Sorry it's been so long. Life is busy, you know? School, mostly. I know that's no excuse, for this delay was inexcusable. But I've become infected once more by the writing bug and I'm determined to finish this story very soon, hopefully before New Year's. I've got two more completed chapters and I'm halfway through a third. I'll put the others up in a few days, probably. Got to pace myself, you know. Don't want y'all to gorge yourselves after such a long fast from this story...

I made this chapter extra long just as a treat for you. There's a slight spoiler for the fall season finale, but not much at all. Enjoy!

~Jed

Three months later…

Henry placed the paint roller down in the plastic tub and stepped back to admire his handiwork. All four walls now sported an even coat of light orange paint. The color wasn't quite one he would have picked out for a baby's nursery, but whatever Juliet wanted is what she got. Last month she had wanted light blue and the month before that green…Henry sincerely hoped her hormones were satisfied with this color. He heard the door open and close as he poured the excess paint back into the can. Juliet came around the corner and leaned against the doorframe.

"It looks really good Henry. I think I'll keep it this time." She raised her hand as he stifled a remark. "I know I said that the last two times, but I'm pretty sure I mean it now. Look what I found." She reached into the bag she held, the plastic sack sporting the logo of one of the local home improvement stores. Henry recognized the object she removed as a roll of wallpaper border and he couldn't stop the smile that crossed his face when she unrolled it slightly.

The border had a lime green background, but most of the space displayed a diverse gathering of…pineapples, of course. Is anything else acceptable in the nursery for Shawn's son? Henry rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand and chuckled.

"I can come over and put it up on Saturday." He began to gather up the cloths covering the carpet.

"Great. I also have some stickers to go on the wall; more pineapples, of course."

"This kid's first solid food is going to be pineapple, isn't it?"

Juliet smiled. "You never know. It's one of the things that Shawn loved so much; how could I not incorporate it into every possible aspect of his son's life?" She took a sip of what Henry suspected was a pineapple smoothie.

"Promise me you won't take it too far; anything involving clothing and lotions would qualify."

"I use pineapple hand soap and lip gloss all the time."

Henry shook his head. "My grandson is doomed."

Juliet grinned again. "You can take him fishing whenever you wish." Her father-in-law raised his hands and looked up at the ceiling in a "praise-the-Lord" fashion. She looked down at her cup as she swirled the contents. "Henry, will you teach Teddy to be observant, like you taught Shawn?" She glanced up at him again. "I want him to have that piece of his father. Maybe not the fake psychic detective part, but I want him to notice things about life that no one else notices."

Henry looked down at his hands and scrubbed at the paint drying on them. He taught Shawn all those things mostly because he wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, to attend the police academy and become a cop like him, maybe even a detective. Shawn never wanted to do any of that, and more often than not those skills got him into trouble. Yet Juliet had a point; those skills of observation were such a big part of who Shawn was, no matter how he chose to use them. The ability to notice things and read people could come in handy too; on many occasions those skills had saved his life, or Shawn's. Except for the last time, when there was nothing those abilities could do, when his son made a choice that any person would have, to give his life for a child. He internally shook his thoughts back into order and looked in his daughter-in-law's hopeful eyes.

"Of course, Juliet; I'll teach him."

She sniffed and blinked back tears. "Thank you, Henry. It would mean so much to me."

How could he refuse?

The paint supplies cleaned up and put away, the two Spencers sat at the counter eating dinner. The television played quietly in the living room and the conversation was minimal; silence was comfortable between these two wounded souls. A loud noise caused them both to jump slightly and it took a moment for Juliet to realize the noise was her cell phone's ringtone.

"Hello?"

"Hello?" Henry watched her face twist into a frown.

"Hello?" With a sigh she pulled the phone away from her ear and pressed END. "Huh."

"Wrong number?"

"I guess so." She hadn't moved yet and was still staring at her phone. Henry could feel something in the air change.

"What's wrong?"

She still didn't look up. "I don't know…nothing, I guess. It's just-hmmph." Henry turned fully toward her and placed his hand on her shoulder. He pulled back when she jumped in shock. Now he knew something was definitely wrong.

"Juliet, what is it? What's bothering you?"

"It's noth-"

"Don't tell me it's nothing. Something is obviously bothering you and it has something to do with that phone call you just got. You may not be an active duty detective anymore but your training is still with you and right now it's telling you something is wrong."

She sighed and finally looked up at him. "I keep thinking-feeling, really, that someone is…watching me, or something." Henry sat up, now on edge. "I don't know…it started just after Shawn…I wrote it off as missing Shawn, you know, thinking he would walk into the room any moment, etcetera, etcetera… but I feel it every now and then, and I felt it again today, when I was at the store. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I walked into the store and again when I left."

"You need to tell Vick."

"Henry, it's probably just a coincidence. It's really nothing…"

"Stop telling me it's nothing! You feel like you're being watched and then you get a silent phone call. It may be a coincidence, but what if it's not? You're a cop, Juliet! You know how these things work. If this was anyone else, if it was one of your friends, what would you tell them?"

She sighed. "Go to the police. I guess…I'll call her in the morning."

Henry was already on his feet, dialing the phone. "Forget that; we're calling her now." He held the phone to his ear and waited a moment. "Karen, we might have a situation…"

Juliet groaned and carried their plates to the sink. The baby started moving as she scraped the remnants of their dinner into the garbage; she set the plate on the counter and rested her hand on her swollen belly. Seconds later she felt her son place a swift kick to where her hand lay. She rubbed the spot tenderly and closed her eyes. "We'll be okay, Teddy. We'll be okay."

Henry ended the call and placed the phone back on the base. "Karen's on her way over. You're going to tell her everything and let her decide if it's really nothing."

"Mmmhmm." She turned back to the sink and began to scrub the dishes. Henry placed his hands over hers and removed the sponge and plate.

"Honey, I know you're afraid of appearing weak, like you can't handle things yourself when you feel you should. I'd be feeling the same way. But this isn't just about you; you have your son to think about. If anything happens to you, it happens to him. We've already lost Shawn; we can't lose Teddy. So I need you to sit back and look at this from a detective's point of view. A pregnant, widowed woman feels like someone is watching her and has been doing so since her husband's death."

Juliet closed her eyes and gripped the edge of the sink. After a few moments she finally nodded and wiped at her eyes with the back of her wrist.

"Okay. You're right, though I really don't see what they'll be able to do. There's no evidence to follow- a bunch of creepy feelings and one weird phone call that could have been a legitimate wrong number."

"A good majority of wrong number callers let the person on the other end know they didn't mean to call them. You might be right- it may just be a coincidence; but let Karen decide that. Better safe than sorry and all that crap."

They moved into the living room and put on an old episode of M*A*S*H. Ten minutes later there was a knock at the door and Henry got up to answer it. A few seconds later Juliet was startled to find her old partner turning off the lights and shutting the curtains.

"Wha-Carlton? What are you doing? And what are you doing here?"

He shut off the television and stood in front of her, hands on his hips.

"When were you going to tell me someone was stalking you O'Hara?"

"I'm not even sure someone is stalking me, Carlton!"

"All those years on the force, all those years as my partner and you never stopped to think-"

"Carlton!" Vick's voice carried the sharp sting of authority and her head detective wisely shut his mouth. Henry and Karen finally came into Juliet's view and stood around her.

"Could you all just sit down, please? I don't like having to look up at you." They did so, though Lassiter scowled before resting on the arm of the loveseat across from her.

"Thank you. Now Carlton, why are you here?"

"I called him, O'Hara. I thought he might be useful. I didn't think he would go all crazy like that." She glared at the man and he looked away. Vick looked back at Juliet.

"Now tell us what's been going on."

Juliet sighed and sent a short glare in Henry's direction. "There's really not much to tell. Every now and then I feel like someone's watching me, like the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up. But when I turn around there's no one there."

Carlton was now looking at her intensely with an expression she could only describe as Detective Lassiter. She was sure if she closed her eyes and re-opened them she'd be in an interrogation room, sitting at the wrong side of the table. "How many times has this happened?"

She shook her head and rubbed at the spot between her eyes. "I don't know…at least three but I don't think any more than six."

"Six times?"

"And don't forget to tell them about the phone call." Henry spoke up from his spot on the kitchen stool.

"Phone call?"

Juliet sighed again, rubbing the same spot on her brow, this time a bit more aggressively. "Right before Henry called the Chief I got a call on my cell phone. There wasn't anyone on the other end and I just thought it was a wrong number, but Henry freaked out."

"I did not freak out."

"We'll have the lab guys look over the phone, see if they can get anything off the number that called you." Vick held her hand out for the device and Juliet gave it over.

"They won't find anything, I'll tell you that. Perp probably used a public pay phone, or a disposable cell phone. We won't get anything off of it." Lassiter was pacing across the living room, lost in his thoughts. Henry frowned at him from across the room.

"I told Henry there was nothing you'd be able to do. There's no evidence to follow."

Karen stood. "That may be true, but the phone call is a progression. My guess is pretty soon he'll progress even further. It'll give us evidence, but it may not be enough to catch him. After that it'll get far too dangerous for my liking." She turned to Juliet. "Keep an eye out; anything happens out of the ordinary, you tell me right away. Don't write anything off and use your instincts- you're one of the finest cops I've ever known and that hasn't diminished any since you left."

Juliet nodded, winced, and muttered something about soccer players as she made her way to the bathroom. Henry stood and opened the door for the cops.

"I'll be staying in the guestroom whether she likes it or not."

"Good. Keep an eye on her. I think she's so concerned about appearing weak that she's making this out to be nothing. Make sure she doesn't ignore it too much."

Lassiter spoke up. "I'll get a couple volunteers and keep a night watch until we find this guy."

"No, you don't need to go that far. We'll be fine without it."

"Now listen here, Spencer- she may not be my partner any more but I still care about her. If anything happens to her…it'd be better if she had some active duty, armed cops keeping watch."

"This is the same argument we had that day Shawn got shot and kidnapped. I am perfectly capable of defending Juliet. I've even got a weapon, licensed and all."

Lassiter took a step forward. "I really don't-"

"Carlton, enough!" The Chief's sharp tone had the detective's mouth closing immediately. "Juliet will be fine with Henry. A stakeout would be a little premature at this point. Call us if anything happens." She grabbed Lassiter's arm and pulled him out the door.

Juliet came back out of the bathroom, wrapping her sweater more tightly around herself. She sat on the couch again and Henry draped a blanket over her.

"Do you want to call Gus?"

Juliet shook her head. "Not tonight. He'll never get any sleep. I'll call him tomorrow." She rested her head on the back of the couch, her eyes closed and her brow creased with stress.

"Why is this happening Henry?"

"I don't know. But we'll stop it. We'll find him. I promise."