PRESENT DAY

"I think she knows, Gus," said Shawn at the Psych Office where they were free of prying ears. "I think she knows I'm not a psychic. Or at least, she suspects it. Why else would she be avoiding me and ignoring me? And you heard her last week…the way she said 'psychic' all mocking-like. She's waiting for me to tell her. I think it's time that I tell her."

"That's a big step, man," said Gus. "But, to be honest, it needs to happen sooner rather than later. The longer you wait to tell her the angrier she will be when she finds out."

"Maaannn, I know you know you're right." Shawn picked up the squishy frog from his desk and gave a few firm anxiety-relieving squeezes. "Gus, what if it's already too late? What if I tell her, and then she breaks up with me? Maybe she's been planning to break up with me all along and she's just dragging this out so I can feel the agony of not knowing."

"Hey now. Don't jump to conclusions," said Gus. "You can't know until you talk to her. And I can't tell you enough that you need to talk to her. Even if she hasn't guessed your secret, she is clearly going through something."

"But she won't talk to me!" Shawn argued.

"Then you have to try again. You have to get her to talk to you. You are her boyfriend. She's your girlfriend. You two need to communicate if you want your relationship to last."

"You are so right again, Gus! What would I do without you?"

"You'd be alone and miserable," Gus answered truthfully.

"You know that's right," agreed Shawn. "Anywho," said Shawn looking out the window at the darkening sky. "It's getting late. I'm going to see Jules now. Wish me luck."

"Good luck," said Gus, knowing that he would need it and wondering whether he would actually have the balls to tell her the truth.

Juliet continued to cry, curled up in her bed. For the tenth time she picked up the picture lying on her nightstand. She looked at the fuzzy black and white image. It was there. It was real. She could just make out the shape of a tiny head and torso and even tinier limbs. She had even seen the little person moving around on the monitor in the doctor's office today. It was alive. She had a living, growing person inside of her. But outside everything seemed to be falling apart.

She hadn't told him yet. When she scheduled her first ultrasound, she thought of calling him, telling him, and asking him to join her. She thought he should be there to see their child for the first time. But she chickened out and went alone. Every time she considered telling him, she remembered his words that afternoon. He didn't like kids. He didn't want kids. He wasn't going to react well to this and she didn't need him breaking up with her right now. She didn't want to lose him. She loved him. But she couldn't keep treating him the way she was or she would lose him, and she would have to tell him soon. She was 8 weeks along now. Two thirds of her first trimester were completed. She would start showing within a month or two. She'd have to tell him and everyone else she knew by then.

"Its ok baby," she said simultaneously to the picture and her stomach. "I'll get this worked out before you get here. I promise."

She heard a knock at her door and put the picture back on the nightstand. She got up, donned her robe and slippers, and made her way to the front door. A look through the peephole told her it was Shawn. She hesitated. She wasn't sure if she was ready for him, but one thought about her promise to her baby and she knew she had to let him in.

Shawn knocked again. "Jules! Are you in there? It's Shawn," he shouted through the door. "Look, I know you said you wanted me to leave you alone… but I can't do that. I can't do that because I'm your boyfriend, and I…I love you."

From inside Juliet listened. "I love you too," she whispered too quietly for him to hear.

"Jules, please. I know you're in there. Just let me in. There's something I want to tell you.—" The door swung open and he saw her standing there. Even without makeup on or her hair fixed, and with signs of recent tears on her face, she was beautiful. "Jules? What's going on? Why have you been crying?"

"We need to talk," she said taking his hand and pulling him inside.

"Uh…'we need to talk?'…Jules, you're scaring me," said Shawn as she led him to the living room and to the couch.

"Just, sit down," she said, and he obediently did as she said. She sat down and faced him. She took a deep, shaky sigh, preparing herself for anything. "Shawn, I…"

"Oh God. It's true. It's happening," Shawn interrupted. "You're breaking up with me. Please just let me say one thing before you do that. Please."

Juliet looked confused. "Shawn, I'm not breaking up with you," she clarified.

"You're not?" said Shawn, surprised and relieved.

"No. Look, I know I haven't been treating you very well this past week. And I'm sorry for that, but I don't want to break up with you," she took his hand between both of hers to reassure him. "I love you. I don't want to lose you."

"I love you too, Jules," Shawn said while rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. "But why?" he asked. "Why all the snapping at me and giving me the runaround all week?"

Juliet started tearing up again, and shook her head in shame. "Shawn, again I'm sorry, but I don't know…I guess I was just scared," she quickly escalated from timidity to full-on rambling. "It's just, I've been freaking out ever since I found out, and I was worried about telling you because I thought you would freak out too, so I kept putting it off even though I knew I shouldn't, and it made it hard to face you –"

"Shh, Jules," said Shawn gently. "What is it? Just tell me."

She paused for a bit before she rounded up the courage to say it. "Shawn, I…I'm pregnant."

Shawn's jaw dropped. This was not what he had expected to hear at all. He sat there mouth agape for what seemed like forever. Juliet panicked at his lack of reaction. "Please say something, Shawn. You're making me nervous."

His mouth struggled to form syllables due to the shock. "I….ah…uh…whaaa? You're..you're..you're. You. Me. Baby?" His eyes settled on her stomach.

"Yes," she said still trying to gauge whether his reaction was good or bad.

"How….Wh..When? How far? I mean."

"8 weeks," she answered. "I'm due in July."

Shawn's expression was still blank and his voice still shaky as he continued to question her. "Wh..Whyyyy didn't you tell me?

"Like I said, I was scared…afraid of how you would react," she said. "And…and..you said you don't like kids. I thought you would be angry."

"Oh, Jules," said Shawn painfully, color finally returning to his face and finally regaining control of his voice. "I'm not angry. I'm sorry that I said that….damn! I am such a jerk! Uhh, honestly though, it's true I'm not crazy about kids…in general. But those are other people's kids. Our kid, though…" He put his hand on Juliet's stomach gently. "Our baby is in there," he said finally breaking out a small smile that spread to Juliet's face. She placed her hands on the one that was resting on her stomach and nodded. "Oh Juliet, I love that little guy in there. And all of the crying and puking is going to be worth it, you know why?

She shook her head and asked, "Why?"

"Because he's ours, and he's half Spencer and half O'Hara, which means he is going to be super cool."

The mood had finally lightened. He hadn't freaked out. In fact, his reaction had been better than her own. Juliet giggled. "What if it's a girl?" she asked.

"Same deal," said Shawn. "Except I'm going to have to get used to prying the boys away from her, especially if she's any bit as gorgeous as you are."

Juliet smiled and blushed. A fresh tear trickled down her cheek. "Soo…you're ok with this," Juliet asked for reassurance. "You want to have a baby with me?"

"Ok?! Jules, when I came over here I thought you were going to break up with me, but instead I found out that you are having my baby. I'm waaayyyy better than 'ok'."

Noticing that Juliet still seemed unsure, Shawn pulled her into his arms and into a tight embrace. He stroked he hair and kissed her temple a few times before catching her lips in a searing kiss. It had been over a week since they had kissed like this and it felt like awakening the dead. She nuzzled his neck and pulled her body closer to his.

"I missed you, Shawn. I'm sorry I was such a jerk this week."

"Eh, I probably deserved it," he said.

"No. No you didn't," disagreed Juliet. "You were only trying to be a good boyfriend and I gave you the cold shoulder. You didn't deserve that. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted…but hey, at least you could chalk it up to hormones or something."

"Tell me about it," she said. "This week has been jam-packed with cravings, nausea, and crazy emotions. I didn't even need an ultrasound to convince me that I'm pregnant."

"You got an ultrasound?" Shawn asked curiously.

"Oh yeah. Hey, come to the bedroom. I have something to show you." Juliet pulled Shawn to a standing position and towards the hall. "…and then, I'll let you see the ultrasound pictures…" she flirted. Shawn raised an eyebrow lustfully and followed.

"By the way," said Juliet on the way to the bedroom. "Didn't you say you had something you wanted to tell me?"

"Oh, that?" answered Shawn, rubbing the back of his head apprehensively. "It's not important. It can wait."

The next afternoon, Juliet came by the Psych Office to surprise Shawn. He and Gus had been working there on the case and she hadn't had the opportunity to see her smiling boyfriend's face all day long. She found them, instead of working like she expected, in the middle of a contest to see who could toss the most onion rings onto the coat hanger. She wrinkled her nose at the greasy mess that lay on the floor and smeared across the wall behind the hanger. "What, in God's name is going on in here?" she exclaimed.

"Well, we were eating lunch, when Gus had the nerve to claim that he was currently undefeated in Ring Toss," Shawn explained, "which, is totally ridiculous because everyone knows that I, indeed, am Santa Barbara's leading champion in Ring Toss, Toss Across, and Bozo the Clown's Bucket Toss," Shawn continued, glaring at Gus. "Long story, short…we needed to settle the score, but we didn't have a Ring Toss set, Soooo…." Shawn waved his arm towards the mess.

"Hmm, ok," said Juliet, sorry that she had even thought it was a good idea to ask. "Anyway," she continued, changing the subject. She stepped into the office finally, and walked straight over to where Shawn was standing behind the line of tape that Gus had lain down to keep him from cheating. She pulled him close to her and pecked him on the lips. "I just stopped by to see how my man was doing. I haven't seen you all day. I missed you." She kissed Shawn, again, a little harder this time.

Gus was speechless at the sudden change in Juliet's demeanor. Yesterday, she had been avoiding Shawn like the plague, and today she was acting sickeningly lovey dovey towards him. Apparently their conversation last night had gone well, which surprised him, considering that Shawn had been avoiding the subject of Juliet all morning. Gus had guessed that after Shawn's confession, Juliet had told him that she'd never want to see his face again. In fact, that was the only reason Gus had allowed the onion ring toss to take place. He thought of it as a way to cheer up a buddy who had just lost the girl of his dreams.

"I missed you too, sweetheart," replied Shawn softly. He, too, seemed a bit surprised by Juliet's so outward display of affection, but relished in it. "Hey, why don't you stay a bit? Since Gus and I just tossed half of our lunch across the room, I was going to grab us a couple of churros from the stand out there. Would you like me to get one for you?"

"Yum! I'd love a churro. Thanks, baby," said Juliet sweetly, while trailing gentle kisses on the stubble of Shawn's chin. Gus felt a sudden need to hurl and looked away as Shawn placed a kiss on her nose causing her to adorably wrinkle her face. He squeezed her hand before leaving the Office. Juliet sat down on his desk, sighing and blushing happily as she watched him go.

"Ahem!" Gus coughed, startling Juliet who had apparently forgotten that he was in the room.

"Oh, Gus," she said, suddenly flustered and bashfully apologized for having not said hello. She wasn't sure how much, if anything, Shawn had told him, making her unsure of what to say to the black man standing on the other side of the room. He spared her by starting the conversation.

"So, you and Shawn seem to be doing exceptionally well today?" Gus, too, couldn't be sure of what, if anything, Shawn had said to his girlfriend the night before. It was seeming to him as if Shawn had chickened out on his original plan and instead charmed Juliet back into his good graces. Juliet's next statement appeared to squash that theory, though.

"Yeah, well, we had a good talk last night. We were finally open and honest with each other, and now…" She didn't continue further, not wanting to reveal her condition to Gus in case he didn't already know. She wanted to let Shawn tell him. Instead she just shrugged happily and raised her palm towards the door that Shawn had previously exited to indicate that they were obviously in a good place in their relationship at the moment.

"That's good. I'm glad." Gus smiled. He was dumbfounded that Juliet had been taking news of Shawn's lie so well. "It's good that you can be so cool about all of this," he said.

"This?" she questioned, tilting her head curiously to the side. "You mean that you know? Shawn told you, then?" she asked.

"Of course," said Gus, to which Juliet became notably less uncomfortable. She was surprisingly glad that it was in the open and she didn't have to be careful about talking about it in front of Gus now. "I've known all along," Gus continued.

Juliet was suddenly thrown off again. All along? Shawn didn't even know until last night. What could Gus mean by "all along?" The only thing she could think was that he had noticed her symptoms last week and had put two and two together. "You, mean, you knew all week and you didn't say anything to Shawn about it?" she asked curiously. She wasn't angry, just surprised that Gus would have kept his suspicions to himself.

"All week?" implored Gus. Now he was the one confused. "Try the last five years! I've known from the very beginning. Henry and I were the only ones who knew all this time, and now you do…" Gus trailed off when he noticed the sudden wrath showing up in Juliet's expression as she realized that she and Gus were talking about two very different things. She remembered Shawn mentioning the night before that he had something to tell her and came to understand that Gus was talking about whatever that was. And whatever it was sounded like it must be a whopper, having been kept from her for five years. "…too," Gus finished, now knowing that he was completely wrong.

Juliet's face turned red and she paced a few times, her breathing erratic as she tried to reign in the panic that was forming inside her. She took a deep breath and faced Gus's terrified and guilt-ridden gaze. "Gus, WHAT have you known for five years?"

"Shawn didn't tell you last night?" he asked feebly, even though it was quite obvious that he knew the answer to his own question. "I…I thought he told you. I thought that was what you were talking about."

"What ARE we talking about, Gus?!" Juliet yelled through a whimper. It was at that moment that Shawn returned from the churro cart, holding two of the tasty treats in his left hand and an already partially eaten one in his right. He stopped dead and chewed and swallowed the churro in his mouth, as Juliet whipped her head around to face him and he saw her angry and hurtful gaze bore into his soul. "What is Gus talking about, SHAWN!?"

He had only been gone a few minutes, during which Juliet had somehow transformed from his adorable sweetheart to a crazed psychopath. Aside from a nervous gulp, Shawn stood stone still as Juliet stomped across the room and got right in his face. Shawn wondered what on earth Gus had said to bring on this sudden transformation. "What aren't you telling me? What is it that Gus has known for five years?" she grunted angrily, trying to keep herself from screaming.

Shawn wanted nothing more than to lie…to make up some ridiculous explanation that would make Juliet laugh and wonder why she had gotten so angry. But he doubted that such an approach would work this time, nor did he think it was fair to continue to lie to the mother-to-be of his child. He decided it was time to tell the truth. He dropped the churros onto the floor and reached for Juliet's arms that were wrapped across her chest. He tried to push her gently towards the couch. "Jules…I think you should sit down."

Juliet resisted and wrestled free of Shawn's grasp. "No, Shawn, you will tell me right here, right now!" Gus, feeling out of place now and also petrified of Juliet's fury, crept away from the scene. As soon as he had made it out of the office, he hopped into the Blueberry and peeled out of the parking lot with a loud screech. Shawn glanced momentarily out the window at the noise and returned his attention to Juliet who was waiting impatiently for an explanation.

"Ok," he began. "When I came over last night, I was going to tell you that…well, I thought you were catching on so I decided it was time to tell you the truth…the truth that…"

"Spit it out, Spencer!" she screamed.

"…that, I'm a fraud," he said. "That I'm not really a psychic." Juliet stared at him, speechless and unreadable. She didn't know what she expected to hear from Shawn, but it definitely wasn't that. Shawn felt the need to elaborate during her silence. "All of this," he waved his arms around the room, "is a lie. I can't speak with the dead or predict the future…at least not in a supernatural way. I am just a really really good detective. This…this all started from one little white lie that went totally awry…"

Juliet tried to process everything while Shawn explained, but she just didn't know what to think. She felt angry at being lied to, betrayed, foolish, a failure as a detective. How could she have believed him all of this time? He had been fooling her for five years, and then knowingly continued to lie to her as he entered into a relationship with her. She had fallen for his tricks. She trusted him with her life and now she couldn't even be sure she could trust him at all. Not only had she allowed herself to become vulnerable to him but she was now carrying his child. And he was a liar and a fraud!

"Jules…say something…you're scaring me," Shawn pleaded.

She held up her hand to shush him and shook her head in humiliation. She spoke low and even. "I don't even know you. Don't talk to me. Don't come around anymore. I never want to see your face again."

"You don't mean that," Shawn said painfully. She didn't say a word to satisfy him, but walked out without looking back.

"Shawn? Shawn, are you here?" called Gus entering the Psych Office. After stealing away, he had driven several blocks before realizing he was probably going to need to be there to keep Shawn from doing something stupid after his girlfriend broke up with him. He just hoped Shawn wasn't ready to kill him for his slip up. Gus turned the car around and drove back to the Office. "Shawn, are you alright?" he asked, still looking around for any sign of his buddy.

Shawn didn't appear to be in the office any longer, even though his motorcycle was still parked outside. Gus paced anxiously, until something curious laying on Shawn's desk caught his attention. He picked up the photograph and nearly had a heart attack when he saw that it was an ultrasound. Now everything suddenly made sense…Juliet's odd behavior, their confusing conversation. Shawn hadn't confessed to her last night, but she had told him that she was having a baby.

Through the front window, Gus caught a glimpse of Shawn across the way on the beach, kicking the sand angrily with his feet. He sprinted to his friend and held up the picture. "Would you like to explain this?" he asked, not reproachfully but sensitively.

"I messed up, Gus. I messed up real bad."