Update! Let me know your thoughts everyone, I love to hear from you! Love you all!
MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE&ABUSE
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After an eventful dinner full of light laughter and chatter, it was nearing Arabella's bedtime.
"I think it's someone's bedtime." Arthur commented as he watched Arabella yawn for the fifth time.
"But I want to stay here with everyone." The young girl protested as she hugged tighter into Maura's side.
"I think I might go to bed too." Jane said to the adults around the table but more as a persuasion to the young girl. "You coming Bella?" The detective asked as she stood up from the dining room table and stretched her back.
"I can show you my sea shells!" Arabella jumped from her seat on her mothers lap and took a hold of Janes hand dragging her toward the stairs but before they reached the door, Maura's voice stopped them.
"You better have your pyjamas on by the time I get up there."
"Okay mummy." Arabella complied, rushing out of the room.
A light tap to her shoulder caused Maura to flinch from the touch as though it had scolded her. Turning around to see Arthur stood with a hurt expression on his face, Maura apologised.
"Sorry, I just got a fright." Maura explained.
"I understand sweet pea." Arthur replied with his hands fidgeting as thought to restrain himself from touching her again, noticing this Maura reached out and squeezed his hand. Receiving going a hopeful smile from her father, Maura rose from her seat and began to clear up the plates from dinner.
"Sweetheart leave those. Your father and I will tidy up, you get off to bed. Oh and before I forgets my estate agent phoned back with a few houses that you can view, tomorrow maybe?" Constance asked the honey blonde.
"I'm um... Well tomorrow I'm going to the police station with Jane.." Maura couldn't get the words to come out of her mouth as she felt the lump in her throat getting bigger and bigger. Even though the relationship with her parents had significantly strengthened she still felt as though she was an embarrassment to her mother and father.
"Darling come here." Constance ordered gently, opening her arms to her daughter. Maura walked a few steps toward her mother and was engulfed by a hug, Constance not caring about the large bump getting in the way of hugging her daughter. Arthur couldn't resist striding over and joining in both woman leaning on his chest and shoulders, cooing gently to calm them both down. Arthur could feel his shirt becoming damp with tears, from Constance or Maura he was unsure either way. Pulling back slightly Arthur could see the how fragile and run down the blonde was.
"Sweetheart you may not think your mother and I know you very well but you are my daughter and I know what you're thinking. Your mother and I are so proud of you." Arthur stated emphatically, hearing his daughters breathing calming down he continued "I will do everything in my power to protect you and my grandchildren. You are my beautiful, smart and caring little girl and I will not let that monster get to you ever again." Arthur stated, thinking back to earlier.
"Again." Arthur ordered the young Irish man.
Ian grunted in pain as more wounds that had begun to heal on his face and body were burst open again, looking up at the older man he squinted to see through his swollen eye.
"You just sat back and let her take it. What kind of father does that?" The Australian jested spitting out blood, winding Arthur up even more.
"Again!" Arthur shouted. The young Irish man looked over at Paddy who stood silently in the corner of the room for the go ahead. Receiving a nod, he struck punch after punch.
"Arthur?" Constance tried again to gain the mans attention.
"Sorry, I just got caught up in my own thoughts." Arthur explain, receiving a knowing look from his wife he just brushed it off.
"Do you want your father to lift you upstairs?" The older woman enquired as Maura pulled back, wiping the stray tears from her face.
"No, it's alright. I think I'll manage." Maura chuckled, patting her fathers arm as she began to slowly walk to the door.
"Your father and I can take Arab-"
"Oh no that's-"Maura cut in.
"No buts. We can take Arabella to her playgroup tomorrow morning, you just have a nice long sleep. Text me when you finish at the police station and we can all go view the houses together, how does that sound?" Constance asked, giving Maura more control.
"That sounds perfect. Thank you." Walking back toward her mother and father she placed kisses on their cheeks and said their good nights.
"Do you need anything? I tried to get some sleeping pills but the pharmacist said you couldn't take them if you were pregnant. I bought some chamomile tea though if you would like that?" Why couldn't she have been this kind of mother all along? Maura thought sadly.
Shaking her head as though she was physically shaking the unhappy thoughts from her head Maura answered with a smile and nod of the head.
"I'll bring it up." Constance responded despite Maura already leaving the dining room to make her way upstairs.
Walking down the hallway, Maura peaked into Arabella's room expecting the blonde to be in her bed already. However the little girl was no where to be seen. She must be in the bathroom Maura thought. Making her way over to the bathroom opposite Arabella's room she stopped halfway as she heard the sounds of giggling coming from her own bedroom. As quietly as she could, Maura waddled toward the door that was slightly ajar and listened intently.
"Jane I wouldn't call him monkey!" The little girl pointed out seriously. Even though Maura couldn't see her she knew her daughter was pouting.
"I was only kidding sweetie. Cmon you can tell me, what's your favourite name?" Jane asked with great interest.
"You promise you'll keep it a secret?"
"Promise." Jane promised.
Maura could no longer hear any speaking which lead her to believe that Arabella was whispering to Jane. A light cough from behind lead Maura to whip her head round to face her mother in embarrassment. Maura's face turned into a light scowls she could see her mother was trying hard not a laugh.
"You know it's rude to eavesdrop darling." Constance commented handing over the hot mug of tea. Maura didn't reply to her mother and so Constance continued "Arabella really seems to like her..." Constance's sentence felt unfinished to Maura implying she wanted to say something more.
"Mother if you have something to say then just say it." Maura was becoming frustrated by what her mother was implying.
"I'm just saying that your father and I weren't blind when you brought that friend Emily to stay with you when you came back home from university for that Christmas break." Maura's face went a dark shade of pink, Constance's withheld smirk finally made its way to her face.
"Mother I am a married woman, stop it." Maura answered whilst gritting her teeth.
"Not for much longer I hope." Constance muttered.
"You know it's rude to mutter." Maura retorted with a hint of sarcasm. That's new, Constance thought.
"Touché. Goodnight sweetheart." Leaning over for a final kiss and hug, the older woman turned and walked back down toward the stairs. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Maura knocked on her bedroom door and entered.
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"I think this could be classed as later don't you?" Constance enquired, entering the living room where Arthur was seated on the couch slowly twirling a glass of red wine in his hand. Arthur just motioned to the wine glass sat on the wooden coffee table prompting Constance to pick it up and say at the other end of the couch from Arthur.
"Come here. Please." Arthur's voice showed traces of hurt at his wife's actions. Constance carefully scooted so she was right next to Arthur and placed her head on his shoulder.
"From the beginning."
"Okay. When we were at the hospital this morning I received a phone call... It was from Doyle." Arthur stopped expecting his wife to comment but nothing came.
"He told me that Ian would no longer be a problem and that if there were any more problems I should phone him..." Taking a deep breath Arthur carried on "After seeing how worked up Maura got earlier I had to see for myself that he really wouldn't be any more of a problem for her. I phoned Patrick and asked to see Ian, he agreed and gave me an address. I promised Maura I wouldn't hurt him and I didn't." Arthur felt as though that was all Constance needed to hear but she didn't think so.
"Where did the blood come from?" Constance enquired lifting her head to look into his eyes, knowing she could tell if he was lying.
"I said I wouldn't hurt him but I didn't say I wouldn't let anyone else at him. He spat at me after one of Doyle's men punched him." Knowing Constance opposed violence on any level, Arthur waited for her to argue but it never did. Constance's head just fell back down and settled into his shoulder.
"Im glad he's getting what he deserves." Arthur wouldn't have been able to hear Constance's whisper if it wasn't for the room being silent. After a few minutes Constance got up on her feet and offered her hand.
"Come to bed?" The offer was accepted as the larger hand was placed in her own.
/
"Sweetie, you need to sleep in your own bed." Maura told her daughter yet again after 10 minutes of pleading with Janes help but the young blonde wouldn't budge.
"Please mummy, just for tonight. I never got to stay with you in bed when daddy was here, he always said no." The little girls lip began to tremble at the mention of her fathers rejection.
"Okay just for tonight. Go pick a book for me to read." Maura relented to her daughters demands, placing the finished mug of tea on her bedside table.
As soon as the little girl left the room, Maura's hand went up to pinch her nose in frustration at herself. Crawling over from the other side of the bed to reach Maura who sat on the edge of the bed, Jane sat as close as she could without touching her.
"How could I let Ian treat her like that?" Maura's thoughts came out in her words.
"Maur, it's not your fault." Janes hand came up to meet Maura's that was in her nose and pulled it down from her face and into the grasp of her own. "I don't understand how he could treat either you or Arabella the way he did." The bedroom door flung open causing Maura to almost jump out of her skin.
"I picked Alice in Wonderland!" Arabella shouted as she hopped from one foot to the other with excitement waving the book around with one hand, in the other was what seemed like an old rag blanket.
"Monkey, come here for a second." Jane ordered gently so the young girl could understand she wasn't in trouble. Once the little girl had placed her things on the bed and managed to settle her way into her mothers lap, Jane continued "Right now your mummy is a bit scared of loud noises-"
"Like how I'm scared of the dark?" The little girl interrupted.
"Yes like that sweetie. So when you open doors and things like that try and do it quietly, yeah? Like a big girl." The detective explained to the young girl.
"I can do that." Arabella replied with a proud smile on her face which quickly turned into a face of deep thought and confusion. "Is it because of daddy?" The little girl asked.
Knowing she couldn't lie Maura decided it would be best to tell the truth. Stroking the the little girls hair the doctor replied with a simple "Yes."
No more was said about the matter as the three of them settled into the bed, Arabella tucked into Maura's side as the older blonde held the book with one hand reading it aloud and played with the girls hair with the other, the hand often bumping into Janes as the detective mirrored her actions. Half way through the story light snores could be heard by both women and so Maura closed the book and settled on her side.
"Do you need another pillow?" Jane asked, already pulling the pillow from behind her head.
"Oh no it's fine but thank you." Maura refuted the offer placing a hand on top of the detectives as she reajusted the pillow back behind her.
The pair just sat looking at each other for a moment until Maura pulled her hand back from the other woman.
"Sorry." The doctor apologised but the other women ignored it and tugged the hand back to fit in her own, joining the two hands together.
"We fit." Jane observed not realising she had said her thoughts out loud until Maura agreed.
"We do." Their thumbs moved together as though they were dancing an old dance.
Lifting herself up to rest on her elbow, Jane spoke again.
"Where do you keep your spare blankets?"
"The cupboard in the hallway, 2nd door on your left, why?" Jane chuckled at the question.
"Well I'm assuming this a 3 bedroom house?" At Maura's nod she continued "Well your parents are sleeping in one of them, the other is Arabella's and I don't think I would fit in her bed." Jane said glancing down at her long legs, looking up she found a smile on the blondes face. "I'll sleep on the couch." Jane stated, untangling herself from the blanket she was under, picking her bag up from the end of the bed as she made her way to leave the room.
"Stay in here." Maura sounded unsure as she made the request.
"Are you sure? I don't really have much space over here." Jane replied giving Maura an out.
"I'm sure, you can sleep on the other side of me. It's a king size so it should fit us all."
Maura became more confident about her offer as she spoke.
"Okay I'll be right back. I have to get changed." Jane pointed to the ensuite bathroom. Closing the door over Jane began to empty her clothes out onto the floor, finding what she needed she repacked her clothes and got changed into her BPD tshirt and boxer shorts.
"Stop it Jane... She's married...Shes not in a good place." Jane muttered to herself as she brushed her teeth. Walking out into the bedroom, Jane quickly made her way to the bed so Maura couldn't see her choice in pyjamas. The dark haired woman positioned herself beside Maura, who was laying in her back rubbing her stomach.
"Jane?"
"Yeah?"
"Relax." Maura laughed lightly as she turned to face the detective.
"Sorry." Jane offered. Maura could feel the other woman settling herself down. The doctor mentally patted herself on the back. The women didn't move as the continued to stare at each other, both feeling the pull of sleep dragging them in. This should be weird but it's not, Maura thought. The room had gone silent, bar Arabella's snoring, until a gasp drawn from Maura's lips caused Jane to sit up now fully awake.
"What is it?" Jane asked as she looked around the room looking for any danger.
"The baby... It's the first time I've been able to feel him kick on the outside. So far I've only experienced quickening but this is different. See?" Maura replied, her voice overflowing with joy. Maura's hand moved under the covers and easily located Janes hand, pulling it back to her own stomach where she first felt the kick. Waiting in anticipation, the women weren't let down. A light kick could be felt, looking up from their hands Maura could just see with the help of the streetlights outside a giant grin making its way onto Janes face.
"I'll have to teach him some football with a kick like that." Jane said as she moved her hand soothingly on the blondes stomach. Falling asleep, the pair found themselves clinging to one another like magnets.
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Thoughts?...