If Maura reciprocated her feelings but wasn't ready to admit to them yet, Jane could live with it. All she had needed was clarification about Maura's feelings which she had finally gotten the previous night. She walked into the precinct with a wide grin. Cavanaugh had asked her for a talk, and she was curious what the fuss was all about.

Probably her absent-minded behavior from last week she assumed as she sat down to the visitors chair in front of his huge desk. Jane felt highly uncomfortable for not doing her work properly and apologized once he too had sat down. She hated to appear weak. His eyes widened. "I didn't notice anything. That's not why I gave you the days off. I just heard that you had to move out of your house in a hurry. And you haven't taken one single day off since before Nairobi. The reason I called you in is that I have some questions for you." He stated with furrowed eyebrows.

"Questions? What sort of questions?" Jane cautiously asked.

"You have worked with Dr. Isles?" he replied and put his fingertips together in front of his chest.

"Yes." Jane was still cautious. Everybody at the precinct believed that they were a couple. She hoped that these rumors wouldn't interfere with Maura's chance to become the chief ME. Hence, she tried not to speak too much about their private interactions.

"How is she? I mean is she a good ME? The governor asked me for a reference of you because he considers appointing her to be our new chief ME. As you know Dr. Altman is going to retire soon and we need a successor. I heard that she is brilliant but complicated as a person."

Jane took her time to process the information and to consider what to say. "She is brilliant. And I wouldn't say that she is complicated to work with. She has her peculiarities of course, but don't we have them all?"

Cavanaugh chuckled. "Yes, you are right we all have our peculiarities. So, you'd say yes to appointing her?"

"Oh, absolutely!" Jane said and smiled. "Good, Frost and Korsak also said yes. That means that if she still wants the job, we have a new ME." Cavanaugh looked happy. "A very famous one too." Jane shared his smile.

"Now to another topic. I pulled your file." The smile vanished from Janes face and was replaced by worry. "You hardly ever take your days off. No holiday, no sick day. I would like you to stay at home for the coming week. There is no hard case right now and we can handle the workload without you." This wasn't the first time they had had this conversation, but it was the first time Jane didn't protest. "Okay." She smiled again and he glanced at her in surprise.

"Okay? No fight?" his jaw dropped.

"Yes. I'm totally fine with it. I need time to settle into my new home. Unpack boxes…. And that way I get to spend time with Marcella." Of course, Jane didn't tell him, that this also meant more time for her and Maura. At least until Tuesday.

He shot her a suspicious glance. "Do I need to call a doctor?" he asked, and Jane chuckled, almost saying that a doctor was waiting for her at home. He dismissed her with a gesture, and she padded out of his office, running into Frost. "Hey. How's it going?" he asked. "Good." Jane replied genuinely happy which made Frost suspicious too. Hell, everybody kept telling her to loosen up and now that she had they weren't happy? She shrugged it off and motioned towards the elevator. "I need to go." She said and they said goodbye.

Jane felt lightheaded when walking into Maura's guesthouse. Things had taken a very pleasant turn for her and for once in her life she was willing to not overthink but enjoy. That's what happened when she was around the doc. Good things happened and she felt safe enough not to overthink or over worry. Both, the doc and Marcella, were sitting on the living room floor and Jane took her time to watch them play because none of them had noticed her.

Maura was making some wroom wroom sounds, imitating a car and Marcella was giggling merciless in joy. "Moo- … Mooo…" her little girl tried, and it hit Jane that she was probably trying to say Maura's name. "It's Mau-ra." The blonde gently helped. "Mowa." Marcella giggled and Maura bent down to kiss her tiny cheek. "Very good." She received a hug in return and Janes heart almost stopped beating when the toddler said: "Mo-mmy." With a satisfied grin.

"Mom-my." Marcella tried again and pointed with her index finger at the doc who suddenly had watery eyes. Jane decided that it was the right time to make herself known and cleared her throat. The doc shot her a shocked glance and Jane felt the need to reassure her that she wasn't mad about Marcella calling her mommy. It took her only a few strides to reach the couch and she sat down behind the blonde. Her hands came to rest on tense shoulders, giving them a massage.

Marcella grinned at her and waved. "Ma-ma." She said and Jane nodded. "Yes, I'm here baby." The toddler focused back on her car and gave Maura the look which meant to say: let's make that noise again. The blonde cleared her throat before doing so while Jane kept on going with the massage. Ten minutes later, the toddler showed first signs of fatigue. Jane decided that it was time for the girls' nap. She took her time to lay Marcella down because she wanted to give Maura the opportunity to process everything.

The living room was empty after she had sung itsy bitsy spider twice until Marcella had closed her eyes. Following the noises from the kitchen she found Maura at the sink washing the dishes from breakfast. Jane decided against touching her but leant against the counter and watched her in silence for a while before speaking up.

"Cavanaugh offered me another week of holiday." She stated happily. "And he asked me about you. What its like to work with you. If you are as good as your reputation. – I said yes. Sounds a lot like you are going to get the job." She smiled to Maura's back.

"She called me Mommy." Maura said erratically which made Jane laugh gently. She pushed her lean figure from the counter and padded over to the doc. "Yes." She said, putting her hands back onto her shoulders. The doc tensed under her touch which made the brunette let go of her. As hard as she tried, she couldn't understand what was going through Maura's mind.

"What's the matter, Maur?" she asked and rolled her head on the shoulder becoming tense too.

"I don't want a relationship with you." The blonde turned and said. At the very first moment, Janes heart sank. "I never asked you for one." She replied irritated. "No, but you are hoping for one. You asked me that question the last time I was here. I never gave you an answer" pause "until now." Maura sounded harsh and cold as if in defense.

"I never asked you to, Maur. Besides, you were the one who arrived here in the middle of the night. You were also the one who wanted to share a bed when your house is just a few steps away." Jane showed the palms of her hands when saying the words.

"I felt that you needed someone. That you…"

"Don't say that you did it all for me." Jane growled. "Don't do that. You said that you applied for the job because you wanted to be closer to me."

Maura's eyes widened.

"And if you did it for me you should think about why." Jane huffed and turned to leave the kitchen.

"Oh yes, great Jane! Run away!" Maura called after her and she stopped in her tracks. Shoving her head back into the room she said: "I'm not running away. But you seem to be in the mood to pick a fight and I already had enough fights over the past days!"