Author's Note: This is my first Rizzles fic, and I am so excited to contribute to this amazing fandom! The story takes place as a season four opener, starting in right where we left off in Season 3. Thank you to the writers and creators of this show, to the brilliant actors for inspiring me, and to my beautiful Beta for being my muse. I greatly appreciate reviews! Hope you enjoy :)

"Oh my God!"

Angela shrieked joyfully as she watched her daughter gently rock the baby boy in her arms. Not surprisingly, Mrs. Rizzoli was instantly in love. It didn't matter whether he was the offspring of her despicably pathetic ex-husband or her youngest, most troubled son. She knew right then and there that she would love him just the same. Torn between the warm feeling she got from watching Jane hold the tiny human and her own desire to cradle him, she finally reached out and took the child, cooing and awing incoherently.

Jane snapped herself back to reality and rolled her eyes as she watched her mother go to pieces.

"He looks just like Tommy," Angela sniffed, smiling as she bounced the baby with one hand and rubbed his cheek with the other.

"Ma," Jane tried to stop her. "You can't just make this in to what you want it to be."

Angela ignored her, too caught up in the precious moment to let Jane's doubts seep in. Maura was on her feet next, sidling up to Angela so she could check the little one for signs of distress.

"Temperature seems normal. Color's fine," she reported. "He looks good. But we should get him to a pediatrician soon. Who knows what he's been through."

"You wanna hold him?" Angela offered the baby to Maura, placing him against her chest. Maura, unsure at first, slowly fixed her hands behind the baby's back and closed her eyes as she felt the warmth sink in. Angela grinned even wider, then looked over at Jane, who was back to being awe struck as she watched her best friend hold her nephew/brother.

"Doesn't she look perfect holding him?" Angela marveled. "What an angel."

Jane shook her head again, even as her cheeks turned pink.

"Ma, we cannot keep this baby! He's not ours."

"Then whose is he? Lydia obviously doesn't want him, and if she's willing to leave him on a doorstep it doesn't say much for her maternal instincts."

"Exactly, which is why I need to call in and report her for child abandonment."

"And have him taken away from us!?" Angela stood between Maura and Jane. "Over my dead body!"

"Shhh!" Maura cut in as the infant started to fuss. "He's getting upset. It's not good for newborns to hear arguing. The neural pathways that correlate with personality and disposition begin to form in the womb. It's really a remarkable…"

"Maura, could you spare us the neo-natal psychology lesson for the moment!? Please?" Jane snarked.

"Just keep your voices down," Maura whispered as she crossed to the kitchen, where she balanced the baby expertly on one shoulder while looking for anything that could serve as a cradle.

"Seriously, Ma. You know this isn't right. We can't just raise this baby like he's ours. You'll get too attached, and Lydia could come back any time for him. Then what?"

"Well we're not puttin' him out on the street tonight!" Angela whispered harshly, putting her foot down.

Jane couldn't argue with that. It was late, and they had already been through so much this evening with Maura's near-death run in with her serial killer date. She figured it was best to wait till morning to do anything.

"I've got it!" Maura whispered loudly from the kitchen. The Rizzoli women turned their heads, only to find Maura standing proudly over the counter with the swaddled baby laying peacefully in a large, turquoise Le Crueset casserole. Angela laughed hard before rushing over to continue fawning. Even Jane couldn't help but crack a smile, until the baby started crying harder.

"He needs formula!" Angela insisted. "One of you run out. I'll stay with him."

"Actually, I have some here," Maura remembered, reaching into the cupboard next to the refrigerator and grabbing the canister, along with an empty bottle. "I decided to keep one from the stuff for the baby shower. Just in case."

"Just in case?" Jane gawked. "What, were you anticipating we'd be left with someone else's illegitimate child?"

"Knock it off!" Angela cut in again. "He didn't do anything to deserve your nasty attitude."

"I'm sorry I can't just put on a happy face and start playing house, okay? This is crazy."

Maura cornered Jane against the side of the fridge, putting a hand on her shoulder and whispering out of earshot of Angela.

"Jane, listen. Your mother's been through a lot. This may be the perfect thing to help her heal from all of the anguish she's experienced over the past few months. She needs to feel needed and loved unconditionally. What better person to give her those things than a baby who probably needs her just as much?"

Jane pursed her lips and flared her nostrils, looking off to the side, up at the ceiling, anywhere but into Maura's bright green eyes. Once she did that she knew she'd give in. Finally, Maura gently grabbed Jane's cheek and forced her to look at her. The corners of Jane's lips turned up even as she rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Okay," she huffed. "But tomorrow I'm tracking Lydia down and making sure she really wants to give him up. She's gonna have to sign the paperwork if that's what she wants. I'm not gonna let her break my mother's heart."

"The only thing that's breaking my heart right now is that this baby is crying because he's hungry!" Angela cut in, less oblivious than they thought.

"Sorry," Maura smirked, turning back to Jane for a second before moving to the counter, where she began to mix the formula. "Breast milk really is much better for newborns. Studies show that…"

"Look, this'll have to do, unless you have some genius plan to make one of us start lactating," Jane joked.

"Actually…"

"No," Jane cut her off. "Whatever you're about to suggest, just no."

"There are hormones one can take to stimulate lactation. I read a fascinating article about a lesbian couple who both wanted to breast feed, so the adoptive mother took the hormones until she was able to participate equally."

"Wow," Angela marveled. "They really can do anything these days."

Jane tried to control her blush from spreading noticeably. She leaned against the counter near her mom, who passed the baby off to her once again. Jane forced a smile and took him, rocking to try to stave off his cries, but to no avail.

"Yeah, well," Jane cleared her throat before softening her tone. "I don't think my breasts are big enough to feed a kid this hungry, hormones or no hormones."

"Breast size has no correlation to the amount of breast milk that can be produced," Maura corrected.

"Thanks, Dr. Spock," Jane shook her head.

"This will work just fine," Angela said as she handed Jane the bottle.

The three of them made their way back to the living room. Maura and Angela grinned uncontrollably as they watched Jane feed the little man, his cries ceasing as he guzzled down the formula and closed his eyes. It was the most adorable thing either of them had ever seen.

When he was finished, Jane handed him back to Angela, who burped him against her shoulder and didn't miss a beat when he dribbled a little on her sweater.

"I'll keep him in the room with me," Angela didn't so much offer as demand. "He should sleep for a couple hours, maybe longer if he feels safe."

"Let me know when he wakes up," Maura said. "I'll make more formula."

"Not to worry," Angela shook her head. "I'll handle it. I raised three already, and they turned out okay. I don't mind. Besides, you girls deserve a rest. You went through a lot today."

Neither of them could argue with that. Angela kissed them both on the forehead and left them on the couch before toting the baby and his Le Crueset crib into her room.

"She'll be a mess if we have to give this baby back to Lydia," Jane shook her head, sinking into the cushions and pulling the blanket back up over the two of them. "Part of me hopes we can't find her, but the other part doesn't want anything bad to happen to her, as much as I can't stand the woman."

"Either way, I think there's grounds for claiming she's an unfit mother," Maura pointed out. "We could do a paternity test. Get Tommy custody."

"Or my father," Jane reminded her sourly.

"Right," Maura sighed. "Do you think Frank would even want…"

"He walked out on his pregnant fiancé," Jane scoffed. "I don't think he wants anything to do with this."

Maura put her hand on Jane's shoulder again and squeezed before rubbing softly. Jane had stripped down to just her white tank and black pants, muscles sore from all the action throughout the day. The brunette closed her eyes and lay her head against the back of the sofa as she curled in a little more, still facing Maura, but keeping a reasonable distance. Still, she reached out and rubbed Maura's upper thigh as she had done earlier.

"What if I had slept with Rockman?" Maura asked suddenly.

"Then…you could have added him to the list of all the other creeps you've slept with."

"Hey!" Maura punched her in the shoulder. Jane grabbed it and feigned agony as she tried not to crack up. "I'm serious. This was a new level of bad judgment."

"So you admit you have terrible taste in men?" Jane smirked.

"I didn't say that," Maura shook her head. "I just…"

"Don't worry," Jane interrupted again. "It's not like I have any stones to throw. I can't pick 'em either."

"Casey wasn't bad," Maura admitted. "He was handsome, charismatic…"

"Emotionally unavailable," Jane cut in. "Even before his accident, he was distant."

"But I thought you loved him?"

"I did. I mean, I do love him. But…I don't know if I'm in love with him….anymore. And it has nothing to do with the fact that he's paralyzed. It's just, I don't know, complicated."

"And you're fickle," Maura jabbed.

"I am not fickle!" Jane defended herself. "Or okay, maybe I am. Or maybe I just haven't met 'the one' yet."

"Maybe there's no such thing," Maura sighed, sadly.

"What do you mean? What about your Australian hunk-a-hunk-a-burnin'-love?"

Maura rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I can't be with him, so obviously he's not the one."

"But you want him to be."

"No. I don't," Maura insisted. "I don't want someone who I can't trust."

"I don't know if I have it in me to trust anyone anymore," Jane sighed. "I mean, besides my family. And Frost. And Korsak."

"And?" Maura looked at her, mouth agape.

"And?" Jane mimicked her. "And you, of course. But that goes without saying. You're family too."

Maura's mouth continued to hang open, but her face slowly turned red and her eyes welled up with tears. Jane had never called her family before. Angela had, even Frankie had, but not Jane. She knew she felt that way, but to hear her finally acknowledge it made all the difference.

"Maur…Maura, what did I do? Oh my god…"

"Nothing…I mean…just…you said I was family," she sniffled. "That's…really nice."

"Of course you are," Jane grabbed Maura's shoulders and squeezed, rubbing them as she pulled her a little closer. "How could you not know that already?"

"I did," she nodded, wiping away a tear. "It's just…it's been a long day…"

"I know," Jane whispered, finally pulling the blonde into a hug. Maura wrapped her arms around Jane tightly, squeezing as her tears let up and she began to smile again, burying her face into Jane's wild locks. She smelled so good, so familiar, so much like home. Maura didn't want to let go, but Jane finally pulled back a little and wiped away another tear.

"Come on. Let's get you to bed."

"Will you stay?" Maura asked. "Please?"

"Of course I'll stay," Jane smiled. "Besides, my mother would kill me if I wasn't here in the morning to help. I don't care what she says."

The two laughed as they made their way into Maura's bedroom and collapsed on the bed, too exhausted to do anything but fall right to sleep.