Author's note: thank you very much for your reviews and messages. I am glad to see you survived the long torture previous to this "date to remember".
Chapter fifteen: The Day After
As the first drops hit her face, Jane closed her eyes and leaned her head backwards. She smiled at the sensation of the warm water on her numbed body sliding on her curves like a quiet reminiscence of the previous night.
She had woken up before Maura in the very first hours of the morning and - eager to let her lover sleep a bit longer - she had immediately walked to the bathroom to take a shower.
The events of the previous night were floating in her mind; a mix of sweetness and uncertainty before a blurry future. They had kissed – had made love – then had fallen asleep in each other's arms. She didn't regret any of this – on the contrary – but she didn't know what Maura thought about it, what she wanted from it.
They would have to speak, somehow. At some point. Unless a gaze would be enough to let the other understand about their personal wishes and desires.
Now that it had happened, Jane had the feeling that she was facing a thousand questions about herself that remained unanswered in spite of the efforts her brain made to give a semblance of explanation to the whole thing.
Had she always had feelings for Maura? Unless it was new? How had it happened? Why now? What was she supposed to do, to say? What did Maura want in the end?
Jane had no reference whatsoever anymore. Her life had crashed but not in a dramatic way at all. It was just time now to rebuild it only differently; with more honesty and assumed feelings. With a light over her head that would guide her through her actions. She was who she was; no matter it seemed to be a bit precarious for the moment.
A sound in her back made her turn around. Maura was standing by the door. She hadn't bothered putting on any piece of clothing. What for, anyway? Jane had spent the night kissing her skin, had let her hands wander on her curves almost endlessly.
Without a word and her eyes locked with Jane's, Maura approached her then stepped in the shower. Soon, the drops began to fall on her own body; tracing invisible paths on her skin. She hesitated, bit her lower lip.
A few seconds passed by before her hand finally sliding on Jane's nape. She leaned over and captured the Italian's lips for a long – delicate – kiss.
...
"You know what?" Jane closed the book and threw it on the bed in her back. "Let's skip math, it's so not worth it for a future librarian anyway. Right?"
Her gesture surprised Margot. The girl looked at the now empty desk a bit distressed but ended up giggling before the incongruous situation. She hadn't expected such reaction from Jane.
"If someone had told me one day that an adult would claim mathematics are an option..." She put back her pencil in her pencil case and cast a glance at Jane. "You are in a good mood, aren't you?"
Jane shrugged a bit too quickly to look casual. She coughed and looked down at her lap to hide better her red cheeks. In vain. Margot burst out laughing.
"I knew this romantic dinner was all you and Maura needed. See? Always listen to the moms, they know their children better than anyone else does!"
Jane was about to reply when she realized what Margot had just said. The French girl didn't speak very fast but she meticulously chose her words and didn't make many mistakes in the end.
She certainly had meant what she had said.
"What do you mean by 'moms'? There's more than one in all of this?" The brunette traced some sort of invisible circle in the air with her index finger and made a face.
Margot had come back home around noon; late enough to find her and Maura sitting on the couch reading and listening to some music. Nothing flagrant that could have highlighted what they both had done during the night and earlier in the morning in the shower. The teenager had said 'hello' – had picked up an apple – then had headed straight to her room on the first floor to do her homework.
Thirty minutes later, Jane had been called to help her with her mathematics exercizes. Too bad Maura had left to walk Jo Friday and run a few errands, she would have been a better teacher.
"Well... Angela and Constance. They didn't let me know by then. Constance left for Paris and that's when your mother told me about their plan: the homemade dinner for your wedding anniversary. I liked the idea so I accepted to take part in it."
Jane closed her eyes and nodded. Now things were a lot clearer. Not necessarily comforting but nonetheless clearer.
Be happy, Rizzoli. At least when you and Maura – I mean "if" you and Maura – want to make your... Relation... Official... You know you'll have your mothers' support. Fantastic. Ain't you lucky.
"And by the... Thing... On your neck, I can say you did enjoy our plan." Margot laughed. "Right?"
"Thing? What thing?" Jane stood up and rushed to the first mirror she found in the room. "Oh my God. Give me a scarf! Kid, help me!"
Margot walked to her closet to pick one and peacefully held out the accessory to Jane.
"What's the English word for it? A bruise?"
The detective shook her head and mumbled a negative answer through her clenched teeth. With an obvious lack of habit, she clumsily tied the scarf and straightened up.
"It's... Ahem... A hickey... Now back to mathematics!" She grabbed the book – walked back to the desk – and sat on her chair again. When had this happened?
Margot pouted and loudly sighed.
"But I thought a future librarian didn't need them?"
The main door got slammed downstairs. Maura's stifled voice reached Margot's bedroom as she talked to Jo Friday and Bass who had probably made it to the lobby.
"Jane? Where are you?" Pause. "Margot? Is anybody here?"
The French girl turned out to be the first one to react. She ran to the door of her bedroom – cast an amused glance at Jane – then turned back to the corridor.
"We're upstairs! It's math time!"
Needless to say that such announcement caused Maura to literally run upstairs to check how things were going. Jane rolled her eyes as she saw her friend storm in. Only a science nerd like Maura could see excitement in the idea of doing mathematics.
"What are you working on? May I help you?" The medical examiner finally noticed Jane sitting at the desk and frowned. "Why are you wearing a scarf? Are you cold?"
Her question made Margot laugh.
"You sucked on her neck too strongly last night... Or this morning. I don't know." The teen raised her hands innocently and shrugged. Saying she was enjoying Jane and Maura's mortified expressions was one big understatement. "At least you celebrated!"
What was going on? Jane offered her seat to Maura who – anyway – would solve the problems a lot faster than she would and walked to the door with her arms protectively crossed against her chest.
She knew that the French broached the subject of sex easier than Americans but she hadn't expected it from a teen; a sixteen-year-old girl who didn't seem to have much experience about it.
"Why are you two so uptight? You're both adults and married to each other. Having sex is logically part of your life, isn't it?" Margot frowned, squinted her eyes at Jane. "I don't understand."
"It is cultural..." And why was Maura so quiet? Couldn't she say something as well? Jane made a step towards her but stopped. Bad idea. Margot would probably make another comment about it.
"I left the grocery bags on the kitchen counter, would you mind putting everything in drawers and in the fridge while I help Margot with her mathematics exercizes? Oh and... Ice cubes work... Ahem..." Maura vaguely motioned her neck at Jane before looking down at the desk. "The cold works great."
Jane nodded and ran out of the bedroom with great relief. She walked down to the kitchen only to find her brother there by the fridge.
"Frankie? What the hell are you doing here?"
She hadn't even heard him enter the house and if Maura had seen him, she would have let her know. He had obviously just arrived.
"Well, good afternoon to you too... I'm waiting for ma'. We're going to the Capriatis."
A smirk curled up Jane's lips. She approached her brother and raised an amused eyebrow. Such piece of information was gold for the teaser she was.
"Is someone hoping to seduce Giulia Capriati...?"
Frankie snorted and opened the door of the fridge.
"She's married, Jane. Hey! Where's the beer?"
"At your own place. What do you think it is, here? A Vegas buffet? C'mon! Go away from this fridge!" She closed the door back and pushed her brother on a side.
Frankie stared at her for a full minute before replying. Sixty seconds of a confusing observation that Jane didn't know how to face without feeling uncomfortable.
"Wow... Calm down, sis'. Is the married life getting on your nerves already? You know what the remedy is. Get lai-..."
The door of the patio opened and Angela came in, putting thus an abrupt end to a comment Frankie himself didn't really want to say. There were things he preferred to not to talk about with his sibling. It was one thing to make fun of Jane's fake marriage at the BPD but it was another one to allude to his sister's sexual life.