"Love can change a person the way a parent can change a baby- awkwardly, and often with a great deal of mess." Lemony Snicket, Horseradish
Friday was the start of a four-day weekend. Such weekends were typically packed full of extracurricular activities for his kids and his wife leaving Jonathan Turner with little time to think and even less time to relax. And yet he lived for these breaks from the mundane grind of work and dealing with adults who often acted like spoiled children.
This weekend, however, was quite a bit different. Julia's figure skating lessons and freestyle skate had taken place far too early that morning and she was done until Monday. Grayson had stick and puck at 6 that evening, but that was several hours away. Because of the situation with Shawn, nothing else had been scheduled and the lack of activity was so unusual that it was beginning to bother Jon. He wasn't sure what to do other than worry.
The last time he heard from Audrey was early that morning. She had gotten back into town Thursday morning from her prenatal dance workshop in Chicago and they had spent the time after-school with Cory and Topanga tracking down Shawn. During that time, Grayson ran his mother's phone battery downplaying Mine Craft. This wasn't discovered until she texted him that night to let him know she was with Shawn and that she didn't have a charger with her. She called from the Hotel just before they left for Julia's skating lesson that morning to tell him she had a few things to do before coming home. That was hours ago. It was now after two in the afternoon.
She's probably still with Shawn, he assured himself. He'll take care of her.
A loud howl in his ear distracted him from his concerns. He grimaced and resumed an attempt to rock his youngest daughter to sleep. The toddler wailed harder and physically fought him as he tried to lay her in a horizontal position in his arms. Though exhausted, the child was determined not to nap. Her lungs were strong and so was she.
I'm getting too old for this, he thought in dismay.
A noise from down the hall intermingled with cries of weariness. He was unsure what it was he was hearing. He went downstairs, stepped into the family room, and looked around. The boys were watching YouTube videos, but it didn't sound like it was coming from that. He was about to return to the nursery with the still struggling toddler when the sound rang again. This time he heard it clearly.
It was the doorbell.
He frowned and tried to adjust Bella into a better, more secure position, but all he managed to do was get smacked in the cheek. This was not the time for visitors. Moreover, anyone he might have wanted to see already had a key: the Matthews, his wife.
Audrey, where are you? he wondered. He considered ignoring whoever was at the door. Bella may not have wanted to take a nap, but he did. Upon turning around to head back upstairs, Jon found his sons looking at him inquisitively.
"You want me to get that, Dad?" asked Grayson, pausing the video he and his brother were watching.
Jamie promptly un-paused it.
"No, I'll get it," he said tiredly as the boys started to squabble over whether the video should be stopped or not. With his frustrated daughter on his hip, Jon opened the door with an expression that mirrored Bella's. His countenance froze as he stared at the unexpected visitor. Slowly, frustration dissolved into shock. He felt as though his ability to move had been frozen. The person on the other side of the door was not one he ever thought he would see again.
The sudden shift in her father's demeanor caused Bella to stop crying long enough to see what was going on. She looked at the stranger with large brown eyes and a messy tear-stained face. She sniffled loudly. Sudden shyness overcame her, and she buried her face in her father's neck, hanging onto him as tightly as she could.
Shawn Hunter was standing on the doorstep with a canvas duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
Audrey stood back a distance from the doorway watching the meeting between Shawn and her husband. She had spent most of the night talking to Shawn and going through the letters Jon had written to him over the years. Although he ultimately agreed to go home with her, he was still very much on edge; an anxiety that dramatically increased the closer they got to the Greenwich brownstone. Now, as he stood face to face with his former guardian, she could see him getting antsy. Her husband's stunned lack of response and the sobbing child in his arms wasn't helping to put Shawn at ease.
Audrey couldn't help but smile a bit; those two really could be father and son with the way they reacted to things, what they said, and didn't say, the sarcasm- especially the sarcasm. Left to their own devices, she knew they would end up standing there until Bella had enough without saying much of anything and that would be that. So she stepped up behind Shawn and placed a hand on his back, letting him know that she was with him and there was nowhere to go but forward.
"Shawn's staying with us."
Her voice helped to break Jon out of his paralysis. He looked at her with incredulity and seemed to be struggling to process what she said. Looking back at Shawn he finally managed a hoarse, "Great. That's great. Come on in."
With a gentle push, Shawn stepped inside and exhaled the breath he'd been holding. Rather than allow the silence to continue, Audrey began to talk as though nothing was out of the ordinary.
"Ooo, it looks like someone's fighting a nap," she cooed to Bella, reaching out and smoothing her auburn curls. Immediately, the little girl reached out to her mother and her father reluctantly let her go. Unease settled into Jon's features after Bella left him. He now had nothing between him and Shawn and the awkwardness that was looming.
"I'm sorry I couldn't get a hold of you and let you know we were coming," Audrey apologized, settling Bella on her hip and removing the lock of hair her daughter had fastened in her little fist. "Both of our phones died and neither of us had a charger."
"Yeah," Shawn lit up in response to her. "Cory's got that, too."
Jon gave a shaky laugh, trying to regain his composure. "What doesn't he have of yours?"
Shawn lifted his bag and a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "But I'm pretty sure it's missin' some stuff."
For the moment, the atmosphere shifted to that of bygone years with the three of them standing together and talking. Audrey smiled to herself and decided that now was the time to step out.
"I am going to put this one to bed whether she wants to go or not." She playfully bopped Bella on the nose. As she did she noticed the two little gawkers standing behind Jon. She motioned to Grayson and Jamie, saying, "Boys, take Shawn's bag up to his room, please. And no going through it."
The boys nodded absently, their gaze locked onto Shawn with wide eyes full of reverence as though he was some favorite fictional character that had come to life and was standing in their home. Jamie unabashedly stared at him with his jaw fully unhinged, while Grayson, who was far more reserved and self-conscious, shyly stepped out to take the bag with no eye contact, just stolen glances of admiration.
"Thanks, guys," Shawn offered, feeling extremely uncomfortable about the looks of wonder he was getting from the young boys. Nothing about him was so spectacular that it should provoke such a reaction.
Delighted that he spoke to them, the ten-year-old and the six-year-old gaped at each other in excitement. They swung their gaze back at Shawn with big grins before scurrying off.
Audrey slipped her arm around Jon's waist and gave him a reassuring squeeze. "I'm going to get started on dinner in a little while. We'll eat early since Grayson has hockey tonight." She turned her head to look at the younger man. "Shawn, are you hungry?"
"If you're cookin' I'll eat," he grinned, forgetting where he was for a moment as the memories of all the times Audrey cooked for them at Jon's place came flooding back. Suddenly, he was very hungry.
She returned his smile and turned to her husband. As she hugged him, she whispered, "He's going to stay so just talk to him."
Jon nodded his understanding, and she kissed him before heading off to put Bella down for her nap, leaving the two men alone in the living room.
Shawn looked around the once familiar place not really seeing anything. He desperately wanted to say something, but the words simply would not come out. His thoughts flitted over the conversation he had had with Audrey late into the night. He had so many questions, but most of them she refused to answer, always responding with "ask Jon". Now those questions darted through his mind so swiftly that he could not pin any of them down.
Jon watched the younger man steadily as indescribable emotion crashed over him. He was still struggling to believe this was real; that Audrey had done what even Cory couldn't do and brought Shawn home. Shawn's gaze finally rested on him, and Jon could see uncertainty and trepidation in those eyes that had trouble locking onto his. He saw him nervously twist the sleeve of his leather jacket between his fingers. He knew he needed to say something; to take charge of the situation; to diffuse it, but the words would not come to him.
As Jon looked at his former student, all he wanted to do was to forget the past and move forward with a fresh start. When Shawn looked away from him again, he finally cleared his throat and stepped towards him. Quietly, he said,
"Shawn."
The younger man looked up swiftly, almost startled. He saw his mentor step forward with open arms. Shawn hesitated, knowing what would happen if he accepted the embrace. The image of Mr. Feeny holding Audrey as she cried came to him. She said that it wasn't until she was able to break down that she could finally ask for and accept help.
Shawn inhaled deeply, not sure if he was ready to break. In fact, he was positive that he wasn't, so it came as quite a surprise to him that he was having trouble seeing. His former teacher seemed to be standing behind a watery curtain. He realized then that fighting was useless. So Shawn stopped thinking, stumbled forward, and fell into Jon's embrace. It wasn't long before he was unable to distinguish his cries from Bella's.
"Soooo... I hear the great Shawn Hunter is in the house." a sarcastic voice quipped into the darkened room.
Audrey turned the swivel glider in Bella's room around to face the nursery door with a look of admonition on her face. Standing in the doorway was her oldest daughter with an expression of contempt marring her features.
"Excuse me?" Audrey snapped in a low voice not wanting to wake the toddler that had finally drifted off to sleep. "What's with the attitude?"
Julia shrugged and shoved her hands in her pockets. "Grayson and Jamie won't shut up about Shawn. They say he's in the livin' room with Dad."
"Keep your voice down, please." Audrey frowned. Julia had been in quite a foul mood for the past several days according to Jon, moodily snapping at pretty much everyone. Her patience with her brothers was particularly thin. While she might have simply been in teenager mode, Audrey suspected that something else was brewing.
She gently and cautiously stood up with the sleeping Bella in her arms. Gingerly, she made her way over to the child's bed and even more carefully placed her on the mattress. Bella stirred for a moment, turned over, and latched onto a stuffed dolphin in her bed. Audrey let out a sigh of relief when she didn't wake up. She laid a light cover over the girl, turned towards her other daughter and shooed her out of the room.
"You wake her, you put her back to sleep," Audrey informed her, quietly closing the door behind them. They walked down the hallway a bit before she turned on Julia. "Care to tell me what's with you?"
Julia glared at the carpet. "I just don't get the hype," she muttered sullenly.
Audrey folded her arms over her stomach. "Julia, we've told you all about Shawn. You know why this is such a big deal."
"So what am I supposed to do? Pretend he hasn't made Dad miserable all these years? Put on a happy face," she bore her teeth in an exaggerated grin and shook her hands in the air, "do a happy dance and pretend nothin' ever happened?"
"No," her mother replied strongly. "But you could put a little effort into getting to know him and reserve judgment until then." Audrey softened a bit. "Give him a little bit of grace, huh? This isn't easy for anyone. And maybe try not to take it so personally."
Glumly, Julia picked at her nails. "So how long is he stayin'?"
"For a while, I hope."
"Great," Julia rolled her eyes. "It's not like I have to share Dad with three," she glanced at her mother, "make that four kids. Now Shawn's goin' to get whatever time he has left. And he hardly has any to begin with since he became superintendent!"
So that was it.
Audrey narrowed her eyes and shook her head. She should have realized that jealousy was the cause of this verbal assault on Shawn. Jon's promotion to the head of the New York school district two years prior had significantly decreased his amount of free time. Out of all the kids, it hit Julia the hardest. She was the one who was the most like him and, although she would no longer admit it, she was still a daddy's girl. Julia was also struggling to accept that, within a few short months, there would be another child in the house contending for Jon's attention. Naturally, she didn't want Shawn around; he was more competition.
"You know," Audrey said softly, "I remember a time when you wouldn't shut up about Shawn. I do believe that phase lasted years."
Julia rolled her eyes and harrumphed, "I was just a dumb kid; what did I know?"
"Your dad needs this." Audrey tried a different tactic, this time appealing to the love she had for her father. "Repairing this relationship is incredibly important to him." She watched for a glimmer of change in her daughter and continued, "Yes, Shawn will take the front seat with your dad for a while. But it won't last forever."
The girl's shoulders dropped, and she shifted her weight to one side. With a defeated look she shrugged and mumbled something that sounded like, "Whatever."
Audrey ignored the comment and brushed stray strands of her daughter's wavy hair out of her face. "If you think for a moment your dad would trade you shadowing his every move for anything, you are so wrong. Shawn isn't going to replace you. That's not possible."
Immediately, Audrey saw that she had struck a nerve as Julia's eyes teared up and she angrily wiped at them with the back of her sleeve.
"Aw, hun," she pulled her daughter into a hug. "You are incredibly blessed to have never known life without your dad. You've got the absolute best. Shawn had that for a very short time and then lost it. Imagine what that would be like."
"It'd be pretty terrible," she admitted, tightening her grip on her mother.
"Try to get along with Shawn, please? For your dad?"
At that, Julia gave her mother the smallest of smiles as she nodded. Audrey held her face between her hands and lifted her head so that they were nose to nose. She arched an eyebrow and winked mischievously at her.
"You never know, you might actually get a brother you like out of all this."
Julia finally laughed.
"I'll trade Grayson and Jamie in a heartbeat!"
Shawn sat on the sofa next to Jon gathering his thoughts. The silence that filled the family room was, for a change, a comfortable one. Not many words had between exchanged between the two, but a tremendous stress had been lifted off both men and they seemed more relaxed than they had been in years.
"Sooo," Shawn drew the word out as he tried to start a more meaningful conversation with Jon. He was actually curious about his former teacher's life now. "Audrey's pregnant."
Jon raised his eyebrows with an expression that indicated he had not fully come to grips with his imminent future. He gave a short laugh and clasped his fingers together. "Yeah."
"Is this the last one?"
"No," he replied strongly. "Number three was the last one."
Shawn gave him a funny look. "What number is this one?"
"Five."
"Whoa!" Shawn exclaimed, genuinely surprised.
"Whoa is right," Jon shook his head. "Not exactly how I planned to start my fifties, but here we are."
"You ready for this?"
"No, but I wasn't ready for the first one either." he laughed. "I just I hope I have the energy for this one."
Shawn found it difficult to reconcile this father of soon-to-be five with being the same man he used to live with; the man that used to struggle dealing with one kid and managing his dating life.
"You really like bein' a dad, don't you?"
Jon pressed his lips together lost in thought, then nodded affirmatively. "You know I never really saw myself havin' kids," he shrugged. "But then we had Julia. I can't even explain it, Shawn. Your whole world changes, your life, your perspective, everythin'. But yeah, I like it." He shot Shawn a familiar sarcastic look. "Obviously."
Jon laughed and Shawn couldn't help but join him. Neither man could remember the last time they laughed together.
"You wanna meet the kids?" Jon asked, jerking his thumb in the direction of the hallway. "They know all about you; you're kind of a celebrity around here."
"Yeah?" Shawn paused. After the reaction he got from the boys, he knew he wasn't ready to deal with that kind of attention just yet. "Maybe later?"
Jon didn't seem bothered by his reluctance. "They can be overwhelmin'. I'll introduce you from a distance. You can take a look around the place too. Things have changed some since you were last here."
Shawn followed his mentor as he headed upstairs to the parlor floor. While there were a lot of memories from his teenage years he either repressed or were foggy, there were two places he would always remember vividly: Jon's apartment in Philadelphia and Audrey's brownstone in New York City. Her's was an old, but well-kept house. As he recalled, there were three levels: the basement, the garden floor, and the parlor floor where the bedrooms were. Probably the most vivid memory Shawn had of the old place was how comfortable he felt there.
"Bein' superintendent must pay well," Shawn commented appreciatively, forgetting that the house was an inheritance.
"Not nearly this well," Jon replied. "This neighborhood is ridiculously expensive now. It was pretty normal when we moved back. As I recall, Audrey's grandparents bought this place for a few thousand dollars originally. It's now worth several million."
"Nice!" Shawn was visibly impressed. "You guys ever think of sellin'?"
"Stop that," Jon admonished, shaking his head fervently with false annoyance. "You sound just like my dad!"
"Ouch!" Shawn grinned, put his hand over his heart, feigning pain. "That's harsh."
Jon laughed. "When my folks found out about how much this place was worth, they would not leave us alone. 'Sell it and invest in your future. Sell so you won't have to struggle all your life'," he said in an exaggerated impression of his father. "They told all their friends about our 'plight', You would've thought we were on the streets so bad off we were gonna have to sell our kids. They even went so far as to send over a financial advisor and a realtor from Sotheby's."
"Like the auction house that sells crazy expensive stuff; that Sotheby's?"
"Yeah, that one."
"Wow, that takes some nerve."
"Too much."
"So no sale?"
"No sale," Jon paused, thoughtfully. "This is a generational home. Audrey's grandparents raised their kids here. Audrey's dad raise her here. We're raisin' our kids here. And my hope is that one of the kids will raise their kids here. And so on."
The concept of a generational home was an foreign idea to Shawn. Such a thing had never crossed his mind given his transient life from such a young age. Briefly, he wondered if he would ever have anything close to a history like that.
"Which kid gets it, though?" he wondered aloud.
Jon arched an eyebrow and sarcastically said, "I'm old, Hunter. By the time that happens I'll be pickin' out a nursing' home. They can fight over it. What do I care?" He smiled then became serious again and said, "We'll figure that out when the time comes. Probably'll go to whoever stays in the City."
Shawn nodded. When they reached the landing of the parlor floor, he asked, "How long have you been back in New York?"
The question came as a surprise to Jon. "Audrey didn't tell you?"
"Audrey wouldn't tell me much of anythin'. She just told me to ask you."
"Ah." Jon paused reflectively. " It's been awhile. We moved after you graduated high school. So summer of '98."
"That long?" It bothered him that no one had ever mentioned this to him. He had often gone back to Philadelphia with Cory on school breaks and not one person thought to tell him that Jon had moved, not even Mr. Feeny. The knowledge stung. Had he given them that much of a reason not to mention his mentor again?
"I wanted to make sure you didn't need a place again," Jon shrugged nonchalantly, trying to make it seem like it was no big deal. But it was a big deal, at least it was to Shawn. "Once I heard you were off to college with Cory, I knew you'd be alright. We found out Audrey was pregnant soon after you graduated, and I got a job offer at a high school not far from here. I dunno. The time was right, I guess. There really wasn't anything left in Philly for us after you left."
Shawn mulled this over as they approached a set of open French doors. The sting of guilt bothered him as he considered that Jon has stuck around for him even though he stopped speaking to him after his junior year. Internally, he cringed. If only he'd gone back just once. Unconsciously, he stopped walking.
Jon glanced over his shoulder with a troubled look. When Shawn saw his concern, he mentally shook himself and said, "You and your parents ever make up?"
"No," the older man said, waiting for Shawn to catch up before continuing on. "I've tried, but they just aren't interested in the lifestyle I live or acknowledgin' the past. They come around for briefs visits maybe once a year if they're in town. Not around enough to get to know their grandkids, though."
"Does that bother you?"
"Not for myself. Not anymore. I wish the kids had their grandparents around. Unfortunately, they've developed my attitude towards them. They really don't care. I mean, my parents are basically nice strangers that buy them stuff they don't want." He chuckled and rolled his eyes. "My mom thought a good Christmas gift for Julia was $100 an ounce perfume because apparently she thinks every fifteen-year-old girl wants to smell like a rich old lady."
Shawn had to smile. "That's pretty bad."
"Yeah," Jon frowned. He was more bothered by the situation than he let on. "They made the choice; it's their loss. But family's what you make it. We've been blessed that Annette and Tom, Audrey's aunt and uncle from England, came over to help us out after my accident. After we moved back to the City, they brought their kids over and stayed for good. They live just a couple of blocks away. They, along with Alan and Amy and even Mr. Feeny, have helped to make up for the lack of grandparents. With Cory, Josh, Eric, Morgan, and Topanga- the aunts and uncles are covered. If you add in Cory and Topanga's kids, there are a ton of cousins now. So it worked out for the best."
It struck Shawn uncomfortably that everyone who was important to him had become so close in his absence. The thought made him cold and he shivered slightly.
Jon stopped outside of a closed white door. "This," he whispered, barely touching the wood of the door with the knuckles of his right hand, "is the room of the cryin' banshee you met at the door, Isabella Marie." He grinned. "She has a Jekyll and Hyde personality when she gets tired. I'd open the door, but no way am I gonna risk wakin' her."
Shawn thought about the crying child that had met him at the door. His experience with older kids was minimal and non-existent with younger one. "How old is she?"
"Two. She'll be three in couple of months."
Shawn nodded, his thoughts wandering back to Jon's comments about family being what you make it. Cory had always been his brother. That, of course, made Topanga his sister. He couldn't ignore that Riley and Auggie, too, were family. For years, he considered them the extent of his family. Yes, Jack was out there, but the brothers had trouble staying in touch. So his family began and ended with Cory and his family.
At least that's what he had always told himself.
He was beginning to understand the depth of which he had misjudged the concept of family. Jon and Audrey were close enough to Cory and Topanga that their kids considered each other cousins and the Matthews their grandparents, if nothing else this would make Jon and Audrey his family by extension. Except that it wasn't nothing else, there was much more.
Shawn felt as though there had been one long family reunion going on through the years that he was not a part of; not because he wasn't invited, but because he had thrown the invitation away. Repressing a sigh, Shawn looked at the family portraits hanging on the wall opposite the nursery door. This was his family. And just like Cory, they always had been. And that would mean it was his sister sleeping behind that door.
Wouldn't it?
Jon watched his former student's reaction carefully, trying to judge if they should move on or not. He wanted to ask Shawn what he was thinking but was worried about pushing too much. Finally, the younger man looked up and said,
"Did Audrey ever get her own classroom? I forgot to ask her."
"Sort of." They continued down the corridor. "She did a lot of subbin' in junior high when we first moved back while I was gettin' my masters in school administration. She stopped for a while after Grayson was born. Durin' that time, she struck up friendships with some of the neighborhood kids, several of whom were interested in dance, but their families couldn't afford the lessons. So she started a campaign to get an after-school program implemented in our school district for these kids and others like them. She used her connections to build an impressive program with a lot of elite guest teachers. She's still doin' that and subbin' on occasion."
They stopped outside of the den where the two boys were playing. Shawn chewed on his bottom lip. There was a question nagging him; one that had been on his mind since he met Audrey in the Library. "Jon, can I ask you somethin'?"
"Sure, anythin'."
"Why didn't you tell me you went back that summer to see Audrey?"
Jon inhaled deeply. He knew the questions that were coming; he was just hoping they would be delayed awhile. He was afraid his answers wouldn't be enough, and he did not want to risk alienating Shawn again.
"You were with your dad," he said simply. "I didn't think it was a good idea to disrupt your life. Especially since things didn't go very well the first time."
"Audrey said you didn't intend to ask her to marry you when we went up there."
"No," he admitted, "I didn't."
"Did you know she'd say yes when you went back?"
"I had a pretty good idea that she would, yeah."
"Then why didn't you take me with you?"
The pained expression and deep hurt in the younger man's eyes unnerved Jon immensely.
"You weren't my kid!" he said defensively. "No matter how I felt about you, reality was you weren't my kid. I had no right to drag you off to the City again for any reason." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "I spent all summer feelin' like you were off with an irresponsible uncle. But you weren't. You were with your dad." A shadow passed over Jon's face and Shawn had trouble reading his expression. "If I had just signed those papers, it would've been a different story."
Shawn blinked in confusion. Was he really feeling guilty about that still? "Jon, we talked that out back then. I understood why you didn't. I mean, yeah, I wanted that. I wanted you and Audrey and me together. But I also wanted my dad. You not signin' those papers- I never held that against you." This was true, to an extent. Shawn didn't want just Jon; he wanted the family he was promised and that included Audrey. But he couldn't bring himself to tell his teacher that.
"Yeah, maybe, you didn't," the older man responded in a low voice. Shawn's reassurance didn't seem to affect him. "But I did."
Shawn didn't know what to say to that. He was caught by surprise that Jon had held such regret.
That early awkwardness attempted to creep in again, so Jon straightened up and pointed into the upstairs living room.
"Those are two of your greatest admirers," he smiled affectionately at his younger boys. "Grayson Jonathan and Jamie."
Shawn watched his "brothers" playing with Legos. Grayson was building with them and Jamie was destroying what he built.
"What's Jamie's middle name?" he asked as the youngest Turner boy sent the pieces of his brother's newly built boat flying.
Jon gave him a sideways look.
"Shawn."
"What?"
"No, that's it. His middle name is Shawn."
An indignant cry from Grayson interrupted any further conversation. He threw the rest of his half-finished buildings at his brother who shrieked with mischievous glee.
"Are they gonna be okay?" Shawn asked with concern. It looked like a fight could break out. Jamie would most definitely be on the losing end of one as Grayson was quite a bit bigger than him. Shawn couldn't help but feel a little bit of kinship toward his namesake.
"They'll be fine," Jon seemed unperturbed by the shouting. "Unless Grayson gets out his hockey stick. But that's in the basement so if he does get it, by the time he gets down all those stairs he'll forget why he wanted it." Jamie started to turn towards the doorway the men were standing in so Jon said, "If you want to avoid havin' to sign autographs, we'd better get outta here before they see us."
Shawn followed him down the hall, but not before looking back over his shoulder at Jamie. A small smile pulled his mouth upwards. He was actually looking forward to talking to the young boy in the future.
As they neared the end of the hall, Shawn suddenly stopped. Another matter was weighing heavily on him again. Since he had gone this far in asking questions he might as well continue.
"Why didn't you tell me you and Audrey got married? I was still your student. You could have told me."
Jon was silent. He stood with his back to Shawn, hands still in his pockets. His brow was deeply furrowed, and his lips were pressed into a thin anxious line. "Yeah, you were," was all he said. Eventually, he turned around to face the younger man. He was still frowning. "You remember that I got reprimanded for keepin' Audrey's eatin' disorder hidden?"
"Yeah," Shawn said slowly, not making a connection. "I never understood why, though."
"I didn't tell you much about it because you already had enough to worry about. You remember bein' questioned about the time she was spendin' with us outside of class?"
"Yes," he said slowly as the memories came back. "I remember I didn't tell them anythin'. Well, I did, just not the truth."
"They still put two and two together. I was put on probation over that incident: one year, no contact with Audrey."
Shawn's eyes went wide. "No way! Are you serious?"
Jon nodded.
"So when we went to see her, when you went back...?"
"Shouldn't have done it."
"I'm impressed," Shawn said proudly with a grin. "You really broke a lot of rules for her."
Jon shook his head, not sharing in Shawn's appreciation for his dishonesty. "I shouldn't have done any of it. It was stupid and I could've gotten us all in a lot of trouble. I was incredibly selfish and just got lucky that it worked out."
"So why did you do it?"
The older man sighed deeply. "Because after she was gone everythin' went downhill. Then you were gone, too, and I realized that I wanted the same thing you wanted- a real family. I went back for her birthday in July. We got married four days later."
He stared at the wood floor for a moment before meeting Shawn's gaze. "Audrey had graduated by then so her college didn't care about us, but if anyone on the school board at John Adams High had found out-" he let out a low whistle. "I'd have lost my job for sure and probably would have had to find a different profession. So we kept it quiet, which was easy enough. Audrey stayed in the City because of her dad, and I went to see her whenever I could. I didn't tell you because I didn't think it was fair to put that kind of pressure on you to keep our secret. We intended to tell you as soon as the school year was over, but-"
"But then the accident happened," Shawn finished, leaning his back against the wall.
"Yeah."
They fell silent. Shawn realized he never considered what Jon might have been going through during that time. He just thought that he moved on and- no, he didn't think that. In those days, he was only thinking of himself. He didn't stop to think about anyone who wasn't directly in front of him: Cory, Topanga, Jack, Angela.
Angela. A physical pain went through him at the thought of her. He was beginning to hate how the slightest thing could trigger memories of her, of their time together.
Jon watched him closely. After a while he felt like he should say something; Shawn seemed to be getting lost in something that wasn't good. "Shawn, is there anythin' else you wanna know?"
Shawn frowned. Was there? Of course, there was. Plenty. So he was surprised to hear himself blurt out, "Have you met Maya Hart?"
The question was certainly out of left field. Jon couldn't help but wonder where this was going, but he tried not to read anything into the query as he replied, "Yeah, I've met Maya Hart. Boy, have I!"
Shawn perked up at his tone and waited for him to explain. When he didn't say anything more, he prodded expectantly, "Oh, c'mon. You can't say it like that and not give me the story!"
Inhaling deeply, his mentor said, "The first time I met Maya Hart, she accused me of usin' my position of authority to coerce a teacher into a romantic relationship."
"What?" sputtered Shawn. Although, that certainly sounded like Maya, it did not sound at all like Jon.
The superintendent shook his head and shrugged at the same time. "Audrey was doin' a long-term subbin' job for the art teacher who was out with a broken foot. Maya took quite a likin' to her and was very protective of her, not unlike someone I used to know." He shot Shawn a meaningful look before continuing. "I was at the junior high for a conference. It happened to be Valentine's Day so I thought I'd be a good husband and take my wife flowers and lunch. Maya walked into the room just as I was sayin' good-bye."
His dark eyes sparkled with a sarcastic gleam. "That was a fun investigation to have to go through. Kid didn't ask questions or anythin'. Just went straight to the board. She and Riley do everythin' together, but she didn't even bother to run her little plan by her. I still don't know how she managed to bypass Riley, but she did." Jon gave a short laugh. "I can't tell you how many times I've almost lost my job over Audrey."
Shawn laughed as Jon looked annoyed. "I re-met Maya a couple of weeks ago when Cory asked me to look into a situation regardin' a newly fired teacher and she acted like she didn't know me."
"You say anythin' to her?" The younger man couldn't keep a grin off his face.
"Absolutely not."
The thought of Jon's run-in with Maya amused Shawn greatly. Once upon a time, he might have done the same thing if he had ever found himself in the same situation. And didn't know the adults involved of course.
Jon regarded his former charge with great affection. There was something in the younger man's eyes that told him he was thinking about Riley's best friend.
"Why is she on your mind all of sudden?" he ventured, feeling a little bolder than before.
"Who?"
"You know who."
Shawn hesitated; he honestly didn't have an answer to that question. Maya was one of those things he was still very unsure about. His thoughts drifted over everything that had happened in the past 72 hours before settling back on the rebellious blonde.
In that moment, he was overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity to repair his relationship with his mentor as he had the feeling, he was going to need Jon's guidance and experience with kids soon; a specific experience and guidance that Cory could not offer. He made a mental note to thank his best friend for the treachery that made this possible. He looked to Jon, the only person he could really talk to about the matter weighing on him at the moment. With a somber expression and a great deal of courage, Shawn took a deep breath and asked:
"How'd you go from never wantin' to get married and havin' kids to married with five kids?"