Everything Is Better, Part Four

by CeleryLapel

This is a continuation of the series, "Everything is Better the Second Time Around." If Annie Edison had a child before she entered Greendale and how this situation might have shaped her and Jeff's relationship. Part Four begins at the close of Season Three.

3. Improvisational Dialogue

Chapter 3: Improvisational Dialogue

Summary: Jeff participates in a few educational conversations

A/N: Apologies for the delay. The excitement of Community Appreciation Week 2017 was a bit much for me; plus you've all been undoubtedly overloaded with so many WONDERFUL NEW COMMUNITY FICS (!) on AO3 and on tumblr. I thought this could wait. ;)

xxxxx

"Und dat WHY, Daddy."

Jeff willed his eyes to open, still in the haze of sleep.

"Pease?"

His lids finally lifted and he was met with the faint blob of Sophie. He struggled to adjust to the darkness of their bedroom, but became rapidly aware that she was standing next the bed, her face about an inch from his.

He figured she meant business, as she was wearing her glasses.

He was vaguely aware of Annie turning over next to him, groaning slightly and then likely trusting him to handle the situation before falling back to sleep.

"What is it, munchkin? I was sleeping."

"Daddy!"

She smacked him lightly on the cheek. This would have perturbed him in daylight, but for now he couldn't really be upset with her; he was too damn tired to think about it. All he knew was he needed to figure out what was the matter so he could get her back to bed. He reached out and lightly took her little hand.

"What's wrong? I'll help."

His eyes now able to make out her face, he could see she was giving him one of her most grumpy expressions. Again, it was not the time for him to find humor in this thing either.

He forced himself to sit up and then swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He glanced at the bedside clock, noticed it was the charming time of three am and regarded her with a sigh.

She began to yank on his hand.

"We go Wuffles. Wuffles need me."

"Huh? What's wrong with Ruffles?"

It was then he heard the whimpering coming from the living room.

"Oh hell."

x

After attempting to attend to Ruffles needs, he was frustrated. He had plopped Sophie back in her bed, taken Ruffles outside in a fruitless endeavor, and then inspected her paws other parts to see if she was injured. Nothing.

The whining had stopped by now, and Jeff was pretty sure Ruffles was just lonely.

It didn't help that Sophie kept leaving her room and coming over to help him. Each time he tried to shoo her away, she remarked, "Wuffles need me. Wuffles seep in my woom, okay?" and motioned for Ruffles to follow her.

Ruffles appeared eager to do so, wagging her tail while excitedly panting.

It was then that Jeff looked down and became fully aware that Count Frogula, Hillary Rodham Kitten, and Ruthie were placed near the crate door.

"Munchkin, did you come over here and talk to Ruffles before you woke Daddy up?"

"Yah. I miss Wuffles. I come und say hi. Und Wuffles cying."

He closed his eyes and nodded sleepily. He may have found the whole thing partially adorable if he weren't so goddamned hazy.

Eventually he was able to return them both to their respective beds. As he left Sophie's room, she called out, "Und Wuffles seep wid me, okay?"

"I told you, no." He gave her a stern look, and while he was fairly certain she couldn't see him since they had removed her glasses, he felt the expression gave him confidence.

And resolve.

"Not tonight, okay? Tomowwow."

"No, Ruffles is sleeping in her crate. She sleeps there and you sleep here. She's fine. You are not to bother her when she's in her crate. It's her quiet place where she feels safe. Do you understand?"

"Okay, Daddy. Nite nite."

"Nite Nite."

"Und nite nite, Wuffles. Wuffles seep wid me tomowwow."

"No. That's final."

"I seep wid you und Mama UND Wuffles?"

"No. It's nighttime. Nite nite."

"Okay."

He was fairly proud of himself that he didn't cave until five thirty, when Sophie used all of her charms to convince him to let her into their bed. As he picked her up and settled her in, he made a sleepy mental note to talk to his mom about what age kids could be before dogs were allowed to sleep in their room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The summer didn't really start until the annual parade of outdoor get togethers was underway, beginning with Ben Bennett's first birthday party. Although old Jeff would have shuddered at the idea of spending a day in the sun with a bunch of kids and baby presents, new Jeff had actually been looking forward to it, as he knew Sophie would have a blast with the older Bennett boys.

Ruffles, alas, was asked to stay home.

As Annie chased Sophie to toward the snack table, Jeff nudged Andre and pointed to the cooler of beers. Andre grinned and reached over, handing him one. Jeff popped off the top, and they clinked their bottles together before taking a ceremonial first sip.

"Ahh. To summer."

"To my son. It's his first birthday."

At Andre's glare, Jeff cringed. "Sorry, hey, you know what I mean."

With a laugh, Andre punched him in the shoulder. "I'm just messing with you, man. Shirley and I were really glad you guys could make it, especially being the only other parents in the study group."

"We wouldn't miss it."

They stood in silence, once in awhile nodding as they kept their eyes on the lawn, watching Elijah and Jordan toss potato chips on top of Pierce, who had fallen asleep on a tree-shaded lawn chair.

Jeff gestured toward them. "Aren't they too old to…?"

"Nah. That guy's a prick."

With the hint of a smile, Jeff resumed sipping his beer.

At that moment Shirley came up between them, Ben in her arms. "Excuuuse meee." She reached over to grab a bunch of paper napkins. "Hi Jef-frey, we are soo hap-py you and An-nie and So-phie could make it."

"Hi Shirley." He pulled her into a side hug. Looking down, he smiled at the ridiculously cute and slightly pudgy baby. He realized it had been a couple months since he had seen him and there was even more definition and dare he say a sense of discernment in the baby's eyes. He almost expected the kid to say a judgy um hmmm.

"Hey, Ben. Happy Birthday."

Shirley smiled broadly at him but her expression quickly changed to a frown. "I have to go take care of a little messy-messy."

Andre cast her an almost panicked look. "Diaper?"

"No. Something sticky."

Andre relaxed slightly but then furrowed his brow. "Which one of them did it?"

"Troy."

"Ahh."

She threw Ben into Andre's flustered arms and took off with a sense of righteousness toward the back of the house.

Jeff assisted Andre in handling his beer bottle as he adjusted the squirming kid in his arms. Andre cocked his head and motioned for Jeff to follow him toward some chairs on the deck.

As they sat down, Andre leaned over and placed Ben's feet on the ground. "There you go, my little man. Just hold on here and stand."

"Is he walking?"

"A few steps, but he's wobbly. He mostly has to hold on to something."

"He's huge. When was the last time we got together?"

Andre looked up with a frown. "Too long. Man, with Shirley's business and everything, I've been going a little crazy at home. We have Jordan and Elijah enrolled in day camp through our church, but I don't want to hang out with the church moms. It's weird, you know?"

"No church dads?"

Andre chuckled. "Oh that's a good one. Nope. I am the sole stay at home daddy."

"That sucks."

He shrugged. "At least I have the stereo store part time, but it's been kind of slow. Hence the part-time."

"Still?"

"Yeah."

Jeff regarded Andre's resigned expression and remembered Britta's words. Although he couldn't stomach giving her credit, he knew she was probably right. And wasn't Annie always encouraging him to make new friends? Ever since he realized friends didn't have to be like Alan Connor, he had remained more open to the idea.

He cleared his throat. "Sophie and I go to this playground on Jefferson some days. My friend Thanos is also home part time and has a kid. You guys could join us, err, if you want."

Andre visibly startled and turned to Jeff. "Really?"

Jeff shrugged. "Yeah, of course."

Andre's mouth opened slightly for moment before closing. Staring down at Ben with a small smile, he replied, "Thanks. I think we will."

Jeff felt a little guilty. He supposed he should have reached out before now, but part of him was still more than skeptical of Andre's renewed commitment to Shirley. After all, there had been the stripper.

And as Britta was fond of saying, men were pigs.

He glanced down at baby Ben, who was smiling at him while managing to emit a long stream of drool. He exaggerated a shocked expression to which Ben giggled.

He figured Sophie must have daddy-dar, for she promptly charged over to them, Annie shirking helplessly while following.

"Hey, munchkin."

Sophie buried her face in his knees. She then turned and gave baby Ben a suspicious glare.

Jeff exchanged bemused looks with Andre and then leaned down near her ear. "Do you remember Ben? Can you say hi?"

"Hi."

Ben smiled and reached toward her, in the process letting go of Andre and plopping into a sitting position on the ground. Undeterred, he climbed onto his knees and crawled over to her. Once he reached her, he began to smack her purple overalls.

Sophie appeared charmed by this and tilted her head.

"You a nice baby."

Andre chuckled. "He can't talk, Sophie, so you'll just have to talk for him."

Sophie placed her hands on her hips and nodded. "Yah. He can't talk. Cause he baby." She looked up at Jeff and Andre and said in all seriousness, "He my baby."

Jeff appeared to ponder this for a moment and began to stroke his stubble. "You'll have to ask Andre and Shirley if you can take him home."

By this point, Annie had quietly sat down on the grass behind the kids. She rolled her eyes at Jeff, to which he gave her a mischievous grin. "Sophie, sweetie, you can't take him home, but you can play with him here."

Appearing mildly perturbed by this news, Sophie grunted. She then seemed to rapidly recover and nodded.

"Okay, baby. You come wid me. We go pay wid Li-ja und Jo-dan."

She bent down and proceeded to try to pick Ben up.

Annie quickly intervened and grabbed Ben and took Sophie's hand. She grinned at Jeff, who was in the middle of a silent chuckling fit as he sipped his beer and leaned back in the lawn chair.

She hoisted Ben to her hip. "Well, I guess we won't have to worry too much about her getting along with Nancy's baby. I was a little concerned she'd be jealous."

Jeff remarked dryly, "She's come a long way. Maybe sharing with Ruffles has been beneficial."

"I miss Wuffles. I take baby und go Wuffles?"

Annie shook her head. "Let's go find Elijah and Jordon." She held onto Sophie's hand, casting Jeff a satisfied smile before they walked back toward the lawn.

Andre and Jeff sat for awhile, both sipping their beers and ignoring Shirley's stomps back and forth, as she continued to say various um hmmmms and that boy is crazy with his glue. Andre explained to Jeff several times he tried not to concern himself with such things, figuring Shirley would just steamroll over him if he tried to get involved.

Jeff smirked at this. "Whatever you say. I notice this then leads you to plenty of time to rest in the shade."

Andre shrugged. "Hey, I'm busy with the kids plenty of other times, and I do my fair share of housework. But you know, Shirley is Shirley. She's great, but you do not mess with her."

Jeff let out a quick low laugh. "So you guys are still good then, now that you're remarried?"

Andre sighed and leaned back in his chair, placing his beer on the side table. "Yeah. It's been really great, actually. I love that damn woman so much."

Jeff watched as Shirley found Troy hiding behind a tree and proceeded to stare at him until he visibly crumpled into a heap on the ground. Abed then rushed over and felt his pulse while Shirley rolled her eyes.

"Shirley is special."

"I was an idiot to have screwed it all up the first time."

"Indeed you were."

Andre shifted his eyes over to Jeff. He hesitated for a moment.

"I never thanked you for what you said to me on my wedding day."

Jeff scrunched up his face and turned away to watch the Trobed shenanigans. Shirley did not seem pleased at all.

"It was nothing."

Andre shook his head. "No, it was good advice. I was feeling threatened by her business, and while I still hate that wackjob Pierce, I've come to realize it's good for Shirley to own something she believes in. And it's good for our family."

With that, they clinked bottles once again and settled back into what Jeff was assumed was comfortable silence. He looked up at the sky and felt the sun on his face.

Andre grinned slyly. "So when are you and Annie gonna make it official?"

Jeff visibly tensed.

Andre reached out and smacked him on the knee. "Sorry man, look, it was just a silly question. Pay me no mind."

Jeff sat back up in his chair. "Nah. It's okay." As he began to pick at the label on his bottle, he mumbled, "I've just been thinking about it a lot lately."

Andre arched a brow and waited for him to elaborate.

Jeff groaned. "Look, this stays between us."

"Of course, man."

"I've had a ring for a while."

"While?"

"Since last fall."

"What in hell has taken you so long?"

Jeff shrugged. "I was being kind of stupid. She and Sophie had moved in, and it just seemed like the next logical step."

Andre looked at him dumbfounded. "It kinda is."

Jeff closed his eyes at the memory, recalling how scared he had been about them potentially losing Sophie, even if it were only on weekends. He didn't even believe in marriage as a concept, as in it would guarantee they would stay together forever; his experience with his own family and countless clients throughout the years had taught him that. But last fall, he had been almost in a state of panic, which since then he came to realize did not make for the best decisions.

And yet, the idea of being Sophie's official father had not lost its appeal.

He opened his eyes and cleared this throat. "It wasn't the right time before. She would have turned me down."

"How do you know?"

"I just do." Attempting to shut out his past fears of Annie tearfully rebuffing him, which were confirmed by the eerily knowing Evil Abed, he quickly added, "Plus I got the wrong ring. She told me she hates diamonds. So you know, I have to get her something else."

Andre let out a low whistle. "Okay, dude. You two have been talking about gemstones? Stop this head spinning and just ask her. She'll say yes."

At the pained expression on Jeff's face, he patted him lightly on the shoulder and added, "She will."

Jeff took a deep breath and then said in a low voice, "I don't think I was thinking about what she wanted. In all honesty, I was probably doing it more out of panic, at wanting to protect Sophie. We get married, I adopt Sophie. That's what I wanted. Which I know isn't the worst thing in the world, but Annie wouldn't have thought I'd really wanted her."

Andre rolled his eyes. "That's nonsense. You're waaaay overhtinking this whole thing. Did anyone ever tell you you're a ball of anxiety?"

Jeff winced. Although he was feeling slightly more comfortable with Andre these days, he didn't want to key him into his GAD. But was that really what this was? No, he was convinced he had valid reasons for his caution with a proposal. Although he was ninety-nine percent certain she would say yes, there was that nagging imp on his shoulder, and it kept saying what if you do it wrong and she leaves you?

Annie and Sophie were everything to him. He couldn't risk a colossal mistake.

He nodded absentmindedly for a few moments, his eyes on the lawn where Sophie was squealing with delight at Ben's crawling.

Andre followed his gaze. "You know, I would have adopted Ben if he had turned out to be Chang's."

Jeff smiled sadly as he continued to watch Sophie. "I didn't make her, but I proudly maintain her."

"I think you should just talk to Annie and feel her out on it."

"Maybe."

"At least ask her to marry you already. Screw the ring."

Jeff pondered this for a while as they sat in silence.

Finally, he said in a low voice, "I think I should consult Big Cheddar about this."

Andre squinted at him. "Ooookay. He sounds fierce."

"She is."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff shuddered slightly as he stepped onto campus that Wednesday. He didn't relish the idea of being back, as he had made the decision to avoid summer classes. Not that he really had much of an option, as taking care of Sophie and doing consulting work took up too much time; he had come to the painful acceptance that he wasn't going to be graduating early like he originally planned. Even taking online classes was too much and left him feeling like a zombie.

And zombie Jeff wasn't so adept at making love to Annie Edison, so alas he had to let something go.

He had mentioned to Annie he might swing by campus to chat with Ian and Shirley. Annie had seemed surprised at this, but she had also been in the middle of attempting to dislodge Sophie from a spot between the couch cushions, so she didn't have the attention span to really question it. He had picked his time well.

Ian nearly crashed into him in front of the main kiosk.

"Oi! Winger! What brings you to our humble academic abode?"

Jeff smiled tightly. Although he told Annie he'd be visiting Ian, he did that more as a cover story so that she wouldn't be too suspicious about him merely going to see Shirley. He really didn't have the patience to put up with Ian right now, as he was eager to get on to more pressing matters.

He affected a nonchalant air, placing his hands in his suit pockets and glancing around at the trees. "Oh, you know, just visiting. I told Shirley I'd come by and check out her sandwich shop."

Ian regarded him curiously.

Jeff's turned to him, eyes widened. "What?"

"You're up to something."

"She wanted to talk to me about something."

"Oh, trouble in Bennett land? That's a shame."

"I don't think it's anything too serious. But hey, we could grab a beer next week."

At this, Ian smiled broadly. "Well, I'd never pass up a chance for us to chat. I'd be delighted."

"Great. Now, if you excuse me…" Jeff began to lightly push on his shoulder as he attempted to move past him.

Seemingly oblivious to Jeff's maneuvers, Ian explained, "But we can't go to a pub. I'm on the wagon."

He stopped and looked at him. "Again?"

Ian nodded with a pout. "Yes, Jeffrey. And I'd be most appreciative if you could support my sobriety. I have reasons. Sexual reasons."

Jeff winced at this. "Yeah, of course. So what do you want to do instead?"

"Smoothies? They make a great strawberry kiwi blend over at Charlie's."

"Um, oookay." He then began glancing past Ian once again, figuring he could probably get over to the cafeteria in about two minutes if he left now.

Undeterred by Jeff's lack of eye contact, Ian added, "And I wanted to tell you my good news anyway. I have tickets for Dave."

Continuing to stare off at the western diagonal pedestrian path, Jeff asked absentmindedly, "Dave?"

"Dave."

Ian stared at him intently as Jeff's attention snapped back. He waited a minute.

"Oh, Dave."

Ian nodded excitedly.

With almost a whisper, Jeff asked, "When?"

Clasping his hands together, Ian exclaimed, "Late June! He'll be at the Greendale Amphitheatre! I'd like you to be my honored guest!"

Jeff, still in a state of shock, replied, "Yeah, sure." He then frowned, and perhaps against his better judgment, remarked, "I would think you'd ask Britta though."

Ian waived a hand in the air and affected a tight smile. "Alas, Britta doesn't seem to appreciate the finer points of Dave."

Jeff let out an inward sigh of relief at being secured one of the tickets.

- "Frankly, it's been a sticking point in our relationship. I'm not sure if it's going to work out."

Jeff arched a brow. "Are you serious? Over Dave?"

"Jeffrey, if there is any deal breaker with me, it would be this. You know I don't have much else to hold onto. But we are talking about Dave." He peered at him over his glasses, which always unnerved Jeff a little.

He sighed and pushed his hands down further in his pockets. "You're not going to do better than Britta, whatever your little whatever is."

Ian tilted his head and appeared to ponder this for a moment.

"She is pretty damn amazing. Admittedly, it would be ridiculous of me to end things over this difference of opinion."

Jeff nodded and began to once again plot his escape.

Ian droned on, "Alas me suggesting it is perhaps mere deflection, an attempt to feel I have some control over the situation."

"Look, we can talk about this later. I have to go meet Shirley." He lifted both hands in an effort to stop him from continuing.

Ian reached over and took Jeff's arm. He said in a pleading tone, "I couldn't take it if she left me. I've been trying to find activities for us to enjoy. The crabs can only bring us so close together."

Jeff placed his hands back in his pockets and stared up at the sky.

Ian continued, "And we play with her cats as long as Abed isn't around because that boy dislikesme still. I volunteer with her at the shelter, and she was so helpful when I was fostering Madeline."

Jeff squinted at him in irritation. "Ruffles."

Appearing to snap into another mode, Ian asked, "Yes, how is she doing?"

"She's good. You could come by and visit her, you know, if you want."

"I'd like that."

"Okay, so I have to go meet Shirley." Jeff took one step to his right.

"Britta and I are planning a bike ride near Chester Fields. But I fear she may mock my cycling gear."

"Ian, look, I can't…"

-"She already mocked my shoes on our last ride, but that was a very short distance and you see I didn't wear the proper gear, which if I'm being faithful to the sport, I must do this time. It's the only way with a long-distance ride."

Taking a deep breath in intense frustration, Jeff asked, "Are you serious? You're worried about her making fun of your cycling outfit?"

"She tends to have a witty remark for most things. Which admittedly is part of her charm, but alas when it is directed towards yours truly it may leave one feeling a wee bit vulnerable."

Jeff let out a long sigh. He turned to fully face Ian and made an effort at maintaining eye contact. In a firm tone, he said, "Britta's gonna have a wisecrack about anything. But you and I both know if she didn't want to spend time with you, she wouldn't."

At Ian's growing brown eyes, Jeff added, "And she has a big heart, so you know, you've probably endeared yourself to her with Ruffles and the cats and the crabs. I'm sure she won't break up with you over clothing."

Ian sniffed. "That is very reassuring and sweet of you, Jeffrey."

"Especially since she already tolerates this." Jeff made a sweeping motion with his hand to indicate Ian's bowtie and sweater vest.

Completely missing the sarcasm, Ian grinned. "You're so very right! Anyway, I must dash. Meet you for smoothies and I cannot wait for Dave!"

Ian patted Jeff on the shoulder, made a gesture of holding an invisible phone near his face and mouthed call me before cheerily almost-skipping off toward the administration building.

Jeff gave a sigh of relief and turned toward west campus.

X

X

X

As he entered the cafeteria, he almost bumped into Professor Hickey, who was muttering something under his breath as he carried a tray toward the door.

Hickey barked, "Hey, watch where you're going!"

Jeff could have sworn he was startled as he looked up but then quickly masked it with a grunt.

Annie always spoke about Professor Hickey in glowing terms, but he really did not understand it. The guy seemed to have a constant heavy chip on his shoulder. Ever since he met him, he had been doing his research in asking around about the guy. After talking with Neil, Vicky, Quendra, and Garrett, he had an impression that Professor Hickey was tough as nails and more than a little scary. Rumors were he had a background in police detective work and left the force in a huff after not being able to capture a serial killer. He also tended to make numerous and vague illusions to having a military background in torture.

Talking to Magnitude hadn't given him much insight other than Hickey may have threatened to pop some students. Or didn't. It was difficult to tell.

With as much courage as he could muster, he flashed his Winger smile. "Hey, Professor Hickey. I'm sorry."

Hickey took a deep breath and emitted another grunt. "That's fine." He then glanced around. "Is Miss Edison with you?"

"No, she's home with our daughter today. I'm just here to see my friend Shirley. She runs the sandwich shop."

"Ah yes, Mrs. Bennett. These are pretty good." He cocked his head toward the BLT on his tray.

Relieved they were finally on decent speaking terms, Jeff added, "She's pretty proud of starting the business."

"She should be." Hickey's face remained stoned cold.

Jeff gave a nod and started to think of a way to extricate him from this awkward conversation, but then Hickey turned and grumbled something about going back to his office.

As Jeff was about to make his way over to Shirley's Sandwiches, Hickey abruptly turned back around. Jeff gave him a questioning look.

Hickey appeared to take a moment to collect himself. He then inhaled deeply before saying, "You refer to her as your daughter."

"Yes, I do."

"You're um, a decent guy."

Jeff's eyes widened as he took in the fact that Hickey seemed to be doing his constipated best to compliment him.

"Thanks. I try."

"You were raised right."

As Jeff opened his mouth to speak, Hickey pursed his lips and turned abruptly to go back to his office.

Jeff watched him go, wondering what the hell was going on.

X

X

X

"Big Cheddar, we meet again."

"Why, hel-lo there, Tinkletown!"

Jeff quickly glanced around to make sure no one was within listening distance before turning back to a gleeful Shirley.

He smirked. "Hey, calm down there. We're just doing coffee."

Pavel's head shot up from underneath the counter. "What is the Tinkletown?"

Shirley and Jeff exchanged furious and horrified glances, respectively.

Jeff frowned and lowered his voice, staring at Pavel with an intensity that made Pavel squirm just a little.

"You must have misheard."

Shirley turned toward Pavel lowered her voice while giving him a fierce stare. "Jef-frey and I are going to sit right over there." She motioned toward the far end of the cafeteria. Pavel nodded he understood.

They grabbed their coffees and settled into a booth. Shirley gripped her cup with both hands and grinned at him.

He rolled his eyes and leaned back.

"This is nice!" She giggled.

He let out a long sigh. "Yeah. Thanks for agreeing to meet me."

"Of course, Jef-frey! I'm always up for getting cof-fee." She cleared her throat and dropped her voice a little as she continued, "Why, I thought after we settled our differences and developed a joshing repertoire about our childhood incident that we could be better friends."

He felt a pang of guilt at this knowing, despite her attempts a moment ago at cheerily calling him by her teasing nickname, she still harbored shame about her bullying of him as a kid. He sat up straighter and reached over to give her a reassuring pat on the hand. His eyes met hers.

"I'm sorry I didn't reach out sooner. I guess I wasn't so sure about you and Andre getting back together. I didn't understand why you gave him a second chance, and I was convinced he was going to hurt you again. So I kept my distance."

She looked down and nodded. He thought he heard a sniffle.

She then looked up at him with sad eyes. "I know he wasn't completely on board with my business. He told me you had a chat with him right before the wedding and set him straight."

"He did?"

"Yes. And I'll be so ever grateful that you said such sweet things. Thank you."

Jeff nodded and gave her another reassuring pat.

"I'd like us to be closer."

Her eyes widening in disbelief, she gripped his hand and didn't let him rescind it. As a tear flowed down her cheek, she said, "I would like nothing more."

He smiled tightly as he attempted to take back his hand. "Shirley, please let me go."

Appearing to come out of her haze, she looked down in alarm and released him. She then took a moment to regard him thoughtfully and frowned.

"What's wrong?"

He bit his lower lip and looked down at his coffee. "I need your help."

"Go on."

He glanced up with caution. "First, I need you to promise what we are about to discuss stays confidential, between you and me."

"Now, Jef-frey, I'm a married woman. I can't keep secrets from my husband. Or the lord."

He lowered his voice. "Of course you can tell Andre. And the lord already knows. But not anyone else, understand?"

She nodded.

He took a deep breath. "Would you pretty please help me find a decent engagement ring for Annie?"

There was a loud and long squeal before Jeff reached over and practically grabbed her into a headlock to stop her from calling too much attention.

X

After Shirley calmed down, they got down to business in discussing rings. Jeff discovered Shirley had strong opinions on jewelry. He kept steering the conversation back to Annie, and once he had convinced Shirley Annie disliked diamonds, she was more open to discussing various gemstone options and even offered to accompany him to the jewelers.

He scribbled down some notes as she talked giddily about metals and settings, clearly in her element.

With a gleam in her eye she added, "And really that's the stone I think would be perfect for her."

"Thanks, Shirley. This is really helpful."

She preened a little at this compliment. "I'm honored you asked me to help you. And not to worry, it stays between us. But I do hope this whole thing isn't a secret for too long. After all, everyone and the lord," she glanced upward before continuing, "is anxious for the two of you to be bonded in holy matrimony, just like me and Andre."

Jeff sighed as he leaned back in the booth. "I'm not going to do it just yet. I have something else I need to figure out beforehand, and it has to be handled delicately. I don't want to upset her."

She frowned. "What are you getting at?"

He grit his teeth as he found himself becoming slightly light headed. He gripped the table and looked down.

"Jeffrey?"

He hesitated but then decided to forge ahead. "This is part of the reason I'm talking with you. You're a mother. How would you really have felt if Andre had adopted Ben?"

She clapped her hands together and did a little bounce in her seat. "Oh, Jef-frey! You should!"

"But the ex-scumbag." He looked down and then back up at her helplessly.

Shirley stared at him for a few moments, her eyes suddenly becoming sad. "Oh."

"See? Not so simple."

"It could be."

"Evil Abed said she'd refuse."

Furrowing her brow and shrugging off his last comment, Shirley took a long sip of her coffee. She then met his gaze.

"I'm sure she'd at least consider it."

"Annie never gives up. And I'm not sure if she could handle it if he did."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff closed the door and kicked off his work shoes. Although he had been deep in thought the whole way home about his conversation with Shirley, he was glad to be back at the apartment. Various thoughts flashed in his mind, including their concluding remarks:

"Jef-frey, just introduce it and don't put any pressure on her."

"And keep it separate from the proposal."

"That's right. But as much as I want to see you two in wedded bliss, I'd suggest you talk to her about this business with Adam before all that."

"You're right. Thanks."

He snapped his attention back to the present moment as Ruffles came scuffling up to him.

"Ruff!"

Jeff crouched down and greeted the dog, who was wiggling her tail and sniffing his pants. He took a moment to inhale the general dogginess about her near her ears. As he continued to scratch her under the chin, he once again became aware of his heart expanding.

He felt almost giddy when he heard the little footsteps. He looked up and spied Sophie peeking her head around the corner.

"Why hello there, my dear sneaky hobbit. I'm home."

She opened her mouth in the kind of over-smile that only a small child is capable of and then proceeded to smack her cheek with her hand. Jeff assumed it was some way she was trying to control her excitement. He promptly disengaged from Ruffles and plopped down on all fours.

She gasped, "Oh no, Daddy!"

"I'm coming to get you!"

"Ahhh!"

It was a few minutes later before he could fully explain to Annie as she eyed the scuffed knees in his suit pants in disbelief, "She needed to be chased."

"I see." Annie continued to stare down at the knees as she suppressed a smile. "That's one of your good suits."

"Yeah, I know. I just won't wear it in court." He began to remove his tie while he gave Sophie an exaggerated look of suspicion as she peeked over a couch cushion and then promptly jumped back down with a squeal.

Annie shook her head and laughed while she made her way toward the kitchen. She reached over and grabbed the calendar off the fridge and flipped it open to the following month. She bit her lip as she regarded it for a moment and then looked back up.

"I didn't want to bring this up now, but I talked to Adam today, and he'd like to visit the weekend of the tenth. Is that okay?"

Jeff tensed as he glanced over at the giggling heap of pillows on the couch and then turned back to Annie. "When's Father's Day?"

"The following weekend."

He affected a nonchalant tone, "Yeah, then sure."

Annie observed his body language and then sighed. "Jeff, I told you I wasn't going to let him visit on Father's Day after what happened last year, and I meant it."

He gave her a reassuring smile and then tossed his tie and jacket on the chair so that he could engage in the proper hunt for hobbits. He decided it was best to address some things later. He wasn't really up to it right now.

He stopped himself before he could crouch down on the floor and briefly reflected on his various conversations over the past few days. Clearly he had been feeling the need to talk about his confusion and while he had shared some bits with Andre, he didn't trust the guy fully to be completely open. Andre didn't really know how his mind worked anyway and would likely give falsely reassuring advice. And Shirley was still almost glaringly oblivious to the notion that a marriage proposal didn't necessarily fix everything.

He felt a pang of guilt as he recalled his annoyance and almost desperate need to shake off Ian earlier. Ian, the person at Greendale who had known him the longest, the person who was fully aware of the GAD and his relationship history. The Bennetts, while well meaning, had no real clue about his romantic past.

But Ian Duncan certainly did. And he was more than eager to delve into a conversation about it at any moment.

Feeling like an ass, Jeff picked up his phone.

Hobbit hunting would have to wait for a minute.