I'm heading into "too long; did not read" territory. If you've stuck around this long, THANK YOU!


"Frankie, it's Jane." Jane was pacing back and forth in her kitchen as she talked on the phone with her brother.

"Hey, Jane. What's up?"

"Listen… are you busy tonight? I got some stuff I want to talk to you about." She glanced over at Maura who was preparing chicken for dinner.

"Must be serious. Does it have to do with a case?"

"No. It's personal."

"If you're trying to get me over there so you can pound on me for putting that 'I break for Cannoli's' sticker on your car, you can forget it." Jane could practically hear the smile playing on her brother's lips.

"No, that's not it. I just… Maura's cooking chicken."

"Really?" He paused for a moment, and Jane was sure he was just doing it to annoy her. "Well, if Maura is going to be there, I guess I'll be safe. What time?"

"About an hour?"

"Yeah, I can make that. See you two then."

Jane put her phone down on the table and glanced around the room. Her nerves were frayed. She hadn't spoken with her mother since she had come by that afternoon, so she wasn't sure what her father thought of the new developments in her relationship with Dr. Isles. But, she was glad her mother had kept to her word and had not told Frankie yet.

"He's coming?" Maura placed the chicken in the oven and started cleaning up from the preparation.

"Yeah, he'll be here in about an hour." Jane ran her hand through her hair.

"You don't have to tell him, Jane. I'm sure your parents would keep your confidence, and I'm happy to do whatever I need until you're more comfortable." Jane watched Maura start working on a salad. She decided to be useful and help.

"I know." Jane stared a little too intently at the cutting board. "I just, you know, don't want him to feel like I left him out." She managed a sideways glance at the blonde next to her. "This is kind of a big deal, and he's my brother."

"Are you worried he won't deal with this well?" Jane could feel Maura's hand resting on her arm. She shook her head.

"No, I don't think it'll be a real issue with Frankie. He's a pretty open-minded kind of guy, you know? I just feel like things are moving kind of fast." She turned to face the other woman. "I'm not complaining. I'm just out of my comfort zone."

"I understand."

"How are you dealing with this so well?"

"I'm not. I am as nervous as you are." Maura reached up to place a hand on the side of Jane's face. "But, I trust your family. They have always been very welcoming of me." Jane's breath caught as Maura ran her thumb over Jane's bottom lip. "I trust you to protect me." Jane complied as Maura pulled her down for a kiss. "I hypothesize the outcome will be fine."

Jane chuckled. "Is that your professional opinion, Dr. Isles?"

"Yes, it is, Detective Rizzoli." Maura pulled away and began working on side dishes. "Now, go set the table and help me finish or dinner will not be done before your brother arrives."


"Something smells good." Frankie opened the front door without so much as knock. "Hey Jane, Maura."

"Hello, Frankie." Maura smiled as she finished plating the meal she had just cooked.

"You could knock, you know." Jane grabbed some glasses to put down on the table as she made a face at her brother.

"What? The door was open. I figured you wouldn't care if I just came in." He walked over to the table and sat down. "You know, as an officer, I really should remind you how dangerous it is to leave your front door unlocked, Jane. You don't know what kind of sick, perverted person might try to come in on you unannounced."

"You're right, but, since you're here, what do you want to drink?" Jane heard Maura chuckle from somewhere behind her.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny, Janie. Tea?"

"Sure." Jane poked Maura in the side as she grabbed the tea from the fridge.

"I hope you like it, Frankie." Maura set the chicken down on the table as Jane added the side dishes and drinks. "It's a new recipe I ran across a few days ago."

"Well, if it tastes as good as it looks, it's got to be good." Frankie glanced over at Jane and shot her a mischievous grin. "Janie, have you already tried Maura's chicken? I bet you have. Does it taste as good as it looks?"

Jane nearly choked on the tea she'd just taken a drink of.


Dinner went smoothly. Jane kept the conversation geared toward talk about sports and work. Frankie mentioned a few things that had happened between him and their parents since he'd seen Jane a couple of days before.

Maura added things here and there, but Jane noticed that she kept quit, and her eyes seemed to stay on her plate. Jane wasn't sure if Maura was afraid of giving something away or uncomfortable with the course of the conversation. It wasn't until Frankie excused himself from the table that Jane was able to find out what was going on with the doctor.

"Maura, are you okay?" Jane glanced toward the bathroom door. "You haven't really said anything all evening. That's pretty unusual for you. Where's that Google mouth of yours?" She reached over and placed a reassuring hand on the blonde's arm. "Are we making you feel left out?"

"I'm fine, Jane. I'm just finding it difficult to not look at you as if," she made a face, scrunching her nose up in concentration. "I'm not able to keep the fact that I want," she sighed and looked into Jane's eyes. "Jane."

It always amazed Jane how much Maura could convey in just the intonation of her voice as she said Jane's name. In this instance, it was clear what Maura wanted, and it had nothing to do with the dessert sitting in the fridge.

Jane blinked.

"I'll tell him when he gets out of the bathroom."

"Tell me what?" Frankie walked back into the kitchen and plopped down in his chair. "Are you going to tell me what's for dessert? Because, I gotta say, Maura, that meal was amazing, and I can't wait to see what you had in mind for dessert." Again, Jane noticed that her brother shot her a sly look as he spoke.

Jane watched Maura stand and move around the kitchen as she pulled things together for dessert. "I had considered baking something, but I found that I wouldn't have enough time to properly prepare a pastry. Also, the heat outside tends to lend itself to something that isn't too heavy after such a heavy meal. So, I decided something light was in order." Maura set down three small dessert dishes filled with a scoop of something slightly orange in color. "Papaya sorbet with a crème liquor." She poured a small amount of liquid over each dish. "The papaya is thought to help with digestion, and the coldness of the dessert over-all…"

"It looks great, Maura." Jane cut her off with a smile as she tugged at her arm to get her sit down and eat the dessert. "I didn't realize you knew how to make sorbets."

"I didn't realize you knew what a sorbet was, Janie. Hanging around Maura's been a civilizing influence on you." Frankie leaned just out of Jane's reach before she could do anything to him. "Why you gotta be so violent all the time?"

"Why do you have to be a jerk all the time?" Jane gave her brother a death glare.

"I'm your brother. That's my job." He winked at Maura for good measure. "This is good Maura. So, what did you really call me over here for? I really doubt you wanted to share Maura's cooking with me. If I were you, I'd keep her all to myself just for the cooking alone."

Maura smiled in thanks. Jane rolled her eyes again.

"Right," Jane pushed her dish toward the middle of the table and took a deep breath. "You know how Ma is always bothering me to find someone and settle down?"

"Yeah, drives you nuts." He leaned over and said in a more confidential tone. "Better you than me."

"Yeah, it does and, no, it isn't." She chewed on her thumbnail for a moment as she thought of what to say next. "Well, she's not going to bother me about it anymore."

"How'd you manage that?" He put his spoon down. "Jane, you didn't kill Ma did you? She was supposed to cook cannoli's tomorrow night for the family."

"No!" She flashed him a look of shock. "Look, Frankie, what I'm trying to tell you is that… well," she shrugged and looked down at the tabletop, "I'm dating someone."

She glanced up in time to see Frankie's eyebrows rise. "For real? And Ma knows?"

"Yeah, she knows."

"How is it that everyone in the family, all the neighbors, and half the world doesn't know about this? Jane, how have you kept Ma from telling everyone?"

"I asked her to keep it quiet."

"And she actually did?" He shook his head. "Who are you dating? A serial killer?"

"No, but they do deal with the dead a lot."

Frankie sat there for a moment as he finished his dessert. "So, how long have you and Maura been seeing each other?"

"Wait a minute," Jane shot out of her chair. "You knew? How could you possibly know?"

"Come on, Jane. The whole department has been wondering when you two would finally hook up." He picked up the empty dishes and took them to the sink. "It's about time, if you ask me."

"Thank you, Frankie." Maura began clearing away the table. "I've been trying to get Jane's attention for months now."

"Wait… wait, wait, wait, wait." Jane stood in the middle of her kitchen trying to understand what was happening. "What do you mean you've been 'trying to get my attention for months'? My attention how?"

"Seriously, Jane, for a detective, you're not too good on the uptake," Frankie said as he started washing the dishes. "You two have been going out on dates for, what? Three months now?" He looked over to Maura for confirmation.

"If you were to think of it in a less than platonic way, then yes. That would be a good timeframe." Maura started drying the dishes as Frankie washed them.

"Okay, did you two plan this?" Jane ran her hand across the bottom half of her face in frustration. "I feel like I fell into the middle of a conspiracy or something."

Maura dried her hands and crossed the small space. She placed a light kiss on Jane's cheek. "Don't be silly, Jane. Sometimes you can be slightly obtuse."

"Obtuse?"

"Yeah, you know, thick headed?" Frankie reached over and rapt Jane in the head a couple of times to prove his point.

"Hey, stop it, Frankie." She glared at him and then shifted it to the ME. "I feel like I was the last one to know what the hell was going on here." She plopped back down in her chair in exasperation.

"Language, Jane."

"If you're going to date my sister, Maura, you better just get used to it." Frankie said with as much seriousness as he could muster. Jane could tell he was really enjoying her current uncomfortable situation.

"I guess that means you're not freaked out about this, then?" She asked as she stared up at him.

"Nah, I think it's great." He walked over to the couch and picked up his jacket. "Listen, I gotta run. Me and a couple of the boys are having drinks tonight, and it's NOT my turn to pay." He waved. "Later guys. Thanks for the meal, Maura. It really was great. Janie, take good care of her. If she does other things as well as she cooks, she's a keeper."

He slipped out the door.

Maura chuckled and placed a hand on Jane's back. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She sighed. "Why does everyone have to make sexual innuendo comments before they leave my apartment? It's like my life has turned into a walking lesbian joke."

"Did you just call yourself a lesbian?"

"No. I called my life a walking lesbian joke. There's a difference, Maura."

"I see. How is it one's life can be a 'walking lesbian joke' if the person in question is not, in fact, a lesbian?"

Jane looked over at her companion with a look somewhere between disbelief and terror. "I'm not having this conversation right now. Can we just get ready for bed?"

"Do you want me to spend the night tonight?"

Jane sat up with a start from her slouching position in her chair. "Oh, yeah… I guess I forgot you've got things to do." She stood and walked towards the door. "Will I see you tomorrow? I don't think Ma will have a problem if you come over for Sunday dinner. Her cannoli's are pretty good."

"You didn't answer my question, Jane."

"Come on, Maura. You know I do."

"You owe me."

"What?"

"If we're really serious about this relationship, I think it's important to set rules down in the very beginning. I think it's only fair that, for every night I spend here, you should spend a night at my home."

"Okay," Jane walked back toward the kitchen. "So, do you want me to spend the night with you tonight?"

"Yes. Bring Joe. I'd hate for her to get lonely. Besides, she and Bass seem to get along well together."

"Right, I'll meet you there?"

"Fine." Maura kissed Jane soundly and then grabbed her bag from the bedroom. "I'll see you in little while?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Maura opened the front door. Jane couldn't help but notice the gleam in her eyes. "I look forward to seeing you tonight," she said with a laugh as she closed the door behind her.

"Damnit."


Will probably post more tomorrow.