I love you guys.


It takes a moment for her to realize what's happening when it happens, but as soon as she feels the heat between her legs, she knows. She cautiously sits up and swings her legs over the side of the bed, resting her hands on her knees and squeezing her eyes shut. For a moment the world around her spins. She squeezes her eyes tighter and she sees colours dance before her, weaving patterns and designs that are unique and special and hers. She then feels the sensation of another tug and another gush and her breath catches in her throat, her eyes snapping open instantly.

"Jane." She says her wife's name quietly at first, her words getting cut off by another sudden twist in her stomach. Jane murmurs and rolls over, yawning once before falling back into her sleep, drawing the pillow over her head.

She says her name again, "Jane," louder and more frantic. "Jane, get up."

The brunette squirms for a moment beneath the covers before her eyes groggily drag open, taking in the silhouette of Maura hunched over the edge of the bed.

"Maur," she begins quietly, voice thick and raspy with sleep. "Maur, what's up?"

"It's time." Maura responds, her voice quiet. "My water just broke."

Within seconds Jane is leaping from the bed, stumbling and tripping over the blanket as she struggles to find her footing. "Now? It's time now? Are you sure?" She is almost as frantic and wild as her hair, and the sight makes Maura smile momentarily, except for the fact that another burst of searing pain shoots through her as her back arches to support it, her smile fading into a grimace.

Jane rounds the corner of the bed, Grabbing hold of Maura's hands and bringing her to her feet. "How bad?" she asks.

Maura shakes her head. "Not very. It'll get worse."

Jane nods, letting go of the doctor and darting for the closet. She disappears into its depths and returns moments later with a blue cashmere sweater for Maura, and an old BPD softball teeshirt for herself.

Jane quickly pulls the clothes onto her body, her head getting momentarily stuck in the arm hole of her shirt, and Maura can't help the laugh that escapes her.

"Relax, Jane." she responds, holding her clothes out to her wife. "Relax and help me put these on."

The two women dress and wash their faces before exiting the bathroom, making their way down the hallway and toward the stairs. Halfway down the flight Maura has to stop to allow another contraction hit her, and just as it ends the front door bursts open to reveal a disheveled, frantic looking Angela.

She rushes towards the two women, holding her hands out as Maura finally hits the last step. "Angela," she breathes. "We were just going to call you."

Angela pulls Maura to her and kisses the side of her face, taking her by the hand and leading her towards the front door where Jane is struggling to get into her boots.

"No need, I saw your light on and came running. I just knew it was time." she winks, eyes wide and starry. "It's a mothers intuition."

Jane rolls her eyes while she simultaneously hops on one foot as she yanks her black boot up and over her heel, then bends down to help Maura slip into the delicate yellow ballet flats that had been placed at the front entrance especially for this reason.

The blue travel bag that had been sitting at the entrance for a little over a week is now slung over Jane's shoulder, and Maura can't help but suddenly feel her fear taking over. Jane pulls open the door and takes two steps, before turning and darting back into the kitchen to grab her keys. She looks at Maura quickly, and the blonde woman can see her own fear mirrored there.

"Do we have everything?" she asks through a clenched jaw. One question with so many meanings.

Do I have what I need? Do I have you? Am I ready? Are you?

Jane nods, pulling away for a moment to retrieve the keys she'd dropped in the process. "We've got everything."

I have what you need. I am yours. You're ready. We're ready.

Maura nods, looks up at her wife, and smiles.

"Then lets get this show on the road."


They burst through the hospital doors and Maura's doctor is already there waiting. Quickly she scurries up to them, red hair bouncing along behind her. Maura steps forward, allowing the woman to take her by the elbow, as she begins leading her down the hallway while Jane is pulled aside by a nurse to tend to paperwork. Maura hears the doctor going on about birthing plans and hospital gowns, but she does not listen. Instead, she peeks her head over her shoulder and back down the hallway where her wife stands hunched over a desk, frantically scribbling names and dates onto a bright yellow paper.

Maura see's the crinkle in her wife's brow and watches her pull her bottom lip between her teeth. Everything about Jane is screaming anxiety. Angela is bopping around behind her daughter, arms flailing as she reminds Jane to make a note that "Maura needs to be the priority!" And Maura feels a grin pull across her face as Jane turns to scold her.

Her doctor presses her hand into Maura's lower back, leading her forward as an enchanted smile spreads across her face. "Don't worry, Dr. Isles." She says happily. "Jane will be along in just a minute."

Maura faces forward and nods, leaning into the doctor slightly as she feels the tip of a contraction starting to build within her. She bites the inside of her cheek to keep from gasping, pressing her eyes closed and breathing deep, allowing this soft spoken, bubbly doctor lead her down the hallway, and into a gown.


Jane glances down at her watch and it's 10:45 in the morning. It's been six hours. Six hours since Maura shook her awake, pointing down at the soaked patch of bed that indicated that her water had broken. Six hours since Jane tore through the house, collecting books and clothing and car keys. Six hours, but it's felt like six days.

She crosses her legs and stares down at her beautiful wife who had fallen asleep just moments before. She watches as her brow creases, hands opening and closing desperately as the discomfort within her grows and grows. She wishes more than anything that she could take this pain away from her; that she could help her sleep and be calm, but she can't. She's helpless, and it's killing her.

Suddenly the door to Maura's room opens slowly, as Constance peeks her head inside. Jane smiles, waving her over and standing, allowing her to sit.

"Hey," she greets. "Just in time. I gotta use the washroom."

Constance smiles, reaching out and pulling Jane close, placing a kiss on each cheek. "Lovely." she says. "I was hoping to have just a few moments with her. Has she been asleep for long?"

Jane shakes her head. "Just a few minutes. The next contraction will be just around the corner, though, so you wont have to wait long."

Constance nods and looks down warily at her daughter. She takes a deep breath before taking a tentative step closer. "Jane," she begins. "Would it be alright if I shared something with you?"

Jane looks from the sleeping form of her wife, to her mother in law, to the open door beside her before shrugging her shoulder. "Sure."

Constance sits down in the chair as Jane perches on the bed at Maura's feet. She does her best to look cool and calm and collected, but inside she is an open floodgate of fear and anxiety and just about every other emotion known to man.

"Honestly," Constance begins. "I don't know what to do."

Jane shakes her head, confused. "About what?"

Constance sighs, gesturing to Maura. "About this. I've never given birth. I don't know how to help her, and it is making me quite nervous."

Jane shrugs her shoulders, looking down at the blonde then back into Constance's cool blue eyes. "I don't either. I have no clue what's going on." she says jokingly with a quick laugh.

"I guess that puts us in.. what is that phrase? The same vessel?"

Jane can't help but giggle at how similar Maura and her mother are. "It puts us in the same boat." She responds.

Jane reaches out to take the older womans hands in her own, and regardless of all her preconceptions of Constance, she can't help but feel for her in this moment. Jane looks into her eyes and sees everything that the older woman is trying to hide, and it nearly stuns her. She sees love, and fear, and embarrassment. She sees guilt for all those lonely years and regret for all the ones she missed. She wishes there was something that she could do to reassure her, help her. But for the second time that day Jane is at a loss. "All you can do is love her." Jane says. "All any of us can do is love her and show her that we're here. That's all she wants from us."

Constance nods, squeezing Jane's hands once before pulling away to casually brush away the tears that she desperately wants to hide. "I think that's something I can do."

Jane smiles at the older woman, squeezing her hands one last time before slipping off the bed and heading for the door. At the last moment, she turns back to see Constance swiping at her eyes, and she feels her heart swell.

"Just love her." She says on last time.

Constance nods. "I do. I really, really do."


She feels as though she is splitting in two. Over and over, minute after minute, there is pain. It doesn't stop, does not subside. He eyes are wide, momentarily rolling into her head as the coattails of her last contraction whip through her. Jane grasps her hand, allowing her to squeeze and pull and hold herself in place, and Maura knows that if she wasn't there, there would be no way she could do this.

Finally her body relaxes, and she feels the sweat dripping down her back as her world settles back into place. She blinks lazily as she stares at the ceiling, her breath coming in short bursts. The grey flecks on the wall above her dance before her, waving patterns and pictures that no one else can see. For a moment, she considers reaching out to them and bringing them close, holding on. But just then the door to her room pushes open and the doctor walks in and she knows it's time before she even says it.

"You ready?" she asks

Maura shakes her head, biting down on her lip as tears gather in her eyes. Jane bends closer, one hand on the back of Maura's neck and the other on top of her round belly. She presses their foreheads together, eyes fluttering shut at the contact. The love.

"You can do this." Jane rasps into her ear. "I'm here."

She feels Maura hiccup as she tries to breathe, hot tears falling freely. "It hurts, J."

"I know." she responds. "But we're so close." She places a chaste kiss upon Maura's trembling lips. "We're almost there."

Jane pulls back as Maura scoots forward on the bed, and the raven haired woman slips in behind her, Maura's damp back pressed to her front. She reaches forward, intertwining their fingers as she feels Maura brace herself, sucking in a deep, trembling breath.

The doctor squeezes Maura's leg, reassuring her before Maura bares down and lets out the kind of moan that makes Jane's heart break in so many different ways. She speaks encouragement in her wife's ear as she shakes and trembles and cries out in agony. Moments later she feels Maura relax, her head tilting back to rest on Jane's shoulder.

Jane presses kisses to her temple, her eyelids, everywhere she can reach. "You're doing so good." she says, over and over. "So good, Maura."

"Jane," Maura pants. "It's so well."

Jane can't help the laugh that bursts from within her as her head tilts backward. She's never been as in love as she is in this moment. She feels Maura giggle beneath her and it gives her life. Gives her everything she'll ever need. Her wife. Her wife in all her witty, unaware glory.

"You are such a geek." She says through her giggles.

She feels Maura begin to respond, but the blonde woman is cut off by her need to push.

Her need to finish.

And she does.

She pushes.

She groans.

She feels as if she's not going to make it.

And when she voices this concern she is met by love.

She is met by Jane.

Jane, who kisses the top of her head and squeezes her hands.

Jane, who encourages and believes and assures.

Jane, who keeps her sane and whole and grounded.

Jane.

Jane everywhere.

And it gives her the courage and the strength to push through it.

Push all the way through until there is a popping sensation within her and she's free.

Instantaneously she reaches out, wanting to be the first person in the world to hold this new human. Wanting to be the first person who loves her and gives her warmth.

And she is.

She lifts the baby and brings her to her chest, the red headed doctor coming around the side to quickly cut the cord and dry her off.

The baby is squirming and slick and alive. So alive that all of a sudden Maura is crying.

Sobbing into this tiny new life that wiggles on her chest.

Wiggles directly above her heart

Jane reaches forward to hold the two close, feeling her own tears jumping into her throat before she can control it.

"Jane," Maura says her name, voice laced with happiness and love and pure jubilee. "Jane, this is my baby." She hiccups and catches her breath as the realization hits her. "This is our baby."

Maura looks down at the tiny baby laying on her chest and suddenly she is complete. Suddenly everything she's ever wanted and desired is fulfilled. Every worry is soothed. Every question has its answer. She looks down at her tiny baby and she understands. She understands Paddy Doyle. She understands Hope. She looks at her daughter and she understands Constance and Angela and Frank.

"Hi baby," she coos. "Hi little girl."

She presses her lips to the top of her baby's head and holds them there, eyes fluttering shut at the overwhelming sensations of love and life and happiness flowing through her. She feels the tiny baby's tiny hand dart out and land on her cheek and it makes her giggle, filling her top to bottom with everything she needs.

Jane is silent, watching the encounter from behind her wife. She can't move. Can't breathe. Can't think. She feels tears freely making their way down her cheeks as she experiences the most beautiful thing she's ever seen. Her wife and her baby. Her wife and their baby. She watches Maura whisper things into their baby's ear and she smiles. She smiles so big that it almost hurts her cheeks.

Maura shifts beneath her, using both hands to hold the baby in front of them, one hand on her behind and the other at the back of her neck.

"Say hi to your mommy." She says. "Say hello to your Jane."

The baby squirms and blinks her eyes open, blue and green and absolutely beautiful.

Jane lets go of the breath she didn't know she was holding as she reaches forward to run her fingers over the baby's cheek.

"Hi," she says, suddenly shy in front of this tiny human.

Maura tilts her head back, letting it rest on her wife's shoulder. But Jane can't take her eyes off the baby. Their perfect baby. Her mouth opens and closes, searching for something; hungry. And it amazes the detective at how natural it all is. How beautiful.

The doctor returns to the side of the bed and takes the baby monetarily from Maura's arms as she bundles her in the yellow striped receiving blanket.

"Congratulations, mommies." She says. "You have a beautiful baby girl."

And they do.

They really, really do.


I hope this is all you thought it would be.
I took me so long to put it up because I wanted it to be perfect.
However, I eventually realized that it would never be perfect.
So this is it.
Your reviews and opinions are always the highlight of my day.

Blessings
O