Author Note: This story is set after the season five finale. So everything that has happened up until that point has happened, a few weeks later, my story begins. This story will have a number of chapters, at the moment I predict sixteen, but that's more than likely to change. I hope you will read and enjoy.

Please note, you might want to wait until you're not eating to read this chapter.

Disclaimer: I've been playing in somebody else's sandbox, just for fun.

In her office, Maura hunched over her desk hurriedly scribbling down notes from the latest case. Her stomach groaned despite it being only ten in the morning. She flipped back through the file, pausing momentarily on the crime scene photographs, regretting it when her stomach flipped. She dropped the pages and lifted the back of her hand to her mouth.

"You not finished with your paperwork yet?" Jane asked, without knocking on the door.

The tingling in her mouth continued. Maura held a hand out towards the chair opposite and placed the file under her notes.

"Not everyone writes illegibly and with acronyms nobody but you understands." Maura's heart thrummed inside her chest. She could feel her stomach contracting.

"If everyone used my acronyms then maybe they'd finish their paperwork sooner and nobody would get confused," said Jane, sitting down.

"One moment," said Maura, rushing out of the room.

She barely made it into the bathroom when her throat contracted. Maura opened her mouth and sent the contents of her stomach hurling towards the toilet bowl. She pushed the edge of her dress up and knelt on the cold, tiled floor. Her hands clutching the edges of the toilet seat. She gagged a couple of times, her throat ached from the pressure, then she vomited again.

The soap in the bathroom didn't take away the feel of uncleanliness from her fingers. The relief of her empty stomach battled against her desire to fill it again. She slipped back into her seat behind her desk and refocused her attention on the paperwork.

"I thought we could get some lunch," said Jane, making Maura jump.

"You're still here?"

"I didn't really get to the point," said Jane, her brow furrowing.

"I don't have time for lunch."

"It's not for another couple of hours."

Despite Maura's desire to eat, she didn't think she'd be able to cope with anything passing her lips beyond water. The question was how she could persuade Jane without admitting her ailment.

"Not today," Maura said. She scanned her notes. "Do you remember how old Billy was?"

Jane's eyebrows lifted. "You're asking me? You did the autopsy."

"Right." Maura stood up and took a couple of steps towards her filing cabinet. She paused, reaching a hand out to the wall to steady herself.

"Maura?" A hand clutched her upper arm. Maura turned around and pushed Jane's fingers away.

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. You look clammy."

She took one step at a time back towards her desk, finding the comfort of her desk chair a welcomed relief. Her head span and her heart raced inside her chest. She picked up her coffee cup and sipped it, before spitting it back into the cup.

"Maybe the sweat lodge didn't work," Jane said, perching on the corner of Maura's desk. She pushed her hand against Maura's forehead and narrowed her eyes.

Maura batted her hand away and focused on her breathing. "It worked just fine."

"Then what's wrong with you?"

"I'm pregnant."

She gave her revelation a moment to sink in. Aside from whispering it to herself that morning, it was the first time she'd said it aloud. Practicing the word on her lips was the only way she knew to process it.

"You're," Jane said, her mouth agape. She stood up beside Maura. "What?"

"Pregnant, Jane." Maura wiped her lips. She could feel the tingling in her mouth return, the mouthful of coffee no matter how brief played havoc with her usual routine. "I'm expecting a child."

"Since when?"

"Since between four and six weeks ago, probably." The very idea of getting pregnant had not even crossed Maura's mind. Her life was too varied and she was too unattached to consider it. "I have to wait for an appointment with an obstetrician to know for certain."

"I meant how long have you known?" Jane asked, never taking her eyes off Maura.

"I suspected for a few days. I took the test last night."

Jane tilted her head to the side, sending her curls down one shoulder. "You didn't have to do it alone."

"Why wouldn't I?" Maura hated the sympathetic tone of Jane's voice. She was pregnant, she was not ill. She might be alone but that wasn't exactly something that required sympathy. She'd made her bed and she was perfectly content lying in it. "Only I can do the test."

"For support, Maura."

Maura let out an involuntary chuckle. "You didn't seek out support when you fell pregnant."

"No, but I'm me. You're, you."

Her brow furrowed. Her unsettled stomach was fighting against her and it took more energy than Maura wished to sit there having a conversation.

"And being ourselves makes what difference, exactly?" she asked, placing her hand over her mouth.

"You loved Jack," said Jane. "If he didn't move to New Mexico the two of you might have made it. You don't find that every day."

A wave of sickness overcame Maura. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing, until the moment passed. She lowered her hand. "As I said earlier, the sweat lodge worked just fine. I'm not depressed over losing Jack. I'm just pregnant."

"With his child." Jane's eyes narrowed, Maura was the sole object of her attention. "It is his baby, right?"

Maura rolled her eyes and wiped at her lips. Despite the wave of sickness dissipating, saliva built up and she could feel her body fighting against her. "Who else's baby would it be?"

"I don't know. You don't tell me every person you sleep with." Maura nodded. "You do?"

"Of course I do," she said. "You're my best friend."

A smirk crept onto Jane's lips. "I guess I should tell you I slept with Joe from the fire department down the street, then."

Maura sat up straight. "When?"

"Few weeks ago," Jane said, with a small shrug. "After we worked on a case together."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Her shoulders sunk in partnership with her eyebrows. Maura's lips curved downwards.

"I didn't think it was an expectation of our friendship that we share every one night stand," said Jane, her smirk not quite faltering.

"Isn't that what friendship is?"

"Nah," said Jane with a shake of the head. "I don't think it is."

"That could explain the problem I had with my college room mate in freshman year. She said I was too overbearing."

"Probably," Jane said, without knowing the full story.

Silence followed. Maura's energy level dropped as the moisture in her mouth grew exponentially. Her stomach contracted. She stood up, taking a couple of slow steps towards the door, before she sped off towards the bathroom again.

She hunched over the toilet bowl, dry heaving, as her body's attempt to rid itself of whatever toxin the baby didn't like failed over and over again.

"You're okay," said Jane, stepping up beside her and sliding her hair back from her face. She used her other hand to run her hand in circles across her back.

Maura attempted to smile but her body lurched again, finally finding a small amount of relief. Her eyes filled with tears, her mouth wet with saliva and whatever else lingered on her skin. She sat back on her heels. Her heart rate had slowed but she felt like she'd just run a marathon.

"This is normal, right?" Jane asked. Maura nodded. "I must have got lucky."

She welcomed the feel of Jane's fingers on her cheek. She was too tired to care about the lack of dignity in having her friend wipe her face down with damp paper towels in a public restroom.

The couch in her office had always been a little uncomfortable to sit on, until Maura's energy level had dropped so low that it felt like the most comfortable place on Earth. She curled up at one end, a cream throw wrapped around her shoulders.

"Drink this," said Jane, handing her a mug of steaming liquid.

"Coffee?" Maura could feel her stomach groan at the very thought.

"Tea. Ginger and honey. Ma says ginger settles the stomach."

"She's right," said Maura, sipping the tea.

Jane slid her hand across Maura's knee. "How you feeling?"

"Better, thanks," she said, placing her tea cup on the table and leaning back against the couch.

"I meant about the pregnancy, but that too."

"I feel…I don't know."

In the chaos of the last twelve hours, Maura hadn't taken any time out to consider the implications of her current predicament. Whilst she always dreamt of being a mother, she also dreamt of being married first. She wanted to bring a child into a family unit, like the one she'd grown up. Being a single mother was not in that plan, it never had been. Then there was her age to consider. She wasn't getting any younger and her opportunities at having a family were severely dwindling.

"Whatever you decide," said Jane, rubbing Maura's upper arm. "I'll be here with you."

Tears pricked at the corners of Maura's eyes. She tried to smile but her lips barely moved, instead her chin juddered. She nodded her head and reached out for Jane's hand, clutching it in her own as she tried to find comfort in Jane's words.

Author Note: Thank you for reading. I appreciate anything you want to give me - smiles, comments, favourites, follows, all of the above. I especially like comments, but no pressure.