Hey all! I hope you all are well and are managing things as well as can be expected. So, I just finished this chapter today (I was super distracted by halloween costumes and other crafts) so apologies if it ends weirdly. The next chapter isn't done yet but I'm going to try to get it done by the 15th! Also, I'm gonna start posting on ao3 this month. I'll try to get this story over there soon, but we will see how easily/quickly I can post multiple chapters there.

Sharon is about 18 weeks pregnant.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 13:

*A Month later*

Thursday, June 24th

"Lassiter," Carlton answered his cell phone automatically as he typed up a report on his work computer.

"Hey Carlton, what cha doing?"

Carlton rolled his eyes as he recognized Sharon's voice. "My job."

"Okay, but are you super busy at the moment?"

"Depends on what you.…." Carlton paused as he heard a distinct noise over the phone. "Was that a gunshot?!"

"Um...maybe?"

"Where are you?!" He demanded as he quickly saved his report and stood up, snapping to get Juliet's attention.

"Okay, don't be mad, but I totally found the killer to our case last week. EEK!" There were a couple more gunshots heard.

Carlton took a deep breath as he made sure he had everything before marching to the door. "I need your location now!"

"I'm at the marina, dock 12." She whispered.

"How many shooters are there?"

"Just one, but I'm pretty sure he grabbed extra bullets from his boat, which he was going to leave town on if I hadn't confronted him."

"You confronted a murder suspect without any backup?! You're a civilian!"

"Lassie, I can't do this with you right now! I need to find a better hiding place while also keeping track of the killer and trying to lead him away from other people! If you don't have anything useful to say, then I'm hanging up!"

"No!" Carlton snapped as he got into his car. He put his phone on speaker and just barely waited for Juliet to get in the car before handing her the phone and driving off. "Don't hang up! I'll be there in 5 minutes."

"Should I call for backup?" Juliet whispered.

"Yes, the Marina, dock 12," Carlton replied as he turned the sirens on. "Sharon, what else can you tell us about the situation?" When he got no immediate reply, he asked again, "Sharon, what's going on?!"

"Sorry," Sharon whispered, sounding out of breath. "I just ran across open space to get inside this warehouse. The inside looks abandoned and smells like fish, although the whole area smells like fish. There was an old, peeling sign on the door that said 'Captain Ahab's steak and seafood'; I'm surprised that they closed with a name like that."

"What can you tell us about the shooter?"

"It's Nick Jonas, not the singer. He's the brother of our victim, Lucy Smith's, best friend Eliza. And he...crap."

"What's wrong?"

"The other doors are locked and Nicky is already halfway across the warehouse. I'm gonna have to sneak around him. Please hold."

Carlton glanced at Juliet, "Update?"

"Backup is on its way, but they might be a bit scattered since a few units are coming from an accident on the highway."

"We'll be there in a minute. We should put on our vests and check the perimeter for another entrance as we wait for backup."

"Hey, Carlton?" Sharon spoke quietly through the phone. "I'm sorry, he cornered me and, NO!"

There was a gunshot at close range, a thud, and then the line went dead.

"Carlton," Juliet began quietly, only for Carlton to shake his head.

"Tell dispatch that there is a civilian down and I am going in without backup!" Carlton quickly parked the car as close as he could to the indicated warehouse before jumping out of the car and running to the side of the warehouse facing the ocean; ignoring Juliet's calls for him to wait.

As he rounded the last corner, he noticed their suspect leaving the warehouse. "SBPD! FREEZE!"

The suspect turned towards Carlton and raised his gun but it just clicked a few times, being out of bullets. Carlton quickly tackled the man. They wrestled a bit before Carlton managed to grab both of the suspect's arms and put handcuffs on him. "Stay down!" Carlton growled as Juliet ran around the corner.

"Carlton!" Juliet pulled out her gun and tossed Carlton the first aid kit. "I've got him; go find Sharon."

Carlton quickly holstered his gun and ran into the warehouse. "Sharon!" He called as he tried to see in the dark, the only significant light coming from the open door. Cursing himself for not putting on his gear first, Carlton used the flashlight feature on his phone as he slowly checked the perimeter.

A quiet groan from the other side of the warehouse had Carlton running over. "Sharon?" He found her behind a couple of big crates, holding a hand to the wound on her temple, the other wrapped around her stomach. "Sharon, are you awake?"

"Yeah," she moaned as she squinted at him. "My head is killing me, though."

"There's a lot of blood." Carlton commented as he fumbled with the first aid kit, pulling out gauze and sterile gloves.

"Tis just a flesh wound."

"Let me see." He lifted her hand and wiped away some blood before applying a clean gauze to it. "It looks like the bullet just grazed your temple."

"I figured since I'm not dead. Unless I'm stuck in limbo right now."

"No, you're still alive."

"Good." She took a shake breath. "Did you get Nicky?"

"Yes. O'Hara has him and backup should be here any minute."

"Paramedics?"

"On their way."

"I guess there's no use pretending that I can avoid the hospital today."

"You need stitches and to be checked for a concussion."

"Oh yeah, I most def have one of those."

"Does anything else hurt?"

"My back from hitting the floor."

"What about your stomach and the baby?"

"Nah, we're good. Just protective instincts."

"Okay."

Carlton's phone rang and Sharon flinched from the loud sound. He hit the speaker button with one hand and answered quietly, "Lassiter." Sharon found his free hand and squeezed it tight.

"Hey Carlton," Juliet replied. "Did you find Sharon? Is she alright?"

"Yeah. The bullet grazed her temple and she has a concussion, but she's awake."

"That's good! Backup just arrived and the paramedics are right behind them. Are you going to hospital with her?"

"Yeah, I'll ride in the ambulance, if they let me."

"Okay. I'm having one of the uniforms take the suspect back to the station, and I'll meet you at the hospital."

"No, you should go to the station and start the interrogation. It will probably take us a few hours at the hospital and there's no point in both of us being detained."

"Alright, I'll have your car dropped off at the hospital."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," Juliet replied as she ended the call.

"You don't have to come," Sharon whispered as she kept her eyes closed.

"I want to. Besides, there's about half a dozen people who would hurt me if I didn't; and I still need to get your statement."

"Ah ha! You're just coming for professional reasons, you don't really want to go."

"I do care about you."

"I know, I'm sorry. Bad joke. Blame the concussion."

They heard commotion at the opened door, including paramedics announcing themselves. Carlton called them over before saying to Sharon. "We'll talk about this later, okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Sharon flinched at the loud noises and bright lights.

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Carlton and Sharon were waiting on the nurse to come back with the discharge papers when Gus came in. "Sharon! Are you okay?!"

Sharon flinched and held a hand to her head, "Yeah Gus, I'm fine! Although if you can lower your volume a bit, that would be great. I just got a few stitches and a tiny concussion."

Carlton snorted and stood up. "A dozen stitches and a moderate concussion."

"Eh, tomato, potato. Ow! Gus!" Sharon rubbed her arm where Gus had smacked her.

"What the hell, Sharon?!" Gus whispered harshly. "Why did you confront a murder suspect alone?! You almost got killed!"

"Okay, calm down. As I already explained to Carly, I didn't know that Nicky was gonna be there! I am a P.I., therefore I investigate. I was checking out the boat owned by Eliza and Nicky's uncle. How was I supposed to know that A) he was going to be there, B) he would have a gun, or um, 4) he wouldn't believe me when I said that I was a speedboat groupie?! It's a lot harder to flirt when you're obviously pregnant."

Gus shook his head, "I'm taking you to Henry's house."

"What?! No! I wanna go to the station with Lassie!"

"You have a concussion! You need to relax in a quiet place, not the noisy station."

"How am I supposed to get credit for catching the bad guy if I'm not at the station?"

"Technically, I caught him." Carlton replied as he put on his jacket. "You just found him and then led him on a chase."

Sharon crossed her arms and pouted. "I also called you! Don't I get brownie points for that?"

"I'll make sure the Chief pays you." He gave her a kiss on the cheek before heading for the door. "Goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?! But Lassie!" Sharon protested, but the door closed too quickly. "Damn, I was supposed to stay at his place tonight and he was going to come to my appointment in the morning. My dad is so not going to be happy."

"Where is your dad, anyways?"

"I don't remember and I can't call him. I think I lost my phone at the warehouse. I hope the cops found it. Wanna stop by the station and find out?!"

"Nice try, but we're not going to the station. How about we go back to the Psych office and you can call Lassiter from there to ask about your phone." Gus took out his phone as he noticed a nurse entering the room. "I'll call your dad now and find out what he wants to do with you tonight."

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"So, what all happened?" Gus asked as they left the hospital in his car.

Sharon shrugged as she opened the glove compartment, "I found Nicky, he chased me, and I called Lassie. Nicky cornered me, I got shot, and soon Lassie showed up. Then the paramedics came andI took me to the hospital. No big deal."

"No big deal?! You got shot in the head! Deep enough to require stitches and give you a moderate concussion!"

"I'm pretty sure hitting my head on the floor is what gave me a concussion." She found a pair of sunglasses and put them on.

"Either way, Lassiter was freaking out! Juliet said that he was so worried about you after the call dropped, that he didn't even stop to grab his bullet proof vest before running to your aid. He's gonna get reprimanded by Chief Vick for that. And did you even notice how pale he was when he left the hospital room? If I wasn't so worried about you, I would have offered the man a glass of water and a drive home."

"Okay, so there was a lot of blood when Lassie found me, but it's a head wound! They bleed! And I threw my phone at Nicky while I jumped the other way, which is why I'm still alive!"

"You need to be more careful!"

"Gah! I can't wait until I'm no longer pregnant and people will stop saying that to me!"

"We're going to keep saying that because you need to be alive in order to raise your kid."

"Never said I was keeping it." Sharon grumbled as she leaned back and closed her eyes.

"WHAT?!" Gus yelled.

Sharon groaned and covered her face. "Can we please not get into this right now?! My head is killing me."

Gus glanced at Sharon before nodding, "Sure, but we need to discuss it later. It's an important life decision, I want to make sure that you actually think this through first."

"I know, just not now." She sighed.

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When Carlton entered the Psych office around 10pm that night, he found Sharon watching a movie while Gus was asleep at his desk. "Hey," he greeted softly as he joined her on the couch.

"Hey," Sharon smiled and leaned against his shoulder. "What time is it?"

"Almost 10 o'clock."

"Ah, that explains why Gus fell asleep about a half hour ago. His bedtime is 9pm."

"Have you gotten any sleep yet?"

"No. The doctor suggested to wait at least 12 hours before sleeping; so I have about an hour to go."

"Do you want to head to my place? By the time we're ready for bed, your 12 hours should be up."

"Can I finish the movie first?! There's only like 20, 25 minutes left."

"Fine. Although, we should probably wake up Guster."

"Nah, let him sleep. Another half hour won't hurt him."

"It will hurt his back."

"It will already hurt!"

Carlton just gave her a look until she rolled her eyes and sighed, "Okay, fine." Sharon picked up a squishy ball and threw it at Gus.

Gus awoke with a start and looked around the room quickly. "Sharon!"

"Hey Gus! Isn't it past your bedtime?" Sharon smiled innocently.

Gus tsked and collected his things. "Not cool, Sharon!"

"You know what they say, payback's a bitch."

Gus sent her a glare before silently heading for the door.

Carlton shook his head as they heard the front door slam, "I'm not even going to ask."

"Best not; it'll take too long to explain." She gave him a kiss on the cheek before turning back to the movie.

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"Everything looks good," Doctor Jen said as she did an ultrasound. "No bleeding, no tearing. You're real lucky that fall didn't do any damage."

"Well, besides a concussion." Sharon joked.

"You should have had the doctor yesterday check."

"I know, but the bleeding head wound was more important and there wasn't an ultrasound available and I just wanted to get the hell out of there."

"Understandable, but you need to be more careful."

"I know, I just…." Sharon sighed. "I wasn't expecting to confront anyone, I was just following a hunch. If it didn't look like he was about to skip town, I would have let the cops handle it."

"Next time you better, or I will put you on bed rest early. Understood?"

"Yes, doctor."

"Good. Now, we're a few weeks earlier than I would normally ask, but would you like to find out the gender?"

Sharon thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "No, I'd rather not. I'm hoping for a girl so they don't inherit this curse; so I'd rather not get disappointed now."

The doctor nodded. "Okay. You'll have one more chance around 32 weeks when I perform a third ultrasound. Would you like to invite Carlton in so we can see how much they have grown?"

"Sure."

"So, what's wrong?" Sharon asked as they left the doctor's office.

Carlton sighed and rubbed his face. "The Chief called me during the first half of your appointment."

"I'm guessing not to tell you about a new case?"

"No, she told me that Internal Affairs has given me a week's suspension."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, although it could be worse. She also mentioned that Psych won't be called in for a few weeks either."

"Aw, man! So not fair!" Sharon pouted.

"How did the rest of your appointment go?"

"Fine. The baby is healthy and growing as expected. The doctor also reprimanded me for being careless and has threatened to put me on bed rest early."

"Sounds like a good idea." Carlton commented as he opened the outside door for her.

She groaned, "Not funny."

"If it will keep you out of trouble and safe, why not?"

"Ugg, you might as well put me in bubble wrap and never let me leave the house!"

"Don't tempt me. I still have some from the last time I moved."

Sharon stopped and crossed her arms. "Don't you trust me?"

"I do. I'm just worried. You seem to share Spencer and Guster's knack for finding yourself in trouble. And while I don't mind seeing Spencer get beat up a little, I don't want to see anybody get hurt. I became a cop in order to protect people and do you know how devastating it is when someone you love gets hurt because you didn't get there in time?!"

Sharon lowered her head. "Love, huh?"

Carlton cleared his throat nervously, "Yeah, I mean. There's definitely some strong feelings here and who's to say if it's love or something else."

She laughed and looked back up at him. "Well, I have some pretty strong feelings for you too, mostly positive."

"Just mostly positive?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Well, there's some annoyance when you display controlling tendencies and when you snore."

"I don't snore."

"That's what they always say! I would show you some video evidence, but my phone is broken."

"How convenient."

Sharon grinned as she leaned closer and gave him a quick kiss. "How about we get an early lunch and then just stay inside all day."

"You just ate breakfast two hours." Carlton shook his head as he opened the car door for her.

"It was just toast! I need more calories than that!"

"You told me that you were feeling nauseous from your concussion and barely agreed to toast."

"And now I'm starving! Are you really going to deny your baby mama food?"

"Are you still nauseous from your concussion?"

"Maybe a little."

"I have soup and crackers at my house, you can have those." He walked around the car and got into the driver's seat.

Sharon sighed as she got in and tried not to slam the door. "Please tell me you have the chunky kind, not the condensed.

"I honestly have no idea."

"It's not something weird, is it? Because chicken noodle or veggie sounds good, but I doubt I can stomach clam chowder or the like."

"I usually have some chicken noodle."

"Good. But we should probably stop for a pineapple smoothie."