Chapter 54:

Finding Mary Poppins :

The next monday after an intense week end spent in bed with Maura making love and talking about their babies Jane found herself forced to go back to work with a precise list of things that needed to be done before the birth of the twins.

Knowing Louis was still at her in law's and that she wouldn't have to drive him to school Jane spent an extra half hour in bed marveling at her wife's beauty.

It was true what people said about pregnant women : they had that glow and permanent smile that made them incredibly desirable.

Around 8 am after spending half an hour watching Maura sleep Jane finally decided to drag herself out off bed.

"I love you." Jane whispered blowing a tender kiss on her wife's lips trying not to wake her up.

"Jane…What time is it?" Maura mumbled feeling Jane's breath on her face.

"It's almost 8 and I'm off to work. Just go back to sleep. I want you to stay in bed as long as you want okay. I will pick Louis up at school so he can meet our potential nannies okay?" Jane replied gently swiping a strain of Maura's face.

"No, I..I ned to get up and call the Agency mother recommended." Her throat dried and her stomach slightly bothered Maura realized that she had many things to do today and that there was no time to waste in bed.

"I'm already on that baby. I'm going to call the agency as soon as I arrive at the station so they can forward me some cvs and hopefully we'll have a few candidates to interview tonight. Do you trust me to select the best ones?" Seeing the bags under Maura's wife Jane was determined to do as much as she could to help her and had already prepared a to do list and was determined to spare her any unnecessary phone calls or hours reading Cvs.

"Yes I do. Now please go before I pull you in bed with me and tear your clothes off." Maura smiled flipping over on her side knowing that looking in her wife's eyes she wouldn't be able to let her go.

"Alright. I love you." Jane grinned kissing the back on Maura's neck.

"I love you too." Maura replied burying her head in her pillow determined to treat herself with another hour of sleep before getting up.

So around 8 am that morning Jane reluctantly dragged herself to the station two cups of coffee in her hand along with Frost's favorite pancakes from Angela's cafe.

"Someone looks happy today." Smiling as he saw Jane walking towards her desk Frost was happy to see that she appeared to be full of energy knowing how challenging the next seven months were going to be.

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm married to the most wonderful woman on this planet, we have a beautiful son and twins on the way not to mention Ma received some of that colombian coffee we like so much. Speaking of which this is for you." Jane replied handing him his coffee and pancakes.

"What did I do to deserve such a treat?" Narrowing his eyebrow Frost had a feeling that he either did something great without even noticing it or was about to do something great.

"Nothing specific. You've just been a great partner for the past 6 years especially since I got promoted and I just wanted you know that I appreciated it." Jane replied taking of her jacket tossing it on the back of her chair.

"You're welcome, but if you really want to show me your appreciation please find another Detective to replace you. I mean they promoted you to replace Korsak when he retired but they still haven't find anyone to replace and now thing are almost unmanageable. I have a family too Jane and I would love to see my son grow up." The truth was that Jane has been promoted almost 5 months ago and between her training and new responsibilities Frost had often find himself working alone with uniforms and it started to have repercussion on his personal life.

"I know. At first I thought that being promoted wouldn't keep me from the fields but it does and you're right you deserve a new partner. We didn't have the budget a few months ago but now that we do we should be able to find you someone in the next couple of weeks. I don't want you to be away from your family more than you should and besides I'm gonna be on maternity leave before we know it meaning that you would be alone, so don't worry I have the situation under control. It's actually on my list." Jane replied pointing out her note pad. As much as she hated the idea of having to share Frost she knew that he could not continue to work by himself and go in the fields with uniforms who were not trained for that. He needed a full time partner experienced and competent enough to help him investigate the crimes the came across the way she had been for the past six years.

"What's on that list exactly?" The truth was that Frost was a good soldier, he never complained, not when Korsak retired and he and Jane had to work their asses off, or when Jane got promoted a few weeks later and had to train for her new position and certainly not now that she was finally embracing her new responsibilities but he loved his family and could not bare the thought of neglecting her. Now that Maura was pregnant he knew that Jane was going to progressively step back until her maternity leave and trusted her to find the perfect partner.

"Well, where do I start? I'm having lunch with Maura's dad regarding the purchase of our next house to tell him that we're declining his offer hoping he's gonna be able to recommend a good realtor. We're also going to interview nannies later this afternoon not to mention that I have to find the perfect anniversary gift. Now that's a monday the way I like them." Jane grinned rolling her eyes. Despite trusting Frost with her life she decided not to talk about Doyle. He had a wife and a child and she wasn't willing to put him in danger for something that wasn't work related.

"Well good luck with all of that. I'm pretty sure that if Maura is nothing like Michelle you're going to visit at least 50 houses and interview 50 nannies until you find the perfect one and that she's gonna be mad if you don't find the most perfect gift." Smiling Frost remembered going through the same process when he and his wife found out she was pregnant and decided to buy a house. Michelle was a Doctor who just like Maura had been raised in a wealthy family and was particularly hard to satisfy so he could sympathize with Jane.

"You got that right. Michelle and Maura are very much alike. You know I don't think I'll have a problem interviewing as many nannies as necessary because just like Maura I want to find someone I can trust with my kids' lives so we'll interview as many as we need until we find our Mary Poppins. My only concern is her anniversary present . I don't mind walking the extra mile to make sure she gets the perfect gift but I don't know how I can ever top the gift she's giving me by carrying our twins you know. "

"You don't have to top anything Jane. I know Maura, all she wants is a gift that's personal, that proves how much you love and know her. If I were you I would worry about the house. I remember we visited 27 different houses before Michelle finally found one she liked."

"Yeah I remember that, that's the down side of marrying someone coming from money, they're used to the best and because they don't have the financial barrier to stop them they don't compromise. They can afford to be picky so they aim for the best."

"Exactly but Maura learned to compromise over the past few years right? I mean she declined her dad's offer to move into their mansion despite wanting to because she knew you wouldn't feel comfortable living there. I think this might not be as hard as you think."

"I know. It's true that Maura and I have different standards and she learned to compromise but you know but we agree on how we want to raise our kids and that's the most important thing. We both want them to grow up in a comfortable house where they can have their own bedroom, with a backyard and I would like to have my own man cave again and for Maura to have her office you know."

"Well that won't come cheap my friend but you married an Isles right? So I guess the financing won't be an issue."

"Well at first I said that I wanted to buy the house myself but Maura refused saying that we were married and that we were supposed to share everything and I realized that putting our money together was the wise thing to do if we wanted to buy the house of our dream."

"Wow, I can't believe how much you've grown since you and Maura got together …I'm sorry I'm getting all emotional. It's just that I'm so proud of you." Frost smiled faking whipping a tear of his eyes.

"Oh just shut up! It's easy for you to say cause you always wanted to get married and have kids but I did. Well it's not that I didn't want a family I just thought I wasn't good enough until I met Maura. She makes me feel good enough and worthy of everything she gives me every day you know." Truth be told Jane had changed a lot since Maura and her met even before they started dating. Thanks to Maura she had learned to compromise and to open up about her feelings and to accept help and thinking about it Jane knew she wouldn't have change for anyone else. Maura was the only person that had was she needed to convince her to change and to finally accept to start healing and look towards the future. 7 years after meeting for the first time they were now married with three children and Jane knew that trusting Maura was the best decision she ever made, that if she had pushed her away the way she pushed everyone else away she would have continued to drawn in that darkness Hoyt had pushed her in and that she might not be alive today.

"I know. Michelle makes me feel the same way. You and I are both very lucky. "

"Yes we are. Anyway, I better call the Agency. I promised Maura that we would have several candidates to interview tonight and I'm sure they're going to send me a lot of CVs to go through." Jane replied trying to appear confident despite not having the slightest idea on how to select a potential nanny.

"Well good luck with that."

"Thanks."

So that morning Jane called the agency Constance had recommended after using it to find the perfect nanny for Maura years ago. After talking to the director to give her their criteria Jane received 15 cv's by email and found herself with the difficult task of selecting at least three or four of them for an immediate interview. Looking at those CVs Jane realized that Constance had not exaggerated when she mentioned how selective the agency was : all those young lady had either years of experience with children or various degrees in education or child development not to mention solid referrals.

Unfortunately for the potential candidates degrees or good referrals didn't mean anything for Jane.

What she a family needed was someone responsible and reliable she could trust with her children's well being and more than anything she wanted someone young and fun not an old british nanny older than the Queen. She knew that Louis would never get along with someone that would not be able to follow him around and talk to him for hours or who would not be able to stimulate him intellectually the way Constance or Angela did.

After spending a good two hours going through the CVs' Jane realized that the best way to make an accurate opinion was to see them face to face. She knew she was a good judge of character and that her guts would tell her which of all those over qualified candidates were worthy of her trust.

So after consulting with Maura she decided to call them one by one and arranged interviews spread over the next few days hoping Maura would not be too tired. She knew that this had to be dealt with as soon as possible so they could focus on finding their new home.

Later that afternoon after having lunch with her father in law (without Maura) to ask him advice regarding the purchase of their future dream house and surfing the internet looking for anniversary gifts Jane left the station to pick up Louis at school. Actually Jane was grateful that they were not working on any case and that she was up to date with her paperwork allowing her to take care of non work related business during her working hours.

Around half past four Jane and Louis were driving home seeing each other for the first time since friday night.

"So how was your week end son?" Looking in her rear mirror Jane could see how excited Louis was to see Maura and that he had trouble sitting still in his car seat.

"It was awesome mama. Grand ma took me to the museum to see the dinosaurs and also to the aquarium but we didn't go to the park because it was cold but we made cookies. I saved some for you and mommy. I have them here in my bag." Louis replied pulling a small plastic containers full of home made cookies he had baked with Constance.

"That's very sweet of you, I'm sure your mommy is going to love them." Jane smiled knowing what a sweet tooth he was and how hard it must have been for him not to eat them all.

"What about your week end mama?Did you have fun with mommy?"

"Yes we did. Actually we talked about the twins a lot and decided we needed to change a few things."

"What things?"

"You mommy and I will explain to you in a few minutes alright? Please wait until I'm parked to unfasten your seat belt." Jane replied seeing the Louis was almost ready to bounce of his seat.

"I know mama." Louis replied nervously tapping his fingers on the window as Jane slowly parked their car in the driveway.

A couple of minutes later as soon as Jane was properly parked Louis immediately unfasten his seat belt, grabbed in bag, opened his door and bounced out of the car before rushing into the house followed by Jane.

"Mommy, mommy, I'm home!" Yelling as he literally barged into their house Louis immediately spotted his mommy reading a book in the living room reading and didn't waste a second before jumping on her lap.

"Hey sweetheart. God I missed you so much. Did you have fun with your grand parents?"

"It was super super great. You know today was my turn to feed the fishes in my class. I washed my hands but they still smell I think." Louis grinned waving his hands under Maura's nose.

"Well then you should go wash them again but before you go your mama and I have something to talk to you about." Maura replied looking at Jane who had settled next to them.

"Oh…Okay is something wrong with the babies?" Louis asked slightly panicked by the serious look on his mommies' faces.

"Don't worry the babies are fine. Actually that's what we needed to talk to you about. As you know I'm carrying two babies and it's possible that very very soon I won't be able to do as much things as I do now. Do you understand?"

"Yes. Grand ma explained that because you have two babies in your tummy you're going to be very tired and because you're going to get bigger it's going to be hard and painful for you to move and do all the things you like to do like play with me for example. But it's okay mommy I promise I will be quiet." Louis replied his head buried in his mommy's neck.

"Exactly, I'm going be very tired and I will need to rest a lot so your mama and I thought it would be a good idea to hire a nanny to help me take care of you until I give birth and later to help with the twins." Holding her son tight Maura was afraid that Louis was going to feel abandoned and was hoping he would give the nanny a chance before rejecting her completely.

"But I'm here mommy I can help you if you're tired."

"We know that sweetheart and we love you for it but you can't take care of everything and you need someone to look after you when I'm at work or if your mommy is too tired you know?" Jane replied seeing the desire to help in her son's eyes.

"Okay. Can I go wash my hands now please?" Louis asked bouncing off Maura's lap.

"Sure but there is a very nice nanny coming to meet us in a few minutes so hurry up if you want to have a snack before we meet her." Maura replied.

"No!I don't want to meet her!I don't like her!" Louis yelled tapping in foot on the floor before rushing into his room.

"Louis!" Maura mumbled looking at Jane in disbelief. Despite her best effort to explain the situation to him she still managed to make him mad but she couldn't see what she said wrong.

"I'll get him."

"Was I insensitive? I didn't mean to imply that he wasn't helpful." One of the things Maura had to learn when she became a mother was to be more diplomatic. She knew that adults around her especially Jane were used to the way she talked and that they didn't get offended by her lack of tact anymore but Louis was too young not to take things literally and see she didn't mean to be rude.

"I know baby but you know how he is. Ever since we told him he was gonna be a big brother he made it his personal mission to take care of you but I'm sure that once I talk to him and explain things he's gonna be excited to have a new friend. You know how he loves to meet new people." Jane replied snaking her arms around Maura from behind.

"No, I need to talk to him. I hurt his feelings, I should be the one comforting him." Maura replied trying to escape her wife's embrace.

"No offense babe but right now I think it's better if I'm the one to talk to him, one stubborn to another you know?" Pulling her wife back into her arms almost dragging her towards the couch Jane knew that despite being very much like Maura in many aspects of his personality Louis had inherited her stubbornness and didn't want her to be hurt if he chose to push her away again.

"Yes but I have been dealing with Rizzolis' legendary stubbornness and protectiveness for years so I should be okay." Turning around to face Jane Maura was grateful that she wanted to spare her a confrontation but she had spent almost every single living minute with Louis for the past four years and knew how to deal with him.

"Yes I know that but he's probably going to ask why I don't retire the way you did when he was born to help you take care of the twins and I would like to be the one to explain it to him."

"Oh right. Alright then. The first candidate should be here any minute. I will prepare some tea and coffee."

"Thanks. I love you." Jane replied blowing a tender kiss on her wife's forehead.

"I love you too. Now go. If he's anything like you he's probably heart broken." Maura replied pushing Jane away not without slapping her backside in the process.

Walking towards Louis' bedroom Jane was trying to figure out the best way to explain things to him. Up until now they had been lucky because Louis has always been able to understand things but she was wondering how to explain to him that she could not quit her job to take care of him and the twins.

Over the past couple of months she had tried her best to tighten their bond, to try to get passed her feelings of inadequacy but telling her son she was not wiling to make the same sacrifice Maura made four years ago was breaking her heart.

"Hey there. Can I come in?" Jane asked leaning against his bedroom door.

"Yes. Mama, I'm sorry I yelled but I don't understand. I can take care of mommy and the babies." Sitting on his bed trying to wash his hands with antibacterial wipes Louis looked confused. Being a big brother wasn't an easy task and had forced him to grow up a little bit faster and had forced his mothers to start treating him like a grown up.

"I know you can take care of your mommy and the twins but who's going to take care of you?" Jane replied as she sat next to him.

"I can take care of myself mama. I'm big enough now." Louis replied clenching his first on his lap.

"No you're not. Look baby, you're the best son your mommy and I could have ever dreamed of having. You're brave, caring, loving but you're also stubborn like me. I know you want to help and trust me you will but you're not superman and neither are your mommy and I that's why we need help."

"I understand that you have to go to work and that two babies is a lot of work too and I don't want mommy to be tired because she's taking care of the babies by herself when I'm at school but why a stranger? We can ask nana, grand ma or even grand pa to take care of the babies."

"Yes we can and trust me they're going to babysit from time to time but they have lives of their own and they can not take care of you and and the babies every day. What you said is true though. I have to work and if your mommy doesn't get help and has to take of everything by herself she's going to be very tired that's why we're looking for a nanny."

"But I don't trust a stranger to take care of the babies."

"You know what? Me neither but it's like when you started school. We met with the headmaster and your teacher and we started trusting them. That's why we're meeting with several young women today to decide which one we can trust and I'm gonna need your help with that." Jane replied knowing that what he needed was to feel needed and that helping them choose the perfect nanny for him and the twins would serve that purpose perfectly.

"You need my help?" Louis mumbled his face suddenly lightening up like a christmas tree.

"Of course. This nanny is not only going to take care of the babies but of you as well and it won't work if you don't trust her. So once we spoke to them I want you to tell us what you think of them. You think I can do that? You think you can help me find the perfect nanny for you guys?"

"Yes mama. I'm a big boy now I can help!" Louis replied jumping on Jane's lap in excitement .

"Good, now come on your mommy is waiting for us." Jane replied standing up holding him in her arms.

When Jane and Louis arrived in the living room they were surprised to see Maura talking to a lady in her mid thirties, wearing a black suit and a white shirt, a pair of red glasses and a pony tail.

"Jane, Louis, please me Andrea, she's the first candidate we arranged to meet tonight." Maura replied looking at Jane not knowing if she had managed to explained things to Louis.

"Hi. I'm Sergent Detective Jane Isles, it's very nice to meet you. Did you find the house easily?" Jane said shaking the young woman's hand still carrying Louis in her arms.

"Nice to meet you, don't worry my car is equipped with a good navigation system so I had no trouble getting here. You must be Louis, it's very nice to meet you young man." Andrea said offering her hand to Louis.

"Yes, I'm Louis Isles, it's nice to meet you." Louis shyly replied shaking her hand as strongly as he could.

"Well now that every one has been introduced I propose we settle in the living room." Maura offered guiding the little group toward the living room.

"Yes mommy, I'm sorry for yelling but mama explained everything to me and I understand now. Are you mad at me mommy?" Louis pouted opening his arms towards her.

"Of course not. Come on let's sit down. Jane would you get us something to drink?Andrea do you want some tea?Coffee?" Maura offered sitting on the couch Louis on her lap.

"Just some water please. Thank you." Andrea replied sitting in the large chair in front of Louis and Maura as straight as she could.

"Alright, a glass of water and two teas coming right up." Jane replied.

"Oh mama wait wait! I have cookies I made with grand ma this week end. Do you want to taste one Miss?"

"Yes, I would like that very much thank you."

"Cookies with chocolate chips coming right up." Jane replied smiling.

"Louis was with my parents this week end." Maura explained nervously rubbing Louis' back.

"Your parents live in Boston?"

"Yes they actually split their time between Boston and New-York but they're flying to France at the end of the week and won't be back until Christmas and it was important for them to spend time with Louis before they left."

"I agree. A month without seeing your grand parents is going to be hard but I'm sure they will call you right?"

"Yes. When grand ma and grand pa are away they always call me on mommy's computer and I can even see them on the screen you know."

"Louis and my mother Skype almost daily when they're away. Thank you love." Maura replied looking up at Jane as she joined them with the teas and cookies.

"I have family that lives out of state and part of my family from my mother's side lives in canada so I know what a great invention Skype is, trust me. " Andrea replied taking a sip at her tea and a bite at Louis' home made cookies.

"Oh, you're half canadian? Don't worry as long as you don't talk with that weird accent don't worry we won't hold it against you." Jane replied winking at Louis knowing he would get the joke.

"Jane!I can't believe you would say something like that. I apologize for my wife's sense of humor. We have nothing against Canadians." Maura apologized sending a killer look at her wife.

"It's alright I know your wife didn't mean anything by it. It's like when someone french is teasing a belgian citizen." Andrea smiled.

"Yes exactly, so tell me more about yourself." Maura replied relieved that Andrea wasn't impressed by Jane's bad sense of humor.

So for the next two hours Jane, Maura and Louis interviewed Andrea and two other candidates taking notes and comments on their files. Sitting on Maura's lap Louis despite being tired after his week end and his day at school tried his best to remain focus and actually asked more question than his mommies. After Jane had asked him to help her and Maura to choose the most trustworthy nanny Louis had started to this things in a different way and knew what a big responsibility it was and was eager to help his mommies as best as he could. Jane and Maura on the other hand were relieved to see that their on had come around and was rather interested to know as much as he could about the potential nannies. Looking at their son giving the candidates three consecutive tours of their house Jane and Maura realized that the way they had started to involve him was definitely the way to help him adjust to the new situation without making him feel left appart and they had a feeling that things could only go in the right direction.

Alright guys, another long chapter...I realize now that the more time I take to write the longer the chapters are :)

I wanted to thank you for the challenges you sent me but unfortunately none of them were suitable for a simple one shot. The suggestions I received would make great multiple chapters stories though, so I'll keep them in a corner of my brain for later!
Please do continue to send me your ideas if you want me to write one shots!

I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I figured it was important for Jane to share a conversation with Frost. I knew that having someone who was married with a child she could talk to was important for Jane and because I love Frost I figured he could be her confident during Maura's pregnancy the way he already was during her own. I'm sorry but I really don't like Frankie and I have no intention of giving him a storyline and we all know Tommy is not the kind of guy to settle down.

Next chapter should be fun, Maura's hormones are starting to kick in and she's a bit jealous...Well no she's hysterical :)