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

October

Chapter nine: A Very Balanced Couple

She had waited for long minutes before opening it, just in case Jane would have come back in the most unexpected way because she would have forgotten something. It was not the first time that she had a look at it but until now it had only happened with many people around, a thousand laugh and jokes.

This time she was alone and didn't have to focus on the funny part of it. Instead, she could take all her time and pay attention to the details; to a general view of something that hadn't really happened.

It was the oddest feeling. She was going through the photo-album as if she were witnessing a parallel life to the one they were leading: Jane holding a baby in her arms, the two of them helping a toddler walk on a beach in the sunset, birthday cakes and vacations out of Boston. A glimpse of the life of a family that looked like hers but wasn't.

"Barry did a good job, right?"

Angela's voice rose in her back. Jane's mother walked towards the couch where Maura was sitting and smiled before the photo-album full of montages opened on her daughter-in-law's lap.

Maura nodded and sighed before one of the pictures: she was holding a tiny newborn in her arms, grinning like a fool at the photographer. The original shot existed. And it was TJ whom she had held against her. She might have been looking at a montage, her very own reaction that day hadn't been a lie. She was glowing and thrilled.

"Hmm. Jane doesn't like them, though. She says that she either looks chubby or has the same haircut as in Charlie's Angels." Shrug. "I don't know... I find them sweet." Sweet but fake.

"Jane always has something to complain about."

The remark made Maura laugh lightly.

Someone had finally ended up walking in on her but against all expectations, she was okay with it. She loved Angela and appreciated her presence in her life. She trusted her. The matriach was a bit intrusive at times but Maura didn't mind. It wasn't something she had experienced with her very own family. At least she now had the sensation to fit in a bit more.

And it was comforting.

Besides, she knew that Angela would not judge her in a bad way for fantasizing a bit before all these pictures. It was a very unusual situation, after all: very singular. Frost had spent a lot of time creating this photo-album just in case Leo asked to see a few pictures.

"Have you ever really talked about maternity?" The question hit the air in a timid murmur. Angela sat on the couch and passed a hand on one of the pictures. "You and Jane, I mean."

Maura hesitated, barely whispered a semblance of answer.

"No."

What for, anyway? They were both over forty years old and had demanding jobs. They had really drawn a line under the idea of a potential pregnancy. Implicitly. They could think about adoption but it had barely crossed her mind.

Maybe they were simply not made to be mothers. They welcomed foreign students twice a year anyway; and there was Margot too. All these adolescents were their children. Somehow.

"Perhaps you should, even if it's to come to the conclusion you don't want any. It's an important conversation to have for your couple, Maura. You need to make things clear."

Maura pursed her lips. She didn't say a word. Angela was right but she didn't see how she and Jane could make anything clear from something that appeared so blatantly blurry.

...

"You don't wear makeup, do you?"

Margot shook her head but nonetheless let Maura applied lipstick on her lips. She checked the result in a large mirror - squinted her eyes at it - then wrinkled her nose in disapproval.

"It's not me!" She grabbed a tissue and proceeded to take the makeup off right away. "I'm okay with a bit of mascara but not... Not lipstick. I don't like the sensation. Nah, it's not for me."

"No problem!" Just as she was applying a brand new Chanel color on her very own lips, Maura felt a pair of arms slide around her frame. A kiss in the crook of her neck. The unexpected touch made her jump with surprise. "Jane!"

Uh oh.

Well done, Rizzoli. The wife throwing a scene in three, two, one...

Just as expected, Maura turned around to frown at Jane but something made the Italian chuckle right away.

"What's with the tribal makeup, Maur'? Are you leaving to live with the Masai tribe or something?" She pointed Maura's face where a huge red line of lipstick went from the corner of her lips to the cheek.

"You scared me... Idiot!" Maura gently snapped her wife's forearm and accepted the tissue Margot held out to her. "Have you found what you were looking for, anyway?" Jane nodded. "Good. Then let's go."

It didn't happen very often but Maura wasn't in the mood to go shopping. She was spending a whole day with Jane and Margot in Provincetown and preferred to enjoy their presence instead of walking from one store to another. As a matter of fact, it was Jane who had insisted on stopping by the store. Upside down situation.

"What do you wanna do, Frenchie?" Shopping bag in hand, Jane walked out on the street and put a hand in front of her eyes to protect herself from the sun. "There's a nice coffee store a bit further on the left. How about a drink?" Nod. "So here we go, ladies."

"What did you buy?" Maura tried to have a look at the bag but Jane immediately prevented her from doing so which only managed to make her laugh. "Why won't you show me what it is?"

Jane had remained vague about the nature of her purchase, needless to say that such unusual behavior had piqued Maura's curiosity. Her birthday wasn't coming any time soon and Jane wasn't particularly fond of comestics. Yet she really had insisted on stopping by the small store to buy something there.

"Oh, come on! Show me..." Maura burst out laughing and tried to have a look at it again. In vain. "What are you hiding from me?"

"Uh oh."

Teasing: on pause. Silence.

"Why are you two staring at me like that?" Margot laughed and raised her hands as if to prove her innocence. "I haven't done anything!"

"Why the 'uh oh', then?" Jane grabbed Maura's hand and waited for the student's explanation.

Margot shrugged. Hands back in the pockets of her jacket. The wind was blowing hard in spite of the bright sun and the temperatures were chilly. She huddled up against herself then pushed away from her face a strand of hair.

"I don't know... Isn't it a bad thing to hide stuff from your significant one? I mean, do you have... Like... Secrets that you never told each other?"

The question took them completely aback. Their relation had always been very symbiotic. It hadn't taken them long to learn pretty much everything from each other. They didn't have any taboo either.

Or not really.

The only omission had probably been the one about their past relationships. Before Margot making it into their life, none of them had opened up about the fact they had both dated women in the past.

"No, Miss-I-pretend-my-parents-are-a-same-sex-couple." Jane vehemently shook her head at the yound student then grabbed Maura by the waist to hold her tightly against her. "We're honest with each other... And maybe you should be too even if I am really looking forward to seeing Leo's face when he learns you've only tried to impress him with your lie."

For some reason, Jane's last remark about their couple pushed Maura to think about Angela and the words she had had about the photo-album; about maternity. It wasn't taboo but they nonetheless did their best to avoid the subject.

That was a fact that she couldn't deny.

"We are a very happy and balanced married couple, Margot. We lead a peaceful life made of movie nights – weekend getaways – and... I don't know, walks through the city. We don't have secrets for each other. A normal couple, that is what we..." Maura didn't have a chance to finish her sentence.

"And a famous one, should I add..." Margot ran to a small stand by the door of a store to grab a magazine. She waved it at Jane and Maura. "Look at the two of you! You're LGBT stars, now."

Jane swallowed hard. She certainly hadn't forgotten Ava's magazine nor the interview they had taken part in. How could she? She had spent most of it trying desperately to embarrass Margot one way or another. The moment she had showed them pictures of a chubby naked baby remained in her top five.

"I thought we find it in Boston only." Shaking tone of voice reflecting a sudden lack of joy and latent panic: check.

Margot shrugged and leafed through it before giving it to Maura. She looked amused, her eyes sparkling with delight. If she hadn't been the source of all of this, Maura would have said that Margot looked extremely pretty but looks weren't her priority right now.

She feverishly leafed through it then froze as she found the piece of information she was looking for.

"It seems like you can actually find it anywhere in Massachusetts, Jane... This is what it says on the last page." Maura closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she felt her wife's hand freeze on her waist.

"Run, Margot." Jane's hoarse voice resounded low; deprived of any feeling. "Run away before I catch you back."

Attempt to scare Margot: failed. Instead, the girl burst out laughing and shook her head in disbelief. She planted a kiss on Jane's cheek and repeated the gesture with Maura.

"You're the best mommies a daughter could dream of having even if you try to embarrass me as soon as you can. And, you know..." She shrugged and resumed her walking. "You'd enjoy this parallel life while it lasts. I'm sure you'll miss it big time once I'm back to France."

Snort.

Although Jane and Maura had to admit that she was probably right.