The family had all come together for Cailin to have a fun night before having to start chemo the following day.
Once downstairs, the girls split up. Cailin went into the kitchen to see if Angela and Emily needed help. Jess went into the livingroom and joined Tommy and Frankie, who were invested in a video game.
"Ha! I finally beat you!" Frankie yelled at Tommy as he threw his arms up in celebration.
"I just let you think you beat me, I actually just got tired of you whining about losing all the time," Tommy replied laughing.
"Yeah, right." Frankie said back. Just then, Adam walked up to Tommy with a chess board.
"Hey uncle Tommy, Maura told me you're really good at chess. Would you like to play a match with me?"
"Sure Adam, we can set up right here on the coffee table," Tommy said. Jane was passing by on her way back to the kitchen.
"I see Adam roped you into playing chess with him. Watch yourself Tommy, he's really good."
"Yeah? Well may the best man win," Tommy said, smiling at Adam. Jane watched as her brother interacted with the teen.
Before Jane walked away, she looked over at Jess who was watching Frankie, but could tell the girls mind was a million miles away. "Hey Jess, you alright?"
"Hmm? Y-yeah, I'm fine," Jess called back to Jane. The brunette sighed before walking into the kitchen.
"Hello ladies," she says, addressing her mother, Maura, Riley, Cailin and Emily. She walks over to the pot Angela is stirring. "That smells great ma. What is it, and do you need any help?"
Angela turned around, looking at her daughter. "Okay, who are you, and what have you done with my daughter?" The older woman looks at Jane and grins.
"Don't act like I never offer help ma," Jane remarks, grabbing a beer from the fridge.
"She's not acting," Frankie pipes in, as he takes Jane's beer from her hand.
Jane snatches her beer back. "Uh, this is mine, get your own. By the way, I help plenty."
"Ha yeah, help your stomach you mean," Frankie says laughing. "Remember when we were kids, ma would beg for you to help make dinner, and you would gripe and complain. It always ended up being me or Tommy to help."
Jane scoffs. "Well you two needed to learn to cook because, let's face it, no woman is going to want either one of you," Jane says laughing.
"Hey, I heard that!" Tommy yelled at Jane from the living room.
"So ma, since you used to do that to your mom, then that means you can't be mad at us for doing the same," Blaire remarks.
"See what you've started Frankie? Now if they start giving me lip every time I ask them to help with dinner, I'm calling you to deal with it."
"Alright you two," Angela says smiling at her kids. "Either help us get dinner ready, or get out of the kitchen."
Frankie looks at Jane, who breaks into laughter. "If you need help, I'll help. If not, I'll just take the kids outside and get out of your way."
Angela glares at her daughter. "Just go Janie." Jane snorts before walking out of the kitchen to round up all the kids.
"Worked like a charm," Jane says quietly to Frankie as she passes him.
Back in the kitchen, Angela began asking about Hope, who she hadn't seen for a few days.
"Speaking of mom," Cailin said, putting her phone down, "have you talked to her lately Maura?"
The blonde spun around, looking at her sister's questioning gaze. "Wait, you haven't talked to her recently?"
Cailin shook her head no. "I've tried calling her and texting her, but she hasn't returned any of them. I was hoping she'd come tonight." Maura watched as her sister hung her head slightly in disappointment.
It took everything in Maura not to snap. She couldn't believe that their mother hadn't so much as called Cailin to check on her.
"It's okay Cailin, I'll give her a call and see if I can get through. Okay? I'm sure she's just been busy at the clinic."
"Yeah, too busy for her own daughter," Cailin says sadly.
The blonde tried to not let her anger show. She couldn't understand how a mother could act this way. How could she just ignore her daughter like this? Especially at a time when she needed her most.
Maura excused herself, before heading upstairs to her and Jane's bedroom to call her mother.
Knowing her mom had been avoiding Cailin, she assumed she would do the same to her. She decided to do something that was sneaky and underhanded, perhaps maybe even a bit mean. Pulling out her phone she sent her mom a text.
"You need to call me. I need to talk to you about Cailin."
In a matter of minutes, her phone was ringing, which made her even angrier. She picked up her phone, swiping to answer.
"Well thank you mother. It's nice to know you're not laying in a ditch somewhere."
"Maura, I can..." Maura, however, was not having it, as she cut her mom off.
"I've tried to be patient mother. I've tried to be understanding but Cailin needs you, and you are off burying yourself in work. What in the hell can you possibly have that is more important than her right now? Ignoring her texts? You claim you love her so much but right now you are doing the exact opposite of love. You are hurting her. I get that this is hard. Do you think I want to watch what is about to happen to my sister? I put my own feelings aside though, because that is what family does. Maybe for five minutes you can think about your daughter, and not be such a selfish bitch. This isn't about you or me, this is about Cailin. Why is it Jane's entire family is here for her yet you are not? "
Maura is met with silence and for a moment, thought her mom had hung up on her. Then she heard the sound of crying on the other end of the line.
Maura sighed. "Mom, I wish I could say I am sorry but I am not. She needs you. Your daughter should be the priority in your life right now ahead of anything else. When my sister comes to me heartbroken because you are ignoring her, I have a problem with that. Don't you think she is going through enough right now?"
"I'm scared Maura. You know what she is up against. I've tried to stay positive, but as doctors, we can't stay very positive right now can we? I don't want to watch my baby die Maura."
"So we keep the mindset that she is going to beat this mom, damn the odds. I'm a sister first and a doctor second, and as her sister, I believe she will beat this. Mom, if we don't believe in her or believe she can beat this, she will give up before she even starts. Do you want her to just give up? Damn it, she needs you. She has her first treatment tomorrow and will be in the hospital for a few days until we see how she responds. Now, are you going to be there or do I have to send Jane to drag your ass to the hospital, because you and I both know she can and would. We can do this the easy way or the hard way."
Hope couldn't help but lightly chuckle. "It's true what they say, once two people have been together long enough, they begin to sound alike. I'll be there Maura. I'm sorry. I'll try to do better. It's just hard. I've never been so scared in all my life."
"Okay mom, I know you're scared but you have all of us, we are here for each other but mostly Cailin, she needs all of us mom. I'll see you tomorrow then. I want you to do one more thing for me, well for Cailin really."
"What's that?"
"Hang up with me and call her mom. Do it. Right now."
"Okay Maura, I will. I promise."
"I'll see you in the morning mom. I love you."
"I love you too Maura, goodnight."
Maura hung up the phone, placing it into her back pocket. She had briefly thought about filling her mom in on Cailin and Jess, but decided that should be left to Cailin.
"Mommy?"
Maura heard two voices coming from her door.
"Hey babies. Are you having fun?"
Maddy and Abby nod. Maura laughs when she sees the twins elbowing each other, neither one willing to speak.
"Okay, what are you two up to?"
Abby decides to be the one to roll the dice. "Mommy, can we have cookies and peanut butter?"
"No girls. You had some yesterday. Besides, you haven't even eaten dinner yet. We are not going to get into the habit of eating junk food every single day despite what your ma says." Maura replied, maintaining a serious face, while hiding her grin with her hand, but sighs when she sees the girls key up to start a double tantrum.
"Don't even think about it you two. Do I need to go get ma?"
At the mention of their ma, both girls immediately thought twice and headed back downstairs to play.
Maura made her way back into the kitchen just in time to see Cailin heading out the side door on her phone.
Angela looked up at the sound of heels approaching. "I don't know what you said to Hope but apparently it worked." Maura smiled triumphantly.
"I just told her the truth," Maura said honestly. Looking out the back door, Maura watched the twins and Amelia run from Tommy who was chasing them with the water hose. She smiled at the smiles and laughs escaping her children.
"Hey Angela?" The blonde called turning to face her mother in law.
"Yes sweetie?" Angela called back.
"Where's Jane and Frankie?" Maura asked as she made her way over to a stool at the bar.
"Oh, Janie said something about her and Frankie going get super soakers or something like that, it was hard to understand her because she was so excited. She said they wouldn't be very long."
Maura smiled with a chuckle. "It is a pretty and warm day, do you think we could have dinner outside?"
"You know what? That's a great idea, the kids could use more time outside. I remember having dinners outside when Janie, Tommy and Frankie were little. They would stay out there all night if I had let them," Angela said with a smile.
Just then Jane and Frankie came through the front door laughing like two children.
"Hey Maur, ma. Wait until you see what we bought for the kids." The brunette proceeded to pull out both big and small water guns, a few packs of water balloons and a slip and slide.
"Jane," Maura says laughing. "I'm not sure who's going to have more fun, you two or the kids."
Jane kisses Maura on the cheek. "We are all going to play. You and ma too."
"Ja," Maura went to protest.
Jane stuck her fingers in her ears. "LA LA LA I can't hear you." Maura couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Jane," she says, playfully slapping the brunette's arm. Jane began to laugh. "C'mon Maur, it's gonna be fun. Right ma?" Jane raised an eyebrow at her mother
Angela sighed then smiled. "Yes Janie, but let us finish up in here so we don't have to come back inside soaking wet."
"Okay," Jane said, smiling like an overgrown child. "I'm gonna go get the girls and get them changed. Blaire, Em, you guys wanna give me a hand?"
"Sure," they both answered in unison.
"Wait, where's Cailin?" Jane noticed the brunette was missing.
"She's outside on the phone with mom," Maura said matter of factly.
"Okay, well when she comes inside tell her to get changed. Jess too!" Jane yelled while heading out to round up the kids.
A while later everyone was soaking wet and laughing.. Jane continued to chase the kids and her brothers around the yard. Jess was chasing Cailin down with water balloons.
Cailin tried to avoid being hit while trying to hit Jess. She ran around the backside of the tree, when she thought the coast was clear, she made a run for it, only to be wrapped in Jess's arms from behind. The redhead picked her up and swung her around.
"Ah! Jess, no, put me down," Cailin could barely talk between laughs. This drew the attention of Jane, as she stood and silently watched.
Jess put Cailin back down who turned her towards her. Both girls were laughing. Jess smashed a balloon on Cailins head. At the same time, Cailin did the same to her. This only causes them to laugh harder.
Jess pushed a wet strand of the brunette's hair back in place, slightly brushing her cheek with her thumb while doing so, causing Cailins eyes to flutter shut momentarily.
When opening her eyes again, Cailins eyes locked on Jess's. Someone moving behind them caught her attention. It was Jane and she was looking right at them. Cailin quickly pulled away, throwing another balloon at Jess before running away again.
Jess looked behind her to see Jane still watching. She smiled before throwing water balloons at the detective in rapid succession.
Soon, Angela rounded up the playful adults and kids, and everyone ate dinner outside.
After dinner and dessert, Cailin and Jess retreated upstairs. Jess shut the door behind them not thinking anything of it until it quickly opened again with Jane on the other side.
"Look girls, you two are adults and this normally wouldn't be a problem but given what we all discussed, this door is to remain open when the two of you are alone. Understood?" Jane looked between the two girls.
"Yeah, we got it ma," Jess replies.
Once Jane left them and headed back downstairs, Cailin began packing her bag for the next morning.
"Do you want some help?" Jess looked on from the edge of the bed.
"No, I think I can handle packing my own bag. Especially considering most of my stuff is still at my apartment."
Cailin smiled, but Jess watched as it quickly faded as the brunette turned around.
"Hey," Jess says, making her way over to Cailin. "It's okay to be nervous and scared but you are going to be fine and we are all going to be there tomorrow."
"You will?"
"Yeah, I mean, me and Ma have to work, but we are coming straight to the hospital after," Jess says with a smile.
"Promise?"
Jess wraps her arms around the brunette and pulls her into a hug. "Yes, I promise," she says softly. The urge to kiss Cailin was almost unbearable for the red head .
Clearing her throat she stepped away. "Why don't you get a shower first and I'll go after you," Jess said, gathering her pajamas.
"Are you sure?" Jess just nodded in response.
After they both showered, Cailin climbed into bed and watched as Jess grabbed a few blankets from the closet.
"What are you doing Jess? You can sleep in the bed with me. I know that air mattress isn't the least bit comfortable," Cailin says, sitting up on her elbows.
"Cailin," Jess sighed. "I think it's best if I just sleep down here. I, I can't lay in the same bed as you. If I do, I'll want to hold you and I can't." Jess threw the blankets down on the air mattress and laid down.
Cailin didn't say anything else other than a simple goodnight before turning out the lights.
Back in the living room , Jane and Maura had just finished a movie. Jane stretched out her long limbs, her shirt rising to reveal toned abs underneath. Maura eyes wander up and down her wife's body.
Jane was sexy in all kinds of clothes but Maura's favorite was Jane's gray sweat pants and white BPD shirt. When Jane felt eyes on her, she quickly looked over at her wife.
"Like what you see there doctor?" Jane grins.
Maura hummed. "I must say that I do," the blonde said.
"Well you know, you are my wife and I'm all yours so," Jane says, scooting closer to the blonde. "You don't have to just look," she says seductively before kissing her wife passionately.
It didn't take long for Maura to straddle the brunette, and kissing to turn into roaming hands. "Let's go upstairs," Maura whispers into Jane's ear causing an audible moan to escape the brunette.
Jane stood, causing the blonde to squeak and cling to her wife, wrapping her legs around the thin waist and her arms around strong shoulders. She began kissing Jane's neck again on the way to the stairs. Jane stood in her tracks and looked at her wife.
"Maur, everytime you kiss me there, my knees get weak and I love you too much to drop you, so you are going to have to hold off for just a few minutes." Maura's eyes locked onto Jane's. The look in the blondes eyes made Jane swallow hard.
She needed to get her wife into their room soon or she feared Maura would take her right here, right now. So taking a deep breath, Jane collected herself enough to make it to their bedroom.
A while later, Jane headed down to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. Not flipping on any lights, she made her way to the sink. After gulping down one glass and filling it again, she headed back towards the stairs when she heard rustling behind her followed by a not so subtle "shhh".
Her first thought was that Cailin and Jess snuck out like teenagers. Curious, she quickly flipped on the lights.
TheInstead of seeing who she expected in the living room, it was Maddy and Abby, both covered in peanut butter and cookie crumbs.
Abby looked to Maddy and then to Jane. "Busted," Maddy whispered to her sister.
Jane struggled to keep a straight face. "Busted is right! What do you two think you are doing? You both know me and mommy doesn't allow you to have snacks this late." Jane looked at the two girls fidgeting nervously before eyeing the pack of cookies.
"Jeez girls, how many did you eat? Mommy is not going to be happy," she remarked, taking the cookies and peanut butter, throwing both away because they were effectively ruined by tiny hands.
Jane spent the next 30 minutes cleaning the mess the twins made along with trying to get as much peanut butter off of them as she could. "Aw man girls, you got it in your hair too?" Jane shakes her head at the two girls that were now sitting on the counter.
"We're sorry ma," Abby says, trying to wipe off the remaining peanut butter from her hand.
Jane sighed. "Well girls, you are both going to need a bath, so let's get you upstairs." Jane takes a twin into each arm and heads up the stairs.
When she approached their bedroom door, she remembered Maura probably wasn't dressed,so she called from the hall.
"Hey Maur?"
"Jane, stop playing around and get in here," Maura called back.
"Well, um, we have a small problem." She looks at the twins. "Actually, two small problems, could you maybe put your robe on so we can come in?"
Maura didn't answer as she was already doing what Jane asked. Quickly,she grabbed her robe and put it on on her way to the door.
When she opened the bedroom door her jaw dropped. "W-what happened?" She looked at the two girls, still smeared with peanut butter.
"Well, it seems these two wanted a snack. I caught them with their hands in the cookie jar.Well, the peanut butter jar if we are getting technical," Jane said, trying not to laugh.
"Jane," Maura said, glaring at her wife. "This is not funny."
"Sorry Maur," Jane said, putting the girls down. "They are both gonna need another bath. I tried my best to clean them up,but it's literally almost covering every inch of them."
Maura sighed in frustration. "Maddy, Abby, head into the bathroom and get out of those clothes. I'll come run the water. Don't touch anything please, I don't want to find peanut butter in places three months from now." Both girls headed into the bathroom.
"I'll go get them a change of clothes Maur, just don't go too hard on them. They are just kids love." With that Jane headed to the twins bedroom for clothes.
Abby looked at Maddy. "See Amelia was right, she told us we would get caught." Maddy didn't say anything as Maura walked into the bathroom.
Maura started the girls bath, while waiting, Abby apologized. "We're sorry mommy."
"Yeah, we're sorry mommy," Maddy repeated.
"Now girls, you both know better than to sneak snacks after bedtime. Because you both completely went against what I told you earlier when you asked, neither one of you will have dessert after dinner for a week and no peanut butter and cookies for two." Both girls started crying as Maura helped them into the tub.
Jane came in a few minutes after with clean clothes.
"Now girls, stop that crying. You both knew you would be caught and you would get into trouble, so whatever mommy told you is your punishment, that's what it will be. No amount of crying is going to get you two out of this."
Jane leaned down and whispered. "What's their punishment?" Maura scoffed.
"Well, since I told them no earlier today when they asked me if they could have peanut butter and cookies and they decided to completely go against that, they will go one week without dessert after dinner and no peanut butter and cookies for two. Had you not been running off like an overgrown child earlier today, you would have known that."
Jane was taken back by Maura's remark but she wasn't going to argue, especially not in front of the girls.
"Okay Maur, I'm sorry. I didn't know, let's just get these two cleaned up and back to bed and we can talk."
Apparently Jane had chosen the wrong words. Maura stood, wiped her hands off and walked out the bathroom, leaving Jane to finish bathing the girls.
After a few minutes of silence Abby spoke. "Is mommy mad at us?" Big brown eyes looked up at Jane.
"She's upset that you two didn't listen but she's not mad at you. Mommy loves you both very much. You know that right?"
Both girls nodded. "Okay, good. Now, let's get you cleaned off the rest of the way and then into your pajamas."
After both girls were dressed, Maddy asked if they both could sleep in the bed with Jane and Maura. Jane looked to Maura who nodded.
"Sure, climb up there with mommy." Both little girls did just that. "We love you mommy." Maura took a calming breath. Jane was right they were just kids, and kids make messes, defy and test the limits of their parents but she loved her girls, all of her girls.
She looked at Jane and mouthed "I'm sorry." Jane smiled and shook her head as if to say "it's okay."
Jane sat down on the bed and smiled at her two little cookie monsters, that were now snuggled up against Maura. Jane then puts on her serious face.
"Okay girls, we need to talk. Did you go to mommy today and ask for cookies?" Both girls nodded.
"Okay, and what did mommy say?"
"She said no," Abby said as her lip started to quiver. She didn't like where this was headed. Maddy's lip began to quiver as well.
Looking at Maura, Jane could see her wife was about to cry right along with the girls.
"You both knew your choices tonight would get you a spanking but you did it anyway."
Jane paused before continuing. She had no intention of spanking the girls, she just wanted them to know she hadn't forgotten their discussion a few days prior. She let them sweat it out for a moment before continuing.
"Are you girls going to listen to mommy next time?" Abby and Maddy both shook their heads vigorously.
Jane looked at Maura. "Did they apologize?" Maura nodded. "What do you think, Maur? Do I give them a pardon?"
Maura smiled. "I think we can do that Jane."
Jane bent over and kissed both her kids on the head, and then Maura. "Next time it's not going to be up for debate girls. Do you understand me? You are to listen to mommy at all times."
"Yes ma'am," Abby and Maddy said.
Jane tucked the blankets around the girls, before getting up. "I'm going to clean up the bathroom Maur. Then I'll be in to bed."
Maura nodded as she snuggled into her pillow, her arm around both girls who were starting to doze off.
Jane cleaned up the bathroom, shut off the light and climbed into bed with her wife and kids.
"Goodnight my girls," she said, before flipping off the lamp receiving three sleepy goodnights while doing so.