Girl Meets Ring Power

Author's note – This is a sequel to Girl Meets Names. Lucaya. And Shaty. Actually, Shaty is kind of the point…. Was going to be Girl Meets Fluffy Dresses but I like the new title better. I imagine someone's used it before but… It just fits. PS – I'm not sure if the show ever specified if Katy and Kermit had officially married or not… And so I'm writing this in a way that it doesn't matter.

Katy was sitting at home on her couch. Or bed. Technically it was both. She could only afford a one bedroom apartment and she'd given Maya the bedroom in an effort to provide some sort of a normal life for her. Now that Katy was working at the bakery for Topanga, she was actually managing to put some money aside each month. She hoped it would be enough to afford moving to a better place soon. One where she would have her own room. And maybe, also soon, share that room with Shawn? That thought always put a smile on her face.

Katy was very, very tired of facing the world alone. She hadn't exactly minded all of the sacrifices she'd made for Maya but sometimes it got a little old. And all of the extra hours and effort had left her a little disconnected from her daughter. It was difficult to not to resent the Matthews family. They'd basically stepped in and filled the void she'd been unable to fill in Maya's life. Cory had, to a large degree, given Maya a father figure in her life. And somehow Topanga had time to do the things that Katy didn't. That didn't make a lot of sense because if any of those law TV shows were correct, lawyers typically worked around 60 hours per week. How could she do that and manage to be home from time to time? Katy had, until recently, worked just about as many hours, albeit for far lower wages. And sometimes she wouldn't even see Maya for a couple of days. The entire situation would have made her furious if the Matthews didn't take such good care of her daughter. Still, it was hard not to be envious. Her new job at the bakery was for much better wages than she'd gotten before and Topanga had insisted that she work more reasonable hours and so life had finally gotten a bit easier. That helped to reduce the resentment as well.

Pity that the kids never tipped…

Katy hoped that once she and Shawn were married and settled, she could balance the scales a little. Maybe help Riley through some part of life that Topanga or Cory weren't ready for. They were lucky, luckier than she thought either one of them had ever realized. They hadn't seen a lot of failure in their lives. That was just about all Katy had ever seen and so he was very used to picking herself back up and finding a new way to get things done. "Huh." She thought. "I guess it hasn't been a total waste of time for things to be this hard." She hoped it would be easier even once she was married and no longer facing these problems all by herself.

Married. That word made Katy look down at her ring finger. It was sadly empty. The engagement with Shawn was going wonderfully. Somehow the word 'fiancé' really did feel better than 'boyfriend' ever had. Previously they'd just seen each other whenever Shawn was in town. Now he was in town more which meant she saw him more. Even better, they now talked when they couldn't see each other. Sometimes just a hello or a check in with the other person. Sometimes soft and romantic conversations where she found herself whispering and hiding under her pillow so that Maya wouldn't overhear. Everything was going so well that she was almost able to ignore the thing they'd forgotten.

Nearly, but not entirely.

Proposing to Shawn on her own had left her without something she'd always coveted, a proper engagement ring. She didn't think Shawn had even realized that the idea of a ring had been lost in the shuffle. She wasn't sure how to bring it up. She proposed, so technically she should have given Shawn a ring. And then they should have gotten her one. That's now it worked when a guy proposed to a girl. But everything had happened so fast with her and Shawn and, well, once the moment had passed it felt silly to bring the idea back up. This was the second time she'd been disappointed on that score. When she and Kermit had played at the idea of being married, she'd wanted a ring but they had been broke and she'd never gotten one. Just like she'd never gotten the partner that she'd wanted in life. Kermit. Holy Christmas, his name really was Kermit. Was it too soon to laugh at herself for conceiving a child with a man named after a Muppet? She thought about it. "Yep. Still too soon." She said out loud.

"What's too soon?" asked Maya, walking out of her room.

Katy quickly decided that repeating her doubts and fears to her teenage daughter was a bad idea. So, she scrambled for something to fill the lull. "Umm – Too soon for you to have a boyfriend." She said.

That was probably a safe topic. Maya expected her mother to be protective or somehow disapprove of her boyfriend. And so Katy played the part, acting all worried if Maya got home a few minutes late or maybe her clothes were just a little bit ruffled. "You make sure that boy behaves himself!" she'd say to Maya. The expected 'Mom!' or eye roll would follow and the world would go back to normal. But honestly, Katy wasn't worried in the least. Lucas was too nice of a boy to get up to any real mischief. I mean, 'boys will be boys' was the idea when she was growing up but… Not that one. And the world was getting a little better on that score. So let her daughter enjoy being young with someone who Katy knew wouldn't hurt her. Well, he wouldn't hurt her on purpose. As for hurting her on accident, well, that wasn't something you could plan for.

Maya laughed. "You didn't think it was too soon when he was Riley's boyfriend."

"That's because Riley isn't my daughter. I love her to death but it just isn't the same." Katy bantered back. It was so nice to hear happiness in her daughter's voice. She was used to sullen, quiet, or disenchanted. Not cheery. Cheery with her Mom wasn't Maya's style. Maybe it wouldn't last but Katy would take it as long as she could get it.

"Nice to know you care, Mom. Anyway, I'm off to get into some mischief. See you later." When she waved, Katy noticed a glint of metal on Maya's finger.

"Hey, what's that on your finger? Did Lucas propose or something?" Katy teased.

"No Mom. Lucas hasn't proposed. And I'm really disappointed." Maya deadpanned. "But it's still early in the week so I haven't lost all hope… I'm kidding. It's my friendship ring from Riley."

"Friendship ring?" Katy asked.

"It's silly but, well, it's a connection between Riley and me. When one of us needs to other to go along with something and they are resisting, we shout 'Ring Power' and the other has to go along. Usually it's Riley doing the shouting." Maya paused for a second. "Mostly it's used when one of us is being a butthead. Hence, usually me."

"Do you have any other people in this 'ring power' group?" Katy asked.

"Not so far." Maya replied.

"Good. Just to be clear? You are not allowed to get all ring powered up with Lucas. Got it? Not until you're a lot older." Katy said seriously.

"Why?" Maya asked, genuinely concerned. "Do you really think Lucas would force me to do something I shouldn't?"

"No dear. I don't think Lucas would do a thing." Katy said, trying not to laugh. "You on the other hand… Well, I'm afraid of what you might make HIM do."

Maya giggled. It sounded innocent when it started and but sounded pretty naughty by the end. "Might?" she asked her mother. Then she waved at her mom again and headed out the door.

Katy kicked herself. "I really shouldn't give that girl ideas." Then she looked down at her empty hand again. "That's what I need. Ring power."