Author Note: Thank you so much to everyone who has commented and such, it's so nice to see you still enjoying my story. I'm edging closer to the end, it's just taking longer than I'd like and I'm flagging a bit. I feel like the next few chapters are not really going to be necessary, but I've lost the climax of the story, it happened a while back, now I'm just writing to get to the end of the pregnancy. But I hope you enjoy it anyway.

"You're doing such a great job," Silver said, running her hand across Jane's damp hair with a wet cloth and holding her hand. "Just another big push and we'll get to meet our daughters."

Jane clutched her hand tightly, as another contraction took hold of her body. She pushed down hard, closed her eyes and screamed out as the baby slipped from her body and into the arms of the doctor.

"Congratulations," the doctor said, appearing from between Jane's legs with a small baby wrapped in a white blanket. She pulled a face mask down from her nose and mouth.

"Maura?" Jane's mouth dropped open, her eyes travelled from Maura, to Silver, to their daughter; her thick hair red and her eyes bright blue shone under the dull lights. "Why does she have red hair?"

Silver cradled the baby in her arms. "I had red hair as a child, she must take after her Mommy."

"She certainly can't take after me," Maura said, and she laughed loudly. Jane looked at Silver, who joined in, her mouth open wide and her head tossed back as she chuckled along.

"I don't understand," Jane said, shifting her position. A moment later another contraction took hold and she clutched Silver's hand, the baby nestled in the crook of her arm.

"Congratulations, you have two daughters," Maura said, handing the other one over to Jane.

"But," she started to say, only to drift off.

The child in her arms squirmed about, her little fingers and toes moved back and forth; her hair equally red. Tears filled Jane's eyes and she leaned down to kiss her daughter's cheek. She sat back up. Silver had vanished, replaced by Maura, her eyes stern.

"You cheated, didn't you?" Maura asked.

"What?" Jane frowned. "No."

"Then why do our daughters have red hair?"

"I…I don't know. Isn't it a mutant gene? I thought anyone could have red haired kids."

"But you cheated on me with Silver, didn't you?"

She screamed loudly, so loud that her throat ached. "No!"

She opened her eyes. The bedroom was dark. Jane breathed heavily, it felt like a weight sat on her chest. She rolled onto her side, but Maura wasn't there. Slipping out from under the bedsheets, Jane shuffled along the hallway to their bedroom. She crawled back into bed beside Maura, her warmth comforted her in an instant.

"Hey," she whispered, in an attempt to wake her. Slow and methodical breaths escaped her open mouth. Jane pushed her shoulder. "Wake up, Maur."

"What's," Maura said. "What's wrong? Is it the babies?"

"No." Jane nuzzled her face against the side of Maura's neck. "I missed you."

Sighing, Maura wrapped an arm around her, not quite waking up. "Missed you too."

x

Tupperware box in hand, Maura travelled up to the homicide unit. If Jane wasn't going to find food, then she would bring food to her. Anything to ensure their children, and her girlfriend, stayed healthy.

"I brought lunch," she said, stepping up beside Jane's desk. "A quinoa salad with balsamic vinegar dressing. Quinoa has all the essential amino acids that make it a fantastic, meat substitute."

Jane narrowed her eyes. "Isn't balsamic vinegar on the no-no list?"

"You read the list," Maura said, placing the container on the desk and pulling up a chair.

"I read some of the list."

"It does contain a small amount of lead, but you're more likely to consume lead from drinking tap water than from the vinegar."

"So, it's safe?"

"Yes, it's safe." Maura peeled off the lid. "Do you really think I would prepare something unsafe?"

"Sorry," Jane said. "Sometimes I forget you know everything. Thank you."

She handed Jane a fork and proceeded to load up a fork of her own. "Since you failed to eat lunch yesterday, and you're busy with the case today, I didn't want you to skip lunch again."

"What would I do without you?"

Maura sat back as Jane scooped some of the salad into her mouth and chewed. Sometimes she had to watch her, just to remind herself how lucky she'd become. It had only been a few months ago that she was having some sort of mid-life crisis, and now, now all of her dreams were coming true.

"Are you making any progress?" she asked, taking another mouthful.

Jane shrugged, mid-chew. "The only fingerprints in the house were from the kid, her mom and dad. The friend's fingerprints were in the kitchen but not in the room where Alana died."

"Gloves?"

"I dunno," Jane said, she swallowed her mouthful and leaned forward. "There's something weird, did Kent tell you?"

"I'm not sure."

"There were three sets of fingerprints in the room where Alana was found, as I said. But Luis Schmick's prints were laid over the top of Alana's."

"But he's dead."

"Suspected."

Dropping her fork into the Tupperware container, Maura glanced off into the distance, the cogs turning in her mind. "If Luis Schmick is missing, presumed dead, then there's a chance he's still alive and could have returned to the Schmick residence."

"But how?"

"When you say how, what do you mean?"

Jane sighed. "How did he survive when he's been missing for months in a foreign country?"

"I don't know. Have you spoken to the Air Force?"

"That's my plan as soon as we've eaten." Jane paused, closed her eyes and rested her hand across her stomach. "Kicking."

"Now?" Maura leaned forward and pressed her hand against Jane's bump. Something hit the underside of her stomach, colliding abruptly with Maura's hand. "Isn't it marvellous?"

"That there's a baby sat on my bladder all the time?" Jane asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," she said, sliding her hand across the front of Jane's shirt. "That we can feel them moving, just like that. Another one."

"They know you," Jane said, covering Maura's hand. "They move more when you're talking."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Sitting upright, Maura ran the back of her knuckles across the underside of her eyes and sniffed.

"You getting emotional on me, Isles?"

Maura rolled her eyes and reached for Jane's hand. "Thank you."

"What for?"

"Giving me everything I could ever have wanted."

"Don't thank me yet," Jane said, smirking. "I've still gotta push them out. Maybe I'll give up by then, and they'll have to cut them out."

"It doesn't matter which way it happens," she said, squeezing Jane's hand. "You're still giving me something money can't buy."

"Stop," Jane whispered, rubbing the palms of her hands against her eyes. "They already think I'm a major wuss 'round here without more tears."

"Sorry." Maura dropped her hand and returned to the quinoa salad, she scooped a forkful into her mouth, chewed and swallowed. "I just…"

"Hey, Jane!" Silver's greeting broken through Maura's weakened voice. She turned to face her. "Maura, it's good to see you again."

"Silver," Maura said, standing up. She moved her hands forward, then thought better of it, clutching the fork in her hand as she dropped it to her side.

"What you doing here?" Jane asked, steadying herself with the desk as she stood. "Everything alright with Lucy?"

"Lucy?" Maura looked at Jane, then across to Silver. Then it hit her. It made perfect sense. "You picked up the child from the case, yesterday."

"Yeah," Silver said, narrowing her eyes in Jane's direction. "Didn't Jane tell you?"

"No." Jane looked from Maura to Silver, her eyes darted about, sheepishly. "I forgot. Blame my baby brain."

"I suppose that means you also forgot to tell her we caught up," Silver said, smiling softly.

There was no malice in her voice, or words, but it felt like a stab to the heart. Maura placed her fork on the desk and re-covered the salad. "We've been focused more on the babies, than anything else."

"Of course." Silver smiled again. "Wait, did you say babies? Plural?"

"Yes, twins," Jane said, she turned to Maura. "I only didn't mention it because I was tired, and you were being so lovely, I didn't wanna ruin things."

Maura cleared her throat. "Why would it ruin things?"

"Maybe I should leave," Silver said, backing away.

"It's fine." Maura pushed the Tupperware container forward. "Eat it. I'll see you at home."

"Wait, Maur," Jane shouted, but she was already halfway to the elevator.

The exchange shouldn't have bothered her, they were happy, for the first time in such a long time, they were blissful. She had a part in stopping it being difficult, or awkward, and she'd failed miserably. But she couldn't stop thinking about it. Jane had omitted a valuable piece of information about her previous day, about her ex-girlfriend. She had no doubt that Jane loved her, but something about it cut deep.

x

"Where were you?" Jane asked, sitting in a dining chair turned toward the entrance. "Your car was still at BPD but you weren't."

"I had a headache," Maura said, placing her purse on the floor and her keys into a bowl by the window. "I went for a walk."

Jane sat upright, her back ached from her uncomfortable slouch. "Headache, my ass."

"I'm not lying to you, Jane," Maura said, marching across the room and filling a glass with water. She drank it slowly, her eyes fixed on Jane's until she swallowed a mouthful and continued. "I wouldn't lie to you…"

"Unlike me."

"I didn't say that." She placed the empty glass in the sink and leaned against the edge of the counter top.

"You didn't need to," Jane said, standing up.

Maura pursed her lips and sighed. "I needed some space, so I walked 'round The Fens. The fresh air helped clear my mind."

"Why did your mind need clearing?"

She turned, her fingers white as she gripped hold of the back of one of the counter stools. The decision to finally go home was more out of a necessity than desire, the evening was drawing in and Maura couldn't ignore her failure to take a jacket. "I'm upset that you kept something from me."

"See!" Jane shouted, jumping to her feet. She stood up tall, pushing her arms above her head to stretch the muscles in her back.

"I still didn't claim you were lying to me," Maura said, twisting around. A crease formed between her eyebrows. Jane's glee at her admission did nothing to soothe her fragile façade. "I'm concerned that you failed to mention that you 'caught up' with your ex-girlfriend then came home and refused to sleep in the same bed as me."

"I told you," Jane said. "I feel gross."

Knowing the stages, and the pitfalls, of pregnancy was both a blessing and a curse. Maura knew that Jane would eventually reach this point, she just didn't expect it to affect their relationship.

Several thoughts crossed her mind, and before she could think logically about which one mattered more, Maura let the words tumble from her lips. "Did you feel gross when you were with Silver?"

"No, I wasn't pregnant when I was with Silver."

"I meant last night."

Jane stepped toward her, closing the gap only slightly. "I didn't think about it until I had a bath and saw how many stretch marks I have all over my body. I could have been elbow deep in mud at a crime scene and I still wouldn't have felt as gross as I do now."

"You still feel that way now?" Maura asked, lowering her gaze.

"Yes."

She picked at a hair on her thigh. "While you're next to me."

The look on Maura's face, as much as Jane could see it, anyway, made her guilt at not telling her about Silver feel exponentially worse. She didn't plan to do it. She didn't mean to. She just…didn't. Words escaped her. Maura felt this deeper than she'd anticipated and Jane didn't quite know how to make this better.

"While you're next to me," Maura repeated.

"This isn't about you, Maura," Jane said, sighing. "It's about me. I'm fat and my skin is greasy and I have marks all over my body. I don't feel attractive and that's not because of you, or Silver, or crime scenes. It's because my body's doing something supposedly natural, but sometimes it doesn't feel natural. It feels disgusting right now. The only good thing is our daughters will come from this mess."

"You're not a mess," Maura whispered, lifting her gaze.

Jane stared into her eyes, holding her there for a moment. "You don't think so but I do and I can't change it."

"I know."

She stepped closer, ignoring the hint of anger still housed on Maura's face. Reaching out, she rested her hand against her lower arm. "I love you. I chose you. Silver wasn't even gonna come yesterday, she wasn't supposed to pick up Lucy. I asked if she wanted to go for a drink. I never told her I was pregnant. She deserved to know that I didn't just go back in the closet after we broke up."

"Just one drink?"

"Two, but it doesn't matter."

"No." Maura covered Jane's hand and curled her fingers around it. "I suppose it doesn't."

"I love you," she said, untangling her hand and wrapping her around Maura's neck. She chewed on her bottom lip. When Maura met her gaze, every last bit of resolve crumbled and tears pricked at her eyes. "I want to be with you, I just hate my body right now."

"You don't need to," Maura said, brushing a tear from Jane's cheek and resting her hand over Jane's.

"I know. You keep telling me that, but I do." Jane stepped back. She pushed the fabric of her shirt up and over her stomach, replacing it with her hands. "I've never hated my body before. I know it's the babies. I know it's not their fault. Sure, in high school I didn't really like my body and I hated things about it, but I didn't feel like this then. I didn't feel as fat as I do now."

"Even when they called you names?"

Jane laughed. "That was when I was younger. I got into baseball and I ran track and I lost the puppy fat. This is the heaviest I've ever been, and even when I put on weight, it doesn't usually come with all the added extras."

"It's only temporary."

"I know."

"I don't want you to push me away," Maura said, leaning down and kissing the back of Jane's hand. "I don't care how much you hate your body."

"Gee, thanks, Maur."

"I didn't mean it like that," she said, glancing up. She trailed her fingers across every inch of skin, still staring into Jane's eyes. "I don't care about stretch marks, or extra skin. I care about you. What you're doing for us, you've giving me the family I've always wanted. If it means a few extra marks on your body, then I see them as war wounds, not as something to be shameful about."

"I still hate them."

"I know." She diverted her attention. Leaning in, Maura pressed kisses along Jane's stomach. She slipped her fingers into the edge of Jane's maternity pants and pulled them off the top of her hips. The space between the bottom of her bump and her pubic bone was rippled. She pressed her mouth to her skin, interspersed with words. "But I. Love. them. Every. Single. Mark."

Choking back a tear, Jane reached down to Maura's arms and tugged her back up. Brown eyes on hazel. Jane leaned forward, her forehead rested against Maura's as she leaned in and captured her lips.

"I'm sorry," she said. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"Maybe we did something right to deserve each other," Maura replied, kissing her again. "Will you stay with me tonight?"

"Can we eat first?" Jane asked, dropping her hands to her stomach. "The babies are starving!"

"How does takeout pizza sound?"

"That depends," Jane said, narrowing her eyes. "Can I have a beer?"

"Non-alcoholic." Jane nodded. "Of course."