Chapter 2

Maura awoke the next morning to find herself firmly planted in between Jane's legs. She squirmed slightly and rubbed herself against Jane. The brunette quickly awoke and came to her senses. Her grip on Maura tightened and she pulled the honey-blonde on top of her. Maura straddled Jane's waist and rested her hands on either side of Jane's head. Her blonde curls fell over Jane's face and the brunette smiled into it.

"I love you."

They couldn't help but giggle. They had both said it at the same time. Jane had wanted to spend time like this with Maura for the past week, but they hadn't been able to see each other properly. After three weeks of seeing each other, the two were at Jane's apartment, dancing to 'You Made Me Love You', when Jane looked deep into Maura's eyes and simply said, "I'm falling in love with you Maura." And now it had been three years, but every time they looked at each other it felt exactly as it had on that very first day.

Hearing Maura say this was always the best part of Jane's day because on their second date the doctor had said that she had never fallen in love. And for her to be certain enough to voice it filled Jane with a feeling that she would never be able to describe.

"What happened last night Maura?" Jane asked cautiously as she tucked some of Maura's hair behind her ear.

"I just… I looked over at him and when it wasn't you, I didn't want to be there anymore."

Jane exhaled, the situation never bringing her any respite.

"I just don't want him hurting you again Maura. You deserve so much better than that."

"I have you."

Jane replied with a soft kiss to Maura's nose and wrapped her legs around the honey-blonde's waist, bringing their bodies together.

"Breakfast?"

"Mhmm."

Maura rolled off of Jane and they both got out of bed and went into the kitchen. Jane got started on some coffee and toast, and Maura made her way over to the fireplace mantle. Jane had framed a picture of the two of them and put it up there. It didn't suggest anything other than two friends having a good time. They were careful when they were around people at work or around family. Sometimes they would steal the odd kiss or romantic grab when no one was around, but mostly they waited until they were alone. Jack got along with Jane's family, on the outside, and vice versa, but everyone knew that Maura was unhappy. It was just that no one knew as well as Jane did. The honey-blonde smiled at the thought; she had never been open with someone like she was with Jane, but to hold off, to close herself away had never even occurred to her. The strong arms that wrapped themselves around her waist interrupted her reverie, as did the chin that came to rest in the crook of her neck, light kisses being peppered along her collarbone.

Her head instinctively moved towards Jane's and her hands laid themselves over the detective's.

Unlike Maura, their conversation from the bedroom had not left Jane. She still had things to say, things she couldn't just ignore.

"Leave him Maura," it was a plea. A plea not out of selfish desires but out of love.

Jane's lips didn't leave Maura's skin, like she wanted the words to seep into Maura and not into the world. Her hands made their way down the front of Maura's thighs and she pushed the doctor's legs apart. Maura had to hold onto the mantle piece for support. Jane's hands were firm and demanding. Her lips on the back of Maura's neck were forcing her head forward and her eyes closed. The detective's hands moved back up Maura's legs and her fingers trailed teasingly over Maura's centre. The honey-blonde's hips moved towards Jane's hand, but the brunette had other plans. She bit the back of Maura's neck and soothed it with her tongue. Her fingers trailed up Maura's shirt and then down below the hem of her yoga pants. The pants started to come down Maura's legs and soon Jane's hands found themselves at the doctor's panties. Her right hand slowly dove in while her left came back up to cup Maura's breast. Jane could feel her lover's arousal as it clung to her fingers. She moved her fingers around Maura's clit, only teasing the doctor, never giving in to what she wanted. One of Maura's hands came off the mantle and she laid it over Jane's hand and guided it to her centre where Jane entered one finger. The honey-blonde squirmed in protest and pushed her hips back into Jane's, pleading for a release. Very slowly, Jane entered another finger into Maura and began to pulse in and out at an agonising pace. Her lips continued to place her mark on Maura's neck and her hands never ceased their loving caresses. When Jane entered a third finger Maura's head fell back to rest on the detective's shoulder and she let out a deep moan of approval.

Jane's lips found Maura's cheek and then her mouth. The doctor was close to her release and Jane wanted nothing more than to feel that tightness around her fingers and the doctor tense in her arms as she reached an ecstasy that only Jane could bring her to. And when she felt it Maura disappeared for a moment. Her eyes closed and she let out a loud moan that ended with Jane's name.

The detective pulled Maura's panties and pants back into place. The doctor spun around and held Jane's face in her hands.

"Jane, you know that I can't just up and leave him like that?"

"Why not?"

"Because Jane…"

"No. That answer isn't good enough this time Maura. Tell me why you won't leave a man that not only treats you terribly but that you don't even love."

Jane wanted Maura to know that she was not only serious but also prepared for whatever the doctor had to reveal to her. She looked her so deeply in the eyes that Maura thought she might faint.

"I'm afraid of him Jane."

She was cold and detached. She said it matter-of-factly, as though she had thought it for so long that when it was voiced, it died and fell at her feet.

Jane led the two of them to the couch and sat Maura down. The detective sat on the coffee table and faced the honey-blonde, an intense look in her eyes.

"You never talk about him, only when you really have to. Now, tell me everything."

"Jane, I don't…"

"Maura Dorothea Isles you will tell me everything I need to know about this man so that if I ever have to kick his ass I won't feel bad about it. And I love you too much to let you let this happen to you. Sometimes you gotta let people save you Maura. Just let me, please."

Maura's face softened and she took Jane's hands in her own, turning them over, putting the feel to memory, following the tracks of the lines in her palms. Jane just waited.

"When we were young he was lovely. We were always friends. And then as we got older and he proved to be his father's son, things were set in motion. I had never had anyone like you Jane; no one ever thought that I would be worth…I don't know, their time I guess. I suppose I was kind of a weird kid. And when I saw people falling in love around me and I was alone, I kind of let go of that fantasy. I always secretly hoped that maybe it might happen, that someone would take the time, but… Anyway, eventually Jack proposed , my parents had made their wishes known, and I said yes, mostly in the hope that a friendship might be able to turn into something more with a little time and effort. It was about a year in and I suppose you could say that things developed sexually, for him anyway. And then, quite unexpectedly, I fell pregnant."

Jane's face fell. Her imagination threw her all sorts of scenarios that she'd rather not think about.

"Maura…"

"After the first few weeks I decided to tell him. He wasn't thrilled, but he wasn't disappointed either. He started to stay at work more often and he was seeing all sorts of women. I tried to let it go, to just throw myself into my work and plan for the baby. I was so happy Jane, so happy to be a mother, sometimes everything else disappeared and I thought that it would all somehow be ok. But it wasn't. And on the night that I came home from work to find him in our bed with some woman from his office, that was the night that I let it all go and I lost my fear and did what I should have done from the beginning. I had put up with his affairs but he brought this woman to our bed. Not that it stood for much but it was still our bed. I pulled off the covers, told her to leave and started to yell at Jack. I said 'how dare you bring another woman into our bed. I've put up with you for our whole marriage, I have let you behave however you wanted, and you've had all the freedom that a man might ask for. But this is too much, ever for me.' I called him a coward and said that I was done with the charade. The whole time he just looked at me, like he didn't know me. And when I finished he stood up and grabbed me by the shoulders and told me that if I did anything other than be a dutiful wife, he would do everything in his power and his father's power, to make sure that my baby never knew I existed. And that's when I hit him. I slapped him in his smug face. And I paid the price. I saw it in his eyes before he did it and just as I said, 'no jack not the baby,' I felt a pain unlike anything in my life. He left the room and I crawled into the bathroom and I stayed there for the rest of that night and the following day. I wasn't a mother anymore Jane."

Both women had tears in their eyes. Memories of something still so real making her feel things she thought she'd forgotten and Jane filled with such a rage that she thought she might explode. After a long exhale Jane moved forward and straddled Maura's lap. She folded herself into Maura, her arms coming to hold Maura's face and her body encasing the honey-blonde in what she hoped felt like love, comfort and protection. Maura let her head fall forward and rest on Jane's chest, finding comfort in the feeling of Jane's hands as they ran up her neck and finished down her back.

They stayed like that for a while. Jane trying to take away Maura's pain by absorbing it into herself, trying to turn the world into a place where this beautiful, perfect woman didn't have to feel anything other than happiness.

"Stay with me Maura. Don't go home, just stay here and let me love you the way that you deserve to be."

Maura's arms came up and tightened around the detective, silently making a wish that perhaps this might all work out so that she could turn over in bed and see Jane and smile for the rest of her life.

And then, quicker than her brain was capable of working in that moment, Jane was up and off the doctor and in the bedroom. She was getting changed and in less than a minute her keys were in her hand and she was standing at the door.

"Jane don't."

"I'm not gonna do anything stupid Maura. I'm gonna go and get some stuff for you so that you can stay here and then I'll come right back. I promise."

Maura stood and walked over to Jane. She trusted her, it was Jack that she was wary of. But he probably wouldn't be in the house and so all she did was raise her mouth to Jane's and give her the most passionate and love filled kiss she could. Their lips devoured one another and Maura's tongue explored Jane's mouth. She sucked on her bottom lip and lightly kissed her cheek before letting her go.

Jane arrived at Maura's house in record time. She made sure to grab Maura's keys and confidently made her way up to the front door. When she was inside she went up to find the bedroom and began making her way through the wardrobe and drawers for things she thought Maura might need. She took everything and laid it on the bed, making sure not to wrinkle anything. She was finishing up with Maura's undergarments when she felt something that was not lace in the bottom of the drawer. She pulled it out and almost fell backwards. It was the ultrasound photo. The first and only one. Jane could just make out the form of a tiny little head and body. Her heart broke. She pulled herself together and took everything, including the photo to her car. Again, she was careful.

She ran back inside just to check that she had everything and before she left, she went into Maura's office. Going through drawers she found nothing that she thought she should take and so she decided to leave. But something caught her eye. The only room that had a door handle that could be locked in the whole house. Jane tried every key until she got the right one and let herself in. The walls were blue with clouds painted in pure white and a wooden flower hung on the wall that said 'Baby Girl's Room'. There was a small set of drawers and the only thing that Jane found in them was a tiny pink jumpsuit. Maura hadn't even had time to buy all the things that she wanted for her baby before she was taken away from her. Jane took the jumpsuit and drove home.

In her usual fashion she carried everything in at once because she never made a second trip. Maura opened the door for her and took some of the clothes into the bedroom. The photo and jumpsuit Jane kept separate. The brunette lay on their bed and watched as the doctor placed her things first in the wardrobe and then in the bathroom. Things went on the table beside the bed and finally Maura went beside Jane and they lay there for a moment to appreciate the space that they would from then on refer to as "ours".

"Maura I have something else for you."

Maura sat up and faced Jane. The brunette pulled the photo out of her pocket and placed it in Maura's lap. Then she turned over and pulled the tiny jumpsuit out from under her pillow and laid it in front of Maura. Time seemed to stop.

"Baby girl…," Maura whispered as she stared into the photo and held onto the jumpsuit until her knuckles turned white.

"You are still a mother Maura. That is your baby and no one can ever take that away from you. Your time was stolen but one day Maura you are gonna hold your baby in your arms and the world will melt away when she smiles back at you. I just want to make you happy my beautiful girl."

No one had ever looked at Maura Isles and tod her that what they wanted most in the world was her happiness. She gently placed the photo and the jumpsuit on her bedside table and came back to Jane. Maura lowered herself and rested her head on Jane's abdomen, relishing in the moment when Jane's hands landed on her chest and on the top of her head, respectively. She closed her eyes and let her mind drift into the things that she hoped one day might happen for her and the brunette that currently had her whole heart.