168Author's Note: HEY EVERYONE! So, this is the sequel to "The Littlest Lisbon". EEP! I'm excited! In fear of blabbering too long in this author's note, I think I will just say that I hope you all enjoy this story as much as the first one.
Disclaimer: It's not my birthday yet, so I still have my thin little ray of hope that someone will get me the Mentalist.
The alarm went off and Lisbon grumbled, but turned it off and opened her eyes.
"Mnh. Don't get up." Jane mumbled, nuzzling his face into the back of her shoulder and holding her tighter.
"I have to. We promised Melody that we'd go with her and her father to drop her off on her first day." Lisbon yawned. "Be grateful. This is later than we would have had to get up for work." Lisbon threw the covers off of herself before sliding out of Jane's grip and going to take a shower and change.
-Mentalist-
"Teresa! Patrick!" Melody ran over to them. She was wearing her neon pink and green backpack that they had bought for her while they were school shopping. It was still much too big, but it was the smallest one they could find. Melody's t-shirt had some Pokémon on it that Lisbon couldn't remember the name of, paired with some dark jeans, light up sneakers and her hair was worn in two pigtails.
"Hi, Melody!" Lisbon smiled, picking Melody up and spinning her in the air before hugging her and kissing her head. "Are you excited and all ready for school?"
"Yeah!"
"That's wonderful." Lisbon passed Melody over to Jane.
"You're going to have an awesome day!" Jane kissed Melody's cheek. "I just know you will."
"Thank you." Melody hugged him.
Jane put Melody down and the three adults escorted Melody into the building.
"This looks like your class." James said, looking at the number and name plate on the door. "106. Ms. Clarkson." He knocked on the door.
Melody shuffled her feet nervously.
"You okay, Melody?" Jane asked.
"Mhm." Melody nodded, still shuffling her feet and not looking up to meet his eyes.
"You nervous?" Jane probed.
"Nooo." Melody still didn't look at him.
James knelt down in front of her and kissed her head. "It's okay if you're nervous. I was nervous on my first day ever, too. Just be yourself and have fun. It's going to be okay. I promise. And Teresa and Patrick are going to pick you up after school. I'll see you when I get off work."
"Okay." Melody nodded, smiling at her father.
The door was opened by a middle-aged blonde woman in a blouse and jeans. Her hair was pulled back into a bun. "Hello." She smiled.
James stood up and turned to face her. "Hi, Ms. Clarkson." He held out his hand.
"Nice to meet you." Ms. Clarkson shook his offered hand. She noticed Melody standing close to her father's side, smiling bravely. "And you must be Melody. Our new student."
"Yeah." Melody nodded.
"It's very nice to meet you."
"Thank you. Nice to meet you, too."
"This is my sister, Teresa, and her fiancé, Patrick. They're going to pick Melody up in the afternoon." James explained.
"Very well." Ms. Clarkson returned her attention to the adults. "I look forward to seeing you both later. She shook Lisbon and Jane's hands.
"Likewise." Jane smiled and nodded as he shook Ms. Clarkson's hand.
James picked Melody up, giving her a big hug and a kiss on the nose. "I'll see you tonight." He told her. "I want to hear all about your amazing first day."
"Okay." Melody kissed his cheek. Melody also got a hug, kiss and words of encouragement from Jane and Lisbon before she was placed back on her feet.
"Ready to meet your new classmates?" Ms. Clarkson asked Melody, holding out her hand.
Melody gave a definitive nod and took the teachers hand, following her through the door and waving goodbye to the three adults one final time for the morning.
James took a deep breath, knowing he had to let go and trust Melody to be able to handle herself. "Her school ends at-"
"Three." Jane finished for him. "Don't worry. We won't forget. She's gonna be fine. She's a good kid."
James smiled. "Thanks. I gotta run. Work. I hope this didn't make you guys too late."
"It's fine." Lisbon shook her head. "Patrick barely even woke up this morning anyway."
"Don't blame this on me." Jane gasped, making Lisbon and James laugh.
"I'll pick her up at seven." James said, giving Lisbon and Jane each a hug before hurrying off to his car.
Jane and Lisbon made their way to their car a bit more leisurely, hand in hand.
"I'm surprised." Jane commented after a moment while they walked on the sidewalk to their car. The traffic in and around the school lot was horrible at the moment, so they had parked down the street.
"Hm?" Lisbon raised a brow.
"I'm surprised with you. And a bit with James. I thought you were going to be super protective. Go all 'mama bear Lisbon' on me. But, no, you held it together. Bravo."
"I am not that bad." Lisbon scoffed.
Jane chuckled, letting go of her hand so he could wrap his arm around her waist. "Of course you are." He kissed her head. "I'm surprised with James, too. He held himself together quite well. But he's nervous. I get it."
"Of course." Lisbon agreed. "Thank you for sharing your great knowledge and insight." Lisbon joked sarcastically.
"Oh, you laugh." Jane told her. "Go right ahead. But, I've had more experience with this sort of thing than you."
The smile faltered on Lisbon's face and she felt some awkwardness invade their moment. "I-I'm sorry." She whispered as they stopped in front of their car.
"You don't have to be." Jane said, hugging her and kissing her head. "I'm learning how to handle living with it better. I have you and Melody to thank for that."
Lisbon pulled away enough to look at him and smiled slightly. "I'm glad you're finding peace with yourself on the topic."
"I am." Jane nodded before leaning forward and placing a small kiss on her lips. "Lets go before everyone thinks that we've gotten lost on our way to work."
Lisbon smiled and went to get in the driver's seat and they headed off to work.
-Mentalist-
"Hey! I was wondering if we were going to bump into you two!" Jane greeted Sandy and Andy Fallon.
"Hello." Sandy returned just as cheerfully, giving Lisbon and Jane each a hug. "So, you and James did end up enrolling Melody here."
"It was the closest school to their apartment that still had openings." Lisbon nodded.
"How was Melody this morning?" Andy asked. "Or did just James drop her off?"
"Oh, no. We came as well." Jane assured the other man. "She was a little nervous, but she seemed to handle it all very well."
"Was Ellie nervous?" Lisbon asked.
"Very." Sandy nodded. "She was almost terrified. Her cheeks were red before we even found the classroom. Poor baby. But we tried to be as cheerful and encouraging as we could."
"That's all you can do." Jane nodded. "And then trust them to be able to handle themselves well for the day."
"Yeah." Andy nodded. "Can't coddle them forever. As easy as that would be."
"I hear that." Lisbon agreed.
"But at least they'll both see one friendly face." Sandy smiled.
"That's true." Jane conceded as they looked at all the kindergarteners pouring into the little fenced-off play area after the final bell.
"There's Ellie." Sandy told them when she saw her daughter. "Ellie!" Sandy and her husband waved to get the girl's attention.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Ellie's face lit up and she ran over to meet her parents at the fence door.
"Melody!" Lisbon called and waved when she saw her niece walk out of the school door.
"Teresa! Patrick!" Melody sprinted to the fence door right behind Ellie to meet her aunt and soon to be uncle.
Ms. Clarkson was standing by the door and opened it for the two girls.
"Did you have fun?" Lisbon asked, crouching down to give Melody a hug and picking her up. Ellie was already being hugged by both her parents.
"Yeah!" Melody practically giggled.
"What are those?" Jane asked, referring to the papers that Melody had in her hands.
"Pictures." Melody told him. "I made them."
"Wow." Jane smiled. "They sound wonderful."
"They were very good girls today." Ms. Clarkson informed the adults. "Wonderful."
Melody and Ellie looked at each other and smiled, proud of themselves.
"That's very nice to hear." Sandy smiled and kissed Ellie's head.
They all moved aside so that another child could be picked up by their parents.
"Be sure to let James know that he's free to call us any time. We could give Melody and Ellie another play date. Maybe we'll go for a picnic or something."
"A picnic?" Melody gasped, smiling. "I want to go on a picnic!"
"You'll have to ask Daddy." Lisbon kissed Melody's cheek.
"We'll be sure to remind him." Jane said. "Sounds like fun."
"We'll see you later then." Andy nodded.
"Of course." Jane smiled.
They all said their goodbyes and headed their separate ways.
"Am I going to CBI with you?" Melody asked as Lisbon strapped her into the car seat.
"Yes." Lisbon answered.
"Yay!" Melody cheered as they pulled out of their parking spot and drove to the office. The drive was filled with Melody babbling on about her first day of school, which Jane and Lisbon happily listened to.
"And I got a gold star for my ABC's!" Melody informed them excitedly as they pulled into their parking space in the CBI lot.
"A gold star!" Jane gasped, smiling as he turned to look at her. "Well, now you're going to have to show us your gold star. That's wonderful."
"Thank you." Melody smiled and blushed at the compliment.
They all got out of the car and walked into the CBI building.
"Hello!" Melody waved to the team, working diligently in the bullpen.
"Hi." Van Pelt smiled brightly and waved back. "How was your first day of school?"
"It was really good!" Melody told her as she ran over to the red headed agent for a hug.
"That's wonderful." Van Pelt gave Melody a big hug.
Once Melody had gotten a hug from Van Pelt, she hurried to give one to Cho who stoically returned the gesture, but Jane was sure there was a smile hidden on his face.
"Are you going to show Teresa and I the gold star you got today?" Jane asked as Lisbon started to head for her office. Anything to keep the brunette from working.
"Oh, a gold star." Rigsby sounded impressed as he and Melody shared a hug. "You must have had a very good time. Good job." He held out his hand and Melody gave him a high-five.
"Thank you." Melody smiled and hurried to follow Jane into Lisbon's office. They all sat on the couch and Jane handed the pictures he was holding on to for Melody.
"What are those?" Lisbon asked, referring to the papers.
"They're pictures." Melody told her. She held one of them out to her. "This one is for you and Patrick."
"Yeah?" Lisbon smiled, taking the picture and looking at it. "So, this is us. What's going on in the picture?"
"This is you." Melody pointed. "And that's Patrick. That's me. We're at Disneyland with the princesses."
"What's that black spot on your face?" Lisbon asked.
"It's my eye patch."
"Is that a ninja sword?" Jane asked, pointing that the black line drawn over one side of Melody's dress in the picture.
"Yes." Melody grinned.
"It's a lovely picture." Lisbon kissed Melody's head.
"Thank you."
"Who's this picture for?" Jane asked, looking at the second picture Melody had. "Is this one for Daddy?"
"Yeah." Melody nodded.
"What's happening in it?" Jane inquired.
"Me and Daddy are playing soccer at the park in Chicago. And those are the seagulls. One of them tried to steal my ice cream that Daddy bought me. But I got it away from them."
"What's that?" Lisbon pointed at a light brown blotch on James' shirt.
"It's a band-aid." Melody explained. "Because Daddy is going to get all better and then we can go play soccer all the time."
"I'm sure he'd love to play more soccer with you." Lisbon kissed Melody's head again. "He'll love the picture."
"I hope so." Melody looked up at her aunt.
-Mentalist-
It was just after seven when James showed up to take Melody home. Melody was almost asleep on Lisbon's office couch.
"Hi, sweetie." James picked her up carefully and her head rested on his shoulder.
"Hi, Daddy." Melody slurred tiredly as her eyelids drooped while her head rested on his shoulder.
"Are you that tired after your first day?" James chuckled.
"Mnh." Melody grumbled.
"Patrick played 'tag' with her today." Lisbon rolled her eyes.
"That explains it." James smiled. "Say goodnight to Teresa, Melody."
Melody lifted her head from her father's shoulder and looked at her aunt.
Lisbon gave Melody a hug. "Goodnight. Sweet dreams. I'll see you tomorrow after school."
"Goodnight, Teresa." Melody yawned, returning the hug.
James and Melody also said goodnight to the rest of the team, including Jane, and then headed out to go home.
"I think today went very well." Jane said happily, strolling back into Lisbon's office as she sat down behind her desk.
"I think so, too." Lisbon nodded. "Just don't play tag with her tomorrow. That actually put another complaint on my desk."
"We'll see what happens tomorrow, tomorrow." Jane smiled as he leaned over her desk and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
Author's Note: That was chapter one. Let me know what you all think. I hope you enjoyed it. See you at the next chapter. =3
