Author Notes: Thank you so much for following/favouriting, and especially the comments. I really enjoy reading through them - some of them make me laugh, some of them give me ideas, and some of them I wish I could answer but can't (guests). Thank you all so much and I hope you enjoy the update.

She sat on the couch sipping beer from a bottle, beads of condensation landed on her fingertips. Jane rested her elbow on her knee and leaned forward. It was not every day you sat in front of a laptop flicking through potential sperm donors. She reached for a handful of popcorn and chucked a few kernels into her mouth.

"Take this seriously, Jane," Maura said, clicking on to the next person. "We're not at the movies."

"I am taking this seriously." She finished chewing and swallowed, before tossing another couple of pieces into her mouth. She pushed them to one side. "I just don't like the guy."

"You've seen one photograph and read a paragraph of information."

"So?"

"That is nowhere near enough information to know the suitability of his sperm."

"I'd rather think about something other than his sperm. Right now he's a jerk in a Yankees shirt."

Maura sighed. "You're discounting him because he doesn't support your favourite baseball team?"

"The Yankees are our biggest rivals, Maur."

It sounded like a reasonable reason to Jane. It took barely a second for her to discount him. He was entirely lacking in suitability and she wasn't about to back down anytime soon. Besides, he didn't look very friendly.

"Preference in baseball team is not a valid reason."

"Says you. Besides, I'm discounting him because he's a jerk."

"Fine," Maura said. "But that means I can discount the first man we put on the list because he wears glasses."

Rolling her eyes, Jane sipped on her beer. "I don't understand your problem with glasses. He looks as smart as you."

"My problem is that if our child decides they want to be a surgeon, or pilot, they should not have anything stopping them."

"Surely there's surgeons with glasses," Jane said.

"Wearing corrective lenses would put him or her at a direct disadvantage compared to those with twenty twenty vision. If you can veto based on baseball, I can veto based on our child's future career opportunities."

"Deal."

The crease between Maura's eyebrows made Jane smile. She enjoyed the verbal sparring. She enjoyed winning more, but she didn't mind compromising when it was with Maura. The jovial nature of their conversation reminded her of the reason why they'd chosen to do this. They were good together. They worked well as a team, even when they pissed each other off.

"I don't recall agreeing to those terms," Maura said.

"Too late," Jane replied.

"It's not too late."

"Yes, it is." Jane pulled the laptop round to get a better look. "He looks good."

"He has an overbite."

"How can you tell?"

"How can you not?"

Clicking through, another man came on the screen. Jane tilted her head to one side. His dark brown hair hung a little long over his brooding eyes. He was, by all definition, completely stunning.

"I want him," Jane said.

Maura leaned forward and scanned the information on the screen. "He looks good on paper, but he's not willing to meet anyone who may use his sample."

"Who said anything about using his sample?"

Maura raised an eyebrow. "Oh. You want to have sex with him."

"Don't you? Look at him!"

"He does look like your type," Maura said.

"I don't know about type, but he is hot."

"Tall, dark, handsome, brooding…that is every man you've dated since we've known each other."

Jane's cell phone buzzed on the table. She opened up the message on screen, scowled, and locked the phone again.

"Everything okay?"

"She keeps messaging me."

"She obviously likes you," Maura said. "Funnily enough, the only part of the list Silver Heyes doesn't fit into, is being male."

Jane glared at Maura. "The only bit that actually matters is being male."

Silver's dark brown hair and brooding eyes were the first thing Jane noticed when she sat across from her at BPD. She stared at her like her whole life was caught up in that very moment. It was intimidating.

"Just stop, Maura." She sighed. "Please stop."

"I'm sorry," Maura replied, wrapping her fingers around Jane's hand as she clicked on to the next candidate. "I don't mean to push. I just want."

Jane cut her off. "Me to be happy. I don't think Silver's the one."

"Is there anyone you're interested in?"

"Him," Jane said, pointing at the screen. "He's perfect."

"I meant as a date."

"No." She shook her head. "Now look at our future child's biological father."

Maura ran her finger down the information. "Biomedical scientist. Red Sox fan. Fathered sixteen children through four couples and a single mother, in addition to three of his own children. He's obviously virile. Willing to meet prospective parents. Open to full genetic testing. He's a definite shortlist candidate."

Crunching down on a handful of popcorn, Jane folded her arms across her chest and sat back. "Just in time for the game."

"We need a shortlist, Jane."

"But I'm bored."

She slouched in her seat and emptied the contents of her beer bottle into her mouth. If she was going to be held prisoner there, she would certainly need more alcohol.

"This is our child we're discussing. Would you rather he or she be left with genetic abnormalities or a predisposition to serious mental health conditions because you couldn't spend a few extra minutes looking for the perfect biological parent?"

"Ten more minutes," Jane said, cracking open another beer.

x

By the end of the search, Jane and Maura had gathered five short list candidates and three maybes. They'd searched through dozens of sperm donor candidates, the majority of which they'd discounted for various reasons. Maura finished adding their final candidate to their short list when Jane bashed her phone against the coffee table.

"Leave me alone."

"You could always call her," Maura said. "Perhaps if you let her know how you feel."

"I've tried brushing her off but she isn't getting the hint. She wants to be 'friends'."

"Do you have a problem with that proposal?"

"I don't need anymore friends," Jane said. Maura clicked through to the next candidate, still curious as to what else was out there. After accidentally double clicking, Jane tapped Maura's wrist. "Go back, go back."

"Did I miss one?"

She clicked the back button and waited for the page to load. Staring back at them from the laptop screen was Frank Rizzoli Senior. Jane shook her head and closed her eyes. Maura watched her with derision.

"No. No. No. I do not need to know that he's on this list. I do not want to picture what he did to get on this list."

"I didn't realise your father had donated sperm," Maura said, scrolling through his profile. Regardless of Jane's obvious feelings on the matter, Maura didn't understand her issue. "He comes across as really personable. It says here that he has helped two couples to become parents."

Jane covered her mouth with both hands. "I think I just threw up in my mouth."

"He's done a wonderful thing," Maura said.

Two families had children because of him. The marvels of modern science meant that they didn't need to remain childless, or wait years for a potential adoption. The many advantages of current procedures were the one thing that gave Maura hope of one day becoming a mother. Despite Jane's desire to do things 'the old fashioned way'.

"I cannot think about my father doing that," Jane said, pinching the bridge of her nose. She stared at Maura. "Two families? I have siblings out there I don't know about?"

"They're not your siblings," Maura said, placing a hand on Jane's arm to comfort her. "Biologically, yes. In every other way, no."

"Can we cross the older guy off the list?" Jane asked. "I changed my mind. I don't want to have the kid of someone with loads of older kids out there."

Maura checked the box and deleted him from their list. Seeing Frank Rizzoli Senior on the sperm donation page only sought to remind her that she liked the idea of keeping the Rizzoli bloodline. The only problem with that was Jane.

"I still think we should consider one of your brothers."

Jane pouted. "I don't like the idea of you having a child with one of my brothers."

"I'm not having a child with one of your brothers, I'm having one with you."

"Using my brother's sperm."

"You've already vetoed that idea. Let's cut down the list by one more person and we can take a break."

The page loaded and a young man with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes stared back at them. Reading through his profile earlier, he appeared a pretty good match. He was intelligent, friendly; he came across as caring. Maura liked the look of him, but she still held onto the idea of a donor that was closer to Jane in genetic makeup. Three of their candidates had dark hair, two of which had Italian in their bloodline. Candidate #8263 didn't fit those markers at all.

"So, which sperm do we want?" Jane asked.

Maura pulled up the rest of the shortlist options. "We don't have to pick one of these. There are plenty more options."

"We're not running a marathon for children, Maura, we don't need to vet every single candidate with a fine tooth comb."

Analysing the photographs, Maura's eyes landed on the yellow spots on one man's eyelids. She looked closer, zoomed into the photograph, then point to it.

"That one, Candidate #7582, is out."

"Why? I thought we liked him?"

"He has xanthelasmata. Our child could be at a higher risk of heart disease."

"Three to go," Jane said. "Which one do we want?"

"I'd rather sleep on it."

"Which one do you want, Maura?"

The pressure to decide didn't sit well with her. She retreated slightly. She needed time to process. She needed time to review each candidate further, to analyse their photos and read between the lines of their profiles. Deciding on a father for their child was not a simple job to be completed quickly. If Jane had had her way they'd have picked the first person they saw, and now she'd seen the yellow spots on his eyelids, he was far from an ideal candidate. If Maura had had her way, they'd have filtered through every option on the website. Bearing in mind that Jane was less inclined to go for an Italian descendent, and they couldn't decide on hair colour, pinpointing specifics was proving difficult.

"I'd like to speak with all of them."

"After you pick," Jane said.

Maura frowned. "What is the purpose of choosing between them if we are going to speak to them all?"

"I need you to pick one," Jane said.

"Pick what?"

Jane pushed the laptop screen closed and turned to face her mother, stood in the doorway. "Nothing, Ma."

"We were trying to decide on a movie," Maura said.

"Exactly, a movie," Jane replied. "Except that now I have to go to work."

"I didn't hear your phone," Maura said, picking up her own and turning it on. "I didn't get a call. Why didn't I get a call?"

Jane stood up. She slipped her cell phone into her pocket and backed away. "I have some urgent paperwork that I forgot about."

"Why do I get the feeling you're leaving because of me?" Angela asked. "I only came in here to get some milk, I ran out and I haven't got time to go to the grocery store before my shift."

"I'll get you some milk on my way home," Jane said, walking toward her mother. She pressed her lips to her cheek and retreated toward the front door. Maura stood up and followed her.

"I'm not sure what work you have to do," Maura said, her voice low. "But you really should be kinder to your mother."

"She walked in on us without knocking."

"It's her home."

"The guest house is her home. The main house is not."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Jane," Maura said, ushering her out of the house and closing the door.

x

"We need to talk," Jane said, dropping onto the couch in Maura's office and putting her feet up on the table.

"About?" Maura asked, her eyes still fixed on the report in front of her.

Jane scowled. "Our living arrangements."

Barely glancing up, Maura responded. "What about them?"

"My mother can't live in the guest house if we're going to be parents."

Maura stopped typing, her eyes fixed on Jane's over her laptop. "Why not? And please take your feet off my coffee table."

"She's a helicopter, Maura." Jane removed her feet and leaned her elbows on her knees. "She'll be there hovering all day, every day. I can't deal with that at the best of times. Do you know what she'll be like when she knows there's going to be another grandchild?"

"I don't see any alternative solution," Maura said, proceeding to type once more.

Oxygen filled her lungs, travelled around, and exited them again. Jane stared at Maura. Fire burned in the pit of her stomach. She needed to vent and Maura was putting blocks in front of her. Her attention was obviously split between working and their conversation. She stood up and walked across the room.

"This is serious," Jane said.

"I know, I need to." Jane pressed her hand down against the lid of the laptop and it closed suddenly. "I was in the middle of finishing a report."

"Your report can wait five minutes."

"A young boy died of septicaemia which caused acute respiratory distress syndrome and septic shock. His family need to be informed."

"What are we going to do about my mother?"

"Did you hear what I said, or did you choose to ignore it?"

Jane rolled her eyes. "I chose to ignore it."

Maura sighed and stood up. She moved around her desk and perched on the edge. "I hear what you're saying. Until we make any firm progress on our current situation, I see no reason why we should alarm your mother to the fact that something is going on. Now please, get back to work so that I can close a particularly distressing case."

"I'm sorry," Jane said, turning tail and marching out of the office.

x

The elevator doors opened. Maura marched across the corridor, her heels clicking against the tiled floor. She turned to a couple of officers she could feel watching her from the side lines and sent them her best glare. Sometimes she hated visiting Jane's office, not least because of the number of men who deemed it appropriate to stare.

"This is for you," Maura said, placing the file on Jane's desk and retreating once more.

"Wait," Jane said. Maura glanced over at the two young men, sniggering behind their hands. Their juvenile games were anything but funny. She turned back to Jane, whose eyes had already followed her eye line. She folded her arms across her chest. "Grow up, you've never seen a woman's legs before?"

They stopped laughing and disappeared down the corridor.

"Thank you," Maura said. "I wonder if I would provoke the same response if I was wearing my scrubs."

"Sure you would," Jane said. "You're smoking and they know it."

Maura raised an eyebrow, her lips curved at one side. "Smoking?"

"You know you're beautiful."

"Is that a compliment on my appearance from Jane Rizzoli?"

"Don't read too much into it." She picked up the file and opened it. "Are we any closer to selecting a candidate?"

Maura glanced around at the detectives working at their desks. Frankie and Korsak were out, and their nearest neighbours were too involved in a discussion to overhear.

"I have sent communication to all candidates to seek further information."

"There's a match?" Jane asked, picking up the DNA results from the file. "Now we have something to go off."

"I thought you'd be pleased." Maura perched on the corner of her desk. "The DNA evidence found on fibres at the crime scene directly match DNA found on the murder weapon. Hopefully you can find out who the killer is."

"All we have to do now is match it with our – as yet undiscovered – prime suspect, and we might be able to get a conviction."

"Are you any closer to finding your prime suspect?"

"Nah." Jane replaced the document and closed the file. "Wouldn't it be funny if we chose the one person on our shortlist who has murdered someone?"

Maura stood up straight, her lips pressed tightly together. "I'm not sure what's funny about that, Jane."

"Well, no, not that type of funny." Jane paused. "Maybe we should do a bit of research. I wonder if they would give us a DNA sample?"

"What kind of research?" Maura asked. The questions she sent were relatively thorough, though she hadn't asked for Jane's approval. There may have been things she was missing. Despite spending each and every day in a police station, she hadn't even considered asking if they had any criminal convictions. "I would like them to go through full genetics testing before we decide."

"Not genetics," Jane said. "Finger printing, put them through the system, see if anything crops up."

Maura's eyebrows pulled together. "You want to use police resources to do a background check on our potential candidates?"

"I know you think it's wrong to do background checks for personal reasons," Jane said.

"Ordinarily, yes."

"Doctor Maura Isles," Jane said, in mock disbelief. "I do believe you're a little rule breaker."

"Please," Maura said. "I am not above using the resources at my disposal. I simply see no valid reason to use them on potential or current partners, and I draw the line on using them on family. Our situation is entirely different."

"Entirely different," Jane repeated, smirking.

"It is."

"If you say so."

"It is," Maura said. She wouldn't accept Jane's suggestion if she didn't deem it morally acceptable, and she didn't much appreciate Jane's derision.

Jane tapped her nose. "I won't tell anyone."