Author's note: thank you for all the reviews; to the guest who thinks having sex in a private area (which is what an alley is in this context) and in the middle of the night is indecent or immature (almost like a spontaneous wedding), I beg to disagree but thank you nonetheless for your opinion on the matter.

Chapter twenty-nine – Decisions And Talks

"We need to talk."

Within a second – and as Maura's words hit the air – Jane froze to the point she forgot that she was standing in a bath towel and nothing else. This was a classic line that nobody wanted to hear. Never ever.

Even less when married and stepping out of the shower after a rather intimate morning in bed.

Swallowing hard – trying to calm down her suddenly fast heartbeats – the brunette frowned and ran her tongue over her dry lips. "I didn't do it."

"Do what?"

"Nothing." How can you manage to be too talkative within a short sentence, Riz'? Well done. Before her wife's amused – unless it was confusion – smile, Jane approached carefully and shrugged. "Coco Loco broke your vase. I swear it wasn't me. I didn't play basketball inside."

Maura rolled her eyes and motioned the space next to her on the bed. She smiled, sweetly enough. "This has nothing to do with this unfortunate – and yet rather mysterious – incident. I really turned the page, Jane." Notebook: opened. "No... I want to talk to you about something else."

Intrigued yet knowing better than to protest, the brunette sat on the edge of the mattress and rested her hands on her lap. What was that list on Maura's notebook, again? She had married a list freak.

"Fine and thank you for taking the time to listen to me. I... Err... So there was this thing... In my head... Going on in my head..." The delicate pink shade of the scientist's cheeks had suddenly turned in quite a bright red which didn't really help her stutter and nervousness. "I checked a few facts, ran a err... It was some sort of a personal study and... And to sum it up because I know you don't like it when I lose myself in scientific explanations as much as they do have their importance and I wish you got that..."

Hand in the air. Jane shook her head to make the honey blonde stop. "You're losing me, Maur'. And getting confusing. Why are you now hyperventilating? What's going on? What do you have to tell me?"

Maura's fragile smile melted into a mock that Jane knew way too well. The one of despair, previous to tears; and hives. She was on the verge of passing out. Subconsciously, the Italian grabbed the blonde's hand and held it tight in a sign of support. She wasn't asking for a divorce, was she? Could people get a divorce because of a broken vase? Broken by a cat, besides?

"A year and a half."

Maura blurted it out and took a deep breath before biting her lower lip apologetically. Jane frowned and cast a glance around her. Was it a prank of some sort?

"I'm sorry, Maura... It's a first but I'm actually about to ask you to be more precise because I don't get what you're talking about. A year and a half of what? Or what for?"

Reaching a point of no return in her nervousness, the medical examiner grabbed her notebook but let a few papers fall down in the process; a couple of brochures she had slipped into the pages. Jane bent over to pick them up but froze as her eyes caught the text on one of them.

Time got suspended, almost like in movies. The world stopped turning and every single noise ceased. Jane blinked. Once, twice. She opened her mouth to reply but realized that she didn't know what to say, even less where to start. She took a deep breath and locked her eyes with Maura's. The blonde was now very close to burst into cries.

"You want a child?"

Very slowly – with shaking hands – she opened the first brochure of a clinic and skimmed through the text; cast a brief glance at the picture. In spite of all the baby furniture her mother had bought them that were now in a corner of the laundry room, they hadn't talked about it themselves. They hadn't had much time for that – work being work – but now she thought about it, Jane wondered if it hadn't been their own way to also avoid the conversation all in all.

"I don't know... Maybe... I'm not sure. How... How about you? Do you want a child?" Maura's shaking voice floated in the air with all the uncertainty she had. Clumsily, sweetly.

"Do you think we would be good mothers?" Jane frowned, surprised by her own question. It was the first time she really did think about it and if she could picture them out with a child – after all, TJ was still alive so they hadn't done anything wrong to him so far – she didn't know if on a permanent basis she would be able to do it. Maura, probably. But herself?

"I think that you would balance my slight tendency to want to control everything."

Jane took another deep breath. She had completely forgotten that she had just had a shower and was wrapped in nothing but a small bath towel, another one on her hair; drops of water sliding down her nape.

"Why a year of a half? What does that mean?"

Maura sighed and opened her notebook to show her notes to Jane. "It is more or less the time left for us to give it a try. Biologically speaking – and if we don't choose adoption – our chances are thin but... Still there. I mean here. I mean... Roughly one year and a half. Sadly, we are running out of time."

Jane nodded. It made sense. Her phone rang somewhere in the background but she didn't stand up to take the call. She was too focused right now, focused on something paramount; probably one of the biggest decisions of her life.

"I guess... I guess I want to... To give a try...?" Her affirmation sounded more like a question but as the words hit the air, a weight seemed to vanish from her chest; soon replaced by giggles. She nodded to nobody but herself. "Yes. Let's give it a try. I err... Yes! I mean if you want to. Maybe we won't be perfect but..." She smiled. "It might also be the sweetest adventure we'll ever live."

A timid smile played on Maura's lips. Unless she was just terrified by the decision they had taken. She swallowed hard; nodded. "The good thing is... If it works out, we already have most of the furniture until his or hers eighteenth birthday, thanks to your mother."

Blink. Pause. "Of all times, you choose this one to make a joke? You..." Jane shook her head. "I don't know, I love you. I... Yeah, I just love you."

Maura bent over – cupped her wife's face – and planted a light kiss on her lips. So there they were. Upon a common agreement, they had decided to have a child. A child. A family. Don't panic now, Isles... Don't do that.

"Seems like we have no choice but to slow down on our indecent behavior now."

Maura frowned while retrieving the different clinic brochures before putting them back in her small notebook. "What are you talking about? We have never done anything indecent as far as I know."

Scoff. Somehow, Jane was glad to see that such conversation was taking a lighter turn. She stood up and grabbed her bra previously abandoned on an armchair. "The patio has practically turned into a second bedroom, Maura!"

"You are such a prude, Jane. It is just the way to spice things up. At night, besides... When there is nobody around. I have never forced you into anything... We are not going at it in the middle of Boston Common at noon. You would probably shocked by a few things I did in the past."

Jane chuckled. Obviously, she didn't buy the last part. Was Maura challenging her? "I doubt you ever did anything crazy. No offense but I'm pretty sure the worst you gave in has to be these graffiti things Frankie fined you for."

The honey blonde smirked. Competitive spirit: on. Arms crossed against her chest, she looked at her wife drop her bath towel to put her bra and underwear on. "That you think! Let's compare... What's the most indecent thing you have ever done?"

Jane paused – pondered the question – and raised an eyebrow at Maura. "Oh you want to play this game? Fine. Although you obviously have no idea whom you are talking to right now. Hmm... Nineteen years old: I got drunk and finished the night in my underwear swimming in a public fountain. See? So now tell me about yours."

"I rode nude in front of 4,000 people."

Silence. Before a speechless Jane, Maura left the bedroom; chin up, proud of her effect.

Maura 1 – 0 Jane.