EXTENDED FAMILY

The whole drive back to the hotel. Lisbon couldn't take her eyes off of him. Hearts in her eyes as she sighed happily, recalling the most romantic evening she had ever experienced. She swooned just thinking of the amount of time, thought, and planning that must have gone into his proposal. It had been so very 'Jane.' So very 'them.' He knew her so very well. With each passing moment, she grew even more sure of her answer to his question.

He glanced over at her while at a stop light, and was breathless when he saw how she was looking at him. He took the opportunity for a sweet kiss, before a car horn informed him that the light had changed to green.

They both laughed as the car regained speed.

He held her hand as they walked to the room, looking away from each other only long enough to avoid collisions with people or inanimate objects in their path, oblivious to the other hotel patrons who visibly noticed how in love the two of them obviously were.

When they arrived, Jane ordered some room service, and they snacked, talked, and stared into each other's eyes for hours - their connection strengthened exponentially by their recent lifelong promises to each other.

Finally, Jane found the courage to ask one more question of her - and he was even less sure of her answer to this one.

"Teresa," he began, reaching into his vest pocket, "This ring has been with me for such a long time. And it has significance to my past, obviously, but I'd like to think it also represents my future - our future."

She listened intently, not sure why he was holding Angela's ring now.

"I don't expect that you would ever wear it - you need a special ring that's yours alone! - but, I feel that this ring could expand in meaning to also symbolize the family link you've felt with Angela and Charlotte, and I want to share it with you. It could link me to you, while allowing us both to feel connected to them."

He paused, holding the ring in his open hand, reading her face as she processed his words.

With a chuckle, he admitted, "I think I'm even more nervous about this question than I was the other one"

She laughed quickly at that too - reaching out to hold his open hand in both of hers - holding the ring in place with one of her fingers.

"Patrick, I am so honored that you would trust me with such a precious treasure!"

"Teresa you are a precious treasure!" He interjected lovingly, folding his empty hand over top of hers.

She smiled, and tilted her chin a bit, as she continued, "I gratefully accept! And I promise to take care of it always."

She kissed his hand, then carefully picked up Angela's ring.

"I actually think I have the perfect place for it!"

With a sly grin, she undid the clasp on her mother's gold cross necklace, slid the ring onto the chain, and refastened the clasp.

Jane's jaw dropped, and his face shined as he exclaimed gleefully, "Teresa! That's… that's perfect! Thank you, my love!"

Jane was overcome by her acceptance and her careful, loving solution. He shouldn't have been surprised, he told himself. She always knew the right thing to do! He smiled gratefully, and covered her with soft kisses.

As he made them fresh cups of chamomile tea, he thought about what Grace had asked, earlier.

"Hey while we're doing lots of Q & A," he winked, "what do you think of Grace's questions tonight?"

Lisbon smiled as she told him how she couldn't wait to be married to him. How she agreed with his sentiment of wishing they could have sealed the deal that night with their friends at the old CBI building. But also how she was thankful for his intuition that she would want their wedding to be something more than that.

"What about getting married at your family's church in Chicago?" Jane offered. He wasn't religious, but he cared deeply about Lisbon's faith, so wanted to honor that in their marriage.

His comment reminded Lisbon of something that made her jump - her face projecting shock.

"Oh my God - my brothers don't even know I broke up with Marcus! Or anything that's happened in the past 2 weeks with us getting together! Now I'm going to call them up and invite them to our wedding in the next week or two?!"

Jane saw her anxiety spiraling, and took both of her hands in his… speaking gently and evenly… guiding her breathing… guiding her thoughts… calming her fears…

He looked into her eyes with concern - not that her brothers would react badly to their relationship, but that she would make herself sick with worry.

"Why don't we go there next?" He asked. "You could introduce me to the brothers I haven't met yet, we can catch up with Tommy and Annie over a pizza or something, and then we can sort of ease them into the idea?"

Still running scenarios in her mind, Lisbon gave a small nod. Her eyes were far away though, and her eyebrows were furrowed, creasing the skin between them.

That's when Jane realized what was actually worrying her.

"Teresa, love, I hope you don't feel guilty over this. Your brothers love you, and will surely understand you not giving them the play by play of the past few weeks. If you'd tried, their heads would still be spinning, things have changed in both our lives so quickly!"

She relaxed her head onto his shoulder as he sat down beside her, putting his arm around her back. "I guess you're right, Patrick. You and I have barely had time to wrap our heads around that span of time. When would I have even found the time to call them? What exactly would I have said? They probably would have wanted to punch me I'd have had to call so often to keep them up to date!"

She laughed at that thought.

Jane loved her laugh, and pulled her closer, wrapping his free arm around the front of her.

"So," he asked gently, "deep dish pizza tomorrow?"

"Absolutely!" She cuddled close to him, breathed deeply, then exhaled a cleansing sigh that the Windy City would be proud of.