A/N: Sorry for posting this a bit later than usual. I was so busy brooding about just how awful the Jane/Casey storyline from last night's episode was that I didn't realized I hadn't posted today's chapter yet. I am so glad we have fan fiction to cover up the just plain "awful" that is Jane and Casey together. I get that we may never see Jane and Maura together on the show, but when they purposefully keep throwing Jane back at the guy that hurts her over and over and over again, it rubs me the wrong way.

Huh. I think I feel a fic brewing. ;)

Anyway, here's today's installment. I hope you'll enjoy it, and I hope you'll excuse my rantings about last night's episode.

Man Cave

Chapter 10

Jane weaseled her way into the shower with me, though once she was in there, we were surprisingly tame. There was lots of touching and kissing, but there was more washing and cleaning than anything else. It wasn't that there was a sudden lack of attraction between us. It was more just because we were both eager to warm up under the hot water and eager to go out and explore the area. I think we both realized that now that we had confessed our feelings for each other, we didn't have to grab every opportunity for sex as it was presented to us. I have to admit though, the idea was quite tempting.

We dried off and got dressed, and Jane ran outside to get the cooler and load its contents into the refrigerator. Then she took my hand as she led me outside. She caught me looking down at our intertwined fingers and hesitated.

"Is this okay?" she asked, holding our hands up.

"Oh absolutely, Jane. I was just... reveling in the site of it. I never thought we would get to this point, and now that we're here, I'm almost in disbelief."

"So I should hold your hand more often then?" Jane asked with a grin.

"All the time, please." I grinned back.

The mid-morning sun was making its way to the top of the sky, and the wind was finally starting to slow down. We walked along the edge of the lake, buffeted by strong breezes but enjoying each other's company.

"It's really beautiful here," I gushed. "I'm glad you invited me here with you."

"I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for me to finally tell you how I was feeling. I'm kinda bummed that you beat me to it." Jane said.

"Really?" I stopped walking and looked at her.

"Nah, not really. Relieved, yes. But I think if you hadn't kissed me when you did last night, I probably would have reached over and kissed you. Sometimes actions do speak louder than words."

"That's for sure, did you hear the two of us last night?" I giggled, blushing at the thought of Jane's body pressed against mine.

"Yeah, and I can't wait to do it again tonight." Jane replied, her voice low.

"Oh, you're pretty sure of yourself, aren't you detective?"

Jane's blush was adorable. It was so rare for me to be able to do that to her. I had to bask in the moment before I finally said "You should be, because it is a sure thing."

Jane actually let out her breath in a sigh, and I squeezed her hand tighter.

We walked about a quarter of the way around the lake when Jane spoke again. "So what happens now, Maura?"

"What do you mean, Jane?"

"Well, I mean, I'm not looking to rush things, but now that we've come this far and we've admitted our feelings for one another, where do we go from here?"

"Well, I think we just keep doing what we have been, since that's been working so well for us. We just stop seeing other people and we, well... we, you know."

"Keep having sex?" Jane asked, her blush deepening.

"Yes."

"Well I figured on all of that, but I also meant things like telling our families. Are you ready to do that? Do you want to wait a while first? I've never done this before. I mean, Ma has met Joey Grant, and Gabriel Dean, and Casey Jones, but I've never really brought someone home and done the whole 'meet the family thing'. I realize you know my entire family, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that I just have never gotten to this point in a relationship before."

"And it's also never been a female that you've dated." I pointed out.

"That too."

"Are you afraid of what your mother will say, Jane?"

"Yeah. No. I mean, I don't know. She already loves you, Maura. And she has hinted more than once that she thinks you're good for me. I just don't know if she is completely on board with me being with a woman."

"Your mother is an extraordinary woman, Jane. She is loving and accepting. I don't see this as being a problem for her."

"She's going to ask us about grand babies, you know."

"Well, she has TJ now. I realize that's not going to put a stopper in her desire for more grandchildren, but maybe it'll give us some time to work things out for ourselves and make the plans that we want."

"Um, have you ever met my mother?" Jane asked, laughing. "Of course those are going to be the first words out of her mouth. Sure, she has TJ now and she loves him, but seriously the woman has a one track mind."

I laughed at the thought before I replied. "We'll just tell her it's too fast and too soon, Jane. There is still plenty of time for kids if that's what we decide we want later."

She hugged and we continued walking for a while.

"So, uh, do you want kids?" Jane asked, hesitantly.

"Not right this minute, but yes, I think I would like to be a mother. What about you, Jane?"

"I'm really not sure. I mean, I loved having TJ with us that first night, and of course the entire time we were up with him, I kept thinking about how great it would be to have a family with you, but I don't know if I'm cut out to be a mother."

"How can you say that, Jane? You were wonderful with TJ that night, and you still are whenever he comes to visit. Don't sell yourself short."

"I just think I would be too afraid to have a child of my own. What if I am a terrible mother?"

"You know you're already great at taking care of TJ, Jane. That would only transfer to any child of your own, and because it would be your child, you would likely be even better than you were with TJ, which was pretty amazing."

"You were amazing with him too, Maura. I think that motherhood may be for me, but I'm not sure if I want to actually have a baby. Maybe adoption is the best idea you know, if we ever decide we want to have kids."

"I like that idea a lot, though the idea of being pregnant and delivering a child intrigues me. I wouldn't mind giving birth to our child, Jane. But I also feel like we don't have to decide this right now. We haven't even been dating for a whole day yet."

"That's not true, Maura. We've been dating for years, we just didn't know it."

"I think you're right, Jane." I had to laugh at Jane's assessment. She really did have an amusing point. "At least we can tell your mother that we spoke about it, but it's still way too soon for us to produce additional grandchildren for her. Besides, we haven't even told your mother about us yet. We don't have to do that right away if you don't want to."

"Well, what do you think? Do you think we should keep ourselves a secret for a while?"

I could tell by the look on Jane's face that she was afraid I would have second thoughts, and by asking to wait a while before we announced ourselves as a couple I would give myself an opportunity to put a stop to things before anyone knew about us. I definitely didn't want Jane to worry about that.

"Jane, if it's all right with you, I think I'd like to tell my mother, your mother, brothers, Korsak and Frost soon after we return home. Maybe not the second we get back, but soon. I think the sooner we get this out in the open, the easier it will be. Everyone else we can tell on a need-to-know basis."

"That sound good. You wanna tell my family over Sunday dinner next week? Everyone will be there and we can just tell them all at once. And since Sunday dinner is usually in your dining room, we'll be on our own turf if things don't go as well as we hope they will."

"That's a good idea. I don't know when my mother will be back in Boston, so I'll probably just tell her over the phone. She likes you, Jane. I don't think she's going to have a problem with this at all. And my father, well, he'll just go along with whatever Mother says."

"What about Paddy?" Jane asked.

"It won't take him long to find out, even in Walpole. He admitted to trying to kill you, so he's not really on my list of priorities right now."

"Okay." I could tell Jane was relieved by that.

"What about your father, Jane?" I asked hesitantly.

"He's not really too far up on my list of priorities either. If he shows up at some point, I'll let him know. But for now, I'm in no rush to track him down and let him know."

"How would you like to tell Vince and Barry?" I asked.

"Well, we could keep it simple. We could all go to the Robber after work one day next week and tell them over drinks."

"That's a good idea. I like the idea of telling them together too."

"I'm nervous as hell about this, Maura, but I'm also really excited." Jane beamed at me. "I can't believe we're going to make this happen."

"We are, Jane. We definitely are."

A/N: This one was short. And not smutty. Please don't hate me. :) More to come tomorrow. Thanks again to everyone for the reviews, the follows and the favorites. You all make me grin like a fool. :)