Just a (very very) quick visit to the Contact universe. It may help you to read the first Contact story but I don't think it's essential if you don't fancy it!
CONTACT: 3 MONTHS
CHAPTER ONE
No, this isn't awkward. Not awkward at all.
Jane watched from Maura's back porch as her youngest brother circled around the doctor like a fly on shit. He was persistent, she'd give him that. And Maura was, as always, uncompromisingly affable.
She had considered moving in but Jane figured a barbeque frequented by a dozen or so of her closest friends and family was probably not the place to start getting publicly territorial with her new girlfriend. So she kept her distance and, as the party busied itself around her, she took the opportunity to indulge herself.
Leaning one shoulder up against the wall, Jane sipped at her ice cold beer and stared esuriently at the woman who was happily turning her world upside down.
The day's hot sun bounced off of Maura's long, honey-blonde hair as it fell over her shoulders and snaked provocatively in to the shapely shadows of her cleavage. Her curves, encased in a form fitting summer dress, moved with an inexplicably sensual flux. With every step, every inch of the doctor's visible flesh shimmered in the heat. She stopped to talk with Korsak and Frankie, her beaming smile and intermittent chatter enchanting the twosome. Jane looked on hypnotized as Maura's frame was caught by a light breeze, her delicate hands appearing to reach up in slow motion to brush her billowing hair away from her face.
And then, Tommy muscled his way back into the conversation.
Jane smiled although she actually felt a little sorry for him. He was insatiable. But, happily, he had distracted Maura enough to have her look away and scan the gathering. Her piercing hazel eyes quickly found Jane's wistful glare.
Holy shit, she's so beautiful.
Their eyes locked, both women brimming over with adoration. Somehow, the hustle and bustle of the party seemed to fade dimly into the background. Jane registered the almost imperceptible tilt in Maura's eyebrows. Maura observed the melting upturn in Jane's dark eyes.
"Hey." Maura mouthed the word for Jane from across her lawn.
"Hey." Jane mouthed in return.
It had been three months since the fight at the bar and three months since Maura and Jane had consummated their relationship. They had been the best and most magical three months of Jane's life. But in all that time she hadn't told a soul about Maura and Maura hadn't told a soul about Jane. The secret was still their own and although it had required significant amounts of self-control at times, they were flourishing under the shroud of privacy they'd allowed themselves.
Today's barbeque had been Jane's idea. Summer was here and on what was the hottest day of the year so far she had managed to convince Maura to open her home up to the people with whom they shared their allegiances. Even Maura's mother, passing through Boston on her way to the Cape, had been able to spare a few hours for her daughter. All in all it had been a perfect day.
"Jane! What are you doing hiding over there?" Jane's mother broke the spell cast over the detective in an instant. She reluctantly tore her gaze away from Maura, who moments ago had returned her attention to the task of politely fending off Tommy's advances.
"I'm not hiding Ma. I'm enjoying some well earned peace and quiet." Jane shot her mother a narrow scowl but she offered it up with a sly smile.
"Well, come and do that with me honey." Always numb to Jane's abrasive attitude, Angela patted the the chair next to her.
Jane checked in on Maura one last time and moved across the porch to sit with her mother.
"What a beautiful day." Angela turned her face from the clear blue sky above to look at her daughter. "Don't you think baby?"
Forgetting herself for a moment Jane responded dreamily, "Perfect."
"What is going on with you lately Jane?" Angela's attention to Jane's demeanor spiked. "You seem so...well, so content."
Jane immediately snapped out of her reverie. She knew her mother well enough to know that she was going to have to work hard to get herself out of this interrogation unscathed. She kept her body language neutral and went for an air of indifference, responding flatly, "What?"
"Come on Janey! You might think I'm not the sharpest tool in the box but I am your mother."
Casually, Jane took a sip of her beer. "And?"
"And, there's something going on with you. I can tell!"
"No Ma. There's nothing going on. I'm just enjoying the sun and the wonderful company I'm keeping." Jane thought for a second that she might have overdone the distain but then this was her mother after all, and subtly was not something her mother related to well.
"No, no, no." Jane felt a little queasy. "This is something else. Something... Have you..." Jane watched as Angela's mind worked double time. "Oh! Have you met someone Janey?"
Oh crap.
She knew she had inherited a lot from her mother but the older she got, the more she saw it. For a split second Jane wondered if, in another life, Angela would have made detective grade faster than she did. A flash image of her mother weeping uncontrollably over a dead body soon irradiated that nightmare.
"What? No! Come on Ma!"
"Jane, I wasn't born yesterday."
"Ma! Please. You're barking up the wrong tree." Jane shot out of her chair. "I'm getting a beer, you want anything?"
Angela opened her mouth to speak but quickly twisted her lips to stop herself. She knew better than to push it with Jane. "No. Thank you baby," she answered placidly. But as Jane made her way in to the house, Angela looked out into the sea of faces populating Maura's garden. She smiled to herself knowingly. She had other, far more reliable sources available to her today.