That night Lisbon was worn out from the day at the beach but the kids seemed to be doubly wound up. Including Jane.
"Aunt Teresa, I'm hungry," Celina told her.
"Me, too," Jaden said.
"Me, three," Jane stated, making Jaden giggle.
"Me three," he repeated then giggled again.
Lisbon sighed. "Fine. What do you want to eat?"
Jane's eyes practically glowed. "There's a pizza place that has games to play. Let's go there."
Lisbon was overruled by the "me, too" and "me, three" of the kids.
The place was crowded- which Lisbon thought was slightly ridiculous but Jane was bouncing on the balls of his feet.
Once they were near the front of the line, Lisbon addressed the three of them. "Eat first. Then we will get credits for games. Understood?"
"Yes, Aunt Teresa," the trio said.
She ordered and paid for the pizzas, then they found a table. Unfortunately, it was by the games.
"Lisbon, I'm going to look at the games."
Jane stood even while she was telling him 'no'. "Not before dinner," she protested but he was already off.
She had to grab the children's collars to lee them from running after him. "After food," she stressed to them.
Their pizzas arrived as Jane came back, excited. "They have an arcade with Pinball and Pac-Man! Whack-a-Mole! And...Skee-ball!"
Jaden, with pizza in mouth, asked, "What's Skee-ball?"
Jane's horrified gaze connected with Lisbon's amused one. "What's Skee-ball?" he repeated. He sat down and grabbed a slice of his favorite kind of pizza. "Well, you have a ball that you roll up the ramp to score points. After we eat your aunt and I will show you."
"Jane," she weakly protested.
He ignored her. "You can win tickets to get prizes."
Celina put her slice down. "I'm done."
"Eat more," urged Lisbon. "I'm not feeding you later."
The little girl smiled at Jane. "I wanna play with Uncle Patrick."
Lisbon looked at Jane with a pleading expression.
Mentalist that he was he caught her thought. "We'll play, Celina. But I'm hungry so let's finish eating to satisfy my stomach and satisfy your aunt."
It worked. The kids ate more.
After eating enough to satisfy Lisbon the kids bounced up. Jane stood then gestured to her. "Come on."
She shook her head. "I'm good here."
He gestured with his hand more. "Lisbon, come on."
"Jane, we are too old for this nonsense."
"But, Lisbon, Skee-ball."
Against her will she stood to be led to the game section. She found she had been led a lot since the kids came and she minded less and less. They walked to the token machine and Jane insisted on buying the tokens.
"You got dinner. It's only fair." He got each child's tokens separately, understanding sibling rivalry was an ugly thing. Then he got another bucket, stuck in twenty bucks and let the tokens fall. He grinned at her. "Now, you have to help me play. I would hate to waste that money."
She rolled her eyes. "Please. I know for a fact you aren't hurting for money."
He just grinned. "Live a little, Teresa."
She followed him to give the kids their "money". She was amazed at all the games they had, a little overwhelmed by the sights and sounds.
Placing a light arm around her waist, Jane steered her towards their goal. He somehow found two games side by side and out the bucket on the rails between them. "Good luck,' he told her.
"You too."
Lisbon had forgotten how fun the game could be. Soon she was staring intensely at the circles marking the points and squinting as she let the heavy ball go, cheering and jumping up and down when she did score big. She was sure Jane was laughing at her but she didn't care if he was. She was actually having fun.
And winning tickets. Every so often Jaden and Celina would bring their random tickets for Lisbon or Jane to hold. Lisbon was stuffing them in her jeans pocket while Jane used his khaki pants and polo shirt pocket. After a while they began putting them in their dwindling bucket.
Finally, not long after the kids had finished their tokens and had gathered to watch their aunt and uncle, Jane stuck his hand in the bucket, searching for a moment, then came up empty-handed. "Guess we're finished." He clapped his hands in excitement. "Let's count the tickets, shall we."
They found a table and did just that. Once they were counted the adults separated them equally among the children and led them to the prize center.
Jaden immediately picked a toy airplane, a small puzzle, and a container of some kind of gooey mess that made Lisbon scrunch her nose and roll her eyes.
Celina bit her lip in concentration, looking at al the prizes. "How many tickets do I have, Uncle Patrick?"
He told her.
She shook her head. "Not enough," she muttered so softly. Lisbon didn't hear her.
Jane knelt down to get on her 8 year old level. "What is it you want, honey?"
She pointed. "That unicorn. But I don't have enough. I guess Jaden can have the tickets."
Jane chuckled. "A Lisbon trait. You want what you want and nothing else."
Lisbon, who heard this, attempted unsuccessfully to push him off his haunches.
"I have a suggestion," Jane said as he wrangled Celina's tickets away from Jaden. "You're here the whole week. Perhaps your aunt will bring you back and you can get your unicorn."
She turned excited to Lisbon. "Aunt Teresa, will you and Uncle Patrick bring us back?"
"We'll see," was her answer which made her get a tackle hug from the two. She looked at Jane who just stood up and laughed.
Once they got the kids back to Lisbon's place Jane helped Lisbon get the kids ready for bed.
"Uncle Patrick?" Jaden asked him as his sleep dressed sister joined him on their palette on the living floor. "Are you spending the night too?"
He cleared his throat. "You know I don't live here," he told them.
"We know," Celina assured him. "But we want you to stay."
"Well," he said, looking helplessly over to Lisbon, "I just can't."
"Why not?" Jaden asked.
"It's complicated. But I'll see you tomorrow." Before they could question it further he bounced to Lisbon's side. "It's been fun," he muttered as he kissed her cheek.
She laughed as he escaped out of her apartment.