Hello everyone! A little late Christmas story (that has nothing to with Christmas) publication.
Santa Barbara: 2012
Shawn paid no mind to the shattering sound of the glass cup he'd just thrown into a box. He really didn't care anymore. All of his belongings would be thrown away, so it didn't matter if everything broke. His patience had vanished and had been replaced by a numbing pain. The room was boiling hot as Juliet refused to open the windows, due to the foul odor emanating from the garbage cans below the window. Shawn paused a moment and wiped the sweat from his forehead. His breathing was labored and his hands felt cramped. He popped the cap off a Sharpie and wrote "Dad" in large black letters on the top of the box.
Shawn cringed as yet another deflating sigh came from Juliet, who was standing by the door, watching his every move, "I'm going as fast as I can." He told her in a voice that was mixed with irritation and fatigue, as he was taping up the box and picking it up. She moved out of his way as he carried it outside and into the truck he'd rented for the day.
"That's not the problem." Juliet snapped at him, her voice penetrating the space between them. Shawn didn't respond and picked up a box he'd left at the front door. Before Shawn could stand straight Juliet grabbed his arm, causing Shawn to drop the box and the abrupt movement caused whatever was inside to shatter. "Remember Spencer I want all of your crap gone in an hour." Pausing a moment, she started to overlook the stuff he was moving, only to then exclaim, "Hey! Half of this isn't even yours, it looks like most of this is either Gus's or your dads."
"I'm going as fast as I can." He repeated with a forced smile, that dropped into a glazed look. She let go of his arm and Shawn picked up the box and carried it to the truck and plopped it in the back. Shawn winced as his back cracked and a jolt of pain shot up his spine. He ignored Juliet's car as she pulled up beside him, "One hour." She reminded him before driving away.
"One hour." He yelled behind him in a mocking tone, watching as the car drove out of sight. No matter how mad Shawn was at the situation, he couldn't blame Juliet. She was angry at him for the numerous things he'd done and finally snapped three years into their relationship. She'd yelled and screamed at him for several minutes before Shawn finally started to retaliate. They had been in many arguments about whose fault it was that their relationship was failing. He was defending himself rather well until Juliet brought up his parents' divorce.
"Maybe your mother left because she couldn't deal with the bullshit coming from you and your father. At least he was manly enough to admit he'd done wrong. So maybe she left not because of you and your father, but because of you. Maybe, just maybe she left because you were a terrible son." Those were the words that had stabbed deep in his heart the most and Shawn had stopped responding because of it. He stood there as Juliet continued to yell and scream at him about how much of a bad boyfriend he'd been, a strong look of disinterest painted on his face for a majority of the time. An hour later when she started to calm down, and then Shawn had apologized.
She was right. He is a terrible son, a terrible friend and, most definitely, a terrible boyfriend. All he did was lie, steal, and act like a selfish little brat. He thanked her for putting up with him and promised he'd get all of his things out of their shared apartment the next day. Juliet hadn't stopped him as he'd left to some run down motel where he would spend the night. Now, he was fulfilling his promise and was gathering all of his things. Juliet had already taken down all of the pictures with him in it, all that was left were his things. Once everything was packed, and given back to their rightful owner, Shawn planned on throwing out all of the boxes labeled "Me" at the dump and never thinking of them again.
Shawn took one last look around the apartment, and then left and got into the truck. He grabbed the pen and paper from the glove box and began to write a series of letters. One to his father, one to Gus, Juliet, Carlton Lassiter, Chief Karen Vick and to the owner of the Psych building. In each envelope Shawn placed a hundred dollar bill as a beginning payment for all the money he'd borrowed over the years. He planned on paying every cent he owed plus interest.
Several hours later Shawn pulled into the city dump and began to unload his boxes into the area he'd been told was for drop offs. "Nice things you got there." a gravelly voice mumbled behind him. Shawn turned around and noticed a man standing near him. The man's clothes were tattered and dirty, he must be homeless; Shawn thought.
"Would you like to go through them? You can keep whatever you like." Shawn told him after he noticed just how much the man was eyeing the boxes.
"Really?" the man asked in shock, quickly looking up from his stupor. No one really bothered to think of him as more than anything but someone who tended to the trash, let alone offer him things that they considered no longer useful.
Shawn shrugged, "They're just gonna get tossed anyways." Shawn stepped back and allowed the man to go through the boxes. They stayed silent and didn't speak to each other any further. The light slowly began to fade as the sun set and the cold winds settled in. The homeless man had claimed various items from the boxes, most of them being clothes. "Here." Shawn took off the sweater he'd been wearing and handed it to the man, "I think you need this more than I do, I saw you shivering." Shawn explained in response to the quizzical look he received.
"Are you sure you're ready to part with all of these?" The man asked. Usually people wouldn't give away things of decent condition, and he couldn't figure out what was wrong with the items in the boxes.
"Yes," Shawn gave a smile and grabbed a leather jacket from one of the boxes. "All I want is this, everything else is yours." Shawn turned away and walked back to the truck.
"Thank you." Shawn stopped in his tracks unexpecting of any further conversation, "You're very kind. Most people would have told me to get the hell out. I'm very grateful." Shawn faced the man and smiled a genuine smile. The man was wearing his old Apple Jacks tee-shirt, an old pair of jeans and was now putting the sweater over his head.
"If you look in the bottom of that box," Shawn started, pointing to the smallest box on the ground, "You might find an old wallet. Whatever's in there is up for anyone to grab." As the man bent down to search for the wallet Shawn quickly got into the truck and drove out of the dump.
Chicago: 2023
The cold morning air blew through the city and brought chills to the inhabitants who happened to be walking around outside despite the weather. The sun had finally started shining, kids were playing around and laughing, it looked like it would be a beautiful day. So beautiful in fact, that a man was awoken by a poke to his side. A little boy with short brown hair and grey eyes looked up at the man, "Daddy are you getting up now?"
"Yes, go back downstairs." The boy ran away and the man stood up walking into the bathroom and shutting the door. Shawn Spencer, or just Spencer -as he was commonly referred to by his coworkers- had changed over the years. His brown hair was cut in a short, and always neat, fashion. No longer did stubble adorn his cheeks, as his wife didn't allow it. He was no longer a low man on the chain of life, if anything he was now near the top, he would act and dress the same as the social class he was now in, one much higher than the one he was in before. Shawn brushed his teeth and then combed his hair and gelled it back. He cleaned up his mess and dressed quickly in a black suit and tie. The aroma of coffee wafted up the stairs from the kitchen.
"Morning everyone." Shawn greeted as he entered the kitchen. His ten year old daughter Elizabeth was sitting at the table dressed in her school uniform with her brother Isaac sitting next to her. While Isaac was the perfect combination of his mother and father; Elizabeth was not. She was the younger version of her mother and was often mistaken as the much younger sister, rather than the daughter.
"Morning dad." Elizabeth said without looking up from her book in her lap.
"Uh, Lizzie, where's your mom?" Shawn asked noticing his wife wasn't in the room.
"She's in the shower." Elizabeth told him. Shawn responded with a nod and began to prepare two mugs of coffee.
"I'm hungry daddy," Isaac spoke up from his booster seat.
"Wait a few minutes and I'll make you something when mommy comes down." The five year-old nodded and went back to looking at the trees outside of the window.
Shawn watched his kids and smiled. Years before he'd been in a terrible place, left the city he called home and traveled from state to state sleeping wherever he could. Meeting his wife Temperance at a bar had been a fluke. Shawn had just stopped in to use the restroom and bumped into a large man. The man had been drunk and was not amused with his drink being spilt all over him. Before Shawn could respond his ass was knocked onto the ground and blood was oozing from his head.
"Next time watch it punk." The man left Shawn on the sticky floor of the bar.
"Don't move." A soft voice said as Shawn tried to stand up. "Your head is bleeding." A woman knelt down in front of him. She had long auburn hair with stormy grey eyes and a heart shaped face with a square jaw.
"That happens when you get knocked down, I'm fine." He pushed down her hand as she tried to place a napkin over the source of blood.
"I'm a doctor." The woman stated.
"And?"
"I demand you sit down, you're not fine." The woman forced him to stay down as she attended to the large cut at the top of his head. "The cut isn't fairly bad but I can see little metal shards, they probably came from the cheap ring he was wearing. You'll need stitches." She pulled her purse over to her and pulled out a small white box. Inside was a needle and surgical thread.
"Whoa, whoa, you can't stitch me up here." Shawn protested.
The woman paused in thought then nodded, "You're right. I need better light; sit down on the stool near the window." The woman looked determined so Shawn followed her instructions and sat down where she'd told him. She pulled gloves over her hands and wiped the cut with an alcohol pad.
"If you're going to sew me up, can I at least get a name?" Shawn tilted his head like she motioned.
"Doctor Temperance Blackwell." she said atomotonically. More concerned about doing the task at hand, rather than answer simple questions.
He'd been hooked since that day. Temperance was intelligent, calm, and completely the opposite of his own personality. A perfect match in his opinion. "Now can we eat?" Isaac asked as Temperance entered the room.
"Yes." Shawn nodded handing a mug of coffee to his wife.
"Thank you." She nodded at Shawn and sat across from Elizabeth.
"How does eggs with Mozzarella sound?" Shawn reached into the cupboard above his head and pulled out a pan.
"Sounds good." Lizzie mumbled turning the page in her book.
"I'll cook breakfast," Temperance stood up and gently took the pan out of Shawn's hands. "Isaac needs to be properly dressed." She said, jerking her head in the direction of their son.
"Okay," Shawn moved out of the way and waited at the door, "C'mon Isaac." Isaac hurriedly jumped from his chair at the sound of his name and hooked his hand with his fathers'. Shawn led his son up the stairs and into his bedroom.
"Take off your pajamas," Shawn instructed, Isaac did as he was told and striped off the pants and shirt he'd been wearing. Shawn sat down onto the neatly made bed and helped Isaac put on his clothes. Black pants with a black jacket much like his own.
When it had been time for Elizabeth to start school Shawn had been wary of sending her to a private school. They required uniforms and enforced a strict educational setting. He could have never made it through a setting such as that but he was told by both his wife and the headmaster that any child who graduated from the school could chose any college of their choice. With Elizabeth's high IQ she was in need of a school who could keep up with her fast paced learning curve- Chesterton had filled the bill. This was Isaac's first year at school and was attending the prep school to Chesterton.
Once Isaac was fully dressed they returned back downstairs where breakfast was finished and the table set. Elizabeth's book was placed on the counter and the two girls were waiting for their arrival.
"Let's eat." Shawn said clapping his hands once and then sitting into his chair, joining his family for their meal.
I own none of the characters in this story except Isaac and Elizabeth. The Temperance in this story is modified from Temperance Brennan of Bones, but I changed it up a little bit. I hope you guys like this story :)
I owe a big thanks to a friend of mine who helped me write this chapter, I couldn't have done it without her!