Disclaimer: I don't own Rizzoli and Isles and never will. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: This was actually supposed to be part of a larger fic, where Maura and Jane decided they wanted to be parents. But writer's block kicked in and I gave up on posting. But this chapter stands fine on its own, especially after I edited it. Enjoy!
Warning: Semi graphic childbirth.
Maura Isles-Rizzoli entered her ninth month of pregnancy and her misery only increased from there. She couldn't wait for her and Jane's twins to be born. Despite the fact they had been going over names for months, the two still hadn't come up with anything. And Angela was driving them even crazier than usual. She dropped by every day now to check on the pregnant medical examiner, saying she was worried about Maura and her unborn grandchildren. Maura and Jane understood that, but they were annoyed by it. However, they already figured out that Angela would be by every day once the twins came along because she'd want to see her grandchildren. There'd be no getting rid of her now.
"How are you feeling today?" Jane asked her wife. She was worried about Maura, especially now that she was due any day now. Twins usually came early, so she and Maura had been worrying for a while now.
Maura glared at her. "I'm fine. Stop asking me that question!" she snapped. She was sick and tired of everyone asking her that same question. She got it from Jane, Angela, her parents, Korsak, and Frost and his wife. Nobody would leave her alone!
"Okay, sorry. Didn't mean to offend you, Babe. I'm just worried about you and the twins." Jane was constantly on edge.
Maura sighed and softened up. "I know you are. Sorry for snapping at you." Her emotions were all over the place.
"It's okay, Maura. Dad and Frost both said they went through it. I can handle it. If you work it out in a weird way, it's kinda my fault you're in this position in the first place." Jane felt extremely guilty that she hadn't chosen to be the pregnant one now.
"Jane, it's fine. My emotions are a little insane right now. See, I'm ready to start crying," a suddenly tearful Maura answered.
"Hey, don't cry. You know I can't take you crying." Jane wiped the tears off Maura's face with her thumb and then kissed her wife.
"I can't help it." Maura laughed through her tears and pulled away from Jane. She waddled over to the couch. She couldn't wait to stop waddling. And peeing what felt like every ten minutes.
"Soon, this'll all be over. And you know what? We'll have two little babies in our lives. That's awesome. Jane was getting more and more excited for motherhood as the days passed. It had been a long year. It had taken a few tries for the IVF to finally work. Seeing that positive pregnancy test for the first time had been terrifying and exhilarating. When they learned they were having twins, they had been shocked, but not that much. Multiples were common with IVF.
"I know. I can't wait to meet them." Maura shifted around in the seat to get comfortable, although that wasn't possible these days. She was always uncomfortable.
Two days passed, and Maura still hadn't gone into labor. "You could be overdue, Dr. Isles-Rizzoli," her OB/GYN, Rachel Matthews informed her. She gave the pregnant woman a sympathetic smile. She had been pregnant three times, and knew what Maura was going through. She had never been pregnant with twins, though.
Maura groaned. "I don't want to be overdue. Pregnancy sucks now. I'm stuck at home on maternity leave. You know what I'm doing, Doctor Matthews? I'm watching soap operas and getting sucked in! I need to find out if Lennox and Tom are going to be together!" She wouldn't admit that she was DVRing this one specific soap opera now.
Rachel laughed. "I know that feeling. But it'll all be over soon and then you'll have to deal with sleepless nights."
"Can't wait for those." Jane really couldn't. Having the babies finally home was going to be awesome. The nursery was finished and waiting for the twins.
"Me neither. It can't be that bad, can't it?" Maura knew the sleepless nights wouldn't be fun, but that was part of being a parent.
"If you say so, Doctor Isles-Rizzoli. I'll see you again for another appointment. We'll be seeing a lot of you in the next few days."
"Thank you so much. See you later!" Jane helped Maura off the table, and the two went home to relax.
Three days later, Maura still hadn't given birth. Jane decided to take her out for dinner one last time before the twins arrived.
"Think of it as last hurrah before we officially become parents," Jane explained. She figured it'd do some good for Maura to get out of the house before they were knee deep in taking care of two newborns.
"Fine." Maura didn't feel like dressing up, but it did seem like fun. And getting out of the house for something other than a doctor's appointment would be nice.
The two headed out to their favorite restaurant and ordered their favorite meals. Maura passed on the wine, however. She could drink a glass, but she didn't feel like it.
"I don't think we'll be coming here very often once the babies are born. We'll make it a special night once a month, though. What do you think about that? It can be our night off. We'll leave the twins with your parents or mine."
"That sounds like fun. I look forward to it." Maura beamed at her wife and went back to eating dinner. It felt really good to get out of the house. She had to hold onto that feeling.
After they finished eating, Maura and Jane returned home and started to watch TV. There was nothing really on, so Jane popped in one of their favorite movies. The two went to bed around 9:00, too exhausted to stay up any longer.
At 4:00 in the morning, Maura woke up to sharp pain. "You okay, Babe?" questioned a tired Jane, moving around on her side of the bed.
"Yeah, I just think I'm in labor." First time mothers tended to be in labor for a long time, so Maura wasn't panicking, However, Jane was.
"Do we need to go to the hospital? How are you so freaking calm? Where's your bag? Did we even pack it?" Yup, Jane was not doing well.
Maura stifled a laugh. "No, I don't need to go to the hospital. Remember, we go when the contractions are five minutes apart. They're not that close together yet. My bag was packed weeks ago, and it's in the car trunk. We went over this weeks ago, Jane." Maura and Jane had considered a home birth, but had decided on the hospital in the end. If she and Jane ever had more kids, she was definitely going to go the home birth route.
Jane took a deep breath. "You're right. So, what do you want to do now? Just think, by this time tomorrow, we'll be meeting our babies." She was starting to calm down a little bit.
"I want to get some sleep, as much as I can, before we become mommies. It hurts, but I can deal with it for now." Maura yawned, closed her eyes, and then went back to sleep.
Maura was up by 7:30, though, because she couldn't sleep anymore. She was too wired. Besides, Jane hadn't gone back to sleep and kept waking her up to check on her.
The contractions were fifteen minutes apart by 11:30AM. Maura still resisted going to the hospital, even though Jane wanted her there. She was determined to stay home until they were actually five minutes apart.
Angela showed up around 1:45. In an act of desperation, Jane had called her to convince Maura to head to the hospital, but it didn't exactly work. Maura refused to bend to her mother-in-law's begging. That's when her wife called in the big guns – Laura Isles, Maura's mother.
"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital yet?" Laura asked. She was worried about her daughter and grandchildren.
Maura groaned as yet another contraction hit, but she answered her mother anyway. "I'm sure, Mother. I'm going when they're five minutes apart. That's when you're supposed to go. Now leave me alone."
Jane sighed. "I guess we're not going yet. Thanks anyway, Ma and Laura." She was irrationally worried about Maura giving birth at home without any assistance because they might not be able to make it to the hospital on time.
"We're not leaving, Jane. My little girl's in labor and I want to be there for her." Laura didn't like seeing her daughter in so much pain, but she wasn't about to leave Maura and Jane alone.
"Whatever." Jane rubbed Maura's back to help her wife deal with the pain. She had never seen Maura in so much pain before, and it was unnerving her. If they had more kids, she would gladly carry the next one. Labor seemed terrifying, but she'd do it just so Maura wouldn't have to.
"I really hope I'm never in this much pain again," Maura mumbled in between contractions. She was trying to watch TV, but she kept getting distracted by the pain. Maura had already decided she wasn't going to complain about menstrual cramps again. Contractions were so much worse than that.
"Me too, Babe. How are you feeling?" Jane hoped the pain wasn't too bad for Maura now, but she knew she was deluding herself. Labor was not a fun process.
Maura didn't give her an answer. She was too busy groaning from the pain of yet another contraction tearing through her body. She had a pillow in her hand and was gripping it rather tightly. "Make it stop," Maura pleased as the contraction finally started to ebb away.
"I would if I could. Shhh, you're going to be okay," Jane soothed. She felt like crying, which was something the cop rarely did. She hated seeing Maura like this.
"They're still ten minutes apart," Angela informed her daughter and Maura. She had been put in charge of timing the contractions once it was clear that she and Laura weren't leaving.
"Let's put in a movie." Maura wanted something to distract her from the contractions. It was practically impossible at this point, but she at least wanted to try.
"Okay." Jane smiled at her and then went over to the DVD shelf. She petted Joe and then chose one of her and Maura's favorite movies.
Maura was able to pay attention to some of the movie. Every ten minutes she would lean into Jane and grip the couch as more and more contractions rose up within her.
"They're only eight minutes apart," Laura told Jane when her daughter-in-law questioned her about the timing of the contractions.
"She's been in labor for a really long time," said a shocked Jane when she checked her watch. It was about 3:00. Maura had been in labor since 4:00 that morning.
"First time labors are always long. Don't worry." Angela shot a comforting smile towards her daughter. She wasn't going to let Jane or Maura panic about how the long the labor was taking.
"It's hard not to worry." Jane wouldn't admit vulnerabilities very often, but Maura was the most important person in her life. She couldn't help but freak out.
"I know it is, but Maura and the twins will both be fine. Sweetheart, why don't you tell us about your job and what it means to you?" Laura suggested. She knew talking about her job would keep her daughter's mind off the contractions.
Maura started to talk about what her job entailed, and she only stopped every eight minutes when the contractions hit. She could still talk through some of them, though, which was a very good thing.
At 5:30, Jane got up to go into the kitchen to get a snack when Angela called her back in. "What's wrong?" the panicked cop questioned.
"Everything's fine. My water just broke." Maura smiled at her wife, assuring her that everything was going to be okay. She wasn't panicking.
"How far apart are the contractions now?" Jane wanted to go to the hospital right this minute, but she didn't think Maura was going to go until they were exactly five minutes apart.
Laura checked. "They are now officially five minutes apart. But before we go, let's get Maura into something else. She shouldn't go to the hospital in wet clothes." She and Angela helped the pregnant woman off the couch and herded into the bedroom to help Maura change.
Ten minutes later, the Isles-Rizzoli family was finally on the way to the hospital. Maura had been in labor for thirteen hours.
"You want an epidural now?" Jane asked her wife. She knew Maura had been against having an epidural from the start because she wanted a natural childbirth, but her mind may have changed.
Maura shook her head. "No epidural. I've been dealing with this for hours. I can deal with it some more." She was thisclose to breaking and going with an epidural, however. The contractions seemed to be getting worse pain-wise.
"If you change your mind, you can get one." Jane smiled at her and sat back down on one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs. Laura and Angela were out in the waiting room, going crazy. Frankie, Frankie Junior, and Elijah Isles were finally at the hospital, and they were waiting with the two women.
"I know I can." Maura sighed in relief when Doctor Matthews strolled in her room. She couldn't wait to see how far she was dilated.
Doctor Matthews sat down and began the examination. "You're about four centimeters dilated right now, Dr. Isles-Rizzoli."
Maura just stared at her. "I'm only four centimeters dilated? This is horrible!" she cried. She had been in labor for what felt like forever already, and she was stuck like this some more?
"We can do a C-section if you want," Doctor Matthews offered. She knew that some mothers of twins opted for that decision, but she didn't think her patient was going to go for that. She was right.
"No. No C-section if I can help it. I want a natural childbirth. I'll deal with this for as long as I can handle the pain." Maura had already decided that if she was going past twenty-four hours (And she really hoped she didn't), then she'd get an epidural.
"That's fine. I'll be in to check on you in a little while." Doctor Matthew smiles at her and left the room again.
"Distract me any way you can, please." Maura cried out in pain as yet another contraction started to surge through her body.
Jane tried to hold back tears. She couldn't stand Maura in pain anymore. It had been hard before, but it was getting worse now. What was she supposed to do? "Shh. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Just think, we're going to have babies in a matter of hours. Isn't that exciting?"
"Yes, it is." Maura turned her head and screamed into the pillow. She hated labor. If she never had to go through it again, that would be perfectly fine with her. She didn't know how some women did this multiple times. It hurt so much.
Jane let a few tears slip before she decided that was enough and she needed to be strong for Maura. "I love you. Everything's going to be okay," she soothed. Like Maura, Jane had no clue how women went through this multiple times.
Around 10:00PM, Maura was seven centimeters dilated. The contractions were coming closer together, and she couldn't take the pain anymore. "I want an epidural," she sobbed to Doctor Matthews the next time she came into the room.
"That's perfectly fine, Dr. Isles-Rizzoli. I'll just call an anesthesiologist." Doctor Matthews smiled at her and then examined her again.
Half an hour later, the anesthesiologist came in and administered the epidural. "I feel so much better now," Maura raved to her wife. She didn't regret changing her mind on the epidural. The pain had gotten to be too much.
"I'm glad you're feeling better. So, you want to see if there's anything on TV?" Jane was glad that Maura had decided to go the epidural route. She knew how much Maura wanted to have a natural childbirth, and she felt bad it wasn't going to end that way.
"Sure. I've been in labor for eighteen hours now. I don't really care what we watch." Maura smiled up at her wife. She couldn't wait to meet the twins. She wanted them out now, so she and Jane could start being parents.
Jane laughed despite herself. "After this long of a time, you can have anything you want after we get out of here." She'd do anything for Maura now. It felt like she had been in labor forever at this point. She couldn't even imagine how Maura felt.
"I'm going to take a nap. Tired," Maura murmured a little while later. She closed her eyes and immediately went to sleep. Jane let her nap. Maura deserved to at least sleep before the twins arrived. Being up all day wasn't going to do her any good.
She went out into the waiting room to give everyone an update. "No babies yet. Maura's had an epidural. She's sleeping right now. I think we're going to meeting the twins soon. At least I hope so," Jane informed her parents, in-laws, and brother.
"Poor girl. I can't imagine being in labor that long," Laura murmured.
"I'll be back to give you guys an update soon," Jane promised. She went back into her wife's room. Luckily, Maura was still sleeping.
Maura woke up around 1:30 AM. "Epidural's starting to wear off," she informed Jane. It had been a great nap where she had experienced no pain. The medical examiner really wanted to go back to that. It had been really nice.
"Do you want another one?" Jane questioned. She didn't want Maura to be in pain like that again. It hurt her.
Maura shook her head. "The contractions are getting worse, but I can handle it. That nap really strengthened my resolve." She felt better about delivering the twins now, although she was still terrified.
By the time Doctor Matthews came in to check on Maura at 2:30, the medical examiner was actually sobbing from the pain. Jane was struggling hard to keep her own emotions in check. "You're ten centimeters dilated, Dr. Isles-Rizzoli. Time to push."
Maura actually sobbed in relief. "I'm so happy," she murmured to her wife. When the next contraction hit, she bore down and started pushing.
"You're doing so well," Jane murmured. She smiled, but that turned to a wince as Maura grabbed her hand and squeezed hard. This wasn't going to end well for Jane's hands, considering she still had pain from the Surgeon's attack.
"Good job, Maura. Stop pushing when the contraction is over with," Dr. Matthews pleaded. She smiled at her patient.
Maura gasped when the contraction ended and she pulled back. Before she knew it, yet another contraction was surging through her and she bore down and started pushing again. "It hurts!" she cried out.
"I know it hurts, but our babies are almost here. Keep pushing, Maura," encouraged Jane. She smiled at her wife, but backed off when Maura glared at her.
Maura groaned when the next contraction started, but barely managed to resist the urge to push again. "I want to try a different position."
"That's perfectly fine, Maura." A nurse and Jane helped Maura off the bed and into a squatting position. She pushed like that for a few minutes before it got too uncomfortable and returned to the bed.
Maura continued to push. A few minutes later, she felt the first baby's head exit her. "This feels so weird," she babbled to Jane.
"It's really gross, too," Jane murmured underneath her breath. Luckily for her, neither Maura nor the doctor heard her, but a nurse shot her a dirty look.
"Ow. Ow. Ow," Maura shouted as she bore down and pushed yet again. She gasped as the baby refused to come all the way out.
"Just keep pushing, Maura. The baby is almost out. You're nearly done. Isn't that exciting?" Doctor Matthews looked up at her patient and gave her an encouraging smile.
"You keep pushing," an irritated Maura shot back. She just wanted to meet her babies. Pushing burned and was tiring.
"Good one," Jane told her wife. She struggled to hold back a laugh, but it didn't exactly work. She leaned down and kissed Maura's forehead.
Maura gasped as she felt the first baby finally come all the way out. "Congratulations! You have a son! Would you like to cut the cord, Detective Rizzoli?"
"Is he okay?" Maura asked. She knew she had to get ready to push the second baby out, but she wanted to see the first one for a few seconds.
"He's beautiful, Maura." Jane cut the cord and handed the now wailing newborn back to Maura. She couldn't believe they had a son.
"Hello, handsome. I'm one of your mommies. I'm sorry I can't talk to you too long. I have to push out your little brother or sister." Maura smiled at the baby and handed him to a nurse.
Maura gasped as yet another contraction surged through her body. She bore down and started to push the second baby out of her. "I can't do this," she sobbed a minute or so later. The medical examiner was exhausted and just wanted to be done with labor.
"Look at me, Maura. Yes, you can. You already had one of our babies. I know it's hard, but you can do this. I believe in you. I know you can push." Jane could hear their son crying in the background and she itched to hold him, but she was staying near Maura until the second baby was born.
"I hate you so much right now," Maura gritted out before she started to push again. She could barely focus on anything else besides the pain and the babies.
"That's okay. Hate me all you want." Jane struggled not to cry out in pain herself as Maura gripped her hand. She was holding on pretty tight.
Maura sighed in relief as the pain from the latest contraction let up and she felt the second baby's head finally leave her body. The baby wasn't completely out yet, but at least the head was. "I don't want to do this anymore."
"Maura, you have to. This is nearly over, and then we can be a family with our babies." Jane didn't mind giving her wife encouragement. Maura needed to be strong, especially now.
A second wind hit Maura. She pushed hard and gasped as the rest of the baby finally slid out of her body. "What is it?" she questioned again.
Doctor Matthews smiled again. "Congratulations! You have two sons!" She cleaned the baby off and Jane cut the second umbilical cord.
Both babies were given to Maura once the placentas were delivered. "Baby A was born at 3:38AM and was seven pounds and four ounces. He was twenty and a half inches long. Baby B was born at 3:49AM and was six pounds, two ounces. He was nineteen inches long," the nurse informed them.
"Congratulations you two. Both babies are healthy," Doctor Matthews told them. Everyone exited the room to leave the new mothers alone.
"I am so proud of you," Jane told her wife. She couldn't stop staring at her sons. She couldn't believe the twins were finally here.
"Thank you. I couldn't have done it without you, Jane. Are your hands okay?" Maura looked up from the babies to check out her wife.
"They hurt and I'm going to need some pain meds, but I'll be okay," Jane answered truthfully. She didn't mind that Maura had practically crushed her hand. She had been in a ton of pain.
"I'm sorry," Maura apologized. She hadn't meant to hurt Jane, but the medical examiner hadn't been thinking straight.
"You don't have to apologize. Crap, I forgot our parents and my brother were out there! I need to go tell them about the boys. I'll be back soon. Be good for your momma, boys." Jane kissed each one of them and headed out to the waiting room.
Laura and Angela were still awake when Jane went out there. The men were asleep. They were shaken awake to hear the news. "So, Maura and I are now mothers! At 3:38 and 3:49, we had two little boys! They're currently nameless. But you can head home now. I'm going to stay here." Jane wasn't about to leave her wife and sons alone in the hospital if she could help it.
"Congratulations, Baby. I'm so proud of you," a tearful Angela told her daughter. She hugged her, and then the Rizzoli's were leaving. The Isles' followed them a few minutes later.
Jane returned to Maura's hospital room. She was talking softly to the twins. "Go to sleep, Maura. You've had an interesting day. I'll hold them for a little while."
"I can't believe I was in labor for nearly twenty-four hours. And it was all to meet these handsome little boys. You need some sleep, too. You've been up as long as I have, and you didn't even take a nap," Maura pointed out as she handed the newborns over to her wife.
"I'll sleep in a little bit. Hey, little men. You've had quite a long day too, haven't you?" Jane was glad this past year had led to the babies in her arms. It was such a surreal experience to actually be a mother now.
"We haven't even named them yet." Maura was still resisting sleep somehow. Jane wasn't sure how, considering she had been in labor for nearly a day and had just pushed thirteen pounds of two babies out of her.
"We'll do that in the morning, once you go to sleep." Jane smiled at her. It figured Maura was wired now.
"Love all of you," Maura murmured before finally going back to sleep a few minutes later. She had been pretty exhausted.
Jane held and whispered to the twins for about twenty minutes before exhaustion set in. She placed both of them in their incubators and crawled into bed next to Maura. She was asleep within seconds, which wasn't surprising. Jane had been up for over twenty-four hours.
Both Maura and Jane were woken up a few times by crying newborns, but they took care of it and were up for the day by 10:00AM. They started discussing names back and forth.
"How about Huckleberry?" Maura suggested. She was having a hard time coming up with names for the boys.
"After the book character, Huckleberry Finn? It's cute, but we are saddling our kid with the name Huckleberry." Jane adamantly refused to name one of her sons that.
"We could call him Huck!" Maura tried. She didn't think it would work, but she at least had to try. And she was right, Jane didn't fall for that.
"I don't know what to name them. We've discussed this since before you even got pregnant, but my mind is blank. I can't come up with anything!" Jane blamed that on the lack of sleep.
Around 11:30, the Rizzoli's showed up at the hospital to finally meet the newest members of their family. "Your mother couldn't sleep. She kept rambling on all about our grandsons," a smiling Frank informed his daughter.
"What have my grandsons been named?" Angela had no patience about them. She couldn't wait for them to come home so she could see the twins for longer periods of time.
"We haven't come up with anything yet, Ma." Jane's mind was a blank on names. She needed to get the baby book out of Maura's suitcase, but she didn't want to give up holding one of the boys. Plus, her energy was still pretty low.
"Well, you will. Don't worry about that yet." Angela babbled something to the baby in her arms. She was going to spoil her grandsons. Jane and Maura already knew that.
The Isles' arrived about an hour later, but everyone went home a little bit later. "Caleb Finn Isles-Rizzoli!" suggested Maura out of the blue around 7:30 that night. She and Jane had taken turns napping, but the babies kept waking them anyway. Neither of them minded much.
"How'd you come up with that?" Jane asked, yawning. She couldn't wait to go home. The cop still hadn't left the hospital.
Maura shrugged. "Caleb just came to me. And Finn is for Huckleberry Finn, but at least it won't be a part of his first name."
"That's a good name. Now which one of you is Caleb Finn?" She stared down at the two newborns in her arms.
The baby in her left arms – Baby A – gave Jane and Maura their answer by letting out a little noise. "He made that easy," Maura commented.
"It's perfect. Welcome the world, Caleb. I'm glad you're finally named." Jane laughed when the baby let out another little noise.
"Now what about his baby brother? Have you thought of anything yet?" Maura felt relieved that at least one of her sons had finally been named.
"I'll think of something soon. Just wait." Jane stood up and placed Caleb and his nameless brother back in their incubators.
When they woke up in the morning, Jane finally had the name picked out for the second baby. "Don't keep me in suspense. What'd you come up with?" Maura shifted around Caleb to get him into a more comfortable position.
Jane smiled. "Maura and Caleb, meet Dylan Christopher Isles-Rizzoli." Weirdly enough, the name had come to her in a dream.
"It's perfect for him. It's a crazy place, but welcome to the world, Caleb and Dylan." Maura couldn't wait to go home with the twins today. She was sick of the hospital. And Jane still hadn't left!
At 1:30PM, Maura, Caleb, and Dylan were finally discharged. Jane pulled the car around to the entrance, and she and Maura strapped them into their car seats.
The couple arrived home to find Angela, Frank, and Frankie Junior waiting for them. Maura's parents had returned home, but had promised to visit soon.
Maura, Jane, Caleb, and Dylan had a lot to look forward to in their lives together as a family. They couldn't wait to see what happened next.
The Isles-Rizzoli's were extremely happy together. It had taken awhile to start their family, but they didn't regret a single thing.
Life was going to be crazy for Maura and Jane and their family, but they didn't mind. They had two wonderful sons they couldn't wait to see grow up.