A/N: Sorry, got a little distracted by my oneshots and forgot to update, but here you go! :)

Shawn hopped off his bike in the parking lot of the courthouse. He checked the time on his phone. It read 3:25.

"Crap," he said to himself, running through the front door and looking around to find where he was supposed to go. Luckily, he noticed Jules standing at the end of a hallway, waving for him to come her way.

He hurried down the hallway, giving Jules a quick kiss to the side of her lips. "I know, I promised I'd be on time. I'm really sorry, Jules."

"It's okay, Shawn, it starts at 3:30."

Shawn turned his head slightly to the right and gave his fiancée a questioning look through the corner of his eye. "You said 3:15."

"I lied," Juliet replied with a smirk. She took his hand in hers. "Come on, we better go in."

Juliet sat down with Shawn, noticing Amelia at a table in the front of the courtroom.

"All rise," the bailiff announced.

"Be seated," the judge continued as he sat down.

"Amelia, it says here that you're sixteen."

"Yes, I am. I'm old enough to be emancipated, and once I am, I'll get my GED, get a job."

"And this is your caseworker?"

At the other, a woman stood up. "Yes, your honor, but I have only been with Amelia for a few months. She seems to be change hands a lot."

"I see that. Seven different foster homes."

"That's not really my fault," Amelia offered.

"Then whose is it? You can't be saying it's the seven different families who were kind enough to take you in."

"No, I wanted a good home. The state of California just hasn't provided me with one."

"So you have no permanent place of residence?"

"Once I get emancipated, I can get an apartment."

"You're going to afford an apartment? On what income? And who will cosign your lease agreement?"

"I have $3000 saved up, and the point of being emancipated is that I won't need someone to cosign," Amelia replied, annoyed. She felt like she had everything planned out, but the judge did not seem to see it from her perspective.

"No landlord is going to rent to a minor—"

Suddenly Juliet shot up. "I'll cosign, your honor!"

Amelia turned to find the source of the voice and was shocked to see who it was. The judge was surprised by the sudden outburst.

"And who are you?" he asked in a suspicious tone.

Amelia answered. "She, uh, she's my birth mother."

The judge put his glasses on and said to the caseworker, "Let me see that file, please." He began to look the file over.

"Jules, what are you doing?" Shawn asked, standing up next to her.

"I told you that I needed to make sure she's okay. I have to help her, Shawn!"

"Okay, okay. I understand, Jules."

"You're a detective for the Santa Barbara Police Department, no criminal record. In possession of a working vehicle."

"Yes, sir," Juliet spoke nervously.

"And who's this with you?"

"This is my fiancé, Shawn Spencer. He works as a consultant for the SBPD."

"Do you two currently reside together?"

"Yes, your honor. We've been together for two years now and living together for a year and a half," Juliet answered.

"Mr. Spencer, do you have a criminal record?"

Shawn held his breath, not sure how to answer, so Juliet answered for him. "He's got one theft charge from when he was eighteen. He took the neighbor's car for a quick spin. He was only charged because the arresting officer was his father. The neighbor didn't even care whether or not he was charged."

"He was eighteen? So he's gone more than a decade without being charged with any other crimes?"

"Yes, your honor, and he has well made-up for his one mistake as a dumb teenager by the numerous crimes he's helped the SBPD solve since then."

Amelia suddenly interjected, confused by the line of questioning that was going on between her birth mother, her fiancé, and the judge.

"I'm sorry, what is going on?"

"I'm going to be straight with you," the judge started. "I am not granting you emancipation." Amelia was visibly upset by the judge's words. "You have no income, no place of residence. You filed a fee waiver in order to pay for the court costs! Now, Juliet O'Hara is still legally your mother."

"No, she's not!" Amelia interrupted. "I had that paper signed."

"The signature was neither witnessed nor notarized. So, unless anyone here has an objection, I'm releasing back into her temporary custody."

Juliet and Shawn's mouths both hung open. Amelia looked astounded. She had gone to court to become independent, not to end up with parents.

• • •

"Well," Amelia said, walking out of the courthouse. "That was the opposite of getting emancipated." She stormed ahead, not really sure where she was going.

This left Shawn and Juliet alone for a few moments.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Juliet asked Shawn. "You didn't really get much of a say in this, even though she's going to be living in your home too. I know you were pretty freaked out five months ago when I told you I was pregnant, but you came around. But you had a lot more time. Today, suddenly, we just ended up with a sixteen year old."

Shawn ran his finger through his hair as he took a deep breath. "Yeah, it's a little overwhelming, but I get it. She's your daughter. I realize that you're excited about getting a second chance, so I'm happy for you. But, yeah, it's a lot to handle. I think I need to go for a ride, Jules."

Juliet nodded. She was nervous about Shawn riding off when he was feeling so stressed out, but she knew he needed the fresh air. He'd just been placed with an overwhelming responsibility.

"Be safe," she told him warningly in her cop tone.

"Of course." He gave her a quick peck on the lips. "I love you," he said before leaning down and rubbing her belly softly. "And you too."

Juliet smiled as she watched Shawn walk toward his bike. She then turned, looking for Amelia. She found her sitting up against the native stone railing of the stairs.

"Hey," Jules said quietly as she approached her daughter. "Can I sit down?"

"Sure," Amelia replied dryly. "They're not my steps."

Juliet put her arm out, carefully sitting down on the step, with much difficulty due to the extra unbalanced weight on her front side.

Amelia looked at her mother after Juliet had successfully sat down. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," Jules replied, resting her hands on her stomach.

"Did you ever consider keeping me?"

Jules eyes watered as she thought of the last time she had been pregnant when she'd had to make the toughest decision of her life.

"When I first found out I was pregnant, no. But the day I found out you were a girl, I stared at the ultrasound for hours. That's how my brother found out about you. I was so distracted, looking at this picture of you, an actual little person, that I didn't even notice him coming in the room. That entire day, I kept going back and forth between my feelings, and how much I knew I loved you already, and what I thought was best for you. I honestly did think you'd be better off if I didn't keep you, that you'd be loved and provided for. That's why I ultimately decided to give you up."

Amelia nodded, taking her mother's answer in. She sighed. It seemed like Juliet really did care about her, but Amelia was so used to people hurting her that she couldn't accept yet that it was true. She eyed Juliet's stomach. "So, do I have a half-brother or sister?"

Juliet smiled at the lightened mood of the moment. "I don't know yet. I'm supposed to find out next week. Shawn wants a girl, but I'd be happy either way." Juliet laughed. "If we had a girl, she'd have her daddy so wrapped around her finger, I'm sure of it."

"Where did he go, anyway?"

"He said he was going for a ride, but I'm pretty sure he went to see his dad. They don't get along well, but it's better than it used to be, and Shawn realizes that he actually does have decent advice sometimes, hard as it is for Shawn to admit it."

"What exactly does he do as a consultant for the police department?"

Juliet smiled wryly. "He's a psychic detective."

Amelia's eyebrows shot up and her mouth hung half way open. "A psychic." She paused as Juliet nodded. "You're serious? Your fiancé is a psychic?"

"He's good at what he does," Juliet said cryptically. "When he decides to be serious, at least."

Amelia shook her head and gave a slight laugh at the idea of her new, temporary "dad" being a psychic. Yeah, right.

Juliet smiled and asked her daughter, "Are you ready to go now?"

"You don't have to take me home. I can figure something out on my own, and you won't have to bother," Amelia offered, shaking her head.

"Yes, I do, Amelia. I made a commitment, and furthermore, you're my daughter. I know that I haven't shown it well in the past, but I lo—" Juliet abruptly stopped, afraid that Amelia would be uncomfortable with the intensity of the emotions so soon, so she amended. "I care about you."

Amelia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay. Let's go then." Amelia stood and then noticed that Juliet was having difficulty getting to her feet from the steps.

"Here," Amelia spoke, offering Juliet a hand to pull her up.

"Thanks," Jules said, taking the assistance. "Come on, my car is this way."

• • •

Henry groaned, noticing the familiar motorcycle in his driveway, as his truck came to a stop in front of his house.

"Hey, Pops," Shawn said, handing his father a beer as the door opened. "Welcome home."

Shawn took a sip of his own beer as he plopped back down on his father's couch, not bothering to check to see if Henry was following him into the living room.

Henry took the cap off his bottle as he settled into a chair. "Okay, Shawn. What's the problem now?"

"I have to take care of a kid, dad."

"How many beers have you had, Shawn? Juliet's six months pregnant, I thought you were getting used to the idea of being a father."

"Chill, dad, this is my first." He took a final swig of the now empty beer and set the bottle on the table. "I was used to the idea of being a father—in three months, to a baby. My kid. Mine and Jules's."

"Cut the cryptic bullcrap, Shawn; you know I hate when you do that."

"Juliet and I just got temporary custody of her sixteen year-old daughter. I don't even know what happened. One second, Jules was volunteering to cosign a rental agreement, and the next thing I knew, the judge was giving us custody of the girl. I don't know how to deal with a teenager, dad!"

"Whoa, slow down, there, Shawn. Let's start from the beginning. Did you say Juliet has a sixteen year-old daughter?"

"Yes! Yeah, she does, and I didn't even know she existed until two days ago! And now she's going to be living with us until further notice and Jules is secretly thrilled, but I'm just scared out of my fucking mind."

Henry took a deep breath, staring at the bottle in his hands. "Listen, kid, I can't say I know anything about what's going on here, but I do know this: you've been given a lot of responsibility. For some god forsaken reason, that judge trusted you to take care of this girl, and that's what you're going to do. It won't be easy. Teenagers can be hell to deal with—trust me on that one. But that girl is counting on you and Juliet is counting on you." Henry put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Think of this as a test run. You get to practice being a dad before your baby even gets here."

"But a baby won't know when I screw stuff up. Amelia will."

"It doesn't matter how much practice you have, Shawn. You're bound to screw up from time to time—every parent does. But at least you'll have some experience to know what not to do for the next time."

"It's just so sudden. All of this came out of nowhere. I don't want to let Jules down, but I'm just feeling overwhelmed."

"Have you thought of how Juliet feels about all of this? Excited as you say she is, she's probably just as scared as you are," Henry advised. "Now, I only know what you told me of the situation, but it seems to me that this is just as sudden for her as it is for you."

Shawn nodded then sighed. "I hate it when you're right."

Henry looked toward the heavens. "Dear Lord, what is happening? Did my son—Shawn Spencer—just admit I was right? Hell must be freezing over as we speak."

"Funny, dad," Shawn spoke as he stood from the couch. "I'm going home now, but before I do, I have to say: please, for the love of all that is holy, change your shirt. Babies are crying, dogs are barking, cats are hissing. No—burn it. It's upsetting the careful balance of good and evil in the world because that shirt is worse than the devil himself."

"I like this shirt, Shawn," Henry argued as he followed his son to the door.

"Do it for the greater good."