Chapter 25
I've been busy and so I had to take a little break from this story. I started a new one called Potential Pocket Rocket, so please check that out because I'm very excited about it. I've updated X Marks the Spot which is on the Castle/Mentalist Crossover page.
Disclaimer:Don't Own the Show
A month after Stan and his family visiting,they were enjoying their time at home until Lisbon would go back to work. She had to admit, she was getting restless and bored, wanting to get back to work as soon as possible. But her need for working didn't interfere with the fact she was loving being a mother. True, she enjoyed being at home, but sometimes she wanted to get out sometimes. It was sometimes difficult with the baby, with the amount of stuff they had to bring, but when they did decide to go out to a restaurant, they managed it. She was at an easy stage with her still considered a newborn sleeping most of the time. She had grown so much since her birth, she found it hard to believe. She was beginning to think about who to name Lisby Michelle's Godparents. Cho and Wylie were their first choices since they were close. She wanted Wayne and Grace but them living in California they were too far. She wondered if they would have a Christianing, her sister in law, Karen had mentioned it visiting but Lisbon didn't give a definite answer. True, she wanted one, but Jane a nonbeliever she felt sure they wouldn't have one for Lisby Michelle. She'd have to deal with the fact. She hadn't asked him about it because more than likely he'd say no. She walked out and saw her husband getting ready to take the cat once again to the vet for her spaying surgery. Lisbon was glad he cared for the cat. He wanted to make his niece happy he was taking care of it. She watched him take hold of the cat and put her in the carrier, she cried, not liking being trapped and picked the handle up. He was getting ready to go out the door when Lisbon came up to him.
"You're okay going by yourself?" Lisbon asked while holding the baby laying on her shoulder.
"Yes, of course. I'm going to ask Cho to come with me." Jane admitted turning around to look at his wife.
"Why? He's not going to go with you, he hates cats." Lisbon reminded sternly raising her eyebrows.
"True, but I want him to meet the vet." Jane grinned.
"He's not going to want you to interfere with his personal life." Lisbon scolded. "No matchmaking."
"It'll be fine." Jane whispered.
"I'm so ready to get back to work, you're getting too bored." Lisbon rolled her eyes. "You need some mental stimulation."
"You don't enjoy being with our lovely daughter and your loving husband?" Jane asked. "You do remember I'm not going back to work. I'm staying home with Lisby Michelle."
"Of course, I do. It's hard to believe we're being this domestic now because it's starting to get boring. Look at you, you're taking the cat to the vet. Years ago you were posting Red John suspects on your board." Lisbon said."And I have a baby on my shoulder." Lisbon carefully rubbed her daugther's back.
"Teresa, I've been enjoying boring. I love taking care of the baby and you and the cat." He looked down in the carrier at the cat peeking out the cage with longing eyes. "I don't have to worry about you in the field. You've been right here with me." Jane paused and continued. "For years, we've had to worry about when Red John would strike next and I had to hide my feelings from you, so you wouldn't be his victim. I don't need that excitement anymore. I just want my boring life with you, not that you two are boring."
"Jane, I'm going to have to get back to work eventually. I can't be living in this domestic bubble forever because I need my job too." Lisbon explained "I promise to be safer."
"I realize you have to go back to work but that doesn't mean I still won't worry about you. " Jane said.
"I know, I'll be careful. Jane, I've been enjoying boring too. I'll let you go now." Lisbon said. "Good luck with the cat."
Jane kissed Lisbon goodbye and said goodbye to his daughter and went out the door and headed towards the FBI office.
"Hey, Cho, how ya doing?" Jane asked as he walked into the FBI office on the Friday afternoon. "Can you do a favor for me and take time out of your busy schedule to help a friend in need. Can you help me take my cat to the vet?"
"I'm not touching that cat." Cho refused with a grimace looking at the cat in the carrier Jane had carried inside the office.
"Please, Cho, come with me!" Jane begged. "You don't have to touch her, she's in a carrier but she's a sweetheart. I don't have my niece Annie Lou to help."
"Why do you need me to go with you to the vet?" Cho questioned leerily at Jane's intentions and folded his arms.
"For moral support. Teresa can't go, she's with the baby. You can be Godfather instead of Rigsby." Jane reminded. "I'll pay you."
"Are you bribing me so I'll go with you to the vet?" Cho questioned.
"Please, Cho, dear Cho!" Jane begged at his knees and put his hands together.
"You're groveling now. Oh, fine." Cho relented. Jane got up immediately and hugged his friend.
"Thank you, good sir. Pumpkin will thank you." Jane grinned.
"You named the cat after an orange vegetable?" Cho grimmaced.
"Annie Lou's choice." Jane said grinning.
They walked to Jane's car and put the carrier in the car and got in the car and headed out.
"You really considered Rigsby over me?" Cho questioned.
"Nah, just saying it so you'd come with me today." Jane said smiling sneakily.
"Of course. So, you're going to have a ceremony for the baby?" Cho questioned.
"She wants one. I think she would want one." Jane confessed
"How is Lisbon?" Cho asked.
"Itching to go back to work." Jane said.
Arriving at the vet clinic, he and Cho got out of the car entered the clinic. "That cat made noise the entire way." Cho complained.
"She doesn't like going to the vet. She's like me that way, not wanting to go in a cold, white room with frauds in lab coats." Jane noted.
"Welcome back, Mr. Jane." The receptionist with the name tag Bonnie said who recognized him from the time before. "The doctor will be with you."
A brown cocker spaniel came out wagging its tail and tongue happily and looking at the two men with the carrier. It went to Cho first, who didn't respond and then Jane. Jane eagerly petted the dog. "Hello,how ya doing?" Pumpkin still in the cage hissed at the dog. The dog took a sniff in the carrier and the cat pulled out her small paw and swatted at the dog leaving the dog yelping in pain. The dog left the room after the incident with the cat. "Way to fight a dog putting his nose in your business, Pumpkin." Jane laughed after seeing the incident.
"How am I helping you now? I don't get what you're doing?" Cho questioned seriously. "You can handle taking your own cat into the vet."
"Yes, but it helps to have someone else." Jane grinned. "I need your pleasant company, Cho."
"I don't trust you, Jane." Cho looked leerily at Jane.
"Of course, you can trust me. I'm your good friend." Jane said.
"You have something up your sleeve, Jane. I know you do." Cho said.
"I have nothing up my sleeve other than my arm." Jane quipped pulling up his shirt sleeve revealing his arm.
Soon the vet assistant came in, "Mr. Jane, we're ready for you."
Jane and Cho followed the assitant to the exam room and set the carrier on the table. Jane carefully opened it up and the cat wandered on the examination table. The assistant closed the door. The cat looked up at Cho curious of him. He only stared at the cat, then looked away. The knob of the door turned and in entered Dr. Kim. She looked at Jane then glanced at Cho. "Hello, Mr. Jane. I see you're back and brought a friend." Dr. Kim said. She walked towards the table.
"Oh, yes, my friend, Kimball so generously volunteered his time to help take Pumpkn today." Jane grinned.
"I recall you mentioning him." Dr. Kim said looking at Jane questionably. "Let's see Pumpkin. By the way, how's your niece?" Dr. Kim asked changing the subject. Cho reacted similarly.
"Oh, she's fine. She always talks to me and asks how her kitty is when her father calls my wife." Jane said. Jane took out Pumpkin and the cat mewed and walked around the table. Dr. Kim grabbed her and examined her.
"Good to meet you, Dr. Kim. I hate cats, but I decided to go with him anyway." Cho admitted giving Jane a glare knowing the reason his friend brought him here.
Dr. Kim explained the procedure and then said, "We'll take care of her, she'll need to rest a couple days. Everything should go fine." Dr. Kim explained. The vet's assistant stepped in and took the cat to the boarding area and Jane followed. Dr. Kim took the file and finished up her paperwork regarding the cat.
"Sorry about my crazy friend." Cho apologized looking at her.
"Oh, my friends have tried to set me up like this before too." Dr. Kim admitted.
"But sorry for my crazy friend." Cho stated again.
"He seems pretty normal to me. He likes his niece and the cat and you." Dr. Kim said.
"Yes, it's true, he's a very loyal friend and good father. Sometimes I wouldn't exactly call Jane normal. I still wonder how his wife has put up with him for years."
"You've known him a long time, I take it." Dr. Kim said.
"It's a long story." Cho confessed.
"Since, we're supposed to talk to each other what do you do, Kimball?" Dr. Kim asked chuckling.
"I'm the supervisory agent at the FBI here in Austin."
"Sounds like an intense job." Dr. Kim said.
"It is." Cho admitted.
Jane walked in back and grinned, "Are you ready to go Kimball?" Cho stared at Jane.
"Good to meet you, Kimball." Dr. Kim said.
"Good to meet you," Cho started.
"Lily."
After dropping off the cat and getting back in the car, Cho stared at Jane. "What was that all about? You purposely brought me to meet your vet."
"I might have." Jane said sheepishly. "She's single."
"Why?" Cho asked.
"Aren't you lonely? It's great that you have your supervisory agent job. You deserve it, of course but don't you want to enjoy it with someone and have someone to come home to at night?" Jane said.
"I'm fine, Jane. This is something Rigsby would do." Cho noted.
"I'm his subsitute now. I know you sit alone at home at night having yourself a beer and reading a good book." Jane said.
"I like it that way." Cho glared.
"The Rigsbys are married. Lisbon and I just got married and had a baby. I've seen you with a slight hint of jealousy when we've all been together." Jane confessed pulling into the FBI parking lot..
"I'm really fine, Jane. I don't need anybody. Let's leave it at that." Cho said he exited the car.
Jane returned from the vet's office around 3:00PM when walking in the door. The vet required the cat to stay over night after the surgery so all he brought was the empty carrier. He immediately saw Teresa sitting on the rocking chair on the didn't see him, but kept talking. He went to the baby's room and checked on their daughter, who was sleeping soundly in her crib. He stood by the doorway not meaning to listen, but heard her conversation.
"I don't know,Stan, if we'll have a Christianing. We haven't discussed it and I haven't attended church in a long time, since work prevents it at times." Lisbon explained. He saw her listen to her brother who he barely heard on the other line.
"T, just find a Catholic church; they would do it anyway even if you hadn't been to church."
"I know, we could still do it, but the thing is, Patrick is not necessarily a believer. I'll think about it. I'm just not sure if he'll go for it." Lisbon talked disappointedly in her phone.
Jane heard the one sided conversation with her brother and she sounded disappointed. He hadn't realized she would feel this way and he certainly didn't want her to believe he wouldn't do it. Of course, throughout the years, he had made her believe her and others' beliefs were ridiculous. At times, he made comments, but later on he stopped them. She wanted to have a Christianing ceremony for their daughter. He could see it in her eyes as she continued talking with hopefulness. Her Catholic heritage deemed important to her. He always knew her beliefs proved to be important especially when she had a bomb strapped to her body, he recalled her desperate prayers hanging onto her cross for deal life, and the fact he found her in a church praying for him after he'd been in Vegas for six months, and the fact her belief got her through Vega's death easier than him.
He recalled when he talked her into going back to Chicago for Paul's Christianing. That would be one of the first steps she needed to take to reconnect with her brother. She was surprised at the time when he said he would attend the ceremony. He recalled the ceremony filled with rituals he didn't know but however it was nice having family surrounded celebrating the child's new life and welcome into the world.
No matter the differing beliefs their daughter needed to be celebrated. She was the light of their life after darkness for many years. She and Teresa brought new life to the dead man walking around for years.
He heard the conversation finish. He took to the couch and he looked in the paper,for services for the nearest Catholic church. "Teresa, go get your best clothes on. There's a service at 5:00pm." Jane announced getting up and throwing the paper down seeing his wife walked towards him.
She took a careful look at him. "What are you talking about, Jane?" Lisbon said leerily.
"We're going to church." Jane grinned.
"What are you talking about?" Lisbon asked once more. She stared at him flabbergasted, her mouth hanging open at his suggestion.
"You know, it's the place you read the Bible and pray." Jane quipped.
"Yes, I'm very aware of what you do there, but Patrick, why out of the blue are you wanting to go to church?" Lisbon asked. "You don't believe."
"I know you're wanting to have a Christianing for the baby. And you're afraid of my reaction that I wouldn't want it." Jane noted. "I heard you."
"Well, yes, Stan asked about it today. We haven't discussed about whether or not to raise her in some sort of beliefs." Lisbon said.
"We have time. Do you want to go to church?" Jane asked.
"Of course, I do, but can we take the baby?"
"Yes, we can. When we're going to have a Christianing the priest and the congregation need to meet her." Jane grinned. "And beside the baby is part of our family."
"Did you say when?" Lisbon shakily asked not believing his words.
"Yes, we should have one. It's a celebrating her life like they did for Paul. I'm all for that. I've disappointed you many times, I don't want to disappoint you again."
Lisbon smiled with thankful tears in her eyes at her husband. "Thank you so much." She hugged him tightly, giving him a sweet kiss on the lips. "Let's go to church." Lisbon dressed in the dress she wore at Paul's Christianing and Jane, of course in his three piece suit.
They arrived at St. Mary's Catholic Church, entered the large entryway and welcomed by greeter passing out bulletins detailing the order of service and announcements, and soon they made their way to the decorated church with stained glass windows depicting the crucifixion of Christ, a Crucifix in the front at the altar and wooden pews with red plush fabric lining up the large room with people gathering in their selected seats, and a large organ sat in the upstairs loft with a woman playing. Lisbon and Jane took a seat towards the back with an older lady. Lisbon kept focused on the prayers and hymns and eventually the priest's sermon and all the while he held his wife's hand. When Lisbon went up to communion, Jane stayed with the baby in the car seat. The old woman sitting in the same pew as Jane l took a peek at Lisby Michelle. "Your child's lovely." The baby slept most of the time during the service, which was lucky for them and when she did wake up, she made soft noises.
"Thank you." Jane said. He didn't mind going for her because he wanted her to be happy. After the service, they gathered in line and waited to be greeted by the priest. "You must be new." The priest said observing the couple. " I'm Father James." He shook each of their hands.
"I'm Teresa."
"I'm Patrick."
"It's nice to meet you. And who's this?" Father James noticed the baby.
"Lisby Michelle." Jane answered.
"You just moved here?" Father James asked.
"No, we just haven't had a chance to come. Our work keeps us busy." Lisbon admitted.
"She's the Catholic. I'm just exploring." Jane said admittingly which was true.
"We've been thinking about having our daughter Christianed." Lisbon admitted.
"You've come to the right place." Father James said.
I plan to do the actual Christianing in the next chapter. I had been thinking about the idea of a Christianing, but I hadn't gotten inspired until now. I know that would be something Stan and Karen would ask about with their Catholic heritage. I will also plan to do more with Cho and Dr. Kim. I felt kind of sad Cho didn't have anybody at the end of the series. I know he likes being boss but I think he should have somebody.