"Shawn! Is the video working?" Cory asked, adjusting the camera lens.
Since Josh's birth, Topanga insisted that she never wanted to miss a single moment that happened in Josh's life. With being a full time student, she wasn't able to spend her entire day devoted to watching over Josh. So she implemented the camera that had been used to capture every milestone in Josh's life thus far leading up to his first birthday.
Shawn, who stood behind the camera and was in charge of taping the whole day, nodded his head. "Cory, get out of my shot. You're blocking the view," Shawn ordered.
Cory backed away with his hands in the air and went to find his wife and son.
Shawn walked around the Matthews home capturing the hustle and bustle of the day. His job was to stop and interview each of the partygoers, a request per Topanga's orders, to see if they had any advice to offer to the youngest of the Matthews family.
"Feeny!" Shawn called out, causing Mr. Feeny to stop dead in his tracks. Feeny had barely made it one step through the kitchen door before he was being summoned.
"Mr. Hunter," Feeny greeted. "Why do you have this camera pointed at my face?"
"I'm on camera duty today," Shawn explained. "Cory and Topanga wanted to know if you had any advice to offer to Josh."
Feeny took a minute to ponder. He had shaped the lives of the entire Matthews family. He watched Eric, Cory, and Morgan grow up. He even had the privilege in being their teacher. Feeny did not expect it to be any different with Cory's son. "Joshua," Feeny began. He was one of the few people that actually referred to Josh by his full name aside from Amy and Topanga when she's grumpy. "In life you will face many challenges. The road ahead may not be a straight, forward path. In fact it may be twisted and full of many wrong turns that take you back to where you began, but the best turn to take is the one towards the people who love you most. Keep them closest to your heart."
"That was beautiful, George," Amy praised, taking the cake out of the fridge and placing it onto the counter.
"What about you Grandma? What do you have to say?" Shawn questioned.
Amy rubbed her hands on her apron. "Joshua, as your grandmother, remember two things. Number one, no one beats grandma's cooking, not even your mother's. And number two, if you ever get frustrated with your parents or need someone to turn to, your grandfather and I will be right here for you," Amy said. "Right, Alan?"
Alan walked over and wrapped his arm around his wife making it into the camera's frame. "Right," Alan confirmed. "What did I just agree to?"
Shawn shrugged while Amy rolled her eyes, but kissed her husband nonetheless. He and Alan followed Amy as she went into the living room. All the partygoers seemed to congregated in that space.
He filmed the room and focused in on Josh's growing pile of presents. Next to the gifts, Shawn caught Morgan counting each one. "Whatcha doing there, kiddo?" Shawn asked.
"Josh won't even remember this day. Why is he getting so many gifts?" Morgan wondered aloud. This question was something Cory and Shawn had grappled with that past Christmas. Josh was still practically a baby, what was the point of all the presents? When Cory and him voiced their opinions, they were shut out by all of the women in the room who had heard.
"I don't know. Do you have something you would like to say to your nephew?" Shawn asked, pointing the camera slightly lower to capture Morgan's face.
"You will soon come to realize that I'm the only normal one out of this family," Morgan said before walking away.
"Alright!" Cory announced. Shawn whipped the camera around, so the focus was just on Cory, Topanga and Josh. "The cake's ready, so if you all would follow me..."
"Is it chocolate or vanilla?" Eric asked from the crowd.
"I don't know. As I was saying," Cory continued.
"What about the icing? Is it buttercream or whipped? Because you know how I feel about whipped frosting," Eric pressed on.
"Eric," Cory gritted through his teeth.
Coming from the kitchen into the living room with the cake was Amy, who had lit birthday candles for her grandson. She held the cake in front of Topanga, who was holding Josh, and began to lead the guests in the traditional birthday song.
"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Josh. Happy birthday to you," everyone sang.
"Come on, baby. Blow out your candles," Topanga encouraged. She held Josh slightly closer to the cake but far enough away from the flame. Cory bent down next to his son and they blew out his candles together, causing everyone to cheer.
"Okay, who gets first piece?" Amy teased.
"Me! I do, Mommy! Me!" Eric exclaimed jumping up and down.
"Eric, you know she meant Josh, right," Jack said. This behavior was not out of the ordinary for his former roommate and friend.
"Then why did she ask the question to begin with?" Eric pointed out.
Morgan pulled on Shawn's pant leg to grab his attention like she used to do in her younger days. Shawn moved his camera back down at Morgan. "See, I told ya," Morgan said before following her mom into the kitchen to help cut the cake.
While Amy and Morgan were dishing out cake for everyone, Shawn continued to make his rounds around the room. "What advice do you guys have to say to Josh?" Shawn asked his brother and Rachel.
Shawn zoomed the frame slightly out to get both Jack and Rachel in the video together. "Well, Josh, remember to eat a healthy amount of carbohydrates mixed with a diet of fruits and vegetables. Then you'll get a body like this," Jack said, lifting up his shirt to show Josh his six percent body fat and six pack. Shawn inwardly groaned. Jack was on this new fitness kick and it was starting to bug him. It was like it became his brother's entire personality. That and Rachel. "Also remember to go to the gym. The girls will love it."
"Jack, I think what Cory and Topanga were looking for something more profound," Rachel began. "Josh, whatever you do never find yourself caught in a love triangle with your best friend and your roommate."
"How was that any more profound than what I had to say?" Jack questioned.
Shawn slowly backed away from the two, trying his best not to get in the middle of it. While scanning the room for new interviewees, he noticed something off in the background and zoomed in on it. Topanga stood all by herself in the corner of the room reading some piece of paper. She quickly shoved it back into Josh's diaper bag when she heard Cory calling her name. Shawn decided to brush it off and talk to Cory about it later.
"Angela!" Shawn called to his girlfriend. She seemed to have been thrown into Jack and Rachel's conversation and was desperately looking for a way out. Shawn thankfully offered that out. "What do you have to say to our godson?"
"Hmmm," Angela spoke. Topanga had warned her about the video a week in advance to give Angela time to prepare, knowing very that Angela would want to come up with something from the heart. "Today is not about yesterday or the day after this one. Live in the moment. Don't let fear of past or future experiences keep you from living your life."
"That was nice, Angela," Shawn complimented. He knew his girlfriend had a way with words. Though they may not always be eloquent, she was always impactful. That's one thing he loved about her.
"I try," Angela smiled. Shawn flipped the camera on himself for the video to catch him kissing Angela on the cheek. "What was that for?"
"Nothing," Shawn said, repositioning himself behind the camera. "Well, duty calls."
Shawn found the lovebird's sitting at the dining table, as they watched their son smash and devour his cake. His entire face was covered in icing and flecks of chocolate cake. "Shawn! Are you getting this? This kid is a monster," Cory laughed.
"Cory!" Topanga scolded. "Stop calling our child that."
"Well you two, what does Mommy and Daddy have to say to their precious baby boy on his big day?" Shawn asked the couple.
"Josh, no matter what you do, I will always be proud of you and the person you become. You are my son and you have my whole heart," Topanga said sweetly into the camera. She had a much longer drafted speech, but with fear that the video was getting to be too long, she cut it down by three fourths.
"Cory?" Shawn asked, signaling that it was his best friend's turn.
"How am I supposed to compete with that?" Cory questioned. Anything he said would pale in comparison to Topanga.
"You're not," Topanga said, eating a piece of her cake.
"Well then, I guess all I have to say is you will never outsmart your mother, good luck for the next seventeen years," Cory said, shoving a piece of cake into his mouth. Topanga rubbed his back to comfort him, but Cory continued pouting.
"Ooo! Ooo! It's my turn!" Eric piped up from the background.
"Actually, Eric we were just about done," Cory lied. There was no way he was going to let Eric offer his son some advice.
"Oh sure, and I'm the president of all forty-six states of America," Eric said, rolling his eyes.
"There's fifty states you maroon," Cory corrected. How they both came from the same parents amazed him sometimes.
"Whatever," Eric shrugged. He moved in closer to the camera which forced Shawn to back up a little. "Listen here, Josh my boy, I have a little secret that I'm going to let you in on. It's called the secret of life. People change people. Remember that. The people you surround yourself with are going to change you for the better or worse."
"Eric, that was actually really sweet," Topanga complimented.
"I'm not done, Pangers," Eric continued as he placed his finger to her mouth to silence her. "Take myself for example. You may be asking yourself, how your Uncle Eric became the coolest person on the planet and sen-a-tor of these here United States. It's because of the people I surround myself around. Your mom. Your Dad. Jack. And Uncle Shawn. They all made Kyle the person he is today."
"Who's Kyle?" Cory questioned.
"That's what I just call myself sometimes," Eric replied.
"Okay, I think we have enough," Shawn said, cutting the camera off of Eric.
"What about you, Shawn?" Cory asked.
"Don't you have anything you would like to say?" Topanga added in.
"Yeah, but I'd rather do my alone," Shawn admitted. Like Angela, Shawn had been warned in advance of the video. Cory was well aware of Shawn's work ethic in the past and gave him a head start.
Shawn took the camera outside and propped it up on one of Feeny's flower boxes. He moved back a little to make sure the camera caught him.
"Okay, Josh, so you heard from everyone that mattered and Eric. There is probably not much else I can say. But I'll try. Listen you got a lot of people in there who love you. Love is the most amazing, rare and precious thing in the whole world. Learn how to use that love. It's how I feel about Angela. It's how I feel about your parents. And it's how I feel about you. I may not be related to you by blood, but I'll always be here for you whether you like it or not. Who do you think is going to teach you about girls? It's certainly not going to be your father. Just remember that," Shawn finished, turning off the camera.