Auggie was sitting on Shawn's lap when Maya walked back out into the living room. She sat next to Shawn and looked intently at him.
"What?" Shawn asked when he noticed.
"You've got to tell me about your writing."
Shawn sighed. "Maya, I already told you, it's personal. You can read my work on the website, and that's it."
Maya looked around for someone to defend her side, but her mom and Angela were sitting at the kitchen table looking at something on a phone. Cory's presents were scattered around the table, awaiting their reveal.
"Hunter, haven't we established that we're pretty similar in our situations?"
Shawn put Auggie down next to him. "Yes, but I don't see how-"
"Then why can't we talk about stuff like this?" Maya asked. "Do you want to know something about me?"
"Sure," Shawn replied, trying to humor her.
"I draw," Maya said, searching for a reaction from Shawn.
He was silent for a few moments. "Really? That's awesome, Maya."
"Yeah. But you know what? I was like you once. I didn't want to show anyone my art. But then Riley sort of tricked me into it. And people liked my painting. I didn't think that anyone would even care, but they liked it. You know why? Because I put emotion into it. And I know that's what you do with your own work. That's why I want to see it," Maya said.
He sat silently again for a few moments. "Riley made you do it?" he asked.
"Yeah," Maya said, fondly remembering the time.
"Cory made me do something like that once. He tricked me into going to a poetry reading, and he read my poetry- without permission. I was really mad at him. But he was only trying to put me in the spotlight," Shawn said.
"Even though they might not have gone about it the right way, they were right, you know. They're really alike, those two," Maya said.
Riley came skipping out of the hallway at that moment and sat next to Maya on the couch. She was grinning widely, obviously having enjoyed her time with her parents.
Then Cory and Topanga's laughter was heard from the living room and everyone turned to look at them. They came stumbling out of the hallway, Topanga clinging to Cory as she tried to walk through her laughter.
Shawn smiled and shook his head.
Angela laughed and said, "You guys are so crazy, even after all these years!"
Shawn stood from the couch. "What do you expect? They're Cory and Topanga," he said, walking over to put his arm around them.
"So what do you guys say? Should we have Cory open his presents?" Topanga asked, still smiling from her laughter.
"Yeah, let's go!" Shawn said, ushering the couple over to the table. Cory sat at the head of the table and Topanga sat next to him, at her place at the table. Auggie ran over and Cory pulled him on his lap. Maya went to her mother and leaned on her chair. Riley then sat to Cory's left, at her seat. Shawn walked over to the table and saw that the only available seat was next to Angela, so he stood behind her awkwardly.
"Shawn, you can sit," Angela said, looking up at him.
"No, I'm fine," Shawn said.
"No, really. It's okay," she said.
Shawn smiled weakly at Angela and then sat between her and Riley.
"Alright!" Cory said excitedly, reaching for a gift bag. "The first gift is from Angela," he said, reading the tag. He took the tissue paper out of the bag and then said, "Aw! Thank you Angela!"
He pulled a picture frame out of the bag and everyone craned their necks to see what was in it. Cory turned it around to reveal a happy photo of Cory with Topanga, Shawn, Angela, Jack, Rachel, and Eric. The picture frame was exquisitely designed and had a wonderful typography that said, "Hanging with old friends and saying 'Remember when…'"
"Angela, it's beautiful!" Topanga exclaimed.
"Thank you! I've been working on in for a while. I never mentioned I was into design," Angela said, laughing.
Cory stood from his seat to go over to Angela and give her a hug. "Thank you so much!" he said. "Now I'll have to decide if I want to keep it at home or bring it to school." He sat back down in his seat.
Cory reached for another present, but Topanga grabbed his hand and sweetly said, "Save that one for last."
"Ooh, the mystery!" Cory replied, grinning at Topanga. He reached for a larger gift bag and read from the tag, "To Mr. Matthews, from Katy and Maya." He stood up and put Auggie down to be able to see over the bag. He took the tissue paper out and once again pulled out a frame. This time, however, it was not a photo.
"Maya! Did you paint this?" Cory asked with enthusiasm.
"Yeah," Maya said, sheepishly.
"Is that me?" Cory asked.
"Let me see!" Auggie said from the ground. Cory bent down to show Auggie, and Auggie said, "Woah!"
"Show us!" Angela said.
Cory turned the large frame around and everyone at the table "wow-ed" and "ooh-ed" at the masterpiece. It was a painting of a man in a suit with curly hair, obviously Cory, standing in front of a class of children. Behind him, however, was everyone that was at the party, along with his parents, his brother Josh, and Mr. Feeny. They were all smiling, looking proud of Cory.
"Yeah, it's you," Maya said. "It's you doing what you love. And we're all behind you because we're like a big family, you know?"
"But how did you know what we all look like?" Angela asked. "You never even met me until today!"
"I may have had a little help from Mrs. Matthews. She showed me some pictures," Maya said.
"This is amazing. Thank you for painting this. Katy, you have a child prodigy on your hands!" Cory said, hugging them both.
"Yeah, I think I do," Katy said, smiling proudly at Maya.
At this point, Maya turned to Shawn. "You see? I draw. But it's not whether or not I'm good that anybody cares. It's the emotion behind it."
Shawn smiled at Maya and said, "Fine. I'll show you some of my work."
"Yes!" Riley cheered from the other side of the table, obviously having been eavesdropping. Shawn looked at Riley with a confused expression on his face.
"Uh, never mind me," Riley said, turning away.
"Next is from…Riley and Auggie!" Cory said as he grabbed the next gift. It was a small wrapped gift in the shape of a rectangle. Cory unwrapped it and pulled out a box. He opened the box and showed the group a mug that said, "During the day, he's the world's best teacher…but he's world's best dad 24/7."
"Aww!" Katy cooed over Riley and Auggie.
"Come here, you guys!" Cory said, holding his arms out wide. Auggie ran to his dad and Cory picked him up and gave him a huge hug and kissed the top of his head. Then Riley went to her dad and he gave her a hug and a kiss as well. "Thank you!" he said. "I'll be taking that to school every day!"
Auggie and Riley gleamed with pride at their father's appreciation of their gift.
Then Cory grabbed the second-to-last present and pulled it toward him.
"Is this from you, Shawnie?" he asked.
"Yep," Shawn said, smiling.
"Alright!" Cory exclaimed. He began unwrapping the gift and said, "I really am excited, Shawnie. I mean, you always get me the best of gifts. Somehow you just always know what to get me. You're actually really good at-" He stopped. He pulled a VHS tape from a box and said, "What's on the tape?"
"Well, I found it in a box of old stuff and watched it and thought it would make a nice gift," Shawn said. "Do you have a VHS player?"
"Yeah, I think we do somewhere. So what's on it?"
"It's a bunch of footage from when we were little. It's got us just doing boy stuff, I guess. It's kind of funny to watch. And you might remember some of that stuff. I did when I watched it. I don't know, it's probably not much of a gift," Shawn said, looking down.
"No, Shawnie, it's perfect. Thanks! We should watch it later! That'll be cool," Cory said. He went to Shawn and gave him a big hug.
"I think there's even a little bit of Miss Topanga Lawrence in there," Shawn said grinning at Topanga.
"Oh, really?" Topanga said, grinning back.
"Yep. Even when we were ten you guys were meant to be," Shawn said.
"Alright, well that leaves one more present!" Angela said. "I'm kind of curious since you made him save it till last," she said to Topanga.
"Me too!" Cory said. "Okay, Topanga, can I open it now?"
"Yep," Topanga said, smiling affectionately at Cory.
"Here goes," Cory said as he opened the gift.
There was another box to open, and he pulled out a small ceramic statue. It was a girl with long, light brown, crimped hair, wearing a light purple dress and black tights, leaning over to kiss a boy with crazy brown hair, a striped shirt, and jeans. They were handcuffed together with his left arm and her right arm.
"Our first kiss?" Cory quietly asked Topanga.
Topanga smiled softly.
"Thank you, Topanga. I love it. You remember that much detail?"
"How could I ever forget?" she asked.
Cory leaned over to her and kissed her tenderly.
Everyone around the table could do nothing more than sit quietly, observe, and smile at the adorable scene.
"Thank you," Cory said again. He and Topanga stood and embraced each other tightly while exchanging I love yous.
"Okay, Cor, save it for later," Shawn said to Cory, like a parent to a child.
Cory let go of Topanga and gave Shawn a look.
"Besides, it's time for cake!" Shawn said.
"Oh, you're right!" Topanga said. She went over to the stove and picked up the cake to take it to Cory. Angela grabbed the lighter off of the counter and lit the previously-placed candles. Then the group sang "Happy Birthday" to Cory as Topanga stood behind him with her hands on his shoulders. When the song was over, Topanga said, "Make a wish, Cory."
"I can't," he said. "I've got everything I could ever want right here," he said, smiling at Topanga. He blew the candles out and everyone clapped.
"Well, I hope not," Topanga said.
"What?" Cory asked.