Author's Note: I know this one is a bit on the short side, especially considering going how long it took to get it posted. My 89 year old parents are staying with me for a couple of months and I don't have a lot of time to write at the moment.

As I've said before, I can't promise regular updates but I do promise that I have no intention of leaving this story unfinished. My sincere thanks to all of you who have stuck with me despite my slow posting schedule.

Enjoy this update!

I still don't own Rizzoli & Isles and I still am not making any money by writing this story. Sad, but true!

"Oh honey no!" Maura exclaimed, grabbing Bernie's hand, giving it a powerful squeeze and looking her in the eye. "I was upset because we were so close to being able to put in our application to adopt the three of you and now we're going to have to wait another month. The waiting is so hard."

Bernie nodded her agreement with that last statement.

Smilingly broadly Dr. Arnone said, "Well, I guess that went about as well as could be hoped."

Bernie flashed her an abashed grin. "Go ahead and say it. You told me so!" She chuckled, happy to have been wrong.

Dr Arnone, put her hand to her chest in a gesture of mock innocence. "I would never say that!"

All four women burst out laughing at the implied, "even if it is true."

Things only got better after that in the Rizzoli-Isles household. Bernie's attitude improved greatly. She still had her pre-teen moments but by and large she was a much happier girl. As the days turned into weeks and they heard nothing back from DCF regarding any living family members, they all began to relax and allow themselves to believe that they were going to become a family officially. They already felt like a family in their hearts but they couldn't wait for it to be legal.

It was exactly three weeks after the meeting in Dr. Arnone's office, Bernie had gone to her appointment with the psychologist as usual. Despite having her greatest fear relieved when she discovered that Jane and Maura wanted to adopt herself and both of her siblings, she'd still been through a series of traumatic events and the adults had agreed it would be good for her to continue her therapy. Bernie wasn't sure she really needed it but didn't want to start an argument with Jane and Maura now that everything was going so well so she had continued with her weekly appointments and she had to admit they had been helping her cope with all the bad things that had happened to her in the past couple of years.

However, Dr. Arnone had surprised her that day when, at the end of the session, she had said, "Well Bernie, I don't think you need to come see me anymore. We've talked through the events surrounding your family having to enter witness protection and what happened to your parents and your fears about what the future holds for you and your siblings. I've given you some techniques to deal with the nightmares and/or panic attacks, although it seems like those are becoming less and less frequent so hopefully you won't need to employ those techniques too often. So, unless you feel like you need to keep seeing me, I think this is our last session."

Bernie sat stunned into speechlessness for a moment. The psychologist had given her no indication that she was even thinking about ending their sessions. The slight smile on the Doctor's face as she waited for Bernie to respond said she knew she had surprised the girl. It also served to snap Bernie out of her momentary silence.

"No..yes..I mean I agree with you. I don't think I need to come anymore" Bernie said quickly, afraid the older woman would change her mind if she hesitated too long. It wasn't that she disliked Dr. Arnone. The woman had certainly helped her cope with all the terrible things that had happened to her since she witnessed Manuel Fuentes commit that murder but talking about all that had happened hadn't exactly been a good time.

"Well alright then," Dr. Arnone said standing up and coming around the coffee table in her office. Bernie stood too.

"May I give you a hug," the doctor asked opening her arms.

Bernie didn't bother with a verbal response but simply stepped forward into the doctor's embrace, returning it with a firm squeeze. "Thanks Dr. A," she murmured in to the woman's shoulder. "I can't say it's been fun but you really did help me a lot"

Releasing the girl and looking her in the eye the psychologist replied, "Your, entirely welcome. I want you to know Bernie, that you are a remarkable young woman. I've worked with adults in similar situations and it took years of therapy for them to reach the same point you reached in a few months. If you ever feel the need to talk to me you have my number. I hope by now you know there is no shame in needing a little help to work through trauma such as you have experienced.'

"I know doc, thanks. I promise, if I need your help I won't hesitate to call."

Bernie had left the doctor's office and gone down to the parking lot to wait for Angela, and her brother and sister, to pick her up. She was surprised to find Jane and Maura there too.

"A little bird told us there might be cause for celebration after this particular meeting?" Jane said, phrasing it as a question rather than a statement.

"I'm done! No more therapy for me!" Bernie confirmed happily, as first Jane and then Maura each gave her a congratulatory hug.

"That's great sweetheart" Angela said, leaning in to give Bernie a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Well this definitely calls for a celebratory dinner." Maura said, beaming at the girl. "Where would you like to go? Anywhere you like, it's your choice Bernie?"

"Anywhere? Really?" the girl asked excited.

"Anywhere!" Jane confirmed, expecting the girl to go for pizza or burgers.

"Can we go to the Union Oyster House?" Bernie asked, tentatively. She knew it was an expensive restaurant. She had only been once with her friend Paula on Paula's birthday. She had loved it.

"Oh that's an excellent choice!" Maura said enthusiastically.

"Yes, I love the Union Oyster House," Angela agreed.

"Union Oyster House it is!" Jane said. She'd have been just as happy with pizza or burgers but the Union Oyster House had incredible seafood. If that's where Bernie wanted to go then that was just fine with her.

The meal had been delicious and the conversation had been light and lively. They were on their way home Angela had taken the younger kids in the SUV since it had their car seats while Bernie had opted to ride home with Jane and Maura.

"So, how do you feel about being done with therapy?" Maura asked, glancing back at Bernie in the backseat.

"Good, I guess." Bernie replied. "I'm mean I feel ready to move forward, you know, to get past everything that happened but I guess I'm I little nervous to."

"Why is that sweetheart?" Maura wanted to know.

"I don't know, I guess it kind of feels weird knowing I won't be talking to Dr. A anymore. I didn't really want to see her at first and it was really tough sometimes. She made me talk about a lot of stuff I didn't really want to talk about but at the same time it was nice to have someone to talk to about stuff. You know, someone who's...dang what do you call it? You know, someone who isn't involved in the situation."

"You mean someone with an objective opinion?" Maura asked.

"Yeah that's it!"

"I get that," Jane chimed in. "Sometimes it's good to talk through a situation with someone who doesn't have a dog in the fight so to speak."

"A dog fight Jane, really? Do you think that's an appropriate analogy to make with our twelve year old daughter?" Maura asked, though the slight smile on her face betrayed her lack of true annoyance.

"It's just a figure of speech, Maur." Jane said grinning while Bernie chuckled at both of them.

Then Maura's phone rang. She groaned, she wasn't supposed to be on call but Dr. Pike was covering for her and he had a bad habit of refusing after hours calls if they conflicted with his plans for the evening.

"Dr. Isles." Maura answered the phone without looking at the caller ID. "Yes, this is she….Yes that is correct."

Jane glanced over at her wife, something in her tone alerting her to trouble. Clearly, whoever Maura was talking to it wasn't the dispatcher from BPD.

"I see," Maura said into the phone, her tone flat and emotionless, which only served to make Jane even more nervous. She knew what her wife sounded like when she was upset and trying not to show it and this was it. "What's her name and how is she related?" Maura asked.

"Okay, we'll see you tomorrow afternoon." Maura hung up the phone and stared out the windshield of the car. Jane could see tears forming in her eyes and got a sinking feeling in her stomach.

She reached over and laid her hand over Maura's stopping her from spinning her wedding ring around and around her ring finger. "Who was it?" She asked, though she had a pretty good idea who had been on the other end of the line.

Maura, glanced into the back seat at Bernie. She had taken out her own phone as soon as Maura's had rung and was apparently engrossed in some game.

"It was DCF." Maura said quietly.

Before Jane could even formulate a response Bernie's head popped between their seats. "What did they want?" she asked with an edge of panic in her voice.

Maura briefly considered trying to put a positive spin on the news she was about to deliver but she knew it was impossible. Bernie would see right through her. The best she was able to manage was to speak without bursting into tears. "Apparently they've found a living relative. Your mother's first cousin, a woman named Roberta Lochte. She and her husband are driving up from Connecticut this afternoon and we are supposed to meet them at DCF tomorrow at 2 PM."

"Nooo," Bernie wailed. "I've never even heard of these people. I don't want us to go live with complete strangers! I want us to stay with you guys."

Jane pulled the car over to the side of the road and twisted around so she could look at Bernie in the back seat. "Hey, hey, hey, let's not panic just yet. We haven't even met these folks. Maybe when they find out you already have a home with us they'll let you stay and if they decide they want you, well then they must be pretty decent folks right? I mean you didn't know anything about Maura and I when you came to live with us right? And look at how well that turned out."

It took everything Jane had to say that last piece. She couldn't imagine her life with out these three children in it anymore and she knew Maura felt the same way. She couldn't even look at her wife at the moment. She knew if she did she'd just break all to pieces and she couldn't help Bernie and her siblings that way.

Bernie didn't answer her, she just sat back and stared out the window, withdrawing into herself in a way she hadn't since the day she had discovered that Jane and Maura wanted to adopt her and her brother and sister.

Jane sighed, she couldn't blame the girl for her reaction. If she wasn't supposed to be the parental figure in this scenario she'd probably be acting a lot worse than Bernie was. She turned back to the wheel and pulled the car back out onto the street. They drove the rest of the way home in silence.

When they got home Bernie ran up to her room and slammed the door. Angela was in the kitchen checking the fridge and pantry so she could prepare for her weekly shopping trip the next day. She looked up surprised by Bernie's dramatic entrance and immediate exit. She was about to ask what that was all about but one look at Jane's grim expression and the question died on her lips.

"I've got a phone call to make," she said heading for the home office she shared with her wife. Maura watched her go with a trouble look on her face.

"Do I want to know what that was all about?" Angela asked quietly. She was surprised to see tears forming in her daughter-in-law's eyes.

"On the way home we got a call from DCF," Maura replied equally quiet. "They found a living relative of the children."

The color drained from Angela's face. "They can't just take our kids from us can they! We don't know anything about these people. What if they don't like kids? What if they're drug users or abusive. The kids are happy here!"

Maura slumped into one of the stools at the breakfast bar looking defeated. "I know, Angela but they're blood relatives. If they decide they want to take the children I don't know that there's much we can do about it."

"But they could be terrible people. If they were good people wouldn't the kids know about them? Wouldn't they have been in touch with the family before they went into WITSEC? Bernie said she didn't know of any living relatives. We don't know anything about them!" she repeated her earlier complaint.

"Actually I think Jane maybe doing something about that. I'm just not sure I want to know what."

Jane stalked into the home office and closed the door behind her. She pulled out her phone and pulled up her contacts clicking on her sister-in-law's name. She paced back and forth beside the partners' desk Maura had put in shortly after Jane had moved in.

After three rings Nina answered the call, "Hi Jane, what's new with you and yours?" she asked brightly.

Jane was all business, "Nina, I need your help but my request is not exactly kosher so feel free to say no."

Nina had known Jane long enough to recognize the desperation in her tone. She'd also known her long enough to know that whatever her request was it was not one she made lightly. "Whatever you need Jane, if it is within my abilities I'll do it."

"I need you to find out everything you can about a Roberta Lochte and her husband. They're from Connecticut. I'm not just talking wants and warrants here. I want financials, juvie records if they have them. Any shady business deals or litigation they might be involved in. Anything and everything you can get me."

"I take it this is not related to a case you are working?" Nina asked.

"No," Jane replied her tone stone cold. "According to DCF, Roberta Lochte is the long lost cousin of Sarah Kinney. We have to bring the kids to DCF tomorrow afternoon to meet her and her husband."

"Oh...OH! Oh no Jane, does that mean you could lose the kids?" Nina sounded almost as distressed as Jane felt.

Jane had to fight tears as she responded, "Not if I have anything to say about it. So, you still want to help?"

"More than ever!" Nina responded fiercely. "I'll get right on it. I'll have something for you before your meeting tomorrow."

"Thank you Nina. I don't know what I'd do without your help." Jane ended the call feeling marginally better to be doing something.

She walked back out into the kitchen to find her wife consoling her mother.

"Oh, Janie!" Angela wailed. "What are we going to do?"

"I'm working on it Ma." Jane replied grimly.

Maura looked up at this but didn't ask and Jane didn't offer any information. Maura might be able to lie now but that didn't mean she was good at it and they both knew it would be best if Maura didn't know what Jane was up to. She didn't need to know to be comforted by the knowledge that Jane was doing something. She had complete confidence in her wife.