Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Rizzoli & Isles. The characters belong to Tess Gerritsen, Jan Nash, Janet Tamaro, and TNT. I am in no way profiting from this. It's just for fun.
Omg I updated without months going by! Actually, I would've had this up a little earlier but I've been binge watching Shameless like crazy. So excited for Sasha's episode tomorrow night. I mean, have you seen that promo?! She freaking pounces Lip and... Just... Wow.
The 3rd chapter of "Time Between Us" will be posted in a few minutes, so if you're interested in checking that out it won't take long for you to catch up. If you haven't seen the Terminator movies, don't worry. They aren't necessary to understand what's going on. :)
When Dreams Become Reality Ch. 36
A few weeks later...
Jane took her sling off last week, and is now in therapy for her shoulder. Her two broken fingers had also healed by this point. She was also told to have a psych evaluation for the trauma of being kidnapped and reliving such a horrible experience. At first she said no and that she was fine, but Maura insisted because of the increase of Hoyt nightmares Jane's been having.
The detective knew her wife was right, as she often is, that she should go. The fact that she was going to see their baby for the first time on the ultrasound today made her so happy and in a good mood, Jane would agree to anything.
Right now, they're sitting outside of the doctor's office about to head in for their ultrasound appointment. Both are incredibly nervous and excited.
"Is it too early to tell if it's a boy or girl yet?"
Maura gives a her small but sad smile. "I'm afraid so. We won't be able to tell the sex until the 16th week, and I'm only at 7." She unconsciously runs a hand across her stomach and looks at her wife to ask "Did you want a boy or girl?"
Jane laughs. "It's not like we can choose."
Maura laughs too, and rolls her eyes. "I know that, silly. I meant what are you hoping for?"
She thinks for a moment but shrugs. "I just want it to be happy and healthy. Whether it's a boy or girl doesn't matter to me."
Jane places a hand over Maura's, who takes it in her own to kiss it. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah, let's go."
The married couple leave their car to enter the building, the moment they cross the doors it all felt so real to them. They're really going to see their baby. Something they've been dreaming about for years, and it was finally going to happen.
"Maura, Jane..." Teddy greets when she enters the room. "Always a pleasure to see my favorite patients. How are you feeling, Maura? Any morning sickness yet?"
"I did feel very ill for a few weeks, but I think it was due to the overwhelming amount of stress. Now that things have calmed down considerably, I feel a lot better. No mood swings to speak of yet, either."
Teddy writes this down in her notes. "That's wonderful. I'm glad to hear it. How about you, Jane? I see your sling is off."
"Yep, I'm feeling great. Not cleared for duty yet but I will be soon, just have to finish my therapies." Jane answers eagerly, just the thought of returning to work made her excited.
"Excellent news. I hope all goes well... Now, I understand you'd both like to see your baby for the first time?"
"Yes." Both Jane and Maura enthusiastically reply.
"Alright then." Teddy chuckles, she always loves this part of the job. Seeing the happy faces of parents to be. "Maura, I'm going to need you to lie back on the bed and lift up your gown. The gel we have can pretty cold, so be prepared."
"Is it gonna hurt her?" Jane asks, a little worried and almost embarrassed it may be a dumb question, but neither of the other women thought that.
"Not at all, the gel and the ultrasound itself aren't painful at all. You've got nothing to worry about. Well, the gel can be a bit of a sticky mess but that's it." Teddy answers with a kind smile.
"Oh, good." Jane let out a small sigh of relief as Maura gave her hand a small squeeze of reassurance.
"Ok, here we go..." The doctor grabs a small tube, then squirts out the liquid onto Maura's stomach.
"Oh! That is cold..." Maura jumps slightly and laughs.
Teddy presses a button to turn on the screen, then gets the wand to move across Maura's stomach. "Just need to find a heartbeat..."
Jane holds Maura's hand tightly in here, both pairs of eyes are glued to black and blue screen. Their doctor stops moving the wand and they fear something is wrong until they hear a faint but steady sound.
"Is that..." Jane doesn't need to finish her question, but Maura does for her.
"Our baby's heartbeat." She says with tears welling in her eyes. "Oh my god."
"There it is, right there. I can just make out the little feet. Baby Rizzoli-Isles is developing very nicely." Teddy points to the screen with a gloved hand to a tiny spot the brunette detective wouldn't have been able to have recognized as a baby. She knew Maura would be able to though.
"Jane... That's our baby."
She responds by leaning up to kiss Maura on her cheek, and notices tears falling down, matching hers.
Not wanting to interrupt the beautiful family moment, Teddy took the necessary measurements of Maura's stomach as well as the baby growing inside it, and records it in her notebook for later use.
"Would you two like sonograms printed out, perhaps a DVD as well?" She asks them a minute later.
Neither women bother wiping their happy tears and nod excitedly before they both reply "Absolutely."
Pressing a few more buttons for the requested items, Teddy tells them "The due date should be around the first week of May."
"Wow." Jane blinks in surprise. "That's gotta be the best double anniversary present ever."
"Double?"
"We first got together in May and then married the same month a year later." Maura explains to the fellow doctor.
"Oh, that is a wonderful thing to have on your anniversary! You two are very lucky."
"That we are." Maura agrees with a smile, then looks at Jane and can see she's over the moon with the news.
"Let's get you cleaned up and changed, I know from experience that isn't very comfortable. How many sonograms and DVDs do you want?" She asks while cleaning off the ultrasound gel with a towel.
The women look between one another, unsure of an answer.
"Well..." Jane begins. "Probably around 2 dozen of both. We want some for ourselves of course, and our family members will definitely want one of them too."
"Sounds good, I'll go print them out in my office and get the DVDs ready. They'll be up at the front desk for you when you're done in here. Set up another appointment in a few weeks again, by then we'll be able to see more. I'll leave you to change in private, Maura. Congratulations to the both of you."
The thrilled women thank her as she left, and return their eyes to the screen that still displays their unborn baby.
"I don't know how to ever thank you for this, Maura. You've made me happier than I've ever been." Jane kisses her wife soundly, expressing her joy to Maura her favorite and best way.
"Thank you for loving me and making it all possible. I'm still in disbelief in carrying our baby... It won't feel completely real until I go into labor."
"Oh god..." Jane half groans and laughs. "I don't want to think about labor or delivery. I'll be a frantic mess that day."
"I think you'll be just fine." Maura flashes a smile. "Would you hand me my dress and shoes, please? We should hurry before I'm late to work."
"Yeah, sure." Jane replies and does as asked, then says "Wish I could go with you, or you at least have the day off so we can celebrate."
"Susie told me it's a slow day today, so I shouldn't be gone long. Why don't you and your mother start preparing dinner? I should be home in time to help. We could show everyone the ultrasound photos and give them their copies."
"Great idea, Maur..." Jane checks her watch and frowns. "It's still pretty early in the day to start making food. I should go to the shooting range with Frankie, work on my aim before I go back. Don't wanna be rusty."
Maura agrees it's a good idea, and then slips on her dress and shoes with the help of Jane. The two then leave the room and go to the front desk, where the kind and older woman Sophia is waiting for them with the sonograms and DVDs.
"Glad you decided to take me up on my offer to join me." Frankie comments to his older sibling. "How are you feeling?"
"The best I've ever felt. Had a really good morning."
"Yeah? What happened?"
"We'll tell you about it later. Maura and I are having everyone over for dinner, so you and Christina should be there if you can make it."
"We had really amazing dinner plans..." Jane can tell from his tone that he's kidding, and raises an eyebrow, waiting for him to explain. "We were going to stay at her place and order take out, but I guess we can shuffle some things around."
"Oh my, well excuse me for interrupting such a fabulous night..." Jane jokes as she approaches her station. "Actually, that does sound pretty good. Can't tell you how many times Maura and I had those over the years. Even before we got together."
"So what time do you want us there?"
"I'd say about... 5 or 6 o'clock."
"We'll be there."
Both siblings place their shooting earmuffs on and step into the stall, and get their guns ready.
Jane holds up her glock 9, aiming it at the paper target several yards away. Adjusting her stance and checking her gun, she opens fire.
She hits most of them in the chest, one or two hitting the shoulder. Feeling a slight ache in her hand and fingers, particularly the ones that were broken, Jane takes a quick break and decides to reload the weapon.
"You haven't lost your touch." Frankie comments, standing a few feet behind her.
"Thanks... My hand is a little sore, but the pain is manageable. I think with a few more days of this I should be 100% again."
"Your 100% isn't half as good as mine."
"Oh yeah? Let's see just how good your aim is, lil bro." Jane challenges with a daring smirk.
"You're on-" Frankie starts to say, but is cut off by the sound of someone yelling in pain.
Both detectives turn around to see younger man stumble out from his station a few spots away, and promptly collapses onto the ground. Jane and Frankie run over immediately to help.
"Frankie, call 911." Jane shouts, and starts chest compressions on the unconscious man.
Her brother pulls out his cell phone at once. "I need EMS at..."
Jane tunes him out, focusing solely on saving the life underneath her. She leans forward to check if he was breathing, but he isn't. She continues CPR for a few more minutes before looking up at her brother, who was watching intently.
The dark haired woman sadly shakes her head. "He's gone."
"Damn it..." Frankie curses with a frown.
Jane reaches into the now deceased man's pockets for a license and instead finds a police badge.
"Oscar MacNichol, only 22 years old. Jesus... The poor kid was just a rookie."
"Looked like he had a heart attack, but he's in great shape. Could that still happen to a guy like this?"
"I don't know... Maura will know for sure."
The two wait for the BPD crew to arrive, the ambulance no longer needed. About 15 minutes later, Jane is surprised to see Maura coming over to her with a worried expression.
"Honey, what's wrong?"
"I heard there was a body at the shooting range, and I knew it couldn't have been you but... I still let my mind get carried away."
"I'm ok, I promise." Jane smiles reassuringly.
Maura snaps on her gloves and looks at the body, getting to work right away. "White male, approximately 20 to 25 years of age. No obvious sign for cause of death."
"We took a quick break between rounds at target practice and this guy screamed in pain, then just fell over with his hand on his chest. Probably a heart attack."
"Two things..." Maura smirks. "One, that sounds like a guess to me and you know how I feel about those, especially before an official autopsy. And two, you haven't been cleared for active duty yet. So you need to give your statement to a detective and go home."
Jane pouts and tries to give her best sad puppy dog eyes that Maura usually falls for, but she isn't having it this time.
"But..."
Frankie tries to stifle his snickering while Maura politely orders "Go home, Jane. We can take it from here."
"Ugh... Fine." Jane agrees with a long and over dramatic groan. "But I want details when you get back!"
"We'll see, Detective."
Jane gives a small but triumphant grin, and goes over to her partners to her give a statement.
"What happened after he fell?"
"He was clutching at his chest, like he was having a heart attack, and then passed out." Jane replies to Frost, who was scribbling down the information on his notepad. "I ran over to perform CPR while Frankie called for an ambulance. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful in reviving him. After I realized he was gone, I checked his wallet for a name. Oscar MacNichol. He's a patrolman for BPD, must be one of the new recruits, I haven't heard his name until now."
"And no one else was near him?" Korsak asks, but Jane shakes her head no.
"I was at station 4, Frankie in 5... MacNichol as you can see, is still over where he fell at station 12. The only other people were inside and too far away."
"Might not be a homicide then." The veteran cop comments while surveying the body from a distance.
"Maybe, but my gut is telling me we've got a case here. How does a guy that young and fit drop dead of a heart attack like that?"
Frost shrugs. "It's rare, but it happens. Maybe he had a heart condition?"
"It's possible, but I doubt he would be qualified for duty. Speaking of which..." Korsak turns to Jane. "I'm not sure you are either, Jane. Until you get signed off by a doctor, you can't really be here."
Jane stomps her foot and whines "Oh come on!"
Just as she says this, Maura comes over, having finished her initial examination, and sarcastically asks "Still here, Jane? Well, if you don't get home we won't be ready for later then. That's too bad."
Jane's face softens, realizing what Maura means.
"What's happening later?"
Maura smiles smugly at her wife before explaining to Korsak "We wanted to invite you all over later, we have something exciting to show you. But it seems I'm stuck at work and the only one who can help Angela prepare for tonight is being fussy."
"I am not!" Jane interjects with a defensive tone, but still laughs.
"Oh, really? So you weren't stomping your foot like a 5 year old not getting her way just now?"
"No..." Jane blushes, and replies in a very obvious sarcastic tone. "I was just giving these detectives my statement before going home like I'm supposed to."
The pregnant blonde shakes her head and chuckles under her breath. "I'll see you as soon as I can."
Jane tries to pout again, but couldn't resist smiling. So she gives Maura a chaste kiss on the lips before leaning down to say goodbye to their baby. She gives her belly a kiss as well, not at all caring who could be watching. As Jane walks back to her car, she can hear the guys making whipped comments. Ignoring them, she climbs into her sedan and goes home as ordered.
Later that night, Jane and her mother were putting the finishing touches on dinner, waiting for everyone to get back. Maura had called a little while ago saying she had just completed the autopsy, and testing in the crime lab would take all night so she would be home soon. If Frost, Frankie, and Korsak didn't find anything suspicious non-forensic wise, then they too would be just about done for the day as well.
"So how did it go at the doctor's earlier?" At Angela's question, Jane couldn't help the beaming smile that spread across her face. "That look on your face tells me it went well."
"I couldn't believe it, Ma... If this is a dream I don't ever want to wake up."
"I felt the same when I was pregnant with you and the boys. It's incredible, isn't it?"
"It sure is." Jane replies just as Maura walks through the door. So she goes over to greet her with a kiss. "You ok? You look a little tired."
"I may need a quick nap before dinner. The autopsy and paperwork was more exhausting than usual today."
"We have a handle on things here, so you go rest."
"At least let me help. I see the food is done, but I can set the table." Maura insists, but is given a smug grin in return.
"Nope. You gave me an order earlier, so now I'm giving you one. Go rest up. You deserve it after working so hard."
"Are you sure? I feel badly for not-"
"Maura Dorothea Rizzoli-Isles, you're carrying my grandbaby in there. If you feel you need a rest, go get some. Besides, we're all done here anyway." Angela shouts from the kitchen, making all three of them chuckle. The Rizzoli matriarch begins making shooing noises and gestures with her hands until Maura throws her hands up in surrender.
"Ok, ok... But I'll only nap for 20 minutes, 30 at the most."
The tired and very exhausted pregnant woman goes upstairs, leaving her wife and mother in law to set the table. Not long after that, the others call to say they'll be over shortly. They couldn't find anything to say that MacNichol was murdered and they'd have to wait for lab results in the morning to prove otherwise.
Sure enough, the gang started arriving just as they began setting the table. In came Susie, Alex, Constance, Frankie, Christina, Tommy, Frost, and Korsak. Hope and Cailin were invited, but couldn't make it. Hope had an emergency at her clinic, and Cailin was out of state in college.
While they all got settled into the living room and kitchen, patiently waiting to be called to the dinner table, Jane explains to them that Maura is upstairs and will be down soon.
She waits a few minutes before going to check on her, wanting to give Maura as much rest as she can.
When Jane walks into their bedroom upstairs, she doesn't see her wife in bed. She was about to call her name when she heard a noise in the bathroom, and goes to investigate. The noise is followed by a loud groan, which Jane immediately recognizes as Maura's voice.
The Italian detective goes in to see Maura kneeling over the toilet, emptying the contents of her lunch from earlier.
"Ugh..." She groans louder than before, and feels a hand resting on her back while another gently pulls the hair out of her face. "Please go away, you shouldn't see me like this."
Jane simply shows Maura her wedding ring. "Through the good and bad, remember?"
The sick woman sits up and slowly sips on some cold water she had left on the counter.
"You should get back in bed."
"I'm ok. I feel a little better now... That just took me by surprise. I was hoping I'd be in the lucky 10% who didn't experience nausea during pregnancy."
"We already made dinner, do you think you can stomach it?" Jane sees Maura hesitate answering, so she says "If not, I'd be more than happy to make you something else. Or go out to get whatever you want."
Maura nearly cried at Jane's words. "Aw, Jane..."
Jane panics, thinking Maura doesn't want her to leave. With what happened a few weeks ago she doesn't blame her not wanting her to go anywhere ever again. "Ok, I won't go anywhere. I promise. Just please don't cry."
"I think I'm finally experiencing mood swings..." Maura chuckles through a few fallen tears. "I wasn't upset with you, I was just a little overwhelmed by how incredibly sweet and thoughtful you are by offering to make something else or go out after you worked so hard on dinner." Now Maura starts crying more. "Oh no, you think I'm awful for wanting you to go out, don't you?"
Jane isn't sure how to keep up with the sudden changes in emotions, but tries her best. "Sweetie, listen to me. I offered to do those things for you, so don't be upset. I love you. I never thought you're awful and never will." She kisses the tip of Maura's nose, instantly erasing away her worries. "You alright now, honey?"
Maura sniffles softly before replying. "Much better, thank you. These emotions are going to be a roller coaster aren't they? And you have many more months to deal with it. They're going to get worse, most likely."
"I don't mind at all, you wanna know why?" At Maura's nod, Jane pulls out her wallet and takes out a copy of the sonogram they got earlier. "That's why. Every midnight food run, mood swing, or anything that's thrown at us will all be worth it because of this baby."
Maura hugs Jane tightly and whispers in her ear, feeling if she talked any louder her emotions might get the best of her. "I love you so much."
"I love you, too." Jane happily returns the hug. "You wanna head downstairs now?"
"Yes. It smells delicious from here... I'm actually starting to get a little hungry."
Jane laughs and tells her "Well, you're eating for two now."
"I'm probably going to gain some weight over the next few months."
"And you'll still be the most beautiful woman in the world to me."
Hmm, new case. Was it murder? Who knows... ;)
Yay for a healthy baby and aww for sweet fluff! :D