Author's Note: This is mostly a Josh chapter.
Josh's POV
I was sitting in the kitchen, waiting for breakfast, when dad walked down the stairs.
"Happy Valentine's Day, my Love," he told mom, kissing her.
"Get a room, oldies," I said, grossed out.
"We did over thirteen years ago to celebrate that you were going to be coming into the world," Dad said.
"I don't need to know that," I said. "Why are you so embarrassing?"
"Well, the fact that you do that surprise joke every chance you get," dad said, "is a pretty good reason, don't you think?"
"Can I please have my breakfast now?" I asked.
"Yeah, sweetie," mom said. She put the plate in front of me. It was waffles and bacon.
"Thanks, mom," I said. Andrew came through the kitchen door.
"Hey man, happy birthday!" He said.
"Thanks, Andrew," I said.
"Just a little over two years ago, I was in your shoes," he said. I shook my head.
"So, the agenda for today," dad said. "you're going to school, then we're going to Cory's."
"Are you gonna see that blond you like?" Andrew asked, jokingly.
My eyes grew wide.
"Shut up, Andrew!" I said. "I don't like her." I had to give a reason. "She's three years younger than me."
"Actually, Maya is spending Valentine's Day with her mom," mom said. "So, she won't be there."
Dang it, I thought.
"Okay," I said.
Riley's POV
"So, my uncle, Josh, is going to come for his birthday tonight," I said, as we were walking into class.
"Nice," Maya said. "Meanwhile, I have to go with my mom to some boring play."
"Les Misérables is not a boring play!" I said.
I rolled my eyes.
"It's off-Broadway, Riley," she said.
"That doesn't matter," I said.
"Yeah, yeah," she said.
Josh's POV
I walked into my English class and sat next to Andrew.
"Move it, Matthews," Bradley Crenshaw said. I looked up at him.
"This is my seat, Bradley," I said.
"It's Brad," he said. "Now get out of the seat."
"Leave him alone, man," Andrew said, "it's his birthday."
"Oh, it's your birthday," Bradley mocked me. He grabbed my shirt collar and threw me to the ground from my seat. "I've seen your parents. Were you even planned?"
I started to get angry. I started pushing myself up. I looked at the door. Mr. Lujan still isn't in the classroom.
"No," I said, "I was a…SURPRISE!" I yelled, lunging at him and tackling him to the ground. He punched me in my eye, and we kept swinging until we were pulled apart.
I sat in the office waiting for my parents with my forming black eye and busted lip. To my surprise, Mr. Feeny walked through the door.
"Your parents asked me to come get you," he said. I stood up and left with him.
"So, what happened in class today?" He asked me after he started driving. "You have quite a shiner."
"A kid was messing with me," I said.
"How so?"
"He always tries to make me move out of my seat, and beats me up if I don't," I said. "This time, I wasn't just going to take it. It's my birthday."
"Ah, yes," he said. "You are very different than your brother, Joshua."
"Cory or Eric?" I asked.
"Cory," he said. "He never really stood up for himself against bullies."
"Were you really there when I was born?"
"Yes, I was," he said.
"Why do you care so much, Mr. Feeny?"
"I have lived next to your family for over three decades," he said. "Almost every day, your family would come over to my yard and seek advice and speak with me and bonds were formed. No matter what I do, I cannot let that go. In a way, your family…is my own."
"You are family in every way, Mr. Feeny," I said.
"Thank you, Joshua," he answered me.
We walked into my house where my parents were waiting.
"You have a lot of explaining to do," dad said.
"Bradley was being a jerk again, dad," I said. "I wasn't going to just take it, especially not today."
"You got suspended, Joshua," mom said. She put an ice pack on my eye. "You need to think before you act."
"I know, I'm sorry," I said.
"On the bright side," dad said, "we can go to Cory's earlier."
"Alan!" Mom exclaimed.
"He's not wrong," Mr. Feeny commented.
"George!"
Mr. Feeny put his hands up in defense.
"Oh," dad said, "and you can see Riley earlier." And Maya, I thought.
"Well, we're not leaving right away," mom said.
When we got to Cory's around 3pm, Maya and Riley were already there, but Maya was on her way out already.
"Hey, Maya," I said with a smile.
"Hey, Josh," she said. "What happened to your eye?"
"Fight at school," I said.
"Nice," she said. "Sorry about the skateboard."
"It's fine," I said.
"Later," she said. "Oh, and happy birthday."
"Thanks," I said as she closed the door.
"My brother!" Cory yelled, going to hug me.
"My brother!" I said, hugging him back.
"Hold on!" Topanga said. "What happened to your eye, Josh?"
"He got in a fight at school this morning," mom said.
"Topanga!" I said happily, going to hug her.
"Josh!" She said, hugging me. She let go. "Now, why did this fight happen?"
"A jerk in my class was messing with me," I said.
"Well, we've made reservations at your favorite restaurant," Topanga said.
"Uncle Josh!" My 2-year-old nephew, Auggie, yelled, running out from the hall. He hugged me and I picked him up.
"We need to get a better playpen," Cory said, looking at Topanga.
"Hi Auggie," I said, smiling.
About 2 hours later we went out to eat.