On a trip to John's Pizzeria in NYC without the rest of the class, Shawn discovers a link in Jon and Audrey's past that convinces him he's finally found a real home.

Greenwich Village or the Village as the locals called it, was on the lower westside of Manhattan between 14th street to the north and Houston Street to the south. Bleecker Street, where Jon and Audrey spent much of their youth, spanned several blocks lined with restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, and shopping. More than anything Bleecker Street was known for it's legendary music scene: Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, and many others had performed in the smoky venues along the street.

The food scene on in the area also had a rich history. Johns Pizza was a part of that history and was established in 1929 by Italian immigrant Giovanni "John" Sasso from Naples. John's was originally on Sullivan Street but after losing the lease on Sullivan Street, Sasso moved to 278 Bleecker Street. The earmark of John's was the coal fired brick ovens baked its crispy pizzas. There was a comfortable, familiar old-school atmosphere with its original wooden booths that customers traditionally wrote on. Shawn was thrilled to have a chance to do this without fear of repercussion; he'd been practicing on the desks in detention for years.

The black and white art deco floors were worn by time. The ceilings were made of tin and the faded murals spoke of an era Shawn knew nothing about. There was something so cozy and welcoming about the place and the fondness with which the regulars spoke of it that he couldn't wait to become a part of it's continuum. John's was clearly a family place and he never felt completely comfortable in such settings, usually because he was with someone else's family. However, being at this pizzeria that was entrenched with history of the two people with him, Shawn discovered that he felt fully at ease.

The line at the restaurant was long, but it didn't bother Shawn as he enjoyed taking in the views of Bleeker Street and listening to Jon's stories. Once they were inside, Audrey excused herself to the restroom. As Jon began to tell Shawn another story, he was interrupted by a smoky, low voice calling his name.

"Hey, Jonny! Jonathan Turner! Is that you?"

Jon's face lit up when he turned and saw an old friend from his teen years approach them. "Angelo? No way, man!" He reached out to take the hand of the man who approached them. "How are you? It's been years!"

Judging on first impressions, the average person would have crossed to the other side of the street if they were to see Angelo coming towards them. He was about Jon's height, but the girth of his muscles gave him a squat look. He was heavily tattooed and pierced with a bald head and blue eyes that blazed out from under a heavy dark brow. His skin was deeply tanned and had the aged look of someone who lived in the sun. By Shawn's estimate this guy had to be at least ten to fifteen years older that Jon; no way they could be the same age.

"I'm good, Jonny," Angelo grinned. Shawn caught a glimpse of gold capped teeth as the man smiled. "Been a rough few years. But I got myself straightened out. Been clean now going on four years."

"Good for you, man! I'm glad to hear that."

Angelo gave Jon's shoulder a playful punch. "Been while since you've been around the old haunts though."

"Yeah, well," Jon shrugged. "I'm a teacher in Philly now."

"No kiddin'?" the tattooed man gave a low whistle. "From the heights to the streets to the classroom. Phew, bet you miss the streets!"

Jon laughed at this. "Nah, man, teachin' ain't that bad."

Shawn listened with great curiosity to this conversation. He had no idea exactly what Angelo was referring to because Jon rarely ever talked about his life before he ended up in Philadelphia. What exactly did Angelo mean by the streets? The teen made a mental note to ask his teacher about this later.

Angelo saw Shawn and gave him a nod. "I see you got married and had a kid, too?"

It took Jon a moment to figure out what his friend was talking about. But before he could answer, Audrey rejoined them. Angelo did a double-take when he saw her.

"Audrey?" The man's jaw went slack as the student teacher walked up to the group.

"Angelo!" she greeted him with a kiss on the cheek much to Jon's surprise and dismay.

Angelo turned to Jon with wide eyes. He looked mystified. "You married Audrey?" He looked at Shawn. "And had a kid with her?" He squinted at the teen then asked, "How old are you, kid?"

Shawn glanced at Audrey. "Fifteen."

The man looked bewildered and shook his head. "Oh, man, somethin' ain't right."

"Somethin' ain't been right with you since '79," Jon laughed, then explained, "He's my kid, but not my kid. Shawn's my student. He's been stayin' with me while his parents are goin' through some things.

"Gotcha," Angelo nodded, looking relieved. "But," he pointed to Audrey. "How'd you and baby girl get together?"

Baby girl? Jon was almost as confused as Angelo had been and he was uncomfortable with the term of endearment his friend used. "She's my student teacher. How do you know her?"

Audrey answered this. "My dad was real good friends with the Sartori's. His mom and sister used to baby-sit me."

"What?" It was Jon's turn to be dumbfounded.

"Yeah," Angelo put an arm around Audrey. "And we knew her old man real well."

"I didn't." Jon frowned. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous that his friend knew Audrey so well. And that he had his arm around her.

"Yeah," the man insisted. "You did. Her pops used to work the Back Fence at night and Venus Records durin' the day when it was over on West 8th Street."

The English teacher stared at the two of them in disbelief. "No way," he mumbled under his breath. To Audrey he asked, "Your dad is Richie A?"

She smiled and nodded.

"I do know your dad," he said still stunned by this revelation. "Like I know your dad. He bailed me outta trouble so many times. I'd sneak outta of the penthouse on Central Park South and come loiter around here waiting' for trouble to find me. Richie bailed me out with the cops more than once. Pretended to be my dad twice to give me an alibi, then turned around and chewed me out for whatever it was I'd done. He had me scrubbing bathroom floors with a toothbrush after a drunk threw up in there for punishment once." He laughed at the memory. "Your dad was always on the look out for me and offered me odd jobs to keep me away from guys like Angelo. I did whatever he wanted me to do. I mean what kid wouldn't have wanted to brag about workin' at Venus, especially back then? And knowin' that my dad would have a meltdown if he knew I was workin' a record joint in the Village made it even better."

Audrey's eyes shone with delight. "So while Angelo's mom was watchin' me, my dad was watchin' you?"

"I guess so," Jon said, shaking his head, realizing that while he was fifteen at the time, Audrey was still in diapers at a year old, and it would be another four years before Shawn was born. "I annoyed that man so much hangin' around his shop. But he was always so cool about it."

"Until he caught us sneakin' into the Back Fence," Angelo reminded him with a smirk.

Jon's grin was sheepish. "Yeah, we shoulda gone over to St. Mark's instead. So many bars there that wouldn't card a fifteen year old and his idiot friends. But we chose the Back Fence 'cause we wanted to see Dylan play live. We weren't there five minutes before your dad busted us." He shook his head. "Man, I can't believe your dad is Richie A."

Audrey gave Angelo's hand a squeeze then left him for Jon. She wrapped her arms around the English teacher's waist and looked up at him as her eyes clouded up. "You should come with me to the hospice to see him while we're here."

Jon frowned. "I doubt he'd remember me."

"No, he would," she insisted. "He doesn't remember the seasons or meaning of holidays anymore but he remembers people."

"I'm real sorry to hear about your dad," Angelo said somberly. "But knowing your mom, I can understand why losin' her was such a blow. Shame he never recovered."

"You should come, too, Angelo."

"You tell me when and where, baby girl, I'll be there."

The group said goodbye to Angelo then stood quietly together as the line began to move again. Jon's mind was reeling trying to process this new information. In all the stories Audrey had told him about her father he never once connected him to the guy who had managed Venus. He always thought he was just one of the employees who worked part time there; those guys he couldn't remember much about as he was too busy following at Richie's heels. It boggled his mind to think that in a place as large as New York City he'd managed to end up overseeing the education of the daughter of a man who made a such impact on him and in Philadelphia of all places. He couldn't comprehend what the odds of that might be. They had to be astronomical.

Shawn found all this new connection between Jon and Audrey fascinating and it further supported his belief that they were destined to be together. Discreetly, he snapped photos with his disposable Kodak camera, trying to also capture in his head all of these stories. He hoped to put them and the pictures together somehow. There was something else that was beginning to happen, Shawn noticed with great delight. Now that Jon and Audrey were not only back home, but away from anything to do with John Adams High, he could also see evidence of his belief that Audrey was as smitten with Jon as he was with her. The way she looked at him, the way she held onto him; Shawn hoped he was able to capture those moments on film the way he saw them happen. Of course, he wouldn't know if he had until the film was developed.

While they were standing there, Jon was recognized again by someone he hadn't seen in years. The lined moved more and again someone who knew Jon came up to them. This happened again and again. Then people who knew Audrey also appeared, until it seemed as though there was a huge family reunion going on inside of John's. Shawn would have felt very left out except that every single person assumed that he was their son. Even Audrey's friends assumed this and were, of course, very confused. Audrey would just shrug, give him a wink, and tell them, "he's mine" in a way that left no room for argument. Jon, who seemed a little overwhelmed by these turn of events, only smiled and nodded. He'd given up trying to explain anything.

"Why does everyone think we're a family?" Shawn finally asked his teacher. He wasn't bothered by this at all. He was just curious about what made people think he was with his parents rather than siblings or cousins or aunt and uncle.

Jon shrugged. "I dunno. Must be the vibe we're givin' off."

When they were finally seated, Audrey slid into the booth first and Jon started to go to the other side of the table, but Shawn intervened in time to hip check his teacher into the seat causing him to almost fall onto Audrey. Jon glared daggers at him, but Audrey smile at Shawn and mouthed thank you.

While they waited on their order Audrey and Shawn chatted back and forth, but Jon was quiet, lost in thought. After a while Audrey nudged him and gave him a concerned smile.

"You okay?"

"No, I'm not," he replied, staring at something behind Shawn's head.

"What's wrong?"

"We've met before," he said slowly. "Before this year. And I am not okay about it."

Audrey frowned. "What are you talkin' about, Jon? We've never met before."

"Oh, yes, we have. You were just too young to remember." He dropped his head into his hands. "Richie brought his baby girl into the shop all the time. A little redhead with gray eyes, so unless you gotta twin sister somewhere..."

"No." Audrey sat back against the seat with wide eyes. "That was me."

"Yeah," Jon said, lifting his head up again with a strange look on his face. "And that was your mom who'd come in to pick you up. I knew those pictures you showed me of her looked familiar. Lizzy..." his voice trailed off and he stared into the distance again. "Oh, man. This is crazy! Last time I saw you, you were about seven. I left home for good at 21 and stopped by Venus to tell your dad goodbye and to thank him. You were behind the counter with him and insisted on..."

"Taking a Polaroid of you and Daddy," she finished as a look of wonderment fell over her features. " Daddy taught me to use a Polaroid camera when I was 5 because he had a wall of photos of the people who came into the shop." Turning so she could face Jon, she put a hand on his shoulder and said softly. "You used to wear a leather jacket that looked a lot like Shawn's. Your hair was shorter but really curly." Jon nodded as she spoke confirming what she was saying. "I wrote Daddy & J on the Polaroid."

Jon tapped his fingertips on the table. "Everyone on the streets called me Jonny so that's what your dad refused to call me. He called me J."

"Jon, Daddy kept that picture pinned on the wall of the store until he quit after Mom died. I still have all the pictures that were on that wall, so you're in there, too."

Shawn's smile grew as he listened to them talk. He couldn't really explain the feeling that came over him as they discovered why their connection to one another was so strong. Instead of feeling left out, he felt as though it was this connection that made him being there with them in that moment possible. By Jon's own admission, he'd never felt deeply connected to any woman he'd dated, but Audrey, with whom it was out of the question to date, he'd always said was different. Very different. Shawn had been around Jon's dates and even the ones that stayed around for a little while, left him feeling that he'd rather be anywhere but where they were. It was only with Audrey that they were a family, whole and complete. Now he knew why.

"This is going to make a great story for you guys to tell my kids someday," Shawn told them with a dreamy look in his eyes.

Jon and Audrey exchanged confused looks.

"Your kids?" Jon asked.

"Yeah, they're gonna love the story about how their grandparents met."

Audrey ducked her head letting her hair fall around her shoulders to hide the deep blush that colored her cheeks. Jon just stared at him. The kid's audacity to state such a thing out loud with Audrey right there was astounding. And embarrassing.

"Eat your pie, Hunter," he said through clenched teeth.

Shawn laughed and took a sip of his soda. As he chewed on his straw, he thought about them three of them: he and Jon were estranged their parents seemingly for good and Audrey was about to lose the parent she had left. All three of them were basically alone and yet had managed to find each other. This was not a coincidence Shawn knew, but proof that there was a greater Plan coming together. A seed of hope that had been planted when Audrey arrived, now took root and for the first time he began to believe that he'd found his real family.