Jon was sitting on the porch when the truck crept slowly back to the cabin. He stood up and crossed his arms over his chest as he watched Shawn's cautious approach and wondered if he had driven that slowly the whole time or if this was a show for his benefit.

Either way, he was wrecking the gas mileage.

While Shawn was getting out of the truck, Jon walked over to the passenger side to ask Audrey how the drive was. Once assured Shawn did a very good job, Jon took the opportunity to give him a hard time.

After Audrey got out, he circled the truck, bent over so he was inches away from the body of the vehicle, running one hand up and down the paint as he inspected it.

"What are you doin'?" Shawn put his hands on his waist and frowned at his teacher.

Jon glanced at him with an arched brow and said seriously, "Checkin' to see how much body work I'm gonna have to get done after your little trip."

"Ha, ha," Shawn snapped irritably, "You aren't gonna find a dent, a chip, or anything else. I parked way out."

"Yes, he did," Audrey confirmed. "So far out, I should have taken my hiking boots."

"See!"

"Parked so far out that a runaway shoppin' cart got you, huh?" Jon pointed to a spot in the paint over the back left wheel.

"What?!" Shawn jumped forward and pushed his nose against the spot Jon's finger was over.

"Made you look," Jon laughed as he brought his palm up against the teen's chin.

Shawn groaned in annoyance with himself for falling for the trick, then jumped up and got in Jon's face with a self-satisfied grin. "Admit it. I'm a good driver and should drive us back to Philly."

Jon grimaced and shook his head. "Absolutely not. I'll give you that you're a good driver for eight tenths of a mile, but you're not drivin' even that far back home."

"Why?"

He took a moment to really look at Shawn, who he swore had grown another inch in the night. A strange feeling of relief melted over all the worry that had plagued him while they were gone but didn't completely take it away.

"Because, kid," he said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "I just spent the last four hours worryin' about everythin' that could go wrong with you behind the wheel. I can't handle more stress."

This struck a harsh blow to Shawn's pride.

Jon always seemed enthusiastic about his parking lot driving and thought he was only teasing him, but apparently, he was not. "You really thought I was gonna wreck the truck or somethin?"

Jon shook his head. "Nah, I just realized that there are about a million things that could go wrong that you couldn't possibly avoid even doin' everything exactly right."

Shawn frowned. "What brought that up?"

He shrugged. "While you guys were out, I ended up at the camp store talkin' to a bunch of guys who're here with their families. Apparently this kind of worry is a dad thing, and it never goes away; it just gets worse."

Shawn blinked several times as he processed this information. He had trouble imagining that Chet ever worried about what might happen to him if he was out, especially since he left him at a sleazy motel on 7th Street alone, not even with Uncle Mike, and took off after Virna. That Jon sat around for hours coming up with things to worry about made no sense to him, especially since he wasn't alone.

However, it did sound very much like something Mr. Matthews would do.

He looked up at Jon through his bangs and gave him a small smile. Jon returned the smile and slapped him on the back.

"Why don't we head inside, and you can show me what Aud picked out for her Mother's Day gift?"

Shawn rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "I'll give you three guesses," he said as the trio entered the cabin.

"I dunno. Another charm for her bracelet?"

"Nope. But it has something to do with stuff like that."

Jon's jewelry knowledge was limited, and he wasn't sure what was out there related to a charm bracelet that was not a charm. He stopped in the middle of the living room and frowned. "I really don't know, Shawn."

"It's related to jewelry, and every single girl I know has one with this certain thing inside."

"Jewelry box with a little ballerina spinnin' when you open it up," Jon said the moment Shawn was done with the description. He turned to Audrey and gave her an amused smile. "Huh, Aud, for someone who doesn't do cliches, that's a big one, you know."

Audrey gave him a light swat. "That was in reference to dates. I never said anything about jewelry or jewelry boxes."

Jon and Shawn exchanged looks and laughed.

"Alright, what's on the agenda for the rest of the day?" Audrey asked. She was tired from all the walking and sat down on the couch.

Jon took a seat on the coffee table in front of her, took off her shoes, and started to rub her feet.

"Photos," Shawn told her. "There are some places at the Park I wanna take pictures of us."

"And I have dinner plans for us," Jon added.

"I don't know what they are," Shawn said impishly as he picked up his camera to double-check it before they left. "So if they're bad, I had nothin' to do with it."

Jon shot him a look over his shoulder. "And if they're good?"

"I had everythin' to do with it. Neither of you would be here if it wasn't for me." He raised the camera to his eye and snapped a shot.

Jon threw a pillow at him and rolled his eyes, while Audrey sat back and enjoyed the ensuing banter.

Shawn's seriousness about the photos he took surprised Jon.

He knew it was a subject that held the teen's interest, which is why he and Audrey spent so much time finding the right camera for him. But he didn't realize how much studying on his own time Shawn was doing. He not only knew everything about the camera and how to use it but also how to set up a good shot.

Shawn was so picky about how the photos turned out that he insisted on taking all the pictures. He also didn't trust anyone with his camera, even though several people offered to take family photos for him. Eventually, Jon was able to coax it from him at each place they stopped so that he could get some pictures of Shawn with Audrey, and Audrey could take some of the two of them.

Each time the camera left Shawn's hands, it came with a set of specific instructions.

The last place Shawn wanted to take pictures was at the Turnpike Track. The park closed at 6 on the weekend, and the last riders were leaving as the family approached the ride. When the attendant saw what they were planning to do, he let them take pictures in one of the cars.

On their way out, Jon realized that Shawn had not been in most of the pictures taken at the track.

"Shawn," he said, halting outside the exit. He motioned for the camera. "Lemme take a picture of you and Mom at the entrance."

After giving Jon yet another lesson in using the camera, he took his place in front of Audrey, who put her arms around him. He put his hands on her arms and leaned back against her.

Jon didn't have to tell them to smile.

As he snapped the picture, it struck him just how contagious Shawn's smile was when he was really happy.

He'd never seen him happier than he was right now.

After the pictures were taken, the family headed back to the truck and out to dinner. As soon as they arrived at their destination, Shawn gave Jon's dinner choice two thumbs down.

"I cannot believe you're doin' this," he said incredulously as he stared at the steamboat-shaped hotel that was attached to a place called Huckleberry's Restaurant.

Jon frowned. "Can't believe I'm doin' what?"

"You're terrible at bein' subtle."

"What are you talkin' about?"

"Huckleberry. Steamboat." Shawn shoved his hands at the buildings in front of them dramatically. "You're gonna make me read more Twain over the summer while you're havin' fun in Europe, aren't you?"

"You know, I hadn't thought about what you're doin' this summer beyond stayin' with the Matthews while I'm in Europe," Jon said in exasperation. "But now that you keep bringin' it up, maybe a summer of readin' isn't such a bad idea. You do have a lot of books from last year you never finished for my class."

Shawn pushed his lips together and squinted at his teacher. "You need to let the past go, Jon."

"You need to let the past summer go, Shawn."

"Agreed," Audrey said in amusement. "May we go in now?"

Shawn and Jon looked behind them and realized that they'd been having this conversation right in front of the restaurant doors, preventing others from going in. With sheepish apologies, he and Jon held the doors open to let the others go in ahead of them.

Dinner was good but the company was better, and Jon felt an inexplicable desire to take a slight detour home via Las Vegas with a stop at the Little White Chapel.

He wasn't sure he could wait until summer to ask Audrey to marry him.

It wasn't possible to go to Vegas, of course. They didn't have the finances for one thing, and he did want to propose properly. However, if he'd brought the ring with him, he was sure he and Shawn could have made the proposal memorable. Unfortunately, the ring was still in the interior pocket of his leather jacket, which was hanging in his closet at home.

During dessert, Shawn was drawing up summer plans for himself and Cory, plans that left no room for reading of any kind. Jon kept glancing up at Audrey and exchanging secretive smiles with her.

After he was done with his banana split and had stuck his fork into a slice of cherry cheesecake to claim his third dessert, Shawn finally had enough of the looks and demanded to know what they were talking about with their eyes.

And then he promptly realized he probably didn't want to know.

Amused, his people let him stew in embarrassment for just a moment, then Jon looked at Audrey and said, "I don't think he knows."

Audrey nodded, struggling to hide her grin. "Did Jon tell you about expanding our European honeymoon?"

He twitched his nose and put his fork down. "Yeah."

"Did he tell you we're extending it by two weeks?"

"Yeah."

"Did he tell you we'll be joining my family at the end of the fourth week, and we'll pick you up for the fifth and sixth weeks?"

"Yea-…." Shawn's eyes went wide and his mouth fell open. "Wait, what now?

Jon shrugged. "Unless you don't wanna come with us."

"But I thought…" Shawn wasn't sure what to make of this invitation, but he was thrilled with it. "But it's your honeymoon."

"That we planned to be four weeks," Audrey told him. "That's our honeymoon. Jon figured out a way to extend it, so we could have some extra company. Figured our kid was the best person to come along."

The teen sat back against his chair and regarded them with awe, deeply touched that they wanted him with them but unable to understand why.

"Well, I did promise to take you to Europe this summer," Jon told him. "The honeymoon kinda took your spot."

Shawn frowned. "I don't care about that. I'd rather you get married than go backpackin' through Europe."

"None of that's changing," Audrey said, "And it makes sense for you to join us—part of my family is over there waiting to meet you."

"They know about me?"

"Of course, they do."

Dumbfounded, Shawn stared at her.

There were people an ocean away waiting to meet him?

He could not wrap his mind around that.

But still, the thought warmed him.

He picked up his fork and sliced it through the cheesecake, then looked back up at them. "Can we go to Paris?"

Jon nodded, then motioned to Audrey. "I've got a couple of cliché things to do while we're there, if you don't mind."

Shawn shook his head. As he was about to take a bite of the dessert, a thought hit him. "Wait, if I go, do I still get a baby sister?"

Jon groaned and rolled his eyes, and Audrey laughed.

"Yes," she said. "You still get your baby sister."

A smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. "Yeah, okay, I'll go. It'll be cool."

"I think so," Jon said.

"Could we go to a hockey game at the Leksands ishall?" he asked hopefully.

Jon looked at Audrey, then back at Shawn. "Huh, it never occurred to us to put an SHL game on the itinerary."

"Sounds good to me," Audrey said. "I wouldn't mind seeing Stockholm while we're in Sweden. That's one place I did not get to dance."

For the rest of the meal, Shawn rearranged his plans with Cory to be only four weeks long.

Back at the cabin, the trio promptly dropped onto the couch in their usual positions to watch Jay Leno and whatever came on after the Tonight Show until nearly midnight.

With Jon and Shawn curled around her, Audrey let her mind wander over the events of the day.

During the day, it became very real to her that in the not-too-distant future, she would be the mother of a teenager.

It was a strange thing to think about, especially given her lack of feelings on the matter.

Not a lack of feeling for Shawn- no, her feelings for him were strong and sure.

It was the idea of becoming a mother that she had no strong feelings about. She was not afraid, or anxious. She did not have any reservations about it.

Maybe it was because she was convinced that it was meant to be for Shawn and Jon to become her family. There were too many ties that bound them together for it to be a coincidence and Audrey had no desire to rebel against that. And some of it was because it made much more sense to her to become a mother at twenty than a caretaker at thirteen almost entirely on her own. Parenthood would be a partnership with Jon, who wouldn't flit in and out of her life like her father's well-meaning but unreliable friends had.

However, she also knew she wasn't supposed to feel this way. She should be worried and have great reservations about this. She shouldn't want this responsibility.

It wasn't normal.

While the Matthews supported them, Andrea, Eli, and the friends and teachers she'd spoken to from back home all scoffed at the "hypothetical" idea she presented to them and told her she was crazy for wanting to get married, let alone adopt a teen.

They also thought she was joking.

But it was happening. She was an adult. No one had a say in what she did.

Audrey snuggled closer to Jon as she ran her fingers through Shawn's hair, then picked up the remote to turn the television off. Reluctantly, she shooed them off to bed.

Shawn hugged her tightly when she thanked him for a perfect first Mother's Day, she reassured him that she loved him very much and was proud to be his mother. He walked her to the bedroom, trying to strike a deal to get them out of returning to Philadelphia. When he returned to the living room, having failed his mission, Jon was pulling out the futon for him.

"Thanks."

Jon turned around and saw Shawn standing behind him with his hands in his pockets.

"You're welcome." At the blank look on the teen's face, he dropped the blanket and asked, "Everythin' okay?"

The teen frowned for a moment, then said, "I think so."

"Today was a good day."

A small smile kissed his lips. "Yeah, it was."

Jon picked the blanket up again and spread it over the sheets. "You know that poem's gettin' framed."

The smile broadened.

"Copies will be made to go on her fridge. And mine. And the Matthews. Teacher's lounge. Feeny's. Eli's. No one's fridge'll be safe."

The smile turned into a grin.

"Mama really does love it," Shawn said, walking over to the futon where Jon was. "She's not fakin' it."

"Nah, she wouldn't do that. And the poem is excellent. You've got a real gift there, Shawn."

The teen leaned against his shoulder. "Yeah, maybe."

"You wanna talk or you ready for bed?"

Shawn regarded him for a long moment, then suddenly turned and hugged him tightly.

The hug caught Jon off guard, but he recovered quickly and returned the affection without hesitation. Shawn held onto to him for so long he thought he'd fallen asleep. Then without a word, the teen let go, dropped to the bed, and was asleep within minutes.

The mood the next morning was subdued, for as much as the trio wanted to get home and relax before heading back to school, none of them wanted to leave Lancaster and the anonymity it provided.

No one wanted to return to pretending they weren't a family.

Breakfast was lackluster compared to the days before. As much of the leftover food was eaten as possible before cleaning and packing up. Once the truck was loaded and they were about to get in, Shawn had a sudden burst of anxiety about leaving.

What made it worse was that both Jon and Audrey had the same sense of foreboding.

Shawn stood several feet away from the truck, hugging himself. "I think we should go to Mama's and skip the apartment," he said somberly.

"I can't," Jon said as he tossed Audrey's hair and cosmetics bags into the back of the cab of the truck. "George is supposed to call this afternoon and I told him I'd be home by noon."

"So?" he said grumpily, not happy that Jon made plans that put them on a specific timetable without telling him. "A lot of unexpected things happen when you go outta town. Make somethin' up."

Jon shot him a disgruntled look as he walked around to the driver's side. "I'm already makin' a lot of stuff up," he huffed. "I don't wanna add anything else. But maybe I can drop you and Aud off at her place and go back on my own."

"Oh, no," Audrey said as she shut the door to the cabin behind her. "We have to go back to school tomorrow and separate until you can talk to Mr. Feeny about us. I don't want to split up early."

"Yeah," Shawn gnawed on the skin around his thumb and refused to move. "I don't wanna split up either. We need to stay together."

Jon opened the truck door, then turned around and leaned against it. "Well, look, let's go back to apartment and as soon as George calls we'll go to Aud's, spend the night. We won't even unpack the truck."

"Yeah, I guess." Shawn shifted uneasily. It was a good plan. A decent compromise. He had no reason not to go along with it.

But something in him resisted the idea completely.

"It'll work out. We'll be okay," Jon said with more confidence than he felt. He couldn't understand the foreboding that hung over the truck. "I was kind of hopin' I could talk to George about us this afternoon. Get it out of the way."

Audrey and Shawn exchanged apprehensive looks, then stared silently back at him.

"Well, the guardianship papers will be signed next weekend so we should get that done as soon as possible," he explained.

"Yeah. You're right." Audrey gave Shawn's arm a squeeze and nodded towards the truck. "Everything will be fine."

The mood in the truck was somber for the first twenty minutes.

Shawn didn't badger Jon about driving. Instead, he immersed himself in his plans for his baby sister the next summer.

This list was even more detailed than his Christmas one. He had everything outlined from which rides to go on and what shows to see to the order of which was based on the time of day with plenty of naps scheduled as well as where she would sleep depending on how old she was. He marked on his one unlaminated map all of the rest areas where Audrey could take a break.

Shawn wrinkled his nose in frustration. The one thing he forgot to look at was what souvenirs would be age-appropriate and their cost. He'd be sixteen in February and was certain Jon wouldn't have an issue with him getting a job. Turning his attention to the quickly passing landscape outside the window, Shawn said absently, "Hey Jon."

His teacher glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "Yeah?"

"We'll bring a stroller with us next time, right?"

"Yeah, sure."

"You know what model?"

Jon gave a snort of disbelief at the question, but at the serious look on the teen's face, he said, "Nah. Haven't thought about it. Why don't you do the research and tell us what you recommend."

"Okay." Shawn watched the clouds as traffic began to slow as they neared the city.

"Jon?"

"Yeah?"

"I wanna push her around the whole time we're at the Park."

Jon traded looks with Audrey. She reached over and put her hand on his knee.

"You gotta deal, kid."

Shawn looked down at his plans, then closed his notepad and stared out of the window again. The sense of foreboding grew as they entered the Philadelphia city limits.

Audrey sensed this and Shawn and Jon's growing discomfort, so she distracted them by getting them wound up over the Rangers' offseason foray into the playoffs they just barely made. Both happily took the distraction, loudly complaining and chirping each other to the point that by the time they made it into the building, the emotion of the friendly teasing had overridden the intense anxiety.

As the little family made their way to Jon's apartment, each one tried to reassure themselves they were just feeling depressed after the weekend because it didn't make sense that anything would be wrong at home.

Audrey was sure her feelings were also caused by her resistance to pretend she was just Jon's student teacher again. It was different with Shawn, as he was often, jokingly, called her son by other faculty members. But she hated having to watch Jon get hit on and say nothing.

At least he wasn't dating anymore.

Shawn's concern was that someone would be waiting for them in the apartment. His guess was it would be either Mr. Feeny who got their whereabouts out of Mr. Williams or Chet who showed up and decided to take over the apartment.

He didn't want it to be either one. He hoped Jon would have the chance to talk to Mr. Feeny before they got caught.

Jon could find no logical reason for his feelings. He figured, at the very worst, they'd find Eli camped out on the couch because he couldn't get past Mrs. Dubchek and her advances. He really should have told Eli he was going to be out of town over the weekend. While Eli would give him a hard time, George was the one he really needed to talk to about what was going on. The sooner the better, as it occurred to him just how quickly the week would pass, and it would be Saturday again and the paperwork that he'd been holding onto for so long would be signed.

By both him and Audrey.

He couldn't wait to see Shawn's face when he realized he was getting two legal guardians.

As soon as he got the apartment door unlocked, he caught Audrey by the waist and Shawn by the shoulders. Hugging them close, he pushed the door open with his foot. Laughing, they awkwardly struggled through the narrow space together, angling Audrey in first while he and Shawn briefly got stuck in the doorway. The whole thing struck them as ridiculously funny as they fought to maintain their footing as they entered their home.

Tears clouded their vision, and it took a few minutes for their sight to clear. When it did, the trio froze in horror, unable to move.

None of them could process the scene in front of them.

Someone was waiting for them.

But it wasn't Eli camped out on the sofa.

Or Mr. Feeny and his disapproval.

It was Katherine.

Thank you so much for your comments and spending time with me. I really appreciate it.