Author's note; thank you very much for all your reviews and messages.
December
Chapter thirteen: A Sunday In Cambridge
"I am very proud of you. Your grades have been excellent, so far." Maura folded back the sheet of paper and held it out to Margot. "You surely deserve a break." She laughed. "An international one."
Within a few days, Margot would go back to France to spend Christmas with her family. She wasn't as ecstatic as Jane and Maura had assumed that she would but she was nonetheless glad to see her parents as well as her friends again.
She would come back early January to Boston to start her second semester. It was just a break, a very short one.
"Thank you! College's easy." Her light giggle filled the small coffee shop as she grabbed her large mug of hot chocolate and took a sip of it. "By the way, where did you go to college, Jane? You never told me... You don't talk much about it."
Sitting on an old couch by a large fireplace, Jane remained quiet. It wasn't something that she liked talking about. It made her feel inferior to the rest of the crowd; a bit stupid. But as she felt Maura's comforting hand on her knee, she smiled at Margot and finally found the courage to reply to what was only a fair question in the end.
"I didn't go to college. I went to junior college and then to the Academy."
"Oh." Margot sounded very surprised. Not judgmental, just a bit taken aback. "How come?"
"It was too expensive. I didn't want my parents to sign in for thirty years of debt because of me. Besides, I didn't need it to work for the BPD and that's really what I wanted to do. Easy!" Marius – the cafe owner's cat – jumped on her lap. She smiled at him and began to caress his fur. "Hey, you..."
Margot took another sip of her hot beverage and bit her lips. Her cheeks had turned red. She hadn't meant to sound intrusive and now felt extremely embarrassed.
Tracy Chapman's voice rose through an old radio transistor but barely reached their table where an uncomfortable silence seemed now to be reigning.
"I'm sorry, Jane. I... I didn't mean..."
Jane looked up and tilted her head while a honest smile lit up her face. She didn't look the slightest bit hurt; just serene, happy to be where she was.
"Oh, you don't have to! I regret it, at times. But... I'm actually very happy with my life. I'm married to one of the most beautiful..."
"One of the most?" Cold tone.
Brief glance at a jealous Maura who had raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
"The most beautiful woman on this planet – the smartest one too, for sure – and look at you... My daughter is a bright student who would be practically perfect if she hadn't come up with this stupid lie to impress a guy."
Margot rolled her eyes.
"I'm gonna miss your text messages when I'm in France. I got used to receiving one per hour just to 'check' on me and make sure I don't run out of pretty much anything."
Maura laughed. She and Jane had gone soft on the embarrassing mother attitude thing since Halloween except for the messages. One per hour. It had almost turned into a habit.
"We all deserve a break... From everything!" She winked at Margot and started caressing Marius who was now purring on Jane's lap.
"Dr. Isles, I presume?"
Jane – Margot – and Maura turned around at the same time to look at the person who had just asked the question.
"Oh! Professor Hartford!" Margot immediately stood up and motioned Jane. "This is Jane Rizzoli... Detective Jane Rizzoli... And... And Dr. Maura Isles, indeed. You presumed right. Mrs. Hartford is my Medieval Poetry professor."
Jane and Maura politely shook the professor's hand; a woman in her late fifties with a very thick British accent.
"It is a beautiful house that you have. I saw it in Out Magazine. Beacon Hill surely is a very nice neighborhood. I used to live there myself during my first years in Boston but I ended up succumbing to the charms of Cambridge... It was a very interesting interview, Ava did a good job. She is talented. Anyway, I don't want to interrupt this Sunday family moment. Have a nice day and enjoy your holidays, Margot. See you in January!"
The woman walked towards the bottom of the room and stopped by a table where another woman was sitting. They kissed on the cheek then the professor sat down. Jane squinted her eyes at the scene, her curiosity piqued.
"She's gay?"
Margot shrugged. It hadn't crossed her mind until now although straight people rarely read Out Magazine. But then, it could be found anywhere in Cambridge.
Professor Hartford might have simply leafed through it one day while waiting for someone.
"I don't know." She scratched her head. "She doesn't ping like you, though."
If the remark made Maura giggle, Jane simply choked on her drink.
...
They left the cafe thirty minutes later and huddled up against themselves as an icy wind seemed to tightened its grip on their frames. Jane shivered. She had never liked Bostonian winters. Too cold, too grey. She had no idea how Maura - on the other hand - seemed so much in her element among blizzards and polar temperatures.
"Well... Thank you for coming, today." Margot rubbed her hands together. "You're the only people I know who come to visit students on a weekly basis and... I really appreciate it; even more since you're not even my mothers nor anything like that."
"We might not be blood related but you are family, Margot." Maura took the student in her arms and hugged her tightly. "Take care and respect your sleep schedule."
Jane rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. She repeated the gesture instead - hugging the student tightly - and only once Margot disappeared at the corner of the street did she turn around to look at Maura.
"We're off?"
The scientist pouted. She looked at the small square and bit her lips. Sundays in Cambridge were always full of life, but of the peaceful kind. She loved the atmosphere that seemed to emanate from the small streets and squares.
"Can we walk for a little while before...? I don't feel like going back to Boston already."
Not the kind of requests Jane had wished for but she nonetheless nodded and grabbed Maura's hand. She didn't have any reason to say no. As a matter of fact, she didn't know how to say no to her wife.
"You want my death, right?"
Gasp.
Maura looked horrified; genuinely horrified. And way too literal, one more time.
"Of course not! How do you dare to say such a thing? I love you... Why would I want to see you dead?"
"Why do you have to be so literal..." Eyeroll, sigh. "I didn't mean it, Maura! It's just an expression... Oh boy..."
They walked to another square with just as many cafes and bookstores as the previous one. This time, Maura stopped and locked her eyes into her wife's. Her fingers brushed her nape, her smile – delicate – echoing the wonders dancing now in her head.
"I love you, Jane."
They kissed - softly, sweetly - until the giggles of a toddler caught their attention and they dared a look into his direction. The little boy was in his stroller playing with a plastic fire truck while his mother fed him. The scene was random but made Maura smile.
She hadn't forgotten the conversation she had had with her mother and was now waiting for the right moment to talk to Jane about the whole thing. She had tried – once – but had failed. Where was the courage she desperately needed?
How about now? Perhaps you don't have to plan things in advance. Why don't you abandon yourself to the moment? Just for once...? It won't kill you, Isles. It won't do you any harm. Try. Give it a chance if it is what you want.
"Do you ever..." Surprised by her own whisper, she looked down and swallowed hard. "Do you ever think about this?" She motioned the stroller with her head then waited.
At first, Jane frowned as if she wasn't certain of what her wife was talking about but - the moment she froze - it became clear that she had finally understood what Maura meant.
She blinked, shrugged. The question had troubled her. It was the first time that one of them made a clear allusion to it and she wasn't prepared at all. Maura had taken her off guard. She didn't know what to say.
"I... Ahem..." She looked down at her feet.
Her cell phone rang. She immediately grabbed it and excused herself before taking the call. It was Frost, she couldn't ignore him.
Worst excuse to run away from Maura's question, Rizzoli.
"Hey, what's up?" She walked a bit further realizing that she needed some distance for a reason she wasn't sure to understand and tried to sound casual. Nod. Another one. "Then send me an email and I'll check this tonight..." Brief – embarrassed – glance at Maura. "Ok... Bye."
"Is everything alright?"
Jane smiled - sincerely - then planted a kiss on top of her wife's head. She nodded.
"Just work related. He might have found something for that freakin' cold case." But it was Sunday – it was her day off – and she didn't feel like talking about work. She and Maura exchanged all week long about it. It was nice to have a break from time to time. "Speaking of cold things... I don't feel my feet anymore. Do you mind if we go back home?"
Maura's smile warmed up her heart, her laugh sending butterflies to dance in her stomach. Sometimes Jane really had a hard time understanding how the scientist could have decided to become her wife. She didn't deserve her.