Chapter 9

Maura got home in time to handle Chris' bath and read him his stories before bed. The night ritual of getting Chris to go to sleep was well established by now. It started with bath time. That lasted longer if Maura handled it than if it was Jane. Chris liked playing and splashing around and Maura was the one that would let that happen. After bath time, it was story time. That was exclusively Maura. She had only had to miss story time once and Jane managed but Chris wasn't happy. So, Maura was always on story duty.

Once story time was done, and it would depend on how tired Chris was each night on the number of stories Maura would read to him, it was time to get him tucked in and for lights out. Jane usually finished the ritual. The mandatory sippy-cup of water was placed on his nightstand. He never actually drank from it that either Maura or Jane could tell but he seemed insistent that one be there and available for him. Jane would then make sure that Chris had Mr. Bunny, a fluffy gray stuffed Bunny that was given to him by Tommy when he was born. No one could really remember when Chris became attached to the stuffed rabbit but at some point he would not sleep without it. The rabbit always started firmly tucked under Chris' left arm but by morning it was end up under the covers and down near his feet.

That just left the ritual tucking in of the sheets or blankets around him and kisses from both Maura and Jane. He had a night lamb. The kind that projected imagines on the lampshade and those images flashed around in a circle with different colors. The lamp projected dinosaurs and Chris seemed to like that more than a normal night light. He wouldn't sleep in complete darkness. Before Jane and Maura would go to sleep one of them would check on Chris and would turn off the lamp and turn on the normal night light as long as he as asleep.

That Friday had gone per usual. Maura handled bath time and let Chris splash water enthusiastically as he recapped his day with Grandma and listened to Maura exclaim how wonderful the new picture he drew her was. He was sleepier than the night before and Maura only got in two stories before her voice practically lulled him to sleep. Jane brought up the sippy cup, tucked Mr. Bunny under his arm and then tucked in the covered tightly around him. He was awake enough to kiss both Jane and Maura, but barely, and he was almost already asleep as Jane turned on the dinosaur lamp and they closed the door. Both ladies wandered back downstairs, each well aware of how lucky they were to have such a wonderful boy as a son.

The rest of Maura and Jane's night passed quickly. Both were tired and not really in the mood for long discussions. They both understood they had the entire next day alone together and both felt like it was better to get into serious discussions tomorrow. So, they ordered pizza from Regina's and just spent the night together in simple, quiet conversation. They attempted to watch a documentary Maura had recorded but both virtually fell asleep snuggled together on the couch. After about half way through the documentary they turned it off and headed up to bed. Maura checked on Chris and switched off his dinosaur lamp for the night light and then quickly fell into a peaceful sleep curled into Jane.

The morning was hurried. Getting Chris up and ready. Getting his breakfast. Getting themselves cleaned up and ready and then packing for both Chris and themselves. Chris was excited. He knew he got to see his Uncle Tommy for the entire day. He announced several times throughout the morning that he was ready to go and didn't seem too happy when he was told by both his mothers that they weren't ready to drive over to Tommy's yet. But then finally they were ready, car packed up and headed over to Tommy's. Chris handled the car chatter with excited snippets about what Tommy had promised they would do all day. Jane and Maura both had to laugh at Chris' general level of excitement. They were both glad he enjoyed his Uncle as much as he did. He loved Uncle Frankie, too. But there was something special about being with Uncle Tommy.

When they pulled up to Tommy's place he was already downstairs waiting. He hadn't wanted Jane to have to try to get up the stairs to her old apartment with her ankle still not 100%. So when Maura unhooked Chris from his car seat and helped him out of the car, it was to no one's surprise that Chris took off running towards Tommy the minute Maura felt it was safe to let go of his hand. All anyone in the neighborhood heard was the voice of a two year yelling, "Unckie!"

Tommy caught him in mid-charge and scooped him up tickling him and getting him giggling in no time flat. "Hey Munchkin!" he greeted has he adjusted Chris in his arms. He greeted Maura and Jane while accepting Chris' overnight bag. "Hey guys. Stacey's upstairs and will be down in a second to say hi. Jane we figured you wouldn't want to walk up the stairs."

"Thanks. I don't really miss those stairs," she said with a smile.

"Tommy, we should be back by noon tomorrow. He shouldn't be too much trouble for you," Maura said with a smile. "Chris, you listen to everything Uncle Tommy and Aunt Stacey tells you today, ok?"

"Uh-huh," Chris answered nodding his head. "Unckie, piggy back!" And Tommy quickly caved and placed Chris on his shoulders hanging onto his legs. Chris seemed to love the way the world looked from such a heightened vantage point.

"Hey guys," came from Stacey as she made her way down. She quickly grabbed at Chris' foot laughing that Tommy already had him up on his shoulders. "Hey Munchkin," she greeted Chris.

"Hi Aunt Stacey," he acknowledged but then turned his attention back to Tommy.

Stacey grabbed Chris' stuff and chatted briefly with Maura and Jane. Both were then ready to go and wanted goodbye kisses from Chris. Chris conceded but was clearly more interested in starting his day with Tommy than saying goodbye to Jane and Maura. "Bye-bye. See you tomorrow," was the best they got. His attention was all about Tommy.

"Stacey, call us if there are any issues. Otherwise we'll pick him up around noon tomorrow," Maura added as she and Jane re-entered their car to head to Marblehead. Both were happier knowing they could sneak away for a night and Chris was happy to be spending time with his Uncle. It made the monthly routine easier to allow. Chris looked forward to time with Tommy as much as Maura and Jane looked forward to a night alone.

As Jane drove towards Marblehead Maura was quietly staring out the window. The silence wasn't uncomfortable but as Jane peered over towards her wife she was fully aware that Maura was lost in thought.

"Alright, out with it," she said but with compassion in her tone.

"Hmm?" Maura looked up and over to Jane clearly getting pulled from a thought. "Sorry."

"Maur, I can hear the wheels turning in that head of yours. Talk to me."

Maura had two things she needed to talk to Jane about during this trip. Three actually if she counted her desire to test where Jane stood on her promotion offer. Maura knew Jane had only another week to decide and give Sean her answer. She really wanted to know what Jane was going to do. But instead of asking that, she stated the conversation about one of the two things she needed to talk about.

"Jonathan had an interesting offer for me yesterday."

Jane nodded her head. She figured there was something from her lunch with Jonathan that Maura needed to talk about. "Did he want you to guest lecture again?"

"Not quite. He's apparently getting ready to retire. He hopes to officially retire in two years."

Everyone seemed to be announcing retirements. That reminded Jane that she needed to tell Maura about Korsak. But she would later. For now it was Maura's time to talk. "Olivia must be thrilled. That should let them travel like she wants to."

Maura nodded. "He said she was excited. He also said that the Board is allowing him decent discretion in finding and naming his successor."

Jane glanced over at Maura. Clearly this had something to do with any offer from Jonathan. "Maura?"

Maura turned and looked at Jane. "He wants me to succeed him as Dean of the medical school. He said that between my field experience and social connections I'm an excellent candidate for the job."

Jane looked at Maura and then a huge smile broken across her face. "Of course you are an excellent candidate Maura. He couldn't do better than you. You are a genius."

Maura smiled at Jane's endorsement. "You are biased. But thank you."

"Hey, wife or not, you are an excellent pathologist. You have been the best medical examiner the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has seen. Exactly what did Jonathan offer you?"

"Full professorship teaching either pathology or anatomy and in two years I would be named his successor as Dean when he retires. He would groom me in those two years for what I would need to know to replace him. And I can decide my class load after being named Dean."

Jane was quiet for a second. "Wow. You've taught before. Is this something that you think you want?"

"I don't really know. I wasn't expecting to hear that yesterday. I was like you. I thought he may need a guest lecturer. I didn't see a professorship offer coming and I certainly wasn't expecting anything related to Dean. I don't really know what I want to do."

Jane couldn't help but smile and snicker slightly.

"What?" Maura asked.

"It's just I can't help but think that when it rains it pours. We both seem to suddenly be facing career choices. And big ones. I find the timing slightly ironic."

"I guess so. We both have things to decide."

"Maura, honey, I'm so proud of you. And I meant what I said earlier. Jonathan would be crazy not to consider you for any position at Harvard. You are alumni. You are a brilliant doctor. You would make an excellent professor and a Dean. And I finally get to tell you what you've been telling me for four years. I love you. And I'll support anything you want to do and whatever you decide. You will always have my full support."

Maura reached over and squeezed Jane's hand. They both supported the other's career choices. Each simply wanted the other to be happy. Both knowing they could and would make anything work when it came to jobs.

"Thank you. Now I know how you must feel when I say that to you. Do I really do that to you? Offer support but withhold my opinion?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes you do. Frustrating isn't it?"

"Yes, kind of. Especially when I don't really know what to do."

"Tell you what. We both seem to be in the same boat here. So I'll trade you. An honest opinion for an honest opinion."

Maura looked a bit confused, "What?"

"An opinion for an opinion. Let's agree that we both will support the decision that the other person makes no matter what. As I think we both would."

"I agree with that."

"Good. So, considering we know that the other will be ok no matter what each of us decides, I'll trade you my opinion about your offer and my honest opinion including what I would like for you to do, if you tell me your opinion about my offer including what you would like for me to do. An opinion for an opinion."

Maura smiled. That did seem rather fair now that they both had job offers that they were considering. "Ok, it's a deal. Complete honest opinions. Hold nothing back. Who starts?"

"Considering you've had longer to formulate an opinion about my job offer I think you should go first," she said with a smile.

"Fair enough. So you want my honest opinion about your offer. Here it goes," and she shifted in her seat so her body was turned towards Jane. "Honestly, I think you need to say yes to Hamilton's offer. Jane, it's the head of BIS. A Deputy Superintendent rank and head of the entire Investigative Services bureau. That kind of job usually takes years to work your way to. But they are offering it to you.

"You've earned it. You are qualified. You have the respect of your entire division and from what I continuously hear the entire department. Jane, you really are a legend in the Boston Police Department. From the cases you have closed to the trauma you have survived, you are a legend. The things you have been through would have broken any other officer on the department. I'm sure of that. But, none of them broke you. You got up each and every time. Dusted yourself off and moved on.

"You are a natural leader. You should see the command you possess when you are in the field or in a situation in which you need to make the final decisions. You have such confidence about you and you carry yourself so well. It's no wonder that you have as many teams of detectives reporting to you as you do right now. They flock to you. When something happens you are who they look to figure out how to act.

"The influence you could exert as head of the BIS is limitless. You would be responsible for the who and how every investigation was handled. You'd set the standard for the entire department. You'd be the youngest Deputy Superintendent in the history of the department and you would be the first female. I think there is so much good you can do if you took the job.

"And I won't lie to you. I wouldn't mind seeing you out of the field. Don't get mad but I can't help but think you'd be so much safer out of the field. I know you love it. I know you have declined the other promotions because it would take you from the field and you weren't ready for that to happen but I wouldn't mind the idea of you being behind a desk and not out chasing the bad guys anymore," she paused and looked down at the boot on Jane's foot. "I understood that the other offers would have just sentenced you to time behind a desk shuffling papers which is why I didn't mind when you said no every time. But this offer is different. This isn't just a desk job. This is so much more and my honest opinion is that I want you to say yes."

Jane took in all of what Maura had said. And it made her smile. "Maura, I'm not mad. How could I get mad when you just want me safe? I can't even really argue with you. At least not lately. Maybe I'm just getting too old to keep thinking I can bounce back from injuries. This ankle rehab is killing me. And if I'm completely honest with you, I've worried about being in the field since Chris was born. You know I've always been worried about my job getting me hurt. I never want to lose you two or leave you alone with Chris."

Maura simply nodded. She was well aware of the fears Jane had about getting killed in the line of duty. She had them too. They almost didn't consider having kids because of Jane's fears about how dangerous her job was. Maura was a little surprised to hear Jane sound open to the idea of coming out the field. Maybe she would say yes to her offer. "Ok, now it's your turn. Honest opinion."

"Fair enough. Honest opinion. Holding nothing back. But bear in mind that I just found out about your offer and you've have a month to think about mine. But, that being said, here's my honest opinion. You are an amazing doctor. An amazing medical examiner. An amazing person altogether. I think it would be great if you were able to take your gift, your intelligence, and pass it along to others. I didn't know you when you taught in San Francisco. I'm not even sure you enjoyed teaching back then. Part of me thinks possibly not.

"But you are a different person than you were when you were in San Francisco. You used to shy away from people. Pathology called to you because you were more comfortable dealing with the dead than the living. When we first met you were still uncomfortable around people and in social situations. But Maura, you aren't that person anymore. You have such confidence about you now. You are good with people and you aren't afraid of interactions. You are so open to being involved in situations and with people that I can't help but think you'd love to start teaching again.

"You should see how you are when you are trying to explain things to me. I love your Googlemouth not so much because of what you are trying to explain to me but because you get this look on your face when you are sharing knowledge with me. It's one of my favorite looks you give me. The thing is I don't understand half of what you try to explain to me. I never have. But, I'll listen to you all day, every day because I love you.

"Imagine how happy you might be if you had an entire classroom full of potential doctors that you could share all your wisdom and knowledge and practical experience. A roomful of budding doctors that were just as interested in what you were trying to share with them as you. And a roomful of people who actually understood all the things you were trying to teach them. I've always felt bad that your explanations with me and the information you have shared are always such a one sided conversation. You give, I listen. I don't comprehend enough to ask questions or give back. Imagine how happy you would be if there were others who understood and asked you questions. Others who wanted more information.

"Maura, it's Harvard Medical School. You'd be the Dean of the best medical school in the country in two years. It's your element. You belong in the academic world. I think you would be remarkable. I have always loved working with you and I know you have wanted to make a difference in people's lives. To help bring killers to justice and bring closure for families. And you have done that. For 10 years you have done that. But I think it would be great for you to start sharing the knowledge and passion you have with others.

"Maura, I think this is a once in the lifetime opportunity. It's my honest opinion that you should take this job. Harvard Medical School is not going to be an open position every day. And being hand-picked to succeed Jonathan as the Dean of the school, I just don't think you should say no to that. I think you should say yes."

Maura had listened and nodded at times. She was actually happy that they agreed to share an opinion for an opinion. Nothing Jane said surprised her. She had thought most of it herself. She hadn't really considered Jane's point about being able to share her knowledge with others who would understand her and want to hear all the little tidbits that she possessed. Thinking about that she thought Jane had a point. It would be nice to have students asking questions and wanting to hear more.

They managed to finish trading their opinions with each other just as Jane had arrived at The Harbor Light Inn. Maura was glad they had arrived. One topic down. One more to go.

A/N Just a heads up….tomorrow's chapter will see a rating change from T to M. I mean, they are on a getaway weekend after all… If that bothers you…you will want to skip Chapter 10 when it posts.