A/N: *** Thank you all for your patience, reviews, and for taking the time to read. Also, the reader who asked me to state my age and referred to me as a ten-year old due to my avatar, please note these two things: One, I mentioned my wife in a previous author's note, we were both born in the eighties. You can tell by my bangs. Two, I have no idea how to change the avatar, please don't let my lack of fluency with this site deter you from reading this. I really put a lot of time, effort, handwritten outlines, into it after pretty much a five year writing hiatus and have very much so enjoyed playing with these characters. Anyhoo - I hope this chapter was worth the wait, there will be more to come in the near future! I look forward to any and all feedback, thank you for taking the time to review, they have all helped in keeping the writer's block at bay. -Kara ***

Chapter 10

My mind couldn't be further from the composed responses and proposals that I've been writing all morning on my laptop in an effort to finalize catering and décor plans with a couple projects for the Isles Foundation. I am getting ready to send the last email as I realize how loud the crunch in Cassidy's cereal is and a grin tugs at the corner of my lips. The noise brings me back to the present and humbles my over-active brain. "You excited for practice today?"

Her hair is in disarray and scattered in wild auburn ringlets over her shoulders and the sight of her warms my heart. "Yes! And Coach Jane told us on Wednesday this practice would be two hours."

She went back to her breakfast as the name Jane rolled around in my head. It caused me to close my laptop and slowly walk toward my office to put it back on the charge. I made a brief stop in the foyer and looked around with a deep breath and hopeful smile.

Last Night

"Everything you've been through, Maur, and you're the most amazing woman I know. And I know we just met a few days ago but I feel like I've always known you. Do you know what I mean?"

"I think I do." I knew exactly.

She sped around to my door to open it and held out her arm as she had done before. Swaying around the front end of the car and to the walkway, our elbows had loosened and arms fell to our sides, our hands and fingers interlocking instead.

"Thank you so much for this evening, Jane." I said with the step up to my front door.

"Thank me? Maur, you were the entertainment. I should be thanking you." She turned toward me with a sweet smile and pulled me into her personal space with our connected hands.

I settled into her with no hesitation. "I suppose you're right," anticipation causing a husky breath to stir from my throat. "You can thank me now." I could hear my heartbeat in my ears, my whole body in a tremble, and a beautiful silence encased us on my front stoop. It was bizarre how familiar this felt with her.

We took a moment and let our eyes rake all over each other's faces until they landed on one another and locked in place. Everything in me had frozen, along with time, as I felt her breath whisper against my cheeks and her scent intrigue my nose. I have never made such eye contact with anyone, but we were able to carry our conversations with just the way in which we would look at each other. I could feel her thoughts and I knew she could feel mine – the connection only strengthening with the tight embrace of our hands.

After being mesmerized by each other for several moments, or hours – I'm still unsure, I noticed a quick glance Jane made behind me, my back to the front window, and a saddening drop in her features. A subtle growl escaped her chest, "my nosy mother," she pointed over my shoulder.

I spun and caught her before she hid behind the drapes. "I guess we should be going in..." The deflation in our bodies mirrored one another's as we pivoted toward the door while I felt her tracing her thumb along the inside of my wrist. I'm sure she was feeling the racing of my heart to make sure it matched hers.

I nervously bit my lip at the recent memory as I finished putting my laptop away. Pushing the idea out of my mind, for a short period of time, I decided I would get all of Cassidy's things together for t-ball and patiently wait until she was ready to go to the field. Patiently, I repeated to myself as a mantra. Out of the two of us, it's hard to tell who was more eager for practice today.

Of course we were the first ones there. I nervously drove into the parking lot this time and pulled into a spot right next to a black SUV. As soon as I put the car in park Cassidy was unbuckling her seat belt and trying to climb out.

I warned her to be patient and that I would open the door because the child safety locks were enabled. She used my hand to help force her and her bag full of t-ball gear out of the door at the same time. We shared a little laughter together before our names were called out one after the other.

"Maura! Cassidy!" The familiar Boston accent brought our attention to the trunk of the SUV parked next to us. Coach Frankie was there checking and unloading all of the equipment for the day. He shone a bright smile at us. "First one's here, that means you get to help bring all this to the field."

"Okay, Coach Frankie, I'm strong!" Cassidy slumped her bag over her shoulder and held out her arms straight out in front of her like a shelf.

He gave a good belly laugh at this before grabbing a couple things from the trunk. "Okay, we got a few helmets," he put one on each stuck out hand and one on her head, "oh, and can't forget about the bases," across her arms he lay a dusty bag with large rubber shapes. "Whoa, you are pretty strong She-Hulk! You can put it right in the dugout on the third base side."

She nodded her head with a bobble of the loosely placed helmet on top and walked slowly to the dugout. Frankie and I still trying to hide our laughter, he turned to me, "So, Fleetwood Mac, huh?" A mischievous smile playing on his face.

I jerked my neck back as I realized what he was referring to and suddenly my fair skin was glowing with a deep crimson blush. "Oh my god," was all I could get out.

He grabbed his chest with hilarity, "yeah, you sang karaoke at a cop bar… it's all over the station now. Wait til' Janie sees what kind of smack-talk she'll get. Can't believe she lost at darts. It's her game."

"Well, news travels awfully fast," I took a deep breath and calmed my nerves and began to smile. "Maybe she got distracted."

He quirked his lip in a knowing way, "I'd bet on it," and then he was off with the rest of the gear and headed toward the diamond.

I doubled back to the driver side of my Prius to grab my phone and the rather large honeycrisp apple I had saved for myself since I hadn't had breakfast yet. I turned and took a bite while pushing the door closed with my hip as another car was pulling in next to me.

She stepped out of the unmarked cruiser and strutted over to me slowly. She was in black jogging pants, a grey zip-up sweatshirt, and a white BPD t-shirt with her dark mane pulled into a ponytail, and my breath immediately left my body. Out of decency, Jane looked away while I nearly choked on the bite of fruit in my mouth. Used to being to so poised and composed at all times, my recovery was less than conspicuous.

"Good morning," her leathery voice circled around me and smoothed out the edges.

"Good morning, Jane," I exhaled heavily. Once our eyes caught we held them for a moment to have the rest of our conversation.

We almost didn't know how to stand around each other without constantly adjusting our positions.

"You gonna offer me a bite?" She held her face seriously with a hint a mischief. I looked from her to the apple several times before I brought it as an offering in her direction. She held up her hand and smiled, her dimples showing a sweet apology.

Our attention was diverted when the next car pulled into the lot. A white Lincoln. I heard Jane quietly grumble as two doors opened and Natalie emerged from the back and Tracy from the driver's seat. She let Natalie run off to the field without so much as a wave, while she made a bee line right to us. This woman was incorrigible.

"Good Morning, ladies. Such a beautiful day for some t-ball." She was wearing black cropped, and very tight, yoga pants, a long violet sweater duster that tied at the waist, with a scandalous v-neck underneath.

"Good Morning Tracy," I greeted her politely while Jane nodded. "Yes, it's a lovely day today."

"Very," she removed her sunglasses and looked me up and down, "very, lovely indeed. In fact, I would go as far to say nothing could be more lovely."

I took a loud bit of my apple to try seem unappealing, in a way.

"Well, gotta go!" Jane diverted Tracy's attention away from my body while my eyes nearly bulged out of my head. "Maur, thanks for the apple," she snatched it from my hand with an even louder chomp. We both knew I watched her teeth sink into the same spot mine had been in. "Sorry I forgot to even feed us last night between the pints of Guinness and karaoke." She turned to jog to the diamond and looked back at us after two full strides with a wicked grin while Tracy and I simply stared at her retreating form.

The persistent blonde woman next to me was silent while she pursed her lips and moved toward the bleachers. Defeat tightening her shoulders while she walked.

Once everyone else arrived, all the girls gathered in a circle for some light warm ups. I watched in awe how Jane and Frankie were able to grasp and hold the young players' attention spans. After stretching and pairing off to play catch, they were divided in half – one group with each of the coaches. Jane was hitting fly balls and seeing how well the girls could catch while her brother hit them bouncy grounders.

I was so engrossed with how well Cassidy was running the drills that I when I checked my watch, just over an hour had passed by. I peered around my shoulder to see Tracy still sitting on the third tier, opposite side of the bleachers, her face stuck in her phone.

"Hey Maura!" The matriarch of the Rizzoli clan shouted my name from behind the bleachers.

"Angela!" I stood to meet her toward the edge of the grass near the lot. "I didn't know you would be here today."

"Oh I usually only go to the big games. I'm just here to drop off the uniforms." She hitched her thumb behind her to a pile of three boxes. "Frankie asked if I could bring them to the field since he and Janie didn't have time after their run this morning.

"Well that is very kind of you. Here, let me help you," I bent from the knees to lift two of the boxes while she grabbed one. We placed them on the bottom bleacher so all the girls could swarm around them and pick out their numbers when the time was right. Angela explained the whole process to me while we stood in front of Tracy's line of sight. And sun. I could almost feel her fuming sighs.

"By the way, Maura, your niece is just the sweetest little girl ever. We had so much fun last night!" She made me feel instantly calm, even with her thunderous Boston accent reaching across the field.

"Cassidy also really enjoyed herself. She really took a liking to you right away."

"She's a smart cookie too, that one. She told me she can read at almost a high school level! You've done wonders with her. It's like it was built in ya all along… Ya know, sometimes it takes child to raise a village."

It was the most simple, and backwards, yet most poignant phrase I had ever heard. "That means so much, Angela, thank you," I reached my hand out to her crossed arms and placed it, with a gentle squeeze, on a cuffed denim sleeve.

"You two will be family soon enough, we'll have to have you over for a Sunday dinner – Rizzoli style."

We chuckled at her choice of words. "We would love to."

"How about tomorrow?"

The immediate offer spun my head slightly, "I... um..." I stammered, "let me discuss it with Cassidy…" I paused to collect myself, "but you know what, I would love to and I know she would too."

"Okay, well, don't tell Janie, we can have it be a surprise." At least this she tried to whisper. "Oh, and I'm so embarrassed about the end of the night. I wasn't spying, I swear. I was just making sure both of you were sober and not falling down drunk. A mother always worries."

Part of me warmed with a blush at the loving nature of this woman. She was loud, boisterous, and ostensibly nosy. But she is also incredibly nurturing, kind-hearted, loving, and just what I always imagined a mother would be like. Then my mind flashed to her jumping behind the drapes right as Jane and I were holding hands and closing in on each other's personal space. "It's quite all right… We were just saying goodnight."

She snapped her mouth shut from the first thought that crossed her mind and went with the second. Taking a step toward me, her voice a low murmur, "I got a good eye-full, Maura. That wasn't just a good night."

I didn't even have a chance to react before all the players were headed right toward us in a swarm of pony-tails and baseball caps.

"After the water break, we'll pass out the uniforms!" Jane's voice called over the top of the tiny bodies swarming for the dugout. She caught my eye as they drew closer and then took notice of her mother. I watched her head move at a rapid pace between us right before she froze. I turned and busied myself with opening boxes while the brunette detective continued toward her team.

Through the remainder of practice, Angela and I chased the sunlight along the bottom tier of the rickety bleachers. I had peered back moments before practice was about to end and noticed Tracy had moved to the fence post at the dugout.

All the other cars were beginning to pull back up in the parking lot. We stood and began to meander our way over to the players while they were having some sort of pep-talk.

"Great practice everybody! Hands in!" Coach Jane lead them in a team cheer before they all scattered to the cars lying in wait.

"All right, last ones, who's going to help Coach Frankie carry all this stuff back to his car?" The athletic and grass-stained brunette motioned to a bench full of equipment and four eager players left behind. Including Natalie and Cassidy.

The Rizzoli matriarch and I stood back while they finished the rest of their chatter in the dug out. We both watched as Tracy left her spot from behind the rusty, metal fence post and approached Jane. I felt Angela's eyes on me as mine burned into the back of Ms. Hale's head. Jealousy was new for me. I rationalized to myself, and since I couldn't detect what they were saying, I motioned for Angela and me to start heading out to the lot. As I turned back to check the whereabouts of Cassidy, Jane caught my eye and held me with a stern gaze before looking away. This was a look I wasn't familiar with yet. I decided to store this away for now as my muddy t-ball player and I figure out what to do for the rest of the afternoon since it was only an early one o'clock.

"I wouldn't worry about her, dear." Mrs. Rizzoli snapped me from my thoughts.

"Worry about whom?"

She smirked at my poor cover up, "they tried already. Didn't work."

My mouth opened but no words fell out. As soon as I was able to grasp the ability to compose a sentence, Natalie and Cassidy were bounding for the car in what appeared to be a race; Tracy and Jane, walking next to each other, not too far behind the girls, with traces of laughter on both of their faces. Impatient knots formed quickly in my stomach.

My Cassidy won the race easily, though they still decided they would race each other in between the lines of the empty parking spaces while the rest of us adults congregated to the side. Frankie and Angela were next to leave, which left Tracy, Jane, and me.

"Well, I would love to stay and chit-chat all day ladies, but we must be going. Jane, as always," she nodded to the detective, a sly smile on her face, "and Maura, a pleasure. We must set up a play date with our girls. Will be seeing you ladies soon." She departed casually and motioned for her daughter to come along. Once Natalie left, Cassidy began throwing the ball and bouncing it from the wall of a brick recreational building behind the dugout.

"Thank you Judge Hale!" Jane shouted to the presumptuous blonde woman. "I'll let you know a good day to bring Lindsey and Kelly by."

Judge Hale. I knew my mouth was hanging open by the size of the smile on Jane's face before she continued with what I hoped would be an explanation. "Those are her older daughters, both play softball in college… thought it would be cool if they came by one day to show the girls a couple things."

My inability to speak had also rendered me motionless. With a frozen reaction from me, it caused her to continue. "I'm sorry… about earlier. If that was too… I don't know. I'm just sorry. I haven't apologized enough to you today yet, so… here it is."

As I watching the clumsy way she was moving her limbs with an apology and the awkward eye contact, I felt what some would refer to as "butterflies" in my stomach. That immediate beautiful lightness to your body, that makes you feel hot and cold at the same time, makes you quiver from head to toe, causes your heart to flutter, and leaves you feeling discombobulated where words and sentences do not form the way they used to because they're falling from your mouth before your brain has a chance to even think about them, "would you like to come over for a picnic in the backyard?" I've never had one of those, not even with Cassidy, in any of my backyards. I was beginning to feel concerned.

"Yeah," she paused; it looked almost as if she was going through the same motions. "That sounds great! I can't remember the last time I had a picnic…"

"Me neither…"

We both stared at the ground with subtle laughter playing behind our lips at the very spontaneous decision.

Jane was the first one to speak, "so, should I just head right over from here?"

"Yes, hopefully we arrive before you so you don't have to wait."

"Oh, something tells me beat you there."

A smirk caught the corner of lip, "care to make a bet on that?"

"Oh no, no. I'll take my chances. Or use my siren." She laughed before turning to head to her car while I gathered Cassidy and all of her newly dirtied items and headed toward mine.

"We're going to have a picnic in the backyard with Coach Jane."

"Cool! When?" I was relieved in seeing the excitement etched in her features.

"Now. As soon as we get home."

"I'm so excited! I've never had a picnic before!"

A small pang in my heart drew my eyes to the rear-view mirror so I could catch her expression. "Well we will have to make sure it's the best one ever then."

I was met with a cheerful giggle while she silently thought to herself for the rest of the car ride home.