The following day started slow. It was raining outside and as Julia and Sophie were still allowed to stay at home instead of going to school, it felt like holidays already.
"What happened to your nose, ma?" Julia asked looking bewildered when seeing the swollen thing in her face. It hurt like hell, but Jane tried not do show it. "I got hit by a ball yesterday, honey." She replied, seeing how a blushing Maura entered the kitchen, dressed in a golden silk pajama and a dressing gown. Jane swallowed, noticing how gorgeous the blonde woman was without makeup and her disheveled hair. It hit her, that for the first time, it felt okay to think of Maura in that way and she smiled.
"Good morning." She greeted and earned a kiss to her cheek, before being ordered to sit at the counter.
"The least I can do is to make breakfast." Maura said busing herself taking out some eggs of the fridge. The brunette noticed how Julia looked disappointed. She loved preparing breakfast with Jane. "Go ask her. Maybe she needs some help." Jane whispered and winked.
Julia's face lit up and the girl walked around the counter offering Maura to help her. Maura who had no idea where to find the pan etc. accepted Julia's help gladly and Jane watched happy how the blonde allowed her to climb on the chair to scramble the eggs.
"Does it hurt?" Maura asked upon inspecting Janes nose when getting ready for a museum. Jane cringed as a finger lightly touched the broken part. Well, there was no use of denying now. "Looks like no one will see after the swelling is gone." The blonde said her face hovering dangerously close to Janes during the examination.
The girls busted into the bedroom, interrupting the temptation to kiss the blonde by stating that they were ready to go. Jane shot Maura a short look and noted that the blonde looked a bit disappointed too. they smiled at each other before following the kids to help them get their shoes and coates on.
It had been Janes suggestion to visit the exhibition about dinosaurs, hoping that the kids would love it. And she loved watching Maura explain things to them. Unlike with adults, Maura had a talent to explain stuff in a simple way with children.
There weren't many people at the museum around this time of day. So, they moved in peace between the exhibits which consisted of huge dinosaur figures, bones and fossils.
Sophie had recovered well from the shock and ran around with Julia, they were all excited and emerged into the world of the ancient creatures, which gave Jane and Maura time to themselves.
"That was a great idea!" Maura stated with a smile. "They love it."
"Yeah." Jane chuckled. "It was my rain program for next week's holiday."
They stood in front of a huge tyrannosaurus rex, whose hands were moving. "Beautiful creatures, did you know….." Maura started a monologue to which Jane payed a lot attention as she found the subject fascinating.
She reached out for Maura's hand as they walked to the next exhibit, while the girls were totally concentrated on some dinosaur game. Jane stood behind Maura, their hands resting on a rail surrounding a fossil displaying a huge footprint. She took care to stand close, but not too close.
Maura quickly glanced at the girls whose eyes were still glued to the screen. "You don't have to worry." Jane whispered cheekily. "Your daughter has asked me when I was going to kiss you."
"She what?" the blonde blushed and chuckled. "Seriously?"
"Yeah, it was at the funfair."
Maura gasped in surprise. Then continued after a pause. "So, when are you going to kiss me?" she cheekily asked.
Jane grinned, although Maura couldn't see it. "I will kiss you, when the time is right." She said, biting her lips.
"Maybe after our next date?" the blonde suggested. Jane rolled her eyes, seeing as they had been so close already this morning.
"Hmmm, sounds good. But the next date is on me." she said, and they left to look after the kids after agreeing to have it in a few days. Jane had to check if Amelia was free for that night.
After some lunch at McDonalds they drove home where Sophie and Julia made a tent around Julia's desk, while Maura and Jane sat on the couch watching an old Mrs. Marple movie. The rain had brought back the cold and so the brunette reached for a blanket and covered them both with it.
Moreover, she offered Maura to snuggle into her arm when noticing that the blonde shivered. The blonde accepted gratefully and soon Jane felt in amusement that she was not the only one with a heightened heartbeat.
It was three days later, when she let Amelia into the flat. It was still raining, and the girls had enlarged the tent to an extent where it became difficult to move in the room. Jane and Maura had hardly managed to tuck them in the previous night and Jane wondered if the tent would cover the entire room including the bed by the time they came home.
She glanced at Maura who was already putting on her shoes, wearing a blue skirt with a matching blazer over a white blouse. Jane herself wore one of her dark working suits, with a red top and her some decent high heels.
This should be fine she thought while kissing Sophie and Julia goodbye. She had planned taking Maura out for dinner at a nice restaurant first, and then they would watch a string concert later. She hoped Maura would like it. Nervousness also filled her about their discussion of the kiss. It wasn't that she didn't want to kiss Maura. But she just wanted the time to be right.
Dinner went great and they spent a lot of time talking about old cases and some of Janes recent ones. But also, about themselves. So much had happened since they had last talked to each other that it felt difficult to find a place where to start because there was so much they wanted to know about each other.
Jane learned that Maura had been married for almost seven years to a French guy called Louis. He was the son of one of Constance's many acquaintances. Rich to the point that they had been living in a castle, Louis had insisted that Maura stopped working.
But that wasn't the only thing which had bothered Maura at the end. After her husband's countless affairs with men and women she had called it quits and demanded the divorce. She had moved back to Boston just when they had met at the airport. Thank god, she had never sold the house.
Jane on the other side told her that she had been with Chris for two years. Then she had moved to the apartment after been thrown out and had finally decided to let no one to her heart again. The last sentence had made the blonde raise an eyebrow, so she chuckled. "Well, turns out it was a stupid plan. I had no idea back then that this" she paused and pointed the finger between them "would ever happen."
Maura grinned, taking a sip from her wineglass. "Me neither. I honestly thought you would never talk to me again. And I would understand why."
Jane glanced at painful eyes and covered the blonde's hands with hers. "Honey, Its okay now. I needed an explanation. And I thought over it, it made sense. We just have to talk more directly if needed."
Maura nodded. Jane noticing how easy the pet name had come over her lips, although not intended. The blonde relaxed again, when they moved to the tiny concert hall. The musicians were young, but very talented and gave a great performance.
Both had their hands placed on the other one's thigh for the longest time and removed it reluctantly when the concert was over.
A tall elegant dressed woman called Maura's name, when Jane was just helping her into her coat.
"Maura!" the woman sounded breathless when catching up with them. "I haven't seen you in a long time. How are you? Constance told me that you were back to the states."
It was obvious that Maura wasn't happy to see the woman who was staring down at Jane. "Justine." The blonde said with a fake smile, which she usually reserved for the family and friends of the family. "May I introduce you to my lovely girlfriend Jane?"
The brunette almost chocked but caught herself quickly and shook the elder woman's hand, who herself tried to hide her emotions. "I didn't know that you were uhm.." Justine said and quickly turned when she saw another acquaintance, she could bother.
Maura chuckled to Janes surprise and grabbed for her hand. Jane bit her lip asking the blonde in the car if her mother knew about them. Maura laughed and tilted her head to say no. "But she will know soon. I'm pretty sure that she'll call within the next two hours."
"And you don't mind?" the brunette wondered.
"Well, she gave me a three-hour speech what a bad person I am for divorcing Louis. The Isles don't divorce, they sit it through were her words." Maura shrugged as if this was explanation enough but then added. "I have let them terrorize me all my life. I was like a stupid donkey who crouched and begged the carrot called love. I'm too old for that shit. And I don't want to hide whom I love for that matter."
Jane felt her heart thump hard in her chest. Maura had said she loved her. After that came another realization. Dr. Maura Isles hat just sworn. She laughed out in relieve and saw Maura throwing her a puzzled look.
"What?" she asked already chuckling.
"You swore Maura Isles. I think I might be bad influence."
The blonde burst out in laughter. "Thank god, life would be colorless and boring without you. I tried it but it didn't work for me."
Jane smiled silently at these words and the fact that Maura accepted her the way she was. And if needed she could count on her standing up to defending her.
After coming home shortly after ten they went to say good night to Julia and Sophie who were already asleep. Jane silently thanked god, that the tent a gotten no further enlargement.
They ended up showering and changing into their pajamas. Jane felt a rush of adrenaline when after a while of talking and holding hands on the couch she was ready to kiss this beautiful and taunting lips of Maura's. And it was just then when Constance's face appeared on the display of Maura's phone. Jane cursed inwardly when the blonde picked up. So, her second attempt to kiss that woman had failed and she got off the couch to fetch the wine bottle in frustration. Fate was a cruel bitch she thought thinking that at first, she had made her run into Maura, and now she wouldn't let her kiss the woman.
Well honestly, she also felt a bit angry about Maura who could have chosen to ignore the call. Tomorrow was another day after all.
"Yes, that's right. I'm with Jane now." She heard the blondes voice drift over from the couch. Jane rolled her eyes walking back to the living area, pouring them more wine.
The blonde shot her a grateful look while continuing the talk with her adoptive mother. "Mother I don't care who sees me, and I care less about the talk."
After a while Jane walked back into the kitchen to fetch some cheese, as she was slowly starting to feel hungry. Hungry and guilty for making fun of Maura wanting to swap parents. She was almost done cutting the cheese into pieces, when the blonde hung up.
"Are you okay, hon?" she gingerly asked putting the knife into the sink.
Maura smiled. "Of course. I managed to tell Constance to stay out of my business without yelling at her. I was as polite as she had taught me to be." Maura chuckled. Then she became more serious, grabbing for some cheese. "No, seriously. I'm fine. What parent isn't happy when her child is? I will never understand that."
Jane growled taking some cheese too, now knowing that it probably wouldn't make it to the coffee table anyway as Maura seemed to want to have this discussion in the kitchen. Hell, she had even brought their glasses of wine. Jane wondered what was wrong with the couch.
"Mine, for example." She said, drinking some wine. "Although ma loves you so much, that we could get lucky not to die if we tell her that we are more than friends now." The brunette added with a thoughtful glare.
Maura almost spilled the wine onto the counter. "Will you tell her?" she asked.
Jane tilted no with her head, pursing her lips, she had no intention to spill the beans. At least not now. To her surprise Maura silently moved into her arms and she had to stretch her arm to get rid of the wine glass to hold her close. She closed her eyes and sighed. It was a strange feeling to have Maura so near and she didn't even know if Maura had hugged her because of her own parents or to comfort Jane because of her mother. Maybe both. Anyways it felt good and natural.
"I believe you were just about to do something when my phone rang." Maura pulled away and smiled daring at Jane who acted as if she couldn't remember to tease the blonde. "Not that I know." She stated taking another sip and Maura chuckled. "Well I hope you remember sometime. I'm off to bed now."
Jane just couldn't believe it. There was almost a feeling of disappointment when she saw Maura walking towards the bedroom.
"Seriously Maur?" she asked when entering the room after a soft knock. Maura was just getting rid of her dressing gown and Jane noted that a candle was burning on the nightstand covering the room with a soft and warm light.
"Well, you know, we have electricity in the flat. Wonderful invention. Shall I show you?" Jane smirked teasingly, admitting to herself, that Maura knew how to put romance into the whole thing and that she liked it.
The blonde bit her lip not to laugh. She grabbed softly Janes arm which was reaching for the light switch and pulled her close. The rest went by itself as Jane leaned in to meet Maura's lips for a tentative kiss. There was a flutter in her gut, when she brushed the soft and sweet tasting lips for the first time and the butterflies came to life again.
She parted her lips after a while and felt Maura's tongue tentatively searching hers for a dance. Jane had kissed before, but she couldn't recall one single time it had felt like this. Butterflies were dancing around her stomach and chills were wandering up and down her body.
They paused when needing some air, still holding hands, standing or better said swaying in a candle lit room, looking at each other gently. Jane putting a strand of blonde hair where it belonged, happy.
They kissed a bit more, exploring a side which despite spending so many nights together they never had.
Somehow it felt right for Jane to move back into the bedroom, and she went to fetch her pillow and her blanket to claim her side again. The candle was still burning when she lay on her back, her head resting on her crossed arms. The blonde lay beside her, eyes closed. Probably meditating Jane mused.
She replayed the evening in her head, like she often did with her days. The kissing had been incredible, and although she had been a little bit aroused, they hadn't proceeded to make love. It just had been enough to taste the lips. It felt kind of strange and exciting to lay next to each other, hearing the other one's breath.
At first, she thought that it had all been a dream, when she woke up holding Julia in her arms instead of Maura, whom she expected. But as she tried to stir, she noted that someone was also lying behind her back. She carefully turned around to find Maura, who held Sophie in her arms. Both blondes were still asleep by the sound of the deep breathes.
"This is a dream come true." She mumbled, slightly chuckling. Only that in her dream, everything had been slightly different and more comfortable. "Ma, are you okay?" Julia looked at her worried. "Yeah, honey. I'm fine." she said and kissed the top of her head. "We should giggle them." Julia whispered with a conspiratorially tone meaning tickle. Sometimes Julia would pretend to be asleep in the morning and Jane then tickled her. The girl adored it.
"I'm not sure if they would appreciate it, honey." Jane whispered back kissing the tip of the tiny nose which made the girl smile. "I could giggle you." Julia whispered.
"Naw. But you know what we could do?" The girl stared at her with wide eyes tilting her head. "We could get up and make some breakfast for our friends."
Julia nodded excited, already slipping out of bed. Jane followed, hoping that they hadn't already woken everybody up with their chat.
Jane threw the ingredients for pancakes into a bowl and let Julia stir it. In the meantime, she made cocoa for the kids and coffee for the grownups. Maura and Sophie entered the room by the time everything was finished.
"We made breakfast." Julia proudly told them, climbing down from the chair which she had used while cooking.
"Yeah, you are very lucky. You could have gotten tickled instead of getting breakfast." Jane smirked and winked at Maura who gingerly asked, "Are we okay, Jane?" the brunette glanced at the kids who were pouring too much sirup on the pancakes like usually and furrowed her eyebrows. "Yes, Maur. We're okay." She smiled squeezing the blonde's hand.
Jane sat down to the table with Maura, scolding Julia for taking too much sirup. The obligatory eye rolling was followed by a "But we are on holiday, ma." Whining which made Maura almost burst out into a good laughter.
The blonde almost chocked though, when Julia asked Jane when she would finally kiss Maura. Jane blushed first, then shot Maura a there you go look.
One thing was sure, if this relationship worked out, they were doomed with two kids like Julia and Sophie Jane thought and chuckled. "Honey, I already kissed her." Sophie looked as if this information caused her to relieve. "Oh, good." She mumbled busying herself with the pancakes.
The next question came from Julia who held a sirup soaked piece of pancake to the air. "Are we going to have a brother then?" Maura and Jane gasped.
"Call me if you need help." Maura whispered to Janes ear. She wore a grey skirt today, white blouse and matching blazer again. She was headed for a meeting of the foundation. No wonder her suitcase had been so heavy seeing as to how much different clothes the blonde had brought Jane thought and laughed glancing at the two kids who were now peacefully drawing pictures at the coffee table.
"I will." Jane promised.
"I'll miss you." Maura quickly said leaving a stunned Jane behind. The brunette thought that they would miss each other more in a few days, when it was time for Sophie to go back to school. The plan was to drive them home to Boston in the afternoon and spend the weekend with them there.
Jane had already asked Frankie if he had time for a night at the dirty robber. Needless to say that he had been happy to see her again soon. Although he didn't know about Maura and her yet. But she planned on telling him in person.
Maura came home by midday. Jane had given her a key, because she hadn't known how long the meeting would last and she and the girls had planned to go to the park.
Now she was cooking lasagna with the help of Sophie and Julia, who each manned a spoon to a sauce. She stood between the stools and watched them.
The first thing she saw when she looked up to greet Maura was a bouquet of flowers. At first, she just didn't know what to say. She wasn't used to getting flowers or presents in general she was the one to ….
She went over to kiss Maura. "Thank you, Maur. I just.. I just don't know what to say. They are beautiful!"
Maura blushed when seeing Jane so touched. "Well, I thought you might like them. I have never done this before." She muttered under her breath. "I mean bringing flowers to the person I uhm like."
"I know its hard to believe but I never received flowers from a person I uhm liked." Jane replied thinking of and Dean who had brought her lots of bouquets. And she had liked them, but not the way she liked Maura Isles.
Both giggled shyly before Jane tried to find a vase. Meanwhile searching the cupboards, she asked the blonde how the meeting was.
"It was good. I'm surprised I'm not inherited now." Maura stated greeting both kids with a kiss on the cheek.
Jane glanced at her, filling the vase with water and rolled her eyes.
After eating lunch and cleaning away the dishes, they travelled back to Boston. Jane and Maura hadn't talked about what it would be like, when work and school started again. Maybe they could work something out to see each other frequently on the weekends.
But there was something else which rolled around her mind. Maura had told her while washing the dishes that he had had a talk with one of the lawyers on the board who had offered to help her with getting rid of the debts. The blonde had given her his card so she could call him for help adding that he would do it for free. Obviously, he owed her a favor or something. She decided to do so on Monday.
When Jane entered the house in beacon hill she was surprised as to how much Maura had adjusted her home to a six-year-old.
"Do you like it?" the blonde asked, putting down the suitcases of herself and her daughter to pull off the shoes.
"Yeah. I like it very much." Jane said, going through the original inventory in her mind. A lot of the original furniture was gone and had been replaced by child sized and colorful stuff.
Later that evening Jane was getting ready to meet Frankie and Korsak. Maura was sitting on the couch watching a movie with the children. The brunette said goodbye to all of them and went off.
There were less people at the bar this time and she immediately spotted her brother sitting in the same spot he had been the last time. She received warm hugs from him and Korsak who automatically put a beer to the counter in front of her.
The evening was just as nice as the last one. They were chatting a lot about different topics. Jane avoiding giving them a description how she had broken her nose, not wanting to give to much away right at the beginning
"So, Jane. What brings you here?" Frankie asked her after a while looking curious.
Jane took a sip from her bottle and smiled gingerly. She put a strand of hair out of her face before speaking up. "I'm here to visit Maura."
"That's good right?" Frankie asked. "Yeah, its good. We somehow got to talk and clear some things up, like you suggested. I mean somewhere in between she broke my nose but we are fine."
Korsak glanced at her. "Talking or fistfight? Who won? Probably you, seeing that Maura isn't here." He joked, getting the point before Frankie who looked confused in between them.
"We uhm had a date. Maura took me to the battle cage and well… here I go with a broken nose."
Korsak laughed while Jane smiled recalling their first date. "I would have loved to see that date. I bet I know what happened. You tried to show her how to hold the bat and then.."
Frankie said no way! and glanced at Jane who tried to hide her blush behind the bottle.
"That is so cheesy." He said to tease her and laughed. Korsak interrupted him by saying "look who's talking now? Luring your girl to a telescope on a starry night, giving her some speech and ask her to marry her? You Rizzolis have romantic but cheesy written all over you." He chuckled.
Now it was Frankie who blushed.
"Yeah anyways, Maura is sitting the kids and that's why she's not here. I didn't hurt her, I swear." Jane lifted her fingers in scout style and grinned.
Korsak chuckled. "Maybe next time you find a babysitter and you bring her with you. I haven't seen her in ages, and I would love to see her again."
Jane nodded and glanced at her watch. It was already one am. She decided to go home and said goodbye to the boys.
It hit her on the way home that none of them had been surprised to find out about their dating and stuff. In the contrary. They seemed to have expected it, probably even back then, when they were still working for the BPD.
Maura was still awake and reading one of Janes thrillers, when the brunette came home. She had quickly passed to say goodnight to the girls and asked Maura about their evening. She was relieved to hear that everything had gone fine and quickly slipped into the bathroom for a shower and to change into a tank top and boxers which served as a pajama.
"Korsak said, I should bring you with me next time. He misses you." Jane said after giving Maura a kiss.
"So, you told them about us?" Maura smiled and put a marker to the page before putting the book aside. Then she took Janes hand and both looked in amazement how their fingers laced on the blonde's belly.
"Yes, and you know what? They weren't even surprised." Jane replied lifting her eyes back to Maura's.
"Yeah, I bet they had always secretly believed that we belonged together."
Jane was astonished at how matter of factly Maura had stated the obvious. And although being obvious, Jane herself had never seen it.
"You're reading thrillers now?" Jane changed the subject and they talked on for a while until they both fell asleep.