A/N: I hope you all noticed the status change from "Complete" to "In Progress". Thanks to quite a few encouraging reviews and a bunch of ideas that were gnawing at the back of my mind, I decided to continue this fic. I'm not sure how long it will be, but I have a at least a few more chapters in mind already. I hope you all enjoy the latest addition and please keep the reviews coming! Every review and follow/favorite is fabulous. You are all fabulous!
Maura cracked her eyes open only to shut them quickly at the harshness of the early morning light. It was bright but the sun hadn't fully come to life, allowing the doctor to surmise that it was barely seven o'clock, far too early to be up on their Saturday off. Her thoughts were halted by an unfamiliar sound coming from somewhere close by. Maura waited a moment to see if she'd hear it again. In the moment of silence she reached for Jane only to be met with a handful of cold sheets.
"Jane?" Maura called out and the only response she received was another sound, this one much more recognizable. The heaving sound echoed through the still space. "I'm coming." The two words were meant to assure the suffering brunette that support was on its way, but were barely spoken above a whisper as Maura stretched her sleepy muscles.
The ME paused for a moment when she looked down and recognized her clothing as the same outfit she had worn for a twelve-hour workday the day before. The previous evening and all its revelations came flooding back to her foggy mind. Jane, her declaration, their now confessed feelings, and the dinner Jane had complained her whole way through. Maura smiled to herself and ran her fingers through her barely mussed hair as she stood from the bed. In just a few steps she was in the bathroom and looking down sympathetically at a red faced Jane Rizzoli who was sat on the floor next to the toilet.
"This is fucked up." The combination of sleep and retching had caused Jane's voice to drop to a deepness Maura had never heard before. "Once a month we go through hell if we aren't pregnant and this is what we get if we are pregnant?"
"Only about half of all pregnant women suffer from morning sickness, Jane."
"Lucky me." She rested her spinning head in her hand, her elbow propped on the rim of the porcelain bowl. "If I could go back and choose, I'd be a guy."
"No you wouldn't." Maura argued as she slid down the wall to sit beside the woman who was carrying their child. Their child. It was still so new, so unbelievable to the ME.
"Yes-" Jane leaned forward towards the toilet but nothing happened. False alarm. "Yes. I would."
"If you were a man you wouldn't be able to use menstruation as a ruse to gain access to evidence or to get Barry and Vince to leave you alone."
"I don't do that." A damp forehead was now resting on the seat of the toilet.
"Yes you do, and if they weren't so squeamish they'd realize you do it more often than seven days out of every month." Maura chuckled to herself.
"Ughhh..." Jane groaned, too nauseous to argue.
"Also, even though I am nearly one hundred percent sure you'd be a devilishly handsome man, you wouldn't be nearly as breathtaking as you are. Personally I prefer you as a woman." Maura stretched her toned legs out in front of herself.
"You're still in yesterday's clothes." Jane peeked at the long legs over the rim of her new best friend.
"So are you." Maura pointed out.
"That's not unusual for me."
"Well after dinner you convinced me to lay down for a moment and you laid your head on my shoulder. Next thing I knew you were sound asleep. It had been a long week and I knew how exhausted you were, I couldn't wake you."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. The outfit isn't ruined, though this blouse will need to be dry cleaned immediately. This drool spot-" Maura was interrupted just as she started to point to her shoulder.
"Not for that..." Jane looked at the darkened spot, "well, okay, that too, but I'm apologizing for passing out the way I did. We had a much more exciting evening planned." No matter how pale the sick woman was, she still managed to blush as she spoke suggestively.
"Jane, you do not have to apologize for that!" Maura rubbed small circles on the detective's back, noting the heat that was coming from the other woman. "Just sleeping with you, being held by you and holding you is more than I could've ever hoped for. Last night was perfect."
The romance and sweet tone of the moment was shattered as Jane lurched forward and heaved violently into the toilet. There was nothing more than bile left, but her body didn't care. She continued to expel whatever she could, each time her stomach contracted was more painful than the last. When the rolling in her abdomen finally stopped, Jane sat back against the wall and was greeted by the beauty of a damp towel.
Maura blotted Jane's face and wiped at her mouth. Her heart swelled at the moment, no matter how unglamorous, because it was the purest form of love. She would do anything for this woman and the minuscule being that was growing within her. They were Maura's family and she silently vowed to protect them both until the day she died.
"If I don't think about it I feel better, distract me. Please." Jane looked up at Maura with red-rimmed eyes and the ME's heart almost broke.
"What would you like me to do?"
"Just talk to me, about anything."
"Did you know that there's not one doctor that can say for sure what causes morning sickness during pregnancies? There's many theories but nothing concrete. It's fascinating really."
"Yes. Fascinating. But not a good distraction." Jane groaned and closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry, you know I'm not very good at this sort of thing."
"When did you know?" Jane swallowed hard against the gag that wanted so desperately to come to life as she spoke.
"Well, I wasn't very good with impromptu small talk at an age as young as ten, but I suppose before then." Maura was confused when Jane, turning greener by the second, laughed aloud.
"Me. When did you know it was me?" Jane's smile faded quickly and she leaned slightly closer to the toilet.
"Oh." Maura sat beside Jane once again. "That's a bit more difficult to discern."
"Only you..." Jane expelled a slow steady breath between tight lips instead of finishing her thought.
"I knew before you shot yourself to save me and Frankie, that's actually why I went away. I couldn't face you, I knew you'd see right through me. God, I was so scared." The memory was painful. It was as if in the blink of an eye Maura was back to kneeling beside Jane's limp body on the cold, red streaked concrete.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"Our friendship was already more than I could have ever wished for in this lifetime. I couldn't risk that, Jane."
"I know." Jane nodded, silently acknowledging all the times Maura spoke of her lonely childhood and cold reception as an adult.
"However, I do recall a time that I allowed myself to wonder what it'd be like to be with you. That's when it started. That small thought blossomed into something so much larger than I was prepared for."
"Tell me."
"It was during the undercover assignment at Merch. It sounds so silly and insignificant now, but I just imagined for a moment what it'd be like to be the woman sitting across from you at the table, on a date with Jane Rizzoli." A dreamy tone accompanied the way Maura said Jane's name. "I knew I'd feel special. You're so beautiful and you were so charming with those women, even if you were interrogating them." The small joke earned a chuckle from Jane. "I knew I'd want a second date. It wasn't too long after that realization that I fell in love with you."
"I wish I had realized sooner." Jane spoke softly, regret evident in her tone.
"Everything happens for a reason."
"I thought you didn't believe in fate." Jane looked at the caramel blonde skeptically.
"You've given me the courage to dream, Jane." Maura started to move closer but was met with cold air as Jane reached for the toilet.
"Son of a bitch!" Jane exclaimed after retching. "You shouldn't have to see me like this." The never ending bout of nausea was starting to make the strong detective feel vulnerable.
"You're kidding, right?" Maura was taken aback. "Not only does vomit not bother me, but you're carrying our child, Jane, and you're my-" Maura stopped suddenly when she didn't have a word to fill in the blank. It was a big blank, a significant blank that was screaming at her now. Best friend no longer worked and they hadn't made the leap to lovers just yet. Girlfriend? Partner? "What are we?"
Jane let her head fall back against the cool wall. So many thoughts were swimming through her muddled brain, but she was happy to note that the spinning had stopped.
"What do you want to be? Do you want to be my girlfriend?" The corner of the brunette's mouth twitched, a small smile coming to life at the thought. Maura Isles, my girlfriend.
The doctor remained silent as she thought about Jane's question. She'd love to be that woman's girlfriend. Any woman should jump at the chance to hold such a title. So why was she hesitating with her answer? She looked down at Jane's hand, the pucker of thick flesh in the center was a mark of strength and bravery, of a toughness unique to Jane. That hand was resting so gently on her belly, cradling a nonexistent bump in a natural action of protection. Jane was so tough and yet so tender, especially with Maura.
"Fiancée." The word came out quickly and without permission, but Maura meant it with all her heart.
"What?" Jane's eyes were wide with surprise.
"I know it's sudden but I hardly feel like a girlfriend. We're not dating, Jane, you're carrying a child we will raise together and I intend on sleeping beside you every night." Maura's face was set seriously. "And I'm hoping that much more romantic and sexual things will be happening as well."
"Maura Isles, my fiancée." Jane mumbled to herself, loving the way each word slid from her tongue. "It's much easier to say than 'Doctor Maura Isles. The Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts'." Jane snorted and Maura pushed her gently.
"You'll still have to introduce me properly during work hours."
"Fiancée would be used during work hours." At Maura's curious look she continued. "Outside of work I'll introduce you as 'my drop dead sexy fiancée'." Her usual megawatt smile was back and brighter than ever. Maura just laughed and shook her head, she wasn't even sure if Jane was joking.
"Maur?" Jane asked as she started to sit up straighter.
"Yes, Jane?" Maura watched as the other woman stood and made her way to the sink.
"I think fiancée is perfect, and I will seal the deal with a kiss as soon as I scrub my mouth for an hour."
"You don't have to exceed the recommended two minutes, especially if you rinse with mouthwash afterward." Maura responded seriously as she stood beside Jane and retrieved her own toothbrush. They shared a smile with their reflection in the mirror as they brushed and rinsed. Once they were finished and their mouths were fresh, Jane bent forward and kissed Maura sweetly on the lips. Just as Maura's lips parted, searching for a deeper kiss, Jane pulled back to whisper against her open mouth.
"It's Saturday and I want a pastrami sandwich." Jane started to kiss Maura again but the ME pulled back from the less-than-romantic change in topic.
"Take a shower and I'll see what I can do."
"You're the best fiancée ever." Jane embraced the shorter woman and peppered an exposed neck with dozens of small kisses.
"Remember that when Monday rolls around and I make you eat healthy again." With an artificially sweet smile Maura exited the bathroom and left a deflated Jane in her wake.