Adaptations

Chapter 10

Pairing: Jane/Maura
Rating: T
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me.

Warning: Spoilers for Episode 3.10. See chapter 1 for full summary.

A/N: This chapter skips ahead a few months. I will probably wrap this story up in another chapter. Thanks to everyone who has been reading along.

Saturday afternoon, Jane and Angela were hanging decorations in the living room while Maura was out with Constance. Decorating was taking a lot longer than Jane had anticipated since it involved stopping every twenty seconds to corral Ted as he made another attempt to escape the living room.

Ted could walk as long as he had contact with a piece of furniture. Otherwise he could crawl around like a little race car, all the while babbling to himself, which according to Maura was him trying out different sounds and learning how to make him. Jane swore he was talking to himself in a language only he could understand because every once in a while he would pause and giggle like he just told himself a joke.

"I can't believe we're decorating for a one year old's birthday. Actually I can't believe we're having a party for a one year old. It's not like he's going to remember it," Jane said.

"Sometimes things that seem like they're for kids are really for parents," Angela said.

Jane frowned. "So this is really for Maura?"

Angela glared at Jane. "Don't be stupid, Janie. Do you think Maura's parents did this when she turned one? Or for any birthday, for that matter?"

"I guess probably not."

"I know they didn't. Constance told me they never did something like this when Maura was a baby because as you said, Maura wasn't going to remember it. And when Maura was older, she never asked for a birthday party."

"Right. Of course not," Jane said. After a moment of thinking she said, "So the party is because Maura doesn't want Ted to ever feel like she did."

"Something like that," Angela replied. "Plus it's always nice to have an occasion to bring family and friends together."

"Seems like we get plenty of that," Jane mumbled.

"Tommy's home," Angela said.

Jane's head snapped up Ted to look at her mother. "He is? Since when?"

"A few days ago."

"Why doesn't he ever tell me when he's back? Why didn't you tell me before?"

Angela shrugged. "I don't know."

"I guess I should ask Maura if we should invite him to the party."

"You know, Jane, things have changed quite a bit between you and Maura since he was last here. You should tell him before he's surprised by it."

Jane looked at her mother for a moment, looking for a hidden message in her mother's statement, before saying, "Okay."

"That's all you're going to say? Okay?"

"What? You're right. I need to talk to him."

"It's just that you know he had a thing for Maura and now you're here with Maura and Teddy. I just want you to be gentle with him," Angela added.

"I get it," Jane said. "I'll talk to him and I promise I'll be nice. I'll go talk to him in the morning. That way I can invite him to the party."

Maura arrived home, ladened with shopping bags, just before Ted's bedtime. She passed the bags off to Jane and took Teddy upstairs for a bath and bed.

"Are you hungry?" Jane asked Maura when she came back downstairs.

"Not really. We had a late lunch," Maura answered, collapsing on the couch. "Shopping with my mother is exhausting."

"I'm sure I know exactly how you feel right now," Jane joked as she sat down next to Maura.

"Did you eat?" Maura asked.

"I made my speciality, a grilled cheese sandwich. Everything should be set for tomorrow afternoon. But Ma told me that Tommy is back in town. He's been back for a few days. I think tomorrow morning I should go talk to him. You know, tell him about us. He doesn't know. I'll invite him to the party if you're okay with him coming."

Maura was silent, staring at a spot on the carpet.

"Hey, you okay? I don't have to invite Tommy. I don't care either way. I don't know if he even has any idea it's Teddy's birthday."

"No, it's fine if you want to invite Tommy," Maura said slowly. "But I think we need to talk."

"Oh. That's never a good thing to hear someone say. What's going on?"

Maura finally looked up at Jane. "I think we should talk about where our relationship is going."

"What does that mean? I thought we were doing pretty well," Jane said, struggling to keep her voice level.

"I agree, we're doing really well," Maura said and moved closer to Jane so she could take hold of Jane's hands. "And I love you. I love you so much."

"So what's the problem?" Jane asked, obviously confused.

"I have to think about Ted."

"And you think I'm not thinking about him?" Jane said heatedly, pulling her hands out of Maura's grasp.

"No, I...damn it. This isn't coming out right." Maura took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is that when I think about the progression of our relationship, it's not just about you and me, Ted has to factor in to it also. At this point, I would really like you to move in here with us."

"Oh," Jane said, visibly relaxing. "You don't think it's too soon for that?"

"I know it might seem fast, although we've known each other so long I don't think that's really accurate. Teddy is very attached to you and soon he's going to be old enough to notice if you aren't always here. I don't think that would be good for him."

"Recently the only time I don't spend the night here is when I'm working until late in the night or I'm on call. And that's so I don't disrupt everyone."

Maura took Jane's hands again. "I would like it if you were here every night. I know what your job is like. I know you can get called in the middle of the night. I know you can't always come home at a reasonable hour. But when you do come home I want it to be here."

"Are you afraid I'm going to say no?" Jane asked.

"I'm concerned you'll say you aren't ready. But is there any other reason I should be concerned?"

"You changed around your whole life and changed your whole job for Teddy. For better or worse, I'm a cop. I can't be anything else. You have to be okay with that."

Maura shook her head as she said, "I don't expect you to change anything."

"You don't now. But what about in a few years when Teddy starts asking questions about my job? And you know that sometimes this work can drag anybody down because of the shit I see everyday, the shit I see people do to other people, even people they are supposed to love. I don't want to bring that home but that's not something I can always prevent. And you know all of the risks better than almost anyone. Down the road you can't change your mind. You can't ask me to change."

Maura squeezed Jane's hands as she fought back tears. "I won't. I will never ask that of you."

Jane was quiet for a moment before saying, "I think about this almost every day, whether it's fair to you and Ted to even try to do this. But I want you and I want Teddy. If you still want me then I will definitely move in with you."

Maura wiped away a tear as it rolled down her cheek.

Jane pulled on Maura's arm until Maura moved onto her lap. "I'm sorry. I hate it when you cry."

"I'm not crying."

"Maura," Jane said, wiping a fresh tear off of Maura's cheek.

"I mean, I'm not crying because I'm sad. They're happy tears."

Jane wiped away another tear and then kissed Maura's lips. Soft at first, the kiss became heated as Maura fisted her hands in Jane's shirt and pulled their bodies closer together.

"I love you," Jane said and maneuvered Maura onto her back and settled on top of her, her hips between Maura's legs. Jane moved her lips to Maura's neck and rolled her hips into Maura until she felt Maura's hand on her chest pushing her away.

"We shouldn't down here," Maura breathed.

Jane looked up at Maura. "He hasn't figured out how to climb out of his crib yet."

"No, but we shouldn't set a precedent. Take me to bed, Jane."

In the morning Jane called Tommy and asked him if he could meet for breakfast or coffee. He named a diner in Allston and Jane took the Green Line out to meet him.

Tommy was already seated in a booth sipping a coffee when Jane arrived and he greeted Jane with a hug.

When they both sat down Jane said, "Why don't you ever tell me when you're home? I always have to hear it from Ma."

"I don't want to bother you, you're busy."

Jane signaled the waitress for a coffee before saying, "Tommy, I'm not too busy for you. How long are you back for?"

"Probably for a while. The job I was working is finished. I'm gonna look for a job around here now. I'd rather stay around here anyway. The money was good for the Florida job but otherwise Florida sucks."

"It would be great if you could stick around. Let me know if I can help with the job search."

"Yeah, thanks. So Ma said you've been hanging out with Maura and Teddy a lot."

"Yeah, that's actually what I need to talk to you about." Jane took a deep breath before saying, "Maura and I have actually been seeing each other."

"What do you mean you're seeing each other?" Tommy asked, obviously confused.

"I've been hanging out with Maura and Teddy a lot because Maura and I are dating. She actually just asked me to move in with her."

"So does that mean you're helping her with Teddy? Like helping raise him?"

"Yes."

Tommy leaned back in his seat and ran his fingers through his hair. "Fuck, Jane. That's...I don't know. I mean Maura raising Teddy was kinda weird. But you too, that's just another level of weird."

"I know," Jane said. "I...I wish I could somehow make it less weird but I can't. But you should know that I love Maura and I have for a long time. I love Teddy too and yeah, it's weird, and he's probably gonna need therapy his whole adult life, but right now all that matters is that he's going to grow up surrounded by people who love him."

"Yeah, that's good. I mean, I want that for Teddy and I know that I wasn't going to be able to take care of him the way Maura can and I guess you can. It's not like Lydia and I were in love or anything. So if you and Maura are then I'm happy for you. It's just going to make family events even weirder I guess. Oh shit, does Ma know that you're dating Maura?"

"Yeah Ma knows," Jane said, smiling at Tommy's concern. "I wanted to tell you myself, that's why she didn't say anything."

"Do you like it, being a parent?" Tommy asked.

"Yes, I do." Jane cleared her throat. "So, today is Ted's birthday."

"Already? Damn, I'm sorry I didn't remember."

"That's okay. But speaking of family get-togethers, we're having a little party this afternoon. You should come. I would have invited you earlier if I had known you were back."

"Ah, Jane, I don't know." Tommy gave Jane a pained smile. "I don't think that's a good idea. I would't want to make everything awkward."

"Well, maybe another day," Jane said. Tommy just nodded. "I should go. Ma's probably going crazy making food for the party." Jane stood and before leaving said, "Don't be a stranger, Tommy."