A/N: Sorry this has become a bit longer than I originally planned! There's one more chapter to come, I think. I've just had so much fun writing this little fic. Enjoy! A/N
Chapter Two:
Over by the swings, Teresa had managed to diffuse the situation. T.J was now happily playing on the climbing frame, while Willow and Chris enjoyed time on the swings. Willow was laughing and throwing her head back as she swung back and forth, her light brown curls blowing in the wind.
"Higher Momma, higher!" shouted Chris, also grinning from ear to ear as his mother pushed him in the swing.
"Chris, if I push you any higher, you'll fall out!"
Chris didn't listen, he was too busy laughing.
"Hold onto the swing!" Teresa called as her youngest son put his arms in the air as if he was on a rollercoaster, "You'll fall out otherwise!"
"Faster, mommy, push me faster!" he shouted.
Teresa couldn't help but laugh as she watched the enjoyment of her children playing out before her. Just then she heard Willow gasp. Her heart pounding, thinking her daughter had fallen off the swing, she took her eyes off her son and looked round. Willow was pointing across the park and grinning from ear to ear.
"Mom!" she grinned, "It's Uncle Rigsby!"
Teresa looked at where her daughter was pointing and, indeed, there was Wayne Rigsby walking towards them.
"Uncle Rigsby!" and a blur of colour ran into him.
"Whoa!" he smiled as he looked down at T.J who had managed to jump down from the climbing frame and run into his uncle before he reached his siblings. "Hey T.J!"
"Hi!" T.J grinned.
"I saw him first!" said Willow, glaring at her brother as she waited for the swing to slow down so she could get off.
"Nuh uh! I saw him from the top of the tower!" he replied, folding his arms, looking at his sister, almost daring her to retaliate.
"Did not!"
"Did so!"
"Did not"
"Did so!"
"Did not!"
"Enough!" called Teresa, helping Chris out of the swing. He also ran up to Wayne and hugged him round the knees. Wayne ruffled his hair affectionately. "You both saw him at the same time, okay?"
Willow sighed.
"Don't roll your eyes at me, young lady!" her mother warned. Willow just glared, holding onto the sides of the swing.
T.J was grinning at his sister. There was nothing he liked more than seeing his big sister in trouble, usually trouble he had started.
"And you can stop grinning!" Teresa looked at T.J, "You're just as bad as her and you didn't need to wind her up either." She breathed out and smiled at Rigsby, "Hello Wayne, sorry about this." She walked over to her friend and hugged him.
He smiled, "Don't worry about it." He ruffled T.J's hair, "Ben was just the same at his age."
"Got any tips on what to do with him?" she smiled, stroking her son's hair. T.J batted his mother's hand away and ran off, Chris following after him. "Toby, just watch your brother!" she called. Willow came up and held her hand.
Rigsby smiled, "He'll grow out of it. Ben and Maddie get on fine now."
Teresa smiled, "Hopefully Willow and T.J will realise they love each other really!"
Willow looked up at her mother as if she had just uttered a taboo word.
Rigsby grinned, "You know who they remind me of?" he asked as they headed back to where everyone was gathered.
"Who?" Teresa asked, curious.
"You and Jane. In the early days. You used to bicker like brother and sister!"
"We did not!" She replied smiling.
"Er I believe there was one case in which you said to him 'If aliens do come, I hope they eat you!'"
Teresa blushed, "Okay… okay. I get it!"
"Mom! Chris is stuck on the climbing frame!" T.J called.
"Excuse me!" and she ran off again.
Willow and Wayne made their way back to the mat.
"Maddie!" she grinned, as soon as she saw her cousin.
"Hey, Loey!" smiled Maddie. It was how Maddie had pronounced Willow's name when she was younger and it had stuck.
Willow grinned, "How are you?" and the two girls began to catch up.
"Uh oh, here comes trouble!" smiled Jane as he saw Lisbon walking over with the two boys, Chris in her arms and T.J walking alongside her. As they approached, Teresa set Christopher down and he ran straight at his father, knocking him backwards as he fell on him. Jane laughed and threw him up in the air. He then looked round and smiled at the group assembled around him.
"The whole gangs back together!" he remarked, smiling.
"Well, nearly the whole gang." Smiled Grace, still holding Sophie in her arms
"Yeah, we're just missing Cho." Said Wayne.
"I'm sure he's doing a fine job heading up the unit in Austin." Smiled Teresa, going and standing by Grace so she could keep an eye on her daughter.
"Do you miss it?" Grace asked.
"Austin?" asked Teresa
"Yeah, working with Cho, Abbott, Wiley?"
"Sometimes, but I like that I'm back in Sacramento. Feels like home."
"I miss Austin sometimes." Sighed T.J
"Really?" asked Jane, looking at his eldest son curiously.
"Well, yeah. It was home for us and I liked being by the pond and out in the country. It's odd being in the city."
"We're not really in the city though, are we T.J? I mean you go to school in the city but we live in suburbs really." Replied Jane
"It's not the same as the cabin though." He muttered under his breath.
"How about a game of soccer?" asked Rigsby, trying to change the subject.
"We could do boys v girls?" suggested Ben.
"There are more boys than girls, moron." Replied Maddie.
"Maddie, that's not nice!" scolded Grace, looking at her daughter. Maddie just rolled her eyes.
"How about grown up's v children?" suggested Jane, "We could have Willow, T.J and Chris and Maddie, against Wayne, Ben and I and whoever wants to play out of you or Grace?" he looked at his wife.
"And what? Have T.J and Willow kill each other?" she replied, smiling, "How about we choose two people to be captains, say the oldest child from each family and then they pick their team members?"
No one raised another suggestion so Ben and Willow ended up being captains.
"You can put Sophie in the pram, Grace." Smiled Lisbon, "She'll be fine, we're not far and you can come play too."
Willow chose Maddie, Patrick and Chris to be on her team whilst Ben chose Teresa, T.J, Wayne and Grace.
Seeing the uneven teams, Grace said, "How about I be referee? That way I can still play but keep an eye on Sophie?"
Teresa smiled, "Sure."
Jane kicked off his shoes and made a make-shift goal at one end of the 'pitch' and Rigsby shrugged off his jacket, bundled it up and stole the changing bag to make the other goal.
Teresa looked at her husband funny as he ran back in the woolen socks, she had bought him when they both started working in Austin. Although he had finally bought other pairs, these were still his favourite.
"It's 86 degrees and you've got woolen socks on?" she asked.
He shrugged, "They're my favourite!" he replied, smiling.
Ben and Willow met in the middle of the makeshift pitch and looked at each other. Ben, being six years older than Willow, towered over her, but she puffed out her chest and stood defiant. Grace tossed a coin to decide who would start play. The ball went to Willow's team and she gave it a good kick into the other side.
The game ended when Chris tripped over the ball and began to cry. Teresa called it a day and suggested that they all have lunch. Wayne announced that they were all winners to which T.J and Maddie protested at much to the annoyance of their parents. They all sat round the blanket, with Sophie lying at the edge, trying to catch the sunlight as it bounced through the trees. Chris climbed into his mothers lap half way through the picnic and fell asleep. Willow and Maddie started doing some gymnastics and Ben sat on his phone.
"Mommy, can I go back to the park?" asked T.J, feeling decidedly left out since his brother was asleep.
"Sure, why don't you take your father with you?" she suggested.
T.J's eyes lit up and he looked at his father. Jane smiled, "Let's go, kiddo!"
T.J practically pulled his father up and bounced the whole way back over to the park.
