The night was young and Maura was still wide awake. Her paranoid self wouldn't let her sleep as peacefully as her wife was, knowing they had a third beating heart to take care of.
A baby born with patent ductus arteriousus, a congenital heart condition where the ductus fails to close after birth wasn't something to be forgotten about. Michaela was born premature, with this heart problem that caused irregular transmission of blood between two of the most important arteries close to the heart, the aorta and the pulmonary artery.
A doctor like Maura panicked every time she couldn't hear her soft breathing, so she'd get up and walk to the beautiful white crib and place a gentle hand on the tiny baby's chest. It was the first night Michaela spent with them and a paranoid Maura had already left the bed over eight times to check on the baby.
Once more, the medical examiner got up and walked to the crib, looking over her adoptive daughter in adoration. She was so tiny, so fragile, so beautiful… She was only 6 months old but she had the weight of a newborn. She had been born after only 27 weeks and her chances of survival were lower than 13%. But she made it through after spending weeks in the NICU. That's why they had chosen the name. A name that meant 'gift from God'. Both Maura and Jane agreed that their daughter, even if she wasn't biologically theirs, was their little miracle. The most precious thing in her life and the thing they were most thankful for.
A sleepy Jane groaned from the bed when she didn't feel Maura's warmth beside her. "Babe, come back to bed… She's fine, she's not crying."
Whispering back to her wife, Maura sighed. "She has a heart condition; I just want to make sure she's breathing."
Boston Police Homicide Detective Jane Rizzoli silently walked towards Maura, wrapping her arms around her waist from behind and kissing her neck once. "Look at her… She's fine, Maur. I know you're scared and you're paranoid, but I promise you it'll be okay, everything will be fine, babe. Nothing will happen to our miracle…"
Jane's soothing words somehow managed to calm Maura down. "It's our first night with her here, and we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. We have to sign the adoption papers, remember?" The detective continued to whisper into the honey blonde's ear. Maura nodded and lowered her eyes to the sleeping form before her. She gently stroked the little baby's cheek with her finger and smiled in pure adoration.
"She's so perfect, Jane…" she whispered to her wife, who smiled and kissed her cheek.
"She really is, and she's ours."
"Do you think we can do this?" The ME asked, with worry in her voice, as she turned around in Jane's arms. "Do you think we'll be good mothers?"
And right then, looking into Maura's greenish eyes, Jane knew she had fallen harder for the google-mouthed genius she had married five months before.
"I think you'll be the best mother any child could ask for," she told her, moving a strand of blonde hair behind her ear before pressing a soft, tender kiss to her lips.