Chapter 1: Coming Home

A/N: I have a problem in that I can't seem to stop coming up with new stories. Please don't hate me for starting another one before I finish the current stories. While I definitely write for all of you, the readers, I also write for myself and getting these things out of my head is honestly the most helpful part for me. Plus, when I really get something stuck in my head, it's hard to make progress on the other stories. I know I could just not post stuff, but I figure if at least one person enjoys it, even if it takes me a long time to update, it's worth sharing. I still fully intend to finish everything I start.

Trigger warning: The story will deal with some difficult issues of family and what it means to be a family. To be honest, although I know exactly where this story is going and how I'm going to get there, I don't know exactly what to warm for. Therefore, if you ever notice something that should be added as a trigger warning, please please please tell me.

Maura: June, Present Day

A three-year-old with strawberry blonde hair that curled loosely around her shoulders bounced in her seat. She turned towards her mother, her hazel eyes sparkling with excitement. "When do we leave? When will we get there? How long will we be in the air? How do planes fly?" she peppered her mother with question after question not bothering to wait for an answer to a single one.

Maura smiled tiredly at her daughter, offering her what she hoped was a reassuring expression despite her own anxiety. "We should be taking off relatively shortly," she explained, "but remember, the flight is long. We'll be in the air for about four and a half hours; then, it will still take us a while to get to our apartment. It will be dinner time by the time we are at our new home. Hopefully, you will be able to take a nap on the plane, though; that will make it seem faster."

"Do we get to see Jane tonight?" the girl asked.

"No," Maura replied patiently even though she had explained this many times over the past few days to her daughter. "We're going to try to see her tomorrow, but she may not be available. We may have to be patient."

"Okay," the girl huffed, disappointment evident in her voice. "Does Jane have kids?" she added, her excitement returning.

Maura's breath caught in her throat. Despite the fact that they had talked about Jane a lot throughout her daughter's childhood and especially over the last three weeks, the three-year-old hadn't asked this particular question yet. Maura had started to hope that she wouldn't ask it at all. The girl was still looking at her expectantly, so Maura offered her the only answer she could, "I don't know, sweetie."

Maura was saved from having to elaborate by the arrival of the passenger that would be occupying the aisle seat next to her. She smiled politely at him as he stored his bag in the overhead compartment and sat down next to her. She really hoped that he wouldn't be annoyed to be seated near a toddler.

"Good morning, my name is John," he said as he held out his hand for Maura to shake.

"Good morning," Maura replied with a smile. "I'm Maura, and this is my daughter…"

"Sophie Jane Montgomery," the three-year-old interrupted Maura in her excitement, offering her full name without hesitation.

John chuckled. "It's nice to meet you Sophie," he said as he addressed the girl. "And it's nice to meet you as well, Maura. Are you guys visiting Boston or is Boston home?"

Maura cringed internally. If only he knew, she thought to herself. The answer to that question was far from simple, for her at least.

"Boston is our new home," Sophie told him confidently, putting extra emphasis on the word new.

"Oh, is that so?" he said, smiling at the girl's enthusiasm. "Boston is my home, too, but it's not new for me. I've lived in Boston for nearly 40 years."

"Wow," said Sophie, causing the older man to chuckle. Forty years probably did sound like a long time to a toddler. "Do you like Boston?" she asked.

"I love Boston," he said. "That's why I stayed after college. Well, that and because I met my wife."

"Where is your wife?" Sophie asked, looking around the plane as though she might recognize a woman she had never met.

"She's at home in Boston," John said patiently.

"Do you have kids?" Sophie asked, repeating the question she had asked Maura about Jane a few minutes prior.

"Sophie," Maura chided not wanting her daughter to make John uncomfortable by asking personal questions.

"It's okay," John said to both of them. "I'm a third-grade teacher, so I'm used to all the questions. I completely understand and won't be in anyway offended if you'd prefer that she not talk to me," he added quietly to Maura, "but I'm also fine with anything she wants to ask me or tell me."

"Thank you," Maura said gratefully. She was glad for the distraction for Sophie. It was moments like these that made Maura notice how different her daughter's personality is from her own. Sophie may be her carbon-copy in looks, but while she had Maura's intelligence and kindness, their personalities were otherwise complete opposite. Sophie was out-going and personable; she was confident; and she was able to connect with anybody – child or adult.

Returning his attention to Sophie, John responded to her question, "Yes, I have two daughters. In fact, I was just visiting one of my daughters. She just had a baby, so my wife and I coordinated our visits so that we could maximize the time we could be there to help her and her husband with the new baby."

"A baby!" Sophie said excitedly.

John chuckled. "Yes, a little boy," he supplied. "His name is Colin. He's my first grandchild."

"I want a baby," Sophie said, turning to address Maura. "Can we have a baby?"

John laughed. "Sorry," he whispered so that only Maura could hear.

Maura smiled. "Not right now, honey," she told Sophie.

"Maybe someday?" Sophie asked hopefully.

"I'm not sure," Maura said, and the crestfallen look on her daughter's face broke her heart. Luckily, John quickly changed the subject. Sophie and John continued their conversation for a while until Sophie started to yawn and Maura suggested she try to nap. Sophie laid down with her head in Maura's lap and fell asleep almost instantly. After thanking John for entertaining Sophie for a while, Maura got lost in thought.

As she played with Sophie's hair, she couldn't help but think about how different yet how similar to her own childhood her daughter's life had been up until this point. Until today, Sophie had never left Utah whereas Maura had travelled to numerous different countries on multiple continents by the time she was three. Sophie had also never spent a night away from Maura. In fact, she spent very little time away from Maura. In contrast, Maura was primarily raised by nannies, and she saw very little of her parents. Sophie had never even had a babysitter; Maura only trusted the credentialed day-care at the hospital she worked at to care for her daughter.

Yet, Sophie's childhood so far was likely nearly as lonely as Maura's had been. Yes, Sophie had Maura, but that was all she had. She hadn't been raised around family – no siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents – and Maura had never made close friends after leaving Boston, so she didn't even have that support system.

Maura sighed to herself. She closed her eyes and willed herself to relax. It had been seven years since Maura had lived in Boston – more specifically, it had been six years, ten months, one week, and three days since she left home. She had been to Boston a handful of times in the 18 months following her departure, but she hadn't been home, not really.

Even worse was the fact that she hadn't spoken to Jane in six years, ten months, one week, and four days. She hadn't even been in contact with anyone who knew Jane in that time. For all she knew, Jane might not even be willing to speak to her. No! Stop thinking that way, she scolded herself. She had missed Jane every single day since she last saw her.

Not contacting Jane had been one of the hardest parts of everything that had happened. She had actually had to train her brain to forget Jane's phone number. Now, all she had was an address written down on the back of a business card. The problem was Maura wasn't sure how Jane would react to her return. Not only had Maura disappeared without a word, but she had made another decision that changed both of their lives forever – a decision that Jane was given no choice in.

A/N: John's not going to be part of this story. So, before people start guessing that he had a malicious reason for talking to Maura and Sophie, I want to stop you there. The only point of his character was to help get some of the information out to the readers.

Also, do you guys prefer shorter more frequent chapters or longer chapters?