Monday morning hit them like a truck, when both phones started ringing almost simultaneously. Jane tried to untangle from their tight embrace they had fallen asleep in. But this proved to be a hard task.
"Murder is calling." She mumbled to Maura who was fast asleep. "Rizzoli." Jane said suppressing a yawn, glancing to Maura who was stirring now too. "Okay. We're on our way."
She quickly read the digits on her screensaver when hanging up, grunting, rubbing her face. It was 3:12 in the morning. We must find a solution for the kids she thought, feeling guilty when calling Amelia. That woman must be a saint she felt as the student picked up after the second ring.
When she and Maura left, Amelia arrived. Jane apologized although noticing in relieve that she hadn't woken up her neighbor. "Its okay. I have been awake anyways. I have an exam soon, which I can't fail." The young woman smiled and waved them goodbye.
Later that day, Jane found herself running along her favorite track. Maura had got another case and was working late. The kids were still with Amelia, so she had taken the opportunity. The air was fresh after some rain from earlier that day and she took some deep breaths and enjoyed her alone time.
Later she greeted two excited kids and listened to their tails from the weekend and their day.
Will not be home before 11 pm probably
Jane read Maura's text and started cooking Mac and cheese. "How was your weekend?" Sophie asked the brunette looking up from a drawing of her favorite motive: a tall brunette and a tall woman with two kids in their midst. A huge sun was shining above them. Julia on the other hand was into drawing houses.
After dinner she played some word games with them, learning more about Willi, the baby donkey, who was their new friend. She decided to print out one of the pictures Amelia had sent her from Willi and the girls and to give it to them the next day when the girls were in bed.
Although being tired she stayed up until she heard a key turning in the lock and watched how an exhausted blonde made her way into the kitchen. "Hey baby." She greeted her and waved from the couch.
She busied herself to warm Maura a plate of Mac and cheese and sat with her until she had finished. Then they crawled into bed.
Friday evening came fast. Thank god the rest of the week hadn't been so stressful as it had started. Jane had been able to solve the case and another one. And had been at home every day by 5 pm. Their two weeks' vacation was starting tomorrow, and she found Julia and Sophie jumping around the apartment, chatting excitedly about the trip and wild animals, while she and Maura tried to pack up their stuff. Jane chuckled when seeing Maura with a checklist.
She had never actually witnessed the blonde packing and found it very interesting to observe for once how the suitcase of Maura's became so heavy. She had a checklist too, but it contained only half of the points and was by far not so meticulously written with the one from Maura.
Another difference between them was, that Jane just threw the stuff from the cupboard into the duffle bag, while Maura laid it all out onto the bed, to double check. "You don't need to pack meds, Jane. I have enough." Maura said and pointed to a huge first aid kid in her hand.
"What?" Maura asked when hearing Jane laugh and looked up from her paper.
"Have I ever told you how sweet you are?" Jane questioned as she went over to kiss the blonde who looked confused. The blonde pretended to think hard and replied "No! Am I?"
"Oh yes!" Jane stated and grabbed for her car keys after giving her another kiss to mount the box onto the car. Seeing as to how much luggage and stuff they had she felt glad to have come around and bought the box. Suddenly she felt like they were just any other family in the world.
Julia and Sophie were still running around and one of them bumped into Jane in the hallway. The brunette smiled as they immediately ran off again. She was sure that none of them would sleep much this night seeing as to how excited they were.
And she was right. For the first night in ages, the master bed was captured by two giggling girls who tossed and turned almost the entire night. Which of course meant that Maura and Jane didn't get much sleep either.
They met a grinning Tommy, Heather and TJ early in the morning when packing their car. Jane noticed that the woman they had helped to leave her husband was beaming. It was already warm, and she decided to pull off her hoody. Tommy helped them with the luggage and then they drove off.
Julia and Sophie were already tired, and Jane watched in the rear-view mirror how their eyes closed. Then she glanced at Maura who showed a mixture of excitement and fear. Although she hadn't brought it up in the last two weeks, Jane knew that the statistic was still hovering in the blonde's mind.
Her hand reached out to find its usual spot on Maura's thigh, rubbing softly in order to sooth the blonde. When she looked over at the next red traffic light, she found the blonde smiling back at her. They had a five-hour drive ahead of them and Jane put in some music from which she knew that Maura liked it. Soon the car was filled with a string concert and the occasional snoring of one of the girls.
Jane sighed when their destination came into view. The weather was nice, although a bit cooler than in NY. The water in the lake was clear and mirrored the mountains surrounding it on the water surface. Maura was delighted and started taking pictures with her phone as the rest of the family climbed out of the cars.
"This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been." She exclaimed in joy and kissed Jane who flashed her dimples with her wide smile.
"Yeah, isn't it?" she asked, happy and proud that Maura liked her spot. Sophie and Julia were still fast asleep, and she decided that this was the perfect opportunity to get the tent and everything else ready.
Maura had a talent in building up tents, doing it much faster than Jane or Tommy. Then when finished eying the structure suspiciously. "Jane aren't we going to get cold in this?" she asked shivering as if she was already freezing.
"Maybe it will be a little bit cold the first night, but the tent usually heats up fast and well." She reassured Maura wrapping her arms around the blonde. Not that she believed that it would ever get cold, seeing as it was still summer. Little did she know that a few hours later a rain would fall and cool down the air.
After the they had finished putting their stuff into the tent, they went to help Tommy and TJ. By now Julia and Sophie had woken up and were hopping around their cousin TJ who tickled and teased them. Jane watched in awe how cute the three of them were together.
Maura's shrieking brought her back to reality though and she quickly turned around if the blonde was in danger, making such noises. Maura was standing on a stone with a panicked face pointing to a huge spider on the ground. Jane chuckled and rolled her eyes. Why wasn't she surprised. "Come on Maur. Its not going to kill you." She held out her hands like to a child and smiled.
"Are you sure? This thing is so big, just like the palm of my hand." Maura questioned in panic exaggerating.
"I am absolutely sure!" Jane said and climbed the stone to join her. "Uhm, nice view." The brunette said and her distraction worked. Soon Maura was taking pictures again, forgetting about the insect. It worked with Julia, why shouldn't it with the blonde Jane thought and smiled again as she found it sweet.
"He likes you; you know?" Tommy said and sat down on an old tree trunk whipping away his sweat. They were in the forest, collecting logs for their campfire. "He talks a lot about you and Maura." Her brother continued.
"Yeah, he talked a lot about you too, when we were with him." Jane said and sat down too, glancing at the pile they had already gathered.
"Really?" Tommy asked looking up from the ground.
"Yes, really." Her brother chewed on his lips, thinking.
"He hasn't come out yet, but I noticed things since you mentioned it…" his voice trailed off, insecure.
Jane smiled at him. "He will. Just give him space and time. Its not easy when you come to realize that you are different. Sometimes you have the feeling that you don't belong to the group anymore and its bad if you cant talk about it out of fear how people will react." She explained to Tommy who glanced at her.
"Must have been hard for you sometimes." He said and had a sad look on his face. "I'm glad that he has someone to talk to, if he needs it. I'm glad you're there for him."
"Yeah." Jane nodded, hoping that TJ would if it came to it. "It's a process. That's all. He will do fine." She said and patted his knee.
"Man, at least I know why I had no chance with Maura." He chuckled changing the subject. "I should have known. To her it was always you, Jane."
The brunette laughed gently. "See, I didn't know it. Or at least I was never sure if it was really me for Maura. We all do and say stupid things sometimes. We miss chances because we are scared."
"I asked Maura hypothetically if she would marry me." Jane spoke up when they were on their way back.
Tommy chuckled.
"What?" Jane asked and her brother pointed out that this was so typically them. Dancing around lines. "What did she say?" he asked.
Jane laughed because he was right. That was typically for them. "She said hypothetically yes." She smiled. What she didn't say was that she hadn't only bought the box this week, but also a ring. Just in case.
"Don't you think that it's a bit early. We've been dating only for a few months now." She asked but Tommy shook his head. "Given your story, you should have asked her a long time ago." He replied seriously. Jane knew that he was right. "Just go and get her, Janie." He winked and smiled before they arrived back at the camp and she could say more.
Jane closed her eyes, snuggling into her sleeping bag. The rain had begun to fall after their dinner and left a soothing noise on the tent. As usual she was replaying her day in her mind, while Maura was doing some meditation next to her. Julia and Sophie had snuggled up in one sleeping bag on the blonde's side.
She silently smiled to herself when coming to the part where Maura had methodically checked the inside of the tent for spiders and any other insects, driving everybody crazy when asking them to lift pile of clothes and stuff. Oh yeah, she loved that woman. An Maura loved her she thought, when she felt how her sleeping bag was unzipped and the blonde slipped into it and wrapped her arm around Jane.
The brunette sighed when feeling Mauras hand slipping onto her belly.
They pushed some tables together so that the entire family could sit. It was their first day at the lake, and the rain was pouring down merciless. After sleeping in they had decided to have a brunch at a nearby bistro.
"I guess no hiking today." Jane mumbled and saw the girls and TJ's slightly disappointed face glancing at her.
"Sorry, guys. But with all the slippery paths its not worth it." Her voice sounded apologetical even though none of this was her fault. The mood in general was kind of grumpy after the night had been cold. And it got even grumpier, when the man behind the counter told them, that they weren't serving brunch. Lunch was only obtainable in two more hours.
Therefore, they just ordered coffee and cacao and spent a time in silence.
"Jane? OMG is that you?" a woman shouted from a booth when she was returning from picking some painkillers from the car to soothe Maura's headache.
The tall brunette stopped in her tracks, blinking hard, until exclaiming "Mary! What a surprise."
A blonde woman lifted from her seat to hug Jane and both smiled at each other claiming that it had been ages, since they had last seen each other. Mary introduced her to a brunette glancing at Jane curiously. "Hey, this is Jane. I told you about her."
The brunette greeted the other woman politely, feeling curious stares in her neck from her family as she talked with the two women. They found out, that they would be staying the whole week. "Maybe we can meet for coffee?" Mary suggested a hopeful gleam in her eyes. "Talk about the old times…"
"Yeah, why not. But I must talk to my lots first, about our plans." Jane stated, pointing towards the crowded table down the room with her thumb over her shoulder.
"No problem. We could exchange numbers and you text me?"
Jane returned to their table after saying goodbye to the women. Maura had an odd expression on her face, giving strange vibes.
"This was Mary, we've been to the academy together." Jane explained handing her girlfriend the tabs. "Funny to meet her after such a long time."
"Yeah, I once met my kindergarten love when shopping. We rekindled our contact. Its quite fun, to meet people again after a while." The brunette nodded.
"Her girlfriend looks a lot like you Aunt Janie." TJ noticed as both women stood and walked out hand in hand.
"What?" he asked as Maura and Tommy stared at him. "Isn't it true?"
The rest of the day was spent in silence especially between Maura and Jane as they drove to the next biggest town, where Maura had found a museum about fossils and the local history. The brunette had tried to start a conversation several times with the blonde, but Maura wouldn't reply.
"Jane, I have a terrible headache." Was the only response she once got. After Maura flinching at her touch she gave up. She secretly glanced at the ME from time to time, musing that she was jealous. But there was no reason.
Her mind went back to the time when they had been at the academy. Mary hadn't been a friend, but somehow, they had hooked up still, sharing their beds occasionally, when needing a warm body in cold nights. Jane had never loved her, like she had never loved anybody like she loved Maura. Therefore, there was no reason she thought.
Jane desperately wished that she would have some alone time with the blonde to have a talk and explain this to her. It made her nervous when Maura was so mad at her and bottled up without giving her a chance to explain or show that there was no cause for fear.
Did she want to meet with Mary? Yes, of course. But only to talk about old times. Although not being friends back then, it would be nice to have a chat. In her mind she wouldn't have gone without Maura anyways.
The museum was housed at the center of the town. An old brick building, which had seen better times. Jane went to buy the tickets, while the rest stood in the hallway, leaving drops from their wet coats on the floor.
An old woman looked up from the newspaper she had been reading, apparently surprised that someone would actually come and visit the museum.
"7 tickets please. Four adults and three kids." She mumbled and saw how the woman glanced over to the lots to count for herself.
Jane was grateful when Tommy joined her while the kids went off with TJ and Maura walked off with Heather.
"Its going to be okay by bedtime, Jane." He said and slightly touched her shoulder while she glanced into a showcase full of stones. The brunette hoped that he was right.
As Tommy went to take an early dinner with the girls and TJ in order to give Jane and Maura some space, the brunette tried to talk to the ME.
"Come on Maur, can we please talk about Mary?" Jane asked silently, nervously rubbing the palms of her hand, glancing at her.
"What do you want to talk about?" the blonde snapped, rummaging in her stuff without looking up.
Jane swallowed, thinking about her next move, deciding for honesty. "I would like to talk about the fact that you give me the impression to be jealous of her."
The blonde stopped rummaging, glancing at Jane with a pout in her face. "I love you, Maur. There is no reason to be jealous. I've been trying to show you that there is no need to worry all day, but you never let me." Jane tried to sound calm and sighed.
"Her girlfriend looks just like you, Jane!" Maura spat. "I have seen how she flirted with you. You had something with her, right?"
The brunette snorted. "This was a long time ago. And I never had feelings for her. Besides I didn't interpret her doing as flirting. Her girlfriend was sitting right next to her for heaven's sake! Do you really think she would be so obvious?"
"I don't know, Jane. Oh, well, yes I do think so!" Maura said in a cold tone. "I have a creepy feeling about her."
"Hell! It was just one meeting. I think you are overacting a little." The brunette stated, slumping into a camping chair. Her patience was wearing down. This was supposed to be fun, but so far, the vacation had been wet, cold and exhausting. She pinched her bridge of the nose, watching Maura who loaded her stuff for going to the sanitary facilities.
"Whatever! But don't hold me for stupid. I saw her messages on the phone earlier." Maura said before walking down the path to get ready for the night, leaving a speechless brunette behind.
She had left her phone to the open in the tent when coming home. Mary had texted her several times during the day, but the brunette hadn't whipped them off the display, not reading them for her head had been with Maura all day.
After sitting in the cold a few more minutes she crawled into the tent to have a look. A knot formed in her intestines when seeing that she had missed 11 messages and three phone calls. Now she too got the feeling that this was a creepy woman. Grumpy she snatched her own stuff and followed Maura to shower.
When she entered the sanitary facilities, no one was there except for the ME or at least Jane assumed that it was her. When the water was turned off the distinct sound of silent sobs filled the room. The brunettes heart sank in her chest and she silently stood in front of Maura's stall, leaning against the sinks, waiting.
The blonde gasped when finding Jane standing in front of her. It was to late for her to wipe away the treacherous signs of the fact that she had been crying.
"Okay Maur, she's creepy. I checked my phone." Jane said, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "I can't tell if she was flirting with me, maybe I didn't want to see it. But you have to believe me if I say that you are the only one for me." she tried to make eye contact with the ME who nervously shuffled with her feet. New tears were dwelling up in her eyes and Jane felt them too, holding her breath, being scared that Maura would do something stupid or hold up the fight.
Instead she saw the blonde putting her stuff down onto the sink, slowly approaching Jane, who was still not breathing. Maura slipped her arms gently around the brunettes' waists, nuzzling her head into the wild mane. "I'm sorry, Jane. I was so scared, because you wouldn't see it. I … uhm .. I just can't bear the thought to lose you – again." She whispered to Janes ear.
Jane, at first surprised, wrapped her arms around Maura too, blowing out the air. Bothe were silently crying while holding each other tight.
"I love you, Maur." Jane whispered and listened to their both heartbeats thinking about the ring in her pocket. But this was not the way nor the reason she wanted to propose.
"Do you want to shower?" Maura asked pointing to Janes stuff. The brunette furrowed her eyebrows, her heart sinking again. She had at least expected for Maura to say back that she loved her.
"Yes." She mumbled, feeling all tense again, when the blonde let go of her.
"I could join if you like? Give you a backrub?" the blonde offered, appearing insecure. "If you want to…"
Jane nodded. "I'd love to, doctor." She replied brightening up a little.
Back in the stall Maura had just emerged off, Jane turned on the water. The blonde put some soap onto her hand and started with her massage, which elicited some deep groans from Janes mouth. "Oh god. This is so good." She stated, literally feeling how her muscles relaxed bit by bit. After a while another form of tension built in her body, a much nicer one. When she turned, she noticed how Maura's nipples were already standing up like hers.
"Are you cold?" she asked, musing that she might misinterpret the signs.
Maura chuckled. "No, Jane. I just like touching you."
"Uh oh." Jane mumbled feeling a cheeky smile raise in her face. "Is there something I can help you with?"
The blonde obviously searched her mind for a reply that equaled Janes question. "Help me with what?" she finally asked and saw Jane first blush then smirk.
Both started laughing at the same time falling into each other's eyes, before gently making love. Afterwards they walked hand in hand back to the tent, where Mary was awaiting them. The smile froze on Maura's and Janes face and the brunette felt how Maura's body got rigid.
"Jane, can we talk?" Mary asked. "I need your help with something."
The brunette immediately saw the ruse, Mary playing with her need to protect people.
"Mary, meet Maura, my girlfriend." She said. "Whatever problem you have, you can discuss it with us both."
The woman glanced at Jane in surprise than anger shadowed her face. As Mary didn't speak, the brunette sighed. "I'm sorry, Mary. But I'm happy with Maura. If you were looking for what we had, its gone." She said and firmly squeezed Maura's hand.
"Shame." The other blonde woman said and turned on her heels to leave without even saying goodbye.
"Wow, that was nice." Maura said, exhaling loudly.
"was this sarcasm?" Jane asked and laughed.
"I don't know. I tried. Was it good?" Maura asked fishing.
"Yeah, it was good Maur." Jane chuckled and sighed.
"Tell me, how many exes do you have?" Maura later asked when they sat at the table of a nice restaurant. "I need to know how more often this circus might happen." The blonde smirked.
Jane smiled as she took Maura's hand. "This was bad luck, Maur. But if you need to know it can only happen one more time."
The blonde shot her a surprised look. "Not more? I mean you are a very attractive woman."
The brunette scratched her head, thinking what to say. "Well, no one was like you." She finally admitted in a simple manner. Maura smiled, bringing Janes hand to her mouth to kiss the palm of her hand. "How I know this feeling." She mumbled leading their hands back to the table where their fingers enlaced.
"Well, we both had the tendency to fall for the wrong people." The blonde spoke into the comfortable silence which had been lingering between them.
The brunette nodded, poking the fork into her meal.
"I hate when you hate me." Jane silently said before reaching for her glass of wine.
"I used to say that too, remember?" Maura smiled sadly. Adding that at least they had found a way not to hate each other for some long days anymore.
"Yeah, that's good. We're improving." More silence in which every woman thought about what had been said filled the air between them.
"If it still rains tomorrow, I'm going to check for a hotel. Or we drive home." Janes remark made Maura look up from the fish on her plate.
"Unless, you want to stay." She smirked, looking out of the window into the heavy rain. She suddenly recalled how they had met on the airport on such a weather and smiled. Maybe the rain wasn't bad after all.
The last words which she heard that night was "Good night, honey, I love you." Then she fell asleep with Maura wrapped around her and a huge smile on her face.