Chapter 1 – Race Against The Clock

"Jane, we are not …" Maura paused as a contraction hit her. When the pain from the contraction stopped, she finished her sentence, "going to arrive in time. My contractions are coming faster. Please hurry. I don't want to give birth to our babies in the back of your cruiser."

Maura had told Jane that they needed to leave earlier but Jane was watching the last few minutes of the Red Sox game. She figured that a few minutes wouldn't make that much of a difference. She was wrong. Now they were racing to the hospital with lights and sirens blaring. They didn't have time to call an ambulance, things were happening too quickly.

Maura was laying in the back seat of the cruiser. Jane wasn't able to comfort her as she was driving. Jane now realized that she had made a bad decision, the game could have waited, she should have just recorded it. She had wanted to watch it as her younger brother, Frankie, had a habit of ruining the outcome of the game for her if she didn't watch it live. He would call her up and blurt out the score of the game before she had a chance to tell him not to do that.

Jane had been sitting on the couch dressed in her favorite Red Sox jersey and ballcap. She had her popcorn and a cold bottle of beer. She had tried to get Maura to sit down and enjoy the game with her like they normally did, however, Maura was too uncomfortable. Maura couldn't sit still. She was pacing. Her water had broken three minutes ago. "Jane, we need to go to the hospital, my water just broke."

It was the bottom of the ninth inning. The sox were down by two and they had two runners on base. Jane just needed the batter to get a base hit and score the two runs to tie the game. It would be great if the batter knocked the ball out of the park for a home run. Jane had heard Maura say that they needed to go. "In a minute Maur, the game is almost over. Just a few minutes." Jane said as her eyes were glued to the television. She didn't even turn to look at Maura.

"Jane!" Maura screamed as she walked in front of Jane blocking the television. "My water broke, we have to go. I don't care about the game. Our babies are more important than a damn Red Sox game."

Jane knew she better get moving, Maura didn't cuss and she just cussed at her. Jane jumped up and grabbed her car keys. She quickly escorted Maura to the car and helped her get situated in the backseat. She jumped into the driver's seat and started the car. She turned on the lights and sirens and headed to the hospital. A few minutes later, Maura screamed from the back seat, "Jane, slow down. I want to arrive alive."

"Maur, I am driving safely, just fast. I want to get to the hospital before Peanut A and B decide to make their appearance in this wild crazy world that we live in."

"Oh," Maura screamed as another contraction hit. She had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for weeks but these contractions were really intense and closer together now. She had learned that if she simply changed positions or walked around the contractions would stop but these contractions were not stopping, at all.

Now, Jane was just hoping that they would make it to the hospital in time before her wife gave birth to their twins. It was truly a race against the clock. Jane knew that twins could be unpredictable and they often came early. Maura was only eight months pregnant. She really thought they had more time.

Maura's contractions were less than two minutes apart. The contractions had quickened since her water broke. She had a feeling that these babies wanted out. Maura knew that this was unusual, normally it would be a few hours before she would have such a short time before contractions. She had just been to the doctor two days ago and knew that at that time everything was fine with the babies.

Maura had known the gender of the babies and had to hide it from Jane as Jane didn't want to know yet, she wanted the gender of the babies to be a surprise. They had discussed it for months and Jane kept saying, "All I want to know is that they are healthy. Peanut A and B will reveal what sex they are when they are born." Maura smiled and agreed not to tell Jane what gender the babies were. They had picked out two boy and two girl names. They also agreed that they would not reveal the names that they had selected until the babies were born. Jane wanted to see if the names fit the babies. It was just a feeling she had.

Maura understood and they had set up the nursery in gender neutral colors, mostly baby greens and yellows. Jane had a heck of a time setting up the cribs. She ended up with extra screws and that concerned her, she knew that she and Frankie followed the directions to a tee. She told Maura, "There must have been extra screws in the package. Trust me, we followed the instructions."

Jane arrived at the emergency room entrance and threw the car into park and rushed to the passenger side of the car and opened the door for Maura. Jane had called ahead and explained the situation as best she could. A doctor and several nurses were waiting for them at the emergency room entrance. They loaded Maura up on the gurney and immediately took her into the delivery room.

A nurse escorted Jane to a side room so she could gown up before entering the room. Maura had wanted Jane in the delivery room with her. As soon as Jane was ready the nurse escorted Jane into the delivery room and she immediately went to Maura's side and took hold of her hands.

Twenty minutes later, Marcus James Rizzoli Isles made his appearance into the world followed ten minutes later by his brother, Jaiden Joseph Rizzoli Isles. They both sported raven curls like their mama. Jane was so happy when she viewed Maura holding their sons. She leaned in and smiled as a nurse took their first family photograph. Jane vowed right there and then that she would never race against the clock like that again. When Maura said it was time, it was time and she would trust her wife and get herself into motion.