Author's notes:

Thank you to great writer and friend Sue Shay for her help. Be sure to check out Sue's Mentalist stories. I've favorited them on my profile page for easy access.

I do not own the TV show The Mentalist and get no compensation from it. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes only.

This story takes place several weeks after episode 7x13, "White Orchids."

"Lovely Day"

Setting aside the grilled cheese sandwich that she'd munched on for the last 15 minutes, Teresa Lisbon looked over at her buzzing phone. Her wedding day selfie photo of her and Patrick Jane popped up on the screen. Smiling, she reached over to answer it.

It was Jane's third call that day but the first since that morning. When the two of them spent a whole day apart, he called her multiple times to check on "that pregnant lady" as he put. She looked forward to those interruptions; her Jane doted on her and their baby.

And she didn't mind being doted on by her husband in the slightest…

Clicking to receive the call, she heard a happy lilt in Jane's voice.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey, yourself." Her gaze roamed over to the newest photo on her desk, one where the two of them stood arm-and-arm on the front porch of their cabin.

"Are you eating enough lunch?"

Teresa glanced at her sandwich. Half of it remained. In fairness though she had already devoured the pickle that came with it. She never knew until she became pregnant that a pickle could taste sooooo good.

"Small steps, Jane. Small steps. If I wolf it all down at once, it'll come back up all at once. Kinda defeats the purpose, wouldn't you say?"

"As long as you're eating something…"

"It seems like that's all I do nowadays. I'm always nibbling on this or that."

"That's a good thing, my dear. So how's your day going?" he asked.

She sighed as she rubbed her eyes.

"Staring at stock transactions on a computer screen for three straight hours can cure the worst insomnia." Cho had Teresa unraveling a complex series of sales and purchases that their latest suspect in the Markle case had made over the last 10 months. "How about your day?"

"This morning I went over to talk with the neighbors. We had a nice conversation over tea. The Emersons are quite an agreeable couple."

Teresa remembered meeting the Emersons last week. A retired couple, their small farm brimmed over with a menagerie of animals they had rescued over the years.

"So basically what you're saying is that you're out there in the boondocks playing the role of country squire. Meanwhile I'm sitting here in metal-and-glass office-world trying to earn a paycheck." Teresa knew Jane could sense the smile on her lips as she needled him.

"Whoa, whoa. It hasn't been all tea and crumpets, my dear. I've got good news. I made progress on the cabin."

She could tell by the tone of his voice that he was dying to tell her about it.

"Oh?" asked Teresa.

"I got the shower cleaned up and working now."

"That is good news."

"One question though. How attached are you to hot water?"

"Jane, there are some things in our marriage that are non-negotiable. That's one."

He laughed.

"Never fear, Teresa. I just turned the water heater on. You'll have all the hot water you want and then some by the time you get down here this evening."

Teresa noted a slight "ahmmm" on Jane's end of the line and knew he wanted to tell her something else. Was it good or bad? She plunged ahead.

"Okay, hubby. You want to tell me something. Spill it."

"How do you know that I…"

She wouldn't let him finish.

"I just do. What's up?"

"Someone's going to be living with us."

All sorts of thoughts ran through Teresa's mind, each one more vexing than the last. Was it an old carny crony of her husband like his former brother-in-law Danny? What if it was worse than that? What if it was someone from her family? Ugh. Tommy had told her he'd gone to Alaska on a bail-bond case, but what if he'd screwed up his bounty hunter job? It'd be just like her brother to contact Jane instead of her; the two of them seemed to hit it off.

Don't dwell on the worst it could be she thought. Then something clicked in her mind. Jane had gone to see the Emersons that morning, hadn't he? Teresa couldn't help but smile as she figured out what he'd done. Images of fuzzy kittens and floppy-eared dogs filled her mind. One simple question would ferret out the truth. Oh how she wished she could see her husband's face when she asked him; he'd be so proud of her detective skills. She cleared her throat.

"Answer one thing, Jane. Does this someone have two legs or four legs?"

Teresa leaned back in her chair, a feeling of triumph pulsing through her as she listened to the dead air on the other end of the call. She'd done it! She chuckled to herself as she waited for Jane to 'fess up.

"Neither, my dear," said Jane.

What?

"But, but…" Teresa sputtered as she tried to respond.

"I'll introduce you tonight. See you then. Goodbye, love."

Click.

Tracing stock transactions got harder and harder as the afternoon wore on. Jane's mystery ate at Teresa to the point where she couldn't concentrate any more. With regret, Teresa told Cho at the end of the day that she still hadn't found any useful evidence. Tomorrow was a new day, and surely she could make a breakthrough after a good night's sleep. She shut off her computer, walked to the parking lot, and steered her car down the now familiar route to her and Jane's cabin.

As her car's tires crackled across the gravel of the driveway, she spied Jane sitting on the front porch of the cabin in one of their two rocking chairs. Clutched in his right hand was his restored blue teacup. Getting out of her car, Teresa felt the empty chair beside him beckon to her.

As she walked toward the porch, she noticed that Jane's left hand dangled at his side. The tips of his fingers swept back-and-forth in a languid motion over what looked like a remnant of shag carpet. When she got up close, Jane broke into a grin. And the shag carpet swished its tail.

What the…?

It wasn't a carpet, it was a dog. The beast rose, his tail wagging harder and his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. When she reached the edge of the porch, the dog met her with a "please pet me" expression plastered across his face.

"And who are you?" she asked.

Teresa cupped his head with one hand and brushed the fur across his forehead with the other. In response, he nuzzled her. It was only at that point that Teresa noticed something special about him. Her heart melted.

The dog only had three legs.

Jane rose from his chair, came to the edge of the porch, and joined Teresa in petting the dog. Its tail now exploded into a frenzy of wagging. Looking up at her, Jane spoke.

"Teresa, allow me to introduce you to the newest member of our family…Tripod."

The end.

Author's notes:

The three-legged dog appeared in episode 7x11.

"Lovely Day" is a song written by Bill Withers and Skip Scarborough in 1977 and recorded by Withers and many other artists.

Story and series guide: On my Profile page, I've posted a guide to all the Mentalist and Frasier stories and series I've written.