Here's chapter 24 I hope you enjoy it. I'll update again soon as usual I own nothing.
Tuesday morning was slightly easier than yesterday, there was a fight leaving the house because Jane was going straight to work instead of dropping the kids off with me. Partially because Bertram wanted to talk to him and partially because I had made it my new mission to make sure no one at work had any reason at all to think we were a couple.
When I did make it to work he was already feigning sleep on his couch while everyone worked on around him. The social service representative would be coming tonight and it was actually pretty nerve-wracking I mean what if they said I was unfit to be there guardian. What if they said my job was to high maintenance to raise four kids, I mean it was true I might have to drive to the other side of the state at an hours notice and I didn't really have anyone to babysit them, because the one person who had been helping me was required to help me at the crime scene to.
"You okay?" Jane stuck his head in the door.
"Just fine." I tried getting back to my paperwork.
"Okay well I'm going to go out, if I don't come back I'll be at the house." He informed causing me to look up.
"You're leaving now?" I frowned.
"You said you wanted me home for the social service representative but I figured you didn't want us leaving at the same time so yeah I'm leaving now." He smiled.
"What time is it?" I wasn't wearing my watch today.
"Noon." He answered, "Eat something." I just shrugged him off, "Oh and Lisbon you don't have to worry about the social service rep. you're a great parent." Damn him being considerate and nice, he was still going back to his motel tomorrow I was not going back on my word now, that would just make him smile all the more. I had made my decision now I was going to have to live with it.
Around two Van Pelt stuck her head into my office, "Where'd Jane go?"
"I don't know." I shrugged, "He said he was going out he may not come back today."
"He didn't tell you where he was going?" She frowned.
"Why would he need to tell me where he was going?" I wondered.
"I don't know I guess I thought he would tell you." She shook her head.
"He probably ran out of tea or needed to get a suit cleaned, he's an adult he doesn't need to run his errands by me." I replied going back to my paperwork.
"Right sorry didn't mean to interrupt." Van Pelt turned and headed straight for the bullpen. Even my own team was becoming suspicious of Jane and I and there was nothing going on. I wonder if Cho had told the others what he had seen, Jane had assured me he wouldn't he assured me Cho was loyal to me and wouldn't be responsible for the spread of any extra rumors.
An hour later I straightened up my desk grabbed my jacket and went out to say good night to the team. "Guy's I'm going to get the kids I've got a representative from social services coming this afternoon so I'll see you tomorrow."
"Night boss." Echoed through out the three of them as I headed for the elevator. I was leaving early again after two and a half weeks on vacation it really was a miracle Bertram wasn't firing me.
"Teresa!" William ran into my arms.
"How was school?" I started carrying him toward Cass's room.
"I played Legos." He smiled.
"With Alex?" I questioned.
"Yep." He nodded his head furiously.
"So school's not so bad." I smiled gathering up Cass's diaper bag while the teacher made sure she was secure in her carrier.
"Patrick's coin." William pointed to his pocket.
"Is that you're lucky coin now?" I asked, and he just nodded and giggled. "I'm happy that you're having some fun. Come on lets go get your big sisters and go home."
"How was school?" I asked as Emily walked out of the classroom.
"We had music today it was kind of fun, and we got to play on the playground some more." She smiled, "The teacher wanted us to practice writing our name but I already knew how mommy taught me."
"I guess you had a busy day then." I nodded, "Where's your sister?"
"Talking to Lydia and someone else. I don't know." Emily shrugged.
"I'm here." Alyssa insisted running out of the classroom, "Do we get to go to work today?"
"Not today we're going to meet Patrick at home." I answered, "Hold your sisters hand." We started across the parking lot.
"No catching bad guys." Alyssa frowned.
"We got someone coming over to visit the house this afternoon we need to make sure the house is all clean." I explained.
"Who's coming over?" Emily questioned jumping into her booster seat.
"Someone who is going to tell us whether it is okay for you to keep living with me." I buckled Cass into her car seat.
"Why does someone have to tell us it's okay, we already think it's okay." Alyssa wanted to know.
"Yeah we like living with you, it's better than grandma's house." Emily nodded.
"I love to hear that, and everything is going to be fine, they just want to make sure the house is safe and stuff like that." I did my best to reassure them, before turning to buckle in William.
"Can we catch bad guys tomorrow after school?" Alyssa wondered when we pulled into the driveway. I was yet to understand the girls obsession with going to work with us, they clearly saw it as a much more glamorous or exciting job. When in reality we did spend much of the day at our desks doing paperwork.
"You can come to the office, but that doesn't mean anything exciting is going to happen by any means." I was relieved to see that Jane's car was in the garage already. I shouldn't be relieved he said he was going to come back to the house, and he wasn't going to be spending the night anymore after tonight, I could not be relieved to see him.
"Can we play with your handcuff's you said we could play with your handcuffs the other day." Emily reminded while I helped her from the car.
"I said you could handcuff Patrick if he was being bad." I argued turning to help her sister. "And surprisingly he hasn't done anything bad in a while."
"So can we play with your handcuffs?" Alyssa repeated the question. "We can play cops and robbers, with real handcuffs."
"That doesn't sound like a very safe plan to me." I lifted William and lastly Cass from the car.
"We'll be very very safe." Emily assured me.
"You guys know your hands are to small and they'll just slide out of the handcuffs right." I tried a different tactic.
"Then you can be the robber and we can pretend to arrest you." Alyssa giggled.
"Now that definitely does not sound like a safe plan." I laughed.
"We want to play with the handcuffs though, we promise we'll be super safe and will unlock them as soon as you ask us to." Emily begged.
"You guys really want to play with the handcuffs." I sighed, and both girls and William nodded. "Then there is only one possible solution. I will let you play with them as long as you only handcuff one person." They nodded again, "You can go play cops and robbers with Patrick, I'm going to hang on to the key so it doesn't get lost." I went back to the car and dug the handcuffs out of the center council, "Come here I'm going to show you what to do." After a brief explanation the twins had to play a game of rock papers scissors to see who got to handcuff Jane first. I was still trying to figure out how they had talked me into such a ridiculous game.
Alyssa having won the game of rock paper scissors led the way into the house which was a lot cleaner than when I left it. Had Jane left early just to clean the house for me before the social service rep got here because that seemed a little to good to be true. We walked into the living room where he was laying on the couch exactly the same as he had been when I walked into work this morning.
"Patrick your under arrest." Alyssa giggled jumping onto his lap with her brother and sister right behind her. I took the opportunity to lay Cass in her playpen so I was available to un-cuff Jane when and if it was necessary.
"I didn't do it I swear." Patrick played along sitting up and holding his hands over his head.
"Well your coming with us." Alyssa climbed up the couch to handcuff Jane's wrists in front of him.
"What exactly am I accused of doing?" He chuckled.
"You robbed a bank." Emily decided jumping off the couch to stand in front of him.
"I see." He nodded, "And is there any proof that it was me?"
"We saw it on the TV screen." Alyssa jumped down next to her sister.
"On the security camera that was pretty sloppy of me wasn't it." He looked over at me and grinned.
"You need to come with us to the questioning room." Emily informed, grabbing Jane's forearm and trying to pull him off the couch.
"I see, did you hear that Teresa I have to go to the questioning room." He chuckled.
"Looks like your crimes have finally caught up with you." I smiled back.
"Alright I guess I'll go to the questioning room. Where is the questioning room?" He looked to the girls for directions, they both pointed to the kitchen, I suppose that made since it had chairs and a table. "Alright come on then lets go to the questioning room." He lifted both girls up over his shoulders and carried them to the kitchen letting the handcuffs fall on the couch.
"Hey!" Alyssa screamed.
"Teresa gave us broken handcuffs." Emily squirmed in Jane's arms.
"I guess that makes her an accomplice doesn't it." Jane laughed.
"There is nothing wrong with these handcuffs." I picked them up and followed the party into the kitchen.
"Then how come they didn't work?" Emily frowned after Jane set her and her sister down on the counter to get them an after school snack.
"Because Patrick has a tendency to break rules." I sighed lifting William into a chair so he could have a snack to.
"Is it more superpowers?" Alyssa got excited.
"No superpowers just a very nice little paperclip." He pulled the recently bent one out of his pocket.
"How many of those do you keep in your pocket?" I had always wanted to know.
"Enough." He chuckled handing out graham crackers with frosting on them, I assume he had made those when he got back here to.
"You plan on breaking out of handcuffs a lot?" I teased accepting a graham cracker sandwich for myself.
"Or into places I don't belong, they really have multiple uses." He returned lifting the girls off the counter and into their seats at the table.
"So you let us handcuff Patrick, but you knew he could get out." Alyssa pouted.
"I suppose I did." I nodded.
"So she is my accomplice." Jane chuckled walking out of the room and back in with Cass.
"Yeah you're his act omplice." Alyssa agreed.
"I think she deserves to be handcuffed to, feel the chaffing of metal on her skin." He teased putting together a bottle.
"You had them on your wrist for a whole minute." I reminded.
"Meh." He shrugged sitting down to feed Cass her bottle. "So other than going after thieves what did you guys do in school today? Jane turned to the kids and we sat in the kitchen for the next twenty minutes eating graham crackers and hearing all about the exciting things that happened on the second day of school.
"Why don't you guys run your back packs upstairs and then I can set the TV up for you guys." I instructed after checking the clock on the wall we had a half hour before the social service representative came. "What do you think they're going to ask about?"
"I don't know, you just need to relax. They aren't going to take the kids away from you." He handed Cass to me and then rinsed out her bottle. "They'll probably just ask the kids about how they like living here, then they'll ask you how you think the kids are adjusting. Then they'll tell you everything is great and they'll be back in a month."
"You better be right." I got up to take Cass to her playpen.
He came up right behind me before I realized what was going on, "I'm always right." He chuckled, "And you might want to put these back in your car." He was dangling the handcuffs over my head, and it suddenly made sense why he had gotten so close.
"How did you even get those out of my pocket with out me feeling it?" I sighed. It made sense when he took keys they were smaller but how did I not notice handcuffs, they aren't small. Was I really that distracted by his closeness?
"I'll never tell." He chuckled handing me the handcuffs. So I rolled my eyes and brought Cass to her playpen put on one of the kids TV shows and then ran the handcuffs back out to the car. When I came back inside Jane was sitting with the kids on the couch.
"When did you get back to the house?" I frowned.
"One thirtyish." He shrugged.
"And you cleaned the house, and made graham cracker sandwiches and what else." I asked.
"I got groceries and that's about it." He just sat there and smiled. "I didn't clean the whole house, I didn't think you wanted me to unpack all of your boxes for you."
"You bought my groceries." I ran my hand through my hair, he was buying me things again, okay I couldn't get mad at him for buying groceries he was the one making all of the meals.
"Yes and if you're going to yell at me for that I'm sensing a contradiction." He smirked, and then there was a knock on the door they were early. "Come on guys how about you help me make dinner." Jane led the kids back into the kitchen. "We can finish the show after."
I watched the kitchen door closes, before lifting Cass out of her playpen and answering the door. "Teresa Lisbon?" The women smiled and I shook her hand.
"Yes, please come in." I was really trying to sound confident but it really was nerve-wracking having someone come in to tell me whether or not I was raising these kids correctly.
"This must be Cassandra." She smiled at the little girl in my arms, "And where are the other children?"
"They are helping a friend of mine in the kitchen." I nodded toward the kitchen.
"I see, and how have you been handling motherhood?" She took a seat on the couch but I could see her looking around the room.
"I think things are starting to seem normal." I smiled, she really wasn't being subtle at all about looking over the room. "Sorry about all of the boxes we are still moving things in from my old apartment."
"So your handling the four kids on your own alright?" She ignored my apology about the boxes.
"Not completely on my own, my co-worker, my friend, has been helping me out a lot." I admitted nodding toward the kitchen. "But I'm starting to get a handle on things without his help." I tried to assure her.
"Him?" She questioned, "Is this a relationship?"
"What? No." I probably denied that a little to quickly.
"I didn't mean to offend you, it's just these kids don't need adults coming in and out of their lives especially right now." She tried to apologize.
"I understand that I do and I promise he's just a co-worker, he's my best friend." I have a feeling that didn't sound entirely reassuring but she just nodded.
"Well I guess all I have to do is look around the house and then I'll talk to the kids individually, and then I'll be out your hair for a month." She seemed slightly more cheerful all of a sudden I guess the living room fit her approval.
I had no choice but to sit in the kitchen with Jane while she talked to the kids in the living room. "What are they talking about?"
"Breathe Teresa." He turned the stove down and started massaging my shoulders. Since when did he call me Teresa, and why did that always make me so happy. "You are way to tense."
"I can't imagine why." I groaned I couldn't let myself admit how good this massage felt. "I want to know what their saying."
"You could try listening through the door." He teased, and I slapped him. "You need to relax the kids love you and they enjoy being here, they wouldn't know how to say a bad thing about you." I didn't answer I sat there and let him massage my shoulders until whatever was on the stove called his attention back.
"You have a lovely home." The women followed the kids back into the kitchen, "Everything looks fine the kids seem to be doing well, I'll get back to you the beginning of next month sometimes."
"Sure you don't want to stay for dinner." Jane offered pulling plates out the cabinet.
"Thanks for the offer Mr. Jane but I have to get going." She nodded and I followed her back to the front door to say good-bye.
"Why would you invite her to stay for dinner?" I sighed helping him set the table.
"I was being polite." He smiled.
"Since when are you polite?" I argued.
"Since she was going to say no anyway." He returned.
"What are we having for dinner?" I changed gears watching him put toppings in multiple bowls.
"Tacos." He answered setting the different ingredients.
"Tacos, I can make taco's Jane." I took a seat next to Cass.
"That would be the point of putting all the ingredients on the table." He chuckled, handing me Cass's baby food.
"You must be running out of meals if this is what your coming up with." I teased.
"I'm trying to make things that five year olds will eat, and I've come up with something new almost every night for about a month now." He reminded, "Besides there is nothing wrong with taco's."
"Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you." I laughed, and he went out to the living room to the call the kids in for dinner.
"I forgot." Alyssa looked up from her dinner, "We have homework."
"Homework on the second day of school?" I frowned. I don't remember kindergarten being that hard.
"We have to make a collage." Emily nodded, "Before the end of the month." Okay so maybe it wasn't as bad as I had thought.
"A collage." Jane smiled, "what does it have to be about?"
"Each month we have a collage about a new color." Alyssa explained.
"I see and what is this months color?" I asked, and the girls looked at each other before answering.
"Um that reminds me the teacher wants to talk to you." Emily ducked her head.
"Why?" I looked from one girl to the next how did the teacher wanting to talk me connect with the color of their collages.
"We tried to tell her we couldn't do the collage." Alyssa whispered.
"Why would you do that?" I asked I glanced at Jane who looked like he might be proud of them. Sure he can be proud of them for getting in trouble after two days of school.
"Well you guys said Patrick doesn't like red." Alyssa was staring at her plate.
"It makes him sad." Emily added, "we told the teacher we couldn't make a red poster cause it would make him sad and he doesn't like having red things in the house." Okay how was I supposed to be mad about that?
"The teacher told us we had to do it." Alyssa looked from me to Jane.
"And we told her we couldn't do it, so now she wants to talk to you." Emily finished.
"Well actually she said she wanted to talk to our parents, but I think that's supposed to mean you." Alyssa corrected her sister. I looked to Jane for help I was in uncharted waters how was I suppose to tell them what they did was wrong when I was actually kind of proud of they way they tried to I guess protect Jane.
"Girls come here." Jane pushed his seat out so they could sit on his lap. "Thank you very much for what you tried to do, but I need you to make those collages okay."
"But it will make you sad." Emily worried.
"Nothing you make would ever make me sad okay, I appreciate you trying to protect me like you did, but your homework is much more important to me than the possibility that I might be a little sad for a minute." He assured. "But like I said nothing you make will ever make me sad."
"Are you sure?" Alyssa studied him for a minute.
"I'm positive, besides if you start protecting me all the time Teresa's going to be out of a job." He gave them each a kiss on the forehead and sent them back to their own seats. It was an adorable sight and I couldn't help but grin, what was I doing kicking him out.
"No if I get to stop protecting you I might actually be able to do my job." I retorted and he just smirked, soon dinner was over and the kids were bathed and put to bed leaving Jane and I alone on the couch one last night, he was going to leave this time tomorrow. "What am I supposed to do about talking to the teacher?"
"Go in and talk to her after school gets out." He shrugged, "Explain the situation and have the girls apologize, would you like me to go with you?" That would make the explaining a little easier, everyone knew who Jane was now and it's pretty obvious why he would hate the color red.
"If you want to I guess." I shrugged and he just smiled. "I can't believe they did that."
"I can, their amazing little girls." He grinned, "But I don't know if you can handle the competition, suddenly you aren't the only one trying to protect my sanity." I couldn't help but smile with him.
"I mean they don't even know anything about it they just know that you really don't like the color." I sighed.
"That's all they needed to know to want to prevent me from getting sad." He answered, "You my dear are exhausted and need to go to bed." He changed topics, "Especially if you have to meet the teacher tomorrow."
"You say they're acting like me and trying to protect you, I think they're acting like you, getting in trouble on the second day of school." I teased as I started for the stairs.
"Good night Lisbon." He chuckled.
"Good night Jane."