The next day, Jane let her sleep in until eight before he roused her with breakfast in bed, courtesy of the Loiree Grand's room service. He insisted they head back to her brother's place immediately after breakfast.

"What's the rush?" she asked, half exasperated, half amused as he bustled about, fetching her coat and shoes for her in an effort to hasten her along.

"Lots to do today," he answered, thrusting her hat at her. "There's no time to waste."

In the Lisbon household, the day after Thanksgiving was usually an indolent one. The family typically spent the day eating leftovers and watching football. She raised an eyebrow. "Just what do you think is going to happen today?"

"I'm taking your brothers shopping."

She snorted. "Yeah, right."

"Christmas shopping, to be precise."

She stopped. "Are you serious?"

"Of course. Today is a critical step in my plan."

"Your plan to get my brothers to like you? That plan?"

"Yes, that plan." There was an air of poorly suppressed excitement about him that Lisbon recognized. It was the look he always got when he had a particularly clever scheme in the works.

She shook her head. "Not happening, Jane. There's no way you're going to get my brothers to go shopping with you."

"Why not?"

"For one thing, it's Black Friday. The stores will be packed with crazed middle-aged women desperate to get their hands on the latest products at seriously discounted prices."

"So?"

"My brothers aren't going to want to venture out into that mob scene. They're going to want to stay home and watch football and fight over who gets the last slice of leftover pumpkin pie."

"Oh, they'll come," he said with absolute confidence.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you," she said, shaking her head.

He grinned at her. "Bet you a slice of pumpkin pie I can get them to go with me."

She knew better than to accept a bet with Jane. "You really think you can win over my brothers by forcing them to go shopping with you?"

He leaned down and kissed her. "Don't worry, Lisbon. It's all part of the plan."

Xxx

As predicted, when they arrived at the house, Jane and Lisbon found the Lisbon brothers parked in front of the TV, watching football. Lisbon was pleased to see Tommy was with the other two. Then she remembered Jane loudly telling him the night before that he'd see him at James' house bright and early the next day. James and Michael had stood there, mouths agape, but hadn't had any choice but to go along with Jane's forced invitation. Still, at least they'd managed to settle into the task of watching football this morning without coming to blows. That was something.

"Hello, Lisbon men," Jane said cheerfully. "What's happening?"

"Ohio State vs. Michigan, Northwestern vs. Illinois, and if there's time, Indiana vs. Purdue," answered James, his eyes fixed on the screen.

"Tommy thinks we're going to watch the Minnesota game," Michael put in with a smirk. "But he's dreaming. No way we're going to watch that pathetic excuse of a team."

Tommy punched him on the arm. "Shut up. They're doing much better this year."

"That's not saying much, little brother," Michael snorted.

Jane looked at Tommy. "You were hoping to watch the Minnesota game?"

"Yeah," Tommy said, shooting an annoyed look at Michael.

"Too bad," Jane said. "Michael's right. You're not going to get to watch that today."

"Why not?"

"Because you're all coming with me."

"Going with you where?" Tommy asked.

Jane bounced on his heels a little bit. "It's a surprise."

"Unless the surprise is a sports bar with HD, count me out," Michael said, leaning back on the couch and plonking his feet on the coffee table.

"I'm afraid attendance is mandatory," Jane said, not the least bit deterred by this lack of enthusiasm. "Now, chop, chop. We're leaving in five minutes."

Her brothers all stared at him, incredulous.

Jane grinned. "I'll go let Nell know we won't be back for lunch."

He disappeared down the hall, leaving the three Lisbon brothers staring after him in consternation.

Michael recovered first. He turned to Lisbon, still standing there in her coat and hat. "What the hell, Reese?"

"Don't look at me," she said. "This was his idea. Apparently he has some kind of male bonding activity planned for the four of you."

Michael looked pained. "You're not coming?"

She shook her head. "I wasn't invited."

"What does he expect us to do?" James asked warily.

She winced. "He may have mentioned something about Christmas shopping."

"Christmas shopping?" Michael repeated, appalled. "But it's Black Friday. The mall will be crawling with middle aged bargain hunters."

"Yeah, those people will trample you in heartbeat if it will get them closer to getting fifty percent off a flat screen," Tommy agreed. "Much safer to stay here and watch football."

"I know, but he has his heart set on you guys going with him," Lisbon said. "It's really important to him."

"Why?" Michael asked suspiciously.

"He just… wants to get to know you better," Lisbon said, tactfully not mentioning that Jane had referred to his plan as a con he was running on them. Even if it was to get them to like him.

"And he thinks shopping is a better way to do that than watching football?" Michael demanded.

She shrugged helplessly. "Apparently."

James looked at her intently. "It's really important to him that we go?"

"Yeah."

James looked at his brothers. "I guess we'd better go, then."

Michael made a face. "Seriously?"

"It's important to Patrick, and he's important to Reese," James said, standing. He went to the hall closet and returned with their coats. "We're going."

"Yeah, you're right," Tommy agreed, accepting his coat from James. He stood and looked at Michael. "Come on, Michael."

Michael heaved a heavy sigh and got to his feet. "The things I do for you," he grumbled to Lisbon.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "I really appreciate it."

He gave her a wry grin. "Anything for you, sis."

Surprised by the sentiment, Lisbon smiled at him. "I can promise you one thing, at least."

"What's that?" Michael asked as he put on his coat.

"Whatever Jane has in mind, I guarantee it won't be boring."

Jane reappeared in the hallway. "Ah, good, you're all ready. Shall we?"

The Lisbon brothers grunted in acknowledgment and headed out into the cold.

Lisbon, still wearing all her winter gear, started to pull off her gloves.

Jane leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "See you later."

"See you," she returned as she stuffed her gloves into her jacket pockets.

Jane went out the door, then came back in a second later.

Lisbon looked up halfway through unzipping her coat. "Forget something?"

"Yeah." He closed the distance between them and cupped her face in his hands. He bent and kissed her, long and deep.

"What was that for?" she asked, a little breathlessly, when he released her a minute later.

"You look really cute in that hat," he answered with a wink, then left.

Xxx

Lisbon spent the morning playing with her nieces and nephews and trying not to worry about letting Jane loose with her three brothers in tow. She led the kids in a rowdy game of capture the flag, followed by a snowball war that lasted until lunchtime. They trooped back inside and devoured leftovers while Henry and Gillian bragged about their exploits to Nell and Laurie.

After lunch, Annie asked Lisbon if she wanted to see what she'd learned in her jiu-jitsu classes. Lisbon agreed, and the two of them went to Annie's gym. They worked out a couple hours, Annie showing her some of the moves she'd learned and Lisbon showing her a few new moves herself. When they got back, it was nearly six and Jane and her brothers still weren't back.

Lisbon suppressed a trace of anxiety about what kind of trouble they could get into with Jane at the head of that group and focused on helping Nell with dinner. She'd been entrusted with more chopping and was determined to prove she was capable of this much, at least.

At quarter after six, Nathan burst into the kitchen. "Dad's home!"

"It's about time," Nell said, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel.

"He's totally drunk!" Nathan said with glee.

Nell paused. "Your father's drunk?"

"They all are," Nathan guffawed. "It's hilarious. I'm going to go back outside to watch." With that, he tore out of the room as quickly as he'd entered in the first place.

Lisbon and Nell exchanged startled glances and followed. They met Laurie coming down the stairs.

"What the hell is that racket outside?" she asked with a frown.

She didn't have to wait long for an answer.

Nathan opened the front door. His father and Tommy stumbled across the threshold, leaning against each other heavily and giggling like school girls. Behind them, Michael sagged against Jane. Jane staggered a little under his weight but managed to steer him through the doorway in the end.

James stopped short when he saw the three women standing in the hallway, staring at them in shock. He straightened with a goofy grin. "Wife!" he boomed. He let Tommy go and held his arms out to Nell. Tommy, without James to lean against, careened sideways and almost knocked over Nathan. James ignored this. He held out his arms to Nell. "Come give your husband a proper greeting."

Nell rolled her eyes but went to him. He picked her up in a bear hug and planted a big, sloppy kiss on her mouth.

Nell kissed him back indulgently, then leaned back and regarded him with an expression of mingled exasperation and affection. "What's gotten into you?"

"A lot of alcohol," he whispered conspiratorially. "Don't tell Reese, but I may be a little drunk."

Nell glanced at Lisbon, still staring at her brothers in mute surprise. "Yeah, I think the cat's pretty much out of the bag on that one."

"Looks like the whole lot of you are drunk as sailors," Laurie commented.

This set Tommy off on another fit of giggles. "Yeah," he chortled. "Except we're not sailors!" He apparently thought this was hysterically funny, because he couldn't stop laughing.

Jane, the only sober one among them, addressed Nathan. "Help your uncle over to the couch, will you?"

Nathan obliged. He slung Tommy's arm around his thin shoulders and helped him over to the couch. Jane guided Michael over to the couch and deposited him there, too. James followed, pulling Nell along with him. Laurie and Lisbon trailed after them.

James plopped down on the couch next to Michael. He pulled Nell down to sit on his lap. She squeaked in surprise but found her balance and perched on his knee. He nuzzled her neck. "Hey," he said to her in a whisper clearly audible to the entire room. "Whaddya say we send the kids out into the snow and you and me go upstairs?"

"Oh, gross," Nathan said, revolted. "I'm outta here." The entertainment of seeing his father drunk had clearly taken an unfortunate turn. He bolted.

Nell patted her husband on the knee and levered herself off him. "Maybe later, hon. If you're still feeling, ah, up to it."

Tommy snickered. James reached across Michael to swat him on the back of the head before returning his attention to his wife. "But I got you a present," he said pathetically.

Michael interrupted before Nell could respond. "I think you all should know that my present is totally the best one."

Nell raised her eyebrows. "You got me a present, too?"

"Nah," Michael said, unconcerned. "My present's for Laurie. Patrick helped me with it."

"Oh, he did, did he?" Laurie asked, her own eyebrows raised.

"Yeah. But I picked it out all on my own," Michael said proudly, leaning his head back against the couch and closing his eyes. "And I got presents for the kids, so you don't have to worry about that." His eyes popped open. "I mean it. Don't worry about it. The bank account can't take any more abuse under the name of Christmas shopping."

Lisbon saw Jane chuckling at this and pulled him aside. "What the hell did you do to my brothers?" she hissed.

He rocked on his heels and grinned that devil-may-care grin at her. "Who, me? Not a thing."

"They're completely wasted!"

"That wasn't entirely my doing. It's not like I forced the drinks down their throats. Though I admit I did facilitate the refilling of the glasses when the occasion warranted. You know, such as when they were empty."

"Aw, lay off him, Reese," Michael said lazily from the couch. "Patrick bought us a few rounds, that's all. What's the big deal?"

"This was your grand scheme to get my brothers to like you?" Lisbon demanded, incredulous. "Ply them with liquor?"

"Sometimes the classic methods are most effective, Lisbon," Jane said, unrepentant. "Besides, we had a nice long chat, back when they were still capable of forming complete sentences."

Lisbon's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "About what?"

"Oh, this and that," Jane said vaguely. He paused. "Did you really shave your head one time in high school because a teacher told you that you had pretty hair?"

Lisbon turned scarlet. She rounded on her brothers. "What else did you tell him?"

James considered this. "Well, we did tell him about the time you went to ballet class with a black eye because you got in a fight with Cameron Blakemore the day before."

"And the time you fell out of the old maple tree in the backyard and broke your arm because you were determined to prove you could climb higher than Ronnie Parker, even though he was three years older than you," Tommy added.

"Well, I did climb higher than him," she muttered. They'd never said you had to stay in the tree to win that particular bet.

"We also told him how you made us eat frozen peas and carrots practically every damn night because you were afraid we weren't getting enough vegetables and you didn't know how to cook anything else," Michael said, wrinkling his nose.

"I don't suppose there's a picture around here of you with a shaved head, is there?" Jane said, looking around the room. "Cause I'd really like to see that." He regarded her with an appraising look. "I bet you looked cute with a shaved head. You do have a great skull, after all. I've always said that."

"Don't you dare," Lisbon warned her brothers. If they let Jane get hold of her high school yearbook, she would kill them with her bare hands.

Michael smirked. "Oh, I think there are quite a few pictures of Reese you might enjoy seeing, Paddy."

"I look forward to it," Jane said with a grin.

Lisbon looked between him and her brother, astonished. "Paddy?"

"We bonded today," Jane informed her.

Lisbon looked back at her brother dubiously. "You didn't hypnotize him, did you?"

Jane feigned shock. "Lisbon, really? You think the only way I could get members of your family to like me would be to hypnotize them? I'm offended that you think so little of me." He paused. "I only had to threaten to hypnotize him."

"Seriously?" Lisbon said, alarmed.

"Well, technically, I did hypnotize him, in the end," Jane admitted. "But that was after he started to like me of his own volition."

Lisbon's voice climbed towards the stratosphere. "You hypnotized my brother?"

"Relax, Reese," Michael said, his head still propped up against the back of the couch. "Patrick helped me stop smoking, that's all." He fumbled in his pocket with clumsy fingers, then held up a pack of cigarettes. "See? Haven't had one all afternoon."

"Are you telling me you asked him to hypnotize you?" Lisbon asked, unable to believe her ears.

Michael shrugged. "Patrick said you were worried about me smoking. Said he could help. Nothing else I've tried worked, so what the hell? I couldn't be any worse off than I was before, right?"

"Unbelievable," Lisbon muttered.

Michael lolled his head to the side and addressed Laurie. "You should have him try it on you, babe."

"You smoke?" Lisbon asked Laurie, astonished.

"Are you kidding?" Michael snorted. "She's worse than me."

"I've never seen you smoke," Lisbon said.

Laurie grimaced. "Yeah, well. You're a bit of a paragon, Teresa. It doesn't exactly make one eager to expose one's greatest faults to you."

Lisbon stared at her, agape. This was why perfect, beautiful Laurie had never completely warmed to her?

Tommy interrupted her thoughts. "Don't be mad at Patrick, Reese. He was only trying to help."

"Yeah," Michael slurred. "He made us forgive Tommy cause you said you wanted us to."

Lisbon forgot everything else. "You forgave Tommy?"

"Sure," Michael said, as though this were no big deal. "He obviously missed us. James and me figured we let him back in, he'll be so grateful we'll have at least six months of him being our willing slave."

Tommy snorted. "I wouldn't count on it, bro."

"Make sure your fan of palm leaves is ready," Michael told him. "And if you're going to fetch fruit for me, you should know that I prefer pineapple to grapes."

Lisbon flung herself at her brother. She grabbed Michael in a bear hug and held tight. Despite the awkwardness of having to lean down to the couch to haul their half-slumped, alcohol sodden bodies to her, she subjected Tommy and James to the same bone-crushing embrace, half laughing, half crying.

She released James only to return to Michael and hug him again.

He patted her on the back. "If you feel that way about it, you can bring me pineapple, too," he said magnanimously.

"Shut up," she sniffed.

He pulled her down to the couch so she was wedged between him and Tommy. "Don't tell me you're going to get all girly about it."

She gave him a watery smile. "Course not."

"Good." He slouched down even further on the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. "Now, for the love of God, can we please watch some football?"

Xxx

Later, when they were walking to the hotel from the parking lot, Lisbon slipped her arm through Jane's. "I had a really good night tonight," she said softly.

The Lisbon siblings had spent the evening abusing the opponents of their favorite teams. The other occupants of the household had wandered in and out, but Lisbon and her brothers outlasted the rest of them. Even after James and Tommy passed out at opposite ends of the couch, Michael and Lisbon remained, arguing over the merits of the coaching styles of the top ten teams.

It was only when Laurie came back in and informed Michael it was already way past the kids' bedtime that Lisbon realized how late it was. They helped Michael and Laurie get the kids out to the car. Then they went back in the house to bid Nell goodnight and thank her for her hospitality. Nell managed to get James' semi-conscious form upstairs and into bed. Annie was bunked up with Gillian for the night. They left Tommy on the couch to sleep it off.

Jane smiled. "I don't think I can claim credit for Cal beating BYU."

She slapped him lightly on the chest as they entered the hotel. "Come on, you know what I mean."

He feigned ignorance. "Hm, no. I'm not sure that I do."

She rolled her eyes, still smiling. "Thank you for what you did for my brothers."

"Oh, you mean interfering with your family affairs? For meddling in things that are none of my business?" he asked.

They crossed the lobby and reached the elevator. Lisbon punched the up button. "Yes, Jane. This one time, I am prepared to admit that your meddling did not have entirely disastrous consequences."

He grinned. "Flatterer."

The elevator dinged and they stepped inside. Lisbon hit the button for their floor and the doors closed again. "I'm serious. I'm trying to thank you, you idiot."

"No thanks necessary," Jane said. "I'm happy to threaten your family members with hypnotism whenever you like."

She didn't take the bait. "Thank you for taking the trouble to make things right with my brothers, for my sake."

"It was no trouble," Jane said. "It was entirely my pleasure."

She stepped closer to him. "You're too good to me."

He watched her with hooded eyes. "It pleases me to please you."

She curled her gloved fingers around the collar of his coat and tugged him down so she could reach his mouth with hers. "Thank you," she repeated softly, and kissed him.

He groaned into her mouth and pressed himself forward, pulling her flush against him.

The elevator dinged again. Lisbon laughed at the pained expression on his face. He was clearly displeased by the interruption, however minor. "Come on," she said, taking his hand. She was feeling a bit overheated herself, still in all her winter gear.

He attacked her the minute the door to their room closed behind them. She barely had time to pull her gloves off before he had her pressed against the door. He took her face in her hands and kissed her as though he was trying to imprint part of his soul on hers through the act. The gloves fell to the floor.

"Jane," she panted after a few minutes of this. "My coat." She was in serious danger of spontaneously combusting inside that thing if Jane kept kissing her like that.

He slowed down. He leaned back a bit. He poked the puffy sleeve of her down jacket, watching the sleeve puff up again when he removed his finger from it. "You look like a marshmallow in that coat."

"Thanks a lot," Lisbon huffed, attempting to move away.

He trapped her against the door. "Did I say that was a bad thing?"

"How on earth could looking like a marshmallow possibly be a good thing?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, but it is."

"Uh-huh," Lisbon said, not buying it.

"Trust me. The sight of you in that poofy jacket is making me crazy."

"Yeah, right," Lisbon snorted.

His hands slid under her sweater. "I'm serious," he said, bending to kiss her neck. "Don't even get me started on the hat."

Lisbon blinked as he divested her of said puffy jacket and slid his hands under her sweater again. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," he confirmed. "You look adorable in that damn hat."

She shook her head, tracing her hand over his chest. "You are a strange man, Patrick Jane."

He nibbled her ear. "You look like a sexy ski bunny."

She unzipped his coat and pushed it off his shoulders along with his suit jacket, letting them fall on the floor in a heap. "I didn't know you had a thing for ski bunnies."

"Can't say I ever have before," he said, tugging the hat from her head and tossing it to the side so he could run his fingers through her hair, unconstrained. "You do strange things to me, woman. Seeing you run around in that puffy coat playing football yesterday nearly drove me to distraction."

She groaned as he tilted her head back and sucked hard on her neck. "Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out your turn ons."

"Really? I would have thought they were pretty obvious," he said, sliding his hands down her sides and snaking his hands under her sweater again to make his point.

She shook her head. "Last time you reacted like this to something I was wearing was when I wore a skirt to go to court. Now you're apparently into the marshmallow look."

"I like skirt Lisbon. I like marshmallow Lisbon." He punctuated each statement with another kiss to her neck. "I like jeans and a blazer Lisbon. I like leather jacket Lisbon. And green shirt Lisbon, blue shirt Lisbon, and Kevlar Lisbon. Are you seeing the pattern here?"

She slid her hands down his chest and started working on his vest buttons. "Guess it's kind of like how I like vest Jane and no vest Jane." And especially jeans Jane, that rare and elusive visitor. She made it to the last vest button and then got the shirt off him in record time, sending that fluttering to the floor as well.

He pulled her sweater off, only to find another, thinner sweater immediately beneath it. Undeterred, he pulled that off as well, but when he found a long-sleeved thermal undershirt beneath that, he paused. "Good Lord, woman, how many layers are you wearing?"

There was actually one more to go after the thermal undershirt – the base layer was a silk camisole. "I really, really hate being cold."

He got the thermal shirt off her and hummed his appreciation of the silk camisole. He kissed a freckle at the top of one breast, then nosed his way beneath the camisole to latch onto one rose-tipped nipple with his mouth. He slid his hands down to her ass and pulled her closer to him so he could continue to work his mouth against her breast. "What about your legs? Don't they get cold in just these jeans?" he asked her breast. He swirled his tongue around her nipple in lazy, sure strokes. "That jacket doesn't go past your hips." He switched breasts, treating the other one to the same deliciously detailed attention with his hot mouth.

Lisbon had a hard time tracking on the conversation when he was doing that with his tongue. "They're… flannel… lined," she gasped.

"Oh, my God," he groaned. He straightened and thrust his hips into hers, kissing her mouth with renewed urgency. Before long, the flannel-lined jeans were no more. Jane hauled her up against him and busied himself demonstrating vigorously how much he liked 'pinned up against a door' Lisbon.

She had to admit, she was a pretty big fan of this Jane, too.