Work Text:
Maura isn’t sure what she expected, but it surely, surely wasn’t this.
Constance meets Jane for the first time at the rehearsal dinner for Garrett’s wedding, when she and Maura come to pick up Mae. She shakes Jane’s hand willingly, peering at her with amused curiosity.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Detective,” Constance says politely. “My granddaughter speaks of nothing else, and I suspect my daughter would be the same if she thought it appropriate.”
Maura tries unsuccessfully to keep her mouth from falling open. She could swear she sees Constance smirk.
“It’s nice to meet you too, ma’am,” Jane says uncertainly. “We - I mean, I’m just tagging along to pick up Mae. I missed her this morning before they left for New York.”
“You’re not staying?” Constance looks between them, seeming to be genuinely disappointed. “Pity. It’s just coffee now. I’m sure the Fairfields could procure some extra cups.”
Jane shoots a baffled glance at Maura. “I...It’s up to you, Mo - Maura - of course,” she says. “I’m gonna just run to the bathroom.” she nods apologetically to Constance. “Excuse me.”
Maura and Constance watch her go, and it is the latter that breaks the silence.
“She’s quite attractive.”
Maura turns wide eyes to her mother. “She is,” she agrees slowly. “Mother, I-”
“Maura,” Constance says over her. “You think I’m blind?”
“I-”
“You think I can’t see how good she has been for you? How good she has been for Mae?”
Maura gapes, trying to think of something suitable to say. What she says is, “You threatened to disown me when I left Garrett.”
This wipes the smug look off of her mother’s face. “I did,” she murmurs. “I...saw it as a failure. Yours...and mine by association.”
This stings, even in light of the new developments. “I didn’t love him,” she says quietly. “I regret how ugly everything got between us, but I-”
“No,” Constance interrupts. “I’m sorry.” She waits until they are looking at each other. “I misjudged the situation,” she says. “And I’m sorry.”
“He didn’t love us.” Maura doesn’t know why the words are coming, or from where, but she can’t stop them now. “He didn’t love her. And I couldn’t bear it.”
“And Jane does?” Constance is truly asking. “She loves you both?”
“Yes,” Maura says without hesitation. “She really does. I really think she does.”
“I’m glad you know that.” Jane’s voice from behind her, her arms sliding around Maura’s waist before she can turn. Lips graze below her ear, gently.
“I love you,” Jane says quietly. “I love you both so much.”
Maura smiles, leaning back into the embrace, but before she has a chance to respond, another voice rings out, this one not nearly as welcome.
“You know,” Garrett calls as he strides toward them, “I would ask for a little more decorum at a Fairfield private event.”
Mae is a step behind him, and when she sees Jane, she darts in front of him, opening her arms wide so that the detective can sweep her off her feet.
“Jane!” She cries. “You made it! You came!”
“Of course I made it, nugget!” Jane says, hugging her. “You think I’d miss a chance to see you in your dress?”
Mae leans to look at Maura, eyes bright. “Daddy says I can stay over!” she chirps. “In the hotel! He says I can stay with my new sister and brother!”
Maura feels her spirits fall.
Constance makes a ‘tskk’ sound with her teeth.
Jane is the only one who manages to keep her composure. “That sounds pretty cool,” she says easily. “Would you like that?”
Mae nods, snuggling into Jane. “Yes please!” she says. “ Please , Mommy?”
“I’m sure you and Jane can find something to keep you busy,” Garrett says suggestively.
“Garrett,” Maura say lowly.
“What? You can barely keep your hands off each other here, Maura. I’m offering to keep Mae out of your way-”
“Shut it,” Jane growls, as Mae turns in her arms to look at her father.
“Out of the way?” Maura can practically see her brain working overtime.
“You’re never in the way,” Jane says immediately, giving Mae a squeeze. “We’d love for you to stay with us, but I know it’s a really big weekend for you and your dad. If you want to stay here, we won’t mind.”
Mae looks to Maura for confirmation, and Maura can only nod. She is amazingly grateful for Jane at that moment.
“Okay,” Mae says, some of her excitement returning to her expression. She wiggles down and goes to hug her mother.
“I love you,” Maura says, hoping the firm tone conveys only honesty.
“Love you too, Mommy! Will you come tomorrow to help me with my dress?”
“Of course,” Maura says. “Just like I promised.”
Mae beams. She turns to her father. “Can I go see if there’s more chocolate strawberries?”
“Sure, squirt!” he says jovially. Maura sees Jane flinch out of the corner of her eye.
“Make sure you say excuse me,” Maura calls after her retreating form.
Jane takes her hand. “It’s okay,” she says under her breath. She turns her attention to Garrett.
“Do not imply, ever, that we don’t want to spend time with Mae.”
Garrett’s smug smile slips a little. “I didn’t mean anything-”
“The hell you didn’t,” Jane growls. “You’re the one who wanted to ship her off to school at five years old, not Maura.”
“Boarding school offered both Maura and me-”
“Actually,” Constance steps forward, cutting Garrett short. “There is nothing I regret more than sending Maura to boarding school at such a young age.”
Maura looks at her mother, sure her eyes are the size of saucers.
“She handled herself amazingly,” Constance continues. “Of course she did, she’s an Isles. I’m glad she decided to keep Mae close to home.”
Garrett looks between the three of them, suspicious, like they might have planned this organized attack.
“We’ll be back in the morning,” Maura says, squeezing Jane’s hand to get her to follow. She looks at Garrett over her shoulder.
“Please try not to let her stay up late. You know she gets cranky when she’s sleepy.”
Garrett is glaring at their linked hands. He doesn’t respond.
They do have sex that night, taking advantage of the empty hotel room, and a bed they won’t have to make up in the morning.
Jane must have noticed Garrett’s gaze as well because she asks Maura who she belongs to, and her hand wanders slowly up her chest toward her neck, hesitant, until Maura takes her wrist in both hands at directs those long fingers to her trachea.
She looks directly into questioning brown eyes.
“Yours,” she says, loving how she can feel Jane’s reaction in every part of her body. “I’m yours.”
“You’re mine,” Jane growls, smirking.
It’s that smirk, not to mention the fingers between her legs, that finally tip her over into orgasm. She groans Jane’s name and is rewarded with lips on the soft skin by her ear.
“Yeah,” Jane murmurs. “That’s so gorgeous. God, you’re so fucking beautiful, Maura.”
Maura smiles, not opening her eyes, bringing Jane’s hand to her mouth.
“I love you,” she sighs. “When I pictured my ex-husband remarrying, I never once thought I’d have someone to bring as a date, let alone that I’d be engaging in-” She breaks off before Jane can tell her not to call it intercourse.
She laughs as Jane rolls to her side and snuggles against her.
“We could do it in the pew during the vows,” she murmurs. “I know some cops who would look the other way on the indecency charges.”
Maura chuckles.
“I love you too, by the way,” Jane says, pulling the blanket up around them. “Lots.”
They both drift off very quickly, and although the ringing of Maura’s cellphone wakes them four hours later, it seems like mere seconds.
Maura puts her phone to her ear, voice clear despite the fact that her eyes are still closed.
“Isles.”
Next to her, Jane stirs just enough to slip an arm around her middle. “Better not be a dead guy,” she slurs.
It isn’t.
“Ms. Isles?” the voice is tentative and unfamiliar. Maura is instantly more awake.
“This is she,” she says. “Who am I speaking with?”
“This is Claire...Harridan? My mother is marrying your-”
But suddenly it clicks for Maura and she sits straight up in bed. “Mae!”
Jane sits up too.
“She’s okay,” Claire says quickly. “She’s not hurt, I just...I think she’d rather be with you tonight.”
Maura pushes back the covers so she can swing herself out of bed. Jane is already in the bathroom, the water running.
“Can I speak to her?” Maura asks. She tucks the phone against her shoulder so that she can pull a pair of pants on.
There is a rustling on the other line, and then, “Mommy?”
“Hi, sweetheart. Are you okay?” Maura can’t help the reaction she has to her daughter’s distress. It makes her well up immediately.
“I’m okay. I’m just lonely for you.”
God. Maura swallows the lump in her throat.
“Well, I’m coming to get you, okay? I’ll be there as soon as possible.”
Jane has emerged from the bathroom wearing her work slacks and button down, the clothes she took off only hours ago. She smells like toothpaste, and Maura sees that she has her toothbrush in one hand, her deodorant in the other.
Maura loves her at that moment.
“You’re coming to get me?” Mae is asking on the other end. Her voice sounds like this was too much to hope for.
“Of course,” Maura says. “Of course, love, I will always come to get you, no matter what.”
There is a pause. “And Jane?”
“If you want,” Maura responds. “She’s still here, and she can come with me.”
Jane frowns. “Of course I’m coming,” she whispers. “Does she not want me too?”
“Honey,” Maura says gently because Mae has not answered. “Do you want us to come to get you?”
Mae sniffs. “Yes please.”
“Okay, darling,” Maura says at once. “We’re on our way.”
By the time they make it to the car, a muscle in Jane’s jaw is jumping. “I have a siren,” she says, pulling out her keys. “You want me to put the siren on?”
Maura smiles thinly. “I don’t think it’s necessary,” she says, pulling the passenger door open. “But I wouldn’t object to the squeezing of any yellow lights.”
They make it to the hotel in record time, and they don’t speak in the car or in the elevator up to the room, they just hold hands.
Jane looks stony and ferocious, and Maura wonders why. Mae had wanted her to come. There isn’t anything to be upset about beyond Mae’s failed attempt to spend time with her father.
Is that what’s bothering Jane? Is she seeing Tommy or her father in Mae’s interactions with Garrett?
They walk down the plush carpeted halls to the room marked 2206, where Claire said they would be. Jane knocks with her left hand, two hard, hollow sounds. Her other hand comes away from her side, towards Maura.
To protect her from what might be behind the door.
Is it actually possible to be weak with affection?
It’s Claire who opens the door. She’s a skinny fourteen-year-old, the carbon copy of her mother, and she’s dressed in grey yoga pants and a light pink sleep shirt, her hair is tied up into curlers in anticipation of the day to come.
“Hi,” she says. “I’m sorry.”
“There’s no need to apologize,” Maura says, stepping over the threshold and into the expansive hotel suite. But then she sees the others, and the rest of her sentence leaves her.
Garrett is there, and so is Victoria, and Victoria’s son, a ten-year old whose name Maura cannot remember.
Mae is there too, sitting on Victoria’s lap, sucking her first two fingers. Her face is tear stained.
“Mommy!” she cries, wiggling down from the other woman’s lap. “Mommy!”
Yes, Maura thinks as she wraps her arms around her daughter. Extreme affection can indeed cause physical weakness.
Garrett turns on Victoria, his expression one of undisguised disgust. “You called her? I told you I had it handled.”
“I called,” Claire says before her mother can answer. “Mae wanted to go home.”
Maura hears their argument begin to escalate as though through a veil. Jane lifts Mae into her arms between them and as Maura steps closer, the little girl whispers.
“Daddy said you weren’t going to come back.”
“What?” Maura asks, astonished.
Mae puts her head on Jane’s shoulder. “Daddy said you called and said you went home with Jane.”
Maura feels like she’s been punched in the gut. She looks at Jane, expecting to see the same in her face, and instead is met with grim determination, and molten, lava-like fury.
This is what Jane had anticipated, the realizes. Something like this.
“She wanted to go home, William,” Victoria says finally. She uses his Christian name. Maura has only ever heard his mother do so. She has a voice that is softer and more reasonable than Maura imagined it would be. She remembers suddenly, that she had been comforting Mae when they arrived.
“I don’t know why you’re making such a deal of this.”
“Of course you don’t. There’s not much you do know, is there Victoria?”
Mae puts her fingers back into her mouth. It is a move that Maura has not seen in over three years. Jane rubs her back.
“Mae,” Maura says, loudly enough for everyone else in the room to hear. “Say goodbye to your daddy, okay?”
“Bye, daddy,” Mae says from Jane’s arms.
Garrett fixes her with something akin to a sneer. “Well, if you’re not a big enough girl to stay the night with your new siblings, then maybe you’re not big enough to be a flower girl.”
The threat, and it cannot be mistaken for anything else, hangs in the air for a long minute. Maura is too caught off guard to speak. She has known Garrett to be forgetful, possibly even a bit neglectful when it comes to their daughter.
This cruelty is new.
“Okay,” Mae says quietly.
Everyone in the room looks at her, stunned.
“What?” Garrett asks, stupified.
Mae’s lip trembles a little. “I don’t want to be in the wedding,” she says in a whisper. “I want to go home with Mommy and Jane.”
That seems to be all the detective was waiting for. She turns from the room at Mae’s words. Maura sees no reason not to follow.
Garrett makes a sound like a disgruntled horse. “Really?” he brays. “ Really? You’re going to choose your mommy and some, some, white trash, dyke cop over being the flower girl in your father’s wedding?”
“Jesus, Garrett,” Victoria murmurs. “The kids.”
Jane meanwhile has murmured something to Mae, and seemingly at her request, the little girl lets herself be lowered to the ground.
Jane turns to face Maura’s ex-husband. “You gonna tell Mae you love her, and that you’ll see her soon?”
She asks the question so softly, so threateningly, that Maura has to replay it in her head in order to make sure she’s heard correctly.
Garrett looks as thrown as Maura feels, but he recovers quickly. “Like you’re going to tell me what to do. You’re not a cop here, you bull-dyke.”
Jane takes a step closer. She frowns. “You’ve been drinking,” she says, lowering her voice even more.
Garrett’s voice rises. “And you’ve been eating out my ex-wife, so I think you lose that competition.”
“Look, if you want to tell my kid you love her, do it now. Last chance.”
And Garrett’s face breaks open into one of the cruelest smiles Maura has ever seen. She knows what he’s going to say before he says it. God help her, the thought had flashed in her mind as well.
“Whose kid, Jane?”
…….
…….
They don’t go back to the hotel.
Jane tucks Mae into the back seat, gives Maura her sweatshirt to lean on, and they drive through the night back to Boston.
Maura tries to talk to Jane about Garrett’s last words, but the brunette shakes her head and clenches her jaw, not taking her eyes off the road.
“He’s right,” she says simply.
Maura puts her hand on Jane’s leg.
She must fall asleep eventually, because when she does, the sun is up above the trees, and the car is pulling slowly into a lot jam-packed with cars.
Maura sits up, feeling her neck stretch unpleasantly. “Jane?”
Jane shoots her a grin. “Morning, Maura,” she says softly. “We’re home.”
Maura looks out the window again as they wind their way down rows and rows of cars. “Not exactly,” she says.
Jane laughs. “No. Not exactly. I thought maybe this would cheer her up.” she gestures with her chin to where Mae is still covered in Jane’s coat in the back seat.
As if she can sense them talking about her, a fluffy blonde head appears over the collar.
“Jane?” Just like her mother.
“Morning, kiddo,” Jane says, and before she can say more, she sees something out the front windshield that makes her break into a big smile.
It’s Barry Frost. And Jane’s brother Frankie, and Tommy and T.J. all standing in a vacant spot, waving frantically at the car.
And next to them, fully constructed and ready to go:
The soapbox derby car.
“Mommy!” Mae squeals when she sees it. “Look! Our car! Jane!”
She has to be scolded several times to wait until the car has come to a stop before trying to get out. When she’s finally able to, she hops out of the back seat, sock feet and all to dance around her car with happy little squeals.
“We made it!” she says. “We made it for the race? We made it!”
TJ, caught up in her genuine excitement, begins to dance with her, and for a moment the adults simply watch as the two turn Mae’s chant into an impromptu song.
We made it for the race. We made it, we made it. We’re gonna WIN the race. We made it, we made it.
Frost hands Jane a little helmet and punches her lightly on the shoulder. “Well,” he says grinning. “A hero. And no bullet wounds this time.”
Jane puts her arm around Maura, not taking her eyes off Mae. “None you can see,” she murmurs.
Maura thinks she wasn’t meant to hear this retort.
She kisses Jane on the cheek. “You are amazing,” she whispers.
Jane grins.
Mae and Jane receive several compliments as they walk hand in hand to the starting line when their heat is called.
Jane tugs the little car behind them on a string, and at one point a little boy points at it and says to Mae, “thassa cool car. Is it real fast?”
“The fastest,” Mae says confidently. “Me and my Ma made it.”
Jane’s stride only falters the smallest amount, and she looks down at Mae to see the little girl looking back up at her, concern and hope written plainly on her face.
God, Maura thinks, she is so, so smart.
“It’s okay, right?” Mae asks Jane, practically holding her breath.
Jane blinks at her, and then looks up at the sky, turning a deep and perfect blue.
“My Ma and I,” she says thickly. “Yeah. It’s the best.”