He'd done it. Had Rachel's school started on September 2nd, he would've done it a month before. They only smuggled the guns on the first of the month when they were being transferred anyway, it was clever and tricky and school starting had caused him another month of frustration. But now he was standing in Chief Vick's office watching McNab take the crooked detectives into the holding cells.
"Congratulations Mr. Spencer."
"Thanks Chief, sorry it took so long, I really tried, but the psychic net—."
"Enough, Mr. Spencer. I know you tried, that's why I didn't reprimand you for taking outside cases this past month. Now, are you ready for your next case? Remember, you'll have to act the part now." She gave him that knowing smile she wore so well before calling Lassie and Jules into her office.
"Chief—what happened?" Juliet asked before looking at Shawn with surprise. He hadn't been in the department at all the last month, and since the girls started taking the bus to school, they rarely saw each other.
"O'Hara, Lassiter, your partners were jointly involved in a gun smuggling operation that Mr. Spencer here has outed. They're being taken into custody and I'm reinstating you two as partners, effective immediately. Now here's your next case, you may go." Shawn watched as the Chief handed Lassie the file, and couldn't help but enjoy the look of disbelief on his face.
"Spencer—you're really back? Here I thought the rumor mill had finally lost it!"
"Oh Lassie, you know I couldn't stay away forever! Gus should be in shortly. Now what's this case?"
She looked at Carlton, her partner once more, and had to resist giving Shawn a bear hug. He shot her a wink that made her go slightly weak at the knees. She thought back to all the cases they'd worked together, the flirtatious looks, the witty retorts. It was while working with Shawn that she'd fell in love with him the first time, and she couldn't help but wonder if history would repeat itself now that the team was back together.
"Spencer, shoo. Why don't you go get your check signed or something and let the real detectives figure this out." She examined Carlton, even after all these years, she knew him well enough to know he was secretly glad to have Shawn back. They may not have shared personal secrets with each other, but they had been friends and she knew Shawn's leaving had saddened him more than he would ever admit.
Shawn seemed to know it too. "Fine, Lassie. But just this once. Five minutes and I'll be back buzzing just outside your ear." He was moving his hands all around Carlton's face to annoy him, but stopped and turned around with a smile once he was done talking.
"Okay O'Hara, you heard him. Five minutes to figure this out." He marched the file over to his desk and she followed, clearly they were picking up right where they left off. "Here," he grabbed a chair from his now former-partner's desk, "have a seat." She sat, slightly surprised by his courteousness. "It's, it's good to have you back, partner."
She smiled, "You too…partner." It was good to be back, and Carlton's demonstration of affection warmed her heart. She was getting a second chance at her dream job, and she couldn't help but notice Shawn was the catalyst.
"Dude, it's like someone hit 'reset' on the game. Lassie and Jules are partners; you and I are working with them. It's like deja vu!"
"Except you and Juliet have daughters and Lassie is married with a son."
"Maaan, why you gotta do that?" But Shawn knew he was right. It felt good to have the old team back together, but things would be different. Change was part of life, and there was no way to reset the clock. Not that he'd give up Rachel for anything, but if he could do it over again…he wasn't sure he would've gone about things the same way.
He looked across the station to see Juliet sitting at Lassie's desk. She was focused on the file, but every once and a while he noticed her glancing at her partner and smiling. They hadn't talked much in the past month, they'd both been so busy, but he knew how miserable her last partner made her, and he was glad to see her happy again.
"Okay buddy, let's move."
"Spencer! Are we boring you?" Carlton barked and Juliet looked over to see Shawn checking his watch.
He looked up and at her. "I didn't get a sitter."
"Crap…me either." Panicking she checked her watch, Reb would be home in 45 minutes. She usually didn't work long on Mondays but this shoplifting case seemed to be growing more difficult with every piece of evidence.
"Spencer, why don't you just go home, it's not like you're being of use right now." She was pretty sure Carlton was going out of his way to keep Shawn from realizing how thankful he was, but it was getting on her nerves.
"Carlton—"
"No, Jules, it's fine. He's right. Thoughts of my five-year-old daughter returning to an empty house are blocking my psychic channels." He shot a look at Carlton then came up with a brilliant plan. "Call the school, have Becks get off with Rach and I'll watch them while you finish up here if you can watch them for a bit once you get off."
"You sure you're okay with that?" He nodded and she raced off to call the school, once again thankful to Shawn for saving the day.
"Okay Rebecca, this is my stop!"
Rebecca grabbed her backpack and started moving toward the door. She had only been to Rachel's house once, and that was before it was actually her house, but her teacher had told her that her mommy had called and said she should go to Rachel's house after school. Mr. Shawn was at the door smiling and he waved to the bus driver as they got out.
"Welcome home girls, snacks are in the kitchen!" He said, he had a nice smile and he seemed happy that they, both of them, were there.
"Thanks Mr. Shawn! Where is my mommy?" She was hoping her mommy would be at Mr. Shawn's house too, but she didn't see her.
"She's still at work, she'll be by later to watch you two while I go to work." He talked nice to her.
"String cheese! Rebecca there's string cheese! Thank you Daddy!" Rachel came running out of the kitchen and jumped into Mr. Shawn's arms and she kind of wished she could do that too.
"You know that's right, Baby Girl. And I bet you girls that I can get a longer piece than you!"
"Let's go Rebecca! If we win, he has to dress up for a tea party!" Rachel squirmed out of her daddy's arms and grabbed her hand, pulling her in to the kitchen. A tea party sounded fun; she liked playing with Rachel and her daddy.
As she walked up to the door, Juliet heard screams and giggles on the other side. She knocked on the door but no one answered, so she tried the door and found it was unlocked. "Shawn? Girls?"
"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" Rebecca ran out of the kitchen with a beaming smile and jumped into her arms.
"Hi Baby Girl, how was your afternoon?"
"Rawr! Tickle Monster is—Oh, hi Jules!" She noticed his cheeks go slightly rosy as he pulled the paper mask off his face, but overall he held his confident smile.
"Mommy! First we had string cheese and Rachel got the longest piece I had ever seen—it was the whole stick and she didn't even cheat and just pull it in half, it was like a string. Then we had a tea party and Mr. Shawn wore a funny hat and Rachel and I got dressed up like princesses but then the Tickle Monster crashed the tea party and now we're running and hiding from him! It was so so so fun!"
Juliet looked at her daughter's face, flushed with joy and excitement. She had never really seen her this happy, it was like life was oozing out of her every pore. Shawn had done that. As Rebecca squirmed out of her arms and ran to find Rachel, who had called from the distance, Juliet mouthed a silent 'thank you' to Shawn, who just nodded and smiled. "So, how'd it go Mr. Tickle Monster?"
"Just Tickle Monster, Mr. Fuzzyboots is my tea party title." He said with a bow. "It was good, Rachel was so excited to have a friend over to play with, but they insisted I play too—I just did all the things I normally do with Rach, I hope that's okay."
"Totally fine. I've never seen her so…alive, I guess. Thank you." He nodded again and his smile became softer. "So do you want me to take Rach to my house or?"
"I have Mac'n'Cheese on the stove that's about ready to be served, but it's up to you. I'm fine with you just staying here with them, but feel free to bring Rach to your place if you'd be more comfortable there, I'll just get you her booster." As he pulled out his phone, likely to text Gus for a ride, she studied him. He was such a father, such an amazing father, more so than she ever would have guessed.
"I think I'll stay here, the girls seem happy and that way we don't have to bother with the extra booster." Secretly, she was glad she could stay for other reasons. Shawn's place was bigger, but now that the boxes had been unpacked it also seemed…homier? Safer? She wasn't sure, but she liked the idea of having time to figure it out. "Oh, Shawn, for the case, if you could…"
"Divine?" He filled in the blank.
"Sure, 'divine' something about the shoplifter's house that could lead us to getting a warrant. We're stuck behind legal red tape." It irked her a little to directly request that he go beyond the law, but it needed to be done and she had no doubts he could do it without raising any red flags.
"As you wish." The Princess Bride reference was not lost on her and she smiled. "Anyway, I should be home before bedtime, but worst case scenario…"
"Rebecca could stay the night and borrow Rachel's clothes, I'd head home once you got back if it's too late."
He nodded again, and she had a feeling he had a slightly different plan, but this was what was best. "Girls! Tickle Monster has to go to his day job, Rach, come here!" He called and in no time, Rachel had appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Yes Daddy?" She was so precious and the deep love and respect she had for her father warmed a part of her heart she hadn't realized was cold.
"I'm heading to work. I should be back by bedtime but you obey Ms. Juliet while I'm gone, got it?" Even his serious tone was encapsulated with love—something she'd never heard from Declan.
"Okay!" Rachel lit up and ran down the stairs, skipping the last couple by jumping into Shawn's open arms. "I love you Daddy, be safe!"
"I will Princess, you be good." He hugged her tight, then pretended to drop her, catching her an inch off the floor before gently placing her down to have her race back up the stairs. "Thanks again Jules, I'll see you tonight—feel free to eat whatever you find."
She nodded and heard the Blueberry beep outside. "Thanks, see you Shawn." As she held the door open for him, she suddenly had to resist the urge to kiss him goodbye. Instead, she closed the door behind him and leaned against it, knowing she was in way over her head.
"Rae, hold still, I don't want to poke your eye!"
"Rae?" She asked, opening her eyes and looking at Ms. Juliet.
"Oh," she looked surprised. "I'm sorry, it just slipped out, do you not like being called that?"
She thought about it. Her daddy always called her Rach, but Rae sounded prettier. "No, I like it. I just never been called that before." She smiled and closed her eyes, doing her best to hold still. Ms. Juliet was putting make-up on her and Rebecca. It was the first time she ever got to wear make-up and the brushes tickled her eyes.
"Alrighty, all done! Go look in the mirror girls!" Ms. Juliet said and she grabbed Rebecca's hand and ran into the bathroom. She had two braids that Ms. Juliet said were French and Rebecca only had one that went down the middle of her head. And her eyes looked pretty, like a grown-up's, hers had more brown around them and Rebecca's had more silver but they both looked pretty. "Wow, where did those little girls go? I just see young women here!" She looked up in the mirror and saw Ms. Juliet smiling in the doorway.
"Thank you Mommy!" Rebecca said as she ran and hugged her.
"Yeah! Thanks Momm—Ms. Juliet." Her face felt real hot all the sudden, she accidentally almost called Ms. Juliet 'Mommy' which was weird cause she never even had a mommy. But either Ms. Juliet didn't notice or she just ignored it cause all she did was hug her too.
"You're so welcome girls." Ms. Juliet smelled pretty too, and she hugged real good. Rachel wondered if this was what it was like to have a mommy. All the sudden, Ms. Juliet's pocket started buzzing. "Oh, it's your daddy Rae, probably calling to say he's coming home!"
Rachel smiled, but part of her didn't want her daddy coming home, cause she knew it would mean Rebecca and Ms. Juliet would leave and she wanted them to stay forever.
"Jules! Are you still home—I mean at my house?" Shawn sounded panicked and it struck a chord of fear in her heart.
"Yes, what's going on." She asked, trying to keep her voice level, the girls were looking at her.
"Lock the doors, close the blinds, don't open up for anyone, I'll use my key. But no one knows you're there, you should be fine." The last part seemed to be as much to himself as it was to her.
"Shawn, what's going on?" She asked more seriously as she locked the doors and began closing blinds.
"I'll explain later. But you, both of you, are staying the night. No objections. Just tonight. Becks should be fine to go to school in the morning. I'll be home in a minute, don't let the girls know anything is up." And without any more explanation, he'd hung up.
"Daddy—Mr. Shawn is coming home girls! I wonder what he'll think of your make-up?" She tried to keep her voice calm, but both girls looked at her as though they weren't buying it. "Who wants to play hide-and-seek?"
"Ms. Juliet, what did my daddy say?" Rachel had her father's intuition for sure.
"He just said he's coming home. And guess what? We're going to have a sleepover! Now this won't normally happen on a school day but Mr. Shawn and I decided just this once it would be okay. Now, who wants to play hide and seek before bed?" She knew Rebecca saw that she wasn't telling everything, but, as usual, she didn't press for more details. Unlike her mother, Rebecca was sometimes content to let things be for the moment.
"Yay! A sleepover!" Rachel cheered.
"Come on Rachel, let's hide! My mommy is a really good seeker!" Rebecca gave her one last look before running off and Juliet started counting.
Shawn shook the thoughts of the apartment he had just left from his head. He needed to be calm, happy, or Rachel would know something was wrong. He took a deep breath and unlocked the door and let himself in, locking the door immediately after. The house was quiet and he didn't see anyone, which made him slightly nervous. However, as he looked around, he saw Juliet's purse, Rachel and Rebecca's jackets, and three sets of shoes. They had to be around.
"Oh, Shawn!" Juliet whispered as she came out of the kitchen. "Hide and seek, I've been looking for them for ten minutes!"
He smiled—his dad had taught Rachel how to hide to his standards. "Jules, think like a detective—Rach hides like a criminal." She looked at him skeptically, but he just put a finger to his lips and started sneaking around. A scuff on the floor—she wasn't wearing shoes, it was a decoy. A turned rug—that was her signature, she always forgot to check the rugs. He crouched down in front of a cabinet. With a flourish, he threw the door open and yelled "Boo!" resulting in screams and a giggling mix of 'Mr. Shawn' and 'Daddy'.
"Wow, girls, that was some of the best hiding I've seen!" Jules said from behind him.
"Gramps teached me how and I showed Rebecca." Rachel said proudly, but something seemed…different…about her.
"Rach, are you wearing make-up?"
A smile bloomed across her face, lighting it up even further. "Ms. Juliet did it. Do I look pretty Daddy?"
"Beautiful Baby Girl, both of you actually." He said as he noticed Rebecca was wearing make-up too.
"What about Ms. Juliet?"
"She's beautiful as always." It slipped out of his mouth before he could catch it and he was glad she was behind him, but Rachel got a glimmer in her eye. "I—uh…girls, go wash up for bed. Rach, lend Becks a set of jammies okay?"
"Alright Daddy." She said, eyes still glimmering with a wisdom beyond her years. "But I want a story!"
"I want one from Mommy too!" Rebecca chimed in.
"If you hurry you'll get one from each, now go!" Jules said and the girls scrambled off. He stood up and looked at her, she was beautiful—as always—but he could sense the uncertainty and fear that lurked underneath her brave exterior.
"I'll tell you once they're asleep—over cocoa." He said softly, so the girls didn't hear. She just nodded and started towards Rachel's room, ready to begin the goodnight process.
She had read The Velveteen Rabbit, one of her favorites from her own childhood, and even though the girl's eyes were getting droopy, they insisted Shawn tell a story too. She had expected him to get another book, but now she was leaning against the doorframe, entranced by his story of knights and princesses and a giant blueberry carriage. Mostly, she was entranced by him and the way their daughters looked at him. They were spellbound, absorbed in his fantastical land and loving every minute of it—it was truly magical. But, as all good stories do, it came to an end, much to all of their disappointment.
"All right, goodnight girls!" He said over their pleas to continue. "Sweet dreams and no talking because we'll know." She saw both girls nod and snuggle into their covers.
She flipped out the light as Shawn reached the door. "Love you girls, sleep tight." She said as she stepped out the door and heard Shawn close it behind her. It felt right, it felt like a family should, and she desperately wished she had the strength to tell Shawn everything, that she had the strength to move on.
"So, you want marshmallows in your cocoa?" He whispered behind her and she nodded and let him guide her downstairs, unable to look at him.
He placed the mug with cocoa and marshmallows in front of her as he tried to figure out what to say. "Jules, the shoplifter…he wasn't just a shoplifter."
"I figured that much. What did you find at the house?" She was trying to sound calm, but he saw through it.
"He was a stalker…"A wall of pictures flashed in front of his eyes. "…your stalker." Pictures of her at home, her with Rebecca getting groceries, her on the force. "He seemed to be drawing you out with petty crime, but he didn't know about the partner change. Lassie, the Chief, and McNab are all searching for him. They'll get him Jules, but I don't want you leaving here until they do." He looked up at her and saw the panic clear across her face.
"Reb…did…did he—"
He nodded. He couldn't think of anything to say. When he saw the wall, saw the pictures, his heart nearly fell out of his chest. He called Juliet a second after he had called Lassie—it was probably his least creative vision yet, but it had worked.
"And…Shawn, what about Rae?" Again, he nodded. There had been pictures of them at recess, pictures of the four of them at the park, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember seeing this guy. "Oh, Shawn, I'm so sorry! I—"
"Jules, the guy was a creep, but it wasn't about Rachel or me or even Rebecca, he was focused on you. That's why I'm glad you're here and that's why you're not leaving tonight." She nodded but he could tell she was still shaken; he needed to get her mind off of things for a while. "Jules, you're safe, we're safe, don't dwell. When was the last time you saw a movie that didn't involve singing animals or magical lands?"
A smile cracked her pursed lips. "So, so long."
"I believe you're due for a big-kid movie night then, Detective. I'll even let you pick." He grabbed his cocoa and held out his hand, which she cautiously placed hers into, and pulled her to the family room, wishing this could be a far more frequent occurrence.
"Shawn, really, I can sleep on the couch." The movie had finished and now she was standing next to him in the bathroom as he brushed his teeth, holding one of his pajama shirts in her arms.
He shook his head then leaned over to spit. "Nope. You get the bed—sheets are actually fresh, you lucked out."
"But—I have the gun, shouldn't I be by the door?" Carlton had called about an hour before to say he'd caught the creep, but she still felt ill-at-ease.
"Jules," he grabbed her arms, forcing her to look in his incredible eyes, "get some sleep. You're fine, we're fine. The girls have to be up early for school and we'll have a whole new case to work on tomorrow. I'll yell if anything fishy happens downstairs, okay?"
She had to trust him, at least with this she had to trust him. "Okay. And, thanks…for everything."
He smiled and let her go. "Goodnight Juliet. Sleep well." Part of her wanted to ask him to stay, but instead she let him leave, her heart being torn between past and present.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Another long one! This one actually went in a totally different direction than I had initially intended, which is why it took so long, and now I have some restructuring to do, but whatever, I think it flows. Anyway, THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed, but I'm a little exhausted right now so I'll reply to them all with the next chapter, sorry! And please keep reviewing! Or start! Just yeah, you catch my drift :) Keep being awesome everyone, I hope you enjoy!