See Ch 1 for disclaimers…

Frankie put down his beer and slid over in the booth to make room. "Maura's here."

Korsak looked over his shoulder and watched her determined march through the Dirty Robber. He nudged Frost with an elbow. "If I were you I'd get out of this booth and grab her a glass of wine. Quickly."

Frost followed Korsak's line of sight and his eyes widened when his eyes met Maura's. "Too late." He whistled under his breath. "Something has her annoyed."

Frankie winced when Maura spotted him and her lips thinned. "She's looking at me. Shit." Maura was rapidly weaving her way through patrons and the tables, focused on him. "What did my sister do now?"

Neither Korsak or Frost had time to answer before Maura was standing at their table. Frankie patted the seat beside him and her expression relaxed for a moment.

Maura shook her head slightly. "Thank you Frankie, but I'm not staying." The irritated lines appeared on her forehead again. "I'm only here because your sister seems determined to be particularly frustrating this evening."

She rapped a finger against the table. "Jane walked into my office, dramatically announced that she had to go grocery shopping for cake mix and then proceeded to storm around my office venting." Maura looked down her nose at Frankie. "From what I could surmise the diatribe was primarily about gender inequality in the American Italian culture."

Frankie looked mystified, Korsak looked amused and Frost took another sip of his beer before clearing his throat so Maura would focus on him. Frankie shot him a grateful look. "I think I can help a little bit here Frank. Your sister was pissed off at your mother and somehow your Cousin Teresa's birthday and cake baking was a large part of it." Frost could see the comprehension wash over Frankie. "She told me to ask you about it. I forgot."

Frankie didn't get a chance to respond.

"Precisely." With a hand on her hip, Maura continued. "After she colorfully explained the issues she had with gender roles in the, apparently, patriarchal driven American Italian demographic she moved onto a rather passionate focus on 1950's America versus American culture today. This was followed an extensive lamentation about having to bake a cake for your cousin." She let out a long sigh. "I'll admit I was confused. I asked what baking a cake for someone's birthday had to do with gender subordination. My lack of comprehension was apparently a significant problem. She was rather annoyed I couldn't understand the issue."

Frost sipped his beer. "Well you got more than I did. All I did was ask if you were going to help." He looked between Korsak and Maura. "Mistake."

Korsak chuckled. "But that is the only part makes sense." Then he laughed a bit harder. "Though I am telling you I would pay for pictures of Jane baking right now." He stopped laughing when Maura glared at him. "So how come you're here Maura? Shouldn't you be elbow deep in flour at this point?"

Frost jumped when Maura slapped the table with her hand. "I tried. I offered the minute she asked me about the difference between Dunkin Hines and Pillsbury. Boxed cake mix is questionable in flavor and results. I even tried to helpfully point out that neither mix would yield a quality product."

Frankie cringed. He could only imagine how that went over.

Maura waved a hand randomly at the table. "My suggestion seemed to increase her agitation so I offered to have a pastry chef I know create something and drop it by the house for your mother. Apparently, all this did was confirm I was not able to understand her predicament and she told me to find you, because she was, and I quote, done. Then she stomped out of my office." Maura let out a long breath. "Apparently it has little to do with the outcome and more to do with the actual baking activity."

Frankie could feel all sets of eyes looking at him. He sipped at his drink. "It's Cousin Teresa's birthday."

Frost jumped in as Maura's eyebrows lifted and her fingers curled on the table. "Dude, I think we all got that part." He leaned across the table. "Now, what in the heck does that have to do with Jane having to bake a cake?"

Sighing and slumping back against the booth, Frankie glanced at all of them. "Teresa is actually Ma's first cousin and Jane's godmother." They were all still staring at him. "So right. Anyhow. I can't say any of this is going to make sense but part of being the godmother is helping Ma make sure Jane went to Church, was confirmed as a Catholic and generally grows up into a nice young woman." He chewed at his lip. "To clarify that means a marriageable woman with good morals that goes on to have lots and lots of cute, Catholic babies. If Ma were to drop dead, Teresa would step in fulltime. It's taken kind of seriously. Honor and all that to be asked to be the godmother."

They were all staring at him, mystified. Frankie wanted to slide under the table. Unless you grew up in his extended family it wasn't going to make logical sense. "Umm and so in return for making Teresa Jane's godmother, Ma is Teresa's daughter Isabel's godmother. Ma and Teresa? They're really close. But they're kind of competitive."

Frankie took another swig of his beer. "Our whole lives if Jane did something good, Isabel of course did something better. Ballet, piano, cookie sales with the Sprout Troopers. Back and forth between Ma and Teresa. Usually Jane and I get a pretty good laugh over it."

Frankie looked into his empty glass and put it down with a sigh. "Then last week happened. One little problem is Isabel is practically a cross between the Virgin Mary and Martha Stuart. And Jane?"He slid the glass off to the side, watching the condensation on the table streak. "Jane is, well, Jane."

Korsak started chuckling again. Frost had both hands folded on the table looking amused but holding it together. Maura still looked lost.

Frankie tried to explain. "I mean you guys have no idea. Isabel made Ma an entire crocheted bedspread for her last birthday along with sending her cookies in the mail. The freakin' card was a handmade paper cut-out." He shook his head, trying to picture Jane with an exacto knife and pink paper. "So yeah, last week we found out she just got engaged." Frankie looked up at Maura. "To a lawyer no less." He thought he could see Maura starting to understand the situation now. "Then at the end of the call, Teresa offered to come out for a visit to help Jane learn to cook."

He put his head in his hands and didn't add that shortly after that all hell broke loose between his mother and Jane.

When nobody responded Frankie waived his hand in the air. "It was a verbal slap in the face." Still nothing. Frustrated he rubbed the back of his neck. "That is like American Italian for 'you failed as a mother'." Now he could see comprehension wash over everyone.

"So now I'm guessing Ma wants Jane to prove what a wonderful future wife she is going to be. I tried to tell her hell no, don't go there." Frankie shook his head. "We argued. Hard enough and long enough, that I put away two plates of manicotti and still nothing. Ma was stubborn as a mule. Kept trying to tell me that I didn't understand and she had this under control. Eventually I gave up. Jane has to fight this one out on her own." Now he looked back up at Maura. "I had kind of been meaning to pull you aside and ask for your help so this didn't happen." He ran his hand over his hair. "I forgot."

Now Maura was studying him carefully, one fingernail tapping the table surface. He hated when she did that. Frankie looked wistfully at his empty beer mug. Korsak and Frost were flicking their eyes back and forth between Maura and himself. Waiting. The fingernail stopped and he looked up.

"Frankie, you must have a godmother also." Maura waited until he nodded. "Did you have to cook for your godmother?"

"Cook for Great Aunt Ida?" He shook his head. "I had to repaint her back fence once with my older cousin. Mowed her lawn one summer when my uncle's back was hurt."

"But no one questioned your culinary abilities in relation to your ability to find a wife?"

"Nope. That isn't how it works. The kitchen and cooking is 100% off limits to the men and I'm good with that." Frankie shook his head again. "You learn pretty early on to stay the heck out of there and hang out with your uncles. It was terrifying anytime I had to go in there to get my father a new beer. Even early access to the cookies at a family party wasn't reason enough."

He looked steadily at Frost and Korsak. "I guarantee this is how Jane has her ability to handle anything from hostage situations to armed confrontations. Shit gets real in there."

Maura had her head tilted slightly and Frankie squirmed as she considered him. "Don't look at me like that! I'm serious. I always swear I'll know I've met the woman of my dreams if she can go in there and come out mentally sane."

With a last appraising look Maura didn't say anything as she spun on her heel and walked out.

The three men watched her go.

Korsak drained the last of his beer. "If memory serves me right, the last Rizzoli party I went to was at Maura's and Jane was sitting with us watching the game."

Frost nodded. "Yep, and Maura was helping Angela defend her sauce from every other woman in the place."

Frankie signaled for another round. "Exactly. For a detective my sister has the perception of a rock some times."

Korsak and Frost nodded.

A/N – I'm having a good time writing this one, seems to be writing quickly - hopefully you guys will have fun reading it - next few chapters are with my beta :)