Light # 3
No, I don't own Psych.
Madeline pulled her rental car up to the Santa Barbara house she had once called home. Lights were on in several rooms of the house. Henry had bought the house before they had married. With the down payment he had scraped together, his mortgage payments were less than rent on any apartment in the area. So here Henry had brought his bride, here they would bring their newborn son, Shawn. Here Henry and Madeline would raise their son, here they would argue, and here Madeline found excuse after excuse to leave. But until that last time, here was where she had always come back to. And as always, there was a light on.
Opening the car door, Madeline cautiously slid out. As she gently shut the door, she looked around. The hedges were neatly trimmed and unlike his neighbors, Henry never left any tools lying around. Maybe that was why, as cranky as Henry could be, the neighborhood tolerated him. The attention to detail and compulsive order of the property probably raised the value of the entire neighborhood. Slowly, her steps hesitant, Madeline walked up the drive, pausing next to the Norton motorcycle parked next to Henry's old (she couldn't believe he still had it) truck. She had hated that truck for years, especially as it had been the reason for Henry arresting their son. Sure, Shawn should have been disciplined for taking the truck without permission, but arresting him? That action had caused a break in the father – son relationship that still remained like a festering wound. If they would only sit down and discuss it…Wait, stop. It was Henry – that so was never gonna happen.
And the motorcycle. Henry hated that bike with a passion. Madeline knew it was fear. If Henry had his way, Shawn would be secure in a Volvo, with front and side airbags. But it was also what that motorcycle symbolized. Shawn leaving, leaving Santa Barbara, leaving his father. Henry loved their son but it was impossible for him to show it. Shawn loved his father but had never learned how to verbalize it – she blamed Henry for that.
As the lights grew brighter and Madeline drew ever closer to the house, her apprehension grew. How had Shawn reacted to the news that she was coming back to visit? His reaction couldn't be too bad – he was still here.
With a deep, calming breath, Madeline stepped up to the front door. From inside the house, she could hear Shawn and Henry's voices. Forcing her heart back into her chest, she cleared her throat and rang the doorbell. The door was opened and light flooded onto the porch. Madeline's heart clenched as she watched the smile fade from her son's face and some of the light drain from his eyes.
"Mom."
A/N - ok, that takes us to the end of season 2.