A/N: Thanks so much for your positive input! Here's the next chapter!
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.
'Little Ivy and Cinderella Castle'
Ivy always behaved like a little angel, helping out her parents wherever she could, saying 'please' and 'thank you' and 'I'm sorry'. She knew how to address her elders, or any grownup for that matter, and she always helped set the dining table and clean it up afterwards.
Lisbon knew Ivy's good manners came from her, but Ivy's father wasn't such a poorly mannered, arrogant and rude man anymore, not since they had gotten together. He was a right gentleman, so Lisbon guessed Ivy got some aspects from him, too.
No - she had gotten a lot from him, actually. Because even though Jane was a gentleman, he still got what he wanted, even if it meant breaking a few little laws here and there. Not that Ivy broke any laws, but quite understandably, she saw the limits and tried to pass them. Like any kid would do.
But most of all, she was a good girl. Her mother's little angel, so sweet, caring and compassionate.
That was why, to celebrate her sixth birthday, they went to Disney World. Just the three of them, to enjoy that infamous domestic bliss that Lisbon loved so much. She and Jane decided not to tell her too soon, because she might just forget, or excite herself so much that she could hardly sleep. That was why they packed the most important things and got on a plane, without telling Ivy where they were going to, even if Lisbon knew she would have read their destination on the screens at the airport. Their child was advanced when compared to other kids her age. She had no trouble reading age-appropriate books and texts, and math was a breeze for her.
"What is in Orlando, Mummy?" Ivy asked while they settled in their seats, a parent on each side of her. Jane had put her Finding Dory suitcase beneath Ivy's feet, which were dangling way above the floor. She might get her height from her mother.
"Why don't you guess, Ivy?"
"I'm bad with guessing, though." She paused for a moment, looking at her father, then her mother. She sighed. "It's prolly a museum or something."
"Would you like to go to a museum?" Jane asked her. Ivy once again thought of that option, then shrugged.
"If you want to go to a museum, I also want to go to a museum."
Lisbon smiled and wrapped an arm around the little girl, who settled against her arm, smiling just as broadly as Lisbon was, no doubt.
Maybe it had escaped Ivy's attention that, once arriving at the airport, they saw multiple little kids with Disney themed outfits and accessories, or maybe she thought it was rude to ask. Perhaps she genuinely thought that they were going to a museum. Lisbon was amused by that thought a little - would they fly for hours halfway across the country to visit a boring museum?
But Ivy was getting a little suspicious, and she grabbed Jane's hand tightly as they exited the airport. She looked up at him, something akin to fear and uncertainty in her eyes.
"Where are we going?"
"Take a wild guess, Ivy. What is it you would want to go to most of all? If you could go anywhere?"
"A Build-a-Bear."
That caused her parents to laugh, and she laughed too, although it was obvious that she was getting curious now.
"What more?"
Ivy shrugged. "Why can't you just tell me?"
"Where's the fun in that?" Jane asked her. Ivy sighed but nodded.
"I understand." She remained silent for a few minutes, thinking about the possible destination of their trip, all the while they continued walking, until they could pick up their luggage - only one big and one small suitcase, because none of them had a lot of stuff they wanted to take with them.
"Oh, Ivy, I almost forgot. You need this." Jane reached into the big suitcase and got out something, wrapped all the way in plastic, and Ivy raised an eyebrow while looking at the item. Jane didn't leave any time for her to open it, instead they continued their way down the endless corridors of the airport, until they arrived in a big lobby with lots of kids and lots of hints for Ivy to determine their destination.
She pulled on Lisbon's hand, making her look down at the little girl.
"Mummy? Why does it show Mickey's face everywhere?"
"Why do you think?"
"I don't know."
Ivy kept walking, pulling her mother with her, and they arrived at a desk, where Ivy got the attention of one of the people standing behind it.
"Hello young Miss, how are you doing?"
"Where am I going, Sir?"
He frowned, but then smiled and pointed at the big letters on the wall behind him; 'Disney's Magical Express'.
"Why, you're going to Disney World, of course!"
And Ivy's world just lit up, all of the hints and bits and pieces falling together, and Lisbon could tell she was maybe even a little emotional, as she stepped towards her mother and wrapped her arms around Lisbon's waist.
"Thank you," Ivy cried eventually, and Lisbon lowered herself to the ground so she could wrap her arms around Ivy, too.
"You're welcome, Ivy. You deserve it, because you're doing so well at school, and we're so proud of you."
Jane joined them. "Also, I really wanted to go, so it wasn't difficult to convince Mummy."
"Now cheer up, we have a long day ahead of us so we better start now."
Jane wiped Ivy's tears off her cheeks, and the girl didn't hesitate to kiss both her parents almost a million times, before she returned to the nice man who had welcomed her.
Lisbon looked at Jane briefly, who was smiling at her, too.
"You thought I would regret it," she started, "but I don't. Not a minute."
He shook his head. "I know."
Of course he did. He kissed her lips briefly before they joined their daughter at the check-in desk, caught up in an enthusiastic banter/conversation with the man from before.
"Well Ivy, welcome to Disney World!"
~...~
The entire trip from the airport to the hotel, she was freaking out so much, talking about all the characters she wanted to meet, which places she wanted to go, that by the end of the bus ride, she sighed in obvious exhaustion. If she would continue this, she would never have enough energy to stroll through the park for an entire week.
"We gotta get her to calm down," Jane stated after they had settled into their room. It looked quite awesome, even to an adult, so it was no surprise to Lisbon that Ivy was running around the room, proclaiming how much she loved this room and the park and her parents.
"I agree." Their eyes met. "Tea?"
He smiled at her, taking her hand and leading her to the small table in the middle of the dining room. "That's the magic word."
They sat on the couch together, each of them enjoying a cup of ginger tea, while Ivy went over the little Disney themed gifts she had received from both her parents and from her lovely Aunts Grace and Kim and her Uncles Kimball, Wayne, Dennis and Jason. All of them had wanted to give her something, seeing as she often created the prettiest drawings for them. Especially her Grandpa Virgil couldn't stop himself from buying all sorts of accessories she really didn't need, but that was what grandparents were for, right?
"I really need to see Flynn Ryder, it's really important," she stated. She looked as serious as she could be. "And Belle. And Gaston. And Rapunzel."
"So basically everybody?"
She nodded. "Hm-hm. And I have to see Cinderella's Castle."
"We'll do that, Ivy. It's your week. Oh, but sweetie?"
Ivy brushed a curl out of her face and put on a toy crown she had received from, most likely, Grandpa Virgil. It was Rapunzel's crown, Lisbon knew that, as Ivy had watched that movie so many times that Lisbon could dream every single line.
"One thing: let's promise that we take a break sometimes, okay? Because we can't always keep up with you, and we don't want to lose you."
Ivy nodded, a big smile on her face. "I promise I'll stay close. I love you so much."
"And we love you, sweet Ivy."
~...~
As soon as they stepped into the park, Lisbon wished they had put Ivy on a leash. It was a good thing that Jane had a firm hold on her hand, otherwise they would have definitely lost her.
Ivy was in awe by everything she saw, every little light, flower, color, it was obvious she was quickly getting overstimulated by it all. By the time they arrived at the eyecatcher of the park, Cinderella's Castle, Ivy stuck to Lisbon's side all of a sudden, almost shying away, as it were.
"Oh my goodness," she whispered. She took her time taking in all of it, brushing her hair out of her face from time to time. She might be advanced for her age, sometimes keeping up appearances that she might be older, but she was still six years old, and she was still just a little kid.
"Can we live in a castle?"
"Would you want that?"
She thought of that question, but shook her head eventually. "I would prolly have to clean up more toys."
They continued their way past numerous landmarks, most of the time stopping to take in the view, take a picture or have a quick sip of water. It was a hot day, probably the warmest they would encounter during their stay here, so they had to drink properly.
When they stopped for ice cream and sat down, Ivy got a little fussy when Jane tried to help her with her strawberry fruit bar.
"I want to do it myself, Daddy," she whined, looking at him with disappointed eyes as he once again licked the bottom of the popsicle. Lisbon knew it was to prevent Ivy's clothes from being stained, but the little girl possibly didn't see it like that.
"I know, Ivy, but otherwise your clothes might get dirty."
She shook her head. "I know what I'm doing."
They sat in silence, Jane keeping an eye on the popsicle, but surprisingly enough, she did manage, although some drops did fall down but on the ground instead of her clothes. She even bent forward to prevent anything from touching her dress.
Halfway through her popsicle, she was looking at something that had obviously gotten her deepest attention, and it caused Jane to step in to control the leaking of her ice cream. Lisbon looked at what Ivy was looking at, too - a little boy who had dropped his own cone, crying in disappointment at the loss of his precious ice cream. To top it all off, the mother of the little boy was angry at him for having dropped it, proclaiming that he would not get a new one.
Ivy looked at Lisbon with a look that told Lisbon she was planning something. The girl took a few quick bites of her popsicle, finishing it in nearly one go, then stepped to Lisbon with a specific glint in her eyes, although Lisbon couldn't identify it yet.
"Mummy, did you bring my pocket money?"
"Of course, why are you asking?"
Ivy stepped closer, and Lisbon spread her legs a little so the girl could stand between them.
"I want to buy ice cream for that boy."
Lisbon smiled and brushed some stray curls out of Ivy's face.
"That's very sweet of you, Ivy." Lisbon was not going to argue with her, even if she knew Ivy could later possibly regret spending her precious money on something so arbitrary, but Ivy had her mind set on it so there was really no way of getting that out of her head.
As Ivy walked over to the family, offering four one dollar bills to the little boy, the mother's mood softened and she knelt down beside Ivy. Any conversation was impossible to be heard from Lisbon's distance, but as she looked at the scene, she felt so incredibly proud of her little girl, she had hardly enough words to explain it. How could this little girl be Lisbon's daughter, Lisbon, who claimed to live for other's well-being, but repeatedly acted pretty selfishly. Lisbon, who had hurt the man who currently came to sit down beside her on an average basis, and even though it was often not intended that way, she had seen the pain in his eyes often as she had once again pulled away from him, long before they had gotten together.
"We raised her well," Jane said, kissing her cheek, and Lisbon smiled.
"That we did. Although, I think a big part of this is also just her big heart." There was nothing they could teach her about being this kind, this was all hers.
"She's going to regret spending her pocket money like this," Lisbon said, causing Jane to nod.
"That's why I'll be chipping in when she's short."
Lisbon smiled and kissed his cheek in return. "The entire concept of her pocket money will be lost, though."
He nodded, but shrugged. "She is just six. She has enough time to learn how to deal with money. Right now, she learns the importance of being kind to her peers. If she's kind, she will be rewarded."
At that exact moment, Ivy joined them again with a big smile on her face, her eyes sparkling and her excitement having been refueled. She hugged her mother, who was smiling from ear to ear, and kissed her father's cheek.
"Let's go," Ivy said, grabbing their hands, "before more kids start dropping their ice cream."
~...~
By the end of their stay, Ivy had seen all the characters she wanted, took all the necessary pictures, had had so much candy that Lisbon knew the girl would have a permanent belly ache for at least a week, but it was worth it. Because for a week, she had seen her little girl with the brightest smile ever, obviously making a fuss sometimes as well, she was not perfect. Yet it was so worth it to have their well-deserved family time, even if it meant all three of them were exhausted by the end of it.
Both Jane and Ivy had fallen asleep against Lisbon, both occupying one shoulder, and she couldn't help but look at her little family with pride. She had never expected that she would ever be in this position, to have such an amazing husband and a wonderful daughter, and that they would love each other and her so deeply.
She had never been one of these girls who would plan her entire future, every tiny detail like her wedding dress, what her husband should look like and what names her children would get. She had been forced to believe at a young age that love was toxic, because her father had turned into something evil when her mother had passed away. She had promised herself that she would never love someone, not romantically anyway, and it had worked out quite well until Patrick Jane had walked into her life. Everything had changed.
"Stop thinking so much," Jane moaned, and she looked down at him, startled out of her thoughts. "It's hurting my brain."
She rolled her eyes. "I was just thinking how horrible my life could have been if you weren't in it."
He was silent for a while, and she thought that he might have fallen asleep again, but then he looked up at her, making sure Ivy didn't wake from his movements.
"I have thoughts like that too, sometimes. What if I had never met you? I… I think I would probably be dead. I know it's a depressing thought… but the only reason I held on after, him, was the prospect that one day, I would see you again, void of my grief and terror. And yet still… I thought about… doing it. To grant you a better life, even if I wanted it to be with me. I'm glad though, that I held on. I would never want anything in our lives together to change."
She brushed his hair with her free hand, looking at his eyes closing in what she knew was bliss, before looking over at Ivy, who was still peacefully asleep. Lisbon knew that if Ivy would overhear this conversation, she would worry - therefore, Lisbon hoped that the girl was actually asleep and not just pretending.
"I love you, too," she whispered to Jane, who opened his eyes to once again look at her. He smiled, before he once again succumbed to sleep.
A/N: I didn't mean to make Ivy such a perfect child, but just believe me when I say that she is probably naughty a lot of the time, but it's just less fun to write her all fussy and cranky. Anyway, thanks for reading!
