Authors Note: So this came to me while walking my kids home from the babysitter today. They were acting very much like how I have Jane's daughter acting in this story. I wasn't sure if i should post this, so I blame Ebony10 for encouraging it :)
Disclaimer: I already have a blue eyed, blond haired cutie, so I suppose someone else can claim the one in the story :)
Dandelions as far as the eye could see. The case they were investigating had taken them to an open space park where the grass was covered in dandelions. He could see the yellow flowers peaking up from the green leaves, but what had really caught his attention was the other variety—the puffy white balls of seeds that were swaying gently in the afternoon breeze. He loved to look at all of them.
He remembered the first time his daughter had picked one of the puffy white heads. She was still a baby (well a toddler, really) and she had just discovered how to pick flowers. They had all been out for a walk: him, his wife and their daughter. She had been picking all of the dandelions that grew in the grass beside the road.
She would run ahead of them to where she saw a peak of yellow in the grass. She would pull them. Sometimes just the bud would come and sometimes the entire plant would be pulled up by the roots. She would come running back towards them and hand the flowers to her mother. She would wait until she was told thank you before running off to pick another one.
It had been an accident the first time she pulled one that was not yellow. And it had upset her when all the seeds had come out. She had started to cry. He had gone over to her and picked another, showing her how to blow on them to make the seeds fly in the air.
That had been the end of it. She no longer had an interest in picking the yellow ones. All she picked from then on was the white ones. She would pick them and blow the seeds into the air, watching them fly. When she had gotten a little older he had taught her to make a wish when blowing them.
He stood now, looking at the field of dandelions in front of him and smiling sadly as he remembered. He knelt down and picked one, twirling it between his fingers and watching as the seeds flew off. He smiled a real smile now as he watched the seeds dancing in the wind.
He looked over to where the rest of the team was standing and noticed Lisbon standing just off from the group. He picked another dandelion and walked over to where she stood.
"Make a wish." He said, holding it out in front of her.
"What?" She asked with amused confusion.
"Make a wish and blow the seeds off. If you can do it in one blow your wish comes true." He smiled at her and held the flower out to her again.
She looked at him with a question in her eyes and he returned her gaze with one that said 'just humor me.' She shook her head slightly like she couldn't believe she was going to do it, took a deep breath, closed her eyes and blew.
The seeds went flying and she opened her eyes to see Jane giving her a wild grin. "What did you wish for?"
"If I tell it won't come true." She said, smiling at him and walking off.
Jane looked at her retreating back, wondering what she had wished for. He bent down and picked another one. Not bothering to close his eyes like Lisbon had, he watched her while blowing and making his wish. He wished that he could always be there for her and smiled when he looked back down at the now empty stem.