They met Ashley's husband the following Sunday, when the neighbors had invited them for a barbeque in their garden for lunch. It was kind of a thank you gift for finding Peter. As Matteo was showing Julia and Sophie his room and games, the four adults sat on the terrace after a great meal, sipping iced tea and getting to know each other better.
"So, how long have you been married?" George, the husband, asked. Jane liked him; he was a good guy she thought. And to her he had just the right sense of humor. They were all relaxed, enjoying the sun.
"Uhm, we got married two weeks ago." The brunette said, glancing at Maura who nodded.
George and Ashley made a surprised face. "You two give the impression of people who have been married forever." The man sad and Jane chuckled softly.
"We've known each other for a long time. But it felt as if we had a connection right from the start." She paused to look once more at Maura who appeared to be pensive. But as she didn't object, Jane continued. "At first, we were colleagues, then we became friends and then ended up loving each other. It was a bit complicated." Her genuine smile was reflected by the blonde who reached for her hand and squeezed it.
"These are some of the best stories." George said with a wink. A comfortable silence lingered between all four for a few minutes.
"How long have you two been married?" Jane asked the other couple. George and Ashley smiled at each other. "We will have our 15th anniversary next month." He said with a lot of pride and love in his voice. "We've been through a lot too, but it only made our love only grow over the time." Ashley added, still smiling.
George rose from his chair offering what he called adult beverages. Jane had a beer like him, Maura and Ashley went for some wine. Then they learned that George was a doctor at Presbyterian Lower Manhattan hospital. He had received an offer to participate in a project which should be leading a study about orthopedy. This was the reason why the family had moved from LA to New York.
Of course, Maura was very interested in the study and soon she and George were discussing about … hell, Jane had no idea what they were discussing about, because they used so many Latin words and medical terms. But she actually didn't mind sitting still and watching with pride how Maura's eyes started to glow and her cheeks turned red in excitement.
The brunette shrugged with a smile when Ashley looked at her, rolling her eyes. It hit Jane, that for the first time in her live she had the feeling to be normal and do things normal and boring people would do like meeting with their neighbors for a barbeque while their kids were playing – hopefully peaceful – together. And she couldn't deny that she loved being among those boring people herself, because this was nice.
Maura also, seemed to have forgotten about her social anxieties as she started to tell funny stories. Maybe to her at the beginning the intention had been to talk about what was going on in a morgue, but soon she found joy in adding details and developed a quite good way to lay out plots which created astonishment and giggles around the table.
"Oh no!" George said when she told them about the man who had been delivered to the morgue and whose penis had suddenly started to have a pulse.
George had some pretty good stories too though, and the time seemed to fly, when it suddenly got chilly because the sun had set. Maura and Jane politely declined their offer to continue the evening in the house.
"We have to find a babysitter. There are lots of applications on our table. The first round of interviews yesterday didn't go very well." She said and Jane snorted.
"Yeah. By the end of the afternoon we were ready to have a drink. One of our highlights was a girl accusing us of having an unhealthy lifestyle, stating that its not too late though. We could still change and that there were programs." The brunette couldn't help but roll her eyes and Maura got some hives because this attitude and ignorance just made her angry.
"Its like if we were living in the middle ages." A usually polite Maura snarked, openly showing her dismay.
"Well, I could give it a try if you like." Ashley offered after they had joked and laughed about the whole thing for a while. "I'm working from home as I am a freelancer, writing articles. I must keep an eye on Matteo too. If they are at the same school, I can pick them up, feed them, do homework with them."
Maura and Jane looked at each other. One of the best things between them she found, was their ability to communicate just with their eyes. She remembered Frost who had repeatedly teased them by saying that what they had was eye sex. Anyways, this ability came in handy especially with two kids and if you didn't want them to hear what you were thinking or discussing.
The blonde's eyes clearly said: we could give it a try, right? Jane nodded and cleared her throat. There was only one problem. "Sometimes we have to go to work in the night. As we are not always working cases together, one of us will mostly stay at home. But it happens that we both are called to the same crime scene."
Ashley gave it a thought. "How often does this happen?"
"I don't know. It depends. Sometimes once, maybe twice a month. Some months not at all."
"I could still do that if you like."
"Okay. That would be great. If you really don't mind…"
"Not at all."
They discussed about the details for a while, happily finding out, that Matteo would not only be in the same school as the girls but also in the same class. Jane had a good feeling with their neighbors but being a cop, she also wanted to run a background check on their neighbors. Just to make sure.
Maura, to her surprise, found it very wise. Both couples had agreed to think it over and talk about it in a few days. Those weren't decisions which Jane or Maura took lightly. Especially when they were about the kids.
"Sometimes I get the feeling, that our jobs make us a bit paranoid." Jane whispered as they were leaving the bathroom, where Julia and Sophie were enjoying a bubble bath, smelling like candy.
"Me too." The blonde whispered back, looking once more at the girls who were playing with some toys before leaving the room. The door remained open so that they could hear what was going on, while they went to their bedroom.
Jane started to undress to go shower first, so that she could read the girls their bedtime story while Maura would also get ready for bed. The brunette prepared the bedroom for Julia and Sophie by pulling back the covers which Maura usually put neatly in place every morning like with their own bed. Then she dimmed the light and picked the pajamas before walking into the bathroom to help the kids get dry and dressed.
She noticed how they kept talking about ghosts and monsters a lot lately and wondered where this fascination came from. She decided to jump into the room and make a scary sound and was happy when the girls started to giggle in excitement.
To her dismay both refused to leave the tub. Jane decided to give them a few more minutes when two pairs of puppy eyes shot her a pleading look. Their giggles followed her down to the kitchen, where she got a bottle of water.
Later, when Sophie and Julia were in bed, sleeping deep after a long read from their favorite book, Jane and Maura snuggled together on the couch, watching a movie with the fire burning and warming up the house. The nights were becoming noticeable colder as summer turned into autumn. Before they knew, they had both fallen asleep. Only a few more days of holidays, then they would have to go back to work.