Authors Note: Thanks for all the reviews, and to everyone who offered suggestions on what rides they should go on. For all the times I have been to Disenyland, I have never been to California Adventure (I supos I should have wated until after my trip this summer to write it, but that's ok)so they will not be spending any time there, becasue I don't think I could write about it actuatly enough for my liking. Anyway, thatns to Ebony10 for being my beta, and now on to the story!
Disclaimer: If they were mine I would not have to avoid the shoe department when ever I go shopping (I really have a soft spot for a cute pair of shoes).
The day dawned bright and clear. The sun was shining, but it promised not to get too hot. There was a slight breeze, not too strong, just enough to keep the air moving. But Lisbon was not enjoying it. Instead she was trying desperately to hold on to sleep for a few more minutes. Jane had been up most of the night, which normally wouldn't bother her—she knew he didn't sleep much—but he had been singing, humming and whistling that song all night long. Every time she would fall asleep he would start up again. He had finally let up at 5:00 am and she had managed to get a few hours of sleep. Then he had decided that it was time for a shower and had gone on singing the entire time he was in there. She was really to starting to regret leaving her gun at home.
"Better get up, Lisbon. It's almost time to go to breakfast. The boys should be here soon. I told your brother that we'd take them around today. Better get a move on if you want to get in a shower." He was being entirely too cheerful for 8:00 in the morning on vacation. She half sat up and glared at him. He was giving her his boyish grin and she wanted to throw her pillow at him, but then she would be out of pillows. She groaned and sat up.
"You can be a real pain in the ass, you know that, Jane? Did you have to keep me up all night with that insane song?" She slowly got out of the bed, stretching.
"Oh come on, you got some sleep." He was enjoying this a little too much.
"I need more than three hours of sleep a night to keep me happy." She glared at him one more time, grabbing some clothes out of her bag and going into the bathroom to shower and change. By the time she got done Jane was sitting on the bed again with the same brown shoes. He had chosen a pair of khaki pants today and another short sleeve button down shirt—this time in a light yellow. He really did look good.
"You know, I think you're the only person who can still look dressed for work while wearing his day off clothes. Don't you even own a t-shirt? Seriously. Or a pair of tennis shoes or sandals? You really need to relax." She was putting her shoes on when there was knock at the door.
"That will be the boys!" Jane shouted, jumping up to answer the door.
"Uncle Patrick!" They both shouted, throwing their arms around him when he opened the door.
"He is not your uncle." She said, coming to them.
"What can I say? The kids love me" He said, grinning. Lisbon just growled at him and walked past him. "Let's get some breakfast, Jane. I'm starving. You coming, guys?" She didn't look back, but could swear that she heard three little boys giggling behind her. They decided to skip the free breakfast today and instead opted for pancakes and eggs at the same Denny's that they had dinner at the night before. As luck would have it, the waitress that had helped them the night before was the same one who helped them today.
While Jane had been less than his normal flirting self at dinner—out of respect for her brother, Lisbon thought—this morning he was laying it on thick. To make it worse, he was actually trying to give A.J. and Alan pointers. Well, his advice was aimed more towards A.J., but in true little brother fashion anything that A.J. liked, Alan liked.
"The idea is to make them think that you are giving all of your attention to them. You want them to think that they are the only thing in your mind at the time. Now, show me your killer smiles, guys." He had a laughing look in his eyes as both A.J. and Alan gave him grins that could melt butter.
"I really think that they're a little young for you to be teaching them all this." Lisbon said in protest, but Jane could tell that it was only half hearted. She was really enjoying watching them. Jane decided to make it his mission today to make her admit that she was enjoying spending time with him.
"Look," he said, turning to the boys, "Here comes the waitress. Let's practice what we've been learning." Lisbon just watched as her sweet little nine year old nephew turned into a miniature Patrick Jane. He was laying the charm on so think that the waitress couldn't contain herself.
"Is he for sale? Because I would love to take him home with me," the waitress said to Lisbon. "He is so adorable." She left the check on the table and walked off, shaking her head slightly.
"All right! You did it. You just need to keep practicing and pretty soon you'll have the girls eating out of your hand." He gave both the boys high fives.
"Is that how you got Aunt Teresa to go out with you? By charming her?" A.J. asked, looking between the two of them.
"No," Lisbon said immediately.
"Not every woman reacts well to the charm. Sometimes though, the ones that are harder to get are the ones that are worth more. You come to appreciate them more when they just don't turn to putty in your hands with one look." He was looking at Lisbon while he was saying this, but turned to look at A.J. at the end. "Your Aunt is a very special woman. She has never fallen for my charm."
A.J. contemplated this for a minute, "I'm glad your with her. She's too nice for most guys out there and I like you." He smiled at him, a weaker charming smile than Jane had, but Lisbon could tell that with practice it would be just as deadly.
"Shall we get going? We've got a big day ahead. What do you guys think of Pirates?" Lisbon asked, choosing to ignore the last comment made by her nephew. No need to tell him that they weren't really together.
"I love pirates!" Alan shouted, jumping up and running towards the door. They paid the bill and headed over to Disneyland. As promised, the first stop was the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The boys—all three of them—had a blast, looking at all of the pirates. Jane was having as much fun as Lisbon's nephews, singing along to the songs and pointing out all of the slights, the bride sale, the skeletons going after the treasure. He loved it. They got off the ride in high spirits. The boys were pretending to be pirates and Jane was playing around with them. When they passed the shop with all of the pirate paraphernalia for sale Lisbon just couldn't resist and, with just a little prodding from Jane, all four of them ended up garbed as pirates, from the hats and eye patches to the swords.
They walked down the sidewalk towards the rafts to take them to Tom Sawyer Island, the boys playing sword fight the whole way there. "I think I might regret buying those for them." Lisbon said, shaking her head as she watched them.
"Nonsense, Lisbon. They're boys. Let them have some fun." They boarded the raft and were shuttled over to the island. While on the way, Jane decided to share even more of his Disneyland trivia. "Did you know Tom Sawyer Island first opened in 1956? It was based on the book by Mark Twain. In 2007, it was updated to cash in on the Pirates of the Caribbean Movies."
"Wow, you're so smart." Alan said to him with awe.
"I think you have an admirer, Jane. How sweet." Lisbon laughed and Jane just smiled. They all decided to explore the island together. Lisbon was really having a good time, not that she would admit it to Jane. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction. She took a lot of pictures—of the boys exploring the caves, running along the paths, and climbing on the hills. If some pictures of Jane also managed to make it in, it wasn't her fault. He was playing with the boys after all, she couldn't help it.
She was sitting on a bench taking pictures of Jan—of her nephews, yes, her nephews—playing around, still having sword fights. Jane was giving some pointers to Alan on how to get the best hits in when an older woman sat down beside her. "It's great to see a father playing so well with his children." The woman said to Lisbon.
"Oh, he's not-" then she stopped, no need to tell her they weren't related. "They're my nephews." Lisbon smiled at the older woman, hoping that the conversation would end there, but it didn't.
"Well you hold on to him, dear. He's going to be a great father someday. Mark my words." They sat in silence watching the boys fight while Jane gave pointers, every once in a while getting a jab of his own in.
"Mom, there you are. Have you been waiting for us the whole time?" The woman looked up at a middle aged man walking towards them.
"Oh hello, son, I was just watching the sword fight." She said, gesturing towards the trio. "Can you do me a favor?" Her son nodded, "I've been wanting to take a picture for this kind woman of her with her family, but my hands are a bit shaky. Can you do it for me?" The man nodded and Lisbon grudgingly handed over her camera, calling to Jane that they were going to get a picture taken. They all got their pirate gear on and the man snapped a picture of the four of them with their swords in the air.
Lisbon got her camera back from the man and said good bye to the woman, turning around. She was surprised to see a sword in her face. "Duel, Lisbon? We can't let the boys have all the fun." She smiled at him and raised her sward, battling him the same way she had seen the boys doing earlier. It didn't take long for the boys to join in and the fighting soon escalated into a full fledged laughing fest.
By the time they left the island it was well past time for lunch. Grabbing what was more junk food than nutrition, they headed to the opposite side of the park for a couple of more rides that Jane and Lisbon thought that the boys would like. "So we have Star Wars, Buzz Lightyear, and NASCAR. What do you want to do first?" Jane asked the boys as they headed to Tomorrow Land.
"I want Star Wars!" shouted A.J. and Alan went along so the headed to Star Tours first. Lisbon took pleasure in the fact that she seemed to finally know more about one of the Disneyland rides than Jane did as she told the boys about the droids that were on display before the ride.
Standing in line waiting to be the next to board the craft, Jane leaned forward and whispered in Lisbon's ear, "I knew that too, but I just wanted your nephews to think you knew more than I did." He ducked away quickly as she jabbed her elbow back, just missing his stomach.
The boys spent the time waiting in line for the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters talking about the cool trip that they had just been on. They decided to split up and get into two different cars when it was time to board the ride. Lisbon went with Alan and Jane went with A.J.. They took turns firing the blaster and moving the car and, at the end, Lisbon and Alan were more than willing to gloat over their high scores.
"It's not really fair, Lisbon, You carry a gun, You have practice." Jane said while they were waiting in line at Autopia.
"No excuse, Jane. I wasn't the only one firing. Besides, it's not like I spend all day at the firing range." She thought a moment, "Also, there's nothing stopping you from practicing. You might not carry a gun, but you can still practice."
A.J. looked at Lisbon in awe. "Aunt Teresa, you get to carry a gun at work?"
"Yes, I do." She knew that he knew she was a cop, but he also knew she didn't 'get to' wear the uniform. Apparently he assumed that meant she didn't carry a gun. "But I would never use it if I don't have to." She really didn't want to be talking about this with him and was kicking herself for bringing it up.
"Uncle Patrick, you work with Aunt Teresa. Why don't you carry a gun?" A.J. turned his attention to Jane.
"I prefer swords to guns—a much more classic form of defense." Jane said with a smile. A.J. was apparently satisfied by that response because all he said was cool and then went to looking at the cars, trying to pick which color he would get. They split up into different cars again. This time A.J. went with Lisbon and Alan went with Jane.
"Let's see if we can beat your aunt to the finish line, shall we?" Jane asked Alan in a loud whisper, meant to be over heard by Lisbon.
"A.J.," Lisbon said, buckling her seat belt and settling in the passenger seat, "If you can beat them around the track I will personally buy you anything that you want within reason."
"What does 'within reason' mean?" A.J. asked as if contemplating how bad he should try to beat them.
"Less than $100." Lisbon said.
"Works for me," A.J. replied and with that pulled out and sped away. She was really surprised that he was able to drive so well, so fast, at such a young age.
"Have you done this before?" She asked him.
"Yeah, at the Family Fun Center. We go every weekend." They had left Jane and Alan in the dust as Jane tried to get the car to go faster, but seemed to keep stalling the car out. Lisbon was laughing when they got to the end of the ride a full 30 seconds faster than Jane did and that was even after getting stopped behind a person who didn't know how to steer.
"Wow, Jane. Beat you twice. That's pretty sad, wouldn't you say?" Lisbon teased as they got off the ride. In response he stuck out his tongue at her. "Really mature, Jane."
It was time for the boys to meet their parents for dinner. Jane and Lisbon opted to skip Denny's and instead went to dinner at a small Mexican restaurant that Jane knew that was nowhere near Disneyland.
"They had better have good food, Jane," Lisbon said as they entered the small dark restaurant that was a good half hour drive from their hotel.
"They have the best tamales you have ever eaten. I'm sure you're going to love it." They were seated at a booth and ordered quickly, both wanting to get back to the hotel quickly so that they could get to sleep. They didn't talk much while they were eating, just a little about her family and the day that they had spent in the Park. It wasn't until they were on the way back to the hotel that Lisbon brought up what they were going to do the next day.
"So, we spent the day with A.J. and Alan today. Are we going to spend the day with Anastasia tomorrow?" Lisbon asked Jane as she drove through the streets, heading back toward the hotel.
"Yeah, I suppose that we should." Jane said, almost distracted.
"What do you mean you suppose we should? Isn't that what you had planned? After all, it was your idea to spend the day with the boys today, it would only be fair to spend tomorrow with Anastasia."
"Yeah, it would be." He still didn't seem to be really paying attention and it took Lisbon a bit to figure out why he might be hesitant to spend the day with her niece.
"You know, Jane. You don't have to spend the day with me and Anastasia tomorrow if you don't want to. You can hang out with Andy and Andrea and the boys again or you can spend some time on your own." They were almost back at the hotel and Lisbon really just wanted to crawl into bed.
"I'll be fine, Lisbon. Thanks for your concern." Jane gave her a sad smile as they pulled into the hotel parking lot. It was almost a miracle that they were able to get the same parking spot that they had been in when they left.
They quickly got ready for bed, with Lisbon taking the bathroom first. She got into bed and looked at the pile of pillows and blankets that the maid had piled onto the chair. She thought about how tired she was and about how hard the floor was. It really wasn't very nice of her to make Jane sleep on the floor. She had been having a good time with him there. When he came out of the bathroom she had scooted over to one side of the bed.
"Hey, if you'd like, you can sleep on the other side of the bed tonight if you want, Jane. Just no touching, all right?" Lisbon offered, noting how tired he looked and how well he was hiding it. Most people wouldn't be able to tell.
"Thanks, Lisbon. I don't think my back would have taken another night on the floor." He grinned at her and grabbed the pillows. He decided to sleep on top of the blanket she was currently under to help with her no touching rule. Lisbon turned out the bedside lamp and rolled onto her side facing away from Jane. She didn't see him smiling in the dark at her as she fell asleep.