"Hey Reese!"
The face of Teresa Lisbon's little brother lit up her laptop screen, the joyous smile on his face causing her to smile as well.
"Hey Jimmy," she greeted him with a wave. She was happy to hear from him after all this time; it had been six months since they'd last spoken, both having been too busy to make time for each other. That's how it usually was with all of her brothers. Her job at the CBI took up most of her time and she was never able to just sit down and talk with them even through face time.
Now, however, she was a little wary of his sudden need to talk to her after so many months of being MIA. She couldn't help but feel apprehensive; her brothers were no stranger to trouble and she was afraid Jimmy may have gotten into some and needed her help— perks of having a cop as a sister, she supposed.
A few hours prior to their face time, Jimmy had sent her many urgent messages telling her to sit down and chat with him as soon as possible. He provided no information, so of course that caused her blood pressure to increase; she was terrified that he may have killed someone and needed help hiding the body. He was her little brother, therefore he knew she would help him with whatever he needed, even with concealing a murder.
"Reese," Jimmy's laughter flowed through the screen and Lisbon blinked, shaking away her thoughts. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Relax. I haven't done anything bad."
She expelled a breath of relief. "Thank God."
Jimmy placed a hand over his heart, feigning hurt. "I wish you'd have a little more faith in me, sis. I don't always get into trouble."
She snorted. "Yeah, right. How many times in your life have I gotten you out of trouble?"
Jimmy pretended to count on his fingers. "One, two, three...mmh, not the point. The point is, I have something very important to tell you."
"Oh no. Don't tell me you've gotten some random girl pregnant."
"Jeez, T, what do you take me for?" He shook his head. "No, I didn't get some random girl pregnant. But I am getting married this month."
Lisbon was lucky she hadn't been drinking any coffee at the moment. If she had been, she would've spit it out all over her desk.
"You're what?"
"I'm getting married!" He said with more enthusiasm. "I know it's such short notice, but I'd just proposed yesterday and we want to get married as soon as possible. We don't wanna waste any time, y'know?"
Lisbon continued to gape at him, blatant shock evident on her features. She definitely did not expect this news to come from her little brother, the youngest of all her brothers. Him getting married was the last thing to ever cross her mind.
"I didn't even know you were in a relationship," she finally managed to splutter after a few minutes of awkward silence.
Jimmy shrugged. "I've been with her for three months— "
"Three months?!"
"But we're very much in love!" He assured her. "Her name's Rosie and she's amazing. The perfect girl for me. I love her, Reese, I really do, and I really want to marry her."
Lisbon sighed, sinking low in her seat, rubbing her forehead to reduce the force of her new headache. Leave it to Jimmy to get married after being with a girl for three months. She was surprised he didn't knock her up as well.
"Reese," his voice was now quiet tinged with seriousness. She glanced at the screen. "I wouldn't jump into something as serious as marriage if I didn't think I was ready for it. I'm ready to settle down and Rosie's the person I want to settle with. We love each other and I'm really happy, okay? Just trust me, please."
Another sigh escaped Lisbon's lips. As much as she hated it being true, Jimmy was an adult and he could make his own decisions. If he was ready to get married and settle down, then she had to let him do it. He wasn't her responsibility anymore, even if he was her little brother.
"Okay," she said, appeasing him with a small smile. "I trust you. And I'm happy for you, Jimmy. Really."
Jimmy grinned. "Thanks, sis. I really appreciate it."
"If you say she's the one, then I believe you."
"I'd give you a hug, but, y'know," he shrugged. "Oh, and you've gotta come to the wedding."
She chuckled. "I wouldn't miss it. When?"
"It's on the 25th, a Saturday, but maybe you could take a couple of days off and fly in before then?" His voice was hopeful. "I'd really like to spend time with you, and so would Stan and Tommy. We all miss you."
Lisbon's heart ached at the mention of her other two brothers. She hadn't seen any of them in so long due to her job, and she really needed to make time for them, she just had never been able to. Her job was the only thing on her mind lately and she cursed herself for being so selfish.
"I'll talk to my boss about taking a few days off," she promised with a nod. "I'll definitely be there in time for the wedding."
Jimmy beamed. "Great! Can't wait to see you, sis." Before she could respond, he snapped his fingers. "Wait, I totally forgot. Do you have a boyfriend, sis? I need to know so I can add him to the wedding list. Rosie wants to make sure everyone has a place at the wedding."
Lisbon blinked, her face flushing at the blunt question. "I— "
He quickly cut her off. "There's no need to be shy about this stuff, sis. We're family. I just need to know so I can tell Rosie."
Lisbon clamped her mouth shut, feeling majorly put on the spot. Why was Jimmy so sure she had a boyfriend? Didn't he know she was too focused on her job to even think about dating? Well, it had been a while since they shared things about their personal lives, but still. She was still as single as ever, but Jimmy was patiently waiting for her to tell him the name of her non-existent boyfriend.
Come to think of it, she was the only one in the family who wasn't in a relationship. Stan was married with three kids, Tommy was divorced with a daughter, and now Jimmy was getting married. She felt like a fish out of water next to them.
She needed to show that work wasn't the only thing that was important to her, even though it most definitely was. She had to prove to Jimmy and her other brothers that she could let loose and date around, that she wasn't the uptight, bossy older sister they'd always known.
"Uh, my boyfriend, right," she nodded tightly, wetting her lips. "Um... do you...want him to come?"
"'Course, T! I like meeting your boyfriends," Jimmy teased her. "I'm sure Stan and Tommy would like to meet him, too. We've gotta warn him not to hurt our big sister."
Despite herself, Lisbon rolled her eyes. "I don't need my little brothers protecting me from my... boyfriend," she hesitated on the last word.
"Just doin' our job."
"Okay, well, he'll be there. My boyfriend." She bit her lip, desperate to end their face time so she can freak out in peace. "I'll call you when I've made arrangements."
"Okay. Bye, T."
"Bye, Jimmy." She shut the laptop, feeling bittersweet.
She slouched down in her chair, wishing the ground beneath her feet would open up and swallow her whole. How could she let herself lie to Jimmy like that? She'd never felt the urge to please any of her brothers before, but this time was different. With Jimmy getting married she felt the need to show that she was willing to settle down too. Her brothers knew that her job meant everything to her, but the thought of proving them wrong with a so-called boyfriend lifted her spirits.
The only difficult part about this whole charade was actually finding a guy to play the part of her boyfriend.
She didn't exactly have many guy friends. She couldn't ask Cho— that would just be weird. She couldn't ask Rigsby because that man was a bit too young for her and his eyes were only ever on Van Pelt anyway. That didn't leave many others.
"Lisbon!" A familiar figure barged into her office without knocking, causing her head to shoot up from where it laid in despair on her desk.
Oh, god. She should've known. Jane.
To be totally honest, she'd completely forgotten about the blonde consultant. He hadn't bothered her all that much today, so that was mainly why, but now, judging by the look of mischief in his eyes, he was here to cause nothing but trouble.
"My, my, Lisbon, were you having a nap?" His voice was taunting and playful. "I never took you for one to sleep on the job. That's more of my forte."
Lisbon scowled at him. "I wasn't sleeping, Jane. What do you want?"
He hummed. "Someone's grumpy today. Care to explain why? Wait, let me guess. Your brother called. Stan— wait, no. Jimmy."
She hated how he was able to find that out by just analyzing her face. "Yeah, Jimmy called. But it's not like you know why."
"Hmm...he's getting married to a woman he's just met and he invited you to the wedding, but that's not the bad part," he scrunched his eyebrows together, clearly thinking hard. "That bad part is...he assumed you had a boyfriend and you told him you did, and now…now you're freaking out because you don't in fact have a boyfriend and don't want to show up to his wedding alone."
Lisbon gaped at him, her eyes wide with shock. "You couldn't possibly know that!"
"Oh, but I did."
"You're playing games. You were right outside the door, listening to my conversation, weren't you?"
The little shrug and the boyish grin on his face was all the answer she needed.
"I knew it," she grumbled under her breath. "Seriously, Jane, go. I don't need your input on this."
"You clearly do," he insisted. "You know you're stuck. You refuse to ask Cho to be your pretend boyfriend because well, he's Cho, and you wouldn't dare ask Rigsby because you think he's too young for you and he only has eyes for Van Pelt. Which leaves you with no one...except me, of course."
Lisbon didn't even question how he managed to get a look inside her head and say exactly what she'd been thinking. Instead she focused on his final sentence, the one that offered himself as a pretend boyfriend for her.
"You're...you're kidding me."
He looked at her with those familiar sea-green eyes. "Why would I kid, Lisbon?"
"You can't seriously be offering to be my fake date to my brother's wedding."
He shrugged. "I don't see the problem with doing so."
"Jane, that's— that's just— no!"
"Oh c'mon, Lisbon. You were thinking about asking Cho or Rigsby. How am I any different?"
"Because you're...you," she said, exasperated. "You're Jane."
"I'm afraid I'm not following."
She shook her head, fiddling with the cross around her neck absently. "Forget it, Jane. I'll find someone else. It's not a big deal. Besides, you have better things to do than accompany me to my brother's wedding."
He raised a blonde eyebrow. "How would you know that? You know me, Lisbon. I have absolutely nothing better to do than accompany you to your brother's wedding."
"You have Red John stuff to do," she waved him off. "I'm sure I can find someone to come with me. If all else fails, I'll go alone. It wouldn't be the end of the world."
"Nonsense. I'm coming with you to your brother's wedding and there's nothing you can say or do to stop me." His expression was smug, as if he found absolutely nothing wrong with what he was proposing.
"Jane," she shot him a glare, "I'm serious. This isn't your problem."
"We're practically best friends, Lisbon. Better me than some random guy here you don't even know." He gave her a look that said you know I'm right and she heaved a strangled sigh, knowing there was no way out of this. Once Jane's mind was made up, there was no changing it.
"You really don't need to come with me."
"I want to, Lisbon," he assured her. "Let's go to Hightower to get our schedules cleared for next week."
"The whole week?! No, Jane, we still have work— "
"Ah, people will still be dead by the time we get back." He shrugged. "Besides, Cho, Rigsby, and Van Pelt can handle it."
"But— "
"No buts!" He pulled her out of her chair and guided her out the door, a hand settled on the small on her back. "Chicago, here we come!"
