See Ch 1 & 7 for disclaimers…

When the elevator doors opened on the back of the lobby Jane kept moving without thought, pushing though the doors and into the bright sunlight. In the back of her mind she realized she shouldn't be leaving but the familiar sights slipped by as she walked.

Eventually the entrance to the Boston Public Garden was floating over her head. The path crossed over the Swan Boats and when the iron archway leading out was steps away Jane stopped. The frantic pace of Charles Street snapped her mind into the present as it sunk in how far she'd come.

Rubbing her forehead lightly she stepped off the concrete pathway and crossed the short stretch of grass. Leaning against the iron fence she looked back the way she had come.

Holy shit. Jane bit her lower lip. She had just kissed Maura.

Maura had kissed her back.

Only it wasn't a kiss. Jane didn't know what in the hell to call that. If that was what kissing was supposed to feel like she'd been doing it all wrong. Maura Isles had swooped in and owned her.

The only consolation was Maura had looked as dazed as Jane felt. Christ, who wouldn't be dazed? Four days ago she'd been trying to block out that Lydia existed and trying to ignore the fact that Maura was proud that she hadn't slept with Rockmond yet.

Yet.

Jane knew, especially after seeing the sketches, how close that reality was. How close she might have been to losing what she was realizing she honestly had right there, in front of her. If Rockmond hadn't been a psychopath, another serial killer, she might have come to this realization and it would have been too late for entirely different reasons.

The irony of the entire situation wasn't lost on her and Jane wasn't certain if she should laugh or cry.

Now she was desperately trying to figure out how she could adopt Lydia's baby and had pretty much bent Maura over her freakin' desk. If they'd been anyplace else she could have guaranteed an unmade bed wouldn't have stopped them. It was like the past four days finally exploded.

Of course only they would have to have the world's most unusual situation as the root cause. Jane closed her eyes. It was their fucking specialty. Unusual situations and a magnetic attraction for serial killers.

Running her thumbs along her palms Jane looked up at the Boston skyline. One could almost say they were destined to be together if one believed in that kind of crap. Which she didn't, but then again she kind of didn't want children before either.

With a sigh she pulled out her phone, impatient for the call to connect. "Hey Frost. Yeah, I know, I'm sorry. No, I'm out of the building. I'm over in the Boston Garden. Can you see if Frankie can drive Tommy home or tell my mother to use my car since it's there anyhow?"

Biting at the side of her thumb she waited for Frost to say something. Needed him to say something just to make sure what had happened with Maura had really happened. He didn't disappoint and she held the phone away from her ear when his voice blasted through the line. "Jane! Damn it, where in the hell are you? I've been looking all over the building for you. You need to listen to me. Think about what you just did. You're a woman Jane. You should get this. I shouldn't have to tell you that you do not kiss a woman like you just kissed Maura and disappear. I promise you, that shit is not going to go over well."

The fact that Frost was actually angry at her rather than asking her what the hell she was doing making out with Maura made her relax for the first time all day. "Not to change the subject I might love you a little bit right now. Thank you for not freaking the fuck out." He'd barked back at her, still not convinced."No, nothing like that you asshole. I'm not going anywhere. I needed five minutes outside to sort shit out. Give me a break already. When is the last time you kissed your best friend in her office while trying to convince her to adopt a baby with you?"

Suddenly Frost started to laugh while trying to talk. When she figured out what he was saying she growled at the phone. "Really? Lesbian U-Haul jokes? I swear to god next floater you'll be the one attending the autopsy. Go make yourself useful and tell my little brother if he is ready to leave and can't wait then he needs to talk to Ma or Frankie about it."

Jane ended the call and scrolled for the next number. She had one last chance to keep it all together.

Maura realized she was running her finger over her lips for the fourth time in as many minutes. Snatching her hand away she tried to adjust to the void Jane always seemed to leave in her wake. Only this time it wasn't a void, it was an abyss.

Jane had managed to cleave a chasm right into the heart of her with a kiss. She'd had lovers that could not achieve that after months of warming her bed. It left her feeling strangely bereft. Wanting. Not just for physical release, there was echo of a need to draw Jane in and let her fill the gulf she created.

That right there was what had left her stunned when they parted. She rested her forehead in her hands, drawing in a deep, cleansing, breath. She didn't have the luxury of time to analyze this just now. It wasn't that she had never entertained a thought of what Jane would be like to kiss. What it would feel like to have the intensity Jane brought to everything she did focused on her but it was an academic curiosity. In practice she had not taken into account her own reaction to the experience.

Maura closed her eyes when her heart started to pound again at the memory of hands in her hair and breath on her face. She ripped her eyes open. This was not the time. Sitting up she noticed the folder Jane had left behind and slid it towards her. It was too thin to be a case file. Flipping it open her breath caught when her own eyes looked back at her. Oh.

Oh. God.

That night, the slip of her zipper, the wine on her lips. It was a moment of personal indiscretion during a time where she questioned who she was and what she was doing with her life. A juxtaposition of who she had been versus who she had become. A moment that she never thought would be shared. A moment that Jane had now witnessed and now the kiss almost made sense. A tipping point.

Jane had claimed her. In hindsight it was frightfully clear. From the moment Dennis had tossed her into Jane's arms barriers the intimate weight of the last few days had been crumbling barriers between them almost by necessity. Until all that was left in the rubble was both of them stripped bare and her body had responded to that claim with the only answer it could. She could not lie.

Maura closed the folder and slipped it into a file drawer, locked it behind her. They still needed to time work through what had happened at Dennis's loft. They needed to work through everything the baby seemed to be dragging to the surface and they needed to do that together. And they would. After they made it through the rest of today. Jane's vehement response to Lydia's reappearance was not something she had been expecting but she could understand it. Especially now. She swallowed thickly. There was no help for the emotion. She wished she could protect Jane.

Family in the palm of her hand. The one thing that meant the most to Jane.

It was tempting. Everything she wanted and the situation had turned into more than she had ever thought possible.

But for her there wasn't a choice, she had made a promise to that infant. Not everything could be placed into categories of right and wrong. Sometimes you had to simply try your best and hope that a decision made with the best intention was right in the end. Maura picked up her phone to make a call.

"Two sugars, cream and I picked a dark roast." Angela placed the ceramic mug down in front of Kosak.

"Perfect, thank you." Smiling at Angela he admired her ease and warmth on what must be a trying day. "You didn't have to get it for me though. I should be waiting on you."

Sitting down with her own mug clasped lightly between her hands Angela offered him a ghost of a smile. "I needed to be busy for a moment and you don't know how I take my coffee."

"I should." Korsak shrugged. "Somebody should wait on you for a change."

Angela took her time taking a sip of coffee. "That would be nice, but today I'd rather stick to what I know, at least when I can." She let out a long sigh. "My poor girls."

Nodding, Vince swallowed his sip of coffee. "Janie wasn't herself this morning. I think this hit her harder that she expected." He drummed his fingers lightly on the table. "Honestly, it hit her harder than I expected. She loves kids, has a big heart for anything needing a home, all I have to do is look at Jo Friday to see that, but I didn't think she'd be quite like this."

Looking at Angela, watching her calmly sipping her coffee, Korsak decided to reach out a little, try and see what Angela thought. "I don't know her like you do Angela, but if I were to guess I think this situation is hard on Jane beyond possibly losing the baby back to Lydia. She was panicked this morning." He waited to see if Angela would add anything but she was still watching him, waiting. "The only time I've seen her like this is when Maura's been in trouble. There is a lot of emotion there. A lot of emotion around Maura to be honest."

Angela put her cup down on the table, staring into the remaining liquid watching the overhead lights reflecting on the liquid surface. So it wasn't just her that could see it. It made it easier in a way. A chance to talk to someone else. "I know."

She left the statement there, floating.

Years of experience interrogating people taught Korsak that sometimes silence could draw out more than any single word you uttered. He continued to sip at his coffee and let his attention wander over the small café.

When Korsak didn't offer anything else Angela focused on the sidewalk outside the window. "You know I thought when they were fighting about Doyle that there may have been more between Jane and Maura than friendship. I'm not going to lie, I was happy I when Jane took up with Casey and Maura got involved with Dennis. I was honestly happy I was wrong."

She sighed, was silent for long moments. "I'm struggling a little right now. Would you believe me it is less about the two of them being together and more about I worry that with lives as complicated as they both lead I wanted them to have one less thing that they might have to navigate?" Angela crossed her arms over her chest and rubbed lightly. "But then I have had to watch them over the past few days. I have never seen Jane like this and she is my baby. I know her. And Maura, always so contained, unless it comes to Jane, then the emotion is raw, obvious and right at the surface. Do you know I can tell when Jane calls Maura just by the look on her face when she answers the phone?"

Korsak caught her eye and nodded, surprised Angela was as intuitive as she was. His respect for her blossomed, Angela Rizzoli was an incredible woman.

Angela dropped her hands to the table, the surface cool against her palms. "Frankly after the past for days watching the way they interacted, the way my Jane 'Don't touch me Ma' was in constant physical contact with Maura and how Maura relied on her, how can any other person, man or woman, ever compete with that?" Angela shrugged. "It dooms any other relationship and the other person is the one that gets hurt."

His sigh of relief must have been audible because Angela just looked at him and chuckled. "I'm not clueless Vince Korsak. I'm a mother. I want my children to be happy and I want them to have an easy life." She shook her head. "But life is not always happy and it certainly isn't easy."

"You're right it isn't easy. But Jane and Maura, they're made of stern stuff. Both of them have seen enough to prove it." Korsak finished his coffee. "Combined I think they're stronger for it. So if they were to end up together I think they'd be just fine if that helps you worry less. Problem is I don't think either of them realizes it yet. I know Jane had no idea why she was so torn up this morning."

Angela shook her head. "You're wrong. They do. They may not understand it yet but I think they both realize there is something there." She let out a sigh. "I love them both enough that after this is all over I'll knock my spoon over Jane's head until she figures it out." When Vince looked at her with a question written on her face she gave him a small smile. "Because I'm her mother and I want to die knowing my children are happy and loved. In the end that is what you get out of life."

He couldn't help the chuckling. The world needed more women like Angela Rizzoli, she was something else. "Do you think Lydia is going to take back the baby?"

"Maybe. Would you think less of me if I admit that I think that she should?" Angela pushed the last of her coffee away. "I can't stand that girl right now, but she tried. If I'm very honest, I can even say she didn't have much in the way for obvious options, especially if I consider her circumstances. I remember I was a wreck after all three of mine were born." She sighed. "You're exhausted and worn out. Then there is the whole little life that is depending on you. At least I knew I had a place that I could take mine home to and an entire, over involved, extended family waiting to welcome them with open arms. That kid had nothing and no one to rely on. Good reasons or not, it isn't like any of us were welcoming. Probably seemed like the only option was to give the baby to us and disappear herself. She was smart enough to know he had a place with us no matter what, especially if she wasn't around to remind us how he arrived."

Korsak thought a moment before he replied. "I can see that. I never had my own. Josh was past the baby stage when I came into his life. But you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that you don't leave your baby on a doorstep. Frankly, Maura makes the better choice for a parent."

"Yes she does. But she isn't that baby's mother right now. You can't change that fact even if I wish I could. If Maura ends up with him, she'll make an excellent mother for him, but right now he isn't hers." Angela tucked a stray section of hair behind her ear. "If Lydia wants to give it a shot, I don't think we could stop her. I'm not even sure that we should. I'm going to make sure she understands we'll all be there if she can't handle it. But no matter what, it isn't his fault how he was conceived, so she won't be on her own and he won't be abandoned. The Rizzoli family doesn't work like that." Angela stood up and grabbed her mug. "It will just take me longer not to hate her for doing this to everyone. To Jane, to Maura and to be honest, to myself." She reached across the table and picked up Korsak's mug and waited for him to stand, smiling when he grabbed both out of her hands and bussed their cups.

"We should get back. My girls will need me."

Minerva pushed away from the brick façade of the BPD when she spotted a familiar head of brunette curls eating up the sidewalk with her determined stride. When Jane spotted her, the confusion on her face was priceless as she walked up.

"Minnie, that was kind of fast."

"You weren't the only one who thought to call me. I was almost here when we spoke." The lines on Jane's forehead were deep and Minnie smiled as Jane seemed to be trying to figure out who else would have called her.

"Frankie called you?" He was the only one Jane could think of that would have even known to call Minnie in.

Minerva stepped closer. Years of experience and countless cases made her professional enough to keep a calm exterior but inside she had empathy for the emotions of everyone involved. After both calls today she knew the depth of this situation meant pain someplace for someone no matter what the outcome. "It wasn't your brother." She could see her words being processed and hated the moment Jane's face looked at her drawn and tired.

"Maura called you?" Jane chewed at her lip, trying not to think the worst but she knew. Had known from the moment Maura had let her know that she was going to give Lydia options and Jane knew Maura enough to understand exactly why she felt she had to do this. She just wished it didn't hurt so much.

When Jane seemed resigned more than angry, Minerva relaxed slightly. "She did. She thought I could help. I hear we have located the birth mother and the DNA is in."

"The DNA is back? I didn't know but I pretty much forgot about it." Jane sighed. "Do I want to even ask which Rizzoli is the father?"

"I didn't ask to be honest. I was more focused on the rest of the information." Memories of a young Jane made Minnie reach out and put a hand on Jane's forearm. "Maura mentioned you were having a hard time with the fact that Tommy found Lydia."

Jane stared at her, features hard and frozen.

Minerva grabbed Jane's arm firmly, making sure she could feel the connection. "Maura sounded as if she is looking for help for Lydia, but you called me to find out what has to happen for Maura to be given custody regardless of what Lydia wants. The two of you don't seem to be on the same page anymore. This is why I was waiting for you outside. I wanted to hear what exactly it is you're looking for. When we spoke you mentioned that you don't feel that she is a fit parent and you wanted to know how to fight for custody."

"God damn it that is because she isn't." Frustrated Jane tugged a hand through her hair. "Lydia doesn't think of other people at all Minnie. You have no idea what she has done to my family. She hooks up with my father and my brother, gets pregnant and doesn't know who the father is but she deliberately sought out my mother. Lydia sought out my poor Ma so she could play some sick role of mothering guru, like Ma hasn't been through enough lately. Did you know she lost the house? That Pop tried to get her to sign annulment papers?" When Minnie shook her head and looked at her sympathetically, Jane shrugged. "I'm sick of people like her. I asked her, specifically asked her, not to tell my mother who she was and she did. Minnie, my Ma broke down. You should have seen it and then you'd understand. Lydia did her damage there and then leaves the baby on my best friend's front stairs for all of us to figure out." Dropping her hand, she looked at Minnie, trying to make her understand. "Then the minute we're starting to adjust to having him, bam, here comes Lydia. How am I supposed to let a person like that raise a member of my family? How can anybody expect me to do that?"

"That is one way to look at it and I can't answer you really. But I know Jane Rizzoli has a capacity of looking beyond the obvious." Minnie sighed. "Do you remember how we became friends?"

Jane shrugged. "Of course."

"I've never forgotten it. You guys had that water main break on your street and they made you all pick up at my stop. St. Mary's had that asshole of a basketball captain, remember?"

Jane wrinkled her nose, picturing the blond captain and his endless bullying. "Kenny, yeah I remember."

"And they were making fun of the hat I had on that my grandmother knitted and saying that my parents were junkies because they saw that I looked like a flat nosed bulldog and it was the only way they could forget they had a kid like me?" Minnie sighed softly. It was years ago, the memory hazy but it lingered. That feeling of standing there alone, with the people walking by, nobody noticing what was happening or if they did, looking down and hurrying by. The world always passing her by, just part of the scenery, even when she'd been unwashed, hungry and out on a cold November night in only a t-shirt in front of her parents' apartment building freezing, but too afraid to go inside.

"He stole your hat." Jane remembered a younger, softer Minnie, nothing like the confident woman standing in front of her with compassion in her eyes.

"Yes." Minerva offered Jane a shy smile.

"Tommy, Frankie and I got it back." Jane couldn't help but smile at the memory of her younger brothers backing her up, the other boys and Kenny debating their options but she had her reputation. Take no prisoners. Sneering Kenny had tossed the hat off to the side and with a hurled insult walked away. She remembered having to tackle Tommy to keep him from going after them. He was impulsive even back then. She had forgotten that side of Tommy, impulsive but always right at her back. It felt so long ago.

Rubbing the arm under her hand, Minerva continued. "Uh huh, you did and then the three Rizzoli kids always seemed to be waiting at my bus stop."

Jane shrugged. "You had a better view from your corner."

They shared a smile.

"I know it is hardly the same situation but I need you to remember that Lydia might not have had people like the Rizzoli kids in her life to make life a little smoother. I always keep that in my head when I try not to judge what I see every single day. It's not easy but it's how I survive some of these cases." Minnie could see some of the anger slipping away from the woman in front of her. "Jane, I went into social work to help children like me."

Jane shrugged a little. "I figured as much."

Minnie softened her voice. "Our childhoods do shape who we become as adults in some way or another. Maura told me a little bit of her history and then what she knew of Lydia's history when I asked if she was sure she wanted me to come talk to Lydia about keeping the baby."

"She said that? You're absolutely sure that she said she wants Lydia to have him? Seriously?" Jane wanted to walk away. The ground was falling out from under her. "Maura said she wants to give the baby back?"

"No Jane. Stop and listen, I did not say that. What Maura said, was she wanted Lydia to have a chance to know that she could keep him." Minerva took a deep breath. Maura had been crying when she called, she was sure of it. Going on instinct she wanted to make sure Jane realized this. "Jane, I don't think she wants to give him back if that makes a difference. She was crying, I could tell. I think she just understands how complex this is for everyone, including the free- thinking person that baby is going to grow into. Maybe her own experiences are coloring her choices a little, but perhaps that is okay in this situation."

Jane wasn't answering her and Minerva had seen hundreds of cases that were not black or white. Nothing was every simple surrounding children and families. She had been one of those cases. Maura, in essence, had been one of those cases. Part of her job was reading the grey areas between the facts. Looking at Jane, putting Jane today mixed with Jane from the last time they talked about this baby and having heard a crying Maura asking for her help even as every other sentence mentioned Jane , Minerva saw the grey.

"Jane, I'm going to be honest for a moment. Why are you this upset? The other day when I asked you if you wanted to parent this baby, it was because I didn't see a woman in front of me who seemed to want to be a mother. I saw a woman who was trying her damndest to help someone she cares for deeply and would do anything, including adopt a child to make that other person happy. I needed to hear you understood what exactly it was you were getting into."

They looked at each other for a long moment. Minerva could see the anguish but she thought she understood it for what it was. "Jane, Maura does not want to give that baby up but she is willing to do what she thinks is right for him. I could hear how upset she was when she called but the only concern she kept repeating was that she knew you were going to have a hard time." She shook the arm under hand hard. "Maura is trying to do what she thinks is best for everyone but I don't think she was crying, at least not entirely about giving up the baby. That woman was worried about you."

The dark eyes looking into hers were steady.

"Minnie, you don't understand. Maura's been through a lot recently. I think she isn't considering the fact that even if he has a hard time later on with not having Lydia in his life, that he might actually have a chance at having a life because she gave him up."

Minerva tried again. Because this was Jane, she knew the answer, but Jane needed to hear herself say it out loud. "Are you disappearing all of a sudden?"

"What?"

Minerva made sure the question was clear and unavoidable. "Are you going to disappear out of his life if Lydia takes that baby back?"

Annoyed, Jane pulled her arm away from Minnie's touch. "Of course not, he's still either my nephew or my half brother. Jesus Minnie, you know I don't operate like that."

"No you don't. So stop for a minute and tell me what you are so afraid of? What do you think you're losing? He is still going to be in your life and part of your family." She willed Jane to make the connection, to understand the emotion running under the surface issue.

Jane instead stepped back several paces. "Let's just get this over with. Are you coming?" She turned around and walked into the building.

Minerva took in a long, deep breath and adjusted her shoulder bag with a sigh before following Jane inside.

A/N – I have to thank you all for the reviews and apologize for doing it here… 33 people in my house for Thanksgiving translated to almost zero free time… So I figured you'd all rather me update so I used what odd minutes I had for this.