6 months later...

ENCORE

"Will he do it?"

Jane nods and leans across the small gap between them to kiss Maura's bare shoulder.

"Yes. He owes me."

Maura rolls the engagement ring around her finger twice. She still hasn't got used to it yet. Sparkly and new and oddly unique, just like the giver of it.

"Do you feel sorry for him?" Jane asks with a raised eyebrow.

Maura shrugs, "Maybe a little. Don't you?"

Jane chuckles, "No honey. Not even a tiny bit."

Maura chews her lip in thought.

"I can call it off Maur. I can call it off anytime up until we sneak away for desert."

"You would do that for me?"

"Maur. Option one is Frankie does it. Option two is you do it. After that we are allllll out of viable options. So it is your call, Frankie or you. Unless you have another idea."

Maura sighs before rotating the ring one last time, "I think you should tell your mother...I told mine about us."

"I am not going to be the one to tell Ma...and you practically paraded me around as your girlfriend when you forced me to be your plus one...I'm pretty sure Constance had a strong suspicion before you told her, and I quote, 'Mother, I am keeping Jane. I am marrying her. And you can remove the plus one from future invites and add Jane's name from now on.'

"She was fine with it."

"Your mother is not my mother. There is no comparison."

"Then...perhaps we could just never tell her."

"Oh...really? If you thought telling her we had been secretly dating for six months already might be a problem...how many more months would you like to add? A year? Five? At our wedding? At the christening of our first child?"

"We are going to have a kid?" Maura beams with delight.

"Maura." Jane laughs and throws her arm loosely around Maura pulling her close, pinning her against the back of the couch and peppering her with kisses. Maura attempts to fight off the assault before she is giggling uncontrollably and surrenders with a squeal.

"Fine. Fine Frankie can do it." Maura manages to get out between giggles and flailing arms.

Jane sits back with a successful grin plastered across her face her arm still wrapped around her girlfriend, "Good."

"I'm really scared." Maura whispers.

"Good." Jane laughs, "Glad i'm not alone on that one. We need to get going or we will be late."

Maura lets Jane help her stand and starts to change her shirt, "So what is the plan again."

Jane gets distracted by Maura's actions and answers abruptly without thinking, "Um...we go...we say hi...we immediately leave and come back here...and then I lock the front door and...well you know the rest."

Maura tilts her head to the side, "Jane. Really? I didn't know I was marrying a teenager."

Jane can only laugh as she turns away to check her appearance quickly in the mirror.

"You look beautiful Jane."

"Thank you."

"So...I am decent now...what's the real plan?"

"For the hundredth time Maura. We go to dinner. We eat food. When Ma goes to get desert ready, we step outside and let Frankie 'accidentally' spill the beans to her that you and I are, one, exclusively dating, and two, quite suddenly engaged."

Maura nods and Jane turns Maura to face to front door and gently pushes her towards it.

"If she doesn't head outside with a meat cleaver to hunt me down. Or the police don't arrive to multiple neighbor noise complaints. Then we carefully go back inside for a pleasant desert together and to answer any questions. If any of the former dangerous options happens we may have to move to Mexico."

Maura laughs softly, "Good. And you have only told me a total of three times now. I just don't want to mess this up."

"Mess up making my little brother be the buffer between life and death? He will be fine...he is a quick sprinter. Plus Ma loves him too much to hurt him. But you should put that ring on a different finger at least until desert."

Maura pouts just a little, "I don't want to take it off. I just got it."

"Awww" Jane grins, "That is sweet. Fine, you stay here...I will bring you back something nice to eat. Any requests?"

"Jane." Maura gasps slapping Jane's arm.

"Maura" Jane squeals as she fake slaps Maura back.

"And where is your ring Jane?"

"Safe and sound where no one can see it my sweetest beautiful bride to be."

"Flattery Jane. I should be offended you won't wear it in public."

"Can you please be offended in the car...because we really need to go."

Maura picks up her handbag and opens the front door.

Jane grabs her keys and follows Maura, "You know we have only been engaged two days right. And Ma still works part-time at BPD. And it will be all around work in like five seconds if I walked in with an engagement ring on. And Ma would have killed me if Cavanaugh found out before her. And I don't-"

"I get it Jane" Maura interrupts, "But you could wear it around the house."

"I will...tomorrow. If I am alive. I promise."

Maura pauses halfway to the car and Jane walks into her.

"Maur...you forget something babe?"

Maura turns to look at Jane, a slight quizzical frown.

"What?" Jane asks a bit worried now grabbing Maura's shoulders tightly.

"You don't think Frankie would..."

"What?" Jane asks after a moments pause where Maura, for the first time in forever, doesn't finish her sentence.

"Can we trust him?"

"My brother...uh...yeah."

Maura raises one eyebrow "Really? Because six months ago he did the opposite of what you told him to do."

Jane nods slowly, "Riiiiight."

"He got us to kiss."

Jane squints and smiles, "But...that was a good thing right."

"Of course", Maura whispers as she pulls herself onto her tippy toes to press a gentle grateful peck against Jane's lips.

Jane sighs softly, "So what's the problem?"

"That was a favour he was meant to do for you."

"Uh-huh."

"Did he ever tell you why he did that?"

Jane clenches her jaw in thought, "Not exactly now you mention it."

"You told me tonight...this was his plan."

"Yeah...mostly it was." Jane's expression darkens.

"What if he plays another prank on us. Does something weird."

"Nuhhhh...he wouldn't."

"Oh. Ok then. Lets go."

Jane stands completely still, her hands rubbing up and down Maura's arms, the cogs in her head still turning slowly, "He wouldn't do...he will...what could he do?"

Maura shrugs.

"No really...what are you thinking Maur?"

"I don't know. Maybe he doesn't tell Angela and waits for us to come back and then we tell her thinking she knows. Or he tells her before we get there and lets us walk right into the lions den. Or, I don't know, tells her that you're having me for desert instead."

Jane's worried look vanishes as she smiles and scans Maura up and down, "That sounds nice."

"Focus Jane."

Jane begins to chew on her nail, "You think he would really let Ma kill me?"

"Do you? He is your brother."

"I told him if he did this we would be even again. He wouldn't owe me anything. Clean slate...so it is worth it to him."

Maura can tell Jane isn't a hundred percent sure now.

"I'm not sure I fully understand favors. Is that enough?"

"He isn't scared of Ma."

"He is scared of you and he still defied you and texted me."

"He's scared of me?" Jane brightens up at that thought and can't help another grin.

"I just think, we maybe should be cautious here."

"Yeah...yeah we should. You are pretty smart you know."

"I know."

"And humble." Jane laughs

Maura chuckles, "It only takes one hundred and-"

"Fifty five IQ points to be a genius." Jane finishes Maura's sentence, "I know."

"You aren't worried at all Jane."

Jane pulls Maura into a tight hug, "Nuh, we have faced worse, both of us, together and apart."

Maura takes Jane's hand and leads her towards the car slowly, enjoying doing the regular everyday things with someone she cares about..

Jane opens Maura's door and holds it open for her but doesn't let go of her hand just yet, "Ok. So...new plan. We go. We park over the road and sneak to the house. We eavesdrop outside the door for a bit to make sure it's safe. If it is we go in and follow the original plan up till desert. Then we leave for desert but eavesdrop outside the door again to make sure Frankie does what he is meant to do. If anything doesn't follow the plan, we hike it back to the car, come home, and have a different sort of desert."

Maura smiles softly and lowers herself into the passenger seat, "I like this plan."

"I'll try not to tear your buttons off again."

Maura's face sours like she just ate a lemon, "I really like this blouse, Jane."

"More than me?"

Maura undoes her top button slowly, "Of course not."

"Stop it Maur." Jane scolds.

"Stop what Jane?" Maura asks innocently.

Jane leans down into the car and whispers softly in Maura's ear, "If you make us late I will be telling Ma it was your fault." Then Jane presses a slow wet kiss against Maura's neck and pulls away to watch Maura blush.

Maura takes a moment to catch her breath, "Get in the car Jane. Now. I hate this blouse and Angela will forgive me."

END

Hope you like it. Had to tone it back a bit so I didn't have to change the rating. lol. Not many comments on the last chapter...but the ones I got were great. Thank you. It is possible I wrote this just cause I like getting reviews :P Love ya all...xxx JAM