Simple Diversions

A/N: FINALLY! AN UPDATE! It's been hectic since my last update... I had my birthday not too long ago, we moved to a new house, and I have had NO INTERNET! But I had lots o time to write :) I hope you enjoy this chapter and think it was worth the wait :)

*NOTICE! For this fic, I really want to leave out all of the drama of seasons 4&5. But after seeing little Benjamin, I have absolutely fallen in love with him and have decided to put him in this fic... even though it's brief, I still love him :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist or any of the characters or ideas.

Chapter 17

Mia sighed as she stretched out her hand and searched for her bed mate. But when Mia opened her eyes with a look of confusion, she saw that her curly haired casanova was nowhere to be seen.

Mia stood up and pulled the sheet around her as she searched for something to wear.

She put on her underwear and pulled Jane's dress shirt tightly around her body.

She took a deep breath and heaved a content sigh as she smelt Jane's familiar cologne.

Mia slowly made her way downstairs after quickly running a brush through her hair.

As Mia made her way to the kitchen, she smelt the familiar aroma of bacon and eggs.

Jane stood in front of the stove, busy crisping some bacon.

"Good morning," Mia said cheerfully as she came up behind Jane and wrapped her arms around his bare chest. "I see breakfast is almost ready."

"Yep," Jane replied with a smile. "Crispy bacon and delicious eggs."

"Yum," Mia said with a smile as she leaned her head on Jane's shoulder.

"You OK?" Jane asked with some concern.

"Yeah," Mia replied. "Oh, where are my roses?"

"I put them in a vase that is standing on the dining room table." Jane replied simply as he turned and hugged Mia close to his chest.

"Thank you," Mia said as she reached up a placed a soft kiss on Jane's lips.

"Shall we eat?" Jane asked as he framed Mia's face with his large hands.

"Yes please," Mia replied. "I'm starving."

Jane carried both plates to the table and he and Mia sat down to enjoy their breakfast.

"What time did you get up this morning?" Mia asked as she cut some of her bacon.

"Hmm," Jane began. "About 05:30."

"Well, at least you slept in a little bit." Mia replied with a smile. "What time are we leaving for Malibu?"

"I was thinking maybe you could pack after breakfast while I head over to the hardware store, and then we can drive through."

"OK," Mia replied as she started to clear away her dishes. "Sounds like a good plan."

"I'll just take a quick shower, then I'll go to the hardware store." Jane said as he stood from the table.

"OK, I'm just gonna finish cleaning up here." Mia said as she grabbed Jane's plate and carried it to the kitchen.

xxxxx

Jane had been to the hardware store and had his purchase stowed safely in his car, while Mia had packed a suitcase for the two of them.

The drive had been long, but it was filled with conversation that flowed easily.

"We're here," Jane said hesitantly as he pulled into the familiar parking space in front of the modern house.

"Wow," Mia said as she looked at the fairly large house. "Who's house is this?"

"Mine," Jane said quickly as he got out of the car and started walking towards the entrance.

"Patrick, wait," Mia said as she quickened her pace to catch up with Jane. "Is this where..."

"Yes," Jane replied quietly. "This is where Red John killed them."

"Patrick, I'm so sorry," Mia said sadly as she hugged Jane tightly. "But why did you bring me here?"

"I wanted to show you something," Jane said as he pulled away and took Mia's hands in his own. "Follow me."

Jane pulled Mia with him as he walked towards the front door. He pulled his keys out and unlocked the door.

The two walked into the dusty house and Jane hung his keys up next to the door.

Jane hesitantly made his way towards the stairs and Mia squeezed his hand in reassurance.

They stood in front of the white door that led into the master bedroom and Jane slowly turned the door knob.

When the door swung open, he was the first one to see the taunting red smiley that had ruined his life so many years ago.

As he walked further into the room, he heard Mia gasp as she too saw the smiley.

"Oh Patrick," Mia said sadly as she hugged Jane and hid her face in the crook of his neck. "I'm so sorry."

"It's OK," came Jane's muffled reply as he tried to hold back the tears. "I wanted to show you, because I need your help... and I need you."

Mia pulled away with confusion as the pieces started to fall into place in her mind.

"Wait... The thing you bought at the hardware store was..." Mia began, but Jane beat her to the answer.

"Paint..." Jane said simply. "I need you to help me paint over the smiley."

"Patrick, are you sure?" Mia asked.

"Absolutely," Jane replied with a small smile. "I've already climbed over a huge bridge by pursuing a relationship with you, so this is the next step."

Mia gave a smile as she kissed Jane sweetly. Mia lifted her right hand and ran it lightly down Jane's cheek.

"Where's the paint?" Mia asked with excitement. "Let's get started."

Jane and Mia went down the stairs towards Jane's car to go and fetch the paint.

"You're lucky I'm wearing jean shorts and a T-shirt." Mia said playfully as Jane opened up the trunk. "Otherwise I would make you pay for laundry."

"At least I dug these jeans and blue shirt out of the back of my cupboard." Jane added his ten cents.

"I didn't even know you owned casual clothing." Mia said as she took the paint rollers from Jane.

"Really?" Jane asked incredulously.

"Yep," Mia replied as they started walking back towards the house. "We've been dating for almost six months and I have never seen you in anything but a three piece suit."

"Well, usually when we see each other it's on the weekend," Jane began as he reached the front door. "And we don't usually wear much on the weekend."

Jane had a cheeky grin as he walked through the door and left Mia standing there with a shocked expression.

"Are you coming?" Jane called from inside of the house.

Mia snapped out of her daze and quickly joined Jane in the master bedroom.

"OK," Mia began as she set the rollers and the paint tray on the floor. "What color paint did you get?"

"Well, I thought maybe a sky blue would be better than this boring old cream color." Jane said as he opened the tin of paint.

"Ooh, I love that color!" Mia said with glee as she came to stand next to Jane.

"Good," Jane said as he put his arm around Mia's waist. "Where should we start?"

"Hmm, maybe we should start with this wall and work our way around until we get to the door." Mia said as she looked to each wall.

"Sound like a plan," Jane said as he poured the paint, picked up a roller and dunked it into the smooth blue liquid.

Jane walked over to the red smiley and froze with the roller just inches from the wall.

"I can't," Jane said quietly. "I can't do it."

Mia walked over to Jane and put her hand over his on the paint roller.

"Of course you can," Mia began reassuringly. "You just need a little bit of help."

Mia slowly pushed Jane's hand forward until the roller hit the wall. She slowly pulled his hand down and the paint started to erase the terror of Jane's past.

With each small stroke, Jane started to feel more and more confident.

Jane started rolling the paint onto the wall with full strokes and Mia took her hand off of his.

Once the smiley was completely erased, Jane turned to Mia with a huge smile on his face.

"I did it," Jane began with excitement. "Thank you so much Mia."

Jane suddenly launched forward and wrapped his arms around Mia.

The momentum of Jane's quick movement caused both him and Mia to fall to the ground, paint roller and all.

The two laughed as Jane rolled off of Mia and lay next to her on the floor.

"You're welcome," Mia said a she curled into Jane's side and tucked her head under his chin.

"I can't believe I painted over the smiley." Jane said softly as he played with Mia's hair. "But I couldn't have done it without you, Mia."

Mia smiled as she leaned up and kissed Jane firmly on the lips.

"Well, come on slacker." Mi said as she stood up off of the floor. "We still have a whole room to paint."

xxxxx

After the room had been completely painted, Jane and Mia had enjoyed a restful weekend. They had gone to the beach quite a few times and had bought a queen size matress to sleep on.

Monday came along and found Jane and Mia walking through the doors of CBI.

They didn't have any new cases or anything; Mia just wanted to spend a little time with Jane at CBI... partly because she also loved the worn leather couch that sat in the bull pen.

*As Mia and Jane entered the bull pen, they were met with the sight of Van Pelt, Cho and Rigsby huddled around the bouncing little boy known as Benjamin.

"Benji!" Mia said excitedly as she joined the group of people that surrounded the toddler. "Long time no see."

"Yeah, Sarah has a court case, day care was cancelled, and the nanny called in sick," Rigsby said as Jane joined the group and Cho sat down at his desk. "So I have to keep Ben here."

"Maybe it's a good thing," Mia said as she held the boy at her hip. "I hardly get to see this cute little boy."

"Ha, ha, yeah," Rigsby replied. "He doesn't really come around much."

"He's getting quite big," Jane commented as Van Pelt went to her desk as well.

"Well, Sarah thinks Ben might be as tall as me one day," Rigsby said with a little bit of excitement. "Maybe even a little bit taller."

"We'll wait and see," Jane said with a little smile.

"The only problem with Ben being here is that I can't concentrate fully on my paper work." Rigsby said with a sigh as he sat down at his desk.

"We could keep him busy for a little while if you want," Mia said as she walked over to Jane and Rigsby.

"Really?" Rigsby asked. "That would be awesome."

"Sure," Mia replied. "We could take him up to the attic for a little while and play some games with him."
"Thank you," Rigsby said. "I'll be right here if you need anything."

"We'll be sure to ask." Jane said as he followed Mia towards the stairs.

Once inside the attic, Mia set Benjamin down on the floor in front of her and started playing with his tiny little hands.

"He's so cute," Mia cooed as Jane took a seat next to her.

"He sure is." Jane replied as he rubbed one o Ben's feet.

"Are you OK?" Mia asked with a little bit of concern. "You seem a little down."

"I'm fine," Jane assured her. "Just missing Charlotte I guess."
Mia gave a small smile of sympathy as she gave Jane a quick peck on the cheek.

"I hope you don't mind me saying that I'm a little jealous of Rigsby." Jane said suddenly.

"Really?" Mia asked. "Why would you be jealous of Rigsby?"

"I don't know," Jane replied as Ben crawled over to him with a giggle. "Maybe I just wish I had more children."
"Well," Mia replied slowly. "I could help with that… I just don't think I'm ready yet…"

"Don't worry," Jane replied as he pulled Ben into his lap. "I'm not asking you for anything. Besides, I don't think I'm ready for another little one."

"I guess that's a 'One Day Promise'," Mia said with a small smile as she rubbed Benjamin's soft head.

"A what?" Jane asked with curiosity.

"A 'One Day Promise'," Mia replied. "It's something that you put in an imaginary jar for 'One Day'."

"Ah," Jane replied. "Now I get it."

WOW... It's been a LOOOOOONNNNGGG wait. Please review so that I know you guys are still hanging in there ;)