Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews and messages; one more chapter after this one and the story will be over.

Chapter twenty-nine: Au Revoir

"I hope you forgot something."

Maura gasped and snapped her wife's forearm to make her turn quiet. She widened her hazel eyes – pretending to be mad – and pursed her lips.

"Jane!" Her offended tone fell flat, though. She was too emotional.

The scene made Margot giggle but her reaction pushed Jane to put her sunglasses on. It was raining and grey but there were some things she preferred to hide behind a pair of Rayban's; like the tears – burning ones – that were menacing to roll down her cheeks any time, now. She shrugged at Maura and barked.

"What? At least that'd mean she'd have to come back!"

It had gone way too fast. The exhibition at school the evening before – the farewell party for lunch – and now the drive to the airport. As a matter of fact, the last two months had gone too fast. They had taken them in a whirl of feelings - a whirl of unexpected events - that now weighed a lot on their respective lives.

"You call us when you make it there, okay?" Jane sounded like her mother but couldn't care less, all of a sudden. She was being sincere. The rest didn't matter. "We won't go to bed before you call and you know I mean it."

Margot nodded and adjusted her travel bag on her shoulder. Boarding pass in hand, she didn't seem very eager to leave either. The other teenagers of the program had now gathered by the escalators – waving a very last time at the families that had welcomed them into their lives – and were patiently waiting for the employee of Air France KLM to take them to their boarding lounge.

"You'll come to visit me to Bordeaux, right?" Margot's voice broke. She tried to smile but her lips refused to obey. She looked miserable. "I'll definitely come back as soon as I can... Maybe I'll even spend a whole year here once I graduate from high school and go to college."

Maura hugged her very tightly but didn't find the courage to add anything. The lump in her throat was painful and chances were that – if she opened her mouth to speak – she would burst into tears immediately.

The mere effort would be vain, she knew it.

An airport hostess approached the group and introduced herself. Margot cast a brief glance at her before planting a kiss on her two hosts' cheeks.

"I have to go, now. Au revoir..."

They didn't move. Rayban's and Chanel's on, Jane and Maura kept on staring at the elevator even long after the group of adolescents had walked away in the distance on the first floor. Something had just happened, something important they couldn't put words on. A page of their life had been turned. Somehow. With the terrifying sensation that it had been torn down and burnt. It hurt a lot.

If this was how letting your children go felt like then Jane was not sure she wanted to ever experience it. Margot wasn't her daughter but her sudden absence was just as tough to cope with.

"Would you like a coffee? We can't leave the airport until the plane has taken off, anyway."

Jane snorted.

"I wasn't planning to go back to Boston, now. I mean... Look at us." She took her sunglasses off and pointed out her red - puffy - eyes. "People'd think we caught some sort of myxomatosis at the airport!"

...

Four hours later, they parked in Beacon Hill and walked back to Maura's house hand in hand. They had had time to talk about a few things at Logan International, starting with their very own life.

On the day after, they would empty Jane's apartment and bring back the belongings she wanted to keep with her. The rest would go to donations. As for the apartment in itself, she would probably rent it.

They still had to make their marriage official as well. They had got married three days earlier and had preferred to focus on Margot until now, to enjoy the very last moments in her company. Now that she was gone, they had to announce it; if only to their relatives. And organize a party.

"You shouldn't wear heels. Ma' is going to try to kill us, you won't run fast enough with these shoes. Bad, bad idea."

Jane laughed – opened the door – and let Maura come in first. She took her coat off but stopped right in her tracks as she heard her mother's voice.

"Jane Clementine Rizzoli!" Angela paused, groaned. "Or... Should I say, Jane Clementine Rizzoli-Isles?!"

Jane and Maura exchanged a panicked look. What had happened? Angela soon appeared on their right walking out of the kitchen, a letter in hand. She waved it furiously at them.

"What have I done to you that I learned you got married on Thursday thanks to a dispatch rider?" Seeing that her daughter wasn't reacting, Angela held the letter in front of her face. "You got the official documents – the extra ones – from the courthouse. I thought the messenger had got it all wrong when he told me it was for Mrs. Rizzoli-Isles so I had to double-check it and... And..."

Jane instinctively made a step backwards, ready to run away from the city and never come back. Her reaction caused Maura to burst out laughing. The scientist raised a hand to apologize.

At least Angela had stopped yelling. She had been as surprised as Jane by Maura's laughter.

"I... We..." Maura bit her lips and joined her hands together. She tilted her head, smiled at Angela. A few seconds passed by before she finally spoke again. "Grandchildren...?"

"What?!" Jane's murmur made Maura shrug.

"Well, you said it yourself: I am wearing heels and cannot properly run away so I am trying to use diplomacy to save us from this."

"Will the two of you stop plotting?" Angela made a step towards them and shook her head. She did not look as angry as Jane and Maura had thought in the first place. "Why are you whispering? Am I supposed to know something else or..?"

"No, ma'. Nothing." Jane rolled her eyes and walked to the kitchen. She needed a glass of water. Or a beer. Yes. Alcohol was very much needed right now. "Although I'm actually moving here like... Forever..."

"Yes, on a permanent basis. We assumed that it was the best thing to do considering..."

Angela's snort made Maura turn quiet. The matriarch crossed her arms on her chest, reducing to nothing the document she was still holding.

"Of course, it's the best thing to do. Wait, no. It's not the best thing to do. No... It's the normal thing to do when you're married!"

"Hey! Don't yell at my wife, ma'!" Bottle of beer in hand, Jane walked back to her mother and made a face. She was didn't want Maura to suffer from her mother's reaction. It wasn't fair.

"I am not yelling. I am..." Angela shrugged and lowered her voice. "I am Italian talking." She turned around to talk to Maura. "You know I love you and you two..." She pointed out Jane. "You do know you have my blessing... But why did you hide it from me? That's... That's not nice."

As her mother's voice broke, Jane felt a wave of guilt pass underneath her skin. She hadn't meant to inflict pain to anyone, certainly not to her mother.

"We didn't hide it from you nor from anyone. As I just told you, it was a spontaneous decision. You know... A very on-the-moment thing. And then Margot only had two days left here so she turned to be our priority. But I swear we were about to let you know about it." Jane nodded. "Today."

"We would like to celebrate it, Angela. As a matter of fact, I would appreciate it a lot if you were involved into the party. You..." Suddenly timid, Maura squinted her eyes and seemed to look for what seemed like the most appropriate words to use in such circumstances. "You are my second mother. I cannot imagine celebrating my union to your daughter without you helping us, without your suggestions and advices."

Jane made a face. Perhaps Maura was going a bit too far, right now. The last thing she wanted was her mother to organize it all from A to Z. Unless she suddenly felt like going through a nightmare.

"Well..." She forced a smile. "Any kind of suggestion is – indeed – always welcome and we will ponder it." Jane smiled. Now that was a better compromise.

Angela remained quiet. Impassive. After endless seconds of hesitation, she finally loosened her grip on the courthouse document and timidly smiled.

"Were you wearing a dress, Janie? You are so beautiful when you wear dresses. A shame you never seem to realize it." Her voice was now sweet. Her anger was gone. "You need to tell her that more often, Maura. She's... She's too blind to figure out some things that are so evident to people's eyes."

Maura nodded but immediately threw herself in Angela's arms. She needed the hug, she needed the contact. She held her tightly for a long while.

"What are the two of you doin'? A remake of Women On The Verge Of a Nervous Breakdown?" But as she came to face her mother and wife's incredulity, Jane smiled apologetically. She took a deep – long – breath and locked her eyes with her mother's. "Are you proud of me?"

The question came out of the blue. Jane herself didn't really understand why she had asked that in the first place. The words had passed her lips before she had had a chance to hold them back but perhaps it was better this way.

Let her feelings speak, freely.

"Of course, I am." Angela sounded confused. She approached a hand from her daughter's face and caressed her cheek sweetly. "I've always been proud of you. Now I'm just... A bit prouder. Maura's the perfect person for you. I'm happy for the two of you."