Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews and suggestions. :)

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Sophie's Misfortunes

She arched her back – let a sigh pass her lips - and leaned her head backwards before smiling at her wife who kept a teasing pace between her legs.

Breathless – on the egde – Maura took a deep breath as she let her body succumb to the caresses and leaned her forehead against Jane's shoulder; her nails digging into the pillows, printing halfmoons on the fabric. She could feel her partner's heat, her curves sliding along hers as she rocked back and forth on top of Jane's slender body.

Brushing er breasts, her hips.

A moan rose in the silence of the room – stole her breath – as a powerful wave of feelings rushed from her feet to her head before vanishing in jolts soon replaced by shaking.

And a smile. A smile that would not go no matter what.

Pause.

Back to reality, little by little. With this odd – addictive – sensation to feel light, and fine. So fine. She let go of the pillows – planted a soft kiss on the shoulder she had leaned on – then rolled on her side as Jane caressed her nape lovingly. She squeezed the Italian's waist with her legs, making sure she would stay in her arms then rested there. Peacefully.

"Good morning..."

The statement made her burst out laughing. Yet fair enough. They hadn't exchanged a word when they had woken up. Only caresses and kisses that had led to a sweet moment of intimacy. As she leaned her head backwards – succumbing to laughter – Jane took advantage of it to plant a kiss on her throat and laughed against her skin. Her shivering skin.

"Why good morning, Jane. How are you?"

A playful flame flickered in the detective's eyes as she passed her arms around her wife's neck. "Not bad... I've known worse ways to start the day. And you?"

Maura's smile melted into a grin. She bit her lower lip, suddenly timid. "I have never felt so fine." She loved their morning whispered talks more than anything. The subjects were light if not just playful but she wished the two of them had stayed like that for the rest of the day.

In each other's arms, murmuring their life away.

"You need to change Coco Loco's litter. You know I can't do it anymore. I will vacuum while you do that, okay? This house has to be spotless. It is a giant mess right now."

Jane made a face – cast a glance at the neat room – and shook her head. "Don't talk about cat poo now, Maur'. This isn't very romantic, you know?"

The scientist nodded and planted a last – light – kiss on top of her partner's nose before stepping out of bed. It was late, they were running out of time. "Your mother shows up in 10 minutes, Jane. Get up!"

Arms stretched above her head, the brunette yawned and pouted. "Why we still have ten minutes left and Lord knows we can do a lot during this lapse of time." But Maura turned around and walked out. Completely naked. Was she ever bothered by nudity? "Hey, where are you going?"

"To the bathroom. The twins are pressing on my bladder."

Romantiscism 0 – 1 Maura.

"Happy Thanksgiving!"

Second family gathering within a month. The perfect rehearsal for Christmas except if only Rizzolis had been present the last time for Tommy's birthday, this time the Isles had joined; as well as Hope. In a word: everyone was there.

Which was exactly what they had planned to finally break the news about the twins.

Moving nervously on her seat, Jane gulped down another glass of wine before asking for a refill. And so what? She was on the verge of passing out. Not because within a minute now everybody would get the chance to buy twice more for the babies but because she had the feeling her mother was not Meryl Streep and she wouldn't pretend to be surprised as she should. It was even a miracle that Angela hadn't let Maura know that she knew.

"Stop drinking..." Barely restraining a laugh, Maura hissed between clenched teeths at her wife and locked her eyes with Jane's dark ones. "We are going to do just fine." Pause.

At least Cailin had left already for Australia. The scientist felt safe. Jane wouldn't know that she had betrayed their pact. With self-confidence, she cleared her voice; implicitly asking for silence. "First of all, Jane and I would like to thank you for being here, today. We really appreciate it. Seeing both families reunited here together... Is a real pleasure. Now in case you haven't noticed – which I doubt – we will have an addition to this already large table next year. As a matter of fact, it isn't an addition but two. We... Err... We are going to have twins."

Silence. Now that was not the reaction they had expected from their relatives. Slightly panicked, Maura turned around to look at Jane but the brunette seemed as lost and confused as her. What was going on?

"Maura, chérie, we already know that. Now the only thing we care about is... Are you having girls or boys?" Glass of wine in hand – with this nonchalance that seemed to define her so much – Constance smiled peacefully at her daughter then raised an eyebrow; obviously waiting for an answer.

"What do you mean you know about it? We haven't talked about it to anyone..." Watch out the hives, Isles. "Anyone who would happen to be here."

Constance shrugged and laughed lightly. "I'm afraid Jane said it to her mother who called me then to tell me about it. In the meantime, Cailin had called Hope to let her know after you broke the news to her and... Well, Hope and I had a little talk on our way here this morning. So I guess it's fair to say we all knew about it. Am I wrong?"

The whole table shook their head, proving Constance's point.

"You told your mother about it?"

Uh oh. Think fast, Riz'. "You told Cailin?"

It wasn't fair game but at least Maura didn't insist. Obviously, they had both betrayed each other on the matter. Way to learn it. Maura laughed lightly and shook her head at Jane.

"So... Boys or girls? I can hardly say, to be honest. You just look plump, to me."

Jane's mouth formed an "O" of surprise before Constance's remark. Now that was not tactful seeing how borderline Maura was with her pregnancy weight. She wasn't susceptible. No. She had reached another level at this game. A very dangerous one.

"Well, I am expecting twins so excuse me if I am not fit as ever." Realizing she was losing her nerves at a Thanksgiving meal, Maura looked down and adjusted her shirt. It was too tight. Damn. She was as fat as an elephant. "And I had hormonal injections. I am followed very closely and have a healthy diet. It is not my fault if I... If I look like a giant ball right now."

Constance rolled her eyes and put her glass back on the table. "This is not what I meant. You are such a drama queen, Maura. What I was trying to say is that a woman doesn't carry a boy as she carries a girl. Except in your case, I can hardly tell... Because your stomach looks... Very round. Yet in good, perfect proportions. Especially for a multiple pregnancy."

Oh.

Suddenly realizing that she might have jumped to conclusions a bit easily, Maura looked down at her plate and nodded slowly. This was definitely not how she had imagined it to go. "Girls. They are girls. We are going to have baby girls."

And another betrayal. This time, right in front of Jane. But as the scientist dared a glance to see which degree of the Rizzoli Anger Scale she had reached, she only came to see a very proud brunette whose smile was bigger than the one she made when she won at Monopoly.

"Aw... TJ is going to have two little cousin girls to play with soon. That's cute!" Lydia's genuine and rather sweet remark made Maura smile shyly.

"We didn't want to know at first but then I decided to go to med school and ultrasound pictures are as easy to read for me as a three-year-old children book. So... Yes. Girls. Two girls. We are going to have daughters."

"And the good news are that they don't have the Rizzoli genetics so they have chances to be quiet."Jane laughed away her remark but stopped as soon as Maura's father spoke out.

"Our daughter was not little miss perfect. How many times did we ground you, Maura? Especially once you had read the Countess of Ségur's books. You wanted to do just like Sophie, the heroine."

The medical examiner forced a laugh. A nervous one. Too late. Jane was already smirking and staring at her with that eagerness to learn more about all that. The blonde nodded evasively. "Sophie's Misfortunes... I might have vicariously lived through it for a while..."

"What does she do? I haven't read it..."

Maura shrugged. The whole table was giggling and Jane looked amused. Wonderful. Thanksgiving was that close to get relegated to 'worst holidays' on the calendar. Playing nervously with her glass of water – and deeply regretting to have turned down wine a bit earlier – the honey blonde bit her lower lip and let a shriek escape. An inaudible one. "I cut my eyelashes, I left my doll in the sun and it melted... Oh! So many things."

Jane blinked, barely restraining a laugh. "Well... Maybe we'll make sure they don't find out about this book before they turn 18."