Most days. Jane was in control of most everything. She commanded the crime scene, the people of her station; she dictated the who, when, what, and how of the Homicide branch of the BPD…and if she was brave enough, she could say that she dictated most things that she and Maura did too.
Okay, some things.
Certain things.
Alright, fine.
Things Maura let her dictate.
At the current moment though, and once again – unsurprisingly – Jane Rizzoli was W-H-I-P-P-E-D by the gorgeous honey blonde Chief Medical Examiner.
There was a baby strapped to her chest. Attached to some sort of…spider contraption with way too many buckles and straps, Wyatt was nestled blissfully into Jane's chest; snuggled under the woman's sweater jacket and fast asleep as the brunette sulked and fussed at the triumphantly beaming ME. He was almost invisible in Jane's coat – only the very top of his little beanie could be see, and half of his face.
Almost invisible, but it was very obvious that the bundle on her chest was a baby sleeping.
She let Maura take them to a fancy, upscale grocery store in her neighborhood; the store with patrons who either wear pearl necklaces or are employed by pearl-wearing wives. It hadn't necessarily made Jane very comfortable, being around those kinds of people so early in the morning, but Maura wanted what Maura wanted.
They were quite a pair, her and Maura; the gorgeous honey blonde prettily dressed in a designer pair of jeans and a figure-hugging sweater, and the tall and awkward brunette in years-old jeans and a tank top underneath her browbeaten leather jacket.
Oh, and a baby strapped to her chest.
"Maura," Jane groaned, as she trailed the ME like a begrudging but loyal hound, pushing the cart with one hand and the other bouncing Wyatt gently to keep him asleep. The blonde seemed perfectly at ease though; skimming the shelves and perusing the list she held in one perfectly manicured hand, dropping a box or two of baby formula into the cart. "These things look like they cost more than my mortgage. You ever heard of Stop n' Shop?" she grumbled, and pulled the cart to a stop when Maura stopped to glare at her over her shoulder.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I have, Jane," Maura replied primly, throwing her blonde curls back as she turned back towards the shelf of baby bottles and searched for one she thought appealing and suitable. "But I would rather not buy necessities from a place we once picked a body up from. Wyatt deserves the absolute best." The woman spun back to Jane on her designer heels, a brilliant smile on her face as she held in her hands a bottle pack like she was some sort of bottle model.
"What do you think? Cobalt blue or jade green?"
"I think Wyatt doesn't care," Jane mocked her, smilingly making a face at Maura when the ME scowled at her. "Seriously, Maura, look at him." She bounced Wyatt slightly, who sat there on her chest like a rock. "The little man doesn't care what color baby bottle we get him – he just wants a boob in his mouth."
Maura huffed, placing both shades into the cart as Jane groaned under her breath yet again. "Well, unless either of us spontaneously lactates from the increased hormone exposure, Wyatt will have to settle with formula," she quipped plainly, and spun back to peruse the varying shelves of infant formulas.
Jane blinked hard, eyes growing wide as she processed what exactly Maura had just revealed to her. "We're going to start lactating?!"
Her voice carried loud enough for people to stop and stare, and Maura hurried spun to the gaping detective and hushed the woman gently. Jane was having none of it though – she was going to start making milk out of her boobs?!
"Maura, I'm not a dairy cow!" she cried, and looked down in a panic to her chest where Wyatt slept pressed to her chest – was she lactating already?!
The ME reached out to grip her arm soothingly, forcing Jane's wide, panicked eyes to meet hers as Maura shook her head slowly. "It's only a slight possibility," she assured the brunette, stroking Jane's tense arm reassuringly as Jane darted a look from Wyatt to her breast and then back over to the blonde's face. "It's just a theory, Jane. It's not a guarantee. Cases of an adoptive mother lactating are very rare, and that's with medical assistance too."
The brunette stared at Maura for a long, panicked moment until the fear in her eyes dwindled and the blonde's soothing smile willed away the last of the tension in her body. It was something she both hated and admired – Maura's ability to calm or rile her up with just a look. It was not natural for a woman to have such control over Jane Rizzoli. "Okay," she gusted finally, nodding her head as she seemed to roll her shoulders and shake off the feeling. "Okay, cool. We're good. We're – we're fine." She swept a hand through the air, cutting off the worry at the waist as she fixed a firm look at Maura just to be sure.
"You're sure, right? You're absolutely sure there's no possibility of either of us lactating at random?"
Maura nodded calmly. "Yes, Jane, I'm sure," she replied evenly.
Jane let out a relieved breath, letting her hand rest on Wyatt's back as she gave Maura a weak, sheepish smile. "Okay."
Because Lord help me if one day you start lactating, Maura. It's hard enough already not to stare at your cleavage every time I'm near you.
Jane survived at least another half hour trailing after Maura through the store, only ever groaning or whining when Maura put something way too expensive into the cart or when Wyatt would make a peep. "See, Maura? Even the little guy wants to get out of here," she'd said to the blonde, as she balanced a baby bottle of formula under her chin for Wyatt to eat while she texted Korsak with the other hand. While she'd never actually admit it out loud to anyone ever, (okay, maybe she would to Maura if she stared at her long enough) Jane was getting the hang of juggling a baby and her work life.
Just a little bit.
"Wyatt is simply hungry, and do not tilt the bottle at such a high angle!" Maura rushed over to Jane's side, gently lowering the bottle in her hand and holding it at what she deemed a more suitable angle for Wyatt to nurse on. "A newborn doesn't have proper neck strength to support his head upright or backwards properly. We need to ensure that Wyatt doesn't have his head leaning too far back or too forward. It could cause neck injuries," she told the detective, as she leaned over Jane's shoulder to watch Wyatt's face.
Jane nodded silently, too stunned to respond as she held Wyatt and watched Maura feed the baby. She wasn't in the mood to rib at Maura for talking Google at her; Wyatt's health and safety was their priority now. Her mouth twitched into a smile when she looked down into the boy's face and saw his little nose wrinkle and a dimple appear in his chubby cheek. "Hey, look at that – look at that, Maura. Is he smiling at us?"
Maura peered eagerly at the baby's face, smiling as she caught sight of the adorable baby's face. "He's probably reacting by reflex to nursing," she murmured, and then met Jane's eye with a smile as the taller woman rolled her eyes at her smilingly.
"Well, aren't you two the most adorable things!"
Jane blinked several times, turning to the new voice blankly. "Excuse me, what now?" she stuttered.
The older woman smiled at the pair, gesturing to the way Maura was leaning into Jane's side and the taller woman bending slightly at the knees to put herself at Maura's height. "Oh, the two of you must be so pleased that our state is finally recognizing your love for one another." She moved forward, gesturing towards Wyatt slowly as she smiled kindly at the gaping pair. "May I look at him?"
She gasped and crooned in delight when a stunned Jane slowly lowered Wyatt at an angle for her to see, pressing her hands to her mouth and then reaching out gently to stroke his downy hair. "Oh, bless the little man; he's a handsome little fella, isn't he?" She gushed and crooned a little bit more, and then she turned her gaze to the still-bewildered pair. "Oh, he looks just like you, dearie," she told Jane, giving the woman a pat on the arm. "Boys usually take after their Papas anyhow. Well, my best to the both of you, good day!"
With a kindly smile to Maura and perhaps a cheeky wink, the older woman was gone in a whirl of Chanel No. 5.
Almost as soon as the woman was out of earshot, Jane whirled to Maura, sputtering. "See, Maura – I told you I would be the guy!"
Maura's eyes widened at the loud exclamation, grabbing Jane's arm and guiding her back to the cart as the detective finished feeding Wyatt and began to burp him. "Hush, Jane, people are staring," she chided the brunette as she pushed the cart now. The sooner they finished, the sooner they could go for lunch and Jane would stop whining about 'being the man' of the relationship.
…and Maura could stop thinking about Jane in such a context.
She smothered a shudder and grabbed diapers off the shelf. "She was simply making an assumption about our relationship – it's commonplace practice, Jane," she said evenly, placing the diapers neatly into the pile of baby things in the cart. "Compared to myself, you're just…a little bit more sporty, and she must've seen what you were wearing an assumed you were the male of the relationship," she pointed out, gesturing to Jane's battered leather jacket and jeans compared to her own, figure-hugging attire.
Jane let her eyes roam Maura's body for a quick moment before she gathered herself to roll her eyes at the woman, as she usually would. Well, usually she stared at Maura too, but she didn't stare at the ME like she wanted to get under her clothes and 'compare body types' real nice and personal with her.
Right?
"Sporty, sure," she snorted, and glanced off at her watch one more time, and then groaned. "Maura," she whined, just as Wyatt gave a loud belch. "We've been here an hour already – I'm starving and Wy's startin' to hurt my shoulders." She shifted uncomfortably as the carrier strap dug into her shoulders again, making a dramatic wince as Maura huffed at her.
"I suppose you did behave," Maura conceded, squeaking as Jane commandeered the cart, nudging the woman aside and pushing the cart towards the check-out. The blonde huffed again, arms akimbo as she watched Jane push the cart out of the aisle and then turn back to her impatiently. Shaking her head, Maura strode towards her, but her mouth curved into a smile at Jane's pleading look.
"If we have lunch at Sebastians, will you stop pouting at me?"
"Babe, if you get me drive-through, I'd sit through Don Giovanni with you again."
They got to Sebastians and found their seats; people at Sebastians rarely ever took more than five minutes to seat Dr. Isles, and Jane made extra certain to rib at her best friend for that once they'd settled into their seats and the waiter left them with their menus. "They must be having a field day," she teased, burying her face into her menu. "Dr. Isles, here? On a weekend?" Jane glanced up with a grin and a dramatic wave of her hand to her forehead. "We gotta make sure we've got her favorites!"
"Be quiet, you," Maura huffed, though her cheeks flamed red. She turned her attention away from the grinning detective down to the baby gurgling on her chest. "Would you like me to take Wyatt from you?" she asked gently, frowning at the way Jane was wincing every time she moved. "Your back and shoulders must be aching."
Jane let out a puff of air, gingerly reaching into the carrier and lifting the baby. "Would you mind? He's kinda rubbing at me raw," she confessed, albeit begrudgingly, as she handed the baby to Maura. She sat back and unstrapped the carrier from her chest, rubbing at her skin in relief as she watched Maura cradle Wyatt. She smiled out of the corner of her mouth, indulgent and affectionate as Maura cooed at the baby and settled him neatly into the crook of her arm.
"Is he asleep?" she asked, her voice low and affectionately as Maura's hazel eyes met her dark ones and they shared a smile.
"Very nearly," Maura replied, and her eyes sparkled with amusement as Jane smothered a yawn. "And it seems like you are too."
Jane made a noise at the back of her throat, waving the woman away as Maura chuckled quietly. "I had a long night, remember? You did too." She glanced at Maura sharply, and the blonde nodded sagely as she too opened her menu.
"Very well then – let's finish up and see if we can't 'catch some REM cycles' after lunch."
"It's 'catch some zees', Maura. Catch some – oh what the hell. You wanna split the bruschetta?"
