Jane was walking towards her desk in the squad room when Maura appeared out of nowhere, grabbed her hand, and dragged her onto the elevator.

"Hi," Jane said in surprise. "Is everything all right?"

Maura pushed the "close doors" button. "Kent kissed me," she informed Jane.

Jane recoiled in shock and horror. "What? On the lips?"

"Yeah. We were just talking and suddenly he just…kissed me," Maura said, her eyes wide.

"I'm gonna kill him."

"He knows I'm married to you. And that I'm having your baby."

"I know!"

"And he's my subordinate!"

"I know!"

"So even if I weren't married to you, any romantic involvement would be strictly out of the question."

"I know! I will kill him. Where is he?"

"He's…no. You can't kill him. I have to talk to him."

"You can talk to him while you're doing his autopsy."

The elevator doors opened and they stepped out into the basement, Maura making a beeline for the autopsy room. Jane thought maybe that was where Kent was, so she followed her. But he wasn't there.

"I'm serious, Maura, tell me where he is so I can do my job."

Maura whirled around. "No, you need to let me do my job," she said sternly. "I'm his boss. He stepped out of line, so it's my job to talk to him. I'm only telling you for moral support."

"So you're going to fire him, right?"

Maura sighed. "Only as a last resort. First I want to find out why he did it."

"Why do you think he did it? His boss is hot, so he made a move. It's sexual harassment. So fire his ass."

"The more I think about it, though, the more I think he was just trying to distract me." She frowned. "I'm not sure why he wanted to distract me, but the way it happened, I just don't really think it was intended to be romantic or sexual. It was like he just wanted me to stop talking."

"I will kill him," Jane repeated.

"Please, Jane. Let me handle it. If I need your help, I'll let you know."

Jane sighed. "Fine. But I have my gun, so all you have to do is say the word."

She left Maura to do her thing, but she was seething. That man had no right, and Maura should not be putting up with it. She understood why Maura wanted to handle it herself, and she knew she'd be out of line if she tried to handle it for her. She would wait and see what happened when Maura talked to him, and then she'd decide if she needed to take any additional action.

Maura didn't get a chance to talk to Kent until the next day. Jane ran into him once before that talk, but she simply smiled and said hi. It wasn't a friendly smile, and he definitely knew it. He looked scared. Good, Jane thought. He damn well better be scared of me.

"Did you finally talk to Kent?" Jane asked as she unlocked her car at the end of the day.

"I did," Maura said, getting into the passenger seat. "I was right. He just wanted to distract me."

"From what?"

"He was supposed to call a family with a cause of death, but talking to grieving families is hard for him because of what he experienced in Afghanistan. He was desperate to get me off the subject, so he made an impulsive decision that he regrets very much."

"So that's it? You're not going to do anything to him?"

"I took him to notify the family. I want to work with him and get him over this, because if he can't do his job, then he shouldn't be here. And I expect my staff to do what I ask them to do."

"But you also expect them not to forcibly kiss you, right?"

"Of course. He apologized profusely, and I talked to him about the many reasons why it was inappropriate. He knows he will be dismissed if anything like that happens again."

Jane sighed. "Maura, you're too—"

"Don't say I'm too nice. I'm being compassionate, Jane, which I think is a good thing. I know you don't want him near me after this, but I don't think he has designs on me, and I believe it's important to give people second chances. We all make mistakes, Jane. I know you've done things before that could have gotten you fired, and you were grateful for the compassion shown by your superiors."

"Fine," Jane sighed. "As long as you're comfortable with the situation, I suppose it isn't my place to interfere."

"Thank you for acknowledging that," said Maura. "Now, if we can move on to a different subject, I think this weekend would be a good time to go maternity shopping."

"You need maternity clothes already?" Maura had started to develop a very subtle bump, but it wasn't even visible with her clothes on.

"Not really yet, but my pants are starting to get a little tight, and I don't want to wait until the last minute to get what I need. I'm starting to feel more energetic, and the nausea is almost gone, so now is a good time to get some things done."

"Okay, well, I guess you're going to have to get used to wearing normal people clothes for a while."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, they don't really make designer maternity clothes, do they?"

Maura frowned. "Why wouldn't they?"

"Fine. What do I know?"

"I was hoping you'd come with me so I could get your opinion on some of the things I pick out. I want to at least have a few outfits that really get your attention!"

Jane laughed. "You always have my attention. Do they even make sexy maternity clothes, though? I mean, it's not like pregnant women can wear pencil skirts and shit."

Maura looked at her oddly.

"I'm wrong again, aren't I?"

Maura nodded. "I think coming with me would be very educational for you."

Jane groaned. "Fine. But you'd better come up with some really sexy outfit to make it worth my while."

Maura smiled. "Challenge accepted."

XXX

Jane wasn't done with Kent by any means, but she would deal with him on Monday. Her first task was to survive shopping for maternity clothes with her wife.

"I'm officially in the second trimester now, so it's time to get more serious about preparing for the birth," Maura said as she drove them to the maternity clothes shop. "I've signed up for prenatal yoga and water aerobics classes, which I start in two weeks."

"Water aerobics? I thought only old ladies did that."

"Exercising in water engages the abdominal muscles, and women with stronger abs during pregnancy recover more quickly after giving birth. I'm also looking for a childbirth education class we can take together in the third trimester."

"Maura, why do you even need a childbirth education class? What can they possibly teach you that you don't already know? Aside from the fact that you know everything, you've actually delivered a few babies before."

"I haven't given birth to one. And there's plenty for you to learn."

Jane sighed. "So how big is the baby now?"

"It should be around two and a half to three inches long. About the size of a goldfish."

"We're having a goldfish. Got it."

Maura laughed, parking the car in front of a fancy little boutique. "The facial features should be pretty well formed by now. If we could see in there, we might be able to tell if it looks like you." She looked at Jane adoringly, and Jane smiled, wishing she could see. She didn't really care that much if the kid looked like her, but she supposed it was better than having a kid who looked like the sperm donor. Although the sperm donor did kind of resemble Maura, at least in his baby picture.

They fed the meter and walked into the store, which was a lot like the other clothing boutiques Maura had dragged Jane to in the past, only this one just sold maternity clothes. They looked very similar to the clothes Maura normally wore, though. And they had everything. Work clothes, yoga clothes, swimwear, pajamas. There were bras and nightgowns for after the baby came that easily opened up so you could get your boob out. Maura was of course in her element and began happily browsing while Jane followed along feeling like a fish out of water. Maura pulled things off of racks, scrutinized them, and then either put them back or handed them to Jane. Soon Jane's arms were full of maternity clothes, and Maura was finally ready to try things on.

"The dressing rooms aren't that big, so you'll have to wait out here," Maura told Jane. "But I'll come out and model things for you."

"Okay." Jane had done this plenty of times before, so she just handed over the bundle of clothes and found a place to sit. Several minutes later, Maura came out wearing a sexy sleeveless black dress trimmed in lace, with a neckline that dipped down just enough to show a tiny bit of cleavage. It was really a gorgeous dress, but it wasn't what stood out to Jane. What stood out was that Maura looked about nine months pregnant.

"Maura, what the hell?" Jane exclaimed, motioning to her wife's suddenly rather large stomach.

"It's a prosthesis they have in the dressing room, so you can see how everything will fit later in the pregnancy. What do you think?" She turned this way and that, one hand on the fake stomach. This is what she'll really look like in a few months, Jane thought, and suddenly she was hit with a wave of emotion just like when she saw their baby on the ultrasound screen. Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over before she could stop them.

Maura stopped smiling. "Jane, are you okay?"

"I'm okay," Jane said, hastily wiping her tears away. "You look beautiful. I just…"

"Come here." Maura pulled Jane into a standing position and led her into the dressing room, closing the door behind them. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I don't know why I'm so emotional. You'd think I was the pregnant one."

Maura smiled gently. "Tell me what's making you emotional."

"Seeing you look the way you'll look later. It just makes it that much more real."

Maura nodded. "It does."

"And I did this to you. Not physically, but…"

"In a sense, you did. This is something we planned together, and I wouldn't be pregnant right now if it weren't for you."

"Right. And your body's going through a lot of changes, and if any of those changes turn out to be bad for you, it'll be my fault."

Maura took Jane's hands in hers. "Jane," she said softly, "I've heard that men often tell their pregnant wives that they would carry the baby for them if they could. Which is a little hollow, because they know they can't. But before I got pregnant, you made that very offer, and it was a serious offer, because you could have actually done this. Which means that I am carrying this baby right now because I want to, not because I have to or because you made me. It is one hundred percent my choice, and I take full responsibility for anything that happens."

"You can't take full responsibility. Like you said, we planned this together."

"This pregnancy is not on any level something you did to me, Jane. It's a gift you gave to me. It's something I want very much and wouldn't have if not for you. And it makes me love you that much more." She put her arms around Jane's neck and kissed her.

Jane held Maura as close as she could with the prosthetic stomach between them. "I'm not just emotional because I'm scared. The whole thing is just…amazing. And terrifying. I'm watching our wildest dream come true." She stepped back and looked Maura up and down. "You're going to be so incredibly beautiful when you're this pregnant."

Maura grinned. "So you like the dress?"

Jane cleared her throat. "I love it. You look sexy."

"You want me to get it?"

"You'd better!"

"You'll have to take me out someplace nice so I have a reason to wear it."

"I think I can handle that."

Maura gave her a huge smile and Jane, feeling a little more normal, went back out to let her finish trying things on. An hour later, they left the boutique with four bags of maternity clothes, including a few pencil skirts.

XXX

On Monday, Jane waited for her opportunity. Kent probably thought the worst was over and that he was going to get by with what he'd done, but he was wrong.

In the middle of the afternoon, he came upstairs to bring test results to Frankie. Jane pretended at first to be minding her own business, but when Kent headed back to the elevators, he found Jane waiting for him.

"Hi," she said, giving him the same smile she gave to suspects she knew she was about to nail.

"Detective Rizzoli," he said, not returning her smile.

"Could I talk to you in the break room for a minute?"

He hesitated, looking like he'd rather do literally anything than talk to Jane in the break room. "Sure," he said, sounding defeated. He followed her into the break room and watched in resignation as she closed the door behind them.

"I imagine you know what I want to talk to you about," Jane said, folding her arms.

"I assume Dr. Isles told you about my…transgression."

Jane chuckled. "Your 'transgression.' That's cute." Her smile vanished. "Maura is my wife."

"I know, Detective, and I really didn't mean any harm. For the record, I have no romantic interest in Dr. Isles."

"You're damn right you don't. But I don't need to lecture you about the wrongness of kissing somebody else's wife. You already know that. And I don't need to tell you about the inappropriateness of kissing your boss, because I'm sure Maura already went over that with you."

"Yes, she did," he said warily.

"So I'm going to tell you something you might not have thought of."

He sighed. "I'm all ears."

She gathered her thoughts, trying to think of a way to say this that wouldn't make Maura upset if she found out. "I know you haven't worked here long, and there's a lot you don't know. But some of your coworkers have been here for years, and I'm sure you've heard them talk. I'm sure you know that Maura has been through a lot in the past."

"Yes."

"What have you heard about her abduction two years ago?"

"I heard that she was taken by a serial killer, that she'd been working the case. And that she was…sexually assaulted."

Jane nodded grimly. "What you did, kissing her when she didn't want to be kissed, could have been very triggering for her."

"I'm sorry, Detective. I didn't think."

"Obviously not. But you're going to think next time, and do you know why?"

"Because I care about her well-being?"

"Sure. And because you're going to see my face in your mind any time you have some stupid impulse from now on. Did you happen to hear anything about what I did to the man who took Maura?"

"You killed him."

She nodded. "I knocked him down a flight of stairs and then shot him through the heart three times. I had to kill him fast, because I needed to get Maura out of there as quickly as possible. But I've had two years to think about all the things I would have done to him if I'd had the time to kill him slowly. And if anyone were stupid enough to do something that caused Maura to have some kind of flashback or nightmare about that man, I can't promise my rage wouldn't come out on that person. I can't say for sure that I wouldn't do some of those things I've thought about, even if it cost me my badge."

Kent grimaced. "Message received, Detective Rizzoli. May I get back to work now?"

"Go."

Kent hurried out of the break room and took the stairs rather than wait for the elevator. It wasn't until he was gone that Jane realized she was shaking.