AN: Well folks, this is the end. What? Yeah. At some point, I may do a sequel to this. For right now, however, I needed to wrap it up. I still plan on doing episode tags if the proverbial spirit moves me, but my time is extremely limited now, and it's not fair to you guys if I make you wait for updates.

That being said...thank you everyone for your support with this story. It's been fun (even if the plot started doing things I didn't plan on...stupid plot), and I've really enjoyed writing it.

Oh, and if you're wondering...their baby is definitely named after someone. In this fandom, even. I'm willing to bet (a lot) that you know who she is, but I'm not giving it away. ;)

Somewhere Beyond

Epilogue

Four weeks after their little family came home from the hospital, Lisbon woke abruptly out of a sound sleep. It took her a second to figure out why.

The bassinet at the side of the bed was empty.

So was the place beside her.

With a smile that was half-amused and half-annoyed, she rolled herself out of bed, pleased to note that it was getting easier every day. The first two weeks had been sort of rough - a new baby who didn't seem to need to sleep at night and a body that liked to remind her she was in her 40s and had just given birth.

Jane had been remarkable, however, slipping back into the role of father as though he had never missed a beat.

In fact, sometimes it seemed like he was only willing to surrender baby Elyse to her when their normally content child demanded food. Loudly.

She gave him a great deal of leniency when it came to how often he wanted to hold their daughter. He had his reasons to want to constantly be connected to her, and she could not and would not take that away.

The living room was dark, but the glow from the streetlights pooled on the floor in patches. Jane was in the recliner, a small bundle snuggled against his shoulder.

He smiled sleepily as she came into his field of vision.

"Someone woke up," he said, very quietly.

Lisbon raised an eyebrow. "You know, I'd really love it if Elyse would learn to sleep somewhere other than on you." That was quite true. Why on earth would she want to rest in a bassinet when there was a warm human to lay on?

It could have been the light, but she thought Jane might have looked vaguely guilty. "She sleeps in her bed," he protested.

"Right," she replied. "Until she squeaks once. And then you swoop in."

Jane switched tactics, adopting his best puppy dog face. "But she's so sweet," he nearly whined. "And she's never going to be this small again."

She couldn't help her smile. "You know, I've learned that's something parents say to themselves to justify doing something they know they probably shouldn't be."

Jane's subsequent chuckled made the baby squirm, and he quickly patted her on the back. In a moment, one chubby cheek squished against her father's shoulder.

Their child was going to be outrageously spoiled. A large part of that would be Jane's doing, but she herself was guilty of over indulging her own whims. The closet in the nursery was stuffed full of frilly pink things, since she had seemingly been unable to resist buying anything at the mall.

Their living room was littered with baby gyms and developmental toys that tended to start playing music whenever they felt like it, which was usually immediately after she had laid a snoozing baby in her swing.

Although Jane justified his actions by saying Elyse wouldn't be so small forever, she herself validated what she was doing by saying this was going to be her only child.

It was probably even true. Maybe.

She was amazed at how different life had become. There was no more simply grabbing her purse and running to the store if they needed something. She had learned to do a ridiculous amount of things with one hand, and sometimes, she didn't even get to brush her hair before noon.

But it was worth it.

The first time she had seen a toothless smile, she had been moved to tears.

She'd lost track of the pictures she'd taken of Jane stretched out with the baby on his chest.

Though she was positive he'd been telling the truth when he'd told her that his life was complete with just her, she knew he had wanted this more than he was letting on.

"Come here," he said abruptly, holding out his free arm.

Carefully, slowly, she crawled onto his lap, making sure she remembered how this felt. Jane kissed her hair, then turned his attention back to their daughter.

"We make cute babies," he remarked matter-of-factly.

"This is true," she agreed easily. She was still torn about who Elyse looked like. When she was first born, she saw Jane in the tiny features, but that had faded a bit. Strange - she had never particularly been in love with how she looked before, but now the idea that their baby would have her eyes or her lips seemed to have monumental importance.

Jane tucked his arm tighter around her. "We should get her a puppy."

She rolled her eyes. "Easy there, tiger. We already have one small creature who isn't housebroken. Let's wait to get another one."

He softly nuzzled her shoulder. "Do you mean a puppy or a baby?"

She turned slightly, facing him. His eyes were bright, smiling. "Ask me again in six months."

So he did.

And she said yes.

To both of them.

AN: Thanks for reading! Hope you didn't choke on all the fluff!