It took the team two weeks to come up with an ID on the victim. It was only when Van Pelt had started looking at missing persons cases nationwide - as opposed to just those in California and the surrounding states - that they came across a girl who had gone missing from New Jersey 7 years ago, whose dental records and dimensions matched their victim. But an ID and a few cases which were possibly linked weren't anywhere near enough to go on. A week later however, a dog walker came across a semi-decomposed body in a ditch in the middle of nowhere, with trauma to her skull almost exactly matching that of their first victim. A body that had likely only been there a few weeks was much more likely to have evidence or something to go on that one which had been there for years. Although the crime scene was no longer intact for them to look at, it was potentially a big step forward in the case.

"Hi" Jane called out as he let himself into the apartment "I'm back"

They'd had a long day looking into their latest discovery, and hadn't got away from the CBI until 9pm.

"What took you so long?" Lisbon replied from the living room "you left just before me"

"Grocery shopping"

Jane appeared at the living room door and held up two full grocery bags. Lisbon looked up briefly, and then returned to perusing the case file in front of her.

"Did you make a start on dinner?"

"No" Lisbon sighed "I was just about to; I've been looking at the notes for the two missing persons cases, trying to see if anything matches"

"Did you find anything?"

"Not yet"

"I thought we could have that curry I made last week and froze for dinner, anyway" he said, turning back to their original conversation.

"Oh, alright" she shrugged.

"Are you ok?" Jane asked, frowning at her.

"Why would I not be?"

"You seem…off"

"I'm tired" she pointed out "it's been a long day"

Jane disappeared off to the kitchen and set about putting the groceries away and getting the food out for dinner. Once the rice was simmering in a pan and the curry was slowly defrosting in the microwave, he wandered back into the living room to take a look at the case file Lisbon had open.

"Are you sure you're ok?" he asked after a few minutes.

There was a worried crease between Lisbon's eyebrows and she seemed a little on edge.

"I'm fine" she told him "You…worry too much"

"Lisbon what's wrong?"

"It's just the baby moving around, it's hurting my back for some reason" she shrugged "nothing, really"

He narrowed his eyes and stared at her for a few seconds, and then returned to reading the file she had given him to look at. When she suddenly tensed up a few minutes later he put the file on the table and turned to her.

"Teresa, what's happening? Are you in pain?"

Her 'no' was just a little too hurried to convince Jane.

"Then what's going on?"

"It's just those Braxton Hicks" she explained quickly "they're a little stronger than usual"

"And more frequent, and last longer?"

"Yes but…I'm not in labour. It's too early" she explained quickly, knowing exactly what he was getting at.

"Has your water broken?" he pushed, and Lisbon cringed slightly at his candidness.

"No"

"You mean there's a possibility it might have but you'd much rather believe it hadn't"

"Is now really the time for mind reading?" she glared at him "fine. I did wonder when I went to the restroom…"

"When?"

"Tuesday"

"Tuesday? Lisbon, we need to get you to the hospital right now"

"No" she said, shaking her head firmly "it's Braxton Hicks, as I said. I'm definitely not in labour"

"Oh, and you'd know that from all those children you've had before would you?"

"I just know Jane" she replied, fixing him with an icy glare.

He would have found her argument a little more convincing if she hadn't tensed and shut her eyes for a moment just after she spoke.

"Ok. You wait here whilst I turn off the hob and then we'll go" he said, standing up.

"Go where?"

"The hospital Lisbon! Where people go when they're just about to give birth!"

"But I-"

Jane sat back down on the edge of the couch beside her and picked up her left hand.

"Lisbon, look at me" he said softly, stroking the back of her hand.

Lisbon looked pointedly at the cushion beside her.

"Lisbon?"

"You're not hypnotising me Jane" she replied, eyes fixed on the cushion.

"Hypnotise you?" he frowned "I wasn't going to hypnotise you"

She looked up and glared at him until she decided that he was actually telling the truth.

"I know you're scared" he began, still stroking her hand "I would be lying if I said I wasn't, and maybe this is a false alarm, but we need to go to the hospital and make sure"

"But what if-"

"What if it is the real thing?" he finished her sentence "then I'd much rather you were in the place with all the doctors and drugs than sitting in our living room telling yourself that it's not happening"

"Fine" she determined eventually "but I'm driving"

"What? Are you joking?"

"Got you that time, didn't I?" she grinned at him suddenly, and then remembered the situation "don't forget to turn off the gas, and put that curry back in the fridge – it's got chicken in"

Jane smiled to himself as he walked away. Even when she was just about to go into hospital and give birth, Lisbon couldn't help but worry about the little things like the curry going in the fridge.

When they arrived at the hospital the doctors confirmed that Lisbon was actually in labour. She was already having contractions nearly every 3 minutes by this point, and very quickly decided that childbirth looked like it would be a lot more painful than that time she got shot in the shoulder. Jane pointed out that she had enough adrenaline then with the realisation that O'Laughlin was the mole for the pain to really set in, so it wasn't that different. Lisbon fixed him with an angry glare until he took it back and returned to letting her squeeze his hand every time the pain overcame her. When he wasn't having his hand broken by Lisbon's iron grip, he managed to text the rest of the team and update them on the situation.

"Grace says good luck" he told Lisbon, as a text came in a few hours later "she wants to come in and wait with you"

"Come in?" Lisbon's eyed widened.

"Did I not tell you? The whole team are in the waiting room, do you want me to go and-"

"God no Jane!" she shrieked "The last thing I need right now is for my team to come and see their boss in a sweaty, angry state. And the doctor will be back in a minute to take me through to the delivery room"

"I don't think they'll take you through to delivery quite yet" he pointed out, whilst typing out his reply.

"Yes they will" she maintained "Jane!"

"What?" he turned back to her quickly "what it is?"

"We never decided on a name"

"Oh" Jane sank back into his chair "don't worry about that, I almost think it's better that we wait until we meet her and can see which name will suit…Jesus woman! Do you have any idea how much that hurts?!"

Lisbon waited until the pain had passed and then glared at him so fiercely that he was almost worried she would bore a hole through him.

"I think she has a pretty good idea of what pain is right now, Mr Lisbon" the doctor told him from the door.

Jane opened his mouth to explain that they weren't married, but the doctor cut him off before he could even begin.

"How are we doing, Teresa?"

"Oh, alright" Lisbon replied nonchalantly, smiling a little at the doctor's address of Jane.

"Hopefully it won't be too much longer" the doctor smiled sympathetically at her "now if you don't mind, I just need to check…"

Jane became very interested in the pattern on the wallpaper as the doctor checked to see how far along she was.

"Right" she muttered, scribbling something on the paper "you're just past 8cm, and given that she's a bit earlier than anticipated I think we'll be getting you into delivery fairly soon. Just hang in there for now, you're nearly there"

The doctor left them alone again and Lisbon returned to lying on her side – the most comfortable position for her.

"Mr Lisbon, really" Jane shook his head and sighed.

"Oh come on Jane" Lisbon rolled her eyes at him "get over it"

She closed her eyes and grimaced and Jane grabbed both of her hands in his, knowing what was coming.

"It's ok Lisbon" he murmured "not much longer now"

"That's easy for you to say" she spat out, eyes still squeezed shut "all you had to do was…god, how can this hurt this much?"

He hated seeing her in pain like this. Although it wasn't the first time he'd been through it, he had forgotten quite how difficult it could be to see someone you loved panting and swearing in increasing levels of agony. Yet still, Lisbon was too proud to accept the epidural or any of the other drugs they offered her to relieve the pain a little. He had to hold back a smile every time one of the nurses suggested it and she looked affronted.

Lisbon breathed through the last of the pain and then let her body relax.

"When will it be over?" she demanded "I swear I've been here for days"

"Four hours" Jane corrected her "which is basically days" he added quickly.

"This is all your fault you know" she glared at him "if you hadn't ordered that first glass of wine…"

"And you hadn't invited me back to your apartment and gotten me more drunk and seduced me" he finished off under his breath "I take full responsibility"

"Good" she nodded firmly.

When the doctor returned half an hour later Lisbon was right in the middle of a fairly explicit explanation of how much she hated Jane right that moment, which to his credit, he took with no objections.

"That's exactly what I am" Jane nodded along, stroking her hair with his spare hand "completely"

As soon as Lisbon was able to hold a coherent conversation with the doctor, she was able to check her and tell her that she was nearly at 10cm, meaning they would be taking her through to delivery imminently.

"Thank god" Lisbon groaned "After this I doubt I'll even notice next time I get shot"

The doctor raised her eyebrows at the comment and paused going about her other checks for a second.

"She's a cop" Jane pointed out quickly.

Once she was wheeled through to the delivery room things progressed a lot more quickly. Lisbon finally gave in and accepted the gas and air she was offered, and Jane started to wonder if he should ask for an x-ray on his hand after what it had been through the past few hours. He decided not to mention this to Lisbon however, who was too busy reeling off the most colourful selection of words he had heard in a long time.

"She's crowning" the midwife shouted excitedly "Mr Lisbon, do you want to come and see?"

"I…uh…" Jane spluttered.

Lisbon groaned loudly and he quickly returned to encouraging her.

Not long after that it was all over and there was a flurry of activity around the room. Jane remained by Lisbon's exhausted form, unable to get her to relinquish her hold on his hand.

"I'm so proud of you" he said quietly to her, squeezing her shoulder with his spare hand "you did it"

Lisbon murmured something unintelligible in response and turned her head over to shoot him an exhausted smile. Her face was red and blotchy from both the effort and tears, and her hair was frizzy and moist with sweat but Jane had never wanted to kiss her more in his life.

"Where is she?" Lisbon asked, suddenly very aware that she hadn't even seen the small human she'd just managed to push out of her body "why can't I see her?"

She pushed her self up and looked frantically around the room, whilst Jane tried to calm her down and explain that they'd taken her next door because she needed her airways cleared so she could breathe properly.

"Is she ok?" Lisbon asked "is something wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong" a nurse answered her as she walked back in "here she is"

She placed the tiny bundle into Lisbon's arms and then stepped away to let the small family get acquainted with one another.

Lisbon finally let go of Jane to reach out and tentatively trace her finger across the tiny face.

"Hello" she murmured, blinking rapidly to hold back the tears which had suddenly appeared "hello baby"

Jane leant in and slid one arm around her back and the other round her front to cup the child's tiny head.

"She's so tiny" Lisbon whispered "look at her Jane"

"She's perfect" Jane nodded, turning his head and pressing a kiss to her temple.

Neither of them could bring themselves to drag their eyes away from the little bundle in Lisbon's arms. She was awake, and staring at the people above her with her huge blue eyes as if to ask what exactly was going on. Jane moved his hand and stroked the end of her nose gently, and she shuffled slightly in surprise, making both parents smile slightly. The hustle and bustle of the nurses in the room around them felt like it was miles away, as they watched every tiny movement their new daughter made.

Jane turned his head towards Lisbon and pressed a lingering kiss on her cheek. Lisbon looked up at him in surprise and he leant forward again. She knew exactly what was happening: Jane was leaning in to kiss her. She had plenty of time to react; to turn her head, to duck, to push him away…but she held her ground. Jane's lips met hers so softly she could barely feel it. He pressed a little harder, as if he was about to deepen the kiss and then a movement in Lisbon's arms caused them both to jump apart.

They were mesmerised again as the tiny human shuffled a little and the yawned and closed her eyes, unaware of how her small action had affected the important events taking place just above her. Jane moved his hand to caress her small cheek, marvelling at the fresh softness of her skin. He turned his head away suddenly and Lisbon spun around to see his face contorted and his eyes glistening.

"I'm sorry" he muttered, his voice higher than usual "I was so determined to be cool about this"

"Oh hush Jane" Lisbon replied, suddenly sounding very cop-like "we made a tiny perfect human and you're worried someone might see you cry?"

He shrugged and made a non-committal noise, mostly because he knew there was no chance of him saying anything without bawling right now. He blinked a few times and let out a deep breath to regain control of himself.

"Do you want to hold her?" Lisbon asked suddenly, nudging him with her elbow.

He nodded and extracted his arm from around her to pick up the delicate parcel. Lisbon gave him a watery smile and leant her head against his shoulder as he marvelled at his daughter. She had seen many smiles from Jane over the years. Most commonly it had been his charming smile that had women of all ages throwing themselves at him, or his smug 'I told you so' smirk. The expression on his face was one she could only recall seeing on a handful of occasions. He looked so genuine and happy, with no trace of his need to impress and charm others.

After a few minutes one of the nurses came over and explained that they needed to move Lisbon through to recovery and take the baby to be weighed and checked. Jane blinked back yet more tears as the child was extracted from his arms and was then ushered through after Lisbon.

There was a gentle knock at the door and both Jane and Lisbon looked up from staring in amazement at their sleeping daughter.

"It's Grace" a voice sounded through the door "we can come back, if it's-"

"No, come in" Lisbon called "she's sleeping" she added, suddenly lowering her voice.

The door opened and the remaining three members of the team walked in. Van Pelt was beaming and holding a large bunch of flowers, which she immediately bestowed upon Lisbon. Rigsby looked happy but a little nervous, and Cho looked like he always did. When Jane beckoned them over to meet the baby the corners of Cho's mouth actually turned up a little.

"She's gorgeous" Van Pelt said softly.

"She is" Rigsby agreed "does she have a name?"

"Not yet" Lisbon sighed, unable to tear her eyes away from her daughter "We have Isabelle or Abigail or Chloe but…" she trailed off.

"They just don't seem right" Jane explained, letting his hand hang in the crib and gently touch the baby's head.

"I like Abigail" Van Pelt shrugged "if I ever had a baby I always imagined calling her Eleanor or Sophie" she smiled.

"Abigail?" Lisbon looked at Jane hopefully, and then her face fell "and I thought giving birth was the most difficult bit"

"Lily?" Cho said, and everyone turned to look at him "she looks like one" he added.

"Lily" Lisbon repeated slowly "Lil-y"

Jane looked at her for a second, deep in thought.

"Actually" he began "she does look like a Lily"

"It's one of the few names that doesn't make me think of a past victim or a suspect" Lisbon added.

"Ever the cop, Lisbon" Jane murmured with a smile "wait, Lily Lisbon. We couldn't do that to a child"

"Why not Lily Jane?" Lisbon pointed out.

"Oh come on Lisbon, I don't want this poor child to have the Jane history weighing down on her"

"But-"

"Besides, Lisbon is just a nicer surname" he added, cutting off her protests before she could even begin.

"Fine" Lisbon shrugged "so not Lily. Any more ideas Cho?"

"Rose, Maggie or Ella" he said after a moment of thought.

"You have a gift, man" Rigsby commented, grinning at his friend.

"I like Ella" Jane said, looking at Lisbon "actually I really like it"

"Ella Lisbon" Lisbon tried "Ella Jane"

"Ella Lisbon" Jane reminded her "I'd be happy with that, and if I've read you correctly then you're trying to think of a way to thank Cho for his brilliant suggestions"

They all smiled at Jane's comment, as Lisbon continued to stare at her child.

"Was I right?" Jane asked her.

"You know you were" Lisbon replied, rolling her eyes "Ella Lisbon" she tested it again.

"You could do Lisbon-Jane" Rigsby suggested "or Jane-Lisbon"

As if she was aware that they were discussing her, the baby started to shuffle and slowly came to. She stared at the faces looking down at her for a few seconds, and then let out a whimper, that quickly became a wail.

Jane scooped her out and tried to calm her down.

"She can't be hungry can she?" Lisbon fretted "I just fed her. Do they need feeding that often?"

"She's just confused" Jane explained as the crying subsided "she's spent months living in a cocoon and suddenly she's woken up in this odd world"

"Odd is the word" Van Pelt commented, and then blushed when they all turned to look at her "uh we should get going, leave you in peace"

"And we have to be at work in a few hours" Rigsby pointed out.

They said their goodbyes and then Cho went in search of a vending machine, leaving Rigsby and Van Pelt walking the corridors together.

"I want one" Van Pelt said suddenly.

"A candy bar? I'm sure you could text Cho and-"

"No, a baby" Van Pelt clarified.

She looked at her fiancé, unaware of how he would react to such a comment.

"Obviously if one is enough I understand" Van Pelt continued, taking Rigsby's silence to mean that he didn't know how to tell her that he didn't "I mean Ben means so much to me, and I completely get if-"

"What's the time?" Rigsby cut in suddenly.

"Nearly 4am, why?"

"So that gives us 3 hours to get home and start working on that"

Van Pelt stopped and stared at him.

"Grace, I love you" he said, stepping towards his fiancée and placing his hands on her waist "and sure, when we first got together the idea of having a child with anyone would have made me run faster than Jane from a gun" he smiled "but right now, the idea of us having a child together makes me even happier than I ever imagined a person could be"

"You mean that?"

"Every single word" he replied, leaning down to press a chaste kiss on her lips.

"Well, we better hurry up and get back then" she said, smiling shyly at him "are you sure though? This is massive"

"I think if we don't go home right now then I'm going to start trawling this hospital for a spare bed or broom closet"

"Maybe I'd like that" she whispered huskily, and then pulled away and started to walk towards the way out.

"Oh Grace" Rigsby muttered after her "what on earth did I do to deserve you?"

Lisbon fell asleep not long after the rest of the team had left, after the most exhausting 24 hours of her life. A nurse came in and took Ella away to the nursery as Lisbon slept, much to Jane's disappointment. Jane watched her chest rise and fall gently, deep in thought. It was the first chance he'd had to stop and think about what had just happened. Unsurprisingly, his thoughts had floated back to the last time he had been in the maternity ward of a hospital.

He could remember holding Charlotte for the first time, just seconds after she had been born when the midwife dragged him over and thrust the screaming, messy infant into his hands. He had been absolutely petrified. Afterwards, as Angela slept and he stared at his newborn child in amazement, he promised to love and protect her. He felt a tinge of sadness as his mind flashed to the image of his beautiful child as he had found her on that fateful evening, but he pushed the memory away. He was so tired of remembering them in a painful, self hating way. He wanted to remember them as the joy of his life that they had been, remembering what he had had instead of what was taken away from him.

His thoughts moved to the beautiful woman lying asleep in the bed bedside him. He had absolutely no idea what he had done to deserve meeting her after what he had done to his family. He had never imagined being able to love anyone again, after Angela had gone, yet over the years and without meaning to, Lisbon had progressed from a colleague to a close friend to the most important person in his life. He wasn't sure how she had managed to break through the wall he built up around himself after his family's deaths, but she had done it. He wasn't really sure what their earlier kiss had meant either. It had been a spur of the moment thing for him – the result of such overpowering feelings of pride and love towards her. But she hadn't stopped him. She knew what he felt towards her, and he was fairly certain she returned the feelings – but why wouldn't she act on it? They'd known each other for so long, they lived together, and they even had a child together now, what was holding her back from him?

Lisbon shuffled a bit on the bed beside him and her eyes fluttered open slowly.

"Hey" she muttered, smiling a little at him.

"Hey yourself" he grinned back "how are you feeling?"

"Tired and sore" she replied, yawning "how long have I been asleep?"

"A couple of hours. They took Ella to the nursery to let you rest" he explained, before she could notice she was missing and start worrying.

"Are you sure about the name then?"

"Completely" he nodded "and I know you love it"

"Good old Cho"

They settled in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, as Lisbon picked at a loose thread on the comforter.

"Jane" she began tentatively "what did you mean, when you kissed me?"

"When? Today, or in Santa Cruz?"

"Both actually" she shrugged "you were about to say…something, and I stopped you. Did you…do you still…" she trailed off.

"Do I still love you?" he asked, and she nodded shyly.

"Teresa" he said softly "I couldn't stop if I wanted to"

"Oh"

Lisbon couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face. Jane picked up the hand that lay nearest to him on the bed and stroked it gently for a few seconds, before lowering his head to it and pressing a kiss onto her knuckles.

They were interrupted by the door bursting open and a nurse carrying their wailing baby walked in.

"Oh good, you're awake" she smiled at Lisbon, who pushed herself into a sitting position "she's hungry" the nurse explained "have you fed her before?"

"Once" Lisbon replied "the nurse helped me"

"Well give it a try by yourself this time"

Lisbon took her daughter from the nurse and adjusted her in her arms.

"I'll wait outside and give you some privacy" the nurse told her "call me if you need any help"

Shooting Jane a slightly self conscious smile, she pulled up the thin pullover she was wearing up a bit and then froze.

"Lisbon, I have seen your breasts before" Jane told her, rolling his eyes.

"I know" Lisbon said, blushing "but that was-"

"Different?"

Lisbon let out a sigh and then pulled the top up even more. She struggled for a few minutes, nearly calling the nurse back in for help but eventually Ella latched on and the wailing stopped.

They didn't really get much time alone to talk after that. Nurses came in and out, food arrived, Ella cried and needed feeding and changing and Lisbon dozed a couple of times. Van Pelt turned up again in the afternoon, apparently having been 'passing through' on the way to talk to someone involved in the case. Lisbon was asleep at the time, so she chatted to Jane and when Ella woke up she got the chance to hold her. It was only when Van Pelt left that Jane realised that he hadn't slept for a day and a half. He didn't really want to be asleep right now either, not when he had his semi conscious daughter in his arms and he could watch Lisbon sleeping next to him. He was happier than he could remember having been in the past 8 years, and he didn't want to miss any of it with something so unimportant as sleep.

A/N Phew! This chapter was difficult to write, so I hope I did it some justice. I'm sorry if there were any inaccuracies with childbirth – I've never had a child (and most likely never will), so this was based entirely on internet research.

We're nearing the end now, and I'm both excited and sad because I've loved writing this story so much. Thanks for the support!