A/N: Two more chapters after this one - they're both quite short.

xxx

There was much more puppy pee and poop throughout the rest of the night, but thankfully, no more puppy vomit.

All eight puppies made it through the night, and Lisbon had kissed him. Jane could have done a jig. Instead, he busied himself cleaning up the puppies, the puppy box, and himself while Lisbon went to go pick up Lily.

By the time Lisbon came back with Lily, Jane felt they were all in respectably kissable shape. He didn't know about the puppies, but he was angling for additional kisses, this time with no poop or vomit involved.

Lily looked much more like herself.

"How's our girl?" Jane asked Lisbon, going to the front door to greet them when they came in. He bent to scratch Lily's ears. She nuzzled his hand and panted a friendly greeting.

"Much better," Lisbon said, unclipping Lily's leash.

Lily made a beeline for the puppy box and made a thorough inspection of the puppies. The puppies turned their little blind faces towards her and wriggled their way over to her in search of their next meal.

"Is she okay to nurse?" Jane said anxiously, watching them.

"Yes," Lisbon said. "We'll have to wean the puppies early, though."

"We'll manage," Jane said, taking her by the hand. He looked into her eyes. "Hi."

She smiled. "Hi."

"I've been waiting for you," he told her.

"Oh?"

"Yes. I have something that requires your attention on the couch," he said, drawing her across the room by the hand.

"Did you hide something in the seat cushions?" she asked suspiciously.

"Not in the couch, on the couch. Namely, me." He made a production of stretching out on the couch, then held his arms out to her. "I think we should take a nap together."

"I am pretty tired," Lisbon acknowledged. She hesitated. "We could sleep in the bed, you know."

Jane shook his head. "If we sleep in the bed, we'll both still be worrying about the dogs. Also, if we sleep in your bed, you might be tempted to stay on your side, and the whole point of the nap in the first place is so I can hold you close."

"That's the whole point?" Lisbon said. She sounded both pleased and amused. "What about that little thing called sleep?"

"The sleeping part is incidental." He beckoned her to come closer. "Come along, my dear. Nap time is a wastin'."

"This is the first time I've ever been hustled into a nap," Lisbon commented, shrugging off her jacket and tossing it on a nearby chair. She lay down on the couch next to him.

Jane pulled her so she was half on top of him, then pecked her on the lips. "So glad you could join me."

She settled in closer and kissed him back. "Glad to be here."

Jane sighed in contentment and closed his eyes. He truly could not imagine a happiness greater than having the soft weight of Teresa Lisbon pressed up against him like this.

"You make a very nice blanket," he told her.

"You make a nice pillow."

"That's what makes ours such a great partnership," Jane told her. "We complement each other's strengths."

"Hush," Lisbon murmured. "Talk later. I'm trying to nap."

Jane smiled and threaded his fingers through her hair. "Yes, dear."

Xxx

They slept on the couch for about two hours, then got up to check on Lily and the puppies. Seeing all was well in that quarter, they decided lunch was in order.

Jane set down a sandwich in front of Lisbon and took a seat opposite her at the kitchen table.

"So," he said, studying her closely. "I suppose we should talk."

Lisbon looked alarmed. "No," she said quickly. "I mean—we don't have to. Talking isn't that great. Highly overrated if you ask me."

"Well, I think we should," Jane said firmly.

"Can't it wait?" Lisbon pleaded. "We barely got any sleep last night. We're both still tired. We should wait to talk until we're better rested."

"You're stalling."

"Talking never helps anything," Lisbon said mutinously.

Jane scooted his chair closer to her and took her hand. "What if I promised you that it would?"

Lisbon wouldn't meet his gaze. "You're the world's biggest liar, so I wouldn't believe you."

"I'm not going to lie about this," Jane said.

"You're not ready," she said unhappily. "You said you needed time to sort things out, and then I forced the issue by kissing you last night."

He raised his eyebrows. "You'll note I was an eager participant in the kissing. Both last night and today."

She brushed this off. "You're just caught up in the domestic fantasy brought on by sleep deprivation and puppy cuteness. I get it. I feel it, too. But once we leave these four walls, the fantasy falls apart."

"And you think talking about it will make it fall apart, too," Jane concluded.

She bit her lip. "I just wanted to hold onto that feeling for a little longer."

"So why don't we?"

"Because it's still a fantasy." She pulled her hand away. "Sooner or later, we'll have to deal with the real world."

She'd panicked, he realized. He'd scared her with his talk of things he wanted to hold on to and things he was thinking about letting go. "You're afraid we got a little ahead of ourselves, and that once we leave the fantasy land of dog poop and puppy vomit, I'm going to retreat. Go back to full time Red John obsession."

"I'm not sure I'd put it exactly like that," Lisbon muttered.

"Lisbon, you haven't forced anything," Jane said. "I'm the one who practically moved in with you when Lily came into our lives. You really think that would have happened if my priorities hadn't already started to change? If things between you and me hadn't been nearing a tipping point? We didn't get ahead of ourselves. If anything, we're behind ourselves."

Lisbon frowned. "What do you mean?"

He took her hand again. "This has all been a long time coming, Teresa. The kissing isn't precipitating a major change in our relationship, it's a natural progression on a path we started down a long time ago."

"Be that as it may," Lisbon said stubbornly. "We've been operating without any of the normal pressures in our lives, holed up here with Lily and the puppies."

"You think I've forgotten what a danger Red John poses to you?" Jane said. "Why do you think it's taken me this long to get to this point in the first place?"

"Irreconcilable differences," Lisbon said miserably. "You want to kill Red John and I'm not going to let you. And—well, I didn't think you felt that way about me. Or that you still consider yourself married. Or both."

"Okay, let's take those things one at a time. First, Red John." Jane took a deep breath. "I don't deny I want to kill him, but that's one of the things I've been thinking I'm going to have to let go."

Lisbon stared at him. "Are you serious?"

"The problem is, I haven't figured out how to reconcile letting that go with a certainty that he'll continue to pose a threat to you and everyone else I care about as long as he's alive," Jane said with a frown. "I don't think arresting him will be adequate, do you?"

"You're worried he'll escape. Or somehow manage to keep killing people from behind bars through his helpers."

"Yes."

Lisbon sighed. "I agree."

"But you still don't want me to kill him."

"I don't want you to become a murderer. If it were self-defense, it would be different. Real self-defense, I mean. None of this letter of the law nonsense you're so fond of. But I don't want you to endanger yourself, either."

Jane found this encouraging. "So you're not set on him sitting trial and going to jail?"

Lisbon grimaced. "If it were a justified kill, I'd have no problem putting a bullet between his eyes myself. But the fact that we're even talking about this means that if I did kill him, I'd always wonder, after, if there wasn't another way."

It was very inconvenient, having fallen in love with such a morally upright soul, Jane reflected. "I understand." He pondered the conundrum. "What if I could figure out a way to manipulate one of his helpers into killing him?"

"How is that different from you murdering him yourself?"

"Far less satisfying but less likely to result in me going to jail."

Lisbon shook her head. "It still goes back to the whole letter of the law thing. I don't like it."

"And I don't like the idea of your life constantly being under threat."

"This is why you didn't want to say anything," Lisbon said sadly. "Everything we believe in and want to happen relating to Red John is in conflict."

"That's not true," Jane said. "We both want not to be murdered. We both want him to not threaten or murder anyone we care about or any more innocent people. See? Lots of common ground."

"It doesn't change anything, though," Lisbon said, frustrated.

"Of course it does. It already has."

She looked skeptical. "How?"

He took a deep breath. "I'm not going to let an anticipated threat keep me from being with you anymore. It terrifies me, because I don't know how I'll manage if he threatens your life, Teresa. But I know I'll manage better if we face that together. I don't want to let that fear dictate how I live my life anymore."

Tears filled her eyes. "Jane."

"I need you to go into this with eyes wide open, Teresa," Jane said, his voice shaking. "The thought of him threatening you petrifies me. I'll be a wreck a lot of the time. The smart thing to do would be for you to throw me out on my ear immediately and change all your locks."

She smiled faintly. "Like that'd keep you out."

"Teresa," he said, pained.

She squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to make light of what you're saying. I know how hard this is for you. But I know what I want, Jane. I understand the risks. I'd rather be with you than let fear dictate how I live my life, too."

Suddenly holding her hand wasn't enough. He drew her to her feet and engulfed her in a bear hug. "You're—you're sure?" he choked out.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and tucked her face into the crook of his neck. "I'm sure."

"Okay." He let out a shuddering breath. "So—we have a few things to work through relating to Red John. But we're agreed we're going to work through them together. Solo obsessing is to be limited and followed by discussion before further action is taken. Agreed?"

Lisbon pressed a sweet kiss to his neck. "I can live with that."

"All right, then. That leads us to the next thing."

He let her go and pulled his ring from his finger with shaking hands. His hand still trembling, he pressed his ring into her palm. "I belong to you, Teresa. No one else. It's—it's been that way a long time."

Lisbon's fingers clutched the ring reflexively. "I—I feel the same way, Jane."

"Excellent." He gathered her into his arms again. "As far as how I feel about you—I'd happily clean up puppy poop the rest of my days if it meant I got to come home to you. I'm in love with you, Teresa."

Lisbon put her arms around his neck. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that," she teased.

He pressed a light, sweet kiss to her lips. "I love you."

She sighed and melted into him. "I love you, too."