"Hey Hunter you got in late last night, what were you doing? Or should I ask who were you doing? Huh?" Eric elbowed him and winked.
Cory and Topanga looked up at him with interest that morning at breakfast.
"Nothing I, we," Shawn corrected himself looking at Baby, "met this really nice girl at the pet shop."
"Ooooo"
"Shut up Eric" Shawn shoved him off the chair.
"Oww hey!"
"Serves you right" Topanga gave a quick nod to show that he did earn it.
"Cory control your wife" Eric said while attempting to get up off the floor.
"Yes Cory control your wife" Topanga stared at him.
"Control, Topanga doesn't need controlling" Cory looked to his wife to see if she was staring daggers at him. Indeed she was.
"Good boy Cory way to keep you both happy" Shawn smiled.
"Yes well we all know Cory would rather be happy then be right" Eric sneered.
"No I like to be right… occasionally"
"Well think about it now Cory, do you want to be happy or do you want to be right?" Topanga narrowed her eyes at him.
"Happy is wonderful" he told her only slightly afraid.
"Whipped" Eric spat across the table.
"And that is exactly why you will never get married," Shawn stared down the brother of his best friend, "anyway like I said we met this girl at the pet shop, Khandi, and her shift was ending was I was buying the stuff for Baby, so we went out for coffee and she was filling me in on some stuff about dogs. You know like how to register her for a license, when to get her shots, warnings signs that she could be sick. Stuff like that."
"Who bought the coffee?" Cory asked his best friend.
"She did"
"Who made the invite?" Topanga questioned.
"She did, I told her about Angela. I even showed that picture you took of us; remember the one where Cory and I made the picnic for you two girls. She said we looked like we were made for each other and that Angela looked like she felt safe and comfortable with me. I even showed the ring."
"A complete stranger!", Topanga's voice rose, " Shawn what is the matter with you? A complete stranger gets to see the ring before I do?"
"Oh I'm sorry Topanga, here." Shawn dug the ring out of his pocket and handed her the box.
"Oh my God, Shawn it's beautiful, white gold, with an inset caret and a half square cut diamond?"
"How do you do that?" He looked at her in pure amazement.
"It's a girl thing" She said as she handed the box back to him.
"So a woman invited you out and bought you coffee?" Eric asked only this time from across the room not wanted Shawn to shove him on the floor again.
"Yeah, but I gave her a ride home. Was that wrong?" He looked to Topanga.
"Well that depends do you have absolutely any feelings for this woman?"
"No"
"You still live Angela?"
"Yes"
"Then no, it wasn't wrong at all. Shawn you've been depressed for a long time now it's only right for you to go out and have a little fun. Angela won't be mad at you for that. You love her. Men and women can be friends, just friends. Sex doesn't have to be involved."
"Ooooo, look snow" Eric bounced up and down like an eight year old hoping school would be canceled.
"Speaking of snow, Mom called and she wants to know if all of us are coming home for the holidays."
"Mom's turkey wouldn't miss it, going out to play now." Eric ran out the door still in his pajamas.
"Eric at least put a jacket on" Topanga called after him, "and some shoes its cold out. Wow I thought we were having a whole winter without snow."
Shawn smiled at this, "You two are so ready for kids. Hey maybe if you've been good this year Santa will drop one down the chimney and you won't have to go through the whole giving birth thing."
"Cory and I have decided to wait until our careers are a little more stable."
"Yeah a baby might be a little much for us right now, besides Eric's enough of a baby to handle."
"You're telling me"
"Aww and here I was all ready to be Uncle Shawn"
"You're coming home with us right?" Cory looked from the window where Eric was playing with Baby to Shawn.
"Where else would I go? You guys are the only family I have besides Jack, and I haven't heard from him since he and Rachel left for the Peace Corp. Do you think your mom will be cool about Baby?"
"I don't see why not, besides Joshua will love her."