A/N Guys, Corona has killed all motivation to write and create. Even though I've been stuck at home for two months, laid off, I've had 0% creativity and/or motivation. But, things are looking up. I've finished this, finally. And I'll post the chapters over the coming couple weeks. Thank you so much for sticking around.

xxx

xxx

xxx

Jane let herself fall down against Maura's bed, her feet still dangling off the side as Maura sorted through her textbooks. Finals were days away, which meant that Maura's impending departure for the summer was also days away. Studying for finals was mixed with packing and soaking in any last seconds of quality time with her girlfriend.

"I hired a fellow to come pick up my books. Have you made room in your garage yet?" Maura asked as she dropped an old math textbook into the donation pile.

"Yes. There's a corner with your name on it."

The blonde turned towards her, "Did you really write my name on a corner of your garage?"

"No." the brunette snorted, "It's a figure of speech."

"Oh…" Maura turned back to her task

Jane stared up at the ceiling, "You're not gonna totally fall in love with New York, and decide to stay, are ya?" It was said in a joking manner, but something about her tone sounded off to the blonde sitting a few feet away.

Maura put down another textbook and began rifling through it, "Of course not, Jane. It's only three months."

"I know, but three months is a long time to live somewhere. Especially a big city like New York."

"Boston is a big city too, Jane."

"Not as big as New York though. And definitely not as glamorous."

Maura chuckled, "I'm not going to be doing the most glamourous job, Jane. I'll either be working in a morgue or running tests in a lab."

"Yeah, I know. Still though."

The blonde looked up from her textbook to watch Jane curiously. "I'm not going to just up and decide I want to stay in New York forever, darling."

In lieu of a response, Jane kept staring at the ceiling.

"Did you think I would?"

"I don't know." The lanky woman mumbled, yes, she thought

"Jane."

"I don't know, maybe?"

The blonde stood, walked over to her bed, crawled atop Jane, and held herself up with her arms, "Jane, sweetie, talk to me."

Jane turned her head away, not wanting to look in the other woman's eyes.

"I…" she started, but bit her lip

"Honey." Maura cooed, not catching on to what Jane was feeling.

"I just…it's my own fears and insecurities, Maur. Don't worry about me."

"How can you say that? Of course I'm going to worry about you. I care for you. Jane, you're…you're so important to me. And if you're feeling worrisome or hesitant about something, I want to help."

Things started to slowly click in Maura's head. She thought about Jane's question and started to piece together information form earlier conversations.

She lowered her voice to a whisper, "Jane, look at me."

It took a long moment before Jane finally turned her head back to the woman above her and saw the seriousness in her eyes, "I'm not Emily."

Jane's jaw wobbled just slightly, and she turned her head away again, closing her eyes.

"Jane, look at me, please."

The brunette slowly turned her head back to Maura, tears starting to prick in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm not Emily. And I'm not using you as a weigh station until something better comes along. You are better. You will always be better."

"But, what if you meet someone else?" Jane whispered

"I'm going to meet lots of people, Jane."

"But what if you meet someone cooler?"

"You're pretty cool." The blonde smirked

"Not really."

"Excuse me?"

"Not as cool as some of the people there, I bet."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Maur, I'm not…I'm not anything special…I'm just me."

"And what's wrong with that? What's wrong with being just you?"

"I don't know. I just…you could do better."

"How can you say that?" The blonde was affronted, "Jane what's going on inside that head of yours?"

"I…" she took a deep breath and sat up, making the other woman to sit up as well, "I'm just afraid, Maura. We've only been together what…a couple weeks? And we've only known each other a couple months? I'm afraid that you're going to wake up and realize I'm not worth it, that Hay isn't worth it, and that this whole thing isn't worth it and you're going to leave."

"Why on Earth would I do that? Like I said, I'm not Emily."

"She's not the only one who left, Maura."

The blonde crawled off Jane's lap and sat next to her, waiting for the other woman to continue.

"Casey left. He left for the army. I…asked him to stay. I asked him to help me; to help raise his child, to be with me and start a life together. He left two days after I found out I was pregnant. He joined the army overnight and was at bootcamp across the country before I even found out he'd left. He called me a month later, giving me some bullshit about needing to find himself. And then when Emily left, and I started to notice a pattern. She was a bitch – I realize that – but she left. And you, you are the best out of all of them. I can't help but feel like you'll leave too at some point." Jane stood and took a few steps away, crossing her arms across her chest.

"And what if I do? Are you just going to sit there and let it happen?"

Jane spun back towards the smaller woman, giving her an incredulous look, "No!" she defended

"And why not?"

"Because I love you, dammit!" Jane shouted

The brunette stepped back, surprised by her own outburst.

"And I love you, you big idiot."

"You do?" came a hopeful whisper

"Yes, and sweetie, it's only three months, not three years. We'll see each other a couple of times. You're coming for the 4th, and we'll have almost a week together then." Maura pulled the taller woman into a tight hug. "I'm coming back Jane. I know it might be early in our relationship, but I really, truly do love you. Three months in a hectic internship isn't going to change that."

"Ok." Jane sighed, still having a few lingering doubts.

Maura sat on the edge of the bed, patting the spot beside her suggestively, "want to distract me from studying for a little bit?"

Jane play-rolled her eyes and stomped forward, "If I must."

xxx

xxx

xxx

xxx

Four days later, after Maura's last final exam, the blonde stepped out of the building to find a certain librarian and six-year-old waiting for her with big smiles and an invitation to celebratory ice cream. Maura excited with a relieved sigh, especially when she saw her two favorite people waiting for her.

She gratefully scooped up an armful of six-year-old while Jane took her backpack.

"Did you kick butt?" Hayley Mae asked

Maura turned to Jane with an amused smile before answering the little girl, "Yes I did. I always do."

"Yas! Ice cream!"

The three made their way to the ice cream shop for a good helping before Jane revealed that Angela had planned an end of year get together for them all. Stuffed with ice cream, the three made their way to the matriarch's house for a late afternoon nap before dinner. Hayley Mae instantly ran to the den to grab some books while the two laid down on the couch, wrapped in each other's arms and a throw blanket.

When dinner was ready, Angela woke them.

"So where are you going to be living?" Angela asked, passing a bowl of sweet potatoes to her daughter.

"My parents found a small apartment a few blocks from where I'll be working."

"Janie says they live in New York, that'll be nice to see them."

"Actually," Maura corrected, "They're in Europe this time of year. Mother runs a few galleries in Paris and London, and my father teaches a few summer classes at Oxford. So, they're rarely home in the summer."

"Will we see them over the 4th, when we're at their place in Cape Cod?" Jane asked around a mouthful of bread

"I doubt it," the blonde sighed, "They've not been there in a few years."

"When will you see them next?"

"I would say, most likely Christmas. Mother likes to host a big event at their home in New York for all their friends. It's always a big event."

"Speaking of," Angela set her fork down and smiled widely, "Let's talk about holidays."

"Ma." Jane sighed, knowing what was coming next.

"We should probably look at upcoming holidays. Thanksgiving is always a big meal around here. Of course, Frankie will be home, and all of Janie's cousins like to come over for the football game. And then there's the cousin tackle game out back." she looked to the blonde, "You don't have to participate in that, you can stay inside with the more civilized members of the Rizzoli family."

"Ma." Jane chuckled

"Then there's Christmas. Which you'll obviously want to spend with your folks. Maybe we can coordinate with them to do two Christmases. Or maybe we could do a joint Rizzoli-Isles party."

"Ma!" Jane laughed, "It's April. Let's leave the holiday planning for later in the year, ya?" The librarian looked over to her smiling girlfriend, who seemed rather unaffected by the matriarch's excitement.

"What?"

"I'm excited to spend my holidays with you and your family." she looked down at her food a moment, "The last few years have been a little lonely, what with school and my parents' schedules not lining up with mine. It will be a welcome change."

The brunette couldn't help but lean over and place a gentle kiss on waiting lips.

"Ewww..." Hayley Mae added

"Yeah, no kissing at the table." Angela agreed.

When dinner was over, the two scooped up the six-year-old and made their way back home. Knowing she had so little, precious time left with her girls, Maura had packed a bag to stay the night one more time before having to pack her final boxes the next morning.

As Jane put her daughter to bed, and Maura got changed, the blonde reflected on their last few weeks together.

It had been a whirlwind of packing and studying. The three had spent almost every night together since Easter. Jane and Maura had wanted to soak up as much of each other as they could, and Hayley Mae was excited to be along for the ride. She'd crawled into bed almost every morning for an hour or so of cuddles before they'd all have to get up for work or classes.

Maura looked to her side of the bed and took note of the things that had taken permanent residence on the bedside table.

Her table sat charging on top of a small stack of articles she'd been reading the night before. A small dish lay next to that, holding a couple of random pairs of Maura's earrings and a bracelet. Next to that lay Maura's phone charger, ready to be plugged in. Hazel eyes turned to the dresser across the room. Jane had surprised her one afternoon with three drawers emptied out just for her. The blonde had immediately filled it with what was in her duffle; a few pairs of underwear, her pajamas, some socks, two pairs of jeans and three shirts. It wasn't much, and barely filled one drawer, but she was excited to have a space in her future home.

"I'll have more space one you get home in a few months." Jane had promised, "I just need to pack a few things and put them in storage." She'd pulled Maura into the walk in closet and showed her a side of the closet with all her summer clothes, "I'll put this all away and you can have this side if you want. Or I can move it, so you can have that side. Whatever you want." Before Maura could respond, she went on, "And, I'm going to put away some books so that you can put yours up on the shelves in the living room too. And if you want to get different furniture, we can do that too. Or we can rearrange the house. I don't mind."

Maura had had to stop the excited rambling somehow, so she pressed Jane into the wall of the closet and kissed her fiercely, "Jane." She husked, pulling away, "Thank you."

"Well, yeah, of course…" she was cut off by another kiss but didn't seem to mind one bit as she wrapped her arms around the smaller woman.

As the kiss grew heated, and the two fell into each other, Maura felt something pull her away from the brunette, "Jane." She whispered, pulling her lips from the delicious ones in front of her

"Yeah," Jane breathed, her lips attaching to Maura's neck

"Jane. Wait."

The brunette's hand had migrated to Maura's ass, pulling her closer.

"We need to talk."

Jane's head whipped back so fast, she almost hit herself against the wall, "What?"

Maura had smirked, "nothing bad, darling, just…" she'd bit her lip before continuing, "I think we should wait."

"To move in?" the woman had been confused, "We're already waiting three months, how much longer do you want to wait?"

"No." the blonde had taken a deep breath, "I think we should wait till I come home to…be intimate."

Jane's cheeks had blushed a deep red, "Oh. That. You wanna wait for that."

"If you don't mind. I'd like to be…I'd like to be here, mentally, and physically, before we take that next step. I'm leaving in a few weeks, and I don't want to leave so soon after taking that next step."

"Yeah." The brunette looked like she was mentally calming herself down. Her cheeks had lessened their blush, "That makes sense…but, will you still come over for sleepovers?" she'd whispered

Maura was pulled from her musings when Jane entered the room. The brunette stepped into the closet to change while Maura crawled into bed.

"She asleep?" the blonde asked

"Yeah." came Jane's muffled voice, "just about. It took two stories though."

"I'm going to miss that." Maura said, mostly to herself

The taller woman came out of the closet, now in pajamas, "What?"

"I just said, "I'm going to miss that."

"Miss what?"

"Reading stories to her. Or listening to you reading stories."

Jane smiled softly as she crawled into bed next to the blonde.

"Actually, I'm going to miss everything. Morning snuggles, cuddling on the couch."

"With me or Hay?"

"Both." Maura sank down into Jane's arms as the brunette scooted closer, "weekends watching cartoons in the morning and going to the park in the afternoon." She paused a moment, "Coming home to you every night. These last few weeks have been the best weeks of my life."

"It's only three months, Maura." Jane whispered, kissing the top of the blonde's head.

"I know...still..."

Morning dawned a little too quickly for Maura's taste. Right at six AM on the dot, the bedroom door opened, and a little blonde head of hair stuck through with sleepy eyes. Seeing Maura smiling back at her, Hayley Mae came trudging in, and crawled up onto the bed with the two of them.

"Morning darling," she whispered

The little girl let out a grunt before settling in between the two women.

Jane turned over and pulled them both as close as she could, still not opening her eyes.

"I don'wanna get up." she mumbled into her daughter's cheek

The little girl chuckled, "Me neither."

"Me neither." Maura whispered, smiling softly

The three finally did get up, went to the diner for breakfast and then Hayley Mae was dropped at her grandmother's house (after a few tears), while the other two retreated to Maura's apartment to finish packing.

It didn't take long. Maura didn't have much to pack. She was only going to be taking two suitcases and a couple boxes with her to New York. Everything else had already been packed and a mover was set to come by later that afternoon to take everything to Jane's garage. It would sit there until Maura got home and they could officially move in together.

"So, what time do you want to head out tomorrow?" Jane asked, helping load Maura's things into her SUV.

"I'd like to be on the road by six am, if possible."

"Yeah, we can do that."

Maura climbed into the front seat, Jane joining her in the driver's seat a moment later. "I'm glad you're coming with me." She whispered

"Me too. I don't think I could just watch you drive away." she paused and sighed, "But I think driving away from you will be hard too."

"Three months," Maura promised to them both.