DISCLAIMER: I do not own Psych, nor any of the characters. So there's that.

Author's Note: I've had this story in my files for awhile, and while it has a decent start to it, I haven't finished it. My summer vacation resolution is to update this story every Saturday. Hold me accountable, peoples! I want to finish a multi-chapter fanfiction this summer, it's my goal.

WARNING: This story AU. I know that this type of story doesn't work for everyone, and I totally get that. I just thought I'd let you know that this is a "What if..." scenario. As the chapters progress, you'll start to see where the original series and this story actually tie together in a messy knot. So there's that. Please enjoy!

"Hold your brother's hand and stay right here," Shawn said, "I'll be back in just a second."

Skyler sighed and took Liam's hand. The three-year-old tried to squirm away, crying, "No! I don't wanna hold your hand!"

"Dad said, Liam," Skyler scolded, "Stop it."

"No!" wailed Liam, twisting his sticky, pudgy hand out of Skyler's grip. Before he could run away, Skyler caught him by the back of the shirt and pulled him back.

"We have to stay here!" Skyler said.

"I wanna go with Daddy!" Liam cried, "I don't wanna stay with you."

"Too bad for you then," Skyler muttered. He didn't let go of Liam's shirt until Shawn returned from talking to the bank teller.

Shawn frowned. "Skyler, I told you to hold his hand."

"He wouldn't let me," Skyler said.

Shawn said something under his breath as he picked Liam up and started to walk to the door. Skyler followed, but he made sure he twisted his shoes on the polished floor as he went. Squeak, squeak, squeak. He didn't care if the lady sitting behind a desk glared at him as he went by. If she didn't like his shoes to squeak on the floor, she should tell the cleaning guy not to make it so shiny and squeaky.

"Skyler. Stop it," Shawn said.

Skyler stopped and looked back at the bank lady. She was smirking.

When they got to the car, Skyler went to his side while Shawn buckled Liam into his car seat. He opened his door, climbed up onto his booster, leaned out to grab the door handle, and pulled it shut with a thud. He buckled his seat belt, then leaned his head against the cool glass of the window. Liam was crying because he "didn't want back in his seat."

"Someone needs a nap," Skyler said irritably.

"I do not!" wailed Liam.

"Skyler, don't antagonize your brother," Shawn said.

"It's true though," Skyler said.

"You're mean!" Liam said.

"Stop it, both of you," Shawn said. "I don't need this right now, okay?"

As they pulled out of the bank parking lot, Liam was still crying. He was mad because his juice was almost gone, and his Goldfish crackers were all spilled on the floor from when he dumped the bag out earlier. Shawn turned up the radio, and Skyler put his arms over his head.

If Mom were here, Skyler thought, she would have another juice box for Liam in her purse, and she would have explained to him that he can't have anymore crackers because he was naughty and dumped the bag out earlier. She would tell Liam he needed to use his inside voice in the car, even though he felt upset, because you have to be considerate of others. She would have made Liam calm down before they were even on the road.

"But Dad just turns up the radio," Skyler whispered bitterly.

Shawn used to be a fun dad. He would come home from work, scoop Liam up under one arm and then chase Skyler around the house trying to scoop him up too. Skyler would shout over his shoulder, "I'm not a baby anymore, Dad!" Shawn would just laugh, "You'll always be my little baby, kid! Now get over here!"

Skyler would run, laughing, and Liam would be squealing and reaching out his arms to help Shawn grab Skyler. And they would do this until Katherine would say, "I swear I have three children! Shawn, how many times have I told you not to run in the house?"

"Only, like, a million times," Shawn would exaggerate with a hefty sigh, tossing Liam onto the couch cushions. "Sorry, boys," Shawn would say, "your mom is super boring."

"Excuse me?" Katherine would demand. "You did not just say that, Shawn Spencer."

"What are you gonna do about it?"

"This." Katherine picked up a couch pillow and hit Shawn in the arm.

A pillow fight would ensue until no Spencer was left standing.

"You're not boring, Mom," Skyler said, throwing his arms around Katherine's neck and kissing her, "You're the best mom in the whole world!"

"Thank you, sweetie. Have I ever told you that you're my favorite Skyler Spencer in the whole world?" Katherine would ask.

"Yeah, every day," Skyler would retort.

"What about me?" Liam would pipe.

"You're my favorite Liam Spencer in the whole world, cutie head."

Skyler turned to look at Liam now, the toddler screaming in the carseat next to him. His face was bright red, his eyes squeezed shut, snot running down his face. He didn't look like such a 'cutie head' now. Skyler reached over and patted Liam on the arm. "Hey, remember when we would have pillow fights?"

Liam stopped crying, and looked at Skyler for a couple seconds, sniffling and gasping on stifled sobs. "Y-yeah," he said.

"That was fun wasn't it?" Skyler smiled. "Mom used to call you 'cutie head'. Like those little cutie oranges or something. She was silly."

Liam smiled. "I'm her favorite Liam Spencer in the whole world."

"Yeah," Slyer agreed. He turned to look out the window again. "You were."

Shawn looked in the rearview mirror when Liam suddenly stopped crying. He saw Skyler talking and Liam listening intently. Then Liam smiled and said something back. Shawn couldn't hear them over the radio. He reached out to turn it down, but by the time he got the dial turned, the boys had stopped talking and were looking out their own windows. Liam started sucking his thumb, and his eyes looked half-shut.

Shawn decided not to push the fact that Liam wasn't supposed to be sucking his thumb anymore. He and Katherine had been trying to break that babyhood habit, but when Liam was tired, he often forgot he wasn't supposed to.

When Liam's eyes finally slid shut and his head fell against the side of his car seat, Shawn asked, "How'd you make your brother calm down?"

Skyler startled and looked at Shawn through the rearview. "What?"

"How'd you get Liam to stop crying?"

"Oh." Skyler looked uncomfortable and averted his gaze to his shoes. "I don't know."

"You must've said something that worked," Shawn said. "You don't want to share you secret?"

Skyler frowned. "It wasn't really anything." He put his head back against the window.

Shawn sighed and turned the radio back up. He blinked hard, and briefly ran a hand over the lower half of his face, trying to relieve the burning sensation that was building up. He didn't want his boys to see him cry.

"Hey, guys," Gus said when the Spencers walked through the apartment door. "Have fun running errands?"

"Always," Shawn retorted lightly. He knelt down to help Liam take his shoes off. "Let's order pizza tonight, I'm buying."

"Now that's what I like to hear," Gus said. He smiled at Skyler, "You like pizza, bud?"

"Yeah, I guess," Skyler said, pushing his shoes against the wall with his foot.

"Any favorite toppings?" Gus persisted.

"Cheese!" Liam cried. "I like cheese pizza!"

Skyler heaved his narrow shoulders in a half-hearted shrug. "I dunno. Not really." He walked away, disappearing into the room he, Liam, and Shawn shared.

"He doesn't take after you, does he?" Gus asked.

Shawn sighed. "He used to," he said.

"Hey, kid," Shawn said, coming into the bedroom to find Skyler sprawled out on his air mattress.

Skyler shoved something under his pillow. "Hey."

"You like Uncle Gus, don't you?" Shawn asked, sitting on the floor.

Skyler rolled over and sat up. "Yeah. He's nice."

"Then why don't you like talking to him?"

Skyler was quiet for a few moments, staring at his hands. "He's just being nice because Mom is dead. I don't like that."

Shawn was speechless. The subtle but stark anger in Skyler's voice startled him. He knew his son was grieving, but these words were thought through and bitter. Shawn didn't mean to, but in his confusion, he laughed. "What are you talking about, Skyler? That is not why Gus is nice to you."

"Yes it is," Skyler insisted. "That's why grown-ups are ever nice…because they feel sorry and so they're nice."

"Skyler, I don't know where you got that idea, but it's not true. Gus is nice to you because he cares about you. I've known that guy my entire life, and he would not be letting me and you two boys live with him if he didn't like you guys. Trust me. He wouldn't let me stay with him if it were just me."

Skyler looked up. "Really?"

"Really. Now. Do you want pizza or not?" Shawn asked, offering his oldest son a lopsided grin.

"Sure," Skyler said with a smile.

"Then you better get out there and tell Gus what you want on your pizza, otherwise Liam's gonna order us all cheese."

"Plain cheese pizza is boring," Skyler said.

"You know that's right," Shawn agreed. He leaned forward and kissed the top of Skyler's head. "I love you, kid."

"I love you too, Dad."

"They're asleep…finally!" Shawn fell back on the couch beside Gus. "I can't believe my dad got away with only raising me."

"To be fair," Gus said, "you were equal to at least quadruplets."

Shawn snorted, but he smiled. "I was a pretty bad kid, wasn't I?"

"Nah," Gus said. "Though you were the cause of every grounding I got as a kid, so thanks for that. If it weren't for you, I would have been a saintly child."

"Whatever floats your canoe, buddy," Shawn said.

"It's 'boat,'" Gus corrected automatically.

Shawn yawned. "I've heard it both ways."

Both men where quiet for awhile, staring at the news on the tv. The volume was down low, but Gus had the subtitles on. Shawn read the words, but his mind was elsewhere. He was only shaken out of his daze when Gus said, "Skyler doesn't like me, does he." It wasn't a question.

"What?" Shawn sat up straight, "Of course he likes you. You're his Uncle Gus, the only one he's got. He has to like you."

"No, I mean it, Shawn," Gus said, "It's the way he looks at me. I can just tell."

Shawn pushed all jokes aside and sighed. "It's not you, Gus. He's having a really hard time right now, with Katherine gone, and us moving…here." Shawn leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "I just want to thank you again for letting us stay here while I get us an apartment of our own. I wish our landlord had been more forgiving on the rent payments, but you know how they can be."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, man," Gus said. "You know I'm here for you."

"Skyler used to be the most easy-going, happy-go-lucky kid you'd ever meet. I'm hoping that kid is still in there somewhere," Shawn said. "He likes you, Gus, and don't ever let him make you think otherwise."