A/N: 'Hot Ones' with Sean Evans is my SO's absolute favorite interview show so this one is sorta dedicated to them! If you want to check it out, I highly recommend the Trevor Noah or Kristin Bell interviews!

I sort of love the idea that Jane can't handle her spice but Maura is a badass about it. I also legitimately couldn't remember if Maura canonically rode horses and worked internationally as a doctor or if I've just read too many of other peoples fanfictions but I sort of love that headcanoon so I went with it. I also couldn't remember if Paddy said who Maura was named after but in my head, there's no way Hope's parents let Hope go through Paddy, pregnancy and baby loss alone without a serious reason for it so in my head they died before Hope and Paddy meet. This helps explain why a relatively normal human would be drawn to Paddy, a known mobster, and would get involved and fall in love. So there's that.

Hope's eyes scanned the airport looking for her eldest daughter. Hope had flown through LAX on exactly 3 occasions and each time she had promised to never do so again. This time, she felt slightly less horrible as she was meeting Maura. Hope oscillated between excitement at spending some quality time with her daughter and abject grief over Paddy's illness to utter rage at the fact that she had missed Maura's entire life because of Paddy. It was exhausting and overwhelming and slightly debilitating. If Hope stayed still too long or thought about it too hard, she suffered from shortness of breath, a constriction of the pectoral muscles and xerostomia. So she tried not to think of it and instead sought out a honey blonde head and perfect hazel eyes through the crowds.

Maura spotted her first, waving slightly and wearing a reserved but polite smile. Hope knew it wasn't the smile she would have given Jane. Hope knew it probably wasn't the smile she would have given Cailin. Hope would have felt jealous but a very small and slightly petty part of herself thought it might just be the same kind of smile she would have given Constance and that was more satisfying than it ought to have been.

'Hello Mother,' Maura replied with a small hesitant quirk of her lips. It was odd, disconcerting, to hear that word from Maura's mouth and Hope prayed she never stopped saying it. 'How was your flight?'

'It was a bit of a terror,' Hope said with a smile, 'turbulence had us pinned in our seats for most of the flight but it was nothing like landing in some of those air fields in Africa.'

'Did you ever fly through N'Djamena?' Maura asked.

Hope shuddered, 'once. Never again.'

Maura laughed and Hope beamed. 'I parked the car, did you check a bag?'

'Nope,' Hope patted her carry on, 'I travel light.'

Maura took the handle of her suit case and began to lead them through the bustling airport. 'I spoke to the hotel and asked that they change my room to add a second bed. I know you were planning to rent your own room but I figured since I already had one and my request was easily accommodated that we could stay together.' Hope looked side ways at her eldest daughter as they walked. Her cheeks had a light blush as though she were nervous. 'That is, if you want. I thought it would be nice but I, of course, understand if that would be awkward or uncomfortable.'

Hope smiled at her daughter, 'that sounds nice, though I must warn you, Cailin says I snore.'

'You do?' Maura asks stopping to look at her mother, 'is it hereditary?'

Hope shook her head, 'I broke my nose when I was maybe 10. My father was trying to teach me how to play baseball. He told me to hold my glove like so,' Hope pantomimed holding a glove, 'he told me to keep my eyes on the ball and he would put it in the glove. I had the misfortune of not understanding how far away to hold my glove nor how accurate my father would throw. It was likely a simple hairline fracture but since I've found I make a faint buzzing sound when I sleep.' Hope touched the edge of the ridge of her nose self-consciously.

'Does it still hurt? Jane had a hairline nose fracture and hers still hurts when she sneezes.' Maura asked quirking her head to the side. Hope recognised some of what was in that look. It was her daughter's Doctor Isles face.

Hope smiled, they had made it four whole minutes without talking about Jane. 'Only when it is jostled,' Hope said teasingly.

Apparently satisfied, Maura began walking once more, 'I find it strange that there are things I hardly know about you.'

Hope felt a psychosomatic pang in her heart. She followed her daughter mutely in to the thankfully empty elevator. 'I know every thing there is to know about Cailin. Every injury, every scar, every heart break. I knew her favourite lullaby, her favourite colours, I knew her favourite sport, favourite book. I know every Halloween costume, every Christmas present.'

Maura looked at her with what Hope wanted to think was longing. 'That's very sweet,' Maura said demurely. 'I'm afraid, I'm only beginning to get to know both of my mothers.'

Hope paused, considering the impact of her words. She never quite knew what helped and what hurt and she was tired of hurting Maura. At last and at barely a whisper she murmured, 'I wish I knew those things about you Maura.' Maura said nothing. She didn't even look at Hope but Hope could see the wetness of her eyes. With a tiny breath and all of her courage, Hope seized her daughters hand and gave it a soft squeeze. When Maura did not respond Hope pulled her hand away. It didn't feel like rejection, exactly, just odd. Odd like a thousand other tiny moments that defined their relationship.

'You do know some of my scars,' Maura said at last as they walked through a relatively quiet parking garage.

'15.6 centimetres on your left oblique,' Hope filled in automatically, 'and a 6.5 centimetre laceration on your forehead.' Maura smiled at her, Hope smiled back. The scar on her eldest daughter matched the one on her youngest, it had saved her life. The one on Maura's forehead, Hope had cleaned and cared for, even when Maura didn't really need the help. They were the most meaningful gifts Hope had ever received. Maybe it wasn't the same but Hope felt so much raw affection for those scars that it was hard to be upset for missing any others.

'Have you ever broken any other bones?' Maura asked as she loaded Hope's suit case in to her rental car.

'A fractured wrist. I was in some remote Thai villages kicking around a ball of rags with the kids, I fell and landed the wrong way. I had to sling it myself as I was the only doctor in the area,' Hope smiled, 'nothing else.'

Maura nodded, 'I broke a few bones in my feet as a child when I rode horses.'

'You rode horses?' Hope asked. She had ridden a few but she was far more comfortable on camelback.

'Dressage,' Maura affirmed as they navigated their way out of the airport and on to the streets of LA. 'I'm afraid we won't have time to drop off your suitcase before my interview, I hope that's acceptable. If not, I'm certain I could find someone to run it to the hotel for you.' She drummed the steering wheel nervously.

'That's quite alright. Tell me about your next interview,' Hope asked genuinely curious.

'It's for a show called Hot Ones and, apparently,' Maura said as she merged lanes, 'it requires me to answer questions while eating hot wings.'

Hope stared at her daughter before laughing, 'is that normal?'

'Not at all,' Maura said, her eyebrows furrowing, 'I've never had to eat anything on any of my other interviews but my editor assures me that its very popular.'

'How do you do with spice?' Hope asked with a teasing grin on her face.

'Better than Jane,' Maura said with the silly smile she always wore when referencing Jane, 'I survived India and South Africa alright.'

'Does Jane not do well with spicy foods?' Hope was curious. Jane Rizzoli always came off as such a tough human, it was amusing to think spicy food could best the fierce woman.

Maura laughed, 'the spiciest she gets is siracha. She always says,' Maura's voice went deeper and raspier in what was a very amusing imitation of Jane's 'Italians do actual spices, not spicy.' Hope laughed and Maura looked pleased to have gotten that reaction. 'So,' Maura asked, 'do you like spicy food?'

'I do,' Hope said with a smile, 'though it is admittedly a learned trait. People would bring food to the clinic as a way of thanking us for the work we did. It would be rude to refuse so over time I grew accustomed to varying degrees of spice.'

Maura sent a small smile her way, 'I had a very similar introduction.' Hope smiled back, pleased to share another small thing with her eldest daughter. 'I was hoping after the interview I could take you out to dinner, my treat.' Hope saw the shy smile on her face the way she studiously avoided meeting Hope's eyes.

'I'd love that,' Hope said, trying to show her daughter how true that sentiment was with a large smile.

'I made reservations for 7 pm,' Maura said, still shy but sounding more confident.

'I'll be ready,' Hope said with a smile.

Maura smiled at her then, 'I also wanted to suggest that we avoid talking about Paddy tonight. We'll have plenty of time over breakfast tomorrow. I kind of wanted tonight to be just us. I want to get to know you better.'

Hope's throat grew tight and her eyes were watery, 'that sounds lovely.'

The car was quiet the rest of the way. Hope suspected they both were feeling overwhelmed by their emotions. She didn't mind the silence. It gave her time to sort herself out. Once there, Maura was whisked quickly away, into a mob of hair and make up artists. Hope watched her interview from the sidelines, feeling the same soaring sensation of pride she had felt for so many of Cailin's accomplishments. It turns out, a mothers pride was the same at 5 or at 45. She beamed when Maura finished the last wing with what the host called 'the last dab' which was extra sauce on the wing. Maura had downed every wing, struggling with only one hot sauce which had made her eyes water and her nose run as she complained about it being chemically engineered torture.

Hope beamed when Maura walked over to her, offering a wordless hug to her eldest daughter. Hope's smile grew when Maura returned the hug, hiding from the world in Hope's arms. For a moment Hope felt she was every bit the mother she wanted to be for Maura. Then Maura pulled back and they both blushed. 'You did wonderfully Maura,' Hope offered as a kind of acknowledgement.

Maura nodded, 'thank you, I'll go gather my things.' Hope sighed at her daughter's retreating back. Brick by brick, Hope told herself. They were building this relationship brick by brick. It just took time.

Hope was grateful when they arrived at the hotel. She was even more grateful when Maura told her dinner was within walking distance so they would not have to sit in more LA traffic. The pair settled in to while away a few hours before dinner. Hope beamed when Maura settled on the couch across from her, a medical journal in her hands. She smiled softly at Maura even as she turned her own attention to an article she was peer reviewing. This was something they could do, easily. Hope was surprised, when an hour in, Maura shifted, pulling her legs up on the couch and settling in, her shins pressed close to Hope's side. Hope lay a gentle hand on Maura's calf but did not look up. She didn't want to startle Maura out of whatever new comfort bubble they had entered. Hope hear rather than saw Maura relax with a deep breath out. Hope was vaguely disappointed when the time came to get ready for dinner. It wasn't quite snuggling but it had been familiar and rewarding all the same. Hope was loath to let that sentiment lapse. Maura seemed equally reluctant to move. Or perhaps she was simply lost in her journal. Hope couldn't quite tell.

The women danced around each other getting ready but managed to leave the hotel by 6:45, walking at an amiable pace to the restaurant. Maura pointed out little things as they passed, as keen to share her information as Hope was to receive it. Hope loved that her daughter was what Cailin would call a nerd. That Maura loved learning as much as Hope did was pleasing. The host sat them quickly at a relatively quiet table near the back, returning quickly with a bottle of wine and they passed the evening in quiet, pleasant conversation.

Hope learned more about Maura's adoptive family, Maura even regaled her with a few teenage Maura stories. Some of them were so achingly like Cailin that Hope had to mentally stop herself from comparing the girls. Some of them were entirely Maura, some strange combination of brilliant and socially awkward. One, a story of about fending off a group of boys chasing a dog, reminded Hope of Paddy but Hope kept that to herself. Hope told Maura about her parents. How they had died in a car crash when Hope was 16, leaving her with a small inheritance at a pivotal moment in her life with no direction. She told Maura about her mother, Dorothea, and how she loved to cook and play piano. How her father had encouraged her love of science and her dream of becoming a doctor. They compared their stories of travel and their experiences working as doctors internationally as they shared a dessert. Hope couldn't stop smiling on their walk home. This trip was going to be hard in many ways but if it let her know her daughter better Hope would make this trip a thousand times over and judging by the smile on Maura's face, maybe she would too.