I know I say this all the time but I loved writing this chapter. Almost as much as I loved reading all of your reviews so keep them coming and tell me what you think. I'll update as soon as possible. As usual I own nothing.
"Good morning." I yawned walking in to find Jane in the kitchen with his cup of tea and my pot of coffee waiting.
"Sleep well?" He questioned, as I rubbed my eyes and poured a cup of coffee.
"Okay I guess." I shrugged, sitting down next to him. To be honest I had some weird dreams last night about the movie instead of the dogs it was Jane and I and it wasn't a totally unpleasant dream just weird, that's what I get for kissing Jane and then watching a romantic kids movie. "No breakfast this morning?"
"I can throw something together if you want." He turned so the chairs were facing.
"No, we have three boxes of cereal for a reason." I answered.
"That's what I was thinking." He nodded, turning back to his tea. "You ready to start painting today?"
"I guess." I yawned again I was going to need more coffee. "Jane."
"Yes." He turned his chair back again.
"About last night, we work together so I think that was a one time thing right." I frowned, I didn't want to say anything, but I didn't like the idea of sitting there with that in between us. " I mean I was upset, and it was just a kiss."
"Of course." He nodded, did he look disappointed, no it was gone, I was seeing what I wanted to see I insisted. "I'll go wake up the kids and get them ready to go we got work to do, they expect you back at work next Monday, we have six days to get this house perfect."
"They expect you to." I reminded.
"I was going to offer a suggestion." He put his empty cup in the sink, he was wearing jeans again, I couldn't help but smile he was even in a t-shirt and no vest.
"Suggest away." I smiled, watching him lean against the sink.
"They need you back at work, I'm just a consultant, so instead of hiring a babysittter for the week before they start school, I could watch them, if your still interested in saving money." He explained, it seemed like a reasonable suggestion but why didn't I like it. Was I jealous of the idea that Jane would get to spend extra time with my kids and I had to work? Or was I against the idea of Jane not coming back to work with me?
"We need you at work to." I frowned, "You close cases."
"Well if you get stuck you can call me, I'm not going anywhere, I'm just offering to help out on your money saving endeavor." He smiled.
"I don't know Jane." I shook my head, I didn't see any real problem with his plan, but I didn't like that I had to go to work and he would get to play with the kids.
"It's a suggestion," He shrugged, "I'm going to go wake them up so we can go get started." I nodded and watched him go before pouring myself a second cup of coffee.
"Look what we get to wear to paint." Alyssa came running in with her sister behind her.
"Oh God, you look so adorable." I laughed they were each wearing one of Jane's shirts that fell long past their knees. The sleeves had been rolled who knows how many times and they still went past their hands.
"Patrick wanted us to ask if Liam will be allowed to paint or not?" Emily smiled playing with the buttons on the front of the shirt.
"Lets say no, we wouldn't want Cass to be lonely." I decided after a minute, "Tell me what type of cereal you want and then go tell Patrick."
"Fruit loops." Alyssa announced.
"Lucky Charms." Emily decided, it was impossible for them to want the same thing I laughed watching them run out of the room drowning in Jane's shirts.
It was nearly ten by the time we made it to the house while Jane and I unloaded the paint and the equipment the girls learned how fun it was to spin around the empty living room with the oversized shirts on. "Are you sure it's okay for them to paint in your shirts, I mean those look expensive."
"It's fine Lisbon I have plenty of shirts, besides those shirts are older than both girls combined I could use to get some new ones." He answered laying the tarp across the floor of the first bedroom, we had agreed the girls could help paint their room first. I let him start taping the boarders and light switches while I went to the next room and laid out a blanket and some toy for William to play with and then set up Cass's rocker. Jane had agreed that it was a good idea to put them in the nearest room with a baby monitor so we could still hear what they were doing. After getting the little ones settled in I called the girls up stairs to help us start painting, they had agreed on a sea foam green for their shared room with the promise that one of the empty rooms would be pink so if Alyssa wanted to have her own room it was there.
"You girls ready to start?" I smiled as the girls were still busy spinning around the room.
"Yep." Emily stopped spinning only to stumble into her sister.
"I don't know what you were worried about the fumes making them dizzy they did that on their own." Jane chuckled moving the open paint can out of the girl's way.
"No kidding." I laughed, as the girls tried to straiten themselves out.
"We're ready now." Alyssa giggled, putting her hand out for balance.
"Are you sure?" Jane grinned, handing each of the girls a roller, "Alright, we are only going to paint up and down, like this." Jane explained helping Alyssa put the roller in the paint he had poured, and directing her to the wall, before doing the same with Emily, "Up and down." He repeated standing back to watch them, "Good job. What about you Teresa you need help to?" He teased.
"I think I can handle it." I rolled my eyes taking the roller he offered to me.
"As you wish." He chuckled, grabbing the fourth roller and joining in the effort. We had agreed two coats, and the girls would help with only the first coat of each room. For two reasons so they wouldn't be exposed to the fumes for to long and so the topcoat wouldn't look too sloppy. We had moved to the last wall when it happened. Alyssa turned to quickly and splashed paint on to her sister, causing Emily to spray paint at Alyssa only she missed and got it all over me. And since Jane couldn't stop himself from laughing he found the roller I was holding going all the way down the front of his shirt. From there war broke out and everyone was covered in sea foam green.
"Can we do this in the other rooms to?" Alyssa giggled after I had declared a cease-fire for fear of running out of paint before the first coat was even finished.
"What?" I laughed, looking at the paint that was already starting to dry in both the girl's and Jane's hair and only imagined what I looked like.
"Well then we could look like a rainbow." She explained, "We have blue paint, and pink paint, and yellow and almost every color, we would be so pretty."
"I think you look very pretty right now." Jane grinned, leaning against the unpainted wall, and smearing green from his shirt on it. "All three of you."
"Well thank you." I rolled my eyes, "Lets get this last wall painted then you girls can go clean up a little and play with your brother and sister before we move onto the next room." I instructed.
"Fine." Emily pouted picking up her roller and starting the last wall.
"What time it is?" I looked to Jane realizing my watch had paint on the face.
"Almost eleven." Jane pulled his phone out of his pants pocket. "Why?"
"Do you think we could get the first coat in one more room done before lunch?" I questioned joining the girl's effort on the remaining wall.
"Easily." He nodded putting his phone away and covering the smears he had made on the wall with his roller. "It took us what a half hour here, with a little distraction, I wouldn't be surprised if we could get at least three rooms done today."
"You think?" I glanced at him over my shoulder.
"Yeah easily, we finish this, put the first coat on one of the other bedrooms, grab some lunch, maybe put the first coat on the third maybe even a forth room, before coming back and putting the second coat on the first two rooms, then calling it quits for the day." He answered, "I think if it takes us a half hour in each of the rooms and an hour to eat lunch we could easily be out of here by four. As long as we stick to the bedrooms and leave the bigger rooms for another day."
"So we could easily get this done in six days." I smiled to myself.
"I wouldn't say easily, but it can be done." He smiled, "I'd call the flooring company you talked to yesterday and confirm them for Friday and Saturday, because I doubt they work Sunday."
"You think we can get the painting done by Friday?" I frowned.
"Maybe not all of it, but enough of it that they could start putting the carpet in, especially the bedrooms." He reasoned, "You won't be moving in until you're already back at work."
"As long as we can get the major things moved in before the kids start school, I don't want them to be dealing with moving and starting at a new school." I worried.
"We can handle it." Emily spoke up, I suddenly felt guilty for forgetting that they were still painting with us.
"Yea, it's okay we can take it." Alyssa agreed.
"Teresa knows that, but she doesn't want you to start having to much fun at school and never want to come home and help move in." Jane offered a solution.
"We have fun at home with you guys." Emily reassured, "You don't have to worry Teresa."
"Happy to hear it." I smiled then within in a second my phone rang, no one ever called me except for work, and they knew I had one more week off. I frowned before excusing myself from the room to take the call.
"Is this Teresa Lisbon?" It was a female voice that I was positive I had never heard before.
"Umm yes who is this?" I questioned.
"My name is Kendra Lawrence, I was just calling to tell you that Alyssa and Emily have their first soccer practice tomorrow at five thirty, I apologize that it's so last minute that I called, but I just got the news from the school. There will be a parents meeting afterwards for the general information." The lady explained.
"Alright tomorrow at five thirty, and that'll be at the school right?" I wondered.
"Yes, all practices are at the school, then games are played at the community park, just down the road from the school." Kendra explained.
"Alright I'll go tell the girls. Thank you very much." I nodded, even though she couldn't see me.
"No problem I can't wait to see you tomorrow." She returned, before I hung up the phone.
"Jane I have something for you to remember." I announced walking back into the room, I really didn't trust myself to remember anything that wasn't life threatening with everything that we still had to do with the house.
"Yes ma'am." He smiled with out looking away from his work.
"The girls have soccer practice tomorrow at five-thirty at the school." I reported, "With a parents meeting afterwards."
"Got it." He placed his roller on the ground.
"You guys finished the room, I was gone for a whole five minutes." I examined the wall in front of me.
"On to the next one." Alyssa cheered, "Can we paint the pink room?"
"That sounds fine with me." I agreed, taking the rollers from each of them. "We bought more of these right?" I glanced at the green rollers.
"Yep, multiple roller's but only four extensions." Jane nodded, closing up the open can of paint and taking the rollers and the tray to rinse out. Apparently rinsing out for Jane meant placing in a bucket of water and soap and letting them sit, because with that done he started putting a new tarp down and taping the room across the hall while I went and checked on William and Cass in the other room.
When I walked in William looked up from his toy cars. "You're green." He giggled pointing to my clothes.
"Yes I am, and how are you?"
"Hungry." He frowned, he had started talking a lot more recently so I hoped that meant he was starting to get comfortable with us.
"I can handle that." I pulled a container of goldfish out for him, "Do you have to go potty?" He shook his head and started eating his goldfish. So I turned to Cass who had been hitting at some of the toys hanging from her rocker. "You need a diaper change." I sighed lifting Cass out of the rocker and getting the mat out of her diaper bag. After putting Cass back in her rocker, I joined Jane and the girls in the next room.
He had already handed out the extensions with new rollers on them and the girls were itching to start painting again.
"We promise." Was all I heard when I opened the door.
"Promise what?" I frowned.
"Only to paint up and down." Jane supplied, pouring the pink paint into a new tray.
"Is that true?" I turned to the girls, who just nodded their heads, which wasn't very reassuring.
"Teresa, we need special shoes for soccer, my American girl doll has special shoes for soccer." Emily worried.
"And long socks." Alyssa frowned.
"And soccer balls." Emily added.
"How about we grab all that on our way home." I sighed, the idea of Jane watching the girls next week was starting to look better and better as more expenses started popping up.
"Okay." The girls grinned turning to start on the first wall, but then again I had a thousand dollars of Jane's casino money in my pocket still, as long as I still had enough to buy William some new clothes. We were just about to start the last wall when I felt something splatter against my back, I turned to see both girls running to hide behind Jane.
"He's not going to protect you, because somehow I think he's just as guilty as you are." I laughed splashing paint in their direction, adding pink to the green on their clothes. "I suppose this is what you promised." I laughed ducking as Jane flung paint at me.
"The promise had nothing to do with ganging up on you, it was a matter up waiting until we were almost done to make sure we had enough paint." Jane smirked as the girls took their rollers strait to Jane's hair.
"Your hair looks good pink." I laughed, and before I knew it the girls were on me. "That's enough, we have to go shopping after this remember to get your soccer supplies, we can't do that covered in paint." And the girls put their brushes down immediately, I suppose that was also part of their promise, to stop the first time they were told.
"So I can go shopping with pink hair but you can't." Jane teased.
"Yeah I don't see a problem with that." I smirked.
"Good because I'm telling everyone in the store you're my wife." He chuckled, turning around to start on the last wall. We hadn't got to far when Jane put down his brush, "I'm going to go ahead and order the food now so it's here when the room is done." I just nodded and went back to helping the girls with their straight up and down strokes covering up the splatters we had made.
When Jane came back it he had a bucket of water to put the rollers and the tray in "How long until the food gets here?" I looked up from helping the girls get the rollers off of the extensions.
"Fifteen/twenty minutes." He shrugged, running a paper towel through his hair, but it didn't do too much the paint had already started to dry.
"I'm going to go lay out a tarp down stairs to eat on, can you grab Liam and Cass?" I questioned, letting the girls lead the way to the door.
"I can do that." He nodded, "I'm going to go check on the other room first, but I'll be down in a couple minutes."
"Alright." I answered, "Come on girls lets go clean up for lunch, at the very least get the paint off of your hands." Hands had been washed and a tarp had been laid out when there was a knock at the door. "Foods here." I called up the stairs before opening the door.
"I think you missed the wall boss." Rigsby smirked holding a bag of food out in front if him.
"Green looks good on you though." Van Pelt laughed, and even Cho had a small grin on his face.
"I'm the cleanest." I answered, I wonder what they would say when Jane came down. "What are you doing here?" I let them in.
"Jane called and said you needed a lunch break." Grace smiled as the girls peeked around the corner to see who was at the door.
"And Bertram let you all go on break at the same time?" I frowned.
"We didn't tell him." Cho shrugged.
"Do you realize how stupid that was?" I warned, "Girls you remember my friends from work." I took the drinks from Grace and led them to the tarp in the living room to sit down to eat.
"They'll be fine." Jane stated, coming down the stairs with Cass in one arm and holding Williams hand on the other side.
"You do know your hair is pink right." Cho actually laughed.
"I'm going for a new look." Jane shrugged, carrying William down the last couple steps, "Is it the wrong color, I knew I should have gone with green."
"It looks fine." Grace was trying really hard to hold in her laughter.
"Alyssa, Emily why don't you take off the painting shirts to eat," Jane instructed watching the girls trying to keep the sleeves rolled up.
"You're not in a suit." Grace pointed out, as Jane came and took a seat on the floor next to the girls.
"Well that would have been a sight, wouldn't it?" Jane chuckled, and I couldn't help but laugh it was true it was bad enough that he had pink paint in his hair, but if he had been wearing a nice suit to, he might have looked like a pink haired Joker.
"We've just never seen you not in a suit." Rigsby agreed taking a bite of his sandwich.
"This is nice house boss." Cho changed the topic.
"I thought so." Jane grinned.
"Yeah it's pretty good." I glared at Jane.
"You know how bad the rumors got after you know who." Grace frowned, looking from me to Jane.
"Uh huh." I nodded.
"They've gotten worse, now that you've taken a two and half week vacation together." Cho answered.
"That's to be expected." Jane shrugged.
"How much worse?" I worried, just what I need the whole office to think that Jane and I were together, well I guess most of them already did. What were they going to say now we were living together, well we kind of were so that's not fair.
"Someone started the rumor that you're taking advantage of the situation and using the vacation time to get married." Grace looked down at her sandwich, and I couldn't help but choke on my bite, causing Jane to hop up to try and help, which was awarded with curious glances from my team.
"Married?" I repeated, "Yeah I need more on my plate right now."
"We know, and we keep telling everyone their being ridiculous but they expect us to cover up for you anyway." Rigsby supplied.
"People just thought it was weird that Jane needed to take the time off with you." Cho frowned.
"We don't." Grace reassured, "But it's hard to explain that to other people."
"Why do you look so funny Teresa?" Alyssa frowned.
"Maybe it's the paint." Jane supplied.
"No that's not what she means, Teresa looks nervous again, like she did last night before bath time." Emily answered, and I couldn't help but glance over at Jane.
"You guys know better than to spread rumors right." I turned to the girls, who both nodded, "Good, just making sure."
"Did someone spread a bad rumor about you?" Emily questioned.
"Kind of." I nodded.
"Well I wouldn't say bad." Jane smirked, that's true it's not like I hadn't had dreams about what that would be like.
"I would." I retorted.
"Ouch, that really hurts Lisbon." He chuckled.
"What's been going on at work?" I turned back to the team, "Other than the rumors."
"It's been really slow." Grace sighed, "We've almost caught up on all of our paperwork for the whole year."
"Yeah you'd think people would want to commit crimes when Jane's not at work, a better chance of getting away with it." Rigsby shrugged, I wanted to say something to discourage that sort of thinking but it wouldn't have mattered we had excepted a long time ago he was the reason we were leading in closed cases.
"Well killers were never the smartest criminal." Jane answered when no one said anything. We sat and talked a little bit longer before I encouraged them to get back to work before they got in trouble.
"Jane you want to come back and show off you're new look?" Rigsby teased.
"Nah come over tomorrow it may be blue." Jane answered, cleaning up the trash left from lunch.
"We'll see." Cho nodded.
"Nope you're not coming over tomorrow unless it's one at a time, I don't want to see you guys get in trouble." I warned.
"You got it boss." Grace smiled, leaning in to give me a hug, but I stepped back real quick.
"Sorry, I don't want to get any of this paint on you." I frowned, looking down at my clothes.
"That reminds me, can you do me a favor." Jane cut in, pulling something out of his back pocket.
"No way, no pictures, I look disgusting." I stepped away from the camera Jane had handed to Grace.
"One picture with the girls in their paint shirts." Jane pouted, how was I supposed to say no to that.
"You got to get in it to." Grace grinned, "You have to show off your pink hair."
"Yeah if I'm taking pictures covered in paint you better get in it to." I argued, he didn't need much convincing, which only meant he had wanted to be in the picture to begin with.
"We do need one of just you lovely ladies though." Jane smiled, stepping out after a couple pictures.