Author Notes: Thank you all for reading, etc. you make this 'job' easier and more enjoyable.

"I wonder what they'll look like," Jane said, resting her legs up on a pillow to match Maura's position.

"Our child?"

"Yeah."

"It depends on the genetic mix that comes from the fertilisation process," Maura said. "The donor has dark hair, and my hair has always been light. It depends whether the donor has dominant or recessive genes. Realistically, he or she may have a mixture. Our child will likely receive a recessive gene from me, so their future children will have a chance of being blonde too."

Jane laughed and shook her head. "You and your facts."

"What about them?"

"I figure the kid's gonna have blonde hair or brown hair," Jane said. "That's usually what happens. I mean, what our kid will look like. What shape their nose will be, if they have one leg longer than the other, will they get crooked teeth?"

"Without a full genetic map of both myself and our donor, and even then we won't know which features will appear in our child; I don't know."

"I know you don't," Jane said. "That's why I'm wondering. We literally have no idea right now. Will they look like you, will they look like the donor, will they be a complete mix."

"I imagine the child will be a mixture of both of us, since both sets of genes will have some input."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Can you stop talking science for a few minutes and start acting like everyone else?"

Maura frowned. "I'm not sure how everyone – and it's unlikely that every single person in the world would fit into your assumption – is supposed to act."

"Most people don't think about whether their kid will have blonde hair because of recessive genes," Jane said. "Most people think about whether their kid will have blonde hair because they try to imagine what they're like in their head."

"You mean, guessing?"

Jane pursed her lips. "Yes."

"You know how I feel about guessing."

"This is different."

"Why?"

"This is our child, Maura."

"A child that does not exist yet."

"You don't know that. The sperm are busy working their way to your egg as we speak, we could have a baby growing any second."

Maura smiled. "It will likely take longer than a second."

"I know. I just like to think about our kid, already growing, already getting the ball rolling. In nine months we could be parents. Me, and you, and our kid. What a scary thought."

"You're still scared?"

"In a lot of ways."

"Me too."

Jane sighed. "I've been putting off thinking about how I'm gonna tell Ma. How do I explain this to her?"

"It's easy," Maura said, rolling onto her side. "We wanted to bring a child into this world, we wanted to share our love with them. We decided to do it together in the absence of suitable partners. I think Angela is progressive enough to understand."

Jane sat up, doubling over with every laugh. "Progressive? Ma?"

"She's come a long way."

"She has." Jane placed her hand on Maura's arm and trailed her fingers down to her hand. "Thank you."

"What for?" Maura asked, sitting up.

"For this, for everything. You've been nothing but supportive over the last few months. I know I've been a complete bitch sometimes. It means a lot. You're trying to have our kid, if it works, I don't know if I'll ever be able to do anything for you half as important as that. There's nothing in this world I can do to repay you."

Maura pulled Jane's hands into her lap. "You encouraged me to do this, you've given me the support network I need to be a mother. You have nothing to repay me for. If we have a baby, that will be payment enough."

x

"Hey Ma," Jane said, slipping onto a bar stool and scooping a handful of nuts out of a bowl on the counter. She tossed one into her mouth.

"Hey Janie…you look happy. Happier than you've been lately."

"Yeah."

Angela stood in front of her, her eyes narrowed in Jane's direction. "Anything you need to tell your mother?"

"No." She chewed on a couple more nuts. "Just happy."

"Is this about Maura?" Angela leaned forward and lowered her voice. "Did something happen?"

Jane shook her head. "We're not together. She's not interested."

"How do you know? Did you ask her?"

"I can't do that."

"Why not?" Angela filled a glass with light beer and placed it on the counter. "She obviously cares about you."

"Not like that." Jane sipped the beer. "Thanks."

"How do you know if you don't talk to her?"

Jane sighed. She ran a finger across the water droplets on the outside of the glass. "Not right now, Ma. There's too much going on."

"Too much like what?"

"I dunno." She shrugged. "Work, Cailin's in town, Maura's still grieving."

Angela raised an eyebrow. "Okay. But don't leave it too long, you don't wanna lose her."

"I'll wait as long as I need to, I know what I'm doing."

"I hope so."

x

Maura lifted her hips. A trail of fingers across her thighs sent her senses into overdrive. She reached out and tugged the hair of the person whose tongue had found its way to the centre of her sensitivity. She let out a moan and thrust herself up to meet the moving mouth. Fingers replaced tongue, tongue replaced fingers. The slow and methodical act of fingertips drawing across her skin, grasping her naked breasts. Maura's body reacted harder, shaking with the overwhelming desires that toppled her over the edge.

"Jane," she gasped. The mouth between her legs lifted, the face revealed itself, the tangled mess of dark curls made her open her eyes.

Maura stared up at the ceiling in the empty room, struggling to regain her breath, Jane's smile fixed in her mind. She closed her eyes in an attempt to push the thoughts aside, but her body still tingled with arousal.

"Oh God," Maura gasped, trailing her fingers down to where Jane had been a moment ago in her mind. Until the orgasm of her dreams was replaced with reality.

By seven, Maura was sat at the kitchen counter attempting to read an article on retinal structure and function preservation. Her mind drifted back and forth across the pages. She yawned and stretched, her mind not quite active.

"You look tired," Cailin said, filling a mug of coffee and standing opposite her. "Didn't you sleep okay?"

"No," Maura said, putting the article to one side. "I didn't."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

Maura glanced at the counter, her palms flat against the surface. Another yawn forced its way across her face. "I'm still trying to make sense of it myself."

"I think you need this more than me," Cailin said, handing her the mug of coffee and going to fill another one. "If you do want to talk, I'm here."

"Thank you." She sipped the hot liquid. "I suppose I have a lot on my mind. Jane and I decided to try to get pregnant again."

"Oh, wow." Cailin sat down beside her. "So, I might be an aunt soon?"

"Hopefully," Maura said.

"Is that why you didn't sleep well?"

"Not exactly." Closing her eyes, Maura wished to forget what had happened. Not least because she reacted to it in a way that, in hindsight, could be misinterpreted. "I had a dream."

"What sort of dream?"

"A, erm…an adult dream."

"A sex dream?" Cailin asked, smirking.

"Yes." Maura forged a smile. "A sex dream."

"And that kept you up all night?" Cailin raised an eyebrow. "That must have been some amazing dream sex."

"Not like that."

"Then how?"

Maura sighed. "It was about Jane."

"Oh right!"

"I know. I can't get my head around it." She still hadn't figured out why she dreamed such a thing. The kiss in Oxford was, as Jane assumed, just the grief talking. She was confused and she allowed herself to seek comfort in the only place she knew how. "I suppose it could be because Jane inseminated me herself."

"She did what?" Cailin placed her mug on the counter and stared at Maura.

"Don't look at me like that." Cailin softened her gaze. "She chose to do the insemination. No need for doctors, or the clinic."

"Maura, come on."

"Come on what?"

"You're surely not that blind?"

"Blind to what exactly?"

"To Jane. To your own fucking subconscious. You're having a child together. Friends don't do that."

"No. I'm not blind." She had an explanation for everything. Except for the intensity of the orgasm she felt post-wake up. It had been a long time since she'd pleasured herself to such degree. There had to be an explanation for that, just like there was for the dream. "Jane doesn't like hospitals; she's spent enough time in them. I refuse to believe that one dream can mean something of significance."

"You've studied the brain. You understand these things, Maura."

"It doesn't mean anything."

"You can say it out loud but it doesn't make it true."

"It can't be true." She wouldn't let herself consider the possibility that she did feel something for Jane. It was the wrong moment. "Jane and I are trying to have a child together. I can't complicate that."

"It's already complicated," Cailin said. "You're having a child with your best friend. If that's not complicate, I don't know what is."

Maura looked into her eyes, into the glee that came from their current conversation. Maura sighed. "I refuse to entertain the thought."

"Why? What's stopping you?"

"Jane. Jane is stopping me. She's just discovered who she is, she's just allowed herself to be who she's always been. I can't confuse that."

"Even though she's in love with you?"

Maura shook her head. "I don't know that she is."

"No. You don't." Cailin rested s hand over Maura's wrist. "Would it help to know for sure?"

"I don't know." Having Cailin tell her she thinks Jane cares deeply for her, in a non-platonic way, is one thing, to have those suspicions confirmed would change everything. Potentially destroy everything. "It's the wrong time. I could be pregnant. If I open up that can of worms now, then what?"

"Then you can all live happily ever after."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Maybe if our plan to have a child doesn't work out, or if she volunteers that information. I can't even consider the possibility. Not now."

x

Maura folded a shirt and placed it on top of the pile of clean laundry on the dining table. She picked up a pair of pants.

"Do you feel ready to go home?"

"No," Cailin said, moving the pile from the table and into her suitcase.

"I'm sorry we don't have more time," Maura said, placing the folded pants down. "We still have one more afternoon before your flight, what would you like to do?"

"Actually, Maura, I wanted to talk to you about that."

Maura's heart sunk. She had enjoyed having Cailin there, and having her leave was heartbreaking. "Do you have plans with your friends?"

"No. We can spend the day together. I mean about leaving."

"What about it?"

"I spoke to my professor and he's agreed to allow me six months off."

"Six months?" Maura picked up another shirt. "What about your study? Your plans."

"We discussed that. I've also spoken to someone at BCU medical school admissions. I can do some classes here for a while, and they would count towards my degree."

Maura placed the unfolded shirt down on the table. "You want to stay?"

"I need to go back to Oxford for a few weeks, but then I could come back. If you were okay with me staying."

"Yes. Of course you can stay. You're welcome any time."

"Even for six months?"

"The longer the better."

Cailin lowered her gaze. "There's one other condition my professor and I agreed on, but I need your help."

"I will do anything I can."

"Will you let me come and work with you as an intern? I don't expect payment, just to keep up my skills and learn."

Maura's lips curved at the edges, the smile reached the corners of her eyes. "Of course you can. Do you really want to work with me? I'm sure there are plenty of other medical professionals that would accept you, I have several contacts. Perhaps the neurology department at the hospital?"

"I don't want any other internship," she said. "I want to work with you, I want to spend time with you. Mom always talked about how much of a brilliant mind you are, and doing the autopsy with you the other day was amazing; I think I'll learn more from you in six months than I could ever learn in lectures and seminars."

"That's settled then," Maura said, giving her arm a gentle squeeze. "I will need to know when you plan to return, and I'll need a letter from your professor. Then we can organise for ID for the police department. I'll also revise the budget, there may be room for remuneration. It might not be much, but I don't believe in not paying an intern for their hard work."

"Thank you, Maura. I wish I didn't have to go home to sort everything out," she said, placing the last of the laundry into her suitcase. "I'm excited to get started."

"Me too."

x

The knock on her apartment door came around eleven. Jane climbed out of bed, slipped on a pair of pants, and went to answer the door. On the other side, Maura stared at her with red, puffy eyes.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Jane asked, stepping forward and enveloping her in her arms.

"Cailin left."

Stepping into the apartment, Jane never removed her arms from Maura. She clung to her as Jane pushed the door closed and wrapped herself back around her.

"I'm sorry."

"I know she's coming back soon," Maura said, a couple of tears coated her skin. "I feel so sad."

"That's understandable." Jane held her at arm's length. "You've only just got her back in your life and things are going so well. Maura, you have a family."

"I do," she said, nodding. She wiped at her cheeks. "Why is it so difficult to have a family?"

Jane laughed and cupped her cheeks. "Oh, Maur. I think it's called love. You love her and she's the only biological family member you have. Having family isn't easy. God. I remember when Tommy went missing when I was still in high school. Ma wouldn't stop crying for two days."

"What happened?"

"Little jerk was hiding in our grandparents garage the whole time. He fell out with Pop about something, I can't remember now."

"That's awful," Maura said.

"It was. I know I don't always get along with my brothers but if anything happened to them…that's what family is all about."

Jane ran her hands through her hair then on up above her head, as a yawn escaped her lips.

"I'm sorry," Maura said, glancing down her clothes. "Were you going to bed?"

"Yeah, but it's fine."

"No." Maura turned to the door. "I'll go."

"Wait," Jane said, wrapping a hand around Maura's arm. "You don't have to. You're clearly still upset. Why don't you stay?"

"I don't want to impose."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Last week I shot sperm up your vagina with a needless syringe. We are so far past imposition, I don't even know why we don't just swap keys and share each other's clothes already."

Maura smiled. "You already have a key to my house, and we have swapped clothes, a few times."

Jane frowned. She had had a key to Maura's for a long time, yet she'd never once thought to give Maura a key to her own apartment. Even Silver had gotten a key, if only temporarily while she was out of the country. She opened the drawer of the cabinet beside the front door and pulled out her spare set.

"Here," she said, placing it in Maura's hand. "Now you can come and go as you please."

"Thank you, Jane," Maura said, slipping the key into her jacket pocket.

"Now get your jacket off, I'll go find you something to wear for bed. I'm tired, and I have to be up early."

Jane left her by the door. She rooted through her drawers for a pair of sweats and a tshirt. As she closed the drawer, her hands shook a little. She steadied them slightly. She didn't know why it felt so weird to give Maura a key, like their relationship had changed. Except that, for Jane at least, it had. She pushed any and all feelings to one side and called Maura into the bedroom. As she slipped out of her clothes and changed into Jane's, she sat on the bed and stared at the opposite wall. She'd seen Maura's most intimate parts of the body and yet she couldn't watch her change.

"You can look now," Maura said, with a slight crease of the eyebrow.

Jane smiled as she slipped under the covers, then joined Maura. It felt completely different now. Like she was breaking some sort of line by being in the same bed as her best friend. The friend who she was in love with.

"Are you on call in the morning?" Maura asked.

"Bright and early," Jane said, lying on her back and staring up at the ceiling.

"I won't be in until lunchtime. I have an appointment with my doctor."

"Why?" Jane asked, sitting up and leaning on her elbow. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Will you find out if you're pregnant?"

"No. We can do a test next week." Maura rolled onto her side. "Not my general practitioner. My therapist. I thought given everything I've gone through recently; it was worth talking to someone about it."

"That's a good idea," Jane said, lying down on her back. "You're okay though, right?"

"Yes, Jane. I'm okay."

"Good."

They lay in silence for a while. Jane just stared at the ceiling, contemplating the world, trying not to think about how close Maura was at that very moment.

"Goodnight, Maura," Jane said, rolling onto her other side.

"Night, Jane."