Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews!

Chapter twenty: Belonging To The Moment

"Go away!" Jane cast an amused gaze at Maura and pretended to push her away. Fail. She giggled instead. "Go away, food thief!"

Naturally, Maura saw the remark as an invitation to approach. She passed a hand on her partner's hip and buried a finger in the dough before bringing it to her mouth. Jane turned around looking desperately for the medical examiner's eyes then smiled at her.

It was just a moment of complicity. Sweet, heartwarming. The kind of scenes she had got used to since she had moved in.

But this is also when she noticed her brother's presence in the kitchen. Beer in hand, Frankie was staring at them with confusion. She shrugged at him, on the defensive.

"What're you looking at?" She looked down to follow the angle of his eyes and realized that he had been focusing on Maura's hand on her hip. She moved away from the embrace immediately. "Don't you have better things to do than sneaking in the kitchen? I doubt you came here to cook."

Jane's remark had been cold, too much perhaps. Thankfully, Maura faced the situation with more serenity and offered Frankie another beer before suggesting him to join Margot - Frost - and Korsak on the couch to watch the football game on television.

Case: closed.

Or so. Angela hadn't missed a bit of what had just happened but when Maura turned around and looked at her, the matriarch remained quiet and immediately focused back on the gnocci as if nothing had happened.

Since Margot was feeling better, they had decided to host a Sunday lunch with friends and relatives. The French girl seemed to love these and had been delighted when Jane had told her about it.

After all, it was also a great opportunity for Margot to speak English with more people at the same time. She could take advantage of it to prepare her upcoming listening test.

"Are you sure you don't want to come to the movies with Margot and I? She would really like it."

Jane avoided Maura's gaze but didn't miss her mother's eyes on her. She wasn't thrilled at the idea of attending a three-hour French movie right after a lunch. It was a dangerous combination and she did know - from experience - that Maura would take it bad if she happened to fall asleep at the theater.

"Nah... We're gonna work a bit on a case with Frost and Korsak. But I'll go to the stand-up thing on Tuesday though."

Two weeks and a half. In two weeks and a half, Margot would be back to France and Jane had more and more of a hard time accepting the idea. What would happen once the teen left Boston? She had got used to her presence, to pretend a few things. She didn't miss her own apartment and didn't feel like going back to it. As a matter of fact, her life previous to this fake wedding seemed to belong to the past and that as much as she knew that what she was having now was a mere parenthesis in her life.

"Okay. By the way, I have booked the rooms for Salem. We will leave on Friday and come back on Sunday evening."

Jane nodded. They were running out of time but desperately tried to catch back on it nonetheless. Their schedule for Margot had turned into a very detailed one made of a thousand activities and visits. Anything to not think about the student's departure.

"Great. Which hotel did you choose? The one we liked?"

Maura grabbed a dish towel to dry her hands and made a step closer to Jane in a way their hips may touch each other. A subtle move that elicited a smile on the Italian's lips.

"Yes. It seemed to be a nice one and the breakfast looks delicious!"

Her comment made Angela burst out laughing. She shook her head – almost in disbelief – and made a face as she realized that Jane and Maura were looking at her, surprised by her reaction.

"You two surely sound like a married couple. A quiet, cute one. You don't even argue anymore!"

Jane immediately cast a glance at the couch where Margot was sitting. She hadn't overheard it, too busy trying to understand the rules of football Frost and Frankie were explaining to her. Korsak seemed not as concentrated on the screen. He was gently talking to Bass who had stopped by his feet.

"Must be thanks to our little wedding anniversary celebration."

The reply was snarky but Angela didn't seem to mind. She had got used to it, anyway. Jane did not stop making allusion to the evening in question just to make her mother embarrassed.

In vain. She only got laughter and smiles in return every time she tried.

"I guess that we have good training, now." Maura winked at Jane then walked to the fridge to grab a bottle of wine.

They hadn't said anything about their couple yet in spite of Constance's letter. When Jane had held it out to her, Maura hadn't been surprised. Just touched by the gesture.

A typical Isles move: unable to say anything out loud so they expressed their feelings by pouring them out on a sheet of paper instead.

They hadn't come to any specific conclusion yet, hadn't changed the slightest thing about what they were living. They hadn't put words on it but didn't feel the need to do so. It was clear enough. Odd and unexpected but clear. What would happen next? She didn't know. Nobody did.

But if there was one thing she was sure of, it had to be the way their relationship would be maintained over time.

It wasn't a fling.

"So I think that everything is ready..." Bottle in hand, Maura walked to the couch. "The meal is just about to be served."

Television off. Everyone was starving.

...

"Your daughter is extremely polite. You and your husband did a good job."

Maura smiled at the compliment in spite of the erroneous facts. She cast a brief glance at the toilets door but since Margot didn't seem to be about to reappear, she took the time to correct the waitress.

"She isn't my daughter. Just a... Guest. A friend. And there is no man in my life. I am not married."

"Oh. A pity you're single. How come? You're nice and good-looking!" The employee put the empty cup of coffee on her tray and winked. "You'd be a fantastic mother... Look at the way you are with a teenager... You have a great maternal instinct. Hurry up and make a baby."

"I am not single." Maura spotted Margot on her left. The girl was heading straight back to the table. "I am with a woman. We don't have children."

Margot sat back on her seat just on time to hear the last sentence. She grinned.

"Yet. You don't have children yet. I hope the next time I come, I will babysit your and Jane's child." She grabbed the paper napkin and began to fold it, out of boredom. "I can totally see you with two children. A boy and a girl. That'd be cool. Have you already talked about it with Jane?"

Maura blushed as she felt Margot and the waitress' gaze on her. She had remained extremely vague on motherhood when the association had asked her about it, playing with words and how Margot's presence could be a nice test for a potential maternity.

"You should think about it. I don't know what your partner looks like but if the kids look like you, they'll be terrif'!"

The waitress giggled with Margot and finally left the table to clean another one a bit further. Maura sighed of relief. She wasn't prepared for this. They had just spent the last two hours in the dark at a small and independant movie theater downtown and as much as she had just had a coffee, her brain wasn't yet on the right mode to properly function.

Not for such kind of topics.

"She's right, you know. You'd be good moms. For some reason, I see Jane being pregnant. Not you. She has no patience whatsoever so a pregnancy would be a huge challenge for her. Or Jane first... And then you. What do you think? You're married. You must have talked about it already. I know you... This isn't the kind of conversation you wouldn't have had."

Maura's smile faded away. She had hoped that Margot wouldn't keep on talking about it. It was too delicate but she didn't have much of a choice right now. She was trapped and owed the French girl an answer.

"I don't know if I want to be a mother. I am not certain that..." She shrugged and looked down at the table to avoid Margot's gaze on her. "What we are doing with you has little to do with parenting. If I have to be honest then I will tell you that – I thought about it at some point in my life – but now... The uncertainty I had by then has now turned into the sentiment that I am not made for it. Do you see what I mean?"

Margot frowned. It wasn't the answer she had expected in spite of Maura's honesty. She remained quiet for long seconds, observing the scientist with meticulousness. Finally, she raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"I think you're wrong. Just as you belong to Jane – to the life you have with her – I think maternity is the only thing that is really missing right now for the two of you. You just don't realize it and I'm afraid that you'll wake up one day realizing it's too late."