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Shawn drives his family home. Juliet holds his right hand which rests on the console while scrolling through photos she took today; they are quiet, not wanting to wake Lizzie up from her nap. Shawn winces at every honk of a car horn, but by some miracle, their six month old does not wake from the noise.
They are returning home after a long day out with the Gusters. They had met the Gusters’ had spent hours walking around San Francisco, visiting the sea lions at Pier 39 to the delight of two year old Sirius and getting lunch in a small restaurant in Chinatown. It was a fun outing. Living here, they often forget to take time to look around and see the sights that make the city famous, and Shawn is glad they were able to spend time with Gus and Selene and see Sirius and Cressida.
But it was also a long day. Carrying his daughter (and then Sirius, since Shawn can’t say no to that kid no matter how hard he tries) up and down miles of the steep San Francisco streets has turned his legs into jelly, and Shawn wants nothing more than to go home and cuddle with his wife.
Shawn parks the car in their spot in front of their building. “Little monster’s still sleeping,” he whispers quietly. He looks into the mirror- into another mirror situated in front of her seat- to look at his daughter's sleeping face. Every time he looks at her, he swears he loves her more.
“It was a long day for her.” Juliet quietly takes off her seat belt and stretches.
“Should we risk waking her up?” he asks softly.
Juliet and Shawn share a look- Shawn knew the answer to that question before he even finished saying it. She napped some while they walked around, but it wasn’t as long as she needed. “Her afternoon nap should be around an hour. Maybe we can just… wait.”
It’s be trapped in the car for forty or so minutes, or their daughter screaming bloody murder out of her exhaustion. Easy choice. He loves his daughter, would die for her in a heartbeat, but he does not want her to wake up tired. He sighs. “Waiting it is.” He fiddles with the radio, keeping the volume at a 4, just enough for them to hear the music. “I was hoping for some us time today,” he admits. “I love Gus, but with the Upton case I feel like I haven’t seen you in weeks.”
Juliet sighs. “Me too.” She grabs hold of his hand and squeezes. “You know what? This can be our us time.” Juliet shifts, opens the center console’s top to make room, and leans in to rest her head on his shoulder. "There. Just like we're in bed."
He chuckles and wraps his arm around her automatically, stroking small circles into her shoulder. He rests his head against her blonde hair and closes his eyes. “I’ll take it,” he whispers.
He finds he doesn’t really mind they’re stuck in the car after all.