Jane was slowly pushing the troller with Marcella down the path to the pond. The toddler was babbling away, and Maura walked along with a pout. They hadn't spoken since the fight in the kitchen and the mood was tense and awkward between them. the brunette spread out the blanket while Maura unstrapped the girl and helped her onto the warm gras.

"Duuuuux!" Marcella called at the group of hungry animals which were already swimming towards them. "Bread!" the toddler ordered, and Jane took the bag out of the pocket which was attached to the stroller and handed it to her before taking a seat. She pulled her hand through her hair and tried not to look at the doc who was sitting next to her.

"I never expected you to have a relationship with me." She calmly said while picking at the gras next to the blanket. Maura shifted uncomfortably on the blanket. "I never had a family Jane. I'm not used to… Marcella called me Mommy. I don't know if I can do that."

"Do what? A kid? Or a relationship?"

"Both, Jane! I don't know how it works."

"Don't tell me that you never had a relationship." Jane took a deep breath.

"I haven't. Whenever I got close, I ran." Maura admitted with sad eyes.

"Have you never wanted a relationship? I mean… "

"Of course, I wanted a family!" Maura sounded frustrated. "I'm scared that I would ruin lives. Life's like yours or Marcellas. That wouldn't be fair."

Both stared out onto the pond. The water was glistering in the sun. Some children were playing football and their laughter got carried over to them by the gentle breeze.

"You can be pretty stupid for a genius." Jane suddenly chuckled. "Excuse me?" the blonde protested.

The brunette pointed at Marcella who was still feeding the ducks and babbling with them. The animals seemed to like it and gathered around her.

"She loves you. She has from the day you came into her life. Whenever you're here she wants to be with you, and she called you Mommy. Whatever you are doing, you are doing it right." She pointed out. "There aren't always recipes of how to do things. I know that you love them. And it might scare you that there are none. It scared me too at the beginning. But we have our instincts which show us what to do."

Maura snorted. "Very clever Jane. What if I can't trust my instincts because they betray me?" She growled. Jane chuckled and gently nudged Maura who wasn't really mad at her and soon laughed along.

"We don't have to have a relationship if you have no feelings for me. It's totally fine and I appreciate your honesty. But if we aren't in a relationship because you believe that you are not made for it…." Jane paused and glanced at her daughter again. "I think that this would be unacceptable." She said and Maura gasped.

"What I mean is: if you push your anxieties aside. Would you have feelings for me?" Jane rolled her eyes as her clumsiness when it came to talks. The least thing she wanted was to push Maura into a relationship. She ended up telling Maura this and the blondes face relaxed. "I will think about it okay?" she said, and Jane nodded surprised at the realization how Maura had problems to commit. It almost made her laugh, because she was the master of this department despite being married with Gabriel which hadn't really been a real marriage of love. She laughed because it hit her that it had taken her so long to see what Maura's problem was despite usually being the one who had it. But not when it came to Maura.

They focused back onto the girl and the pond. The silence got interrupted by Marcella who was tired of feeding the ducks and who was being hungry herself. Jane made her sit in her lap and reached for some snacks in her bag. Then she pulled out two sandwiches which she had made for Maura and herself. "It's with Cale." Jane winked and made Maura laugh.

The doc accepted the food and took a bite, watching Jane feed the toddler and taking bites of hers in between. As long as no one mentioned the word relationship or Marcella didn't give Maura the feeling that they were a family everything was fine. She had totally meant it when saying that she could accept it if Maura said that she didn't want a relationship because she was not in love with her.

And yet she hoped that her feeling about Maura being in love with her was right.

Another family with a toddler of Marcellas age arrived at the place. The baby boy and the girl eyed each other suspiciously at first and soon they began playing together on the grass between the adults. "Hi, I'm John and this is my wife Lydia." The man who was at about the same age as Maura and Jane introduced himself and his wife. "Hi, we are Jane and Maura." The brunette shook their hands as did Maura who looked uncomfortable.

Jane couldn't help but grab her hand to calm her nerves. "What a beautiful day!" John said with a smile and the brunette agreed rubbing over Maura's thumb with her own. They talked about parenting and especially about topics like potty training. Maura listened carefully but in silence, squeezing Janes hand whenever the brunette stopped caressing her. "Yes, she will be one year in three weeks. But she already took her first step and started talking." Jane proudly replied to Lydia's question, learning that Steven, their son, was about at the same stage.

"Maybe we should do that again." John said, meaning meeting up at the pond. "It's nice to see Steven play with someone of his age." Lydia added and Jane agreed.

R&I

Gabriel's truck was parked in Maura's driveway when they came home a few hours later. Marcella was sound asleep in her seat, exhausted from the day. "Shit!" Jane exclaimed and checked on her daughter by turning her head. Her ex-husband was getting out of his car and already walking towards them. The brunette squeezed Maura's leg before getting out herself.

"Hey." He greeted her friendly. His eyes were covered by his pilots and he was wearing a pout when seeing that Maura was with her. "So, it's true. You are a couple now." He asked. "We are just friends." Maura said after also stepping out of the car. Gabriel grunted in disbelieve but didn't waste his time on talking to the doc.

"I came to see Marcella before heading back to Washington." He simply stated. Jane who had already believed that he wanted to talk about the divorce again, stepped aside to let him pass. "She's asleep right now." She explained and caught a glance from Maura. Actually, the doc was looking at her and then at him as if to imagine what they must have been like as a couple.

"She took her first step yesterday and she can say Mama." Jane slowly said feeling uncomfortable about the situation and all the glances. "I'm glad that she's in your hands." Gabriel said while crouching down next to the open car door to touch his daughter. There was something loving and gentle in the way he caressed her cheek. Something Jane had never seen in him before.

"Why?" she asked. Jane had never dared to ask why he had brought Marcella into their marriage. And he had never explained. But it seemed to be the right time to do so now. "Because she's a career woman. The job is the only thing that matters to her. I told her to give me the child before she aborts, and she did."

"I'm a career woman too." Jane silently said, thinking of how the job had always been her life. At least until the little sunshine had arrived.

"You are different Jane. You are a perfect mother. And you seem to handle being a mother and a badass detective perfectly." He lifted his chin to look her in the eyes. "I am the same as her, I can't handle both. And I'm not made to be a father." He said and Jane swallowed down the words Or you don't want to be… A glance towards the doc told her that Maura was thinking the same.

"Anyways. I must go. Thanks for letting me see her." He said politely while standing up. He glanced at Maura and then left a quick kiss on Janes cheek before hurrying to his car. None of them spoke as he sped out of the driveway and onto the street.

"You two were a handsome couple." Was the first thing Maura said. "Your bodies are both tall and lean, your facial features… perfect." The blonde sighed. Jane slowly turned her head to face her. "Oh please. Handsome doesn't mean happy." She gestured and bent down to hide her blush. She was trying to picture the sort of couple she and Maura would make and concluded that they would be named handsome too.

One thing was sure though: they were the perfect team. Maura closed the door of the car and locked it before opening the door to the house so that Jane could carry Marcella to her tiny bed. It was just like in the afternoon when she had laid out the blanket and Maura had taken the toddler out of the stroller.

They both ended up on the couch, watching a thriller while eating some Spaghetti Jane had quickly cooked for them. She wasn't in the mood to talk and neither seemed Maura. Cavanaugh had texted her that the governor had taken the decision to give the doc the job which meant that Maura would start in six weeks' time. Six weeks was a much better perspective than the we don't know when we'll see each other again from the last time Maura had to leave.

But it was still a long period. But maybe it was good. In six weeks Jane would have settled into her new life and Maura could think about what she wanted. Or better said, realize what she wanted. Because she obviously still didn't despite all of the hand holding and touching.

Maura poked her into her side. "Your food is getting cold." She smirked pointing at Janes fork which was hanging midair while she had been busy thinking. "Oh, hell, thank you." The brunette chuckled and Maura laughed. "Look at us. We are quite two people huh?" she said, and Jane laughed along. "Yeah." She replied in her dark voice giving Maura a soft glance.

Maura got off the couch with a huff. "Taking care of kids is hard work." She joked while rubbing her back. "I'm going to get me another glass of wine. Do you want another beer?" she asked and smiled. "Yes, that would be great. Thank you."

"Have you heard from the governor yet?" Jane questioned and Maura tilted her head. "Maybe tomorrow." She shrugged.

"Cavanaugh texted me that you've got the job." The brunette said and grinned. "Can we toast to it or do you want to wait until you get the official yes?"

Maura looked surprised. "Toasting sounds good to me. How sure is it if Cavanaugh says so?" she asked though.

"100 per cent!" Jane replied with a grin.

One hour and two glasses of wine and beer later they were joking around and teasing each other. The mood was light, and it felt good to be together. The movie was long over but they hadn't even noticed as they were sitting cross-legged on the couch facing each other. "I'm going to be dead tomorrow." Maura said glancing at her empty glass. She filled it one more time saying: "But it's totally worth it."

Jane smirked. "Uh, I'll try to take a nap with Marcella at noon." They laughed at the picture which popped up in their head. "Lucky Marcella." Maura grinned in a flirtatious way. Jane swallowed, feeling that she had already won Maura's heart. Of course, Maura would do more thinking because she wasn't the one to jump into decisions unless it came to shopping shoes. But Jane had learned that it was the small things that Maura often said subconsciously that counted. In any case she would wait with being happy until conscious Maura would announce or show what her decision was.

"Yes. Indeed. I don't nap with everybody." She hoped to transmit the message correctly and added a wink and a meaningful glance to make sure that Maura understood what she meant. "So, lucky me too huh?" the doc took the hint and flirted by locking eyes with Jane over her wineglass.

"Or lucky me." Jane winked again, taking a long sip from the bottle. Maura nodded wistfully. "Or so, yes." They both laughed at their banter.

"Promise me something, Maur." Jane suddenly became serious and the doc hitched a breath when Janes body took on a more upright position.

"What?" Maura asked.

"Please talk to me if something is bothering you like today. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or anything. And things get easier when we talk." Jane smiled and nudged her. Maurus face took on a pensive look. "Okay. I promise. Would you do the same to me?"

"Of course." Jane stated.

"I was jealous of Gabriel today." Maura began in a low voice. "The way you looked at him when he caressed Marcella was so…" the blonde was looking for words. "it made me jealous and it bothered me. I have no right to…."

Jane almost choked on her beer. "Oh Maur. You don't have to be jealous. He and I are over. I was just surprised that he could be so gentle." She softly said and grabbed Maura's free hand.

"I know. It's stupid. But I couldn't help." The doc shrugged and looked away as if being ashamed.

"Hey, it's only human. I was jealous when you told me about the flight attending hitting on you the other day." Jane said and squeezed Maura's hand.

"Really?" hazel eyes lifted in surprise.

"Really!" Jane chuckled and let go of Maura's hand.

"Well she was quite a sight. Tall, brunette, curled hair.." Maura said in such a serious manner that it took Jane some time to register what Maura was trying to say. When it hit her she began to laugh. "Oh, damn! You're getting really good at it. You almost gave me a heart attack."

The blondes face took on a satisfied grin. "Jane…" she scolded the brunette who was still laughing.

"If she had asked you out, what would you have said. I meant only hypothetically." Jane probed her luck, hoping that she wasn't going too far with it.

"I would have said that I have to think about it and that I'll come back to her." Was Maura's gentle reply and Jane nodded. "Guess its legitimate and very reasonable."

Maura gave her a grateful look and they gave each other a warm smile.