Author's Note: I wanted to say thank you, lovelies, for sticking by this story, and to those who so kindly take time to review:) I wanted to give a special thank you to Terri411 as your kind feedback always puts a large smile on my face and I'm so grateful that you find the time to do that.

Enjoy!


Maura glanced around the waiting room distantly. Too distantly for Jane's liking. She'd not seen the doctor looking this spooked in a long time, since her last sweetheart-turned-psychopath boyfriend. The won who'd given her someone's clay covered hand as an 'affectionate gift'... Jane thanked God that she was with her now. She didn't mean it arrogantly, simply that she could have the reassurance of knowing Maura was safe within her relationship. At least she herself wasn't a threat, and never would be. The detective watched the M.E's eyes jump from stomach to stomach around the room. Their were many women there; some with partners, some without, all at various points of their pregnancies.

Maura glanced down at her own hands and began to speak. "Nathan- his attitude did drastically change right at the end, after everything had happened. His personality returned to what it normally was, with the addition of guilt of course. And he became very apologetic."

"It doesn't excuse what he did. How did you stop him being mad?" Jane asked in amazement.

"I said that if he has ever cared about this baby then he would let go, and he did. Despite the apology, I ran out while I had the chance. He was showcasing the kind of psychotic behaviour that I often see among criminals. The sudden twists in personality, how the calm can never last too long." The doctor stared at the ever so slightly sloping stomach beneath her and sighed softly. The whole situation made Jane's heart ache. She would never understand how someone could hurt someone as kind-hearted as Maura, as the woman she loved so dearly.

Struggling to find sufficient words of comfort, she used the facts to try and reassure her. "He's probably being arrested as we speak, you don't need to worry about him now." The detective personally didn't want him to even lay his eyes on Maura again. She feared that in good time the doctor would choose to forgive him and slowly let him into her life and then the baby's. It wasn't any personal insecurity that bothered her, she just wanted him gone. Dead, preferably, but behind bars would do too. She tried to focus on the good for now. The beautiful woman sitting beside her with the kindest soul she had ever known.

"I wish we were snuggled up on your couch right now," Jane said simply, not realizing her thoughts had been vocalized until it was too late. Maura smiled softly and hummed in agreement.

"That sounds nice. I'll look forward to that."

"Good." The detective nodded, shooting her a reassuring smile. "I love you, you know?"

The doctor's eyes immediately brightened and she nodded. "I love you t-"

"Maura Isles," the loud waiting room speaker interrupted her. As they stood, a fresh wave of fear hit the doctor's stomach and formed a soft cloud of anxiety around them. The detective immediately felt it and sought Maura's hand with her own, wanting to offer any kind of comfort she could.

"Hey, you're shaking," she said with concern as they walked towards the office together.

"I haven't really been able to stop shaking since this morning. It's was far more faint. It only increased as I began to worry for the baby's safety."

"I'm sure the baby will be fine. Let's just get this over and done with and you will feel so much better afterwards."

The doctor nodded and they came face to face with the office door. Jane raised her hand and knocked firmly, squeezing Maura's hand with the other.

"Come in," a warm female voice said from the other side of the door.

They walked in together and greeted the nurse. She had dark skin, dark hair and was wearing lilac scrubs. She looked around thirty and had a welcoming smile.

"Are you Maura?" The nurse asked while pointing at the doctor. She was familiar with the pregnancy skin glow. Her guesses were usually right.

"Yes," Maura replied with a polite nod.

"Hi, my name is Holly; I am going to be your prenatal nurse during the course of your pregnancy," she explained before turning towards Jane who was standing next to Maura. "And you are?" The nurse asked kindly.

"Detective Jane Rizzoli. I'm Maura's- I'm her best friend." Jane answered. Considering her and Maura hadn't really talked about their relationship- despite already exchanging love confessions- she decided to play it safe. The doctor shot her a look of confusion, not appreciating the downgrading of their relationship. Jane gave her a helpless shrug and Maura realised that they hadn't in fact talked properly about what they were.

"I see," the nurse said smiling. "Now, Maura, would you like to take a seat on the bed. Lie back and get nice and comfy."

Maura handed Jane her handbag and sat down on the bed. She lay back before looking at the nurse again, awaiting further instructions.

"I'd like to ask a couple of questions if that is okay?" Holly asked her. "It's just protocol."

Maura nodded. Although she was trying her very best, she was still extremely worried about the baby. It was true what she had said earlier. Trauma was a common cause for miscarriages and she'd had her fair share of trauma lately. She wanted to just hurry this along.

"To begin with, do you know how far along you are?"

"Yes. Two months and twenty-two days."

"Wow, I don't think I've ever had someone as precise as that," Holly answered with impressed raised eyebrows. She jotted down the information.

"She's a doctor. It's in her genes," Jane explained from next to the nurse.

"Oh really, what type of doctor are you?" Holly asked.

"I'm the chief medical examiner at the Boston Police Department," Maura replied plainly. Many would gloat or brag, but not her. She took pride in her work and she knew it was an admirable position but she wasn't the kind of person who would hold such a thing over others. And she was tired, her social skills were rapidly beginning to deteriorate. Despite a whole night's worth of sleep, she felt as if she hadn't slept at all.

"That's interesting; you must have a good stomach to handle a job like that. I know I definitely couldn't." The nurse smiled.

Maura gave her a small smile in return.

"Now, have you been eating correctly and exercising regularly?"

"Yes, of course," the medical examiner nodded.

"Okay. You were due an appointment in a couple of weeks anyway but can I ask why you scheduled this ultrasound?" she asked.

Maura glanced at Jane with a worried expression.

"I-I just wanted to make sure that the pregnancy was going smoothly," Maura answered, her eyes darting from the detective to the nurse. She wasn't exactly lying, she just felt like she was withholding some of the truth.

The nurse observed Maura's anxious expression before speaking. "If I'm wrong then please correct me but, have you had a little incident of some sort that might have spurred this on?" At Maura's sudden look of panic, she quickly continued. "We have many expectant mothers coming in after bumping into things or hurting themselves by accident. They get concerned about their pregnancies and often schedule an early ultrasound. Is this a possible reason for your appointment today?"

Maura hesitated. "Why do you think that?" she asked worriedly.

Holly looked at her for a couple of seconds before she spoke. "You have that anxious expression. I've seen it a lot before," she patted Maura on the knee gently. "If something has happened, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. All I care about is making sure that you and your baby are healthy. I am not here to judge you."

Maura looked at Jane again. She wanted to see some kind of answer in Jane's eyes. She wanted to know whether she should tell the nurse about what happened with Nathan or not but the detective's eyes just mirrored Maura's own expression of clueless anxiety.

The nurse watched them exchanging glances and decided to take a different approach.

"Okay, why don't we do the ultrasound now? We don't need to speak about anything immediately."

Maura nodded.

"I have to say, you two make a nice change. I have had so many chatterboxes today; I'm convinced my ears are ringing," she tried to brighten the mood.

Jane smiled at the nurse.

"Maura, please could you pull your shirt up. You may need to take of your jacket."

Maura shot the nurse a look of fear. She knew full well what was beneath her sleeves and she didn't want to portray herself as that kind of person. As a woman who gets hurts by men. She was hoping she wouldn't have to take her blazer off.

Holly looked at her with a confused expression. "It's kind of compulsory to lift your shirt up for this," she defended.

The doctor solemnly nodded and took off her jacket without another word. The nurse looked down and noticed her dark wrists. Jane frowned as she saw them too. They looked even worse against the white sheets Maura was on.

"Ouch," the nurse said with concern.

"It wasn't me," Jane immediately defended with her hands raised.

"I didn't think it was," Holly added simply. "Is this the answer to the question I asked before?" The nurse looked at her patient's eyes, determined to avoid hers for various points of the floor. There was clearly nothing for her to feel ashamed about. Somebody else did this. The fingerprint pattern concerned her.

"Yes," Maura replied, finally glancing up to meet her eye. The blonde liked to know what people were thinking and this nurse was not revealing anything. It worried her.

"I have a range of support I could recommend if you'd be willing to accept it?"

"Thank you," Maura began gratefully, "but I'll be fine. It was an incident that I don't believe will occur again." At Holly's knowing glare, she shook her head defensively. "I know how it sounds. But I am not one of those women. I will not tolerate him ever even coming near me again. He should have been arrested by now."

"I see." Holly gave her a soft reassuring smile. "How about we get this ultrasound started?"

Jane wondered what Maura had meant by 'those women'? Perhaps she was unaware that abuse victims were not a 'type' of person. Perhaps she feared that she was soon to become one.

Maura nodded to the kind nurse. She was grateful that she did not pry any further. She lifted up her shirt so that it sat just beneath her bra. The nurse brought over a large translucent carton with blue gel inside and placed it next to her on the bed.

"I'm just going to place some of this gel onto your lower stomach so that we can take the scan. It's a little cold but it should warm up quite quickly," she explained before squirting some of the blue goo onto Maura's stomach. The nurse lowered down the transducer and moved it slowly over the gel. After ten seconds or so of searching, when you could probably cut the anxiety radiating around the room with a knife; they heard a steady heartbeat through the machine.

Jane and Maura audibly sighed with relief. They both looked at the small silhouette that they could just make out on the screen. The sonogram seemed to make things so much more real. They watched in fascination for a few minutes before Jane walked over to Maura and kissed her lovingly on the forehead.

Jane smiled; the side of her forehead leaning on Maura's. "Your baby's beautiful Maura."

Maura wanted to correct her and say 'our' but she didn't want to scare the detective with such a serious commitment. Especially in a public environment. She opted for, "she really is."

"She?" Holly asked with confusion. She didn't recall telling them the gender.

"I have an inkling," Maura explained a little sheepishly.

"Ah," Holly smiled. "Only very few women can do that, so congratulations. If you want I can double check for you, but I have I feeling you're convinced." She smiled.

The smiling blonde nodded. "Even if she isn't a girl, I'd like it to be a surprise. Though I am very convinced."

Jane smiled and squeezed her shoulder. "Look at you choosing your instinct over fact, how the tables have turned, Dr. Isles!"

The doctor laughed and raised her hand to cup her cheek. She wanted to be closer to her and it's what she'd felt impulsed to do at that moment. The hormones were magnifying every feeling; love included.

Holly watched them fondly, still circling Maura's lower stomach with the transducer as she personally observed the sonogram, occasionally taking a few notes. She loved a good lesbian couple. Even if the two weren't admitting it to her. It was always a fun change to have a different kind of couple in comparison to the hundred's of other couples that flushed through the centre every week. It was always nice to get anyone remotely different, each unique couple situation always intrigued her. They were enveloped into her life at the most sensitive part of theirs. It had always been fascinating for her to watch different people cope with pregnancy and how it would affect their lives. Her job wasn't as black and white as it looked.

"I'll leave you two to look at the baby for a few minutes. I need to take the transducer away but you will still get a still image on the screen," Holly said before moving the machine away from Maura's stomach and passing the blonde a tissue for the gel. "Here you go, you can wipe it off with this."

Maura smiled gratefully before she wiped off the gel and placed the tissue into a bin beside her. She accepted a second tissue from the nurse as happy tears began to drop to her cheeks. Jane had sniffed a few times but was trying not to be too soppy, if she cried at someone else's ultrasound she'd never live it down with her brothers. Even if it was Maura's baby. Anyway, it was only the first sonogram, there'd be many more chances to cry over this baby.

"I'll be right back," Holly said before leaving the room.

Once Holly was gone, Jane met Maura's eye. "Excusing the choice of father, I'm so proud of you, Maura. This is really, really special."

"Thank you, I think," Maura said with a bright smile. "She's gone, can I kiss you now?"

"Maura, you can kiss me anytime. You should know that by now," Jane said teasingly. She felt the same baby bliss Maura felt, minus the extra hormones of course.

The doctor laughed and pulled Jane closer to her so that their lips could finally meet. She needed to seal this special moment. Her whole body shone with love as she felt the detective's mouth against her own. It always did. As they kissed, Jane unknowingly placed her hand onto Maura's rounded stomach. It had only been an accident but it made the whole moment so much more magical.

"You're going to be great mothers," Holly observed aloud from the doorway.

Jane and Maura pulled away with amused surprise and looked at the nurse.

Holly tucked some of her dark hair behind her own ear as she approached them with a small piece of dark paper. She handed the sonogram picture to them both. "I can tell and I have never been wrong."