Orange Colored Sky

by AFIS

Maura Isles has it all. A career she loves, a beautiful home, and her lover Jane Rizzoli at her side. But she wants more from her life that only a child can fulfill. Jane, however, is reluctant to become a mother despite her girlfriend's need to conceive. When a high-profile case from her past comes back to haunt her, the past meets the present, forcing her to attack her fears.

25. Chapter 25

-/-/-Chapter 25-/-/-

Maura stood in the kitchen dressed in one of the few remaining designer clothes that still managed to fit over her enlarged stomach. Checking the clock on the screen of the television to make sure she was still on schedule, she continued to slice the tomatoes that would go into the salad bowl halfway filled already. The combined smells of warm home-cooked spaghetti a la carbonara and tiramisu wafted through the house, bringing feelings of family and love required of a Sunday lunch with the Rizzolis and her mother, back from Lillehammer.

On the couch, Jane sat in a funk, watching one of the endless Christmas movie celebrations that Maura had put on their Netflix instant queue on her iMac. Ever since Jane had gotten back from the operation concerning Riley and Frankie she had been in a bad mood. All Maura could gather from the moody brunette was that things had gone to the puppies and some agent that Dean was fixated on had been the cause of it.

Hopefully she can handle being around everyone, Maura thought. Jane could be a horrible hostess when in one of her legendary bad moods. The world ceased to exist before the wrath of the detective. And not having Frankie here would just be another visible sign of what went wrong during the operation, potentially leading to an even worse attitude on the detective's part.

"Jane," Maura began quietly while slicing the tomatoes into fine slivers. "If you're going to pout, we might as well cancel lunch."

With an exaggerated smile, Jane looked back at the busy blonde in the kitchen. "I'm fine."

"Really?"

"Really."

Maura laughed. "Honey, I might not be able to lie, but I'm pretty damn good at figuring out when other people are lying to me. There's no need to force yourself into doing something you don't want to do. I'm sure everyone will understand. Angela's been whining about taking me Christmas shopping with her for TJ and…well, you know who."

Jane narrowed her eyes. "Please don't tell me his first name rhymes with flan."

"Flan doesn't rhyme with Sean, honey."

"Eugh…my mother is Christmas shopping for my boss. And she wants you to come with. God, how weird can this get?"

Maura twiddled with her ring finger. "Well, Cavanaugh could always invite his ex-wife along."

"Vomit, that's just too much," Jane said, finding the thought slightly hilarious. "But we can't cancel. Cancelling Sunday lunch is the quickest way to make my mother gossip to anyone and everyone who'll listen to her rumormongering. You know I nearly had to change schools the last time I let her get riled up." Jane furrowed further into the comfortable couch with an amused smile. "Knowing her, she'll create more chaos trying to be helpful than if she hadn't tried at all."

"Well do you think you can improve your mood before they come? The last thing I need is listening to you huff and puff while attempting to persuade Lydia's mother that TJ couldn't possibly need Percocet for teething. I swear that woman needs to check into a 12-step program."

"Don't worry your little heart, Maura. I'll be fine by the time they'll arrive. Can't tell everyone about our pregnancy in a foul mood, right?"

Maura stood in silent shock as her mind struggled to process the words. "You mean…you're going to tell everyone about the baby?"

"It's not like we have much choice," Jane said sarcastically. "That belly of yours is getting bigger by the minute. Lydia might not be the brightest bulb in the pack but she'd have to be a legally retarded not to notice. Her mother will probably be high on pain killers, as usual, but Constance will certainly pick it up as soon as you open the door."

Maura stopped her slicing of the tomatoes to look down at her wardrobe. "Maybe I should change then? For an announcement like this, appearances are critical…"

"Honey, you look beautiful in whatever you wear. Plastic bag or Stella McCartney, it doesn't matter. Our family will understand." Jane moved to stand up from the couch after turning the computer off. "Is your father coming?"

"I don't think so. Father has a big conference in New York concerning his research on the communication of snow leopards in the Sichuan reserves. He's planning on driving in tomorrow from the house, but he's probably going to spend the whole day obsessing over the presentation. It's best he stay at home."

Jane raised an eyebrow in confusion. "So Constance and William are at home in Boston? That's a surprise. I would have thought they'd be in one of their winter homes in Istanbul or Montenegro."

"Usually they would be, but I asked Mother to be free for our weekly family get-togethers in advance. Mother figured she'd use the opportunity to show up to see me and drop off Christmas gifts before she heads off to Belgrade to spend time with my father's side of the family."

"So that's how you know Serbian," Jane realized. "Your dad's Serbian. You never told me that."

"Actually he's half Serb and half Macedonian, believe it or not. Father knows both Serbian and Macedonian. But if you ask him to speak a phrase, he'll ignore you. Father has always been a little embarrassed of his multilingual background."

"Why?" Jane asked curiously. "If I knew Italian, I'd be saying sexy phrases all of the time."

"Father moved to America fairly late in his life. He got an academic scholarship to BCU as a foreign exchange student. It forced him to learn an entirely different culture and language." Finishing her tomatoes, Maura placed them in the salad bowl before covering it in plastic wrap to keep air out. "To be accepted, Father had to give up some aspects of his heritage in order to be what he thought an American was. Speaking in Serbian and Macedonian were just two things that he deemed inappropriate to a true-born American citizen."

"So he didn't want to be seen as an import."

Maura smiled warmly. "Exactly. When Father taught me Serbian, he insisted that I only speak it at home. No showing off my linguistic skills at school, I'm afraid."

"And Macedonian?"

"I know a little bit. Not as well as I do Serbian or French or even German, but I can get by. I just never had a chance to pick it up. The languages share similar characteristics, so I could, in theory, learn Macedonian fairly easily, but I've never seen a reason to, quite honestly," Maura replied. She stuck out her tongue in a humorous expression. "Enough about that. Jane, do you think you could start setting up the table while I take out the tiramisu and make sure the spaghetti isn't getting too soggy? Your mother's family book of recipes are so exact, the last thing I want to do is screw things up on my first solo experience cooking Sunday lunch. I'd never live the embarrassment down."

"Sure. You need help with anything else?"

"You want to help me in the kitchen with the plating?"

Making a miserable face, Jane made her way over to the table after carefully taking the fine porcelain set of dinnerware – one of the many gifts from Constance and her husband – in her hands. Maura was renowned for her tendency to be a stickler for details. The last thing Jane wanted to deal with was her girlfriend's Germanic orders that could never be met while helping her with plating.

As Jane began to throw the expensive, elaborate, hand designed plates on the wood carved surface, the sound of the doorbell brought their attention away from their tasks. In confusion, she ran her hand through the tangled mass of curls.

"Your mother's early," Maura commented, drying her hands on the small towel. "I'll get it."

Jane shook her head while heading to the door. "No, you need to keep an eye on the tiramisu. Last time I cooked tiramisu it was crisp in the middle and burnt on the top. Even sugar and whipped cream couldn't make that edible. God knows we wouldn't want my ma to see that."

"Oh my god…you're so right, honey."

As Maura returned back to flitting around the kitchen, Jane shooed Jo away from the door and looked through the peephole to see, of all people, Dean staring back at her. His typical bored expression was marked with a rare sign of frustration in the way his jaw clenched and unclenched as a subconscious reflex. Immediately, she knew why he had decided to show up out of the blue on her doorstep.

"Maura," Jane called out in a loud voice. "It's Dean. He needs to talk about something regarding the operation. We'll be outside for a minute."

"Don't get lost."

Jane frowned. "What? How can I get lost in the walkway?"

"You could always drink a magical solution that makes you smaller. Like Alice in Wonderland."

"And the odds of that happening are fairly low."

"Nothing is improbable in the world of chance."

Jane rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore the blonde's unusual commentary. She opened the door with a false smile. "Hey, Dean. You look…miserable. Are you helping out at the Children's Hospital in their annual production of Who Stole Christmas? 'Cause there's no need to continue being the Grinch off the stage. It's gonna to scare the kids."

"You're such a damn hypocrite, Jane."

"Keep your voice down," Jane growled, closing the door quickly behind her. "Just because you're having a bad day doesn't mean you have to bring my wife into it."

"What the hell!" Dean exclaimed. "You two are married now? When'd you find the time to run off and get hitched?"

"What? No…I mean no, we're not married but we're married…kind of… Like she's my wife…not legally per se," Jane babbled under her breath, unsure of how to phrase their relationship to Dean properly. "You know what? It doesn't matter. We're together, okay? And, back to the subject, how dare you come to my house, cursing me out, and calling me names."

"You had no right to report Lea to Eric, of all people."

"I did what I had to do to secure the safety of my team, Dean," Jane admitted stiffly.

"This isn't your team, Jane. You and I are working together on this."

"Then act like it for a change instead of drooling over your female agent," Jane argued back in a whisper, her anger threatening to break loose. "Eric was the only one I could turn to. You were clearly too bamboozled by the woman to make the right decision so I went to someone who could."

"So protecting your team is more important than your working relationship with me."

Jane rolled her eyes with a tired sigh. "Oh, quit the dramatics, Meryl Streep. It doesn't have to be an either/or decision. I want to get Cisco. The only way that is going to happen is if you stay just as focused as I am. Lea has you so distracted that you can't even see that she's a liability."

"She was hardly a liability until proven."

"And I didn't want to risk Frankie and Riley's lives waiting on that opportunity presented itself."

Dean frowned heavily. "Going over my head wasn't necessary. Especially after all of that fuss you made about me going over your head and having Eric approve letting Riley and Frankie into Bone's place without any prior debriefing," he said calmly. "I don't expect you to wait until she makes a fatal error but throwing her over the ledge to the wolves was hardly appropriate. You've been undercover, Jane. You know some of the things a suspect will say to create suspicion."

"Sleeping with your fellow agent requires drastic actions."

"What does that mean?" Dean spat back.

"Objectivity involving her actions as of late is clearly not your strong suit. Reporting her to Eric was the wisest action. You weren't in a position to make the choice, so I did."

Dean crossed over the brick paved walkway to the large standing vase of flowers blooming in the winter. The whites, pinks, and reds blended against the light snowflakes that had managed to stick around from last night's winter flurry. Despite the cold weather, the beautiful arraignment of hues brightened the exterior of the home, thawing the chill of the day into a more reasonable temperature as the sun began to peek out of the grey clouds to greet the flowers.

From her position at the top of the small steps to the front door, Jane sighed tiredly. "Dean…listen to me. I'm not in the business of dragging someone's reputation through the mud just for a fleeting moment of glory. Eric doesn't know about your…indiscretion, whatever you want to call it, with Lea. I just asked him to look into her for me. See if there is some weight to Bone's allegations or not."

"Well there's no point. I took her off the case as a precaution. Told the boss that her intel was no longer needed and requested an immediate reassignment. She should be settling in to a new case back in Washington." Dean looked at the petals moving slightly in the breeze. "As you can see, I am not bamboozled or incapable of objectivity. I just like to make decisions based after reflection and not a whim like some of us."

Ignoring the dig, Jane smiled knowingly. "I hope you didn't go through a whole box of tissues writing your man feelings out in that diary of yours."

"How many times do I have to tell you…?" Dean turned around with a frustrated face. "It's a journal. Not a diary. And you make it seem like I cry regularly."

"Ohh…I get it. You're in denial."

"No, I'm not in denial."

Before Jane could reply back to the ruffled agent, a knock from the other side of the front door echoed before Maura opened the door with a bright smile. She was absolutely radiant despite being covered in a dirty, food-stained apron. Jane and Dean could do nothing but stare at the blonde in utter shock at how naturally beautiful she was. Maybe it was a pregnancy thing but Jane felt like her girlfriend had become a glowing star seemingly overnight, beaming with maternal love.

"Hi, Dean," Maura greeted with a wholehearted smile, "you look well. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

Jane returned the blonde's smile with a warm, loving one of her own. "No, we were about to finish up. Unless…you have something else you need to say, Dean?"

"Umm…well," Dean said. He stared between the two women in baffled shock at the obvious love flowing between them. He felt like an intruder on a private moment between two longtime lovers and wanted desperately to leave. "Yeah, I'm just going to head out. You look…magnificent by the way, Maura. You've got this glowing thing going on. I might have to start calling you an angel soon."

Maura blushed, crossing her arms against her swollen stomach subconsciously. "You better stop with the flattery, Gabriel. Jane might think you're trying to flirt with me."

"I know better than that."

"You're free to accompany us," Jane offered. "We're having our weekly Sunday family lunch. It is close to Christmas after all…or whatever you celebrate. Might as well spend it with family. No better family than our mashed-up clan to make you realize how good you've got it."

"Jane…are you sure about this?" Maura asked worriedly, concerned for the announcement and how it could potentially affect Dean.

"It'll be fine, honey. Dean's a big boy," Jane said. She ushered the bashful agent into their home. "Don't mind the boxes. Maura's a little late with decorations this year. She hasn't been feeling well lately, leaving me with all of the heavy lifting and light hanging."

Maura frowned. Hopefully Jane knew what she was doing. Given her experience with the agent, she knew the man had a tendency to be slightly sensitive about, well, anything. She didn't know if she could handle her mother's reaction and Dean's inclination to crying at the same time.

-/-/-/-/-/-

All of the worry of dealing with a full house had been for naught. Besides Maura and Jane the only members of their combined family that had decided to show up were Angela and Constance. Tommy, Lydia, and her mother had to cancel because TJ's teething had given him a fever, forcing them to stay put for the day. Maura had seemed slightly bent out of shape given the amount of food she had prepared but Jane could barely repress her happiness at not having to deal with Lydia's mother. Honestly, the ratty looking woman gave the tough-as-nails detective the heebie-jeebies.

Just because we're family, doesn't mean we have to like each other, Jane thought.

So now Jane had to play nice with Constance, Dean, and her mother. As Maura continued to guide the conversation into neutral territory like a good hostess, the brunette kept her eyes on the various characters around their dinner table while carefully chewing the spaghetti.

Angela congratulated Maura on her skill with the recipes from the Rizzoli cookbook, gushing with never-ending compliments and flattery to her honorary daughter. Constance, on the other hand, remained somewhat aloof from the over-the-top mannerisms of the older woman sitting across from her but still managed to chime in with her usual sophisticated air. And Dean tried his best to avoid being noticed, his normally downtrodden face even more miserable in appearance.

Jane just hoped telling their parents about the baby wouldn't get out of hand. Upon their arrival, she had been expecting Constance to casually mention her daughter's pregnancy in her usual way of stating the obvious but – to her surprise – she had said nothing other than the usual pleasantries. Even Maura had managed to give the detective a look of absolute bafflement before returning to the duties of being a good hostess. If Constance did know, she gave little inclination.

Either she's a damn good actress or she's waiting on her daughter to say something…

"Jane," Constance said. The older woman interrupted Jane's thoughts. "It's been awhile since I've seen your brothers. Maura is always telling me that one of them had a new baby boy named…Thomas?"

Jane nodded. "Yeah, that's the youngest, Tommy. He was the one that got lost at that party you threw for us a while back. He kinda knocked up my dad's ex-fiancée." From underneath the table, Angela kicked Jane's shin, eliciting a grimace from the detective. "And that is a long story for another time. TJ's about a year old now."

"TJ…like Thomas Jr., presumably?"

"Hopefully," Jane said with a wry smile. "Knowing how much of a ditz Lydia is, she probably named him Tommy Jr. on his birth certificate."

Another kick in the shin came from under the table. Jane frowned in annoyance at her oblivious girlfriend. Really? Jeez…now I know why Eric bitches so much about me hitting him all the time.

"Please give your brother my late congratulations. If he'd like I can always send him one of my Rauschenbergs for the nursery?"

"No, I think you can save the gift. My brother doesn't know what a Rauschenberg is."

"What's a Rauschenberg?" Angela asked bashfully.

Maura stood up to grab her iPad from the couch, plainly revealing her pregnancy to anyone with eyes. Constance remained unaffected, focusing exclusively on swirling the pasta on the plate with her fork.

"This is a Rauschenberg." Maura sat back down, handing the tablet out to Angela. "That's one of his more famous pieces, Monogram. His works are quite celebrated in the modern art world. My mother actually met him as an art student during her graduate studies."

"His combination of various mediums always captured my attention," Constance interjected with a slight smile. "In many ways, I modeled my own style on his techniques. My husband has been trying to get me one of his earlier Combines for display in my studio at the house. Don't tell him I know, Maura. You know how much your father gets in such a fit when people spoil his surprises."

Maura smiled knowingly before turning to the hunched over form of their only male guest. "Dean? Do you know anything about modern art? You've always seemed like a modern art kind of guy."

Dean looked up at the various female eyes staring at him nonjudgmentally, egging him on to join the conversation. "I've always preferred Jasper Johns over Rauschenberg in terms of the Neo-Dadaists."

"Both have their skills and flaws," Constance replied. Everyone chose to ignore Angela's attempt to hide her lack of education in the arts. "Art is all dependent on one's perspective. And perspective can never be gauged by such simple standards of right or wrong." She turned to her daughter in a calm, thoughtful manner. "Speaking of art, Father wanted me to give you your Christmas present a little early. I hope it hasn't broken during the trip."

Everyone watched in quiet amusement as Maura's face brightened in excitement. Constance took the small wrapped box from her Hermès bag and handed it to Maura with a smile. Instead of ripping into the gift, the blonde stared at the decorated box while Jane and Angela stared at her in nervous anticipation. Even Dean had managed to look up from his self-imposed brooding to learn what was in the box.

"Well?" Jane asked. "You gonna open it or stare at it all day?"

"Father always gives the best gifts. I have to prepare for the shock."

"Then prepare faster," Jane bantered back in a playful tone.

Maura gingerly opened the wrapping paper. She promptly gave a scream of delight upon revealing what was inside. "I wish Father wouldn't spoil me so. This probably cost him an arm and a foot."

"An arm and a leg," Jane corrected. "But I don't get it… What exactly is it?"

Jane stared at the small object in Maura's hand. The small round, globe like object reflected the light off of its multicolored surface. With the slight movements of the blonde's hand, gold Chinese characters could be seen inside the fragile object, swirling around what appeared to be an ornate dragon. Clearly, even with her untrained eye, she could see the amount of craftsmanship went into the tennis-ball sized object.

"It's jade. Very valuable in the Chinese culture. He must have gotten it during his joint research with the specialists on the snow leopards," Constance replied. "I swear that man spends far too much on some things."

"It's beautiful, Mother. Tell Father I love it dearly. I'll put it in my office on the bookshelf."

As the two women discussed the fragile trinket, Jane noticed out of the corner of her eye her mother starting to sidle up to Dean. The brooding man seemed to be getting even more uncomfortable with each disappearing inch of space that had separated him from Angela's obvious curiosity.

"So…Gabriel," Angela started in a whisper, her friendly smile impossible to ignore. "You must be the contributor."

Dean gave her a curious look. "Contributor? Contributor of what?"

"Of the sperm, silly."

Coughing on the sudden mass of spaghetti stuck in his throat, Dean coughed loudly into his napkin. Jane turned to look at Dean and her mother with a raised eyebrow. "Ma…what did you say to him?"

"I just asked him if he's the sperm-" Angela began.

"How would everyone like some tiramisu?" Maura interrupted, standing up abruptly from her chair. "Angela, how about you come help me in the kitchen with the slicing? I don't want anyone to get too big of a serving and end up getting sick. Too much misu is never a good thing."

With a nod, Angela made her way into the kitchen, glad to be helping out. Jane breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Somehow Maura had managed to avoid a potential flare-up that could have dire consequences. Dean seemed to be still utterly confused but he'd give up eventually trying to figure out the meaning of her mother's words. They all did…eventually.

In her own experience, most men have a critical period in which understanding could occur. Once that point had passed, they would move on to something far less difficult, usually involving their hands and/or loud, grunting noises. Jane smiled, knowing the serious agent wouldn't be the exception to that rule.

Constance, on the other hand, was not as easily deterred.

"Maura, when are you planning on telling me the news?"

Raising her head in confusion, Maura frowned. "What news?"

"About your pregnancy."

The room went silent. Jane could do nothing but drop her jaw in shock while Maura stared at her mother with a similar comical expression.

"Did you know the whole time?" Jane asked, breaking the silence.

Constance nodded. "Just because I was unable to have a child of my own doesn't mean I have forgotten how pregnancy works, Jane. I know my daughter like the back of my hand." She gave Maura a humorous look. "Remember the patchouli incident back in college?"

"Yes, Mother, of course I do," Maura said. "But…why didn't you say anything?"

"Because it wasn't my place to do so. I might be your mother, darling, but I'm hardly involved in your relationship to warrant meddling. I figured the two of you would come around."

Maura looked over at Jane for assistance, unsure of how to proceed. As much as she wanted to tell her mother, she knew they had to be ready together. She had learned her mistake from last time. If the brunette needed more time before admitting what was common knowledge, she had no problem with waiting a little longer.

With a subtle nod, Jane gave her acceptance to spill the beans.

"Well…I guess we should spill the peas. Jane and I – how should I put it? – have decided to have a child together." Maura placed a hand on her stomach with a bashful smile. "I'm about four months along. And, before you ask, we didn't want to tell you until everything was completely settled. The first couple of months are the riskiest."

Constance stood up from the table to give her daughter a large hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Congratulations, darling. I'm so very happy for you. My daughter is going to be a mother. I can scarcely believe it."

Angela clapped for the two of them before giving Jane an exaggerated look of sadness. "If you had told me, Jane, we could have had a special moment together like Maura and her mother."

"Really, ma? If you hadn't've been so damn nosy, you could have had your Kodak moment too."

Angela rolled her eyes just as Constance turned to Dean with a warm smile. "And you must be the father." She studied the shocked face of the man still sitting at the table. "I have to say, you don't seem to be my daughter's type. But Maura is known for her experimental streak. You wouldn't believe some of the things she did back in college. Once, I caught her and her philosophy professor in our heated pool-"

"Wait…" Dean stood up, straight as an arrow. "What the… You mean I'm the father? How could I be the father? I haven't seen Jane in years! I am not ready for child support payments. I just finished paying off my Honda, for god's sake."

"Dean!" Jane exclaimed. "You are not the father of our child. I repeat to everyone in the room, this man is not the father. He's a friend of sorts."

Maura smiled. "I get it…that's a Jerry Springer reference. I'm getting really good at this pop culture thing. Maybe I'll make a joke about Yogi Berra."

"It's Yogi Bear, honey. Not Yogi Berra. Yogi Berra was a baseball player." Jane shook her head tiredly. "But good try. Keep working on it and you'll get it."

"So who's the father?" Angela asked excitedly.

"Frost."

"It is kind of chilly in here," Constance replied.

Jane laughed in her usual booming voice. "No, not that kind of frost. Detective Barry Frost is the father. He's my partner at BPD. We wanted to have a donor that could be involved in the child's life. Maura insisted on it."

"Wait," Dean said, finally managing to find his voice. He still looked just as bewildered as before. Jane couldn't help but smile at the bewildered agent struggling to understand what had just been disclosed. "So…you two are lesbians. And you're having a baby together. With your partner's sperm, making him your baby daddy. And, once it's born, you'll be two moms raising your child…together." He went silent for a brief moment to process. "What? Are you kidding me? Is this real life because there's no way that this is happening. I mean, seriously. Jane as a mother? That's like training a dog not to bark; it's impossible."

Jane shook her head in amusement. As funny as all of this nonsense was, it was starting to get out hand. Dean was clearly overwhelmed by the news and Constance and Angela had that look as if they were about to invite each other to an impromptu baby buying spree.

But, not to outdone by craziness, her mother broke out with one last comment in the middle of slicing the tiramisu, "You know the baby is going to be half black right?"

Yep…they had officially hit the Mt. Everest of crazy commentary. Thanks, Ma. This wacky lunch with the family – with the addition of Dean – wouldn't be complete without you. Jane turned to Maura with a look that was reciprocated by the blonde. It was about time to end this debacle for everyone's sakes.

"So…," Maura beamed. "Who wants misu? I know I do."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-

From the kitchen, Jane and Maura both watched in embarrassment as their two mothers walked each other out, talking about baby nonsense all the while. They had spent the last thirty minutes chatting about names, cravings, and nursery items over tiramisu, making an awkward dinner turn even more awkward for everyone, including poor Dean who had to sit through the whole thing with a miserable face. For the first time in a long time, Jane actually felt remorse for asking the man to spend lunch with them.

I wouldn't have even considered the idea if I knew it was going to get like this, Jane thought. At most, she had expected a few tears and a ton of questions.

"That went well," Maura said. She helped Jane load the dishes in the dishwasher.

"Yeah, if you say so." Jane turned back to look at the stunned agent looking blankly at his untouched tiramisu. "Dean looks like he just saw Casper. And we didn't even tell them that we used my eggs."

"Let's just save that tidbit for a later date. They've already left to start buying gender neutral baby clothes. No need to bring them back. And Dean can't handle much more excitement."

At the table, Dean stood up slowly, his usual mask back on his face. "I think I'm going to head out too."

"Would you like some misu for the road?" Maura asked. "I've already put some in a Tupperware container for you."

Dean nodded absent-mindedly, his mind clearly elsewhere. "Thank you," he said. The agent took the container from her hand. "I'll return this to Jane when I see her. And, I just want to say…" He cleared his throat. "Congratulations to you both for the baby and…well, everything. You two really are meant for each other. I guess love transcends gender boundaries."

He smiled, tilting his head in a gesture to leave. The door closed quietly behind him, leaving Jane and Maura in silence, unsure of how to respond.

"You know what?"

Jane raised an eyebrow. "What, sweetheart?"

"I think…it's time we stop making fun of him like we do. It's not very nice."

"Yeah," Jane said with a slight smile. "I think you're right. It took balls for him to say what he did. Any person with that kind of courage is a person worthy of my respect. But I still think it's weird how the man keeps a man-diary."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-

After the day they had just had, Jane found the contrast between the icy cold weather of a clear Boston night on her ears and the sizzling heat from the Jacuzzi's bubbling water against her body. The sensation was made even better in the nude, a rare allowance given by her safety-minded girlfriend. When they had decided to get the hot tub for the house – Maura thought it would be a good way to add value to the house if they chose to sell it in the future – Jane had argued about the amount of maintenance it would require on her part but, during rare moments like this, the price was more than paid off.

Jane leaned back against the padded head rest, her eyes closing against the brilliance of the starry sky. Heat bubbled all around her, through her, forcing the stress from each of her pores. With all of the underlying chaos of the undercover operation and telling their family about the pregnancy, it had been far too long since she had felt so completely, utterly relaxed.

God…I've forgotten how good it feels to just…be with her.

"You having fun?" a voice asked from behind the relaxed woman. The wooden stairs leading from the yard to the patio made a slight squeaking sound as a person made their way to the Jacuzzi.

Jane smirked. "It'd be a lot better if you were in here with me." She opened an eye before turning to wink at Maura. "But it might be a little cold for your tastes."

"As long as I'm with you," Maura flirted, "I'll be plenty warm enough."

"Maybe I should turn the heat down. Wouldn't want you to burn with all this heat building up."

Maura rolled her eyes. "You're such a sex fiend. That's all you ever think about. Sex, sex, sex, and – oh, wait for it – even more sex." She made her way to the bubbling water, throwing off the small robe to reveal her nude form to the cold, night sky. "May I come in?"

"I'll try to keep my hands to myself." Jane made an exaggerated display of welcome to the patient blonde. "As long as you promise not to tease."

Maura stepped into the water and immediately dunked her head into the water, her hair now taking on her natural shade of burnt amber with golden highlights. Jane tried not to stare too obviously at the beautiful woman beside her, finding the act difficult. "No need to make promises we both know will be impossible to keep," Maura said. She returned Jane's wink. "You alright?"

Jane frowned. "Why would I not be?"

"I don't know," Maura replied, snuggling up next to her long-term lover. "Your mother is such a catch all of the time. Adding the baby into the mix is like pouring fuel on an already burning fire."

"One out of two, sweetheart."

Maura tilted her head in cute confusion. "I thought I got them all right that time?"

"It's trip. My ma' is a trip, not a catch. But the pouring fuel metaphor was right on target."

"Tomato, tomäto." Maura shrugged nonchalantly. "Regardless, I'm sure you have to feel better after finally telling everyone about our decision. I know I do."

"It's hardly everyone, honey. We still haven't told anyone at work."

Maura smiled, completely unperturbed. "But we've told everyone that matters at the moment. There's no rush to open the pages of our life to anyone and everyone yet. The first step is always the hardest and we made it through together. Let's just be glad for that."

Jane snorted. She couldn't resist the desire to return her girlfriend's joyous positivity with her traditional brand of sarcasm. "Thank you, Miss Optimistic. Let's just ignore that Dean looked like he was near death when he left."

"Dean's an adult," Maura replied calmly. "Once he gets over the understandable shock, he'll perk right back up."

"Or right back down given his need to maintain his title as Prince Dean van Brooding."

Maura gave the taller woman a playful slap. "I thought we were going to be nicer to Dean."

"Yeah," Jane said. "I forgot. Old habits die hard, honey. I'll stop."

With an amused smile, Maura dunked her head back under the water. The heat sizzled against her scalp as the warmth thawed her cold, wet head. She knew Jane was just being her usual funny self, not meaning any harm to Dean with her jokes. Coming up from the water, she gave her girlfriend a curious look. "Why'd you even sleep with him in the first place?"

Jane gave the blonde a quick double-take, plainly taken aback at the change in conversation. "And the reason you want to know is…"

"I've always been interested in what attracts you to the various men in your life. Steve, Eric, and now Dean. Do you have a problem with me asking?"

Jane sighed. "Of course not. It's a little late in our relationship to be hiding nonsense like that," she said. She took a brief moment to gather the thoughts in her head. "Dean…was a distraction against the feelings I was beginning to have for you. I didn't understand what they meant and it…scared me. It might be a horrible thing, but I wanted to use him to stay in denial that I was starting to fall in love with my best friend."

"And you didn't tell him that…did you?"

Jane made a comical face of surprise. "Oh, dear god no. In hindsight, I should have told him something so he didn't think he got dumped, but he's been gone since that night we hooked up over three years ago. I used Dean for my own needs. It's disgusting and-"

Maura silenced the brunette with a slow, passionate kiss. Their tongues mingled in a relaxed pas de deux, hardly in a rush to move forward with this act of what promised to be an eventful play. The bubbles from the hot water continued to pop and burble around them, forming a barrier between the couple and the outside world.

"Jane?"

Jane made a sound of acknowledgement against Maura's lips. She was enjoying the heat building between them, the feel of her girlfriend's soft skin against her own nearly impossible to ignore. "What about Constantine?"

"Are you getting a new turtle?"

Maura giggled. "For the baby, Jane. What do you think about Constantine for a boy?"

"This is an odd conversation shift," Jane replied with a raised eyebrow.

"You don't like it?" Maura asked. "I just thought it would be a good name to represent how much my mother means to me by naming my first-born child after her."

"So Constantine for a boy and Constance for a girl?"

Maura nodded. "Do you like?"

"I think it's a beautiful name. It's very powerful. Seems more like a middle name though. Don't know that many Constantines running around the playground." Jane moved Maura closer to her. "But promise me your mother won't do the whole trust fund thing with the baby. I don't want our child to be like, you know, one of those obnoxious kids that have three horses and a yacht but feel like their giving back by giving clothes to Goodwill and volunteering at the soup kitchen every Christmas."

Maura bit her lip as Jane's hands roamed lower. "I…I don't know, honey. It's a tradition in the…Isles family for the…firstborn to be given a fifty-thousand dollar trust fund. If it makes you feel better," she groaned as the brunette's hands began to play with a particularly sensitive spot, "I couldn't touch my trust fund until…twenty-five."

"Maybe I can work with that," Jane whispered as she stopped teasing the blonde, entering the welcoming warmth that never ceased to lose its heat.