It was three months before Riley was born. Cory and his pregnant wife: Topanga were living in a simple but decent apartment in New York City. The two were still both in university but were a very happily married young couple. It was a Tuesday morning. Cory always left before Topanga did on Tuesdays, but they still always kissed each other goodbye before Cory left. This morning Cory came out of his room fully dressed seeing Topanga watching TV. A smiling Cory went right over to Topanga and said, "Okay my lovely wifey poo. Give me a kiss kiss before I head out." A suddenly panicked looking Topanga grabbed onto her husband's arm and said, "Cory. Don't leave me. Don't go out. Don't go anywhere in the city." A concerned and confused Cory said, "Why?" Topanga then pointed at the screen and in tears said, "Look." Cory then looked at the TV screen and became shocked at what he saw. The Twin Towers, the World Trade Center, had been hit by two planes. This was how the morning of September 11th, 2001 began for the two.
Hours passed as Topanga could only stare at the news coverage in horror. She was horrified as she saw the two towers fall, the coverage of the pentagon also being hit; it was too much for her to handle. Cory handled calling their family and friends to let them know they were safe. After making sure Shawn and Eric were fine, Cory spent the rest of the day sitting beside his wife just holding her hand. Aside from going to the bathroom though, all Topanga could do that day along with the next: was just sit still on the couch and watch the television. That Wednesday evening though, Cory finally turned off the TV after President Bush's address to the nation was over. Topanga was still silent.
Finally Cory spoke up and said, "I guess the president did the best he could with that speech considering the situation we're in." Topanga was still silent. Cory sighed and said, "Topanga, please say something. I know you're shocked by the state of our world now. But we'll get through it. We'll survive it. We'll..." Topanga suddenly interrupted Cory and said, "I'm not worried about us getting through it Cory. I'm worried about our daughter getting through it. When she finally comes out to meet this world in three months, what kind of world is she going to meet? What if this is a sign Cory? A sign that our world is going to get darker, more conflicted, more dangerous. A sign that the daughter we chose to have is going to live a life full of pain and hardship?" Cory sighed and said, "I don't know for sure Topanga. The world is always changing. And when our girl meets the world, it will indeed be a different world than what we met when we were young. But that just means it's more important than ever that we care for her, teach her, and love her. We'll do everything we can to prepare her for any hardships she may face; so that when she's ready to meet the world on her own, she won't be ill-prepared." Topanga then hugged Cory and said, "I'm so glad I married you Cory Matthews. You're going to be a great dad for Riley when she's born." A surprised Cory said, "Wait. Her name is going to be Riley? But we didn't discuss..." Suddenly Topanga kissed Cory. Once the kiss was done, Cory smiled and looked down at Topanga's stomach as he said, "Riley it is then."
THE END
*Author's Note - Be sure to check out my recently created "Girl Meets Andi Mack" fanfiction tale which is the first ever crossover between Andi Mack and Girl Meets World. Be sure to favorite and leave comments for that story and this one.