A/N: You know, these kind of one-shots are genuinely killing me. I just go to bed, thinking about possible one-shots and seriously, I'll just get out of bed to write the ideas down. So, hope you enjoy reading this because I'm sleep deprived, like always. And I'm skipping homework, like always. And I'm living in solitude, like always ^^

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

'Letter for Santa'

The best thing about the holidays were schools.

Lisbon knew it didn't make sense to other people, but to her, it did.

She looked at her daughter who was sitting at the little table at the other side of her office. The crayons she was holding were working frantically at putting colors on the sheet in front of her.

Lisbon smiled. "What are you drawing, Honey?"
Melody looked up, one stubborn blonde curl sticking upright, and Melody didn't seem to notice at all. Lisbon chuckled once more.

"I'm making a picture for Santa! Because mummy, maybe he will give me a Barbie doll then!" she exclaimed, and focused back on her sheet.

Lisbon loved the holidays because the schools weren't opened then. She could spend the entire day with her daughter, since Melody didn't like going to a daycare.

"Boss?" Van Pelt asked, after smiling at Melody who was enthusiastically waving at her 'aunt'.

Lisbon nodded.

"Uh... you're not going to like this," Van Pelt said, her face a weird mixture of sympathy, guilt and a bit of amusement, though she didn't show it that well – she's improving.

"What did he do now?" Lisbon asked, rubbing both her temples to relieve her head from the terrible ache she could already feel coming. Thank god she had Melody here to keep her from going completely insane. But the fact that Melody is the combination of Lisbon and Jane didn't really calm her down – Melody might be good in hiding it, but on the inside she has the same flaws as Jane.

"I think that-" Van Pelt started, but got caught off by a gentle pinch in her side. She let out a high yelp, more of shock than surprise, but it got muffled by the loud yell of Melody.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed and ran over to behind Van Pelt to throw herself into her father's awaiting arms. He chuckled and lifted her up.

Lisbon groaned and stood.

"What did you do?" she asked Jane. He shrugged.

"Nothing... nothing that can't be repaired, anyways."

Lisbon looked at Van Pelt, who shrugged sheepishly.

"He, uh... he stole something."

Lisbon froze. "You did what?"

"Oh, Grace, stealing is such an ugly word... I merely claimed something that was mine."

"And what is that?"

Jane smiled his charming smile at Lisbon, the smile that they both knew did not have an effect on Lisbon anymore, after living together for over five years and raising a daughter together she knew all his flaws and his tricks. He put Melody down and reached into his jacket. He got out something that looked an awful lot like a Barbie doll, and when Melody once again let out a loud yell that almost deafened the three adults present, Lisbon knew it for sure.

"Oh daddy!" she exclaimed, and snatched the doll out of Jane's hands. He just smiled at the enthusiasm of his daughter, but Lisbon was silently judging him from where she was standing. When he noticed she was, he rolled his eyes.

"I didn't steal it, Teresa, I swear. Pinky swear. I only... borrowed it, from the Santa in the mall."

"So you stole it."

"What's with you women saying that I stole something? Why are you so negative about me?"

"Because it wouldn't be a first if you did steal something."

"I never stole anything-"

"Of course you did. Many times-"

"It's beautiful, daddy," Melody interrupted, but she didn't face Jane, just cuddled her doll close to her body and skipped back to her place at the table. She settled the doll against her pink case, and started talking with it.

Lisbon's heart warmed, and looking at the others, she knew she wasn't the only one.

"Melody, why don't you go show Uncle Rigsby your new Barbie doll, huh?" Van Pelt offered, and Melody's emerald eyes shot open before she raced into the direction of the bullpen at the speed of light. The three of them stood still in Lisbon's office for a few seconds, just looking at how Rigsby handled the overenthusiastic preschooler.

Much to their surprise – or not, for the people who were called Patrick Jane – Rigsby smiled at the girl before he took her onto his lap and started playing with her and the Barbie doll.
Van Pelt rolled her eyes, but nodded and left Jane and Lisbon alone.

Lisbon sighed, and walked into the direction of her desk.

"Okay. You're an adult, I can't scream at you for doing the wrong thing but could you think about your actions for a second? You stole from Santa Claus."

Jane just smiled proudly. "I did. Pretty cool, right? Okay, it's not, calm down. I can explain it."

"Then go. Explain it."

"Well, Melody wanted that Barbie doll and you didn't want to buy it for her and Santa didn't want that either so I saw no other option than buying it myself. Just look at her, Teresa – she's happy with it. Can't you just forget it, for once? It's the right thing to do, you know."

"Don't start talking about doing the right thing now, Patrick-"

"But it is the right thing, so, end of conversation."

Lisbon sighed and crossed her arms against her chest.

"Look at our daughter. She's happy. Can't she be happy-"

"Fine, she can keep it, but you're not going to 'buy' more things for her, or at least not without discussing it with me. I don't earn much but I'm sure we could arrange something-"

"Teresa, you know money's not the issue, we've got money enough. I can't treat my little girl like a princess sometimes?"

"Of course you can. But I don't want her to be like you entirely, and this is going to set a bad example."

Jane sighed, and approached Lisbon slowly. She sighed too, and uncrossed her arms. Jane smiled and pulled her closer. He placed a small kiss on the tip of her nose.
"I just can't believe that all my reports are full of doodles while I was trying to tame out daughter and you're out there stealing from a Santa Claus."

Jane pulled away slightly. "Melody made doodles in your paperwork?"

Lisbon groaned, and nodded. She stepped to her desk and picked up a file, pushing it against his chest. He raised an eyebrow, opened it and chuckled immediately.

"Is that... me? And you?"

"Oh please, don't tell me you can't see that. Look at that. I've got brown hair, look, and green eyes. And you've got blonde hair, and blue eyes. And she even drew your curls! I must say that it looks pretty realistic. Especially you, the doodle you's got the same shape."

Jane frowned, looked at the picture of him and then heard Lisbon chuckle, a very un-Lisbon-like chuckle, and he narrowed his eyes.
"You little devil," he hissed, and she laughed, leaning in to place a small kiss on his lips.

"Oh hush," she said, then hesitated before adding, "we'll be square in a few months."

Within seconds, Lisbon found herself on the couch, Jane covering her tiny body with his larger one. He kissed her neck and Lisbon sighed contently before she realized where they were and who was still in the bullpen. She gently pushed him away, and Jane made a bereft little sound.

He sat down beside her though, and he wasn't able to wipe his smile off his face.

"Are you sure?"

Lisbon shrugged. "I haven't known it for long, and it's still not really confirmed with the doctor, but I think that after four tests, I can be pretty sure."

It looked like Jane would explode any moment out of pure happiness. She realized this was much, much more different than the previous time she told him this kind of news – he had almost ran away then.

But this was a good change. She could get used to this.

A/N: Wow, fluffy. Well, anyways, let me know what you think!