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Another One?
“Are you sure I can’t get you anything?” Jane asks, doting on his wife who is looking a little worse for wear. Lisbon shakes her head. She’s been struggling with a sickness bug over the past few days, but he has been doing his best to look after her. “Maybe you should see a doctor.” He suggests, obviously growing in concern.
“If I am still feeling grim on Monday, I will.” She promises with a soft smile just as their son comes toddling into the bedroom who frowns on seeing his mother in bed again. He may only be two years old, three next month, but even he knows that it isn’t normal being sick for so long. “How about you take Noah to the park? It is Saturday so that boy he likes erm…”
“Ace.”
“Ace! He should be there.”
“Ace!” Their toddler exclaims and claps his hands enthusiastically, forgetting what he was previously worried about. “Daddy park!” He them aimlessly grabs at his father’s legs making his parents chuckle so Patrick takes pity on him and picks him up before resting him carefully on his hip.
“Looks like we are going to the park.” He tells the toddler who grins whilst exclaiming with joy and despite feeling so green, the mother takes in the sight of her two curly-haired boys looking so excited at the prospect of just leaving the house to visit the park down the road with glee. This is what it has been like though, since he has left the FBI, her husband has felt so much freer. There hasn’t been this unbearable weight on his shoulders, and he has simply loved being a dad again – and he is not taking it for granted. “Let’s get you ready then monkey.” He says to his blue-eyed boy before leaving the bedroom, in search for some more practical clothes for playing on the equipment at the park.
Their son brings them both so much happiness and although there was a time during her pregnancy that she wondered and worried that perhaps she wouldn’t be the best mother – and understandably nervous at prospect – thankfully she was wrong, her husband made her see that and in hindsight it was probably the difficulties pregnancy brought that caused her low mood and anxiety. She was unlucky, every not-so-nice symptom under the sun she was subjected to. The morning sickness at times felt never-ending. She’s not felt so unwell since then… not until now.
Teresa sits up in bed with a start but immediately regrets it because of a spike of pain in her skull. Headaches, fatigue, nausea, aversion to food, faintness… she can’t be. No. “Might take an umbrella.” Jane murmurs when re-enters the bedroom in search of a green froggy brolly that was bought for Noah by his Auntie Grace and Uncle Wayne. “You do look pale.” The mentalist comments peering over at his partner who has appeared to have forgotten how to breathe. “Are you sure you want us to go out?”
“Yeah.” She manages and nervously tuck a lock of her dark hair behind her ear as she ransacks her brain, trying to work out when she last had her period. Was it really that long ago? “I will be okay.” So after leaning down to give her a kiss on her hot forehead, he leaves her be, to rest, when actually she now has other plans. Her two boys will be out for a couple of hours and during that time she will be popping to the store to pick up some tests. Is it bad that she is getting her hopes up? She is trying not to just in case it is negative but… if it isn’t? Then that’s good… right?
xxx
Staring at the white stick she just blinks a few times not quite taking it in. It’s positive. She’s pregnant… again.
For a long time, she didn’t think she would ever have a kid, time was ticking, and she didn’t have a relationship to speak of. She thinks that’s why she went got with Marcus Pike; he was a safe option because Jane didn’t appear to be one – until he was. Even then she was never expecting being a mother, but it really is the greatest gift, and now she gets to do it all again. She’s smiling, a massive juxtaposition to her reaction the first time which was pure panic. Her partner was gone, losing his head over the death of Agent Vega, continuing worrying about the danger she faces, and he wasn’t answering her calls or texts. For all she knew he was never returning. She remembers feeling so sick and not just because of it being a pregnancy symptom but because the future was a mystery. An intimidating, scary mystery.
This time it isn’t like that.
xxx
“Hey honey.” Jane greets when she enters the kitchen to find him feeding a yogurt to Noah in his highchair. “You feeling any better?”
Lisbon looks as pale as when he left her, her dark hair tied up messily and there are black bags lining her green eyes – sleep has been eluding her the past few nights – but there is something definitely different to her than before. There is a slight sparkle in her eyes, and she looks happy, genuinely happy, and he is now wondering what has changed in the past couple of hours. “A little yes.” Does she just come out and say it? When she did this last time, she was so nervous because of what happened in the weeks running up to it but there isn’t that nervousness now, well, not exactly anyway. It is there just different. “How was the park?”
When the mentalist isn’t paying attention, their son pulls the yogurt tub and spoon from his hands to messily feed himself and fleetingly she observes her partner’s internal battle of knowing that it is good for the toddler to be independent, but this also means a change of clothes will be necessary. Is feeding time ever easy? He sighs with a shake of his head, obviously deciding that it is fine before replying to his wife. “A bit busy but Ace was there so this one was happy.” Their eyes dart back to the young boy who is too preoccupied in sticking his face in his food to notice he is being spoken about. “What have you been doing?”
“Um.” She hums, deep in thought, wondering how she is going to say this. He can almost see her mind working at a hundred miles per hour and it makes him cock his head. “I-I err, worked out why I have been unwell.”
“Oh?” He questions and is immediately striding towards her, his brow creased in trepidation. When she opens her mouth to tell him no words come out and she shuts it again, but that just increases his anxiety. “What is it, Teresa?” He carefully asks, not entirely sure if he wants to know the answer in case it is really bad.
Lisbon takes a deep breath whilst holding his hands lovingly, the warmth of them making some of the tension in her form melt away. “I’m…” She trails and when she peers up through her lashes, she sees the obvious worry in his sea blue eyes, and she doesn’t want that. He’s passed the point of continual anxiety and she doesn’t want him going back to that dark place. “I’m pregnant.”
His breath hitches in his throat out of shock as his mind turns to mush. She’s… pregnant? They’re going to have another kid! “Y-you are?” Briefly she is apprehensive about his reaction, but his lips turn upwards, and his face breaks out into a huge smile. “We are going to have a baby?”
“Yes.” She breathlessly replies, followed by a heart-warming giggle. “Well, another one.”
“How? When?” He is obviously both pleased and hyped by the news, he is almost skipping on the spot, and it is so lovely to see. His smile is one of the brightest she has ever seen, and she is so glad that it has become a common occurrence; when they first met it was far from it. “How are you feeling? Are you okay with the news?”
“I’m okay, more than okay. It felt better finding out this time than last time.” Jane nods in understanding, feeling slightly ashamed of the situation when she found out she was pregnant with Noah – but the last thing she wants is for him to dwell. “And what do you mean how and when? We aren’t exactly careful, and should I be alarmed that you don’t remember our passionate lovemaking?” She teases with a clear glint in her emerald green eyes. “I thought we had a few more years left before your mind started to go, old man.”
“Hey!” He exclaims but she can tell he is finding this whole interaction highly amusing despite the protest in his tone. “My mind is a fortress and less of the old man.” He then sweeps her up in his arms to not only add to his point but also (mainly) to hold her close.
This is the greatest news. There is nothing he loves more than to be a father and he gets to have that joy all over again. He feels overjoyed and oh so lucky.