fic: everything will change (4/4) - rizzoli & isles
Jane was holding her hand when she felt Maura’s eyes studying her figure.
They were full of tenderness and concern and something else. Something that could not be described as anything other than love. Jane found herself smiling without any control over her own reactions.
It was a Wednesday afternoon when Maura Isles finally woke up.
And that was all Jane needed to know.
-x-
She was late.
As usual, Jane was late.
She left Korsak and Frost discussing the fact that Milo had Bass, a tortoise, as a pet, and how inappropriate it was (Joe Friday was not a fan of the boy, but Jane suspected that this was due to the fact that her son was frequently in search of guinea pigs for his little experiments. Turns out that Bass was the only one who never seemed to mind).
She spilled coffee on a man who was wandering along the sidewalk and quickly tucked her contact card in his coat pocket, indicating that she would pay to wash it. The man didn't had the chance to identify what hit him.
She parked in a dangerous maneuver quickly and under the suspicious eyes of other parents and teachers who were in the courtyard of the private school that Milo attended. And her haste was such that she found herself trapped in the car while trying to leave without having unbuckled her seat belt.
But none of that made the slightest difference.
In front of the central staircase, with a cup of coffee in one hand and a smile upon her face, there was Maura Isles. Recognizing her, Jane felt a chill in the pit of her stomach. Yes, seven years together and the butterflies were still there. She inhaled deeply, putting herself together and got out of the car. The biggest smile all plastered over her face.
A smile that not even one of her delays would be able to erase.
Maura handed her the cup of coffee.
"Have I told you how much I love you today?" Jane said picking up the cup with one hand, swallowing in a big gulp and then taking the opportunity to steal a long kiss from her wife. The intensity surprised Maura, but she made no objections.
"Is this a genuine display of affection, or is it the coffee talking?" Maura asked when Jane's lips left her own, with the taste of coffee still lingering in her mouth.
"Both. But mostly you." Jane replied, her face so close to Maura that she could feel her breath which provoked a slight dizziness. "Sorry I’m late."
"You're not" Maura said in an attempt to distract the thoughts that invaded her mind uninvited. This was not the most appropriate of times. At least not with a whole group of parents and teachers as witnesses. And the children, of course.
"How come? The alarm that you put on my phone rang at least 40 minutes ago." Jane seemed confused.
"45. But who's counting?" Maura smiled, pleased.
"Maura..."
"What would you do if I said I deliberately changed the appointment time on your calendar, predicting your delay and preventing it through such a gesture?" Jane pretended to think about it for a moment.
"I would say ... that you are deviously brilliant."
"Well, my IQ is very high indeed."
"And your humbleness still amazes me." Jane says with a sardonic smile. Maura pretended to be offended, but couldn’t hide her satisfaction. Jane rolled her eyes. "Where is he?"
"Inside, making the final preparations. I'm very confident of his chances in this contest."
"I'm sure you are. But I think that the rules say that one should have done their work without help from parents or anybody else, isn’t?"
"Jane! How can you say such a thing! Milo did all the work himself! I was present as a mere observer. Who knew that exploring the influence of music as a form of cognitive interference during school studies would be as equally challenging and fascinating?"
"I know. Crazy thing.” Jane said, amused.
"I think he has great chances of winning first place." Maura stated, proudly, "We better get inside. Your parents are already here."
"What are they doing here?" Jane didn’t hide her lack of enthusiasm.
"Milo invited them, of course."
"You know that for a smart boy he sure is slow when it comes to certain things." "Jane..."
"Okay, okay, I won’t say any more. But you are responsible for dealing with the anger of the nonna Rizzoli in case he doesn’t win first place while I will content myself by pretending not to know her." Jane warned and Maura approached her, whispering in her ear.
"If you behave I promise to reward you tonight." Jane's eyes lit up.
"Are you talking about what I think you're talking about?" Maura just smiled enigmatically. Jane couldn’t hide her excitement. "Great! I can't wait to see the game tonight. I love you and Milo, but I swear to God, if I never again see a documentary about 'The long march of the cannibal crickets' still will be soon enough"
"You and your endless habit of inventing fictitious names for documentaries. I confess I do not understand what pleasure you obtain from it." Maura said in disbelief.
"I wish I was inventing this stuff. Milo made me watch this one last week, when you had to cover that case in the last minute." Jane shrugged and the two went inside the building. Jane didn’t seem to note, but not once she let go of Maura's hands. Maura didn’t seem to mind either. By now, she'd gotten used to it.
-x-
At the end of the day Milo took the trophy home and as a prize, Maura prepared one of his favorite dishes for dinner: his nonna's gnocchi. Jane begun to watch the game, but ended up switching channels before it ended. Together, the family watched a documentary that, the next day at work Jane would describe as "a special about the gala dress code of the penguins." Could be worse, Jane thought observing Maura and Milo sitting in almost identical positions while watching the TV show. A feeling that could not be described as something other than happiness warmed her from inside. Like that documentary about the tree man, Jane recalled the film and automatically felt sick to her stomach. She had nothing against the poor man, but she definitely preferred the company of penguins. Especially on gnocchi' nights.
end.