So, you know, I guess I might as well actually finish this thing, lol. Took me long enough. Sorry about that. Life and work and all that fun and not so fun crap.

I'm not ruling out a sequel for this. I have a few ideas but whether or not it's enough for an actual story is another thing. But we'll see. As we know, I never say never when it comes to story ideas.

Thanks for reading and your endless amounts of patience. :-)

"Hello?"

"Are you on your way to Long Beach?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Shawn rolled onto his back and shoved his hair out of his face. "Who is this?"

"It's Helen." A few seconds later, when he still hadn't responded, she added, "Your boss."

"What time is it?"

She exhaled. "Seriously, Shawn, we're playing this game again? It's almost one o'clock in New York so that means it's nearly ten by you. The last time we talked you were in San Diego, California. Today is Sunday, July-"

"I know all this, Helen. Relax. I'm not drunk. I was sleeping. The phone woke me up."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I ran into an old friend yesterday. She invited me to crash at her house. We stayed up late catching up."

"Catching up, huh? Is that what the cool kids are calling it nowadays? Though, I suppose in your case it's closer to a midlife crisis. You're not so much in the cool kid demographic any longer."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, just stating facts."

"You could be a little nicer about it. Besides, it wasn't like that. Angela, she…her husband died not too long ago. She needed to talk about it. And then we had some stuff to talk about." He probably told his boss way too much about his personal life. It wasn't his fault. She was way too easy to talk to. Helen was kind of a weird cross between Cory's mom and the cool older sister he'd never had.

"Are you still there?"

Shawn closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the events of the past twenty-four hours coming back to him in flashes. "She's got two kids. They're great and all, but…tell me one thing."

"What?"

"Where the hell do toddlers get all their energy?"

"Damned if I know. Why do you think I stopped after one? He's ten and I'm still tired. But, anyway, the odds of you getting to Long Beach before your flight?"

"It takes about two hours to get there, which means it would be a four hour round trip, and that's if there's no traffic. I don't know if I'd make it to the airport in time for my flight."

"I'll just send you back out that way in a few weeks. There are more locations we want to scout in Anaheim and Los Angeles."

"You haven't even picked the city? Isn't that kind of important?"

"We know the general area. It's finding the right property."

"I don't know if I'm a pick the property guy. That's more yours' and Steve's department."

"If you decide to head up the west coast office wouldn't it be smart to have a say?"

"I guess," he mumbled, still not convinced he wanted this job in the first place.

"Great. So give me a call in a few days and we'll go from there."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

Shawn dropped his phone onto the nightstand, ignoring the texts that were waiting to be answered. No doubt the majority were from Cory. He'd worry about those later. He hadn't intended to sleep so late, but after finally finding his way back to the guest room after talking to Angela it seemed he was out before his head hit the pillow. He hoped she was able to get some rest before Jude and Zora woke up, but it certainly seemed like her day never ended.

/

A while later Shawn wandered into the kitchen just as Angela opened the back door and pushed in a doubled stroller that was roughly the size of his car back home. "Wow, that's a fancy set of wheels."

She glanced up at him and smiled as she parked the stroller in the mud room. "Oh, hi. You're finally up."

"Where'd you guys go, back to the beach?" Zora held up a toy and garbled out some sort of gibberish but he was able to piece together enough context- namely the cup Angela was carrying- and guessed where they'd gone. "McDonald's? Cool."

"I didn't feel like cooking so we took a walk. I'm going to take advantage of the three of us being able to share a pancake meal and some hash browns for as long as I can."

"I don't blame you. Save money."

"Here, Don."

He looked down and Jude was holding a paper bag up to him. "What's that?" He took it and looked inside.

"Food. Two of it."

"For me?" The boy nodded. "Thank you."

"You still like the sausage biscuits right," she asked. "No egg?"

"Yeah." He was surprised she remembered. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She undid the buckle on Jude's seat and lifted him out before moving onto Zora in the back. "What time do you have to be at the airport?"

"I should probably get there around two. Who knows how long it's going to take to return the rental car. How far is the airport from here?"

"About twenty, twenty-five minutes…again, depends on traffic." Angela bounced her daughter on her hip and winced when a toy was shoved in her face. "Ouch. Zora, no. Mama can see the Troll without you putting it in my eye."

"Pop!"

"Yes, I know, Poppy is so pretty and super, duper pink."

Shawn frowned. "That's a Troll doll? The same Trolls that were around as we were kids?"

"Yep, everything old is new again."

"But these are kind of cute. The ones we had were just weird. They were naked with jewels where they should've had belly buttons."

"I don't know. I guess they figured nowadays they couldn't get away with marketing naked dolls with belly jewels to kids without getting lawyers and cops involved." Her phone chimed and she went to the diaper bag and dug around for it. "Jude, Uncle Eric and Aunt Jody say five minutes, okay," she told him after reading the text.

The little boy jumped up and down. "Yay! Get tabs, mama."

"I will get the tablet. Don't worry."

"Eric," Shawn questioned.

"He Skype's every Sunday with the kids. He does other times during the week, too, when he can but it's always Sunday." Angela was surprised by how much Eric stepped up to be there as a friend after her dad died. He'd even offered to escort her when she got married. She rejected the idea at first, saying if she couldn't have her dad then she'd rather do it alone. Then came the wedding rehearsal. She was halfway down the aisle when she froze; paralyzed with a sense of loss she hadn't felt this since the days immediately after her father's death. Eric didn't hesitate to fill in despite her earlier rejection. It did help to imagine the look on her dad's face if he could see Eric stepping in. It was enough to make her laugh through her tears. Now in the wake of Grant's death he was determined to be best uncle ever.

"Oh."

"He is their uncle, will be officially when he marries Jody." It wasn't always easy, but she tried to remind herself how fortunate she was. She had a wonderful step-mother, step-brothers, in-laws, and countless friends who would drop everything if she needed help, and they've gone above and beyond proving it lately. A lot of people in her situation didn't have that kind of support system. Yes, she would give anything to have more time with Grant and her father, but she and her children were blessed to still have so many people who loved them.

"Right."

Jude tugged on the bottom of her shirt. "Mama, tabs."

"Okay, okay." She took his hand and let him lead her towards the living room. "Zora, you want to say hi to Uncle Eric and Aunt Jody?"

"Hairy! Odor!"

Angela chuckled. "We're going to have to work on those pronunciations before the wedding, miss flower girl. Good thing we have until June. Aunt Jody hates that you call her Odor."

"But Eric likes Hairy?"

"He's always been obsessed with his hair. I think he takes it as a compliment."

"And how on earth does Jody come out like odor?" He could understand Jude calling him 'Don.' The sh- sounds were tricky for kids. "That doesn't make sense."

"I don't know, because she's one and that's what happens?" Angela settled the kids on the floor and handed the tablet to Jude. "One year olds are unpredictable with vocabulary. Pineapple was like…the third word she ever said, came out clear as a bell, too. And the other day she randomly said volcano. But besides those and a couple basics her speech is still a little sketchy."

"Weird."

"Welcome to one year olds."

He heard the alert for Skype and decided to clear the area. "I'm going to make sure I have all my stuff together."

"You don't want to say hi?"

"It wouldn't be strange to explain why I'm here?"

"You missed your flight and needed someplace to crash for the night. Why make a secret out of nothing?"

Nothing? "Still…I'll pass," he said as he quickly scaled the baby gate and disappeared down the hall. Eric was another one he hadn't kept close contact with. Not that they ever fully lost touch. Shawn wasn't sure anyone ever really got rid of Eric Matthews. Once he was in your life he seemed determined to stick around for good. He was kind of like a cockroach that way.

A few minutes later, Shawn emerged in search of his house keys. Last night Jude was intrigued by the Tamagotchi key chain he had. Riley and Maya got him a "vintage" one couple years ago, insisting he keep it so he wouldn't get lonely when travelling for work. He's lost count of the number of times he's killed the poor thing. While he tried to remain out of sight of the camera, he was curious about what had the kids laughing like crazy. He didn't see Eric or his fiancée, however. It appeared they were putting on a little puppet show.

By the time he found his keys on the floor by the coffee table, the puppet show was over and talk had turned to Jude's birthday. He wanted remote control cars and stuff from something called Paw Patrol…whatever that was…Jude wanted all the stuff. Shawn was confused by Eric continually calling the kid Junior, though. Was it some sort of inside joke? Just when he thought he'd remained unseen, he got a text.

"WTF are you doing in San Diego?"

Shawn frowned and typed a reply. "My flight was overbooked. I ran into Angela and she let me stay in her extra room. I'm going home in a couple hours."

"Just don't do anything to make me want to hurt you."

"I don't plan on it."

"Do you ever?"

He wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he didn't. He had about an hour before he had to head to the airport and he didn't want to spend it going back and forth with cryptic texts. He made one last check to be sure he had all of his belongings. Surely the last thing Angela needed was to find something he left behind and have to find time to ship it back to him.

"I get you, mama!"

He looked out the window and spotted the little family outside. Angela was chasing the kids around the backyard and through the sprinklers. He debated for a few seconds before he went to his bag and took out his camera. This was about the happiest Shawn had seen his former love the whole time he's been here and it seemed criminal to not capture it…even edit the pictures and give them to her one day, joyful moments in the midst of emotional upheaval and loss.

Eventually the camera was put away and he decided to join them, bringing his bags along and setting them just inside the door. She was loading Zora into the baby swing while Jude climbed to the top of the slide. "So Eric saw me."

She nodded got behind her daughter and pushed. "I know. I got a text. What did he say to you?"

"Vaguely threatening stuff."

"Yeah…he's sort of become like an over-protective big brother."

"Don, catch me!"

Shawn looked up and saw Jude at the top of the slide, poised to come flying down. Sure, it wasn't that high, but what if he came down to fast and he missed and Jude hit the ground? What then?

"Unclench your insides," Angela said as she tried not to laugh. "He just wants you to stand at the bottom and watch him. You don't have to physically catch him."

"Oh…" And, just like she said, he flew down the slide and landed right in front of him on his feet. "…I knew that."

She smirked. "Uh-huh. Sure you did. Zora, what do we call silly people?"

"See goo!"

"Right. Shawn is a silly goose."

After "catching" Jude about a million more times on the slide and pushing him about half a million times on the swings, he joined Angela on the patio swing, grateful for the canopy to shield the midday sun. The kids were throwing tennis balls to the dogs, using the last bit of energy before crashing for naptime. Shawn felt like he was being given another glimpse into what could've been his life if he and Angela could've gotten things together sooner. And yet that wasn't what was making his heart twist in his chest. It was the knowledge that, if she had a choice, he wasn't the one she would want to have beside her right now. "So I've decided that toddler-rearing totally needs to be an Olympic event," he joked.

"Definitely. You can't call yourself an athlete until you've had to chase after a toddler who runs after you ask what is in their mouth."

"Zora?"

She shook her head. "Jude a couple months ago, he said he was pretending to be a piggy bank. We got him to spit out most of it."

"What happened to the rest?"

"The same thing that happens to everything else you eat."

"Gross."

"It happens."

They sat quietly for several long moments, watching the kids play. "So I'll be back out this way in two or three weeks. I slept too late to check out the offices for my boss today so she's sending me out to Long Beach later." He didn't know why he was mentioning this. He certainly wasn't expecting her to offer to put him up again. "There are also places in Anaheim and Los Angeles she wants me to check out, too."

"We'll be in Michigan with my in-laws."

"We usually stay for a few weeks. I know this time is going to be harder because it's our first time back there since Grant's memorial."

"I'm sorry."

"His mom is trying to get me to move Marquette, saying the kids need to be raised around family. I love her and I know she means well, she's grieving, too, but I'm not sure. Grant and I thought long and hard about where to put down roots and raise our children. We loved it here. I still love it here." She ran her hands over her face and tried not to think of all the times Grant talked about growing old with her here. "I don't know. It's too soon for me to be making any big decisions."

"That's smart. Wait until things aren't quite so raw. I'm sure whatever you decide will be the right choice for your kids."

"Thanks." She glanced at the time. She should probably get the kids inside for a snack and nap. If she waited too long they'd get overly cranky and would be impossible. "I need to take them inside." She stood and stretched. "It's almost naptime."

"Oh, sure." He followed her lead and got up. "I should probably head to the airport anyway. I really appreciate-"

"It was nothing. I had an extra room."

"No, it was something. It was a lot. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Thanks for listening to me talk about Grant no matter how awkward it was for you."

"We're friends. That's what friends do. And I know things are still awkward between us, but you know if you ever need anything… I mean it."

"I know, Shawn. Thanks." He nodded. "I can let you out through the garage," she continued.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm just going to grab my bags."

"Jude, Zora," Angela called out, "Let's say good-bye to Shawn. He has to go home now."

"You go now?"

Shawn bent down slightly so he could he could talk to Jude on his level. He'd noticed Angela doing that and found the boy wasn't as shy and quiet when you spoke to him that way. "Yeah, I have to go home and go back to work."

"Is it far?"

He nodded. "Kinda, yeah. I have to fly in an airplane."

"You come back and pay?"

"Pay? Pay who?"

"Play," Angela clarified in a whisper.

"Oh! Oh, yeah I'm sure we'll see each other again and play. I'll be there when Uncle Eric gets married. We can play a game then."

"Okay," he said before turning his attention to his mother. "Mama, I watch Paw Patrol?"

"Yes, we can watch Paw Patrol before we take a nap?"

"Mama nap, too?"

"Mama, too. Mama's tired. Today you and Zora can take a nap with me in my bed."

His eyes lit up. "In the big bed?"

She smiled at his excitement. "Yes, in the big bed. Zora," she called out to her daughter. The toddler was determined to crawl while juggling a dog toy in each hand. It wasn't going very well. "Come say bye-bye to Shawn." She retrieved her daughter from the grass and went back to the garage door. "What do you say?"

"Bye-bye, see goo!"

She said it with such enthusiasm Shawn couldn't help but laugh. "I suppose I'll see you at Eric's wedding. I don't see Cory being cool with me blowing it off."

"Right."

"Is there anything you want me to tell people? You know…back in New York or-or wherever. A message you want me to give them? People whose names might rhyme with Dory or Mor-panga?"

"No."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"You're going to see them at the wedding, you know? Cory's brother is marrying your sister-in-law. You're all going to be family."

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it." She didn't hate Cory and Topanga, quite the opposite. But choices were made and sides were picked a long time ago. And she knew when it came down to her and Shawn she was never going to come out on top where they were concerned. Besides, it had been so long since she'd talked to either one of them. That was life. Sometimes you outgrew your friends. Maybe some things, some friendships, were better left in the past. She simply didn't have the emotional energy to spare at the moment to explore if that was really true.

"But-"

"Good-bye, Shawn."

"I just-"

"Zora?"

"See goo!"

She kissed the top of her daughter's head. "Good girl."

He exhaled. "Okay, I get it. Sorry."

"Have a safe flight."

"Do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Save me a dance at the wedding?"

Angela was so caught off guard by his request she burst out laughing. "I…sure…I guess. If I'm able to put down a kid for two minutes, you can have a dance."

"Cool." Shawn loaded his bags into the back seat before he climbed into the car. He gave a quick wave and watched the little family in the rearview mirror as he drove away.

It struck him that as much as things changed over the years, they stayed much the same. He and Angela bonded as teenagers who didn't know how to love and had been dealt the short end of the stick in the parental department. Now, twenty or so years later they've loved and lost- albeit to varying degrees- and seemed more weathered and weary than they were when they met. Maybe one day the universe would grow tired of using them as the test subjects for how much a person could take before they crumbled. He wished it more for Angela's sake than his own. Shawn also realized that it didn't hurt nearly as much saying good-bye to her as it had in the past. Before there was always this fear in the back of his mind that it would really be the last time he'd see her. At least he knew there would be a next time. As for what happened after that, well, that was anyone's guess. But for right now it would be enough to remain in her life as her friend. It was, after all, how they started.