A/N: Niamh is an Irish name, one of the most popular; it is pronounced 'Neevh'.

Epilogue

Two years and a half later

"I'm not too sure, Jane."

Maura looked at the transparent water of the swimming-pool one more time before shaking her head at Jane in disapproval.

She had a bad feeling about it. A very bad feeling. The kind of feeling that makes your hands get too damp and your mouth dry. Fear. One more time, Maura feared the worst.

"These swimming lessons paid off. Don't be worried."

Without waiting for Maura to say anything back, Jane plunged the seventeen-month baby in the water and made her swim under the water for five seconds. Laughter welcomed Maura as their daughter emerged back. Jane planted a loud kiss on the baby's cheek. She then settled her in her arms protectively.

She gave Maura a wink.

"See? You gave birth to a mermaid." Jane looked at the baby with a surge of pride in her eyes. "What a big girl you are, Niamh! Mommy's proud of you... And mom's scared for the next ten days or so."

Maura rolled her eyes but gave her daughter a bright smile as the baby looked into her eyes. She squeezed in delight and gently brushed Niamh's nose with her hand. She felt proud too but she didn't manage to be the 'cool mom'. It was Jane's role, not hers. Maura saw potential dangers at every corner.

"Don't do that ever again without warning me first, Jane." The so-called anger Maura felt towards her wife got swept away by her amused tone of voice. She couldn't be mad at Jane for that. Niamh had been taking swimming lessons for a while and Jane was a very careful mother. "Unless you want me to die of a heart attack, of course."

"And find myself alone with two gremlins at home?" Jane passed a soothing hand on her large stomach. She was eight-month pregnant now. "No, thank you. I definitely need you in my life, Maura."

Jane was teasing Maura and Maura perfectly knew it. That's why she didn't say anything back and preferred to focus instead on the joy that lit up their daughter's face. Niamh really liked being in the water. It was a fact.

Jane needed Maura in her life just as much as Maura needed Jane in hers. Perhaps such point had always been evident, right from the day they had met at the Division One Cafe, but the logic that hid behind such fact had became even clearer two years and a half earlier when their friendship had evolved into a romantic relationship.

"And I am not afraid to say it now just as I am not afraid to ask you to marry me." Maura had paused, not for effect but because her emotions had overwhelmed her without any warning. "Will you marry me, Jane?"

Many things had happened during this charity event of September. Perhaps even everything. That evening had settled Jane and Maura's life forever. Then they had gone from colleagues and friends to wives. And it had sounded right.

The crowd had gasped as Maura had proposed to Jane. Jane had remained still, in shock. Of course, she hadn't imagined that Maura would ask her to marry her. Even less in front of everyone. They had argued two days earlier and the situation between the two of them was critic. Jane had hoped for a conversation between them but at no moment had she thought that Maura would be brave enough to do what she had just done.

Thus Maura had left the stage. Quietly. She had walked to Jane before kneeling down in front of her and before grabbing her hand to slide on her finger the platinum ring Jane was still wearing now.

"Will you?"

Against all expectations, Jane hadn't paid attention to the crowd anymore. The world had stopped as Maura had knelt in front of her, and as she had looked into her eyes with a fragile intensity. Under other circumstances, Jane would have said that such scenario would have made her die at the scene but reality had turned out to be completely different and this moment had become one of the most unforgettable ones of her life.

"Yes... Of course, I'll marry you."

Things had gone very fast from there. The applaud and cheering of the crowd had vanished in the night and life had taken them into a dizzy whirl of fully assumed happiness.

They had got married in December, on a beautiful and sunny day of winter. The snow around them was pure and shining and everyone looked happy. By April Maura had got pregnant and she had given birth to a healthy little girl named Niamh nine months later.

Building a family was something that they had talked about very early on after getting married. Unless they chose adoption, they couldn't wait for too long to try via an IVF. Everything had gone well. Perfectly well.

And now Jane was expecting their second child. They didn't know the sex of the baby. Just like the first time around, they wanted to have the surprise the day she would give birth. They were fine with either of them anyway. A little brother or a little sister for Niamh couldn't make them happier.

"Do you want to swim for a while?" Maura took their daughter in her arms to free Jane of the weight. "I know the water was very relaxing for me when I was eight-month pregnant. You don't feel the weight in the water."

Jane gave her wife a nod. She loved Niamh to pieces but her back was killing her and the skin of her stomach was tense. She had reached this stage of her pregnancy when it wasn't very comfortable anymore to carry a baby.

She watched how Maura walked out of the water with their daughter in her arms. As soon as Maura began to walk, Niamh moved her chubby legs and motioned the ground. Maura obliged and kept on walking while holding their daughter's hand as the baby made unsteady steps towards their bath towels.

Jane swallowed hard. She felt lucky, very lucky. Sometimes she didn't understand why these past years had been so easy on her.

She loved her job and the love she had for her family was just impossible to describe properly. The feelings her pregnancy had stirred up were powerful as well. She had never been too sure about it before but seeing Maura deliver their daughter had really pushed her fears aside and she was glad to live it now herself.

"What do you want to do, honey?" Maura settled Niamh on her bath towel. The little girl grabbed a plastic, waterproof book immediately. "Oh, you want to read? This is an excellent idea, Niamh."

Jane joined them ten minutes later. She sat down on her own bath towel with quite a lot of difficulty but her ego made her smile all along. She didn't want to show any kind of vulnerability. She wanted people to think that, even at this stage of her pregnancy, she was still the same reckless and tough woman they knew.

Even if it happened to be a private swimming-pool.

With Jane giving birth in June, she and Maura had decided to take a two-week vacation in May in order to enjoy their last moments of togetherness at three. They knew that the arrival of a newborn would change their life again and that they wouldn't have much time for themselves for a while. Thus they had headed to their little house in Maine, in that little town where Jane had taken Maura on a getaway for her birthday two years and a half earlier.

The house was small but lovely and it had a swimming-pool in the backyard which both Jane and Maura enjoyed a lot. As soon as the temperatures rose, they left Boston for the weekend and headed there to have a lovely and quiet time together. Just like now.

"Are you alright? Do you want something?"

Maura cast a glance at Niamh who was really focused on a plastic firetruck for babies before looking at Jane. She slid an arm around her wife's waist and rested a hand on top of Jane's stomach.

The baby kicked.

"We have a second mermaid on the way." Jane laughed quietly. She leaned over and kissed Maura softly on the lips. Maura responded to it immediately. They only broke the kiss because they weren't alone, and because Jane did really not see herself do anything on the ground while being eight-month pregnant. "But I'm fine. Really."

When Jane thought about the evolution of her life these past few years, she coudn't but be amazed by it. The bond she had with Maura had strengthened. The days of their friendship with benefits were long gone now but something unique had risen from them. She and Maura had found the right balance.

Their feelings were deep and strong but they hadn't succumbed to a dull routine either. They kept on surprising each other, on a frequent basis.

Niamh's happy shrieks caught their attention. They both looked down at their daughter who was very happy to have an ant running now on her leg. Her big hazel eyes were glimmering of delight.

"Gosh, Maura. Not only is she you're perfect lookalike but she's also a science nerd."

Maura shrugged apologetically. Jane was right. Constance kept on sending them pictures of Maura at the same age and Niamh couldn't look more like her. The baby had the same hazel eyes, and the same pale complexion.

Her temper was also very close to Maura's, or at least according to Constance.

"My babyyyyyy..." Jane tried to bend over to catch their daughter. In vain. Her stomach prevented her from doing it. She looked at Maura, a bit embarrassed, then burst out laughing. "Good thing she's now walking. At least she can come to me all by herself."

Jane plunged her dark eyes into Maura's hazel eyes with such intensity that it made her heart beat faster almost immediately. The same happened to Maura who grabbed Jane's hand and squeezed it tightly.

This was it: the perfect bliss.

The End

Author's Note: Thank you everyone for all the reviews you've posted all along this fic (there's a glitch, I get the email alert for your reviews and I can read them but they don't appear here yet; it's happened already in the past and it seems to come back all by itself; so feel free to leave a review as I can read it and hopefully I will be able to reply to it soon). I hope you've enjoyed the story (sorry there wasn't any extra M rated scene but I didn't think it would match the last two chapters that were more emotional related). I'll be back on August, 1st. I'm thinking about writing a pregnancy story but nothing is sure yet. Thank you again!