"Who are you, buddy?" Katy asks angrily as a man sits across from her at the Nighthawk Diner.
"My names Shawn Hunter." The man answers, to which Katy's eyes grow wide. She leans back, her expression shocked.
"Whoah." She says, a little out of breath.
Shawn looks confused and sits up straight a little more. "What do you mean, whoah?"
"You're the guy Maya doesn't stop talking about." Katy says, her hands now fiddling with a dish towel from her waitress skirt pocket. "The Matthews friend. You guys all went on a family weekend together." Katy further explains, her hands now back on the counter. Katy inhales deeply as Shawn listens once more. "She had a really good time . . . And I appreciate it. Thank you very much." Her voice has some sarcastic mark to it.
Shawn makes a gesture with his hand, stands up, and with almost as much tone in his voice as Katy's, says, "You're welcome." He's now leaning on the counter slightly, waiting for a continuation to the conversation that was heading south rather quickly.
"And," Katy says. "If you ever question my motherhood again I'll smash a plate over your head!"
Shawn doesn't seem fazed by the comment, but looks at her in a serious manner. "You know what, lady." His tone suggests annoyance. "You already don't like me, so I'm just gonna keep talking, okay? Today is Maya's birthday. What are you doing here since first thing this morning?!" His demand only makes Katy's blood boil.
Who was this guy to come in here and start yelling at her? She didn't even know the guy and she had no idea what she had been through. He would never understand.
"You're right." Katy says softly, wiping her hands on the same dish towel she had earlier. Her voice becomes more harsher now. "I don't like you at all." Shawn just nods his head a little, as if it was some kind of joke or something.
He now stands up, ready to face this problem head on. "Do you think I wouldn't walk in here and talk to you like this if I wasn't so fond of your daughter?" His finger jabs the counter with almost every word.
Katy wants to laugh at this guy. "Oh, you're fond of my daughter. Why don't you tell me your vast experience raising a child?!" Now the gloves were off.
Shawn seems stuck now but answers. "I don't have any!" There voices are now louder and Katy was surprised people weren't stopping to look at what was going on. "But I know you don't work an extra shift at a diner and miss your daughter's birthday!"
"Mh - Hm. And you know this because you know so much about relationships?!" Her voice cracks a little as her sentence finishes.
"I'm terrible at relationships!" The man admits.
"I'm worse!"
"I don't wanna be!"
"Neither do I!"
"Well . . ." Shawn pauses. "Then we got something in common!"
Katy leans back and looks down at the counter before finally looking at him. "Look, my daughter likes having you around . . . But how can you stick around when every weekend she told me you go somewhere else?"
"I write about places, okay? That's my job." Shawn defends.
"You can't just let Maya close to somebody who just leaves." Katy shoots back.
Shawn seems anger by this. He leans in a little and his eyes grow a little dark. "Okay, first of all, I'm not a leaver, alright? I'm a stayer. I'm the one who gets left!" His hand hits the counter lightly and Katy feels a lump in her throat forming.
"Well . . . We got that in common too." Katy's voice is soft and quiet at the new comment, and Shawn looks taken off guard a second.
"What do you mean?" His voice was now incredibly soft. "Maya thinks that you chased away -"
"I know what she thinks, it's her father." Katy says fast as her arms cross over her chest. Shawn stands there silent. "A girl should think well of her father."
"Well . . ." Katy's nerves were shot through the roof. The wedding was in two months, right before Maya and the guy were going to enter their last year of high school. "What about this one?"
Maya, Topanga, and Riley stare at her in the full length mirror. Maya had never seen her mother look so beautiful. The mermaid dress clung to her body in the perfect manor and her hair was in a bun, a veil trailing passed her shoulders.
"You look amazing!" Riley gasped in awe.
"Shawn won't be able to take his eyes off of you." Topanga grins. Katy slowly turns around, her back facing the mirror now, and Maya slowly stands up.
"You look . . . Beautiful." Maya smiles. "Dad won't know what hit him."
Katy gives a small smile before having tears come to her eyes.
"Oh." Topanga says. "She's having her bridal moment." Maya wraps her arms around her mother and whispers, "It's okay, Mom."
"Are Shawn and I really ready for this, Maya?" Katy asks as she looks at her friends.
"You can't have cold feet now!" Riley protests. "We haven't even gotten to pick our dresses yet!" Her comment makes the girls laugh and she can't help but join in.
Katy stays silent, to which Maya notices, but doesn't say anything.
Katy picked the beautiful dress and then it was back to the apartment. "So," Shawn says
as the two girls walked into the apartment. "How was it?"
"Fine." Maya smiles. "You're not gonna be able to take your eyes off of her."
"What makes you think I want to." Shawn smirks as he stands up and walks over to
Katy, who's now pulling things out of the fridge to make dinner. She jumps when she feels his hands on her hips. Katy turns and smiles up at him. He places a loving kiss on her lips and Maya feels her cheeks get red.
"Alright," She interrupts, clearing her throat. "You'll have plenty of time for that on the
honeymoon, but for now you're just going to have to wait."
The couple break away instantly and both blush. Shawn bites his lip and turns to his daughter. "Sorry . . . Anyway," Shawn turns back to Katy. "I've got the guest list ready and checked off who isn't able to make it and have made sure flowers and everything are ready." Shawn informs her as Maya heads off to her room.
Katy turns and frowns. "You didn't have to do that, Shawn."
He shrugs. "Yeah, I know. But, I want to take all the stress away - For both of us - and I want us to have a great wedding." Shawn walks over to the blonde and wraps his arms around her, resting his chin against her head. "One that we deserve."
"Shawn," Katy backs away to look at the man. She hesitates, looking like she doesn't know what to say. "Thank you." The simple gesture passes through her lips and Shawn kisses her on the forehead.
"Have you asked her yet?" Shawn looks over his shoulder to Maya's room. He watches as Katy shakes her head. "Katy, babe, what's the worst thing she can say?"
"No." Katy says flatly.
Shawn lets out a laugh. "She won't. She knows how much it means to you, don't worry." Katy nods and Shawn places her hand on her back and urges her towards Maya's bedroom door.
Katy slowly knocks on the door and opens it. "Maya?" She steps in to see Maya on her bed. "Can I come in?"
"You already are." Katy laughs a little and sits on the edge of her. "What's up?"
"Baby girl . . . I was wondering if you'd want to give me away at the wedding." Katy waits as Maya looks down at her bed, not saying a word. "Maya?"
Maya slowly looks up and gives a warm smile. "How can I refuse?"
Katy smiles and they share a glance before she stands to leave, but is stopped when Maya says, "Why did you always defend my dad all those years?"
Katy stops in her tracks and hesitates. She looks over her shoulder and sighs. "A girl should think well of her father . . . And I know you went to see him, and that was your choice, but back when it wasn't . . . I wanted you to think . . ."
"Mom," Maya walks up behind her mother, now five feet away. "What I think of him is that I don't want him in my life. I don't think well of him at all. Shawn's my dad, and you should know that he's a good man . . . And if you're having cold feet you shouldn't . . . Because Shawn is not a Clutterbucket. He's a good man."
Katy looks at the door and swallows slowly. "I know." And with that she heads out into the hallway. She sees Shawn sitting at the island in the kitchen, roaming through a gallery of photos on his camera, and she can't help but have a smile on her face.
"This is mom." Andrew says, as he sits on his bed with Maya. He had been teaching Maya sign language so she would be able to sign with her instead of having Mrs. Hannigan struggle to understand her. Maya mimics the motion, slightly confused. Andrew laughs at her attempt playfully, but Maya seemed distracted today.
"Maya?" He now sits up completely. "You okay?"
Maya sighs. "No." She looks at him and sighs once more. "My mom wants me to give her away at her wedding."
Andrew breaks out into a bright smile. "That's great . . . But what's the problem?"
"Well," Maya said, her confidence growing. "Believe it or not, I actually dabble in a little bit of music . . . And I was going to ask her if I could sing during my parents first dance." Her explanation takes a minute for Andrew to catch on.
"Okay . . . So why don't you just ask her?"
"Because!" She shoots up from her spot on the couch and walks over to the large windows that looked down on the street, letting sunlight in. "I've . . . I've never sang in front of anyone before." Maya could feel her face heat up and she could hear a little voice inside her head saying, Please don't ask me to sing. Please don't ask me to sing.
"Maya . . ." Andrew was standing behind her now. "Maya, there's no reason to be shy about your singing. If you want to sing at your parents wedding then you should be able to . . . If that's what you want."
"I know." Maya snaps, a little too harshly. "I just . . . I don't know." She turns to look at the teenager and sighs. "I don't know."
"Well, what have you written so far?" They walk back to the couch and Maya grabs out a pad and pencil. Maya watches nervously as his blue eyes scan over the words Maya had been working on only a few days ago. Andrew gives her a bright smile. "This is really good, Maya. I love it!"
Maya feels her face heat up and she slowly blushes. "Really?" She hesitates before she speaks again. "Thanks."
Arnie soon runs into the room. "Andy! Andy!" He says frantically. "Time for my bath! Momma said so!"
Andrew lets out a laugh and stands up. "Alright, buddy. I'll be there in a second."
Andrew and Maya stand at his front door, both ready to say goodbye. "I'll look forward to hearing you play, Miss Hart."
Damn his charm. Maya just smiles though. "Thanks. See ya later, Andy."
With that, Maya heads home.
Sorry this chapter is so short, but I have a lot of plans for the next chapter . . . Which is the wedding. Yay? Lol. A lot of characters are returning and even a very special person close to Shawn. :) I'm taking the idea of Sabrina Carpenter being a singer and I'm kind of putting it into the story, so I hope that's okay. Hehe. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I'd love to hear what you think.
Thanks,
Hml1999 :)
P.S. I hope you liked the flashbacks. I might be doing more of them. Hehe. :)
