Shawn frowned at Juliet, suddenly concerned. "Hey," he muttered, "What's up? You seem really distracted today…"

"I am not distracted!" she protested, "Just… busy."

"Mhmm…" Shawn replied, unconvinced.

She frowned back at him. "I have a really big case right now, Shawn. I'm afraid I can't just sit here and amuse you right now."

"Let me help then," Shawn offered, with a bit of a smirk.

Juliet's eyes widened, and she nearly fell out of her chair in alarm. "Umm, no, actually… You really shouldn't get involved in this case…" she said quickly.

Shawn gave her a quizzical look. "Why not?"

"You haven't been hired, it's kind of dangerous, and maybe I just want to do something myself, just this once!" she cried, voice rising a little bit towards the end.

"Alright! Alright!" Shawn cried, defensively, "I just wanted to check that you were okay…"

Juliet sighed, eyes softening. "I'm fine Shawn… just… Go hang out with Gus or something. Sorry I snapped at you, I'm just sort of stressed out right now."

Shawn frowned again. "If you're sure you don't need any help…"

She smiled, weakly. "I'm sure. Thanks though."

Shawn stood and walked slowly away from her desk, looking back at her in obvious worry and confusion.

She breathed out a sigh of relief when he was finally gone. What had she done?! There was no way she was going to make this work!

She banged her head onto her desk in despair, trying to work it all out somehow. Soon, however, she heard an awkward cough behind her.

"O'Hara…" Lassiter muttered, hesitantly, "Everything alright?"

She took a deep breath before looking up at him. "…Yeah. It's just… How can I do this, Carlton?! How could I ever tell Shawn the truth?!"

He shifted uncomfortably and quietly replied, "You'll figure it out… I know it's going to be different, but everything will turn out okay… You're going to be a great mother."

She wiped her eyes and smiled. "But… It's so sudden! I mean, what I am supposed to say?! I really want this to work, for her sake, but if I just come right out and tell him what if he gets scared off?! You know how Shawn is about responsibility… I'm not sure he's ready."

"Well, it was your decision to make, not his," he pointed out.

"Like it or not, Carlton, we're together now. Shawn and I can't do things like this to each-other… But what was I supposed to do?!" Juliet cried, panicking slightly.

"Look. I understand why you did it. I mean, after Yin killed her parents and left her all alone; of course you felt a connection-"

"But did I have to adopt her? Oh, what am I saying? I'm not changing my mind…" she fretted.

"O'Hara, what you did took a lot of courage and a lot of responsibility, but I do believe you did the right thing," Lassiter assured her.

"Really?"

"Yes, really," he said, "Lily needed you. She's sixteen… There's no way she would have been adopted at that age and with her dark history. Things like that scare people. They don't want to believe they're real."

"I know… She's really such a sweet girl, even if she is a bit… unique," Juliet sighed, "I couldn't just leave her to be an orphan forever! Especially after the case…"

"I know," Lassiter replied, "Nice work, by the way. I had no idea that her parents' murders were Yin's work! Spotting that was very clever."

She smiled again. Irritating as he could be, Carlton was like a brother to her and could really cheer her up when necessary. "Thanks. But still, what about Shawn?"

"You know how to talk to him better than I do," he pointed out, "But if he gives you a hard time, I'll shoot him."

Juliet rolled her eyes. "Please don't… Should I just… give it time…?"

Lassiter shook his head. "I can only see that going badly. Lily is already going to be strange to him and you don't need to tell him you've been lying to him."

"She's so… different... What if they don't get along?" she asked, but after an awkward pause, she laughed. "Wait. This is Shawn we're talking about!"

"Didn't you just speak to him?" he asked, suddenly, "What did you tell him?"

"He asked what was wrong and I said it was a case," she explained, guiltily.

"The aftermath of a case is more like it," he snorted.

Then they noticed Chief Vick walking towards them and struggled to act natural.

"Detective Lassiter, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked.

He nodded. "Talk to you later, O'Hara."

She nodded back and returned to her real day's work as they headed off- preparing for Lily's arrival.

How am I ever going to make this work?! She still had to wonder.