"Okay, Dad. You can see her—but I swear, if you call her a 'mistake' or a 'loose end' I will run over you with my scooter repeatedly." His son had never looked so protective, and despite the image of being run over by his grown son on a scooter being comical, he was actually a little intimidated.
"I won't, I promise. Shawn, son, I'm—I'm sorry for the whole way I've handled this. I—I just—" He couldn't even figure out what he was feeling, much less put it into words.
"I know." He wouldn't look him in the eye, and it pained Henry that he and his son were back at this point. "Dad, no one has ever said you had class, or poise—I seem to remember you getting kicked out of a finishing school or something—but you need to step it up. She's a good kid and she's been through a lot. It may be too late for you to be a father to her, but you could be a friend. Aim for supportive uncle, not 'Daddy Dearest' ok?" He nodded and Shawn cleared his throat, clearly as uncomfortable as he was. "And maybe someday, if she's up for it, we can all do a dinner…or something…" He couldn't' help but smile a little bit, which Shawn half returned before saying, "I'll be down the hall with Jules, I'm sure Gus wants to see Kate too, so keep it short."
Again, he nodded, then added, "Thank you, Shawn." Shawn nodded as well, and then scooted off to Juliet's room. Henry braced himself, took a deep breath, and entered his daughter's room. "Kate?"
"Hi Henry." She sounded so weak, like Shawn used to when he caught a bad case of the flu. She looked weak too, as if any movement took great effort. And she must have asked Shawn what his name was, he realized in the car that she likely didn't know his name—that's why she had called him 'Dad'—but part of him had liked it.
"Hey Kiddo. Look, you obviously need rest and I'll let you get it, but I just wanted to say this." He sat awkwardly in a chair and tried to find the words to say. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry about never checking in on your mom. I'm sorry that she died. That you were an orphan. You have to know—I mean you probably don't, but I'm telling you now—if I had known about you…what I mean to say is that if I had been man enough to check on Bekka, if I had known I had a daughter, I would've done anything to be with you. I didn't win any Father of the Year Awards with Shawn, but I tried. Even when he was a pain in the ass, I loved that kid, and I would've done anything for you. So I'm sorry." He realized his eyes were welling up—something that almost never happened, but he felt so much regret, so much pain.
"Henry, it's okay." She sighed, reaching out her hand slightly and he took it in his own, amazed at how small her hands were. "Look, you didn't know and I can't really blame you for that." She paused to catch her breath and he just sat in silence. "But you missed out on being my dad. I never had one and that's what I'm used to. But I never had a brother either, and I like that. I guess what I'm saying is I don't need you to be my dad, or I'm not ready for that, but I want you in my life."
'Supportive uncle', he thought, and he decided that wasn't a bad route to take. "I'd like that. And I'm sorry I didn't realize you were shot. In all my years as a cop I'd never seen anything like that, and with Shawn and Juliet down…it doesn't matter, I should've taken notice. Why did you say it was Juliet's blood?" He kept running over that moment over and over in his head, she had lied, covered, but why?
"Because Shawn needed you. You're his dad and that's who you needed to be. If you knew I was shot too, would you have left?" Her voice was getting weaker with each word and he knew he needed to leave soon.
"No. I wouldn't." She could've died; she put her life in jeopardy for people she barely knew. "You're an amazing woman, Kate, now get some rest." She just sighed and closed her eyes. He stayed in there for another minute, till he was sure she was asleep, then walked back into the hall, both relieved and amazed by his conversation. It would take a while, but she was giving him the opportunity to do right by her, and that was not an opportunity he'd waste.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Okay guys, we're hitting the home stretch here. Gus is next, then I think Shawn, Juliet, and Kate will finish this case off! (Not that it's written yet, but I kinda know how it's going to end.) From there, I'll probably just update this every once and a while-we'll see how Second Chances progresses.
Shootingstars...I'm glad you caught that, I think it was a good and definitely an important moment. Henry really is a good dad.
Cupcake...thank you! I work hard at keeping everyone true to who they are in the show and it's not always easy so I'm so glad you think I'm doing a good job with that! :)
To everyone else! Don't let the fact that this main case is almost over stop you from commenting! Even if it's your first time reading this story, or your 20th, review! But really, do it, plllleeeeaaassseee :) A digital pineapple will be given to any new reviewers...and even those who have commented before, I'm in a giving mood :)
