Intersecting Lines Book 2

26 Parental Problems

Sharon's viewpoint

Last night had been rough, after summarily tossing her mother out into a cab and off to the hotel Brenda had been a mess, hardly surprising really. They'd previously been kind of close but her mother's inability to accept our relationship had strained that, I only hoped it hadn't broken things between them irrevocably.

We'd ended up in bed, where Brenda had cried herself to sleep on my shoulder, desperately wondering why Willie-Rae couldn't see how happy she was, how happy we were together. I'd tried to console her, but she'd been a miserable mess, something I could completely understand. My parents hadn't really understood my 'sexual reversal' as my father had called it, so they'd basically ignored the elephant in the room; they hadn't bothered to conceal their relief when my relationship with Brooke ended. Given their issues I hadn't bothered to tell them I still preferred women to men, nor that I was still sleeping with them.

As it was Saturday we'd slept in a bit, then while I'd made breakfast Brenda had confirmed that her mother had checked out of the LAX Radisson and that she was on a Delta flight back to Atlanta. The news that she was out of LA had seemed to make things a little easier for Brenda, we'd had a quiet breakfast before sharing a shower, Brenda losing herself in washing my hair, it was something she loved doing for me and I enjoyed her personal ministrations. Often we'd fool around but not this morning, Brenda was still a little too fragile.

We ended up having an intensely domestic day, we dropped our dry cleaning in, did some grocery shopping then headed home where we cleaned, changed bed linen, washed and vacuumed and spent the day doing simple things together. Brenda was obviously still a little shell-shocked from how badly things had worked out and I could see her anticipating the fall-out. By the early afternoon I'd caught her glancing at the clock regularly, no doubt working out when Willie-Rae would get home then expecting a call from her father. I'd resolved that if he called, I'd be the one to answer it, no sense letting Brenda take the full force of a parental tantrum if I could soften the blow.

We were both surprised however when no call came. Over a cup of herbal tea (for me) and coffee (for her) we'd discussed the possible reasons and ramifications, everything from Willie-Rae not telling him, heaven knows why though, through to Clay not really caring, though neither of us believed that for a moment. After talking round and round the issue till we were dizzy I'd eventually put my foot down and dragged her out to our local Indian restaurant for a filling meal of Rogan Josh, Butter Chicken and Lassi before we headed home to watch something mindless on cable.

It'd been good, we'd laughed at some silly Jennifer Anniston rom-com before watching a strange cop movie about police in a dystopian future; called Dredd, starring the doctor from the new Star Trek movies, it was a look into a particularly grim future.

We'd started out laughing about the lack of due process and procedures, but as the movie went on it became obvious that was part of the point, when society became close to ungovernable, you either had anarchy or you cracked down hard. In this case Mega City One as the place was called, had gone down the 'Judge, Jury, Executioner' path; ironic really as the cops were actually called Judges.

We'd sat on the sofa afterwards talking about how far removed from reality Dredd was, only to come to the somewhat uncomfortable realisation that if you strip away some of the veneer of civilisation then Mega City One's reality wasn't all that far-fetched. All you had to do was look at parts of Mexico where the cartels had run rampant to see that. Even here in LA there were places where the rule of law was a little lighter than it should be, where the gangs ran their own parallel system of 'justice' and 'punishment'.

The discussion was a little tense from Brenda's perspective; she was still touchy about the implications of police making life-or-death decisions following the Tyrell Baylor case. She'd made bad choices there that had nearly ended her career, would have seen her thrown in jail if Goldman had got his way.

Eventually we'd found ourselves cuddling on the sofa, the television off as we lay there in the dim light, feeling her warm body on top of me, surprising me again with her lightness, Brenda's personality was so much larger than life that it sometimes came as a surprise just how tiny she was, she'd put on a little weight since I'd started replacing her take-away addiction with proper food, partly due to her metabolism and partly due to her continuing gym and personal trainer sessions, with my encouragement she was spending more time with both and was replacing what little fat she'd been carrying with muscle, heavier but far more healthy and toned, I could feel the muscles that were developing under that lovely warm, soft skin as I held her close, her head on my shoulder.

We just lay there, just holding each other, we didn't need sex tonight; instead this was about comfort, so we talked about all sorts of meaningless things for over an hour before I felt her start to drift off. I roused her enough to head to bed, getting her to snuggle in close and rest her head on my shoulder as she wrapped herself around me. I could feel her soft warm breath on my neck, reminding me just how lucky I was to have her, she'd brought warmth and love and happiness into my life and despite all the dramas that came with them, I wouldn't change places with anyone.

The last thing I heard as I fell asleep was her voice, so soft it sounded like her breathing.

"Thank you m'love" I'm sure I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

We were up early Sunday, making our way back over to my place for a late lunch, Alex and Olivia were in town and we'd agreed they'd come over after doing some shopping. In a way I was sorry I'd missed that experience, I was sure that shopping with those three blondes would be lots of fun and I resolved to make sure I went with them the next time they were in town.

Working side by side we put together a healthy salad with plenty of marinated chicken breast for Jane, Liv and Ana in particular. All three of them spent a lot of time in the gym; building and maintaining that impressive muscle tone took a lot of effort. Mind you, I'm sure Alex, Maura and Natalie appreciated their efforts just as much as I appreciated Brenda's developing strength and stamina.

We got texts from them telling us they were on their way, eventually walking through the door just after one. For a few minutes we just caught up on what Liv and Alex had been up to back in New York, discussed their shopping expedition and generally socialised, before we ended up around the kitchen, amid offers to help with getting lunch ready.

Lunch was fun, full of happy conversation, teasing and laughter, especially once the talk turned to the Ball in New York they were going to, they were so looking forward to seeing Olivia, Ana and Jane in tuxedo's. For a moment I drifted off in a daydream, imagining a certain Deputy Chief in a fitted tuxedo, she'd be sexy as anything, only to notice Brenda scrutinizing me the same way; it didn't take much to realise she was picturing me in one, from the small smile on her lips she obviously found the image a pleasant one too.

It must have shown, as Alex immediately asked if we could come too. Ana and Nat could be Maura's guests and we could be hers, all part of a great night out. Brenda and I exchanged a glance and a silent conversation, we both wanted to go but regretfully we knew there was no way we'd be able to get away, Pope was antsy enough as it was when one of us was away, having both of us out of town, together with three other senior members of his team was definitely not going to happen, not without lots of notice, something we didn't have this time round.

The others were really disappointed as we explained our reasoning, but understold the reality. They did however extract our promise that we'd come next year, as to which we'd happily agreed long as we got plenty of notice. It gave us something to look forward to and we got a promise that they'd take lots of photos of the Ball and the girls in their tuxes.

After lunch we threw everything in the dishwasher and settled back in the lounge room, we didn't have as many lounges as Maura and Jane's place so we ended up with Alex sitting in Liv's lap next to Maura, while Jane was sitting on the floor with her back to the sofa, leaning up against Maura's legs, one hand wrapped around Maura's calf as the blonde toyed with the short hairs at the back of Jane's neck, occasionally Jane would lean back into her touch like a cat being stroked, while Brenda snuggled in close to my side as Natalie and Ana occupied the third couch.

The conversation flowed easily for a while before Willie Rae's visit came up at Natalie's question.

"Sorry you couldn't make it yesterday; I understand that things didn't go as well as they might have on Friday night?" Brenda grimaced.

"You could say that, yeah" Maura nodded.

"It would be a shock Brenda, your parents have known you a particular way all their life, suddenly you tell them that your personal preferences in lovers have changed 180 degrees, that alone is a significant change for them to absorb, it will take them a while to come round" There were a few nods as Brenda looked round their faces.

"Was that what happened with you? Did they eventually come round?" Natalie shrugged.

"We were lucky, on both sides" Brenda looked down to where our hands were together, fingers entwined, giving my hand a squeeze and then looking up.

"How did it go with you? Your parents I mean, was it hard an all?" Natalie smiled as she snuggled a little closer to Anastasia.

"Mom kind of freaked out a bit when she realized I'd actually brought my lover, not my friend home. She looked in on us late the first night we were there and saw the two of us asleep in the same bed, obviously naked" She and Ana shared a grin at the memory. "Dad was pretty cool about it, all things considered" She snickered. "Dad told her I could have done a lot worse and if she thought back to some of the guys I'd dated when I was younger, I had" Brenda looked skeptical.

"So she accepted it that easily?" Natalie shook her head.

"It took her a while to talk herself round to the idea; I mean it was a surprise to learn her oldest daughter was suddenly gay. Dad was a bit more accepting early on" Ana grinned and took up the story.

"Yeah, Nat's mom Christie cornered me one afternoon while Nat was off down in one of the barns with Peter, her dad. We were alone and she gave me the third degree, asked me why I thought I was good enough for her daughter" Olivia was the first one to respond, beating me to it.

"What'd you say?" Ana smiled and pulled Nat a bit closer.

"I told her I wasn't, that Natalie was the best thing to ever happen to me and that I'd spend every day for the rest of my life trying to be good enough for her" Ana shrugged gently as Nat gave her a quick hug. "I don't think she was expecting that level of honesty really" She smiled down at Nat, obviously thinking back. "I sorta got the full interrogation over the next hour, how many girlfriends I'd had, how many boyfriends, what I did that made Nat happy, how she made me happy, what my family felt about it, all the sort of things you'd expect really. She just wanted to be sure I'd be good for Nat" Natalie nodded enthusiastically.

"I had a smilar discussion with my dad. He was a bit less stressed about it, he just asked was I happy, was I sure I was doing the right thing, I told him I was certain of it and I'd never been happier, which was enough for him" Alex smiled.

"You're lucky, to have your parents accept you like that" Natalie shook her head.

"Oh I wasn't out of the woods by a long shot. Dad was fine, mom on the other hand... She arranged for Dad to take Ana off into town, so it was my turn for the third degree, I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition either" Olivia barked out a laugh.

"No one expects the Spanish Inquisition" I picked up the reference immediately but she got several strange looks from the others, before she could speak I jumped in with a smile.

"It's a famous old Monty Python sketch" Liv grinned.

"I love those guys, mad as anything" She took in my fond smile. "And I'm not the only one I'd say" I smiled back.

"As long as you don't bring up the dead parrot" We both chuckled as the others looked at us with some bemusement. To get us back on track Jane looked across at Anastasia.

"What about your dad?" Ana smiled softly.

"Dad didn't know until I brought Natalie home. I was scared stiff, here I was bringing my girlfriend home to tell my dad that I'd found the woman of my dreams, someone I was going to love for the rest of my life. He had no inkling that I liked girls, so I was dropping it all onto him cold" Alex leaned forward; I could tell she was fascinated.

"How'd that go?"

"Surprisingly well actually, he was calm, listened to us both, then asked me to leave the room so he could talk to Nat" She smiled into her lover's eyes as Natalie smiled in return and took up the narrative.

"Yeah, he sat there after Ana left and calmly asked me a long series of questions, bout how I felt about her, how much I loved her, how the rest of our life would go, children, my family, you name it, he asked. Finally after about half an hour he called Ana back in and told us how lucky we both were to have found someone so special to love" Ana nodded enthusiastically.

"You can imagine the state I'd wound myself into, my dad interrogating my girlfriend, I'd damn near chewed my fingernails to the bone" She looked over at Nat. "Fortunately Nat had turned on the charm, he called me back in and gave us his complete blessing, told me he now had two daughters"

Brenda nodded slowly, I could see her comparing that response to Willie Rae's and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She glanced at me with a grateful look before looking back at them.

"You were both very lucky" They unconsciously nodded in synchronization before Ana spoke.

"Yeah, we know we are" Natalie smiled.

"Very"

I felt Brenda stir beside me before she looked over at Alex and Liv, where Liv was sitting next to Maura, Alex snuggled comfortably in her lap.

"What about your parents?" Liv shrugged.

"My mom died before Alex and I became an acknowledged couple" She pulled a face. "She may have had some inkling that I was interested in Alex, on the few times we sat down and really talked in the last decade I probably talked more about her than anything else, but as far as she knew, I was straight as" She shrugged again. "At least I was until Alex came along" She turned and pressed her lips to Alex's shoulder, making Alex smile softly before Liv continued. "I mean most of us were, till the right person came along" She looked round the room, getting nods from Jane, Brenda and Natalie, before smiling. "It just took the right person" I felt Brenda's hand squeeze mine and turned my head to see her looking at me, her eyes soft and shining, before she leaned in, speaking softly to me.

"Good thing you were my right person then" I smiled, noticing that each of the other couples were equally involved with one another right now, probably expressing the same sentiments. I leaned forward, capturing Brenda's mouth in a sweet, soft kiss, before Brenda pushed forward, her tongue darting into mine as she let me feel some of the ardour we normally saved for bed. Anywhere else I might have been embarrassed, but not here with these people, our closest friends.

After a minute or two in which the room was quiet, we finally came up for air. I hopped up and wandered round, refreshing everyone's drinks as Ana set the ball rolling again, looking over at Alex and smiling.

"How'd it go with your parents?" Alex looked thoughtful for a moment.

"As well as can be expected, all things considered I suppose. I mean I'd realised at college that I was interested in girls, I'd had some experiences with guys but I'd attracted a lot of jocks and I was young and stupid enough to fall for the body, not the brain" She turned her head to look at Liv. "Nothings changed really" She smiled at Liv's yelp of protest, then giggled at the offended look on her detective's face, one that drew smiles around the room as she spoke up.

"I'll have you know I'm more than just a hot body, I have a brain too" Alex took on an aloof air.

"Well, it's not the brain I'm cuddled up to on those cold winter nights, though it does have its uses I'll admit, mostly for things like remembering my coffee order" She got a dark look from Liv, though we could all hear the teasing in their voices.

"So you only love me for my body, not my brain? I'll remember that counsellor, don't you worry about that"

"Perhaps not only your body, but I know which part I like the best" From Liv's narrowed eyes I could tell Alex would be paying for that comment later, a penalty I was sure they'd both enjoy. Looking up Alex smiled.

"As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted…" She paused but Liv, perhaps wisely, said nothing. "…I realised my sexuality after I had a relationship with another girl who was studying law with me. She was gorgeous and had previously made it clear she was interested in me, I was on the rebound from yet another dumb, muscle-bound jock and she was there, offering sympathy and comfort" Alex smiled softly, it was obviously a good memory. "She basically seduced me and opened my eyes to what I'd been missing"

I finished refreshing everyone's drinks and sat back down, felling Brenda move in close again as I settled once more into the warmth I got from having her near. Alex too snuggled a little closer into Liv's embrace before continuing.

"I had something of an epiphany, after that I knew what I'd been missing and after a few more experiences basically accepted that I was gay. My parents weren't terribly amused, their plans had me marrying someone appropriate, someone whose family, wealth and connections would help me succeed in politics, getting me into the Mayor or Governor's jobs" She made a 'whatever' gesture. "That was their plan and I went along with it out of family loyalty, they tried to get me married off, even to the point of forcing me into an arranged engagement but in the end I realized their vision wasn't what I wanted. I'd met someone who didn't fit their plan but she'd stolen my heart and that was that" Liv leaned up to kiss her temple, making Alex smile before she continued. "I was sure that Liv didn't feel the same way about me, so I tried to move on, do what my family wanted, but it was never going to work. They tried to get me married off to produce heirs but I couldn't be with a guy and any of the women I slept with weren't Liv, so I was pretty sure I was going to be lonely for the rest of my life" She shared a smile and a meaning-laden look with Liv before looking round the room. "Fortunately one afternoon in New York we met Maura and Jane here and everything changed" There were smiles all-round the room before she continued. "My parents preferred not to discuss the matter, I was a dreadful disappointment to them in that regard" Liv snorted, a scowl on her face.

"Too stupid to see their daughter's happy, all they can see is what they wanted, not what you wanted" Alex nodded, her head on Liv's shoulder before she looked round at the rest of us.

"My parents wanted a son; they even had one of the traditional Cabot names selected, Alexander. Then they found out I was arriving and things went out the window" She half-shrugged. "My family is very traditional..."

"Hide bound and stubborn you mean" Liv interrupted, getting a fond smile from Alex; obviously it was a long-running thing for them.

"Well yes, that too, anyway, they decided that my gender shouldn't prevent me from fulfilling the Cabot destiny as they saw it. The right schools, the right degree, the right career, the right marriage to someone who could help my progress to a high political office, they knew exactly what they wanted"

"Jesus Alex, that sucks" It was Ana. "Whatever happened to following your heart and doing what you wanted to do?" Alex smiled at her, a little sadly.

"Not part of the Cabot family plan for world domination I'm afraid" Jane shook her head.

"I take it they don't approve of what's happened with you two?" Alex shook her head, blonde locks flowing over her shoulders.

"Not particularly. They tended to blame everything that's happened on Liv. According to them, if she hadn't been there when I did what was supposed to be a short, politically useful stint at SVU then my career wouldn't have got off track. If she hadn't been such a 'distraction' as they put it, I would have moved on to another role, if I hadn't been 'infatuated' with her; again their word, I would have found a nice, rich, politically and socially connected man to marry, If I hadn't fallen for her I wouldn't have ended up prosecuting Velez and getting shot, then pushed into witness protection" I'd been quiet, listening to her words but couldn't keep silent.

"It seems that in their minds Olivia is the personification of every disappointment they have about you. Every choice you've made, they blame Olivia, even though you're your own woman, making your own decisions. It hardly seems particularly honest on their part" Alex turned those piercing blue eyes on me and nodded.

"It wasn't. They had my life all planned out, when that plan won't off the rails it was easier to blame someone else rather than admit that life wasn't going to bend to accommodate their desires" Brenda stirred next to me.

"You don't have any siblings do you Alex?" I swallowed a smile; Brenda wasn't dumb; far too many people underestimated her thanks to the accent and the looks. Alex however was too smart, too used to reading people, to make that mistake.

"No, I was a difficult birth, after they had me they tried again, but the doctors told them that my mother couldn't have any more" Brenda nodded.

"So they loaded up all their hopes and dreams onto you..."

"Pretty much, I was their only hope. Needless to say I was a dreadful disappointment..."

"More fool them" It was Natalie; I'd wondered how long she was going to be able to stay silent. She was far too fiercely proud and protective of her friends to do so for long. "Their daughter is one of New York's most successful prosecutors, the UN can't sing your praises highly enough for the work you did in the Congo, other areas can't wait for you to leave SVU so they can get you working for them and the media describe you as one of New York's most feared prosecutors" She shook her head. "What the hell more do they want?" Alex's eyebrows rose.

"Where'd you hear all that?" Natalie shrugged.

"There's this nifty new thing called the internet…" At Alex's skeptical scowl she looked sheepish. "I called up someone I used to work with back in news in Seattle, Stephanie Church, I was with King 5, she was with our affiliate Kong 16, Steph's now an investigative journalist at WPIX in New York so I gave her a call and she gave me all the gossip" Alex gave her a hard look for a second, before nodding.

"I forgot you're a nosey reporter at heart" She got a quick grin from Natalie before Brenda spoke up.

"Will they ever come to terms with your being with Liv?" I could hear the unspoken question in Brenda's voice, she was hoping for something to give her hope with her own parents. Unfortunately Alex shook her head.

"My mother passed away not long after Liv and I got together last year while my father, who still disapproves of my 'lifestyle choices' as he puts it, he's in the cancer ward in Southampton Hospital, out on Long Island" I felt Brenda suddenly tense next to me, her hand clenching mine tightly.

"Oh god, I'm sorry Alex, I really am, I didn't mean to bring up anything like that, I'm so sorry" Alex smiled sadly and shrugged as Liv hugged her a little tighter.

"You weren't to know Brenda, besides, my parents choices were theirs, mine are mine alone and I know I've made the right one" There was a chorus of agreement around the room as Liv gently kissed Alex on the cheek then, when Alex turned to her, a deeper one on the lips. It went on for long enough that Jane eventually called them on it.

"Get a room you two!" Both Liv and Alex turned shit eating grins on Jane, who made a gagging sound. Before Jane could dig herself deeper Brenda bailed her out, calling across to her and Maura.

"What about your parents?"

Jane turned her head and exchanged a look with Maura, who nodded in a 'you first' gesture, and then turned back to us.

"My Ma's the meddling Italian momma from central casting, always trying to set me up with good Italian boys from nice families. I'd got tired of it a long time ago, I'd come to terms that the person I wanted was out of my reach, but I really didn't want anyone else, even though I couldn't have the person I loved" She shrugged as Maura leaned forward to lay her hand on Jane's shoulder, Jane unconsciously tilting her head to rest her cheek on Maura's fingers, obviously drawing comfort from the contact.

Glancing around the room I noticed each couple was very tactile. Natalie snuggled into Ana with the brunette's arm around her shoulders; Alex sitting happily in Liv's lap, not to mention Brenda was sitting curled up against me from shoulder to knee, our fingers entwined.

"Anyway, once Maura and I finally got a clue, I moved in later that week, which wasn't all that difficult as half my clothes were in Maura's spare room anyway. We'd discussed it and decided we'd break it to my Ma the following weekend, she was bound to find out as she was living in Maura's guest house out back of the main house" Jane barked out a laugh. "Ma rang me early on Saturday morning, not realising I was actually upstairs in Maura's bed, she'd called to tell me she'd arranged a date for me that night with the son of a friend of hers" Jane rolled her eyes as Maura chuckled at what was obviously a good memory.

"I told her I wasn't interested, at which point she asked me what was wrong with 'that nice Carlucci boy who's a dentist' and why wouldn't I give him a chance" She put it in air quotes. "I looked over at Maura, who was trying to drag me back into bed, thought 'what the hell'' and told Ma that I preferred that nice Isles girl who was a doctor. Well you could have heard a pin drop at that, for all of five seconds" Jane chuckled, joined by most of us. "Then the phone erupted; how long this had been going on, why hadn't I told her, you name it" She shrugged. "I told her about a week and we were going to tell her that weekend, so I said we'd see her for dinner on Sunday night, until then we had better things to do and she should stay out of Maura's place for the rest of the day, unless she wanted to see a lot more than she really wanted" There was a rustle of laughter at that as both Jane and Maura wore matching grins.

"Honestly, once she got over the fact that I'd actually found someone without her 'help' she eventually calmed down" Jane shrugged. "It kinda helped that she already considered Maura like a daughter, she'd always wanted me to date a doctor and after 'someone' explained in way too much detail the various ways two women could provide her with grandkids, she settled down" Maura chuckled.

"Let us be honest Jane, it was either that or Angela was going to suggest that I use sperm from either Tommy or Frankie" She looked up at us and explained. "Jane's brothers" Jane pulled a dreadful face at her words.

"Eww Maura, that's just so wrong….I still have issues at the thought of anything from my brothers being inside you" Maura gazed fondly down at the back of Jane's head.

"It was just a suggestion, one which I was happy to head up at the pass" Jane's eyebrow lifted as she half-turned her head to look at Maura, patting her knee as she did.

"Off Maura, its head off at the pass" Maura nodded, you could almost see her storing that away in a filing system.

"Oh, thank you" I nodded, before looking over at Maura.

"So what about you Maura, how did your parents take the news?" Maura's smile faded as she leaned forward closer to Jane, I noticed that Jane reached back over her shoulder to lay her hand on Maura's.

"I informed my parents via email, as they travel extensively. My mother knew Jane and approved of her as my friend, however neither thought Jane was an appropriate partner for me" Her mouth twisted slightly, obviously Maura did not appreciate her parent's reaction. "They felt that I could do better" Natalie frowned.

"As if" Maura smiled slightly at her words before continuing.

"They felt that someone from my own stratum of society would be a more suitable choice for marriage 'to an Isles' as they put it" I saw Alex lean forward to place her wine glass down on the table, before settling back in Liv's embrace and speaking.

"Given how many people from 'our stratum of society' as they put it…" Her voice showed what she thought of that concept. "…are oxygen thieves, there's much to be said for not settling" Maura and Alex shared a look, both were daughters of wealth and privilege though you wouldn't know it from the careers they'd chosen, both could have led lives of indolent luxury, instead both had devoted their lives, at considerable personal risk, to putting criminals away. "Would they have preferred you marry someone like Garrett Fairfield?" At Maura's surprised look Alex smirked.

"Oh I'd heard all about that at the time, it was quite the scandal for a while, at least amongst the Hampton's set, they couldn't believe you'd walk away from such a wonderful man" Her voice turned into a mocking parody of a vacuous socialite. "Yes darling, I couldn't believe it either, Garret's such a catch, went to all the right schools, he's on all the right boards and committee's, I mean we play tennis at the same club for goodness sake" We were left smiling at her over the top airhead delivery as she shook her head, her voice returning to normal. "Shame about the whole him being a murderer thing though, I mean he had such great pecs" Maura smiled gently.

"My parents, in their defence, were somewhat surprised he did in fact turn out to be a murderer, but they would prefer that I find a nice boy from a good family and settle down" She shrugged and leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss to the top of Jane's head, before sitting back. "I told them I had already found someone from a good family. Jane's family may not have been monetarily wealthy, but they are rich in love and they have always accepted me, made me part of their family almost as soon as we met, for which I cannot ever truly repay them" Jane turned to fully face her, looking up and pulling a face.

"Sometimes I wonder about that Maur, dragging you into the middle of the whole Rizzoli family crazy" Maura reached forward, her hand caressing Jane's cheek softly.

"Your family may not be exactly what my parents consider appropriate, but they are exactly what I need Jane" She looked round the room at us all before looking back at Jane.

"I was born a Doyle, raised as an Isles but I am a Rizzoli now. They, and you, are my family"