A/N: oh god. I'm sorry it's been so long. I went on a cruise the first week of January and have had no inspiration to write since. But it's been too long, so I'm pulling out one of the chapters from my files, even though I haven't added to it anymore. (I've already written 14 full chapters though, and like 200 words of chapter 15.) Hopefully posting this and getting a few reviews will jump start my inspiration. I could use some. Sorry for the wait!

LUX 07

The next day, Shawn was with Gus at the victim's house, trying to gather as much information as he could in the short amount of time they had.

Their victim was a thirty-seven year old investment banker. He was married, but they had yet to find his wife. Her friends didn't think she had any vacation plans, but her boss said she'd taken three days off for a vacation. It was rather suspicious.

On top of that, Shawn was noticing many potential motives for this man's murder. He did not seem like a very good guy.

"Not only was this guy defrauding 90 percent of his clients, but he was cheating on his wife as well," Shawn commented as he looked through the man's emails.

Gus rolled his eyes. "Why are all our murder victims lying, cheating jerks?"

"Jerks are the ones that people want to get rid of."

"I hear that."

Shawn took a look at his phone and noticed it was ten till noon. He was supposed to meet Jules at the station at 12:00 so they could drive together to her doctor's appointment. They were going to find out the sex of their baby today.

"Time to go, Gus. You need to drop me off at the station."

"Right, you and Jules are finding out if you're having a boy or a girl today, aren't you?"

"Yeah, we are," Shawn answered with a large smile plastering his face. Gus was still constantly surprised at Shawn's maturity when it came to the idea of becoming a father. It was a major change from the Shawn Gus knew just a few years ago.

The two began to walk toward the door, but Gus stopped them. "Shawn, your Sprite," he reminded.

Shawn gave a short nod as he picked up his can of soda. "Right, thanks, buddy."

• • •

"Hey, Jules," Shawn greeted as he walked into the Santa Barbara Police Department. "Ready to go?" He leaned down to give her a quick kiss before turning to grab her coat from the coat tree near her desk. Jules had been less strict about no PDA at the station since they'd told everyone that she was pregnant, but she still insisted that, if they did kiss, it had to be short and chaste.

"Yeah, let me just save this file," said Jules as she began to stand from her desk. Once she was up, Shawn helped Jules put her jacket on.

"I'm nervous," Jules admitted as she took Shawn's hand. He placed his other hand on her stomach and turned to face her.

"Why are you nervous?" Shawn asked concernedly.

Jules placed her other hand atop the one of Shawn's that was resting on her baby bump. "I'm not really sure. I think it's that knowing if we're having a boy or a girl...it makes it feel so much more real. We'll be that much closer to having a tiny baby to take care of."

Shawn's breath hitched slightly as he took in Juliet's words. She was right. They were going to be parents in barely 3 months.

"We can do this," Shawn told Juliet confidently. "And for the record, I'll be happy whether the baby is a boy or a girl because it will be a little piece of you mixed with a little piece of me." Shawn smirked. "I just hope the kid doesn't have my nose. A sniffer this big will not look good on a little baby's face."

Juliet laughed and kissed Shawn, a little longer than either of them was used to doing in public. "I love you," she murmured against his lips.

"Love you, too." Shawn smiled and turned, pulling her along with him. "Got the keys?"

Juliet nodded and held them up, letting Shawn take them from her hands so he could do the driving.

• • •

Twenty minutes later, Shawn and Juliet were seated in an exam room waiting for an ultrasound technician. Suddenly Juliet sat up from her reclined position.

"Do you think I should've invited Amelia to come?" Juliet inquired. "This is, after all, her half-sibling. Or would that have been weird? It probably would be weird since she's only known me for a week."

Shawn laughed at his fiancée's ability to work through her own question herself. "We'll tell her as soon as we get home, and then maybe invite her to the next appointment after you guys have gotten to know each other more."

Juliet nodded and was about to speak when a knock came at the door. She assented to the entrance of the person at the door, ready and now just purely excited to find out if she and Shawn would be having a baby boy or a baby girl.

"Good afternoon, my name is Gina. You must be Juliet," the technician greeted with a warm smile, offering her hand to shake. She then turned to Shawn. "And I take it you are the proud father?"

He shook Gina's hand. "Yes, Shawn Spencer. Nice to meet you."

"Fantastic. Well, let's get the machine turned on and look at your baby! You two would like to find out the gender, correct?"

"Yes," Shawn and Juliet answered together.

Gina explained that she would be putting a cold gel onto Juliet's stomach and then began to run the wand across her abdomen. She switched something on and suddenly a light thumping filled the room. "That's your baby's heartbeat," Gina explained. "It is incredibly strong. This is perfect; the baby is in a great position to determine the gender." She studied the screen carefully. "Congratulations, you two are having a little boy." Gina then took a picture of the screen and announced that she would leave them alone for a bit while she went to retrieve the copy of the ultrasound.

Juliet's face froze in utter excitement. She didn't even know how to respond. They were having a boy—hers and Shawn's son.

She looked over to Shawn who was staring off into space. "Shawn, are you okay?"

"I just hope he takes after you, Jules," Shawn explained with a laugh. "I was a trouble-maker."

Jules smiled at the thought of a little Shawn of her own.

"Our lives are going to be exciting," Jules mused, placing her hands on her stomach, out of the way of the ultrasound gel.

Shawn grabbed some tissues and began wiping it off her stomach for her. He then gently kissed her lips and then brought his own to her belly.

"Hey, little guy. It's your daddy. We're really excited to meet you."

Juliet's heart fluttered the way it always did when Shawn talked to her stomach. She loved how paternal he was turning out to be. He was actually capable of putting aside his immaturity and acting like an adult in this situation, and it made Juliet incredibly happy.

• • •

After their doctor's appointment, Shawn and Juliet went back home because Jules was going to take the rest of the day off. When they got home, Juliet went into their bedroom and opened the closet, pulling out a Barnes and Noble shopping bag. She then went back out to the living room, seeing Shawn sitting on the couch.

Jules sat down, her back against the arm of the couch and her legs resting on top of Shawn's.

"Are you going to read me a story?" Shawn questioned in a childish voice.

"No," Jules laughed, pulling the book from the bag which was already dog-eared on certain pages. "Can we talk about names?" she inquired with an innocent smile.

"You bought an entire book on baby names?" Shawn contested, rubbing his hand on Juliet's knee. "Do you realize that there have to be hundreds of free websites dedicated to this very subject?"

Juliet bit her lip and brought the book up to her face, blocking it as a smile formed. "I got excited."

Shawn pushed the book down and leaned in to kiss Juliet. "Alright, do you have a jumping off point, or are we just going to start at A and continue until we get to Z?"

"I've got a couple of ideas of names that have stuck out to me and go well with Spencer."

Shawn smirked. "How long have you been thinking of names that go well with my last name?"

Juliet blushed and looked away as she spoke. "Uh, like three years," she admitted.

Shawn ran his fingers through his hair as a cocky smile spread across his face. "You were pining for me."

Juliet playfully slapped Shawn across the chest. "Shut up. You were pining for me for way longer. 'Close talking?' Right, that was convincing."

Shawn raised his eyebrows but then sighed as he realized she was right. "Okay, so what names do you have in mind?"

"Okay," Jules started, flipping to the first saved page. "The first name I have is Aiden."

Shawn twisted his lips so they were bunched to one side "Hmmm, it's cute, but I don't like that there isn't much nickname potential. What do you call him other than Aiden? Not Aid or Aidy," Shawn mused. "Maybe a middle name," he suggested. Juliet nodded and realized that what Shawn was saying was completely true. "Or Brayden would make a good first name because then you could call him Brady."

"I like that," Juliet agreed, reaching for a pen on the table behind the couch to add the name in the margin rather than trying to find it on another page. "Okay, next is Christopher," Jules continued as she opened the next bookmarked page. "I think it flows better as a middle name, though, for some reason." Shawn nodded in agreement as Juliet moved on. "On this page, I underlined Evan. We could call him Ev."

"I like it. Definitely keep it on the list for first name possibilities."

"I have Levi bookmarked, but this is one that I specifically saved as a middle name potential. I wouldn't want it to be his first name."

"What's on that page?" Shawn questioned, pointing to a dog-eared page that Jules had skipped.

"Huh? Oh, I missed that one. It's Edward," Jules answered.

"No, vetoed. Absolutely not. In the past few years, and surely in the years to come, there has been and will be an influx of children named Edward due to Twilight fans procreating." Shawn shook his head adamantly, asserting his decision even further.

"Oh, god, you're right. Definitely not," Juliet concluded, putting several lines through the aforementioned name. Juliet then flipped past Levi and to the M section where she saw the name Matthew circled. "Matthew is one of my favorites," she admitted. "I think it has the best ring and there are a lot of middle names that go well with it."

"Matthew Spencer. Matt Spencer. Matty. Matt," Shawn tested, wanting to make sure he liked the sound of it. "I do like it."

Juliet smiled, glad her fiancé seemed to be on the same page as her so far. "What about Nicholas?" Juliet suggested, flipping to the next page.

"Hmmm," Shawn considered, making a slight face at the name. "Something about it doesn't sound right as a first name." Shawn paused, thinking silently. "Matthew Nicholas Spencer has a nice ring to it."

Juliet nodded in agreement, making a note on the name Nicholas. "The last one I have is Zachary."

Shawn ran the name through his head, mentally testing it out. "Zachary, that's a good one. I think that one might rival Matthew."

"Do you have any name suggestions?" Jules inquired, wanting to include Shawn in the process of coming up with ideas, not just with voting on the names she picked out.

Shawn brought a finger to his temple as if the spirits were going to decide him in his decision of what to name his son. "Dobby."

"No!"

"Hagrid."

"No Harry Potter names, Shawn!" Juliet insisted.

"Fine," Shawn conceded, drawing out the one syllable of the word 'fine.' "Ferris."

"You're not naming our son after a character from an eighties movie!"

"So that would mean it's a no on 'Indiana' too?" Shawn clarified.

"No Indiana," Juliet enforced. Shawn opened his mouth to continue, but Juliet cut him off. "We're not naming him after Harrison Ford, either, so don't even think about it!"

Shawn pouted, but continued to think of possible names. "Napoleon?"

Juliet shook her head, glaring softly at Shawn.

"Aw, come on, Jules! Napoleon is a strong name!"

"That may be true, but it's also rather archaic. Not to mention, ever since I read Animal Farm, the name makes me think of a pig." Juliet stared off into space for a moment, picturing something, and then shook her head out of the daydream.

Shawn sighed. "What about Romeo?"

Juliet's mouth dropped slightly open. "You can't be serious."

"I can be serious!" Shawn argued. "But I wasn't when I said Romeo. That would be silly for a mother and son to be Romeo and Juliet. Disturbing, really. I am, however, serious about this one: Nemo."

"A cartoon fish?"

"Finding Nemo was hardly what one might call cartoon! There's a huge difference between animated and cartoon, especially when the animated one is computer generated! The Lion King—that's a cartoon." Shawn's eyebrows suddenly shot up as he thought of another idea.

"Simba!"

"Shawn, please be serious," Juliet pleaded.

"No, Jules, I am serious about this one! Then I'd be able to say to him, 'Simba, I am your father.'"

Juliet rolled her eyes at her fiancé. "Darth Vader said that to Luke."

"Don't be silly, Jules. Darth Vader is from Star Wars, not The Lion King."

Juliet shook her head, not bothering to further explain anything. "Do you have any suggestions that aren't from Disney movies, 80s movies, movie actors, or Shakespeare?"

Shawn twisted his lips to the side like he often did when he was considering something. "Matthew. I think it's Matthew."

Juliet smiled at the fact that Shawn regained his seriousness. "You really like that name?"

Shawn nodded, reaching over and rubbing his fiancée's stomach. "Definitely. It feels right. How about you make a list of all the options we have for middle names and we'll see how we like them with Matthew."

Juliet flipped back to the page where Matthew was listed and began to scribble in the margins.

Matthew Levi

Matthew Nicholas

Matthew Aiden

Matthew Christopher

Shawn took a look at the list then stole the pen from Juliet's hand, crossing out Matthew Christopher. "It doesn't sound right," he explained and Juliet agreed. She had thought of the middle name Christopher as something that would've gone better with the name Evan or Brayden.

"I think we should keep these three names on this list and not choose yet," Juliet suggested. "We may realize as we get closer that we like one more than the others."

Shawn nodded in agreement and then bowed his head toward Juliet's belly. "Hey, Matty. It's your dad. Your momma and I are really excited to meet you. We're not sure what your middle name is going to be yet, but we do know your name is Matthew Spencer. We're going to love you so much. We already do, actually." Shawn pushed the hem of Juliet's top up slightly so he could place a gentle kiss on her bare stomach. When he looked up, he noticed Juliet had tears streaming down her face.

"Are you okay?" Shawn asked concernedly.

"Sorry," Juliet apologized, wiping the tears from her face, "it's these crazy hormones. I'm either crying or screaming, hungry or horny. It's impossible to keep my emotions in check, which is weird for me since I've always been so good at hiding my emotions. You learn to be when you have older brothers, or else they'll use it against you, and I've used that to my advantage to show no little emotions since I'm a cop."

Shawn helped Juliet wipe away another tear and then smirked. "Hungry or horny? So which one are you now?"

Juliet smiled, any tears now long gone. "I'll give you a hint." She then proceeded to lean in and kiss Shawn passionately, running her fingers through his hair.

"We should probably take this to the bedroom."

A/N: I really love baby names... :)