Title: Slipping Through My Fingers
Author: WtUnite [Chedders/Jess]
Rating: K
Pairing: Jane/Maura
Status: 1/1
Category/Warnings: Post-Series
Spoilers: Post-Series. No spoilers.
Summary: Jai might be ready and excited for Kindergarten but it was Jane who didn't want him to go.
A/N: The first post-series mini-fic giving you a look into the future of the Jai Chronicles.
The hall seemed very long from where they stood. There was the echo of voices both young and old in the hallway. Jane crouched down in front of Jai and ruffled his dark, unruly hair. "You ready?" she asked. Jai might be ready and excited for Kindergarten but it was Jane who didn't want him to go.
The fearless little boy bobbed his head excitedly. He looked handsome in neatly pressed khakis and a button down shirt that he had buttoned (most of the buttons) by himself. "Ready!"
Maura stood just behind Jane, watching the scene with a smile on her face. Jai had gotten them both up exceptionally early this morning in his excitement about his first day at school. She had been much the same way when she was a child, and it made her happy to see just how happy he was to be here. Jane, on the other hand, was starting to remind her of a basket case. It was endearing, though, and the medical examiner wouldn't laugh. Yet, anyways.
Bending down beside Jane, she pressed a kiss to his cheek without fear of rejection. Jai was still at an age where it didn't bother him to get cheek kisses from either of his mothers, even if people tended to stare sometimes at first. Pressing a hand against Jane's back, the blonde smiled at their son. "We'll be back to pick you up later, alright?"
The little boy nodded enthusiastically, smiling at them both as he stood there in front of them with his Batman backpack.
"Make sure your teacher calls us if you need anything," Jane reminded their son. "You know the phone number, right?" And she was treated to the verbatim recitation of the phone numbers and address Jane had drilled in to his head.
"I live at twelve Parker Court, Boston Mass-a-two-sets. Mommy's phone is seven-six-four-nine-one-two-four and Mama's is seven-six-three-five-five-eight-one." His small face scrunched up because he knew he forgot part of it. With a triumphant smile he finished with, "My name is Jai Rizzoli and I am five."
Smiling at Jai, Maura gave him another cheek kiss before standing up. He had a wonderful memory for a child his age, and he was very interested in learning anything he could. The days when he got to visit the Police Department were his favorite, but she had a feeling that kindergarten would soon be outweighing that. "If you don't hurry, you'll be late." she pointed out softly.
Looking slightly upset at that possibility, Jai threw himself forward and kissed Jane quickly on the cheek before he turned to run off to his classroom that was just at the end of the hallway. "Bye Mommy! Bye Mama!" he called out halfway down the hall, causing Maura to laugh.
Jane wanted to laugh at the distress that came with the thought of missing class but it was all the detective could do to let Jai go when he flew out of her arms. Jamming her hands in to her pockets Jane stood and watched Jai immediately become best friends with a blond boy who also had a batman backpack. She craned her neck to keep him in sight as he went to the seat with his name on it.
Watching Jane watch Jai was adorable, because the brunette really didn't want to let their son go. They had talked about it briefly before bed the night before, and for months before that, but the entire morning had been a lot of Jai pulling away and Jane trying her hardest not to hold on. Reaching out, she linked arms with the detective, tugging gently to get her attention.
"It's time for us to go, Jane."
"Huh? Just a minute," Jane muttered distractedly. Through the open door Jane watched Jai chatting animatedly with the girl at the desk next to him, forgetting completely about his mothers in the hall. She didn't know whether to be proud of the personable boy he had become or worry that he wouldn't be their little boy for that much longer.
As a few stragglers entered the class room the teacher came to shut the door, giving the lingering parents a meaningful look. With a sharp snap the door closed and blocked off view of the children inside. A frown on her face Jane turned to Maura. "I don't think we should leave, what if he needs us?"
Tugging on Jane's arm again, she smiled at her partner with ease. She had been with Jane for roughly eight years now and she could read her like a book. Maura knew most of the right things to say to get Jane to bend to her will, most of the time. Sometimes, she was just reminded that the brunette was more stubborn than a mule.
"If he needs us, he'll call us. He always does," she pointed out. Whenever Jai wanted to come home from his grandparents, he would call. Whenever he was done visiting Uncle Frankie, he would call. If they were out and his babysitters were annoying him, he called. Jai understood that they were always available, and he made good use of it.
"If we stand out here any longer we'll just embarrass him." she pointed out lightly.
Jane had many years experience with a mother who embarrassed her, something she wouldn't be to their son. "We don't embarrass him…do we?" She didn't want to be the clingy mom. But why couldn't she make herself leave?
With a wistful sigh and another glance at the classroom Jane turned to Maura. "He's just growing up so fast." She loved the inquisitive five year old but missed the baby for whom his mothers were the be all and end all of his world.
"We don't embarrass him," Maura confirmed as she gently started to pull Jane away, using her free hand to rub the arm that was looped with hers. Looking over at Jane, she nodded her head in agreement He was growing up faster than she had thought possible. It sometimes felt like it was just yesterday that they were changing diapers and taking him to daycare and rocking him to sleep. Now, he was five years old and a ball of never ending energy. "He is."
Making sure that they kept moving, she leaned over and placed a kiss on Jane's cheek. "You are still his mother, Jane. That won't change."
With only a little shuffling of her feet Jane followed Maura out of the school. "It is changing. He doesn't need us like he used to. I just want to keep him little and ours forever." Now that they were outside it was easier for Jane to keep walking but, even if she couldn't see the classroom, she continued to look over her shoulder.
"He's always going to need us, Jane. Just wait until he get older, and then he will want advice on girls and sports and other things. Things that you are good with," she pointed out, heading toward their car with a purpose. They did have things to get done before coming back to get Jai in a few hours, but she really hadn't thought Jane would get this nostalgic on her today.
That made Jane smile. "I can help him with sports and fights, but girls? Don't you remember? I'm basically clueless." But that wouldn't be bad, the stuff that was coming up. But she also thought about the unruly teenage years that were to come.
"If you were clueless, Jane, you wouldn't have me on your arm." Maura stated with good humor as she relaxed. As long as her partner was smiling, everything was going to be okay. They would take this whole growing up thing one day at a time. Stopping at the car, she planted a kiss on Jane's cheek before walking around to the passenger's side. She almost always gave up driving privileges when the brunette was around.
Starting the car Jane nodded. "Wouldn't change a thing, even if Jai grows up too fast." Being nearly sick with worry over him, the fights over his wellbeing and interruptions of a happy life were all worth it to have Maura and Jai in her life.
Sliding into the car and buckling her seat belt, Maura paused. They'd talked about his once before, when Jai was still a baby. The answer then had been no, because he was their entire world, but she wondered if now it would be different. Glancing over at Jane, her hands fidgeted slightly in her lap. "Would you want to do it again?"
A smile appeared, unbidden, on Jane's face. And almost immediately her mind flooded with images of a little girl in a tutu or bedecked in bows. "That might be kinda nice. Maybe a little girl?" she smiled and thought longingly of a little girl to dote on.
"I think I would like that," she offered softly, smiling back at Jane. The thought of a little girl was nice. Jai was amazing, but having a sibling would be something he would probably love, and she was positive that the grandparents and the godparents and the uncles would be very pleased with another child to spoil. Of course, there was always the fact that both of them still had full time jobs and taking care of Jai was a handful on it's own.
"Are we crazy to be thinking about this? Jai was amazing but it was still hectic to juggle everything. Two kids, double trouble." Jane didn't even mention that there was more talk of promoting Korsak to Lieutenant and making Jane lead detective. Her work schedule was crazy enough but she wouldn't take the promotion and increased hours if they were going to think about more kids.
"… I think it'd be nice to stay at home with them," she stated before she even realized what it was she was saying. It was true, though. Maura didn't expect to work her entire life, and although she loved what she did, she loved Jai more. She loved the thought of another child more, because she was a mother now.
To say that Maura's statement shocked Jane would be an understatement. It was all that Jane could do to keep the car driving and under control. "Maura, are you serious? You love your job. I'd never ask you to give that up."
Staring out the windshield, she allowed herself to relax. It wouldn't be something that happened right now, but eventually. "You wouldn't have to ask, Jane." she stated softly after a moment. Looking over at Jane, she smiled a little. "I love my job, but I love you and Jai more. I love our family."
"I love you and our family too. So much." Still driving all that Jane could do was hold Maura's hand in her own. "I know your game, by the way. Distracting me from Jai going to Kindergarten," Jane said with a smirk. And she still didn't want Jai growing up too fast but her mind was in a totally different place.
Lacing their fingers together, Maura could only smile brightly at her partner. Her plan had succeeded, somewhat. If it was even a plan to begin with. "It's a nice distraction, though." she said after a moment. Now the idea of a baby girl was stuck in her head, but it was nice. Very nice. "It would be nice, though. Wouldn't it?"
"'Course it was, you're a genius. But I'm still a cop. Yeah, it'd be pretty nice, though." Jane rubbed her thumb over Maura's knuckles, envisioning a baby girl that was theirs and Jai being a big brother. She pulled the car in to the driveway, throwing it in to park before kissing Maura soundly.
Leaning across the arm rest, Maura returned the kiss. Jane and Jai were her entire world, and adding a baby girl to that would be wonderful. She could imagine it, and the thought made her smile into the kiss. Pulling away a little, she squeezed Jane's hand. "We could do this."
As much as Jane hated the minivan even that didn't make a negative impact on this moment. "I think we can do this, but right now there's an entirely different distraction I'm thinking of. One that requires us taking advantage of Jai being at school. Might involve the bedroom, the couch, the shower." But the minivan did throw off her groove, just a little.
The smile that lit up her face was bright, but a tad seductive at the same time. She gave Jane a quick kiss before unbuckling her seat belt and getting out of the car. Turning to look at her partner, Maura raised an eyebrow. "The faster you get out of the van, Jane, the faster we can put the shower to good use."
Jane didn't need telling twice and, after wrestling a little with the seatbelt, hopped out of the van and followed Maura in to their house.
Clearing her throat Jane combed her fingers through her hair, trying to get rid of the making-out-in-the-backseat hair. So what if they'd gotten to the school just a little bit early to pick up Jai.
Still a little flush in the face, Maura ran her hands down the front of her dress to smooth out the wrinkles. After years of riding with work to Jane, it was usually an evening ritual, and sometimes a morning one as well. Glancing over at the detective, she pushed the blush away. "I think we're getting too old for this," she teased lightly, reaching for the brunette's hand.
"No way, we'll still be going hot and heavy when you're the sexiest octogenarian on the block," Jane whispered in to Maura's ear as they walked back towards Jai's class room. "We've got years of embarrassing Jai to look forward to also. And maybe embarrassing a teenage daughter someday?"
They arrived at the classroom as the door was opened and kindergarteners began streaming out. "Mommy! Mama!" Jane knew the routine well enough by now. She bent to catch Jai mid-leap as he tossed away the batman backpack to fly at her.
Maura was still blushing and smiling at Jane when she heard Jai's yell. Turning to watch all of the children file out, some running and some walking, she picked out their son as he came flying at her partner. Bending down, Maura picked up the discarded backpack and then leaned over, placing a kiss on the top of Jai's head.
"Did you have fun today?" she asked, rubbing his back as she smiled at him and Jane. They were the two most important people in her life, and she was still thinking about adding a third.
Jai nodded his head enthusiastically, glancing between his two mothers. "We colored and took naps and played with blocks and we read a story." he recounted all in one breath, his face still flushed slightly from running and his eyes bright with excitement.
"Coloring, blocks, a nap, and story? Oh my! I bet you had a blast! Just think, you get to do this every weekday." Jane was still acting cooler about the slight separation anxiety than she really felt but she was genuinely glad that Jai had a great day. Kissing Jai's forehead Jane set him on his feet but stayed crouched at his level. "Buddy, we got a really important question for you."
Immediately Jai yelled "Yes! I want to go see Uncle Frankie and Vince and Barry!"
Laughing, Maura looked down at the both of them. They were really too cute together, and even though he wasn't biologically Jane's son, he did look a lot like her with the darker skin and hair color. Adorable, though. Like Mama like son. "I don't think that's the question that she had in mind, Jai." she stated softly, watching the way he looked confused for a moment before excitement colored his eyes again.
Looking between the two of them, Jai took a deep breath and puffed his chest out. "I can handle it."
Raking her fingers through his hair Jane smiled at their son. "I know you can. What do you think about becoming a big brother?" She watched his face closely for a reaction.
"Would it be a brother or a sister?" he asked after a moment or two. "Would I have to change diapers? That is gross!"
Standing closer to Jane, she had to smile at the reaction from their son. Maura shookher head at him, holding his backpack tightly in her hand. "A sister, we think, and no, Jai. You wouldn't have to change diapers. Not unless you wanted to help," she pointed out, letting her fingers brush against he back of Jane's head.
"Ok, I want to be a big brother."
Jane smiled at Jai and hoisted him on to her shoulders. "Sounds like a plan, I think we can even make time to go see Uncle Frankie and Korsak and Frost." Keeping Jai stabilized with her left hand Jane grabbed Maura's with her free hand. "Because I know they want to hear about Kindergarten too."
Lacing fingers with Jane, she hoisted Jai's backpack onto her shoulder as she walked with them back to the minivan. Maura smiled at the two of them, leaning over to press a quick kiss to Jane's cheek before grinning up at Jai. "Maybe we can even have your favorite dinner." she commented after a moment, watching the smile on their son's face grow.
Jai cheered for pizza from Jane's shoulders, holding on tight as he continued to chant the entire way to the minivan.