I know it's a bit Maura/Jane lite this chapter, but fear not, that will change as the story progresses.

PS reviews are so apprciated :)

Xxx

CHAPTER 3

Announcing the news to her parents was nerve wracking. She contemplated telling them over the phone but knew that etiquette demand she tell them in person. They were in Washington D.C. a few weeks later and she asked if she could join them for the weekend. They were a little surprised but agreed readily which found them dining at the restaurant 1789 on 36th Street that Saturday night. Usually Maura would have enjoyed the atmosphere; the fireplace, wooden paneling, the classical décor exuding warmth and comfort. Tonight, however, she wore a mildly panicked look and a nervous, twitchy smile. She talked more than usual as if it would save her from the looming announcement.

As their sommelier finished pouring them a Poire William digestif, Mr Isles looked pointedly at his child and said:

"Well out with it, Maura. You clearly have something on your mind and from the stricken look on your face, I'm beginning to think you are bankrupt and need our financial assistance."

"Oh no, Father, nothing like that. I… it's good news. At least I hope you'll see it as good news."

"Well?" Mrs Isles prompted when Maura failed to continue.

Maura felt her heart beating hard and was fighting the urge to hyperventilate. She took a sip of the Poire William liquor and felt it burn down her gullet. Her mouth felt suddenly parched.

"I'm getting married."

Her parents paused. They looked at each other.

"To…whom?" Mrs Isles asked delicately.

"Jane."

"Oh."

If Mrs Isles tried to hide the shadow falling across her face, she failed. She gave a thin lipped smile. Her father had sat back, crossed his arms and was watching her as he had when she'd announced her relationship all those months ago.

"Is that even legal?" asked Mrs Isles.

"It is in the state of Massachusetts."

"I see." She was sitting stiffly in her seat.

Maura waited for either of her parents to say something more, to break the god-awful silence that descended on them. It seemed to stretch like a gaping hole, she standing on one side and they on the other.

"It's a shock, Maura. I won't lie. This is not what I had hoped for you…" Mrs Isles finally said slowly, carefully.

Maura's heart squeezed in her chest. The response was crushingly predictable, but somehow she'd managed to believe it would be different. That the months since she'd come out to her would have magically transformed her views, that she could at least make an effort. Maura looked to her dad, hoping that he might say something to dislodge the lump lodged in her throat but he seemed distant – disinterested, almost. Maybe he thought, even now, of his research paper.

Maura knew her lachrymal glands would not hold the tears much longer.

"I have to go." She whispered across the chasm of their divide

"Where are you going?" she heard as she stood and turned to go but she didn't stop, zig zagging through the tables and out the door, taking gulps of air as she hailed a taxi. She managed to ask for the airport and, receding in the darkness of the backseat, she let the tears fall.

xxx

The house was pitch black when she arrived. Checking her watch, she saw that it was almost two in the morning. Weariness was steeling over her as she crossed the threshold and she ached for Jane's comforting embrace. She was pulling her cellphone out, pressing the speed dial when she spotted Jane's shoes strewn in the hall way. She picked them up and placed them neatly by the door. She crept to her bedroom and peered through the crack of her door. Underneath the duvet, she could see the shape of a body, the moonlight filtering through the windows, casting silver shadows.

Maura disrobed, carefully placing her garments over the corner chair. She did not bother to put on her pajamas but instead moved to the bed, her skin ghostly white, and looked at her wife-to-be. The way the chocolate hair, now jet black with the darkness, spilled in waves across her exposed shoulder, the way the arm curled around the pillow. She listened to Jane breathing. It was in such stillness that she felt how much she loved this woman. It was at times like these when there was no noise, no distractions, no demands on her time, when the world was reduced to grey-scale and when she could stand very still and just be. It was so simple and clear, nothing like the confused rush from the restaurant earlier, when the pull of lover and daughter, mingled with the rush of disappointment and longing had jostled around in her head. She knew she wanted to marry Jane but she also longed with uncharacteristic ferocity to please her parents, make them proud, gain their hard won nod of approval. The affection she yearned but didn't know how to ask for, she had used to motivate herself to excel in academia but what she really wanted was for them to tell her they were proud.

She could not deny there had been a brief moment as she sat in the taxi, the lights of Washington D.C. shimmering through her tears, when she had wondered if they were right and she was wrong. Not now, as she stood above the bed, watching Jane sleep. Jane was her constant. Her touchstone. She moved closer, letting her fingertips brush the exposed cheek, at which Jane stirred, her breathing shortening and her eyes opening a moment, two dark pools drinking in the naked form before her.

"You're home…" she murmured and held her hand up to draw Maura into the bed. Maura burrowed in, moulding herself against the Red Sox t-shirt and bare legs, and nuzzled the pulse point at her jaw line.

"Howdit go?" Jane asked

"Make love to me, Jane," she sighed, taking Jane's hand, pressing it into her hot center and fusing their mouths together. Sleepily, Jane responded, soothing the sadness and telling her that she was not alone in this universe. She melted into comfort of the arm that held, the lips that kissed and the hand that touched her. As Jane loved her, she was reminded that here it didn't matter what her parents though or how the world might disapprove of them because she was reminded that with this woman, she had found her home.