Author's note: thank you very much!

Chapter Thirty-Three: Opposition of Ideas

It had taken her hours to find the courage and motivation to drive all the way there and now that she was sitting in front of him, Maura realized that she would need energy as well to lock her eyes in his.

"I got married."

Direct introduction although by the size of her stomach, Paddy Doyle might have guessed his daughter had made a few changes in her life. Waiting for a reply from him, Maura took a deep breath but did not break eye contact. At no moment. She wasn't afraid of him. As a matter of fact, she had never been.

"To Rizzoli?"

The question took her aback and made her blush. She hadn't expected that. Visibly troubled, she looked down at her hands and began to stutter a vague reply. Paddy laughed. Loudly, openly. Shaking his head, the man frowned as a smile kept on playing on his lips.

"Sorry to say this but that was a no-brainer. Actually, I had assumed you were together when I met her for the first time. It took me a while to realize it was not the case. When are you due?"

Why had she come there in the first place? It was a bad idea, she should have listened to Jane instead of driving in the snow all the way to the jail. Biting her lower lip while succumbing to the weight of regret, Maura swallowed hard and pushed behind her ear a strand of hair. "It should have been May but since I am expecting twins, making it to the eighth month will be a miracle in itself."

Paddy's smile melted into a grin as he directly looked at the honey blonde's stomach. "My grandmother had had twins."

"So it wasn't just the artificial insemination... Hope told me that she didn't have any in her family." And that was the detail Maura had wanted to know as much as it spread a slight discomfort now on her mind for bringing her closer to a man she refused to consider as family.

She wasn't related to him. Not in her head. Even her scientific mind tried to ignore the genetics that still linked them.

"Send me pictures when they are born. Don't take them here. It's not a place for children."

Maura nodded. If she considered this man as a nobody, why did she keep on thinking about him? Why did she give him such importance in her life? She could have stopped visiting him. In theory, there was no reason for him to even know about her pregnancy. Jane had warned her. They had argued about it.

"They are girls, baby girls."

…

The OB/GYN sighed and closed the file before looking up at Maura on the other side of her desk. She squinted her green eyes at the honey blonde, as if trying to read her mind. "Why exactly do you want a fuller – and rather risky – exam? Why do you want this amniocentesis? The twins are fine. So are you."

Disappointment rose in Maura's heart. Why did she need to justify herself? Had Jane called her doctor – in the morning – to let her know that she didn't like the idea?

"It is a multiple pregnancy. Factors of risk are higher." She made a face, recognizing in silence that she was not even herself convinced. Somewhat ashamed, she avoided the physician's gaze on her but didn't add anything.

"What if you and Jane signed in to meet mothers of twins? There are several groups in the city, meeting around a coffee to exchange tips. I'm sure that you could learn a lot from this and realize that it's not as complicated as it seems. You look stressed, Maura. In spite of your excellent blood results. Stressed and lost. An amniocentesis won't bring you the answers you're looking for."

The medical examiner rolled her eyes – marked a pause – then nodded timidly. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea. "We are a bit busy though... We can't necessarily meet people at 5pm every Tuesday."

"Not a problem. Although you should start slowing down yourself. You must feel exhausted after these autopsies. Where is Jane, by the way?"

Maura shrugged and began to play with the hem of her shirt. "Catching bad guys as she says it herself. She wants to take a full month off once I give birth so she tries to keep her current days off to a strict minimum. I have her schedule for January so it is fine, I will make sure that she is here. She was rather saddened by the fact she wouldn't be able to come, today."

"Are you busy tomorrow evening?"

Silence. Was her OB/GYN trying to hit on her? Unless these mothers of twins met that late at the end of the day? "As a matter of fact, we are available...?"

"Perfect. Here's my personal address. Come have dinner at home. My partner has just come back from Africa so she still has a few days off. You'll meet our children. Penelope and Mia are twins, they celebrated their sixth birthday in October."

Even once she had driven back home and taken a relaxing bath, Maura would smile – amused – at the address written down on a sheet of paper. And when Jane showed up four hours later, she would break the news with the same perplexity as the one that had wrapped her up at the doctor's office.

"Since when do patients have dinner at their OB/GYN?"

Sitting on the couch next to her wife, Maura shrugged and grabbed her medical file. "She is just trying to help... Besides, the future of our children are between her hands so let's be nice with her, Jane. Here are the ultrasound pictures. They kissed."

The Italian frowned and restrained a yawn. "Who kissed? OB/GYN dinners, kisses... You spent the afternoon in the Twilight zone or what, Maur'?"

The scientist rolled her eyes and snapped her wife's shoulder. "The twins! The babies... One of them... Turned around and they kissed as they came to face each other. Look, it is picture three."

Intrigued, Jane skipped the first ones and stopped on the one Maura had just mentioned. "Aw now this is cute... And let's keep it for the day they pull on each other's hair." Maura's laugh warmed up her heart and made her smile. She had missed her at work. Way too much. "So... No amniocentesis?"

The last time they had talked about it, doors had got slammed and a long – painful – silence had ended up weighing over the house. What was it that they kept on arguing, lately? About Paddy, about medical exams? Jane didn't like it the slightest bit. She wanted their peaceful life back. Now.

Maura shrugged and cuddled against the brunette. "The results couldn't be more perfect. I suppose that I will pass on it. And I am sorry if I were harsh to you about it. I just want to be sure everything will be okay. I can't help being a bit excessive."

Jane smiled and stared absentmindedly at the fireplace in front of her. The dancing of the flame was a bit hypnotizing, and soothing.

"I wasn't any better, let's move on. I had a long day at work. All I want... Is to spend a quiet evening with you – our menagerie – and the two aliens inside your body."

"Speaking of menagerie, Bass really enjoys your hoodie. He has slept on it all day long." Maura made a face but the complain never came up. Instead, Jane closed her eyes and bit her lips. In silence. The blonde smiled, lost in the contemplation of her wife. "How about we have a quick dinner and spend the rest of the evening upstairs?"

The question got accompanied by a suggestive caress of Maura's foot on Jane's leg. A couple of kisses on her neck. And then the door bell.

"Or not." The honey blonde frowned. "Are you expecting guests?"

Jane shook her head but stood up to go open the door. For once her very own mother seemed to leave them alone for more than ten hours, someone else showed up uninvited.

Perhaps she should disconnect the door bell. That would solve the problem.

"Hope, what a surprise."

Mothers... Always showing up at the wrong moment. The physician smiled politely then walked in as Maura showed up by the door, surprised. It wasn't that they didn't get along but the road was still long and bumpy.

"I have brought chocolate fondant. Your mother had suggested frozen yogurts, Jane, but who wants to eat ice cream in the middle of winter?"

Ha. So Angela had something to do with it. Of course. The detective cast a glance at the patio door and waited for the Italian matriarch to show up. In vain. What was going on, exactly? Was it some sort of a mother conspiracy? A devilish plan?

"Would you like to drink something? Maura made lasagna, they will be ready in fifteen minutes or so."

Hope seemed to hesitate. "A glass of wine will be nice, thank you. Aren't we waiting for your mother? She told me that she should be here in a minute or two. She was really eager to spend the evening with us."

And bingo. Maura cast a furtive glance at Jane and repressed a laugh. If they disagreed on Paddy and a couple of medical exams, they both recognized that the brunette's mother could be rather intrusive.

But Maura loved it. Constance was far, too absent to her own taste. Angela brought her all these things she had missed. A real relation with a maternal figure.

She turned back to Hope and smiled at her, suddenly happy to see her. Too bad for the bed evening plan but spending time with her beloved ones was worth the change for once.