I was watching R&I season 3 clips on youtube, and I thought of this.
It had been a long day, and I was so happy to see TJ and Frost and then Tommy get out of that parking garage. It felt good to know that they were alive, but when Dr. Martin approached, the feeling of relief was replaced with guilt. I tried to tell myself that I was not going to feel bad about keeping both of my kidneys, and that nothing was going to ruin the euphoria of the news I had received earlier.
"I wanna help Cailin," I began. It was true, I did want to help her even if she didn't want my kidney. "But I can't," I finished. It was irrational for her to think that I should feel obligated to help, but she felt that way regardless. Cailin was her daughter, and she needed a new kidney.
"But before," She was shocked that I was refusing to donate my kidney.
"Things have changed." They really had changed, I hadn't wanted a child before when I had been willing to donate my kidney, but after holding little TJ in my arms, there was nothing that I wanted more.
"I know that I, but" She was grasping, she didn't know what to say. She wanted to say something to change my mind, but there was nothing she could say.
"I can't," I said firmly, "If I could, but I need both of my kidneys. I'm sorry." I walked towards Jane as she finished speaking with Casey.
"You okay?" I asked as I put my hand on her shoulder, she flinched, but then relaxed when she realized it was me.
"Yeah," She sighed. "Just another day at the office huh," We both smiled at her remark. "You okay?"
"Yeah," I said with a smile. We stood their comfortably for a few seconds before I spoke again. "It took," I whispered. Jane turned away from the chaos to face me again.
"Are you serious?" She was grinning, and I nodded. "That's great Maura!" She yelled with excitement as she lifted me off my feet, and I threw my legs around her hips. I felt Jane's lips brush against my cheek before I felt her breath on my ear, "I told you that you should keep both of your kidneys." I felt bad about Cailin, but that didn't matter right now. Jane and I were going to have a baby. We had been talking about this ever since TJ was left on my doorstep. We had seen a lot of things, that prevented us from considering children before, but our maternal instincts kicked in that night, and we reconsidered, and now I was pregnant. There was something about seeing my best friend look so at ease with a baby in her arms, and then holding him myself.
"I thought that the two of you were just friends." It was Hope's voice that broke my moment of silent bliss with Jane.
"We aren't just friends, we're best friends," Jane responded, "And family." I smiled into Jane's shoulder. "And you can't have her kidney, she and our baby need both of them." I could hear the smile in Jane's voice when she said our baby. We had agreed that we would share responsibilities for the child, it felt natural after we had stood in my kitchen and talked about what we would each teach little TJ the morning after he'd been left with us. I had sworn off men after what had happened with Dennis, and Jane was still fragile about her situation with Casey, and we both wanted a child, and I couldn't think of a better person to share one with. It seemed natural for us to raise a child together, and after everything that had happened between us, we were sure that we were capable of caring for a baby together.
My legs released their grasp around Jane's hips, and Jane placed me back on the ground, and I looked at Hope. "I'm sorry about Cailin, and I wish that I could help, but I need both of my kidneys now, I am so sorry." She wanted to be angry, but she couldn't do it, instead she reached for my hand.
"Congratulations Maura," She whispered with a weak smile, before walking off.
"Ma is gonna be ecstatic when she finds out! She's been nagging us about grandchildren for so long, and she'll have another one soon enough. You're already her favorite nonbiological daughter." I grinned, Angela was like the mother I had never had, but Jane would always be her "real" daughter, but this way we could both be her favorites.
"Jane it's still early," I whispered, grabbing her hand in mine. She nodded in understanding. "I want to wait to tell everyone until we're sure," She nodded again and smiled.
"So we have to wait to discuss what we're going to teach this kid?" Jane teased. There was nothing that could break her happiness right now, so I just smiled right back at her.
Just friends my ass!