A/N: Thanks to everyone reading and commenting! Admittedly, this chapter has been kicking my ass. It's been written for a week, but I keep editing it. It's now or never time!

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The following week (Mid-March)

She grinned to herself as she felt her husband's side of the bed grow heavy once again. He rolled over and kissed her shoulder, prompting her to rollover and face him. Catching his own smile, she couldn't help but return one of her own. She never thought anyone could make her smile as much as he did.

"Was Annie ok this morning? You could have woke me up, you know. I would have helped her get ready."

"I could have, but I thought it was better that you get your rest on your day off. I thought that was the point. Besides, I can handle getting Annie ready for school."

"The point was to rest and spend time with my husband, but I can still do the things I normally do."

He found her lips as he ran his hand up her thigh. "I know you can, but maybe I selfishly wanted my wife well rested when I returned."

She bit her bottom lip. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." He lifted her sleeping shirt over her head, kissing her lips as he pulled her into him. Maybe if she hadn't been busy asking him questions, she would've noticed he was naked when he got back into bed. He pulled back for a moment. "Teresa?"

"Hmm?" Snaking his hand into the band of her panties, he pulled them off of her body.

"You remember how you used to scream for me?"

She chuckled. "I don't think I ever screamed for you."

"Are you trying to wound me?"

"No. Just disputing the volume of the noises that you say I made. I would say they were more like moans, but I think I see where this headed."

He grinned, his smile wide and toothy before rolling over onto his back. "Good. Then, you know what I want you to do."

"You really know how to say the things a girl loves to hear, don't you, Mr. Jane?"

"I like to think so."

As she climbed on top of him, she could already feel his desire building. Though, she wouldn't give in quite so easy. "But do you know what Mrs. Jane wants?"

"Oh, I'm really hoping she wants Mr. Jane."

"She does...well, either Mr. Jane or a strawberry parfait. It's hard to say."

He laughed out loud. "I'd love to help you solve this problem. How about Mrs. Jane handles Mr. Jane first? Then, he will get her whatever she desires."

As much as she wanted to toy with him to keep him going, those baby blue eyes staring up at her in anticipation captured her attention and drew her to the task at hand. Besides, it wasn't like she wasn't happy to give him exactly what he wanted. And she did. Three times.

She grinned to herself after he fell asleep within minutes of their lovemaking session. She laid in his arms for a bit and watched her gorgeous husband sleep before getting up, throwing her sleeping shirt back on, and heading to the kitchen.

As she prepared her parfait, the strangeness of being home on a Thursday morning washed over her. Before Annie had come to live with them, she practically took no time off. For years, she banked a ton of PTO and sick time, but now, she increasingly welcomed time off. Not because she was unsatisfied with her job, but because she was finding it a bit more difficult to muster the energy. Beyond the physicality of it, her work involved seemingly never ending days filled with the absolute darkest horrors of humanity. Even now, seemingly unsolvable homicides were stacking up.

When she scheduled her bi-weekly appointment for this afternoon, she was determined to make it a four day weekend. Besides, Annie's party was coming up this weekend. Even if Patrick was being coy about the arrangements, it was nice to be on hand if she needed to handle anything...and to mentally prepare to be surrounded by so many guests in her home.

She took her parfait to the living room to sit and watch some morning program on tv. She'd never been into those shows, but it wasn't the worst thing to know what people were talking about. Noticing the time, she decided to hit the shower to get ready for her appointment.

She was singing an 80s tune, when the shower door slid open, scaring the absolute shit out of her.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

He grinned. "What was that you said to me this morning? You could have woke me. Maybe I wanted to shower too."

She shrugged away from him. "Maybe announce yourself before just popping in on someone in the shower! Do you realize I'm trained in self defense and hand to hand combat measures? I could have swung on you in self-defense and hurt you!"

The smile slid from his face. "I'll wait until you're done."

Immediately, she felt awful. He was being romantic, and he hadn't done anything wrong. Her nerves got the better of her, and she'd made him feel like shit for looking for an intimate moment together.

As he turned to leave, she grabbed for his arm. "Honey, wait! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

He shook his head. "No, you're right. I shouldn't just pop in on you like that. You have a right to your privacy."

"My senses are a little heightened right now. Of course, I don't mind you being here. Will you stay with me?" She bit her lip. "Would you like to wash my hair?"

He smiled. "Of course."

She had actually never let anyone do that for her before. Well, no one ever really asked before. It was something that Patrick enjoyed doing, so she let him. At first, it seemed strange-because it felt foreign, not that he asked to do it-but it was an act of intimacy that she grew to enjoy.

Despite the initial jumpscare moment, they enjoyed their shower together.

After they were ready, Patrick treated her to lunch at a cafe they'd discovered near her doctor's office. She could already feel him starting to tense. Since the first appointment, Patrick had always grown a bit clammy before going to the doctor's office. While he was clearly nervous and she wouldn't poke too much fun of him, it was endearing. From their conversations and the way he acted, she knew he worried about being a good father. He didn't need to worry, though. He was already a great father.

Dr. Robbins grinned when she entered the room. "Teresa, how are we today?"

She shook her head. "I'm doing as great as I can be!"

"Well, it looks like you're approaching 18 weeks. Have you given any thought to whether you'd like to know the sex of the baby?"

She looked at her husband. "Honey, what do you think?"

He shrugged. "I'm happy with whatever you decide to do!"

The older woman waved her hand. "No worries! Just think about it for your next appointment when we do your ultrasound."

"Will do!"

"And what are we doing about work?" Dr. Robbins gave her a very sharp look. During her first appointment, she'd been extremely clear that she would write up whatever she needed to take her off work immediately.

"Well, I'm not really in the field anymore, and this is my last week going out with my team."

"Ok. I just don't want you out in the field chasing anyone down. You have a healthy pregnancy so far, so I'm not terribly stressed about taking you off of work or anything right now."

She smiled at the doctor. After next week, she would have more regular hours and be home every night with her family. Truly, she was happy about that. However, it was nice for Patrick to hear that the doctor didn't have a problem with her continuing to work for now. Having a husband who cared was great...except for when he cared too much.

Later that evening, as they sat on the couch watching one of his cop shows, she paused the tv. He looked at her with slight confusion.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

"So why did you pause the tv? We were just about to find out who did it."

She grinned. "We both know that you already know who did it. You knew 5 minutes in!

"That's not even enough time for the whole opening sequence! More like 10 minutes in, but thank you for your faith in my abilities. It's still nice to wait and see where the show goes creatively. Sometimes, you get great character development out of that!"

She rolled her eyes at her husband's petulant response. Truthfully, he was obsessed with those shows. She saw him eyeing box sets online, even. Though, perhaps this wasn't the worst obsession he could acquire. It's just how they got the work all wrong that grated on her nerves.

"Do you want to know the sex of the baby?"

He shrugged again. "I don't have an opinion on whether we find out now or when our baby comes."

"You really don't have an opinion on this?"

"No, I don't. If you want one of those sex reveal parties…"

She grimaced. "I don't."

"Well, I was going to say we could have one if you want. I think you can, and should, have as many parties as you want to celebrate motherhood."

"I really don't want one of those. Don't you think it would be nice to know ahead of time?"

They stared at each other in silence for a moment. "Do you want to know ahead of time?"

"I do."

At first, it seemed silly. Of course, she loved her baby regardless of their sex or gender. They could decorate the nursery, buy clothes and toys, and things like that regardless of that knowledge. They could even think of names that worked for either. Their love for their child would be the same, but being asked if she wanted to know today suddenly made her want to know.

"Then, I want to know." He leaned in, capturing her lips.

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Today was Annie's big day, as they'd been calling it all week. She was officially six years old! That meant that in a matter of three hours, her house would be full of rowdy five and six year olds among other guests.

Only, she had no idea where the hell her husband, also known as the party organizer, had gone!

As they went to bed last night, he hugged her into his chest. "Don't worry about anything tomorrow! I've got it all under control."

"Don't worry about a thing? What about setup?"

"No need to worry about it. Just keep Annie inside with you and don't let her come outside until I'm ready. I'll get my girls when I'm ready for you." He kissed the side of her head as she yawned. She didn't have time for further questions as she was asleep within a minute.

When she woke up, he was gone. He had been so vague about everything all week. She even offered to help with some of her time off, but he assured her he had it all under control. Now, he was MIA, and nothing was set up! Admittedly, this was stressing her out a bit. Not knowing was one thing, but this was Annie's first birthday with them-and with her friends.

Annie's therapist suggested that today could be hard for her, but it was a great bonding opportunity to make new memories. They had no trouble bonding with Annie as their daughter, but they both wanted to make it special. She knew Patrick was actually working on things for weeks. She believed in him, but the lack of control didn't make this any less nerve wracking.

She channeled her energy into making sure the house was ready for visitors. She put her Spice Girls mix on and started picking up the living room and downstairs bathrooms as Annie played in her room. Somehow, that-and a well placed snack-helped calm her nerves. Though, her stress returned when Madeleine and Mimi showed up. Guests were here before they were set up! Where were people going to go?

"Annie! Mimi is here!" Annie was practically airborne as she flew down the stairs to greet her friend.

Madeline hugged her. "You look great!"

She frowned a bit as she looked down. She was wearing a floral print spring dress. While she was no stranger to dresses, her growing baby bump made everything feel a bit awkward. However, when she took Annie shopping last week, she insisted on getting matching dresses for the party.

In the middle of the department store, Annie proclaimed: "I want to dress like you for my party, mommy!"

She wanted to make a joke about needing jeans and a jacket in that case, but Annie looked so sweet and endearing when she'd made her request. She couldn't tell that sweet face no, especially for her birthday-even though she'd much rather be in yoga pants and a tee, watching an old movie, right about now.

"I mean it. You look great, Teresa!" She laughed. "The bump is only going to grow larger from here on out! We came early to see if you needed any help with setup."

She huffed as she shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. I have no idea where the event planner has run off to or what needs to be set up."

"In that case, it sounds like he has it all under control. I say we have a seat and watch that movie you want to watch. We've got time." She grinned as she led her to the game room, where she put Miss Congeniality on the big screen tv.

Madeleine came on board with her team a few weeks back. Having her around was a huge blessing! If all went according to plan, this would be her last week of potential travel with the team. She welcomed more steady hours in Sacramento and being home with her family every night for sure.

Not only was Madeleine a great addition to the team, but it was great having her friend, who was also a mom, around to talk to about things. While she and Grace were experiencing pregnancy together, Madeleine also had advice about things on the other side.

They sat and enjoyed the film until her phone buzzed. "Hey, babe."

"Hey. What are you up to?"

"Just watching a movie with Madeleine in the game room. The girls are upstairs playing. What's up?"

"I just got here with the supplies. We are going to get set up."

"We? Do you need me to come out in help?"

"No! Just stay inside with Madeleine and the girls. Finish watching Miss Congeniality. I'll call you when I'm ready for you to bring her out."

Of course he knew which movie they were watching. "Well, I guess you've got everything handled."

"That's why you married me! Gotta go!"

With that, he hung up. Madeleine was looking at her, grinning from ear to ear. "He wants us to stay here."

"I'm sure he does. You married a good one."

"He's worked very hard on planning this party for Annie. He's definitely more of an organizer than I am." She laughed at that. Even if she wanted Annie's day to be special, if she had to plan this party by herself, there probably wouldn't be a party. And honestly, Patrick probably knew that when he took party planning upon himself.

"It's great to have a true partner, isn't it?"

"It is."

After their movie ended, she played another movie. She really wanted to watch Pretty Woman, but she wasn't sure if the kids might pop in at some inopportune time. About twenty minutes before guests were due to arrive, Patrick rang her cell again.

"Hey. Are you ready for us?"

"We are. Bring Annie on out!"

"Who's this we?"

"You'll see when you come out." She could practically hear him grinning as he ended their call.

She looked at Madeleine. "I guess it's game time! Let's get the girls."

"Annie! We're ready!"

Within moments, the girls came bouncing down the stairs. "Can we have a snack soon?"

"Your party is about to start, and I'm sure daddy has some snacks for us. Come on."

She took Annie's hand as they walked toward their backyard, gasping as she saw their set up.

"Uncle Evan. Uncle Jason. I didn't realize you guys were here already!" She hugged both of her uncles.

"We helped with the set up!"

That part didn't shock her as she looked at the very large soccer ball made of black and white roses with a large flower crown draped off the top of it and a banner across it that said "Annie's squad." Near the pool, they had set up a table for the kids. She walked over and picked up one of the green t-shirts draped over the backs of the chairs. They also said "Annie's squad," and each chair had a youth size soccer ball in it.

Annie was grinning from ear to ear. "Is this all for me?"

"Well, aren't you the birthday girl? Come here!" Patrick was holding a flower crown made of purple daisies, matching the one on top of the soccer ball display, in his hand. He set it on top of Annie's head. "I suppose you're my birthday princess now."

He winked at her as Annie's cheeks were rosy red. Honestly, she wished she had her phone out to record this memory-but perhaps it was better to create a memory that she could remember as it was.

"More of your friends will be here soon. I was thinking you would sit right in the middle here, so that they can all sit by you!" The middle chair had a covering on it so that it actually looked like a little throne.

"I like the way you think. Come on, Mimi!" With that, the girls were off.

He was at her side within seconds. He kissed her cheek. "So what do you think? The food will be here shortly. I hired the guys again. I figured we wouldn't want to mess with that, and it's always great to spread business around."

"Like Annie said, I like the way you think. Princesses and soccer? She loves it! But where's the cake?"

He pulled out his phone and showed her the photo. It was a huge cake in the shape of a castle.

"Oh my God!"

"They're going to deliver it in about an hour or so. I didn't want it to get all messed up, and I'm told it's heavy to transport."

"I bet it is. How the hell do we cut that?"

He laughed a bit. "I don't know! That's what the professionals are for!" His lips met hers as his hand found her bump.

As she bit her lip, he grinned. "We have guests."

"I think our little bump here gives them a pretty good idea of what you like to get up to." He wriggled his brows as she swatted his arm before taking his hand and facing their guests. "Can I get you guys anything from inside?"

Both Evan and Jason shook their heads, but Evan spoke. "We'll be fine until the food is ready!"

"Were you guys in on this the whole time?"

Uncle Jason grinned. "When Patrick came to me to ask about flowers, he explained his vision, and I knew we could work with that for our little Princess Annie."

"Well, you did an amazing job! She loves it!"

He took a mock bow, which made her laugh. Soon, more guests arrived. Annie loved seeing her friends from school and introduced Mimi-and Willa, when she arrived-to all of them. Unsurprisingly, Riley sat next to her.

As daunting as it seemed to have so many children, along with their parents, in her home, Patrick's planning seemed to make it work. Of course, throughout the party, the kids all wanted different pictures in front of the large display.

Matt, one of the guys from the shop, came and gave all of the kids (and Rigsby) a lesson in dribbling their balls. Rigsby was a bit crushed when he learned the children all got soccer balls as party favors and would be getting a lesson...until Patrick brought out regular sized balls he got for adults who wanted to join in the fun.

After letting them play a bit longer, he had the cake brought in. It took three people to lift that thing!

"Princess Annie, your cake has arrived!"

When Annie saw the castle, she gasped. "Is that my castle?"

"It sure is!"

"I love my castle!"

"Then, I think it's time to sing!" Patrick turned to address all of the children. "Do we all know the birthday song?"

"Yes!"

"Let's sing it to Annie. 1...2...3!"

As dramatically as possible, Patrick took the role of choir director as he used his hands and voice to lead the children in singing the birthday song. And as precious as ever, Annie just folded her hands in front of her, seemingly loving the attention of her party. She grinned inwardly as she thought about Annie's flare for attention. She may not be Patrick's biological daughter, but she took that note from him.

"Now that we're done singing, I think that's time for cake! And then, swimming!" The kids cheered. Giving them sugar and letting them spend an hour or two in the pool wasn't the worst party idea ever.

She went inside after cake was done to start finding ways to divide up food and cake for people to take home with them. There was no way they could keep all of this here! Though, they agreed to keep the top of the castle for Annie to munch on throughout the week.

"This is such a great party! Who made this cake?" Van Pelt was absolutely chowing down on that cake. Good! She could send a hunk of it home with her and Rigsby.

"I don't know. You'll have to ask Patrick."

Madeleine smiled at her as she sipped some of her wine. Of course, Patrick had something on hand for the non-pregnant adults. "He did a great job planning. I fully expect Mimi will sleep on the way home."

She laughed. "Well, I'm glad you guys are having a good time. Your child is really enjoying himself, Grace."

Her face went blank for a moment before she caught the joke and started to laugh. "He is a big kid."

"Hi, Mrs. Lisbon! I was wondering if I could give you a hand?"

She turned to see a blonde woman smiling at her. She wasn't this pleasant last time. "Mrs. Sullivan, it's just Teresa. Please. And I think we have everything in here!"

Mrs. Sullivan flashed a somewhat shaky smile. "Actually, it's Stephanie, and I was wondering if we could talk."

She looked to Grace and Madeleine as she dried her hands. "Sure."

She led Stephanie to the living room. "Have a seat please."

"You have a gorgeous home."

"Thank you."

There was a brief pause before Stephanie seemingly worked up the courage to say whatever it is she wanted to say. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior a few weeks ago. Riley comes home every day talking about how much fun he and Annie have playing together. It really was not my place to judge a situation."

"Oh. Well, thank you. I'm sorry I snapped. My behavior was also not very becoming."

"Well, you were responding to me, and I didn't have a good attitude. It's something I'm working through in therapy. I get so anxious about something happening to Riley, and I don't always react to situations appropriately. Our kids are such good friends, and I don't want to come between that."

"I can understand that." In fairness, if the roles were reversed, she wasn't entirely sure how she would react to a child throwing a ball into her kid's face.

"But I also wanted to invite you to our Saturday morning play group. Sometimes, the husbands come too!"

"Saturday morning play group?"

"Yes. Some of the other moms from the school all get together. We all take turns hosting it. We bring the kids and let them play. We just chat, talk about school stuff, and have some wine and snacks. We'd love it if you could join us."

She wanted to laugh because it sounded like she just got invited to become a wine mom. Admittedly, this sounded like something she would not be interested in doing, maybe even her worst nightmare where they would get her there to make fun of her or something. But considering things a bit more thoroughly, she saw that it was a good opportunity for Annie to socialize with her peers a little more outside of school.

"Sometimes, I work on Saturdays, but I think Annie and I could join some time."

The other woman smiled at her. "Great! Next weekend is at the McCarthys' house. That's Jamie's family. I can text you the information?"

She nodded with a small smile. "Sure."

Beyond not denying Annie an opportunity to socialize, she wasn't entirely sure about this. This did not seem like her social circle at all, and she couldn't help but think about the times girls in school invited her places only for it to be a huge joke at her expense until she finally stopped going anywhere unless Mikey invited her. Thankfully, Annie was a well liked child; it didn't seem like Annie would have those problems.

A little while later, and the party was finally starting to wind down as guests started to trickle out. Not that it wasn't a fun day, there was a limit to how much party could handle at the present moment. Madeleine, Evan, and Jason all stayed to help streamline the clean up process. As she hugged her uncles goodbye and closed the door behind them, she sighed a huge sigh of relief.

Patrick was behind her in no time with his arms snaked around her belly. "What is it?"

"Nothing. Just...that was a lot of people. I need to un-people now." He laughed at that, and she took the opportunity to twist in his embrace. "Though, you did an incredible job with planning and hosting the party."

"Yeah, daddy! That was so much fun!"

"Yeah? I'm glad my birthday princess had a good time! Why don't we open those presents and have a second round of cake?" Annie nodded enthusiastically, so they got to it. They made the decision to not open presents in front of the other children so that no one would feel left out. Patrick decided one of their after school activities this week would be to have Annie use her art set to make thank you notes.

"Do you like your presents?"

"Yeah, they're good." That wasn't so enthusiastic, so she placed her hand in Annie's hair.

"Is something wrong, Annie?"

She shrugged before looking down at her feet. "My other parents didn't call. They didn't send me a present either."

She met Patrick's eyes. "No, they didn't, sweetie. But did you have a good day other than that?"

She nodded, speaking tearfully. "I did. But why didn't they call? Why don't they care about me anymore? Please don't get mad and send me away! I liked the party daddy planned. It was fun."

She knelt next to Annie and wiped her tears as Patrick knelt to her other side. "Hey now, no one is mad. No one is sending you away. You can like the party and still be upset by something that happened."

Or, in this case, something that didn't happen. She thought of calling Tommy, but would he even answer? What would he even have to say to Annie that wouldn't undo months of therapy? Reflexively, her hand went to her belly. How could he completely cut off contact with her like this? Didn't he understand the damage he was doing to Annie? If he had ever bothered to talk to her about any of this, she would've encouraged him to seek help and not let his daughter down the way their father did.

"It's like I don't even exist anymore."

Patrick responded. "Annie, why do you say that?"

"Because my parents don't want me anymore."

"That's not true. We're right here, kid."

"My other parents forgot about me."

"But we didn't, and we will never forget our birthday princess." She smiled at being called a princess. He really did know how to work a Lisbon woman! "All of your friends were here with Uncle Evan and Uncle Jason. They didn't forget either!"

"I guess not."

Patrick took her hand. "Did something happen today to make you feel upset?"

She shrugged. "Not really. I just thought they'd call. That was my wish."

"I know, sweetheart. You know, my parents left me, too."

"Really?"

He nodded. "In a different way than yours, but I was a little older at the time."

"Are you still sad about it?" She noticed a slight frown pass over her husband's face.

"Sometimes, I think about where they are and what they would think about me now. But I had to do what you're doing right now. I had to learn how to live a different life that was about me. I met new people and did new things."

"Is that when you met the mean lady?"

He chuckled softly. "It is, but that doesn't mean that you have to meet people like that. See, unlike you, I didn't have anyone to guide me. I thought I could figure it out. I just want you to know that you can feel sad sometimes, but you have parents who want to make sure you have a good life."

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"No, don't apologize. We can't help how we feel about things all the time, so if you feel sad, that's ok. When I feel sad, I think about the things that make me happy like your mommy, the new baby, the business…" He twisted her little nose, making her grin. "And obviously my Princess Annie."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you, daddy."

"I know you do, sweetheart. I love you, too." She felt a tear slide down her cheek, but she hurried to wipe it away. He was so amazing with Annie.

They got Annie in bed. She laid in bed with Annie as Patrick read to her from one of her new books. After that, they also called it a night. After all, it was a really long day for all of them.

"So I was invited to the Saturday morning play group."

He chuckled softly. "What's that?"

"You laugh, but I was told husbands are invited, too. Stephanie-Riley's mom-apologized to me and invited us."

"Oh. What did you tell her?"

"That we might come some Saturday morning."

He laughed again as she swatted his chest. "It's not funny!"

"I'm sorry. I'm picturing you visiting the Real Housewives of Sacramento right now." He laughed harder, and as she started to roll away from him, he pulled her back. "Baby, I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you. I'm glad that you seriously considered the invitation. I think it will be great for you and Annie to socialize."

"Well, I was thinking more about Annie's socialization. I doubt I will have much in common with the other moms."

"Meh. I wouldn't be so sure. I'm happy to tag along with you though! I've been told I'm charming." He grinned at her.

"Incorrigible is more like it." She met his grin with one of her own. "You were great with Annie. Well, you usually are great with Annie. You certainly planned a party that met her standards. I meant tonight."

He put his hands out as though he were doing an offering. "What can I say? I know my girls. Just like I know you want to do something to lessen Annie's hurt. What is it?"

"I want to send her a card from Tommy."

He inhaled sharply. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"What's so bad about letting her believe she got a card from her dad?"

"Let's say you send that card. What do you think Annie is going to feel?"

"Happy that her father remembered her birthday, even if a little late."

"Maybe. Now, how do you think she will feel when she realizes you sent it to her?"

"I don't think it will matter. I will send it from work. She's six. I doubt she will know the difference."

"What is it going to make you feel?"

She started to answer, but she paused. "Why would you ask me that?"

"Because I know that as much as you want to make Annie feel better about this minor-and it really is minor-blip in what she'll remember as a fun day, I know this is also about you and your relationship with your brother. You're a fixer."

"It's about taking care of Annie."

"We take care of Annie...but you also take care of Tommy. You're trying to find ways to care for your brother just like you always have. I know that you still think about why he just sent Annie to you and chose to pretend like she doesn't exist. Why did he choose to become like your father when you worked so hard to make sure you all survived?"

She steadied her voice so that she could speak deliberately and calmly. "Patrick, you're my husband, and I love you. But please do not ever speak about my family like that."

"I don't mean to make you angry, but it's the truth. You hustled to make sure you survived, and you did more than that. You managed to thrive. Now, you wonder what happened to Tommy and what you could have done to bring him along with you. There's nothing wrong with caring about your brother, but where is he? I know you call him every week or so. Does he ever pick up?"

In fact, she called him twice a week. She never told Patrick, and she certainly never told Annie. She didn't want her to get her hopes up. A few times on her lunch break, she went to a church not far from her CBI office and prayed for her brother.

She could no longer meet his eyes. She was so embarrassed, almost like a child, when she finally answered in a voice barely above a whisper. "No."

"You want Tommy to be a great father because you always had a vision that you would get back at him by being better than him. Tommy just fell in line. He didn't break the cycle, and Teresa that's not your fault. There's nothing that you need to fix. I don't even think you can fix it if he doesn't want help. If that's what he wanted, he would ask for the help instead of disappearing off the face of the earth."

She felt completely emotionally raw. As the silence between them grew heavier, she blinked back her tears. She wanted to rip into him and ask who the hell he was to peel back these layers and question her feelings or how she interacted with her family. Then, she remembered one of the reasons why she loved him so much: he could see her in ways that no one else could.

"This isn't as easy for me to deal with as it is for you."

"Because you expected more from your brother, and you still do. You're not going to fix this for him. If you get hung up on that, it's Annie who's going to be stuck in the middle."

She jumped out of bed. "I only want what's best for Annie! No, I don't get it. Ok? Is that what you wanted to hear? I don't get how he could have such a special little girl and not see that and not want to do better for her. How the hell could he be like our father?"

By the time she finished speaking, she was in tears. He got out of bed and crossed over to her side before wrapping his arms around her.

"Baby, it's ok. I know...I know this hurts you for other reasons. I can't answer those questions. You were a special little girl, too. No one saw that. You carried your brothers on your back because you loved your family. There's nothing we can do about that now. The thing I can tell you is that I see you for the special, wonderful woman that little girl became. She loves deeply and cares so much about her family, her friends, and others. I know that's a part of you, but I think we have to look ahead."

"I know he did one right thing: he sent her to me."

"He did, and maybe it's the best thing he could do. The only part of this situation we can control is what we do and how we make Annie-our daughter-a part of our loving family. I think we did good today."

"We did."

He kissed her lips. "Let's go to bed."

Patrick was right. They could only control what was at their fingertips: the focus on building a future for her.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After Annie's party on Saturday, they spent most of Sunday trying to relax. But as usual, Monday came way too fast!

Today, they were working on getting their paperwork caught up. She hoped that they wouldn't get called out anywhere this week and that it could just be a slow week.

There was a knock on her door. "Hey, Lisbon. Do you have a minute?"

"Bosco? Sure. What's up?"

He came in and shut the door behind himself before taking a seat. "I just wanted to talk."

"Talk?" Their last talk hadn't gone so well.

"Well, I wanted to...apologize."

"Apologize? For what?"

"Just the way that I've been acting. I see how I've been trying to look out for you in ways that you'd not asked me to. I can see how that looks, and it's obviously caused a rift between us. That's on me."

It was a half-baked apology to be sure, but he seemed to be trying. "You can see how it looks? Would you like to know how it feels? From this side?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "I know I've been a jerk, and I'm not good at apologies. I just wanted to look out for you is all."

"No, you're not very good at apologies, Sam. I get that you're trying, but I need you to know what this is like from my side of things. Just hear me out and think about it. Then, tell me you're sorry."

"Ok."

"Ever since I was a rookie, I looked up to you as my mentor-damn near like an older brother. So imagine how it feels when I have to re-evaluate that relationship. Did Sam put all of that time into mentoring me because he actually saw promise in me as a rookie cop? Or did he think he could groom me into his mistress? Then, I have to sit with that. Was Sam's interest in me always about him trying to fuck me? You can see what's wrong with that, right? How that fucks with someone's mind?"

"Lisbon, you've always been an excellent cop. Even in my misguided attempts to push our relationship in a different direction, I never meant to imply anything less than that."

"I'm not finished! On top of that, there are people around here-my team, my husband even-who get the sense that there's something between us. They think I could somehow bat my eyes at you and get you to do things for me. Of course, I try to brush it all off because nah, it's not like that with me and Sam. But the thing is that I know they're right because for you, it's definitely like that. So not only does it fuck with your mind, but it gets into the minds of others who start to ask the same questions I had about how I got here. Can you see what kind of baggage that leaves me holding all because you couldn't control your emotions or maintain the bounds of a professional working relationship?"

"You are here on your own merit, and I'd happily set anyone straight on that."

"I know that, Sam. It's the fact that anyone needs to be set straight in the first place because of your behavior. It also doesn't mean that I don't feel slightly taken advantage of, or ashamed even, when this comes up around the office. Do you know what that's like?"

"I don't, but you didn't do anything to be ashamed. I was the one who acted like an ass. I'm sorry."

"And there's also the part where you disrespected both me and Mandy. You know, the woman you're married to? The woman who would be devastated if she learned you were acting like this? The woman I have had to look in the eyes for years as I tried to mentally downplay your increasingly inappropriate behavior?"

"I honestly don't know what I was thinking. Things haven't been great for us for a long time, but I shouldn't have even given the impression that I was trying to involve you in anything like that."

She sat back in her chair. It felt great getting it all out there, but she wasn't sure he truly understood the full extent of what he did and the general anxiety the situation caused her. She really did want his crush to be nothing more than guys being jealous that she had a great mentor. As his crush became painfully obvious, she did her best to close herself off from it, make sure she expressed disinterest when necessary, distanced herself from him, and whatever else she could do to protect herself. He was the one out of line, and yet, she had to take measures to protect herself and her reputation.

"So how do we move forward? Hmm? How do we rebuild trust here? Because I have to tell you, Sam, I know you're taking the steps to make this right. I just don't think we're at forgiveness quite yet."

He nodded. "I understand. I can see now how complex this was from your side of things. I didn't mean to cause you harm, but I did. So I guess we do it on your terms."

Rigsby knocked on her door. "Come in!" He eyed Bosco with suspicion. "What is it, Rigsby?"

"We've just got called up to Napa County again."

She let out a deep exhale. "Fine. Let's leave in 20 minutes."

Rigsby nodded before leaving her office. "You're still going out?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it's my last week. I was hoping to avoid anything major this week. I guess California's Finest Criminals had other ideas. I just coordinate from the local law enforcement agencies now."

"Well, let me know if you ever need me to head out with the team. I'm happy to do that."

"Thanks."

"I'll leave you to it!"

Once Bosco was out of her office, she closed her eyes. She never expected that he would apologize-or that even had the self-awareness to know an apology was needed. It was a bit messy, but it was a start.

From the van, she texted Patrick.

"Headed out of town again. I'm so sorry, honey."

"Don't be sorry. Just catch the criminals...maybe let Cho and Rigsby do the tackling though."

"Ha ha. My husband is a comedian."

"I don't know if that's true, but I know he certainly loves you and will be awaiting your call tonight."

She smiled at his sweet words. "I will talk to you later."

When they arrived in Napa County, Sheriff McAllister briefed them on the case. Another young woman had been killed. This time, she was beaten, chained, and left to die-eventually succumbing heat stroke. Nothing could have prepared her to see that crime scene. What the Sheriff left out of his briefing was that the young woman, Tia Gonzalez, was pregnant. She probably died in that barn terrified for her child. Given the manner of her death, she was left there for a while to stew in her terror. The sick bastard probably got off on it.

After visiting the scene with her team, she traveled back to the station with McAllister.

"I'm glad you got to make the trip out here."

"That's what tends to happen when my team is called up. We make the trip out to where we are needed!"

"Do you get out here often?"

She shook her head as she continued looking out of the window. "Not really. I only come out when there's a case."

"Hmm." He seemed rather interested in her answer to such a basic question.

"You know a lot of families come out here for weekend trips and such. I know it's got a reputation for the wine, but it's truly gorgeous country. You know, if it's not something your husband would enjoy, I would be more than happy to show you around."

She turned to look at him. He had a grin on his face that was a bit off putting. The man was polite, but sometimes, he had a strange air about him that she couldn't quite place. The way he mentioned her husband...was he flirting with her?

"I'm not sure. We've not planned many trips yet. I'm usually a bit busy with work."

"Well, surely, that's changing, right?"

She plastered a fake smile to her face. "I can be both a mother and a cop in the 21st century it seems." That came out a bit more sarcastic than she intended, but he laughed lightly.

"It seems that's right. You're an interesting woman, Teresa."

She wasn't sure why, but when he called her by her first name, it raised the hairs on the back of her neck. "It's Agent Lisbon."

"You can call me Tom. We don't have to stand on formalities."

"I like formalities." She would like to be out of this car right about now.

"Fair enough."

"Do you know what you're having?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Your baby. What is it?"

She protectively placed her hand over her bump. She was still getting used to people acknowledging her pregnancy and asking questions. Usually, women asked questions, but sometimes, men did too. Though, those questions were usually followed by complaints of their pregnant wives. At this rate, she was ready to tell the next man who complained to suck it up.

"Oh, I'm not sure yet. Do you have children?"

He laughed loudly. "Oh no!"

"Well, kids aren't for everyone."

"No, they're not. But you seem really like the mothering type. I'm sure you'll do well." She glared at him as he had plastered a huge smile to his face. She wanted to ask him what the hell he meant by that, but in the interest of maintaining her professionalism and a working relationship with the office, she kept her cool.

He didn't speak for the rest of the ride back to the station, and she didn't mind. Instead, he started humming some song as she continued to look out of the window.

Once the team returned to the station, they went to dinner. She powered through to dinner with the team. After that, she retired to her room for a quick shower and phone call home.

"Teresa, how was your day?"

"Miserable. How about you?"

"Not that bad. Everything here is great. Just missing you."

She mustered a thin smile. "I hope we can clear this quickly."

"It's a really bad one, isn't it?"

"Yeah. She was pregnant."

Patrick gave her a sympathetic glance. "How are you holding up?"

"Well, for the first time since I was a rookie, I had to excuse myself from a scene to not make a spectacle of myself. I can't even bother asking why someone would do this. I've been on this job too long to not know people capable of so much cruelty only need the thinnest of reasons."

"That's true. I know with you working her case, she will at least get something that resembles justice."

She shrugged. "I don't know if there's enough justice in the world for that."

"Maybe not. But you'll try to restore the dignity that someone stole from her."

"I hope so. I wish you were here."

That probably sounded beyond foolish considering she was the one who was a cop and used to this work-but it was the truth. Selfishly, she wished she were in the safety of her own home, in her husband's arms, with their hands tightly over their baby, protecting them from the evils of this world.

"I'm always with you, baby. Do you need me to stay on the line to fall asleep?"

It was a sweet offer. "No, I think I'll be ok."

"Try to get some rest for you and the little one, ok?"

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you, too. Good night."

Not long after they hung up, she received a message from Patrick. When she opened it, she saw a photo of the two of them in bed. She was sleeping on his chest. It was a great photo, and she wondered when he'd taken it. She fell asleep with one hand resting on her belly while looking at that photo.

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A/N 2: I'm traveling for a bit, so the next chapter may also be about two weeks out. Sorry for the delays but thanks so much for the patience and reading! Maybe expect a one shot (or two) in the interim!