Juliet rolled over and opened her eyes. It was still dark in the bedroom she shared with her husband Shawn Spencer. Shawn was in a deep sleep, his face smashed awkwardly against his pillow and a quiet snore passing in and out of his open mouth. He looked ridiculous, but it didn't bother Juliet. She thought it was adorable.
She noticed it was oddly quiet and wondered what had woken her up. Then she heard a muffled knocking coming from downstairs and tensed up. She slowly and carefully climbed out of bed without waking her husband and retrieved her gun from her underwear drawer—Yes, she kept her gun in her underwear drawer—and quietly made her way through the hallway and down the stairs, her back to the wall and her firearm held ready at her chest. A woman couldn't be too careful when she was responsible for putting hundreds of criminals in jail.
As she approached the bottom of the stairs, the knock sounded again. It was clearly coming from the front door. She approached the door and peered through the peephole. "You've got to be kidding me?" she said to herself, and she opened the door.
"Frank?!" she said through a whisper.
"Oh come on, Jule. What happened to 'Dad'?" said Frank.
"Why haven't you returned any of my phone calls in months?" Juliet responded, angrily.
"I wanted to…I was held up with some business in Brazil."
"There's your answer," she said.
"Jule, I'm sorry…"
Juliet sighed heavily. She didn't have the energy for his empty apologies. "Do you even realize what time it is?" she asked him.
"I know. I know it's late. I'll explain in a minute, but could you please just let us in first?" He noticed the gun still clutched in her hands. "Geez, Jule!"
"I'm sorry, I'm not accustomed to 3 A.M. visitors…Did you say 'us'?"
"Your brother and I."
Ewan O'Hara stepped sheepishly into view. He doubted his sister would be happy to see him and was afraid of her response. "Hi, Juliet."
"Ewan?!" she exclaimed, though still under a whisper. At first she had an urge to gather him into a hug, but resisted when she remembered their last encounter. "What are you doing here?! Her face turned angry. "You…you can't be here…I…I'm a cop!…You know I'm going to have to turn you in!" He put her gun down on the foyer table and grabbed her cell phone sitting next to it instead.
"Juliet, wait!" said Ewan "At least let us come in and explain."
"Ewan, you are wanted for attempted murder! And I'm a cop! I should be arresting you right now!" Despite her forcefulness, her words were still spoken in a soft whisper.
"Please…" he begged.
"Jule, please," said Frank.
She froze for a moment and pondered her options. "Ok fine. You have five minutes to convince me why I shouldn't turn you in, and then I'm calling the chief," she said reluctantly. "Just…keep your voices down, ok?" she said as she shuffled them through the door.
"Why Jule, is there someone else here?" said Frank a little too loudly for her taste.
"Shhh!"
Suddenly a high-pitched wail resounded from upstairs. "That's why," she said, noticeably annoyed.
"Is that…a baby?" asked Ewan.
Juliet sighed and started up the stairs. "Excuse me for a minute. And don't move!" she added while turning around sharply.
Frank and Ewan looked at each other in confusion and shrugged.
Juliet made her way to the nursery at the end of the hallway picked up the screaming infant from her crib.
"Shh Shh Shh," she said while bouncing her daughter gently in her arms. "It's ok, Maggie. Mommy's here." The 1-month-old's wails quieted to sobs and soon faded entirely. "It's just about feeding time isn't it?"
Across the hall, Shawn was awakened by his crying daughter. When he realized his wife was no longer in their bed but was already in the nursery, he got up and followed her. "Jules, what are you doing?" he said. "You know it's my turn. I'll get her. Go back to your beauty sleep. You don't want to look like an old hag during the interrogation tomorrow…on second thought, that might not be a bad idea. You might scare him into a confession without having to say a word."
"Please tell me you didn't just say I look like an old hag!" Her eyes pierced his like daggers.
"No. No. I did not say that. I said you might look like an old hag. There's a difference."
"Shawn!" She rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter. I was already up anyway. Just go back to bed. You can get her next time."
"Nonsense, Jules. I'll at least get the bottle warmed up." He started towards the stairs.
"Uh…Shawn, no it's really ok…" she said nervously. "I'll get it. You just go back to sleep." She was too late though. Shawn was already halfway down the stairs. When he reached the bottom and turned the corner into the living room, he jumped and yelped at the sight of two men unexpectedly standing in his living room. "ermygod!" He put his hand to his chest until he caught his breath. Frank? Ewan? Uh…why are you standing in my living room at three o'clock in the morning?"
"Why are you standing in my sister's living room at three o'clock in the morning?" questioned Ewan.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because she's my wife," said Shawn, glaring at Ewan. Shawn had a soft spot for Frank but he found it hard to like Ewan since he found him that night, ready and willing to kill a fellow military man.
"Wife?!" said Frank. "You two got married?!"
Juliet came up behind Shawn, baby Maggie curled up on her shoulder in pink polka-dot footy pajamas. Frank's and Ewan's eyes widened and focused on the tiny infant. "Yes, Frank. You see, if you had bothered to return any of my phone calls, you would know that Shawn and I were married and that you have a granddaughter."
"Jule…you're a mother…I…" said Frank, at a loss for any more words.
"I have a niece!" said Ewan with a look of awe on his face.
"Can…can I see her?" asked Frank tentatively.
Juliet half-smiled. She figured she'd set aside their differences for a minute or two so that Frank could properly meet his granddaughter and Ewan his niece. "Of course." She turned the baby girl around and stepped closer to her father and brother. "Meet our daughter, Margaret Madeline Spencer," she said. "Maggie, this is your Grandpa Frank and your Uncle Ewan."
"Juliet, she's gorgeous," said Ewan. Juliet thought she saw a tear threatening to escape from his eye and smiled deeply. "…just like her mom."
Frank was speechless, at first but finally choked out. "J..J..Jule, you named her after my mother?"
Juliet smiled and nodded. She too couldn't help but tear up a little. She loved her father and brother even if it didn't seem like it sometimes.
Maggie began to fuss and Shawn excused himself to fix her bottle. "No offense guys, but Maggie isn't going to like you very much if you interrupt her normal feeding time."
Juliet returned the infant to her shoulder and patted her back to calm her. Then the anger returned to her face. "Now! Tell me why you are here. You have five minutes."