Hey everyone!

Since most of this chapter is just chapter 9 of the other story reworked to be from Carlton's point of view, I've decided to do a double update! Yay!

Enjoy!

CHAPTER 20

As Carlton headed for the bathroom the next morning, Lauren walked out of the baby room with Booker. "I thought that you were going to sleep-in this morning?" Lauren asked innocently.

Carlton rolled his eyes before kissing Booker on the head. "Did you really expect me to get much sleep last night, knowing that Shawn is downstairs on the couch?"

"Not really. So, how are you going to tell him?" Lauren smiled.

"Who says that I am?"

"Carlton! Shawn already suspects something is up, especially since you wouldn't tell him Booker's name! You need to tell him, or I will!"

Carlton sighed. "Okay. Just, let me do it."

"Good." Lauren kissed him on the cheek. "I'm going to make some pancakes; it should be ready in 20 minutes."

"Just enough time to take a shower." Carlton said as he went into the bathroom.

Carlton stared at his reflection and said, "Come on, Carlton! You can do this! You shoot bad guys, make rookies tremble, and can out-interrogate anyone. This is just Shawn." With a deep breath, he exited the bathroom and headed for the stairs.

"BREAKFAST!" Lauren called. "Time to get up, Shawn."

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Carlton saw that Shawn had the blankets pulled up over his head. With a grin, Carlton walked up behind the couch and yelled, "GET OFF MY COUCH!"

Shawn jumped and fell to the floor. He pushed the blankets aside and glared at Carlton. "Not cool, Lassie!" Shawn pouted.

Carlton laughed, "Maybe you should have gotten up the first time then." With a grin on his face, Carlton went into the kitchen and tickled Booker, who was strapped into the highchair. Booker laughed and hit the tray excitedly with both hands. "Breakfast smells good." Carlton commented as he sat down.

"Thanks." Lauren smiled as she brought the plate of pancakes to the table and sat on the other side of Booker. "I hope Shawn likes Blueberry pancakes."

"It's free food; I'm sure Shawn will like it just fine." Carlton said as he put a couple of pancakes on his plate.

"You better behave or else I'll leave you alone with both Shawn and the baby all day." Lauren smiled.

Shawn came in at that point and sat in the chair between Lauren and Carlton, across from the baby. "This looks really good." Shawn commented.

"Thank you, Shawn." Lauren smiled as she passed him the syrup.

They ate in mostly silence, just Booker making noise when he was ignored. Carlton would feed him bites between eating some of his own. Lauren tried to non-verbally get Carlton to say something, but Carlton ignored her.

Having finished her pancakes, Lauren asked, "So Shawn, what have you been up to lately?"

Shawn shrugged as he looked at Lauren. "Well, I had an agreement with the department to go to the police academy for 6 months and then work for them for another 6 months. So I haven't really been on any grand adventures recently."

"Oh, come on! You're telling me that you don't have any interesting stories from the academy or intriguing cases?!"

Shawn laughed, "Well, I do have a few about the academy.…"

"Do tell!" Lauren exclaimed excitedly. Carlton rolled his eyes and concentrated on his own food.

Shawn smiled. "I pulled a few pranks on the teachers and fellow students. And at graduation, I had a friend hack the sound system and play 'We Are the Champions' during the procession. And even though they suspected it was me, they couldn't prove a thing!"

Lauren laughed. "I bet your dad loved that!"

"Well, he glared at me and disappeared right after the ceremony. I guess he didn't want to blow up at me, just incase someone was eavesdropping."

Feeling another headache coming on, Carlton threw down his fork. "When are you leaving?!"

"CARLTON!" Lauren reprimanded him. "He just got here! Are you really going to kick him out so soon when you haven't seen him in a year?!"

"Yes! Because I do not trust him!"

Shawn rolled his eyes. "Come on, Lassie! It was an accident! I was stressed! We were having trouble figuring out the case and I was just arguing with Gus! It's not my fault that Buzz just happened to open the door at that exact moment that I was complaining to Gus that I wasn't a real psychic!"

"If I didn't think it was an accident, you wouldn't even be here right now." Carlton growled, seriously contemplating grabbing one of his guns.

"Are you saying you would have shot me?!"

"Probably. I definitely wouldn't have let you stay last night."

"Carlton!" Lauren started.

Carlton shook his head as he stood up. "I'm going to go change the little guy and then take him for a walk."

"Aww, that's so sweet! But I don't need any help changing." Shawn smiled.

Carlton rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."

"Not really. Maybe if you called the baby by his name, I would have known you were referring to him."

Carlton silently picked up Booker and started for the door. Lauren sighed and stood up, blocking his path. They had a glaring contest, both knowing what the other would say and trying to out-stubborn the other. Knowing that Shawn was about to find out either way, Carlton sighed and gave Booker to Lauren. He walked over and leaned against the wall.

Lauren smiled and started to bounce Booker. "His name is Booker."

"Really?! That's a horrible name for a kid." Shawn said.

"What the hell is wrong with it?!" Carlton demanded with a glare.

Shawn shrugged. "Well, for one, he's gonna get beat up everyday in school and get tagged with a lot of horrible nicknames."

Lauren shook her head. "We sometimes call him by his middle name: Spencer." Lauren said as she gave the baby to Shawn.

Shawn gingerly took the baby and looked at Lauren with shock. "You, you named your kid after me?!"

Carlton took a deep breath and stared at the floor. Part of him wanted to run, but he knew it was time to finally tell the truth.

"I didn't name him." Lauren said "Because he's not mine. Carlton is the father."

Shocked, Shawn looked between Carlton and the baby. "Y-you, you had a kid. Is that why you broke up with me? Because you were with a women while we were dating?!"

Carlton looked up and glared at Shawn. "What?! No! Don't you dare insult me like that!"

"Well, the way I see it, the math doesn't add up then! This kid is barely 5 or 6 months old and it only takes 9 months to make a baby. So you had sex with her over a year ago, probably around the time…we had our anniversary." Shawn looked down and away. "You were with a woman the same week as our anniversary." He shook his head and gave Booker back to Lauren. "I, I have to go." He stood up and headed for the door.

Carlton felt his anger raising even as Lauren whispered fiercely, "Go after him!" She waited until he nodded before going to the stairs.

Carlton stormed after Shawn and grabbed Shawn's arm right before he reached the front door. Carlton turned Shawn around quickly and slammed him against the door. "Ow!" Shawn exclaimed.

Carlton was barely half a foot from Shawn's face as he glared at him. "The only person that I've had sex with in the last few years is you!"

"Then what's with the kid?! Don't tell me you adopted some stranger's baby."

Words failing him, Carlton growled before closing the gap and kissed Shawn hard. It took Shawn a few moments to finally start kissing Carlton back. The kiss eventually slowed down; and after a few minutes, they pulled apart far enough to get air. Breathing heavily, Carlton leaned his forehead against Shawn's; both of their eyes were closed.

"There was never anyone else." Carlton whispered.

"I still don't understand, unless…" Shawn opened his eyes and stared at Carlton. "You were pregnant." Carlton nodded but still kept his eyes closed.

Shawn pushed him away gently and started pacing. Carlton stayed by the door and just watched him. Carlton was still suppressing the urge to run.

"You're one of the special ones?" Shawn asked.

"Apparently." Carlton muttered.

"You never told me."

"I didn't know."

"Not until you got pregnant."

"Yes."

"That's why you were sick last year."

"Yes."

"And you broke up with me because you were pregnant?"

"No."

"No?! Then what the hell?! Why didn't you tell me that you were pregnant? And since I'm the only one you've had sex with recently that means…." Shawn froze in shock. "That means I'm a daddy."

Carlton nodded and took a few steps forward. "Yes, you're the other father. No, I didn't break up with you because of the pregnancy. I found out I was pregnant the day after, when I went to the doctor's office."

"I'm a daddy." Shawn whispered as he collapsed on the couch. Looking up at Carlton, he asked softly, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Carlton shook his head. "I didn't want you to mess up your deal with the department."

"You still should have told me."

"I was mad at you! Plus all the hormones were messing with me and I was dealing with morning sickness and various other ailments of pregnancy."

"Who else knows?"

"Besides various doctors and nurses, just Chief Vick." Carlton shrugged. "My mother doesn't even know that she has a grandson."

"You told Chief Vick? And not me?!"

"After I found I was pregnant I, I didn't know where else to go. I ended up at the station and talked to Chief Vick. She's been helping me and giving me updates on you."

"Oh! So while I had no idea where you were, you were able to stalk me!" Shawn asked angrily.

"No! I just wanted to make sure that you were completing your agreement."

"Were you ever going to tell me?!"

Carlton sat on the couch next to Shawn but didn't look at him. "I wanted to so many times, but as the months went by, I lost my nerve. I knew you were going to be mad at me and I didn't want you to run before your agreement was complete."

Shawn shook his head. "I was going to be mad at you either way."

"I was planning a trip back to Santa Barbara in a few months. I wanted to tell you everything and be able to celebrate Booker's 1st birthday with you."

"You were planning on coming back?" Shawn whispered.

"Yeah. Vick says that I have until Booker's first birthday to decide if I want to be head detective again. But I can't see that happening as a single dad."

"Oh! So you were going to use me to get your job back!" Shawn spat.

Carlton took Shawn's hand and looked him in the eyes. "No. I wanted to see if we could work things out. Because I wouldn't be able to stand seeing you everyday at work if we weren't living together."

"You, you still want me to move in with you?" Shawn asked shakily.

"Yeah. That's if you can forgive me for keeping you out of the loop. I know it wasn't fair, but I didn't want you to end up in jail." A tear fell down Carlton's cheek. "You might not have gotten out alive, and then where would I be?"

Shawn wiped the tear off Carlton's cheek and kept his hand there. "Oh Lassie. When did you become a big ol' softie?"

"Having a baby changes people."

"Yeah." Shawn laughed. "I'm a dad!"

Carlton nodded. "Yeah." He leaned closer to Shawn. "We both are."

Shawn smiled as he closed the gap and kissed Carlton softly. This time, the kiss was slower and did not last as long. Ending the kiss, Shawn pulled Carlton into a hug, and rested his head on Carlton's shoulder. "I missed you." Shawn whispered.

"Me too."

Shawn laughed. "You missed yourself?"

Carlton shook his head and lightly slapped Shawn in the back of the head. "Smartass."

"Yep! But I'm your smartass! For as long as you'll have me."

"Then you better be in it for the long haul, because I don't let go easily."

"Ditto." Shawn whispered.