A/N Sorry for the delay in uploading! I'll try my best to keep up the frequent uploads, but life's a little crazy right now.
This chapter is basically all fluff and sweetness, I hope you like it. Please let me know what you think, reviews make me happy!
Chapter 14
"Jane, where did all my underwear go?" Maura asked while she searched through her suitcase.
Jane smirked and turned her head, looking at her wife from the bed. "I like you without underwear."
Maura sighed and shook her head. "Well, I need it because we have to leave in less than an hour!"
"Where did you have it the last time?"
Maura pursed her lips and stood up, looking through the room. "The last place we had sex… The bathroom." She hurried towards the bathroom and came back with a pair of black lace panties.
"See?" Jane smirked and stood up to wrap her arms around Maura's waist from behind, placing a sweet kiss on her neck. "That's how you know you had a great weekend."
"What?" Maura hummed and leaned back into Jane's front.
"If all your underwear is gone by the end of it," Jane smirked and kissed her wife's shoulder, pushing the sleeve of her T-shirt up to feel her skin. "That means you did good."
"Did well."
"Right." Jane smiled and spun Maura around to face her. "I really did have a great time. And not just because of the sex. Although that did add to the pleasure."
Maura chuckled and kissed the corner of Jane's mouth. "I had a wonderful time too. I can't wait to go back to the girls, but I love being with just you." She smiled and placed her hands on Jane's neck, massaging softly. "I love just being, you know? Just… holding you, looking at you, sitting next to you…"
"Maura…" Jane pressed her lips against her wife's in a soft and light kiss. "I love you."
"I love you too." Maura continued the kiss as her arms wrapped around the brunette's waist, kissing gently and passionately for several minutes until it really was time to continue packing.
"Y'know I really want to see the girls but I kind of want to stay too…" Jane said, reluctantly breaking the kiss as her hands caressed Maura's chest.
"I know," Maura whispered, looking deeply into Jane's eyes. "It feels a little like we're on our honeymoon again, doesn't it?"
Jane nodded. "Like I just fell in love with you all over again."
Maura smiled a sweet smile and tightened her grip around Jane's waist. "I fall in love with you every day over and over again."
Her words encouraged another kiss that lasted even longer than the last one, and felt even more perfect than the last. Every kiss with Maura was perfect. They broke apart with a deep sigh in disappointment and continued packing, sharing the occasional quick kiss and loving touch until they had to get going. They promised to be home before bedtime.
The drive home was quick and silent, both women eager to get home now that their little vacation was really over. They called the girls one more time after the Facetime incident, and Lizzie was a little upset but according to Angela, she forgot all about it the next morning. Jane truly had the time of her life. Maura dragged her through the museum with her adorable enthusiasm and fun facts, but Jane didn't pay any attention to the art. She only had eye for the piece of art that was her wife. They swam in the pool, with and without bathing suits, they enjoyed the late summer air, Jane reluctantly agreed to a shopping trip and Maura had kept her promise about a movie and beer. They didn't even see half of the movie, though. But Jane had fallen in love with the doctor all over again and she knew they had charged up their energy for a while now.
"Mamaaaaaaa!" Lizzie ran towards her mothers who stepped out of the car, immediately attacking Jane's legs, almost knocking her over.
"Hey, peanut." Jane smiled and lifted Lizzie off the ground, hugging her tight. "I missed you."
"I missed you too, Mama." Lizzie tightened her little arms around Jane's neck before squirming herself free and taking off to Maura who was watching them with a loving smile. "You too, Mommy!" She reached up her arms and Maura picked her up as well, hugging her the same way Jane did.
"Oh, I missed you, my love," Maura said softly, smiling at Jane over Lizzie's shoulder.
Jane smiled a bright smile. She loved to witness how Lizzie always hugged Maura. With Jane, she liked to roughhouse, tickle and snuggle into her lap. But Maura was the cuddle-mom of the family. Lizzie's short legs were wrapped around Maura's waist, her skinny arms tightly around her neck, her face hidden in Maura's perfect curls.
Suddenly Riley's arms wrapped around Jane's neck and Jane pulled herself away from the sight of Maura and Lizzie to hug her oldest daughter. "Hey, baby," Jane said softly, rubbing Riley's back. "I missed you."
"I missed you too," Riley whispered, tightening her grip.
Jane pulled back and brushed Riley's hair back, looking into bright blue eyes. "You okay?"
Riley nodded. "Just happy you're back."
Jane smiled and pressed her lips against her daughter's forehead before pulling her back into a tight hug. She looked over Riley's head to see Maura telling Lizzie quiet words of love, her eyes filled with unconditional motherly love. "I love you, honey," Jane said softly, kissing the top of Riley's head that rested on her chest.
"I love you too," Riley answered softly, tightening her arms around Jane's waist.
Something was off with her. She was unusually quiet. "Did you have any nightmares while we were gone?" Jane asked carefully, not breaking the embrace.
Riley nodded against her mother's chest and Jane heard her swallowing hard. "Yeah."
"How bad?"
Riley shrugged. "Bad. Just the last night."
Jane sighed, knowing how upsetting a bad nightmare could be. "I'm sorry, baby."
They kept the embrace for several minutes before walking inside, meeting Angela in the kitchen. Lizzie wiggled out of Maura's arms and reached up her arms to Jane, shifting mothers as Jane hugged her to her front while stepping towards her mother.
"Hey, Ma," she said softly, leaning forward to kiss her mother's cheek. "How'd it go?"
Angela sighed and smiled while she rubbed Lizzie's back. "This one had a hard time at first. She wet her bed the first night after she woke up from a bad dream."
"Bedwetting?" Maura asked, her arm wrapped around Riley's shoulders as the girl leaned into her mother's side. "She's never done that before…"
"Not since she's been with us, no," Jane answered, feeling Lizzie's head resting on her shoulder.
"She was just upset," Angela waved their words away. "She was perfectly fine the rest of the time."
"Although I did have to chase monsters the second night," Riley added, still snuggled into Maura's side. Those two were inseparable and that would never change. "But we chased them good, didn't we Liz?"
Lizzie nodded, not moving her head from Jane's shoulder. "You did?" Jane asked, turning her head to look at her youngest daughter. "Better than me?"
"No," Lizzie giggled and snuggled closer into her mother. "Nobody chases the monsters better than you 'cause you're the police."
Jane smiled at the sweet compliment and kissed the top of Lizzie's head. "I love you, little girl," Jane whispered, nuzzling her nose into Lizzie's messy curls.
They thanked Angela multiple times and handed her the gift they bought for her on their shopping trip before saying goodbye to her. When Angela was gone, Maura closed the door and sighed a content sigh. "Your mother is truly great with them," she said softly, caressing one of Lizzie's legs that was wrapped around Jane's waist.
Jane smiled and nodded. "She is." She walked towards the couch and sat down, taking Lizzie in her lap, facing the little girl. "So," she said, brushing Lizzie's hair back, "what kind of fun things did you do with Grandma?"
Lizzie hummed and wiggled in Jane's lap. "Lots of things!"
Jane smiled and watched Maura sitting down in the big armchair, gently tugging Riley's arm as she passed her, pulling the girl down in her lap while she kissed Riley's temple.
"We baked the chickens in the oven," Lizzie counted on her little fingers, "we played in the park, Grandma was gonna watch movies with Riley but the movies was boring so I played… And Grandma reads lots of stories!"
"She did, huh?" Jane asked, caressing Lizzie's cheek.
Lizzie nodded. "She reads two stories for bedtime."
Jane chuckled and looked at Maura who laughed softly while she rubbed Riley's back. "Don't count on us reading two stories as well, Liz," Jane smirked.
Lizzie sighed a disappointed sigh and leaned forward into Jane's arms, resting her head against her mother's chest. She put her chin on top of Lizzie's head and looked over at Maura and Riley. Riley looked tired, but relaxed in her mother's arms.
Maura and Riley had the same special connection Jane and Lizzie shared. It wasn't that she loved either of them any less, but whenever the girls were upset or in need of affection, Riley would come to Maura and Lizzie would come to Jane. That used to be hard for the detective, but she knew both her daughters loved her to no end and this is what they needed. It's just the way it was. And the way it was turned out to be pretty perfect.
"You want to talk about it?" Maura asked Riley, looking at the girl's head on her shoulder.
Riley shook her head. "Just wanna forget about it."
"Okay." Maura smiled and kissed the top of Riley's head.
They stayed silent for a while, content in the feeling of being together again after a few days of missing the girls. After a few minutes, Jane sighed and broke the silence. "Hey, I have an idea."
"Hm?" Maura lifted her head from Riley's and looked at her wife.
"We're both off this Saturday, right?"
"Yes, I believe so."
"How about we go swimming?" Jane offered, looking at the little girl in her lap. "There's a pretty big indoor pool not too far from here that's supposed to be gorgeous and we've never been there."
Lizzie nodded and smiled brightly. "Yeah!"
"That sounds like fun." Maura smiled. "Riley?"
"Sure." Riley nodded but Jane knew she was insecure about any activity that involved her taking her shirt off. The scars on her back would never stop making her ache.
Jane nodded, not bringing up the sensitive subject and feed her daughter's insecurities. "We can make good use of our free Saturdays as long as you don't have soccer games."
Riley chuckled and untangled herself from Maura after a kiss on her head. "I can't wait to go back, though. We ended third last year, we're totally gonna make first place in the tournament this year."
"Of course you are." Maura smiled and brushed Riley's hair back before the girl stood up, heading towards the kitchen to get something to drink.
"Liz, you want some juice?"
"Yeah. But only apple." Lizzie looked at her sister over Jane's shoulder, resting her chin on it as Jane kept rubbing the girl's back.
Riley nodded and grabbed the box of apple juice out of the fridge. "Hey, you gotta show Mom and Ma the picture you drew, Liz!"
"Oh, yeah!" Lizzie squirmed out of Jane's lap and took off towards a closet in the hallway.
Maura smiled and stood up from her chair to sit next to her wife, placing a sweet kiss on Jane's cheek. "I'm happy to be home," she whispered, smiling lovingly as she looked at Lizzie who ran back to them with a piece of paper in her hand.
"Me too." Jane kissed Maura's temple before pulling Lizzie back into her lap, waiting for her to show them her picture.
Lizzie turned the page around and grinned proudly. Maura's arm wrapped around Jane's waist and her chin rested on the brunette's shoulder as she smiled at the lovely picture. Lizzie drew four stick figures. One large one with black curls and jeans, one smaller one with blonde curls and a dress, another small one with straight, brown hair and a soccer ball, and a tiny one with blonde curls and something that was probably Lizzie's Spiderman toy. Above it, in crooked letters, the girl wrote 'I love mommies'. On the bottom of the picture, she wrote 'and Riley too'.
Jane chuckled and felt tears burning in her eyes at the innocent but heartfelt message. She kissed the top of Lizzie's head.
"Grandma made the letters for me and I did them copy all by myself," Lizzie said, beaming with pride as she traced the letters with her small fingers.
"It's a beautiful drawing, love," Maura said softly, stroking Lizzie's cheek as she smiled through her tears. "Absolutely beautiful."
Lizzie smiled a proud smile and leaned back into Jane's front, still holding the drawing up. Jane swallowed her tears and pulled her daughter close. "It's amazing."
"I wanna make it 'cause I loves you and Mommy and you're the best mommies." Lizzie turned her head and looked into Jane's eyes with such honesty and innocence, it was impossible for the detective to keep her tears at bay.
"We love you too, sweetheart," Maura said, wiping her tears before she kissed Lizzie's head.
Lizzie smiled but her smile fell when she looked at Maura. "Why's you crying, Mommy?"
Maura laughed through her tears and pressed her lips against her daughter's forehead. "Because I love you so much, honey."
Lizzie shook her head and furrowed her brow. "But that's happy, Mommy. Not crying."
Jane smiled and wiped Maura's tears with her thumb while she pulled Lizzie close. "Sometimes Mommy gets really happy and then she has to cry."
"Why?"
"I don't know, but it's pretty adorable," Jane said, looking at her wife with a loving smile. She leaned in and captured the blonde's lips in a quick kiss.
"Stop crying, Mommies!" Lizzie said, turning around to sit on her knees in Jane's lap, having noticed Jane's teary eyes as well. She reached over and her small hands wiped Maura's cheeks, an adorable gesture that only made her cry harder.
Maura smiled through her tears and wrapped her arms around the little girl, pulling her as close as humanly possible. "I love you, my baby. I love you so much."
Lizzie just seemed confused by the whole situation and accepted the hug. "Love you too Mommy."
"You done with the mushiness?" Riley asked, walking into the living room with two glasses filled with juice. She smirked and Jane saw she was touched by the lovely moment.
"No," Maura teased, looking over Lizzie's shoulder at Riley. "I'm going to hug you girls all night."
Riley rolled her eyes but smiled as she took a sip of her juice and handed Lizzie hers as the girl turned around to sit in Maura's lap, leaning into her front. "What do you say, Lizzie?" Maura asked, always strict about the girls' manners.
"Thanks, Riley." Lizzie grinned and put the glass to her mouth, eagerly drinking the liquid.
"Welcome." Riley sat down next to Jane and leaned into her side.
Jane smiled and they stayed silent for a few minutes while the girls drank their juice. When Lizzie finished it, she put the glass on the coffee table and snuggled back into Maura's lap. Maura chuckled and kissed Lizzie's head. "Time for bed, my love."
"No," Lizzie whined, turning her head to look at her mother. "I wanna stay."
"No, no. It's already way too late for you, little girl. You have school on Monday, so you have to be well-rested."
Lizzie sighed and knew it wasn't much use to put up a fight, so Maura lifted her off her lap and put her in Jane's open arms. "Good night, baby," Jane smiled and kissed Lizzie's cheek.
"Night, Mama."
Maura took Lizzie upstairs and Jane caught up with Riley about the past few days. She was absolutely crazy about Alex and told Jane about all the conversations they had the past few days. Jane loved the way Riley's eyes sparkled when she talked about him and she loved how she truly felt special when talking to Alex. He was a good kid. He made Riley feel loved and treasured, like she deserved. He had good manners and even though Jane didn't like the fact that he was older than her, she had to admit he treated her daughter well.
When Maura came back from putting Lizzie to bed, they talked until the late hours of the night and Jane loved it. Riley told them all about their days with Angela, her conversations with Alex, her afternoon with Sarah… Jane was happy Riley was so open about her life. Many fifteen-year old girls would do anything to hide their feelings and especially their crushes from their parents, but Riley was different. She always had been and she always would be different. She relished in her mothers' love, still having a hard time believing that there were people in this world who cared about her and loved her as their child.
Jane hoped their children would believe it soon. She hoped both girls would see how much they loved them and how much they cared about them. She hoped Lizzie would feel protected at all times, that Riley would never feel unloved again and that both girls knew that home was just two pairs of loving, motherly arms. She hoped they knew how much they loved them and that they would never stop for as long as she lived. Unconditional. Endless. Without pride. Just pure, strong, motherly love.