Chapter Ten: Coming Home

Really bad and really short. I've given you fair warning. I just wanted to apologise again for the giant gap in updates! A bunch of personal stuff came up and with what little time I had free was still not enough time to get ideas flowing and written down... I worked on this for only a few hours straight last night and edited it this morning so mistakes and/or terrible ideas are probably going to show up;) Please R&R!

Angela is quiet. She looks Jane up and down before opening the front door a bit wider. Jane takes it as an invitation and hesitantly steps inside, just like when she walked into Maura's place.

The detective searches her mother's face for a sign of happiness, disgust, love, hate; anything. Suddenly it seems as if Angela has turned into the hardest suspect to crack, not showing anything too overt. Jane's mother closes the door silently behind her daughter and shuffles into the kitchen, not uttering a word.
Jane's palms are clammy, the back of her neck is burning and her throat is extremely tight. She takes in a deep breath, and it seems to be the hardest one of the night.
"Listen, ma, I get that you don't get it... I still don't really get it. I don't understand why I feel this way, but I know it's right. At least to me. Ma, I-"
Angela raises a hand to silence her daughter and oddly, Jane complies. This is where Angela makes eye contact with Jane for the second time that whole night. Angela contemplates what she is going to say for a long while. It looks as if she is ready to speak several times, but she always stops herself; her mouth opening and closing slowly.
An awkward silence lingers between the two women for several minutes when suddenly,

"You're right." Angela whispers. "I don't get it. I don't think I ever will. I don't know what to think of you Jane. I really don't." Angela moves and sits on the couch in the living room and Jane tentatively moves with her. "Since you were just a baby, Jane, I always imagined you with a nice husband and a dozen cute babies of your own." Jane bows her head. She feels disappointment; but not towards Angela; towards herself. Her mother had only asked that Jane be happy, and she believed that for Jane to be happy she needed a man. She felt like she had let her mother down on the one thing she asked of her.

That was when Jane realizes the most important thing needed to be known; that while she loves Angela, she isn't about to let her control her life, either directly or by using guilt. Jane wanted to be happy and for that to happen, she wanted to be with a woman; with Maura.

"Ma. When I first started thinking this through, I worried that you would hate me. I worried that you would think I was doing these things to spite you for… whatever reason." Jane takes a step closer to her mother and Angela looks up. "I know that as a mother, you want your kids to be happy and for me to be happy I need to stop lying to myself. This is who I am and if you don't accept that because it's not what you wanted for me then... then I don't care. This is what I want and it's what I'm going to have." Jane has much more to say; so much in fact that she doesn't even know where to start the rest of her speech.

"Janie... I don't know what I expected from you... but this wasn't even on the list of possibilities. I'm not about to pretend like I understand, but I do know that if it makes you happy and you're comfortable with it, I support it. I want you to know that I'm on your side. I wantyou to be happy." Jane is smiling wide now, gazing over at her mother still sitting on the couch. Angela grins back and her daughter lets out a whispered, hesitant laugh. It something Jane never thought she'd start, but she moved in and hugged her mother like never before. Where she would squirm around and back away, Jane was now embracing her mother as if it were the last time she was to see her.

"I love you, ma." Jane whispers.

"I love you too, Janie."

It was some time before Jane realized how late it had gotten; or to be technical, how early it now was. She had stayed to talk a few things over with her mother and ended up informing her of several things she had been keeping from Angela for quite some time. When the digital clock on the microwave signalled one in the morning, Jane called it a night. They both had work in the morning and needed as much time to get to sleep as possible. Jane thanks her mother for listening and supporting, and quietly leaves the guest house.

Jane has an internal debate as to whether she should meet with Maura again or let her sleep as it was passing on one in the morning. I want to see her... The fact that Frost had driven her to Maura's and she therefore had no ride home is used as an excuse to stay just a bit longer. Jane decides just to check on the smaller woman and then leave. I just need to see her.
The female detective works her way around the side of Maura's home and pulls out a key Maura had copied for Jane a couple years earlier. She unlocks the side door and enters the dark, quiet house. Jane doesn't turn on any lights, she doesn't remove her jacket or shoes. She plans to leave in only a few minutes and wasting time to put the heavy work boots and jacket back on would heighten the risk of Maura waking.
Jane tip-toes passed the kitchen and turns down the hallway to Maura's bedroom. A floorboard creaks beneath the detective's foot and she stops quickly. She hears movement beyond the door to the other woman's bedroom and waits, hoping that the sound didn't awaken Maura. After a few silent seconds, Jane starts moving once more.
Once at the slightly agape door, Jane peers into the dark bedroom. Maura is sleeping soundly on the left side, one hand on her stomach, the other above her head. Her breathing is light and Jane makes it her priority to not disturb the smaller woman. Okay, Jane. You see she's sleeping. Let her sleep.Jane ignores everything her brain tells her and pushes the door open slowly. The female detective shuffles across the room and gently sits on the right side of the bed. All she can hear is the slow, rhythmic breathing coming from Maura lying beside her. Without thinking or debating, Jane turns and lies down beside the doctor, on top of the sheets in hopes of minimizing the possibility of waking her. Suddenly, the bed creeks loudly and Maura finally stirs.

"...Jane?" Maura whispers and Jane sucks in a breath. Crap.

"Oh sorry, Maura. I didn't mean to wake you up, I just-"

"I was waiting for you, but then I figured I needed sleep for tomorrow and I wasn't even sure if you were going home or staying so logically I-" Jane stifles a laugh.

"I get it. I'm glad you wanted to stay up to see me again though." Maura smiles sleepily and turns to her side so she can face Jane. Jane turns her head to the right and both women smile at the other.

"I'm glad you decided to stay." Maura whispers. Jane doesn't have the heart to tell Maura that she had planned on leaving soon after checking in her, so she ops for plan B.

"Me too." The female detective moves over and pulls the blankets out from under her while kicking off her boots. She removes the suit jacket and snuggles in next to Maura.
Maura shifts closer and both women relax into each other. Jane takes in a deep, calming breath, inhaling the scent of the woman next to her, and grins unconsciously. They spend the whole night like that, sleeping; comfortable and happy.

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