Katherine Tompkins was leaning against the door of the principal's office.

With Bud out of the office and meandering the halls as he tended to do to avoid work, she had free reign of the office.

And heard everything Mr. Feeny said to Jon.

She wasn't happy about the revelation that Feeny intended to bring Audrey back and put her in a position that would have her in the same department as Jon.

If Audrey was just going to return in the fall, then she went to the principal for nothing. The whole point of turning Jon in for hiding her eating disorder was so she did not come back.

Kat pressed a polished mauve thumbnail against her lips as she listened to the end of Feeny's speech, then turned on her heel and walked out of the office.

The hall was empty of students and the pay phone by the bathroom was glanced at the clock on the wall above the lockers where Jon's favorite students kept their school supplies.

Picking up the receiver, she dialed a number she'd had memorized since Audrey pushed her out of her place in Jon's life: Gerald O'Malley, president of the school board.

She had one last hand to play.

There would be no coming back for Audrey from this one.

Regrettably, Jon would have to suffer a bit, but he'd recover just fine.

"Yes, hello, this is Katherine Tompkins. I need to talk to Mr. O'Malley about a very important matter."

"Mr. O'Malley won't be in until after school," the weary voice of the secretary responded. "If you're a teacher you should know that. What message would you like to leave for him?"

A slow smirk spread over her lips.

She leaned against the wall playing with the cord of the phone. "There is a teacher at this school who is involved in a romantic relationship with his student teacher. I have photos they need to see."

"Oh?" The secretary was much more interested in what she had to say now. "Perhaps you should come down to the district office now. I may be able to get the president in sooner than after school."

"Yes, that's fine," Katherine told her cheerfully. "I can come down to the District Office right now."

With that, she hung up the phone and headed out, stopping at Jon's classroom door to give it a triumphant grin before leaving.

After leaving Feeny's office, the rest of the day crept slowly for Jon as he went through his classroom duties on autopilot.

He was completely numb and remembered nothing.

At some point between classes, Shawn came in looking for Audrey.

Jon felt sick when he heard her name. He hadn't been able to face the fact that Audrey was gone let alone figure out how to tell Shawn.

However he answered the teen was enough that Shawn rambled on about something or other. Jon didn't hear anything he said until he heard Cory speak up.

"You okay, Mr. Turner? You look like you lost something real important to you."

He flinched and crossed his arms over his chest as he tried to push back the painful sensation the question created.

Frowning at his students he said, "Shawn, you can't go over to the Matthews. I need you home after school asap."

"Yeah," Shawn tipped his head to the side and gave him a funny look. "I just said I wasn't goin' over there."

He waited for Jon to respond but his teacher just stared blankly at him. Furrowing his brow, he repeated he'd just said, "Morgan got sick last night, and Eric got whatever it is. Mrs. Matthews has them quarantined. Doesn't want guests over right now."

"Oh, good." Jon sat abruptly on his desk and didn't say anything else.

The boys exchanged confused looks. Cory, unable to take the uncomfortableness that was growing, swung his hands back and forth, popping his open palm against his fist.

"Yeah, I guess you teachers really need a break from Eric. Wish I could get one," he said awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood.

"Shawn. Home. Right away."

Shawn looked at his best friend who shrugged. He made a face at him, and they engaged in a conversation of expressions.

Before long Cory shot Jon a worried looked then announced, "Topanga and I got married last night."

Jon blinked. "Good for you, Matthews."

"We're having quadruplets."

"That's great. I'll tell Mr. Feeny. He'll be proud."

Cory's jaw dropped as he looked at Shawn in a panic. Shawn, extremely concerned about Jon, shrugged.

"Hey, no, Mr. Turner, you can't tell Feeny. It was a joke." Cory gripped his shoulders and shook him slightly. "Please don't tell Topanga either. She'll kill me!"

The smell of corn curl breath in his face roused Jon from his fugue. He stared at his student in confusion. "What?!"

Shawn decided enough was enough and changed the subject. "You're still teachin' so I guess everything worked out okay with Feeny. Is Aud comin' over tonight?"

Jon nearly slid off his desk at the mention of her name but caught himself.

Before Shawn could say anything, Cory put his hand on Jon's forehead.

"This is how Eric looked this morning," he told Shawn. "Real pale and the same weird color. I think that's what they call 'looking green'."

"Yeah, I guess," Shawn replied, waiting for Jon's sarcastic snap for Cory to stop touching him to come.

It didn't.

"Hey, man, are you okay? You look like you're gonna puke." Shawn got as close to him as he could while remaining outside of projectile reach.

Jon put his hand up and weakly waved them away with some excuse about lunch time mystery meat. The bell rang and the boys reluctantly abandoned him to his plan time.

Jon sunk down in his chair and buried his face in hands.

Time refused to move.

The longer the day went on the further from the end of it he seemed to get.

When the final bell rang, the last class of the day had barely cleared the room when Jon grabbed his jacket and helmet and followed them out. Immediately he ran into Shawn who had been waiting for him after ditching his last class early.

In uncharacteristic clumsiness, he dropped the motorcycle helmet. It hit the floor and bounced once, then bounced again when it slipped from his grip as he went to pick it up.

They stared at each other for a moment after Jon finally retrieved the helmet.

"You are really jumpy today," Shawn shifting his bookbag to the other shoulder. "What's wrong? Does this have something to do with your meetin' with Feeny? How'd that go anyway?"

An inexplicable urge to cry swept over Jon and threw him off-balance. There was no way he was going to show that kind of emotion in school.

He wasn't even sure why he felt that way.

Audrey's removal was temporary.

There was no reason to shed tears over a temporary situation.

But the feeling wouldn't leave him no matter how much he threw logic at it, so he grabbed Shawn by the backpack and all but dragged him to the parking lot, then pushed him into the truck.

The teen complied without a word.

While no tears fell, he did have trouble seeing on the drive back to the apartment and Shawn staring at him all the way made things worse.

He pulled into the driveway and turned off the vehicle, but didn't get out of the truck. He felt disconnected from his body and couldn't make any part of himself move.

"Jon?"Shawn put his hand on his shoulder and gave him a shake. "What happened in Feeny's office? Where's Audrey?"

He wasn't prepared to answer these questions. He wasn't prepared to shatter Shawn's hopes for the future.

Jon stared at the windshield and wondered when it started raining.

"Jon. You're freakin' me out. Where's Audrey?"

"Gone." His voice was thick with emotion, and it was hard to get the word out.

"Gone?"

"Feeny knows."

Shawn sat back and frowned as he studied his teacher. "How much does he know?"

"Everything," Jon sighed despondently. "Except that I was gonna propose next month and that we were gonna adopt you."

He tipped his head back over the top of the car seat and stared at the ceiling.

"Hmm," Shawn replied, rubbing a finger over his lips. "So, he doesn't know about Saturday?"

"No."

Shawn nodded, unsurprised. "When is she gettin' back?"

Jon flinched at the question. "She isn't."

He looked at him sharply. "Why?"

It took him a while to catch his emotions and swallow them back down. "Her student teachin' has been terminated. She's supposed to stay in New York and finish treatment. Alex in comin' down to clear out her place tomorrow."

Shawn tipped his head to the side. Losing Audrey for any amount of time was upsetting but he didn't understand why Jon was acting like it was the end of the world. "Why?"

"Shawn..." Jon put his hands over his face. He couldn't handle teenage flippancy right now.

"I'm bein' serious. Why?"

Jon shook his head trying to clear his thoughts. "Feeny thinks she needs to be in the City full time because we aren't good enough to take care of her."

"Man's gotta god complex," Shawn remarked rolling his eyes. He turned sideways to face Jon and rested his arm on the back of the seat. "Who died and made him Audrey's dad? Last time I checked, Pops was still kickin'."

Jon snorted in distaste at Shawn's word choice regarding Richie. "George thinks he knows best."

"Maybe in school stuff." Shawn paused to watch his teacher's pained expression. Jon was taking this incredibly hard. It surprised him when, by Shawn's estimate, it was only a few weeks they'd be without her.

It wasn't ideal but it also wasn't a tragedy.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Jon's got it so bad for Aud, he thought gleefully.

But his teacher wasn't smiling, so Shawn didn't tease him.

Instead, he said thoughtfully, "The school year's almost over. What's Feeny gonna do if we take off to New York as soon as the last bell rings? Call the cops and report us for intent to form a family?"

Jon shook his head at the absurdness of it all. Gripping the steering wheel tightly until his knuckles turned white, he considered what Shawn was suggesting.

"He did say if she gets medical clearance by the fall, he'll hire her to replace Larsson." He glanced at Shawn with an arched brow. "Says he's seen what a good influence she's been on you."

"Hmm," the teen said as he pressed a crooked finger to his chin. "Okay, I guess that's enough to save him from gettin' an egged house tonight." He could see Jon's mood lifting slightly. "What'd he say about datin' her?"

"Nothin'," Jon sighed. "I had to play dumb about the marriage stuff, wasn't gonna bring the rest of it up. Besides, we never dated."

"Yeah." Shawn still thought the whole "not dating" thing was stupid, but he let it go. "I guess it doesn't really matter anyway. By the time he hires Aud, you guys'll be married and it's not like Feeny can force you to divorce."

"True," Jon replied feeling somewhat better about the situation. However, he could tell Shawn wasn't thinking about the not-too-distant-future and he wasn't sure how to bring it up. "I guess this doesn't change plans completely."

"It changes Saturday."

Shawn was staring intently at him, but he didn't look heartbroken like Jon thought he would be. However, he knew the teen well enough to know he could hit denial mode faster and harder than he could.

"Yeah, it does." He put his hand on the teen's arm that was stretched over the back of the seat. "I'm sorry, Shawn. I really am."

"It's not your fault. It's her fault." He pointed out, then paused in repose. "There's no deadline for signin' the papers, is there?"

Jon pursed his lips together as he recalled everything he could about the guardianship process.

"No, I just have to let the lawyer know," he said slowly. The more he thought about it, the less hopeless their situation seemed. "Puttin' it off until the end of the year shouldn't matter. We can still go ahead with everythin' we planned do. It'll just be a little later than we wanted."

Shawn nodded and gave him a smile. "I think waitin's a lot better than tryin' to do everything Saturday anyway."

Today was one surprise after another and Jon hated surprises. "You do?" He tried to keep the suspicion out of his voice, but he sounded skeptical anyway.

"Yeah," Shawn gave him a slight smirk. "I don't trust these alleged proposal plans of yours. You won't tell me what they are which means you got nothin'. So, I'm gonna have to do it. Can't let you screw it up. Too important."

Jon leaned his head back and laughed as relief washed over him.

"It sucks we can't see Aud for a few weeks," Shawn said, nudging Jon's knee with the toe of his shoe. "But it's not the end of the world. We can still talk to her. Besides, you coulda told Feeny about Saturday and he'd still coulda freaked out. We'd be exactly where we are now but have detention all summer. Both of us. That really woulda screwed up our plans."

"Yeah, that would be a lot worse," Jon shook his head as he realized what he had planned to drop on Feeny after school. "I'm not sure why I thought tellin' George all this before the end of the year was a good idea."

"Eh, you got bit by the family bug and wanted to be a dad right away." Shawn hid a pleased smile behind a large dose of sarcasm. "Something, something wait for the right time, not just the right person."

He grinned at Jon's reproachful look that softened into an embarrassed smile.

"Yeah, it sucks but things will work out," he said again. "It'll be better this way."

"Wow, this is what I'm supposed to be sayin' to you," Jon remarked impressed. "Maybe you should be the dad and adopt Aud and me."

Shawn chuckled, clearly pleased with himself and Jon's approval.

Jon regarded him with admiration then remarked, "This maturity thing from you. It's scary."

Shawn grinned and shook his hair out of his face. "C'mon, Dad, let's get you inside and cleaned up. Can't let you fall to pieces just because Mom is gonna be gone for a while."

"You know," he said as they got out of the truck. "I did just fine before the two of you showed up and wrecked my life."

"You call what you were doin' before fine?" Shawn scoffed. "You were a mess before we came along. A pig wouldn't live with you!"

"A pig does live with me!" Jon laughed, putting a hand on the teen's shoulder. "Part-time anyway."

"Yeah, only after I moved in a got the place cleaned up and Mom stocked the fridge with good food."

Jon shook his head, happy to have the familiar ribbing back. He gave Shawn's shoulder a tight squeeze, "My cookin' is good, kid. Kept you alive."

"Barely." Shawn tossed him an impish grin then broke away from him to run ahead into the building.

The mood at dinner was subdued but Jon found it easier to accept Audrey's absence through the perspective Shawn had given him. After the dishes were cleaned and put away, Shawn brought out the photo album he'd been putting together over the past year.

"I know you're missin' her and so am I," he said putting the album on the coffee table as Jon took a seat next to him on the couch. "I think we should call her tomorrow before school. Until then let's look through this."

"Yeah, but first," Jon said putting his hand on the album to stop Shawn from opening it right away. "When did you get so mature about this stuff. Wasn't too long ago you were fallin' apart because Cory and Topanga broke up for a day."

"It was four days, twelve hours, and eight minutes," Shawn corrected him, then shrugged. "You know those character analysis things you made us read for Pride and Prejudice and then made us match up the characters based on them before we read the book?"

Jon nodded.

"I still don't know what the point of that assignment was," he said pointedly. "But if you did the same thing for the three of us based on our character analysis no one would ever put us together."

Jon raised his brows at the comment but refrained from defending his teaching methods.

"But you know how sometimes things that don't look good on paper work in real life? That's us. We don't make sense on paper but in real life we work. Better than me and Chet and Virna do."

This was the first time he'd heard Shawn refer to his parents so naturally by their first names and he wondered how long the teen had been working on cutting those parental ties. It concerned him how bad the timing was for all of this to happen. If something should happen to stop him and Audrey from following through with their plans...

Jon shuddered. He didn't want to consider what that would do to Shawn. He had to get the kid to counseling even if everything else had to be put on hold.

That could not wait.

"I mean," Shawn was still going on about his revelation. "They are my bio parents and we're a broken mess as a family. Sometimes I wonder if I even share DNA with both of them, you know? But you and Aud? I totally pass as your bio kid even though it's totally impossible on paper."

"Totally impossible in real life, too." Jon quietly reminded him.

"Yeah," he chuckled. "But I guess if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. Can't mess with that."

It was then that Jon realized where Shawn's peace and maturity came from- Audrey.

Meant to be had always been her explanation for their inexplicable situation.

Meant to be.

He was much more pragmatic than Audrey and it took some convincing on her part to make him believe this.

And he did.

Now he worried that buying into the romantism would end up being a problem for all of them.

But for now, Shawn (and he) needed the hope Audrey's beliefs brought with them. He lifted his hand and smiled morosely as Shawn opened the album.

All of memories pasted to the album paper seem forever ago and like they happened yesterday at the same time. Shawn had done an incredible job of organizing the photos in an artistic, chronological way.

Jon shifted uncomfortably at the emotion they brought up.

"Huh," Shawn said. He flipped back and forth between three pages with a confused frown. "That's weird."

"What?"

"There are pictures missin'." He turned back to the beginning of the album and went over all the photos carefully.

Jon felt the ominous feeling of the night before return. "You sure?"

"Yeah, positive. I put letters and numbers by each one to categorize them." He pointed to the neatly printed writing. "JA are for photos with just you and Audrey. There are eight missin'."

"Maybe they fell out," Jon suggested. He felt the constriction of apprehension across his back as Shawn continued to look through the pages.

"No," Shawn said adamantly. "Not the way I put them in. The paper here is torn. They've been taken out."

"Maybe Aud took them with her."

Shawn looked up at him and they stared at each other for a moment with the same look of concern.

"Did she have a chance to come back here?" he asked hoping that was the reason. He'd feel much better knowing Audrey had them rather than who he feared did.

Jon shook his head slowly and closed his eyes. "No. She was sent back directly from school."

Shawn eyes darkened with resentment. "Then you know who took them."

Jon did know exactly who took them.

What he didn't know was why she didn't show Feeny when she had a chance.

Jon was awoken the next morning with a sharp elbow to the chest.

"Shaaaawwwn," he groaned in pain. He did not understand why the kid couldn't wake him up like a normal person. "What!?"

"It's 5:30," he answered, digging his elbow in to make sure his teacher was fully awake before standing up.

"I did not request awake up call. For any morning." Jon rolled over and put a pillow over his head.

Shawn grunted in exasperation and poked him in the back repeatedly. "We're callin' Audrey this mornin'. Don't you remember?"

Jon removed the pillow long enough to say, "Yeah, but I don't think callin' her at 5:30 is a good idea."

"We're not callin' her now," the teen replied putting his hands on his waist. He considered giving Jon a shove with his foot then remembered his teacher's kickboxing skills and thought better of it. "She's probably asleep. We need to get ready for school, so we have the max time to talk to her before we have to leave."

Jon groaned again. "I'm not goin' to school, remember? You are, but I'm grounded."

"Why?"

Sitting up, Jon ran a hand through his hair and tried to remember. "You know, I don't think I was told why."

Shawn wrinkled his nose. "That's such a parent thing to do. I still think Feeny actin' like your dad and Audrey's is weird."

Jon threw a pillow at the teen who swiftly dodged it. Begrudgingly he got up and did what Shawn wanted.

As he was exiting his bedroom after a shower, the phone and Shawn stared at each other as the same thought passed through their minds at the same time.

Audrey!

Shawn shoved his way past him, grabbed the phone, and danced out of Jon's reach. He flashed a cheeky grin of triumph as he said hello.

Jon watched the excitement die on the teen's face. His smile fell slowly, and a stunned look overcame his features.

It was not a reaction Jon had seen before.

"What?"

Shawn slowly pulled the phone from his ear and put it against his shoulder looking as though he had news he did not want to deliver.

"It's Feeny."

Jon frowned unsure of why he would be calling this early. "Feeny?"

Shawn nodded. "He's really mad."

Panic hit Jon as he had no idea why Feeny would be angry with him. He was fine after their meeting yesterday and appeared to remain fine throughout the day.

What might have changed overnight concerned him greatly.

"What now?"

Shawn held the phone out to him staring at the floor and looking upset. Jon seriously considered letting it hit the floor, pack their bags, and leave to get Audrey with Shawn in tow.

Audrey's frustration with him when he brought doing something similar yesterday stopped him.

He took the phone.

There was no chance to get out a greeting before Feeny started in on him. The principal's voice was steady and low.

And full of outrage.

"My office now, Mr. Turner. I do not care what you are doing. I do not care what state of dress you are in. My ."

Jon felt the way Shawn looked: sick and helpless.

"Can I ask what this is about?" he ventured, bracing to be yelled at for insubordination.

"You lied to me, Mr. Turner," he replied with disgust. "You told me there was no romantic relationship between you and Miss Andrews. You have fifteen minutes to get to my office or I will come to you. And you do not want that."

The sound of the receiver dropping roughly into its cradle echoed in Jon's ear as he tried to wrap his head around the unspoken threat in Feeny's words.

"What?" Shawn jumped to his side and grabbed him by the shirt sleeve.

Numbness settled over Jon.

"He knows."

Shawn was positive he could feel Jon's fear and it made him shudder.

"He knows what?"

"Everything."