Monday. . .

Again

The morning light shone down on the city. Its warm glow illuminated the coastal streets and the string of buildings along the boardwalk. At the end of one building, with a particularly nice view of the beach, there was an office with bright green lettering on the window.

Most people were at work at this time of day, but a few were walking the boardwalk or lounging on the beach, enjoying the beautiful weather. The calm ocean and brilliant blue sky combined to create a peaceful, relaxing atmosphere.

The occupants inside the office were too distracted by their game to notice.

"Dude, seriously, knock it off," Gus said, glaring at Shawn. His character had just died for the fifth time that morning.

"My hand slipped," Shawn said with a smirk. "I am playing with an injury." He held up his bandaged right hand as proof.

"That's it, Shawn," Gus said, turning back to the game. "You've killed me for the last time." He started mashing buttons, staring intently at the screen.

"Doubt it," Shawn said confidently. "You say that every time we play. Your problem is that you're too trusting." He gasped dramatically as his character was blown to bits by a grenade. "Dude, not cool."

"And your problem is that you talk too much," Gus said smugly.

"I do not talk too much," Shawn said indignantly. "I'm just trying to share some of my vast wisdom with the world."

"Is that what you call it?"

Shawn and Gus turned around. "Hi Nikki," Shawn said, a warm smile filling his face. She smiled shyly back. Things were better since their talk yesterday, but this new father/daughter relationship would take some getting used to.

"Hi." She looked with interest at the screen. "What are you guys doing?"

On screen Gus's character died once again. "Not playing video games," Gus grumbled. He reached over and shut off the console.

"You don't need to stop because of me," she said quickly.

Shawn grinned. "Gus is just a sore loser."

"That's not why." Gus stood up with a glower. "It's because you cheat." He nodded at Nikki and walked over to his desk.

"Then why do you keep playing with me?" Shawn called after him. Gus was saved from coming up with a response by the phone ringing. He answered it, turning his back on Shawn.

Nikki took advantage of the open seat and plopped down next to Shawn. "So this is what a psychic detective does between cases?"

"Pretty much." He glanced over at her. "How's the arm?"

"Better." She pulled up her sleeve to show him a fresh bandage. "It's starting to itch."

"Good. That means it's healing." He looked at her sternly. "Make sure to keep changing the bandages. You don't want it to get infected."

She gave him an amused grin. "You're not going to get all overprotective every time I get a scrape, are you?"

"It's not a scrape, you were shot," he said defensively. "And of course I'm going to be overprotective. I'm your father; it's in the job description." Saying the words out loud felt weird. He had thought, someday, of having kids, but that had always been just a vague idea, somewhere far off in the future. Even now with Juliet, kids would have still been a ways down the road. Last week he would have said in a few years, maybe. Now he suddenly found himself with one.

He noticed his daughter staring at him. "What?"

She looked away, blushing. "It's nice. Having a father, I mean." She cleared her throat, glancing at him slyly. "Even if he cheats."

"You better watch it, young lady," he said, trying to channel Henry's gruff tone. "Or you're grounded." He managed to keep a straight face for a few seconds, until Nikki snorted. Then he couldn't hold the laughter back anymore and she soon joined in.

"That was the Chief," Gus said, walking over. He watched the two of them laughing for a moment and raised an eyebrow. "Do I even want to know?"

"Never mind," Shawn said, waving a hand. "Do we have a case?" he asked hopefully.

"Burglary down town," Gus said. "They think it's related to the one from last week." Shawn remembered Juliet talking about a robbery, but had been too distracted at the time to find out more.

"Can I come?" Nikki asked eagerly.

Shawn hesitated. "Well. . . " She looked pleadingly at him. "Vick said she doesn't want you at the crime scenes," he said apologetically.

She pouted, slumping back on the couch. After a moment, she looked up at him. "What did she say exactly?"

He thought back to the conversation a few days ago. A slow smile crept across his face. "That she doesn't want to hear about you wandering around crime scenes."

"If I stayed by you, I wouldn't be wandering around," she said, getting excited. "I'd be under your supervision the whole time." She grinned cheekily at him. "After all, the Chief didn't say I couldn't go to a crime scene. I just can't wander."

"That's my girl," he said proudly. "Work those loopholes!"

Gus sighed in disgust. "The two of you are going to get us in trouble."

"Just one more thing," Nikki said, suddenly serious.

Shawn frowned. "What?"

Nikki grinned. "Shotgun!" She jumped up and ran out the door.

He sputtered, getting off the couch. "Wait! You can't call shotgun," he called after her.

Gus grinned at him. "Welcome to fatherhood, Shawn," he said, following Nikki out the door.

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. This whole being a dad thing was going to be harder than he thought. It would mean some pretty big changes in his life. He hoped he was up to the challenge.

Outside, a horn honked impatiently. "Come on, dad!" Nikki called. He could hear Gus scolding her for touching the steering wheel.

He grinned to himself. Change can be a good thing. A week ago he had been sitting here, bored, hoping for something interesting to walk through the door. It was hard to believe so much had happened in so little time.

Now he had a new case, with his best friend and daughter waiting for him to get started. He chuckled to himself. He doubted 'bored' would be something he would be experiencing anytime soon.

"Challenge accepted," he said quietly, before walking out the door.

I hope everyone enjoyed the story, even if it took me longer than I expected to post it. Let me know what you thought by leaving a review.

Now that this rewrite is finished, I'll be starting work again on the sequel, Revenge For the Nerd. I'll try to get the next chapter of that up for you guys soon.