DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Mentalist or any of its characters. The show is over. That should be proof enough.

A/N: I am over the moon with the series finale. That was just beyond words. I just wish that the series didn't have to end in order for that to happen. That being said, I am not ready to part with the Mentalist quite yet, so I decided to start this story so I could still write Jane and Lisbon whenever the inspiration strikes on whatever or wherever my muse takes me. Some chapters will have spoilers, which will be noted, and others will just be non-plot related fun. Here's to seven wonderful years of The Mentalist!

***WARNING- SPOILERS FOR THE SERIES FINALE***

TALES FROM THE FAMILY JANE

CHAPTER 1: What is Happiness?

Patrick Jane propped himself up on his arm on his pillow and rested his head on his hand. He looked over at Teresa Lisbon, who was lying next to him on the bed, and smiled at her.

"I love you, Mrs. Jane," Jane said, emphasizing her new name.

Lisbon smiled back at Jane.

"I love you too, Mr. Jane." she replied.

Jane leaned forward and kissed Lisbon gently, sweetly.

It was their wedding night. As the wedding party wound down, the newlyweds quietly excused themselves from the festivities and sneaked away to celebrate their wedding night just like other newlyweds do.

Jane pulled away from their kiss slowly. He took his free hand and brushed some stray pieces of hair from Lisbon's face and then caressed her cheek with his thumb. His hand then travelled slowly down her face and neck to her shoulder and then down her arm until he reached her hand, at which point Lisbon intertwined her fingers with his. Lisbon smiled to herself as she ran her fingers over the wedding ring that now adorned the hand of the man she loved.

"I know we said- I said- that we didn't want a big wedding," Lisbon began to say as she continued to fiddle with Jane's silver ring. "But you know what? I'm glad it turned out this way. I'm glad we had all of our friends and family here to help us celebrate."

"Me too," Jane said sincerely. "But honestly, it didn't matter who was here, where we were or even what we were wearing; we could have been married by an Elvis impersonator while we stood in a bright yellow life raft in the middle of our pond while wearing clown suits," Jane replied.

He paused as he listened to the melodious sound of Lisbon giggling. "The only thing that mattered was that I got to finally marry the woman I love and nothing was going to stop me from doing that."

Lisbon raised an eyebrow at Jane.

"Not even my brothers, who got black out drunk and then proceeded to scare the entire state of Texas with their drunken dance moves?"

This time, it was Jane's turn to laugh.

"Actually, I am honored to call all of the members of the Lisbon family, my family," Jane told her. "And speaking of family,"

Jane removed his hand from Lisbon's and placed it gently over her abdomen. "Just when I thought things couldn't get any better, you gave me the greatest gift that I could ever ask for. I can't believe I'm going to be a dad again..."

Jane's statement trailed off, his bright and dreamy smile saying more than words ever could about how much Lisbon's special announcement meant to him. Lisbon placed her hand over the one that Jane had resting on her abdomen.

"That was definitely a surprise for me as well," Lisbon admitted. "But a welcome one. I had pretty much resigned myself to eventually winding up as that spinster who lived alone with her fifteen cats because she was married to the job and never made time for love or family."

"But now you get both," Jane assured her.

"I know," Lisbon said with a smile. "I couldn't be happier."

"Good," Jane replied, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. "That's the most important thing to me, the happiness of my beautiful wife and, in the near future, the happiness of our little baby Jane."

It was quiet between them for a few minutes, neither really needing nor wanting to speak. They were content to just be in each other's company.

"You know, I've been thinking," Jane finally spoke.

"Now there's a scary prospect," Lisbon replied sarcastically.

"Ha ha," Jane retorted. "I was actually thinking about happiness."

"What about it?"

"Well, I thought for years that I had been happy and that Red John had taken that happiness away from me," Jane began to say, trying to find the words to explain his innermost feelings. "But I was living a lie. I wasn't me. I was pretending to be some flashy fake psychic and, well, you know where that got me.

"And then I met you, Teresa, my favorite cute as a button firecracker of a cop. You saw me when I had nothing, when I was nothing and, against your better judgment, you fell in love with me anyway. And now that you and I are finally together, finally married, I realize that I am now truly happy. There's no need to pretend to be anything other than me. I know that you love me for me, even after all that I've put you through, and that made me realize that I am completely and truly happy."

Lisbon opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't find the words to respond to her husband's heartfelt admission. Instead, she stayed quiet and couldn't stop the tears that began welling up in her eyes as his words made her heart swell with more love than she thought possible. Jane immediately brushed them away.

"Stupid hormones," Lisbon remarked with a chuckle and a slight sniffle.

"Stupid hormones from our tiny miracle," Jane reminded her.

Lisbon nodded in agreement.

"I wouldn't give them up for anything in the world," she added.

It was no secret that both Jane and Lisbon had questioned over the course of their lives what happiness was and if they would ever achieve it. They were now coming to the realization that the answer to those questions was yes. They were finally together and were certainly looking forward to their future with their family. That was happiness.

Reviews are welcome but I go by the Golden Rule of Reviewing- review for others how you want your own stories to be reviewed (in other words, no flames or insults just for the sake of them).

Also, I only have about four more ideas for this story. If anyone has any ideas that they would like to have me take a stab at writing, feel free to leave an idea in the reviews or via PM. I will give credit for any ideas if I post them.

~Malley