Chapter Twenty-One – Your Life

August 2034

Maura cast a glance at Jane and let this comforting feeling of satisfaction embrace her.

It was exactly the way it had happened. What Jane had just said about the day of Lou's birth couldn't have been closer to the truth from the emotional exhaustion to the moment they had cheered in the kitchen. Eighteen years had passed since that day.

Eighteen years...

Why did time have to fly by like that? What had become of Lou's first steps, her first haircut? The day she had talked for the first time. It all belonged to the past now – a bittersweet one – as their daughter was about to leave for college on the very next day. Overwhelmed, Maura looked down and remained quiet. She couldn't cry now.

"We live in Boston for Christ's sake. Some of the best colleges are here and yet you decide to go to New York." Jane snorted. She obviously wasn't done; not just yet. "Say it if you don't like us. Ungrateful daughter."

The whole table started laughing. They couldn't have hoped for a better birthday and goodbye to Lou as she was about to start this new page of her life.

Jane and Maura hadn't written anything special but the words had come out by themselves the moment they had raised their glasses to celebrate Lou's eighteenth birthday. It was a turning point in her life, big changes were coming her way. Very big ones. Their little girl was a young woman now.

"C'mon! New York isn't that far..." Lou laughed lightly and shook her head at Jane. She knew how her mother tended to exaggerate and the truth was that she loved it. "I'd have gone to Europe. Mom did, after all."

Lou pointed at Maura who suddenly had to face Jane's reproachful look. Raising a child hadn't always been easy. Maura had insisted on teaching their daughter notions of autonomy and independence at a very young age while Jane had oddly started adopting the same characteristics as Angela. It had to be in her Italian genes.

The contrast had turned into an interesting combination yet the fact Lou was responsible and hard-working was enough to let Jane and Maura think that they had succeeded.

"I only spent a year in London. I went to med school in Boston."

Maura bit her lips. She knew that her argument was a weak one but she had been unprepared for such remark. It wasn't the right time for Jane to find anything to blame on her. She was already way too upset to see their daughter leave the house to start her adult life in another city.

"Whatever, Maura." Jane shook her head at her wife in disapproval. Maura had got used to her dramatic effects, Jane knew that it was all safe. Maura wouldn't take it badly. "You're a good girl, Lou-Mae Rizzoli-Isles: you don't drink, you don't smoke... Or at least you're smart enough to never get caught and I really hope it'll stay that way. Happy birthday, sweetie."

Jane raised her glass one more time and went to hug her daughter who was standing a couple of seats away from hers.

Lou had celebrated her birthday with her friends a few days ago. Today was the family celebration, with Jane and Maura's friends who had turned out to be relatives for their daughter as she had grown up seeing them around all the time. It was just an intimate lunch, a very last one.

"Happy birthday, Lou-Mae."

Maura followed Jane and went to kiss her daughter on both cheeks before giving into a hug.

This had to mean something: Jane and Lou were the only people Maura was always eager to take in her arms. The touch always soothed her. As a matter of fact, it had even turned into a sweet addiction.

...

"What is going to happen tomorrow? What is going to happen when we are going to drive back home from the airport?"

Maura rolled on a side in bed to face Jane. The family day celebrations had turned out to be a success but it also and irremediably carried them towards the inevitable. She wouldn't sleep well that night. She wouldn't sleep well at all.

Jane raised an eyebrow in surprise. It was the first time that Maura let her latent anxiety show over the fact Lou was leaving. She hadn't been as expressive as Jane on the matter until now.

"I don't know. The house's gonna be awfully quiet."

They didn't have any other child. How could life expect from them to turn the page over the last eighteen years so easily, so quickly?

Jane thought about Timothy. As a matter of fact, she had thought about him a lot lately since Lou had graduated from high school. It came by waves but his abstract presence never really left Jane completely.

"I should have suggested you another kind of pact."

Maura's remark got Jane rather confused. What was she talking about? It was late and they were both tired. Jane didn't have what it took to analyze her wife's statements.

"What do you mean?"

The pout that started playing on Maura's lips made Jane smile. She knew it very well. As a matter of fact, she knew every single move that Maura could make. They had got married eighteen years ago and had met almost twenty-five years ago. They had spent almost every single day together. Their bond had strengthened.

Maura slid a leg between Jane's and leaned her chin on her wife's shoulder.

"I should have asked you to marry me in order to adopt a dozen of children. Then we wouldn't be facing the imminent departure of our single daughter."

Jane burst out laughing. Maura rarely said such things. This over-protective reaction was a Rizzoli one. It sounded like a mix of Angela and Jane, certainly not an Isles remark.

"It's not too late to adopt another one."

Maura blinked. Had she heard Jane right? She passed on top of her wife and locked her eyes with Jane's dark ones before shaking her head. They had taken a couple of days off to make sure to spend every single minute left with their daughter. But what would happen then?

"You really want to start it all over again? The sleepless nights, the diapers, the teething... The adolescence? The boys bands, Jane. The boys bands!"

Alright.

Maura had a point, a very valid one. Perhaps it was time to celebrate the fact that they would have the house for themselves again. They would be able to listen to the music genre they liked, they wouldn't have to put up with weekend parties every since and then. The hammock would be theirs again too which basically hadn't happened since Lou's birth actually.

And yet. All these points were the exact reason why Jane had loved her life so much for the past eighteen years.

"Then maybe it's time for us to properly give it a try to surfing lessons. I refuse to die before I manage to stand on that damn board if only for five seconds. See? Here's a new life project. A great one, besides. Add that to our bucket list: I wanna be the next Kelly Slater."

They had just bought a summer house in Provincetown. Perhaps Jane's idea actually made sense once Maura got rid of the sarcasm in it. Spending some time at the beach might help them overcome the fact that their daughter was leaving.

They still had some time before thinking about retirement. As a matter of fact, they certainly didn't even want to talk about it yet. They loved their respective jobs too much for that.

"I suppose that life will simply go on."

Maura sat on top of Jane and stared at an invisible point in front of her. She was anxious before this new page of their life. She knew that her couple would do just fine – there wasn't any doubt about that – but it made her feel a bit old all of a sudden. Old and vulnerable.

"We'll go to New York soon. As Lou said, it's not super far." Feeling the uncertainty of Maura, Jane brought her hands to her wife's hips for a comforting caress. "We'll be okay."

A knock on the door of their bedroom interrupted them. Maura immediately sat back on her side of the bed and cleared her voice.

"Yes?"

Lou poked her head inside. Her big green eyes scanned the room rather timidly. She made a step inside and shrugged.

"I can't sleep."

She didn't need to add anything. Jane had already made some room for the young girl in bed between her and Maura. She would miss this little ritual, all these evenings they had spent – the three of them – talking about everything and nothing at the same time while lying in bed.

Lou was sweet and caring. She had never rejected them, not even when she had entered her teenage years.

The three of them cuddled together but didn't say a word. They didn't need to. The comfort brought by their embrace was powerful enough. Warm. Perfect.

A sweet ode to life.

To their life.

The End

Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews and messages. I am glad to see that, one more time, you enjoyed following one of my stories. I will start a brand new one on Sunday.