really blame Ronald? All he wanted was to live the life he felt was his. He wasn't scheming to take your place, he was trying to live his life, the only life he knew."

Ron felt way out of his depth, but still he just couldn't put everything aside. Ok so he felt a little sorry for Ronald now, but that didn't change things, not really. Ronald couldn't have Kim and he couldn't have his life. Ronald was the clone, plain and simple as that. Every time he saw him Ron just had the desire, no the need to make it clear who was the real one and who was the fake. He'd shared his name with Ronald, given him half of his Naco royalties, let him be part of his family and friends...what else did they expect him to do? In Ron's mind he'd been way more than accommodating.

"Look Kim...I get it...I do, but still..." How to get her to understand? "My life was basically hijacked. I had no say in it and I've done everything I can to be understanding, but after how things went down that night at the restaurant...Kim he hit you." The anger in his voice evident.

Kim adjusted his hold on her so that she could sit on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck again. "He didn't hit me. I just put my face in the way of his fist honestly."

"That's not funny Kim."

"Trust me I know." she admitted, laying her head on his shoulder. "Tell me something Ron, did you see his face that night?"

That was an odd question he thought. "Well yeah, I mean I did land a few hits of my own you know."

"That's not what I'm talking about." she admonished softly against his neck. "After Ronald hit me, totally by accident of course, his face...it was like he was hurting so much. I ran to you that night not just because I was worried about you, but because I couldn't bare to look at him any more. There was so much pain in his eyes...the same eyes as yours...it was like seeing you...god this is so hard to explain." she huffed, annoyed that she couldn't get the words to come out right.

Pulling her even tighter against him, Ron held her, placing a small kiss on her cheek. "I think I get it."

"Do you?" she started to cry. "Well can you explain it to me because this sucks...this really sucks Ron."

He began to rock her slowly. "We never really sorted anything out did we?" he said flatly, the day's events starting to take their toll on him. He felt drained and so tired. "We came back from a mission and then later he shows up in my house and then things just got weird."

"Very weird." she added between little sobs.

"Here I am whining about how I feel when it couldn't have been easy for you, or the rents either, but still it's like everybody just wanted things to go back to the way they were...to be normal. So instead of a clone I ended up with a twin brother. Everybody just pretended things were fine, but they aren't fine...they just aren't."

Sniffling, Kim pushed herself back so she could look into his eyes. "What does that mean?"

Ron took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know...I just...its' not like there are rules for this sort of thing. I just know that I'm the real one and it bothers me that he's even out there. That there is another me walking around in the world. Does that make sense?"

She nodded, wiping her eyes. "Yeah it does, but that won't change that he exists. We have to deal with that, because I love you Ron, completely love you, but also...and I don't know how exactly to explain this, but I love Ronald too."

At the sight of his shocked expression she clarified quickly. "Not like I love you! With him it's like, I don't know, like I lost something when he left. He was my friend...is my friend...I mean I hope we can be friends. Gah! I'm rambling."

"You only knew him for like a month Kim, how can he be that important to you?" Ron asked, desperate to understand what his wife was trying to tell him.

"I don't know, but if I did I'd be doing a better job of explaining it than this that's for sure." Wiping at her eyes again, she took a shaky breath. "I know Ronald is the clone. I know you are the real Ron. I know it in here." she said placing a hand over her heart. "But...something felt wrong when he left. Something just wasn't right. I don't know how else to say it. Not having Ronald around for over a year was more upsetting than I ever admitted."

Ron felt sick to his stomach, his insides twisting into knots. "You missed him huh?"

Nodding, Kim started to cry all over. "Yeah I did. I missed my best friend."

Like a slap across his face, but with words. "Kim...I'm your best friend."

Taking a deep breath, trying to calm down, Kim looked at him with bright eyes. "That's exactly what he said. He said he couldn't be my best friend anymore. Do you get what that means? He felt it too...Ronald thought of me as his best friend. I don't understand that any more than you do. It's like...like, I have you and I love you and I'm with you in every way a man and a woman can be together and we have a life together and a future we're working towards and one day a family of our own, but...but...something still felt stolen from me when he left. I had everything I wanted, but it still felt like my best friend in the whole world walked away that night."

Ron couldn't follow her logic at all. What did she mean her best friend had left? He'd never gone anywhere. He was right here. "That doesn't make any sense. He's not me...I'm real...he's not me."

She cradled his face with both hands, touching her forehead to his. "I know that baby, I swear I do, but I can't change how I feel."

Swallowing thickly, Ron managed to force the next words out. "So...he means...that much to you." It wasn't a question.

"I know I want to be his friend and I know I love him, but not like I love you. I love him as a best friend, as somebody like a brother to me, as somebody I'd trust with my life. I know that sounds crazy, but after seeing him again and being around him again...I just can't put it into words."

"You don't have to." he said softly, hiding his face against her neck. "Nobody should have to go through this. It's not fair."

On that they both agreed.