Chapter 2: New Starts
A/N: I've settled on a compromise in terms of chapter length. The first few chapters are going to be relatively short, but posted frequently (1-2 days apart), but then later chapters will be longer (although, there will probably be more time in between chapters). Hopefully, this will give some suspense as the full premise is revealed over a few chapters but allow for more detailed interactions in the longer chapters once Jane and Maura are talking again. Also, to be clear, the long vs short chapters question doesn't affect how much I write, just how I divide it.
Maura: June, Present Day
Maura let the water from the shower run down her body, hoping the warmth would help her relax. She and Sophie had arrived in Boston the night before. They had eaten dinner in the airport – something Maura had never done before – and taken a taxi to their new apartment. When she decided to move back to Boston, Maura had had to quickly find an affordable place for them to live. She didn't have the money to afford a place like her old home in Beacon Hill. In fact, she could barely afford to live in Boston proper, period. In the end, she had rented an apartment for one month in an area of town she wasn't familiar with. She figured that would at least get them to Boston; then, she could find a more permanent place to live.
Unfortunately, the apartment was even worse than Maura had expected. It was clean, which was a relief, but it was worn down. The walls were thin, so you could hear everything going on in the surrounding apartments and the hallway, and the only windows in the apartment were overlooking an alley full of dumpsters. The neighborhood was also much less safe than she was comfortable with.
She had been smart enough to pack one suitcase with pillows and blankets, so she was able to make a relatively comfortable bed for the two of them on the floor. At the moment, they only had what they could bring on the plane. The rest of their belongings would arrive next week, but even that was admittedly not much.
Maura had left Sophie still asleep in the make-shift bed to shower. Maura hadn't slept much the night before, eventually giving up and deciding to get up early to take an extra-long shower.
Today was the day. Today, she was hopefully going to see Jane again. Today, she was going to face the consequences of the decision she made six years ago. She was terrified that her actions years ago had lost her her family.
She hadn't realized that tears had joined the water droplets rolling down her face. It was Sophie's sleepy voice that pulled her from her thoughts, "Mama?" Quickly wiping away the evidence of her tears, she greeted Sophie, "good morning," and started getting them both ready for the day.
Clean from the shower with teeth and hair brushed, Maura sent Sophie back to the bedroom to pick out an outfit to wear while Maura quickly dried her hair. After drying her hair, Maura made her way to the bedroom. She was surprised to find Sophie sitting in only her underwear with tears streaming down her face and the contents of her suitcase strewn across the floor.
"What's wrong, baby?" Maura asked gently, moving quickly to kneel in front of her daughter.
Sophie's sad face looked up at Maura. With trembling lips, Sophie choked out, "I don't know what to wear. I want Jane to like me."
"Oh, sweetie, she's going to love you," Maura said, trying to infuse every bit of love she could into her words. Maura may be unsure of how Jane would react to her, but she had no doubt that Jane would never take out her anger at Maura on Sophie. "It doesn't matter what you wear."
"But…but…but she's your best fwend but…but you're wuwwied," Sophie said through her tears.*
Maura's heart broke. She hated that as much as she tried to make this a positive change for her daughter, Maura's anxieties had still clearly affected Sophie. "Come here," she whispered, gesturing for Sophie to stand up so she could give her a hug. Still holding her daughter tight, she said into her hair, "You have nothing to worry about, sweetie. Yes, I am nervous about seeing Jane, but not because I don't think she's going to like you. I know she's going to love you. It's just that Jane and I have a lot of history, so I'm not sure how she's going to react seeing me again after such a long time. That's not something you need to worry about, though."
Maura knew by how quiet Sophie was as they finished getting ready and shared a simple breakfast that she was still nervous, but Maura didn't know what else to say to reassure her.
Around 9:30am, they made their way downstairs. Maura didn't have a cell phone at the moment, so she planned to stop by the leasing office to ask them to call her a cab. Unfortunately, the leasing office was closed on Saturday mornings.
She was still standing with Sophie on her hip outside the leasing office, which faced the main street, trying to decide what to do next when a car pulled to the curb.
"Dr. Isles?" a familiar voice called through the open window of the car. Maura froze. She hadn't expected to see anyone she knew so quickly after returning to Boston. She briefly considered ignoring the voice, but years of training to be polite took over and she turned around.
"Oh my god, Maura," Kent Drake said as he got out of the car and walked towards her. "It's really you!"
"Hi, Kent," Maura said nervously. To be fair, of all the people she could have run into unexpectedly, he wasn't the worst choice. He was awkward, sure, but he was also caring, and he never judged her.
"Are you back in Boston?" he said. "I mean, permanently?"
Maura sighed. She might as well tell the truth. "Yes, but don't worry, I'm not going to try to take your job," she added quickly as she noticed the badge pinned to his shirt that read Chief Medical Examiner.
"Oh, that's not why I was asking," he said, slightly caught off guard. "Of course, if you'd like to come back, we'd love to have you. We could figure out the logistics of titles and positions and whatnot. I was really asking as a friend, though. I don't know if you ever considered me a friend, but I did consider you a friend."
Maura smiled at his nervous rambling, but before she could answer, Sophie decided she wanted to join the conversation.
"Hi, I'm Sophie!" she said to Kent, her anxieties from the morning washing away in her excitement to meet a new person.
"Hi, Sophie, I'm Kent. I used to work with your…mom…" Kent looked to Maura for confirmation, not wanting to assume that the toddler was her daughter despite the fact that she looked exactly like Maura. Maura nodded with a smile.
"What are you two doing out here?" he asked, glancing around at their surroundings and realizing there wasn't much around them that explained Maura's presence in this area.
"I'm actually trying to get a cab," Maura said by way of explanation, "but I don't have a phone. Would it be possible for me to use your phone to call a taxi or an Uber?"
Kent paused, contemplating her request. "I can drive you if you need to go somewhere," he offered eventually.
"Oh, no, thank you, but I can't ask that of you," Maura said quickly.
"Honestly, as long as you're going somewhere in Boston, I don't mind," Kent said. "I just left a crime scene, and it will be a while before the body is at the morgue, so I have time. Besides, I have a car seat. It will take you forever to get a cab with a car seat out here."
Maura sighed. She knew he was right. Even though she didn't really want to take his offer, she knew it was by far the safest option for Sophie, and that's what mattered the most.
"It's probably at least 30 minutes from here, though," Maura said, and Kent instantly picked up on the fact that she didn't say no.
"It's okay, no problem," he said as he turned towards the car, waving for them to follow him.
"Thank you," Maura finally acquiesced.
"Really, it's no problem," he said. After Sophie was safely buckled in the car seat, he added so only Maura could hear, "I won't ask questions, okay."
"Thank you," Maura said quietly, grateful that he eased that concern.
Once they were both in the car as well, Maura pulled the card with Jane's address from her purse. She handed it to Kent, expecting him to type it into his phone's navigation app. Instead, a small smile crossed his face, and he handed it back to her.
"You know the address?" she asked nervously.
"Yes," he answered simply, and neither of them elaborated.
"Do you have kids?" Sophie asked from the backseat. Maura rolled her eyes – apparently, this was Sophie's new favorite question. She supposed that given the fact that Kent had a car seat, it wasn't the most ridiculous question. She also had to admit that she wanted to know as well.
"Yes, I have a little boy. He's actually probably around you're age. He's three."
"I'm three, too!" Sophie said excitedly, holding up her hand with three fingers up to illustrate her point. "Will he be my friend?"
Kent laughed. "I think he might like that."
"What's his name?"
"Chris," Kent said. "He's with his mom today. We're divorced, but we share custody. He stays with his mom the weekends I'm on call." Maura knew that Kent was offering this information as much for her benefit, saving her from having to ask, as he was answering Sophie's questions.
"What does he like to do?" Sophie asked.
"Well, he likes to play," Kent said. "He loves trains, and he puts together elaborate tracks all through the house. He also loves t-ball."
"What's t-ball?" Sophie interrupted.
"It's essentially baseball," Kent said, and Maura watched Sophie's eyes light up in excitement through the rearview mirror. "But instead of hitting a ball thrown by someone, younger kids can hit the ball off a tee, which is why it's called t-ball."
"Is he good?"
"No," Kent said simply, causing Maura to snort in the passenger seat as she tried to stop her laughter at his honest answer. "But he likes it, so that's all that matters."
"Can girls play?" Sophie asked, nervously. Maura hated that at only three Sophie already felt the need to ask whether girls could do something boys could.
"Of course," Kent said. "In fact, the best player on Chris's team is a girl. And I think Chris has a little crush on her," he added the last part to Maura, making her smile.
"What's her name?" Sophie continued her questions.
"Harper, she's three as well," Kent said.
"I want to play, too," Sophie said. "Can I play?"
"Well, the season is almost over, so I don't know if kids can still join at this point, but once you and your mom are settled, maybe we can find a time for you to come play informally with Chris and some of his friends."
"Yes!" Sophie said excitedly.
Kent and Sophie continued talking for the rest of the drive. Maura was incredibly grateful that Kent wasn't pushing her for information and that he was keeping Sophie entertained.
Kent dropped them off at Jane's house. Before Maura got out of the car, he quickly wrote his cell phone number on an old receipt and handed it to her telling her to call if she needed anything.
Maura thanked him profusely before getting Sophie out of the backseat. With Sophie on her hip, Maura walked up the front walk to the front door. When she got to the porch, she paused, suddenly feeling too scared to make the next step.
"I think you need to wing the dow-beww," Sophie whispered in her ear.*
Maura took a deep breath and reached a shaky hand towards the doorbell. She closed her eyes as her finger made contact with the button, and they heard the doorbell ring through the house. She opened her eyes in time to see Jane walking towards the front door, and Maura's heart instantly constricted. She felt the tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, willing them not to fall as the door opened to reveal her best friend and two little girls.
Jane: June, Present Day
"Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama," Finn stepped between Jane and the counter in an attempt to get her mother's attention. Since Jane was leaning her elbows on the counter while she looked at the computer screen, when Finn stepped in front of her, her face was inches from Jane's.
Jane wanted to be annoyed. Finn was supposed to be upstairs reading. But the adorable happy face looking up at her made her smile.
Once she had her mother's attention, Finn asked, "When are we going to Target?"
Jane laughed, standing up straight and looking down at her daughter. "We're not going until after you and Emma finish your homework, which is what you are supposed to be doing right now," Jane said, giving Finn a playful poke to emphasize her words.
Finn pouted, clearly gearing up to argue with Jane, but the doorbell ringing interrupted her.
She quickly took off for the front-door, her three-year-old sister trailing a couple feet behind her.
"Do not answer it until I get there," Jane called out, reminding her daughters of the rule. She had expected Finn to call back telling her it was the UPS driver or someone similar, but instead her daughter reappeared in the kitchen, her face scrunched up in confusion.
"Who is it?" Jane asked.
"Uh, you should come see," Finn replied, her voice shaking slightly.
Jane quickly moved towards her daughter and the front door. The confusion and slight fear on Finn's face was scaring her. She could see through the windows next to the front door as she came around the corner from the living area to the entryway. Her heart leapt into her throat the instant she saw who was standing on the other side of her front door. She moved quickly, pulling the door open so fast she nearly knocked Finn to the ground.
Jane stared at the woman on her porch in shock. She felt lightheaded, and she could hear the blood rushing in her ears. Her mouth instantly went dry as her mouth hung open in shock. Finn moved around Jane so that she was on her left, with her arms wrapped around Jane's leg. Her sister stood on Jane's right. All three of them staring silently at the two people on the porch.
It was Sophie who finally broke the silence. Despite being on Maura's hip, she threw her body weight towards Jane, calling out an excited "Jane!"
Jane reacted instinctively, reaching out to catch Sophie, stopping her from falling out of Maura's arms. Jane pulled the girl towards her own body so that she could easily hold Sophie in her arms with Sophie's legs wrapped around her hips. Jane smiled brightly at the excited little girl who looked so much like her mother; Sophie's enthusiasm easily pushed aside Jane's confusion.
"Hi, I'm Sophie," Sophie said once she was safe in Jane's arms.
"Hi, Sophie, I'm Jane," Jane replied.
"I know," Sophie said matter-of-factly, causing Jane to chuckle. Sophie looked to the side, eyes locking on the three-year-old smiling up at her.
Jane lowered herself to her daughters' level with Sophie still in her arms.
"Sophie, this is Harper," Jane introduced the three-year-old, "and this is Finley," she added introducing the six-year-old on her other side.
"Hi!" Harper said, bouncing on her toes, mirroring Sophie's excitement. Finn remained silent but offered a shy wave to Sophie as she clung to Jane.
"Will you be my friends?" Sophie asked. Before Jane could say anything, Finn spoke up.
"Is that your mom?" Finn asked, pointing to Maura. Jane noticed Maura flinch slightly out the side of her eye.
Sophie turned to look at Maura before returning her gaze to Finn and answering, "Yeah."
"I think we're sisters," Finn said to Sophie before turning to look at Jane for confirmation.
*She's your best friend, but you're worried.
*I think you need to ring the doorbell.