Who: Shawn and Gus What: Kid plot When: Tuesday of kidplot Where: Gus's apartment Rating: low
Shawn was not ready to have kids of his own. He could barely be trusted to take care of a cactus and he had killed the last one of those he and Juliet had had. It wasn’t that he hated kids, but they scared him, especially when they were too little to help themselves. You were just supposed to be completely responsible for another human’s life?! WHAT?!
Shawn had heard about Gus having a kid with Jules. He knew that Gus was currently watching the kid while Juliet was called to work. When Gus opened the door to his apartment, Shawn didn’t miss a beat.. He pointed a finger at his best friend and said, “Gus. You are not allowed to have any more alternate-reality relations with Juliet. I forbid it.”
He hadn’t really expected Gus to have more than one kid, but as he looked passed Gus’ shoulder, he could see two more kids that he didn’t realize were both Martha’s kids. He blinked and looked back at his friend. “Gus. Do we need to have a talk about birth control?”
–
Gus had a headache. And that knot in his shoulder that he usually called ‘Little Shawn’ was throbbing. He was going to need a trip to the spa when this was all over. Which he hoped would be soon.
“Only these two are mine,” he said, pointing to his son with Juliet and his daughter with Martha. “The other belongs to Martha. She had a shift at the clinic, so I’m babysitting.” At least the kids were getting along, despite sharing parents and being from very different universes.”Come on in.”
*
Did he want to come in? This was three children. That was a lot! But also, he needed to assess how worth this Shawn kid was worthy of the name Shawn and also make Gus feel a little more guilty for having a kid with Juliet in another universe.. And maybe also just spend time with his friend because he was apparently DEAD SOMEWHERE ELSE.
He was multitasking.
Shawn stepped in and looked around. “You need more toys. Have you thought about Lego? If you bought a big one they could spend hours trying to put it together. Or you could get a trampoline. Or a bouncy castle - I saw one for inside at Walmart the other day.”
–
“Daddy Daddy I want a bouncy castle!”
Gus sighed at his daughter. Of course she would hear that unlike when he’d told her to brush her teeth the previous night before bed. “We’ll see,” he said. “Maybe we could go visit the water park in the TARDIS though.” That would be less potentially destructive.
Both girls squealed at that and even Shawn looked excited by the idea.
“If we do, can Uncle Shawn come with us?” he asked, wanting to get to know his namesake while he had the opportunity.
Knowing that there was a universe out there where Shawn died and that somehow led to Gus and Juliet getting together was beyond weird and part of him wanted to cling to his best friend even while another part was having trouble even looking at him. “That’s up to him,” he said, glancing over at Shawn. “What do you say, Uncle Shawn?”
*
Shawn blinked. It was a rare moment when Shawn Spencer found himself speechless and looking a little like a deer in headlights. While Shawn could talk a big game and ignore a lot off things, he hadn't really been prepared for seeing a kid that wasn't his who was named after him because apparently he was DEAD.
"I say… you have really good hair and I'm glad Gus didn't convince you to go the bald route, though I'm sure you have an equally symmetrical skull." This wasn’t the question the kid had asked, but this was the answer he initially got because this was Shawn and this is how he dealt with complicated feelings.
He blinked again when he realized that the kid with his name was still looking at him. How did kids do this? “Y-yeah, okay, sure. Waterpark TARDIS. Have to practice my cannonballs somehow.”
–
This whole thing was far beyond Gus’s comfort zone and he wasn’t surprised that Shawn seemed equally uncomfortable. “We’ll have to get swimsuits,” he said to the kids. “So maybe we can do that tomorrow.” When Martha was there to help with the shopping part. “Why don’t you go watch a movie while I talk to Uncle Shawn?”
The girls ran off debating between some princess movies. Little Shawn wrinkled his nose. “Can I play video games, Dad?” he asked.
“Sure,” Gus said. “I’ll order pizza later.”
Once the kids were gone, he looked over at his best friend. “So, uh… this is weird.”
*
“Uh, yeah, you think?” It was super weird. It was werder than thinking Buzz somehow became Detective. Sure, he’d made Junior Detective, but full on Detective? That was a weird thought.
He ran his hand through his hair as he exhaled. “Jules told me I’m dead, so I guess I can’t be too angry at other-you for keeping Jules away from all the riffraff, but I’ll admit I’m also a little judgy of other-Gus since he totally did the whole ‘my best friend is dead so let’s get married’ thing.”
–
Gus still couldn’t wrap his head around the whole situation and he didn’t blame Shawn at all for being a little judgy. “I wish I could explain his thought process, but I honestly have no idea,” he admitted. “Apparently you were dating Abigail at the time though, that’s how long ago it happened.” They hadn’t shared the entire story with their son, but from the details he gleaned, Gus was pretty sure he knew which case they were working when it happened.
“He’s a pretty neat kid,” he admitted. “But I’d much rather have you.”
*
Shawn made a face when Gus brought up Abigail. It might not be mature, but Shawn now had no place in his heart for any woman other than Jules and as far as Shawn was concerned all the other women had cooties.
“He seems like a nice kid. I mean, you named him after someone awesome so that’s not surprising.” As Shawn spoke it was probably evident that his mind was working and he was talking as he made connections. “Which means I should probably take him out on the town and give him all the pointers I know. I can’t have someone with cool hair and my name walking around without learning the required retorts, excited reactions, or the variety of names he can introduce you as to other people. - Gus! Think about all the parent-teacher opportunities!”
Suddenly now Shawn was super on board with this kid thing.
–
As much as his instinct was to argue against that, Gus managed to refrain since it sounded like this would at least make things slightly less awkward until the kids were gone. “If you want to take him out, I think he’d like that. From what he’s said, we’ve told him a lot of stories about you.” It still hurt Gus’s heart to think of raising a child that didn’t know Shawn, even if he was certain Shawn would be a bad influence.
“He’s definitely smart,” he added.
***
“That’s because you named him after me…. And probably because he has some of your magic head too.” This was a compliment for anyone who knew Shawn, though if someone outside the Shawn-circle would have probably thought he was insulting Gus.
“I gotta text Jules since I promised her I’d text to reassure her I wasn’t choking you to death, then we can try to school your kids in whatever games they’re playing.” Also he really hoped that glitter company would get his cancellation request soon.