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Chapter eighteen: We All Have Dreams

"You need to drink. Maura said so. I mean Dr. Isles said so."

Margot looked at the glass of water that Jane was holding out to her as if it were poison. She shook her head but nonetheless obliged. A sip wouldn't kill her.

"You're dehydrated." Jane grabbed back the glass and put it down on the bedside table. She laughed. "I don't know why I tell you that, you probably know that already. You're like a mini-Maura."

"Sometimes it's good to have someone to remind you basic things, especially when you're sick. But it's just a stomach bug. I'll feel better tomorrow."

Jane nodded. She and Maura had nonetheless let Margot's parents know. The teenager had been sick all night but didn't seem to have temperature now. A day at home – in bed – should be enough for her to feel fine again.

"You're not hungry, right? Let me know when you feel like eating something. I'll cook you something." Jane folded her legs under herself and leaned her head backwards against the nightstand. She had sat on the floor by the bed. "And let me know if I piss you off. I can leave you alone if you wanna sleep a bit."

She had taken her afternoon off.

Maura had stayed home in the morning and she had taken the reigns right after lunch. It was strange to stay home to take care after a child. It had never happened to her before. Whenever she had looked after TJ, the little boy had been fine. She was playing the mommy card, right now. It was sweet, she liked that.

"I kind of like having you by my side although I could have stayed home alone. It's okay, I'm a big girl now. You didn't have to do what you and Maura did. It's very nice of you."

"Oh, come on! You're under our responsibility. What we're doing is perfectly normal. Besides... You made me skip what had chances to be a very boring meeting so I'll never thank you enough for it."

Margot laughed lightly as Jane winked at her. Even Jo Friday had joined them in the bedroom and was now sleeping soundly on the teen's legs. Jane was happy to see that her dog liked the French girl so much.

"You know..." Jane unfolded her right leg and held back a yawn. "You probably don't realize it but you've brought great changes to our life. And don't tell it to anyone but I'll miss you when you're back to France. Please, come back any time. I... I owe you a lot." Jane nodded at her own words, smiled. "I owe you everything, actually."

Her last comment made Margot frown. The lack of precision had made it sound mysterious. Blurry. But the adolescent didn't ask for an explanation. She nodded – touched – and closed her eyes.

"What's your biggest dream?"

The question surprised Jane. She hadn't expected any confession time whatsoever; a light chat – yes – but not something intimate like that. She nonetheless accepted the challenge and replied after long seconds of hesitation.

"To make time stop. Right now. I want everything to remain as it is, now. Maura... Me... Alright, I'd prefer you to be healthy but for the rest, I'd like it to always be as it is now. Because it's perfect and I'm happy. I'm very happy." The veracity of her own words made her smile. "What's yours?"

"To feel the same way as you do right now. Once I'm an adult. Then it will mean that I'll really have succeeded in life. Happiness is the only success one should ever try to reach."

...

What had started as an innocent game was slowly turning into something a lot bolder. As Jane hit the counter with her back, she bit Maura's lower lip by accident but tightened her grip on her nape nonetheless. It was not a minor injury that would stop her; no matter they were not home. Anyone could walk in on them but she didn't care much. She couldn't.

Her brain had stopped functioning when Maura had started kissing her jaw a few minutes earlier.

The BPD wasn't really packed, anyway. Most of units were gone and they had closed the door of the break room. Two more minutes and they would stop. Just two more minutes.

One hundred and twenty seconds, Rizzoli. You can start counting. Wait, no. Don't do that. Focus on Maura instead. That should definitely be your priority, you, idiot!

For once, she had to admit that she couldn't agree more with her wise – inner – voice. And as if the medical examiner had read her mind, she suddenly gave more depth to their kiss; more boldness to her slow but suggestive caresses.

The hips. Maura always started by the hips only to travel up then towards Jane's lower stomach. Her fingertips brushed it and played with the fabric of the shirt that separated them from the skin.

If she hadn't been stopped by then she slowly kept on moving up. Jane's sides, her breasts under the palm of her hands.

Maura had never had any inhibition when it came to sex but even less with Jane. Perhaps she had been a bit timid the first time they had slept together but the sentiment was long gone now and she fully gave into it. Freely.

"Jane, I'd need..."

And this is how Frost saw her. A hand on Jane's right breast, the other one on her buttocks while the kiss had won in intensity. They froze and snapped their heads in direction of the door that was now opened.

Well done.

"Oh." Frost blinked, frowned. He was still standing by the door, uncertain of whether he should step inside the room or not. Then – suddenly – his face lit up and he burst out laughing. "What is it that I always walk in on you when you're with a woman, Jane?"

The comment took Maura completely aback. She made a step backwards and raised an eyebrow at Jane. She wasn't shocked by the idea but it hadn't crossed her mind until then. As a matter of fact, she hadn't wondered about it at all. Never. But now that she thought about it, she had to recognize that at no moment had Jane showed the timidity of novices.

"You... Had sex with women before?"

Maura heard Frost chuckle but didn't pay attention to it. He had walked in on them and obviously they would all need to talk about it but for the moment, her priority laid somewhere else.

Jane opened her mouth to reply but not a single sound came out of her mouth. She tilted her head – cast a glance at Frost – and squinted her eyes at Maura. What a strange way to let her know a few things about her past.

"Once...?"

"Who?" This time and unlike with Casey, it wasn't jealousy. No. Maura's curiosity was talking for her. It wasn't major information but still something unexpected. "When?"

Well done, Frostie. Really.

Jane sighed. Did she really have a choice now? She shot a death glare at her colleague who was still standing by the door and made a vague gesture of the hand to Maura.

"A few years ago... At this national conference thing in Washington. With..." She looked down, a bit embarrassed. She had never talked about it to anyone. "Cartwright...?"

Maura gasped but her lips immediately curled up in an amused smile.

"Are you kidding me?"

Jane shook her head but took it bad somehow. She preferred such kind of reaction from Maura than the scene she had thrown a week earlier but she didn't see what was really funny about all of this.

"Hey! A bit of respect, please. Cartwright is cute. Tall, blond, blue eyes..."

"Yeah, the Barbie type." Frost winked at Maura. "I walked in on them the morning after. They were still sleeping in bed, their clothes scattered on the floor. I thought Jane'd learned her lesson and now locked the doors when she didn't want to be interrupted but it seems like she hasn't."

Jane didn't pay attention to the remark. Instead, she made a step towards Maura and observed her from head to toe in the same way she used to do for a suspect.

"What about you? Have you never... You know...?"

The question was fair enough but it didn't please Maura much. She pouted – adjusted her top to win some time – and shrugged evasively.

"Maybe once in college... I mean, with one person?"

"Oh my god. Your roommate? The one with the tattoo on..." As she realized what she was saying, Jane put her hand in front of her mouth and gasped. "Don't tell me that's why you have a tattoo!"

She hadn't forgotten such detail – especially after having taken all her time to kiss it and more – but she had just made the connection between both. Maura had talked to her about a tattooed roommate a long time ago. Now it all made so much sense.

"You have a tattoo, Dr. Isles?"

Maura looked at Frost. He really had interrupted them at the wrong time. She nodded at him - trying to not think too much of her position as a chief medical examiner right - and then at Jane.

"Are we done, now?" There was no competition though. Maura was joking.

The slight hesitation Jane first showed quickly turned into a nod. Of course, they were. She couldn't care less about it even though she was now dying to know some more about the story.

But one thing at a time.

She turned around and looked at Frost. They needed to have a talk and now.