August

Jeff walked stiffly into the study room with an envelope held tightly in his hands, still in a daze. The document inside was the only thing reminding him that this wasn't some weird stress dream his mind had cooked up. This whole morning had been a blur. He automatically moved to his spot around the table but didn't sit down. It was like his brain couldn't communicate with his body. It was like his brain just wasn't working. No, he knew for a fact that his brain wasn't working. Something had to be wrong with his brain. Something had been wrong with his brain for months.

As he stood there, frozen in place, he became aware of everyone's eyes on him. Probably because if you saw one of your friends standing stock still with a panicked look on his face, you'd think there was cause for some alarm. Before anyone could ask him anything, he held up the letter he'd received and blurted out, "I adopted a kid."

Everyone's jaw dropped. He looked around at the faces of his friends and saw his own shock echoed there. No one was speaking, and he felt the need to fill the silence. "I adopted a kid," he repeated. "I don't know anything about kids. I don't even like kids."

"Are you serious?" Britta asked.

"The agency called me last night. They approved my application. I've got the paperwork right here."

Suddenly everyone was speaking at once.

"Are you on drugs?" Annie demanded.

"Is that why you got a new apartment?" Troy questioned, piecing things together.

"No more one-night stands. Jeff Winger is off the market, ladies. Or fellas," Pierce chided, very unhelpfully.

"You're going to be a single father?"

Shirley's question made all color drain from Jeff's face. He turned to stare at her wide eyed.

"Yes," he said, the reality of his situation just now sinking in. Up until now it had all just been talk. Being a single parent was hard. Really hard. "I don't know anything about kids," he said again, still looking at Shirley, his panic beyond evident. "How do you even raise a kid?"

"Well," Shirley began, her voice turning sweet. Shirley always wanted to help. "Are you adopting an infant? Have you met the child?"

"Yes, I met him." A shocked murmur went through the group and Jeff's heart pounded. "Over the summer. He's seven and his name is Tyler. Tyler… Winger, now, I guess." Suddenly Jeff's brain went fuzzy.

"This is going to be like Big Daddy," Abed chimed in. He sounded thrilled. Everyone turned to Abed with horrified expressions as they pictured exactly what he was imagining, but Jeff barely noticed. He was too busy having a revelation.

"Tyler Winger," Jeff said again, but this time it was for his own benefit. Saying it out loud had triggered something in him. His panic began to fade away. He took the sheet of paper out of the envelope he held and let his eyes scan over the words that just this morning had sent him into hysterics. It detailed the terms of the adoption. Everything from the date of adoption to the rules he would have to follow and the reviews they would have to attend. Also included in the envelope was a polaroid of a bright-eyed little boy with spiky blond hair and hopeful blue eyes. Tyler Winger. He felt a warmth spread through his chest and his heart thrummed again, only this time it was excitement. He had moved past his panicked disbelief, but his friends had not caught up to him just yet. They were still arguing. He was paying very little attention until Annie's voice brought him back.

"You know this is forever, right? Have you even thought this through? A child isn't something you can just buy and then give up if you decide you don't like him. A kid isn't a sweater."

"I know." The sudden calm of his voice took Annie by surprise.

"I don't understand. Why did you do this? This isn't like you at all."

Jeff shook his head. He wasn't sure if he completely understood it himself. He looked back at Tyler's photo as he spoke. "I don't know. He was just… He's all alone." A hush fell over the group as they listened. "He was at my office. One of the lawyers at the firm was working his case. A custody issue. Mark told me he's been living in a group home while they were working it out. His mom died. When the state tracked down his dad, the jerk waved his parental rights just like that. His dad didn't want him. He doesn't have anyone else."

The silence in the room felt heavy now. Jeff removed the photo and passed it to Annie. Her expression softened at the sight of the bright-eyed child. "He's cute." She admitted with a smile and handed the photo to Shirley who cooed along with her.

"Okay, this isn't like Big Daddy anymore," Abed said as the picture was passed around the table, "This is more like Martian Child. How do you feel about John Cusack?"

By the time the picture made it around the table everyone seemed much calmer.

"I still think this is a bad idea," Annie said. "But if this is what you want to do, then we'll support you."

"Can we babysit?" Troy asked excitedly.

Jeff grimaced. "We'll see."

"Jeff Winger. Parent extraordinaire. Never thought that would happen," Britta ribbed lightly, looking at Tyler's picture.

"Yeah," Jeff agreed half-heartedly. Pierce was the only one among them that knew he had always wanted a son. He'd said as much to Cornelius Hawthorne last year after the Gay Bash and Pierce had overheard everything. But as much as he wanted to raise a son, a part of him believed it would never happen. He had certainly never considered adoption, especially not as a single man. He looked down at the adoption papers, took a deep breath, and nodded. This is not how he thought his life would go, but he knew this is what he wanted. This felt right.


The day Tyler came to live with Jeff was both incredibly eventful and absolutely ordinary in every way. Jeff picked him up from his group home and drove him back to the apartment in near silence. Clearly, they were off to a great start. Jeff hadn't quite realized until this moment that eleven years was a very long time and would be made even longer by the absolute vacuum of conversation the he so obviously created. During the entirety of the drive, all he could do was ask himself what in the Hell had he gotten himself in to.

They pulled into the parking lot and parked near the stairwell of his building. "So, here we are," Jeff said, flinching at the sound of his own voice. "Home sweet home."

He shut off the car and got out, nervously jangling his keys. He popped the trunk and removed Tyler's one, tiny suitcase from the back. He intended to carry it, but as soon as Tyler was out of the car, he was taking the bag from Jeff.

"I got it." It was one of the first things the boy had said to him all day.

"Um, okay, if you're sure. Just so you know, we do have to take the stairs. No elevator."

Tyler nodded in understanding and silently followed Jeff up the stairs and down the hall to apartment 202. Jeff unlocked the door and held it open for Tyler. "So, um, here it is. Me casa es su casa." They stood together in the entryway looking around at the sparsely decorated apartment for a moment before Jeff slipped into tour guide mode. "Over here is the kitchen, obviously. And the living room area is over here." Jeff gestured to each feature he pointed out. "I tend to watch a lot of TV… Uh, my room is over there… and this is your room." They both moved to stand outside the closed bedroom door. Tyler looked up at him and Jeff inclined his head towards the door. "Go ahead."

Tyler set down his bag and reached out to open the door. Jeff watched the kid's eyes light up as it swung open. Jeff had gotten Annie to help him decorate the room. There was a desk and chair against the wall, complete with an empty red and blue corkboard hanging above it, a bookshelf in the corner that was already half stocked, a bedside table and lamp, and a child-sized twin bed fully outfitted with a Spider-Man comforter and sheet set. Tyler walked into the room and gazed around, overwhelmed.

After a moment, Jeff brought Tyler's suitcase into the room and laid it on the bed. "Do you want some help unpacking?"

"I can do it," Tyler said, turning around and unzipping his bag.

"Okay, well, I'll just leave you to it then," Jeff said, backing out of the room. He closed the door behind him and went to sit on the couch. He clicked on the TV, but, after flipping through a few channels and finding nothing to hold his attention, turned it off and tossed the remote away. He leaned back against the couch and stared at Tyler's closed door, anxiously patting his legs. What was he supposed to do now? Maybe he hadn't thought this through quite as thoroughly as he thought he had. He and Tyler had hit it off so well when they'd first met. Now they couldn't seem to say more than two sentences to each other without the conversation dying.

Without realizing it, Jeff had gotten out his phone and had pulled up Shirley's contact info. His thumb hovered over the call button. He desperately wanted to call and beg for help, but he also wanted privacy. This was his thing. He could do this. He clicked his phone off and slid it into his pocket.

After another moment of sitting and staring, he got to his feet with purpose. He knocked on Tyler's door and opened it slowly.

"Hey," he said gingerly, peeking into the room. "I was about to start making dinner if you wanted to come hangout out here. Shouldn't take long to make."

Tyler was sitting on the floor, a couple of action figures in his hands. He looked up and Jeff and nodded.

"Okay," he said, getting up and following Jeff out into the living area.

"Um, I'm gonna go cook," Jeff said, pointing to the kitchen. "You can come sit at the bar if you want. Or watch TV. Whatever." He moved into the kitchen and started getting out pots and pans.

Tyler wandered over to the TV and turned it on, finding some animated show Jeff had never seen before. It was some cartoon about a shapeshifting yellow dog and a kid with a weird white hat.

"Alright, dinner's ready," Jeff announced several minutes later. "I made chicken fingers. I hope that's okay. Kids like chicken fingers, right?" He made two plates and set them on the table.

Tyler got up to join Jeff at the table but got distracted by something near the TV. He whirled around and grinned at Jeff.

"You have a PS3?" He asked excitedly.

Jeff raised his eyebrows at the kid's sudden enthusiasm. "Oh, yeah, I do. I had forgotten, actually. I don't use it much."

"What games do you have?" Tyler joined him at the table.

"Not much, really. And nothing that I think you're allowed to play."

"Don't you make those rules?" Tyler questioned, stabbing a chicken finger with his fork and bringing it to his mouth.

"Oh, right." This was really going to take some getting used to. "I don't think I have any games that are age-appropriate, then."

Tyler's face fell a little at that news and Jeff immediately felt bad. "What kind of games do you like to play? Maybe after dinner we can go to the store. I need to get some stuff anyway."

"Really?" Tyler asked hopefully.

"Sure. Why not?"

"Can we get Minecraft?"

Jeff looked at him quizzically, "Whatcraft?"

Tyler's eyes widened. "You don't know what Minecraft is?" The boy was dumbfounded.

Jeff shook his head no, and Jeff spent the rest of dinner listening to a detailed lecture about every aspect of the game and the various Youtubers that played it. Jeff didn't dare ask what a Youtuber was. This kid already thought he was an idiot. No reason to add more fuel to the fire.

After dinner they traveled to the store, which worked out well because the trip provided lots of easy conversation topics, such as 'What kind of school supplies do you need?' And 'What do kids eat besides chicken fingers?'

After the essentials were purchased, they ventured to the electronics and hunted down this Minecraft game that Tyler was so nuts about. Jeff wasn't sure he understood the appeal, but there was no harm in making sure the kid had something to do with his free time.

Back at the apartment, after unloading the groceries together, Jeff could tell Tyler was itching to play his new game, but it was also getting late.

"What do you say we call it a night?" Jeff asked, checking his watch. "It's probably your bedtime, right?"

"Probably," Tyler agreed, grinning. He was clutching the Minecraft case hopefully.

"Okay, uh, time for bed then."

Tyler sighed. "Okay." He put down his game and went off to get ready for bed.

Jeff watched him go, feeling very out of place. It's not that he wasn't used to telling people what to do. He told the study group what to do all the time, but he didn't have any true power over them. They listened to him because they wanted to, not because they had to. This was totally different.

When Tyler had dressed for bed and brushed his teeth, Jeff walked him to his bed. Tyler untucked his sheets and climbed in, looking expectantly at Jeff.

"Uh, should I read to you?"

Tyler shrugged.

Jeff sighed. "Okay, so I think you're starting to understand, I'm not so good at this. You gotta help me out, kid."

"I don't need you to read to me."

Jeff nodded. "Okay, then. Good night, I guess. Sweet dreams and all that." He clicked off Tyler's bedside lamp and made his way through the darkened bedroom to the door. As he was closing it behind him, he heard Tyler's small voice call out.

"Jeff?"

"Hm?" Jeff poked his head back in, letting his eyes adjust to the semi-dark, the only light a long beam shinning in through the half-opened door.

Tyler seemed shy suddenly, maybe a little frightened. He bit his lip and looked at Jeff. "I have, um… I have a nightlight. It's in my backpack. I forgot to get it."

"Oh." Jeff's voice was soft. "I can get it. Where…?"

Tyler pointed. Jeff followed his finger and found the bag. After a couple seconds of searching he was able to find the nightlight. It was a little plastic fishbowl that when plugged in cast a vaguely blue tinted light around the room, just enough to see.

Once it was plugged in, Jeff straightened up. "We can get a new nightlight, if you want. Something cooler."

Tyler shook his head. "My mom gave me that one."

"Oh." Jeff lightly cleared his throat. He moved over to Tyler and patted him on the head. "Come get me if you need me." He turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. He stood there for a long time, feeling oddly vulnerable.

Without even realizing it, he'd once again pulled up Shirley's number on his phone. He shook his head, clicked the screen off, and strode to his room, shutting the door behind him. He could do this. It would just take some getting used to, that's all. He spent the next few hours lying awake in bed, his brain too busy to let him sleep.


The next morning Jeff woke up to the sound of a tiny fist against his door. He grabbed his phone and squinted against the bright white light before groaning lightly. He'd kind of hoped that the whole kids waking up super early thing had just been a myth. Turns out it wasn't. 7:00 AM was too early for his day off. He heard the knock again and sighed, rolling out of bed and shuffling to his door.

"Good morning," he yawned while opening the door.

"I'm hungry," Tyler said.

Jeff looked down at him through bleary eyes and almost laughed out loud. Tyler's crazy blond hair was extra spiky this morning. He had some impressive bedhead and it was kind of cute. Jeff reached up to pat his own hair. He bet they matched. He turned his laugh into a cough and smiled. "What do you want for breakfast?"

Jeff made his way to the kitchen, Tyler at his heels. "We have eggs, bacon, toast, cereal…"

"Cereal."

Jeff opened the cabinet above the stove and looked over his selection. "Shredded wheat, Cheerios…" He glanced down to see Tyler making a face and Jeff almost laughed again. "I do have Cocoa Puffs, but I bet you don't like those…"

"Cocoa Puffs!" Tyler cheered and Jeff grinned. He got the box down and poured two bowls of cereal, setting both on the bar.

They sat side by side at the bar, eating their cereal in silence. Just like that, like they were back to not having anything to talk about. It was like going to sleep last night had hit a reset button. It didn't help that Tyler was so quiet. He was used to wishing kids would shut up, not wishing they'd start talking.

His phone buzzed next to him. It was a group text. Shirley was asking him how things were going. He clicked his screen off but it immediately lit back up. This time it was Annie wondering the same thing. He picked up his phone and texted back one word: Monday. He shouldn't have done that, though, because now he'd opened up the dam. Troy and Abed were begging to come over for a play date and Britta was offering free psych advice just in case things got intense. Jeff ignored them and stuffed his phone into the pocket of his pajamas. He had other things to worry about.

Jeff finished his bowl of cereal and let his spoon clink loudly into his empty bowl. "So," he started. "You don't have to start school until Monday. And I'm taking off school. So, we have a few days to just hang out."

Tyler stirred the leftover cereal in his bowl and nodded, not looking at Jeff.

Jeff waited a bit to see if Tyler had anything to say before asking, "Wanna show me that game of yours? Blockcraft or whatever?"

Tyler immediately sat up straight and met Jeff's gaze, a grin forming on his face. "Yes!" He jumped down from his stool at the bar and rushed to get his game. He loaded it up on the PlayStation while Jeff rinsed their bowls from breakfast.

Jeff made himself a cup of coffee and then joined Tyler on the couch. They sat together on the couch for hours while Tyler excitedly showed Jeff the ins and outs of the Minecraft world. That's how they spent their entire weekend: Minecraft, cartoons, and ignoring the dozens of texts and calls from his busybody study group.


Monday came and Jeff took Tyler to school. He self-consciously met the teacher, Mrs. Bartlett, and all the office workers, and awkwardly responded to the title of Tyler's father, even if that label wasn't quite right. He felt like an imposter. He dropped Tyler off as quickly as possible and headed to school himself. He was hoping for a little normalcy to balance out his morning, but he knew that wasn't a possibility, especially after giving his friends the slip all week. They were itching for details.

"How's parenthood treating you?" Britta asked as soon as Jeff had set foot in the study room.

"I like Lauren Graham, but I'm not so sure about the premise. I'll have to give it another go," Jeff answered, taking his seat at the table with a smirk. He kicked his feet up on the table, purposefully invading Britta's desk space just to annoy her.

"Hardy-har-har." Britta responded, making a face at him and shoving his feet off the table.

"We're serious, Jeff," Shirley reprimanded. "This is a big deal."

Jeff sighed and sat up straight. "Honestly, I've had to resist the urge to call you almost nightly," Jeff admitted, looking at Shirley. "I don't know if I'm doing anything right. But," he continued, switching to a lighter tone, "I've got it handled. Really, the kid is a breeze to deal with. It's like living with Chang, only I don't have to watch him as much. Tyler has not once tried to saw a hole in my floor."

"You let Chang have a saw?" Troy asked incredulously.

"I never let Chang have anything. He just kept showing up with saws! I have no idea where he was getting them."

"When can we meet Tyler?" Annie asked, interrupting them, completely unable to contain her excitement. She was practically bouncing in her seat.

Jeff rolled his eyes at her before responding, "I guess you'll be meeting him this afternoon. I have to go pick him up from school at 2:45. Figured I'd bring him by here. He could do his homework while we studied or whatever."

"Hmm," Shirley huffed at him. "You never let me bring my kids to study group."

"Tyler's so quiet you won't even notice he's here, I swear. Plus, it's not like I have a babysitter lined up yet. The kid's lived with me less than a week. Cut me some slack, mom-zilla."

Shirley huffed again and muttered something Jeff couldn't hear, but it made Pierce and Annie giggle.

Now it was Abed's turn for questions. "Have you had any wacky adventures yet? Like teaching him to pee on walls or dangle his spit?"

"Abed! I am not Adam Sandler and this is not Big Daddy!"

"What about using him to get chicks?" Abed asked, pointing at Jeff knowingly.

Jeff took a moment of consideration before answering. "I… actually hadn't thought of that."

"Jeffery!" Shirley scolded, and Jeff grinned impishly at her.

"That's what I would use him for," Pierce said with a shrug.

Jeff shot the older man a disgusted look. "Then again…"

"I really can't wait to meet him," Annie enthused, still unable to contain herself. "I bet he's great."

Jeff shrugged and pulled out his phone. "He's pretty cool, I guess."

"Wow, father of the year already," Britta said sarcastically.

Jeff responded by flipping her off.

At two o'clock Jeff went to go pick Tyler up from his first day of school. Before he left campus, he sent out a group text to his friends: Guys, be cool, ok? Do not freak out on me.

By 3:15, he and Tyler were walking into the study room together. Everyone was sitting calmly in their respective seats, the only giveaway that something was off were the giant grins plastered on their faces. The air almost crackled with their excitement. Jeff sighed. This was the best he could have hoped for.

He lead Tyler to his side of the table, "Everyone, this is Tyler. Tyler, these are my friends: Annie, Shirley, Pierce, Troy, Abed, and Britta." Jeff introduced them, pointing each person out.

"Hello!" Everyone at the table called.

"Hi," Tyler timidly said back, which earned him a collective "Aw."

"Okay! Enough of that," Jeff interjected. "Study time?"

Everyone at the table grumbled, but Jeff had no intentions of letting this turn into anything other than their regularly scheduled study session.

While everyone was getting out their books, Jeff turned to Tyler. "Here," he muttered, pulling out the empty chair next to his spot at the table. "You can sit here."

While Tyler was taking his seat and getting out his homework, Jeff noticed the table watching them. He cleared his throat loudly and everyone quickly turned their eyes to their history books.

"Alright," Annie announced. "We should go over the questions at the end of chapter four. Everyone can do them on their own and then we'll go over the answers as a group. That will give us some idea of where we are knowledge-wise."

Everyone agreed and opened their books. They spent the first two minutes working hard, then slipped into the generally unhurried pace that had come to be expected from these meetings. The Greendale Seven was a study group, but one that wasn't actually too keen on studying. It was more an excuse to hang out. While they did get some work done, they tended to spend half their time talking. Small conversations had broken out across the table. Jeff was half listening to Troy telling Britta and Abed about his dream last night when tiny fingers tapped him on the arm.

Jeff turned to find Tyler looking up at him. "I don't know how to do this one," Tyler said, holding his notebook out for Jeff to see.

"Ah, um, okay, let's see what we got here." Jeff leaned towards Tyler and set the notebook down between them. The page was scribbled with messy numbers and symbols. "Math, huh?" Jeff muttered, looking over the page.

"Mmhm. Fractions," Tyler explained.

Jeff reached over and moved the kid's math book so that they could both see it. "Well, lucky you, I actually remember how to do these. Which one is giving you trouble?"

"Number six," Tyler said, pointing to the problem in the book.

"Okay, so here's how this works…" Jeff wrote out the problem and step by step explained it, having Tyler do the actual math. "See? Easy," Jeff said when he was done.

While Tyler leaned forward onto the table and looked over the problem, Jeff became aware of having an audience. The room had gone very quiet. Jeff closed his eyes and counted to ten. "Alright, you do the next one. I'll help you if you need it." He raised his voice as he continued, "And everyone else here will mind their own business, unless they want us to leave."

The sudden shuffling of papers and outbreak of quiet chatter was all Jeff needed to hear to know that his message had been received. He stayed focused on Tyler's homework, watching the kid slowly work out the problem. When he was done, he passed it over for Jeff to check. "Yep, that's right. Good job." Tyler beamed at the praise.

Jeff's heart did that leaping thing again, and he had to look away. "Alright, finish up those last few problems and we can go." Tyler nodded and diligently bent over his textbook to start copying down the next problem.

Jeff turned back to his own work, but when he found himself staring into space and drumming his pen against the pages of his book instead, he declared it useless. He just had too much on his mind to be dealing with Cornwallis' class right now. He exhaled and shoved his book away from him, leaning back in his chair and covering his eyes with the backs of his fists.

"Wanna talk about it?" Britta asked rather slyly.

"Nope."

"Well, if you want to -"

"I don't."

"Geez. Just trying to help."

Jeff sighed and dropped his arms. He rolled his head to the side so that he could see the woman to his right. "I know. I appreciate that you try to help. Sometimes." He emphasized that last part, cutting off the hopeful smile that had started to form on her face. "Just not right now."

"I'm done!" Tyler called before Britta could respond, and Jeff gratefully turned his attention to the child. Tyler was holding out his homework for Jeff's inspection.

Jeff took the notebook and gave it a quick once over before handing it back and saying, "Yep, looks good to me. Ready to go?"

The boy nodded and started to pack up his school stuff.

Jeff flipped his history book shut with a loud snap and stood up. "Well, it's been real, but we're gonna head out. See you tomorrow."

"You're leaving already?" Annie whined. She poked her lip out at him.

"Yep. Got stuff to do."

"Well, okay." She looked disappointed for point-two-five seconds before she was smiling again, "Tyler, it was very nice to meet you."

"Yeah, maybe next time we'll actually get to hang out!" Troy called happily from across the table.

"Maybe," Jeff agreed, and then steered Tyler out of the room and in the direction of the parking lot.


The next day Jeff brought Tyler to study group again. They somehow beat everyone else there, so they had the room to themselves.

"What's the homework situation today?" Jeff asked as he took his seat and got out his phone.

"I have to read a chapter of this book. I also have some spelling homework," Tyler said, removing a thin paperback novel from his backpack and laying it on the table.

"That's not too bad," Jeff responded, not looking up from his phone. "Why don't you go ahead and get started on the reading."

"I'm supposed to read it out loud to a parent or guardian."

Jeff looked up from his phone then. Tyler sat on his knees in the chair next to Jeff, holding the book in his hands. He was watching Jeff with wide, innocent eyes. "Right." Jeff stood up and looked around. Still no one from the study group had showed up yet. Jeff gestured to the couches that were off to the side in study room F. "Let's sit over here. More comfortable."

He sat down on the couch and Tyler sat down next to him, still holding the book. Jeff took it from him and looked at the cover. "What's topping the bestseller list in second grade?"

"Magic Tree House."

"And what's Magic Tree House about?"

"I think you're supposed to read it to find out," Tyler was grinning playfully.

Jeff couldn't help himself. He smiled, too. "Alright, smart ass," he said, bopping the boy gently on the head with book before handing it over. "Get to reading, then."

Tyler took the book and opened it up to the start of chapter one and started reading aloud, only occasionally slowing down to sound out a word. Jeff had his arm around the back of the couch and was leaned over the book so that he could read along too, in case Tyler started to struggle. They were sitting like that when the rest of the group started filing in.

Britta and Troy came in first, talking loudly. Tyler faltered, but Jeff quietly encouraged him to keep going. The suddenly hushed conversation behind him indicated that Britta and Troy had realized what was going on. As the rest of the group arrived, Britta and Troy did their best to shush them, too. Jeff appreciated their help, but it also drew attention to them, causing Shirley and Annie to "Aw" again, which in turn caused Jeff to roll his eyes. Jeff made the mistake of glancing over his shoulder. Everyone was watching them with expressions akin to the one Annie wore when she watched those sappy Lifetime movies. He narrowed his eyes at them before turning his attention back to Tyler. He couldn't wait for this whole arrangement to become old hat so they would stop finding stuff to coo about. He didn't like feeling like he was on display.

Tyler finished the chapter and closed the book, looking up at Jeff for approval.

"Very good job," Jeff said, with a crooked smile. "Can't wait to see what happens next."

"We can read ahead tonight, if you want."

Tyler sounded genuinely excited, so Jeff nodded. "Sure, we'll read some more before bed."

Tyler smiled and hopped off the couch, headed for his spot around the table.

"What's up, Frankenstein?" Abed called as he approached.

"For the last time! Please stop referencing that movie!" Jeff groaned, joining them at the table.

"Should we move on to Daddy Daycare?" Troy grinned. "Shirley, let him borrow your kids."

"Yeah, I hope I do," Shirley muttered, not even bothering to look up from her textbook.

"Come on, it'll be fun."

"They're funny," Tyler said to Jeff as he watched Troy and Abed argue with a big smile on his face.

"Yeah, they're a hoot," Jeff agreed sarcastically, turning his attention back to his phone. "Do your spelling homework, please."

Abed, however, had overheard Tyler's comment and had other ideas. "Wanna come play with us?" he asked.

Tyler's eyebrows shot up. "Play what?"

"What do you want to play?" Troy asked, excitedly.

"Superheroes?" Tyler suggested and Troy and Abed were immediately game.

They started to get up but Jeff interrupted. "Homework first."

Tyler poked out his lip but Jeff ignored it. After a moment, Tyler huffed and started scribbling down his spelling homework as quickly as possible.

Jeff didn't miss the snickering going on around the table and he knew it was at his expense. He felt his face grow hot, but he stayed focused on his phone, refusing to give them the satisfaction of seeing him blush. He really needed this to stop being a big deal and soon.

As soon as Tyler was done with his homework, he was with Troy and Abed. The three of them secluded themselves in the corner of the study room, where they proceeded to launch into a pretend battle.

Jeff leaned against the table with his chin resting in his hand and watched them whisper-shout orders at each other while pointing finger-guns at invisible enemies, the screen of his phone going black as it was all but forgotten in his other hand. After a couple minutes, he caught his lips pulling into a smile as he watched their antics and snapped himself out of it. He shook his head and glanced around to make sure no one had seen. His eyes met Britta's, who smiled at him very perceptively. He glowered at her. "Shut up," he grumbled and attempted to ignore the heat returning to his face.

"Why?" Britta asked. "I think it's cute."

He angrily got out his history textbook. "I don't know what you're talking about." Maybe studying would keep him occupied better than his phone could.

Around 5:00, Jeff decided it was time to go. The Three Amigos whined but eventually relented and let Jeff break up their game. They were in the hallway, almost home free, when Shirley chased them down.

"Jeff, wait!"

Jeff sighed and stopped. Why did people never make things easy for him? "What?"

Shirley approached him cautiously, sensing his frustration. "Have you had any luck with finding a babysitter yet?" She asked.

"No, I haven't," Jeff answered, glancing down at his watch impatiently. "Look, Shirley, I really gotta get going. Tyler -"

"I know. I don't want to keep you. I just wanted to tell you that Andre would be happy to watch Tyler after school for you, if you still need help."

Jeff looked at her in surprise, "What?"

"I know how it is," She said understandingly. "I did the single parent thing, and it's not easy. Andre stays home with the boys already, so it would be no trouble. And it would give Tyler someone around his own age to play with. You seem like you've got your hands full, so I thought I'd offer."

An unexpected sense of relief washed over Jeff. He didn't even realize how tense he'd been until suddenly a small weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He strode forward and wrapped his friend in a one-armed hug, "Shirley, what did I ever do to deserve you?"

"Aw, that's nice! Just bring him by tomorrow after school." She smiled up at him happily.

"Thank you," Jeff said, stooping slightly to meet her eyes.

"We parents have got to stick together," She said, before turning to rejoin the group in the study room.

Jeff stood in the hallway for a few seconds longer than necessary before turning to the exit and leading Tyler to the car.


The knock at the door made Jeff's heart leap. He'd been looking forward to this dinner all week. Since Tyler had come to live with him, he hadn't really gotten to spend a lot of time with his friends outside of school. And he was especially excited to be spending some time with just Annie. As friends, of course.

"Tyler, could you get that?" He called from the kitchen.

Tyler got up from his spot on the couch and went to answer the door.

"Hey there, kiddo." Annie's voice sounded from the doorway.

"Annie!" Tyler cheered excitedly. "Come in! Jeff is in the kitchen."

Jeff could hear the door closing and then the shuffle of feet. Tyler and Annie's smiling faces appeared around the corner as he dragged her by the arm into the kitchen where Jeff was standing at the stove, stirring a pot of bubbling marinara sauce.

"Hi, Jeff," She laughed. "Thanks for inviting me to dinner."

"Happy to have you."

"So, what's on the menu?" She asked, moving further into the kitchen to peer at the pots and pans on the stove top.

"Spaghetti."

"Spaghetti? What happened to no carbs?"

Jeff glanced over his shoulder at Tyler. "Tyler, why don't you go set the table for us? Dinner's almost ready." Tyler grabbed the plates and silverware Jeff handed him and left to go do as he was asked. Once he had exited the room Jeff continued, "It's spaghetti squash. So, it's not really pasta. You can hardly tell a difference in taste. But I can't tell the kid, otherwise he won't eat it."

Annie laughed into her hand, "That's so cute."

"Just adorable." Jeff agreed sarcastically.

"Done!" Tyler called from the table.

"Alright, let's eat," Jeff said, then turned to Annie. "Remember: Mum's the word." He muttered seriously, handing her the bowl of yellow, noodle-like ribbons of squash.

After dinner, Jeff and Annie were back in the kitchen together. Jeff was washing the dishes while Annie dried them.

"Aw!" Annie suddenly cooed.

Jeff turned to see what she was making a fuss over and found her pointing at the fridge and grinning. Magneted to the front was a colored pencil drawing that Tyler had brought home from school the other day. Jeff rolled his eyes and turned back to the dishes, causing Annie to smack him on the shoulder.

"Don't downplay this!" She admonished. "It's sweet that you put his art up on the fridge."

"You think everything is sweet. The world is Candyland to you," Jeff pointed out. "I thought it was a good drawing, so I put it on the fridge. It's better than I could do at seven."

"What is it?" Annie asked, studying the drawing.

"It's Minecraft."

"What's Minecraft?"

Jeff turned to her, surprised, "You don't know what Minecraft is?"

"We don't all live with seven-year-olds."

"Isn't living with Troy and Abed close enough?" Annie smacked him again and he grinned. "It's a game," He explained. "It's pretty fun, actually."

"Yeah, but Jeff is horrible at it," Tyler interjected as he climbed onto one of the stools at the bar. "He always falls in lava."

"Tell that to the Creeper that blew up your house," Jeff replied, sticking his tongue out at the kid.

Tyler rolled his eyes and hopped down off the stool, grinning the whole time, "Whatever. I'm going to go build a new house with my diamond tools."

"Humility isn't your strong suit, is it?" Jeff called after him. Tyler only laughed.

When Jeff turned back to Annie, she was looking at him with an awed expression. He shot her a bemused look. "What's that face for?"

"It's just so weird." She said, shaking her head and smiling at him.

"What is?"

She nodded in Tyler's direction. "You being a dad."

Jeff's furrowed his brow, "I'm not – That's not really –"

"It's just a new side of you, is all. After three years, you'd think I'd stop being surprised by you."

Jeff didn't know what to say.

"I am curious, though," She continued. "What does your mom think about all this?"

Jeff's eyes widened and he froze, staring at Annie, "Uh…"

"Jeff… Did you forget to tell her?"

"Uh… I'll be right back."

"You forgot to tell your mom?" Annie shouted in disbelief as he rushed past her and into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

"Shit, shit, shit…" Jeff muttered to himself as he hurriedly dialed his mother's phone number. She answered after three rings.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mom," Jeff said with forced cheerfulness. "I've got some good news."