Sat on the carpeted floor of Jane's apartment with her legs crossed and her back straight whilst leaning back against the sofa she was sat playing a children's board game with the daughter of Jane Rizzoli.

The little one was named; Alessandra Dorthea Rizzoli. She had dark curly hair and brown eyes, the image of her mother with the tanned complexion and stunning smile. Maura couldn't help but smile every time she saw the little one, having been overjoyed to be her godmother and even more so to be involved in the upbringing of the child's life.

She enjoyed being able to support her best friend through motherhood however secretly it tortured her that she could not support her best friend in the manner of which she wanted to. She could not kiss her. She could not lay with her at night. Well she could just not in the way she craved. She could not tell her how much she truly loved her. She could not tell her how much her heart exploded in the depths of her chest every time she saw her, every time she heard her voice or even heard her name spoken. She had fallen truly head over heels in love with the detective years ago and yet felt she could not tell her at all.

Suddenly the little girl looked up at the medical examiner and tilted her head to the right side slightly with a look of curiosity, "Are you dating Mama?", she asked softly.

Maura looked down at the board game before back up into the brown eyes of the detective's daughter, "No, I am not", she said with a rather sad smile, "Why do you ask?".

Ignoring the question posed in return, she asked another, "Why not?".

The medical examiner sighed heavily as she thought about her response with care, "Some people date men and some date women, your mother dates men and because I am a woman that will never happen", she said simply. She didn't know what else to say as she did not have the inability to lie and that was the only truthful reason that she could think of at such a last minute.

The little girl thought about that for a moment, "Couldn't she like both?", she asked with much curiosity, "My Barbie doll has boyfriends and girlfriends". Her best friend at school was the daughter of Mrs and Mrs Jacobs and so the concept of dating the same gender was an already accepted concept that the children used with their dolls during playdates.

Maura nodded, "Well yes I guess that is possible but I don't think she does", she said softly

The child whose nickname was 'Lessie' began to giggle, making the medical examiner ask with a confused tone and facial expression what the child found so amusing.

"You guessed", the little girl said with amusement, she knew that her mother's best friend did not guess and so on the rare occasion it happened, she found it rather amusing.

Maura simply smiled at her.

Lessie looked at the woman in front of her with a smile, "Do you like my Mama?", she asked with a smile.

"Of course, we're best friends", she said with a smile.

The child shook her head, "No like dating like, like in love with…", she reworded her original question and continued to watch the woman with a look of curiosity. Maura had gone silent and to try and get an answer, the child posed another question, "Do you want to date Mama?".

Maura bit her lip and with a rather sad expression painted across her face of which she had been unable to cover up, she put her hands on the girl's cheeks, "Your mama is the most amazing and beautiful woman in the world and I do love her", she paused, "I love her with all of my heart and soul". She took a deep breath before continuing, she was always honest with the young girl although at that moment she wished she could lie because the topic was too difficult for her to discuss. "She could have anyone in the world, and whoever she chose would be very very lucky but sweetheart… however much I wish I could be at the top of her list… I will never even get near the bottom of it", she said softly with a broken hearted undertone within her voice, "She doesn't see me that way".

The little girl nodded, and sighed, "Okay", she said simply as she knelt up to hug her godmother. "Hey Mama", the little girl exclaimed seeing the detective in the doorway. Jane had been working late on a case as she had to finish interviewing a suspect and so Maura had volunteered to take care of the child for the evening. It was now nearly the child's bedtime but Jane was rather glad to get back in time to read a story to her child.

"Hey my little princess", the detective said with excitement as she stepped into the room to pick up her child and embrace her happily, "Did you have fun with Maura?". She asked knowing the answer would be a positive one as it always was.

Alessandra nodded, "We went to the park first, had ice cream and then we came back and played for a little while and Maura cooked pasta for me for dinner. Then I had a bath and Maura made my hair all pretty, see?", she said indicating to the french plait. "Then I had fruit for dessert and then we got to play a game too", the little girl had a huge smile on her face throughout the whole explanation of their afternoon of activities.

"How about you go and brush your teeth, then I will come and read to you?", she said softly, not bothering to tell the child to tidy away the game. She had much more pressing matters on her mind. Her best friend was in love with her. The woman she had loved for years had just admitted to her daughter that she loved her.

The little girl looked to Maura once she had been put down onto the floor, "Will you come and listen to the story too? and come say goodnight?", she asked. The question of which she usually asked the medical examiner.

The smartly dressed woman nodded, "Of course", she said with a smile. She rather liked to listen to the stories that Jane told as they always had a rather unusual twist such as Cinderella playing baseball, and the dwarves of Snow White being detectives.

The little girl ran off to the bathroom to brush her teeth, and Maura began to pack away the game. Her hands were shaking slightly as she was unsure as to whether Jane had heard her confession or not. She feared that she would lose her best friend, although she wanted more from the friendship she had already decided that being the woman's friend was better than nothing at all. She would not do anything to jeopardize the relationship they had. She was regretting the decision to tell the truth to the child, she had instantly wished she could lie or that the floor would some how swallow her up by denying the laws of physics.