written by Lehanna
...
"Cory, I've been thinking, you know how I was looking for other apartments so that I could move out when Riley's born?" Shawn started. It was currently 2 am, and the two best friends couldn't sleep, so they decided to watch Elf instead.
He was about to tell Cory about his plans to leave New York soon. He was nervous about what the man's reaction would be to the news.
Cory turned his head. "Yeah, what about that? Did you find an apartment you like?"
Before Shawn could respond, a scream calling for Cory rang throughout the small apartment. Cory jumped up and ran into his shared bedroom. "Topanga, are you ok?"
"My water! It broke," Topanga said while heavily breathing. She had never given birth before. She had no idea what to expect. She just knew knew it would be painful. "You need to drive me to the hospital."
"Ok, on it. Shawn! Get the car ready! Topanga's going into labor!" Cory shouted out the doorframe. He almost immediately heard frantic footsteps leaving the room.
"It's gonna be ok," Cory said while squeezing his wife's hand. He ran to grab his and Topanga's jackets.
…
Shawn rubbed his hands across his forehead. Any minute now Riley would be born, and Cory and Topanga would be a million times happier. Any minute now Riley would be born, and Shawn would be a million times less important to his best friends. Not that he was making this birth all about him, he would never do that. He just couldn't help but feel sad about the inevitable happening.
"I'm sure everything's going to be fine," Eric comforted him, not knowing the true source of Shawn's obvious anxiety.
Cory entered the waiting room with glee. "She's so beautiful."
It took no explanation for everyone to know who he was talking about. Shawn got up from his chair. "Can I hold her?"
"Of course." Shawn followed him into the hospital room where a tired Topanga was holding Riley. Cory smiled at his baby daughter. "This is your uncle Shawn, Riley."
The baby giggled as a shaky Shawn picked her up. Shawn couldn't seem to have the courage to look his replacement in this eyes. "She's adorable."
"She is," Topanga agreed.
"Here. You should probably take her back before I drop her," Shawn joked.
This was not unexpected. Shawn always pictured Cory and Topanga getting married and having kids while he was single and childless. You could argue that most people weren't married with kids at twenty-one, but that didn't matter to Shawn. What mattered was that his best friends were moving ahead in life without him. He was once again behind them, and he would probably never catch up.
"I'll, uh, let your parents in," Shawn told Cory awkwardly. In that moment, Shawn hated himself. Instead of being happy for his best friends, he was finding an excuse to be in the other room. Why couldn't he just be happy and except that he would never have what they had?
...
Hours later, Shawn was all-packed and ready to go. He was leaving New York for good. Where life would take him, he had no clue, but he most certaintly wasn't staying here any longer.
"Goodbye, Cory and Topanga," whispered Shawn from outside the apartment building. He was afraid Cory would be overdramatic and insist he stayed, so he left a note on the kitchen counter rather than saying goodbye in person. "I'll miss you."
One thing was on Shawn's mind as he drove to Philadelphia. Would he ever have a family like Cory and Topanga?
...
"So, what do you think you want to get Mom?" Maya asked her dad.
"You mean besides the gift of me?" Shawn smiled. "I don't know. Maybe a nice necklace or something. You?"
It was currently December 2017. Maya and Shawn were walking around the mall, shopping for their friends and family together.
"There's this jacket she really wants. She tried it on last time we were here, remember?" She looked at him sternly. "Don't you dare steal my idea."
Shawn put his hands in the air. "I won't. Don't worry. I'll come up with something even better, because I am better."
"Yeah, right," Maya sarcastically responded. She crossed her arms but had a loving smile on her face. She couldn't help but feel excited whenever he was around, which was now all the time.
The two kept walking until they reached a store Katy frequented at. "How's school?"
"Good," Maya responded.
He looked at her playfully. "I meant besides art class."
She opened her mouth wide in shock and placed a hand on her heart. "Also good! Not as good but also good!"
"I'm just messing with you. You're a very smart girl. Of course you can get good grades in subject besides art," he said, "but I'm gonna take a guess and say you didn't do today's homework yet, right?"
"You know me too well. Although, I did do most of it!" she defended.
"Really? That's a first. What do you have left?" Shawn questioned.
"Math." She sighed. "I hate it. I don't get it at all."
He wrapped his arm around his daughter. "I can help you. But I must warn you, I'll probably be worse at it then you, so be prepared to get a tutor. I get headaches whenever I even hear a math problem."
"Thanks, Dad. I appreciate it," Maya told him.
"Is that appreciation enough to get me an expensive gift?" he queried with a grin.
She laughed and rolled her eyes. "I make eight dollars an hour. Calm down."
Shawn stopped to look at his daughter fondly. Sixteen years ago he never would have imagined having a wife and daughter. He thought he was destined to be alone. Now he was about to spend his second Christmas with them, and his first Christmas as Maya's official dad.
His past didn't hurt him anymore. He no longer felt unwanted or alone. He was now set on making sure that Maya never felt the way he did, because he would never let anyone grow up like that, especially not his daughter.
...
I apologize for how late this is. I couldn't think of what I wanted to write and kept changing the plot. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!