A/N: Just a little one-shot for Christmas. Pure fluff and full of Jisbon goodness. Hope you like it and to everyone reading this I hope you all have a very merry Christmas! :-)
Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist.
Teresa Lisbon sat in an armchair, watching in amusement at the spectacle before her. "I told you you should have untangled them on the floor." She said, trying to suppress a laugh at the sight of her husband all tangled up in the Christmas lights.
Patrick Jane looked up at her, a look of frustration on his face. "Trust me, this way is quicker!" He replied and then turned his attention back to the lights.
"We did it my way last year and I got them untangled in two minutes." She reminded him.
"It's only been a minute and a half." He pointed out to which she let out a small giggle. "Come on Patrick, let me have a go at them."
"I can do this." He said.
Teresa shook her head, "You let me do that last year, why not now?"
Patrick stopped what he was doing once more. "That's because you were six months pregnant and I wasn't about to get into an argument with you." He looked up at her and saw the humor in her beautiful green eyes. "You were cranky enough as it was." He added and Teresa threw a Christmas ornament at him. "Besides, whenever we untangle them on the floor they always get tangled up again when I pick them up to do the tree, at least this way I'm eliminating that."
Teresa rolled her eyes, "Caitlin agrees with me, don't you sweetie?" She asked the little girl sitting on her lap and then proceeded to shower her in kisses, resulting in a fit of giggles from Caitlin. "See."
"No fair, I'm outnumbered two to one." Patrick said, "I knew we should have invited Cho to help, he would have agreed with me." He joked and then moved toward his wife and daughter, a huge smile on his face. He knelt beside them and sighed dramatically, "Okay you win." He said as his daughter reached out and took hold of one of the lights in her tiny fist. "No darling," Jane told her softly, "those are for the Christmas tree." He gently coaxed the light out of her grip and then stood up and began taking the lights off himself.
Teresa laughed, "It looks like you are the Christmas tree!"
Once he had detached himself from the Christmas lights he placed them on the floor and walked over to Teresa, his arms stretched out, ready to take the baby. "Mummy's turn," he told her as he sat in the armchair and watched.
Teresa proceeded to detangle the lights in no time at all and began to place them round the tree. When she had finished she turned towards Patrick and Caitlin ready to give him a smart comment but what she saw made the words evaporate from her lips. Patrick had tied a string of tinsel around his face and was pretending to be Santa, much to the delight of his daughter. Teresa felt her heart melt at the sight and was overcome with such joy and love for the two of them.
She reached into a box of newly bought decorations and picked out a special pink Christmas ornament on which the words Baby's First Christmas were inscribed. She gave it pride of place on the tree. She looked at it and smiled, a small tear escaping from her eye. They really were a family now, she thought and then turned back to the two most important people in her life, reveling in the moment and giggling at how ridiculously adorable they both looked. After all the hard times they had both been through and after all the obstacles they'd had to defeat in order to be together; watching them now, she knew that it was more than worth it and she wanted to cherish this moment forever. She knew how lucky she was and even though Patrick was far from perfect, Teresa knew in her heart that he loved her with all of his.
While Patrick played with his daughter he could see from the corner of his eye that Teresa was watching the two of them. As he entertained the squealing nine month old he realized how far his life had come in the last few years. He would never had thought he could ever fall in love again, believing that his heart had died with Angela and Charlotte, but that special woman standing by the Christmas tree had not only resuscitated his heart but had healed his soul too and the love he felt for her grew with each passing day. He smiled and picked up his little girl, holding her close to him and planted a sweet kiss on her head. It all felt like a beautiful dream to him sometimes and he was scared that he would wake up to find himself alone in his old attic at the CBI. He always thought he'd end up a lonely old man one day.
xxxxxxx
Christmas day had finally arrived and Teresa could tell that Patrick was on edge as she watched him fumble about with the bottle of shaving cream on the bathroom sink. "Relax," she told him as he applied the product to his face, "Caitlin and her boyfriend won't be here for a few hours yet." She stood in the doorway and watched him go through his usual morning ritual, she had done this thousands of times but each time felt like that first morning when she had woken up as Mrs Teresa Jane, so many years ago. She looked at him as he ran his comb through his hair. She had always loved his curls, and although they were more silver than gold now, she still wanted to run her fingers through them at every chance she got.
He caught her looking at him through the mirror and put down his razor, a twinkle in his eyes. "A few hours huh?" He turned around and walked toward her, the shaving cream still on his face. "That means we still have time for a quickie or two." He waggled his eyebrows and then kissed her cheek. She giggled and pushed him away, swatting him playfully on his arm.
She reached for a towel to clean her face. When she was done she walked over to him and tenderly cleaned his face too making him hum in contentment. Once all the shaving cream was gone she put the towel down and took his face in her hands. "What am I going to do with you Patrick?" She asked but before he could reply she moved her face close to his and planted a slow loving kiss on his lips.
When he pulled back he looked into her eyes and softly caressed her chin with his fingers, "When was the last time we made love in the shower?"
"Oh Patrick, you can't be serious." She replied and was about to turn around when he caught her hand, pulling her closer to him.
"Oh come Teresa, I may not be a young man anymore but I can still rock your world!"
"That's true," she began, but when she saw the smug look on his face the temptation to tease him became too great, "you're not a young man anymore and I don't think that making love in the shower is going to help your back."
"My back is fine." He assured her, the lust growing in his eyes.
"Uh huh." She answered incredulously. "I did warn you to take it easy but you insisted on playing football with Wayne and Ben."
"It was thanksgiving; I hadn't seen Ben for ages, I just wanted to have a bit of fun with them. They're like family; he stills calls me uncle Patrick."
"Yes, I know," she said softly, "and having fun is fine; tackling Ben to the ground was a big mistake! What were you thinking?"
"I guess I got a little carried away." He shrugged and she sighed.
"He's twenty-six, you're...much older." She tried not to laugh but the look on his face forced a giggle from her.
He put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes, "I'm sorry you're stuck with such and old man now."
She took his hands in both of hers. "Patrick Jane," she began, her voice soft and tender, "I wouldn't trade you for anything. Do you have any idea how much I love you?"
He kissed her lovingly on her lips and smiled, "Hmm, I know."
"And," she said as she whispered in his ear, "that's never, ever going to change."
"Even when you have to feed me strained peas?" He joked.
She laughed quietly, looking deep into his eyes. "Even then, always." Teresa kissed the side of his face as he held her in his arms, "For as long as we both shall live." She gave him once last hug and then reluctantly let him go. "Now you go get ready, I've got to check on the turkey." She told him, then added, "And re-do my make up."
She walked into their bedroom and to her vanity table. She sat down, opened a small drawer and took out her make-up bag. As she looked up, her eyes caught on a shiny pink spherical object which was hanging on the mirror. She shook her in disbelief at how soon the years had flown past and although it had been twenty years since that ornament had been hung on the tree, every time she looked at it, it still brought the same feelings of love and joy that had filled her heart so long ago.