A/N: Sorry for the delay, was feeling a bit unsure about this story but I'll just post now despite the feedback! ^^

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

'The Great Mr. Jane'

I stayed with the Mashburns for dinner, though the man of the house wasn't there since he had a meeting.

Which, consequently, made all the females a bit looser, as it were. I had seen that Teresa had tried really hard to behave properly when around her husband, but she didn't care about etiquette now any longer. She just laughed freely and didn't do anything when Christina ran away from the table to fetch a doll she wanted to show me.

The little girl insisted she had to sit next to me, because she wanted to get to know me. She liked me, that was a no-brainer, but I felt that there was much more to it. Maybe she felt lonely sometimes, I didn't know, but I was destined to find out more about this intriguing girl.

Even the maid, Johanna, had joined, and I found out she was a sweet girl. She was engaged and it was clear she really loved her man, if the way her eyes sparkled when she talked about him was any indication.

She wasn't the only worker here, though. As Christina had announced that they were to have dinner by running through the house and the garden, more and more people came into the dining room until we were with seven.

The Mashburns had two cooks, Wayne and Cho, two mid-twenty men. Wayne was the taller man's first name, and the shorter man refused to have people call him by his first name, which was Kimball. They made a good team, especially since their biggest fan, a certain seven year old, could always go to one of them for cake or something else tasty – and they never complained. Christina had almost knocked the food out of Wayne's hands when the two men had walked into the dining room, as she wanted to give him a big hug. That was probably to blackmail them into making a pie.

From outside, a young man entered the dining room as well. I had already seen him a few times but judging from his wet hair, he had taken a shower and changed clothes. He had introduced himself to me as Luther Wainwright, the gardener. He hadn't gotten the same reaction from Christina as the two cooks, but she wasn't indifferent about him either. Teresa said that Luther was new and Christina still had to get used to him. Rumor had it he wasn't even twenty yet. It was never confirmed though, as Walter and Teresa didn't find it important to know his age – he was older than eighteen, that was all they needed to know.

"So, you're from the East?" Wayne asked, and I swallowed the food I was eating before nodding.

"New York."

"I've always wanted to go there."
"Maybe she can take you," Cho deadpanned, and Wayne shot him a look before rolling his eyes and facing me again.

"Why are you here?"

I shrugged. "My parents wanted to take me to Florida but I didn't want to go there. And since I legally have the right to do what I want since I'm twenty-one, I decided I could see the west coast. And I knew for a fact that I had family here," I said, smiling at Teresa who smiled back, "that was the best plan I could think of."

I saw a faint twinkle in Wayne's eyes, and as I looked into his clear blue eyes, my breath caught in my throat.

Of course Christina stopped me from thinking about it more.

"Auntie Grace, do you have a boyfriend?"

The people sitting around the table suppressed chuckles and laughs, and even Teresa seemed amused by her daughter's question. She didn't move to stop her daughter either, so she was curious to know the answer too.

I shook my head. "No, I don't."

"Okay great, because Wayne is looking for a girlfriend-"
"Chrissie," Teresa interrupted now, followed directly by loud laughs, and I felt my cheeks turning red immediately. I ran a hand through my hair and shook my head. I didn't want to be in the spotlights and this wasn't any difference. I observe a play, rather than performing it.

"Sorry, Grace," Teresa apologized. I merely shook my head.

"It's okay."

The company broke into conversation again and I found myself caught between a chat about the latest new ingredients one could use to improve a Christmas cake and one about Teresa's hair. It didn't escape my notice that nobody named either Walter or Mr. Jane. So they either didn't know about Mr. Jane or knew everything about it and thought I didn't know.

I hadn't even met Mr. Jane, but it was already obvious what was happening here. I couldn't wait to meet him, but I had promised Teresa not to talk to him so therefore I wouldn't. But I could still observe him from a distance, couldn't I?

Once dinner was over, everybody went to do their tasks – Wayne and Cho went to do the dishes, Luther finished up his work in the garden and Johanna grabbed Christina's hand and brought her upstairs.

Teresa and I were left alone, and as soon as everybody was gone, she got up and helped the cooks with gathering plates from the table. Now here was something I hadn't seen coming. I was used to seeing the lady of the house bossing around people to do their tasks but they would never help them. But then again, Teresa wasn't a normal lady so that would probably justify her actions.

She smiled at me when she found me staring at her. "I usually help them, when Walter isn't here. It's just so much to carry with."

Her intentions were good, but due to her size, she couldn't even carry half of what the cooks had carried with them. And so it was that when Cho walked out of the kitchen to see Teresa carrying the plates with him, he just gave her an expressionless face.

"You shouldn't do that, Ma'am," was all he said, but Teresa shook her head.

"I should."

"You don't have to make things up for us, Ma'am."

"I'm not trying to. And anyways, you still work for my husband so technically, you work for me too, so just let me help you. Oh, and you can call me Teresa, cut it with the Ma'am stuff."

He looked at her with a slight frown, then just sighed and let her step through the door to the kitchen. His eyes caught mine and I saw the annoyance. I simply chuckled.

Wayne exited the kitchen as well, looking in surprise at the room before turning to us.

"Did she just..."

"Yeah, don't mention it."

"Why does she keep doing that?" Wayne asked, collecting the utensils. Cho shook his head. He wanted to give an answer before he realized that I was there, and the words died on his tongue.

"Never mind," he said and walked back to the kitchen. As Teresa wanted to grab more things, Wayne stopped her.

"Don't. Let us do this. You've got a visitor."

Teresa rolled her eyes, but gave in and walked up to me. She led me to the living room, and we sat down again.

We talked about the relatives that we apparently had in common and I felt myself liking this woman more and more with the minute. I had already had that impression the first moment I had met her, but it kept on being confirmed – Teresa was very loveable. She was a great mother, a great leader as the lady of the house, and a good wife as well, though she probably wouldn't second that statement. She still fought to keep her marriage and that was what made her a good wife – and the willpower to keep playing the act rather than simply dropping it was admirable, to say the least.

When Johanna entered the living room and said that Christina was ready for bed, Teresa excused herself. When she came back, she had a smile from ear to ear on – and I had even more reasons to like this woman: her love for her child was more than admirable.

Apparently, even though Christina was probably the reason for the marriage problems, Teresa still loved her as if she was a little angel that had come from heaven. And Christina was, of course.

"I think I should better leave," I said, and Teresa nodded.
"Let me walk you to your house, then."

From all the houses in the neighborhood the Mashburns lived in, their house was the biggest, that much was obvious, but I also found it the most beautiful one.

With the red bricks and the white window panes, the house got a somewhat modern vibe. The front door was exactly in the middle of the house, and the floor above had a balcony, being supported by white pillars. At the left side of the building, a white wing was build. It didn't seem out of place compared to the red bricks, in fact, it looked as if it had always been there – which wasn't the fact, the materials used in the house itself and the wing were different. From where I was standing, I could see a small garden house, in white again. That was probably placed there for Christina, since I could see dolls sitting in the window sills.

It felt like a physical pain to leave the house behind, but my temporary house wasn't so bad either.

My house was probably half the size of the Mashburn Mansion, if not smaller, but it still had the appearance of being a mansion. It didn't look out of place in a neighborhood like this, though you could definitely see that this house was smaller than the rest. The outside was covered with white wood, and the roofing tiles were a dark gray. Leading to the front door was a little patio, spread all over the front of the house, and on the edges were white wooden fences standing.

As Teresa and I stood in front of the house, she looked around.

"Virgil Minelli lives there," she said, pointing across the street. The house looked the same like mine, but it was bigger and customized.

"And that is Mr. Jane's mansion," she said, pointing at the house next to mine.

Okay, so maybe the Mashburn Mansion wasn't the biggest.

Mr. Jane's mansion was probably twice as big as the Mashburn Mansion, and had the same kind of exterior, although the house had an older look. The bricks were dark yellow, some darker than the others. The graceful curves in the façade gave the overall impression of the house just a bit more charm.

I saw the way Teresa looked at the mansion, with a strange mixture of longing and detest. Was it really that I had seen these emotions in her eyes, or was it just my imagination rearing its ugly head here?

"I won't talk to him, Teresa."

She nodded. "I know."

"Good night," I said, smiled faintly at her and opened the door to my temporary home.

"Grace," Teresa stopped me, and I smiled again when I turned around.

"Thank you, for being here. I needed someone like you."

She looked at me in a manner of love and relief, and I found I could do nothing else but to swallow away the lump in my throat.

"No problem, Teresa. Don't worry about Chrissie, you're doing just fine." With that, I stepped into the house and closed the door behind me.

I didn't bother with checking the interior, I would find out what the house looked like eventually. I was going to stay here for just a few days, I knew that.

What I did do was walking to one window that had a view on Mr. Jane's house and studying it like I had done before.

I immediately saw a figure standing in the windows of the other house, and I startled, putting back the curtains. Had that been Mr. Jane? I couldn't possibly know since I knew nothing about the man.

Eventually, curiosity got the better of me and I pushed away the heavy curtains again. The shadow in the window was standing in the exact same position as I had left it, but now, the curtains were pushed away, and I was able to make out a few features – it was obviously a man, on his head blonde curls if the light wasn't lying, and his shape didn't look either too fat or too skinny, just good.

The man then suddenly lifted his hand and waved at me, and I pushed back the curtains.

I would find out if that was Mr. Jane eventually. Probably tomorrow before I went back to the Mashburn Mansion.

Or so I thought.

Because when I was preparing myself for bed, I heard a knock on the front door. Nobody would come and visit me at such a late hour, especially not one of the Mashburns because they had their own problems to deal with now. So it had to be the person that had waved at me.

I wrapped a robe around myself and opened the door. I immediately saw blonde curls and a blinding 1000-watt smile.

"Hi. You must be Grace van Pelt." He reached out to shake my hand, but I frowned.

"How do you know my name?"

His smile widened.

"Why, I know the entire family of Teresa Lisbon."

"Mashburn. Teresa Mashburn."

He paused, as if struggling to accept that she was called Mashburn now, then nodded. "Yes, sorry. Mashburn."

I looked the man over. He was wearing a three-piece-suit, giving him a formal look, but it all left a bit when I saw he wasn't wearing a matching tie.

"No need to ogle me, Grace. I'm Jane. Patrick Jane," he said, and I froze.
"Mr. Jane?"

"Jane. Mr. Jane. What's the difference?" he asked. He seemed really full of himself. His expression dropped once he saw mine, though. "You may call me what you want, Grace."

I frowned, but nodded. "Why are you here, Jane?"

"Can I come in?" he asked, but he already moved past me into my home. I rolled my eyes.

"Sure you can," I said, needlessly, and closed the door. He looked around for a few moments, before he sat down and waited until I did too.

He hesitated in speaking. He didn't come across to me as being a cruel man, quite the contrary, his whole demeanor screamed that this person was loveable – it was the same feeling I had felt when I had first met Teresa.

"I'm sure you've heard some things about me."

"Actually, no."

He seemed genuinely surprised, but then simply smiled. Yet his eyes weren't lying. He was hurt that nobody had told me anything about him. It was obvious to me everybody was trying to avoid him, after being told to avoid him several times, but I didn't get why they were trying to avoid him. If he was a loveable person, why would anyone hate him? And not just one person, a whole household disliked him.

"Very well. I would have assumed the Mashburns would have given you a proper introduction to me, but apparently, they didn't find it necessary. That's fine." He shifted in his seat so that he was leaning forward, his body closer to mine this way. "Christina... she's not Walter's daughter."

"I figured."

He nodded, averted his eyes. He paused.

"She's yours."

Jane didn't seem startled at all – or he was hiding it very well, which I didn't think he would do when it came down to Christina. Everybody seemed to care for her, which was sweet.

He nodded. "She is."

It became silent then, not an awkward one but not a comfortable one either.

"Does Christina know?"

Jane shook his head as he leaned back into the seat again. "No, she doesn't. Walter didn't want us to tell her."

"And us being you and Teresa?"

"Yes. Teresa and I... we had a short thing going on seven years ago but it got out of hand when Walter discovered. I used to live a few blocks away from them, but when he found out, he made me move to this part of the city, forcing me to look as Teresa moved on with him and our daughter and forgot about me. He wanted to punish me."

"And did he succeed?"

"Oh yes, he did. Christina doesn't know who I am, apart from knowing that I'm Mr. Jane and that she should stay away from me. She doesn't know why, but then again that's not a surprise at her age."

I nodded my understanding, and suddenly it became clear why everybody tried to avoid the subject of 'Mr. Jane'. He had been a threat for a 'perfect' marriage and Walter had probably forced everybody to stop discussing the threat, to save his reputation.

"Haven't you ever tried to win back Teresa? I don't want to judge but her marriage with Walter doesn't seem to be a good one."

"You're right with saying that, but I tried. I did. And Teresa knows. But I don't want to bring her into a bad position. She already has to lie about her daughter's father the entire time, I don't want to make things more difficult for her."

"I get that, but don't you want her to be happy-"

"Of course I do, because I love her! But I can't have her compromise her reputation for me. I'm not worth anything anyhow." He jumped up and walked into the direction of the front door. I acted fast and followed him. "I just wanted to drop by to inform you about the way things go around here. I don't want you to think I'm a bad person too, only because I wanted to destroy a marriage."

"I don't think you are, Jane."

"Of course not. If you... if you see Christina tomorrow, could you tell her I said hello? I know it won't mean much to her but I have never really spoken to her. I want her to know I exist so..." he said, and then let the sentence die down. I swallowed.

The poor man, he had to carry so much weight on these shoulders of his. He didn't even seem to be older than thirty, and though I knew life changing experiences much like these weren't restricted to age, nobody should ever go through what this man was going through. I could only imagine what it must be like to see your daughter growing up without you.

"So that it will be easier to win her back when she's older," I added, and he looked up at me and nodded. He smiled a small smile, glad that I understood him. I nodded to him, and he left.

I ran over to the window and quickly pushed away the curtain, only to find Jane strolling over to his front door, looking into my direction first before casting a glance at the Mashburn Mansion which was easily seeable from where he was standing.

I watched him enter his house and then went upstairs as well.

I let out a pondering sigh as I covered myself in the warm covers in my bed. I had to help Mr. Jane somehow. I could see it in somebody's eyes when they had the feeling that they had done something horribly wrong and didn't know how to solve it. And not only Mr. Jane had that in his eyes – Teresa too.

And the fact that they had a shared feeling about a thing that they actually shared was pitiful.

I had to help them.

A/N: So Van Pelt will help Jane and Lisbon come back together? Well that's certainly interesting... Let me know what you think!