Carlton debated over what to tell his wife and step-son. He debated whether the visit even warranted mentioning. Shawn wasn't likely to give up, though. In the end, he decided they needed to know - if only so that they could prepare for what was to come.

He made a grilled chicken salad out of leftovers from the night before, then paired that with pasta and vodka sauce. He'd rediscovered his love of cooking while visiting Italy, and this dish was quite tame compared to his usual Friday meals. Juliet had gotten him a pasta maker for their first wedding anniversary, but he still almost considered going out and buying the boxed stuff. He was not looking forward to this conversation. Working with his hands in any fashion had always been therapeutic for him, though, and rolling the pasta was no different. When Julian arrived home, he made sure to greet him as normally as possible.

"How was school, Jay?"

Julian shrugged as he threw his backpack down. "Normal. It's high school, Carlton, and I'm new."

Carlton frowned. "Still haven't made any friends?"

They'd just moved to Ventura over the summer when Juliet was offered a position as Chief of Police. It had seemed like a perfect chance for the whole family to start over new. Carlton was able to find affordable real estate for his shop, and Julian enjoyed spending the summer with Carlton's nephew, James, who was just a few months older than Julian. Unfortunately, his sister Lauren lived in a different school zone. Julian was struggling to make new friends, and he had started to take it out on those around him. Carlton knew that this news wouldn't help the boy's spirits any.

Julian scowled, took off his black Converse high tops, and picked back up his backpack. He didn't look at Carlton as he tried to storm past him. Carlton put down the pasta and followed him to his bedroom.

"Look, Jay, I know it's hard on you," Carlton said as he stood in the doorway. "I promise it will get better."

Julian looked up at him angrily. "How could you possibly know that, Carlton? They all hate me."

Carlton came to sit next to the boy on the edge of his bed. "I doubt they hate you. It's only been two weeks. Even you aren't that annoying."

Julian rolled his eyes, but Carlton detected a hint of a smile.

"Did you join any clubs like your mom suggested?"

Julian shook his head. "I was going to, but I got a little... you know... scared."

Carlton nodded. "It's new, and new is always scary."

"Sometimes, I wish I could be more like... you know."

Carlton did know.

Julian sighed. "But then I don't want to be anything like him at all."

Carlton placed a hand on his back. "What he did to you... That's a side of him no one likes. He isn't all bad, though. You know this. You got a lot of his good qualities."

"Like what?"

"Well, like your memory."

"That's all anyone can ever come up with that's good about him. In all the stories, he's pretty much a jerk who walks all over people just because he notices things super well. Honestly, I barely even know him outside of stories."

They'd had this conversation before, and Carlton knew there was really nothing he could say. He always tried, though. He wasn't good at giving up. He supposed in some ways, Shawn and Julian weren't great at it either. "You got a bit of his dedication."

Julian scoffed. "What dedication? He had a million jobs. I've heard the stories from Uncle Gus. The only thing that stuck was Psych, and he stuck around for you and my mom and Grandpa, and then I came along and..." He threw a nearby book on the floor and stood up. "And where was that dedication then, huh?"

Carlton looked at a picture of a smiling toddler and a grinning brunet man. "He does love you, Jay. He always has."

"Well, he sure has a great way of showing it." He sat down with a resigned sigh. "I've got homework to do, Carlton. I'm kinda done talking, okay?"

Carlton rose and nodded. "I have to go finish dinner, anyway. Just remember I'm always here and I'm always on your side, okay? No matter what happens, I am always on your side."

Julian nodded, then shut the door behind Carlton.

After the conversation with Julian, who was getting more and more bitter about his father as the years passed, Carlton was more nervous than ever to have to break this news to them. He knew without a doubt that this news would hurt them.

Juliet got home at 5:15, and she immediately noticed that something was up. She didn't say anything, though, until they were rinsing the dishes after dinner.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Carlton shook his head. "You know I tell you everything, but I don't want to tell you this."

She rested a hand on his chest and looked into his eyes.

He sighed. "Shawn stopped by today."

"He what?" she asked with alarm. "How?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea how he figured out where we lived. He didn't seem to know we got married, or even that I ever stopped traveling. I'm not really sure how he found out one without the other."

Juliet shook her head and leaned her back against the counter. "He just couldn't leave well enough alone, now, could he. Did he say why he was here?"

"To make amends. He said Henry's death got him thinking."

Her face turned to confusion. "He didn't even come to the funeral."

Carlton nodded. "I mentioned that. He said he was too bitter to come. He sort of glossed over how a funeral from seven months ago somehow got him thinking today."

Juliet shook her head and returned to the last dish. "Shawn logic. Who knows if that's even the real reason? It's not like he's the most honest man."

Carlton snorted. "That's an understatement. I made him leave before Jay got home, but it seemed pretty clear he's not giving up."

Juliet sighed as she placed the dish in the dishwasher. "I hope for his son's sake he can learn how."

She dried her hands on the towel hanging on the bar of the oven. The two turned out of the kitchen just in time to see Julien's frame disappear into his room with muffled sobs. Carlton made a move to go after him, but Juliet shook her head.

"Let me handle this."

Carlton sighed and headed to their bedroom. Damn Shawn and his popping in and out whenever he pleased. Fantastic revelation or not, he really had no right to be in his son's life. In either of their lives. He wasn't there when Julian was colicky and wouldn't sleep. He wasn't there when Juliet called he and Marlowe up frantically because two-year-old Julian somehow caught pneumonia at preschool and was fighting for his little life. He wasn't there when Julian tried to fly off the jungle gym at age six and broke his arm. He wasn't there when an older boy punched Julian in the face in fifth grade and nearly fractured his jawbone. He wasn't there when Juliet cried herself to sleep at night because she was overwhelmed by the stress of being entirely alone with their son. He wasn't there for a million things, big and small, that Carlton would have given his life to experience with Lilly. Ups and downs, highs and lows... He. Wasn't. There. He had no right to come upset these beautiful people that were now Carlton's, and Carlton decided then and there that he would do everything in his power to make sure that Shawn Spencer never had the power to hurt them again.