Chapter Seventeen: Girl Meets Home for the Holidays
"Honey this is our first year hosting the holidays. Is your mom going to go easy on me?" Topanga asked. Riley and I were putting ornaments on the tree with Auggie. "You want comfort or truth?" Cory asked. "Comfort." Topanga answered. "It's going to be hideous." Cory told her. "I said I wanted you to comfort me." Topanga replied. "It's going to be hideous." Cory replied while giving Topanga a hug.
"It's Maya's first time with us and we need the holiday to go good for her." Riley said and I agreed with her. "Well I need the holiday to be good for your mother." Cory told them. "Liar." Topanga exclaimed. "Liar." Cory exclaimed pointing to himself. "I need the holiday to be good for Shawn. Shawn's coming!"
The intercom buzzed and Cory quickly ran over to it. "Shawn?" Cory guessed. "Maya." Maya said. "Shawn!" Cory said again. "Aw, what's the matter your boyfriend's not here yet?" Maya asked. "He's not my boyfriend!" Cory retorted. "Aw then what are we going to do with this Cory and Shawn 4-evah! Ornament?" Topanga asked holding up the ornament.
"Oh that, that goes in front of the Cory and Topanga wedding ornament." Cory told her putting the ornament in front of another. "My whole life." Topanga said to Riley and Caroline. "Auggie want to help with dinner?" Topanga asked her son. Maya opened the door and the first thing she said was, "I don't even think he exist." Maya said to Cory.
"He's real Maya. I've known the guy my whole life and he's real." Cory told her. "You're fun to play with." Maya told him before moving on to me and Riley. "Riley, Caroline, I got you both a present." She handed us both a piece of paper. "A donations been made in your name to the Maya new winter coat fund." Riley and I read. Maya showed off her new coat. "Thank you it's beautiful." Riley and I commented.
"I'm glad you two like it. I never know what to get people." Maya told us. "So what's the deal on the mysterious Uncle Shawn?" "I don't see him a lot. I don't think he likes me." Riley told her. "I see him more than any of you know." I told Maya. "Riley." Cory said ignoring what I said. "How could someone not like you?" Maya asked. "Ask him and let me know." Riley replied.
The intercom buzzed once again. "Shawn!" Cory shouted running over to the intercom. "Now it's your parents." Cory's father, Alan said. "Rats." Cory stated. "Let me explain how a speaker box works." Alan said. "These holidays are important to me, Alan. How much of a fiasco do you think it's going to be?" Cory's mother, Amy asked. "Let me explain how a speaker box works." Alan said again.
"Hideous already." Cory told Topanga. "How 'bout I throw this pot at you?" Topanga suggested. "They don't think you're real, but I know you are." Cory said talking to his and Shawn's ornament. Topanga threw the pot at Cory, but he caught it. "She tried to hurt you Shawn." Cory said to the ornament. "He needs some serious help." Caroline whispered to Maya and Riley.
The doorbell rang and Auggie ran towards the door. "Grandpa! Grandma!" Auggie shouted. He opened the door and Alan and Amy appeared in the doorway. "Here's ten bucks, write me better." Alan told Auggie handing him ten bucks. "Okay." Auggie replied. "Here's cookies." Amy told Auggie handing him a plate of cookies. "Here's ten bucks." Auggie replied to her, handing her the ten bucks. "And that's how you do that." Amy said.
"Riley, Maya." Alan said hugging Riley and Maya. "Yay!" they said. Alan finally noticed that I was standing there. "And look who returned." He commented. "Hi Mr. Matthews." I greeted giving him a hug. "Aw come on Caroline you're basically family, it grandpa." He told me returning the hug. "Fine grandpa." I told him. Riley, Maya, and I moved to sit at the table. I took out my phone so I could text some of my other friends.
Third Person POV*
"Ah, wow, look at all these kids. It wasn't long ago I had kids around the house." Alan said. "Yeah it was just this morning wasn't it dad?" Josh, Riley's uncle asked giving Alan some keys. "Whoa, yeah, yeah you." Alan said pointing at Josh. "Boing." Maya said pointing at Josh. Caroline was too busy on her phone to pay attention to anything around her.
"That's my uncle Maya." Riley told her. "Sweet I would be you aunt." Maya stated. "Joshie!" Auggie shouted. "Auggie!" Josh shouted as the both ran to each other. Josh picked Auggie up and placed him on his shoulders. "I love it up here!" Auggie exclaimed. "My brother." Josh said to Cory. "My brother." Cory replied. Caroline heard this and looked up to see Josh.
That couldn't be Cory's younger brother could it? But it had to be. Caroline heard her phone beep and she went back to her texts. "How it possible we're brothers?" Cory asked. "Because it's a surprise!" Josh shouted at Alan. "Stop doing that." Alan told him. "Aw dad so proud of himself. He gets into movies for like a quarter." Josh told Cory.
Josh put Auggie face first into a chair. "Uncle Josh." Riley said getting up. "Riley." Josh said giving Riley a hug. "Uncle Josh." Maya said repeating what Riley said giving him a hug. "Um, I'm not your uncle Maya." Josh told her. "Even better." Maya replied. Riley pulled Maya away from Josh. Caroline looked up from her phone and Josh finally noticed her.
"Who's that?" Josh asked pointing at Caroline. "Caroline get over here." Riley ordered. Caroline locked her phone and walked over to the three. "Josh you remember Caroline, right?" Riley asked. Josh was shocked. The last time he saw Caroline was three months before she left for Britain and she didn't look the way she did now.
"Nice to see you again Josh." Caroline said. "You too." He replied pulling her into a hug. When they pulled away the first thing Josh said was, "It's been a while." "Sure has." Caroline replied. "Well you grew up gorgeous." Josh complimented her. "Well it looks like Caroline is going to be your aunt." Maya commented. "I am not going to be her aunt." I said while Riley said, "She is not going to be my aunt."
Caroline's POV*
After Maya's whole comment about me being Riley's aunt we sat back down at the table. I looked up from my phone and noticed someone else walked in. I looked closer and noticed that it was Uncle Shawn. He closed the door and walked further into the apartment. He put on finger to his mouth telling us to be quiet. "He moved and sat down next to Auggie.
"Gee Cor, I thought you'd be more excited to see me." Shawn said. Cory looked at Shawn and gasped. "Yay!" he shouted. He gave Shawn a hug disregarding that his son was seated between them. "I told you he was real." Cory said to Maya. Auggie struggled to get from between the two, but he finally did. "I'm okay. I'm alive." He announced. Auggie walked over to Topanga.
"So that's us huh?" Maya asked. "So I've been told." Riley replied. "All they are missing is my dad." I added sadly. Riley wrapped an arm around me. "Hey Shawn." Josh greeted. "Am I cooler than you yet?" "Oh, not yet, but I'm getting nervous." Shawn told him. They did a bro hug.
"Hey Mrs. Cory." Shawn greeted Topanga when she walked over to him. "Hey Mr. Cory." Topanga greeted back giving him a hug. Cory got up and walked over to the two. "You two. How great is this? My favorite person in the world and my wife." Cory said. I held in a giggle. "My whole life." Topanga told us.
"Hey Shawn, how you doing?" Alan asked Shawn. "Keep moving, Mr. Matthews." Shawn replied. "We're glad you're here." Amy told him. Amy gave Shawn a hug. "You hungry?" "Yeah." Shawn answered. "Good luck with that." Amy told him. "I'm right here." Topanga reminded her. Riley, Maya, and I got up and walked over to Shawn.
"Hi Uncle Shawn." Riley greeted. "Yeah, hey kids." Shawn replied before walking over to Cory. "Yeah, hey kids?" Maya questioned. "He ignored me." I stated. "It's getting better. Last time it was just," Riley said while nodding. "Maybe's he's not just a big talker." Maya suggested. "Boy are you wrong." I muttered. "Cor time to talk. We've got a lot to catch up on." Shawn told Cory. Riley, Maya, and I linked our arms and walked off to Riley's room.
"So that's your dad's me?" Riley asked. "Uh huh." Riley answered. "We're them?" Maya asked. "Uh huh." Riley answered. "All they're missing is your dad's Caroline?" Maya asked. "Uh huh." Riley answered. "I don't see it." Maya told us.
Riley, Maya, and I walked back into the living room to talk to Shawn. "I wanna talk to you." Maya said to Shawn. "Did you not just hear our song?" Cory asked. "What's that?" Shawn asked Cory. "That's May, she thinks she's tough." Cory answered. "Scram." Maya ordered. "Okay." Cory said. Cory sat down so did Maya and Shawn.
"I've heard stories about you. You're great in the stories." Maya told Shawn. She looked him over. "I don't see it." "Okay." Shawn replied. "Riley, Caroline, and I are the best friends on this planet." Maya told him. "Well that's cute 'cause Cory and I are the best friends in all of existence which includes your crummy little planet." Shawn retorted. "Cory and I finish each other's-." Shawn started. "Sentences." Cory shouted.
"Yeah? That all you do?" Maya asked. "Because Maya," Riley stated sitting down next to Maya. "Riley." I said sitting down next to Maya. "And I." Maya said. "Can read," Riley said. "Each other's." I said. "Minds." Maya finished. "Ready." Riley said. Maya and I turned to look at Riley. "What am I thinking of? One, two three." "Pizza. One, two, three, clouds. One, two, three, Farkle." We all shouted in unison.
"Yeah right like we can't do that." Cory said. "We can't." Shawn told him. "One, two, three, rainbows!" Cory shouted. "Can't do it!" Shawn shouted. "It's pretty impressive, but you're still not me and Cory." "Why do you make Riley feel bad?" Maya asked. "I don't mean to." Shawn replied. "Well you do and that's not cool with me." Maya told him. "Me either." I added. "Cause we're her best friends. So we just wanted to tell you that." Maya said.
We got up and were about to walk away. "Hey." We turned away and looked at Shawn. "Maybe you are like me and Cory." Shawn said then he look at me. "And Chris." I looked at Shawn. "I'm still mad that you didn't give me a proper hello." I told him before walking off with Maya and Riley.
We were sitting on the kitchen bench watching Cory and Shawn sleep. It was funny watching Cory sleep because for some reason he crosses his arms and he goes "yip, yip, yip, yip, yip." Maya got up and pulled me and Riley with her. "How could you possibly not like Riley?" Maya asked waking Cory and Shawn up. "Maya." Riley and I said.
"What is she talking about?" Shawn asked. "Whenever you do come here it's like you find some excuse not to talk to me then you leave." Riley explained. "I talk to you. I'm talking to you right now." Shawn told her. "When's my birthday? What's my favorite color?" Riley asked. "Riley that stuff doesn't matter." Shawn replied. "It does matter." Maya and I said. "Tell us what you know." Maya demanded.
"Girls, Shawn knows Riley's birthday." Cory told us. "How do you know?" Riley asked. "He knows." Cory said. "Dinner everybody." Topanga called. Everybody got up and walked over to the table.
Once I was done eating my dinner I put my fork down. I knew that everyone was waiting for desert, but I also noticed Topanga was looking at us in disbelief. "Five minutes." Topanga exclaimed. "That dinner took two days to cook, you animals ate it in five minutes!" "What's for desert mom?" Riley asked. "Nothing." Topanga snapped. "I want you two sit there for two days and think about that dinner you just devoured and then maybe I'll give you a cupcake."
"Well I thought it was great, Topanga. Thank you, I don't get a lot of home cooked meals." Shawn said to Topanga. "How's the job going Shawn?" Cory asked. "Oh you do something?" Maya questioned. "Yeah I write for a site called hit the road. Go to a lot of different places and tell you if it's worth a weekend." Shawn explained. "I-I go on that site." Maya admitted. "Restless little spirt, huh?" Shawn asked. "No I just think about-." Maya said. "Other places." Shawn finished. "Sometimes." Maya said. "Yeah." Shawn said. "Yeah." Maya said.
"You take the pictures too." Maya stated. "I do. How'd you guess that?" Shawn asked. "I draw pictures." Maya answered. "Yeah." Shawn said. "Yeah." Maya replied. "I going to say 'yeah' last, okay?" Shawn told him. "Very mature." Maya replied. "Yeah." Cory said. Maya mouthed "Yeah."
"Okay that's it, when's my birthday Uncle Shawn?" Riley asked. "He knows Riley." Cory told her. "You keep on saying that. Why won't he answer?" Riley asked. "What did I do?" Shawn got up and walked towards the door. He stopped and looked at us. "You coming or what?" Shawn asked. Riley, Maya, and I got up and followed him.
We were at Svorski's and I was playing with the desert Shawn had bought us.
"December 8th." Shawn stated. "What?" Riley asked. "Your birthday." Shawn replied. "That doesn't save you. I know her birthday, but I don't abandon my friends to hit the road." Maya told Shawn. "Whoa." Riley and I said. "Think that's fair?" Shawn asked. "I do." Maya answered.
"Then this is fair to. What time was she born? How much did she weight? How tall was she?" Shawn asked. "Uh oh." Riley, Maya, and I said. "Six in the morning. Seven pounds four ounces. Twenty-one inches." Shawn told us. "I was there all night. I was the first person to hold you after your parents. You looked like this." Shawn scrunched up his face. "She still does." Maya and I told him. Riley scrunched up her face and I giggled at her.
"Why do you remember it all so well?" Riley asked. "It's the day I left New York City." Shawn answered. "City wasn't big enough for the both of ya?" Maya asked. "When people get married and they have kids sometimes their old friends who don't keep up start to feel a little out of place." Shawn explained. "Please don't make me the reason you don't stick around." Riley said.
"I'm the reason it's on me. Your parents are the best people I've ever met in my life." Shawn told her. "Then you should really love Riley because I love her. I mean she's exactly like her parents." Maya told Shawn. "He does love me." Riley told Maya. "What?" Maya questioned. "He loves my parents and I come from them so he loves me. He loves me so much he can't even look at me." Riley explained.
"I'm right here." Shawn said. "And why won't you look at me?" I asked. "What are you talking about?" Riley asked. "I mean since he's been here, he has avoid eye contact with me." I explained. "It's because of your dad." Riley stated. "What?" I asked. "You remind him so much of your dad that he can't look at you. He loved you dad and since you are exactly like him it hurts to look at you. Because he misses your dad so much." Riley explained. "Again I'm right here." Shawn said.
Riley pulled me up and we walked over to Shawn's side of the both. "Look at me." Riley and I said in unison. "I'm looking at you two." He told us. He was looking in our direction, but he was looking at us. "Look at us." We said again slower this time. We turned his head so he was looking directly at us. Shawn started smiling at us so we let his face go. "What?" Riley and I asked. "You're Cory with Topanga's hair. You got lucky." Shawn told Riley before looking straight at me. I saw a sad smile find a way on to his face. "And you look exactly like Chris, but with Marie's smile." He told me. "That's a good thing your dad's smiles are funny." Riley, Maya, and I all giggled.
"Is it okay if I say something scary?" Riley asked Shawn. "I hardly think a thirteen year old girl can say anything that would scare me." Shawn told her. "Every time you see me does it remind of you what you don't have?" Riley asked. "Check." Shawn called out.
Riley, Shawn, and I walked back into the apartment. On the way up Riley quietly told me her plan and she wanted me to help her. That would be easy from what my dad told me he, Cory, and Shawn were kings when it came to scheming. Though I think it's time someone else took the throne.
"You in there." Riley told Cory. "Um Riley, you do not command a grown man." Cory told her. "You." Riley and I said. "Who me?" Cory asked. "Both of you go to my room." Riley ordered Cory and Shawn. Cory and Shawn walked to Riley's room and we followed behind them.
Riley opened her door and we walked in. "Tell him how you feel right now." Riley and I commanded before I closed the door.
Once again Riley and I walked back into Riley's room. "Look you two, I know when I'm being set up. I know when I'm in the middle of somebody's scheme." Shawn told us. Riley and I just stood there with amused smiles. "Yeah we were the king of schemes." Cory added. They look at each other before they sat back down at the window. "We were kings." Cory told us. "Look at us Shawny."
"What's the scam little girls?" Shawn asked us. "Why did you really move out of the city?" Riley asked before we started to leave the room. "Are you two really doing this to keep me and Cory together?" Shawn asked. "'Cause we're fine we don't really need this." "We know that." I said. "We have our eye on a much bigger prize." Riley added. We opened the door and left the room.
When we heard what Cory said we knew it was time to interrupt. I opened the door and walked over to Cory. "Thank you, you have served your purpose." I said while pulling him up. "Wait what are you doing?" Cory asked as I pushed him towards the door.
Riley went over to the window and pulled Maya in. "Wait what are you doing?" Maya asked. "Ask him about his parents." Riley told Maya before she walked over to me and Cory. "Riley, Caroline." Cory said. "Look at them." Riley and I said. "There us." Riley added.
"Come here." Cory said. "Was this your idea and you brought Caroline in on it?" "What do you think?" Riley asked. "I think you are the new king." Cory told her bringing her into a hug. "Yeah, well I did learn from the best." Riley replied. We moved to leave the room.
"Uh, Cory what's going on?" Shawn asked. "Riley, Caroline what are you trying to do here?" Maya asked. "You got this buddy." Cory told Shawn. "You got this buddy." Riley and I told Maya. Cory opened the door and we walked out of the room.
Maya and Shawn finally returned to the living room. I wasn't really listening to everyone talking because I was thinking about my family. This was the first Christmas I went without actually seeing my parents. I mean last year they disregarded everyone else and traveled to Britain to spend Christmas with me since I wasn't allowed home. I'm used to spending the holidays with my technically extended family, but not seeing my brothers or my parents makes me feel sad. Riley must've saw my face drop because she wrapped her arm around my shoulder. "It's going to be okay." She whispered to me.
I looked up and listened to Shawn speak. "So listen I have an assignment next weekend up in Columbia county, upstate New York. It's beautiful up there." Shawn told us. "We're gonna miss you Shawn." Cory told him. "Well maybe not, 'cause I was thinking. Maybe you might wanna come?" Shawn asked, hopefully. "All of us?" Auggie asked. "I wouldn't have it any other way." Shawn replied.
"You know," Riley started. "Here it comes." Cory said to Topanga. "Caroline and I never go anywhere without our best friend." Riley said as we looked at Maya. "Yeah that's not a bad way to grow up." Topanga commented. "So maybe you would like to invite Maya?" I asked. "Oh you mean her?" Shawn asked. "Ah what do you say kid? You wanna come?"
"Yeah." Maya answered. "You're invited to." Maya pointed at Josh. "Cool." Josh said. "Oh boy." Riley said. Little did anybody know that Josh was actually looking at Caroline when he said cool, but no one noticed.
Cory, Topanga, Auggie, Shawn, Maya, Riley and I were all seated in Svorski's. "Riley this is for you." Shawn told her as he gave her a camera. "Your camera?" Riley questioned. "I got a few, but I figured with Maya and Caroline being good at drawing pictures maybe you'd be good at taking them." Shawn explained. "Yeah now you guys can be inspired together." Topanga said. "Yeah good old friends should never be apart too long." Cory stated. "New friend either." Shawn added. "Yeah." Maya said. "Yeah." Shawn said. "Yeah." Maya said. "Okay." Shawn said. Riley positioned her camera and took a picture of all of us.