Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews, I appreciate them a lot.

February

Chapter eighteen: We All Have A Plan But Maura Has More Than One

It is only when Jane burst in Margot's room that she realized she could have walked in on her in a rather compromising position with anyone. Thankfully, the student was simply sitting at her desk reading a book.

So much for a dramatic effect, Rizzoli. Next time make sure it's all safe before doing that.

Jane closed back the door behind her and offered Margot her most schizophrenic smile. She walked to the desk but the big teddy bear on her left caught her attention first. She frowned, laughed.

"You still have it?"

"What?" Margot put her book down and properly turned around. She didn't even look surprised by the unexpected visit, just amused. "Oh, Robert?"

Jane made a face.

"You called it Robert?!"

"Yeah... Don't you think it has a Robert face? I think it does." Margot yawned and stretched out her arms. She had been working for the last four hours and was desperately in need of a break. "Hi, by the way."

Margot's question had left Jane perplexed. No, she didn't think that this huge teddy bear had a Rob face. As a matter of fact, she was even surprised to see that the French girl hadn't tried to get rid of it in the first place.

She was almost nineteen years old. What kind of student had cuddly toys in her room on campus?

At this age they eventually have another kind of toys, Rizzoli. But maybe it's not the right moment to think about this. What do you think?

Jane made a face. Why had she even thought about that?

But back to what had brought her to Cambridge in the first place.

"Ahem... Yeah, hi." Brief look at the desk that was just as neat as Maura's. "Alright now where's my birthday present? You know, the one you and Maura have been plotting about for the last couple of weeks."

Margot opened wide eyes and held back a chuckle. She brought her hand to her mouth then shook her head before motioning the room.

"There's nothing, here. I'm afraid you knocked on the wrong door."

Don't let her fool you, Rizzoli. You're a detective. You noticed the whispers – the text messages – as well as the looks they both exchanged. They have something in mind and you know it.

"Oh, c'mon! I know you're up to something with Maura. Just tell me what is is! She won't know and I'll just fake it when the day has come." Jane joined her hands together. "Please! Please! Please!"

"We celebrate your birthday this weekend. Can't you just wait? It's in five days."

Wrong answer from Margot unless she wanted to go on Jane's nerves. Jane hadn't driven all the way to Cambridge to hear wise words. Certainly not. She would have stayed home for that.

Damn.

"I know you're up to somethin'."

"You too." Margot shrugged – turned back around – and opened her book. "You too have been like doing secret things with Maura and I don't know what it is."

Jane swallowed hard and made a step backwards. She had kind of hoped that nobody had noticed it. In vain.

But now she thought about it, she couldn't say that they had been very discreet. Although it had nothing to do with the lightness of a birthday present. It was different. Very different.

Artificial inseminations. Adoptions.

These were the two topics she and Maura had done research on since their conversation in the car as they were coming back from Brookline. They hadn't come to any conclusion but were now actively thinking about it; weighing up the pros and cons. It was already a big step for them but they did not want to talk about it to anyone else for the moment. There was nothing sure at all.

Absolutely nothing.

They would let people know on time. Yes. If there was anything to let them know about. For the moment, it was a very tiny idea.

"It's not the same."

"I believe you and respect your decision to not tell me anything about it. So why wouldn't you do the same for your birthday present?"

The smirk that suddenly appeared on Margot's lips – making her eyes glimmer – caused Jane to gasp. Hand on her mouth; eyes squinted in the grip of doubts.

"Ha ha!" Perfect dramatic effect, this time. "See! I was right. You know what it is; you know what my birthday present is and you probably even played an active role in the whole thing." But even such Manichean remark didn't have any effect whatsoever on Margot. "C'mon, give me a hint."

"No, I won't." Margot laughed. She couldn't believe that Jane had made all her way to Cambridge just in the hope to learn what her birthday present was. It was completely surreal. "I'm sorry but you'll just have to wait! Besides, there's no clue in my room. I have nothing here. Nothing at all."

Someone knocked on the door. Jane turned around only to see a young girl poke her head, a sheet of paper in hand.

"Hey, Margot! I got the list of the..."

Why had she stopped talking? Jane immediately turned back around to look at Margot. The smile the student gave her betrayed the awkwardness of the moment. Back on the other girl who seemed to have made a step backwards and was now hiding her sheet of paper in her back.

"Homicide Detective Jane Rizzoli-Isles. May I see what you're holding, please?" Jane held back a smile. She could hardly sound more intimidated. "I said please...?"

The student had turned livid and looked on the verge of a panic attack.

"Don't you need a warrant or something to ask me that?"

Jane blinked. The kids, these days! She forced a smile.

"Usually 'please' is enough."

"Wh-... Why, ma'am?"

"You called me "ma'am"...?" If Jane had been in control until now, it seemed like the situation was slipping through her fingers by the second now.

"Oh boy." Margot buried her face into her hands and shook her head.

Damn it's a subterfuge, Rizzoli! What are you? A rookie?

Too late, though. By the time Jane looked back at the door, Margot's classmate had run away and disappeared. Birthday mission: not really accomplished.

...

"I cannot believe that you did that."

Jane had understood that she was in trouble when she had tried the puppy eyes on Maura and that it hadn't worked out at all.

If her wife didn't respond positively to the puppy eyes then she would not respond positively to anything which suddenly made the situation very complicated; delicate to handle.

"You intimidated a student on campus – assuming that she knew something about your birthday – and let her know that you had previously run a checkup on her criminal record?" Pause. Lips pursed. "And then you think I went a bit far with the condoms?"

Jane looked down at her lap. She hadn't asked for it to happen but – once she had left Margot – she had crossed the girl who had previously knocked on the door and hadn't been able to resist. As for the criminal record, she had run it a while ago as part of her mama Rizzoli role but hadn't thought that she would actually use it at some point.

"You blackmailed her, Jane."

Then it had made Margot laugh and she had invited the two students for a drink as well as a nice – friendly – chat which proved that it was alright but something told her that Maura didn't want to hear about that. Not just yet.

"You want to know what your birthday present was going to be? Well, let me tell you that I actually cancelled it as soon as I was told what you had done and that I am now using my plan C which means... That you will never find out about it before Saturday."

A plan C? Jane made a face. How many backup plans did Maura have, exactly? It was almost more scaring than all the rest. She really had married a control freak. But one more time, Jane just knew better than to say anything.

A big envelope on her wife's desk caught her attention. She grabbed it and waved it at the scientist who was still looking at her suspiciously.

"Oh look at that... We got some more information from an adoption agency." Her weak smile didn't weigh much with Maura's eyeroll.

Unfair battle.

"You are impossible, Jane." The timid smile that softened Maura's features made clear that she was about to cave in. "You really are impossible." She burst out laughing.

End of the domestic scene.

"C'mon, sit next to me. It's the agency Leo's parents chose for Elsa's adoption. I wanna see how it works." Jane patted the couch and waited for Maura to join her before tearing down the envelope.

They hadn't taken a decision yet regarding all this but she loved the freedom with which they now talked about it. She had found it liberating the exact moment they had started talking about it - even if very timidly - in the car.

They had plans, now. They would gather as much information as they could - study the different possibilities together - then make a choice. She didn't know right now if it would be a yes or a no but if there was one thing Jane was sure of, it was that - at least - the prospect of having a child together was not a taboo anymore.