"Mummy, Jane. Wake up." Arabella's voice got louder as neither the detective or doctor seemed to be waking up. Turning her head to look over to her grandmother for some help, the older woman motioned for her to come and stand where she was as she began to approach the bed herself. Taking in the two women who lay tangled up together under Maura's thick duvet Constance struggled to tell who's limbs were who's. Leaning over, Constance lay her hand over Janes olive skinned upper arm and gave a gentle squeeze leading the detective to quickly place her arm protectively over the sleeping woman next to her.
Looking up to see it was just Constance, Jane smoothly moved her arm and glanced over at the little girl in the doorway. "I thought you were Ian." Jane admitted, releasing a deep breath she didn't realise she was holding.
"Sorry to have startled you. Arabella just wanted to know if she had missed the 'movie day' was it?" Constance was given a reassuring nod by the young blonde as she looked over her shoulder at Arabella who then walked over to stand next to her.
"Don't worry. Your mom didn't want to start without you so you haven't missed it monkey." The statement was obviously what the little girl wanted to hear as she squealed with delight, Jane quickly lifting her finger up to her mouth signalling to be quiet.
"Jane stop moving, you're really comfy." The movement was enough to unsettle Maura from her sleep but not fully waken her, the blonde doctor just readjusted her hold on the detectives shoulder and buried her head further into the dark haired women's neck causing Jane to blush and go rigged at the action. Even in her sleep, Maura noticed the other women's body language.
"Wha- Sorry, what's the matter?" Maura apologised to the detective as she began to talk but yawned midway, not receiving an answer lead the blonde to lift her head to question further but the words died on her mouth as her face turned bright red with embarrassment at what her mother had possibly witnessed between herself and Jane. Despite the embarrassment, Maura had yet to move her arm from her possessive hold on Janes shoulder. Jane couldn't stop the butterflies from exploding in her stomach and the wide grin from appearing in her face.
"I'll just take Arabella downstairs shall I?" Constance asked, humour obvious in her statement which didn't go unnoticed by either women.
"Wait, have you got any plans this afternoon Mother?" As Maura enquired about her Mothers agenda she removed her arm from Janes shoulder as she sat up on her side but the disappointment was shortl lived as her hand slipped under the covers to clasp onto the detectives scarred one.
Stopping in her tracks, Constance turned around with the little girls hand held in her own to reply. "Well the Davis' asked your father and I to join them for dinner but we declined so no I don't, why?"
"You and father should go out to dinner. You haven't seen the Davis' in years. Honestly Arabella and I will be fine." Maura could see her mother was unsure of the option being presented to her but eventually Constance seemed to agree.
"It would be good to see them, it has been quite some time. Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"I'm positive we will all be fine. If it would make you feel better I'll text you every hour." Maura knew this would do the trick, Constance looked more relaxed at the reassurance as she nodded her head in agreement.
"I suppose I had better go and get my hair done then. Is there anything either of you need?" The question was replied to with two shakes if the head.
"I'll be back in a few hours then. Love you all." The little girl who had managed to stay quiet whilst her mother and grandmother spoke released her hand from Constance's as the older woman made her way out, her little body running and jumping to settle on the king sized bed.
"Well little monkey, to have a proper movie day you have to wear your pyjamas so we had better sort that out shouldn't we?" The little girl nodded her head excitedly as she took a hold of Janes hand and tried to pull her up. Arabella giggled as Jane pretended to struggle to get up but soon found herself being lifted over the detectives shoulder and lead toward her own bedroom. As a second thought, Jane turned at the doorway to look over at Maura.
"The list of movies I picked are in the notes section on my phone if you feel like setting up, if not I'll get it when I get back. The password is 3174 and if you don't have a Netflix account I wrote down all my info with the list of films I picked." Before Maura could reply Jane ran off with Arabella down the corridor, the house being filled with the little girls laughter as it always should of been even before Jane entered their lives.
Getting up from the bed she hadn't moved from all day, Maura took a quick look at the numbers flashing back at her, 12:37, and was only momentarily shocked at how long she had slept for but decided quickly she deserved it. Walking over to pick up Janes phone a smile instantly reached her face as a picture of herself, Arabella and Jane in the car from yesterday after house hunting lit up the detectives phone. The smile on her face only served to grow wider as she unlocked the phone and was greeted with a Google search tab history of searches such as 'good films for kids' 'Disney films' 'children's films with no bad words'. How adorable could one woman be? Was all Maura could think, beginning to link up Janes phone to her TV.
"How was play group today monkey?" Jane enquired as she found two pairs of pyjamas in the pile of washing sat on top of a beautiful oak dresser that was situated next to Arabella's bed. Taking in the Frozen pyjamas, Jane gave inwardly patted herself on the back for adding Frozen to her list. Holding up the two sets of pyjamas, Arabella pointed to the Elsa printed pyjamas and began to take of her cardigan which Jane quickly began to help unbuttoning.
"It was really fun. We built loads of block towers and I even played in the sandpit!" The final piece of the statement was made obvious as Jane looked down to the floor to see quite a bit of sand on the floor. The detective made a mental note to find the hoover later to clean it up. The gentle smile on the dark haired women's face was instantly wiped off as Janes eyes went back up to meet the little girls whose were filled with tears.
"Daddy..mad..a mess." Jane was just about able to make out what Arabella had said, the little blonde covering her face with her hands.
"Monkey, look at me please." Janes pleaded with Arabella who continued to sob into her hands, the detective unsure of whether the little girl would appreciate being hugged. Once Arabella locked eyes with the detective, she began the hard job of explaining and reassuring that she wasn't in trouble.
"Sweetie, I'm not mad and I'm very sure your mummy isn't either. In fact I'm really glad you had fun in the sand pit. It's not your fault the sand made a mess, it's not anyone's fault. There's no need for all these tears sweetheart, your dad.. Well there's no need to be scared anymore, okay? I promise." Jane had to try hard herself not to cry, the fear the little girl showed over her father was painfully evident. The hatred for the Australian only flowed faster through her veins the more tears that fell from the sweet girls hazel eyes. Arabella latched her arms tightly around Janes neck, the detective wrapping her arms around the little girls body in response.
"Let's get these pyjamas on shall we? Then you can go watch films and have snuggles with your mummy and brother." Jane asked as she pulled the long sleeved top over Arabella's head, the little girls head popping through with a giggle.
"And you. You can snuggle in too." The response from Arabella warmed her body, not with the usual anger but with the feeling she had found the place where she belonged. With the Isles'.
Sorry if it's short but work hours are a killer right now, I haven't forgotten about all you lovely people's! Let me know what you all think, it really does help with my writing knowing what your thoughts all are! I'm not done with the 'movie day', I think another heart to heart between Maura and Jane is called for! Love you all!