A/N: I own nothing. Our story begins in 2022. Shawn is 44, Henry is 65, and Maddie is around 65ish
Henry looked over at his son and smiled. "Do you need some help with that bowtie, son?"
Shawn shook his head. "Aren't these a little old school?" Shawn asked, looking down at said bowtie.
Henry gave him a look. "You know, Shawn, I know we are just getting a marriage certificate at city hall, but this is important to me. Forgive me if I want to look nice."
Shawn sighed. "I just think we look silly, but if you really think that-"
A noise came from their left, interrupting Shawn.
"You'd better check on him," Henry noted.
Shawn nodded, then walked toward his old room in his dad's house. His dad had redone the room to add a small bed for when Shawn visited with his son, and the little boy was sleeping in said toddler bed as the adults got ready.
"Daddy!" the small boy wailed, kicking off the toddler-sized Batman blanket he was under.
"Shh, I'm here Johnny," Shawn comforted, lifting the pajama-clad toddler from the bed and hugging him close.
As the little boy buried his head in Shawn's shoulder, Henry walked in.
"It's probably about time to get him ready, anyway."
"Why, again, do I need to dress up my two-year-old?" Shawn asked, ruffling the baby's sandy blonde hair.
Henry looked annoyed. "Ask your mother."
"Because I want my grandson to look nice in the pictures, Goose," Maddy answered as she swept through the door in a blue and purple print dress.
"Wow, Mads," Henry commented upon seeing her, mouth agape.
"You look nice, Mom," Shawn contributed.
She smiled.
Shawn smirked and handed his son to his mother. "Since you're insistent on dressing him up, you can do it."
Maddy nodded, accepting Johnny.
"He could also use a change," Shawn added as he and Henry walked out of the room.
"You know," Henry started as they walked down the stairs. "I wasn't sure I would see the day that Shawn Spencer actually took responsible for someone else."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dad," Shawn replied.
"Seriously, though, Shawn, I'm really proud of you."
Shawn smiled "Thanks, Dad."
"Especially alone," Henry added as an afterthought.
*Two years earlier*
*ding, dong*
"Coming," Shawn called from inside of his apartment. He had to wipe his hands on a dishrag, as he had been doing the dishes when the bell rang.
He opened the door to find a baby lying on the carpet in front of his door.
"Really?" he asked the air. He looked around, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. "This is really cliche, you know," he shouted out.
He sighed and looked down at the baby. The infant was clothed in a baby blue cap and a white onsie with ducks on it. He lay in a basket on newspaper. Shawn judged him to be no more than six weeks old.
He lifted the baby. "What's your name little guy?"
Shawn looked back down at the basket, and discovered that what he thought was newspaper was actually a note. He picked it up and began to read.
Dear Shawnie,
This is your baby. If you don't believe me, you can get a paternity test. I don't really know what I'm doing with this note. I'm sorry, Shawnie. This is our baby, but I just can't take care of him. He makes me too sad. I'm giving up my rights to him. He's all yours. He doesn't have a name. He was born at Santa Barbara General Hospital at 8:32 am on July 14. His birth certificate just says "Baby Boy Spencer." You name him. I'm sorry.
Love always,
Sherri Harris
Shawn looked down at the baby, who he now knew to be seven weeks old. "Well, buddy, it looks like it's just me and you. I think I'll call you Johnathon after my grandpa." He thought for a moment. "Yeah, Johnathon Henry."
He smiled, walking back inside.
He frowned.
"Wait, what am I thinking? I can't take care of a child!"
Shawn had been working as a private detective ever since it was discovered he is not psychic. Crime was down in the hot months in Santa Barbara, and he didn't have a lot of disposable income. He pulled out his phone and dialed the one number he knew could help him.
"Dad?"
*Present day*
"We sure have come a long way," Shawn remarked as they sat at the kitchen table.
Henry nodded. "We sure have, kid."
"I only wish Gus were still around to share in it," Shawn replied with a sigh.
Burton "Gus" Guster had suffered a terrible tragedy when his company went under. His boss refused to write a good review, and the scandal surrounding the company meant no company in California would touch him. In an attempt to make things better, Shawn and Gus had flown to the East Coast to spend a weekend in the Hamptons. While there, Gus had run into a man named Hank Lawson in a bathroom. After much pestering, the man agreed to let Gus join the HankMed team and live in the Hamptons. Thus, the two friends had gone their separate ways for the first time in 13 years. The two still communicated on a fairly regular basis, but both had busy lives and families now. Gus had married a nice woman he met out there, and they had a five-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl. Shawn met them once on a vacation a year before, at the same time that Gus met Johnny.
"I know, son." Henry comforted.
"Alright," Maddy told them, clipping a tiny bowtie on her grandson as she walked down the stairs. "Let's get this show on the road."