OH MY GOD! I can't believe I'm finally updating this. It feels like Liam is about thirty seven years old now?

Thank you, readers, for your kind patience (and not-so-kind patience). I hope it doesn't disappoint too badly.

Juliet unlocked the door and walked inside, Gus on her heels.

She was relieved to find Shawn asleep in his blanket cocoon.

"You got lucky," Gus told her quietly.

She merely smirked at him.

She could do this. She could win the bet. It wasn't like Shawn knew everything about her. She had secrets...and although she couldn't think of any off the top of her head, she was certain she did.

She coughed, and Gus realized he was standing three feet from two sick people.

He backed up and motioned to the door. "I'm going to get going," he whispered.

"Scaredy cat," Juliet teased.

"I'm not scared; I'm just not getting sick," he declared, opening the door. "And you're on the honor system."

Juliet rolled her eyes. "You can trust me, Gus."

Gus narrowed his eyes suspiciously before grinning. "Feel better, Jules," he said, delicately closing the door behind him.

Juliet, eyeing Shawn to make sure he was actually asleep, patted the zipper pocket of her purse where she'd shoved her paperwork and she walked towards the bedroom.

She needed a shower.

Once undressed, she glanced at her stomach in the mirror. A slow grin spread across her face.

It was going to be the hardest $20 she'd ever won.

After a quick shower she crawled back into bed, ready to dream about secret little beautiful babies.

~*~*~

The swarm of police officers spread out along the coast, a picture of uniformed chaos. After weeks with the Johannsen case only growing colder, they'd had a lead. No one questioned the source.

Lassiter shouted orders, commanding the group into organization.

Henry and Liam hung around the outer edges, Henry sitting on a large, mossy log while Liam poked a stick in the soggy soil.

"Did they find them yet?"

Henry's eyes drifted to the search party. "Not yet, kiddo."

Liam, content with his assessment, continued to play with the stick. Henry, meanwhile, shifted on the log and tried to find the same level of patience that his grandson had.

Twenty minutes passed before anyone approached them.

"Hey, guys," Juliet greeted.

"Hi, Mom!" Liam dropped his stick and ran to hug her. "Hi Dad."

"Hi, Liam," Although Shawn was standing next to them, the pillow marks still etched on his face indicated he'd rather be elsewhere. "'Morning, Dad," he nodded in Henry's direction, stifling a yawn with minimal success.

"Good morning, Shawn," Henry smirked. He was impressed that Juliet had managed not only to wake him, but to drag him out there looking halfway presentable, too.

"I'm going to go check in with Lassiter," Juliet told them, heading off towards the cops. Liam returned to his stick-in-mud game.

Shawn sank down onto the log - something told Henry that if Henry were to stand, Shawn would have no problem stretching out and falling asleep. On a log.

"So Juliet's feeling better?"

"Mmm hmm," Shawn mumbled, pulling his jacket tighter around him.

"You're not?" As always, Henry could only control the majority of the concern in his voice.

"I'm better in the sense that I don't need to be chained to the bathroom anymore," he told him. "Though I do feel the need to sleep."

Shawn glanced at Liam before turning back to Henry and lowering his voice. "Jules was vague and I'm still hopped up on DayQuil. What happened?"

"Your son drew a picture."

"A picture?" Shawn repeated, suddenly finding a small reserve of energy. His eyes narrowed and his voice lowered even more. "Don't you mean you made him draw a picture?" he hissed.

"I didn't make him draw anything!" Henry defended, a little too loudly. Both men smiled when Liam turned their way. Liam smiled back and continued playing.

"I didn't make him draw anything," Henry repeated, just above a whisper. "He had a book of drawings. He never stopped - he was just too afraid to show us."

Shawn sighed. He buried his head in his hands and wished he weren't so tired.

"What was the drawing?" he asked reluctantly.

"This," Henry motioned to the police activity in the distance. "The woods. The view of the woods from the boat."

"So the family's supposed to be here?"

Henry never answered because there was a shout and a flurry of activity.

All three Spencer men looked up at the commotion.

They'd found the dog.

But they'd only found the dog, and so the search continued.

Shawn had started to doze off by the time Juliet returned. Her somber expression said it all, and Shawn was instantly more awake than he'd been all morning.

"They found them. It was... too late," she quietly informed them, although Shawn and Henry had already guessed as much.

Liam looked up, stick forgotten. "What?"

The adults shared a look before Juliet knelt down to Liam's level. "I'm sorry, Liam, but the Johannsens are gone."

Her son's jaw jutted out slightly. "They didn't look hard enough!" he insisted, breaking free of her grasp and jogging towards the police activity.

Shawn was after him before Juliet or Henry could even react.

"Liam!"

Shawn caught up with him a few yards from the base camp.

"I have to help them look, Dad, since they can't do their job."

Shawn rolled his eyes, wondering when Liam had overheard him mumbling a similar sentiment. "Liam. Buddy. Listen."

Liam stopped at the serious tone in his father's voice. He turned and looked expectantly at him. Shawn cleared his throat and squatted down.

"Liam, what, uh, what Mommy meant wasn't that the Johannsens are still missing." 'Please figure out what I'm saying,' Shawn pleaded silently, watching his son's sparkling eyes and waiting for the moment the knowledge would darken them.

But Liam was young, and he wasn't going to make it easy on him.

"Then where did they go? Why isn't everyone cheering?"

Shawn groaned. "Son, the Johannsens..." he started, then softened his tone even more. "Liam, the Johannsens are dead."

Shawn watched as his son processed the information and decided it didn't compute. "No, Dad," he insisted. "They're okay. They're in the shed. But not the dog - she escaped. But they're all okay. Katie told me. She said it's okay now and it didn't hurt. He didn't hurt them, Daddy. They're alive!"

It was hard enough dealing with the abilities Liam had without adding "talking to ghosts" to his talents. Shawn gulped and figured they could discuss that later. "They died."

By this time, Juliet and Henry had caught up to them, hovering between the two. "They died two or three days ago, sweetie," Juliet confirmed gently.

Liam shook his head, confusion and hurt etching themselves onto his face. "No. He didn't hurt them. They're fine. They're alive!" And before anyone could stop him, Liam ran off in the direction of the shed.

In a flash, Shawn and Juliet were after him, Henry not far behind. Liam, being younger and swifter and with a several second head start, made it to the crime scene first.

Luckily, Lassiter managed to stop him before he reached the bodies.

"Hey, kid. Stop. You don't want to-"

Liam ignored him, trying to slip between his legs. Lassiter was too fast, though, and picked him up. Liam struggled, but he was no match for the lanky cop.

"Listen, I know you're... a part of this case, kid, but you are not going in there."

Liam stopped thrashing and twisted in Lassiter's grip. "Why not?" he asked tearfully.

Lassiter swallowed. His eyes slipped to his partner's, who was now approaching with the two Spencers in tow. Deciding against a simple "Because," Lassiter declared, "Kids aren't allowed in crime scenes."

He placed Liam back on the mushy ground, eyeing him cautiously as if he might dart between his legs again. But it was only the child's eyes that drifted to the shed.

The four adults shared a look before Shawn took a few steps towards his son. "Come on, Liam. Let's go home."

When Shawn picked him up, Liam didn't protest, instead slumping against his shoulder. They made plans to see Henry later, and then trudged back to the car. The ride home was silent.

As soon as they were inside the house, Liam went straight to his bedroom. Shawn and Juliet sat at the table, neither one particularly talkative.

"God, Jules. I don't know what the hell to do," Shawn admitted, running a hand through his hair.

Juliet sighed and absently rubbed her stomach. "I'm not sure how much more of this he can take," she said quietly. "Or we," she added. She lifted her eyes to Shawn. "I saw those bodies. Whoever killed them did... awful things to them."

Juliet sighed again and rubbed her forehead. "I don't want him to see it, asleep or awake. But what do we do? We can't protect him from it..." she trailed off, closing her eyes. "He's too young."

"But he thought they were alive. Maybe... maybe the... maybe they're censoring it for him."

"Yeah, but that's not much help, is it? Because now he thinks he could have saved them."

Shawn inhaled and exhaled slowly. "I don't know. Maybe... maybe we should go back to Dr what's-her-face, the last one."

"The shrink?"

Shawn nodded.

"Maybe," Juliet agreed, though she doubted it would help enough. She got to her feet. "I'm going to go talk to him," she announced.

When she opened the door, Liam was curled on his side in the fetal position, a death grip on his stuffed pineapple. His eyes were open, but he was just staring into space. At least, Juliet hoped he was.

"Liam?"

He didn't move; he didn't even blink.

She walked over to the foot of the bed, slowly sitting down onto the mattress next to him. She gently touched his shoulder and he immediately responded, turning and clinging to her, burying his head into her shoulder. The force knocked her sideways, and she ended up lying awkwardly on the bed, her son hugging her side.

"You did a good thing today," she whispered, running her hand through his hair. "I'm going to talk to the Chief about getting you your own badge. I think you deserve one, don't you?"

Liam answered without moving his head, his words muffled. "I don't want a badge. I don't want to be a cop."

"You don't have to be a cop," Juliet told him. "You don't have to at all, sweetie."

"Good."

"It's okay if I'm still a cop, though, right?" Her tone was gentle, almost playful, but Liam wasn't having any of it.

"I don't care," he mumbled into her shoulder.

"Good," Juliet said, heaving a stage sigh of relief. "I hate looking for a new job."

Liam didn't smile, and they sat in silence for a moment. Juliet stared at the wall, trying to find a way to help her son.

"Mommy?" Liam asked, shifting onto his back and nestling into the crook of her shoulder. She shifted, too, settling onto her back.

"Hmm?"

He raised his eyes to meet hers. She ignored the prickling of tears in her eyes when she realized he'd been crying. "Why couldn't I help them?"

He was so young. He shouldn't even know of death - though he'd been exposed to it since birth, since before birth, really, since she was working cases right up until her water broke. How could she answer questions that she didn't know the answers to? 'Why is the sky blue?' she could handle. Hell, even 'Where do babies come from?' was easier than this.

"Sometimes there's only so much help we can give. Sometimes we're too late, or it's not enough."

"Why?" he demanded angrily, sitting up and turning an accusatory face towards her.

"I really don't know," she answered honestly, sitting up. "Being a cop... you know, it's only sometimes that you can't help. Most of the time, almost all of the time, we can help .So all those times we can help make it easier to deal with the few times that we can't," Juliet paused, feeling like she'd been rambling. "Does that make any sense?"

Liam considered it. "A little."

"Do you remember when we went to the zoo a few months ago?"

Liam nodded.

"You know how I met you there? And I was grouchy-"

"Really grouchy," he interrupted.

Juliet smiled slightly. "Yes, really grouchy," she amended. "I was in a bad mood that day because we had a case we couldn't solve."

"Did Daddy help?"

"Not even Daddy could solve it."

"Oh."

"You're not old enough yet for all the unfairness and all the problems of the world."

"I'm almost five!" he protested.

"I know, I know," she comforted with a smile. "But sometimes I don't think I'm even old enough. You won't be an adult for a long, long time. You shouldn't have to worry about things. You shouldn't have to think about saving people and solving cases. You should... you should be playing outside, tracking mud on my clean carpets... writing on the walls with markers."

"I can write on the walls?" Liam asked, a sense of wonder in his question.

Juliet couldn't help but laugh. "No. Please don't. But you know what I mean, right? I don't want you to worry about these grown up things. Okay? Whatever you see, I want you to tell me or Daddy or Grandpa or Uncle Gus, and we'll help. No more hiding your drawings. Okay? You're not alone, Liam. You're never alone. Do you understand?

"Yes," Liam nodded, and for the first time Juliet felt like maybe things would be better.