I was hoping to have this chapter posted last night but a crazy snow storm resulted in a power outage, which prevented me from doing so. I am working every day from now until Christmas so it's unlikely that I will be able to post again before that, but I will try to write a chapter for one of my stories. Hope everyone enjoys the holidays!

Thanks so much for reading! –J

Disclaimer: Some of the storyline comes from the episode "Throwing Down the Gauntlet from Season 3

Chapter 4- Decisions, Decisions

"I'm late, I'm sorry! I am so late," Jane rushed into Amelia's Senior Kindergarten classroom looking slightly flustered as she interrupted Maura and Mrs. Kensington, who had been chatting casually as they waited for the Detective. "I'm really sorry. I had every intention of getting out early but then we got a lead and I had to run some searches and…."

"Jane," Maura interrupted with an amused look on her face as she watched the brunette try to catch her breath. "It's okay," she assured her, knowing how much her fiancé cared about this meeting. "Mrs. Kensington and I have just been catching up while we waited for you. It's no problem."

"Yes, it's very nice to see you again Detective Rizzoli," Mrs. Kensington, an older woman who had been teaching for close to 30 years, greeted Jane. "I'm so glad that both you and Maura could meet with me. And I hear congratulations are in order as well. Amelia told the whole class about how her Mothers were going to be married," she smiled.

"Oh thank you," Jane finally took her seat next to Maura, her face slightly red; grateful when Maura reached out and took her hand. "Mia is quite excited about the wedding."

"She has talked about nothing else the last week," Mrs. Kensington smiled. "She has been quite engaged with the other students, which I know is something you worried about last year when she started out," she continued, getting down to business. "Socially Amelia is doing extremely well. She has a close group of friends but she also seems rather comfortable interacting with the rest of the class as well. She is quite a bit ahead of them though intellectually and I'm afraid it has resulted in quite some boredom during work periods," she explained. "I've done as much as I can to offer extra work and tasks to keep her challenged, but I am afraid that this will only mean she will continue to feel bored next year as she's already completing most of the work that would be covered in first grade."

"So you still think she should skip a grade?" Jane was the one to ask.

"I think it's our best option," Mrs. Kensington nodded. "Amelia is so gifted and has such a big love of learning. I think to not skip her ahead would be depriving her of the education she deserves."

"But won't it risk setting her back socially?" Maura voiced her biggest concern. "She's been doing so well making friends, which we really didn't think was possible at one point. I'm just afraid if she skips a grade she will struggle to make friends in her new class."

"I understand your concern," the teacher replied with a nod. "However I do think that Amelia may relate better to the students in her new class," she continued. "And she will still be able to see her friends during recess and outside of school. It will be an adjustment yes, but I really do believe she will do well."

"And what would happen the rest of this year if we do decide to have her skip?" Jane asked, giving Maura's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Since we're more than halfway through the year obviously we will have Amelia continue on with the rest of the year here with me," Mrs. Kensington explained. "However I would have her spend some time in the first grade room in order to get to know her new classmates. And I will continue to offer her work that will keep her challenged and ensure that she would be going into second grade prepared."

"That seems to make the most sense," Maura nodded, looking slightly anxious as she turned to Jane. "What do you think about all this?" She asked her future wife. "You think it's a good idea?"

"I do," Jane nodded, seeming slightly cautious. "But I will support whatever you decide."

"We need to decide together," Maura shook her head, sighing as she bit her lip nervously.

"We don't have to decide anything today," Mrs. Kensington interrupted. We still have several months left of the school year. For now I can keep doing what I've been doing and when you've both decided what you want to do you can give me a call. Does that sound fair?"

"Yes, very," Maura nodded, looking relieved to not have to make a decision right away as all three women stood up, understanding that the conversation was over for now. "Thank you so much again for seeing us. We'll be in touch?"

"I look forward to hearing from you," Mrs. Kensington replied with a kind smile. "Have a good night ladies."

"Thank you," Jane grinned, leading Maura by the hand towards the hallway. "Let's go Dr. Isles. We've got some decisions to make."

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Though they had a lot to think about Jane and Maura had remained uncharacteristically quiet on the way home, both thinking quietly rather than sharing their thoughts with each other. By the time they had arrived home they were met with an over-energetic Amelia, who had been given too many chocolate cookies from her Uncle Tommy, who was babysitting for the night. Needing to wrangle Amelia into bed, the couple busied themselves with bath and story time, the little blonde eventually winding down enough to finally fall asleep.

"We're gonna do it right?" Jane was the one to finally break the silence once she and Maura had retreated to their bedroom for the night. "I mean I know we said we were gonna take some time to think about this…about how it affects Mia, but we're gonna do it right? I mean…we kind of have to don't we?"

"Why would we have to?" Maura asked, coming out of the walk-in closet wearing a silk nightgown and robe. "We don't have to do anything."

"I think we owe it to Amelia to do it though," Jane pointed out, pulling off her clothes in order to put her pajamas on as well. "I mean the kid deserves the chance to excel. Mia is too smart not to give her this chance Maur. You see that don't you?"

"Of course I do Jane," Maura sighed, plopping down on the bed. "But I'm worried about how upset Amelia will be when she finds out she won't be in class with her friends anymore," she continued. "I hate to take that away from her."

"She's still going to have her friends Maur," Jane reminded Maura, sitting down next to the blonde and rubbing her leg comfortingly. "And she's going to get to meet a whole new class of kids. She's going to make even more friends."

"And what if she doesn't?" Maura countered, turning to the brunette. "What if we decide this for her and she hates it?"

"Then we pull her back out," Jane was quick to reply, shrugging her shoulders as if it was the simplest answer in the world. "We pull her out, she goes back to her regular class and we find some other way to make sure she doesn't get bored," she explained. "It'll be okay Maur. We'll work it out however this turns out, but we owe it to Mia to give this a shot."

"I know," Maura nodded. "I know. You're right," she sighed, unsure why she was suddenly so nervous about this decision. "We'll need to talk to Amelia though. You'll talk to her with me?"

"Of course I will," Jane grinned, wrapping her arms around the blonde before pulling her down so they were lying together, placing a kiss on the side of her head. "Always."

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Though the couple knew it would be best to talk to Amelia sooner rather than later, it was a case that woke them early the next morning; the sun not even up yet as they both answered their phones to find out where they were needed. Not wanting to wake Amelia, Jane and Maura had both tiptoed into her room in order to give her a kiss before leaving her with Angela, who would get her off to school.

Arriving at the crime scene, Jane and Maura found Korsak and Frost waiting for them. "Where's our vic?" Jane called out as she followed Jane into the alleyway. "Don't tell me you lost them already."

"Nah, she's in there," Frost pointed to the dumpster he was standing beside. "Sorry Dr. Isles looks like you may have to get a little dirty today. Probably should have worn something a little less fancy," he said, glancing at the skirt and heels the medical examiner was wearing.

"Oh no problem," Maura shook her head, pulling a white jumpsuit out of her bag and zipping it up over her outfit before climbing up into the dumpster.

"Dr. Isles always comes prepared," Jane replied with a grin. "And she happens to love dumpster diving," she said, laughing at the surprised look on Frost's face. "Do we know who she is?" She then asked, peering into the dumpster at the body of the young woman lying inside.

"Name's Celia Jaffe, 27 years old," Korsak read from the wallet Maura had pulled off the young woman and handed to him. "Although it's difficult to tell if the picture matches considering how badly she's been beaten."

"Her hands have been burnt as well," Maura held up the woman's arm revealing a hand, which was burnt to a crisp.

"Wow someone really wanted to torture her," Jane said, a disgusted look on her face. "Any guess as to cause of death."

"Jane you know I don't guess," Maura practically scoffed. "Plus it's almost impossible to tell given how severely she was beaten. I won't know much until I perform the autopsy."

"Okay then," Jane nodded, reaching a hand towards her fiancé. "Let's get you out of that dumpster than Doc. That's enough playing for the day."

"Ha ha," Maura replied sarcastically, allowing Jane to help her out of the dumpster. "I'll have my techs move the body. Are you driving back with me or are you going back to the precinct with Frost and Korsak?"

"I'll hang back with the guys," Jane replied. "I will come down to see you later?"

"Sounds good," Maura nodded giving Jane a smile and a wink. "I will see you after Detective."

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"Well it turns out our victim is not Celia Jaffe," Jane announced as she let herself in to Maura's office later that day where the blonde was searching something on her computer. "In fact I just talked to the real Celia whose purse was stolen then returned to her with everything except her ID," she explained. "So obviously our vic was hiding from someone and I'm willing to guess that, that someone finally caught up with her. What are you doing?" She finally noticed the suspicious look on her fiance's face. "Don't tell me you're sitting here looking up Hope again."

"She founded a medical relief agency for doctors to help woman and children and she's been living abroad for the last 20 years," Maura replied, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "She even developed a technique to identify victims of genocide that's still widely used and she has an 18 year old daughter. Which means I have a sister. Well a half sister. And Hope she's…she's absolutely amazing, which is all a little intimidating but also incredibly fascinating."

"So then why don't you contact her?" Jane asked with a sigh, still not understanding why Maura was hesitating to get in touch with her birth Mother when she so obviously wanted to.

"Because Jane, obviously Hope doesn't want to meet me," Maura shook her head sadly.

"What do you mean she doesn't want to meet you? Maura she doesn't even know you're alive!" Jane exclaimed.

"She's back in Boston," Maura told her. "My relationship with Paddy has been all over the news; it was covered by nearly every news outlet in the city. There's no way Hope hasn't seen it and I'm sure she would be able to do the math and ascertain who I am and yet she hasn't reached out. Which leads me to the conclusion that she doesn't want to meet me."

"Maura," Jane did her best not to sound frustrated. "You have no way of knowing if she's seen the news coverage. I mean it sounds to me a little like you're guessing," she said, earning a glare from the blonde as she resisted the urge to laugh. "And you can't let the assumption that Hope already knows about you prevent you from reaching out to her. Come on Maur," she sighed. "Write her an email. Call her."

"I…" the words seemed to get lost in Maura's throat, looking both anxious and sad. "I need to get started on the autopsy," she said instead, already moving to get her scrubs from her closet. "I need to try and figure out who our victim is. I will call you as soon as I have anything substantial."

"Alright then," Jane sighed, slightly exasperated. "I'll be waiting."

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With Maura still working on identifying their victim, Jane was busy working up in the bullpen, trying to find any lead that may help them figure out who the woman laying downstairs on Maura's table was. With very little to go on, the Detective wasn't having much luck, spending much of her time staring at a blank computer screen, having no idea where to even start.

"Does Maura have anything for us on the victim yet?" Korsak interrupted Jane's daydreaming, startling her slightly.

"She was supposed to text me when she had something," Jane replied, checking her phone to see that it still remained message free. "Apparently she's trying some new method she's never used before, but she wasn't having a lot of luck the last time she messaged me."

"Well when was that?" Korsak asked, obviously starting to get impatient.

"Like an hour ago?" Jane shrugged, not quite sure what was taking her fiancé so long.

"Well do you think you could go see if she has anything for us? We're kind of at a standstill here. We don't even know who we've got dead down there," Korsak raised an eyebrow a little curious as to why Jane wasn't already down in the morgue pestering Maura since that was what she would usually do.

"Oh, uh right," Jane hopped up from her seat. "Right I'll do that," she said, already heading towards the elevator. "I'll let you know what she's found," she called just before the elevator doors closed.

Not quite sure if Maura's mind was truly on the autopsy or still on her birth Mother, Jane was slightly nervous about interrupting the Medical Examiner, knowing how irritable she could get when she was struggling with something. Arriving in the basement, Jane made her way down the hallway, finding Maura hunched over the table in the lab rather than in the autopsy room, a look of frustration on her face.

"Please tell me that look means you're close to an I.D," Jane let herself into the lab, Maura looking up with a look that indicated that was not the case. "Korsak's getting a little impatient up there Maur. You know we can't do much if we don't even know who our victim is. I mean we can't even notify the family or anything."

"I know that Jane," Maura sighed. "I'm trying to get you a useable fingerprint but I haven't had any success yet," she explained. "I need a little bit more time. I have one more finger that I can try."

"One more?" Jane tried to keep the worry out of her voice. "You're uh…you're using a new method?"

"Dr. Martin's method," Maura nodded, her eyes downcast, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Dr…you mean your Mother? You're using your Mother's method?" Jane sounded surprised.

"I'm trying," Maura was irritated. "I just can't seem to get it right," she shook her head. "I've followed the method step by step but it hasn't worked. I'm not quite sure what else to do from here."

"You know what you have to do," Jane replied, the shifting of Maura's gaze indicating she knew exactly what she needed to do in order to be successful. "You need to call Hope!" She said when she received no reply. "You can call her and ask her to help you with this and then you can tell her who you are! It's perfect Maura! Come on!"

"No," Maura was quick to reply, shaking her head. "No absolutely not. I can't," she insisted.

"Maura," Jane sounded exasperated. "Look I get it okay? Really, I get it. But I don't think we have much of a choice here," she tried to reason. "I mean you said so yourself, you only have one more useable finger. We need an I.D on this vic, and clearly you need help with this. Dr. Martin seems to be your only option here. You need to call her."

"I cannot just call her Jane," Maura couldn't believe what her fiancé was suggesting. "You know it's more complicated than that."

"I don't think that's something I know," Jane replied stubbornly, not wanting to force the blonde into anything, but knowing she would need a little push to get there. "What I know is that you want to meet your birth Mother. You're curious about her and you want to know her. This is the perfect opportunity for that, and it's a neutral environment. She's not even gonna know who you are Maur. At least call her to help. You don't have to tell her who you are unless you want to," she continued, watching as Maura bit her lip, obviously thinking. "Maura please. We need a fingerprint. Do it for the case."

Sighing, and looking a little like she wanted to cry, Maura pulled out her phone, dialing the number she had already memorized through her research of her birth Mother. "It's ringing," she said as she put the phone to her ear, a look of panic suddenly crossing her face as she practically threw the object at Jane. "I can't."

With no time to argue, Jane put the phone to her ear, the greeting on the other end kicking her into action. "Hello this is Dr. Maura Isles, Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' office calling. Dr. Isles is currently working on a case where she is having a difficult time getting an I.D on the victim and she has been using one of your methods in order to extract a fingerprint," she explained, pausing as she listened to the answer on the other end of the phone as Maura watched on anxiously. "Yes she's having some difficulties and she was hoping that you could come by for a consult…yes as early as possible would be great…yes…half an hour?" She met Maura's widening eyes. "That would be great. I will tell Dr. Isles to expect you. Thank you Dr. Martin. Bye."

Hanging up, Jane looked to the blonde who now looked like she might be sick. "Maura?"

"Half an…half an hour?" Maura practically croaked out. "My birth Mother is going to be here in half an hour?" She looked ready to start hyperventilating.

"She will be here to consult on the case with Dr. Isles," Jane nodded. "It's just for the case Maur. It'll be okay. You can do this."

"I…I don't know if I can," Maura shook her head, her eyes widening with fear. "Oh God. I'm meeting my Mother."