Chapter 55 :

Unexpected visit :

Three months had passed since Maura and Jane had started interviewing potential nannies and Maura was now 20 weeks pregnant.

After meeting over a dozens qualified candidates Maura, Jane and Louis had finally found their Mary Poppins, that one in a million lady who was going be in charge of helping raise Louis and the twins .

The lucky lady was Kathy, and despite being only 23 year old she already possessed several years of experience and solid recommendations from her previous employers.

Even if choosing Kathy came as an evidence for Jane and Louis Maura was a bit reluctant to hire someone with hadn't acquired any degree in early childhood development or at least adequate training in that field but faced with Jane and Louis' insistence to at least give her a change she found herself with no other choice but to comply with their desire.

If the choice to hire Kathy became obvious during her first interview the Isles family still had to sit through almost a week of talking to every single applicant asking them the same questions over and over.

During five excruciating evenings little Louis instead of playing with his mommy quietly sat and listened to every candidate explain their motivations for applying for this position using their most eloquent vocabulary to expose the qualities and knowledge they would bring to their family .

Surprisingly little Louis sat there for hours listening to the same broken record before introducing himself over and over and after seeing a number of candidates he finally found in Kathy the woman he wanted to take care of him and help with the twins.

From the first minute he met her Louis found himself charmed by Kathy's long blond hair and her big blue eyes but what mattered the most to him was that she talked to him like a growing up instead of treating him like a toddler the way the other candidates did.

Also Jane whom people always considered to be the hardest one to convince immediately clicked with the young girl for multiple reasons : she grew up in Jane's old neighborhood, had frequented the same schools, had studied with the same teachers and had been raised in the same social class with the same moral and familial values but most importantly looking at her interact with Louis Jane felt she could trust her, that this would more than a job for her, that she genuinely loved children. She couldn't explain it, it was just a gut feeling.

So after a week of pleading their cause with passion Louis and Jane finally got their wishes and Kathy was finally offered the position and was able to move in with the little family a week later.

It was now the middle of january and after a tremulous first month things were now running smoothly and a nice routine had settled.

Kathy who was well aware that Maura was the one she was going to spend the more time with made tremendous efforts to comply with all her demands and after feeling on trial for the first month was now feeling part of the family.

Despite her reluctance to hire Kathy Maura was now completely charmed by the young woman and trusted her completely to do all the things that were painful to her like giving Louis his bath or playing with him when he was in one of his good days and started running around the house making it impossible for her to follow him.

Observing Louis and Kathy interact Maura slowly realized that they were all extremely lucky to have her, that she was kind, compassionate but that most importantly she was able to canalize Louis' overwhelming energy allowing her to rest in a peaceful home.

One of Jane and Maura's main concern was that Louis might start feeling neglected after the birth of the twins but never excepted him to be unhappy and frustrated before the birth.

Despite being only 20 weeks pregnant Maura had already gained almost 25 pounds and suffered from extreme back pain and fatigue and despite seeing a professional acupuncturist twice a week had to stay in bed or on the couch as much as possible relying on Kathy and Jane to take care of Louis.

For the past four years Louis and Maura had build a strong relationship and had settled in a nice routine together, going to the park, to the museum or to Louis' favorite ice cream shop but now that Maura had trouble walking around without feeling nauseous and exhausted Louis had found himself forced to do all those things they cherished with either Jane and Kathy and he didn't like it and had decided to express his frustration by acting out.

He started talking back to Jane and Kathy, refusing to take his bath or brush his teeth or running around the house screaming making it hard for Maura to rest or for Jane to relax after work.

Despite loving his siblings very much and understanding that Maura was in pain he wanted his mommy back, he wanted to be able to do all the things they used to love doing together instead of just lying in bed cuddling or reading books. Louis was an active little boy and could not stand staying indoors.

Obviously the situation wasn't easy for Maura to cope with, not only she was stuck in bed most part of the day but she was watching her son suffering and felt completely powerless. She obviously tried to get out off bed more, to take me out but had found herself out of breath or unable to walk after a few minutes.

The only activities the two of them could share that didn't compromise her health were quiet indoors activities like reading, drawing or watching tv and for a little guy as active as Louis it was almost like being in jail.

Luckily for Louis he was surrounded by people who loved him and who were willing to spend time with him. Constance for instance would take him to the museum every saturday while Angela would come to the house and teach him her best recipes on saturdays . Unfortunately despite his grand parents or uncles ' best efforts to distract and entertain him the only thing that Louis wanted was to spend time with Maura . The only thing that seemed to have caught Louis' interest was the family next project : finding the perfect house to welcome their expanding family.

Because Jane and Maura made sure to bring him to almost every viewing he felt involved and particularly proud that they consulted him after each visit asking him if he liked the house or not. After watching his mommy being in pain all the time and feeling powerless he finally felt useful by helping his them pick the perfect home for them and that his opinion mattered.

Spending their evenings or week ends traveling all around the city was particularly challenging for Maura who had trouble walking without help. Luckily for her after only a couple of weeks and no less than 16 visits the little family had finally found the house of their dreams. It was a large house only a few blocks from Louis' school and his favorite park, it had high ceilings and wooden floors in every room, 5 bedrooms so each child and Kathy could have their own, an office for Maura but most importantly a large backward for Louis, the twins and Jo friday not to mention a small dependance next to the garage that could easily be rearranged into a man cave for Jane.

After visiting the house only one time with Kathy Louis, Jane and Maura decided to make an offer and were now waiting for the current family to come back from their vacations to see if they accepted it or not.

Luckily for them the little family both Maura and Jane knew that there was no reason for their offer to be rejected and they were confident that they would be able to move in really soon.

Finally having found the house of their dreams came as a blessing for Maura who on top of being in constant pain and having to worry about Louis' marginal behavior was also nervous about the ultrasound and amniocentesis that was scheduled a few days later.

Despite being eager to finally to find out the sex of her babies Maura couldn't help but worrying about them suffering from any of the diseases commonly found in late life pregnancies. Luckily for her Maura was surrounded by her loving wife, friends and family who stopped at nothing to cheer her up and to try to entertain her while she was stuck in bed.

Today was tuesday and Jane, Maura, Kathy were having dinner trying to remain confident and cheerful as not to upset Louis who had no idea what an amniocentesis was and who was over excited to finally find out the sex of the babies.

Despite being hurt by having to witness his mommy in pain and having to spend more time with Kathy than he did with her Louis was still over excited to be a big brother and would spend long periods of time in bed with Maura, wandering his hands on her belly trying to feel the babies kick.

"Mommy, is it okay if I give you my ideas for the babies' names?" Sitting at his usual spot at the end of the table Kathy on his left and Maura and Jane on his right little Louis could feel that something was wrong but had learned not to ask too much questions. As much as he wanted to be involved he finally realized that despite being the big brother some things were out of his reach and had learned not to put his nose where Jane and Maura didn't want it.

"Sure, but remember that we won't know if I'm carrying two boys or two girls or one of each until friday, right?" Despite worrying sick about the ultrasound and amniocentesis Maura was trying to enjoy her pregnancy as much as possible and picking names for the babies was definitely something that cheered her up.

"It's okay mommy I have ideas for girls and boys but I think I want to wait until I'm sure of the one I prefer, is it okay?"

"Absolutely." Maura replied clenching her teeth as she felt one of the baby kicking her violently.

"Well Louis if you're done here I think it's time for you to go to bed?" Kathy said reading the pain on Maura's face. Over the past two months she had witnessed Maura changing from being an active woman to a 20 weeks old pregnant mother who could barely get out off bed or stand on her feet for more than a few minutes at the time and she had learned to read the pain and distress on her face and to distract Louis whenever she wasn't feeling well.

"Okay. It's okay mommy if you can't read me my story tonight, I like it when Kathy makes funny voices." Louis replied bouncing off his chair before walking towards Maura .

"I will read you one tomorrow I promise. I'm just a bit tired tonight, do you forgive me?" Maura replied faking a smile through grinned teeth.

"Yes mommy. I'm sorry I'm angry a lot because you can't spend as much time with me. I know the babies are hurting your belly and your back and that you're tried. I promise to be nice now." Louis mumbled rushing into his mommy's arms scared that he was somehow because of his attitude responsible for his mommy's pain.

"Oh I know sweetheart and I'm sorry. Trust me if I could take my bike and go on a ride to the park with I would but I can't but don't worry I won't be pregnant for ever and I promise you that things should be back to normal very soon." Maura replied kissing the top of his head.

"It's okay mommy. Good night mommy. Good night mama." Louis replied kissing Maura's belly before running to Jane to give her the warmest hug.

"Good night son. I will let Kathy read you your story and I will come visit you afterwards alright?"

"Okay mama. Kathy can you read me the one with the dragon and the princess please?" Louis pouted reaching for Kathy's hand as they walked together towards his bedroom.

Watching Louis and Kathy walk away Maura was finally able to let a deep, painful sight slip as she continued to feel the babies moving and kicking forcing her to grab Jane's had for support.

"Come on baby, just breath…" Sitting in the chair next to Maura Jane witnessed her wife suffering unable to do more than allowing her to squeeze her hand as hard as she could while gently rubbing her lower back.

Ever since she had started to feel the babies moving and kicking about a month ago Maura had been in constant pain. She not only had gained substantial weight causing chronic back pain but had continued to suffered from violence nauseas.

Looking back at her own pregnancy Jane remembered how painful it was for her to handle Louis' kicks and every time he would reposition himself inside her wombs but it was nothing to compared to what Maura was going through.

Unable to bring any physical relief to her wife Jane had nonetheless rearranged her working schedule in order to be home early everyday to help Kathy with Louis and the housework. She knew that the only thing she could do to help Maura was making sure that she didn't worry about Louis feeling neglected or the laundry done incorrectly or the fridge being empty. She loved Maura more than life itself but all she could do was take care of the house and their son and lie in bed at night and hold her through the pain and she hated it.

Despite knowing she was doing everything she was supposed to Jane could not help but feeling guilty and wishing she could do something more like finding Paddy Doyle for instance.

Over the past three months Jane had used every CI, every contact she had to try to send messages to Paddy Doyle but had yet to receive a reply.

For the past four years Doyle had sent gifts and letters to them and both Maura and Jane had always assumed that he wasn't far, that he was watching them from a distance but maybe they were wrong.

Maybe Doyle had left the state or even the country and the closer the amniocentesis the more anxious Maura was. As a doctor she knew that this procedure would only allow her OBGYN to diagnose chromosomal abnormalities like down syndrome or other form of trisomy and fetal infections but that genetic diseases like diabetes or cancer would not be diagnosed and therefore had become obsessed with the idea of finding Doyle and ask him to provide a complete family medical history that would at least bring her some peace of mind.

Unfortunately despite Jane's best efforts Paddy Doyle and her biological other Hope were still had large and Maura had nothing to hang on to or to reassure her before the amniocentesis.

"I'm alright, I think the babies are repositioning themselves, it shouldn't last more than a few seconds." Tightening her grips around Jane's fingers Maura was trying to keep a relatively strong posture knowing how powerless Jane felt.

"I know, god knows Louis was moving and kicking a lot but I can't imagine how painful it must for you to handle twice as much pain as I did. You're the bravest woman I know, I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks but I don't feel brave at all. You know how much I love our twins but if I had to do it again I would chose IVF with a single embryon implantation. I knew carrying twin would be hard but I didn't except it to be that painful. Oh Jane, I still have four months and I don't know if I'm strong enough to handle it." Maura panted slowly releasing her grip over Jane's hand as she felt the babies finally calming down.

"I didn't expect it to be so hard either but you can do it. I have faith in you babe and besides, you're not in this alone. I'm going to continue to accommodate my schedule to be home early so you don't have to worry about Louis or anything else and in about a month I will be able to take my maternity leave alright?" Pulling Maura against her Jane was literally counting the days until her maternity leave and wished that she could take it earlier unfortunately she could. Actually because the new detective she had hired to replace her was still on training she could not take an unpaid leave of absence before her official maternity leave.

Luckily until then she trusted Kathy, Constance and her mother to take care of her knowing that she might actually feel more comfortable confiding in them.

"I know, I know. Would you help me move to the couch please? There is a rerun of Casablanca tonight and Kathy has never seen it and I promised her we would watch it and I would like to rest for a little while before."

"And I will be watching the game in my man cave in the mean time. Now come on lean on me." Jane replied snaking Maura's arm around her neck helping her to slowly move towards the couch.

Over the past two months Jane had found herself amazed by how close Kathy and Maura had gotten. At first Maura was more than reluctant to hire but now the two women were really closed and often enjoyed movies night or online shopping spree together and Jane was happy to see that her the two had become friends.

As she was helping Maura settle down on the couch, elevating her feet with a couple of cousins Jane knew that she would have at least an hour before having to go check on Louis and that she could use this opportunity to massage Maura's feet knowing how much she enjoyed it. Unfortunately as she was taking off Maura's socks Jane suddenly heard someone knocking on their door.

"Are we expecting someone?" Maura mumbled looking towards the door.

"No, we're not. It's probably Ma checking up on you. Just lie down and relax." Kissing Maura's forehead pulling a blanket up to her chest Jane had a feeling that it wasn't Angela, that her mother would not knock, that she would just barge in unannounced.

Walking towards the door rubbing her face with both hands Jane was praying to be bothered by Frost and his new partner. All she wanted tonight was to watch the game, drink a couple of beers and then climb in bed next to her wife hoping they would both be able to catch a good night of sleep.

Slowly opening the door trying to keep her eyes opened Jane didn't react when she saw him in front of her his usual smile greeting her.

"Detective, or should I say Sergeant Detective, it's been a long time." His hands shoved in his pocket standing as straight as he could possibly be was Paddy Doyle, Maura's estranged father.

"Doyle, what in hell are you doing here?" Taking a step towards him as she slightly close the door behind her as to keep Maura from hearing them talk Jane could barely believe her eyes : after three months of looking for him Paddy was finally here, once again risking his life to see his daughter.

"Well I heard that you were looking for me so here I am. I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier but Maura's mom and I were out of the country visiting some friends she has in central America. Is there anything I can do for you or…"

"You don't know, do you?" Standing in front of Doyle seeing the disbelief in his eyes Jane realized that he had no idea that Maura was pregnant.

"What ever you believe I should know I'm sorry but I don't. Ever since I shut down my operations I can not trust anyone and everything I have learned about your lives for the past four years I have learned it by observing you and as I said we were out of the country." Doyle explained feeling his heart hammering his chest hoping nothing had happened to Maura.

"Don't worry nothing bad has happen. Please come in and see for yourself." Opening the door Jane suddenly dropped her guards and remembered what Doyle sacrificed by shutting down his operations to protect Maura.

When he was the boss of one of the most powerful mob family in Boston he was constantly on the run but he at least had guards and loyal people to have his back and she knew how much he enjoyed that level of power for so many years and was grateful that he was willing to sacrifice all that to protect his daughter. Now he was alone to protect Maura's mom and had to live like a fugitive that had no one to turn to and she was happy to bring some joy in his and Hope's lives by telling them Maura was pregnant.

Stepping into the house Doyle immediately remembered the last time her was here four years ago. One of his men had just informed him that Dean had divulged his knowledge regarding his affiliation with Maura to who ever wanted to listen and he had come to their home to try to warn them.

Walking towards the living room Doyle immediately froze as he saw Maura lying on the couch, her feet elevated and her eyes closed.

"Doyle, what are you doing here?" Maura mumbled almost jumping of her skin as she opened her eyes to see her biological father standing a few feet from her.

"I…I heard you wanted to see me. Oh my God Maura you're pregnant." Instinctively taking a step towards Maura Doyle was unable to hold his tears as he saw Maura growing belly.

"Yes. I'm twenty weeks pregnant with twins. Wait a minute, you didn't know?" Decrypting the guanine surprise and emotion in Doyle's eyes Maura realized that he didn't know she was pregnant and was actually surprised.

"No, I didn't. As I told Jane your mother and I have been visiting some friends she has in central America and I lost all my informants when I left. Oh my God Maura, twins…That is probably going to make your mother very happy. May I sit?" Doyle shyly asked unable to keep his eyes off her.

"Yes please. Yes my mother is indeed very happy and so is my father." Slightly moving up to free some place of Doyle to sleep Maura couldn't help but correcting him on his use of the words mother and father.

"Speaking of Louis. I'm going to put him to bed and make sure Kathy stays in her room. " Jane suddenly said before walking away unwilling to disturb Maura and Doyle's conversation.

"I'm sorry Maura. I mean Hope will be thrilled to learn that you're having twins because they actually run in her family. Her mother had a twin brother and sister who lives in Texas had twins , two little girls who are a little older than you. Who's Kathy if I may ask?"

"Kathy is our nanny. We hire her about two months to help with Louis and with the twins. Jane is going to take her maternity leave in a month but we're still going to need help especially since I'm stuck in bed all day."

"Are you in pain?"

"Yes. I'm only 20 weeks pregnant but I gained 25 pounds already which is causing chronic back pain and fatigue not to mentionI still suffer from daily nauseas. Kathy came as a blessing, Louis loves her."

"God bless her then. I'm happy you're getting the help you need. I know how painful it was for Hope when she was carrying you. She also had chronic back pain and she was also unable to leave our bed during the last trimester. I'm sure the fact that you're older than she was and carrying twins must make things worse."

"Yes it does. I'm in perfect health but my age is certainly not advantage but like you said I'm very luckily. My mother and Jane's mother visit me almost daily and our friends are always willing to do everything they can to help us. Actually they're spare no expense to try to entertain me and it feels really good."

"I'm glad you're surrounded by very supportive people especially since Louis seems to be the most active child on the planet. I bet he gets that from Jane." Over the past four years Doyle as Jane and Maura had expected often followed them to the park and was able to see how full of life and also how popular his grand son was and he was secretly hoping he could meet him again but knew better than to ask.

"Louis is…he's the most adorable child in the world. He's gentle, smart, caring but yes he's very very hard to manage and that's why we hired Kathy. We hired her because we know how active he is and how unhappy he is when he can't go to the park or to do all those activities he enjoys so much. He's a very loving little boy but he requires a lot of time and attention."

"Then it was a good idea to hire someone to take care of him. I can only imagine how overwhelming raising twins is going to be for you even with your mother and mother in law helping out and it would be a shame if he felt neglected and started to resent his siblings for it." Doyle nodded.

"Exactly. Actually he already started acting out a little bit because I can't go out or play with him as I used to but luckily for us he's completely in love with the twins. He was actually present when I had my first ultrasound and was convinced I was carrying twins and made it his personal mission to find the perfect names for them. He's going to be a great big brother. I have no doubt about that. He sees the kind of relationship Jane has with her brothers and wants to the same thing."

"I'm glad. He sounds like a very mature little boy and if he's anything like Jane I'm sure that after a period of adaptation he's going to love to protect and take care of them."

"Yes. Anyway if I asked Jane to look for you is because I need your help." Taking a deep breath Maura was finally able to talk to him about her desire to find out about their family medical history.

Sitting next to his daughter Paddy Doyle listened to her express her doubt and fears regarding possible genetic disease such as cancer or diabetes.

Carefully listening to her Doyle realized that he would easily be able to give Maura some answers regarding his own family but that he actually knew nothing about Hope's family medical history and was hoping she could either remember or contact them and get some answers to finally bring the peace of mind Maura desperately needed to enjoy the rest of her pregnancy.

Sitting next to her biological father Maura couldn't help but noticing how focused her was and how determined he seemed to help her and was relieved knowing that she was probably going to have the answers she had been desperately looking for ever since she got pregnant.

Also despite knowing how dangerous it was Maura couldn't help but remembering Doyle's letter : four years ago before leaving town he had promised her that once things would calm down he would introduce her to Hope and she was determined to call him on his promise.

Alright guys…Here's the new chapter. I decided to jump a few months because I realized that only a few were interested by the whole " search for Mary Poppins" and I figured the search for their house would probably bore you as well.

So I decided to bring Doyle back…You knew I was going to since Maura got pregnant and I hope you liked the way I brought him back.

Speaking of Hope, do you want her to make an appearance? How do you picture her? Will she be able to bring Maura the information she needs?Will she be able to have a relationship with her and her grand children? How is Constance going to react to the news? Will she feel threatened?

So many questions, so many possibilities…

PS : Since I started taking my time to write the chapters are longer but are they better? Does taking my time help with my grammar?

Thanks

Feel free to drop me a quick review with feedback and suggestions :)