Chapter 12

"Ma!" Anna came running into the bedroom where Jane was watching TV with her foot up on a few pillows, that damn cast still itching her leg.

"Hi, peanut!" Jane smiled and turned off the sound of the TV. "How was school?"

"Good!" Anna hopped up on the bed, eliciting a surprised smile from Jane. She usually wasn't the girl that hopped and screamed for her mother. She was in a good mood. "Look, Ma." She handed her mother her phone with an article on it. It was about human trafficking.

"What's this?"

"You know that charity I donated my birthday money to?" Anna sat comfortably next to her mother against the pillows. "They did a huge rescue this week! Look," she scrolled down the page, "they raided a small house in Indiana and found like, ten women who were being sold to here. They came from Russia, Serbia and some other places I think."

"Mumbai." Jane read the article with interest.

"Yeah. Some were even underage." Anna sighed and shook her head. "They helped to arrest those pigs and saved the girls." She smiled up at her mother. "Partly because of our money."

Jane smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead. "That's great news."

"I know, right?" Anna put her phone away and smiled. "I know the problem is way bigger but at least those women are saved, you know? They get to have a life now."

"Yeah." Jane looked at her daughter's beautiful smile and felt her heart bursting with love. Anna had such a big heart. "How did it go with Vicky today?"

"Fine. She said hi to me and then just went to her own friends." She rested herself against Jane's side.

"And those friends? Did they say anything?"

"No." Anna shook her head. "I think they were talking about me behind my back because Vicky acted different, but I don't care about that."

"Hm." Jane pursed her lips and rested her cheek against the top of Anna's head that rested on her shoulder. "So it's looking good then, right?"

"Yep." She smiled and sighed contently when a short silence fell. "Ma?"

"Hm?"

"What happens when someone dies in prison?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…" she hesitated and fumbled with her shirt. "Morgan and I were talking about what happened to her mother. You know, did she have a funeral or something?"

"I heard she got cremated." Jane rubbed her hand up and down Anna's arm. "I don't think there was a memorial service or anything, she had no one."

Anna nodded. "Yeah. Did they catch the person that killed her?"

"No." Jane sighed deeply. Anyone that was working for Paddy Doyle was nearly impossible to find. Chances were pretty big the killer had already left the country by now. "I think a part of the team is still working on it but there was another murder two days ago and they're busy with that now."

Anna furrowed her brow. "It's kind of sad, don't you think? That someone can be so messed up they hurt their own husband and kids and then try to kill someone to get her kids back… She must have been so messed up."

"Really messed up." Jane rested her cheek back against Anna's forehead and thought about her daughter's words. She had no idea how anyone could get as messed up as Janet Matthews.

"Morgan said Amelia got arrested," Anna said after a short silence.

"Yeah, she's right."

"Is she in prison?"

"She is right now but she'll probably make bail."

Anna groaned softly. "That's stupid."

"Yep." Jane nodded, but she knew Amelia wouldn't be much of a threat any longer when Janet was gone. She wouldn't work alone. "So Morgan's still thinking about it a lot, huh?"

"Yeah…" Anna nodded carefully and hesitated for a moment. "She doesn't want to bother you and Mom with it, 'cause you have enough on your minds as it is."

"She can talk to us, she knows that."

Anna shrugged. "Yeah but it's so complicated for her, you know?"

"I know." Jane sighed and made a mental note to have a talk with Morgan to make sure she could talk to them about anything she wanted to. She placed a kiss on the side of Anna's head and carefully straightened her back, feeling a slightly bruising feeling in her stomach instead of the previous ache. "Can you get those crutches for me, baby?" Jane asked, pointing at those things she hated in the corner of the room. "I want to get downstairs."

Anna nodded and retrieved the crutches for her mother, handing them to her before helping her up. "You okay?"

Jane smiled at her caring little girl while she hopped on one leg, holding the leg with the cast up above the floor. "Yeah."

Anna hurried towards the door to open it and sweetly put her hand on Jane's back when she passed her, trying to steady her mother. Jane managed to hop herself down the stairs, feeling like she ran a marathon when she arrived downstairs.

"Ma!" Morgan looked at her with wide eyes. "Mom said you can't walk stairs on your own anymore!"

Jane smirked and hopped herself towards the couch where she sat down. "Anna helped me."

Morgan huffed and turned around in the kitchen. "You want something to drink? Mom made juice."

"Thanks." Jane smiled at her daughter, looking at her grabbing the juice out of the fridge and pouring a glass for her mother. "Where's Lily?"

"Outside." Morgan put a glass on the coffee table for Jane while holding her own glass in her hands as she sat down next to her mother. She took a sip and put her feet up on the couch.

"How was school?"

"Fine." Morgan shrugged. "They left Anna alone, so that's good."

"Hm, I heard." Jane smiled and felt Morgan resting against her side. "Let's hope it stays that way."

"I'll kick their asses if it doesn't."

Jane chuckled and felt pride at Morgan's protectiveness for Anna. "Don't let your mom hear that."

Morgan giggled. "Y'know, I'm pretty sure Mom could kick their butts too if she wanted to."

"Oh, she could. Big time." Jane smirked, thinking about her wife's temper that only came to the surface every now and then. "All that yoga isn't as useless as it seems."

Morgan laughed and rested her head on Jane's shoulder as she carefully leaned into her side. "When will Mom be home?"

"Soon, probably. Why?"

"I need help with chemistry, that's such a stupid subject! Why do we need chemistry? It should be banned from all schools. It's the most useless thing ever."

Jane chuckled at the way Morgan worked herself up. "I know, baby. But you need it to pass so you better work on it with Mom then."

Morgan sighed. "I guess." She sipped on her juice and waited for her other mother to come back home, which didn't take long fortunately.

While Maura helped Morgan with her homework, Jane managed to cook dinner while sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter and cutting up vegetables while telling Anna what to do with them. Lily played outside and only came in for food, like the little Rizzoli she was.

That night, the sunny weather had to make place for a drizzling rain that made the world greyer and darker than it should be at the time of day. Maura sat on the porch with a file in her lap, making notes for her colleague while the drain dribbled on the grass in the backyard, making the world smell fresh and crisp.

When Maura turned to the second-to-last page, Lily came outside, slowly walking up to her mother. Maura smiled at her, chuckling at how big her curls were due to the humidity outside. "Hi, baby."

Lily just smiled and grabbed the file from Maura's lap, closing it before climbing in her lap, resting sideways against her chest.

Maura chuckled as she watched her determined little girl putting the file away. "What's going on?"

Lily shrugged. "Mama said you need to stop working."

"Oh, did she?" Maura laughed and wrapped her arms around the young girl, kissing the side of her head. "And she couldn't come and tell me that herself?"

Lily shook her head. "I think she's in pain," she said softly. "She's on the couch with her eyes closed and she keeps rubbing her forehead and she got a little angry at Morgan when she made noise."

"Hm." Maura pursed her lips and rested her chin on top of Lily's head. "She needs to take her medicine."

"She already did."

"Good." Maura gently rocked her little girl from side to side while she listened to the rain. She felt Lily tucking up her feet and snuggling into her arms, eliciting a sweet smile. "You need to stop growing, sweetheart," Maura said with a slight chuckle. "You're getting so big!"

"I can't help it!" Lily raised her hands. "It's not like I'm doing it on purpose."

Maura laughed and shook her head. "I know."

"I'm gonna be nine soon." Lily smiled and looked up at her mother. "Then I'm close to ten!"

Maura nodded, brushing her daughter's untamed curls back. "That's true. We should start planning your birthday soon."

"Can I have chocolate cake on my birthday?"

"Yes, you can." Maura chuckled and kissed her daughter's forehead.

"And you can't do any work on my birthday, okay?" Lily looked at her mother, her dark eyes stern.

"Oh, baby, I can't promise that." Maura's smile fell and she gently caressed Lily's cheek. "I'll try my best to clear my schedule, okay?"

Lily seemed satisfied with that promise and nodded her head before snuggling back against her mother. "Can we have potato chips on my birthday too?"

Maura chuckled. "You and your snacks. Yes, you can have chips. But you can have chips or popcorn every weekend, remember?"

"Yeah but only on Fridays and Saturdays." Lily shifted so she sat with her back against her mother's front so she could look at the backyard, Maura's arms wrapping around the girl's stomach from behind.

Maura pulled her daughter close and placed a kiss on the back of her head. "I love you, my pretty girl," she whispered. She rested her cheek against Lily's head and looked at the rain. "My little sunshine."

"It's raining," Lily said with a small chuckle, "I'm not doing a very good job if I'm a sunshine."

Maura smiled. "You're doing a wonderful job lighting up my heart."

"Ugh." Lily stuck out her tongue and giggled when Maura tickled her stomach. "No tickling!"

"No sticking out your tongue!"

Lily giggled and grabbed Maura's hands to make her stop. "Alright, alright!"

"Lils," Jane's voice announced her arrival on the porch where she stumbled towards her wife and daughter. "It's bedtime, baby."

Lily pouted. "Already?"

"It's late." Jane sat down next to her wife and pushed the crutches away.

"Mama's right, honey." Maura let her girl go and untangled her arms. "Bedtime."

Lily sighed and turned to wrap her short arms around Maura's neck for a goodnight hug. "G'night, Mommy."

"Good night, sweetheart. I'll be upstairs soon." Maura smiled, kissed her daughter's cheek and watched her saying goodnight to Jane before walking upstairs, getting ready for bed so Maura could tuck her in later.

Jane sighed and moved closer towards her wife. Her head was pounding and her stomach ached. Her foot itched and her leg felt sore from being in a different position for so long. She was tired. Tired of being sick and unable to live her life the way she wanted to.

"How are you feeling?" Maura asked softly, her soft hands brushing Jane's hair from her face.

Jane shrugged. "Like hell."

Maura sighed and leaned in to press her lip against Jane's temple. "My love," she whispered. "I wish I could take it away."

Jane took a deep breath and fought the tears that welled up in her eyes. She wanted to get back to her life. She wanted to get better and be the Jane Rizzoli she wanted to be. She wanted her girls to be happy, she wanted to get back to work and come home to her gorgeous wife and spend her nights making love with the gorgeous blonde. "I'm okay," she whispered hoarsely.

"You're not," Maura whispered back, gently brushing her fingers through Jane's curls. "But you will be."

Jane smiled slightly and slumped down in her seat, closing her eyes while she listened to the rain. "We should talk to Morgan," she said softly.

"Hm?"

"About her mother and all, y'know? I think she's afraid to bother us."

Maura sighed and linked her arm with Jane's, carefully shifting closer. "Poor thing," she whispered. She took a deep breath, pressed a kiss on Jane's cheek and stood up from her seat. "I'll go tuck Lily in."

Jane nodded and opened her eyes, looking at the backyard that was now almost completely dark. She took her time to try and relax her body and let her frustrations go. She tried to take the deep, cleansing breaths Maura had told her about so many times and much to her surprise, it kind of worked. At least she was home. At least she was with her wife and children.

"Ma?" Quiet footsteps entered the porch and Jane opened her eyes to see Morgan. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Jane smiled and turned her head to look at her daughter. "I'm okay."

Morgan nodded and smiled slightly, turning around until Jane stopped her. "Hey, you wanna come sit for a second?"

Morgan shrugged. "Sure." She sat down next to her mother and Jane wrapped her arm around her shoulders. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Jane kissed the top of Morgan's head. "I just wanted to let you know we're here for you, you know?"

"What?" Morgan chuckled and furrowed her brow. "Yeah, I know."

"Just-… I mean… I know there's a lot going on in your head right now and you have to know you can always talk to us about anything."

Morgan's smile fell and she nodded her head. "I know." She sighed and fumbled with the sleeve of her sweater. "I'm just confused I guess."

"Hm." Jane brushed the girl's dark hair behind her ear. "That's only natural."

"I'm technically like… An orphan now, right?"

"Well, no. We adopted you, so you're our daughter."

"Yeah but I mean… Biologically?"

"Just because you no longer have biological parents," Maura said while she walked up to the two of them after tucking Lily into bed, "doesn't mean you're an orphan." She smiled and sat down on the other side of Morgan. "Family doesn't come from DNA only. You're a part of our family and you will be for the rest of your life."

Morgan smiled and looked down at her feet. "I don't have any biological parents anymore," she said softly. "So if you ever get tired of me I'm screwed."

"Hey!" Jane nudged Morgan's shoulder. "Don't get such crazy ideas!"

Maura chuckled and kissed the side of Morgan's head before wrapping her arms around the young girl. "We're not going to get tired of you and you won't be screwed in any way."

Morgan smiled the first real smile of that night and nodded her head. "Yeah."

"Honey," Maura placed her hand on Morgan's cheek to look into her eyes, "you can talk to us, you know that, right? We're never too busy for you and we want to know what's going on with you," she smiled and sweetly brushed her dark hair back, "my sweet girl."

"Well…" Morgan sighed. "Right now I'm just confused, that's all."

"That's okay," Jane replied. "Confused seems pretty appropriate."

Morgan chuckled and tucked her feet up on the bench while she snuggled in between her mothers. "Yeah. I'll tell you when I move on to a different feeling."

"Good." Jane smiled and looked at Maura over Morgan's head, seeing a sweet smile curling her pink lips. "We'll be here for all the feelings."