"'Night Mom." Cory smiled with exhaustion in his eyes, leaning over slightly so Amy could reach his cheek with a kiss.
"Goodnight, Cor." Amy said, exiting Cory and Topanga's darkened apartment for the night. "I'll be here tomorrow morning around nine."
"Okay, thanks, Mom."
Closing the door, Cory sighed with a long yawn. It had been a crazy few hours, and all he wanted to do was pull back the bed sheets and wrap himself up in them like a mummy.
But, the apartment was a mess, and his pregnant wife was trying to pick up the debris of the night by herself.
"Topanga, don't do that." Cory said with frustration, as he had had to say this to settle that stubborn nature of her's constantly as of lately.
"Cory..." Topanga started to weakly protest, but quickly gave in with an eye roll and a yawn as he sat her on the couch nearby.
"The baby is due any day, Topanga," Cory said, turning to grab wrinkled gift paper and Styrofoam cups from the floor. "I'm not gonna let you bend over backwards with that belly of your's as big as it is."
Topanga, at the mentioning of her bloated stomach, glanced down at it as she carefully placed her hand on it and began to softly rub circles. She smiled at the image of their beautiful girl, curled up in there asleep at the moment, who they would be seeing in only a few days. They had just finished a fun baby shower with her girl friends from Philly and NYU to celebrate the approaching arrival of Riley.
Riley. Topanga could hardly wait to whisper that name in her newborn, little girl's ear soon.
It had been a long few months for Topanga since fall had begun, since she had nothing to do after being forced to set college to the side for a year to take care of the coming baby. She did have a job to go to in the early months of the season, but she had just recently quit to stay at home and rest.
Amy had been staying in the apartment with Topanga to watch after her during the day for about a week now, in case she suddenly began to go into labor while Cory was out working and attending classes. It had been nice to have the company of her sweet mother-in-law, as they chatted with each other while dashing last minute touches into the preparations for Riley.
Topanga suddenly felt an anxious leap inside her stomach at the thought of possibly going into labor at any time during these next few days; she had tried to avoid thinking about what labor would really be like. She was prepared to feel miserable and in an unfathomable amount of distress and pain, but she preferred not to put much worry into that.
Now, with small contractions coming in here and there lately, she was beginning to think about it more and more, and she realized how much she was desperately dreading that part of their daughter's entrance into the world.
"Topanga, you can go on to bed if you're tired." Cory said, glancing up from tossing trash into a plastic bag as he watched his wife's glazed, tired stare into space.
Snapping out of her thoughtful stare, Topanga saw Cory's worried eyes and smiled, shaking her head. "I'm fine."
"You sure?"
"Yes, Cory." Topanga reassured her husband. "I just wanna spend sometime with you."
Cory smiled, dropping the garbage bag and sitting gently next to his wife. Topanga drew herself closer to his side, laying her head on his shoulder and smiling contentedly. Cory reached over and imprinted a long, gentle kiss on her forehead before lying his own heavy head back against the couch cushions.
"You know, this may be one of the last moments we get to spend alone together." Topanga said quietly, smiling up at Cory. "After Riley comes, this will be gone."
"What do you mean?" Cory said, lifting his head to make eye contact with Topanga.
"Well," Topanga uncomfortably adjusted her position underneath the awkward pressure of her swollen stomach. "Right now, you and I are still considered a young, newly-wedded couple in college. We spend all our time together, doing whatever we feel like doing, but when Riley comes, we'll be—"
"A family..." Cory said, as if he were just now noticing how dramatically their lives were really about to change. "Right now, it's just you and me, together—"
"But Riley will make us a family." Topanga smiled, this time taking her turn to reach up and gently kiss Cory.
A few more tender kisses followed, until the beeping of Cory's watch distracted them. Lifting his arm to glance at the time, Cory sighed shortly as he saw it was midnight.
Topanga turned her eyes towards the bedroom door across from the cluttered living room. "You should probably go tell Shawn he can come out of his room now that the baby shower is over."
Shawn had insisted on avoiding Angela during the baby shower, so he cooped himself up in his room for the night. He had been doing better as the months went by, but the pain he felt whenever he saw Angela was too uncomfortable to endure.
Cory, staring at his friend's door for a second, shook his head and stood up, picking up the bag and finishing the cleaning. "He probably fell asleep a long time ago."
But, Shawn wasn't asleep. He was lying underneath his tussled bed sheets on his back, his hands clasped together beneath his head as he listened to Cory and Topanga's conversation outside his door. They were right; once Riley came along, they would be a family.
And Shawn would not be apart of that family.