A/N: A guest reviewed the last chapter questioning the whole crossover of R&I/The Fosters bit, as well as not understanding their purpose at all in the story.

At first, I added their presence because I thought it could be interesting, but as I continued writing, I realized their presence was actually very important and my subconscious decided to make me think of it for reasons I only understood as I wrote. Having the Adams-Foster family around allowed Jane and Maura to see and feel what a glimpse of the future could be, what their life together could be as a couple, taking the children together on vacation, etc. Stef's reaction to hearing of their affair wasn't just to create drama, though it was in line with Stef's character on The Fosters. It was for Jane and Maura to experience realistic conflict in an isolated environment with someone who disapproves of their relationship. Ergo it was a test of sorts for them to feel pushback and figure out how to handle it.

They also won't be in the story much longer, and may only make a brief appearance or two in future chapters if warranted for the circumstances.

For everyone else, I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

Dark eyes downcast in embarrassment, Jane walked behind the honey blonde back through the front door. The lump in her throat grew as she fought the urge to cry.

Stef and Lena were standing in the kitchen, Lena leaning against the counter in front of the sink, Stef leaning against the kitchen island with her back turned toward the door. At the sound of the door opening, the light blonde turned her upper body around to look at Jane and Maura.

It was Lena, however, who spoke. "Why don't we go sit on the back porch? We can still hear the children if we leave the door open."

Maura nodded, but Jane didn't show any reaction.

After the four women retreated to the table on the back porch, they all sat in silence for several moments, tension thick in the air.

"I, uhm," Lena began, "I explained to Stef a little more about the situation, I guess we could call it. I hope that's okay."

Maura replied, "I suppose that does save us a little time." She reached over and placed her hand on Jane's knee. The young brunette immediately understood the meaning behind Maura's movement. Slowly Maura removed her hand from Jane's knee.

Jane softly cleared her throat and looked up to meet her lover's gaze. After receiving an encouraging, soft smile, Jane turned to look at Stef. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have stormed out like that."

"Jane," Maura said quietly.

"I'm not apologizing for what I said, Maura, just that I stormed out," Jane replied as she looked back at Maura briefly.

"Jane, I'm sorry that I overreacted like that," Stef said. "You were right, I didn't know the situation and even though I still think it's wrong, I can clearly see that you and Maura love each other very much. That's not something I can argue with."

Quietly Lena said, "I think we can all agree that we could've handled the conversation differently."

Maura nodded. Her reply was quiet, pleasant in fact. "Now I hope we can simply move forward with respect for one another, as well as continue to develop what I'd like to see become wonderful friendship for all of us."

"So we're okay now? All of us?" the light blonde asked, looking around at her wife, Jane, and Maura.

"I think so, yes," Maura replied, meeting Stef's gaze and smiling as she placed her hand on top of Jane's.

Several hours after leaving Stef and Lena's, after putting Samantha and Ethan to bed, Jane and Maura laid in bed, side by side, Maura's left fingertips trailing lightly from Jane's wrist to her fingertips.

The young brunette wore a white tank top and dark blue sleep shorts, Maura a silk, plum-colored nightdress that fell to her mid-thighs, but they were both settled comfortably underneath the covers.

"I'm sorry I caused so much trouble tonight," Jane whispered.

Shifting, Maura turned onto her side to face Jane, barely able to see her in the very dim light coming from a nightlight plugged in close to the bathroom door. "You didn't," Maura said softly, bringing her right hand to Jane's arm, her fingers skimming along it up to the young brunette's shoulder, much like the previous touch along the back of Jane's hand. "I think we just...hadn't truly prepared ourselves to let anyone else know yet. Lena was very open-minded, but Stef, well…"

"Stef can seriously get off her fucking high horse," Jane mumbled.

"Jane," Maura admonished quietly.

The young woman merely shrugged.

Silence fell between them again for several minutes. It was Jane who decided to break it, though she continued looking up at the ceiling. "Do you feel guilty?"

"Guilty about what? Telling Stef and Lena?" she asked.

"No, about being with me," Jane clarified softly.

Maura's teeth closed together, trapping her bottom lip between them. After a moment she whispered, "Yes. Sometimes."

"And the rest of the time? What do you feel then?"

Maura smiled into the darkness. "Happy. So unbelievably happy."

Maura's admission of feeling guilty somehow unexpectedly eased the sudden tension between them, showed Jane that even Maura had moments of insecurity.

Seconds later Jane said, "I never thought I'd be 'the other woman.' It feels weird. Terrifying actually."

"It's okay to feel whatever you feel, you know," Maura said.

"I know," Jane sighed, feeling the deep ache in her chest signaling tears. "I just...I don't want to screw up your life."

"It makes me sad that you feel that way, but you being here, as a nanny to my children, as my friend, as my lover, you really do just make my life so much better, Jane. I don't know what I'd do without you anymore honestly. I've told you that before and I'll keep telling you until you believe it."

Maura hesitated momentarily, stemming from a desire to perfect the words swirling through her mind. "You and I have similar feelings though."

"About screwing up your life?"

"No, about 'screwing up your life,' as you so eloquently put it. I do fear that I'll keep you from living your life, from experiencing everything you could possibly want to. When I was 19, aside from my academics, I just wanted freedom. I wanted to experience everything this world has to offer. The thought of being settled or feeling as if I were stuck in one place, it paralyzed me. I dreaded it more than anything else, I think."

"I don't feel like that," Jane replied, turning her head to look at the older woman. Their eyes met in the low light. "I mean yeah, at some point I want to see things like the Eiffel Tower, or the Colosseum, or the pyramids in Egypt, ya know? But Boston's home. I can't imagine being anywhere else and I don't want to."

Maura leaned in close and kissed her lover softly. As she pulled back, her eyes locked on Jane's again. "I need you to promise me something."

The young brunette bit her lip.

"Promise me if you ever feel that way, if you ever feel as if I'm holding you back, keeping you from experiencing what you want in life, you'll tell me." Maura's plea was soft, but emotional. Jane saw the way the nightlight danced in the tears welled up in Maura's eyes.

Jane released a controlled breath and looked back up at the ceiling. "Let's just talk about something else. I've had enough of emotions today."

"Jane, please," Maura pleaded.

"I dunno if I can keep that promise, so I don't want to make it," Jane said.

Maura breathed in deeply. "You know that I do not delve into the realm of 'what ifs' so this is very important to me, Jane. I need you to promise that I won't keep you from what you want in life."

"All what I want is you. And to be a homicide detective," Jane replied with a smile, turning her head to look at Maura as she spoke.

"That's the best I'm going to get from you right now, isn't it?" Maura's sigh was heavy. She felt Jane's right shoulder move slightly upwards in a shrug underneath her fingertips.

Several seconds passed. "So…" Jane stretched out the vowel before letting her voice trail off.

"I think you've improved significantly on your ability to discuss your emotions."

"Me saying 'so' was not an invitation for more profound conversation." Jane suddenly breathed out through her nose, her lips pressing together in a line as she tried to stifle her laughter.

"Oh."

"I meant it to be a segue into somehow asking if you wanna make out,'" the brunette said.

Maura lifted an eyebrow. "Will it be restricted to kissing, or is it your intention to create a segue into sexual intercourse?"

Jane's nose scrunched up for a couple of seconds. "Ya know, that mouth of yours is definitely a mood-killer sometimes," she joked.

Before replying Maura pushed the covers back a bit and swung her right leg over Jane's thighs, shifting her body to straddle the brunette. Maura pulled her golden red-blonde curls to one side with her left hand, peering down at Jane, whose eyes were trained on her face, the young woman's expression one of amusement. Maura braced her body above Jane's, each hand planted above Jane's shoulders, then lowered her upper body to place a kiss just below Jane's left ear. Her voice was saturated with desire, her warm breath sending shivers along Jane's spine. "Well you've led me to believe that my mouth is quite often the opposite for you actually," Maura finally replied, the hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips even though Jane was unable to see it.

"Oh!" Jane gasped, her eyes fluttering closed. "Look at you making jokes."

Maura slowly moved her lips up to Jane's ear, mere millimeters from touching. "Is my mouth killing the mood now, Jane?"

The sensation of Maura's breath in her ear sent a shock straight down her body where it nestled perfectly between her thighs.

"Hm uh," Jane whimpered, the sound emanating from her throat.

Lifting her body up again, Maura quietly asked, "Do you think either of us could handle just making out?"

Eyes opened slowly, revealing deep desire within them.

Before Jane could even reply, there was a timid knock on the door, followed by a whimper. "Mommy?" The doorknob began to turn.

Hazel eyes widened for barely a second before Maura scrambled from on top of Jane, barely making it back under the covers on her side of the bed before the door was pushed open enough to reveal Samantha, her small teddy bear gripped tightly in one arm, looking very frightened. "Mommy, I had a bad dream," she whimpered again. "Can I sleep with you? Please?"

"Oh, mon amour, come here," Maura said softly to her daughter, throwing the covers back.

Samantha all but ran to Maura's side of the bed, reaching her arms toward her mother to lift her up onto the bed, only her tiny right hand now clutching the teddy bear. She then climbed over Maura's legs and settled between her mother and Jane before Maura pulled the covers back over them both.

Maura had reacted on instinct, as she normally did for her children. Still sitting upright, she turned her head to look at Jane, only to find a worried look marking the young woman's features, though directed toward Samantha, much to Maura's surprise.

"What happened in your bad dream, Sam?" Jane asked quietly.

Pouting, Samantha said, "A shark tried to eat you and Mommy."

Dramatically Jane lifted her arms into the air and wiggled her fingers. "Well, I've got all my fingers." She lifted the covers up and glanced down. "Looks like I got all my toes and both legs, too."

The little girl giggled.

"What about you, Mommy?" Samantha asked, turning to look at her mother.

Maura held up her hands for her daughter to see, wiggling her fingers as Samantha turned to look at her. "All of my fingers!"

Sitting up, Samantha lifted the covers and squinted in the low light to see her mother's legs underneath.

"I have all of my toes and both legs, too," Maura told her.

"Okay, good," Samantha said quietly.

As both mother and daughter laid back down on the bed, Samantha nestled against her mother's side, head resting in the crook of Maura's arm, her right arm clutching her bear tightly as she stuck her left thumb in her mouth. "G'night," she told her mother and Jane, the word slightly distorted because of the thumb in her mouth.

Before Maura could wrap her arm around Samantha's back, Jane gently took hold of the older woman's wrist and brought the hand to her mouth, placing a soft kiss on the back of it.

Tears sprung to Maura's eyes as she watched Jane's intimate, romantic gesture.

Jane then lowered Maura's arm back to the bed and released it.

Maura mouthed the words, "I love you."

A knowing smile tugged at Jane's lips.

The rest of the time at the beach was mostly uneventful.

Stef, Lena, and their children spent their last full day at the Cape on the beach with Jane, Maura, Ethan, and Samantha, only taking a break from the beach for lunch, which Stef and Lena offered to provide. Dinner that evening was, naturally, served at Maura's beach house, reciprocating the previous evening's dinner, though with far less drama.

The next morning, Stef and Lena packed up their belongings, checked out of their rental, and headed home to New York.

After lunch, Maura and Jane packed everything up and drove home to Boston.

Upon their arrival home, Maura immediately told Jane they could wait on unloading their bags, saying that they could do so after getting the children settled inside and properly occupied.

After Jane nodded in agreement, Maura turned to unlock the side door into the kitchen and instantly realized it was already unlocked. Eyes widened in alarm, she slowly opened the door enough to poke her head through and what she saw on the other side of that door, right there in the kitchen, made her heart drop to her stomach.

"Christophe?"

SURPRISE!

*laughs and hides behind laptop screen*