I opened my eyes. My head hurt, my back ached and the room was spinning. I tried to sit up and as I did, I realised where I was. I must have fallen asleep on the couch in my old condo. That's right, I was staying with ma. God, I hadn't missed this crappy little apartment. What the hell happened last night? I hadn't had a hangover this bad since high school. I tried to piece together what had happened in between Rosa's party and this morning. Is it even morning?

I remember I was talking to ma when Frankie came looking for us.

"Hey ma, Jane." Frankie said my name with an intense bitterness.

It doesn't take a detective to know he wasn't happy to see me again. What does he have to be angry about?

"Hey Frankie. It's good to see you again. I'm sorry we haven't had a chance to catch up properly yet but –"

"Save it, Jane. Anyway, Rosa's champing at the bit to open her present but she can't start without us. We should get back to her." Frankie explained before he left.

"What was that all about?" I asked ma.

She shot me a look that said something along the lines of 'really, you don't know?' and so I dropped the conversation and followed her into the lounge.

Then we watched Rosa open her presents. I decided to give her my very first Red Sox jersey, the same present I intended to give to her on her first birthday. Ok, then I talked to Maura about it.

"So, she's a Rizzoli then?" Maura asked as she approached me.

"It was my first jersey. I would wear it every day, I'd even sleep in it."

"I can see that!" Maura joked as she looked at the tatty old jersey.

"Anyway, my dad would take me to watch all the games. He'd sit me on his shoulders and I felt like I was the most important person in the world. That jersey is also a promise to Rosa. I promise I will take her to watch the games, to teach her how to play sports, to teach her to fight-"

She gave me a disapproving look.

"For what she believes in, thank you very much! And to remind her that she can do anything she puts her mind to. Practice makes perfect… You know, that kind of thing."

I paused and took a deep breath.

"I want to be there for her, Maur. I want to be there for you, if you'll let me."

Maura looked me in the eyes. I hoped that she would see that I really meant it this time, that I would never leave her again. Never.

"Okay." Maura said.

"Okay?" I asked.

Once again I was a little confused. Boy was I out of whack.

"I have to go to a conference tomorrow, I was going to ask Angela to look after Rosa for me –"

"I can take her! I mean, I'd love to spend some time with her and it's not like I've gotta go to work or anything." I volunteered, practically jumping for joy.

"Okay then. I'm sure she'll love that. Where are you staying tonight?" Maura asked.

I couldn't tell if she was asking me to stay with her, or if she was insinuating that I wasn't welcome.

"I think I'll stay at Ma's tonight. It'll be nice to see what she's done to my old place!"

I was pretty sure my answer was a winner; Maura couldn't fault a daughter for wanting to spend some quality time with her mother and I wouldn't be outstaying my welcome.

"That sounds lovely. Thank you for doing this Jane." Maura added.

"Thanks for letting me. What time did you need me to come and pick her up?"

Oh crap, I was supposed to pick up Rosa! What time was it? Maura's conference started at 9am and so I was supposed to pick up Rosa at 8:15am! I was so flustered, rushing around the apartment, trying to find my shoes and car keys.

"Dammit!" I called out.

I tried to put my boots on as I walked towards the kitchen area. I quickly glanced over at the counter.

"Rosa, have you seen my keys?" I asked.

Rosa? What was she doing here? How did she get here?

"Rosa? What did… How did… What?!" I tried and failed to get my words out.

"Mommy brought me over. She said not to wake you." Rosa explained.

"Oh." Was all I could say as I tried to sit down next to Rosa.

"Are you sick? You don't look so good." Rosa asked as she looked me up and down.

"I've been better, but I think this is all my fault." I informed her, hoping she wouldn't ask any more questions.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

I looked into her beady blue eyes and had no idea what to say. How do you tell a four year old that you think you got really really drunk to try to forget how much you love her mom, but you can't know that for sure because you don't remember anything!

"I think I had too much to drink last night." That ought to do it, I thought.

"One time, daddy gave me a big glass of chocolate milkshake. It made me feel really sick. Is that what happened to you?" Concern laced her voice.

"Um, sort of… So, what do you want to do today?" I asked her, desperately trying to change the subject.

"T.J. has a baseball match today. Uncle Tommy, Aunt Lydia and Uncle Frankie are all going to watch him. Can we go too? Oh and can we get ice-cream as well? Mommy usually says no… I mean, she lets me have two scoops! Please Aunt Jane?" Rosa pleaded.

"Okay bud… but perhaps we shouldn't tell your mom about the ice-cream. What mommy doesn't know won't hurt her." I chuckled.

"Deal." Rosa agreed.

When we arrived at T.J.'s little league game, I placed Rosa on my shoulders.

"Wow! I'm on top of the world! I can see everything from up here!" She exclaimed.

"How about Uncle Tommy and Uncle Frankie, can you see them?" I called up to her.

"Yes! They're right over there!" She pointed.

I gently put Rosa down and then held her hand as we strolled over to the bleachers. Rosa sat down next to Frankie and I scooted along beside her.

"Cool sunglasses! Can I have a pair?" Rosa told Frankie.

"You don't wanna look dorky like your Uncle Frankie now, do you?" Tommy mocked.

"No. I want to be just like Jane." Rosa explained.

My heart swelled with pride. This amazing, beautiful, innocent kid wanted to be just like me. Thank god she didn't know how badly I hurt Maura.

"And where are your shades, Jane? A little bird told me you had quite a lot to drink last night! Right, Frankie?" Tommy laughed.

That's right. I met Frankie at The Dirty Robber last night!

"I never thought I'd see the day Jane Rizzoli started drinking wine." Frankie said as he sat down next to me at the bar.

"People change, Frankie. Besides, I've only had one glass!" I informed him.

Frankie raised his eyebrow at me.

"Okay, maybe I've had a few… Bottles." I replied jokingly.

"Why are you doing this, Jane?" Frankie asked.

"Because it makes me feel better, okay ma?" I retorted.

"Whatever, Jane." Frankie said as he got up to leave.

"Frankie, wait!" I grabbed his arm. "I don't understand why you're so pissed off with me."

He sat back down.

"Really? You come back to town after years of being away and try to pretend like nothing happened… Jane, it's not me. I'm not that clingy, but you didn't even call Maura and anyway, I just don't like what you did. You're just like dad."

"Hey. That's not fair. I didn't sleep with any bimbos while I was in D.C." I snorted. Admittedly, it probably wouldn't have been as funny if I was sober.

Frankie shook his head and went to leave again.

"Come on, Frankie. Have a beer with me! Can we get two more beers, please?" I asked the barman.

Even he'd changed since I was last here.

In the end, we drank far more than we should have done. I suppose you could say we were very merry.

"Frankie, listen to me. I left Maura because I love her." I said seriously.

He just laughed and then, once he realised I was serious, he sobered up a little.

"But that doesn't make any sense!" He yelled.

"I know. But at the time, it felt like the best thing to do. The only thing to do." I tried to explain.

Frankie put his head on the bar. I'm not sure if it was out of frustration or just simply drinking too much.

"I want to win her back, Frankie. There must be something I can do." I stated.

"You came back, Jane. Now you can make it right." He mumbled.

"Thanks, Frankie." I said.

I nudged his shoulder affectionately and he groaned.

"Let's go home."

"Did you drink too many milkshakes as well, Uncle Frankie?" Rosa asked.

Frankie looked at me, very confused, and I nodded. Thankfully, Frankie offered Rosa a slightly robotic nod in return.

It was actually a really lovely day. It was nice to catch up with my brothers and Lydia; Lydia and Tommy are finally going to get married… In less than a week! Apparently my invitation 'got lost in the mail' but they will bring a replacement over sometime tomorrow. I'm really happy for them. They complete each other and it will be great for T.J. Speaking of T.J., he's incredible! He could be the next Grover Verben or maybe even Ted Williams!

As we stood outside Maura's front door, I made sure to wipe off every trace of ice-cream from Rosa's face. It was like she was wearing chocolate lipstick, only all over her face! Maura would kill me if I returned her like that!

"Ok, I think you'll do!" I said as I looked Rosa up and down.

She smiled and knocked on the door. Maura answered almost instantly.

"Mommy! We won!" Rosa cheered as she leapt into Maura's arms.

"What did you win, sweetie?" Maura asked lovingly.

"The Eagles won!" Rosa chanted.

Maura still looked confused.

"Baseball, Maura. T.J. plays for the Eagles. Little league of course. We went to watch the game today." I tried to explain.

"Wow! He won! That's fantastic… Go T.J.!" Maura cheered.

"Oh Maur, he was amazing! He has a perfect swing!" I gushed and went into full-on proud aunt mode.

I thought back to when Maura and I played baseball. Even when she was trying to hook up with some douchebag, she still tried to help me out.

"Wind at ten knots." Maura shouted.

"Thank you, Maura" I replied.

I didn't mean to be rude, I was just trying so hard to concentrate and I really wanted to hit the ball.

I could hear her cheering me on the whole time, even though I got caught out.

"Good hit, Jane!" She clapped.

"Maura!" I yelled.

She looked so adorably happy when she thought I was calling her up to the plate.

I pretended that I wasn't amused, but secretly, I just wanted to stand behind her, hold her and teach her how to perfect her swing. I couldn't do that, the whole precinct was there and it was a cliché, just like the pottery scene in Ghost, when Patrick Swayze holds Demi Moore.

I was so proud and slightly surprised when she got a hit… Although, I shouldn't have expected anything less, Maura is excellent at just about everything!

"Jane?" Maura asked.

"Sorry, Maur. I was just daydreaming. What were you saying?" I apologised.

"Rosa wanted you to tell her a bedtime story." Maura explained softly but there was a hint of sadness in her tone.

"Sure, I'd love to. What kind of story? A Fairy tale? A funny story from when I was little?" I asked. In truth, I was a little rusty on my fairy tales but I'd give it a shot.

"I'm sure she won't mind, she just wants to be with you. You have a very soothing voice." Maura explained.

"Okay… I'll let her choose. Thanks Maura." I smiled.

Rosa asked me to read The Princess Bride. It was one of my favourite films growing up; it had a princess, a giant, magic, pirates and sword fighting! What more could you want? I had seen the film so many times, but I had never read the book before. Rosa was so worn out that she barely made it through the first chapter!

"Sleep well, Princess Rosa." I whispered as I tucked her in. "I had a lovely day with you today."

I kissed her forehead and turned off the light on my way out. As I turned around, I bumped into Maura.

"God, Maura! You scared me!" I exclaimed.

"Sorry, I hope you didn't think I was a Rodent of Unusual Size!" Maura Joked.

God, it was so good to hear her laugh.

"I could never mistake you for a giant rat, Maura." I replied.

"Thank you, Jane."

"Always."

We stood in the doorway for a little while longer but neither one of us dared to say anything.

"I should get going. It's late and I don't want ma to worry." I said, still reluctant to move.

"It's seven-thirty." Maura stated.

Wow, was it really that early? I checked my watch. Yep, seven-thirty. Having a kid is exhausting!

"Jane, do you want to stay for a drink?" Maura asked.

"I'd love to stay for a while but I think I'll pass on the drink. I don't want a repeat of last night." I explained.

"How about a coffee? I can use a Sulawesi, if you'd like." Maura offered politely.

"Sure, I'd love a cup of coffee." I replied.

"Follow me."

"As you wish."