Author's Note: Thank you very much for all the reviews, it's a pleasure to read each one of them every day (and it's funny to see your reactions too).

Chapter Fourteen

It had taken Maura fifteen minutes to find a restful position in bed. Placing two pillows under her stomach as she lay on her side seemed to bring her the peace that she needed for the rest of the night. The discomfort she felt surprised her because it came early in her pregnancy. She was only eighteen weeks pregnant. Things would become harder once she would hit the third trimester. Of course she had more than a timid baby bump by now but it was still quite small.

She really needed to find appropriate pillows online.

Jane was sitting in bed next to her. Her friend was focused on an e-book, some detective novel that she had bought earlier during the day. The purchase had made Maura laugh. Jane loved detective novels and thrillers in spite of them being her daily routine and her job. She really enjoyed reading the genre.

As she had told Maura, at least it meant that she was passionate.

"I've disappointed you, haven't I?" Maura's whisper slid on her lips bitterly. She didn't want to interrupt Jane but the words weighed too much on her heart. They had to come out. "My wedding in Vegas."

Jane turned her head to look at her friend.

The rest of their day had gone rather smoothly. They had had a lovely lunch with Constance before stopping by a bookstore in order to buy a baby name book as well as a few other essays on maternity. Then they had headed back to Maura's place where they had spent the rest of the evening.

Of course, Jane had decided to spend the night over. As a matter of fact, she had grown addicted to having Maura by her side in order to fall asleep at night by now.

"What?!" Jane shook her head. She put her tablet on pause and turned around to look down at Maura. "Of course not! Why do you say that? You just took me by surprise."

Which was true but Maura couldn't help feeling guilty. She hadn't cheated on Jane – nor had she done anything wrong to her friend – but she had the feeling that she had ruined something nonetheless. It made her shameful marriage look even more like a complete failure.

"I didn't tell you about it because... Because I just want to forget it. I want to turn the page over it. I really want to."

"I get that, Maura. You didn't lie to me and I'm not twelve years old. I'm an adult, you know. I can understand why you've preferred to not say anything about that. It's okay. I'm just surprised it didn't come up any time earlier. Even your parents never mentioned it."

Maura wanted to sit up but she had had such a hard time finding a comfortable position in bed that she didn't move and remained still instead.

"They never talk about it because... Because they were furious about it. An Isles doesn't get married in Las Vegas after too many shots of Vodka. For once I was trying to loosen it a bit..."

A shy smile played on Jane's lips. She could imagine Maura trying to fit in the crowd of med students and crossing her very own boundaries by accident just as she could picture her out trying to assume the consequences of her acts.

"We all have secrets, Maura. There are things you don't know about me just as there are things I don't know about you... That's life. As long as you don't try to fool me then who cares? It's healthy to have... You know, secrets. You can't know a person from A to Z unless you've met him or her in kindergarten. And yet!"

Jane's wisdom surprised Maura a lot. She had expected her friend to make a scene, to jump to conclusions or to be impulsive. But Jane showed maturity and quietness instead. It was unusual yet very comforting.

"You're right..."

Maura looked down at the tiny space that separated her hand from Jane's arm. A question burned her lips but she didn't dare to ask it because she knew how Jane worked. If it didn't come from her friend then it was vain.

Maura wanted to know when and how Jane had dated other women. She had had. It was obvious. The confidence she showed in bed when they were making love was not the one of a newbie.

"If people choose to not reveal a few things about themselves, it's often because they have a hard time dealing with them. They either feel ashamed – like you – or..." Jane shrugged. "Or they don't have what it takes to put words on them."

Maura gave her friend a nod. The remark was very telling. Jane had told her a lot through it. It was implicit but still a lot better than the silence she had kept over her past experiences with women until now. One thing at a time. Perhaps one day Jane would feel at ease talking about it.

"I have a question though."

Maura looked up at Jane. She tilted her head and passed a hand on her stomach as she felt Bubble move. Her daughter always kicked in the evening when she was lying in bed. That's why Jane kept on saying the baby was a night owl, that she would always refuse to go to bed once born.

"Yes?"

Jane's lips curled up in a smirk, a smirk that Maura knew way too well. She barely had time to growl that Jane's question hit the air.

"What does Rick look like?"

Maura rolled her eyes. She couldn't care less about her comfortable position, this time. She grabbed one of the pillows that she had stuck under her stomach and hit her friend with it.

"Oh god, Jane..."

...

Sitting at her desk, Maura observed the difference leaflets that Kent had given her. She picked up one and leafed through it.

She was glad to see that her colleague hadn't forgotten about her request over the weekend and that he had showed up first thing on Monday morning at the morgue with the different options Maura had for the month of October. He had done his job like a boss.

She now needed to have a look at the farms online in order to choose the one that would seem to be the most appropriate one.

"Hey, Maura." Jane walked in without knocking on the door. Her sudden intrusion caused Maura to jump. "Oops, sorry. I didn't want to scare you. Do you have the lab results for the Chinatown murder?"

Maura shook her head. Her team had had to face a few technical issues earlier in the morning which had caused a delay of treatment.

"Not yet, I'm afraid. I'll send you a text message when I get them." She cast a glance at the dozen of colorful leaflets anew and cleared her voice. She hadn't checked the farms online yet but since Jane was in her office then Maura wanted to allude to the subject now. There was no point in waiting any longer. "By the way, are you doing anything on Saturday? Do you have any plan? Because I was thinking that we could go apple picking together. I mean.. Maybe. If you want to."

Jane had grabbed a leaflet. Thus the offer didn't surprise her much. Her eyes had fixed upon the photo of a family that seemed to be having a blast in the middle of a zillion apple trees. Under a big blue sky. The place looked cute even if it happened to be the countryside which Jane didn't like much.

"You mean like a date?" The question passed Jane's lips before she had time to realize how meaningful it could be. Of course, Jane immediately began to blush. Heavily. "I mean..."

She and Maura had rituals. Picking a Christmas tree and spending Thanksgiving together were two of them. Apple picking was new. It didn't necessarily have to be linked to the notion of dating yet Jane's subconscious had obviously spoken for her.

She and Maura had reached a new stage in their relationship two weeks earlier. They enjoyed each other's presence and had a nice time in bed together but everything was still very new. They hadn't really talked about the whole thing yet.

Putting a word on it – even more the word dating – was extremely meaningful. And very sudden.

Maura swallowed hard. She remained quiet for long seconds in order to calm her heart beats. She hadn't expected Jane to be so blunt.

"Well... I suppose that we could call it this way..." Maura looked up. Her hazel eyes looked for Jane's dark ones. "If you want to, of course. If you don't then it's okay, I can..."

"No! I mean yes. I mean... That'd be cool. I'd love to... To go on a date with you."

Neither of them could remember the last time they had showed such level of timidity. Perhaps it looked genuine and cute from the outside but they both felt incredibly stupid right now. It was the first time that they really alluded to what was happening between the two of them. Putting words on it wasn't easy. Going from a friendship to a romantic relationship was delicate. Beautiful but delicate.

"Oh." Maura's surprise turned out to be a lot louder than expected. She picked up a leaflet with a shaking hand and waved it at Jane. "Kent brought these to me. We talked about apple picking last week and I asked him to bring me the leaflets of the different farms he knew. Apparently, it's something he really loves to do. Picking apples, that is. Not... Not bringing me leaflets."

Jane laughed lightly. Maura's awkwardness was very cute.

"I'm glad this is something you want to do with me, Jane. This is sweet, very sweet."

Jane didn't turn around to check whether someone was coming. She couldn't care less right now. She leaned over the desk instead and she planted a soft kiss on Maura's lips before looking into her friend's eyes lovingly.

"No. You're sweet."

Jane didn't add anything. She set the leaflet down on Maura's desk then walked back to the door. She left quietly. Lightly. Happily.