Secret Santa: Blush Pink

"So, it's almost Christmas," Jane said as he lounged on his couch drinking tea.  "What are all of you going to do?"  Nobody answered his question.  "I'm sorry I asked.  But I'm sure you all have wonderful plans.  I have none in case you're wondering, and you probably weren't."  He leaned back and sighed, hoping that would get a reaction from somebody.  He continued to sit in silence for a while as everyone just focused on their work.  Just what he expected.

"Hey, Jane," Lisbon said a few moments later.  "Could you come in my office?  Right now."

"Sure."  Jane got up and followed Lisbon, not knowing quite what to expect.  At least it wasn't going to be something bad, she didn't seem angry at all.  That was good.  "So, what's going on?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to, well..."  Lisbon paused, blushing a little.

"Is this about your Christmas plans?  You want to invite me to have a Christmas celebration with your family.  Wow, this'll almost be like taking a boyfriend to meet the family."

Lisbon stopped blushing and glared at Jane.  "Jane!" she snarled.

"I'm smelling annoyance and anger.  I'll stop talking soon...after I let you know I'll be glad to accept your invitation."  Jane ducked out of the room and went back to his couch, smiling a little.  He finished his tea.

When Christmas Eve finally arrived, Jane went with Lisbon to her hometown.  He was more excited than she was, but he wasn't surprised at all about that.  She probably assumed that he was going to embarrass her in front of her family when they barely knew anything about him.

"It'll be fine, Lisbon, it really will," Jane assured his friend.  He wanted to pat her on the shoulder but knew she might not like it.  "You never know, they might like me."

"I really hope you don't do anything stupid."

"I promise I won't.  Hopefully I won't.  I'll try not to cause any problems."  Jane grinned reassuringly as he entered the Lisbon family home at his colleague's side.

Lisbon introduced Jane to the family members that hadn't already met him.  He flashed everyone a charming smile before they ate dinner.  Surprisingly, the meal went well.  This was due to Jane not saying much.

Everyone exchanged gifts and then things grew quiet and people formed small groups.  Jane walked around the house, looking for the mistletoe he expected to be somewhere in it.  He located it and smiled.  He went back to the living room and crouched next to Lisbon and stared at her until she looked at him.

"What?"

"I found something in the house that I want to look at with you."

"What is it?"

"I can't tell you that...it would ruin the surprise."

Lisbon sighed and rolled her eyes.  "Okay."  She got off the couch and began following Jane, who took her hand.  When they stopped she looked up and back at Jane, who was now grinning nervously.  "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I think that should be obvious."

"But you..."  She couldn't bear bringing up his dead wife.

"Yeah, well...I thought..."

Lisbon looked at Jane for a while, watching him slowly turn pinker and pinker.  "O-okay.  Come here."

Jane moved closer to Lisbon.  He wrapped his arms around her back.  He leaned over, kissing her.  He stopped after a few moments.  "Nobody at work will ever know about this."

"Good."

"Well, Merry Christmas."  Jane and Lisbon returned to the living room, smiling warmly at each other.