It was right out of a sitcom. Maura yelped out a quick "Not here!" that was just a little too loud as her hands flailed to try and regain her balance and pull her back into her own chair. Angela barked out with laughter as the flailing died down, replaced by increasingly obvious enjoyment. By the time Jane released her with a self-satisfied grin, the hazel eyes were wide and dark, and Maura was all but fluttering.
"Your meal, ladies," came Bertrand's voice, modulated to indicate both amusement and a certainty that it was not his place to be amused. Not that it was stopping him.
"Um," Maura replied, thumb dragging lightly over her bottom lip to remove excess moisture. "Um."
"She means thank you," Angela clarified, grinning like she'd engineered the whole thing herself, which, of course, she had.
"Also," Jane added, eyes still sparkling with accomplishment, "can I get cosmo?" She smirked as she watched Berrtrand place dishes on the table.
"Oh, that sounds good! Can I have one, too?" Angela said then turned to the still dazed doctor. "Maura, do you want another mimosa? Maura?" She chuckled and reached a hand across the table to give the young woman a gentle pat. "Sweetie, you need to breathe."
As it so often was lately, Maura's hand was pressed to her chest as she attempted to calm her breathing, nodding acknowledgement of Angela at the suggestion. "Yes. I mean, no. No more alcohol for me, thank you, Bertrand." The fellow disappeared to fetch the other two drinks. "Wow. I... Wow." Surreptitiously she glanced around to see if there were reactions from the other patrons. There were none, other than a little gentle amusement from a pair of older gentlemen who, she now noticed, were holding hands across their table. "Nothing happened."
"What? You were expecting a herd of men to come and haul you off or something?" Angela gave the honey brunette a disapproving look as she picked up a scone to butter. "Maura, we're in Boston. Same sex marriage is legal here. Besides, as long as you two are happy, and you treat my Janie right, then who cares?"
Smiling gently, Jane leaned over to whisper into Maura's ear, "See? Told you." With a quick kiss to the blushing cheek of her girlfriend, she leaned back into her seat and picked up her knife and fork to attack her eggs. "I think you over think things sometimes, Sweetheart. Bite of eggs?"
"It's just," Maura began, "a bit surprising, and alarming. I've always been very private about this, other than in specific settings and company. I compartmentalize well. But Jane is right; I don't ever want her to think that I'm ashamed to love her. I just... I have some things that I haven't been very good at leaving in the past, and some things that I really hope won't intrude on the present or the... our future. Whatever that may be." Then she simply opened her mouth to receive a bite of egg, then reached for a scone to slather with Devonshire cream and cover with strawberries.
"It's okay," Jane said absentmindedly as she attacked a sausage. "Teddy and I have your back."
"Oh my God, you gave her Teddy?" Angela's voice practically squeaked. "When are you two moving in together?"
Eyes bulging, Jane hissed out, "Ma!"
Maura's eyes widened as well, but it took her a long moment to chew her bite of scone, and longer still to cough the crumbs out of her windpipe. Once she could speak properly again, the diminutive woman hurried to explain, "No, no, no, Jane didn't give me Teddy. She just brought him to our, I mean, my house. To borrow, until I didn't feel so scared of letting other people know. I didn't presume anything of the kind. That is, I hope... but no, we haven't discussed that at all. Not that I wouldn't..." Uncertainty marred her explanation, and she gazed pleadingly at Jane to help settle it for her.
"Ma, stop trying to get us married before we're even out to anyone, and don't help us," Jane pointed at her mother, who held a hand up in innocence. "This is hard enough for Maura withoy you meddling. God, you're so… I mean, how can you even… Man," she growled in frustration. "It'll be months before we move in together. I mean," clearly shocked at her own words, Jane tried back peddling. "I mean when we discuss the possibility and if we decide we want to, it'll be months." She cleared her throat and glanced around. "Where's our waiter with my cosmo?"
"Have you two picked out new furniture, or is Jane okay with what you already have?" Angela deadpanned before taking a peaceful bite of scone.
Maura nodded, on firmer footing for a few moments, at least, as Bertrand appeared only a few seconds behind cue, to present them with additional drinks, remove empty glassware, and vanish again. She'd expected the sex questions, and was prepared to answer those, though Jane's threat and subsequent follow-through did make her think twice about that. She'd prepared for the 'lesbian society' and 'gay culture' questions as well. But Maura had never realized that Angela would be so unfazed by the situation that she would leap into the apparently automatic home-sharing, marriage, and babies questions. At least, not right away. Not within the first few years.
But Jane would defend her from them. Jane and... Maura absently reached down into her oversized purse, a lovely Coach handbag, to run her fingers over Teddy's soft, ancient fur. "I'd be happy to replace any furniture you don't like," she offered quietly, "if you wanted."
"Really?" Jane's surprised face only made her mother chuckle more. "I… well, I mean we have such different styles, Maura. What did you call my place? A man cave? Maybe if you just gave me the guest room to do something with so I had my own space? You sense of style is better than mine, and I don't think I'd want to mess up the vibe you have in your house."
"I give you three months, tops," Angela quietly commented, mostly to herself, as she finished the last of her eggs. "Jane, why don't you bring over your leather pieces and replace the side chairs in Maura's living room? You know, sort of mix your styles together? Would that work?"
The dark haired brunette considered it for a moment. "Maybe, but I don't know if the browns would match because… dammit, Ma! Stop. It." She glared at her mother.
"What? I'm only trying to help!"
"I think it's a good idea," Maura replied, subdued and hesitant again, from behind her half-eaten scone. "I don't think your beautiful leather should be hidden away in the back of the house. You love those things. And that stunning antique lamp that your maternal great-great-grandmother brought from Italy. I've actually tried to locate something similar to it, and I can't lay hands on one. It's special to you. My things are pretty, but I didn't choose many of them myself. My decorator picked everything. They're attractive, but nothing I own really means anything, except the artwork in the master bedroom, and the guest bed. And, you know, the guest bed is only special because that's where…"
Jane gave a little cough, glancing up with a guilty expression toward her mother. "Right." She frowned at her mother's knowing look. "How about we talk about it later? I mean, we've got bigger things to tackle first, like who else gets to know about us and in what order. After that, we'll figure out the rest. Okay?" She looked from Angela to Maura.
"Okay," Maura agreed, more content now that there was a definite course of action prescribed. She did so love a plan.
"I'm here for whatever you two need. All you have to do is tell me, and, if your brothers give you a hard time about it, I'll put them back in line." With a nod, Angela picked up her glass. "They know better than to turn against family."