Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews, I hope that you will enjoy this light and funny ride
Chapter one: Her Name Is Margot
"Your Ficus will do a lot better here than at your apartment. It cruelly lacked light out there, believe me." Maura checked the plant by Jane's piano now in her living-room and nodded at her friend with a brand new determination she had got since the day the Italian had accepted her crazy plan. "Have you printed the pictures we need?"
"I have... Although they are not wedding material. Unless you are the kind of person who decides to tie the knot at the BPD or at a funfair." The brunette paused and looked up at Maura as a smirk played on her lips. "A wedding on top of a Ferris Wheel. Now wouldn't your family love the idea..."
The medical examiner didn't reply. Instead, she walked to the kitchen to check the pictures she was about to get framed. They had chosen a dozen of them as soon as they had got the date of Margot's arrival. A sixteen-year-old girl from Bordeaux, France; daughter of a journalist and a teacher. They had two days left to organize their life according to the foreign student. Forty-eight hours to create the semblance of marriage.
Angela had been told. Korsak had been told. Frost had been told. Jane's brothers had been told. Of course, they had all laughed out loud at the idea but had accepted to play along for it being innocent enough. It was a harmless game, what could possibly happen in the end?
"We got married at the courthouse, Jane. It can definitely explain the absence of picture of you and I in a wedding dress with one hundred guests by a lovely place."
The detective made a face at the remark and snorted.
"Yeah sure. Like you'd let this happen. I know you, Maura Isles." Jane paused, already savoring the taste of victory. "Maura Dorthea Isles-Rizzoli. Unless it's Rizzoli-Isles? What am I supposed to say, wifey?"
Focused on choosing a frame color among an impressive panel, the honey blonde shrugged and bit her lips. She had better things to do than play along Jane's game right now. They still had a lot to do before Margot to arrive.
"Who cares, Jane? You will call me by my name as you already do. As a matter of fact, it will all be the same except for our matching wedding bands and the state of your Ficus."
Her very own statement made her blush. Had she just implied that – somehow – she and Jane were already behaving like a married couple? She hadn't meant to say such thing. Not at all. She knew – for a fact – the kind of rumor that were already going on at work between the two of them but at no moment had Maura tried to assent these.
A bit embarrassed and uncomfortable, she walked away to her desk and grabbed back the glass of wine she had let there a few minutes earlier. She took a long sip; one that she hoped invigorating.
The truth was that the situation stressed her a lot more than what she had imagined. What if it went wrong? What if – as Jane had alluded to it once – she broke into hives? She couldn't lie. Of course, she did master the art of periphrasis and obscure explanations when needed but still, not for such a long time. Two months.
For two months, she would pretend to lead a complete different life before an adolescent who had not asked for anything like that.
"Don't stress out. You know you can count on me."
Jane's statement hit the air with a strong sincerity that made Maura turn around. A bit taken aback by the veracity of such comment, she blinked and finally looked down; at a loss for words. Since when didn't they even need to speak out loud to understand each other like that?
Since day one, Isles. Since the very first time you two met. Can't you simply admit it by now? You two are best friends. This is how it works.
The door of the patio flew opened – taking Maura out of her daydreams – and Angela came in with a list in hand. She seemed to be in a good mood; a light smile playing on her lips, making her eyes sparkle.
"Don't be worried. I will stop storming in like that once the two of you are married and raising an adolescent together."
Jane rolled her eyes at her mother's comment then buried her face into her hands. If she was hoping herself to have fun playing the married life with Maura, it seemed like her mother had succumbed – without any warning – to an enthusiasm that confused Jane heavily.
"It'll be fake, ma'. I doubt you'll ever walk in on us going..." Nervous, Jane started moving around on her stool. "Well, you know what." Way too embarrassed to even suggest such a thing to her mother, Jane just made a vague gesture of the hand before focusing back on the pictures.
"But still. Nobody walks in uninvited at a young married couple's house." Angela turned around to look for Maura's support. As the scientist nodded politely, the matriach waved the sheet of paper she had in hand. "This form is very informative – great job from the association – but I have one question."
Jane snorted. She raised an eyebrow at her mother in disbelief then walked to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. She was thirsty. And hungry.
"Only one, you're sure? Then that's some kind of miracle, ma'."
Angela preferred to ignore her daughter's tone of voice and addressed the medical examiner instead.
"On this form, it says that you have been married to Jane for three years. Don't you think it's... A bit too much? Too long?"
Maura had moved to the piano. She let her fingers brush the keys quietly. She knew that Jane didn't play anymore but she heavily regretted it. She hadn't insisted when her friend had told her so but in her fantasies – the ones she kept for herself – Maura would have loved Jane to play something just for her.
Chopin would be her first choice, then maybe Ravel.
Seeing that Angela was looking at her in the expectation of a reply, Maura shook her head politely then smiled.
"What is wrong about it? We met five years ago – which is true – and two years later we decided to get married. It sounds like the perfect amount of time to me."
"Except you don't have children. Don't you think it is a bit weird that a couple who would have been married for three years now doesn't have – at least – a baby? I know that my generation is not at all like yours but still... Three years and no kids?"
Jane repressed a moan of agony. Even in a ficticious life, her mother was obsessed with the idea of having grandchildren. What was wrong with her?
"Easy." Maura shrugged and finished her glass. "We are about to take the decision to have a child and welcoming a foreign student for a while is a nice way for us to see what kind of parents Jane and I would be."
Angela opened her mouth to reply – or better said to protest – but finally remained quiet.
Maura's explanation was fair enough, especially seeing how demanding her and Jane's respective jobs could be. Considering their age, they weren't precocious at all. Almost forty years old and not even a real wedding in view.
The matriarch nodded and settled on a stood next to her daughter.
"I see that you have thought about everything already, Maura. How useful." She focused back on her daughter and snapped her should for attention. "Do you know the file enough, Jane?"
"It's not a poem I'm supposed to tell in front of the class, ma'... But yeah, I do. Let's see." Jane looked straight in front of her as if to concentrate a maximum. "Margot, sixteen years old from Bordeaux... Wants to be a librarian – that's for Maura – and wants to attend a baseball game while in Boston – that's for me. Her favorite movie is Amelie – how cliché is that? - and she doesn't like cauliflower which I totally understand. I guess that's it. No allergy, nothing special."
Angela turned her head around to get Maura's approval. The blonde nodded, medical files in hand. Sadly, she couldn't push her job aside to focus on Margot's arrival only. She had reports to revise – articles to proofread – and a couple of students' resume to go through.
Adolescent or not at home, the chief medical examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts still had a lot of work to do.
"You haven't walked Jo Friday yet, Jane. What are you waiting for? For her to pee again on my expensive alpaga carpet?"
"It only happened once, Maura..." Back on the contemplation of the pictures, Jane vaguely pointed out at the stairs. "She's having fun with Bass in the laundry room. Let the kids play for a while. There's no harm..."
The honey blonde snorted, suddenly offended. Lips pursed – files clutched to her chest tightly – she shook her head and turned on her heels.
"This carpet costs twice your salary, Jane. Twice."
The brunette raised her hands in the air as if to abdicate. She stood up and walked to the lobby to grab her dog's leash. It was cold, outside. Cold and rainy. She didn't want to leave the comfort of Maura's warm house.
Before her daughter's obvious lack of enthusiasm, Angela burst out laughing and shook her head.
"You two surely know how to behave like a married couple already. No need to be worried, your lie will pass completely unnoticed!"