It's My Life • Shawn Hunter

85| Uncle Daddy

Shawn and Zoey was sitting in Cory's bedroom, the three of them studying for the SATs. Zoey was laying on one of the beds with a textbook in front of her as she tapped her pencil. Cory was sitting at his desk with a similar book opened in front of him while Shawn paced between them.

"You know, I think I'm developing quite a knack for these scholastic aptitude tests or, as I prefer to call them, SATs." Shawn said proudly.

Cory nodded. "Okay, okay, here's another one. Verbal."

"It's how you talk and stuff." Shawn explained, sitting beside his girlfriend. "Keep 'em coming."

Zoey pressed her tongue to her cheek, shaking her head and tried not to smile. She gently rubbed Shawn's arm up and down. "No, Shawnie, he means the question is verbal. Means you answer it by speaking."

"Okay. 'Perigree is to apogee as zenith is to: A; Nadir, B: Cortex, C: Sulfur'." Cory read from the text book.

Zoey sighed and began packing her stuff while Shawn pulled a pained expression and his hands moved to rub at his temples.

"Cor, can you get the window?" Zoey asked.

Cory nodded slowly as he stood from the desk and opened the window so his best friends could climb out.

••••

Later that night, Cory, Shawn, and Zoey decided to head to Chubbies for a break from studying. When they walked down the staircase into the restaurant, they saw Eric. He was there with his date who had a kid.

"Hey Eric." Cory greeted.

"Not now. Get out of here." Eric demanded simply.

"Nice to see you too, Eric." Zoey replied sarcastically.

"Where's the baby?" Shawn asked as they approached the booth.

"Hi, Kelly. I'm Cory, and this is Shawn and Zoey." Cory introduced as he gestured to his best friends.

"No, really. Where's the baby?" Shawn questioned. Zoey glared at him before slapping him up the head. He winced at the contact. "What? I think it's a valid question."

"He's back there at the pinball machine." Kelly answered.

The three glanced back to see a boy looking at the age of five playing on the pinball machine.

"Oh. Do you mind if I go there and play with the baby?" Shawn asked.

Eric turned to Kelly. "He's okay."

Kelly gave Shawn a nod to which he went over to where the little boy was, leaving Zoey and Cory with Eric and Kelly.

"So, listen, Eric. Me, Shawn, and Zo are going to a movie. You guys wanna come?" Cory offered.

"Oh, definitely." Eric answered. He turned to his date. "How about it, Kell?"

"I've gotta get Ryan to bed, but you guys go ahead." Kelly replied.

Zoey smiled in excitement. "Eric, listen. You do not wanna miss this one, okay? It's Jim Carrey and Steven Seagal, starring in 'What Are You Doing In My Movie?'"

"Yeah, but it's all about priorities, guys, and frankly, um... mine are changing, so..." Eric trailed off, looking at Kelly's son. He turned and smiled. "If you don't mind, I'd like to come home with you and maybe read Ryan a story."

Kelly smiled. "He'd like that."

"So I guess it's just the three of us going to the movie." Zoey told Cory.

••••

The next day, Zoey and Shawn joined Cory and Topanga at Chubbie's for a quick get together before they went back to studying.

The four of them walked into the back room of Chubbies and saw Eric sitting at a table with Ryan.

"Oh, hey, it's the baby!" Shawn exclaimed as they approached.

Topanga leaned forward and pouted. "Aren't you adorable."

Ryan grabbed a piece of candy. "You get a Tootsie Roll."

"Oh, thanks." Topanga said, grabbing the candy.

"Okay, Topanga." Shawn began as he strolled over to the pool table. "Me and Cory against you and Zoey. You guys are going dow-how-hown!"

:Oh, well, that's real fair." Zoey remarked, giving her boyfriend a look. "Topanga is terrible at pool." She then turned to Eric. "You wanna be on my team?"

"Zoey, I take my babysitting responsibilities pretty seriously." Eric replied.

The four of them began to get their pool sticks ready, though Topanga was only copying what her teammate was doing.

"Okay, I'll break." Cory decided, doing just that.

Eric stood once Ryan reluctantly greed to let him play and held out his hand for Topanga's pool stick. Zoey gave him a relieved look as they all began to play pool.

"So, Eric, what'd you and your baby do today?" Shawn asked.

"Oh, we did just about everything there is to do in the world." Eric replied. 'Cory, you have no idea how adult you look to me right now."

"Eric, it's your shot." Shawn reminded.

"My shot, alright." Eric said, walking around the pool table. "So, when are you guys actually taking your SAT's?"

"A week from Saturday." Topanga answered. A pained look immediately crossed Shawn's face. She turned to face Zoey. "I thought he knew."

"Actually, I told him there's no SAT's and that Saturday was just cake day at school, and perhaps some Crème Brulee." Zoey explained.

Shawn expression instantly relaxed at the thought of cake.

"Okay why don't we do this? Why don't we do the ten ball in whatever pocket it decides to go into?" Eric challenged as he positioned his shot. "Come on, Ryan! Come check this out, my friend!" When there was no response, he looked around the empty room. "Ry?"

"Where'd he go?" Zoey asked.

Shawn's eyes widen. "The baby's gone?"

Zoey was still surprised at how angry Eric had gotten when he'd scolded Ryan for running off. But at the end of the day Eric became upset when he decided the he and Kelly decided to no longer see each other.

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PUBLISHED: August 2, 2018
WORDS: 969