Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews, they really mean a lot!

Chapter Twenty-Three: Our Friday Nights

"Listen, I have a wife at home. She's pregnant and stuck in bed for the next month or so. And she's bored. Like really bored. Do you know what she did yesterday? She painted with rainbow colors Aunt Lorna's rosary. The freaking rosary. So... No. I can't go with you to the Dirty Robber, tonight. I need to go home and make sure Maura hasn't ordered half of Amazon products for the sake of it. She's..."

Jane shook her head – a desperate gaze lighting up her face – and swallowed hard. Frost interrupted her right away. Calm, as usual.

"Okay, I got it. No worries. We'll find someone else for the quiz. Maybe... Maybe your brother. Yeah... I'll ask him."

The brunette chuckled. "If you want to have a chance to win, don't get Frankie in your team. He's nice but pub quiz contestant doesn't appear on his resume for a clear reason, believe me." That and the fact he didn't mind losing which went on Jane's nerves like there was no tomorrow. She hated it when people had no competitive spirit.

"Congratulations, by the way." Frost's voice didn't rise loud. An ounce of timidity seemed to embrace it as a sincere smile played on his lips. He shrugged, uncertain of what he was supposed to add from here.

They were close. Jane considered him as a friend, even as a brother at times. But since she and Maura had come back from Punta Cana – since they had become a couple – she hadn't spend much time with him. It wasn't neglect but still. It was hitting her, suddenly. She had put him aside and it wasn't fair.

"Thank you. We wanted to wait a little before making an announcement of some sort but it seems like fate decided to go another way." You're trying to justify yourself. Do you know what it means? Do you know why you're doing that? Because you're feeling bad. Somehow. And that sucks. "Hey, would you like to come have dinner tomorrow? It's Saturday and we aren't working. I mean unless you had other plans, of course."

Frost seemed to hesitate. Looking down at his hands, the detective bit his lower lip; frowned. "I didn't have any plan whatsoever but if Mau-... Dr. Isles is not feeling well then perhaps I shouldn't come for dinner. She might need to rest."

"You can call her Maura, you know. Not only because she's my wife but also because you've known her for several years, now. I think she'll be okay with that. And no worries. Her morning sickness is kind of gone. It's just that her physician told her to remain in bed most of the time for the moment. I'm sure she will enjoy a bit of company. The situation's really driving her crazy."

"Alright, fine. Then I'll bring... Maybe not wine. She's not drinking alcohol, I suppose."

A group of rookies burst out laughing on the other side of the room. Jane cast a glance at them from her desk before focusing back on her colleague. "Bring booze. She's still in the 'I won't drink a drop' phase but that won't last. I saw how she was staring at that bottle of Monte-ciaciano yesterday. She's actually quite close to get a glass. Occasionally, of course."

"Montepulciano."

Gasp. Pout. "Don't Maura me like that, dammit!"

…

From the depths of the couch, Maura let the beads of the rosary slip through her fingers in a rainbow of colors. She had turned the television on for the news but wasn't watching them. She had listened to the radio all day long. She now knew by heart what was happening all around the globe.

"We have nothing to eat, Jane."

It wasn't a reproach but an assessment. Yet the Italian seemed to disagree as she turned around and cast a glance at the fridge before opening its door and dramatically motion at the shelves that were really far from being empty. Maura rolled her eyes, nodded.

"Nothing that a guest would feel like eating. We can't feed him with soup, soy yogurts and... Lettuce."

One, two, three. The way Jane triumphantly smiled resulted enough for Maura to understand that she shouldn't have said such a thing.

"Ha! Finally! You're finally recognizing that this organic, veggie diet is the worst stuff ever. Even the cat won't touch it and we both know how Coco Loco is slightly chubby and would eat anything."

"How about these spinach/goat cheese lasagna? They are really good. Perhaps you can go to the market tomorrow and buy all the ingredients to prepare them. It has been a while since you made me some..."

Maura repressed a yawn and echoed Jane's smile before settling further in the couch under a shawl. She didn't do anything of her days but she was exhausted. Even reading autopsy reports and signing papers – official reports – from her bed seemed insurmountable. Hopefully it wouldn't last. She was barely in her second month. If her OB/GYN told her that this was how the rest of the pregnancy would look like, there were chances that she would take it bad.

"Sold. I'll go there first thing in the morning... Which means around 11am. I want to sleep in." Pouring some soup in two bowls, Jane winked at Maura and hurried up to bring the tray to the coffee table. She sat down on the couch; put her wife's feet on her lap.

"Tomato – an ounce of mozzarella – and basil. Your favorite. Bon appétit."

The honey blonde accepted the bowl and brought it to her nose. She loved the smell. Almost most than the taste itself. "You know, I shouldn't be eating this cheese..."

Was it anger – frustration – or shock on Jane's face? A mix of the three. Obviously it was nothing but that, actually. Maura smiled, shook her head. "I won't survive nine months without having some. Let's just pretend it isn't there. Anyway, it has melted. We can't even see it."

A smirk embraced Jane's lips. "Rebel..."

For a while, they drunk their soup in silence while watching the news on television. It was raining hard outside. The wind was blowing loudly, echoing the cracking of the flames in the fireplace. Winter was already coming. Too quickly.

"Why didn't you go to Friday pub quiz?"

If Maura hoped the question would sound innocent enough, it didn't work at all. Jane froze – the bowl halfway to her lips – and squinted her eyes at an invisible point in front of her. What was she supposed to say? What did Maura want to hear? But before her wife's silence, the medical examiner felt the urge to add something.

"Friday night is not about staying here with me watching television. It is about having some beers at the pub with your colleagues. Have you declined because of me? Because I am stuck here? You have not gone there since you took me to the hospital when I was dehydrated. I am fine, you know. I am not dying or anything... You can allow yourself a night out without me."

Jane looked down at her lap and tried to ignore the heat that had rushed up her cheeks. She frowned – shrugged – then cleared her voice uncomfortably. "I wanna be with you. The Dirty Robber isn't the same without you and pub quizzes are a lot less interesting without your goddamn competitive spirit. I'm fine, here. With you. Watching... Shitty documentaries about life and animals."

The smile on Maura's lips didn't last. Soon, a veil of bitterness covered it and defeat seemed to embrace her hazel eyes. "This was not the way I had imagined it to be. People – books – and movies lied to me. It has only been two months but I can already tell you that a pregnancy isn't all sweet and cute. I know this isn't something I should say because the artificial insemination worked out and I am lucky but... It is really not funny right now. I don't like it much."

Before the implicit distress of the comment, Jane put her bowl down on the coffee table and settled in a precarious way in Maura's arms. She held her tight – closed her eyes – and planted a kiss on her cheek. "You are going through a tough patch but it won't last. Keep that in mind. I hate seeing you suffering – and so bored – but don't forget it's only temporary."

Something hard pressed against her hip. Plunging her hand in the couch – between the cushions – she raised the rosary in the air and burst out laughing.

"I can't believe you LGBT-ed it."

Maura shrugged and looked amusingly at her wife. "You know that I am not Catholic. At least now it is joyful, and warm."

"I probably have a statuette of the Virgin Mary in a cardboard box; from Aunt Lorna. I can find it back and maybe you could paint her hair pink or something. Customizing religious items... You might be on something, here."

Perhaps Jane was – indeed – missing a few beers and a funny evening at the pub with her colleagues but as she saw Maura's smile appear and melt into laughter, she got the certainty that this was where she was supposed to be. This was her Friday night, the one she wanted. Cuddling on the couch with someone she couldn't imagine her life without, giggling and watching movies.

It was worth any evening at the pub. Any quiz. Any beer.

"I love you." Her hoarse voice died in a whisper barely audible as she planted another kiss on top of the honey blonde's head.

Yes. Friday nights at home with Maura were worth everything. Absolutely everything.