Jane sat at the dining table in Elizabeth's house and blinked open-mouthed several times as she tried to understand what her daughter Elizabeth had just said in such a roundabout way.
Maura sat beside her wife and rubbed her nose with a deep frown; she was speechless.
On the other hand, Nick stood at the kitchen island and rubbed his chin, speechless. He had expected many things, but not what his sister-in-law had just confessed.
Maggie was leaning forward in one of the armchairs in the living room with her face buried in her hands. Her shoulders shook incessantly.
Katherine, who had just returned from Quantico that day, was sitting with Caleb on the bottom landing, talking to Caleb to distract the teenager as much as possible from the impending family drama and also to get to know her nephew, who she hadn't known about all these years, a little better.
After learning that he had an older brother, Ben immediately retreated to his room, which his mother, aunt, and sisters had moved into before him, without saying a word.
Ashlyn sat opposite her older sister while Nikki nervously chewed her cheek with a frown.
Jane blinked again as she thought and suddenly laughed cynically. "You blamed me for years for having lovers after Maura and I broke up during your teenage years, and today you sit before us and say that sixteen years ago you were with a psychopath who was just as extraordinary as you, fathered a child through artificial insemination?" She paused and furrowed her brows. "And then you just abandoned the boy with a stranger in New Hampshire to protect him from his mother and went on with your life? It's all too unbelievable to be true."
Maura took a deep breath and looked at her older daughter urgently. "Why didn't you come to us with this? We could have found a solution together, Liz."
"I --," the captain began.
"How did you keep Caleb's identity a secret from everyone?" Ashlyn suddenly asked, looking at her mother questioningly.
"Didn't you listen the first time?" Nikki growled, scowling at her sister. "She did --"
"She abandoned her son in the apartment of a stranger in New Hampshire who had died of a stroke," Maggie said suddenly, getting up from her chair with a humorless smile as Elizabeth slowly closed her eyes. "Ironic. The supermom who would do anything for her family abandons her child to protect her from a psychopath."
Katherine looked up suddenly and frowned deeply. She could well understand the redhead's point of view and pain, and yet she said in a calm tone, "Maggie --"
"No," the ME interrupted her sister-in-law and went to one of the kitchen cupboards to take out a whisky glass. She filled it almost to the brim and took a sip. "No, not Maggie or Mags. Elizabeth has been praying to us all these years that she detests people who abuse, neglect, or abandon their children to God knows what places and that, in the worst case, the children either fall into the wrong hands or even die as a result of this abandonment because they are not found in time." She paused and pointed at her wife through her tears. "How often has Elizabeth told us there are many options, such as the baby hatch, hospitals, and fire stations, where babies can be found in time? Whenever there was a case where children were the victims or even just involved! And she's no better than the people who put their children at high risk!"
"That's not fair," Nikki suddenly replied, her eyes wide.
"There are always exceptional situations," replied Mike, who had been watching the whole scene in virtual silence until that moment. "And this one exceptional situation has just happened."
Elizabeth took a deep breath and whispered barely audibly: "Maggie's right."
Maggie laughed almost hysterically. "Exceptional situation? I've been in an exceptional situation ever since my wife was arrested for murders she wasn't even responsible for." She turned her gaze to the captain, tears in her eyes. "How many years have we been in a relationship, Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth paused for a moment and took a deep breath. She was well aware of what her wife was getting at. "Nineteen."
"Nineteen," the redhead repeated, nodding and pointing at herself. "So that means you've been lying to me from the very beginning since we've been together. You've kept things from me that might even have prevented me from getting fully involved with you, from opening up to you."
"I think we should go," Jane said, getting up from her seat while Maura nodded in agreement.
"No," Maggie replied with such determination and intensity that the former chief stood still as she moved. "No, you will stay here now and hear the blunt truth, not Elizabeth's watered-down conversation account. I won't continue to allow myself to be portrayed as a hysterical bitch. I have my reasons for reacting the way I do sometimes!"
"Okay," Jane muttered with a furrowed brow and sat back down without further argument.
Katherine looked at Nick with her lips pressed together, who wanted to follow his mother-in-law's example, and then sat down like Jane.
"You became what you always loathed after your parents split up," Maggie paused and frowned deeply. "No, after your parents divorced."
Elizabeth sat there like a whipped dog, gritting her teeth momentarily as she nodded slowly. "Yes, I know, and you're right. I fell into the same pattern as Jane back then."
"I didn't start a second family with my lover, though," Jane whispered barely audibly to her wife.
Maura rolled her eyes and hissed, "Jane!"
The former chief cleared his throat. "Sorry."
Slowly, everyone present realized that this was not a classic family reunion but that Caleb's acceptance and warm welcome into the family had unleashed something in Maggie that was slowly but surely rising to the surface.
You could see that she was torn up inside. Again, the redhead's eyes welled up, and she licked her lips. "A 'Yes, I know you're right' or an 'I'm sorry' won't cut it anymore, Elizabeth. I opened up and confided in you from the beginning, revealing everything about myself to you, no exceptions. I gave myself to you completely, without exception. And you didn't tell me that you fell in love with another woman while we were together and wanted to start a family with her. You can't make up for that with a few hours of couples therapy, dinner together at a fancy restaurant every weekend, or a fresh bouquet of flowers with loving notes every day, Elizabeth. You can't make it up to anyone at all." She paused and licked her lips one more time. "You put me and our family through hell, led us to believe that you were capable of such bestial murders, and would even go to jail for things just to continue to cover up the fact that you had a son with another woman who --" she paused, searching for the right words. "Who has lost all touch with reality and killed people she deemed unworthy of life, who are not like you or her."
Elizabeth stared ahead of her as she processed the words being said and nodded slowly. Maggie's words seemed to have little effect on her, but inside, she was shaking, even screaming, not wanting to let it show.
Jane, however, had known her daughter all her life and, even if Elizabeth had always somehow managed not to let the outside world know, or sometimes too much, that her very own world was breaking into a million pieces.
She closed her eyes for a second and pressed her lips together. She felt Maura's hand on her thigh and the slight pressure. A sign that she had also recognized, as well as the same signals from her daughter.
Elizabeth nodded again, her eyes darting back and forth almost nervously as she carefully thought about her following words. Then she stood up from her seat. "I'm not going to apologize for what I've done over the last fifteen years, and I'm not going to ask for your forgiveness..."
Nikki thought she couldn't believe her ears and was about to get up from her chair. "Ma!" she said loudly.
"Shh," Ashlyn interrupted her older sister and held the detective gently by the wrist.
Elizabeth raised her hand placatingly and looked at Maggie with furrowed brows. "Because yes, you're right; what I've put you and our family through over the past fifteen years is unforgivable! And if you could forgive me, I wouldn't deserve it. The only thing I can offer is to continue to be there for you, in whatever form, and for our family, even if we are only friends and colleagues. I will remain a part of you if you let me, and when your pain has subsided a little, let me back into your life. No matter how long it takes, Maggie."
Nikki rolled her eyes and stood up from her chair. "I need some fresh air!" she announced as everyone looked at her, puzzled, and she walked out onto the porch without another word.
Ashlyn cleared her throat before following her sister. She found Nikki exactly where she had expected the detective to be. By the old oak tree that had stood in the garden when they had moved into the house with their parents. "It's crazy, isn't it?" she asked Nikki, looking up at the tree. "Not even a month ago, we didn't know we had another brother."
Nikki took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. "This has nothing to do with crazy, Ash. It concerns the fact that Ma wouldn't have it any other way. She didn't just lie to Maggie; she lied to all of us."
Ashlyn nodded slowly. "You're mad!"
The detective gave a short laugh. "Of course I'm pissed, hurt and disappointed ...The whole package. I --"
"You don't understand why Ma hasn't confided in you when you two, in particular, have been through so much together since we were kids," Ashlyn stated with a sad smile.
Nikki looked at her sister long and hard with a furrowed brow and took a deep breath. "Even though I hate to say it, but yes. That's exactly the problem. But honestly, I was hoping it would be a regular awkward family reunion to tell our parents that Mike asked me to be his wife."
Ashlyn's eyes grew wide with surprise. "What, when?"
Nikki rolled her eyes. "Before this huge disaster went down."
The younger woman couldn't help but beam excitedly. "So, did you say yes?"
Nikki grinned broadly and rolled her eyes. "Of course, I said yes!"
Ashlyn squealed excitedly and hugged her sister warmly. "Congratulations," she whispered in Nikki's ear.