Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews, I will reply to them one by one a bit later during the day.

Chapter Two: Keeping A Secret

The alarm resounded loud in the autopsy room, echoing against the wall and the metallic tables as Susie frowned in confusion.

"Oh." How could she have forgotten already? It was her first day of hormonal injections and she was already facing a delicate situation regarding it. Ugh. Methodically, Maura put down her scalpel – took her latex gloves off – and turned the alarm off before excusing herself. This was not discreet. Not at all.

Bathroom door: closed. Pants: done. With an expert hand, the medical examiner pinched her thigh and clenched her teeth as the needle pierced through her skin. It was not pleasing yet one more time, she was convinced that they had made the right choice when deciding who would go through this pregnancy.

Injections had no secret for her when Jane should have had to learn how to do it.

She cleaned her hands in a hurry then left back for the autopsy room where Susie Chang had not moved an inch. Perplexed, she watched how her boss put on a new pair of gloves before nodding to nobody but herself that it was time to resume the exploration of the corpse lying on the table.

"Are you alright, Dr. Isles?"

Already focused back on the autopsy, the scientist nodded and bit her lower lip as she found resistance with the ribcage. "Oh I have never been so fine, Susie. Thank you for asking."

Silence. A rather uncomfortable one. At least Maura had a good reason to not look properly at her assistant for the moment but she doubted that it would always be like that. They wouldn't say anything until she reached the fourth month of her pregnancy. They had agreed on going this way. Many things could happen during a first trimester; even more at her age.

Yes. They wanted to make sure that everything would be alright before letting their families – friends – and colleagues know. One was never too careful.

"You will tell me how it is, how it feels... Won't you?"

As Jane's question had hit the air – with all the sweet sincerity of her heart – Maura had only been able to smile back. There was something unfair, the fact of not being able to share what was about to happen. Not properly. Although for the moment, hormonal injections was not really something she wished her wife to ever live.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

Susie's reply took her aback. This time, Maura looked up and frowned at the young woman; unsure to understand properly. "Why it is really nice of you to ask me if I am doing okay..."

Yet please... Just don't ask anything anymore regarding my regular bathroom breaks.

The criminalist nodded and looked down immediately as she started blushing.

…

"Does it hurt?" Jane made a face, as if to give even more sense to her words and moved a tad uncomfortably on her chair before picking a couple of fries from her plate.

"Yes, slightly."

Well, at least that was the good thing about Maura: she was unable to lie. Yet Jane felt bad – right away – and grabbed her wife's hand to hold it tight. She cast a furtive glance at the cafe. The place was packed, noisy. Intimate enough. Nobody would overhear them.

"I'm sorry, honey... Let's forget about the game, this evening. We'll stay home and cuddle in bed. You need to rest. Obviously I should have thought about it in the first place... It did not cross my mind, I'm... I'm sorry."

Maura blinked and stared with perplexity at her wife before bursting out laughing. "We are not going to stop living just because of that. I don't want... I don't want our life to be centered on it and nothing else. I am not sick. So we will keep on doing exactly the same. The games... The opera... A late-night stroll... It is fine, Jane."

The Italian looked aside. She seemed terrorized. Keep calm, Isles. This is not a reason to yell at her at all. She is just being nice, and caring. "I mean... It is sweet of you, it really is... Honey."

Her insistence on the pet name broke the awkward and ridiculous tension. Jane giggled and bent over to capture her lips in a soft kiss. They were really not into nicknames and such. As much as they happened to use some – occasionally – the final effect was still a bit strange to their ears.

"Besides, I have never attended a basketball game so I am rather eager to see one live from the stands. Do we have good seats?"

Grin. Excitement in Jane's dark eyes. "The best in the house. One more reason to love my job. This is the kind of treat that doesn't happen to everybody, believe me."

"I am happy to see you happy." Why are you all mushy? Is it hormonal related? Composure, Isles. Please. "What do you want to do, this weekend? We have two days off so we'd better enjoy it because it won't happen any time soon after that. Do you want to stay in Boston?"

Jane squinted her eyes at the honey blonde and took a sip of her water. She wasn't a novice at this game. Not anymore. "You booked a Bed & Breakfast out of town, didn't you?"

That was it. Innocent gaze – or so – and then the shrug. Ah, toying with the paper napkin was new in the whole thing. "I might have clicked on the button to book a room but I can cancel it if you prefer to stay it. This isn't a problem in itself. It is free of charge... But the cottage looks lovely."

Smirk. "Where is it?"

"Is that a yes?" Hopeful smile.

"It is a 'where is it'..." Not that she had anything else in mind for the weekend and going out of town for two days sounded appealing enough. The temperatures had risen drastically the last few days. A bit of cool air would be more than welcome.

Maura winced and took her distance with the table as if to escape from Jane's potential reach. "Santa Monica."

"There is a Santa Monica in Massachusetts? Never heard of it."

"Not that I know of... But there is one in California..." One, two, three. Maura winced and bit the inside of her cheek to not burst out laughing as Jane widened her eyes in disbelief. It was not that she was a home-lover but – all in all – the Italian was not very adventurous to say the least.

"You want us to go to California for two days? How... What?!"

Maura shrugged timidly, on the verge of rolling her eyes before her wife's lack of spontaneity and laid-back attitude. "We can leave on Friday evening and come back on Monday morning just before work... I know it's a bit short but I need to go away, to really go away... It has only been three days since I started the injections but people are already looking at me weirdly as soon as I go to the bathroom and it is stressing. They probably think I have a bladder issue..."

Jane hid her chuckle behind her glass of water and took a deep breath to remain serious. This was not the right time to provoke Maura. Not the right time at all. "Won't it make you tired? They said you needed to slow down..."

"Jeez, I am fine! Really. I appreciate your concern but please... Stop it. I mean it. Do I look... Tired and miserable, to you?"

Jane shook her head. As a matter of fact, Maura looked fine. Perfectly fine. Even glowing, if she had to be honest. "Alright... Anyway, if we don't go there now then it might not happen before a long time so let's go and enjoy the West Coast."

A grin embraced Maura's features and – excited like a child on Christmas Day – she jumped at her wife's neck to hold her tight. She couldn't lie. Keeping a secret had always been hard, and stressing. Her very own silence made her feel bad.

"Well, a pregnancy will certainly not stop me from traveling. After the birth, however... My plans might change for a while, indeed."

She knew that she shouldn't rush into things. As a matter of fact, they both knew it. They had not even completed the hormonal injection stage. Talking about birthing and motherhood still could wait. And should.

But they couldn't help it. It was just like that. They were thrilled, secretly thrilled.