A/N: Well, this is it! Thanks for reading and reviewing.
A year ago, she spent a weekend in New York City that changed her entire world. A year ago, she started dating Patrick Jane. He'd become a fixture in her life. This weekend, to celebrate their anniversary, he wanted to take her back to New York, but she had an idea why he specifically wanted to take this trip to New York. He'd suggested the trip, but then got super nervous and closed off about anything to do with planning the trip.
Months ago, he and Erica finished rebranding Lisbon Security Solutions. It was a simple, but ingenious solution really: focus on the people providing the security. They'd made commercials and done flyers that focused on each of the main players of the firm, their backgrounds, and their skill sets. By some stroke of luck, Erica even convinced Madeleine to participate. With their new branding, they were able to attract more of the people that she and Madeleine had initially set out to help. Van Pelt and Rigsby remained focused on high end clients, while Cho and a new hire, Michelle Vega, focused on helping ordinary people with their security needs.
Hiring Jane Media to handle the rebranding was perfect, and it had been a huge boon to their business. Except the media attention didn't go away. After they returned from New York, they agreed that they'd make a joint statement about their relationship. She even sat through a photoshoot for some magazine to publish the exclusive story. She wasn't sure why she'd done it, but Erica encouraged them to do it. To her, a statement about her dating life sounded absolutely absurd, but landing on the front page of the local papers like a celebrity couple made the absurdity a necessity.
When word got out that Patrick's first wife, Angela, was a Red John victim, they received dozens of interview requests. People wanted to know about the love found in the darkness-or whatever type of Hallmark crap they came up with. Of course, the cameras continued to follow them around. Now, whenever they attended events, they were the "it" couple of the event with people wanting as many details as possible. They received an endless amount of invitations to fundraisers and balls, but they remained selective about their acceptances because they preferred time with each other. The attention they got seemed wild to her, but Patrick liked screwing with people from time to time, so it gave him something to do.
Though, this weekend was sure to make the media bonkers all over again. During their flight to New York on his jet, he buried himself in his work. She didn't mind because she had a fair bit of work to do herself. Occasionally, he would reach out and squeeze her hand before placing a kiss on her hand. She'd become used to his special way of letting her know he was present over the last year.
Once again, they stopped at the deli for lunch. She was starving, so she ordered a turkey reuben with extra turkey along with slaw, chips, two pickles, a cookie, and a coke. For a man who noticed everything, he still hadn't caught on that she had a surprise of her own. Through lunch and once they arrived at his condo, he kept checking his phone and sending messages. She had no idea who he was talking to, but he was incredibly preoccupied.
"Is everything ok, honey?" She reached up and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her.
"Yeah, it's fine. I was just thinking we might go for a walk in Central Park before we head to dinner. Would that be ok?"
Ah yes. Central Park. Last time they were here, he'd taken her on a horse drawn carriage ride in the park. "Absolutely."
"Ok, well maybe we can go in a little bit. Don't want it to get too dark."
He was acting incredibly strange. He was messaging on his phone again, but his hands were trembling. She wondered if maybe she should just let him know she was in on the surprise. It might make his nerves better. He had to know she'd say yes, right? But then again, she knew how sentimental he could be. He wanted to surprise her, so she'd let him.
About an hour later, they made their way out to the park. It was a nice fall day in the City, so after he'd sworn that dinner tonight would be at the same pizza parlor that she loved last time they were here, she bundled herself in a sweater, jeans, and boots. She half expected there to be a carriage awaiting them, but there wasn't. Instead, they walked until he stopped suddenly. He was on his phone again, which was really starting to annoy her.
"Patrick, if you don't get off of your damn phone! What is so important…" She never got to finish her question because she noticed why he'd been on his phone almost all day.
"Tommy? Stan? Jimmy?" Her brothers were in the park...in Central Park...in New York City, not Chicago. She looked at Patrick in confusion, but he was already down on one knee holding a ring box in front of her. The diamond was huge, and she would've protested about a ring this size before he'd bought it.
"I know how important family is to you, so I invited your brothers, your sister-in-law-hell even your nieces and nephews are around here somewhere-to be here for the moment that I asked you to join mine." She covered her mouth in surprise. Ok, even if she knew this was coming, she hadn't expected her entire family to be here.
He continued. "I love you. I can't even get through a day, an hour even, without thinking about you and the happiness that you bring to my life. I want to build a future with you. You are my world, and it would mean the world to me if you'd do me the honor being my wife. Teresa Lisbon, will you marry me?"
She had trouble finding her voice, so she spoke at just above a whisper. "Say it again."
"Will you marry me?"
She felt tears prickle her eyes. "You have to know that I'm going to say yes, right?"
"Well, technically, you still haven't said it."
"Yes, I'll marry you!" He slid the ring onto her finger before taking her face in his hands and kissing her softly on the lips. She heard the boys cheering.
Jimmy snapped some photos. Surely, there was a paparazzi camera around somewhere to catch this, but she'd let her little brother do his thing. Then, they were gathered around them.
"You better treat her right." Of course, Tommy had always tried to be her protector even if she was older.
"Ditto. You make our sister cry again, and you'll hear from all of us." Stan was working his tough guy exterior.
"I wouldn't dream of it." He pulled her into an embrace at his side, kissing her head.
She broke away from Patrick to hug each of her brothers. "When did you guys get here?"
"We got in last night. Wanted to make sure we were ready to go for this. Patrick put us up at a nice hotel for our family weekend."
She looked at her boyfriend. No, fiancee now. "Family weekend?"
"Yeah, I know you want to spend more time with the boys, so I thought I'd make it happen. We've got a whole schedule planned through Sunday."
She smiled at him. "That's why you were so coy about our plans this weekend."
"Yeah. Nice surprise, huh? I knew you'd figure out I planned to propose, but I knew you wouldn't figure out this part. You know, you really make me work hard to up my game."
"Is that a compliment, Patrick Jane? I think you can do better."
Stan interrupted them. "Well, we better give them some time alone. We better get over to the hotel. Sarah is with the kids. We'll meet you for pizza in about an hour. It better be good."
She responded. "It is. I loved it last time we were here." Her brother just nodded in response.
Jimmy pointed at him. "Treat her right."
"I promise."
She smiled as her brothers walked away. They'd not gone anywhere together since they were kids, so this was a nice surprise. Patrick had pulled her back into his side as they continued to stroll, stroking the new ring on her finger.
"So you knew I'd figured it out? I almost told you earlier so that you'd stop being so nervous. Your nerves were making me nervous."
He laughed. "I didn't know that you'd say yes. After all this time, you're still a mystery to me. I even came up with Plan B in case this failed and we had to spend a weekend together not engaged."
"I'm still a mystery to you, really?" She giggled.
"You are."
"So is that why you haven't figured out that you're going to be a father yet?" He stopped dead in his tracks. She met those gorgeous blue eyes that had upended her life and saw nothing but pure joy and excitement in them.
"Teresa...are you…"
She grabbed his hand and placed it on her belly. "I am."
"I...that's...oh..." He kissed her. "That's fantastic. How long?"
"I don't know yet. My first appointment is on Tuesday."
"Drop it on my calendar. I'll clear my schedule."
She shook her head. "Patrick, it's just a basic check up. I took three tests last week that all came back positive and went for the blood work. The results came back on Monday. It's not a big deal."
"Anything to do with you and our baby is a big deal to me. That's our appointment."
"Oh God. You're already going to start, aren't you?"
They continued on their stroll. "Start what?"
"You know, I'm working until I drop this kid, right?"
"Meh. We can negotiate that. Besides, I'm sure Madeleine will take my side."
"I'm pregnant, not dying."
"So we need to buy a house. I'm thinking we need at least five bedrooms. Our room, office space, nursery, guest room, play room. Is it too soon to start interviewing nannies? Oh! We will need to make sure we land in a good school district."
"Oh my God. This is starting." She pretended to be perplexed, but she knew he would immediately start fawning over her and the baby.
He grinned. "Honey, the joke's on you because you're raising a little Jane. It's never going to stop."
She laughed at him before kissing him once more. Hand in hand, they walked through the park and to meet with her family. She couldn't believe what a difference a chance meeting a year ago had made. Teresa Lisbon, the woman who captured Red John, owner of Lisbon Security Services, wife, and mother.
A/N 2: Thank you so much for sticking through this story with us! We liked the idea of simply ending this here instead of drawing it out because it was always meant to be a happy little story.