Chapter thirty-three – We'll Always Have Boston

"Oh come on, you loved it the last time we watched it."

Snort. "I cried like a baby the last time we watched it. There is quite a difference, here." Pout. Feeling a bit fragile before the confession, Jane grabbed a cushion – folded her legs under her – and held it very tight against her chest while staring with stubbornness right in front of her.

An amused smile timidly played on Maura's lips. Passing a hand over her wife's stomach, she leaned over and planted a kiss on Jane's cheek before snuggling in the crook of her neck. "But I like it when you do..."

Frown. "You like it when I cry?"

"You know what I mean. Don't be so literal, Jane."

The Italian choked on her beer. If there was someone literal in this room, it was certainly not her. Yet she remained quiet, enjoying way too much Maura's light kisses on her neck. Evil stratagem. It didn't take long before the honey blonde grabbing the remote control and turn the television on. The credits appeared in a fuzzy superposition of black and white. She swallowed hard.

"It's not that I don't like Casablanca, Maur'... It's just..." But before she had a chance to properly finish her sentence, a box of tissues landed straight under her nose and made her jump of surprise.

"The day we watch The Bridges of Madison County, I will be in the same state. No need to justify any of your reactions, here. Really."

The comment elicited a smile on Jane's lips. A very brief one though as a scratching noise caught her attention on her right. Just by the windows. Or better said, right on the curtains. Maura gasped – yet unable to even move or talk – as her eyes widened in panic. Fair enough. It took Jane long seconds – really long ones – to finally jump out of the couch and rush to the curtain to grab Coco Loco.

"Hey, this isn't the Everest Mount!"

The kitten produced a strange noise – obviously not happy to see his climbing coming to an abrupt end – and started moving about to escape from Jane's hands.

"He is going to scratch you again, be careful."

Thankfully the brunette let go of him right away and within a second Coco Loco had already vanished from the living-room, obviously searching for his next prey. Jane sat back on the couch, sighed. "And then we say that dogs are less quieter than cats! Look at Jo Friday. She's peacefully sleeping on the floor."

True enough. "Coco Loco is still very young and thus rather playful. Give him a few months and he will start calming down... By the time he will have destroyed my Alpaga curtains, that is."

Jane chuckled and kissed Maura's temple comfortingly before cuddling against her and finally turned her attention back to the television. The last time they had watched Casablanca had been in Punta Cana; in the intimacy of their bedroom, far from the nightlife of the club. It seemed like a thousand years ago but barely a few months had passed by though. Yet so many things had changed since they had come back home.

Their doubts concerning their relationship had flown away, replaced by the certainty of their feelings and they were now married; on the verge – perhaps – to start a family. Retrospectively, it was dizzying. But truth to be told, Jane didn't regret it the slightest bit.

"Do you think it's really over, now? We dismantled a larger branch of this drug traffic but... Last time it didn't result enough. How can we be sure that it will cease? How can we be sure that Lisa will be safe and finally happy, able to enjoy Guadalupe's pregnancy as well as their upcoming wedding? Speaking of which, we should really start thinking about this celebration weekend thing ourselves."

Mabel Smith would face a second trial and would be looking at life. After long hours of a stressful and tough interrogation, the man had confessed the whole thing; from the amount of money the contract stipulated to the way Mabel Smith had contacted him. Yet the mafia remained the mafia.

It never really ended.

"One can only hope, Jane. Yet don't live in a state of constant what-ifs and fear. This isn't a life. There is always a bright side, you have to enjoy it."

Why did Maura have to be so wise? All the time. When asking for an advice, Jane could be sure that her wife would come up with the wisest of all when she herself still had a hard time being reasonable about the slightest thing.

"I guess I wish I were more like you." Frown. Surprised by her own comment, Jane bit her lower lip and let the words hit the air – making sense – before nodded to nobody but herself. "Yes. I guess I do."

"I just want you to be yourself." An implacable smile lit up Maura's features and without any warning, she turned around – straddled her partner – and passed her arms around Jane's neck as she faced her properly. "Never change. Please." Kisses began to accompany her words, her lips slowly making their way up Jane's face. "I want you to be the same... Protective and caring... And loving. Funny... Sarcastic... Stubborn. Childish... This is who you are, the person I fell in love with."

"Does that include me crying in front of Casablanca?"

Amused nod. Without a word, Maura took her shirt off and repeated the gesture with Jane's top. She captured her wife's lips eagerly, pulled her to lie down on the couch to straddle her properly. "Yet we might get a whole different ending, tonight. It might... Ah!"

Maura winced in pain and violently sat up on top of Jane, bringing a hand to her back as Coco Loco jumped from it to the coffee table. The Italian burst out laughing, uncontrollably.

"This is not funny, Jane! I hurts like hell!"

Sweeping away tears of laughter, Jane shook her head and motioned at Maura to turn around so she could check the extent of the damage on her back. "Oh come on... For once he scratches you and not me! Well... Your back is slightly red, now. Do you want me to clean the wounds?"

Silent nod. Head down. Maura slightly lifted up her legs to let Jane go for the emergency kit and sat back on the couch, glaring at Coco Loco who was now sleeping on top of an armchair. Twice. He had interrupted them twice. Just when things were about to turn more interesting.

"Party pooper..."

"What?" Kit in hand, Jane walked back into the living-room and sat Indian style on the couch as Maura shook her head and didn't add anything. She grabbed a cotton, poured some disinfectant on it. "Do I need to remind you that it's going to hurt like hell?"

Gasp. Offended, Maura turned around and squinted her eyes at her. "How dare you!"

"Why this is exactly what you told me the last time it happened to me. Now it's your turn."

Silence. Groan. "Oh stop already with this sheepish smile, Jane. This isn't funny. I swear if you..." But the ringing of her phone stopped her mid-sentence. Slightly surprised, she bent over to grab it – took the call – and repressed a growl as the disinfectant made contact with the scratches.

Everyone has a story to tell when it comes to this precise moment. Where they were, what they were doing; with whom. Some are beautiful – coming straight from the perfect movie scenario – and others are awkward.

Unexpected.

Sat on the couch – wincing in pain – Maura would remember hers as being the right one, the way it had to be. Unique. Unforgettable.

"What was it? Who was it?"

Jane frowned. The phone call had been short and Maura not very expressive. Even less now as the honey blonde seemed lost in her thoughts. The cotton against her scratches didn't even get the mere reaction from her anymore. She was somewhere else, in another world.

"It..." Maura cleared her voice, took a deep breath. "The clinic. It was the clinic. Both our exams are clean. We... We can start the injections – you or me – in two weeks."

Two weeks. What were fifteen days in a whole life? Absolutely nothing. They even hadn't decided yet who would give it a try. They had kept it secret, not even sure when they were supposed to reveal the whole thing. Was it better to wait and be sure? Or letting everyone know now since they had decided to go for it? What to do? When? How?

"What if it doesn't work?"

Anxiety rose in Maura's voice. Suddenly, without any warning. Jane's lips slid on her shoulder in a hot – comforting – kiss as she passed her arms around her wife's waist to hold her tightly from behind. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath.

"Then we'll always have Punta Cana... Each other... A whole life waiting for us here in Boston. Yeah... We'll always have Boston."

The End (to be continued)

Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews, from suggestions to advices. Since some have asked for it, there will be a (very last) sequel to it. However I might not start posting it before Tuesday because I'm leaving for Greece on Monday and want to make sure the web connection won't be crappy before posting anything (and thus make sure you will still have a daily update). Thank you again and - hopefully - see you soon on the next one!