Ok. Finally. It's been a crazy week, but I finally got a chance to sit down and write some more last night. I hope you enjoy this addition.


As promised, Shawn notified Gus and his parents as soon as Juliet went into labor. It wasn't until later that Shawn remembered Gus was out of the country and wouldn't be showing up at the hospital in his fire truck PJs to support him in his pending fatherhood. They were about a mile from the hospital when Shawn glanced over at his wife and asked how she was doing.

"Um…not bad actually," Juliet said with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"Really?" said Shawn. "You seemed like you were in a lot of pain just ten minutes ago."

"I know. I was, but now it's kind of easing up a little. It's not so bad anymore."

By the time they got to the emergency room, Juliet's contractions had stopped altogether. They were embarrassed when the doctor finally got to them and it was obvious that Juliet was having no signs of labor. The doctor assured them that Juliet had experienced false labor and their response was extremely normal for first time parents. He did a brief examination to ensure that the baby was still happy and healthy and sent them on their way.

Henry rushed into the maternity ward waiting room followed shortly after by Madeline, only to find a very calm but tired-looking Shawn and Juliet on their way out.

"Shawn! Juliet? What happened? I thought you said the baby was coming?" exclaimed Henry, his tone switching from urgency to confusion with a twinge of annoyance.

"We thought so too," said Juliet. "…but apparently, our little girl has other plans."

"The doctor said it was just Burton's Hiccups," said Shawn. "…although, I can't for the life of me figure out why Gus' throat spasms have anything to do with this."

"Do you mean Braxton-Hicks?" asked Maddie.

"Yes he does," clarified Juliet. "Braxton-Hicks contractions, Shawn. False labor." Juliet cringed. "If that's only false labor, I'm not sure I'm ready to know what real labor feels like."

"There's no need to sugar coat it," said Maddie. "It's a lot worse, but it will be worth it."

"That's what everyone says…" Juliet said quietly. She gulped at the thought of all the pain she knew she was going to experience before long. "Anyway, the doctor said it's normal to have contractions up to a month before the baby is born and they usually happen during the night. He thinks we still have a good three to four weeks to go. I just hope I am not exhausted from lack of sleep by then."

Shawn soothingly rubbed Juliet's back. "Then we should probably get you home and back to bed, sweetheart. And you might as well take the morning off and sleep in. I'll call the Chief in the morning."

"That sounds wonderful," said Juliet through a yawn. "Sorry we got you guys out of bed so late," she apologized to Henry and Maddie. Both of them nodded and assured her that it wasn't a problem, but when she wasn't looking Henry made sure to give his son a light slap on the backside of his head.

^^^Pineapple^^^

The next morning, Shawn woke to find Juliet sleeping soundly next to him. He smiled. She looked so beautiful with her shiny blonde hair cascading around her face…so peaceful, her breaths light and regular. Shawn kissed her forehead as lightly as possible so as not to wake her, taking in her lavender scent as he did so, then carefully crawled out of bed. He decided that he would start off his morning at the Psych Office and wrack his brain on how to proceed next with the Bundy case.

Juliet awoke about an hour later. At first she was disappointed when her hand reached over to Shawn's empty side of the bed, but then she grinned at the sight of a tray of food and the smell of pineapple in the air. Shawn had made her some of his specialty pineapple pancakes and left her a sweet note saying that he was going to work and something about reliving his dream from the night before which involved the two of them flying over Santa Barbara in a hot air balloon made entirely of Red Vines. The pancakes were cold. He obviously hadn't thought that they might be cold by the time she woke up, but she loved him for his effort.

)))Pineapple(((

Shawn sat at his desk in the Psych office, leaning back in his chair and squeezing the squishy frog, watching its eyes pop from its head and then retract back into its body when he released. Something about focusing on the frog allowed him to release some of the tension that had built up over the last few days and especially the night before. He thought it would have been better though if Gus were sitting at his desk across from him so he could tease him about his obsession with the National Gingerbread House Building Championship or Vampire Diaries. Nothing released tension betting than messing with Gus. It was a good thing Gus was going to be back in only two days, because God knows he would need his sweet black head nearby once Juliet really went into labor.

Shawn put down the frog and leaned towards his laptop about to get started on the case, when he heard the door to the Psych Office open and shut and the ginormous goofy frame of Buzz McNab appeared in the doorway.

"McNabby!" exclaimed Shawn, surprised to see Buzz standing in his office. He wondered whether Buzz had actually even stepped foot in the Psych Office before, and from the way Buzz's gaze was roaming around the room and causing him to smile and nod when he caught sight of the many toys and silly objects, it was clear that he hadn't.

"Nice place you've got here," said Buzz grabbing an orange foam ball and tossing it towards the child's plastic basketball hoop. It missed by more than a foot, and Buzz shrugged and blushed. "I never was good at sports, anyway."

"Who needs to be able to throw a ball into a hoop when you are tall enough to just walk over and drop it in," stated Shawn. Buzz grinned happily and chuckled. "…besides, you are one badass strawberry and nutella crepe cooker and that's all anyone really needs anyway," added Shawn. "So what brings you to my neck of the woods?" Shawn glanced at the case file in Buzz's hand and figured that had something to do with why he was here.

"Well…it's this case." Buzz's smile dropped into a frown and he began pacing. "…the Christmas light case."

"Seriously?" asked Shawn. "The Christmas light case? That's what you're calling it? You've got to be able to come up with something more creative than that. Like, how about…'Silent Night, Deadly Night,' or 'God Rest Ye, Smoking Gentleman,'…Oooo! 'Dude's Nuts Roasting on an Electric Fire.'" Despite Shawn's suggestions, Buzz didn't crack a smile. He realized Buzz must really be troubled if he couldn't even get him to laugh at his jokes. "Ok, I can see this is serious," said Shawn. "Serious isn't really my forte but I will give it a try. What do you need Buzz?"

Buzz continued to pace. "It's just that…well, I want to make a good impression on the Chief and Lassiter while I have this opportunity…you know, to show them I can be a good detective. But…what am I supposed to do when I think that my partner's explanation for a case is wrong….and worse yet, when I know he's wrong, but he refuses to listen to my take on it?""

"Buzz! Way to go, buddy!" said Shawn proudly.

Buzz's eyebrows crumpled in confusion. "Huh? For what?"

"For using your gut, man!" cried Shawn. "The first step towards being a good detective is trusting in your gut, even when nobody else agrees with you. I keep telling Lassie that that is the only thing keeping him from being a super-cop. He never trusts his gut. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that Lassie seems to digest his rice cakes just fine, I would guess he didn't even have a gut."

Buzz lightened up for a moment at Shawn's praise, but it was short-lived. "So if Lassiter doesn't even trust his own gut, how am I going to get him to trust mine?"

"You can't," said Shawn simply and Buzz's shoulders dropped. "The only things Lassiter will trust are facts. Sooo…you act on your gut and you find the facts that you need to convince Lassiter otherwise."

"So, you are saying that I have to go against my partner's orders?" asked Buzz unsurely.

"Yes and no," answered Shawn. "You don't necessarily have to go behind his hairy back, but going with your gut is always risky. One thing is for sure though. If you never take that risk, you will never prove yourself to Lassiter, the Chief, or anyone."

Buzz nodded in understanding. It made sense. Who knew Shawn was such a wise man? "Ok, I get it," he said. "So, do you think you could help me find those facts?"

"Only if we can go for smoothies after," said Shawn.

"You got it," said Buzz, the smile returning to his face. Buzz opened the case file and spread out the crime scene photos on Gus's desk because Shawn's was too cluttered and began to explain what he knew. "Ok, so Gregory Holden was found in his home, electrocuted, and holding a string of Christmas lights. Lassiter's official statement says that Holden's death was accidental…he appeared to be removing the lights from his Christmas tree when an exposed wire made contact with a puddle on the floor and electrocuted him. The puddle apparently had come from a leak in the upstairs bathroom which had soaked everything in that corner of the room…including all of his little boy's Christmas presents." Buzz frowned.

"Worst. Christmas. Ever. for that kid. So what's your gut telling you?" Shawn asked Buzz.

"The circumstances just don't add up. For one, why was Holden taking the lights off of the tree on Christmas Eve?"

"Well either he was the Grinch stealing Christmas, or he was trying to fix them," said Shawn.

"Ok, well, I can't rule out the Grinch theory, but what did he need to fix? They were a brand new set of lights and they were still working just fine when forensics tested them." Buzz continued, "Secondly, why was he doing this a three AM? His wife said they finished putting the gifts under the tree at midnight and went to bed. Apparently he is a pretty sound sleeper, so his wife found it hard to believe he would have gotten up in the middle of the night."

"Maybe he had to pee, then noticed the leak in the bathroom and went downstairs to check it out."

"That's what I thought too, and I suppose it's a possibility, but his wife believes that is out of character for him. Plus she said the plumbing was fairly new and didn't understand why it would have leaked." Buzz paused and paced a little more. So far his arguments were not very strong. Shawn perused the crime scene photos to try to get his own take on the incident.

"Ok, so maybe there are ways to explain away those inconsistencies," said Buzz, "…but how do you explain the fact that the Christmas lights were not even plugged in?"

"Huh?" said Shawn, momentarily taking his eyes from the photos to look questioningly at Buzz. "The lights that supposedly electrocuted Holden weren't even plugged in? That doesn't make any sense."

"Yeah," confirmed Buzz with a shrug. "Lassiter said something about Holden pulling them out of the socket while writhing from the electrocution…."

Shawn continued Buzz's line of reasoning while carefully analyzing the crime scene photos again. "…but based on how Holden and the lights were positioned…that seems impossible."

"Exactly!" said Buzz, now pleased with the fact that someone was seeing this his way and appearing more confident with himself.

Shawn paused while staring intently at one of the photos. He realized he had completely forgotten about keeping up his psychic act and decided to make use of it. "Oh! Oh, McNab! I'm feeling something about this photo." He picked it up and began shaking it violently, making it appear like the photo was trying to break free of his hands of its own accord. "Something is definitely off here and I am sensing the clue is in this photo. Hurry up! Take it from me before it flies away!"

Buzz's eyes were widened in awe as he grabbed several times for the photo that was threatening to fly from Shawn's hand. He finally got it and scrutinized it thoroughly. Shawn feigned relief and exhaustion at the removal of the paper from his hand and used the desk to hold himself up, breathing heavily. Buzz shook his head from side to side and looked Shawn in the eye. "I don't…."

"It's there, Buzz. Keep looking," encouraged Shawn.

Buzz's eyes drifted back to the photo and after a few more seconds they narrowed as he apparently was focusing on something at the bottom of the photo. "Wait… What's this?" he said, bringing the paper closer to his face.

Shawn half-smiled when he realized Buzz was seeing what he wanted him to see. Buzz turned the photo around so Shawn could see. Shawn pretended to painfully look away and then force his eyes on the spot on the photo where Buzz was pointing. "What is it?" Shawn asked faux-fearfully.

"See that shiny line…there on the floor between these two floorboards…in the puddle…right next to Holden's feet." explained Buzz.

Shawn looked to and from the photo as if it was burning his eyes. He nodded swiftly and gulped. "I see it," he said, looking away and closing his eyes as if relieved that he wouldn't have to lay eyes on the photo again.

"I think it's a wire," concluded Buzz. "…most likely the wire that actually electrocuted Holden."

"What's it doing there?" asked Shawn, fully aware of the answer but playing dumb so that Buzz could come to the conclusion himself.

"Well…my guess is that someone put it there," concluded Buzz. "…probably the same someone who started the leak in the bathroom and lured Holden out of bed in the middle of the night…someone who meant to kill him." Buzz's face became serious when he realized the weight of his conclusion and the responsibility that lay ahead of him.

Shawn took a deep breath and said in a dramatic half-whisper, "My senses say you may be right, Detective McNab."


I hope this isn't getting too confusing. I promise it will all come together in the end.

I just love getting reviews :)