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Two Weeks on Lake Michigan, Chapter 21
They took their time getting up the next morning. This was definitely the honeymoon stage of their relationship, and they had the time now to enjoy each other without any distractions. For Jane, waking up with a naked Maura next to her felt like total sensory overload. She was soft, warm, sexy, and beautiful. She had Maura's scent all over her, and she could not get enough. They were kissing their way into the day when they heard knocking at the back door.
"What time is it"? Maura asked with a sleepy voice, as she rolled toward the nightstand to see the clock. "Oh, my god, Jane, its 10:30, how did we sleep this late?"
Well, honey, I don't think we fell asleep the final time until four or five.
"Do you think it's my mother"?
"Why don't I just go out there and see." Jane threw on a t-shirt and shorts and went to the door."
"Good morning, my darlings, are we just now waking up?"
"Mo-ther," whined Maura from the other room. Catherine walked straight into the house and straight into the bedroom. Maura wrapped herself in the sheet and squinted at her still half asleep.
"Really, mother."
"I know, darling, but you and Jane are going to have the rest of your lives together and we only have this week to be together. You two jump in the shower, Marie went to the store, and it's our turn to make breakfast."
Jane came back to the bedroom and dove onto the bed next to her lover. "Good morning, my love." she said kissing her awake. Are we grumpy this morning?"
Maura just whined again and pulled the sheet over her head.
"Okay, I'm going to shower, and you can sleep for a little while longer, how's that?"
Maura made some kind of a sound that Jane interpreted to mean yes.
When Jane came out of the shower, she stood by the bathroom door looking at her girlfriend in awe. She was lying on her side. Her blond hair was spread out on the pillow, her face turned toward the light coming from the window. The sheet was barely covering the lower half of her body; one leg was out from under the cover. She looked like a painting, as though she had modeled for Da Vinci or Botticelli. Jane could not get over how beautiful this woman was. She stared mesmerized and thought, I get to kiss her, I get to love her, I get to make love to her, and, I get to be with her every day for the rest of my life. This was Jane's first real love.
The Italian decided to let her sleep for a while longer and went into the kitchen to see if Catherine needed help.
"I'm going to let her sleep for a few minutes."
"Maura is usually a morning person."
"We were up most of the night, uh, talking."
"Of course you were, dear." Catherine smiled.
"Ok, I'm up" came a voice from the other room. "I can't have the two of you talking without me being able to censor what my mother is telling you."
"Good morning again, darling" Catherine kissed and gave Maura a hug.
"I'm going to jump in the shower."
Marie returned from the store with bagels and cream cheese, and an assortment of other delicious food items.
When they finally sat down to eat, Catherine began the conversation about Maura's residency. "I would like the two of us to take the rest of the day to get on the phone and do what we need to do to start the ball rolling on this residency."
"I've been thinking about this and I did some research yesterday. There are some teaching hospitals in Boston that have more of a rotating program, so if I can't get in immediately, I might be able to start in a month or two."
"Well, we have some phone calls to make, so why don't you and I go to the big house and get to work?"
Jane and Marie decided they would walk into the little town and visit the shops, and then Jane would help Marie fix some things around the house. As the Rizzolis were walking through town, Jane spotted a large framed photograph of their beach with the lighthouse in the background.
"I think this should be hanging in my apartment. I'd love something that reminds me of how wonderful these two weeks have been."
"Have you always been this sentimental, Janie?"
Jane shook her head as if she couldn't believe it herself.
"Let me buy this for the two of you as your first house warming present."
"Oh, Aunt Marie, you don't have to do that, really."
"I know that, honey, but these two weeks have been such a joy for me too, and I would love to do this."
After they had purchased the picture, they continued to walk down the street until Jane seemed captivated by something in one of the windows.
"What is it Jane?"
"This jewelry is exquisite."
"It's all handmade and I know the artist. C'mon, let's go in and look."
Clarice came out from behind the counter to give Marie a hug and to meet her niece.
"Your stuff is amazing," Jane commented.
"Thank you, honey; I've been doing this for years. It's my passion. What specifically are you looking at?"
"I like these gold and silver bands."
The ones she liked were wide and were made up of thin pieces of gold that were braided.
"Can I ask," said Marie, "why you're looking at rings?"
"I'm not asking her to marry me just yet, but when I saw these, I had this vision of matching rings."
"How long before you do ask her to marry you."
"I think we should live together for at least a year. A year would give us plenty of time to really get to know each other. We could find out that we don't even like each other."
They looked at each other and simultaneously said, "Naw."
"We only know each other under the very best circumstances. We don't have any of the pressures of my job or hers. We have you and Catherine supporting us in every way, but we're going back to a family and the guys I work with who won't be as accepting as the two of you are."
"You know, Jane, all of those things you just talked about are external to the two of you. You get to decide whether they are important enough to affect your relationship with Maura. It would be different if you were still teenagers or even in college. You are two grown women able to decide how you want to live your life." To emphasize her point again, she poked Jane in the chest and said, "You, and only you get to decide."
"I get all that, but I would be heartbroken if my whole family disowned me."
"Janie, if they do, it will only be for a short period of time. They'll come around. You are their only daughter and sister, and they adore you."
"Thanks, Aunt Marie."
"On a more fun note, why don't we go across the street to Kilwins and take some ice cream and fudge back to our girls?"
"That sounds great."
They got back to Marie's and decided it was too early to disturb the Stewart women, so Jane sat down with Marie while she talked about all the little projects on her wish list. Jane actually loved doing things around the house and she was looking forward to helping her aunt. There were leaky faucets, screens that had to come out for winter, sliding doors that didn't slide as well any more, and some heavy boxes that Marie wanted moved to the attic. It was six o'clock before they knew it, and Maura called to say dinner was at the big house.
Jane and Marie showered, changed, and put on their new matching jackets to walk up to the house. They shared a laugh about finally having somewhere to wear their jackets, grabbed the fudge and ice cream, and headed out.