Life Goes On

Chapter 11- Sometimes the Smallest is The Wisest

After her scene with Jane in her office Lisbon had picked Aubrey up from Nursery, gotten home and made dinner and she was exhausted. The first day back had been an easy case, but it had taken a lot out of her, it had drained her, physically and emotionally.

Putting two plates of pasta onto the table she smiled at Aubrey, "How was Nursery sweetie?" She asked, hoping her daughter had behaved as she had told her too.

With a smile Aubrey replied, "It was good Mommy, I didn't do anything bad." She said and Lisbon felt relieved, maybe this change of scenery would help a little in calming her down, but then again, being around Jane could make things worse.

Her stomach lurched when she thought of Jane, Aubrey didn't know yet, they would have to tell her soon and Lisbon had a feeling she would take the news rather well. Deciding to breach the subject gently at the moment to see how Aubrey would take it Lisbon said, "Aubrey, do you know that Daddy is going to be away forever?"

Aubrey didn't seem saddened or shocked by Lisbons comment she just nodded, "I know Mommy." She said.

Lisbon frowned, "Are you okay about that?" She asked gently once more.

Aubrey smiled, "Yes Mommy, Dean wasn't nice to me." She said.

It was a Sunday afternoon, Aubrey was 4 years old, Lisbon was outside in the Garden when Dean went to Aubrey's bedroom.

"Aubrey." He called.

"Yes?" She replied quietly from where she sat drawing at her desk.

"Mommy wants you to go out to the Garden so she can talk to you." He said sweetly.

"Okay Dean." She replied and he frowned, "Dean?" He questioned and she nodded.

"Your name is Dean." She stated.

"But you can call me Daddy." He said, looking more than a little confused now.

"You aren't my Daddy." Aubrey said innocently and Dean raised his voice a little, "What are you talking about?"

"I have a picture of a man with my Mommy, he's my Daddy." She said and Dean lost his temper, "No you listen here young lady! I am the man your mother is married to and I am your father!"

Turning on his heel he stomped down the stairs leaving Aubrey alone and afraid in her bedroom.

"Honey what are you talking about?" Lisbon asked sweetly, "Dean was always lovely to you."

Aubrey shrugged, "I guess." She said and Lisbon didn't press the matter.

The rest of the night passed by normally, they watched a movie together then Lisbon put Aubrey to bed. When her mother turned the bedside lamp on and the big light off, then walked away, Aubrey took out her picture.

Underneath her pillow she kept a photo she had found when she was very young, of her mother and a man with blonde hair and blue eyes, a man she had always felt connected to. The picture was simple, the man had his arms around her mother and they were both smiling, from the background of the picture it looked like they were at a carnival.

Aubrey always smiled when she looked at the picture, she knew that the man had the same blue eyes as her and in a way she had always known that he was her father, she was much smarter than your average 5 year old. When she had met Patrick Jane she had instantly figured out that he was the man in the picture and she liked him a lot, he was much nicer than Dean.

She hoped that soon her Mom would marry Patrick instead of Dean; she would love it for her parents to be together again.

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It was Friday night and Lisbon had been back at the CBI for a week. They had closed 3 cases in that space of time and when they closed one that very day and decided to go out on a team night Lisbon had been resigned to the fact that she couldn't go.

"I have to go home to Aubrey." She had told them and seeing how much she obviously wanted to hang out with her friends Jane grinned, "If Lisbon can't go out then why don't we all go to Lisbons for team night?"

"Yeah." Grace said with a smile, "Would that be okay?"

The others all nodded their agreement and Lisbon said, "Of course it would, come up at 7pm and Aubrey will be asleep."

Everyone agreed and left the CBI building, Jane and Lisbon were the last to leave, "Thank you." She mouthed to him as she got into the elevator; he just smiled and waved as the doors slid shut, blocking him from her view.

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7pm came around and the team arrived at the same time, she was surprised at first until she remembered that Jane was living with Grace and Rigsby, Cho just seemed to turn up everywhere at the same time as the others.

Aubrey had just gone down and was most likely still awake, she would want to stay up and listen into all the chatter, she was nosy that way. Once she had gotten everyone into the dining room, sitting down with a drink and cards Jane announced it was time to play poker.

"Jane!" Lisbon said for the umpteenth time in half an hour, the man kept cheating and it was fast getting on everyone's nerves.

He grinned at her, "My dear Lisbon, what on earth could I possibly be doing to make you revert to my second name?" He asked cheekily.

She crossed her arms, "I always call you by your second name, Jane." She said with annoyance dancing in her eyes.

"You didn't this afternoon." He said and noticed the blush that appeared on her cheeks, "You know when I was in your office and we were discussing non-work related things like-"

"Jane!" Lisbon said, cheeks fast turning from a faint pink to bright red. Jane chuckled, but didn't say anymore, it was probably best to leave her alone for now or she might actually shoot him, she had at least 5 guns in her apartment.

Jane felt eyes on him and whilst the others were busying themselves playing a game of poker without him (since they kept yelling at him for cheating) he glanced over to the doorway and saw Aubrey standing there in her 'High School Musical' pyjamas watching him, she was clutching a photograph in her hands but he couldn't see what it was a photo of from this distance.

When she noticed him watching her she smiled and mouthed 'come here.' He chuckled, her mouthing was terrible, but he understood and quickly said to the others, "Uh Lisbon, just using your bathroom."

She smiled at him, "Sure." She commented before getting back to the game of poker. Jane walked out of the door and Aubrey led him along the corridor into her room.

"Patrick!" She said happily in the quietest voice she could, "I'm supposed to be asleep." She told him, giggling as though she was being very bad by staying up past her bedtime.

Jane smiled, "I know." He said, wondering why she had brought him into her room, but before he could ask she gave him the photo she had been holding.

He smiled as he looked at it, it was a photo of him and Lisbon at the carnival 2 weeks before she left to go to San Francisco, it was when they had been happier, before he had known about the baby and probably before she had known too.

He wondered how Aubrey had found the picture, but he realised she had probably found it in her Moms possessions; he was surprised that Lisbon had kept it for so long.

"You and my Mommy are in that picture." Aubrey said, watching him closely.

Jane nodded, "Yeah." He said and Aubrey said, "My Mom says that Dean is my dad."

Jane frowned looking up at the girl who was perched on her bed, "But he isn't." She said, she was indeed much wiser than the average 5 year old, but then again she was his daughter.

"What makes you say that?" He asked as he sat down next to her on the bed and she smiled, "Because I can feel things." She said.

Was she a Mentalist too he wondered?

"Me too." He said with an even wider smile.

"The man in the picture with my Mom is my Daddy." Aubrey said as she watched Jane.

He smiled at her, "He is." He confirmed as he watched her, she grinned and hugged him, "Daddy." She whispered.

He smiled as she cuddled into him, he wasn't sure if he was ready for this yet, he knew having a daughter again would be hard for him, but he had to give it a try for Lisbon. Never mind anything else a part of him had missed family and he wanted to give it a shot, a chance at a real relationship with Lisbon and a chance at being a father again.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there but Aubrey fell asleep as she leant against him and that was how Lisbon found them, when she first walked into the room she seemed shocked and then a little angry, but her expression softened and she smiled slightly at the sight she saw.

"She knows." Jane said softly.

Lisbon frowned, "Knows what?" She asked in confusion.

Jane gently lowered Aubrey into bed and tucked her in, she mumbled, "Night Daddy." Sleepily and Lisbons eyes widened, "You told her?" She hissed.

Jane shook his head and put his finger to his lips, he turned to Aubrey and kissed her on the forehead, "Good night my love." He whispered softly and walked out of the room turning off the light as he went.

"Can we talk somewhere more private?" Jane asked, Lisbon was glaring slightly at him as she led him rather reluctantly into her bedroom.

"How did she find out?" Lisbon asked, dropping the whisper now that they were alone.

"I didn't tell her." Jane began, "She said she knew the man in the picture was her Dad." He told her as he handed her the picture that Aubrey had given him.

"Oh my god." She whispered as she looked down at her smiling face and Janes arm around her shoulder, "I remember that day." She said with a fond smile.

He nodded, "Me too." He admitted with a smile her way.

"She knew from this picture?" Lisbon asked, Jane nodded, "Yeah, she noticed from the eyes." He said, "Just like I noticed." He added.

"I'm sorry." She sighed, but he only smiled, "It's alright, I know now don't I?" That was the important thing after all.

"I know." She said, there was a pause and then Lisbon said, "I should have known she would have found it." She chuckled, "She always was like you."

Jane grinned, "She was?" He asked, finding that he wanted to know more for some reason.

Lisbon smiled, not many people asked about her daughter and she found herself wanting to talk about her, to tell her father about the amazing little girl he had missed out on spending 5 years with.

"She was terrible when we lived in San Francisco." Lisbon admitted, "She crawled through the fence at Mandy's and asked her next door neighbour if she was sad because her son died."

Jane's eyes widened, "Really?" He asked, clearly trying to contain a laugh, "Really." Lisbon said.

"She made my life a living hell sometimes, I couldn't let her out with the neighbourhood kids because she read their minds or made mischief."

Jane chuckled, "What aspects of you are in her?" He asked, sitting down on the bed and motioning for her to sit with him.

She hesitated for a moment before remembering the team were in her living room, and deciding it was safe she sat down next to him, "She's a little like me." Lisbon said, "But she's a lot more like you."

He grinned proudly at her, "Does she follow rules?" He asked and Lisbon laughed, "No."

His grin just widened, "She has your hair and your smile." He told her gently and she smiled, "I know." She said quietly.

He however could see through her smile, "Whats wrong?" He asked as he gently took her hand.

"We have a daughter." She said, as if saying it made it more real, "We have a daughter together." She said watching him for his reaction.

It seemed her words made the reality of it all sink in, "I know." He said, "And I promise I will be there for her, and for you." The look in his eyes convinced her that he was telling the truth and she leaned forward to kiss him, her lips were just about to touch his when the door burst open.

"Boss-Oh!" Van Pelt exclaimed as she saw them pull apart, Lisbon blushing bright red and Jane smirking.

"It's okay Grace." Jane said casually as he stood up and took Lisbons hand, he pulled her up too, "We were just coming back." He lied, very well.

When they reached the living room Jane surprised Lisbon by saying to the team, "Teresa and I have an announcement to make."

Graces eyes widened, after what she had just seen she wondered what they could possibly be announcing, Rigsby looked confused and Cho looked as if he was trying not to smirk.

"Aubrey is our daughter." Jane stated and the team instantly fell apart, Rigsby dropped his glass and it shattered loudly, Grace gasped and Cho burst out laughing, which in itself was an odd site.

When Rigsby got over the shock he said, "But if you have a kid then you two have…well you've…you know."

Lisbons face flushed, she was still glaring at Jane for his little revelation to the team.

Jane just smirked slightly, "Well Lisbon and I had a-" He glanced at Lisbon, "A thing." He finished upon seeing her glare.

"A sexual thing." Cho added and Rigsby stared at them in horror

"Who wants to play some more poker?" Lisbon asked quickly before the matter could be talked about further.

The others laughed and agreed with her, for now, they would drop the matter and leave her be, but soon Lisbon knew they would be asking all about Aubrey and her and Jane.

As the final game of poker commenced Lisbon smiled at Jane and when he smiled brightly back at her she felt that she had made the right decision, for the first time in a long time what she had done had been the right decision for her, for Jane and for Aubrey and that felt good.

To Be Continued

A/N- Yay chapter 11 is done! There are only 14 more chapters to go! ;O Hope you like it!

Thank You for Reading!