Author's note: thank you very, very much for the reviews and I can officially tell you that there will be a sequel to this story with the twins growing up as several readers asked for it.

Chapter Forty-Seven: The Beginning

After a last smile at the administrative assistant, Maura went to sit in the waiting room and began to chew on a muffin she had just bought. She wasn't feeling very well, this morning. The twins seemed to be pressing against her organs and shortened her breath, the pain spreading to her whole body.

She winced in pain and held her lower back in a gesture she hoped soothing. Thankfully, she only had paperwork to do in the afternoon. No autopsy scheduled unless a last-minute change of plan ocurred.

Leafing through a magazine absentmindedly, she waited for her turn quietly but didn't manage to focus on any of the articles. Her mind was somewhere else. On Jane, who was in Quantico for the day. On her job and the multitude of things she had planned for the next few weeks. And the girls.

Contraction. Used to it by now, she rolled her eyes and caressed her side as if to calm Alba who had decided to twirl around rather madly. Would she miss it when she gave birth? She knew that soon – way before she had time to realize it – her pregnancy would be over. Would she really miss the whole thing?

"Maura?"

Elizabeth – all smiles, as usual – welcomed her and motioned at her office. Since she had hit her last trimester, her appointments took place every two weeks or so. The twins were beginning to weight a whole lot and her medical doctor needed to follow the evolution very closely.

Sitting at her desk, Elizabeth opened Maura's file and grabbed a pen. "How are you doing? Jane isn't here?"

"Not this time. She is in Quantico for the day. She doesn't like missing an appointment but since she says I have a season ticket to your office, she will catch back on OB/GYN exams within a few days."

The physician laughed and shook her head. "That is very true... How are you feeling? Do you still have as many contractions as you had the last time I examined you?"

Maura made a face. As much as she was resting – spread like a whale on her office couch all day long and not doing much once at home – the spasms were still strong and never really ceased. She had just got used to them, now. She knew that it was normal, especially for a multiple pregnancy.

"They are pressing on my bladder and stomach. It makes it hard to breathe. The contractions, I am fine with them... I go to sleep with them, I wake up with them. Now they only stop when Jane listens to rock."

And that was not reassuring for her near future. She didn't see herself living in a house where ACDC – among others – ruled the world.

"You start the Lamaze classes next week, right? With Amanda. She's adorable, you'll love her. I hope that Jane will come with you. Just tell her it isn't yoga nor sophrology... It's important she goes there. Perhaps she doesn't realize it yet but she'll play an important role when you're in labor."

Maura nodded and stood up as Elizabeth motioned at the examination table. She took her shoes off and underwear off – trotted to the table – and lie down on it while lifting up her dress. Routine. It really had become nothing but a routine by now.

"Are you available, this weekend? A friend of ours owns an art galery and launches a new exhibition. If you want to come... Her wife just had a little girl."

"Why not! That could be... Nice." Elizabeth's smile froze. It didn't disappear but the frown appearing instead and the way she turned quiet – so suddenly – put an end to the discussion rather harshly.

Maura didn't miss it. "Is everything alright? They are moving, a lot. I can feel them..."

Not only was such OB/GYN examination rather uncomfortable – even for a physician – but having someone there between her legs and looking somewhat worried made it worse.

"Oh, I know they are. These two are definitely alive..." Taking her latex gloves off, Elizabeth turned the ultrasound scanner on. "Are your contractions more painful than the usual?"

Maura blinked and looked around for help. What was going on? "No, not really. They are unpleasant but then I am not sure contractions are supposed to be any other way!" Her laugh sounded flat.

Fail.

"How long between them?"

Silence. Lost – confused – and slightly panicked, Maura looked down at her stomach and shrugged. It was a tough question, oddly enough. "I have no idea, I didn't pay attention. Why...?" Her suspicious – shaking – tone of voice didn't pass unnoticed but soon enough the hearbeats of the twins filled the air and she snapped her head to look at the screen.

The heart rate was good, even perfect.

"Did you notice something special the last time you went to the bathroom? An excess of liquid?"

Why? Why had she become a medical examiner instead of an OB/GYN? All of a sudden, her classes seemed far and her knowledge blurry. What was happening? What had she missed?

"Err... No... I mean I don't know. Why? What is going on? Are they okay?" She didn't understand. She knew how to read ultrasound pictures and what she was seeing was normal.

Visibly embarrassed, Elizabeth ran her tongue over her lips and changed a few commands to let appear a few other numbers on the screen. She pointed at them, cleared her voice. "Look at this."

Alright. Calm down, Isles. Do what she asks you to do. It isn't complicated. You can read a scanner – you know what these numbers are about – so focus on them and... Shit.

"But..." Her whisper died in a sob of panic.

This couldn't be possible. No. Not now, not today. No. Unable to calm down, she began to shake her head uncontrollably as tears welled up in her eyes and made it all blurry.

"Oh... Maura!" Elizabeth laughed lightly and passed a soothing hand on the honey blonde's forehead. "Don't cry. It had to happen at some point, you know."

"But... But..." Stop the stuttering, dammit!

Staring at the screen – in shock – she barely noticed how the physician walked to her desk and grabbed her phone to make a call.

"Megan? Would you mind getting a room ready? It's for one of my patients, Maura Isles-Rizzoli... Yes, multiple pregnancy... She is in labor."

…

Curled into a ball – desperately trying to ignore the beeps of the machines – Maura kept on sobbing in her pillow. The contractions had gained in intensity but she couldn't care less.

She had never felt so lonely.

The door of the bedroom opened but she didn't move. Steps approached and soon Angela appeared by her side. The matriarch sat on the edge of the bed – took her in her arms – and planted a kiss on top of her head. "Why you don't have to cry like that... Maura... You should be thrilled, right now."

"I need Jane..." Her voice broke between two sobs. She swallowed hard. She was barely seven months and half pregnant. It was too soon. Way too soon. And as if it weren't enough, her wife wasn't in town. This could have hardly got worse. She felt frightened, unable to face the situation.

As calm as she could – caressing the honey blonde's back – Angela smiled peacefully. "We managed to reach her so she's on her way, now." Except it would take at least four hours for the detective to reach the hospital from door-to-door but Angela preferred to keep this part for herself. "Lay on your back... You aren't in a good position for the babies. You're hurting them like that."

Reluctantly, Maura let her mother-in-law move her back on the bed but didn't say a thing.

She hadn't realized the sligthest thing. Her water had broken hours ago without her noticing it and by the time she had made it to Elizabeth's office – thankfully located at the hospital – her cervix had effaced and she was already two centimeters dilated.

And was now up to five centimeters. It was going fast, cruel irony for a first pregnancy.

"Are you in pain? You need to breathe slowly. Do you want some ice? Your mother is on her way as well. She called me back and should be here before the end of the afternoon. I sent Tommy take your maternity bag at home."

A jolt of pain ran down Maura's spine. She gasped, tears still running down her cheeks. She had refused the epidural, worried that it might speed up the labor pace. Delicate decision.

"I just... I just need Jane. I can't do that without her." Breathless, the medical examiner abandoned herself to another wave of sobs and bit her lower lip in pain. This was a nightmare. Why? Why did it have to happen to her now?

It was completely unfair.

"She will make it on time."

But Angela's words didn't find any echo in Maura's mind. There was nothing less sure at all.

She would have to give birth alone. To premature babies. Way before the date that her OB/GYN had established as fine enough to give the twins all the chances to be healthy. No, she couldn't do it.