Chapter 35: Basic Storytelling

Summary: The gang winds down the semester

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A/N: You have no idea how bad I feel about the delay. Rest assured, after getting back to this fic, I am definitely committed to it. It was a lot of fun to write this chapter. Thank you for your patience.

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Jeff knelt in front of the study room couch and searched through the diaper bag in a frantic attempt. He could have sworn he had packed an extra pacifier and paused to stare with dismay at the spitty green one that was now on the library floor.

A Greendale floor. He shuddered and then resumed fishing his hand around the lower compartment. So far he had been out of luck.

"Crap, don't tell me I left it on the kitchen table."

"Daddy, we don't say crap. It's a bad word. Mommy says so."

He smirked and lifted his head just enough to lock eyes with the munchkin, who was watching him with intense amusement as she sat next to the squirt. Jeff kept his right hand on the baby, low-key wondering if this was at all safe. Against perhaps his better judgment, he had successfully propped him up so he that was half leaning on a pillow, as they had been in the middle of a pants change (after an unexpected and extremely messy diaper change) when Sebastian had spit out the pacifier and it rolled onto the floor. Jeff sprang into action and staved off the very start of a scream and managed to distract him by instructing Sophie to sit by his side. So far for the past thirty seconds she had been helpful in making faces that had been eliciting hearty chuckling. If he hadn't been so certain that Sebastian wouldn't suddenly shift into a cry, he'd have taken a moment to appreciate the adorableness.

He stilled and made the decision to take it in. These were his children and times like this wouldn't be forever. At least that was something his mother had been droning on about for the past few years. With a resigned yet not at all unhappy sigh, he sat down on the disturbing Greendale floor and smiled at them.

"You are both so cute, I can't even stand it." While his words may have had the tone of sarcasm, they were so very true.

Preening in a very Annie-way, Sophie replied, "Thank you. But Sebastian is cuter than me, cause he's a baby." Her expression then quickly morphed into a darkened glare. It had been something Jeff and Annie had noticed on a few occasions recently whenever Sebastian had been getting a lot of attention.

He sighed again and reached out his left hand to give her a good squeeze on her purple and white striped leggings-clad knee. He shook his head and said, "Never. You were here first, so you've always been the cute one. Now you have a baby brother who is figuring everything out too, but remember, you were the original." Cocking his head toward Sebastian, he continued, "The only reason he's as cute as he is is because you're teaching him."

Clearly a bit skeptical yet with a hint of enthrallment, Sophie said, "That's silly, Daddy. I can't TEACH him how to be cute. I'm not a teacher. And I only do pre-academics. That's not real academics."

Internally marveling at Annie's (or was it Rachel's?) ability to instill their four year old with ridiculously advanced vocabulary, he mused, "Well, now you may not be a teacher like the one you have at school, but you do teach him things, just like I teach you things, and I'm not a school teacher. Like his laughing, see how cute he is?" Jeff cast a smirk over at the baby, who was still staring at Sophie and letting out intermittent giggles, the drool rolling down his pudgy cheeks.

Still seeming not completely convinced, she said, "He thinks I'm funny."

"That's because you are funny. You're very funny."

"Not as funny as Britta." She was tilting her head past him, her eyes dazzling with mischief, and he knew just who she was looking at.

Raising a brow, he turned to see their anarchist friend, who had recently been upping her interest in applying for further graduate work in psychology, having convinced herself that she would be a good child psychologist. It's not that he disagreed, having already witnessed the magic she had with Sophie and Sam, but he hadn't wanted to let it all go to her head. She had a tendency to run away with things. Plus he wasn't all that convinced she wouldn't be insufferable if she went ahead to get her doctorate. That was like a zillion years or something. And Ian was bad enough.

"Hey, now, you're really funny, Sophie. Shirley and I both think so."

He became aware that Shirley was by Britta's side and had already flashed a grin at Sophie before giving a judgmental tsk-tsk at the sight of the open diaper bag and a precariously placed Sebastian. She was marching over. He flinched.

"I am?" Sophie sat up straighter and her voice went up ten notches.

Britta nodded. "For sure. And you're definitely funnier than your daddy. He's really not that funny." She wrinkled her nose at the sight of the mess on the floor.

Sophie leapt to her feet on the couch and screeched, "He IS! He said crap!"

Britta laughed and waltzed over the couch, effortlessly picking up a delighted Sophie and giving her a kiss on the forehead. Shirley, now in full judgy mode, had already hunched down next to Jeff and was surveying the scene.

He was about to explain the crap incident before he realized she wasn't even concerning herself with Sophie's swearing and was in fact looking at the remnants of actual crap. He was glad that he had slowly come to terms over the years with the fact that small beings were extremely messy at times yet made up for it in their cuteness. Ruffles and the baby had a lot in common.

She muttered, "You need to scoop up all this mess, here, dirty diaper in the bag, clean pants up here, grab the icky ones…." she continued on in a mumble, throwing things around, and Jeff barely sputtered out the issue of the missing pacifier before she produced it with a sense of well-practiced martyrdom and plopped it in Sebastian's mouth.

Petting Sebastian's hair tufts with his clean hand and regarding the contentment on his son's face, he said, "You're amazing, Shirley. Thank you."

"Well, you're welcome, Jeffrey. Oh, that's nice."

He turned to see her regarding them with a loving expression, and he felt compelled to be even more honest.

"I miss you, Shirley. You know, I came by today to sign the official paperwork for teaching a summer school class. I'll be here three times a week, so I might have a chance or two to drop by your sandwich shop."

Clearly touched and uncharacteristically bashful, she looked down, and then re-met his gaze.

She said softly and earnestly, "You don't know how happy I am to hear it. Why, we're all still a family, aren't we?" She added in a louder voice, "Even Brit-ta thinks she has a good shot at staying local, with the Greendale School of Professional Psychology doctoral program, right Brit-ta?"

In the midst of Sophie's giggling and the sound of her bouncing in Britta's arms, Britta replied, "I don't want to jinx myself, but I talked to my advisor and they said since I've been such a good masters student, I can probably apply after I finish next year."

Jeff felt the need to clarify so he said, "Shirley, you know I'm not going to teach here permanently, right? I'll be here this summer. But you're right, no matter what, we're family."

"Oh, Jeffrey, you are too much."

He had a flash of some alternate reality where he and Shirley might have gotten together. It was a very very brief and almost imperceptible peek, for she was actually very attractive whenever she was being softer and more vulnerable. And boosting his ego, which she usually did her best to avoid.

He internally hee-heed.

To his amusement, she was now actually cleaning up the mess laid out over the diaper changing pad on the floor, and he continued to give his thanks.

It was then that the second pacifier went sailing across the couch, with Britta reaching and catching it in her free hand.

Sebastian then proceeded to chuckle, his eyes twinkling at the sight of Sophie's outstretched tongue, and then he fell over to the side. Jeff reached and pulled him to his chest, remarking at how a baby could laugh so hard that he fell over and didn't seem to care.

He wondered if he had ever laughed like that.

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It was about ten minutes later, and he had cleaned himself up in the men's room, making sure to wash his hands thoroughly. He was grateful that Shirley had stayed with Sebastian, seeing to it that he was properly fitted in his Greendale sweatpants. He knew Annie would get a kick out of it once she got out of her seminar.

He was just finishing drying when there was a creak, and he turned to see Shirley busting in with an overly sweet expression. Too sweet. Too overly.

"Jeffrey, I hope you don't mind, but I'd like a chat with you."

Rolling his eyes but internally actually more than a little concerned she'd be trying to manipulate him into something semi-awful or at the very least moderately-tedious like watching Pierce, he groaned, "Oh come on, I'm in the men's room."

Now smiling sheepishly, she cast a glance about at the empty urinals and said, "Well, no one else seems to be here," and then proceeded to crouch down to see under the stall doors. Pronouncing them clear, she turned and wedged the garbage can in front of the door before turning back to face him.

"What the hell?!"

"Now Jeffrey, language." She then lowered her eyes for a few moments, her voice in an almost whisper with a very slight tremble.

"I just need to talk to you. Please."

He was now more than a little alarmed rather than annoyed. Leaning his butt against the edge of the sink, he regarded her with what he hoped was a more open expression and said, "Of course, Shirley. What is it?"

She smiled slightly and then lifted her gaze to meet his. "I don't quite know how to say this." She took a deep breath and then continued, "I'm having a little trouble. With Andre."

His heart rate now quickening which took him by surprise, he managed, "What did he do?"

She sighed, "Oh, it's not so much what he's done. It's not like last time with the stripper. It's just that every chance he gets he seems to undermine my involvement in my business."

He remembered his conversation with Andre before the re-marriage ceremony, and how he had been convinced that he had gotten through to him on the silliness of his sexist crap, but now he wasn't so sure.

He asked, "Really? How so?"

She took a moment to compose herself and then explained, "Well, see that's just it. Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy. It's somewhat subtle. He'll guilt-trip me about having to stay late sometimes. You know I have to do that when Abed gets into the flour, and I call and explain to him and say I'm sorry, but he just ends up stonewalling me. I came home the other night, and he was cold. Didn't speak to me until the morning."

Increasingly low-key angered, Jeff crossed his arms over his chest and said, "Wow. That is not a reasonable reaction, even if he's irritated. The silent treatment is pretty childish."

Her voice trembling once again, she said, "I know. So then this morning I brought up what happened again, and he went off on me, said I was a being a…" she suddenly gulped down the beginning of a sob and continued, "bad mother. That I should give it up, that he'd support our family. That if I stayed home with the kids, he'd get his shop up and running again, that it would be different this time."

"Crap."

"And then he said if I didn't quit, he was thinking of leaving me and taking the kids." Tears were now streaming down her face, and she was clenching her hands under her chin. Her eyes pleaded with him.

Suddenly Jeff felt his rage coursing through his veins. Again, it surprised him. But he had considered Andre a friend, and this was not the kind of friend that he wanted. He internally cursed his poor judgment. He hadn't been spending much time with him in the past few months due to firm business and the arrival of Sebastian, but it unnerved him how this could escalate so quickly.

Then again, Andre had left Shirley last time for a stripper. That was pretty douchey, even if everyone had tried best to forget it.

"Fuck him, Shirley. I'll handle this."

"I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Don't worry. I'll have a chat with him."

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Annie half bounced into the study room, her mind swirling with excitement as she considered that she had finished the last day of seminar and would soon be co-chairing, who was she kidding chairing, the Beautify Greendale Committee's last meeting of the semester. They certainly had a lot to discuss, all of it very good, for the committee had been extra productive lately, as everyone had been in good spirits.

She stopped short at the sight of Britta on the couch, Sophie to her right and Sebastian in her arms. She was reading aloud one of Sophie's books.

"And then Ms Whiskers ran back home."

"Why do you keep calling him Ms? It's Mister. And he's not a cat, he's a rabbit."

"Yeah, well, as I've explained, Ms-es are better than Misters and cats are better than rabbits."

"My grandma has two rabbits and I like them."

"Okay, well, your grandma does have some nice rabbits, that's for sure."

"I like when you read to me."

"Thanks, Sophie. I like when you talk to me."

"When are you going to have a baby?"

Britta's eyes grew wide and she glanced awkwardly down at Sebastian, who was reaching forward to try to chew on the pages with his gums, drool going everywhere.

"I….um...I don't think…"

Deciding to rescue her and delighted at what she had witnessed so far, Annie chirped, "Sophie! I had no idea you were here yet!"

Sophie lifted her head and smiled. "Hi Mommy!"

Annie walked over and exchanged a bemused look with Britta, who seemed visibly relieved. She took Sebastian from her and remarked to Sophie, "Now where is Daddy? He must have brought you from school."

"He's in the bathroom. His hands got yucky. But that's because of Sebastian. He got all poopy."

She noticed the fresh Greendale sweatpants and smiled, internally nodding in satisfaction that Jeff had figured out a likely very messy diaper change. He was pretty good at stuff like that, even if he usually made loud exclamations of incredulity when it happened. She was certainly grateful that she had him to share the load this time around.

"Hey, Annie."

Britta was regarding her with a warm half-smile, and there was something different about it, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Figuring perhaps she had been more than a little flustered at having to handle the baby, she made sure to let her know how much she appreciated the help.

"Thanks for watching them while Jeff cleaned up."

Britta shrugged but still seemed a little...was it nervous? She said, "Eh, it's not a problem. I got here early so that I could talk to Ian about something," her eyes darted toward the doorway and she bit her lip before continuing, "but turns out I misremembered when he finished his last lecture. So, no biggie." She laughed and continued to chew her lip.

Her ears perking up, Sophie asked, "Ian? Do you think we can go see Ruffles? He's in her class?"

Considering this request for a very quick second and not even questioning that Sohpie thought of Ian as being a member of Ruffles' class, Brittta nodded emphatically and said, "Yeah, you know what, yes. Let's go sneak her a doggie treat. Ian has some in his office. Or we could dog-nap her. I'm sure Ian won't mind."

"Britta."

"What, Annie? It's the last day of the semester."

Annie shook her head in mock exasperation but quickly relented, and Britta stood and took Sophie's hand.

"We'll be back before the meeting."

"Bye, Mommy. Bye, my baby."

Britta cast Annie one more strange look, it seemed to be a mixture of trepidation and helplessness which didn't quite fit the situation. Annie had a hunch that she had wanted to talk to her about something but couldn't do so in front of Sophie.

"Britta, maybe we could talk later, just you and me?"

"Yeah, that would be awesome."

After they had gone, Annie did surveillance over the diaper bag situation and re-pacified Sebastian, who had started to get fussy. She considered it wasn't feeding time, and she had gotten him on a regimented schedule in that regard, so she wondered if he was early teething like Sophie. But still this was a little too early for that even, although he had been gumming a lot of things lately, most recently Jeff's hand, which he had found very amusing. She wiped off some drool from the baby's cheeks and, as he squirmed about in her arms, she realized it would be easier to look through the diaper bag to make sure Jeff had put everything back where he was supposed to if she had her hands free.

She spied the stroller to the left and the detached car seat/carrier on the study room table. Wondering why Jeff had detached the thing in the first place, she buckled Sebastian into the carrier. She was about to pick it up to re-attach it to the stroller when Sebastian spit out the pacifier and it went sailing into the air.

"Now sweetie, we don't do that."

She kissed his tufts of hair, wondering why her son was blond and then remembering the pictures she had seen of Jeff in his babyhood. Her little Jeffy.

"Oh sweetie, Mommy will get it for you. Just a second."

She considered it was probably safe to leave him on the table for a moment, as he wasn't even close to the edge and was securely strapped in. He smiled up at her and let out a hearty chuckle.

"Yes, I know, you're very funny. You're just like your father."

"GGGGGGooooooogggggaaaaa!"

She laughed and then hunched down under the table. Casting about for the pacifier, she was perplexed not to instantly find it, for she couldn't imagine her sweet little baby could spit it that far.

"I just think that in a parallel universe, Blorgons are…"

It was Troy's voice. She thought she had detected the sound of Troy and Abed's footsteps entering the room. She couldn't really explain how they were distinctive, but after almost five years of friendship, she knew them well. They were such good friends of hers, and her heart warmed as she reflected on all the wonderful summaries she would be giving today at the Beautify Greendale Committee. She could already visualize Troy's enthusiastic smile and Abed's eyebrow wiggle of approval.

"Hold on. A baby. I wasn't expecting this."

She took note of Abed's voice and odd choice of referring to Sebastian as 'a baby.' She suddenly spotted the pacifier to her right and reached over to grab it.

Troy remarked with more than a hint of giddiness, "Guess we'll have to support it."

She frowned.

There was a wearied sigh from Abed. He said, "I guess I could get some kind of job beyond Shirley's Sandwiches, maybe at Beans and More. I'll probably have to work double shifts, but…"

Troy whined, "Oh, I see. While you're off, climbing the ladder at Beans and More, I'll just stay home and raise him alone. That's fine. I'll just give up on my dreams."

Abed's voice rose dramatically as he said, "Here we go."

"What? He needs to learn a strong man can cry."

Just about having enough, Annie shuffled back and then stood, staring at them both with incredulity. There was a steady five seconds of them all regarding one another, no hint of expression from Abed and a panicky look from Troy.

Suddenly, Abed turned to Troy and said, "So, what were you saying about Blorgons?"

Casting a quizzical look at Sebastian and then Annie, and then back at Sebastian, Troy said, "Blorgons…" He then snapped his attention completely back to Abed and said, "in this other universe, they're actually called Glorbons."

"Oh my god, guys, how could you not know this was Sebastian?"

They both stopped and turned to face her. Troy shrugged and then smiled sheepishly and Abed gave a low tsking sound.

"Annie, you know I'm not good with nuance, like faces. I can't pick that baby out of a lineup."

"Abed, it's Sebastian! My son!"

"Yeah, he still doesn't have much of a personality yet, although he is very cute. Troy pinches his cheeks whenever you or Jeff turn your backs. He does it right in front of Jeff's mom, though, when she has him in the office. She does it too. That might be why he has a rosy glow."

"Come on, you Troy? You knew this was Sebastian, right?"

"I thought he looked familiar, but then Abed said he was a generic baby, and I guess I had my doubts."

"God."

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"Hey beautiful."

Annie smiled as she accepted Jeff's kiss. It was just a quick one, the kind they did when people were nearby, and it was exactly what she needed today. She looked up and expected him to share her excitement but then noticed his worried eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Giving her his feigned expression of indifference, as if she had just said something completely ridiculous, he scoffed, "Eh, it's nothing. Where's the squirt?"

She decided to follow him on this and replied, "He's with your mom. I thought he might be more than a little disruptive at the meeting. He was being fussy, but I think he's just getting to that stage when he's wanting to do more than he can do. I really think he might try exploring more soon."

"Annie, even I know he's too young to crawl. I looked it up in the baby book."

Her heart fluttered as she pictured Jeff scrolling through the book, for their son. The fact that he had taken Child Development a few years ago in order to learn more about Sophie had definitely indicated that he was a keeper.

She mused, "I know, but his father is particularly precocious, so I wouldn't put anything past him."

"So is his mother."

She still sensed he was holding something back, but now he was being playful, so she went with it.

"Maybe his precocious mother could take the lead in the meeting today?" She fluttered her lashes and waited.

"Yeah, yeah, of course."

"Awww."

Jeff squinted and said, "Hey, you know I'm the one who brought the squirt here in the first place. I got him from my mom, because I thought you'd want him at the meeting. I bet my mom's really confused."

"I'm sure she doesn't mind."

"Yeah, you're right. And the munchkin?"

"Britta."

"Excellent."

It was then that he went in for a deeper kiss. To mark the end of the semester.

It was just perfect.

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Dorie looked up from her work as she heard the grunt. For a brief second she thought it was Buzz but then realized it wasn't a grunt of affection but one more of judgment.

It was that Shirley woman. The friend she had met on a few occasions but whom she didn't know as well as she knew those dear boys and of course darling Britta. She always tried to avoid that lecherous man but had heard good things about Shirley. She was a mom, for instance, and she owned her own business. It was impressive.

"Oh, hello Shirley! What brings you by?"

She managed a squirming Sebastian in her arms. It had been quite challenging to type, so she had given that up somewhat so that she had been writing with a free hand on a pad. She'd have to straighten up all of the notes from the Dean Pelton-Richie Countee meeting later.

Shirley was now regarding her with a wide smile. It was a little unnerving, but she went with it and smiled back.

"Hello, Dorie! I hope you don't mind if I call you Dorie? Or would you prefer Mrs Winger?" Shirley waved at Sebastian.

"Now you know that it's Dorie. I've told you that every time we've met, which I realize hasn't been that many occasions. But I know you're such good friends with my son and Annie, so please."

At this, Shirley's posture stiffened, and she said, "Well, I suppose I wasn't sure if you remembered me, given that I didn't receive an invitation to your housewarming party. Why, Professor Hickey didn't even mention it to me either, and here Bri-ta and Troy and Abed were all invited. I suppose someone just forgot to tell me."

"Shirley, can we cut the crap?"

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The Dean poked his head out of the office. It was something he had been trying not to do for several minutes as he heard the sobbing, but he really had to use the bathroom. As he suspected, it was Shirley, her head on Dorie's shoulder, and that darling Sebastian lying in the playpen next to the desk.

Dorie murmured, "You are strong. You will not let him do this."

"You're right. I'm strong. I'll keep my babies."

"You will. And Jeffrey will talk to him, and he'll understand."

"You think so?"

"He will. And Ian can suggest a good couples therapist. And you will get through this."

"I don't want to see a couples therapist. I don't think I want to be married to him anymore."

"Then you will still get through this. Jeffrey's partner Mark is outstanding. Why, he's helped my niece so much. I'm sure he or Jeffrey will help you do whatever you need to do."

"He's nice."

"He is."

The Dean, now more than slightly tantalized by this gossip, had a quick decision to make. While wiggling as he held his bladder, he made eye contact with Dorie over Shirley's shoulder and silently mouthed if he should get involved, as a 'good dean.' She mouthed back, 'no.'

He ran to the bathroom.

X

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"I found a great house on Magnolia and Broadmore. If I get the Mackenzie case and also that extra money for teaching the summer class, I think we can swing a decent down payment."

Annie grinned and then regarded the laptop screen as Jeff turned it toward her and pushed it forward on the study room table.

"A house?!" She squeaked and suprised herself with it.

Seeming very pleased, he nodded. "Yeah, I didn't want to jump prematurely on it, but face it, we're running out of room. The squirt will soon be exploring everything, and the munchkin could use more room for her crap. Her latest Lego creation, while impressive, is making its way down the hallway. I stepped on five pieces on my way to the living room yesterday."

She was more than touched by his enthusiasm and the sweet gesture, but she felt compelled to squash it.

"Jeff, we shouldn't. We should save and rent a smaller Riverside apartment…." she suddenly sat transfixed at the photo of the brick colonial with blue shutters. It was certainly a solid looking house, and she quickly began clicking through the photos of the interior. Hardwood floors in the main living areas, tasteful white walls in the family room and hallways, sunny yellow kitchen with gleaming appliances. Four bedrooms and two point five bathrooms.

"Four bedrooms?"

His voice was soothing with the hint of bemusement. "Yeah, might be a good thing to do unless you wanna move again. This way the hobgoblins can each have their own room and we have a guest room. Or it can be my mom's room when things with Buzz go south."

She glanced up with reproach. "Jeff."

He smiled like a school boy and said, "Or when Anthony's home on break from college."

She realized he was now studying her, knowing that would get to her. She cleared her throat and said, "You're really sweet. I do want him to stay with us rather than mom. And if he goes to Denver this fall, maybe we'll see him more often no matter what?"

"Although I think he should spend a decent amount of time on campus becoming his own person, I'll allow it." Jeff sat back and crossed his arms over his chest, and it struck her as a defensive gesture. He was likely picking up on her reservations.

"Awwww." She wanted him to know she appreciated his thoughtfulness in considering her brother.

Now perhaps slightly encouraged, Jeff pressed on, "And while he's not here, the dynamic duo can crash with us when they invite themselves over for movie night and overstuff themselves with popcorn."

Fluttering her lashes, she said, "You know, I used to call you a grinch, but you've expanded your heart."

"Yeah, maybe."

She looked back at the screen and scrolled down to the price. Perhaps she was being hasty in writing it off. Jeff did tend to have good ideas. She then saw it.

With a sharp intake of air, she said, "We can't afford that."

"Annie, let's at least go see it. We can make it work."

He was being utterly ridiculous. What if he didn't even get the MacKenzie case? What if they got over their heads? She considered herself a practical and pragmatic person when it came to money, with the exception of talking Jeff into a second child. That had been her weakness in that regard, but at least so far that had been okay in terms of finances. She couldn't imagine them buying such a nice house though along with all of the kids' expenses.

She took a deep breath and said carefully, "I don't want to get our hopes up. Let's rent a place and then save and wait another year or two. There's no rush."

"You want a house."

"I do, but I don't need one. And I want us to be responsible. Maybe we could wait longer even, once I'm working. I'll be making a good income, and so will you, and then it'll be easy and we don't have to worry." She thought to herself how sad she felt in saying it, but it was true.

He uncrossed his arms and then leaned over, taking her hand in his. He said, "The plan is grad school, remember? I don't want to wait three or more years to get a house. Let's do this." He gave her hand a squeeze.

She took one more wistful glance at the screen before she said, "We can't. That downpayment is out of reach. But I do love it."

"Annie."

"Jeff, we can't."

X

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Kevin wandered through the hall, tugging on his backpack straps as he tried not to think too hard on the end of the semester. He was finally graduating, and he hoped Ian and Britta would come to the ceremony on Saturday, since he wasn't all that sure his ex wife would, given he had been fucking that up lately as well. He dared not get too hopeful that any other of the other members of the study group, or Beautify Greendale Committee as they were calling themselves these days, would attend, since he wasn't even a member of the committee. No one had ever really asked him, and that made him sad.

He hoped Ian wouldn't kick him out. He had heard things lately. Hushed conversations and then some bloody hells as Ian and Britta talked about her potentially moving in. Although he liked Britta a lot, he kind of hoped there would be more bloody hells, since those tended to happen whenever Britta balked at Ian's whimpering pleas. They never knew he could hear them. He was crafty like that.

He paused in front of the study room door and listened.

X

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The committee sat around the table to begin the final session of the semester. Jeff made a few remarks before turning over the meeting to Annie.

He watched her stand with her usual purposefulness and tried not to think about their discussion regarding the house. He so much wanted to get it for her, for them, for their family, but she had leveled with him and convinced him that it wasn't a good idea at this time. He had ended up closing the laptop and cursing their circumstances before she had worked her Annie magic and reminded him of all the wonderfulness in their lives. She had heavily invoked Greendale and its specialness and reminded him that with Greendale and their family, including all of it, they were perfectly fine. It had been what he had needed to hear.

He tried not to think about his discussion with Shirley either, noticing she was extra cheerful at present as she awaited Annie's announcement. He was grateful that he'd be able to work at Greendale over the summer and spend some more time with her. He missed his Big Cheddar. And he knew matter what happened with Andre, at least Shirley had her own business so she'd be fine. And thank god she employed Abed, as certainly no one else would be likely to take a chance on him.

And Troy. He looked over at his happy face and considered he was energetically pursuing modern dance and apparently thinking of opening a daycare center at some point, and he had no doubt that such aspirations wouldn't have been nurtured outside of Greendale.

Even Pierce seemed in good spirits today. He was regarding Annie with pride and interest. Greendale gave Pierce a home and a family. And a life. He made the tactical decision to ignore Pierce's sudden death glare in Hickey's direction.

And of course, Britta, who was holding Sophie at present, and Ian who was looking at her with fondness as she did her usual avoidant stare, it turns out were a good match. He had received a text from Ian earlier in the day stating he wanted to consult with him about Britta, and Jeff had a sneaking suspicion that it might be a proposal or something. He found himself not that worried about it, for maybe it was what needed to happen.

Ruffles licked his arm as he pet her scruff, and he was reminded how Annie and Ian had found her in the bushes just outside. Right on campus. Greendale gave him his dog.

He glanced over at Hickey's grumpy face, which was a slightly softened at present as he also regarded Annie. He was grateful that his mom had found someone decent, if a little strange.

And his mom was employed at Greendale too, and she seemed happy. He let out a wistful sigh and began to relax.

"So we really did accomplish everything on our list for beautifying Greendale this year." Annie placed the last star on the board and added, "Congratulations, team, we did it!"

Everyone let out a round of applause.

It was then the Dean, who had been standing the doorway with Richie Countee and Carl Bladt, cleared his throat. They all turned.

"Um, yes, great work, guys!" He lifted his hands and clapped enthusiastically.

"Dean?" Jeff squinted at Richie and Carl, for he never did like the dumbasses.

Instantly, Richie stepped forward and said, "Sounds as if you've all done a tremendous job getting this place in shape. Your dean was filling in me and Carl. It's great timing, because we have an insurance inspection scheduled today, and we have no doubt we'll pass now!"

Everyone cheered, and Jeff tried to ignore the tingling in his neck. He told himself it was a false alarm. Afterall, everyone at Greendale was addicted to crisis.

X

X

It was later in the day that they all received the ghastly news that since passing its inspection, Greendale would now be sold.

To Subway.

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