Author Notes: Thanks so much everyone for your comments and alerts/favs, etc. I am a little annoyed at myself with this chapter because there was a line I wanted to put in it which I noted down, but now I can't find it. I hope you enjoy it without said line, I guess it doesn't necessarily need it. I just really liked it. Apparently I update several times, then have a long gap...we'll see whether I can keep the momentum going.

"Let's get this party started," Angela said, entering the house before Maura could even fully open the door. She turned around, taken aback by Angela's presence, and followed her into the lounge.

"I thought…I was b-bringing Toby to you," she said.

Angela shrugged, her arms out at her sides. "No need, he knows his home, he knows his bed. If you and Janie are going to be working, then it doesn't hurt nobody."

"Anybody," Maura corrected, though her voice trailed off as Angela continued.

"He'll sleep better here, and I can stay in the guest bedroom. That way if he wakes, I can take care of him. If you're going to be getting home late I wouldn't want you to lose more beauty sleep."

"Thank you, Angela," Maura said. "But there's n-no n-need for you to stay here. You…can take h-him to your place."

"Nonsense," she said. "You know it makes perfect sense. Where should I set up the pirate ship?"

"Pirate ship?" Maura frowned. Her son was too young for the kind of games that involved pirates. Besides, she wasn't too sure she liked the idea of promoting mayhem, debauchery, and stealing. "He's one."

"He's old enough to wear a hat and eat pirate shaped treats," Angela said, pulling a small pirate hat out of a bag.

The battle was not one which Maura felt like fighting. She had fought enough against some of the things Jane wished to do with their son, and sometimes she wondered if she was doing the right thing fighting so hard. She knew her own failings as a mother, and she craved the influence of the Rizzolis. Even when that influence clashed with her sense of logic and reasoning. She forged a smile and tried to think about the evening ahead.

"Do you have e-everything you need, Angela?"

"'Course," she said, laying down a bluey-green blanket where she threw paper fish, or at least they looked like fish; cartoon fish, rather than the accurate representations that Maura would have opted for. Another thing she had to fight against correcting. "I've raised three of my own, remember? I got this."

"Thank you, I a-appreciate your…helping."

Once the fish were in place, Angela stood up. "The only thing I don't have is Toby."

"He should be…waking up from a n-nap any moment," Maura said.

"Maura," Angela said, stepping closer.

"Yes, Angela?"

"Have you spoken to Jane, about Ashley?"

"A little. She keeps her c-cards close to…her chest."

"She wasn't like that before," Angela said, her eyes dropped to the counter beside them, a glistening on the edge of her eyelids. "It changed her. She never really connected with anyone after she gave Ashley up. I think she forgot how to love for a while. She forgot how to talk to her family, and she never went back."

Maura tilted her head. There were some aspects of Jane's life that Maura would never truly know, especially with how closed up Jane was about her past, present, even her future. Hearing Angela speak so candidly gave her an insight into a world she was never part of. She didn't know whether she wanted to hear it or not.

"I lost her, for a long time," Angela said, her smile never reaching her eyes. "It's my own fault for not supporting her properly. It's the only thing I truly regret as a parent."

"I think we do…the things we th-think are best, even if in hindsight, we…could have done more," Maura said, resting a hand against Angela's shoulder.

"What time do you need to leave?" Angela asked. "Could you stay for a coffee?"

"I think I can m-manage a few more minutes," Maura said.

x

Maura rolled onto her front and rested her head against her hands, her eyes fixed on Jane. "Do you feel relieved?"

"What about?" Jane asked, a crease formed between her eyebrows.

"Having sex."

"Oh. That." Jane tucked her hands under the side of her head; her eyebrows raised, a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "I'm more than relieved."

"Not that relieved, Jane." Maura sighed. She wasn't frustrated with Jane the way she got sometimes, she was contented, and that provoked all the sounds she could muster. "Relieved that w-we've gone past that awkward first time."

"I don't think it was awkward."

"No. It wasn't."

"I could go again." The smile on Jane's lips grew wider until it reached the corners of her eyes. Her fingertips tingled as she trailed them along Maura's shoulder blade and down her back. The involuntary shudder ran through her. "And again. And again."

"Lucky we have all night," Maura said, scooting closer.

"I just wish we had your bed," Jane said. "Mine's all lumpy and small. My mother has a lot to answer for."

"I offered to buy you a new mattress," Maura said. "And there was n-nothing…we could do about Angela. She insisted, and I didn't know how to explain th-that we wanted the house to ourselves without breaking my silence…over our relationship."

"I don't want a new mattress. I want your mattress."

"I could buy you one identical."

"Why bother?" Jane asked. "I want to sleep in your bed, with you, from now on."

Jane closed the small gap. Her eyes darted back and forth between Maura's lips, and her eyes, until she finally settled on the hazel colouring. When she stared at Maura she felt like she could see into her soul, not that she'd ever tell her that. She knew the science probably wouldn't support her theory and she didn't want to lose the magic.

"Did you notice you don't stutter as much when you're talking to me?"

"Yeah. I noticed."

"You must really like me," Jane whispered, the crackle in her voice came out more the quieter she attempted to speak.

"I do."

"Good. Cause I really like you back."

Jane closed the gap completely. Her tongue trailed across Maura's bottom lip, their mouths merged together. The deeper they joined, the more desperate Maura became. She reached out, her hands slipped carelessly across Jane's body, pulling her closer, searching for a release from the sexual desire pushing her forwards. She pushed her hand down further, fought the urge to stare into Jane's eyes as she sought a battle. When she found what she was looking for, her eyes trailed back to Jane's, watching the victory unfold as she knocked down Jane's defenses and pushed her over the edge.

An hour later, as sweat coated their skin, they wrapped themselves up in each other's bodies; a tangle of arms and legs.

"I can't believe how much everything h-has changed," Maura said.

"Right?" Jane replied. "We're both moms. We're seeing women."

"Did you ever think you'd end up in a happy little family?"

"Me? Never."

"I think your mom knows how hard this is for you. With Ashley."

Jane turned away, her eyes landed on the ceiling. "She hasn't spoken to me since I introduced them."

"We talked today," Maura said.

"You and Ma?"

"Yeah."

Jane shrugged. "Care to share why we're talking about my mother again after having the best sex I've ever had?"

"The best?"

"Yeah." Her chest heaved, still not quite having come down from orgasm. "I should have tried this gay thing a long time ago."

Maura ran the side of her finger along Jane's cheek. "Do you think you're gay?"

"I dunno," Jane said. "It was pretty mind blowing with a couple of guys too."

"You don't have to l-label it."

"No. I guess not."

"So, Angela," Maura said, sidestepping back to the original line of conversation. "She told me some things, about...what happened when A-Ashley was born. How you pulled away, stopped sh-sharing. I think she regrets the...way she handled things."

"She's not the only one."

"You need to talk to her."

"I don't know how to." Jane turned away again. She didn't know whether to feel annoyed at Maura for meddling in something that still hurt a lot. Especially since they'd had such an incredible night.

"Sure you do." Maura sensed the shift in Jane's mood. "You do it all the time."

Jane untangled herself from Maura. She allowed her legs to dangle down the side of her bed as she carefully considered her answer. "Not about this. I thought we'd never come back from it."

"But you did." Maura moved behind her and rested a hand on her shoulder. Maintaining contact without forcing too much back on Jane. "I had no idea there were ever any problems between you two."

"We learned to pretend it never happened, I guess."

"Jane," Maura whispered, resting her chin against Jane's shoulder.

"Yeah?" she turned to face her, needed to see her face again.

"I think sex makes you m-more honest about how you're feeling."

"No, it doesn't." Jane shook her head.

"But," Maura began, her attempts to protest were thwarted.

"You make me more honest," Jane said, pulling Maura back into her arms. "Everything that's happened, I don't want to lose you."

"You won't," Maura said, completing the embrace. "As long as I h-have anything to do with it."

A surge of love, of hope and expectation filled Jane until she could barely breathe. Where before a heavy weight might have landed on her chest, the second she considered her whole future with one person, she only felt excited. She cupped Maura's cheeks and focused all of her attention on her hazel eyes. "Marry me."

"Pardon?" Maura sat back down on the bed. The statement knocked her for six. Maybe she heard it wrong. Maybe Jane was playing a joke.

"I'm sorry," Jane said. "I know we've been together for five minutes. I just can't see myself with anyone else. Ever again. I want to be with you, Maura. You, me and Toby, and Ashley if she wants; I want us to be a family."

"You...you haven't even told your m-mom that we're together," Maura said, finding solace in something finite that she could grasp hold of.

"Is that a yes?" Jane asked, her confidence wavered and Maura felt sad. She knew how big it was for Jane to ask her, for her to open herself up like that.

"I don't want to hurt you," she said. She at least had to be honest. "But I don't think w-we should rush into m-making big d-decisions."

"Who's rushing in?" Jane said. Whilst she appreciated where Maura was coming from, and the thought of what she was saying would have usually crushed her, she didn't regret for a second bringing it up. "We already know everything about each other."

"Let's sleep on it," Maura said.

"That's not a no," Jane said, forcing her lips to curve as her resolve took a slight battering. She couldn't blame Maura for her reservations, if she could see things clearly from the outside, she'd have said the same thing. It didn't stop her from feeling a little disappointed.

"I'd never say no to you, Jane."

"So it's a yes?" she asked, smirking. There was going to be no answer tonight, she knew that deep down. Trying to weed out exactly how Maura felt was all she could do.

"I'd marry you in a heartbeat," Maura said, wrapping her arms around Jane's body and clinging to her. If she couldn't give her an answer, she could at least show her how much their intimacy had meant. "If I thought it was a good idea to do it r-right now."

"So why don't we?"

"Jane." Maura sat back again, her arms dropped to her sides. "I think the immunoglobulin A has gone to your head."

"Is that even possible?"

"Considering immunoglobulin is part of the blood, then yes it does go to the head. But the way I meant, no."

"You provide me with all the knowledge I wouldn't have if I had to rely on the complicated responses on Google. We're a match made in heaven."

"Really?" Maura asked, practically snorting.

"Hey, that's my line."

"The point being I-I think you need to take some time to think about this."

"We already live together." The technicality of their living arrangements was just that, and Maura was about to jump in when Jane continued. "I only sleep in the guesthouse because I'm giving you time. We have a son. You have a son. We both feel like I'm his mom. We've done everything couples do together - even get a couples' massages."

Maura smiled. "Let's give it a couple of days."

"Okay," Jane said. "We'll get married in a couple of days."

"You're incorrigible."

"I love you too." Jane wrapped her arms around Maura's waist and tackled her back down against the bed, her teeth nibbling ever so slightly on the skin on her neck as she mumbled against it. "If you want to wait a day, we'll wait a day. If you want to wait forever, I don't really need a government license to show how much I'm in this."

x

"What time is it?" Jane asked, stretching her arms out above her as Maura watched her.

"After six. We should get u-up, or we'll both be late for w-work."

"I don't wanna," Jane said, laying kisses along Maura's collarbone, attacking her skin with fingers and lips. Maura succumbed to the pleasure. She closed her eyes and got lost in blindly feeling her way across the body she knew so well and yet didn't know at all. She knew it wouldn't take long to discover every crevice, and despite the need to go to work, she didn't want to be away from Jane for a second.

"We shouldn't," Maura whispered, finding Jane's lips and deepening their previous kisses.

The bedroom door opened abruptly. No warning came as Angela stood in the doorway with Toby in her arms, her eyes wide and her face a distinct shade of pink.

"Oh," she said, already stepping backwards.

"Ma!" Jane grappled with the comforter, pulling it tightly against her chest as she shouted. "Get out!"

Author Notes: Dun-dun-duuuh! Haha. I couldn't resist a bit of a cliffhanger. (I know, I know, the "marry me" thing is awfully soon, it just felt right to have her ask [that writing itself thing again]. I'd love to know your thoughts on what they should do about it...)