A/N: Ok everyone, I'm going to keep it really short this time around. It's been quite awhile since I updated, and I just had an alert pop up on my calendar.

If you've read the first chapter, you may remember what that means.

So...to just pull the band-aid off as quick as possible, yes, this story is going away. I really don't think it's been what the fandom is looking for, and since the premier of S5, I just haven't been inspired to write much. I'm not bitter, but I AM incredibly busy, between getting ready for a Master's program, and just basically taking care of my family/home, etc. With those things in mind, I don't have a lot of time/desire to put much energy into something that feels like it's gotten awkward story-wise, and that people generally aren't reading anyway.

So...as a further admission, there are times when I will copy/paste a favorite story into a document I save on my hard drive. Not to plagarize, but just so I can find it easily (I tend to read and re-read), and prevent against losing it, should the author ever decide to delete for any reason. Yes...this has proven useful from time to time. That said, while I know not many are reading this, I know there are some who are. You have my full permission to save this, if you have the interest in doing so. I know this site makes it difficult, so if you have trouble, I'm willing to throw the original docs up on my Tumblr (also recently neglected lately) for download.

I'm also willing to put up all my notes for this story if anyone wants to see how things were going to proceed. When I start a long story, I typically (all two of them that I've done, that is) start out with a beginning as well as an end point in mind, and then fill in in-between. So, while I think I may still have one or two chapters that needed some real premise work, all the rest are fairly well outlined, as well as having some full passages of dialogue written. So, if you want to know what was going to happen, I can throw those on Tumblr too.

When I put up the first chapter, and made the promise that I'd kill the story if I let it go too long without updating, it wasn't meant to be a threat. I honestly meant it as a motivator for me, and a comfort to others who feel like I do regarding unfinished stories. Even if I'm not necessarily digging a story, I at least want to get to an end...and so I didn't want to be one of those people who leaves a hanging thread forever. I'm obviously keeping all of the original documents on my hard drive, and if I ever finish it, I'll repost it.

So, this is the two-week notice before this story vanishes into the ether. I figured I'd give everyone a chance to catch this so it didn't just vanish without anyone knowing what the hell happened. Sorry for starting a project and then finishing it like this, but it was a good lesson for me.

So, the rest of this is what I had written of the next chapter. I thought about just leaving things as they were, since Jeff and Annie getting back together could have been a good stopping point, but I figured I'd been writing this...I may as well let people see it, especially since part of the premise was based on an idea from an anonymous commenter on Tumblr. Be warned, it's not completed, and it's first draft quality.

Thank you for reading.

Three Months Later – Maternal Relations 101

In the hallway, a woman trending towards her matronly years pulled the slip of paper out of her purse and double-checked the apartment number just to reassure herself she was in the right spot. She raised her hand to knock, but was startled by the door to the apartment just behind her left side opening suddenly, and a short, bald, bespectacled man, humming happily off-key emerging.

As soon as he turned and saw her in front of the apartment door, he gasped loudly.

"Are you here to visit Jeffrey?"

The woman nodded dumbly.

"Oh, I'd better knock with you. Sometimes they don't answer if they don't recognize the visitors. If I'm here with you, they'll be sure to come."

The woman looked at the small man in confusion, as he smiled broadly, and sidled up alongside her, on the side opposite the door hinges, and seeming to slouch, and curve his upper half slightly so that it was as far from the center of the door as he could manage. The woman had a sudden stray thought run through her head where she wondered if the man, despite his words about being there for recognition purposes, was trying to avoid being able to be seen through the peephole.

Apparently he felt he was in position, because he raised his hand, and knocked rapidly.

Just before she heard the knock, Annie was humming, and softly singing happily as she breezed about the apartment she and Jeff shared, doing her Saturday morning tidy-up. She and Jeff had a standing agreement which suited them both fine. She got to take some time Saturday mornings to get their place up to her level of cleanliness, which given his own penchant for both enjoying neatness, but hating to spend the time and effort cleaning, worked for him. He, in turn, was supposed to stay out of her way.

Jeff had quickly realized that meant that he could spend that time on an extended workout and self-care regiment, including a long, hot shower, which is where he currently was. Annie could smell the slight hint of humidity mixed with body wash all the way out in the living room. She knew from observation that when the shower smell had gotten so saturated that it was spilling out of the master bathroom and bedroom, he had been in there long enough that he had to be close to done.

Realizing she only had a few minutes of quiet left before Jeff would be out and badgering her to stop cleaning so he could either spend time with her, or at least not be bothered by her activity when he wanted to be lazy (Annie knew that it wasn't the fact that she was doing something distracting, but that he felt guilty about not helping her. The first time she managed to deduce this from his phrasing and body language, she was quietly pleased that he cared for her enough to feel guilty about the house cleaning.) Annie did a quick visual survey to see what she had left to do, and was pleasantly shocked by what she realized.

Since she and Jeff had gotten back together before Christmas, they'd consciously decided to start 'rebuilding' their life in the apartment, turning it from his apartment that she'd moved into, into their apartment.

The décor still had some of the stark flavor of Jeff's bachelorhood, because it suited him, and would have felt wrong to eliminate entirely, but Annie's influences couldn't be missed or ignored. Fortunately, during this redecorating process, Annie had convinced Jeff to do a very deep cleaning of the apartment which meant her Saturday morning task was far easier.

Now it was late January, and even though they'd been a couple again for about a month and a half, they were still publically flying under the radar. Annie had spoken to her advisor at the graduate program she was getting ready to enter, who thanked her, and let her know that he would do everything he could if anything odd was reported about her, but to ultimately 'keep her nose clean, and try to avoid any such things happening in the first place.'

Annie wasn't thrilled to hear that, because it meant things needed to stay secret still, but predictably, Abed was his own stoic version of overjoyed. Kept talking about how it fit perfectly with some of the ideas he'd dreamed up for the 'revenge plot' against Alan. She and Jeff always just rolled their eyes at each other and tried to ignore this, and Annie eagerly looked forward to the day when Alan wouldn't be an issue anymore, and Annie and Jeff wouldn't have to keep their secret.

It was in the midst of this daydreaming that Annie heard a knock on the front door, which shocked her out of her reverie. She wasn't expecting anyone from the group over, and couldn't begin to guess who it could be. They got very few surprise visitors here, and the only people who came unannounced on any sort of regular basis (Dean Pelton, mostly; Very occasionally Chang) had very distinct ways of making their presence known (usually by shouting a greeting through the closed door, either making a bad Dean or Chang pun, or a harassing reference to Jeff in the case of the Dean,) in fact, the last time Annie could remember having a really unknown visitor was the day the group met Miranda.

Oddly enough, as Annie looked through the peephole before opening the door, she was surprised to see another older woman out there. This one looked oddly familiar somehow, but Annie couldn't place her. Perhaps she was faculty at Greendale that Annie had seen but forgotten?

Regardless, Annie pulled the door open, and prepared to greet the visitor, only to be startled by the appearance of Dean Pelton, who apparently had decided to latch onto this woman. Annie guessed it was because Jeff had stopped answering if he saw the bald man's head through the peephole.

"Hello!" he shouted happily, but Annie didn't acknowledge him, or allow him to get past her into the apartment.

"Hi, sorry if Craig is bothering you, how can I help you?" Annie said brightly, and the smile on the woman's face faded into confusion as the school administrator/neighbor protested the very thought of being a bother.

"Oh, dear…I must have the wrong address. I'm sorry, I'm looking for a Jeff Winger…do you know if he ever lived here? I'm wondering exactly how far off I am from where he told me he lived."

Annie nodded, "No, this is the right place. I mean, it's Jeff's apartment. I mean, our apartment." (Pelton blurted out a scandalized "I told you that!" when Annie corrected the visitor's assumption that this wasn't Jeff's place.)Annie stammered over the explanation, wondering why she even felt the need to explain the situation to this stranger, but still held out her hand to the woman as she backed away from the door to allow her entry. Unfortunately, Pelton scurried in ahead of her. Normally, Annie loved the Dean, but she'd quickly learned that when she was at home, she didn't necessarily want to deal with him. Especially since, while he said he approved of their relationship, he tended to try to cling to Jeff.

"I'm Annie, and you've obviously gotten that I live here too."

The woman just nodded with a bewildered look on her face, and stepped into the apartment, but didn't offer any further information, which made Annie even more nervous than ever. Feeling somewhat bold, she decided to pursue her gut instinct.

"I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?"

"I'm Jeff's-" just as she was in the middle of her answer, Annie heard Jeff come stomping out of the bedroom.

"Hey Annie? Have you seen my exfoliant and astringent? They aren't in the cabinet or my gym bag anywhere!" Jeff sounded far more frustrated by the disappearance of his facial products than any normal human had the right to, but it was a quirk of his that Annie was well aware of, and was used to. She started racking her brains, but was totally distracted by Craig Pelton's squeal of glee as he ran up to Jeff, who was wrapped only in a towel, and began lightly touching his abs and chest.

Annie turned back to the visitor, whose face had gone ashen and mouth seemed to be working slightly, but producing no sound. Annie's eyes grew wide in terror, knowing that this couldn't be good, and turned once more to Jeff who was trying to push Pelton away

"Oh, come on, Craig. Get off! Annie, why'd you let him in?"

Annie blanched. Everything was falling apart, and she wasn't even sure what everything was.

"Uhhh, Jeff. He snuck in with the other visitor."

Jeff looked up as he spoke. "Other visitor?" but Annie knew that he'd noticed her when his last word clipped off suddenly, and his eyes locked on the woman, even dropping his guard to let the Dean firmly plant a hand on his abdominals.

When Jeff didn't react, Annie dashed in and grabbed the Dean's arm, and pulling him, forced him out of the door, closing it behind him as he yelled happily, "I had to be going anyway! Catch up with you guys later! By the way, I've gotten really into vintage British TV lately, maybe we can watch AbFab together!"

With the door securely locked, Annie turned back to her boyfriend and their visitor. Both were staring at each other, Jeff still somewhat wet, and with his towel wrapped around his waist. While the woman seemed to have recovered from her shock of dealing with Jeff's molestation, she still stood silently. Jeff was the first to speak.

"What are you doing in Greendale?" he asked pointedly. She responded with a soft, friendly voice. "It's not like I live that far away, Jeffrey…but I'm here visiting a friend for a few days."

"You didn't call first."

"You usually don't answer my calls."

Annie keyed in to this last phrase, and started desperately trying to figure out who this woman could be. She had a suspicion, but she hoped so strongly that it was wrong, that she was mentally denying the possibility. Jeff, unaware of the turmoil in Annie's head, kept talking.

"Still. You know I'd like a call."

"Well, I'm sorry, Jeffrey. Did I interrupt your scheduled groping by your neighbor? Or do you and your roommate here have some big plans? From your shouting about astringents and such, it sounds like you're not in any real hurry."

Jeff sighed and shook his head with resignation.

"Fine. Whatever. I'm guessing you're going to want to spend some time together while you're here?"

Annie, feeling not only left out, but completely clueless about what was going on, coughed discreetly. The visitor smiled warmly at her.

"Jeffrey, don't you think that you should not only go and get yourself decent in mixed company, but also introduce me to your roommate here?"

Jeff's head quickly whirled over to Annie, and his eyes nearly bugged out before his tone got hard. "Seriously? You have to have guessed she isn't my roommate. This is my girlfriend, Annie."

Annie took that cue to step forward with her hand extended, "Pleased to…meet…you?" Her voice trailed off as the woman accepted her handshake, but the smile fell off her face as Jeff corrected her assumptions about Annie's role.

"Oh…well, I'd hoped that that wasn't the case, Jeffrey."

"Mom!" Jeff shouted. Annie wasn't able to believe her ears.

"What did you just call her, Jeff?"

Jeff ran a hand over his face and back through his hair. His precious Saturday was very quickly turning sour.

"Annie, this is my mother, Doreen Winger."

These were the last words Annie heard before her world turned black.

Seeing Annie collapse on the floor, Jeff rushed forward to try to catch her, but only managing to blunt the fall a little. Surprise visit from his mom, who apparently had already taken a dislike to his girlfriend, who'd fainted?! His day had suddenly gone from 'souring' to 'total crap,' and he couldn't keep from venting his frustrations.

"Seriously? Fainting? Am I in a Rachel McAdams movie? Is this The Notebook or…" Jeff racked his brain for other romantic-comedies, but drew a blank and let his protest die out as he gently picked Annie up and carried her over to the couch.