Amandas POV

Amanda gave Jane a puzzled look as the brunette was holding the car key out to her. The sun was shining, and the snow was slowly melting away. She swallowed hard irritated. "You are going to take your drivers license soon, so I thought you might want to practice." Jane smiled reassuringly while they were standing in front of her SUV.

"Don't worry, the car is old." Jane winked with another smile while Amanda took the key feeling flabbergasted. She had never asked them for anything since she had moved in with them. Despite knowing that they had the money and all, it just didn't feel right to her to ask for anything.

Yet, she got everything she needed without having to ask. "I'm going to give you the money back." Was all she muttered while climbing behind the wheel, feeling nervous. Jane was standing right next to her, giving her a shocked glance.

"What? No!" she decisively said before explaining Amanda the armatures and pedals. Amanda felt like crying but didn't know why. Maybe because she was not used to being treated that way. Was this was it felt like to be happy she wondered while following Janes instructions.

It had been three days since she had talked to John and the police had taken her father away. She still couldn't believe how easy they had accepted her as one of theirs. It was time to drive to her father's apartment and get her stuff and she was in a total turmoil.

Jane climbed into the passenger's seat and instructed her. Amanda couldn't believe how easy the car followed her steering. It had been parked with the hood towards the street and Amanda was sure that Jane had done this on purpose because the detective usually parked the other way round.

She pushed the break when coming to the end of the driveway. "Take a deep breath Amanda." Janes raspy voice said. "If you feel uncomfortable tell me, then I will drive."

Amanda who had been trained not to fail shook her head in determination. "I'm fine." She mumbled and watched Jane pull down her pilots with a grin. "Every new beginning is hard. I know how that feels. But always remember that its going to be fine." She winked and leaned back into her seat.

The girl wasn't sure if Jane was just talking about the driving lesson. Probably not she mused and smiled herself a little. "Yeah." She said and pushed the gas gingerly while turning the steering wheel.

Jane let her make her first experiences and the girls' eyes were focused onto the street. They were going very slow, but Jane let her do everything at her own pace.

Amanda wasn't used to the kindness or patience. She wasn't used to a home were no one yelled at her despite doing everything right. For the first time in her life, she began to feel what it was like to be herself.

Spurred on she went a bit faster, listening attentively to Janes instructions and explanations. And before she knew they found themselves in front of her old apartment building. They were silent when they drove up with the elevator and Jane retrieved herself to the balcony to give Amanda some private space to pack up her stuff.

The girl sat on the edge of her bed, glancing around the dirty walls and the dark room which was half the size of every Isles-Rizzoli kid's room. Maybe even only a third of the size. She fumbled with one of the boxes to drop some of her cloths inside. After thinking for a while, she had come to the conclusion that she only wanted to take her cloths and schoolbooks. And the only picture she had from her mother. She didn't want to take the rest of her belongings because this was a new Chance and a fresh start.

She didn't really know her mother as she had died when Amanda had only been four years old. As usually when glancing at the smiling face which was slowly fading away with the picture, she wondered what her mother had been like. Her father had always refused to talk about her, but Amanda had heard that she had been the nicest person in the world.

How different her life would have been with her in it. A sad smile crossed her lips as she carefully put the picture into the box with the cloths.

"Are you okay?" Janes raspy voice came from the door and Amanda looked up. "Yes." She replied automatically seeing how the brunette cocked her head. Janes eyes were saying "I know that you are not." But the brunette just bit her lip and sat down next to her with a sigh.

"I can imagine that this must be hard for you." She silently said, taking her hand. They sat in silence while Amanda fought back some tears. Their eyes scanning the room. Suddenly Amanda burst out into tears and Jane wrapped her arm around her. "I'm sorry." The raspy voice said. "So sorry."

And Amanda suddenly realized that she wasn't crying because she was sad. She was crying because she was relieved to leave this place and to have found this family. Yes, this was what being happy and feeling save felt. Suddenly she trusted Jane and Maura and everybody who had reassured her over the past days that they had her and that it was going to be fine.

The more she realized these things, the more she cried into Janes shoulder who kept rubbing her back and mumbling soothing words. Jane who had shuffled through her hair when passing by in the living room. Just like she did with her other kids.

The family that never left her alone. Even when Julia wasn't around like the other day when she had had a dentist's appointment, Sophie had "randomly" walked into the bedroom and offered to watch a movie together.

No one was ever lost in the Rizzoli-Isles household and it felt overwhelmingly save and reassuring. Everybody listened to each other's problems. Most of all Jane and Maura who were always kind, no matter what had happened. Kind and helpful. Of course, there was scolding, but it was usually accompanied by a wink saying, I know that you know that this was not right. But I also know that you will learn your lesson.

Amanda had no clue how long they had been sitting on her bed, but Jane gently reminded her that they had to pick up Angela Rizzoli, the matriarch, from the airport. When Amanda pulled out of Janes arms, she felt two thumbs wiping away her tears and a gently kiss landing on her forehead. She sighed and grabbed the last few things, grateful that Jane picked up the box with the books.

"I'm sorry for crying." Amanda apologized. "But its not that I'm unhappy. In the contrary. I'm just…"

She was looking for the right word but couldn't find it. But she saw that Jane understood what she had meant, and both exchanged a smile.

R&I

"So, I have to warn you. Ma can be like a tornado. And she can be very curious. But she has a good heart. And I'm sure that she is going to love you." Jane used the drive to the airport to fill Amanda in. they had switched places and Amanda was glad, because the day had been emotionally exhausting so far. Too exhausting for more driving lessons.

"And she is going to foster me?" she asked and watched Jane nod. "Yes, at least until we get the permission to foster you ourselves. To which we are looking forward to." Jane turned her head and smiled at Amanda.

"But I don't have to move to Boston or so?"

"Nope. She will foster you, but you will stay with us. We will need to start talking about what you would like your room to be. I mean the color of the walls, the furniture. Everything."

Amanda was about to ask why they were doing all of this to her but stopped when realizing the reason. They had already adopted her because they loved her. She felt like crying again and Jane gave her a crooked grin. "You are not going to cry on me are you?" the brunettes voice sounded hoarsly, touched by how happy the girl was.

"Noooooo!" Amanda shrieked playfully, taking on one of the Rizzoli-Isles banters and laughed when she heard Jane swallow hard. "Good."

It had been only a few days, but she had watched the family interact with each other. Dinner was definitely the time of day when the whole bunch of them gathered around the table to eat. There was a lot of banter and teasing and it was loud. But Amanda liked it. So far, she had stayed silent though and just watched them. This had been the first time she had dared to chime in somehow and a proud grin split her face at the thought of how well it had gone when seeing Janes grinning face.