Excited barking met Maura at the door, a sight both familiar and comforting. 'Hello girls! Yes, hello!' She said as she got down on a knee to greet both pups. Boston was wiggling her whole body, leaping in and out of petting range in excitement. Berry stood patiently, accepting all the pets, her tail wagging heartily.
Jane, hearing the commotion, followed the dogs to the front door with a big smile, 'Hey Maur! How did it go?' She offered Maura a hand up from the floor.
Maura accepted the hand, 'it was wonderful seeing Hope again. I'm glad she and Cailin will both be joining us for supper tomorrow.'
Jane was glad to hear that, she knew Hope and Maura were figuring out the dynamics of their relationship but Jane couldn't help feeling protective of Maura. 'That's good Maura!'
'Has Angela been over?' Maura asked tentatively. She wasn't eager for another round with the elder woman but she hated fighting with her as well.
Jane shook her head, 'nope, she's been quiet as a church mouse. She didn't even poke her head out when I took the girls for a walk.' Maura nodded, slipping off her shoes and hanging up her things. 'Do you wanna talk about it?' Jane asked watching Maura carefully, 'because I'm dying to know what you said.'
Maura headed for the kitchen, all three of her girls following her. She needed to do something with her hands, anything really, if she was going to talk about this. 'I told her that you are happy, that a man and children might never be a part of your equation and that she needed to accept that.' Out of default, Maura began making coffee. She could always put the process on a timer for later.
Jane grinned, 'and I take it Ma didn't like that too much.'
Maura let out a heavy sigh, 'no, she didn't. She said she might never be able to accept that.' Maura felt the heat rise in her cheeks, she had been harsh with Angela.
Jane, sensing an opportunity to tease, teased, 'and you...'
Maura set the coffee grounds down heavier than she intended causing a small explosion of grounds on the counter top, 'I told her if she could not accept your answer then she could at least not blame you for her own shortcomings.'
Jane gwaped, 'you didn't!'
'It isn't funny Jane!' Maura said feeling embarrassed and frustrated. She swiped angrily at the grounds with a wet cloth.
'Of course it is!' Jane retorted chuckling. 'You told my mother to shove it and lived! Just wait until Tommy and Frankie hear about this!'
Maura threw the cloth in to the sink, 'you will tell them no such thing!'
'Ma would have smacked any one of us on the head if we said something like that to her!' Jane continued, ignoring Maura's bristling. 'I think you might actually be her favorite.'
Maura whirled to face Jane, 'this isn't funny Jane. Your mother didn't hit me because she knows I'm right.'
Jane stopped laughing and walked around the island to offer Maura a hug. For a moment, Jane thought Maura might resist and then she stepped in to the embrace and buried her face in Jane's shoulder. 'You usually are,' Jane murmurred softly. Jane placed a soft kiss on Maura's head. 'Ma loves you Maura, it might take her some time but you guys will get past this.' Maura nodded and sniffled, huddling in Jane's embrace. 'Sometimes we have to speak hard truths to the people we love. Like when I tell you that you spend too much time and money on shoes. That's not an easy conversation for me,' Jane said with exaggerated galantry, 'but I do it because I love you and it's the truth.'
Maura chuckled and shoved Jane away from her, 'you're the worst!'
Jane smiled, 'I know but you love me.'
Maura stepped quickly in to Jane's space and wrapped her in a second hug. 'I do,' Maura replied, 'I think that's what makes me so angry with Angela. I know she loves you but I hate that she thinks her plan for your life is the best plan for your life. Why can't she just be happy that you're happy? Love isn't supposed to be conditional.'
Jane returned the hug, 'I know but my Ma's ovaries have been screaming for grandbabies for as long as I've been alive. That's a hard dream to let die. Especially...' Jane trailed off.
'After it came so close to coming true?' Maura offered.
'Yeah.' Jane replied her voice breaking with emotion, 'it's just going to take time. Menopause will probably help.' Maura chuckled at that. 'Thank you for being mad on my behalf,' Jane spoke seriously, 'but it's okay to let it go. I would never want to hurt your and Ma's relationship.'
Maura nodded and pulled reluctantly away from Jane. She finished the process of making coffee, cleaning up after the process. Jane stayed near by, offering a hand when Maura needed it. Jane told Maura about her morning and Maura told Jane about her talk with Hope, the two never really straying from one another's orbit. Taking an unspoken comfort from one another.
Angela slept poorly, her thoughts churning as she considered the evening before. She had certainly gone too far in blaming Jane for her miscarriage. Even if she believed it, believed that Jane could have and should have acted differently, it had been cruel to blame Jane. Angela felt guilty about that. She had apologised but it ate at her. Angela could understand Maura's anger with her for that. She was angry at herself. What she could not understand was Maura's parting jab. That it was some how Angela's fault that Jane would not settle down.
Angela had spent a better part of the evening and most of the morning turning the words over. Angela wasn't a perfect mother and she and Frank obviously had their problems but Angela felt certain she had done well with her kids. She had raised them well, taught them about the importance of family and love. Tommy was a wonderful father. Things hadn't worked with Lydia but Angela knew he had been a good husband too. Frankie and Nina were sweet and supportive of one another. Angela knew they would have a happy marriage. But Jane? Jane eschewed any semblance of committment. Angela had always assumed it was Jane's job, her horrible history with that awful doctor turned serial killer. But Maura had said it was Angela's own deficiencies.
Angela sighed, sipping her coffee. She could hear Jane and the dogs heading out for a walk. Angela was tempted to join but she knew she would only bother her eldest with questions and Angela suspected neither of them would enjoy that. How had Angela failed Jane so deeply? That she didn't want love? Family? When nothing presented itself, Angela sighed.
Perhaps Maura was wrong. Maura had said Jane was happy with their life in Virginia. It irked Angela that they had a life in Virginia that she wasn't a part of. She had wanted Jane to quit her job. To be safer. She hadn't wanted Jane to leave Boston. And Maura had followed Jane. The two of them were always together, which Angela understood when they were partners for work. They were a team, they saw horrors together. They solved crime together. Maura understood Jane's life at the police department like no one else, except perhaps Vince, but that was Boston. Perhaps that was the problem. Maura had followed Jane to Virginia. They had moved in together like two kids in college. Grown women didn't need roommates. Maura had moved to Virginia and Jane had gravitated to her best friend. She probably hadn't even given Agent Davies a chance. That had to be it.
Angela sighed, glaring at her coffee. She was at an impasse then. Both Maura and Jane professed to be happy in Virginia. Angela couldn't break them up without making one or both of them miserable. Angela would simply have to give Maura a reason to move back to Boston. Then, maybe, Jane would finally give Agent Davies a call. Angela set her coffee cup and began getting ready for the day. Perhaps, Angela reasoned, Maura just needed to meet a man of her own so she wouldn't want to stay in Virginia.
