A/N: Hey you guuuuys! So yesterday it was my birthday and because I was so busy then I'm posting this little birthday gift from me to you today! Most of you know it used to be an annual tradition of mine but then I sort of stopped writing fanfics fulltime so just bringing it back this year. Just bear with me.
This fic is nothing but fluff, but there is some language in there. I wanted to write something that was a little different from my other ones, in which Lisbon has the best pregnancy ever and does not have any mood swings or whatever. This is the result!
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. Would be a lovely birthday present, tho.
'Blaming Hormones'
All in all, Teresa Lisbon loved to be pregnant. All of the little signs indicating the growing of a little baby in her belly excited her beyond belief, and she let everybody know how happy she was.
At least, that was her most prominent emotion. And perhaps in public, she kept up appearances, but in the comfort and safety of home, she let the hormones rage.
Patrick Jane loved it. She sometimes complained about the littlest things, got emotional when they were watching their shows, and groaned and moaned and grunted as her growing belly got more in the way with every passing day. But he loved to see her like this, totally out of character but full of life - literally.
He was reading a book in the living room when she waggled past, her language colorful and elegant - for a sailor. If they were in a reality show, 90% of her words would be censored.
"Where is that god damn black sweater, damnit?"
"Hmm?"
She groaned and moved to walk upstairs, when his words stopped her.
"You mean this sweater?" He raised his hand, with the possible missing sweater in it. He kept his voice light, because he did not want to provoke her, and he knew how she could be in these moods. It was really not her fault. "You know, the one you left on the couch yesterday because the heating was on too high?"
She turned around and he saw a slight blush creeping on her, starting in her neck and spreading to her cheeks. She took the sweater from him, determined to continue with what she was doing, but he would have none of it.
His hand grabbed her wrist, and before she knew it, she was on the couch in between his legs, her back against his chest and his arms tightly around her.
"Hey," he said, softly, "just take a breath."
"I'm sorry, Jane," she whispered. "I don't know what comes over me sometimes."
"I do. You're pregnant. You're allowed to be hormonal and irritated. But you should remember to always take a breath when things get too hard to handle."
"I really love being pregnant, though," she stated after a while, leaning her head fully against his chest, and he felt her muscles relaxing already. He couldn't believe it, but somehow he had a calming influence on her. She was so relaxed, however, that eventually, he felt the sobs more than he heard them. His hands reached out instinctively to hold hers, rubbing soothing circles on the knuckles.
"I'm horrible to you sometimes."
Sometimes? He let it slide.
"I'm so sorry."
He shook his head and landed a small kiss in her hair.
"No. You have nothing to apologize for. Being pregnant is hard work. You underestimate it too much."
She nodded and held onto his hands, placing them both on her belly eventually.
"Alright, you take a short nap on the couch, and I'll have some decaf coffee ready when you wake up."
"You're too good to me," she whispered, but she didn't protest when he slipped out from behind her and pushed her onto her side. Her belly wasn't too big yet, but it was big enough to require some pillows for her to be comfortable. It was a familiar routine, something he helped her with every night, and it excited him beyond words to be so close to her belly.
"Just repaying you for years of unconditional love."
She smiled faintly, already drifting off to sleep, he could tell.
"For what it's worth," he whispered, kissing her lips faintly, "any remaining mood swings wear off in the third trimester."
She chuckled and rolled her eyes. She knew too that that was a long way from where they were now, but he hoped for her sake that she got lucky eventually and she felt better about herself and the hormones.
"I love you," she whispered. "I don't deserve you."
"You do deserve me, and you'll have me, and, I love you too."
She fell asleep without any other words, and he kissed her forehead, before tucking her in with the blanket they kept beside the couch.
He loved to see what impact their baby had on her, even though he felt bad about her mood swings and a little guilty about putting her in this state of being in the first place. But her bad moments did not outweigh her good, and she showered him with love, so much love he was filled to the brim, and then some.
~...~
She had learned her lesson, for as much as there was a lesson to be learned, but her language didn't wear off. He didn't mind, though, actually found it quite hilarious to look at her swearing because a pickle wouldn't get back in its jar.
She came home one day, somewhere at the end of her second trimester, and he could see on her face that she had had a tough day, but he knew it wasn't always up to him to point that out to her. She still didn't like him reading her mind - well, her body language, but to her it was the same thing.
"Hey."
She smiled faintly and kissed his lips, but she didn't turn away and carried on with her usual tasks. Instead, she sat down beside him on the couch and put her head on his shoulder.
"I had a shit day."
He nodded and wrapped an arm around her tightly, pulling her impossibly close. He had thought in the beginning of their relationship that she wouldn't be the cuddly type, had pegged her more as a person to keep everything inside and suffer quietly and alone, but it turned out she was quite good in finding comfort with him, even if she didn't do it often. His talk a few weeks back, telling her to take a breath from time to time, had really helped her to calm down and that was usually in his arms. This moment, however, was the first time since the little incident that she found support physically, rather than verbally.
"You want to talk about it?"
"No."
"Okay."
"I just want to lay in your arms for a while."
"That's something I can help you with."
She smiled softly as they cuddled for a while, and he felt her get sleepy again, something she often had when she was in his arms, and she always blamed his comfortable warmth and his strong arms, pretty much protecting her and their unborn baby from the rest of the world.
"I'm sorry for my behavior the last couple of months. You were only trying to help me and I should have known."
"It's okay, Teresa. I know how hormones can make someone feel, not from personal experience, but… Angela had a lot of mood swings, too, when she was pregnant, so I'm used to it, and… I love seeing how our baby affects you, even if I sometimes have to carry the brunt of your rage. It's okay. I'll do that with love, and pride, because even though I wish you could have had a better pregnancy, I don't regret getting you pregnant. And… I hope in time you'll see the whole picture, too."
She nodded, and her hand holding onto his arm signaled that she was getting emotional again. He had already known her quite well before they had gotten together, but he wasn't ashamed to say that he learned something new about her every day.
"I do," she whispered. "It's just hard to stay positive when everything hurts so much."
He nodded, too, and looked down at her, some tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, and he brushed her cheek, tucked some strands of hair behind her ear.
"Anything I can do to help with that?"
She shook her head, her eyelids drooping a little, and she moved his arms closer around her.
"Mmmmh. Just… let me just stay here for a while," she whispered, obviously already drifting off to sleep, and he held her close, tried to make her as comfortable as possible, before she fully succumbed to her exhaustion.
He had wanted to do a great many things that afternoon, but with his tired, pregnant wife in his arms, everything disappeared and he could only look at her, admire her, so beautiful.
He was so proud of her. She would never know how much. And he settled for an afternoon of watching her sleep, while he dreamed about their future, the many years he hoped he could spend with her, the baby that was currently safely tucked away in her womb growing up between them, and perhaps the universe would bless them with more children - that was, as long as she agreed to a second pregnancy.
In any case, his life was at its best when he was her husband.
~...~
Both Teresa and their baby had the same characteristics, and he loved seeing all of them, finding out the little things they did that they had in common.
On the outside, little Daisy Jane was the spitting image of her father, with the same nose, the same smile, his eyes. On the inside, however, Daisy was definitely like her mother. Even if they hadn't seen much of her, were just getting to know her, it was visible in the tiniest things she did.
He especially loved looking at the two of them sleeping in the big king-sized bed, Teresa carefully holding onto Daisy's tiny hand, as though she was afraid the little girl would disappear if she didn't.
He kissed Teresa's forehead, almost without thinking about it, and she smiled in her sleep, her nose scrunching up a little in response, and it made him smile, too.
Curious as to how Daisy would respond to his affection, he pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, watching her with awe. A small smile, then the scrunching of her nose, plus the adorable sight of her tiny fists coming up to her face on instinct.
So much like her mother. And he loved them more than anything in his life.
"Hey," he heard a familiar voice whisper, and he looked up at Teresa, who was smiling sleepily at him. He lay down beside Daisy, so their little girl was in between them, still peacefully asleep. Their hands met each other on Daisy's belly, entwining, his thumb instinctively rubbing circles on her knuckles.
"Hey. How are you?"
Daisy was barely three weeks old, and while Teresa had been cleared to go home, the birth had impacted her greatly, and not necessarily in a positive way. She could only walk after a week, and still she struggled with walking long distances, her body basically wrecked.
She hadn't complained once though, as opposed to when she had been pregnant and everything had hurt. She took the pains after giving birth like a champ, more than happy with the result.
"I'm so happy," she whispered, tears quickly filling her eyes as she made herself get a little upset again. These weren't tears of pain or unhappiness, though - she was perfectly happy with how things had turned out.
He smiled faintly at her little reference, thinking back quickly to the moment she had revealed to him that she was pregnant, on their wedding day, with just the two of them looking out over their newly purchased cabin, and their loving friends and family.
"No pain?"
"Everything hurts, but I'll take the pain gladly." She looked down at her newborn daughter, who fussed for a moment but quieted when Teresa made herself known in the form of her lips against the girl's tiny hand.
"You want me to take her off of you so you can rest a little?"
The thought seemed to horrify her, her eyes going wide, and he chuckled. He could read her like a book.
"Nope. I'd rather stay here for a while longer."
He couldn't blame her.
"Rest, Teresa. I've got you both."
That brought a smile to her face, and he knew by the look on her face that she would have kissed him, but she was too tired at the moment. It didn't matter now. He knew how much she loved him.
~...~
Daisy loved her naps, only sometimes complaining when they put her to bed, but that was mainly because she wasn't finished playing with her toys yet.
Teresa loved to nap next to her, not even meaning to sleep most of the time, but accidentally catching some much needed nap hours.
"Close, Mummy," Daisy ordered, putting her tiny hand over Teresa's eyes, accidentally poking her eyes in the process, but she hardly felt it. "'ap."
"I'll take a nap in a moment."
"Now."
Daisy chuckled when her mother smiled and settled down beside her on the couch, pulling her 16 month old daughter in her arms and cuddling her close. The girl was giggling for a few minutes but she was gone quickly, softly snoring like only she could.
She admired the girl. She didn't know what her favorite part of her daughter was, perhaps her dark curls, her light green eyes and the adorable smile, but she was so incredibly beautiful that nothing stood out more than the other. She was perfectly balanced, and that made her perfect.
"Copy-paste."
She looked up and saw Jane walking into the living room, smiling at her.
"What?"
"Copy-paste. She's almost a literal copy of you."
"She's not. Well, not a hundred percent anyway."
He smiled and shook his head, leaning down to kiss her lips in greeting. He moved away but a hand in his curls from her stopped him.
"Hey."
He smiled and sat on the little space the two girls left on the couch, kissing her again, lingering maybe a little bit too long.
They split caring for Daisy almost equally - from Monday to Friday, Jane was home three days a week, and Lisbon the other two. The weekends, they were both off, which was a deliberate choice, because they sometimes lived past each other a little, even if they didn't want to. Especially her job got in the way of family time on several occasions. She tried to prevent it, but it didn't always work out the way she wanted to.
"Do you want to take a nap?"
She almost hated to admit it, but a full day with Daisy could tire her out as though she had run an entire marathon. Not that she wasn't enjoying spending time with her daughter, because she really was.
"Yes, please."
He chuckled and nodded, but as he was about to pick up Daisy to relief Teresa of her sleeping form, the latter shook her head.
"I'll do it, thanks."
She tucked in Daisy into her mermaid and pirates themed bed, before turning into her own, setting an alarm so she wouldn't oversleep too much. She would hate for Jane to spend the entire afternoon alone.
~...~
He couldn't stop himself from peeking into their rooms briefly, watching his girls take their well-deserved naps. He noticed however on Teresa's side of the bed that her alarm was turned on. He thought about turning it off but she would probably kill him for that, so he just let her be.
A little while later Teresa joined him on the couch, wiggling her way underneath one of his arms which was holding a book. It reminded him of Daisy when she needed attention, and the thought of his adult wife acting like their toddler daughter brought a smile to his face.
"I was thinking," she started, no traces of sleep in her voice, which made him wonder if she had slept in the first place. She didn't continue her sentence, however, as though something was keeping her back.
"Thinking's good."
He had hardly finished his sentence before she started a new one.
"I wouldn't mind having another baby."
That startled him. She looked at him seriously, all jokes cast aside.
She had been held back from getting pregnant again by her, quite honestly, traumatising pregnancy and birth, and the thought of having to go through all that again was enough to terrify her. And he knew, because they had discussed it before.
He had been okay with it… after a while. But he recognised the reality that it was her body, so ultimately, it was her choice. She had to go through pregnancy and childbirth and if she wasn't ready for it, he didn't want to force her. He would make her incredibly unhappy, he knew, and she deserved better than that.
"I know it's such a sudden decision, but… I want Daisy to have a sibling. And… I don't want my fears to cause her to be lonely. And I want to have another baby. I would love to."
"Teresa Lisbon, you have no idea how happy this makes me."
"I do, actually, which is part of why I decided it."
He smiled and threw away the book resolutely, before pulling her into his lap and almost starting to try for a second brat right then and there. Tiny, careful feet on the stairs stopped them, though, and Jane realized that they needed a safety gate for the stairs before anything else.
~...~
She honestly surprised him with her second pregnancy, because there had been no signs of it being there - no mood swings, no excessive eating. Perhaps her body had gotten used to the hormonal change during her first pregnancy, and it knew how to handle it now.
"I'm pregnant," she had told him one day, while they were having dinner, just the three of them. She had spoken matter-of-factly, as though she hadn't been scared to death of being pregnant only weeks ago.
He smiled, not really knowing how to respond to a statement like that, other than cry out in happiness with the knowledge of another baby soon joining them.
"I love you."
"You'll have to pamper me like last time, though. It was honestly the only reason I survived, I think."
He chuckled and nodded, walking around the table to kiss her lips, earning him a jealous reaction from Daisy, who was feeling left out. He wasn't going to have a toddler decide his life, however, and he had decided that his wife was a little more important now.
"I always pamper you."
"That is true. Well, keep it up."
He rubbed her belly, almost welcoming their little one to their lives, even if it would still take like eight more months for them to be here.
"I love you, too," she whispered, her down-to-earth attitude gone for a few moments, showing him exactly how much this meant to her. She might still be frightened, traumatized, even, but he hoped he could support her properly this time, with all their experience, and with the prospect of another little them enlightening their lives soon enough.
~...~
She took her second pregnancy more seriously, not underestimating how tough growing a baby was, but it probably helped that she had someone to nap with her now. Little Daisy loved to sleep against her mother's swollen belly, even if she was too young to really understand what her pregnancy entailed.
Jane rested his head against her belly, too, on the other side, his hands linked with hers.
He remembered her first pregnancy, how much she had complained, even without words. It had been visible to him that it was tough on her, and he had wished i could have been different. But this time around, she was lucky. Despite her age and the fact she had already been pregnant before, her body dealt with it really well, and he could finally see her smile and enjoy her pregnancy. Which was like five times better than her mood during the first.
"How are you?" he asked, not even looking at her, but knowing she would know he was talking to her.
"I've never been better."
And it was the truth, he knew.
"With this little monkey smiling all day long and your strong hands holding me close, I'm so… happy. I was so afraid of being pregnant, but it was… well not really irrational, because it was a traumatic nine months, but… I hoped that we wouldn't be so unlucky to have that a second time, what were the chances? I'm happy I took the chance. I can't wait to meet this other little monkey."
He leaned up and kissed her lips, tenderly, because they knew how to behave in front of Daisy, to prevent anything from escalating too much.
"No!" they heard a small voice interrupting them, and he smiled and then laughed when tiny hands pushed them apart.
"I want a kiss, too."
"Well, I can help you with that," Jane stated and kissed the girl's lips, and she chuckled and claimed one from her mother, too.
"I don't like it when you kiss Mummy," Daisy admitted, but there was a glint in her green eyes that told them she was mostly joking.
"Oh, someone's jealous," Jane teased, and he pulled both of his girls into a bear hug, hardly believing how wonderful his life had turned out to be.
A/N: So, fluffy? Not fluffy enough? Also, I'm accepting plot bunnies so if you have any ideas, drop them anywhere I can read them and I'll think about it! Can't promise that I'll write everything, though, just be warned.
Thanks for reading and please be so kind to drop a line or two!