Chapter 8: Dinner
Maura: June, Present Day
They did, in fact, pack all six of them into the car – luckily, Jane had an extra car seat since she often drove Michael and Bella – and go to Maura and Sophie's apartment. Maura was really nervous about what Jane would think, but Jane didn't make any comments about the location or the apartment itself. Working together, it didn't take Jane and Maura long to pack up the few possessions Maura had in the apartment. It actually took longer to get the kids in and out of the car than it did to actually pack. Maura would call the moving company on Monday; hopefully, it wouldn't be a problem to switch the delivery address of their remaining possessions.
What surprised Maura the most was how normal everything felt. She and Jane seemed to fall right back into their easy banter. While both women were aware of the time that had passed, nothing about their interactions felt awkward or forced. Jane made fun of the number of pairs of shoes Maura had managed to fit in her luggage, and Maura found more than a few random facts to share with Jane. Similarly, the girls got along amazingly well. If someone were watching from the outside, they would probably assume the four of them had grown up together their entire lives.
Maura had caught herself watching her best friend more than once while they were working together to pack up her apartment. Jane looked almost the same as when Maura had last seen her. Her wild curls were just as unruly as Maura remembered them, her long lithe body was as stunning as ever, and her tanned olive skin contrasted nicely with her white shorts and deep-red Red Sox t-shirt. However, Maura's favorite sight was still Jane's smile. When Jane flashed that dimpled smile that reached her deep brown eyes at her, Maura melted – every single time.
"I think we have time to stop at the Verizon store," Jane said to Maura as she pulled out of the parking lot of the apartment building.
Maura paused before answering. She already felt bad about how much Jane had done for her, but at the same time, she had to admit that she felt a lot more uncomfortable than she would have expected without a cell phone.
"You need a phone," Jane continued. "And it's way easier to get it while we're out than to get all the kids in the car to make another trip out of the house."
Maura acquiesced with a nod, "Okay, but let's just get…"
"Don't finish that sentence," Jane cut her off. "We're getting you an iPhone because that's what I have and we both know it's much easier if we have the same type of phone. We're also putting you on my plan. It makes zero sense logistically or financially for anyone to have a phone plan for a single line."
Maura sighed. "To be fair, I don't even know if I could get a phone plan in my name yet," she admitted. "I still have to finish the paperwork. There were some things, like getting a Massachusetts driver's license that I couldn't do until I got back to Boston. Legally, I am Maura Isles again, but I don't have all of my identification yet."
"See," Jane said. "Another reason it makes sense."
For a moment, Maura wondered if they were entangling too many parts of their lives too quickly – until she remembered that their lives were already completely enmeshed through their kids. Living arrangements and cell phone plans were nothing compared to that. Besides, if there was anyone she wanted to be entangled with, it was Jane.
They drove to the Verizon store in relative silence – or at least Jane and Maura were relatively quiet. The girls, on the other hand, were just as loud as always. Maura found herself just listening to their conversations, even though it was a bit hard to make out what each of them was saying as they continued to talk over each other. In the far backseat, Harper was excitedly telling Sophie all about preschool and her friends. Maura thought it was adorable how Harper just seemed to assume that her friends would automatically be Sophie's friends too; Maura definitely hoped that would be the case. She was also entertained by how intently Sophie was listening to Harper's stories despite the fact that she had no idea who Harper was talking about.
In the middle row, Emma and Finn seemed to be talking about a book, but Maura wasn't completely sure. If it was a book, it wasn't one Maura knew. Maura hadn't spent much time with six-year-olds – actually, she really hadn't spent any time with six-year-olds since she was one herself, and even then, she hadn't spent much time with other six-year-olds – but when she heard Emma mention Nazis, she was pretty sure whatever they were talking about was well above what a typical six-year-old would read.
"No, Jack got past the Nazi checkpoint without magic," Emma said emphatically.
"I know, but they used magic earlier in the story," Finn argued.
"Nuh-uh," Emma cried. "They didn't get their powers back until the end."
"But…" Finn started, but Jane cut her off.
"Okay, can you both agree that they used their own skills – not magic – to save the kids?" Jane spoke over the arguing.
"Fine," Emma huffed, followed by an exasperated, "okay," from Finn.
Jane chuckled.
"What are they talking about that includes both magic and Nazis?" Maura asked curiously.
"A book," Jane answered. "And they've been arguing about it for like two weeks. It's one of the Magic Tree House books; do you know those?"
"No, I've never heard of them," Maura replied.
"They're chapter books for kids. There are a number of characters in the series, but the main kids are Jack and Annie. They go on different adventures in their magic tree house. The point is to teach kids about history, I guess."
"But magic isn't real," Maura pointed out matter-of-factly.
Jane laughed. "I know, and they know that too, but they're still fun books for kids."
"I'm surprised that books aimed at six-year-olds would cover such a heavy topic. Saving Jewish children from the Nazis seems…" Maura paused unsure of how to finish the sentence.
"Yeah, well, that's the problem with kids who have your DNA," Jane quipped, and Maura scrunched her nose in mock displeasure; she knew Jane was teasing. "They're reading abilities are way ahead of their age group," Jane continued. "I do my best to at least check out what they are reading, but sometimes they're too fast. Although, in this case, it was more that I didn't realize that the Magic Tree House series had a few books targeted at older kids. The bulk of the series is for kids ages 6-9. They started reading them last summer, but the topics were all fine. Eventually, as long as it was a Magic Tree House book, I stopped checking the individual books. The one their talking about though, I would have preferred to know what it was about before they read it. That's my fault, not theirs. It's not that I wouldn't have let them read it. I try not to censor what they read. It's not like they're asking to read 50 Shades of Gray or something. I just would have talked to them about it beforehand.
"It actually ended up being a really good learning opportunity though. We had a couple of really good conversations about WWII and the Nazis. We're going to read Anne Frank together after school gets out."
"Do they always read the same things?" Maura asked.
"No," Jane said with laughter in her voice. "They actually rarely read the same things. The Magic Tree House books and the Harry Potter books are pretty much the only series they both read and enjoyed. We do have a rule that they aren't allowed to talk about a book until they've both read it. We learned that one the hard way with the second Harry Potter book. The resulting fight and breakdown were epic."
"I feel like you shouldn't be describing the kids fighting as epic," Maura teased.
Jane laughed. "Probably not, but seriously, it was epic," Jane said. "They argue and bicker like siblings all the time. They get annoyed at each other and pretend to hate each other, but they very rarely truly fight."
"Sort of like us," Maura said quietly, her mind instantly flashing back to the aftermath of Jane shooting Paddy Doyle.
"Yeah, actually, exactly like that," Jane said as she parked the car at the Verizon store. Jane glanced in the backseat before turning to Maura. "Do you want to stay in the car with the kids while I go get the phone? I think it might be easier not to bring all four of them inside."
"Sure, I can do that," Maura replied.
"Do you have any preferences for your phone? Color? Size? Model?""
"Just not a bright color," Maura said. "I would really prefer not to have a neon green phone."
"Really? Dang, I was totally going to get you a neon green phone," Jane teased.
Maura rolled her eyes. "I don't care between the usual black, gold, or silver," she continued.
"Alright," Jane said to Maura. Then, turning to the kids in the back, she told them, "I'm going to go inside to get mommy's phone, but you guys are going to wait in the car with mommy."
"But I want to go with you, mama," Finn whined.
Jane seemed to consider this for a moment before agreeing, "Okay, but the rest of you wait here."
Maura watched Finn take Jane's hand after they had both exited the car. Before coming to Boston, Maura had been nervous about what her reaction would be to Jane's relationship with Emma and Finn. Part of her was worried that she would be jealous and resentful towards Jane for having that bond with them instead of having that bond with them herself. Yes, she wanted the kind of relationship Jane seemed to have with all three of her girls with them as well, but jealous wasn't the word to describe what she was feeling. Grateful was probably the most accurate word, but even that didn't seem adequate. She couldn't believe how much she loved watching Jane with the kids – all of them, but especially Emma and Finn.
Maura had wondered if her feelings for Jane would still be here after seven years apart. While she was gone, she had missed Jane, and she still felt like she was in love with Jane, but she wasn't sure if those feelings would merely be memories once they were back together. It had happened before – with Ian. After leaving Doctors Without Borders, she had pined for him, and at the time, she would have said without a doubt that she was still in love with him despite the distance and time apart. However, when he did actually show up again, she realized that that wasn't the case. Even though she had told Jane at the time that she loved Ian – she had even told Jane that Ian was the love of her life - she knew that it wasn't the same as it had been. It's not that she had lied to Jane when she said that. More accurately, she had just been wrong, and as much as she hated being wrong, she at least didn't get hives on the rare occasions she was wrong.
She needn't have worried, though. From the second Jane opened the door this morning, Maura had known her feelings hadn't diminished one bit. She was still head over heels in love with her best friend, and it seemed like everything Jane did or said today just made Maura fall more deeply in love with her.
It scared her how easy everything today had been. She felt like she was waiting for the – wait, what's the saying? – waiting for the other boot to fall? – no, waiting for the other shoe to drop. She just kept telling herself that she needed to take it day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, just like she would have if things hadn't gone well.
Maura's eyes drifted to the rearview mirror. Harper and Sophie were still deep in conversation. Maura was pretty sure that she had never been in this small of a space for this long without Sophie demanding her attention. Emma, on the other hand, seemed to have found a book. She was completely oblivious to the outside world, including her sisters and Maura.
Maura had been so lost in thought that she was surprised when Jane and Finn were already walking back towards the car.
"You can get whatever kind of case you want later, but I figured you needed at least something on the phone now with all the kids around," Jane said as she handed Maura a new iPhone encased in a black OtterBox case once she was back in the car. "It's activated, but there's nothing on it yet. I'll text you everyone's contact information later tonight. Also, I ordered pizza while we were waiting in there, so we can just pick it up on the way home."
Maura smiled and thanked Jane. She had somewhat forgotten how fast Jane sometimes moved through life.
Jane: June, Present Day
By the time they got home with Maura and Sophie's belongings, a new phone for Maura, and the pizza, Jane realized that she was starving. The girls had eaten lunch, but with everything going on, she and Maura had forgotten to eat lunch themselves.
She noticed that Maura and Sophie were standing off to the side a bit while her three girls moved around the kitchen getting the table ready for dinner. She was proud that Emma, Finn, and Harper did their part without being asked. Harper was always in charge of putting out the placemats and napkins – although Finn had to remind her to put out two extra settings – and Emma and Finn alternated between setting out the plates and silverware and helping with the dishes. Today, it was Emma's turn to set the table, meaning Finn would help with clean up. However, watching them do their chores without being asked was nothing compared to how proud she was when Harper grabbed Sophie's hand and dragged her to the bathroom to wash their hands before dinner. She had always tried to instill in her kids the importance of making sure everyone was included and taken care of but seeing one of them do so without a second thought made her heart happy. She probably had a silly smile on her face.
She didn't realize she had been staring until Maura walked up behind her. She jumped slightly when she felt Maura's hand on the small of her back.
"They're amazing kids," Maura said so only Jane could hear. When Jane shifted her gaze to Maura, Maura added, "and you're an amazing mother."
Jane felt herself blush, but she hoped that Maura wouldn't notice. "Thanks," she said just as quietly. They stood looking at each other for a few moments, but before either of them could say anything, the noise of four hungry kids broke through their spell.
Finally, all six of them were seated with pizza on their plates. Jane mostly listened as she ate ravenously. Their kitchen table easily fit six people and sat parallel to the door-wall. She and Maura were sitting side-by-side facing the door-wall. To Jane's left sat Finn at the head of the table, and Emma was directly across from Jane. Sophie sat at the other end of the table, just to Maura's right, and Harper sat across from Maura between Emma and Sophie.
"Mommy," Harper said, addressing Maura, "you like mushrooms, too?"
"Yes, sweetie," Maura replied. "Do you like mushrooms?"
Harper shook her head. "No, but Finn does," she said matter-of-factly, causing Jane to chuckle. Finn was the only one of the four of them who liked mushrooms, which often led to arguing when they ordered pizza. Jane had always known that this penchant for mushrooms came from Maura – how may times had they ordered a half pepperoni, half mushroom pizza over the years?
Maura smiled at Harper. "Well, Finn has good tastes then," she said chuckling slightly.
Maura noticed that Sophie hadn't touched her food. Her eyes were darting between Harper and Maura and her face was a mask of confusion.
"Is something wrong, darling?" Maura asked Sophie quietly, hoping not to draw attention to the three-year-old, but Sophie didn't seem to care if everyone else knew she was confused.
Speaking loud enough that everyone could hear, she asked, "Why does Harper call you mommy if Jane carried her in her tummy?"
Maura worried her bottom lip, unsure of where to start, but before she could say anything, Harper answered, "She's my mommy by choice just like mama is your mom by choice." Now Maura and Sophie were both confused.
"Ah," Jane said as she took in Maura and Sophie's confused looks. "Um, so the way I explained family to them was to talk about how people could be family by blood or family by choice."
"But what really matters is that we're family by love," Emma excitedly echoed the line Jane had said to them since they were babies.
Jane glanced at Maura, who looked a little less confused but still unsure, and Sophie, who still looked like they were talking another language.
"Emma, do you want to explain?" Jane asked. She knew Harper wanted to explain, but she also knew that Emma and Finn were likely to explain it more clearly than Harper was. Sophie's understanding seemed more important than Harper's wants right now. She could tell by the look on Finn's face that she didn't want to have to explain, her desire not to be the center of attention outweighing her love to teach.
"Yes!" Emma said excitedly. She moved to sit on her knees in the chair so that she was taller at the table. She spoke to Sophie directly, but everyone at the table was listening intently. "People can become family two different ways," she said, holding up two fingers to show Sophie. "They can be family by blood, or they can be family by choice. Being family by blood means that they are biowogic-a-we related," Emma said, struggling slightly with the word 'biologically.' "This means they share D-N-A," she continued, emphasizing the letters in DNA. "DNA is the stuff inside us that decides what we look like. Mommy is your mom by blood. That's why you look like her."
Jane was impressed that Emma actually used Sophie and Maura's relationship to each other to explain this to Sophie.
"Mommy is my and Finn's mom by blood too," Emma said, pointing to her sister.
"Because she carried you in her tummy?" Sophie asked, her eyebrows knitted together adorably as she tried to understand what was being explained to her.
Emma looked to Jane for confirmation, but Maura answered Sophie first, "That's right, sweetie."
"That means you are my sister by blood, and Finn's sister by blood, too. But we're not related by blood to mama," Emma continued, pointing at Jane to make her point. "She's our mom by choice because she chose to be our mom. Harper's our sister by choice, too."
"Mine too?" Sophie asked, and Emma nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes!" Emma said, excited that Sophie seemed to be understanding what she was teaching her. "Yeah, you and Harper are sisters by choice."
"Mama is my mom by blood," Harper interjected, clearly having reached her limit of staying quiet.
"Is Mama my mom, too?" Sophie asked.
Emma opened her mouth to answer, and Jane knew she was going to tell Sophie that yes, Jane was her mom by choice, but Jane wasn't sure if Maura would be okay with that. They had talked about letting the girls call them whatever they wanted to, but they hadn't talked about how they would explain everything to them.
"Hey, Soph?" Jane said quickly, cutting Emma off and earning herself a death glare from her daughter. Sophie shifted her attention from Emma to Jane. Jane scooted her chair back and held out her hands, wiggling her fingers to call Sophie to her. "Come here, sweetie," Jane said.
Sophie obliged and climbed into Jane's lap. As Sophie was getting comfortable, Jane made eye contact with Maura, but she couldn't read her friend's face.
When Sophie was looking up at Jane expectantly, Jane wrapped her arms around the toddler. "There's one thing Emma forgot to tell you," Jane said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Emma open her mouth to protest, but the look Jane gave her stopped her. Jane looked back at Sophie. "People can become family in different ways, sometimes they're family by blood and sometimes they're family by choice, but there's one thing that really makes a family. Do you know what that is?" Jane asked.
Sophie shook her head. Her eyes were still locked on Jane's when Finn answered the question meant for Sophie.
"Love!" Finn said excitedly, finally feeling comfortable enough to join the conversation. Sophie turned to look at Finn for a minute before she turned back to Jane.
"Love?" Sophie asked.
Jane nodded. "What really matters is love," Jane reiterated. "And it doesn't matter what you call me. No matter what, I love you. The label doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if I'm mama, or Jane, or anything else, what matters is that we love each other and that makes us family by love."
When Jane felt Maura's hand on her knee, she chanced a glance at her best friend. Maura's face showed deep gratitude, appreciation, and love.
Jane returned her gaze to Sophie, who was chewing on her bottom lip in a perfect imitation of Maura when she was both deep in thought and nervous. Sophie took a moment to look at everyone around the table before locking eyes with Maura. "We're all family by love?" she asked uncertainly as she waved her hand over her shoulder to indicate she was referring to everyone at the table.
Maura nodded, offering Sophie a reassuring smile. "Yes, sweetie, we're all family, and Jane's right, it doesn't matter what you call her, okay? You can call her whatever you want to call her."
Jane felt bad when Sophie's eyes filled with tears. "I don't know," she whined. Most of her attention was still focused on Maura, but she kept glancing over to Jane as well.
Maura reached out her hands, and Sophie instantly fell into them. She buried her face in Maura's chest. Maura rested her cheek on the top of her daughter's head as she rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort the overwhelmed little girl. "You don't have to decide right now, darling," Maura whispered into her hair.
Sophie turned her head so that she was looking at Jane, but her cheek was still resting on Maura's chest.
"You don't need to decide anything right now, sweetie," Jane assured her, reaching out to gently stroke Sophie's cheek with the back of her finger. "I love you no matter what you call me, okay?"
Sophie just nodded in response, but her initial anxiety had passed. She stayed in Maura's arms for a little longer while everyone returned to their dinners. Eventually, Maura was able to coax Sophie back to her own chair to finish her pizza. Within a few minutes, Sophie and Harper were once again giggling in conversation.
Jane took a moment to glance around the table. This was her family, and she couldn't be happier.
A/N: Unimportant fun tidbit – my brother actually ruined the end of the second HP book for me. After that, my parents made the rule that we couldn't talk about each book until after we both finished the entire book. We were kids/teens as the series came out; otherwise, I think my parents probably would have applied the rule to the entire series.
The Magic Tree House book referenced is called Danger in the Darkest Hour by Mary Pope Osborne.