Author's note: thank you for all the reviews, they are much appreciated

Chapter fourteen – Whatever

The sun woke her up. A warm – comforting – embrace on her face, sliding along her arm. Slowly, she rolled on her back and stared at the ceiling. It was early, the neighborhood was still quiet and she could hear the birds in the trees. Perfect. She had plenty of things to do before going to work. Arms stretched. Yawn.

Alright. Time to get up, now.

Blanket discarded – foot off the bed – and... Sudden arms clutched to her waist, preventing her from moving. Long – athletic – legs leaning heavily on hers. Head pressing against her back. She rolled her eyes yet smiled.

"Jane?" Growl she took as a 'yes'. "I want to get up."

Growl, again. Head moving up from Maura's back to her neck. Light kiss. "Well, you won't. You're mine so you'll stay here with me."

Another kiss. Hands traveling up her stomach to pass underneath her top and caress the skin there; up to her breasts. "Jane, I mean it." And yet.

Not so oblivious to her partner's touch, Maura took a deep breath and arched her back as Jane's lips brushed her jaw, sending a shiver down her spine. This wouldn't be an easy task. Not at all. "Hon'... I really have to get up. I have plenty of things to do before going to work."

"You don't start before 2pm... Hon'."

Jane's insistence on the last word made them both laugh. They rarely gave into such pet names. As a matter of fact, Maura herself had no idea why she had just used it in the first place. This wasn't them at all.

"It doesn't change anything to the fact I have to..." Gasp. Without any warning, Jane's left hand slid down her stomach and passed the elastic band of her pj's bottom, heading straight between her legs. Maura's amused smile melted into a grin as she finally gave in and leaned her head backwards.

Eyes closed. The sun now embracing her throat warmly.

She shook her head. "Whatever... Just don't stop, Jane." And good morning.

Jane's ministrations 1 - 0 Maura's will.

...

Procrastination was a complete foreign concept to her until things had changed with Jane. Without realizing it, she had said goodbye to schedules and plans. Way too much to her own taste but then how could she resist? And did she really have to as well? No, of course not.

Even now that they had finally left the bedroom for a late breakfast in the kitchen, Maura couldn't say that she was being very productive unless capturing her partner's lips every ten seconds for a kiss had a chance to be considered as it.

Quiet morning full of cuddles. She might get addicted to it if they didn't slow on the whole thing.

"At what times does Lydia drop off TJ here?" Maura bit into a cookie and moaned of delight. These were really good. Perhaps her partner was actually a good housewife.

Jane made a face. Couldn't they just keep on kissing instead? Hiding her discomfort behind a mug of coffee, she let her foot travel up Maura's ankle playfully. "At 1pm..."

But by her partner's face, she assumed that her answer was a bit short. Not what Maura had really been expecting in the first place. She couldn't blame Maura. Usually, Jane didn't stop talking about TJ. Her sudden silence probably didn't make more sense.

And yet.

After four days of suspension and strongly encouraged by her mother, Jane had called Lydia to offer some babysitting hours. And everything had gone fine, really. Until the day before when a woman at the park had assumed that TJ was hers and when she had said that he wasn't, the stranger had simply apologized adding that if she still wanted to become a mother, she could think about adoption.

In a word, she was too old to get pregnant. Well, not biologically – or at least not as far as she knew – but to people's eyes which wasn't any better in the end.

"You don't seem to be very enthusiastic."

Jane shrugged and avoided Maura's gaze that was now weighing heavily on her. "It's not that... I just... I need to get ready for court. I mean now we have a date for the Mabel Smith Case and I've been off doing nothing for too long already. I need to re-read the files and..."

"You know it by heart, Jane. There is no much for you to prepare. You are more than ready for it."

True enough. Wrong lie, Rizzoli. Yet she couldn't say anything. They were already unable to properly talk about a potential wedding so maternity – and parenthood – sounded even more like a complete impossibility. A topic banned from their couple. Especially since she had herself never really alluded to any pregnancy desire. On the contrary.

Even until that day... If that woman hadn't made such remark, life would have gone on as it always did. Shit!

"What's going on, Jane?"

And of course for once, Maura trusted her instinct. Grand.

Mug of tea discarded on the counter top. Worried, Maura locked her eyes with Jane's and grabbed her hands to hold them tightly. "Is it because you have been suspended? You know what I think about it – and how you should have told me on Friday that Lieutenant Canavaugh had asked you to stay – but... It is okay. I am not mad at you. Take these two weeks as a great opportunity to do something you can't usually do because you lack time for it... Sport... Any project!"

Like a pregnancy? Oh stop it already, Rizzoli! Nobody in this room wants a child, okay? Nobody! Besides, it takes a bit more than fifteen days for this kind of things.

Because it was true. She didn't want a child. She didn't see herself raising a child. No. All she wanted was to spend her time with Maura and... And that was it. Trying to reassure her partner, she offered the honey blonde a timid smile.

Forced laugh.

Yep. At times she really sucked when it came to cheer up the whole crowd.

"Then maybe this basketball thing..."

Maura pursed her lips and let go of Jane's hands immediately. Visibly annoyed, she grabbed back her mug of tea and took a long sip as a heavy silence began to float around. The romantic mood was off. Officially. Definitely.

"We already talked about that, Jane. You won't play basketball in my patio because you would crush the plants and the flowers. This isn't the right place for such activity. Yoga, eventually. End of the conversation."

The Italian raised an unconvinced eyebrow. "Oh we really had a talk about it? It sounded more like a monologue, to me." Uh oh. Don't do that, Rizzoli. Red alert.

"Indeed. You were way too stubborn to even listen to what I had to say on the matter."

Don't give into it, Riz'. Nope. You know what it means. You know it too well. Scoff. "Excuse me?" Knowing better than to listen to her inner voice, Jane threw herself into the argument. Fully. Freely. If only because it was a nice game of teasing.

Sadly, Maura took it very differently. "Yes. You are stubborn. Adorable but nonetheless stubborn. Now go take a shower. It is almost noon. Don't forget the shopping list when you go to the supermarket too. You want to cook for Lisa and Guadalupe, perfect. But then make sure you have all the ingredients here. Also I..."

Jane blinked. What was going on here, exactly? She wasn't dating her mother, dammit. She was almost forty years old, nobody told her what to do nor when. And yet that was exactly what Maura was doing. On a roll, the scientist kept on enumerating things to do. Domestic chores. Domestic chores? You are not a housemaid, Riz'!

Feeling somewhat rebel, the brunette stood up – left her mug on the counter without cleaning it which made her sign in for an upcoming twenty-minute cold treatment at least – and walked to the door, grabbing Jo Friday's leash in the process.

"I'm off. To walk the dog. Without having taken a shower. Jo, c'mon!"

Jo Friday happily trotted to her owner and within a second, they had both left. Still up on a stool – a smirk playing on her lips – Maura waited; an eye on the door.

One. Two. Three.

As expected, the door flew opened and – chin up in defiance – Jane came in then shrugged. "It's not as hot as I had assumed so I'll go put pants on."

Maura frowned - repressed a laugh - then shook her head. For some reason, she was certain that even if Boston had been having a heatwave, Jane would not go out to walk her dog wearing nothing but a shirt and boxer shorts.

Whisper. "Whatever..."

"I heard you, Maura!"