Seven years old

It had been a long – exhausting – day; gloomy. One of these oppressive ones that always left a singular taste on one's mind, a sentiment floating between failure and incompetence. Sighing loudly, Jane went straight to the kitchen to grab a beer and pour a glass of wine for Maura. The house was quiet and one more time, they had missed dinner with their daughter who was probably already in bed by now.

"Ma'?"

Angela didn't answer. Immediately, a thousand scenarios developed in both women's head and – driven by a sudden anxiety – they rushed to the first floor only to stop by the little girl's door; relieved as they heard voices coming softly from the room.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Angela and Aly were in full talk and eager to not interrupt them, Maura grabbed her wife's forearm to prevent her from entering the bedroom. Jane's mother had a nice connection to the little girl, probably strengthened by the long hours spent together. She hadn't retired yet but the matriarch nonetheless did her best to develop a special bond with her only granddaughter.

"I want to raise kangaroos in Chicago."

Before the quite peculiar answer, Maura made a face then stared at Jane with confusion as the brunette only replied to her by a shrug; obviously not knowing more about it than she did. Aly had always liked animals but the Windy City was brand new information that completely came out of the blue.

Angela's light laugh filled the room.

"I don't know if there are many kangaroos in Illinois but I'm sure the zoo still has some. How come you don't want to become a doctor or a police officer, like your mothers?"

Jane rose a surprised eyebrow. Her mother had never liked her job career – for it being dangerous – but as the question settled in her head, she assumed that the matriarch was only referring to the usual desire that a child of Aly's age had to look like the parental figure of the house.

"Because that means I would never be home."

The innocent tone of voice contrasted sharply with the depth of the answer and for long seconds neither Jane nor Maura dared to move, even less look at each other. Angela's comforting words died somehow in the background as realization hit them hard; painfully.

It wasn't easy to combine their respective jobs to a family life but they did their best and had hoped that their daughter didn't suffer much from their singular schedules. It might have sounded cruel enough but none of them could imagine to put an end to their career. They needed it, were driven by the cases.

Maura swallowed hard and delicately enough, let her fingers slide on Jane's hand before holding it tight in the darkness of the corridor. She looked up at her partner, planted a comforting kiss on her shoulder.

Now

As soon as she had stared down at the body, Jane had forgotten to the notion of time. It was just as if something had stopped in her mind.

As if the world had ceased its revolutions and nothing mattered but the blood splattered on the asphalt, the sheer terror fixed for the eternity in the victim's eyes. Fifteen years old. It wasn't an age to die.

Snow drops landed quietly in the teenager's dark hair – reddening as they absorbed the blood – before melting in the scalp, sliding on the pale face. The detective swallowed hard, shivered. Christmas carols were playing in the background; farther from the dark alley, by the streets where passers-by kept on coming and going completely unaware of the crime scene.

"It's Christmas time, for Christ's sake. Why can't it stop if only once a year?"

Avoiding to look at the dead body by his feet, Frost shook his head and took a deep breath. In spite of the years, the detective still had a hard time to deal with corpses.

"Maura has just given the green light to her morgue attendants. I guess we can leave, now."

Jane nodded and finally managed to break eye-contact with the teenager that laid down in the alley. As she turned around, she saw the honey blonde in full talk with a police officer. It was not the end of the day any person on this scene had dreamed about yet it sadly belonged to a painful routine for everyone somehow.

Two hours later, both women parked their respective cars in Beacon Hill and walked together up to the townhouse. As much as they used to put aside their private life at work, some cases weighed more than others on their mind; especially since Aly had made it into their existence. Their daughter had changed everything.

"How come it's in the dark? It's almost 9pm... Aly?"

Out of automatism, they discarded their coats and files before stepping into the living-room. Everything was neat – included the kitchen counter – which only highlighted the idea that the teenager had not had dinner there.

"Aly! We're here, honey."

Maura took a sip of her glass of wine – put it back on the coffee table – and headed to the stairs as their daughter remained desperately quiet. It only took her a minute to come back to the living-room, slightly short of breath.

"She's not here, Jane."

The brunette grabbed her cell phone but landed straight on the voicemail. Annoyed and worried, Maura began to walk around in circles; mumbling inaudible words to herself. The guesthouse was in the dark. As planned, Angela was out to the restaurant with Vince Korsak. Both had been dating for years now, but seemed to enjoy the idea of independence and a few nights out pleased them more than the idea of moving in together once and for all.

The door opened – stopping the medical examiner right in her tracks – and as Aly came in, Jane went straight to the young girl; index finger pointed at her.

"Where the hell were you? It's almost 9.30pm, dammit! You have nothing to do outside at this hour of the night on a weekday. And what about your freaking cell phone? Have you forgotten how to use it?"

Taken aback by the cold welcome, the teenager frowned and stared in disbelief at her mothers standing next to each other angrily.

"Oh, come on. Don't you trust me enough to know I wouldn't do anything wrong? I'm responsible, it's all fine. As for my cell phone, the batteries died. I was just..."

Maura's sarcastic chuckle put an abrupt halt to Aly's explanation. The honey blonde rarely got mad – her patience contrasting sharply with Jane's impulsive temper – but when anger ended up crawling under the scientist's skin, the teenager knew that she had lost the battle no mattered what.

"Of course we know you wouldn't do anything crazy but that doesn't mean anything could happen to you either! What do you think? Gosh, you have no idea what happens in the streets... But Jane and I certainly do. We see it every day. Do you really think that every single person who lands on my table makes it there because he or she has been irresponsible at some point?"

Images of the fifteen-year-old teenager found a few hours earlier in an alley cruelly came back to both women's head. It was unfair to cross the lines and link what had happened there to Aly but the feeling was stronger than any kind of reasoning. They simply couldn't help it.

"Oh my... You two are totally paranoid. So what, now? Are you going to hire a bodyguard for me? Or a babysitter, to relieve your conscious and make sure I'm in bed by 10pm? I was out – with my friends – shopping for your freaking Christmas presents! You know, that holiday supposed to gather families but that you often end up celebrating at the BPD because you're too engrossed in your cases? Perhaps you would remember it if you actually spent less time among the dead and joined people who are alive from time to time!"

Not waiting for any remark, Aly turned on her heels and rushed upstairs. The slam of her bedroom door resounded loud.