Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews!

Chapter Thirty-Four: Sixteen and a Half Years Old

"Congratulations!"

Jane jumped with surprise, a hand on her heart; the other one still holding the car keys. She frowned and shook her head as the light got turned on and everyone appeared in sight by the fireplace.

"You want to send me straight to the ER?" Her laugh resounded loud nonetheless, echoing the smile on her lips as she opened her arms to welcome Maura against her own body. She let her wife plant a kiss on her cheek before shaking her head in disbelief.

"Surprise...?" Maura winked, delighted.

Jane nodded and accepted the beer that Frost held out to her. Over thirty people were standing in the living-room under a bunch of multicolored 'congratulations' signs. Friends – relatives – colleagues.

Lucie and Alba wearing proud smiles.

"Alright, Sergeant. Do you still accept to talk to us or we've officially been relegated to the past?" A snap on his shoulder from his sister didn't put an end to Frankie's good mood. On the contrary. "Hey! You should watch out your gestures. That'd cost you a lot, now!"

A promotion. She had been thinking about it for a while but if it hadn't been for Maura – as well as their daughters – pushing her to go for it, she would probably still be a detective. And there she was now. Oddly uncertain of whether she should be happy if only because it emphasized the passing of time and she hated it.

Korsak approached, smiled at her; warmly. "I always knew that you'd steal my position. You had it all for that."

Jane laughed. "You retired a few years ago. At least I've been polite enough to wait a little." Hand on Maura's waist, she shook her head at her ex-colleague and laughed along with him.

She really hadn't expected any party whatsoever. Just a coffee and some teasing at work, maybe. It had been a tough – stressing – month at the BPD and nobody had been in the mood to celebrate the slightest thing. Her promotion had been passed under silence. Or at least she had thought so.

As everyone was stopping by to congratulate her, Jane's attention got caught by Alba who was now chatting with a teenager boy she had never met before. She got tense, instinctively enough.

Red alert: activated.

"Who is he?" The Italian took advantage of a five-second break to hiss her question to Maura, teeth clenched out of discretion. Unless she was just too angry to properly express herself.

Quick motion of the head towards their daughter.

Maura pursed her lips – squinted her eyes – and shrugged. "I am not sure. We found him out on the streets and assumed that he could fit in for the evening." She smiled.

Jane counted until three in her head and – realizing that she hadn't hallucinated – stared blankly at her wife. Since when the scientist joked around?

Amused, the blonde passed a hand around Jane's waist to drag her closer for a kiss and laughed just against her ear. "He is Haumea's boyfriend. Relax... There is nothing to be afraid of. At least not with this one."

Jane raised a dubious eyebrow. "He's kind of cute."

Maura nodded. "I know..."

...

"Straighten up, Alba."

The adolescent obliged, for thirty seconds. When Maura turned her head around to look at her anew she realized that her daughter was now leaning against a column; sipping on her Starbucks drink.

Don't roll your eyes, Isles. Don't sigh. Let go of it, really. It isn't worth it. Not at all.

Certain to find comfort in Lucie, Maura turned around but made a face as she noticed her daughter on the floor. The teenager was sitting Indian style, quietly. Reading the latest edition of Vogue.

Fantastic.

Trying to repress a remark, the medical examiner focused back on the doors of the terminal. Jane's flight had landed ten minutes earlier. She should join them soon, now.

If she had a chance to notice them.

Maura wrinkled her nose. The airport was crowded and people didn't stop bumping into her or rolling their suitcase on her feet. To make it short: it was a nightmare.

And the twins weren't helping.

So much for a 'welcome back home' family moment, Isles. Really. Maura bit her lower lip, plunged her hands in the depth of the pockets of her coat. Perhaps she should have insisted and made sure – one way or another – that Jane would remain in California for an extra couple of days. Flying back to Boston for Thanksgiving was pure suicide. Who cared if – for once – the brunette wouldn't be home for the holidays? It was just fine.

C'est la vie.

Since she had been promoted to sergeant, Jane's schedule had considerably thickened and she had – quite soon – had to deal with many business trips all around the country.

Her new responsibilities made her go and work with different units of different cities way more often. Especially right now as the BPD – and her team – were working on a tough case of a series of unsolved murders; nation wide. So now between Jane's trips and Maura's own ones, the family daily schedule had been seriously – and for an undetermined amount of time – shaken up.

The doors opened, Maura held her breath and cast a glance at her daughters. "Lucie, stand up. Alba, straighten up. They are coming through. Don't you know how to behave in public?"

Maura had just finished her sentence when she spotted Jane by the door.

Within a second, she made her way – impatiently enough – through the crowd and threw herself on her wife's neck; wrapping her legs around the brunette's waist as if she were sixteen and owned the world. Literally.

A month and a half. She hadn't seen Jane for a month and a half.

Losing slightly her balance – taken by surprise – the Italian laughed away the spontaneity of Maura and held her tight. They kissed. Maybe not as eagerly as teens but sill.

"Jeez, so much for behaving in public." As her mothers turned around to look at her, Lucie raised an eyebrow and shook her head; a smirk on her lips.

"This is so inappropriate... It's a miracle we turned out to be so great, Lu'." Sipping on her drink and smiling brightly, Alba shrugged at her sister but gladly took Jane in her arms to welcome her back.

"I'll pass on this comment but only because I'm starving." Adjusting her travel bag on her shoulder, Jane grabbed Maura's hand and let her guide them through the crowd, towards the parking lot.

"I am on call. Hopefully nobody will choke on a turkey or get murdered, knocked off by a pecan pie." Maura winked, visibly in a very good mood. It was the first time in years that she worked for such holidays. She wasn't pleased but Jane's comeback made the whole thing brighter.

"So I don't know if it's too early but I was thinking about Christmas..."

Knowing better than to not get psychologically prepared for whatever was coming from Lucie, her mothers remained quiet and raised an apprehensive eyebrow.

The teenager kept on talking, way too casually. "A medical examiner and a sergeant, the paycheck must be good enough now for you to get me Tiffany's earrings for Christmas!"

Jane closed her eyes for a few seconds as a heavy silence fell over the elevator they were in. Maybe California had been relaxing, actually. Now that she thought about it.

"I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear anything and that you actually came all the way from Beacon Hill to Logan Airport just to welcome me back. And nothing else." Jane marked a pause, grinned.

Lucie rolled her eyes and tightened her grip on her fashion magazine. Lips pursed. She was upset in the same way as Maura was when she didn't get what she wanted from Jane.

"I mean from a logistic point of view, it'd be awesome... But let's make sure Maura isn't called for a crime scene at our home. Understood?" Jane raised an eyebrow at Lucie. The teen nodded. "What is the reason of your presence here? In all honesty... I love you two – a lot – but I also know that you'd prefer to have stayed in bed instead of coming all the way to the airport to welcome me."

Lucie cast a furtive glance at her sister but remained quiet. Maura giggled and opened the trunk of the car to let Jane put her bag in it. They all settled in the Prius.

"Grandma showed up with a new turkey recipe."

Jane made a face. She knew this situation way too well. How many times had she tried to escape it? When her mother walked in a kitchen, the safest thing to do was to run away from it. As soon as possible. Her own daughters had learned it the hard way.

"Oh." The Italian marked a pause – pondered the situation – and pouted. "Maur'... It's snowing and all. Can't we just pretend we're stuck on the road and stop by a diner instead? Let's make it home a bit later... You know, for our sake."

Maura gasped, offended by the idea. "Jane!" She started the engine and drove away. "We cannot do that. I have bought an excellent bottle of wine and I don't want to wait until 6pm to taste it." She scoffed. "I should have taken it with me, then. Now it is too late. No... Let's just discreetly park and go for a little walk for a while."