(A/N): Okay, many apologies for not posting this sooner. Half of it was written down on a piece of paper, and I managed to lose it. I swear, I didn't think it had been so long since I posted the first chapter of the story, but apparently it has been. Oopsy. Anyway, I hope I did it justice. I couldn't go into many details, as many aspects of their partnership would be things that neither Jane nor Lisbon would want to tell their five year old, to be perfectly honest. But still, I've done my best with my poor overtired brain. Chapters for other stories should be up soon, including Through Thick and Thin, which will be posted as soon as I find my Season 1 DVD so I can finish the chapter.

Let me know what you think, and a massive thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed this story. But most of all, Enjoy!

See you soon,

HeavenSkye x

I do not own the mentalist, unfortunately. If I did, they would have gotten together before now, and there would be more than seven seasons. Grr.

Not the average bedtime story.

Chapter 2.

"Okay." Jane smiled down at Emma. "Who is usually in a fairytale?"

Emma thought for a moment before beaming up at her father. "A prince and a princess." She said firmly before hesitating. "And a baddie too." She added after a moment.

Jane and Lisbon both tightened their hold on their daughter. Whist they would never put the audacious five year old in harms' way, Emma had been at the FBI when people had been arrested and brought in for questioning, and so was very wary of what she termed, 'the baddies'.

Jane soothed his daughter with a warm smile. "Okay. Let's start with the princess, okay?"

Emma nodded, snuggling further into her bed. "Okay, daddy."

Jane and Lisbon shared a quick smile before Jane began in a soft voice. "Once upon a time, there was a princess. She lived in a castle with the king, the queen, and her brothers, the princes. One day, the queen unexpectedly died, and the king followed soon after, leaving the princess and princes alone in the world."

"Oh no!" Emma cried out, hands over her mouth and eyes wide. "That's terrible."

"I know." Lisbon glared at Jane, silently yelling at him for bringing her past up in a bedtime story, even if it was about the two of them.

Jane nodded. "Yes, but because of that, the princess decided to give the throne to her brothers, and she joined the knights to slay bad guys."

Emma smiled again at that and looked up at her mother. "You really joined the knights, mommy?"

Lisbon decided to play along. "Yes, I did, Em, in the kingdom of the CBI, in California."

"Wow."

Jane cleared his throat a little, sending Lisbon a mock glare. She simply raised an eyebrow in response. "Who's telling this story?"

Both Lisbon and Emma rolled their eyes at him, causing Jane to bite his lip to stifle a grin. His girls were so alike, and not just in looks. "Hurry up and tell it then, daddy. I really want to know how mommy saved you!" Emma told him, arms crossed stubbornly across her chest.

"Yeah, hurry up, daddy." Lisbon teased.

"Right, now we flip to the prince. He had a wife and a little girl, and he lived in a palace in Malibu." Jane continued in the same soft voice as earlier, but Emma interrupted him with a frown.

"Isn't that supposed to be the end of the story, not the beginning?"

"Not in this story, sweetie." Lisbon told her gently, placing a kiss to Emma's head. "Can you please listen? It's difficult for daddy to talk about."

"Oh, okay. Sorry daddy."

"Right, where was I? Oh yeah. So, the prince was very happy with his wife and little girl, but he said the wrong thing, things he shouldn't have said about a bad guy, and the bad guy killed the prince's wife and daughter as revenge." Jane swallowed heavily. Whilst that part of his life was well behind him, the guilt still sneaked up on him at different times, usually when Emma was asleep. Lisbon squeezed his hand, offering silent comfort as tears welled up in Emma's eyes.

"This is a really sad story! What were they called daddy?"

"Who?"

"Your wife and little girl!" Emma exclaimed, curling into Lisbon's side. Lisbon stroked her hair back soothingly, speaking before Jane could open his mouth.

"Emma, sweetie, just because daddy had another family once doesn't mean he doesn't love us just as much."

Emma looked up at Lisbon hopefully. "Promise?"

Lisbon nodded. "Promise."

Emma then turned back to Jane. "What were they called, daddy?"

Jane swallowed before speaking, knowing he had no other choice but to tell Emma. "My wife's name was Angela, and my first daughter's name was Charlotte."

"Pretty." Emma commented before yawning widely. "Can you carry on daddy?"

Jane glanced at Lisbon, who shrugged. "Alright then." Jane nodded. "The prince vowed to take revenge on the bad man by killing him in turn, so he joined the people looking for the bad guy, at the CBI in California."

"And the prince met the princess?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, she was in charge of a group of knights and he joined that group, even if he wasn't really a knight. They worked together for ten years, trying their best to find the bad man, until finally, they found him."

"Did the prince kill him like he said?"

"Yes, he did." Lisbon inputted. "The bad man had to go away forever so he couldn't hurt anyone else."

"Oh." Emma nodded. "Okay. Did the prince tell the princess he killed the baddie?"

"The princess already knew." Jane told her gently. "But then the prince had to go away for a little while, and left the princess all alone."

"It's getting sad again." Emma complained, though her eyes were drooping and another yawn escaped her.

"Not for long." Jane promised. "The prince made a deal that allowed him to come back to the princess, but the princess was angry for being left alone for so long, and he didn't know he had to change. The princess started dating another man, a different prince, and the prince was very sad." Jane ignored Lisbon's glare at him bringing Pike into the story when he hadn't brought up Lorelei. Jane shrugged apologetically. He couldn't take it back now. He kissed the back of his wife's hand surreptitiously before continuing. "Still, the prince decided that he needed the princess, and so when she was going to leave, he ran after her and told her that he loved her."

"Wow." Emma breathed, barely awake. "Was that their happily ever after?"

"No, Em." Jane leant in to kiss her forehead. "Happily ever after comes right now, with you here with us. You're our happily ever after."

Emma smiled, though she was on the brink of sleep. "Night mommy, night daddy."

"Night Emma." Her parents replied in unison.

Emma fell asleep dreaming of princes and princesses that looked remarkably like her parents.

The End.