Jane woke up in the middle of the night. Her limbs were stiff and her back was killing her. She looked around and realized she had fallen asleep on the couch. The heavy weight on her chest was cuddling softly in her neck. Conor was making soft little noises breathing through his partially stuffed little nose. Both Maura and their one year old son caught a nasty flu and Jane was forced to stay at home. It had been a series of coincidental unfortunate events...
Angela had been on a little spa trip given to her by the couple as a present after all the stressful divorce issues; Constance had a grand opening of a new art exhibition in Shenzhen, China which featured a new installation; And Maura refused the help of Hope 'cause well, she didn't send a fruit basket after the kidney transplant so why would she let her step in now? All at the same time.
Jane reached out and was barely able to grab her cell phone.
"Oh... gee.. it's 4.37 am! And I feel like I haven't slept at all!"
She scrolled down to her unread messages. One was from Frost notifying her that they had an new suspect in the case she had previously been working on. And one from Frankie with a picture attached of him chugging a beer at the Robber while Frost and Korsak were cheering for him. It read: Made my first big arrest today! Too bad you're not here to celebrate with me Janey!
"Well little man, it seems that the world is still spinning. What do you know, they are doing fine without your mom Jayay..."
Jane sat up holding Conor close to her. A squeaky toy made a loud unexpected noise under her feet.
"For the love of..." Jane slowly pulled her foot of the rubber duck.
"Jane?" Ugh...Achoooo!... Ugh... Jane are you there?"
It was Maura. Jane had the baby monitor switched into their bedroom so she would be able to hear Maura if she was in need of anything. Conor moved in Jane's arms putting his chubby hands in her neck. Jane grabbed the monitor and pushed the talk button.
"I'll be with you in a sec babe!" She whispered, afraid to wake up the little man.
She sauntered through the empty hallway on her way to the nursery. It was a cute little room which glowed a soft little light from a star shaped lamp. Conor's crib was an old handmade antique one which had been in the Isles' family for generations. The multi-colored hand-knitted blanket made by Angela hanging over the side. A big family picture of the three of them hanging on the wall next to a drawing of nephew T.J. A rocking chair for breastfeeding and 3 shelves above one another with some toys, pictures and Red Sox memorabilia.
"Here you go little man, and try to sleep now for a while... At least give me some time to take care of you mom now!" She stroke his little curls and gave him a soft kiss on his rosy cheek.
"You called my lady?" Jane made a deep bow when she entered their bedroom.
"Holy Tofu, Jane! You look like..." But Jane interrupted her.
"Like I haven't slept in ages? You are right but it suits me and I look mighty fine, wanna know why? 'Cause I'm being a power 'Hausfrau' at the moment. How are you feeling?"
Maura laughed. She was laying in bed with a table pushed next to it. The empty bowls and glasses were proof of Jane's super dedications of taking good care of her ill wife.
"I'm much better Jane, thank you. Still coughing, maybe still a little feverish but not as bad as yesterday. Was I really hallucinating?" Maura ran her fingers through her messy hair and patted on the bed encouraging Jane to step under the blankets.
"Yeah, you were talking about the morgue coming to life or something and you danced with your favorite scalpel until the tip broke off and you got all sad. It was because I knew you were ill and having a fever otherwise I would've taped it. Gawd, it was hilarious!"
Jane told the story while making grand arm gestures with a smirk on her face.
"I'm glad I was so amusing to you. So tell me; You and Conor have been playing 'pirates', you cooked spaghetti, you watched an old Sox game and you've been painting our house green..." Maura looked at Jane obviously trying to suppress her laughter.
"Why would you... How would you know stuff like that? I'm the detective here! You've been asleep for like 16 hours straight!" Jane exclaimed looking a bit confused.
"Sweet Darlin'... Please, go take a look in the mirror..."
Jane stood up and walked towards a big mirror standing in the corner of the bedroom.
"Ow... I...WOW! I didn't realize!" She started laughing loud.
When she looked at her reflection she could see the spaghetti stains on her Sox jersey, the pirate eye patch dangling around her neck as if it was a necklace. Some strains of hair were green, and so was the big smudge on her cheek.
" Yeah, that reminds me! Wait here!" Jane dashed out of the bedroom ran downstairs on her socks, carefully not to slip, slided her way into the kitchen and grabbed some things of the kitchen counter before heading back upstairs.
"Are you ready?" Jane asked and stopped before re-entering the bedroom.
"Yes I am." Maura was sitting straight up in bed, leaning against some cushions.
Jane walked in holding a dinner-tray in her hands. An empty peanut butter jar was given a new purpose as vase with freshly picked flowers in it. Three little scented candles were flickering and giving off a sweet vanilla scent. Though Maura's nose was stuffed she was able to smell it. Jane gave her the tray.
"Here. For you."
Maura took a look at the tray. It was a painting. Done with only green paint.
"Oh Jane, it's beautiful..." Maura's eyes turned all watery when she saw the little paper.
"Conor missed you, you know. He was constantly asking for you. So I said to him, you know what little bud we're gonna make ya mommy something nice."
Maura lifted the little paper from the tray. She traced the handprint of their son carefully with her fingertips. 'Get well soon, miss ya mommy! Conor'
"Where's he now?"
"I just took him to his own crib. Because of his stuffed nose he wasn't able to lay down on his back. So he fell asleep on my chest after his midnight feeding; Good thing you expressed milk before falling asleep! And then I fell asleep too. When you called over the monitor it was 4.37 and I had just woken up."
"Oh, Jane. I'm so glad to have you as a parent to our beautiful baby boy. What time is it now?"
Jane looked at her phone since she switched off the alarm clock.
"It's almost 5.30." She groaned.
"Come to bed. It won't be long before Conor will wake up demanding his first feeding. Maybe we can get a little shut eye."
"Yup, but first I need to put the baby monitor back into his room. You go warm up my side!"
After Jane put the monitor back into Conor's room she snuggled up against her wife wrapping her arms tight around Maura's waist.
"I love you Maur."
"Too Jane."
"Oh by the way, when I went to the bathroom I noticed our laundry-basket was empty! Are you gonna tell me you even did our laundry?"
"Jane?... Jane?"
But Jane had already fallen asleep. Bathing in the coziness and warmth of fluffy blankets, a Tempur-mattress, silk sheets and the glowing body heath of her loving wife. The exhausting days of housekeeping and taking care of Conor, but especially in combination with the sleep deprivation made sure Jane had fallen asleep within seconds.
"Oh sweet Jane... How much I love you and our son!"
