Sorry I've been away peeps! Life got in the way... here's the next chapter!

Finals for Maura were coming up quickly. She and Jane started spending less time together since it was the end of the semester. What used to be every day breakfasts turned into once or twice a week since Maura spent most of her waking time at the library or labs at school. She and Jane did argue over it occasionally but Jane was more understanding since she knew she would have Maura to herself for a couple of months before the start of the next school year.

The week of finals arrived. Jane was coming in from her night shift around 8 am as usual. She hadn't seen Maura's Prius in the driveway and so assumed the blonde had gone to school already. She walked into the house and into the kitchen to find a plate of food waiting for her on the stove with a note beside it.

Hey bébé,

I'm sorry I'm not able to have breakfast with you today; I had to go in early for some last minute studying before my first final. Wish me luck and I'll see you tonight before you leave for work.

I love you,

Maura.

"Good luck Maura," Jane said aloud before taking the plate off the stove and putting it in the microwave to heat it up. She had to give it to Maura… even going in early and all she still had time to make Jane breakfast. Once she was done, Jane put the dish in the dishwasher and cleaned up after herself before going upstairs to take a long, hot shower. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, thinking that she'd at least get to see her woman before her shift that night.

Maura walked into their home a little after 5 that afternoon. Her first final had gone even better than expected, to which she accredited studying and hard work. She peeked in the kitchen and was happy to see that Jane had picked up after herself. She went into their office, put her things in order, and then headed into their bedroom. She turned her attention to the bed to see a sleeping Jane sprawled on the mattress. Looking at the clock and realizing Jane had about 90 minutes before she had to go into work, she quickly went and changed before slipping in between the sheets and wrapping her arms around the brunette.

"Hey Maur, how'd your test go baby?" Jane asked groggily.

"It went absolutely great bébé! It went even better than I imagined it would," Maura said quietly but with a hint of excitement to her voice.

"That's great honey!" Jane replied before snuggling in closer to the blonde. "Are you going to join me for a little while? My alarm hasn't gone off yet."

Maura smiled at Jane. "Yes, I thought we might be able to lay down together for a bit before I go downstairs to fix us something quick for dinner."

"Ok sweetheart… Sleep with me for a little while, I'll see you again soon," Jane replied before passing out once more.

Unable to sleep due to the excitement coursing through her body, Maura was content to just lay there and keep the brunette company as she slept.

Jane's alarm went off about thirty minutes later. When she awoke, she noticed Maura had already gone and assumed the blonde was downstairs making dinner. Quickly stretching, she rose from the bed and got cleaned up before changing into her uniform and getting ready to head downstairs. Her sense of smell was hit with the pleasant smell of pasta as soon as she reached the stairs… she loved her pasta!

"Hey Maur, what's for dinner?" she asked as she went up to the blonde to give her a proper kiss hello.

"I'm making chicken piccata bébé, it's almost done."

"Sounds great!" Jane grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and went to sit by the island.

"Jane, there's something I wanted to talk to you about," Maura said once dinner was served and both women were seated.

"Oh yeah? What about baby?" Jane asked as she began eating her dinner.

"Well as you know, this will be my last week of my first year of medical school. I've been doing some research and trying to figure out what courses I'm going to be taking next year. Now, one doesn't have to choose a specialty until after medical school is finished, but it does help if you know which field you're going into beforehand… it can help determine which courses and electives you want to take while in medical school."

"Ok… that makes sense," Jane stated as she listened intently to Maura's words.

"I hadn't really thought about what type of doctor I wanted to be… not until recently. The more I thought about it the more it made sense to me…"

"What kind of doctor do you want to be Maur?" Jane asked curiously.

"I want to be a pathologist… more specifically a forensic pathologist," Maura declared with a smile on her face.

"You want to work with dead people?" Jane asked, trying to make sure she heard correctly.

"Pathologists work on cadavers to determine cause of death so, yes."

Jane thought over what Maura had just said. "That certainly sounds like a surprise Maur. I wasn't expecting that… but if that's what you want to do, then that's great sweetheart!"

"Jane, don't you realize what this means?"

"I'm a little slow today Maur, you're going to have to break it down for me."

"My goal in life is to speak for the dead, for those who can no longer speak for themselves. Once I graduate from medical school and do my residency, I want to work as a pathologist for the Commonwealth…"

Realization began to form on Jane's features. "So that means that if you work for the Commonwealth and I become the detective I want to be, we may actually end up working together?!"

"That's certainly a possibility! What do you think?" Maura asked excitedly.

Jane jumped up from her seat, took Maura in her arms and spun her happily. "I think that's wonderful Maura! It'd be great if we could get to work together!"

"Keep in mind Jane… I'm still only a student, with many years of study to go, and you still have to make detective. There's no doubt in my mind that both of us will achieve our goals, it will just take time to get there… there will come a point… we will work together."

"I don't care how long it takes Maur… the prospect of us being a team together at work is great! This is wonderful news baby!"

Maura laughed good-naturedly. "That's what I'd hoped for, my love," she said as she looked at Jane adoringly.

So Maura has decided on her specialty... will our ladies be patient enough to wait for the time to pass for them to be able to work together? A long road awaits for Jane on her way to becoming a detective and for Maura to be the pathologist she dreams of being. Let me hear it!