Fic: Picking Up The Pieces (Mentalist Big Bang 2011) 4/6
Written for the 
mentalist_bb.
( One)
( Two)
( Three)
Four
Some days Lisbon considered the future and saw herself married with children, other days she saw herself at the top of her career and living alone with a dog. She didn't even like dogs and even if she did, it would be cruel to keep one as a pet with the crazy hours she expected to work.
For the time being she would have to put up with a third floor walk-up in the middle of the city and a stray cat that begged her for attention every time she left the apartment.
As she sat down to a TV dinner and an old Western she remembered watching with her father, the door buzzer rang out through the apartment. Nobody ever dropped by and she certainly wasn't expecting any visitors. She placed her dinner cautiously on the arm of the chair and went to answer her call.
'Who is it?' she spoke into the handset.
'Reese.'
She hesitated. The last thing she had expected was for Tommy to turn up on her doorstep unannounced. Finally, after Tommy repeated her name a handful of times, she pressed the buzzer which allowed him entry to the building.
'Hi Tommy,' she said as she hugged him a little tighter than usual. It had been too long since they last saw each other and though she tried not to think about her brothers much, he was the one she worried about the most.
'Reese, thank God, I thought I'd come all this way and you weren't even in,' he said and wrapped his arms tightly around her. She closed her eyes for a moment and sunk into his arms.
Eventually, Lisbon took a step backwards out of Tommy’s embrace. 'I just sat down to eat.'
'Anything good?'
'Not really.'
'What brings you here Tommy?’ she asked with a hint of frustration in her voice. She was happy to see him, really she was, but she’d come to expect certain behaviours from her brothers and Tommy turning up on her doorstep surely meant something bad. ‘You should have called, I could have been working.'
'You’d have gotten out eventually.'
'Still.'
'It's good to see you, hair’s getting long,' he smiled and reached a hand out to the curls of her hair, she smiled back and pushed his hand out of the way. She’d been meaning to get it cut; she just never found the time.
'It’s good to see you too. You're a little thinner than you were the last time, you eating right?'
'Of course.'
'Ordering take-out from a different place every night doesn't count.'
'Actually, I've been taking some lessons from the chef at work.’
'You’ve got yourself a job?'
'Waiter at Benny's Bar coming on seven months now.'
'Classy.'
'It pays the bills.'
She returned to her chair and offered Tommy a seat. The TV dinner abandoned as she sought information on her younger brother’s life. It always made her feel better to know he had a stable job and money coming in.
'When was the last time you called Jimmy or Joe?'
'’Bout a month ago.' Lisbon raised an eyebrow despite noting the hypocrisy. 'You haven't called them since July, Reese, you're not one to talk to me about keeping in touch. I haven't spoken to you in a year.'
Regardless of how she conducted her own life she had certain expectations, certain hopes that she couldn't afford herself. She wanted the best for her brothers. The way she saw it, her father’s old ‘do as I say and not as I do’ rants spoke volumes.
'They’re your brothers Tommy,' she said in her best mom voice.
'We're your only family Reese,' he returned with a tone that she could only assume was mocking hers.
She raised an eyebrow curiously. 'What’s that supposed to mean?'
'It means Jimmy's engaged. I'm in a relationship. Even Joe's got himself a long-term girlfriend. What do you got Reese? A cat?'
'Fuck you too.'
'No need to talk to me like that, we just want you to be happy.'
'We?' she raised her eyebrow again until Tommy carried on talking.
'Me, Jimmy and Joe.'
'So that's why you're here?’ Lisbon rolled her eyes and let out a soft sigh. She ought to have known Tommy wouldn’t turn up on her doorstep without good cause. She’d expected him to need to borrow money. ‘You drew the short straw to tell me to live a little?'
He hesitated. Something he usually did right before lying to her. She folded her arms and waited. 'Something like that.'
‘What you and your brothers don’t understand is that I’m working my way up in my career, which means making certain sacrifices.’
‘Like never calling and forgetting birthdays? You didn’t used to forget our birthday’s Teresa.’
She held her arms tighter across her chest and gritted her teeth. So she spent most of her time down the station, in the gym or eating TV dinners in her apartment. She wasn’t a complete loner; she went out for drinks with her colleagues at least a couple of times a month. What was the harm in that?
‘It’s been a busy year.’
A shot fired in the movie and Lisbon turned to see what was going on. They sat in silence. She relaxed a little, unfolded her arms and sat back to watch the movie. Half an hour later she turned off the television and stared at Tommy.
‘You didn’t come here to tell me to get a life.’
‘Yes, I did,’ he said, but his hesitation spoke volumes.
‘You’re lying; I can read you like a book Thomas.’
‘Don’t call me Thomas.’
‘Then tell me the truth.’
‘Fine.’ Tommy rubbed his hands together and looked at her nervously. ‘I got a girl pregnant.’
Lisbon sat up straight in her seat, clutching the arms tightly. ‘You, what?’
‘I’m gonna be a dad.’
Of all the things that Lisbon expected her brother to say, the fact he was about to reproduce was the last thing on the list. He could be irresponsible at times, but she didn’t actually expect him to father a child without getting married first.
‘How the hell did that happen?’ she asked, aghast.
‘Do I need to draw you a picture?’ he sniggered.
‘Hell no, Tommy, do you even know the mother?’
‘Of course I do Reese, I love her.’
‘Love?’ Lisbon scoffed. She certainly knew Tommy better than that, he’d never had a proper relationship, what did he know about love?
‘Yes, really.’ Tommy stared at her defensively, he looked a little hurt.
Perhaps she’d gone a bit far, Lisbon held up her hands to surrender. ‘Alright, then what are you doing here? Couldn’t you have told me that over the phone?’
‘Can’t a brother tell his sister he’s going to be a dad in person?’
‘Not when he’s lying he can’t.’
‘Okay.’ Tommy rested his face in his hands before looking up again. He looked tired. ‘I ran.’
‘You ran?’
‘She went to the hospital yesterday, to give birth.’ He shook his head. ‘I can’t do it Reese. I can’t be a good father, what do I know about parenting?’
‘I don’t think anyone really knows how to, Tommy.’
‘Yeah but most people have a role model, what do I have? A dad that drank himself into an early grave.’
‘I thought I raised you better than this.’
‘Better than what? We practically raised ourselves after dad died.’
‘Excuse me?’ she asked in disbelief.
‘You helped, a lot. It’s not like we had parents.’
Lisbon shook her head and stood up. She picked up her uneaten dinner and carried it into the kitchen. ‘You know what Tommy, if you want to throw your life away by running from your child, that’s your business. I’m through with you.’
‘You’re through with me?’ he scoffed, following her across the apartment. ‘Typical Teresa.’
She placed the meal on the kitchen counter and turned around. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘You’re acting like you always do, stupid Tommy makes a mistake and doesn’t see it through. I wish it was that simple Reese, but you try knowing you’re a father and wishing you could do everything you can to keep that child happy. It’s a fucking scary place and I don’t know what to do. I don’t wanna ruin my kid’s life.’
Lisbon banged her fist on the counter and took a moment to contain her frustration. ‘Damn it Tommy. The only way you’ll ruin your kid’s life is by staying out of it. You know how hard it was growing up without mom and dad. Don’t make the same mistakes dad did. Go back to that hospital and be with your kid.’
‘I can’t.’
‘Yes. You can.’
She walked across the kitchen and stood in front of him, her eyes bearing into his with as much confidence as she could find. She wasn’t about to leave him to ruin her niece of nephews life as well as his own.
Tommy looked at her with a worried look on his face. She’d never seen him look so vulnerable before. ‘Will you come with me?’
‘I guess I can try to get a couple of days off.’ Lisbon counted the days in her head, trying to figure out how many she had left to take. ‘No promises though.’
They arrived at the hospital early the next morning. Lisbon doubted her ability to keep Tommy by her side from the moment they set off from her apartment to arriving by his child’s bedside.
‘We’re looking for Aimee Statton, she came in the day before yesterday, this man is her baby’s father,’ said Lisbon and then they waited whilst the nurse checked her computer.
She smiled up at them both with a large grin that reached her eyes. ‘Congratulations sir, Aimee had a healthy baby girl late last night. She’s in room 274.’
‘Thank you,’ Lisbon said once it became clear that Tommy wasn’t going to respond.
He stood beside her looking more like a small child than a new father. His forehead shone from a thin layer of sweat lingering upon on skin. Lisbon rested a hand on his upper arm. She was anxious to meet her niece, though probably not in the same ways Tommy was. His skin paled quickly.
‘Pull yourself together; you have a daughter who is relying on her daddy.’
‘I don’t know what it’s like to be a girl,’ he whispered, wiping his head. ‘Growing up it was all about being a boy and even when we were kids you were more like one of us than one of them.’
‘Thanks.’ Lisbon rolled her eyes. ‘I think.’
‘What do I do?’ he asked, staring her in the eye as though she would have all the answers.
‘You go in there and you introduce yourself to you baby girl.’
‘What if she hates me?’
‘Most kids hate their parents.’
‘What if I fuck it up?’
‘Come on Tommy.’ She placed her hand back on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘You’re a big boy; you’ll get the hang of it.’
He nodded his head and stared at the door, resting his hand upon the handle before changing his mind and knocking. She let her hand drop down to his and she held it tightly.
‘Reese?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome.’
( Five)
( Six)
mentalist_bb.
( One)
( Two)
( Three)
Four
Some days Lisbon considered the future and saw herself married with children, other days she saw herself at the top of her career and living alone with a dog. She didn't even like dogs and even if she did, it would be cruel to keep one as a pet with the crazy hours she expected to work.
For the time being she would have to put up with a third floor walk-up in the middle of the city and a stray cat that begged her for attention every time she left the apartment.
As she sat down to a TV dinner and an old Western she remembered watching with her father, the door buzzer rang out through the apartment. Nobody ever dropped by and she certainly wasn't expecting any visitors. She placed her dinner cautiously on the arm of the chair and went to answer her call.
'Who is it?' she spoke into the handset.
'Reese.'
She hesitated. The last thing she had expected was for Tommy to turn up on her doorstep unannounced. Finally, after Tommy repeated her name a handful of times, she pressed the buzzer which allowed him entry to the building.
'Hi Tommy,' she said as she hugged him a little tighter than usual. It had been too long since they last saw each other and though she tried not to think about her brothers much, he was the one she worried about the most.
'Reese, thank God, I thought I'd come all this way and you weren't even in,' he said and wrapped his arms tightly around her. She closed her eyes for a moment and sunk into his arms.
Eventually, Lisbon took a step backwards out of Tommy’s embrace. 'I just sat down to eat.'
'Anything good?'
'Not really.'
'What brings you here Tommy?’ she asked with a hint of frustration in her voice. She was happy to see him, really she was, but she’d come to expect certain behaviours from her brothers and Tommy turning up on her doorstep surely meant something bad. ‘You should have called, I could have been working.'
'You’d have gotten out eventually.'
'Still.'
'It's good to see you, hair’s getting long,' he smiled and reached a hand out to the curls of her hair, she smiled back and pushed his hand out of the way. She’d been meaning to get it cut; she just never found the time.
'It’s good to see you too. You're a little thinner than you were the last time, you eating right?'
'Of course.'
'Ordering take-out from a different place every night doesn't count.'
'Actually, I've been taking some lessons from the chef at work.’
'You’ve got yourself a job?'
'Waiter at Benny's Bar coming on seven months now.'
'Classy.'
'It pays the bills.'
She returned to her chair and offered Tommy a seat. The TV dinner abandoned as she sought information on her younger brother’s life. It always made her feel better to know he had a stable job and money coming in.
'When was the last time you called Jimmy or Joe?'
'’Bout a month ago.' Lisbon raised an eyebrow despite noting the hypocrisy. 'You haven't called them since July, Reese, you're not one to talk to me about keeping in touch. I haven't spoken to you in a year.'
Regardless of how she conducted her own life she had certain expectations, certain hopes that she couldn't afford herself. She wanted the best for her brothers. The way she saw it, her father’s old ‘do as I say and not as I do’ rants spoke volumes.
'They’re your brothers Tommy,' she said in her best mom voice.
'We're your only family Reese,' he returned with a tone that she could only assume was mocking hers.
She raised an eyebrow curiously. 'What’s that supposed to mean?'
'It means Jimmy's engaged. I'm in a relationship. Even Joe's got himself a long-term girlfriend. What do you got Reese? A cat?'
'Fuck you too.'
'No need to talk to me like that, we just want you to be happy.'
'We?' she raised her eyebrow again until Tommy carried on talking.
'Me, Jimmy and Joe.'
'So that's why you're here?’ Lisbon rolled her eyes and let out a soft sigh. She ought to have known Tommy wouldn’t turn up on her doorstep without good cause. She’d expected him to need to borrow money. ‘You drew the short straw to tell me to live a little?'
He hesitated. Something he usually did right before lying to her. She folded her arms and waited. 'Something like that.'
‘What you and your brothers don’t understand is that I’m working my way up in my career, which means making certain sacrifices.’
‘Like never calling and forgetting birthdays? You didn’t used to forget our birthday’s Teresa.’
She held her arms tighter across her chest and gritted her teeth. So she spent most of her time down the station, in the gym or eating TV dinners in her apartment. She wasn’t a complete loner; she went out for drinks with her colleagues at least a couple of times a month. What was the harm in that?
‘It’s been a busy year.’
A shot fired in the movie and Lisbon turned to see what was going on. They sat in silence. She relaxed a little, unfolded her arms and sat back to watch the movie. Half an hour later she turned off the television and stared at Tommy.
‘You didn’t come here to tell me to get a life.’
‘Yes, I did,’ he said, but his hesitation spoke volumes.
‘You’re lying; I can read you like a book Thomas.’
‘Don’t call me Thomas.’
‘Then tell me the truth.’
‘Fine.’ Tommy rubbed his hands together and looked at her nervously. ‘I got a girl pregnant.’
Lisbon sat up straight in her seat, clutching the arms tightly. ‘You, what?’
‘I’m gonna be a dad.’
Of all the things that Lisbon expected her brother to say, the fact he was about to reproduce was the last thing on the list. He could be irresponsible at times, but she didn’t actually expect him to father a child without getting married first.
‘How the hell did that happen?’ she asked, aghast.
‘Do I need to draw you a picture?’ he sniggered.
‘Hell no, Tommy, do you even know the mother?’
‘Of course I do Reese, I love her.’
‘Love?’ Lisbon scoffed. She certainly knew Tommy better than that, he’d never had a proper relationship, what did he know about love?
‘Yes, really.’ Tommy stared at her defensively, he looked a little hurt.
Perhaps she’d gone a bit far, Lisbon held up her hands to surrender. ‘Alright, then what are you doing here? Couldn’t you have told me that over the phone?’
‘Can’t a brother tell his sister he’s going to be a dad in person?’
‘Not when he’s lying he can’t.’
‘Okay.’ Tommy rested his face in his hands before looking up again. He looked tired. ‘I ran.’
‘You ran?’
‘She went to the hospital yesterday, to give birth.’ He shook his head. ‘I can’t do it Reese. I can’t be a good father, what do I know about parenting?’
‘I don’t think anyone really knows how to, Tommy.’
‘Yeah but most people have a role model, what do I have? A dad that drank himself into an early grave.’
‘I thought I raised you better than this.’
‘Better than what? We practically raised ourselves after dad died.’
‘Excuse me?’ she asked in disbelief.
‘You helped, a lot. It’s not like we had parents.’
Lisbon shook her head and stood up. She picked up her uneaten dinner and carried it into the kitchen. ‘You know what Tommy, if you want to throw your life away by running from your child, that’s your business. I’m through with you.’
‘You’re through with me?’ he scoffed, following her across the apartment. ‘Typical Teresa.’
She placed the meal on the kitchen counter and turned around. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘You’re acting like you always do, stupid Tommy makes a mistake and doesn’t see it through. I wish it was that simple Reese, but you try knowing you’re a father and wishing you could do everything you can to keep that child happy. It’s a fucking scary place and I don’t know what to do. I don’t wanna ruin my kid’s life.’
Lisbon banged her fist on the counter and took a moment to contain her frustration. ‘Damn it Tommy. The only way you’ll ruin your kid’s life is by staying out of it. You know how hard it was growing up without mom and dad. Don’t make the same mistakes dad did. Go back to that hospital and be with your kid.’
‘I can’t.’
‘Yes. You can.’
She walked across the kitchen and stood in front of him, her eyes bearing into his with as much confidence as she could find. She wasn’t about to leave him to ruin her niece of nephews life as well as his own.
Tommy looked at her with a worried look on his face. She’d never seen him look so vulnerable before. ‘Will you come with me?’
‘I guess I can try to get a couple of days off.’ Lisbon counted the days in her head, trying to figure out how many she had left to take. ‘No promises though.’
They arrived at the hospital early the next morning. Lisbon doubted her ability to keep Tommy by her side from the moment they set off from her apartment to arriving by his child’s bedside.
‘We’re looking for Aimee Statton, she came in the day before yesterday, this man is her baby’s father,’ said Lisbon and then they waited whilst the nurse checked her computer.
She smiled up at them both with a large grin that reached her eyes. ‘Congratulations sir, Aimee had a healthy baby girl late last night. She’s in room 274.’
‘Thank you,’ Lisbon said once it became clear that Tommy wasn’t going to respond.
He stood beside her looking more like a small child than a new father. His forehead shone from a thin layer of sweat lingering upon on skin. Lisbon rested a hand on his upper arm. She was anxious to meet her niece, though probably not in the same ways Tommy was. His skin paled quickly.
‘Pull yourself together; you have a daughter who is relying on her daddy.’
‘I don’t know what it’s like to be a girl,’ he whispered, wiping his head. ‘Growing up it was all about being a boy and even when we were kids you were more like one of us than one of them.’
‘Thanks.’ Lisbon rolled her eyes. ‘I think.’
‘What do I do?’ he asked, staring her in the eye as though she would have all the answers.
‘You go in there and you introduce yourself to you baby girl.’
‘What if she hates me?’
‘Most kids hate their parents.’
‘What if I fuck it up?’
‘Come on Tommy.’ She placed her hand back on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘You’re a big boy; you’ll get the hang of it.’
He nodded his head and stared at the door, resting his hand upon the handle before changing his mind and knocking. She let her hand drop down to his and she held it tightly.
‘Reese?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome.’
( Five)
( Six)