AN: Thanks again you guys, for the support and kind words.
''Thank you Jane. You did so well, and you were very brave,'' Maura said out of nowhere. They had just been relaxing and enjoying the peace and quiet of the morning.
''What do you have to thank me for Maura?''
''For making my dreams come true. I have the best wife and the most beautiful children.''
''Well in that case,'' Jane smiled. ''Thank you too. Because I also have the best wife and the most beautiful children.'' Jane curiously watched Maura remove imaginary lint from the baby blanket in her hand. Jane knew exactly what she was thinking. ''You know, in your mind you probably think that you didn't do much or that I could still have all this without you'' And Maura was about to say yes when Jane quickly continued. It was all too easy to forget how very insecure the blonde was at times. ''Having kids was never really on my 'to do' list Maura. It's something you know very well I never actively thought of. If I didn't have you I wouldn't have been interested. You made the idea of a family attractive to me Maura. And you gave me that family. I might have carried the babies, but sweetheart, I wouldn't have done it without you.'' She motioned for Maura to sit on the hospital bed with her.
''Going through with that wedding with Jason, in the back of my mind I knew we'd have children at some point, but to me it was just something people did when they got married. It's not something I really wanted. My career was more important to me than starting a family. And as awful as that might sound, it's the simple truth. But then you came into my life...back into my life, and I'm happily married and have three children already. God knows when I'll ever go back to work but guess what, that's not a priority to me anymore. You are what matters. Theo, Benny, and Mia are what matter. So don't go around thinking you didn't do anything for this family,'' she playfully poked her in the ribs. ''YOU made it happen''
''How do you always know what I want to hear?''
''Because you always know what I want to hear,'' she smiled coyly.
''Thank you though, Jane. For doing this for our family. For sacrificing your body and your career for us.''
''Well you probably got the rough end of the stick,'' Jane laughed. ''My sour mood, horrid habits, temper tantrums, nausea, cravings and so much more''
''It was definitely worth it. And I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.''
''We aren't having any more kids Maura,'' Jane said sternly. At least trying to be stern. ''Ahhhhh, yeah. We have three,'' she lifted her fingers to illustrate. ''that's enough''
Maura laughed. ''You should see how mortified you look. Yes darling, three is definitely enough for us''
'When I feel blue in the night
And I need you to hold me tight
Whenever I want you
All I have to do is dream''
Maura softly sang to little Benjamin. He was awake and wriggling about a tiny bit. One of the nurses had put a cover over his incubator to block the light so they had removed the cover over his eyes. Maura just looked at him, running her fingers all over his body.
''I need you so that I could die
I love you so and that is why
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Dream, dream, dream, dream, dream''
That's the song she had picked for him. And that's the one she'd always sing to him whenever she came to see him.
When Jane started to wake up after a late morning nap Maura was speaking with the lactation consultant. She had pumped two bottles of milk that they would feed Ben through the tube because he wasn't able to suck yet.
''I must say, you are doing very well Maura,'' the woman praised. ''Some women don't get to produce quite as much''
''I started pumping early. With our three little ones, I knew Jane would need help. In any case, I wanted to breastfeed as well''
''It's good that you can help each other like that. How are these two doing?'' she said looking at Theo and Mia sleeping in their beds beside Jane.
''They are doing wonderfully. Both of them can latch on well now, Jane and I started breast feeding them yesterday. It hurts Jane the most though''
''Understandably. You started pumping about a month ago to get more milk out, Jane only started having her breasts sucked yesterday''
Said woman cleared her throat. ''Are you talking about sucking my breasts in front of my wife?'' Jane said to the woman through her sleep filled voice.
They all laughed.
''Detective, it's nice to know that motherhood hasn't taken away your sarcasm''
''It'll take much more than that to wipe it out completely. How are u?'' she greeted. Jane had initially been put off by the breastfeeding specialist. In her defense, she was pregnant and moody had hated everyone. When Maura approached her about her behaviour, Jane said she the woman was invading on their privacy a lot and concentrating on Maura's breasts too much. ''What else is she supposed to concentrate on Jane. She is a LACTATION CONSULTANT. My breasts are the whole reason she's here to begin with,'' Maura had yelled during their argument. It all boiled down to the fact that Jane's pregnancy made her so insecure about Maura being attracted to other people, Jane couldn't even believe it. They had quickly patched things up though, and the woman had slowly become something of a friend to them.
Later that afternoon...
''I uhhh…we have some explaining to do,'' Jane said scratching her hair. Their plan had now been thrown off balance so she didn't quite know how to begin. ''The thing is…as you can see,'' she gestured to the babies. ''We had a uhhhh'' The words were slipping out of her grasp. Maura was supposed to be here to help explain the situation to everyone else, but then Benjamin had to have some tests done and he was crying – she had to go and be with him.
''Jane,'' Korsak stepped forward. ''You don't have to make a big deal of this.''
They were misunderstanding her conflict.
''Maura and I didn't tell you something, because at the time it was obviously personal and…none of your business''
And this is where they imagined Jane would say her and Maura picked an African American donor for reasons A, B, and C.
WRONG!
''You don't have to explain yourselves to us,'' Frankie said in his all understanding little brother tone. Jane was touched; he was a very sweet guy.
''And now you probably feel pressured to explain because we're all here,'' Nina added, feeling a little bit guilty that maybe they were crowding Jane.
''Besides Jane, it adds a bit of balance in here,'' Frost said, looking around the room dramatically. He pointed at Frankie, Tommy, Jane and Korsak. Then he pointed at Nina, Patricia and himself. ''These two plus Benny are our little blend,'' he gestured to the babies.
The room erupted in laughter. He was a funny man Frost, and they all loved him for it.
''But seriously guys, I haven't actually got to what I have to tell you,'' Jane sobered up. The atmosphere in the room immediately changed. ''I asked you all to come cause I wanted to have to explain this once,'' she smiled at Patricia. The woman was a bit shy – understandably – since she was still getting used to everyone, and Jane knew she probably would be feeling like an intruder. And because Jane didn't really do subtle, she had to express the sentiment verbally. ''You're part of us now Pat. And you ought to know, so you don't keep wondering what's going on''
''You mean like wondering why you two have black kids,'' Frost lightly punched Jane in the arm laughing.
''Can you just shut up for a minute so I can actually talk,'' the brunette said impatiently. She smiled fondly at Frost though, a secret thank you to him for lightening things up.
''The mixed babies…it wasn't intentional''
The room fell silent. Several indiscernible expressions on everyone's face.
''There was a mix up at the…you know. Sperm bank,'' she said sheepishly. ''This was as much of a surprise to us as it is to you''
''Wow,'' Nina said. ''Have you contacted them? I mean, I've heard of this kinda stuff happening but…''
''You should sue them. It's really not acceptable to make such mistakes you know?'' Tommy added.
''Me and Maura haven't thought very far yet. We've just been really busy and tired''
''We can help Jane,'' Korsak offered. ''Just tell us where to start and you can relax while we look into it''
''Thanks. I was kinda hoping you'd ask,'' she laughed. ''I'm just SO tired and worried.''
''Oh Jane,'' Nina went to sit on the bed with her to offer comfort. It wasn't often that the detective admitted to something like that.
''It would help a bit if Amanda was here''
''Why?'' Frost almost squealed, immediately hating himself for being so transparent when all eyes fell on him. The man could practically feel Jane saying Really!
''She referred us to this particular sperm bank, and she is the one that…did the insemination,'' Jane added that last part really quickly.
The room was silent yet again.
...for about five seconds until Theo starting making sounds, indicating he was waking up. It escalated into a full blown cry in just a few seconds more. Everyone's attention was then diverted to the two little ones, because Mia was woken up as well. They spend the next about half an hour seeing the babies and chatting and laughing.
That little gut thing Jane is always on about, well, Frost has that too. His gut had been churning for months now. There was this niggling of worry and fear at the back of his mind since that night with Amanda. That niggling only got worse and worse by the day when he still hadn't heard word from the woman. Aside from the fact that he had a 'thing' for her, he couldn't get past the idea of her just disappearing like that. It didn't add up. If she wanted to relocate to Canada she could have just said so, not need to be evasive about it and then just wipe yourself off of earth. What was that all about?
''What's up with you guys losing your words,'' Korsak said to Frost. ''I can understand Jane; she'd been through a great deal. What's your excuse?'' The older man had watched Frost struggle with his words for a few minutes now and he was getting impatient.
''I'm not expert at pregnancy stuff but I've been doing some research since yesterday.'' The two were at the dirty robber where Frost had asked Korsak for about an hour of his evening to talk. Since seeing Jane the previous day, Frost thought he had an idea what was going on.
''And…?''
''I've been counting back from when the triplets were born, to try to determine when exactly Jane got pregnant. I've narrowed it down to the window between when she could have gotten pregnant and before Amanda left''
''Right…'' Korsak knew he was trying to make a point.
''And it comes down to around that week we last went out with Amanda before she left for her grandma's funeral''
''I thought we said we'd look into this tomorrow''
They had agreed to finish the paperwork for their last case and then start seeing into Jane's case from tomorrow.
''I know but…this is really eating at him and I'm starting to feel a bit sick''
He actually did look a bit ill.
Korsak didn't understand why he of all people concerned should be taking it this hard.
''Korsak…this is a HUGE leap. It's something that's kept me up almost the whole of last night. And if I'm brutally honest, it's something that's kept me up for months.''
''What's wrong Frost,'' the old man was starting to get genuinely troubled.
''That night when we last went out, I slept with Amanda. And then again the next night.'' Korsak would have plugged his ears if he wasn't so concerned. Immediately he knows that the act of them sleeping together was a minor issue compared to what Frost was yet to say.
''I don't know what the hell happened but that Friday night...I don't remember the rest of it.''
''At all?''
''I remember we were piss drunk here. And Frankie drove us to her place, and…I don't know. I very vaguely remember us sleeping together. But it's more like a dream or a fantasy sort of thing.''
''So maybe you didn't sleep with her,'' Korsak said cautiously.
''I did. The beginning of it happened I'm sure. But the rest is just a blank page. Till this day Korsak, I just remember waking up in bed naked with her''
Korsak quickly tried to rid himself of those images. ''And the next night?''
''That's the suspicious bit yeah. We went out and got hammered again. Remember I came in late on Monday thoroughly hung over and-''
''Yeah I remember that morning''
''Exactly. I remember that night too. I was wasted but I remember everything we did. Obviously not super clearly but I do know what happened''
''So the night before…''
''I don't wanna think this, but I feel like I might have been drugged or something''
''By Amanda?'' Korsak almost snorted.
''Listen, I know it's all so weird and everything. That's why I haven't mentioned it and I've just let it bother me quietly. I actually tried to explain it to Jane afterward but she laughed at me and took off.
''So now why is this important?''
Korsak wasn't stupid. He was already putting two and two together. But just like Frost, he wanted it all to be a dream.
''It's been eating at me for all this time like I said. But I guess I've been able to push it at the back of my head. But yesterday when Jane said that Amanda did…the thing for them. It took me to all kinds of places in my head''
They both took a moment to let it sink in.
''So…'' Korsak began counting off on his fingers. '' You sleep with Amanda. You have no recollection of it. Jane is pregnant. Amanda disappears. Jane has mixed babies she and Maura never planned to have.''
''Yes. You get it?'' He looked hopefully at Korsak.
''So what you are saying is that you think those babies are yours.'' Frost quickly jerked around to make sure no one was within hearing distance. It was as if Korsak had said he had a bomb and was planning to destroy the whole country.
''I'm not saying it,'' he let out through gritted teeth.
''But you're thinking it''
They let everything sink in again for a moment, sipping on their beers.
''Tell me one thing though? Why would Amanda do something like that?''
''That's one of the many things bothering me too,'' Frost whispered. Having his fears verified was not as relieving as he imagined. Yes it made him feel less crazy, but that certainly didn't help matters.
''Jane is going to kill her,'' Korsak whistled. ''At least that explains her sudden disappearance. I bet she knows she's as good as dead if she ever steps foot here''
Frost chuckled humourlessly.
''Look. Before we get ahead of ourselves here, lets first make sure this is true,'' Korsak reasoned.
''What about Jane and Maura? What do we tell them?'' Frost sounded so scared. Korsak felt sorry for him. The old man would definitely not want to be in his shoes.
''I don't know about you, but I suggest telling them the truth. It's only fair''
''What if they get all worked up and it isn't even the case here''
''How do u plan on getting to the bottom of this then? Discretely doing a cheek swab on one of the babies and then running a DNA test? Tell me how you will explain something like that to Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles if those tests come back as a match?''
He had a point. Such deceit would put him in very bad books with those two women he loved very much. Yes, the truth was definitely the way to go. Regardless of how very difficult it was going to be.
''Can you talk to them though? Please. I don't think that I can do it''
''Sure kid''
AN: How do you think Jane and Maura are going to react to this piece of information?