Chapter 7
Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites. This chapter is the girls and guys day together, mostly it's the girls day out.
Disclaimer:Don't Own obviously
The next morning Jane made breakfast for the guests. Lisbon and Annie decided to go visit the FBI office and spend a day together bonding, while Jane and Tommy would work on the cabin. Lisbon asked for a couple of days off for their visit because she wanted as much quality time with her brother and niece. "Enjoy your girls day out!" Jane yelled as Annie and Lisbon left. "Yes, enjoy your day with your aunt, Annie!" Tommy yelled out as well. The two girls waved goodbye and headed to the car and left Lisbon's house.
"I hear you're living in Chicago in your house alone." Lisbon stated to Annie as she took a turn on the road.
"Yeah, I am. It's perfectly safe. Don't worry, Aunt Teresa." Annie reassured.
"Don't you get lonely?" Lisbon asked. She was concerned about her niece being by herself and safe and sometimes Chicago was not always the safest city to live.
"No, I have neighbors and my St. Bernard dog, Milo." Annie responded confident she was fine.
"Well, you do know you have an uncle, aunt, and cousins there." Lisbon suggested reminding her niece of them. She was certain that Stan would look out after her if needed. He was a family man that wanted his kids safe as he would do the same for his niece.
"Oh, I guess I knew, but dad and I never really saw them much." Annie admitted. "They don't get along very well. I've heard them fighting during Thanksgiving when I was young. I don't know, we never came back too much after that night."
"Oh, well your father needs to make up with his brothers. I'm trying to do that with your dad and uncles. Would you like to see them? I think they would see you." Lisbon suggested.
"Sure, I guess so." Annie said reluctantly. "Do you know what you're going to have? The baby." Annie then changed the subject.
"No, we decided we wanted to wait." Lisbon admitted. She remembered their recent appointment the week before. The technician asked if they wanted to know the gender. Jane decided not to know and she agreed. It made no difference to her whether they knew or not. She was going to love the child no matter what as same as Jane. As long as the baby was healthy and that she would make it through pregnancy without any problems. The last ultrasound everything looked good.
"Would you like to know the gender of the baby?" Amber, the technician asked at the 20 week appointment. "We are able to tell, since the baby has grown. Most couples decide to know at this time."
Lisbon looked toward Jane for his answer. She wasn't sure what to do. She didn't care about knowing so she decided to give him permission to speak.
"No. They didn't know a hundred years ago beforehand, why should we know now? I'd rather be surprised." Jane decided looking at Amber who gave a small giggle, while she was still looking at the ultrasound and then she turned to Lisbon expecting her answer.
"Okay, I guess we don't want to know." Lisbon admitted.
"You're one of the rare couples that want to be surprised." Amber stated looking at Jane and Lisbon smiling. "Everything does look good. The doctor will explain more."
"Good."Annie grinned. "That's the whole part of the excitement is the surprise, I think. Not that I know personally. That's my opinion." Annie confessed excitedly.
"That's exactly what Patrick thinks too. He doesn't want to know until the baby comes." Lisbon agreed.
"I like technology but sometimes you're not meant to know everything." Annie stated.
They finally arrived at the FBI parking lot and they got out of the car and walked towards the building entrance and then entered through the door. "This is where you work, Aunt Teresa? Wow!"
"Yes, we just need to go to the elevator up to the bullpen." Lisbon pushed the button up and went inside the elevator. Annie followed excitedly.
Lisbon and Annie exited the elevator and they went towards Wylie's desk. "Hey, Lisbon or Mrs. Jane." He perked up seeing Lisbon and Annie and smiled. "How's the visit going?"
"Hello, Wylie, this is my niece, Annie. Annie, this is Jason Wylie."
"Hi, I didn't see you at the wedding. " Wylie confessed looking up from his computer researching the latest case.
"I couldn't come. My dad was in the middle of Alaska and I was still in school. I plan to be a cop like my aunt someday." Annie admitted.
"That's cool." Wylie stated then continued. "It's good to see you now it's great to meet you, Annie. Are you enjoying your time so far?"
"Yes, I am." Annie smiled. Lisbon then noticed Jeremy Sanders at his desk, where Vega used to work. It was hard to see him there and she knew it was hard for Wylie to look at the desk and not be reminded of Vega. She and Annie walked towards the desk. "Hi, Sanders. This is my niece, Annie. She wanted to come see the office."
"Hello, nice to meet you." Sanders said.
Lisbon then led Annie to Cho's office. She wanted her niece to meet everyone on the team. Lisbon knocked on the door. "Come in." Cho called. Lisbon and Annie came in the office. "Cho, this is my niece, Annie."
"Hi, how are you?"Cho gave one of his rare Cho smiles.
"Great. I like to see where my aunt works. I want to be a cop too, you know. I love helping my dad with the bounty hunting."
"Good."
Then Agent Tork came in. "Cho, we got Mr. Knowles in the room. Oh, hi, Lisbon."
"Okay, thank you." Cho said.
"This is my niece, Annie, this is Agent Tork."
"Hi."
After coming out of Cho's office, Annie asked. "Where's your desk?"
Lisbon took Annie to her desk. Annie noticed Jane's couch. "Isn't that Uncle Patrick's couch? I remember it."
"Yes it is." Lisbon said pointing to the couch. Annie right away decided to sit down on it. "Do you think he would mind?"
"No."
Annie and Lisbon headed out the office and decided to eat lunch at a local cafe. "How many?" The hostess asked. "Two." Lisbon answered. The hostess seated the two at a booth and told them the waitress would be coming to take care of them.
"So, when did you find out about the baby?" Annie smiled and questioned as she started to look at the menu.
"A couple months ago. We didn't plan on it. We hadn't talked about children at all. It was definitely a surprise. A good surprise." Lisbon admitted and smiled. She definitely didn't expect it and they hadn't gotten to point of talking about the future before they married a few months ago other than possibilities. Not anything completely serious. She recalled when Jane talked about wanting to sail around the world and beekeeping. The waitress came. "Hi, can I get you something to drink?"
"Water."Lisbon answered.
"Coke." Annie answered. The waitress left to get their drinks.
"Are you excited?" Annie asked.
"Yes, we are. Patrick's definitely happy. I told him after we got married. He proposed that week and then everything came so quickly, I didn't have time to tell him before, so I decided to wait after the wedding. Though some of the symptons I can do without. Four more months to go."
"Like what?"
"Crying for no reasons. I've cried more in these few months than I have in years. I'm fine and then I'm in tears the next. It's usually over silly things. There are other things such as gaining so much weight and my belly being bigger, but I don't want to complain because this is wonderful having a family. I look forward to being a mother. Patrick is going to be a great father. I never thought I would have this and now I have it, it's the most amazing feeling. "
"When did you and Uncle Patrick officially start to date? He told me you've dated a few months. When did you decide to date?" Annie grinned expectantly waiting for an answer. She put her hands together to beg. The waitress then came back with their drinks and took their orders of sandwiches.
"It's a long story." Lisbon confessed. She knew it would take awhile to tell but she decided to only tell the part of last year at the FBI, not her and Jane's entire history which was more complicated.
"I like long stories." Annie grinned and then took a sip of her coke.
"He was gone for two years before then, and last year when we started the FBI, where he got me a job, which is another story in itself, and reunited, I wanted him to say something. I had an idea he had feelings for me and I had them too. Then something happened where, I don't know, we were working apart much of the was working with another agent at the time. I suppose both of us were stubborn in communicating those feelings we've had for years. We were both guilty of not saying anything." Lisbon narrated. "To tell you the truth, I kind of made it hard for him to say anything. I kept my distance. It's complicated why it took so long for us."
"What happened? He mentioned that he slowly fell in love with you." Annie asked expectantly taking a drink of her pop.
"Yes, that's true. It happened the same for me in a way. I ended up dating another man, Marcus. He was nice and open with his feelings. He took me to nice places. Patrick hadn't said anything, so I decided to date Marcus. Marcus ended up going too fast for me. He wanted me to move with him to D.C. and I didn't know him that long and then he proposed out of nowhere. I felt a lot of pressure from him, I realize. He was the secondary choice."
" But you didn't love 's next?" Annie asked.
"We had a case in Miami and I couldn't leave for D.C. It ended up being set up by Patrick. He booked a fancy hotel and set dresses on the bed and was going to say something I think. I got mad after I found out he planned it and got on a plane and called Marcus and said I would marry him. I didn't want to marry him at all, but I answered yes out of anger. Patrick stopped the plane from leaving and he told me he loved me and now here I am married to him and expecting a baby." Lisbon finished her story. The waitress came with their sandwiches.
"Oh, my God, Aunt Teresa, that's from movies. Stopping a plane! That's the most romantic thing ever!" Annie exclaimed taking a bite in her sandwich and Lisbon did the same.
"It was surprising and romantic like you said. Of course, the TSA dragged him out of the plane, but he was still telling me he loved me." Lisbon then smiled at the thought. "Now I won't look at planes the same. I'll always be seeing him coming down that aisle."
" Wow, I wouldn't either if a guy did that. Do you think he was scared? Is that the reason he waited so long to tell you?"Annie questioned.
"Yes, he was scared. He told me that on the plane. He's gone through a lot." Lisbon admitted. She knew why it was hard for Jane to speak the truth to her. He had always fearful of Red John taking away someone else close to him. The fear was coming back when they were dating when they had the sniper case. She knew that case scared him tremendously and then his fear took over and caused him to take her out of the plan. She realized now he tried to tell her about the fear the night before and she didn't end up take it seriously. How could she not, considering what he had gone through? Now he was more relaxed she hadn't been involved with the physical aspect of the job. She knew eventually, he would have to deal with some of the anniversaries of his previous family's dates like birthdays and their death. She figured those days he will be affected and take them really hard.
"He told me why he worked with you. To catch his family's killer." Annie admitted.
"He did?" She was surprised Jane would talk about that part. She supposed she was talking so much too. Annie was her niece and she would be asking those questions about her and Jane. "Yes, he was scared of getting close to me or anyone because of that killer. Many times he protected me from him, I realized. That's why we couldn't be more than friends until recently." Lisbon admitted as they finally finished at the restaurant. She paid the bill and they both headed to the car.
"Aunt Teresa, have you gone shopping for the baby yet?" Annie said as she opened the door to the passenger seat and then closed the door.
"Not a whole lot." Lisbon said as she went inside the driver's seat
"I want to get you something since it might be a while before I see you again." Annie offered. Lisbon thought about what her niece said, then decided she might as well go to one of baby stores in Austin.
"Okay, we can go shopping at a baby store." Lisbon stated as she drove. She needed to start looking anyway. The time for it would come very quickly. She had this time now with her niece and she wanted to spend as much time as possible with her.
"It's really been hard to shop." Lisbon admitted as she turned to the closest store she knew. She hadn't hardly thought about buying baby things yet and she didn't know where to start. The cabin wasn't completely ready, though Jane had the room that would be the baby's room almost livable. They just needed to get the furniture in there and decide on a color theme. Right now he had put knotty oak for the walls, since it would be mostly nature themed. She was impressed at how far he had come with the cabin, considering in the beginning when he had the idea, she was unsure of his experience with building. She wasn't sure how to go about shopping for things. She had read some of her book, but she needed to either call Grace Rigsby or Stan's wife Karen for information on questions like that. Jane knew something about it she was sure since he had experience and he was busy with the cabin and coming in once in a while to work.
"Is anybody going to give you a baby shower?" Annie asked.
"Not that I know of. I don't really want a big baby shower." Lisbon admitted. She wasn't thrilled at the idea of everyone staring at her opening baby gifts. Jane wouldn't be thrilled either, though he was calmer than she was with the whole wedding thing, since she was the one inviting people. He wasn't really involved other than the filling out the marriage license and getting a ring for her.
"You don't like being the center of attention." Annie noticed.
"No, we didn't want to have a big wedding. We were just going to have the justice of the peace do it with just Patrick and me. When I told your other uncles they begged to come and then I felt obligated to invite more people." Lisbon admitted. "It kept turning into something bigger than we planned."
"Oh, I see."
"Not only that, we arrested a serial killer that day too. The killer had kidnapped Patrick a couple days before. I was so worried about him then and he was after him for burning his house down." Lisbon explained with worry in her voice at the thought of Jane being captured by Joe Keller.
"Ooh, how exciting. My aunt arrested a serial killer on her wedding day. That's going to be a cool story to tell my friends." Annie raved and as Lisbon smiled at her excited niece.
"But our wedding ended up nice. We got married in front of our cabin. There was only a few people. FBI agents, your uncles and their families, and our friends, Grace Van Pelt and Wayne Rigsby." Lisbon remembered the day. Even though she was freaked out about the idea of a huge wedding with so many people, in the end it didn't matter. She married the man she loved and told him about their miracle she was carrying she thought as she looked down at her belly. They finally arrived at the baby store and then went inside to look around.
"Oh, I remember them." Annie recalled. "I used my pick pocketing skills on Rigsby."
"Why did Jane have to teach you that?" Lisbon rolled her eyes remembering seeing Jane teach her niece the bad habit.
"Now you're calling him Jane?" Annie laughed. "You're a Jane too."
"That's what I always called him actually. I'm using Patrick more often since we've been married,."
"I've noticed." Annie said.
"I thought it would strange for you to hear me call him by his last name. I've gotten used to his first name, but I reserve Jane when I'm mad at him." Lisbon laughed.
"That's funny, Aunt will I see the cabin?" Annie asked.
"We'll have to see how Patrick and your dad are doing?" They browsed around the baby store with the many different types of strollers, cribs, clothes, car seats, and all the accessories needed to take care of a baby. They were walking around the section with the diaper bags. Lisbon didn't know how to choose anything involving babies. Sure, she got Grace something for Maddie when she was born, but she never was involved with looking for the major items needed for a baby since Grace and Wayne were in San Francisco and she was in Washington.
"Ooh, that's a cute bag. Can I get you this?" Annie exclaimed seeing a leopard diaper bag. Lisbon cringed at the leopard. "I don't know about that one. That's a little too wild for me."
"Choose the one you want and I'll get you one. That's probably one of the first things you'll need. That and diapers obviously. I don't know." Lisbon looked around the bags more. Some of them didn't even look like what people would call diaper bags. They looked like briefcases and didn't know how to choose really, but finally she chose a plain mossy green one. Her niece wanted to buy one for her and she was going to let her.
"Are you sure you have enough, Annie? Some of these are expensive." Lisbon asked. She didn't want her niece to spend a fortune.
"Yes, I'm getting one. I have enough money and parents send me money all the time." Annie said. "I don't know when I'll see you next time." Annie admitted as she headed through the aisles of the store.
"Whenever we do get a chance, I don't know when. Patrick and I will try to visit you. We'll be busy. We would want to visit you." Lisbon suggested walking along Annie, who was carrying the bag.
"I'd like that. Whenever you can." Annie answered smiling contentedly.
"Looking at all this stuff in here, I don't know where to start." Lisbon looked around everything in the store.
"I think that's why people have baby showers. So, other people can buy what you need instead of buying it all yourself." Annie explained looking at the baby clothes of boy clothes on one side and girl clothes on the other side.
"You know this how?" Lisbon asked. She did know that, but the idea of having a big party didn't thrill her.
"From my friends. And it's general knowledge." Annie admitted as she finally arrived in a line for the checkout behind other women.
"Don't tell me your friends have babies." Lisbon asked surprised going along side Annie. She hoped Annie's friends didn't have kids at Annie's age.
"No, their mothers had baby showers when they had their siblings when they were younger. They said their women friends would put them on and have games and food and stuff like that." Annie reassured.
"I don't really have women friends close." Lisbon confessed. If Grace was there, she would definitely be the one that would do it but she was in San Francisco. "My problem is I don't know anybody who would give me one. All my friends are male and FBI agents. I highly doubt Cho will be in charge of a baby shower." Lisbon laughed at the thought of the stoic agent setting up a frilly and feminine baby shower. Of course he did help her sucessfully pick out the perfect wedding dress. Who knew what Cho was capable of doing? Annie made it to the register as the cashier looked at her strangely. Annie could sense the woman's confusion. "It's for my aunt right, here." Annie said looking towards Lisbon. The cashier said noticing Lisbon. "Ah, congratulations." Annie paid for the bag and the cashier put it in a sack and gave the receipt and the two left the store.
At the cabin, Tommy and Jane started to work at the cabin. Jane had started on the two main rooms and Tommy looked at the finished walls of the back two rooms of the cabin. Jane started them right away after they got back from their trip. He looked at lumber stores for the perfect wood for the walls. He took Teresa of course, for her approval. They agreed they both liked the knotty oak and would stick with the nature theme of the cabin. He knew they would have to stay in her house while he worked on the cabin. She knew she wouldn't want to stay in the Airstream while she was pregnant, since the bed was so small and uncomfortable. The cabin wouldn't be livable quite yet until they finished. They needed yet to get furniture for both rooms and the living room. They would also add a kitchen. They would have to think about the plumbing and electricity. They needed to get a key made and the doors changed as the cabin came with no key. There was still a lot to work on and he was thankful to have Tommy's help. He also knew that Stan would be willing to help as well. He was still contemplating on having other professional help but he wanted to be the major builder and be proud to build a house for his family.
"This is nice wood for the walls. Did you do this yourself?" Tommy asked as he looked at the walls.
"Yes." Jane said proudly looking as well.
"I'm impressed. So, how did you find this place? This is definitely off the beaten path." Tommy noticed.
Jane thought about how to explain how he found the place. It was really by accident he came across it. He would have to share the point to where he found it when he left for a week. He decided to go ahead and tell. He took a deep breath. He wasn't sure how Tommy would react considering he had hurt his sister in the process of finding the cabin. "Well, I had a hard time after our colleague's death and I just left. I feel guilty about doing it to Teresa now. I shouldn't have left. All I could do was picture your sister in a coffin. My fear took over and I've been concerned for her safety. I've been working with her for years and fear just struck me out of nowhere, not necessarily out of nowhere. It hit hard this time. After I came back , I still needed some time and one night I was at the bar, I was a little drunk and the next morning, I ended up waking up in the field here and saw a three legged dog and decided that dog didn't give up with the disability he had, so why should I? I then saw this cabin and instantly knew that my future was with Teresa and I didn't need to let my fear take over. I hope you don't hate me now."
"That's quite a story." Tommy responded and paused. "I don't hate you. I don't like the idea of what you did but you came back. She's happy now though, that's all that matters." Tommy he changed the subject. "This is a nice place. My only concern with it is the pond. You're going to have a baby in four months and some point the baby will start to walk." Tommy confessed worriedly.
Jane thought about Tommy's concern. He had started thinking about the pond being so close to the house. He now felt a little guilty for buying a house with a hazard for children. He figure out a way to block it off as soon as their child started to walk. "Yes, I am thinking about that. I plan to do a fence around it at some point. I know it's dangerous for small children. At the time I bought it, I was unaware of Teresa's pregnancy."
"You have a good start in the rooms." Tommy stated.
"I've been trying to get as much done as possible, but they've called me in at work at the FBI. I've been trying to cut down. I guess the best laid plans don't happen. They can't do anything without me." Jane stated.
The two men started to work on the middle room putting the boards up. "So, have you had experience with building?" Tommy asked. To, Tommy, Patrick didn't look like someone who could build a house.
"I helped out with building projects some growing up in the carnival but not too much. I have been reading a book." Jane admitted.
"So, you definitely need some expert advice. I've built decks in the past and worked on some building projects. I worked on my house in Chicago and the one in Seattle. You grew up in the carnival?" Tommy asked.
"Yes, I was one of the major acts. My father was involved in my training. The Boy Wonder Psychic." Jane confessed.
"You've been a psychic?"
"Yes, I used to lie to people for a living. And it was the reason I lost my first family by my arrogance." Jane admitted.
"Teresa talked about you some when she came for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Actually, you're all she talked about."
"Probably how much trouble I caused her."Jane said.
"Some, but she talked about you being so good at closing cases and just being a good and important part of her life as well."
"I don't know how she stuck with me so long. I haven't always been the best to her like I mentioned, but she's the best thing that's happened to me after my family died. I love her so much." Jane admitted. "She's my saint Teresa."
"She's always been the strength in our family. She's always been our protector from our father. It was hard with him. He would really get violent and she put yourself in his way to protect us. After our mom died, he changed. She's a fighter, it's no surprise she became a cop."
" I never thought I would have this again, having a family. When she told me to I'd choose life and when it came down to it, I did do just that, I chose life."
Feedback is very appreciated. I will have Stan and Jimmy come at some point. I'll probably have them come separately because Lisbon can only handle her brothers one at a time.