Please see Ch 1, 5 & 9 for disclaimers… enough disclaimers that they almost need their own chapter…

Jane darted a hand out and swiped a bit of chocolate icing out of the bowl from over Maura's shoulder.

Maura elbowed Jane in her stomach. "For the 10th time, get away from my elbow and keep your hands out of the food."

Sucking on her finger, Jane stepped around to lean her back against the counter. "I wasn't at your elbow. I was at your back this time." She reached out again, only to have her hand smacked away by Maura. "And we're at my place. My house, my rules. And stealing tastes of chocolate is a rule."

Exasperated, Maura turned and used the spatula she was stirring with to point to Jane. "I'm going to go make you sit on the couch in a second."

"Oh no, you had your chance earlier. I tried to get you to sit on the couch with me but you refused." Jane studied the space between Maura and the bowl of icing, considering her next move carefully.

Maura put a hand on her hip, daring Jane to move. "We both know if I joined you on the couch the éclairs wouldn't exist and while I think telling your mother we're together is the least we can do, I'd rather let her know with words instead of visual representation."

Still analyzing her options Jane debated her chances of just pushing Maura out of the way. "I'm not telling her because I feel obligated Maura. I'm telling her because, first off, it's the path of least resistance. You don't lie and she has a nose for news that rivals anything the K9 unit has in the kennel. "

Jane noticed Maura lean away from the counter, opening up space between her and the bowl of chocolate icing. "Secondly, she's like one-stop shopping for gossip. I tell her and then I don't have to repeat myself a million times. When I tell her she can tell anybody she wants, she'll probably double fist the phones, a landline in one hand and her mobile in the other. If this works we'll go put a flyer up at Merch and people like Miranda can rent her out instead of leaving messages on their parents' answering machines."

Quickly Jane made her move and scooped another taste of icing out with her index finger only to feel something wet slap against her nose at the same time. She wrinkled her nose and watched a blob of icing fall to the floor. "Oh my god, you did not just swipe that spatula on my face." She took a step forward, raising both her eyebrows, holding out her loaded index finger.

Maura bit her lip and started backing up, letting the spatula hit the counter. "Jane, I didn't wipe it down your face, really. It was just your nose, and only a little bit is left."

Jane evaluated the room and the escape routes and took a step to the right before she started to slowly move forward.

Take a couple of rapid steps back Maura realized her only opportunity to escape was to move left and Jane had stepped in that direction. She took another step and felt her heel hit the wall. Watching Jane smirk and close the distance between them she grabbed Jane's wrist and held the icing away. "Jane, icing is sticky and did I mention this blouse is silk? Chocolate doesn't come out of silk."

"Somebody should have thought about that before decorating my nose." She pressed against Maura's braced arm. "Now I just have to decide where I'm going to put this." She stepped closer, using the leverage to push their arms right "Maybe this side?" Struggling a bit, she started to move her hand to the left "Or perhaps…"

Jane couldn't get another word out as Maura suddenly stopped pressing back. Caught off guard she fell into Maura, who pulled her finger into her mouth. Every nerve in her fingertip sparked a message to every hormone in her body as Maura carefully and slowly twirled her tongue around, taking her time until every bit of icing was removed.

Satisfied at the hooded eyes staring at her, Maura pulled the offending finger out and placed a final kiss to Jane's fingertip. "That really is delicious. Perhaps there is something to eating icing off body parts. I could even be persuaded to let you offer me another taste." Jane's eyes flickered to her lips in a second of warning before she brought her mouth down to Maura's, wet and demanding, as her hands grabbed her waist to pull them closer.

Jane had just managed to tug Maura's shirt out of her skirt on her quest to find bare skin when the distinctive knock broke them apart. Breathing heavily she groaned. "Of course she'd actually be early today." Sighing she smoothed Maura's shirt, walking away as the knocking started up again.

The moment the door opened, Angela pushed the shopping bags at Jane. "Parking on your street is a pain in the neck. It took me nearly 15 minutes this time. You need to move before you have to arrest me for killing somebody over a spot." Bustling into the kitchen she noticed Maura frantically tucking the back of her shirt into her skirt.

Maura could feel Angela analyzing her and flushed a bit. "Hi Angela, can I help with anything?"

"Just grab us some glasses down for the Pinot Bianco. Your guy at the wine store helped me pick it out. I thought it would go nicely with the fish, olives and tomato sauce I'm making." Angela started to unpack the groceries, her back to Jane. She heard the refrigerator door open "Jane Rizzoli you are not wrecking my dinner by drinking beer, put it back. Go sit down and have a glass of wine like a civilized human."

Sitting down with a huff Jane took the glass of wine from Maura. "Nonno always drank beer with this meal."

Angela just shook her head, frowning when she noticed Jane's face. "That was my point exactly Jane. Now drink the wine or go get some water, but either way just sit down and close your mouth until you can open it without complaining." She pulled out the cutting board noticing Maura drizzling icing over the éclairs. "Oh Maura, those look delicious."

"Thank you. I just needed to get the icing on them before it set up any more. It's already a little thick for a glaze." Maura put the finishing touches and stepped back, regretting she didn't have anything else to keep her occupied. "Angela, are you sure I can't help you?"

Looking up from the tomatoes she was dicing, Angela noticed Maura fiddling with one of her bracelets. She looked at Maura's face. Interesting. Now the atmosphere was starting to make sense. Chewing her lip to keep from smiling Angela pointed behind her to the island where Jane sat staring morosely at her glass of wine."No, I have this all under control. Just go sit with Jane."

Silence filled the space, broken only by the noise of Angela preparing dinner.

Opening up Jane's freezer, Angela stole another quick glance at the two women sitting at the island. One was upright with razor like precision and the other had her upper body spread over the island, resting her chin on her arm while she tilted a wine glass back and forth. Finally locating a container of frozen tomato sauce in the back, Angela decided it was time to let them both off the hook. "Janie did I tell you that I had lunch with Kay Amatucci over in Cambridge yesterday?"

Not bothering to sit up Jane just shook her head. "No you didn't. How is she?"

"You'd have died if you could have seen how grey she got this past year." Angela put the fish in the oven and walked over to stand across from Jane and Maura. "I gave her the name of the stylist you took me to Maura. I think it would take 10 years right off her to have a little color added back in." She picked up her glass of wine and took a sip. "Anyhow, we had lunch at the cutest sandwich shop across from Cambridge City Hall."

Something in her mother's voice made Jane look up.

"Such a beautiful old building and it has been a part of so much local history, even recent history. Maura did you know they handed out the first marriage licenses to gay couples there?" Angela took a long swallow of her wine, enjoying the wide eyed expression on Jane and the rapid glances Maura was giving each of them.

Maura had to clear her throat several times before she was able to reply, trying not to give into the urge to squirm in her seat as Jane grabbed her knee under the counter "I think I did know that Angela, May 17, 2004 at midnight. I remember watching it on CNN."

"Wouldn't it be lovely to have a wedding there next year Jane?" Angela watched Jane flush a bright red. Maura was just biting her lip and smiling softly as she stared at the hand on her knee.

"Ma!" Jane was shaking her head, trying to find something to say and failing.

Angela walked over to the oven and opened the door, peering in to check on dinner. "What? I'm not getting any younger and a mother likes to know her children are settled in life."

Jane groaned. "Enough already, really. Sometimes my life is like a bad B rated movie." Taking a big gulp of wine she immediately went for another, deciding it wasn't half bad and it was better than nothing at the moment. She looked to Maura for support but she was just looking down, laughing quietly. Jane muttered at her "You are not helping right now." Eyes bright and twinkling Maura just shrugged.

Giving up, Jane just leaned back and stared at her mother. "Alright, well this didn't go at all how I pictured." She watched Angela set the timer on her stove before she came back over. "I don't suppose you're going to share how you figured it out?"

"I keep telling you I'd make a good detective." Angela poured herself more wine. "I'll start with when I first figured out you two were attracted to each other. I'll admit I was pretty slow figuring this one out." she gestured to Maura. "I didn't seriously start to consider it until that night I found you all alone in your kitchen, drinking wine in the dark. You were leaving for Africa the next morning and you weren't happy or even relieved. You looked exactly like I felt the night Frank left me."

Maura felt the hand on her knee squeeze and she covered it with one of her own, running her fingers back and forth against Jane's wrist.

The buzzer went off and Angela put down her glass and walked over to the stove. Pulling out the pan to sit and turning off the oven, she grabbed the green bottle next to the stove. "After that I found signs every place I looked and it all started to make sense. Even right here in your kitchen, Jane."

The bottle landed on the island between Jane and Maura with a clink. Angela walked to the freezer and pulled out a package skinless chicken breasts, dropping it front of them with a hollow knock. "I know my daughter and I know her well. I figure I'm lucky if I show up and find vegetable oil lost in the back of a cabinet. I certainly know you didn't buy olive oil, never mind truly good olive oil in a decorative bottle. "Staring at her daughter she picked up the chicken. "Since when does your freezer have a package of chicken that isn't breaded or in wing form? Which one of you two bought these two things?"

Maura cleared her throat. "I bought the oil. It has healthy fats, vegetable oil is just trans fat."

Indignant Jane looked at her mother. "Okay Maura did get the olive oil but I'll have you know I bought the chicken all on my own."

Angela sighed. Jane would always be Jane. "Why did you buy it?"

Jane opened her mouth to respond before closing it. Her mother was just looking at her with one of her patent Ma stares. Deflated, she muttered "Because Maura doesn't like me to eat that stuff and I needed something for her to eat when she came over."

Angela nodded. "Exactly and I live in Maura's guest house so I share her cable." She smiled at Maura." By now I've figured out that you almost never watch television and certainly never one of the 18 different sports channels your cable package seems to have. I'm not even going to get into what is on your kitchen shelves or the fact that for a woman that doesn't really drink beer you have a case of it stored in the pantry."

The timer went off again and Angela pointed at her daughter. "Jane can you please go get us some plates and something to eat with?"

When the food was served Angela took a long look at both women and smiled brightly. "You both are so entangled in each other's lives that nobody noticed the fact that you've been growing together for a long time. Not until it was all ripped apart and you saw both of you react the way you did." She sat down to eat. "As far as how I figured out you two are finally a couple?" Angela gave a pleased sigh. "That was easy. You forget I'm your mother Jane. I know your expressions better than you do."

Chuckling a bit, Angela continued. "If your flushed face didn't give you away when you finally opened the door, Maura desperately tucking in her shirt in the middle your kitchen would have been hint enough." Unable to help herself she started laughing harder, gesturing at both of them. "But really, the fact that you both have identical chocolate icing smudges across your noses pretty much gave it away."

Both women flushed a deep crimson as Angela just kept laughing between bites of food.

Jane rubbed her cheeks. That icing that Maura had wiped on her nose. Actually looking at Maura for the first time since her mother arrived, she noticed the faint trail of chocolate. "Maura, please tell me I don't have chocolate on my face?"

Maura just stared at her for a moment before the absurdity of the situation just made her give a light laugh. "I can't Jane. I believe we may have failed in my intention to not tell your mother by means of visual representation." She stood up. "I think I need to go wash up before I eat." She turned to Jane. "You might want to do the same."

"I'm sorry, but I still can't believe she figured it out before we could say anything." Jane added more soap to the pan she was scrubbing at the sink. "I mean, I didn't think she'd freak out, not after the past couple of weeks, but I at least thought she'd be a little bit surprised. Maybe have some questions or something."

Maura just laughed and shook her head, rubbing a sponge over a spot she had missed on the counter as she double checked the rest by running a palm over the surface. "I don't know why this is so hard for you. You have this strong streak of your mother in you. I know this will annoy you, but the skills that make you intuitive as a detective might have some genetic influence. Angela and you instinctively see patterns when there isn't a single fact to correlate it to and you both understand what is being said even when words are not used."

"You're not wrong, that thought is particularly annoying." Jane made a face over her shoulder but there wasn't any ire in her words. "Let's just not go there. I am not my mother."

Walking up behind Jane, Maura reached around her to return the sponge before wrapping her arms around Jane's waist. She leaned her forehead down to rest against the nape of Jane's neck. "Oh just be grateful for the gift you have. I've been studying for years and it still takes me watching video to pick up what you do intuitively. "

Jane snorted. "If I'm so good at reading people how in the hell did I miss this." She tapped the arms around her waist."I've been thinking about that today."

"What is the expression you always use when you're trying to figure out some detail on a case? Not seeing the trees because you're in the forest?" Maura kissed Jane's back. "Part of me wishes I had never left Boston to go abroad but sometimes I think it in the end it was only in being completely away, with Ian right there instead of on some pedestal in my imagination, that I was forced to challenge my own assumptions."

Jane rinsed the pan in her hands, choosing her words and tone carefully, ready to put the past year behind them. She dried her hands off on the dish towel before pulling Maura's arms tighter around her waist, keeping her voice light. "Close enough on the figure of speech and fair enough on the rest. I might even say something similar but why don't we make a deal instead? Next life altering argument we get into nobody gets to skip the country or even the city for that matter. And trust me we're both stubborn enough so there will be others."

Jane thought a moment before adding "Not talking is also not allowed. You might have to force me on that one sometimes." She let out a long sigh. "You also need to add into that big brain of yours that even when people hate each other they can still love each other. Do we have a deal?"

"The terms are acceptable." Maura leaned against her in silence, enjoying the quiet moment while Jane started to dry the pots and pans. "It's supposed to be beautiful weather tomorrow. Why don't we go for our run outside the city? Maybe take a drive up Route 1 to Salisbury beach?"

Jane groaned. "You still want to go running tomorrow?" She could feel the head nodding against her back. "You're going to be the death of me, you realize this right?" Letting out a little yelp when the hands at her waist pinched lightly, she gave in with a sigh."Okay but I am not setting an alarm clock. We'll go when we get up."

Maura sighed, breathing in Jane for a moment, the scent and the feel of her in her arms tingling along her senses. "Alright, no alarm clock, but then you have to agree to no whining." She stepped back to finish putting the containers of leftovers away.

"Oh no, there will definitely be whining. Lots and lots of whining, I'm still sore from last night." Smirking Jane looked over, expecting a reaction and was disappointed when Maura was just wrapping up the remaining éclairs. Frowning she leaned over to open the dishwasher and analyze what space she had left for the dishes.

Maura waited until Jane was focused completely on loading the dishes before casually commenting. "You know, I have to admit you were onto something earlier with the icing. It did taste better off your finger."

The detective in her made Jane look up sharply but Maura was busy doing something in her refrigerator. "Oh, really? What happened to squealing about icing being sticky and warnings about silk blouses?" She grabbed the dinner plates and tried to fit them into the bottom of the dishwasher, leaning over to rearrange the space.

Maura's calves and heels appeared in her line of vision as she felt something drape along her back before sliding off to land at her feet. Jane felt her breathing accelerate as she looked at the silk shirt at her kitchen floor.

Slowly she stood up. Maura was standing there, the icing bowl in her arms with an eyebrow raised, shirtless. "I believe that was a problem that was easily remedied."

Swallowing hard Jane tried to come up with something witty, but she couldn't seem to get a word to come out of her mouth.

Maura held up her finger coated in chocolate. "I believe I owe you for the taste I stole earlier." She painted Jane's top lip with icing, reaching up to slowly remove it before whispering in her ear. "I think I'll spend the rest of my night seeing what else might go well with icing. "She pulled back with a tweak of her shoulders. "Too bad we only have half the bowl left."

Jane cleared her throat, her voice cracked a bit. "I need to go turn in my badge or give it to my mother. How the fuck did I miss this side of you before?"

Her laugh was low and full of promise as Maura stepped forward to lean into Jane."Forest and trees perhaps?" She painted Jane's lower lip and ran her tongue over the icing before following it with a long slow kiss."Then again, I have never claimed not to have secrets. Perhaps you'll have to put those interrogation skills of yours to work Detective." She pushed away to saunter out of the kitchen.

Still standing in there Jane managed to remember to breathe. Heaven help her she loved this woman. Shaking her head to clear it she jogged out of the kitchen to catch up to Maura.

A/N – The reviews and notes sent have been fabulous. I just hope everyone understands how much I have appreciated the effort you take to review, they've been a bright spot. I've noticed questions etc… I can't really answer without giving up the end so just stick with me. I'm not ignoring you :)