Once again thanks for reading. This chapter has some friendly Lisbon / Van Pelt moments. Van Pelts dialog will be in a different font to make for easier reading.
"So where should I start?" Teresa Lisbon asks about an hour later, a slightly sarcastic tone to her voice.
"How about you start at the part where you and Jane made a baby?" Van Pelt replies smartly.
Lisbon smirks at her friends' sarcasm privately wondering if she has been rubbing off on the rookie.
"Well I'm guessing this", Van Pelt says gesturing at the little boy contentedly suckling at his Lisbon's breast, "happened during the Adams case."
"What are you some sort of detective?" retorted Lisbon.
"Well you know I can count to nine Boss, besides you've been, well… different, you know, with Jane, since the case." "At first I thought it was just you was of coping with what you had been through, but I kept getting this feeling that it was more than that." Van Pelt chuckled "actually when you told use you were pregnant Rigsby and I kept waiting for you to announce that it was Jane's." If he hadn't looked as shocked as the rest of us I pretty sure Rigsby would gave congratulated him too!"
Seeing the slightly bitter twist to Lisbon's mouth Van Pelt blushed as bright as her red hair and stuttered "s sorry boss."
"'S okay," said Lisbon "and I told you it's Teresa, at least until I get back from my maternity leave."
Grace smiled, understanding she had been forgiven, and watched her friend carefully. Lisbon seemed to have momentarily lost herself in the contemplation of her son. The little cherub, having finally eaten his fill, let go of his mother's breast, and gave a sleepy yawn. "Cherub is right," Grace thought, from the downy hair on his head, so blond it looked white, to his round pink cheeks and the milky fair complexion he had obviously inherited from his mother. The child looked like one of the baby angels depicted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. His eyes however where not the crystalline blue you would have expected them to be, they were instead a startling shade of deep jade green. "God help all women if he inherited his father's charm" Van Pelt thought to herself "he's gonna be a lady killer."
With a small smile and a faint shake of her head Lisbon snaps out of her reverie and putting Aiden over her shoulder for his post dinner burp, says "now where was I?"
"You were about to explain the secret relationship you had with Jane and how it's possible for you to have his child without him knowing about it?" said Van Pelt, the exaggerated tone of patience in her voice belied by her raised eye brows.
"Well that's easy", says Lisbon, bitter twist back in place, "there was no relationship".
Seeing Grace's, once again, surprised face. Lisbon gives another sigh and gestures to the little bassinet in the corner of the hospital room. She hands her now comfortably sleeping son over to Van Pelt who places him in it for a, hopefully, long nap. Then sits down in the chair next to the bed and stares at the woman in it expectantly.
"Okay!" "Okay!" Says Lisbon, "but before I start I want two things."
"Whatever I can do to help Bo… uh Teresa" Says Van Pelt.
"One I want you to swear that whatever I tell you never leaves this room."
"Uh, I'm sorry Teresa but doesn't Jane have a right to know he has a child?"
"Van Pelt, you trust me to watch your back out in the field, well, now I need you to trust that I'm only trying to do what I think is best for my son and for Jane." "Besides I think once you hear what happened you'll agree that it's best that Jane not know." Satisfied by whatever it was that she saw in her friends face, Lisbon continued, and two I need to know how much time I have before the guys get here."
"Well you weren't due for another what month?"
"Three weeks and five days." Interrupted Lisbon.
"Anyway," said Van Pelt, unfazed " Since the little man wasn't expected for an other few weeks they figured they'd be okay driving over to Pine Ridge to help the local leo's look into the dissapearance of that 16 year girl." "I didn't get a chance to call Cho and let him know what was going on until after Aiden and I were on our way back from his bath so they should be here in about an hour and a half?"
"forty–five minutes if Jane drives" said Teresa with a snort.
"What about the girl?"said Lisbon, her mind, as usual preocupied with work and all things work related.
Van Pelt rolled her eyes and said, "be prepared for Jane to be as insufferable as ever 'cause he was right." "She had a secret boyfriend she ran off to be with, Cho called campus security at UC Davis and they found her hiding in his dorm room."
"You know," Lisbon whined "this is gonna sound bitchy but just once I'd like for him to be wrong"
Van Pelt smiled and nodded in agreement then said "Well it's a good thing Jane's been insisting someone stay behind with you since you've been on desk duty or you would have been stuck alone in the bull pen, in labor."
"I'm just glad the doctor's okayed my continuing with the labor even though he was early."
Grace laughed, "he's going to be just as inpatient as his father." "Although at 7 ½ lbs. despite being a month early, I hate to think how bid he would have been if he had been full term."
"You're telling me" said Lisbon with a grimace. "It was actually his size and the fact that his lungs looked nice and strong that convinced Dr. Andres that that he would be okay." "He was also concerned that the labor would be much more difficult if he got any bigger."
Van Pelt stared at Lisbon and then made a point of checking the time on her wrist watch.
"Yeah, I know, quit stalling." I was just about to explain my relationship, or lack thereof, with Jane and how Aiden is his or as a matter of fact that it's even possible that he could be his."
"What!" yelled Grace.
"SHHH, you'll wake the baby!" Lisbon whispered fiercely.
"Well that explains why Jane practically cornered me once a week since you announced it to try to weasel out information on the baby daddy's identity and why he practically ripped Rigsby's head off when he asked Cho if it was his," Said Van Pelt.
"Cho! Ewww! And why would Jane care if it was Cho's!"
"Explain!" Said Van Pelt unapologetically
"Fine!" "You remember that during the Adams case, right before you guys got us out of that warehouse, Jane got a pretty nasty knock on the head?" "The ER doctors said it might affect his short term memory and that he might not ever be able to remember the hours that he lost."
"Yeah," said Van Pelt, remembering how beside herself with worry her boss had been, how unlike her usual unflappable self. At the time she had attributed it to what Lisbon and Jane had suffered at the hands of their captor and the fact that she owed her life to him once again. Apparently she had been wrong.
"Well he lost about 12 hrs worth of his memory," said Lisbon, sounding choked her eyes filling with tears at the memory. "It was during that time that we… uhm." I mean that's the only time we've ever uhh.. you know."
"Oh God boss, I'm sorry but I'm still don't see how it's possible to forget that you conceived a child."
"Believe me," replied Lisbon, "it's not something I'll ever forget but I need to go back to the beginning so you can understand why Jane can't or won't remember."