AN: Blimey, this took longer than the other chapters, sorry.

''Lift her feet onto the couch,'' Maura demanded.

Frost quickly set to work, asking no questions. Maura gently guided her unconscious wife so she was lying as comfortably as she could on the cool floor. Put in the recovering position, Maura began talking to her – trying to rouse her.

There was no response.

''Jane, sweetheart, please get up.'' Her gentle and insistent caresses where met with nothing from Jane's end. ''Call an ambulance, hurry please,'' she pleaded with the two met in the room, who had silently been doing as told and offering nothing else.

Jane's pulse was weak and it was nearing four minutes now since she fainted. Frost was fanning her - desperately trying to offer more cool air – while Maura kept tabs on her pulse and Korsak stayed on the phone with the medics who where a minute away from the house.

...

It felt like a lifetime to Maura as the ambulance drove away towards the hospital. She had left wordlessly as Korsak assumed the task of locking up and contacting the Rizzoli's. The medics asked Maura all necessary questions about Jane which she answered to the best of her knowledge. Half way to the hospital Jane regained consciousness. She didn't quite have her words yet, but everyone was relieved that she was awake.

''Don't beat yourself up kid,'' Korsak placed a soothing hand on Frosts shoulder. The young detective immediately dropped all pretence of being strong and crumbled in Korsak's bear hug.

''I'll never forgive myself if anything happens to her,'' he tried to get out through repressed sobs.

''She'll be fine. Jane is a trooper''

Frost wasn't entirely convinced, but he eventually sobered up as they made their way to the precinct. His promise to himself was never to stress Jane out again over the paternity issues. And thinking back to the way Maura had looked at him as she yelled ''Shut up'', Frost wasn't sure how he was ever going to face her again.

''Doctor Isles,'' Jane's doctor spoke to Maura in a pitiful voice. ''blaming yourself isn't going to do anyone much good. Jane is an adult, and if she hadn't been well enough to have sex she would have told you.'' Maura didn't respond; she felt like a scholar being reprimanded and assured by her teacher. ''I've put your wife on bed rest for the next forty-eight hours. And when I say bed rest I mean bed rest,'' she emphasized seriously. ''She isn't to do anything at all. Her walks will consist of going to the toilet and back to bed. Now, instead of blaming yourself you could keep a close eye on Jane. Make sure she follows instructions, takes her medicine, and rests. The children will be brought to her, except for Benjamin I'm afraid.''

''She's not going to like that,'' Maura chuckled sadly.

''True. But it's in everyone's best interest.''

Maura felt uneasy, confessing their entire situation to the doctor had been frightening. It had felt a little like stripping naked in front of the woman, and she felt like she hadn't enough hands to cover all her private bits.

''Are you speaking to anyone Doctor Isles?''

Maura knew what she meant. Are you seeing a therapist? ''No''

''I would recommend you did. Jane collapsed mostly due to physical excursion – the strain of all she did soon after giving birth – particularly the way she forcefully stood up as you described. But part of her collapse was emotional stress. I can't say I know from experience, but realising that the biological father of your children is your friend, someone more or less like a young brother to you, isn't easy. Especially given the fact that you didn't plan it. That sort of knowledge can be very overwhelming, and it doesn't help that the person involved in creating this chaos is a dear friend of yours who is nowhere to be found and whose motives are unknown,'' Maura was sitting in a chair in the doctor's office listening intently. ''This isn't my field of expertise, but I can imagine that you are in a rather precarious position. These children were supposed to be yours and Jane's, but now another person has been added into the equation, a person who might have more say than you do,'' she looked at Maura sympathetically again, wishing she could find the right words to make the poor woman look and feel better. ''These are days in which you and wife should be celebrating, but they have been turned into somewhat confusing days. You had planned for only one child but you got three, that in itself is overwhelming. And I imagine you hardly sleep worrying about little Benjamin, and you feel so guilty each time you are away from him and he is alone.''

Finally Maura started crying.

''You are an individual Maura,'' she said trying to sound more comforting. ''you can't be in three places at the same time. You can't be with Benjamin, and be with Mia and Theodore at the same time and also be with Jane. It's not possible. The situation is far less than ideal but you need to make do with what you have. I won't even bother telling you to take time to yourself, because I know you would never do it. I would never do it either had I been in your situation,'' Maura smiled gratefully. It's always nice having someone who tells you the truth. ''You just need to learn to manage your time well, and rest whenever you can. Jane is at an advantage now because she has you to take care or her. Now imagine, who would take care of you if you collapsed? Who would take care of the children, and your wife? Please, take it easy. You can't afford to fall apart now. Hang in there ok?'' She stood up and rounded her table to go and give Maura a hug. The blonde looked like someone who was in desperate need of one. ''If you want to collapse, do it when Jane is feeling better alright.'' The joke lightened the situation and made Maura genuinely laugh. We don't realise it at times, but having someone to talk to really does help. Because when Maura headed back to Jane's room she felt that much better. Exhausted, scared, and overwhelmed – yes – but definitely no longer on the brink of a complete breakdown.

In the next couple days that followed, Maura doted on Jane. The blonde organised herself such that none of her loved ones were lacking. During the night she woke up every couple of hours to feed Theo and Mia, and to check up on Benny. And first thing in the morning she and the two babies joined Jane in her room. Due to what had happened to Jane, the only other visitor she was allowed during her time of bed rest was Angela. But now that it was over, and she was fine, the brunette was once again feeling slightly apprehensive.

''I had a weird dream,'' she shared with Maura who was folding away a few clothes in the small cupboard space they had in their room in the NICU.

''What was it about?'' Maura asked distractedly.

''Tommy had come to see me''

Hearing the slight tremor in Jane voice, Maura stopped what she was doing and gave Jane her full attention. ''And?'' she asked, leaning against the wall.

''We were uhhh…talking about the children,'' she said vaguely. Maura waited patiently not wanting to cause Jane to lose her nerve. ''And Tommy was asking what if Frost wanted to be in the kids' lives, you know…as their father and all''

Maura nervously settled herself down on the nearby armchair. Jane had indeed addressed one of her greatest fears. ''What did you say to him?''

''I don't quite remember all the parts of the conversation but I remember saying to him that it wasn't going to happen. That they were our kids and if he was involved it'd be the same way that Tommy himself was involved – just as an uncle''

Relief. But Maura was still uncertain. After all, this was just a dream scenario.

''Tommy said that if he persisted we could just give him one kid, since we have three. And that we should give him Benny since he is the sick one''

Maura gasped. Over her dead body that would happen. ''How could he sa-'' her chest physically ached so much so she couldn't even finish the sentence.

''I told him that they were babies not puppies, and that you couldn't just say 'hey I have three, here, have one'.'' At least Jane's antics made Maura smile a little bit. ''I don't know what we are going to say to people Maura,'' she sighed, falling slowly back onto the bed in an attempt to fully relax.

''I'm at a loss as well. But I suppose the first thing is to speak with Frost. And we don't have to do it now,'' Maura hastily added not wanting to cause any immediate pressure on Jane.

''I'm alright now Maura. It's ok. But this really isn't something that we can put off for very long. I think it's something that we need to address and deal with now.''

''Do you really think Frost will want to be part of their lives, you know like in your dream – as their father?''

''No I don't think so,'' Jane said certainly. ''But I can't be sure,'' she then added.

...

Later on Jane was sitting on a rocking chair with Benny in her arms. Her dream had affected her, but it wasn't really the issue with Frost. What had been spinning in her mind were the words Tommy had said – that they could give Frost Benjamin since he was the sick one. The notion had made her feel ill for the most part of the day, because the way she loved her son was indescribable. Parents don't like to admit this (some can't), but they may have a favourite child. The child who occupied most of Jane's thoughts was Benjamin. She thought of him the most. She worried and worried about him. He was more often than not her first waking thought and last sleeping thought. She longed more than anything to be able to just hold him, so he could know how much she loved him – so he could get better faster.

So she had spoken with the doctor and told him she needed to hold her son. They advised that he was better off in the incubator for at least a couple more days but Jane had had it and wasn't taking no for an answer. They agreed on half an hour at most, so Jane and Maura could hold him for the first time.

The brunette watched her son intently. It scared her a little, that he was going to grow up looking like a combination of her and Frost. It was still a little hard to tell, but it seemed like they would pick up a lot from Frost. As it was, Benny already had a bit of brown hair, a wide-ish looking nose and a skin tone that promised to get much more tan. But only time would tell, because kids change as they grow. At the end of the day, it didn't matter what they looked like. It mattered that they were healthy and loved.

Later in the night when Jane was thoroughly spent and half asleep, Maura left the bed for a shower – her excuse for alone time. One thing she had promised herself not to do in the past two days was to cry sorrowful tears in front of Jane. That wouldn't do the recovering mother any good. So as the hot water ran down her body, she allowed herself those quiet moments to release her stress in the form of tears. Taking Jane's doctors' advice she had called her mother and asked her to come immediately. Constance would be arriving the next day, and she was hoping to have at least made a dent on her pent up tears. As the salty liquid from her eyes mingled with the shower water, Maura thought…

When it all comes out, where do I stand?

The Frost's and the Rizzoli's will all be involved, and I'll just be the Isles wife.

The children have my last name yes, but Jane is their mother and Frost is their father.

Maybe when the children grow up they will hate me saying I kept them from being with their mother and father.

Why is all this happening to me…to us?

We already lost a child, now this!

Why would Amanda do such a thing?

It took a while for her initial grief to subside, and then she began to think a bit more clearly.

There is no personal gain for Amanda in all this, unless, like me, she was with Frost and wanted children but couldn't have them.

But then she isn't dating Frost, and in any case, the kids would be Jane's and Frost's not hers. So no!

Maybe she and Jane were together before I returned, and this is her payback for maybe being rejected by Jane.

But this also hurts Frost and she really wouldn't hurt so many people if it was just solely to get back at Jane.

Maybe it's both Jane and Frost that wronged her somehow, and she saw this as a fitting punishment.

But it also hurts me, and I never did anything to her to deserve this.

Unless she is acting on behalf of someone. Someone who would want to hurt me and Jane and Frost. Who is a mutual enemy, so to say, among us all?

It only took a few seconds for everything to sort itself out in Maura's head.

Jason.

It all makes sense. Amanda was a friend of Jason long before Jane met him. Her loyalties would undoubtedly lie with him. Jason had been furious when Jane left him, and doing something like this would undeniably hurt us. It would cause turmoil and conflict among us all, which is just what he wants. The Rizzoli's were in favour of my relationship with Jane, so was Frost and Korsak. Jason had no one to side with him. No 'wingman' to help him win back Jane's affections.

He did this to hurt ALL of us. He did this as payback for being dumped.

Maura leaned against the wall feeling her knees go weak. She was no longer aware of the water running down her body. For all she knew it might had gone cold, but that was inconsequential in light of this new found information.