Chapter Seven

Lisbon had never seriously thought about having kids. Sure, occasionally she'd entertained the notion, but usually it was chased away pretty quickly when she was working on her next case. Being a CBI agent was just too dangerous, Lisbon had decided, to be a mother. So being pregnant was not something Lisbon had ever thought she'd have to deal with. And yet here she was, in a rather complicated relationship with her team's consultant, and currently expecting his child. Due to Hightower's strict rules, Lisbon was pretty much stuck in the office all day, and she was beginning to get a little stir crazy. It didn't help that her team were all out chasing leads on their latest case.

It was late in the afternoon, and Lisbon had her feet up on a chair while she sat behind her desk. She had one hand resting on her slightly protruding belly, and the other was on her computer mouse. She was trawling through bank records of their latest victim, something she hated doing. But someone had to do it, and she was at the office. Rigsby and Van Pelt were out talking to people and Cho was out with Jane, running down a different lead, though, Lisbon thought, knowing Jane, they were more likely to be causing trouble than actually helping. Lisbon sighed as she thought of Jane. Having him in her life was something else entirely. He was a wildly passionate person, capable of huge amounts of love. Suddenly, Lisbon felt a shift beneath her hand. She gasped, and looked down towards where her child was growing, and she smiled. She looked up excitedly, wanting to tell someone, before she remembered they were all out. She shut her eyes, and smiled again. And her baby moved again. Lisbon was ecstatic.
"You look happy, Agent Lisbon." A voice cut through Lisbon's thoughts, and her eyes flew open.
"Agent Hightower." Lisbon greeted her boss. "Yeah, yes. I am happy, actually."
"Baby move for the first time?" Hightower guessed.
"Yeah." Lisbon replied with a smile.
Madeline Hightower stepped into Lisbon's office, and took a seat. "Nothing quite like that feeling, is there?"
"No ma'am, there's not." Lisbon agreed.
"Lisbon, about this. When are you planning on taking maternity leave? I need to know so I can assign a replacement to your team. And is Jane going to take time off with you?" Straight down to business.
"I would think I need a few months off after the baby's born, and maybe a few weeks before." Lisbon paused. "But at the moment I don't know if I'm going to want more time off after it's born or not. As for Jane... you'd have to ask him. I don't know what his plans are."
Hightower raised an eyebrow, and Lisbon chuckled.
"Jane and I are a bit of an unconventional couple, I think. He's still very secretive. Most of the time he doesn't tell me things, even in our personal life." Lisbon shrugged. "For now, I think I'm just happy that I have such a supportive partner."
Hightower smiled, and stood up. "Don't underestimate yourself, Lisbon." She said as she turned to leave. "I think he's lucky to have someone like you looking out for him."
"Thank you." Lisbon said, and Hightower left the office.
Lisbon smiled as she left, then grabbed her phone, dialling Jane's number.
"Hey, darling." He answered, and Lisbon chuckled. "You're not calling about what happened with Cho before are you?"
"What? No. What happened with Cho?" Lisbon was instantly suspicious.
"Oh, nothing. So, what's up?"
Lisbon decided to ignore Jane's previous comment. "Guess what?" She said.
"What?"
"The baby moved." Lisbon was surprised at how happy saying those words made her.
"It moved? That's fantastic!" Over the phone, Lisbon could hear Jane's excitement.
"I just... I just wanted to let you know." Lisbon said, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Well, thank you for letting me know." Jane replied. "Now I can't wait to get back there so I can hold you tight, and kiss you."
Lisbon blushed. "Is Cho listening to your end of this phone call?"
There was a pause. Then, "Yes. Yes he is."
Lisbon chuckled. "Is he giving you a look?"
"Yeah."
"How long are you going to be?" Lisbon asked.
"Not too much longer. We should be back within half an hour." Jane replied.
"Good. I'm bored."
"Okay. I'll entertain you when we get back." Jane said, his voice full of humour. Then, with a more serious tone, "I love you, Teresa."
Lisbon could imagine Cho rolling his eyes, and she smiled. "I love you, too, Patrick."
"I know."
They sat on the phone in silence for a few moments.
"I should get back to these bank records." Lisbon said.
"Yeah, I should... keep doing what I was doing." Jane replied. "That you probably don't want to know about."
"Uh huh." Lisbon sounded unimpressed.
"I'll see you soon." Jane promised.
"Okay."
They hung up, and Lisbon sighed. Even though she wasn't out in the field, she was still in charge, and Jane was still her responsibility. She had a feeling she'd be getting an angry phone call sooner or later.

Sure enough, before Cho and Jane returned, Lisbon received a phone call from a very disgruntled woman.
"Ma'am, if you could just calm down..."
"I will not calm down, Agent Lisbon! I should not have to deal with consultants of the CBI barging into my house and one of your agents distracting me while your consultant pokes through my things!"
Lisbon sighed, and dropped her head into one hand. "Did Mr Jane take anything?" She asked.
"No, I found him before he could." Her voice was chilling.
"Mrs Talbot, I have to ask, are you absolutely sure he didn't take anything? Jane is... particularly sly sometimes." Lisbon laid a hand on her stomach as her baby shifted again, as though it knew it's mother was discussing it's father.
"Yes, I'm sure." Mrs Talbot replied. "I think." She added as an afterthought.
Lisbon rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Mrs Talbot, if Jane did take anything, I will get it back to you, I promise."
"Thank you, detective." The older woman said, begrudgingly. "And I don't want to see Patrick Jane again."
"Understood." Lisbon replied. "I will make sure of it."
"Good." With that, the woman hung up the phone.
Lisbon put her phone back into the cradle, and ran a hand through her hair.
"Hey."
Lisbon looked up, and gave a huff of frustration. "Why do you do this to me, Jane?" She demanded. "What did you take?"
"I didn't take anything." Jane replied.
Lisbon threw Jane a glance that was clearly unimpressed. "Jane." She said.
"Okay, so I might have taken something." Jane said. "But I can promise you, Mrs Talbot won't even know it's gone."
"Jane! You can't just take things from someone's house, especially if they don't know about it!" Lisbon stood up, and walked around her desk. She leant on the front of it, and fixed Jane with a glare. "You know that."
Jane screwed up his face slightly. "But I can't help myself." He said. "You know that."
They stared intently at each other for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts. Eventually, Lisbon's expression softened. "Baby's moving again." She said quietly, and Jane was instantly at her side, and hand pressed softly to her stomach. He smiled serenely as he felt their child shift against his hand.
"Patrick..."
"Yeah?"
"I was thinking, maybe, we could find out the sex. I'm tired of calling the baby an 'it' all the time." She glanced over at him.
"I wouldn't mind." He replied. He pressed a kiss to Lisbon's forehead. "If it makes you happy."
Lisbon closed her eyes as Jane caressed her stomach gently. "Don't think you're off the hook." She warned. "You still have explaining to do."
Jane chuckled quietly. "Yes, ma'am." He replied.

Jane followed Lisbon out of the office that night, heading back to her place. Standing in the elevator, Jane wrapped his arms around Lisbon's waist, and pressed a kiss to her neck. She sighed happily, and leant back into him, her eyes fluttering closed. She laid her hands over the top of Jane's, holding him in place as the elevator descended to the ground floor. The elevator dinged and stopped on the second floor, allowing Van Pelt to enter.
"You're here late." Jane observed, not letting go of Lisbon.
"Oh, yeah. I had some work to catch up on." Van Pelt replied.
Jane could tell she was lying. "But your desk is on the top floor."
"I had to visit a friend down here and drop off some files." Van Pelt answered, looking towards the elevator doors, as though willing them to open sooner.
"So, where's Rigsby?" Jane asked conversationally.
Van Pelt turned sensationally red, and tried to hide her face from Jane and Lisbon. "Uh..."
"Wait a minute." Lisbon said. "You're back together?" She glanced up at Jane, who nodded and smiled.
"Yes." Van Pelt said, turning to face her boss.
"Uh huh." Lisbon replied. "That's nice. I'm happy for you both."
"Thanks." Van Pelt answered, looking a little confused.
The elevator finally landed on the ground floor, and Van Pelt hurried out of it. She turned and smiled at Jane and Lisbon. "Good night, boss. Jane."
"Good night, Grace." Jane replied with a gentle smile, and he watched the young woman hurry towards her car. He began to lead Lisbon towards his car.
"You knew." She said as they walked. "And you didn't tell me?"
"Teresa. It wasn't my secret to tell." He replied gently, as he opened the passenger door for her.
Lisbon sighed as she slid into the small car. "I swear we need to start bringing my car." She said. "It's a lot easier for me to get into."
Jane chuckled, and he shut the door, heading towards the driver's side. He slid behind the wheel and started the engine. "As long as I get to drive." He said.
"I can drive." Lisbon pointed out. "There's nothing wrong with me."
"Yes, but what if you have to stop suddenly and the steering wheel digs into your belly?" Jane asked as he pulled out of the CBI car park.
"You worry too much." Lisbon replied.
"Oh, okay. I worry too much." He repeated. He glanced over at Lisbon. "Of course I worry too much. I love you too much for you to go through the heartache of losing a child."
Lisbon looked away. "I'm sorry." She mumbled.
"No, don't be. I'm sorry. I know you can take care of yourself. It's just everybody else I don't trust."
They completed the journey to Lisbon's apartment in silence.

Lisbon lay awake that night, listening to Jane's rhythmic breathing. She was glad he was finally getting some sleep. But sleep eluded Lisbon that night, Jane's comments from earlier on in the day weighing heavily on her mind. 'I know you can take care of yourself. It's just everybody else I don't trust.' So along with a desk job, she was going to have a hovering, over protective partner. She didn't know whether this was good, bad, or somewhere in between. Lisbon felt her child shift again, and she automatically lay a hand across her stomach. Her child was very active.
"You should be asleep like your daddy." She whispered. "Like I should be. Maybe it's you keeping me up." She fell silent, content to feel the movements of her baby against her hand. She eventually smiled. "I know, it must be hard for you, being cooped up in there. There can't be much room." Lisbon didn't realise that Jane's breathing had changed, and suddenly another hand joined hers.
"You should be sleeping." Jane murmured.
"I know." Lisbon replied, letting her fingers tangle with his.
"So why aren't you?"
"Dunno. Just can't. I have a lot on my mind."
"Yeah, I can imagine." Jane rolled slightly, and gently pulled Lisbon closer to him, holding her in his arms. He pressed a kiss to her head, and sighed. "You know I love you, right?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Now get some sleep."
Lisbon closed her eyes, lulled by Jane's warmth. "Patrick?"
"Hmm?"
"You know I love you too, right?"
"Yes."
"Good."
"Good night, Teresa."
She was already asleep.

A/N: Getting there. Slowly.

Hope this was enjoyable.

:)