It was not often that Maura Isles could come up with a statement she might make, mentally predict the results of speaking it, and turn out to be correct. When she could accurately predict the results of something she said or did, the honey-blonde could rest assured she wasn't as far off center as most others, and often she herself, believed her to be. This was one of the ways that she evaluated her alignment, or lack thereof, with most of the rest of the human race, a sort of 'sanity check.'
It was also entertaining.
Maura did not try all that hard to restrain her chuckling, though she did murmur an apology for making Angela choke. Jane's embarrassment, she decided, was temporary. No one had, as far as Maura was aware, died of embarrassment. Besides, Jane was cute when she blushed, though Maura had the impression that she would not welcome that information.
Still, she ought to say something to ameliorate somewhat the effects, or at least distract both Angela and Jane from the subject matter. "Would anyone like seconds of anything, or shall I clear?"
"Let me get that," Angela offered as she stood, gave game raised eyebrow and shoulder shrug, and then started picking up plates. "Why don't you two go find some place comfortable? I'll just clean up and show myself out."
"Ma," Jane started to protest, but the warning looking in her mother's eyes stopped her. "Okay, I think I'm going to hit the little girl's room and then go lay down for a bit." She stood and shuffled off to the master bedroom leaving Angela and Maura alone at the dining table.
Maura also stood, tacitly accepting Angela's help clearing the dishes. The two worked efficiently in getting the food to the kitchen and putting it into containers in the refrigerator as they talked. "You don't have to leave right away, unless you'd prefer to be alone. As tempting as it might be to seclude ourselves and focus on one another right now, Jane and I will have all the time we need. And, and," she stumbled over a personal revelation, "and I don't want her to get tired of me yet, since she'll probably be here for a long time while she recovers."
Angela stopped washing dishes to look over, face full of disbelief. "Maura, sweetie, I think I know my daughter well enough to know she is not going to get tired of you. I know I'm not one to talk given… everything," the older woman frowned deeply, "but I recognize that look in Jane's eyes. I remember when Frank looked at me like that. I think I still look at him like that," she sighed quietly, eyes gone distant. "We were so in love with each other, and, even after the kids came, we would spend our time in the same room doing different things. I'd read a book and he'd watch the game or whatever. It didn't matter as long as we were together, you know? I think… I think I should have known there were problems when he stopped wanting to be in the same room with me." She started washing dishes again as she continued her retrospective thoughts. "I took him from granted. I forgot that he didn't have to put up with me, and I pushed him too hard for too long." She shook her head. "It wasn't that Frank got tired of being around me; it's that I stopped wanting to be with him and more I expected him to just be there."
She finished rinsing the last dish before she spoke again. This time, the tears were visible though unshed. "As long as you don't do that – expect Jane to be there as opposed to just wanting to be with her, I don't think my daughter will ever get tired of you. Sweetie, she cares about you. She hasn't stopped talking about you since the moment she met you at that crime scene for the first time. Trust me on this one." She dried her hands and gave a pat to Maura's arm. "Now, go be with her, okay?"
Maura listened closely as she tucked away the food, prepared the chopped vegetables for Bass's meals the following day, wiped fingerprints off appliances and countertops. She seemed not to even notice when Angela did the dishes by hand instead of putting them into the dishwasher, so focused was she on the elder Rizzoli's words.
As she went behind Angela to dry the sink fixtures and countertops, she found herself nodding in understanding, and once she had dropped the cloth into the bucket beneath the sink, leaned against the counter's edge. The hand on her forearm came as a welcome point of contact with another person who was becoming a close friend, quite apart from Angela's parental relationship with Jane. "I will," she said with finality, "but we don't have to be alone to be together. You can be with us sometimes, too. Tonight, you're right, I think she needs me. I know I need her." Her head ducked down as she said with a tiny smile, "I promise to learn from you and Frank. I hope she always knows that seeing her alters the rhythm of my breathing and causes my brain to release oxytocin and..." Pause. "She makes me feel good."
Angela smiled warmly as she let her hand fall to her side. "You're good for each other." With a sigh, she gave her hands one more drying with the kitchen towel before placing it back in its spot. "I'm going to take off, but, if you two need anything, you call me okay?" She gave the younger woman a hug. "Welcome to the family, Maura." She pulled back, keeping her hands on the other woman's upper arms. "I know we're a little broken right now, but we'll make it. I'm glad you're here."
Maura surprised herself by leaning in and holding on for a long moment. "Thank you, Angela. The same goes for you. If I'm your family now, you're mine too. I'm glad to have you, and I hope you know you can always ask me for anything."
After Angela left, Maura took a few minutes to start a laundry load washing, then headed for her bedroom.