At Long Last

[musicalluna]

Title: At Long Last
Fandom: Psych
Author: MusicalLuna
Rating: eT
Characters/Pairings: Henry, Shawn/Juliet
Genre: Fluff, Romance
Warnings: None
Complete: Yes
Summary: Shawn takes Juliet to meet his dad.
A/N: Okay, sorry guys, I've finally gotten to work doing a mural commission I was asked to do and it's eating up my time and my wrist's tolerance for repetative movement, so I didn't get a chance to write up the Lassiter-centric O'Spencer-ness. As a substitute, I give you something I wrote a little while ago. This one is from Henry's POV. :D
Enjoy the smush!
Disclaimer: I don't own Psych or you'd see a lot more of this stuff...


 

Henry stood at the kitchen window, sipping a cup of coffee as he watched Shawn start up the front walk with his girlfriend, who looked, frankly, terrified. Henry smiled into his cup, catching the mischievous grin on Shawn’s face just before deft fingers caught the girl in the ribs. She shrieked, squirming, and Shawn laughed, keeping at it until she too was laughing and simultaneously trying to hit him.

Shawn had had another serious girlfriend a long time ago, though Henry hadn’t learned it from him. It had been back when they weren’t on such good terms, and all Henry really knew was that it hadn’t worked out in the end. It spoke leaps and bounds about how far their relationship had come that Shawn felt the need to bring this girl—who (Henry could tell just from the look on Shawn’s face when he talked about her) could very possibly be "the one".

He chuckled as Shawn pulled the girl onto the grass, a very indignant look on her face, her cheeks flushed as she glanced anxiously at the house. Shawn captured her face with his hands and said something to which the girl’s expression morphed from annoyed anxiety to wholehearted fear. Shawn smiled and his head dipped as he kissed her tenderly.

Behind Henry, the oven timer went off and he turned to remove the roast from inside. After setting it on the table, he moved to the front door and opened it, calling, "Dinner’s ready, kids!"

He smiled as a barely discernable, "Oh my gosh," of mortification came from the girl, followed by Shawn’s delighted laughter.

"Coming, Dad!"

Henry had returned to the kitchen to set out the other dishes when the couple entered the house and he caught the end of what Shawn was saying. "…fantastic. I’m going to have to gouge Dad’s eyes out." Henry snorted and then forced the laugh down, not wanting them to know he was listening in.

"Shawn…" she said, and sounded amused and worried all at once.

"Come on."

Henry busied himself as the two of them stepped into the kitchen and looked up as though he hadn’t been eavesdropping. "’Bout time, Shawn," he said and set the crockery in his hands on the table, pulling off the pair of oven mitts he was wearing. "So this is her?"

"Nah, this is just a hooker I picked up on the way here, she was—ouch!" He grinned at the girl, who was glaring, face bright red, and said gently, "I was just kidding. Yes, Dad. This is her. This is the extraordinarily beautiful girl I’ve been telling you about."

Henry smiled and extended a hand to warmly shake hers. "Well, it’s very nice to meet you finally, Juliet."

She smiled nervously in return. "It’s nice to meet you too, sir."

"Henry," he said pointedly and then waved his hands at the table. "Come in you two, sit down."

Shawn smiled, squeezing Juliet’s hand and they sat down, Henry already working to distribute the meal. "So what made you say yes to this clown?" he asked.

Juliet smiled, glancing at Shawn. "Well…"

Dinner was even better than Henry had imagined it would be, and he was surprised to realize that despite the constant joking, Shawn was serious, focused, mature even. He watched the pair of them throughout the meal, getting to know Juliet, who was every bit as lovely as Shawn had made her out to be, and gauging just how strong Shawn’s feelings were. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Shawn intended to marry her. He didn’t have this experience with any of Shawn’s prior dating material, but if the surreptitious glances Shawn kept shooting his way (the kid still couldn’t fathom the fact that his old man was the one who had taught him to notice things) were any measure of the situation, there was no question in his mind.

It amused him, because he could see that Shawn was every bit as nervous as Juliet had been, if not more so, despite his laid-back attitude. He knew the smile he couldn’t wipe off of his face couldn’t be helping his son’s nerves, but he couldn’t help it. He was delighted that Shawn had finally found someone who really made him happy. It was about damn time.

After dinner, the three of them moved onto the porch to watch the sunset, wine glasses in hand. Shawn followed Juliet to the railing, his arms wrapped around her and his chin on her shoulder. He kissed her cheek softly and set his glass on the railing before saying, "I’m going to the bathroom, think you can handle this guy back here? I know he can be a bit of a bear, but he’s really a teddy if you squeeze him right."

Henry rolled his eyes. Juliet simply smiled and said, "I think so."

Shawn kissed her cheek again and said, "Okay. Just smack him on the nose if he gets out of hand." He turned and headed back inside, shooting a warning look at Henry, who held up his hands, an innocuous expression on his face.

When he was sure Shawn was out of earshot, he looked back at Juliet and said, "He loves you."

She blushed, biting her lip, and said softly, "I think so."

"He hasn’t told you yet?"

She sighed. "Not in so many words."

"I’ll have to talk to him about that." He smirked slightly and leaned on the porch railing beside her. "He gets that from me. I can see that he loves you in the way he looks at you though." He shifted, leveling his gaze with hers. "You’re a great girl. Perfect for him. Beautiful, funny, and you make him happier than I’ve ever seen him. That being said, I hope you’re taking him seriously, because you’ll break the kid’s heart if you’re not."

"I know," Juliet said. "I wouldn’t have agreed to date him if I hadn’t thought he were taking it seriously."

Henry smiled. "Good." He took a sip of his wine and then said, "I’m glad he chose you. You’ll be good for him."

She smiled in return. "He’s good for me too."

"All right, that’s enough talking about me behind my back," Shawn declared, emerging from the house again. Juliet smiled as he slid his arms around her. "Didn’t I tell you? A teddy bear."

Henry rolled his eyes and pointed a finger at him. "You break her heart, I’ll break your legs, Shawn. I’m serious."

"Gee, Dad, thanks for your support," he said dryly. "I don’t think you have to worry anyway. I’d probably break my own legs." Juliet grinned and Shawn’s mouth quirked into a smile just before he leaned down to kiss her again.

Henry smiled because he could see plain as day that Shawn was taking this seriously.

And that was saying something.