DISCLAIMER:I do not own Rizzoli & Isles nor any of the characters from the show. I am writing this purely for entertainment, not profit. Rizzoli and Isles are property of Tess Gerritsen and TNT.
Please find the full disclaimers in the beginning of Chapter 1.
Chapter 41
Jane refused to open her eyes. She could feel the light filtering through her closed eyelids, but she was too comfortable with her nose buried in Maura's hair and neck to want to wake up.
But then the smell of coffee invaded her nose. What the hell?
She groaned, and felt Maura chuckling against her. And then she realized the feeling against her skin was not of silk.
"You have been up already." Jane mumbled accusingly, without opening her eyes.
Maura turned in her arms, and kissed her deeply. Jane tasted strong coffee.
"Hmmm… I can get used to being awakened like this…" Jane finally opened her eyes, stretching, as they broke the kiss.
"Good morning…" Maura offered brightly, sitting in bed.
"'Morning… What time is it?"
"8 AM."
"And why did you wake up so early?"
"Because I slept incredibly well with you by my side."
Jane pulled Maura to lay down again, cradling her head on her shoulder and kissing her forehead gently.
"I didn't even ask yesterday, I am sorry… How are the nightmares?"
"About two weeks after I sent you your letter, when I realized you must have received it and that I had not lost you, the worst of the nightmares, the ones where I was lost and could not find you, went away. I still have the occasional nightmare, but just reliving real parts of what happened. And as bad as they are momentarily, I can easily relax out of them, remind myself how it panned out, and go back to sleep again."
"If I knew that I was the theme of your worst nightmares, I would have come to visit you earlier…"
"You had no way to know. You did come. You are here now." Maura kissed Jane lightly. "I have coffee and breakfast ready for you downstairs."
"It is a very sneaky way to get me to wake up…" Jane squinted her eyes, suspiciously, making Maura laugh.
"Is it working?"
"Yes." Jane sat up in bed and followed Maura downstairs.
"Hmmm, this is delicious. Thank you, Maura."
They were eating in companiable silence.
"When do you need to go back to DC?" Maura asked with a sigh.
"Tomorrow evening. 5PM flight."
Maura was quiet, but Jane could practically see the cogs and wheels running on her mind.
"Talk to me…" Jane pleaded, her hand extending over the counter to squeeze Maura's.
Maura smiled softly at her.
"I am thinking about what we do next… My resignation goes in effect in two weeks."
"And then you begin your experience as a full-time writer?"
"Yes… But… I wanted to ask you something…" Maura bit her lower lip, unsure.
"We agreed to talk about things, Maura. So go ahead and ask…"
"I don't want to do it from Boston as I first thought of…" Maura hesitated.
"Podunk Maine?" Jane asked, with a wince.
"No…" Maura chuckled. "I…" Maura exhaled loudly. "I was thinking I could maybe try doing it from DC?" she finally raised her eyes to meet Jane's, expectantly.
The grin on Jane's face was infectious. "Would you be willing to do that?"
"It depends… Would you be willing to have me there for a while?"
"Of course I would!"
They finished breakfast and Jane helped Maura to place the dishes in the dishwasher, before Jane jumped into the shower to properly wake up.
She walked back to the living room after changing into day clothes.
"I didn't mean to throw a monkey wrench in any plans you had for the weekend before I dropped in without notice…"
"I had no plans, Jane. And if I did, I would gladly drag you with me to them as I always do. This week was exhausting, the first week fully back to normal workload after the crash, and it was heavy with cases and odd hours and a lot of stress. So a quiet weekend was all I have been looking forward to."
"Hmmm, good." Jane replied, moving to sit by Maura's side in the sofa, and pulling Maura to lean into her. "Does that mean we can spend most of the day cuddling in the sofa?"
"I guess there are worse ways to spend the day, aren't they?" Maura teased, turning to kiss Jane.
Maura appreciated a lot of fine things in life. But kissing Jane was, since last night, on the top of her list.
Jane rested her chin on Maura's shoulder when they broke the kiss a while later.
"We need to decide what to do about the others…"
"Others?" Maura asked, puzzled.
"I mean… What and when to tell the others… I know you can't lie. And I don't want to have to lie either."
"Oh."
"Yes… Oh." Jane mimicked Maura, and chuckled.
"Are you worried?"
"Maybe about my mother. Hers is the only opinion I care about. But not to the point of changing what we are doing. What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Do you worry about what your parents will think?"
"If anything, I think they will be delighted, Jane. They already speak of you as if you put the stars in the sky. Your relentless belief I was alive didn't go unnoticed by them."
"Well, one thing is me being your dedicated best friend. Are you sure they will be cool with you dating a nobody like me?"
"Don't you ever call yourself a nobody again, Jane, please. You are my person, always remember that." Maura admonished, turning very serious, and squeezing Jane's thigh. "And if they ever think that way, it is their loss, because I have made my choice."
"My mother is out of town this weekend. So I will need to speak to her when she is back to her own turf, I would not add to her concerns with her cousin ill right now…"
"I should call my parents now, then. Because the moment your mother knows, she will gossip with my mother." Maura chuckled, and Jane rolled her eyes. "Who would imagine two so very different people would partner like that?"
"They are very different, but they have one thing in common: you are their daughter… You know Ma considers you as her daughter too."
Maura smiled gently: "I know… I told you… You brought me what I always wanted: a family with whom I can just be myself."
