Author's Note: Here's chapter five! Sorry for the wait, this chapter ended up longer than I expected. Thank you to AngryLittlePrincess and Pen99 for their reviews of the last chapter. I hope you guys enjoy wthis chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist.
Lisbon sighed heavily, looking at the mud that had dried in the backseat of her car.
"You know," Jane said, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "This could have just been James' problem if you hadn't been so insistent on carpooling."
"Shut up. Saves money from gas."
"Spends more time cleaning." Jane teased, handing her a car brush.
Lisbon just grunted in reply and began to rub at the mud. "Well I wasn't expecting Melody to get pushed into a mud puddle."
"She's Melody. Of course she was going to get pushed into a mud puddle. And it didn't even slow her down." Jane chuckled. "On the bright side, her team still won."
"Too bad that win doesn't come with a free interior car cleaning."
Jane laughed. "And what have we learned?"
"You're really unsupportive of me and you don't care about the environment?"
"Don't be ridiculous. I love you. You just like to pretend I don't so you can blame things on me."
"I don't have to find ways to blame things on you. Almost everything is your fault."
"I could just go inside and not help you clean your car. It's not my car, not my problem."
"Hey!" Lisbon protested when Jane pretended to be leaving.
"Oh, don't be angry, my beautiful wife. I'll help you clean your car."
"Oh, dear husband, aren't you just the most chivalrous man that I ever did meet." Lisbon rolled her eyes sarcastically.
Jane just laughed again. "I suppose that I must be." He kissed Lisbon's cheek. "Lets get this car cleaned before Melody's gymnastics competition on Saturday. I still can't believe how early they start those things."
"You're just not a morning person." Lisbon bumped his hip with hers as she shook one of the car mats out.
"My experience has shown me that you aren't either, my dear."
-Mentalist-
"Five more minutes." Jane murmured, hugging Lisbon tighter and burrowing into her soft hair as she reached out to try and silence the alarm clock.
"Five more minutes." Lisbon agreed, hitting the snooze button. It only felt like five seconds before the alarm went off again.
"Five more minutes." Jane mumbled.
"That's what you said five minutes ago." was Lisbon's groggy reply as she propped herself up on one elbow and reached over to hit the 'off' button on the alarm clock. "Come on. Get your lazy butt out of bed. Or at the very least, let go of me so I can get up. One of us has to be mature."
"But it's so cozy." Jane complained in a very childlike manner.
"You're whinier than Melody ever was." Lisbon grinned.
"Ouch. There goes my ego."
Lisbon just laughed. "Come on."
"Fine." Jane sighed and let her go, reluctantly.
"Thank you." Lisbon scooted off her side of the bed and headed to the bathroom with a change of clothes for a shower.
It wasn't that long before they were both on their way to pick up Melody and James.
"I'm beginning to think that your carpooling idea is just another way for you to assert control in life." Jane commented as they turned onto James' and Melody's street.
"It is not." Lisbon huffed. "You know, for someone who hates shrinks so much, you like to pretend you're mine an awful lot. God, for one day, Patrick-one day-can you please not do the whole psychiatrist thing?" Lisbon pulled up in front of the building and parked on the curb, waiting for Melody and James.
"It truly bothers you that much." Jane hadn't quite asked it like a question.
"Yes."
"I'm only teasing you, you know." Jane placed one of his hands over hers on the steering wheel. "I don't mean anything by it."
"Yeah, I know." Lisbon replied passively as she looked past Jane through the passenger side window. The apartment building door opened.
"Teresa?"
"Yeah?"
"Look at me?"
Lisbon shifted her gaze to meet Jane's. "Yeah?"
"Can I have a kiss?"
Lisbon just raised a brow.
"Please? Just a little kiss." He pouted slightly.
Lisbon leaned forward and quickly placed a kiss to his lips.
"Thank you." Jane smiled.
"Whatever." Lisbon sighed as she unlocked the door for Melody and James.
"Morning." James greeted as he opened the door and let the now eight year old Melody in first.
"M'r'ning." Melody echoed tiredly as she climbed in and took a seat, barely managing to get her seat belt on before her eyes closed and she drifted back to sleep. Her hair was in a high and neat bun, that James had taught himself how to do, and she wore some black sweatpants with sneakers and a sweater Jane had bought her. The sweater was red with her last name printed across the back in white with some blue stars.
"I see she still enjoys that sweater." Jane noticed.
"Yeah." James shut the door and put his own seat belt on after fixing Melody's gym bag in the empty seat. "It's still about four sizes too big for her, too."
"She'll grow into it." Jane dismissed as Lisbon began to drive again.
"We have plenty of time." Lisbon said. "She has to be signed in by eight and it's just seven now."
"They should really make these things start later." James sighed. "How do they expect kids to function when they have to get up this early? I could hardly get her to sleep last night. She kept changing her mind on what bodysuit she wanted. And then her stomach hurt because she was nervous."
"How'd you get her to bed?" Jane inquired, sort of amused.
"I told her that I'd make her redo all her math homework to clear her head. She practically fainted."
Lisbon bit her lip to keep from laughing.
-Mentalist-
James grabbed Melody's gym bag from the backseat and Jane shook Melody gently.
"Mnh. No." Melody swatted lazily at Jane's hands.
"We're here." Jane told her. "We're at the competition. We have to sign you in. Don't you want to sign in?"
"Yeah." Melody yawned.
"Good. Come on." Jane undid her seat belt and helped her out of the car. "Good girl." He took her hand as they walked into the building and signed her in, getting her number. It was busier than they had anticipated. Kids ranging from Melody's age to late teens with their parents, coaches and others all bustling around and talking. The three quickly found their way into the stadium portion of the building, finding the area where the participants could get ready and claiming an available space. "You okay?" Jane asked, seeing Melody's expression.
Melody nodded quickly.
"Do you want some water?" James offered her a water bottle that he'd pulled from her gym bag.
"Thank you." Melody took the bottle and drank some water.
"There you are, Melody!"
"Hi, Miranda!" Melody waved at her coach.
"James, Teresa, Patrick." Miranda greeted the adults cheerily. She was a slender woman in her early thirties with light brown hair and baby blue eyes. The three adults returned her greeting before Miranda knelt in front of Melody. "Okay, sweetie. This is going to go different from your other competitions. It's a little bit bigger than the other ones you've been in, but that's okay. You did really well in the other ones and you can do really well in this one. You'll hear your name called when it's time for you to practice and I will be out there too for your practice. Remember what we worked on in practice on Thursday. I've got to go prep Celia, but I'll be out there for your practice. Do your stretching." With that, Miranda headed off.
-Mentalist-
"They're sitting…above us?" Lisbon's brows furrowed as she read the text that Van Pelt had sent her. "It says 'look up'."
James, Melody, Jane and Lisbon all looked up at the elevated seats that overlooked the waiting area and arena to see the others smiling and waving at them.
Melody waved back, excitedly. They were all wearing white shirts with the words 'Go Melody' written on them.
"You have your own fan club." Lisbon smiled. Sadly, Sarah hadn't made it out. Everyone had seen less of her since she and Rigsby split up a year ago.
The announcer let everyone know that the competition would begin in five minutes.
"Come on, Melody." Lisbon told her. "I have you get your makeup on you."
Melody frowned. That was her least favourite part.
Lisbon sat cross-legged with Melody in front of her. "Stand very still." She instructed and Melody obeyed. Her alternative, however, was getting poked in the eye by accident and that was less appealing than the makeup process. Especially since it had happened to her before when she wouldn't stop fidgeting. Just some eye shadow and eyeliner was enough, so Lisbon never put any more than was needed. "Ta-da."
Melody opened her eyes and blinked a few times, getting used to the makeup all over again. They all got comfortable to watch the other competitors from Melody's age division. Apparently, not only was Melody the youngest in her division as she barely made it in by a week with the age restriction, she was also the last of her division to sign in. That left her the last performance of her age group.
Miranda had a few last words with Melody before her name was called. Melody wasn't sure if she wanted to cry or throw up more. There were so many people! Plus, she'd seen reporters and camera crews. James had made the mistake of letting Melody know that Annie and Tommy would watch her on TV in Chicago. It had been intended to help her relax, but only made her more nervous. She made her way to the mat, taking deep breaths and trying to focus.
"She's going to be fine." Jane whispered to Lisbon, who had grabbed one of his hands in both of hers and was holding tightly. He rubbed her back with his free hand. At these competitions, Jane was never who was more nervous: Melody or Lisbon. It was a very close call.
"It's dangerous." Was Lisbon's response, as it always was.
"This coming from a woman that deals with criminals for a living."
"That's not the point. Shush. Her routine is going to start." Lisbon continued to hold his hand tightly.
Watching Lisbon watch Melody's gymnastic routines was incredibly amusing. She had one of those horrified expressions of a young child watching their first serious horror film at a sleepover. The type of expression that said 'it's so horrifying, but I can't look away! I can't! Look! Away!' as the person would proceed to watch the film through spread fingers, like that would make it less scary. The only difference was that Lisbon's fingers were all painfully wrapped around Jane's poor hand.
Melody took a deep breath as she heard her music starting and began her routine. She'd started off a little shaky, but once she got going she was much better. Her nerves took a backseat to her task at hand. Lisbon let go of Jane's hand as Melody's routine ended and they all applauded and cheered. Melody took her little bow and then made her way off the performance stage and onto the regular floor, hurrying back to her waiting family and coach.
"That was awesome, Melody!" James said as Melody ran into his awaiting arms and he kissed her head. "I'm so proud of you!"
"Thank you." Melody was still panting from all the energy she had spent on her performance.
"Good job." Lisbon kissed her cheek when it was her turn to give Melody a hug.
"Thank you." Melody smiled. "When do I get to see what I got?" She asked Miranda.
"They're tallying the scores now, like the other competitions. They'll say in a moment." Miranda told her.
James handed Melody her sweater to wear and she zipped the oversized item of clothing up as they heard her name announced again, her name and picture appearing on the big screen hanging on the wall. Melody held her breath as her score appeared next to her picture and then it faded to show the final standings.
"You got third. Good job." James hugged her again.
Melody smiled, a little disappointed, though. "But…I wanted first."
"You can't win everything." Miranda told her. "But third is very good for your first big competition. Be proud. We just need to work on your starts."
"You'll do even better at the next one." Jane patted Melody's shoulder.
"When's that?"
"Not for a little while." Miranda said. "You need to practice between competitions. You can get a snack now, though. The other age groups have to go and then they hand out the trophies to everyone after."
"I am hungry."
"I bet." Miranda poked Melody's nose.
"Tell Celia that I say good luck, too."
"I will." Miranda nodded.
Lisbon texted Van Pelt while Melody got her shoes on to let them know that they were going to get a snack if they wanted to meet them and got a quick reply that they'd be out there.
"What do you want?" James asked after Melody got her hugs from everyone else.
Melody looked around. "I don't see anywhere to get food."
"I think they're further down." Jane said, picking Melody up. The group walked a little further down the hall until they came upon some food venders.
"Can I have a cupcake and fries?" Melody asked, seeing a fry place and pastry vender next to each other.
"How about a salad instead of fries?" James suggested.
Melody wrinkled her nose. "I don't want a salad, Daddy."
"You need something better than fries and a cupcake."
"Fries with gravy and a cupcake?" Melody tried.
Jane laughed as James shook his head.
"Pogo's and fries?" Melody tried again.
"Okay." James sighed. Better than just fries.
Melody smiled. "And orange juice. I like orange juice."
-Mentalist-
"Look how big it is!" Melody held up her trophy that was about half as tall as her.
"It's almost as big as you." James laughed.
"How would we carry it if it were any bigger?" Lisbon smiled.
"It's not that heavy." Melody said.
"Have you thought about where you want to go for your celebration dinner, or do you not want to go anywhere?"
"No, I want to go!" Melody told him as they walked out to meet the others. "Can we have chicken?"
"If that's what you want." Lisbon told her.
"I want chicken." Melody nodded.
"Chicken it is." James said. They met up with the others and made plans to meet at the chosen restaurant before heading out to their vehicles.
Lisbon popped the trunk so James could put Melody's gym bag in and then she leaned down to get Melody's trophy.
"But…" Melody stepped back with her trophy, pouting.
"It's too big to carry around anywhere. We have to put it in the trunk so it doesn't get damaged or stolen." Lisbon explained.
Melody looked at her trophy sadly, sighed and handed it over to be put in the trunk. She got into the back seat and buckled her seat belt, James sitting next to her with Jane and Lisbon in the front.
"Can we have the radio?" Melody asked.
"Sure." Jane turned on the radio and picked a random station. No one really liked the selection of music the first one had, so he channel surfed.
"Oh! This! Leave it."
"What's the word?" James looked at her.
"Please." Melody added.
"That's it." James nodded.
"You like this song?" Lisbon asked. It was kind of old by now.
"Yeah." Melody bobbed her head along to the beat. "I got a pocket, got a pocket full'a sunshine…"
It didn't take them very long to get the restaurant. Cho got there first, then them and finally Rigsby with Van Pelt and Ben. They entered the restaurant together, it wasn't packed but there were quite a few people there.
"Table for eight, please." Jane said to the hostess behind the podium.
She nodded and jotted something down before grabbing enough menus and showing them all to their table. "Your server will be with you in a moment." She told them after handing out their menus. Melody got to sit at the head of the table, with her father on the right, Jane and Lisbon on the left.
"I'm going to go to the bathroom. You coming as well, Lisbon?" Van Pelt asked.
"Yeah." Lisbon nodded. "Melody, do you need to use the bathroom?"
"No."
"Okay. We'll be right back. If the waiter comes while I'm gone, I want a coffee." Lisbon said.
"I'd like some lemonade." Van Pelt added before the pair went off.
A phone began to ring, making Rigsby jump. He checked his caller ID. "I'll be right back. It's Sarah." He got up to take the call somewhere a little quieter.
"Daddy? What's a Shirley Temple?" Melody asked, looking at one of the plastic drink menus that had been sitting on the table.
"It's a fruit drink." James answered.
"Is it good?"
"Yes."
"Can I have one?"
"Sure."
"Melody gets everything." Benjamin frowned.
"Do not." Melody protested.
"Do so."
"Nuh-uh."
"Yeah."
"No."
"Yeah."
"N-"
"Please stop arguing." Cho interrupted in his ever so stoic manner.
Just then, their waiter approached. He was in his early twenties with dark hair and a nice smile. Probably in college or university, Jane assumed. "Hi, I'm Sam and I'll be your server today. Can I start you all off with something to drink?"
"Go ahead Melody." James encouraged.
"Can I have a Shirley Temple?"
"Yes you can." Sam jotted her order. "They're really good. Did you come from dance?"
"No. I was at a gymnastics competition."
"Oh. Sorry. My niece does ballet and I saw the bun, so I thought dance. And you, sir?" He looked to James.
"Uh…just a water, please. My sister's in the bathroom, but she wants a coffee."
Sam nodded and added that to his list.
"I'll have some tea." Jane smiled.
"I want a soda." Ben told Sam.
"Grace wanted a lemonade." Melody remembered.
"Just a water for me as well." Cho said.
"Make that two sodas." Jane said. "Our other missing friend will want one."
"Okay. So, I'll come back in a moment so you can look over the menus a bit more."
"Wait." Melody said. "I didn't get any crayons for my menu."
"I did." Ben grinned, opening the plastic around his crayons.
Melody stuck her tongue out at him.
"You still have goop on your face." Ben stuck out his tongue back.
"Daddy." Melody looked at James.
"We'll get the makeup off your face." He told her.
Jane grabbed Lisbon's bag that she'd left by the foot of her chair and it didn't take him long to find some wet wipes Lisbon had for removing makeup.
"I'll get you some crayons." Sam smiled before leaving.
"Thank you." Melody called as Jane began to wipe at the eye shadow on her face.
"No wonder it's not full out here. Everyone's waiting in the line for the ladies washroom." Lisbon huffed as she sat down.
"Wouldn't have been such a long line if some women could figure out the real reason for toilet paper." Van Pelt took her seat. "It's not to clog up half the toilets."
"Ew." Melody wrinkled her nose.
"Agreed." Lisbon nodded.
"Sorry that took so long." Rigsby joined them again.
"Everything cool?" Cho asked.
"Yeah, everything's fine."
"Okay." Sam reappeared. "I have the two waters, two sodas and the lemonade. I'll be right back with your other drinks." He placed the drinks on the table. "But, before I go"-he pulled a little pouch of crayons from his pocket-"I got you some crayons. Have fun."
"Thank you." Melody smiled brightly, accepting the drawing utensils.
"You're welcome." Sam looked at Jane and James. "She's adorable."
"Thank you." They both replied automatically at the same time.
It took a moment for them to realise what had just transpired as Sam walked away. Lisbon was the first to start laughing, followed closely by everyone else except Ben and Melody who didn't understand.
"What did…I miss!?" Lisbon forced out between giggles that were quickly evolving to suffocating laughter.
"Nothing." Jane shook his head. "Melody just needed her makeup…removed." He looked down at Lisbon's bag that he'd reached for. It wasn't a very feminine appearing bag. It could just as easily been a man's bag. And James' comment 'we'll get the makeup off' as opposed to 'I will' and Jane had been the one to clean the makeup off. "Oh."
"Oh?" Lisbon was still laughing, wiping at some tears. "What happened?"
"The waiter thinks that Jane and James are a couple." Cho pointed out.
That only got Lisbon to laugh harder. "You…need to tell…me what happened…later." She couldn't stop laughing and her sides were hurting.
"I don't know why you think it's so funny, Teresa." Jane said, a little flustered for once. He had nothing against same sex couples, but of all the people anyone were to pair him with…his second youngest brother in law? And why was Lisbon so amused? That wasn't fair. Maybe it really was his karma biting him in the butt. "If people are all going to think I'm into men, how does that reflect on you?"
Lisbon nearly fell over laughing, clearly unaffected by Jane's comment.
"I want to know the joke." Melody pouted.
"I don't think you'll understand the joke." James told her.
"I can understand things. Tell me."
James looked at her for a moment. "Okay. Here's the joke."
Melody listened intently.
"When do teachers carry bird seed?"
Melody furrowed her brows. "When?"
"When they have a parrot-teacher conference."
Melody giggled. "Parrot-teacher conference."
-Mentalist-
Lisbon sighed tiredly as they closed the door behind them. "That was a long day." she proceeded to remove her shoes.
"But a fun day, still." Jane followed suit.
"I still can't believe that the waiter thought you and James were together." She chuckled.
"Are you ever going to get over that?" Jane shook his head.
"Nope." Lisbon smiled. "I think it's one of the funniest things I've ever heard. Though, I would sincerely hope it weren't true. Don't cheat on me with my brother. Any of my brothers."
"No worries. They're not my type."
"And what's your type?"
Jane pretended to think. "Hhmmm…I think I would have to say that my type is…Teresa Lisbon."
"It better be." She smiled and gave him a kiss.
Author's Note: That's it for now. I hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought.