"I totally won the fucking game!" the tall boy says as he turns the doorknob.
"Language! And you did not, you clearly cheated.' the honey blonde girl responds.
The kids walk into the foyer of the house, making noises as they drop their backpacks on the floor and head to the living room, still arguing about the game.
"Fine, so you tell me how you can be so sure. How do you know that I cheated?"
"I'm done talking about this with you" she sighs, loosing her patience.
"You're just mad cause I won."
"Seriously Noah, you kill my patience." the girls says with a grin. "Mom! Ma! We're home!"
Jane screams into her pillow case once she hears her daughter's voice and Maura can't help but laugh.
"What are you laughing at?"
The doctor looks at her wife's frown and giggles again.
"Did you honestly think that you would get a day off from your kids too?"
"No, Maura, I did not think that. I just thought that I would have more alone time with you. I mean, we haven't been alone together in a while and we haven't, you know..."
"Engaged in sexual intercouse?"
"Oh my God, Maura! Gross!" Jane's cheeks blush instantly "Why can't you just say 'sex' as a normal person?"
Maura opens her mouth to speak again, but all that comes out is another giggle.
"Anyway.. As I was saying, I also can't deal with 'Ma, Noah hid the control from me again and is making me watch this stupid show!' or 'Mom, Izzie drank my orange juice!' or the endless arguments about little insignificant things."
"NOAH!"
Izzie stares at the freezer, examining its contents, her face burning with anger and her hands curled into fists.
"What is it?" Noah leans on the door frame in the kitchen, staring at his sister's back.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ATE MY 'RED VELVET CHEESE CAKE' ICE CREAM!"
The boy realizes that he is in a very big - huge even - trouble.
"Izzie, calm down! I. Did. Not. Eat. Your. Ice. Cream." he spaces the last words so that she can hear them clearly.
"I KNOW YOU DID! DON'T YOU DARE DENY IT."
"There are two other people living in this house, Izzie, so before you freak out on me you should ask them about your fancy-pants ice cream."
"MOM IS ON A CONSTANT DIET AND MA HATES THIS FLAVOR. I KNOW IT WAS YOU!"
She points at him, the tip of her finger almost numb.
Dammit. He doesn't have any more excuses.
Noah turns around quickly and run towards and up the stairs, his heart skipping a beat.
"NOAH! DON'T YOU RUN AWAY FROM ME!"
Izzie is running after her brother like a predator, almost catching up with him, but he manages to get to the guest room and lock the door behind him.
The boy sighs in relief and sits on the edge of the bed, trying to get his heartbeat back to normal.
There's s loud thud on the door and he realizes that the blonde girl is not gonna let this go.
"Jane, don't be so dramatic. They rarely argue abo-"
The women hear two pair of feet running up the stairs and Izzie's angry screams.
Jane sighs, feeling the little patience she has left fading away.
"You were saying, Doc?" the detective says looking at Maura with narrow eyes.
Both of them jump out of bed and go see what is the reason for the big fuss.
...
"Hey, what the hell is going on here?" Jane's husky voice echoes on the hallway
The girl stops throwing punches at the guest room's door to face her mothers, who are clearly disturbed.
"He ate my ice-cream, Ma. I saved one left spoon for me and he ate it."
Izzie turns to the door again and gives it one last kick.
"OH FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, STOP!"
Jane starts to walk towards her young daughter but is stopped by Maura.
"Isabella, let's go wait in the living room."
Izzie opens her mouth to defy her mother's order, but gives up and finds her way back to the family room - as they usually call it.
Maura kisses her wife's temple and then follows the mini version of herself.
The dark haired woman knocks on the door a couple of times.
"Noah, you have 3 minutes to come down. We need to talk."
Jane sighs once again and goes join her family downstairs.
...
Maura sits on the Charles Eames chair across from her children, who are sitting on the couch, listening as Jane goes on and on about how siblings must respect each other and how she won't tolerate these kind of things in her house and that as long as they live under her roof they will have to obey hers and Maura's rules.
"Was I clear?" she says, putting an end to her speech.
"Yes, Mamma" Izzy responds without looking into Jane's eyes.
"Yeah, Ma" the boy answers next.
"Good, now apology to each other."
"I'm sorry I ate your ice-cream, Izzy. It won't happen again"
"And I'm sorry for telling you that you only won the game cause you cheated."
The kids hug tightly and ask for permission to leave and go play something outside. Jane nods and the two fly out the door faster than she can register.
Maura gets up and slides her arms around Jane's waist and presses her lips to her neck.
"You're amazing, sweetheart" another kiss, this time on her jaw line "They are so lucky to have you."
Jane spins in Maura's arms. Dark brown eyes meet hazel.
"No, babe. They're lucky to have us."
"Isabella! Noah! Jane! Dinner's in five!" Maura shouts out to her children and wife who are playing basketball in the backyard. The kids turn to their mother and nod in response, and Jane - taking advantage of the distraction - throws the ball in the basket, scoring 3 points.
"Basic rule: Don't ever turn your head from the game. Losers!" Jane says with a childish smile.
"Ma, that's not fair. Mom called us!" Izzy says, already with a frown.
"She called me too, nugget, I just didn't turn."
Jane pokes her daughter's side and the two of them share a laugh.
"Come on, let's help your mom set the table" the detective puts her arm around the girl's shoulder and walks to the kitchen.
Noah imitates the sound of a crowd as he gets the ball and throws it in the basket again.
"You too, bug" Jane says over her shoulder.
...
Izzy closes her eyes and gives a sniff around in the air.
"Wow, that smells so good!"
"What are we having, mom?"
"As I promised your Ma…" Maura smiles in Jane's direction as she brings the big ceramic plate to the table "…Pasta Carbonara, with chicken and peas."
Jane let's out a high-pitched noise that makes everybody laughs and digs in as soon as Maura serves her.
Over the meal, they share life experiences and funny stories from school and from work. Laughter and lightness filling the whole house.
Maura observes her family. Her eyes tearing up a little bit as she realizes that she is the one who is truly lucky.
She is lucky to have them.
I hope you enjoyed Chapter 1.
Please share with me your thoughts. Tell me if you want more "fluffiness" or if you want more drama. If you want me to write a specific scene or whatever.
I'm always opened to suggestions.
Please don't forget to review (even if you don't like it).