Chapter 14: Zurich
Friday, December 27
Maura wanted to have plenty of time in Zurich to show Jane around, so she insisted that they leave first thing in the morning. Jane, of course, spent the morning complaining, but Maura didn't mind. She knew that Jane's grumbling was mostly for show.
Jane's complaints stopped instantly when she saw the place Maura had chosen for breakfast, Café & Restaurant of the Confiserie Sprüngli at Paradeplatz. The brunch buffet at the Sprüngli Café & Restaurant was a spread that outshone even Jane's wildest dreams.
Standing in front of the buffet, Maura told Jane, "I promise you can try every unhealthy sugary item here, but please at least try the Bircher muesli." She pointed to the Swiss specialty as she continued, "I know you avoid muesli on principle, but it's a specialty here. I really think you'll like it. Bircher muesli is creamier and a bit sweeter than regular muesli."
Jane laughed but still took the muesli. She also loaded her plate with a wide variety of pastries, fresh breads, jams, and marmalades. Even Maura chose a few pastries – when in Rome, right?
The food was delicious, but they were both stuffed by the time they finished eating. They had originally planned to take public transportation to the Swiss National Museum, but they decided to walk instead. This ended up being a wonderful idea. Even though it was cold, it was a beautiful winter day. They stopped to take pictures along the river. They took pictures outside Grossmünster and the Church of St. Peter, two beautiful landmark churches along the river. As they walked, Maura continued to point out various things around the city. She was pleased when Jane linked her arm through hers and pulled her closer. They continued that way for the remainder of the walk to the museum.
It had taken them quite a while to decide which museum to visit while in Zurich, but Jane was glad that they had chosen this museum. They spent hours wandering around the museum hand-in-hand. Jane's favorite part was watching Maura's face light up in excitement as she explained various parts of the exhibits to Jane. Jane was in no way surprised that Maura seemed to know more about everything in the museum than anyone else.
When they exited the museum hours later, Jane asked, "What was your favorite thing in the museum?"
Maura thought for a few moments before answering, "I enjoyed many of the exhibits, but I think my favorite was the archaeology exhibit. I find ancient history fascinating."
"That doesn't surprise me at all," Jane said with a smile. Looking at her feet in embarrassment, she added, "I love watching you get all excited when we visit museums and stuff."
Maura smiled and gave Jane's hand a reassuring squeeze. The sincerity of Jane's comment warmed her heart. She wanted to say something back, but she knew that that kind of admission was hard for Jane. To Jane's relief, Maura moved on. "What was your favorite exhibit?" she asked.
"I like the magic carpet exhibit," Jane answered quickly.
Maura laughed. "The children's exhibit?" she asked.
Jane shrugged feeling slightly silly, but this was Maura, so she knew that Maura wasn't making fun of her with this question. "Yeah, I'm sure it's no surprise to you that I like hands-on things; I like to be able to touch and interact with things."
"That makes sense," Maura replied. "I can definitely understand that. There is definitely something that can only be understood about an object by physically handling it and being able to examine it from all angles."
Jane laughed. "You made that sound way more sophisticated than it actually is," she commented. "We both know that I'm basically just a kid."
Maura laughed again. "I suppose that's true," she admitted.
By the time they finished their conversation, they had arrived at the Winter Garte, or Winter Garden, in English. Winter Garte is one of Zurich's famous pop-up Christmas markets.
Both women were hungry since they hadn't had lunch yet, so they decided to start at one of the fondue chalets. After eating, they decided to participate in one of the art workshops. They spent the hour teasing each other and giggling like schoolgirls as they each made their own Christmas ornament. Jane finished hers first, and she found herself watching Maura in awe. She couldn't believe that Maura was her girlfriend now. She was so incredibly happy at this moment. She loved being able to spend this time with Maura away from everyday life. She felt herself falling deeper in love with the woman sitting next to her as she watched Maura work. Maura was beautiful with her eyebrows furrowed in concentration and her teeth slightly biting her bottom lip.
Maura glanced up from her work to find Jane staring at her with a soft smile on her face. "What?" she asked shyly.
"You're beautiful, and I'm really happy right now," Jane said quietly.
Maura's eyes twinkled as a huge smile graced her face.
Before Maura could respond, Jane leaned forward and planted a chaste kiss on Maura's lips. Maura could barely wipe the smile from her face long enough to return Jane's kiss. "I'm really happy right now, too," she admitted. "I love you, Jane."
"I love you, too."
They both jumped slightly when the instructor stopped by to see how they were doing. They had been so lost in their own world that they hadn't noticed him approaching.
After the workshop, they decided to try some of the mulled wine. It warmed their hands and their insides as they wandered around the various chalets looking at the different items for purchase. They both ended up buying a couple of small items. Jane's favorites were the handmade ornaments they bought for themselves, Angela, and Maura's parents.
Maura and Jane's dinner reservation was on the other side of town, so they reluctantly left the market to find a cab. Knowing that cabs would be hard to come by outside the busy market, they made sure to give themselves plenty of time to get to their 8pm reservation. Weisses Rössli is one of the highest rated restaurants in Zurich having earned a Michelin plate.
They were seated promptly at 8pm. While the popular restaurant was crowded, they were lucky enough to be seated at a table in the back corner of the restaurant but still next to a window. Light snow had begun to fall again, so the warm ambient lighting inside the restaurant combined with the city lights and snow outside the window created a wonderful atmosphere.
Since it was a special occasion, both Maura and Jane decided to choose the five-course meal that included a starter, intermediate course, main course, cheese, and dessert. Jane was glad that the menu was available in English. Maura decided to choose the option that allowed the chef to surprise her. However, she did request the Foie gras as her starter. Jane went with the Lobster Cappelletti for a starter. For her main meal, the chef chose Mathieu's Baggli, which Maura loved but Jane refused to even try. Jane ordered the duck breast mostly because it came with gnocchi so she knew she would at least like that. Both of them ended up loving their meals. For dessert, they shared the Christmas cookie mousse and the Gingerbread crème brûlée.
Taking the first bite of dessert, Jane decided that this holiday version of crème brûlée was her new favorite dessert.
"Oh my god, Maur, you have to try this," Jane said instantly filling her spoon with a large bite of the crème brûlée. She held her spoon up for Maura to try the dessert. Locking eyes with Jane, Maura leaned forward and gently sucked the dessert from the spoon. When Maura let out a soft moan at the taste, Jane felt an involuntary shiver run down her spine as Maura made even this look incredibly sexy.
"That is amazing," Maura said softly. "You should try the mousse. It's very good, as well." She mirrored Jane's earlier action by holding out a spoonful of mousse for Jane to try. Not quite as graceful as her girlfriend, Jane managed to get half of it on her lips when she took the bite from Maura's spoon. She started to laugh but was instantly silenced when Maura leaned forward to kiss the remaining mousse from Jane's lips. Satisfied that Jane's mouth was clean, Maura gave one last swipe of her tongue across Jane's slightly parted lips before sitting back with a smirk.
Taking a moment to recover from her shock, Jane eventually smiled at Maura's antics. She never realized how good Maura was at flirting. Sure, they had always playfully flirted with each other, but now that they were together, Maura was taking it to a whole new level and Jane was loving it.
After dinner, they met their driver outside the restaurant. Maura was slightly nervous about the drive back to her parents' home due to the increasingly heavy snow coming down, but the driver assured her that the roads were still safe to drive back.
Maura slid into the backseat next to Jane, sitting close enough that she could lean against Jane. Jane wrapped her arm around Maura's shoulder pulling her close trying to offer comfort to ease Maura's nerves about the drive.
After riding in silence for a few minutes, Jane turned to plant a soft kiss on the top of Maura's head, which was now resting on Jane's shoulder. "Thanks for today," she whispered into Maura's hair.
Maura shifted so that she was still in Jane's arms but could now look her in the face. "I'm glad you enjoyed it," she said. "I had a wonderful time with you. I've been to Zurich many times, but I will always remember today."
Maura brought her hand up and placed it on the back of Jane's neck, pulling her into a deep kiss. They stayed like that, locking in each other's embrace until things started to get too heated. While the driver was doing a good job of ignoring them and staying professional, neither woman wanted to go any further than making-out while someone else was in the car.
They continued to whisper together in the back seat, exchanging soft kisses every once in a while, for the rest of the drive home. Maura was surprised when they pulled onto her parents' property. She had been so lost in Jane that she had stopped worrying about the weather, which was a good thing given the thick blanket of snow that now covered the ground.
Maura and Jane said goodnight to their driver before making their way back to their room. After completing their evening routines, they climbed into bed together. Too tired to do much else, they shared a soft kiss before snuggling together and falling asleep almost instantly.
Saturday, December 28
Since they planned to leave for Geneva the next day, Maura and Jane decided to spend Saturday being as lazy as possible. After spending some time together in bed, they made their way to the family dining room for a late brunch.
They walked around the house after brunch just exploring some of the rooms Maura hadn't spent much time in lately. Eventually, they ended up in the library, which was Maura's favorite room in the entire house.
"I always wanted a library like this in my own house," Maura admitted. She was walking along one of the walls filled to the ceiling with books, lightly running her finger along the book spines as she went.
Jane came up behind her and wrapped her arms around her waist, resting her chin on Maura's shoulder. "You can still have one," she said.
Maura shrugged, but Jane didn't release her. "I suppose," Maura said quietly. "There really isn't room in my current home – or rather, our current home." She said the last part with a smile.
"I love our home," Jane said. "But maybe one day we will want something different. We might want more room for kids or a dog or I don't know. If we do decide to move, we could find a place that has a library – or build one."
Maura spun around quickly in Jane's arms, surprising Jane. Sliding her own arms around Jane's waist, Maura pulled Jane close. Their faces barely an inch apart, Maura asked quietly, "Do you want kids?"
Caught off guard, Jane faltered, "Oh…um…I…"
"Sorry, I shouldn't have…" Maura started awkwardly. Sensing Jane's discomfort, Maura tried to pull out of her arm, but Jane held her in place.
Jane smiled at Maura. "Stop," she chastised lightly. "Of course, you should ask. You can ask me anything. You just caught me off guard is all, so it took me a few seconds to realize what you were asking. To answer your question, yes, I would like kids. I would like to raise a family with you."
A genuine smile replaced the nervous expression on Maura's face. "I would also very much like to have children with you," she said. Stepping back, she dragged Jane with her and sat in one of the comfortable chairs in the corner of the library, pulling Jane down so they were sitting in the same chair. She wrapped her arms around Jane before continuing, "The other day, before we were together, my cousins were asking me if we wanted children since you were so good with the kids. They thought we were already together."
"They're not the first," Jane interrupted with a laugh.
"True," Maura said. "But, it was a little uncomfortable when they realized that we weren't dating but that I was in love with you. Anyway, I realized at that point that I didn't really know what you wanted."
"Just so you know, I would have been okay if you didn't want to have kids. You're enough for me, but I think we'd be really good parents and there's no one else I'd want to experience parenthood with."
"I feel exactly the same way," Maura replied.
"I don't have a preference on how we have them, though," Jane continued. "What I mean is, I don't care whether we adopt or if we decide to have a biological child, I don't care whose egg we use or who carries the child."
"I love you so much," Maura said, leaning in to give Jane a kiss. "I can't wait to explore our options together."
"Me either," Jane said. "Can I ask, do you have any preferences on how we have a child?"
"Of course, you can ask, but I don't really have a good answer," Maura said honestly. "I'd like to explore all of our options and do some research about what would be best for us." Maura paused for a few moments before continuing, "I reserve the right to change my mind as we talk through our options together, but I did have what I suppose you would call a gut reaction to your question though."
"If I promise not to hold you to it, will you tell me?" Jane asked.
"Can you also promise not to tell anyone else, at least until we made an actual decision?" Maura asked nervously.
"Of course, Maur," Jane said. "I would never tell anyone. Even if we end up going with whatever option you are thinking about right now, if you don't want people to know that you mentioned it first, we don't have to tell anyone. We can keep all of these conversations just between the two of us. It's not like I'm going to go around saying, 'Well, Maura wanted this, and I just went along with it.' It will always be, 'This is what we both want.'"
Maura couldn't help but squeeze Jane tighter at her words. Taking a deep breath, Maura responded, "I'm in no way set on this option, but my initial…well, um…"
"Maur," Jane whispered quietly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but there is nothing you can tell me that will upset me. You do understand that at least, right?"
Maura nodded against Jane's shoulder. "Iwaspicturingyoupregnantusingmyegg," Maura in one breath before she buried her face in the crook of Jane's neck.
Jane gently ran her fingers through Maura's hair. She didn't respond right away because she wanted to make sure she didn't say the wrong thing. "Why are you so afraid to tell me that?" she asked.
"I don't know," Maura said. "I guess it feels a little selfish."
Jane laughed. "There's absolutely nothing about wanting that that is selfish," she said. "To be honest, though, it wouldn't have been my first guess."
"I love my parents, and I'm incredibly grateful that they adopted me," Maura said. "But…"
"I understand," Jane said. "You like the idea of being biologically related to someone in your family. There's nothing wrong with that, Maura."
Maura nodded, but Jane knew she wasn't convinced.
"And, personally, I'd love to have a child that is biologically related to you. Can't you just picture me arguing with a little blond-haired know-it-all?"
Maura finally laughed. "Yes, I can, but I can also picture you arguing with a fiery little dark-haired know-it-all."
"Well, apparently I'm just destined to argue with our know-it-all children," Jane teased. "But seriously, Maur, if that's still what you want after you do your research and we talk about it more, I'd love that. I'd love to carry and give birth to a child that is biologically yours."
"What did you think I was going to want?" Maura asked curiously.
"I actually thought you would want to be the one to be pregnant," Jane said.
"I would do it if you wanted me to or if you didn't want to be the one to do it, but it wouldn't be my preference. Honestly, I feel more strongly about that than I do about the biology of our child. Like I said, I would do it. I'm not saying no."
"I know you're not saying no, and you reserve the right to change your mind, but if you don't, just know that I would love to do it," Jane said.
"Really?" Maura asked.
"Yeah, I guess I just always thought I would be pregnant eventually," Jane said honestly.
"Given that we are both over 35, I do think we should both take the tests, just to make sure it's safe for one or both of us to be pregnant," Maura said.
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Jane said.
They lapsed into comfortable silence for a few minutes, each thinking about all the possibilities their shared future could hold.
"We don't have to decide anything right now," Maura said. "But I'm really glad we talked about this. I feel a lot better now."
"Good," Jane said. "I'm glad we talked about it too, and I want you to be able to talk to me about anything even if you think it's weird or selfish or whatever."
Maura laughed lightly. "I want that, too," she admitted.
"Should we see what other trouble we can get into?" Jane asked.
Maura removed herself from Jane's embrace and stood up. Jane followed her, and they went back into the hall. They eventually found themselves in the game room.
"How many pianos do you have in this house?" Jane asked, noticing the grand piano in the corner of the room.
"Four," Maura said, sitting down on the piano bench. Jane sat down next to her, playing with some of the keys. "You know, you never let me hear you play," Maura said.
Jane shrugged, not taking her fingers off the keys. "I don't really play for people," she said. "Especially not since…"
Maura took Jane's hands in hers and lightly massaged her scars, effectively letting Jane know that she knew what she was referring to even if Jane didn't want to say it. "I'm the only one here," Maura said. "Will you play something?"
Jane looked Maura in the eye before nodding slightly. "Can you slide down a bit?" she asked, and Maura obliged.
Jane paused to think about what to play. Not very many people knew this, but Jane actually practiced the piano all the time when she was alone. She kept her keyboard under her bed. She knew Maura knew about it, but it wasn't something they talked about and Maura had rarely heard Jane play.
Settling on a song she knew she could play from memory, Jane started playing John Legend's "All of Me," singing the lyrics while she played. She played this song often at home because it reminded her of Maura. She felt Maura shift slightly closer to her when she got to the chorus:
Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All you perfect imperfections…
When Jane finished, she turned to look at Maura, who was crying softly on the bench next to her. She reached up and brushed Maura's tears away with her thumb. "I always loved that song because it reminded me of you," she admitted softly.
Maura didn't know how to respond with words, so she responded with action, leaning forward to give Jane a deep loving kiss. Threading her fingers into Jane's hair and pulling her closer, Maura tried to put everything she was feeling into the kiss.
The spell was broken when Maura's phone buzzed indicating she received a text. It was from Margaret: Hi Maura. I know you and Jane probably have plans for New Year's Eve, but we were wondering if you guys wanted to get together since our parents are all going out together. No pressure though.
Jane, who had been reading over Maura's shoulder, said, "Do you want to get together with them?"
"Honestly, I hadn't really thought about New Year's Eve yet other than knowing I want to be with you," Maura said.
"Well, that's a given," Jane said. "But I think we should get together with your cousins. Who knows the next time we'll get to see them? If you don't want to, though, we don't have to. I'd also love it to just be the two of us."
"I think I'd like to get together with them. Let me ask what they have planned."
Maura: Thank you for the invitation. Jane and I would love to spend New Year's Eve with you guys if we can. What do you have planned? We'd likely have to find a way to get there.
Margaret: Well, we aren't really that organized. We literally just thought that we should do something, so we're open to ideas. Elizabeth and Phillip had offered to watch the kids. So far, it looks like it will be me and James, Adeliza and Ben, you and Jane, Sarah and Mark. We haven't heard back from Joseph yet.
Maura: Everyone is welcome to come here. We'd have the whole house to ourselves and there is plenty of room for everyone to spend the night so no one has to worry about driving.
Margaret: Oh, I love that idea. Let me check with everyone else and I will get back to you.
"Are you sure this is okay with you?" Maura asked Jane.
"Yeah, I think it's a great idea," Jane said. "Do we need to ask your parents?"
Maura shook her head. "No, we don't need permission for them to stay here. I will, of course, let them know as a courtesy."
"Cool," Jane replied.
Later, Maura and Jane spent a nice evening with Maura's parents. They had an informal dinner before they retired to the in-home theater to watch a movie together. At some point during the evening, Margaret confirmed that they would all come to the Isles' house for New Year's Eve.
Before bed, Maura and Jane packed overnight bags for their trip to Geneva since they were planning on leaving the next day. They ended the wonderful day making love to each other until they fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms.
A/N: A Michelin plate is awarded to restaurants that have very good food but haven't yet earned a star or Bib Gourmand. Basically, it's a very good restaurant that has the potential to earn a Michelin star in the future.
Also, I do know that "All of Me" technically came out after this story is supposed to take place, but I'm just going to ignore that. It's too perfect for the type of song I was looking for to use in this scene.