Sorry this took forever. I just got back from a vacation with no internet. I got on this ASAP! Here it is folks. The final installment.
Henry Spencer can honestly say he'd done a lot for his son. He raised him, brought him to countless doctor's visits, all in all invested a lot of time in the boy.
That was what he kept telling himself to prevent killing Shawn before his big day.
"Dad, I can't do this. I look like a fucking balloon!"
"Dammit, Shawn, I swear to God"-
"Dad, no! Don't swear in in a church! That's like saying a 'Hail, Mary' in a Satanist circle. It's sacrilegious."
"Shawn, you just said 'fucking' not even ten minutes ago."
"Dad!"
Henry glared menacingly at the brat. That's your grandchild in there. Don't kill Shawn. You mustn't kill Shawn…
Henry took a deep breath. "Shawn. You look fine. Carlton will love you just fine."
Shawn mimicked his breathing. "You're right. You're right. You're absolutely right. Carlton's the only one that matters in this whole thing. It's fine. I'm okay." Then, "Sorry, Dad."
Henry laughed. "Hey, it's fine."
Silence.
"So, let's skip the awkward cry fest speech I know you've been dying to give and go, hmm?"
Henry smirked. "Oh no you don't. Shawn, you owe me this."
Shawn whined. "Come on! Please? Pregnancy hormones? I'll be a blubbering fool."
"Shawn, you'll look fine. You always look fine."
Shawn stopped for a moment, then smiled. "We've come a long way haven't we, Dad."
Henry returned the smile. "We have. More than a long way.
"Shawn, we had a lot happen in this past year. I'm just…" Henry stopped for a long moment here. He looked at his son. The man was ready to pop with his grandchild. The suit he was wearing was perfect. It was specially tailored for his pregnancy by the gypsies. The man standing there before him used to be a scared boy who had nothing to live for, nothing he could really call his because the one thing he loved most was taken away from him. His innocence was removed at a young age, stolen, ripped away. Now? Now he saw a man. A man he was more than proud to call his son. He was so scared that Shawn would always be that scared little boy, afraid to step out into the world and trust someone, but Shawn always managed to surprise him. He found someone to trust.
That someone was Carlton Lassiter, the man his son was dead set on marrying.
Henry couldn't be more proud.
Shawn learned to trust again because of a cranky head detective. How strange is that? It was a ridiculous notion, yet it fit both of them perfectly. And besides. Shawn loved Lassiter. Oh, God, did Shawn love that man. Henry could see it. He could more than see it every time Shawn breathed. He lived for that man. He would die for that man.
Henry was so blissfully happy that his son had found the one person that he knew he would spend the rest of his life with. He wanted to tell Shawn all of this, but he was never a man good with words. All that he could get out was, "I'm just glad we made it through in one piece. I love you, Shawn. Good going on you. I'm proud of you."
Shawn must've seen something that Henry couldn't, because the man had a tear strolling down his face. "Dad, please don't cry."
Henry didn't even realize he had started crying until he returned his son's embrace. "Shawn, don't lose this. This feeling. This love you hold for Lassiter? It's the real deal. If there's one thing I want you to learn from me, it's to never let go of this. I did with Maddie and I still regret it."
Shawn laughed through his tears. "And here I thought you wanted me to learn all those detective skills."
They both shared a laugh while wiping their tears. Pulling away, Henry cleared his throat right when he heard the music queue. "You ready?"
Shawn smiled. "I am."
"Then let's go, kid."
Shawn took a breath, then walked out down the aisle, gripping his father's arm. He was admittedly scared out of his mind. He was so ready to just turn around and say "screw it" until he saw Lassiter.
He seriously should look into those time-stopping clichés because that's definitely what happened here.
Lassiter looked absolutely gorgeous in his tux. He knew the man had been fidgeting until he saw Shawn, the slightly ruffled tux and hair revealed that much to his eidetic mind. Shawn smiled one last time to his father before he was given to Lassiter. He took the hands of his soon to be husband and looked into his deep blue eyes as if staring at him for the first time. Lassiter seemed to be in the same position as he was: scared but prepared.
They had decided on Shawn to read his vows first, as Shawn knew he would be pregnant and didn't want to be a complete blubbering fool when he read his after Lassiter's.
"Lassie, Carlton Jebediah Lassiter, I feel like I should make myself laugh before starting this, so I see an immediate problem with the whole 'taking names' scenario. How will we work together? I mean, I'm going to be Shawn Lassiter. Everyone at work calls you Lassiter, so when they call you and I'm standing next to you, how will that work?" The room burst into laughter. "It's a legitimate question, but not important. Not right now. We'll figure it out.
"And that is what I want to be my promise to you. My whole life I've ran. I've ran from my problems and I never looked back." Shawn stared into Lassiter's eyes for this part, doing his best not to break contact. "I don't want to run away any more. I want to figure it out. I want to face my problems with you. I never want you to be my problem. Carlton, I promise to you the only running I'm ever going to do for the rest of my life is into your arms. I will always – always – come back. I will always come home to you."
Shawn took Lassiter's ring from Gus – the best man – and slipped it on his Soul Mate's hand.
Lassiter took a breath, a tear falling down his face. He was not one to show his emotions in front of anyone other than Shawn, but this was a special occasion. Shawn still wiped the tear. "No more crying, mister. That's my job, remember?" He whispered.
Lassiter laughed softly. Taking a breath, he looked into Shawn's eyes. The gypsy was a little jealous that he could do it so effortlessly. "Shawn Henry Spencer, I stand here today wondering where God got his sense of humor in making us Soul Mates." Shawn smiled at that. "I can't help but wonder what I actually did to get this lucky. You are the perfect person for me, Shawn. I pray you never forget that.
"I need you to understand that I will always be here for you. I need you to know that I am here for you to lean on, and all that other romantic crap that I'm terrible at saying. But what's really, truly important that I know I have to say to you is that you aren't alone anymore. We might lose everything. We might end up in the worst case scenario, but I promise. I will never leave. I want to be the person you talk to. I want to be the person you come to when you have a problem or want to put pineapple wallpaper in the baby's room. The point is, you don't have to make a decision alone anymore. I will always be here.
"I love you so much, Shawn Spencer. You told me once that you were a broken man. But Shawn, anything that's broken can be fixed as long as there's a hand to fix it. Let me be that hand. Let me pick you up when you fall. Let me catch you when you stumble. Let me hold you up when you can't anymore. I want to love you in every way I know how and I promise you will never feel alone again."
When he slipped the ring on, Shawn was near hyperventilation. Lassiter couldn't stop himself. He kissed Shawn. Through both of their tears he kissed him. The priest cleared his throat, but was smiling nonetheless. Lassiter looked a little sheepish, but let the man continue.
"Carlton Jebediah Lassiter, do you take Shawn Henry Spencer to be your lawfully wedded husband, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"
"I do."
"Shawn Henry Spencer, do you take Carlton Jebediah Lassiter to be your lawfully wedded husband, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"
"I do."
"Then I now pronounce you both married by the power vested in me in the state of California and by God." He smiled. "Now you can kiss him, Detective."
"With pleasure." Lassiter said before kissing his husband passionately. The whole church broke out in a cacophony of cheers and whistles. After Shawn could breathe again, he and Lassiter practically ran out of the church, ready to avoid everyone and spend some alone time together with wonderful honeymoon sex.
On the limo ride to where they were staying, Lassiter had to ask. "So, how does it feel?"
"How does what feel?" Shawn asked, feigning innocence.
Lassiter's eyes darkened. "Being married."
Shawn smiled. "Feels like I'm going to have to learn how to sign my name again."
Lassiter put his arm around his husband. "I guess so, huh?" He laughed. "Shawn Lassiter. I do like the sound of that."
"That's because you're possessive."
Lassiter glared at nothing in particular. "What's mine is mine. It's as simple as that."
It wasn't till they got to the hotel on the beach and Lassiter watched Shawn sign his name did it really hit him. And oh, did it hit him. Over and over again as they broke in the bed they would spend the next week in.
That week was interrupted by an expected visitor, however.
Shawn woke up in the middle of the night, gasping for air and shaking his husband awake. "Lassie?"
"Hmm?" Lassiter said unceremoniously.
"Hospital now?"
The trained detective immediately sat up and got out of bed, completely naked and running to the door. "Babe? You should get some clothes?" He said through pants.
"Yes! Yes! Shawn, yes! Clothes. Don't panic, Shawn. You know what all those classes said. Don't panic. If you panic you'll make it worse and more painful. Shawn, don't panic!"
"Carlton, let's hurry, please?" He said in more of a whimper.
"Yes! Okay!" He was getting Shawn dressed when his first real contraction hit. Shawn groaned. "Do you want me to call the others?"
"Dammit, Carlton, get me to the fucking hospital right fucking now! How the fuck is there even contractions with this?! I don't even have a fucking vagina!"
"Yes, sir." Lassiter saluted.
The hospital was about fifteen minutes away. Lassiter made it in five. He made a call to Henry and Elizabeth, then told them to contact the others. Henry was a little worried about their son screaming profanities in the passenger seat, but Elizabeth assured him that it was completely normal. When he protested, she said, "Okay, you try going through childbirth and keep it G-rated."
The doctors took Lassiter and Shawn back to prepare him for the Caesarian. It took a while, but eventually they were able to successfully birth the new member to the Lassiter family.
Lassiter was the first to hold his son. Henry Burton Lassiter. He was the most wonderful thing Lassiter had seen. Henry had blue eyes like him, but they were just as wide and expressive as Shawn's. He was surprisingly born with a full head of messy hair like his younger father's.
Father. He was a father now. He had a family. A real family.
When Shawn woke up enough to hold their child, he couldn't help but feel a weight he didn't even know he was carrying lift away from him. When Henry, Elizabeth, Gus, Juliet, Karen, and Buzz joined them in the room, he realized they already had a family. This was just an addition.
He wondered offhandedly if their son would have abilities like his father, but he shook it off. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
They'd stopped a madman. They could handle a baby, right?
I'm crying. Like, sobbing. It's done. I don't want it to be, but it's done. This is the first story I've ever finished. Ever. Thank you to all of you who have stayed dedicated. Thank you all! I hope you really liked this story.
My next story is for the Grimm fandom. I don't have a story title yet, but it's a Sean Renard/Nick Burkhardt, if you're interested!