Author's Note: Though I have received suggestions to keep this piece going to another night out with Constance, Angela and the girls, I'm going to leave this story here with this beautiful last chapter and move on to other things. I also wanted to keep this at a T rating. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. You are too kind. P.S. For the record, I am Team Korsak. -dkc
Chapter 13
Jane said nothing the entire drive to Maura's house. When asked if she was okay, she smiled and assured Maura that she was. The doctor knew better.
"What did my mother say to you, Jane?" Maura's voice was firm.
They had entered Maura's house and Jane stood with her back to Maura. The doctor could not stand the silence, her worry playing with her mind. Her mother could be harsh, cold, even. She worried that Jane was putting up walls or preparing to run.
"Tell me, Jane," Maura whispered as she came up behind the detective, wrapping her arms around her.
When Jane turned around to face the honey-haired woman, there were tears streaming down her face.
"Jane…" Maura reached for the brunette's cheeks. "What is it, honey?"
The detective didn't bother to wipe her tears. She simply stared at her best friend, taking in her beauty, her kind eyes and everything that she knew and loved about her.
"I love you, Maur. I love you and I have never told you. Not as a friend, not as…as a lover. I have never said it. And I love you."
The detective allowed her tears to continue to fall as she watched the recognition set in on Maura's face. There was a gentle smile on Maura's face as she looked at her detective, her Jane.
"Jane…" Maura whispered. "Did you think I didn't know? You show me every day."
As the tears stilled, Jane found herself replaying moments in her head, moments in which she may not have been successful in hiding her feelings for Maura throughout their friendship—moments she knew in her heart she had realized how deep her feelings were for her best friend.
"Do you remember what you said when Doyle took me from the morgue and I called you?" Maura held Jane in place by her bony hips.
"Whatever he wanted," Jane mumbled.
"You would have done anything for me in that moment, Jane. That wasn't the first time I knew you would do anything for me and it certainly wasn't the last. You would have broken the law to protect me. You said you would have given me a kidney, even after claiming, albeit jokingly, you wouldn't give one to Tommy or Frankie. You would die for me, Jane. You almost have," Maura choked back tears as she realized just how close she had come to losing Jane far too many times.
"Maur…" Jane brought a hand up to cup the doctor's cheek.
"Let me finish, Jane." Maura insisted. "One of the few things I have allowed myself to remember about that day in the infirmary with Charles Hoyt is the primal reaction you had when he touched me. You killed him as much for me, maybe even more for me, than for you. I know you love me, Jane. Perhaps I have always known."
Jane's lips found their way to Maura's. The kiss was confirmation of everything Maura had reminded Jane of. The kiss was sensual. Scarred hands cupped soft, alabaster cheeks. Skilled, meticulous hands dug into the subtle dip of hips.
The kiss grew sloppy, forcing the women to surface for air. Without speaking, Jane led Maura to the bedroom.
The taller brunette slowly unbuttoned her shirt as she felt the doctor's eyes burning into her newly revealed skin. It was a concerted dance, the undressing. Hands wandered as eyes seized sight of familiar and now favorite areas of one another's bodies. The kiss that had grown out of control before was now back on and unrivaled by any kiss they had shared before. It was the bridge to a beautiful night of lovemaking, lovemaking that was not devoid of a few tears.
"I love you," Jane choked, her limbs tangled in those of Maura after coming down from a beautiful high.
"I know," Maura kissed the emotional woman's forehead. "I love you, too."
They held each other, simply, for what seemed like hours. They were content with each other in ways they had never been content with another. This had always been the case, but they never felt quite like they did as they basked in the afterglow with one another.
"Maur…" Jane's voice was raw.
"Hmm?" Maura turned her body, no longer slick with the aftermath of their love, further into Jane.
"Can you, umm, have a baby with only one kidney?" Jane was hesitant asking such a personal question, despite lying naked with the woman in her arms.
"Yes, it isn't recommended for at least six months after the surgery, though," Maura maneuvered to face Jane. "Why?"
"We never talked about it and I know you at one time were considering freezing your, uh, eggs. I wondered."
"I didn't realize we needed to talk about it," Maura smirked.
"You know what I mean," Jane nudged her.
"I do. I thought about it a great deal before going through with the surgery, both in the sense of the potential elimination of the possibility and, well, whether I want to be a mother at all. Of course, it mattered to me that I would essentially be saving a life, even if I couldn't bring a new life into the world," Maura said thoughtfully.
"You'd be a wonderful mom," Jane whispered sincerely.
"You think?" Maura's doubt came through.
"You are one of the most caring, considerate people I know. I have seen you with T.J. and, yes, I believe you would be a wonderful mother."
"I don't know, Jane. I don't know anything about how to be a mother," Maura answered with tears in her eyes.
"You've learned what not to do. You've watched three mothers approach motherhood in very different ways."
"Three?" Maura was confused.
"My mom, too," Jane smiled.
"Being a mother isn't academic, Jane. I can't simply look at examples and know what to do and not to do."
"No, but you will catch on quickly. You are a genius after all," Jane smiled as she gave the smaller woman a squeeze.
"Thank you, Jane," Maura smiled.
"God, you're a beautiful person," there was awe evident in Jane's voice.
"You're biased," Maura teased.
"If getting to lie with you like this makes me biased, then yes, I am. And I hope I will be for a very long time."
-Finis-