From One-shot,. the story has been promoted to multi-chapter, although I'm not quite sure how many more you'll have; Many of you asked for a sequel, and so, I thought about giving a bit more of space to Annie and the marvelous Jisbon romace we're still waiting to see in "reality"...

As always, thanks to everyone who, with reviews, or putting me and the story on alert or on fav, gave me resons to go on with this story.

And, please, keep in mind: I still don't ow the mentalist...


"Huston, we have a problem" Having Mick storming into their home at morning was bad, and showed how little the young man knew of his sister, but Mick storming into their kitchen, uninvited, at half past seven in their free day (because, obviously, every time he needed something, it was in their free day), making himself at home serving himself tea and biscuits, without consider that, maybe, they could have been in some state of undress (like they were, Teresa in Patrick's shirt and Patrick with just his pajama pants) was the demonstration that, somehow, she had failed as a sister, and the boy was seriously damaged, since he didn't even got close to know the meaning of the world "polite". The only good thing that came out of this "visits" was that they made them aware why Annie used to behave like she always did, with her spurs of sincerity, without considering what could be polite or not – she had taken after her daddy.

"Good morning Mick, I'm glad you asked how I feel today, I'm quite good, thank you, and Patrick is fine as well, even if he has a little backache. What about you." Patrick almost spitted his morning tea, as he tried his best to not laugh; Teresa, who had used the most sarcastic tone he had ever heard her use in many years spent at her "side", was looking at her brother with an icy expression, while Mick was, open mouth, a biscuit dipped into the hot liquid close to his mouth but unable to any further, like he had just realized what he had done.

"Uh… Well… you know… I was around and…" he babbled, letting the biscuit fall into the cup of tea, messaging the back of his head like he did when he was a kid and did something he wasn't supposed to.

"Mick, what the hell have you done" it wasn't even a question, but a matter-of-fact statement; having raised a father, three boys and now her husband, Teresa knew that the tone Mick was using with her could mean just three things: 1)he had done something he wasn't supposed to and now he needed her help; 2)he was going to do something he wasn't supposed to and needed her help in case things went wrong; 3)he needed her help to do something he wasn't supposed to.

"It's…uh… Annie."

"How many times do I have to repeat you all that you can't promise a child to buy them a pony for Christmas?" Another question that sounded as a matter of fact statement, another time Teresa let herself sink into her chair, arms crossed over her chest, exhausted by the numerous times she had to repeat the same things, over and over, to the two "children"

"I'm not an idiot. I know children don't let it go until you are so tired of hearing them complaining and finally maintain your promise. No, sis, you see, my problem, truth to be told, it's actually – he paused, crossing his arms over his chest for dramatic effect – your problem."

"Patrick, what the hell have you done? - for the third time in few minutes, Teresa found herself making a matter of fact statement that sounded like a question, but wasn't one; now she suddenly remembered why she had issues about dating Patrick Jane at the time they weren't already dating… - I know you like to woo females of all ages, but, since we see Annie almost every day and she is actually related to us, could you please avoid wooing her too much? Can't you, I don't know, turn your charm off for a while, when you re with her?"

"She dictated me Santa's letter yesterday evening. I thought it was better waiting 'till morning before to drop the bomb on you two – as Mick stated to eat again, Teresa just turned to look at Patrick, a look that said everything, then, with a look, forced her brother to go on – she wants a cousin, and, since Christmas is due in a couple of weeks, I thought it was my duty to send you to work…"

"We're working on it, but, you know, it's less than a couple of weeks that we have thrown the protections in the garbage, so, I'm not sure…"

"Patrick!" as her cheeks turned into a strong shade of red, Teresa left her seat without talking, strengthening the hold around the shirt, like to better cover herself, and, while Mick and Jane were close to laugh, but were already grinning, she exiled herself in their bedroom, wondering if she could resist Jane long enough to ground him on the couch.

"That, my friend – Jane proclaimed solemnly as they cheered with the cups of tea - is the reason I like you so much, because, like me, you like to embarrass her."

"Ehy, I'm her blood, and her favorite brother; she'll always forgive me. What's your excuse?"

"Do you know when people say that make-up sex is simply great? Well, I've never believed that, but- Patrick grinned – it's true. You know, the only thing I'll regret when Tessie will get pregnant will be the fact that we'll have to eventually give up sex for a while…"

"Ok you know what? As much as I love embarrassing Tess, I'm not sure I want to go any further in this conversation, so… - Leaving his seat, the younger Lisbon took another sip of the still hot liquid, and send a questioned look to his brother in law, while, at the same time, examining the content of his cup – You know, I thought you had better taste in tea…"

"Tess is giving up caffeine, because she could get pregnant any moment, so, since tea contains excitants as well, I decided to give up my usual tea as well, and taking this… thing."

"So, are you two serious?"

Patrick glared at his brother in law's address, almost laughing "I married your sister, Mick, I'm pretty sure that it can be defined as "serious", don't you agree?"

"Yeah, it's just that, you know, it's still weird… besides, Annie always makes those uncomfortable questions about the two of you, and, well, I'm not sure. How the hell am I supposed to answer to a kid who tells me she wants her aunt and uncle to produce an heir?"

"You tell her they are working on it and that – he paused, looking with a light in his eyes at the second Lisbon he knew so well – Uncle Patrick wrote to Santa asking the same thing, and can't wait to see if his wish will come true"

At Christmas Eve, while getting ready for Mick and Claire's party, Patrick realized he was getting worried, and for more than one reason. First, Teresa was still mad with him for the awful conversation that had shared a couple of weeks before with Mick; apparently, his wife didn't enjoy that her brother (and, therefore, her whole family) knew of the whereabouts of her sex-life. Second, Teresa was so pissed off with him that she was avoiding him, her husband, her Patrick, if not for work; he realized they had a problem when, few days earlier, when he tried to grab her in bed, she had given him her back, saying that she had an headache, and he knew that, when she said she had an headache, it meant that she simply didn't want to share her bed with him at the moment. Which brought problem number three: A whole month and she wasn't pregnant? His first wife was a bit younger than Teresa, but, as soon as they tried, she got pregnant, and with that he meant days. Not that he could say that to Teresa, he liked their bed and, as much as he loved couches, he hated being grounded on them by his wife.

"Ehy, what are you thinking about?" he wasn't used to being surprised or taken off guard, but he had been so lost in his thoughts and worries that he hadn't noticed Teresa coming back into their room, nor that she had approached him, and hugged him from behind; he smiled at her, turning a bit so that he could kiss her hair, and, while doing so, he decided he wanted to hug his wife properly, and, taken her for her arms, moved her so they were facing each other.

Teresa was smiling at him with that happy expression; she was beautiful, with the knee long, soft and cloudy red skirt and a pearl grey shirt (he had found out that he loved having her around in skirts, and he was sure his wife was well aware that both the articles of clothes she had chosen were his favorite ones in her whole wardrobe) she was radiant, like the day they got married, even more, if possible, and, blue eyes lost into green ones, he realized it had been a while since he had seen her that way… ok, he was a mentalist, and he was good at reading people, but, after all, hadn't he always been adamant about the fact that reading Teresa wasn't so easy? Maybe he had just seen things that weren't there, overreacting a bit, over thinking, as always…

Smiling at her, he decided that, if there was one thing he had learned from the Lisbon's family, was that acting in the spur of the moment was, mostly, a good thing; he took her in his arms, putting them around her hips, and lifted Teresa that much he needed to be comfortable in kissing her; few instants later, as they were kissing as it was the end of the world, her hands ended in his blonde curls, playing with them, while Patrick's one found their "rest" under the soft fabric of her shirt, his thumbs busy drawing circles on her back; if it wasn't getting hot enough, the fact that she suddenly started smiling in their kiss, made things harder for him…

"God, Teresa, you really hate me…" he said once they parted; she was still smiling radiant, extremely happy, as he rested his forehead against hers.

"I have a gift for you" she said him, unable to contain her excitement any longer; yes, he had definitely seen things that weren't there.

"Eh… I know? I have one for you as well…" he wasn't that dumb, he was just playing the role, besides… ok, he didn't really knew what her point was. He knew she had brought him a gift, so did he, so, what was the point, the real point?

"No, silly, I don't mean that! – She put her arms around his neck, and looked straight into his eyes, happy and smiling and radiant and beautiful – kiss me like you just did, and then you'll find out what I have in store for you…"

With a malicious grin, he looked at her, just lifting his eyebrows a bit; he really wasn't going to complain, if his wife was going to seduce him, who was him to stop her?

"Ok" they smiled at each other, and, as soon they did, they got closer again, kissing each other again; taken by the moment, Patrick didn't even realized that he had moved his hands around her face and was currently playing with her hair.

"I want to be kissed as you did before, Patrick, same way" she managed to say between kisses, smiling and laughing; Patrick lifted his eyebrows again, and, simply, moved his hands where she wanted them to be, trying to understand what she wanted. As he did so, she smiled in the kiss, and, suddenly, he felt salty moisture that he recognized as her tears, tears that, since she was still smiling happy, had to be tears of joy. He was going to stop to ask her what was going on, but she had been quicker than him, and had grabbed his hands, moving them from her back to her stomach, lifting a bit the shirt so that he could clearly see her skin, letting them stay there for a while.

He smiled as he had never smiled before, the same smile she still had on her, knowing what she meant. With tears of joy, without letting it go of his hands, Teresa looked into her husband's eyes. "I know it's not already midnight, but… - she stopped. She knew he had understood but she still wanted to be the one to say the word, because it was the only way to make this tangible and real – happy Christmas, daddy"

He took her in his arms, lifting her in the air, and kissed her, the quick pecks she loved so much.

"How… when… why… I mean… how it is…"

"I was late, and I've never been late my whole life, so I immediately took an appointment with my doctor, and she run a blood test, and two days ago she confirmed it, and I'm so sorry, I know I haven't been that much of saint in the last couples of days, but I really wanted to be sure before to tell you, and then I was sure, but I wanted to wait for Christmas, and…"

He cut her off, kissing her abruptly, quickly, a grin on his face; she knew he wasn't the kind of man who went around saying that his woman was pregnant and he had gotten lucky, but, still, there were times in which she was pretty sure Patrick Jane was still a caveman, and she was almost 100% positive that this one was the case; she could definitely picture him while talking his bed stories to his "mates", because he was definitely the kind of man who took pride in bringing a child to life.

"Are you happy?" she asked him suddenly, her voice low, her head on his shoulder; she knew they were supposed to be happy, but there was the big elephant in the room, the ghost of his first marriage, how he had suffered when he had lost his daughter, and…

"Will you allow me to tell our child of his older sister?" there was a hint of sadness in his voice as he spoke with her same tone, looking into Teresa's green eyes, moving a lock of hair from said eyes, to get lost in them better. He smiled of a sad smile; after all, he knew her well, he knew her well enough to understand where her thoughts were directed to…

"Oh, Patrick…- she buried her head in his chest, immediately regretting it; in that instant, she thought that hormones were already making a number on her, so much she cried, so many tears ended on his previously immaculate blue shirt…- will you be mad… will you mind… do you think that…"

"No- he said holding her firmly like for dear life – no, I just want to have our baby, boy or girl, it doesn't matter, just… promise me that you'll allow me to say something about my firstborn when the baby will be old enough to understand…" they stayed there, hugging each other in the semi-darkness of the room,, until they had to part to leave, and even when they did, Patrick kissed quickly her and then her abdomen; they didn't say a word, there was no need: the way they looked at each other, their kisses, their holding hands were saying enough.

"Are you sad, Aunt Tessie?" Claire, Teresa and Annie was in the kitchen, busy preparing milk and biscuits for Santa Claus, when the kid had decided to acknowledging her need of truth, after she had seen her aunt's red eyes and her sniffing eyes. Besides, even Annie knew that Aunt Tessie always talked (especially if it was something concerning Uncle Patrick), and her Aunt had been silent the whole time they had been together. Something was wrong, and, as the most beautiful girl of the world, it was up to her (and to Tony, the most beautiful 10 months old of the planet) to make it better…

"Tess, are you all right? It is because of that case?" Claire got close to Teresa, who had decided to sink into the closest chair, collapsing into tears and sigs, like a broken mess, the broken mess she had never been. God, until she hadn't admitted out loud the existence of the pregnancy, she hadn't felt the symptoms; now, a world, and her hormones did everything they weren't supposed to do (to her)?

"Oh my, Tess, what happened? What did Patrick do? Did you argue? you know you can talk with me and…" As soon as her sister in law started to cry, Claire was already at her side; it wasn't simply because they liked each other and felt a genuine feel, it was the fact that Claire knew Teresa. And she had never seen Teresa in such a state, if not… twice, and both for Patrick's fault (the first one when he had confessed her his plan to get rid of Red John, the second time when he had dated Kristina what the hell was her surname, I don't give a damn about it).

"Patrick's perfect, I don't deserve him. I've never deserved him…" Claire was really running out of ideas, she really didn't know what to do, because, the more time passed, the more Teresa cried, and now she was eating all the chocolate chips biscuits (making Annie worried, because she was the one who was supposed to eat them in the morning, since "Santa" wanted it that way) and she wasn't sure if she was supposed to make Patrick aware of this situation, because, even if Teresa denied it, it really looked like he had done something to the poor woman…

"Oh God, he didn't hypnotize you, did he?" Claire got paler and paler, yes, Patrick was almost decent, but he was a bit obsessed with hypnosis and…

"When you had Tony in your belly, you always eat chocolate chips biscuits while crying" Annie had decided to have another outburst of truth, while stealing a biscuit for herself (she really didn't see the point, since, 1) the adults were already eating them, and 2)she knew Santa didn't exist and they were doing this play only for Tony, so, there was no reason to let those delicious biscuits alone), an outburst that had caused her Aunt to stop eating, the biscuit half in her mouth, half still in her hand.

"Oh God… are you pregnant? – Claire asked with eyes wide open, a bit shocked by her daughter's revelation, that had caused Teresa to simply nod – YOU ARE PREGNAT!" Claire screamed, jumping on her feet, running into the other room, exited; she hugged Patrick with tears in her eyes, she even gave him a lousy kiss on the forehead, leaving him shocked, then hugged her husband and run back into the kitchen, hugging again Tess, who had started to cry again, followed by the Patrick and Mick, who had Tony in his arms; of course, Patrick, who was grinning like the Cheshire cat (or, according to others, like an idiot) knew the meaning of her actions (although, he had to admit, it seemed she was the one pregnant, and not his wife) but, with acting that way without saying an actual word… well, she really seemed a maniac in that moment.

"What did you do to my sister?" Mick's statement was directed at Jane, and had been made with such force and decision that Patrick felt the need to protect his nose from the last violent act of someone directed to his persona; the boy was definitely Lisbon's brother, and definitely had been raised by her.

"Aunt Tessie and Uncle Patrick are going to have a baby" Annie said calmly while drinking her milk.

"What? Are you pregnant? – Mick asked, without knowing he was mimicking the same actions made by his wife – You are pregnant! Pat, you are a lucky bastard!" Of course, Claire had just hugged Tess, and not given packs and hit her on the shoulders…

"Annie, sweetheart, you don't seem surprised…" Patrick suddenly said to the girl, once he had been able to escape her father's hold, talking with that tone he had just for this almost 6 years old who had stolen his heart in the blink of an eye.

"You promised me a cousin for Christmas, and you always maintain your promises, Uncle Patrick - she said between a taste of milk and one of her biscuits, the same matter of fact of her dad and her aunt – Daddy, why Uncle Patrick maintains always his promises, and you haven't given me the pony you promised me yet?"