Oh, yes, the damn disclaimer: seriosuly, do we really have to do it? Because, Jeez, if I'd own them, I'd not be here writing it, I'd be the writeer of a TV Shows and, well, we'd have the LIsbon romance for real...meanwhile, I just "write, draw, create, dream, hope and believe in Bruno, waiting for him to be blessed bu the light of reason..." (No, this discalimer isn't mine, it belongs to one fo the girls who wite Mentalist fiction on the italian site efpfiction, but don't tell me many of you don't share this vision...).
The prompt for this story was given to me by petitej, but, then, with lack of time oand inspiration, we ended up with her suggesting plots and lines, and me adding a bit of my own, so, we can say we wrote it together... :) hope you'll enjoy and will review it!
2.
At the zoo, he spends his time hugging Teresa, cuddling her, stealing kisses every time Jess isn't watching, even if, while thinking about his, their daughter, he has forgot something- he may behave around Jess, but there's someone else who's witness to his open display of affection (that Teresa doesn't mind at all), and those two are the parents of Jess' best friend forever, the slightly younger Christie, and are better known as the Rigsby's (thanks to his manipulative abilities, he has learned that they got all married around the same time, and around the same time Jess was born they had Christie, her mother's copy).
"Jeez, man, do you really always have to behave like newlyweds?"
"I do feel like we are newlyweds, my fried" As he answers to Wayne, Jane smiles, breathing again in Teresa's scent, nuzzling her neck with such affection that he really can't understand how he has survived until now without doing it. Whatever is happening right now, he is sure that, once come back to wherever he is supposed to be, getting rid of this addiction will be a hell of a problem. (Besides, he isn't lying, so he really doesn't have to act or feel guilty-he is a newlywed, in his own personal manner), and while Grace laughs, Wayne simply rolls his eyes, annoyed, and what happens next really takes Jane's breath away.
"C'mon, Wayne, we all know you're just jealous because you're not as perfect as Patrick as a husband!" it's not the laughter in her voice, it's how she sticks out her tongue to the big guy, making everyone laugh, Jane included.
"Geez, Woman, when did you turn into such a pixie? You always followed rules and regulations, always stack to them!"
Lisbon turns into his arms, and, rolling her eyes, but still smiling, she hits him playfully in the arm, more or less a pinch. "I turned, quoting you, in such a pixie, the day I agreed into dating you, you idiot!"
"And here there is the Lisbon I know again…" he tells her, while pinching in the same way her nose, like she was some kind of child, like he would do to their "daughter".
"Mummy, Can you come writing for us the name for the puppy tiger? The guardian says we can tell them how we want to call them, and if we'll be lucky maybe they'll choose the name we told them!" Jess cries with enthusiasm, standing close to a cage, looking at them with bright blue eyes, and, seeing her so happy, makes him wonder and think, think about another blue eyed child, a child who wasn't even 6 when she died, because, somehow, looking at Jess, during this morning, he often saw someone else.
He can't deny that, even if Teresa's DNA is present in Jess and visible, there's trace of him as well. The baby girl is his daughter, and it's not just from the eyes he can sees it, there are the small things, even how she behaves, and her features can cry as much as they like that she is Teresa's daughter, they'll never stop to say that she is a Jane as well, they'll never stop saying that Jess is Rachel's sister (half sister), that the two shares the same eyes, the same eyes that belong to their father.
"Patrick, are you all right? You don't seem yourself this morning….-Many things changed, he is sure of this, and, even if she is married, and to Rigsby of all, Grace is still the mature and adult one (because he was and is an idiot, Teresa melted and still melts to his eyes, allowing him to do as he pleases or, when she doesn't, forgiving him, and Rigsby is a big puppy a bit dense and Cho is too stoic for his own good and has to learn to communicate with people), and the way she is putting her hand on his shoulder to force him into confessing what is wrong, to makes him understand she is there and is willing to help, is quite a signal of how she is fitted for the role of the mum. – did you dream of, you know what I mean, right?"
"Yeah, well, if I have to be honest, it's just that… I didn't sleep that much, that's all, you know, with Jess' birthday and all… besides, I kept thinking about the day Teresa and I got married, and I'm not even sure why I had to see it over and over again in my head, this night of all…" He has never said "thank you" to his old man, but, right now, as he is looking into Grace and Wayne's eyes, he is quite glad he thought his son to be the actor he is, otherwise, he'd never learn of how things, in this… dream or whatever it is, went.
"You are getting sentimental, man?" Again, he can't help but smile seeing how Wayne is, well, smiling amused. The man not only seems a puppy, he seems a teddy bear, a giant, arson specialist, serial killer hunting, teddy bear…which is weird, because, with everything they have seen in their share of time, he should be everything but a teddy bear…
"Kind of" he simply replies, grinning, showing them his best mega-watt smile.
"Patrick Jane, I know that expression! You are planning something, don't you?" as he sees, and, mostly, hears, Grace's thundering voice, Patrick is quite glad that Wayne is so big, because, little precious Grace, when is so resolute, with hands on her hips, is quite scary, and if there's something he never thought he would have said, is that Grace is scary (but she is, therefore, marriage doesn't suite her as much as he believed)- and her laughing like a maniac husband seems a rather good protection against her fury.
"What? No! it's just that… - he tries to defend himself, as Grace gets closer and closer, angrier and angrier, like she had spotted him little lie – honestly, it just seems like my mind is working on his own lately… I'm not plotting something…"
"When did I hear that? Oh, Yes, I get it! – Wayne snaps his fingers, looking at Jane, still laughing, finding extremely hard to talk, like what he is going to say is the funniest story of ever – like when he asked the boss to sign few documents at 3 in the morning, when she was so tired she no longer saw the pen, and then, the next day, he told us our auditions had been moved to that morning, while his plan was to drag us in front of the judge so that he could surprise Lisbon with his proposal and the wedding – he takes a big breath, recomposing himself, hands in his pants pockets, a bit sad- man, it was just your fault I lost all that money to Cho. Honestly, who thought she was going to say yes? Personally, I was quite sure she wanted nothing more than killing you!"
"That's what I did? - He doesn't know why, but, somehow, he said it at loud, sand not just in his mind. To his own defense, he is so confused he can no longer think straight, but, with him being Jane, it's not like it will last, and how the façade falls, it comes back into its place – yeah, I mean, of course I did it, I know, it's just that, it's still unbelievable, right?" Nope, it's definitely something I would do. It's my style, and, honestly, I'm quite sure even my Lisbon would say yes to such a sweet proposal…
"Oh, lord, all the CBI still talks about it. I mean, can you remember Hightower's face when she found out you and Lisbon was married? And when Grace and I told her that, since you two did it, we wanted to do it as well? Man, best day of my whole life! And I was thinking, speaking of which, that…"
"Jane, you are not all right. What's happening? You know you can talk to me…" Grace sweetly tells him, forgetting about her husband's never ending series of stories, putting a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm ok…" he would try to keep the façade better, but, there's something that stops him, besides, Jess is walking in his direction, and again those memories are hunting him, making him regret the past, enjoying the present but also scaring him, to death.
"Daddy, mummy wrote the tiger's name for me and Kristie! We chose the same name, you know?" she says, throwing herself in his arms, allowing him to lift her so that they could be eye level, and, like the sadness had come, it leaves, because everything he needs to know is in his daughter's eyes.
"Oh, really, Jess, are you serious, but, it's great!"
"Yes! We asked the guardian to call her Jem, like the character from the cartoon!" The cartoon- he makes the math, and does his best to remember, because he is sure he saw something at Lisbon's place, if not this time when he went to see her, or maybe it's something she told him or something he eavesdropped, until he recalls something about a cartoon she sued to look at when she was a child, at the beginning of the eighties, something like Jem and the Holograms, or something in that line… knowing Teresa and how she tends to get sentimental, she passed her passions to her daughter…
"Well, that's interesting, but, tell me, Jess, do you want to know why you and Kristie chose the same name?" he asks her serious, a light in his eyes, a mischievous glint of happiness, and symbol of the great mind he possess, of how good he is in his job.
"Yes, daddy, tell me, pretty please with cherry on top!"
"Well, great minds think alike, Jess, and, your mum and I both have great minds, and Grace has as well, and we all passed our intelligence to you two…"
"But you and mummy never agree!"
"Well, mummy and I are the exception that confirms the rule, so it doesn't really counts for us, except for the fact that we passed our greatness to you, of course"
"Wait a second… you said… Jane, why did you just talk about Grace? I'm here as well, and I'm a state agent! And you shouldn't…"
And, as he listens to Wayne complaining, Jane mentally checks all the points he listed just few hours before, to see if anything changed at all…
First: he still doesn't understand what the hell happened, and, at this point, he is so desperate that he could even take into consideration the idea of afterlife, out of body experiences, time-travels or even parallel universes…
Second: he is married with his boss, Teresa Lisbon (in a quite unusual ceremony), has a child, Jess, with her, and he still works for the CBI- now, though, he has to add the mystery of Grace and Wayne married with a child and being their best friends…
Third: he has promised Teresa to protect, save and not hurt her a long time ago, when she was still only Lisbon, and he really doesn't see why things should change now, that a child, their child, is involved.
Fourth: Grace said something that seemed dangerously close to a revelation about Red John, but stopped, not daring to end it, or to clarify further.
This he knows for sure: wherever and wherever he is, Red John exists, or, at least, existed, and was his nemesis – the only problem is finding out whatever happened to him, because he is pretty sure he'd never even get close to Lisbon, was him alive. But I can't have killed him, because, otherwise, I'd be in jail…
Fifth: I need to clear my mind and found out whatever happened in the last 5 or 6 years….