Shawn came home after a long day, only to find his very pregnant wife on the sofa, staring at a book, a look of intense concentration on her face.
“Hey, popsicle,” he called out to her and toed off his shoes in the hallway. “How are you feeling?” He walked over to where she was sitting and kissed the top of her head. Then he sat down next to her and patted her bulging stomach affectionately. “Hey, squirt,” he said to it. “Have you been nice today?”
“She has not,” Juliet informed him with a groan. “She’s been kicking my ribs all day, and I’ve been running to the bathroom like a crazy person.” She sighed. “This is all your fault, you know.”
Shawn looked at her in surprise. “My fault? How is this…” She gave him a pointed look and he smirked. “Oh. Right. Yeah, that was fun.”
Juliet, however, seemed to disagree. At least if the way she was glaring at him was anything to go by. “It was not fun, Shawn. And as soon as this thing is out we are never having fun again. We’re done.”
“Our daughter, Jules,” he corrected her patiently. “I know you’re not feeling too happy right now, but she’s not a thing.”
Juliet only sighed, still not entirely convinced. “I know that. I’m just so sick of this part. I want the good stuff to happen now.”
Shawn smiled affectionately and took her hand. “You mean the diapers and the crying? Because I can totally see how that will be fun.” Juliet laughed a little tiredly and he winked at her. “But I understand. I want the good stuff too.”
“It’s just that I need something to do. I’m a cop, Shawn. I’m not meant to be cooped up in a house all day. I need to be out there. Where the bad guys are. I need to shoot something.”
“I know, baby,” Shawn said and patted her arm.
“Baby?”
He shrugged. “It seemed like a baby kind of moment.” He looked at her. “It wasn’t?”
“It’s never a baby kind of moment. Right now I don’t even want to think about babies. I just want this thing out of me!” She groaned in frustration, and Shawn felt his heart go out to her. It was two days left until the due date, and while he knew she was as excited about this as he was, he could also understand the growing frustration. His wife, while many things, had never been particularly patient. Not to mention that she was absolutely horrible at sitting around doing nothing.
“Okay,” Shawn said with a nod, deciding it was time to change the subject. “What are you reading?” He picked up the book Juliet had been reading and looked at the cover. “Baby names?”
“Yeah,” Juliet confirmed. “I’ve been trying to find a good name for her. We can’t call her squirt forever.”
“You sure?” Shawn said with a grin. “I’m sure that would be great. Imagine having a daughter called Squirt. We would be the coolest parents ever!”
“Or the most hated,” Juliet said with a chuckle. “Anyway. I was looking through it and found a few names that I like.” She opened the book to one of the pages that had been marked off, and Shawn scanned it quickly.
“Emily?” He frowned. “I can’t have a kid named Emily.”
“Why not?” Juliet asked. “It’s a good name.”
“Sure,” he agreed, “the name is great. But I never told you about Emily Harrison, did I?”
Juliet shook her head. “Who is Emily Harrison?”
“She was my high school stalker,” he explained.
Juliet burst out laughing. “Your high school stalker?”
“Yes!” Shawn said, offended. “What, you don’t believe me?”
“I’ve seen pictures of you when you were in high school, Shawn,” she said with a giggle. “You weren’t exactly stalker material.”
Shawn gasped at her and put a hand over his heart. “That’s hurtful, Jules. I’ll have you know that I was very good-looking in high school.”
She snorted and kissed his shoulder. “Of course you were. Very hot.” She burst out laughing again and he glared at her.
“I don’t think I like what you’re implying.”
“I’m not implying anything.” She looked up at him through her eyelashes, and she pursed her lips together. He glared at her for a few seconds more, then his face softened and he bent down to kiss her.
“Fine,” he said when they broke apart. “But don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing.”
“And what is that?” she asked innocently.
Shawn furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her seriously. “You’re trying to win me over using your womanly wiles.”
“My womanly what?”
“Wiles,” he clarified. “You know, with the kissing and the big eyes. Well.” He folded his arms across his chest. “I’m not buying it. We are not naming our daughter after my high school stalker, and that’s that.”
“Fine,” Juliet agreed with a sigh. “Emily is out.” She flipped through the book again. “What about Sarah?”
Shawn shook his head. “Sorry, no can do.”
“Let me guess? In the sixth grade you were followed around by a girl named Sarah, and you’re afraid that if we name our baby Sarah she’ll be scary too?”
“Close, but no. Sarah Phelps was my babysitter when I was five. She was kind of weird. She was always singing, and she was always trying to teach me stuff. And I’m convinced she had a crush on my dad. It was kind of creepy, actually.”
Juliet snorted. “So because someone liked your dad – when you were five, might I add – then we can’t name our daughter Sarah?”
He nodded. “Exactly. No, Sarah’s out. What else do you have?”
Juliet sighed and went back to flipping through the book. “I have nothing,” she said after a while. She gave him the book. “Why don’t you give it a try?”
Shawn took the book from her and opened it to the first page. He looked at it in silence for a while, then looked up at Juliet with a smile. “Allison,” he said.
“Allison?”
Shawn nodded. “Yeah. Look here.” He showed her the page he was on. “It means ‘of the noble sort,’ which is pretty awesome. Our kid needs to have a name with an awesome meaning.”
“That she does,” Juliet agreed. “But Allison?”
“Yes,” Shawn continued. “Just think about it. She’s been out playing, and you need to call her in. It just sounds right. Also, it can be shortened to Al or Allie. Which is great. Handy.”
Juliet looked at the name in the book, then at Shawn. “Allison,” she said, trying the name out. “Allison.” She smiled and nodded. “You know what, I think you’re right.”
Shawn grinned. “Really?”
“Really.”
He laughed, delighted. “Wow, our kid has a name!” He put a hand on Juliet’s stomach again and stroked it. “Hi, Allie,” he said with a grin. “You have a name now. An awesome name.”
“You do indeed. Allison Emily Spencer,” Juliet said with a grin and put her own hand on top of Shawn’s.
“Emily?”
Juliet nodded. “Yup. Allison Emily. I don’t care about your high school stalker. I love the name Emily.”
Shawn thought about it for a second, then nodded. “Fine. At least it’s not the one with a crush on my dad.” He wrapped an arm around Juliet’s shoulders, pulling her close, then he kissed the top of her head. “Allison Emily Spencer,” he said with a grin. “It’s a good name. And she’s going to be an awesome kid.”
Juliet smiled tiredly and rested her head on Shawn’s chest. “The awesomest of them all,” she agreed with a yawn. “I just wish she could come out of there, you know?”
“I know.”
Juliet closed her eyes, and soon she was fast asleep, the name book dangling from her fingers. Shawn picked it up and put it away, then he took Juliet’s hand again and rested their intertwined fingers on top of her stomach.
“Hey, Allie,” he whispered and rubbed his thumb against what he assumed was an elbow or a heel or something equally pointy. “I’m your dad. I gave you your name, you know. And I can’t wait to see you.” He lowered his voice and bent down so that his face was just above Juliet’s stomach. “Actually, I’ll make you a deal. If you come out of there now then I promise I will never make you eat oatmeal ever.” He felt a tiny kick underneath his hand and he smiled.
“Sweet. And just so you’re not confused when you come out, I’m the good-looking one with the awesome hair.” There was another kick and his smile turned into a happy, full-on grin. “I love you too, Alliebean. And I’ll see you soon.”
Story Notes:
This is for the wonderful Jash, whose birthday it is next week. Jash is the funniest person ever, and her love for all things Shules is unbelievable. It's so great to always have someone to fangirl with, someone who gets it, who doesn't laugh at me when I go off into happy Shules-land, but who follows along and brings the picnic basket.
Happy birthday, baby. I hope it's the best one ever. I love you.
As always, thanks to CK for the beta. And Psych etc does not belong to me. No copyright infringement intended. This is all for my (and Jash's, hopefully) amusement.