Notes: Thanks again for all the reviews! I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying my little universe. You might have guessed I'm working up to something again…
CH 13: Lavender and Chamomile
The whole city's gone batshit crazy. That's what Jane had said the morning of their ninth day in a row with no break. A spate of violent but unrelated murders in a week when several of the homicide detectives were out with the flu left the unit shorthanded and working virtually around the clock and Maura elbow deep in body after body.
Maura woke up on the tenth morning alone in her own bed. She had finished the autopsies and sent off all trace, projectile and biological samples for analysis. The assistant Medical Examiner could handle any other cases that came in for the next few days. Jane, however, was still burning the candle at both ends. Maura reached out and placed her hand in the empty space that normally would be occupied by the lanky brunette. Since they had begun their relationship very few nights had been spent alone. A few late night cases saw Jane either crash at the precinct or go back to her apartment instead of Maura's house; Maura had attended one weekend conference. Other than that they had worked out a steady rotation back and forth between their residences.
The sun was just coming up and while Maura was still fairly exhausted and in need of more sleep she missed Jane; the week's unusual case load having restricted their time together to primarily professional interaction. A text from Jane on her phone indicated she had gone to her apartment only three hours ago to grab a couple of hours of sleep before heading back to the precinct. Maura crawled sluggishly out of bed and got dressed.
Joe Friday danced happily around Maura's feet as she entered Jane's apartment and then ran promptly to the kitchen calling Maura's attention to the empty food and water bowl. The little dog fed and watered Maura made her way back to the bedroom. Jane was sprawled out on the bed face down, still wearing all of her clothes shoes included and one arm hanging off the side, knuckles resting on the floor. Maura sat down on the edge of the mattress and ran her fingers through the unkempt brown waves that Jane clearly had not taken a brush to in days. Despite the lightness of her touch Jane snapped awake, launching onto her side to check out the source of the unexpected touch.
"Dammit Maura! You nearly gave me a heart attack." Jane wiped at her eyes noticing the sunlight streaming in the window. "Shit, what time is it?"
"Almost 8am."
Jane sat up, the vertebrae in her neck popping loudly as she flexed it. "Ugh, I need to get back to the station."
Maura handed Jane a large coffee and a breakfast sandwich, "Drink and eat first."
"Oh my God, Maur, you're the best. I can't even remember when I ate last." Jane leaned over and placed a quick kiss on Maura's lips before taking a long drag of the coffee and diving into the sandwich.
"Careful Jane! If you eat that fast you'll give yourself indigestion!"
"Thanks Ma," Jane said with more than an overt tone of sarcasm.
"When are you going to be able to take some days off?" Maura switched positions in order to massage Jane's neck and shoulders.
"Hopefully after today. We've got some leads to follow up on and a few more statements to take on the last case that came in. Crowe swears he's going to be well enough to come back to work tomorrow. Of course, none of that helps the fact that I was supposed to take Nonna to some special bonsai tree exhibit at Arnold Arboretum today…"
"Can someone else take her?"
"Everyone's working, except for Ma of course, but Nonna doesn't like Ma to take her because she says Ma talks to much…" Jane laughed.
"I haven't been to Arnold Arboretum in quite a while, why don't I take her?"
The fall chill meant the Larz Anderon Bonsai Collection at Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University would be going into winter cold storage soon. Thus, the Fall Contemplations Exhibit would be the last chance to see the trees until they reemerged in April when the weather broke.
Maura placed a guiding hand under Nonna's arm and they perused the exhibit as the elderly woman's pace would allow.
"We had beautiful gardens in Italy. I would spend hours in them as a young girl. Many were destroyed in the war of course. Such an ugly time. You grew used to death, destruction; I remember one day shortly before the war ended the fighting had finally seemed to move safely away. I ran out to one of my favorite places, a little community garden that everyone contributed to. Bellissima! But it was torched, everything burned, dead, uprooted. I fell to my knees and cried, like I had not cried for any person. Looking back it was silly to cry over that, but then, it represented all of the waste, unnecessary loss…"
"We take so much for granted," Maura said looking at Nonna with an affectionate smile. "I took it for granted that Jane would always be there and that I had all the time in the world to come to terms with my feelings for her…and then she was almost gone and I nearly missed out on all of this."
"And you'll never make that mistake again."
Maura smiled, "No, I won't."
"But, right now you feel like you're being taken for granted." Nonna stopped her forward shuffle and smiled at the surprised look on Maura's face, "I told you before, Nonna knows things. And Janie might have mentioned the dinner with your parents."
Nonna moved to sit on a bench in the garden, clasping Maura's hand between hers, "That's the funny thing about loved ones. They're very easy to take for granted, we assume they will always be there or that they will always be and do what we expect them to. You know what else I know about family? They usually come around in the end."
A light breeze ruffled Maura's hair, which hung loosely around her shoulders as she paused closing her eyes. "I hope so."
"Mia nipote, if they do not it is their loss," Nonna reached up taking Maura's chin and turning her face to look directly into her eyes, "either way, you are our gain."
Jane was on her way back to the apartment.
Maura ran her hand under the faucet in the tub to check the temperature. Perfect. She drizzled some lavender scented bath oil in the water as she inhaled the scent of the fresh chamomile flowers she had placed in a muslin bath bag to hang under the stream.
Candles. Lit. Red wine, two glasses, check. Lights dimmed. Everything is ready.
The door to the apartment creaked open causing Maura to grin. She took a moment to finish making sure everything in the bathroom was perfect and in order before she exited to find Jane already in the bedroom. The lanky frame of the brunette was sitting on the edge of the bed, slumped over at the shoulders trying in vain to reach all the way down to remove her boots.
Jane looked up when Maura entered the room, "I feel like I've just run a marathon…no, actually, I feel worse than when we ran the marathon."
"I have just the thing for that," Maura said kneeling down in front of Jane to remove first her shoes, then her socks. She stood and lifted Jane's shirt up and over her head and then pulled her to her feet so she could undo her belt and allow the wrinkled and days old coffee stained pants to drop to the ground.
Jane stepped out of the pants, "Maur, we can do this as long as you don't mind if I'm asleep during it."
Maura glanced at Jane with an air of exasperation, "Give me a little credit Jane, I would never expect sex in your current state of exhaustion." She grabbed Jane's hand and led her to the bathroom.
A moan of pleasure burst its way out of Jane's throat when she glimpsed the hot bath and the bottle of wine. Eyes closed, a smile crept onto her face as she inhaled the various floral aromas that were wafting around the dimly lit room. Jane unhooked her bra and removed her underwear and turned to find Maura had already shed her silk robe.
"Mmmm, this is perfect," Jane purred into Maura's mouth between thankful and appreciative kisses. "Are you sure you want to join me? I'm pretty stank."
Maura couldn't help but laugh, "And the moment was so romantic until now…"
They stepped in the tub, Maura behind Jane.
"I take it back, you may definitely be getting some tonight," Jane remarked as she eased down into the water. Maura's hands immediately found their way to her neck and shoulders and began deftly working the days of tension out of the strained muscles.
"Oh…so much better." Jane straightened up and accepted the glass of wine Maura offered her. Soon, delicate hands wrapped around her and pulled her backwards. Jane wiggled and shifted in order to nestle herself comfortably into Maura's body. Eyes shut, she smiled as Maura's hands caressed across her abdomen, chest and shoulders. It was then she noticed the faint music, a voice, deep, rich and mournful paired against light and airy instrumentation barely broke the silence in an unidentifiable language.
Jane exhaled, relaxing even further her head came to rest against Maura's jaw line. "I like this music, what is it?"
Comforting arms tightened around Jane as Maura's lips found their way to her love's temple, "Lisa Gerrard, she's a dramatic contralto and sings primarily in an idioglossia…"
"Maur…"
"Hmm?"
"More wine…less google."
Dead to the world was a more than apt description of how Jane and Maura slept that night. When Jane's eyes finally fluttered open the clock on the bedside table read 10:34am. The aura of lavender and chamomile still lingered in the air. A light breath danced across the back of her neck. Jane rolled over and brushed the loose hair out of Maura's face before pressing their lips together. Still asleep Maura's lips nonetheless reacted as trained and parted. The sensation of Jane's warm tongue grazing her lips and sliding into her mouth woke her up.
Hazel eyes flashed open only briefly in order to confirm the source of the sensation before closing again and reciprocating the wake-up gesture. Her hands mapped the same silky skin of Jane's back they had catalogued hundreds of times before. The vertebrae of her spine, the point of her scapula, her musculature, the exit wound from the shooting…her fingers lingered there, exalting it.
"Good morning," Maura whispered.
"Good morning." Jane sat up stretching her arms above her head. She looked down at Maura, bare-breasted, and smiled, "God you're beautiful." Leaning down she devoured Maura's lips again before reluctantly breaking off the kiss. "I would stay here with you like this all day, but, I have one errand I need to run…"
Maura whined in protest. "Can't it wait?"
"Nope. But I shouldn't be long. And after this week, whaddya say we go out tonight? A movie…" she kissed Maura's forehead, "…dinner, somewhere, your choice…" she kissed Maura's lips, "…maybe a nightcap at some trendy little bar."
Jane strolled through the familiar quad of BCU. She remembered touring the campus with her parents when she was a teenager; the comments whispered between them about how nice the campus was and how much it would cost. Jane didn't regret not having gone to BCU though, she had exactly what she wanted and everything she needed, a quirky and sometimes crazy but always supportive family, a job she enjoyed and that gave her life meaning and now a beautiful, smart and caring partner that filled a void she had imposed on herself for far too long.
Fairfield Hall. Oh, the irony, she thought looking up at the lettering emblazoned across the doorway of the academic building she stopped in front of. Slowly and methodically she climbed the stairs to the fifth floor and made her way to the wing that housed the faculty offices. The door to office 526 was slightly ajar.
Dr. William H. Isles, PhD
Professor Emeritus
Jane stared at the engraving on the bronze door placard. Nervously she brought her hand to her mouth, pausing, taking one final deep breath of the airy notes of bath oil from the previous night, which served as reminder of why she was there.
She knocked on the door.