Notes: Once again thanks for all the comments I really enjoy hearing everything you all have to say. I know some of you are dying for a couple of people to enter the story, but I'm going to torture you just a little longer. Also, one more random aside, this chapter mentions a fantastic play: Mourning Becomes Electra by Eugene O'Neill, I highly recommend reading it, the Chapter Title is actually the title of the 1st Act of O'Neill's play – point of trivia.

CH 9: The Homecoming

Maura sat in her office and stared at the cell phone on her desk. She glanced at the copy of the Herald that had been left for her by one of the lab assistants. The picture of her, the Commissioner, Jane and Frankie had made the front page. Jane of course had come down to ask if she had seen it and then scoffed about it being a slow news day and wasn't there anything else in the entire city of Boston worth plastering across the front page of the Herald other than her picture. Maura knew her father was a daily consumer of the newspaper, the Herald, New York Times and at least several times a week he would go online to check major foreign papers as well. He was sure to have seen the picture.

She picked up the phone and dialed.

"Maura?"

"Yes Dad, how are you? I'm not interrupting anything at this time of day am I?"

"Not at all, I'm in the office doing some research. I saw your picture in the paper this morning."

"Yes, I thought you might have."

"Oh of course, you know I read the Herald everyday when I'm in town. The detective in the picture, is that your friend you've mentioned? The one who was shot?"

"Yes, Jane Rizzoli."

"I guess it's been awhile since we last spoke then, she seems to have recovered well. The Medal of Valor, that's quite an award I'm to understand."

"Yes, Jane has recovered remarkably well and the award is quite an honor. Dad, it occurred to me I haven't seen you and Mom in quite awhile and I thought it would be nice for the two of you to come over for dinner. Jane's mother has actually given me some traditional Italian family recipes that I've been dying to try but they make quite a large amount of food so they would be best tried with some guests."

"Well dear, that sounds lovely. Your Mother is of course out of town right now with your Aunt Elizabeth, doing some kind of winery tour in California. You know your mother, the wine cellar is down to around twenty-five bottles or so, clearly that's an unacceptable level" William Isles laughed as he discussed his wife's wine purchasing habit with more than an overt tone of sarcasm, "God forbid we be forced to buy in town."

Maura smiled, "Well, she has always been quite particular about her wine."

"That my dear, may be the understatement of the century. She should be back in town in about a week so, give her a few days to settle in and we'll call and arrange a time. Perhaps I can even talk her out of a couple of bottles of her new acquisitions for you."

"That would be most appreciated, I will talk to you in a week then."

As the days since being cleared for full duty passed and with the awards reception out of the way Jane's apprehension about getting back to really working cases started to subside. She and Frost had picked up a homicide and she found the old motions of running a case instinctually flooded back. They had spent most of the morning taking statements from friends and family of the vic. Hunger had been gnawing at Jane all morning, the early call out had caused her to skip breakfast, a new habit Maura had gotten her used to. Jane straightened up the files on her desk, the momentary lull in the day's activities finally allowing her to join Maura for lunch.

"Jane."

The sound of the familiar voice caught Jane off guard as she turned to see Joey Grant standing in the squad room.

"Grant?…oh, hey, sorry you totally caught me by surprise."

Grant walked towards Jane, his hands fiddling in his pockets, "You look good…great, actually."

Jane laughed, observing Grant's awkwardness, "Uh…thanks."

"I mean, you know, I heard about what happened. I…should have called to see how you were, just you know…work, really busy" he scratched behind his head in what Jane interpreted as a gesture of guilt

Jane nodded, smiling, "Yeah, I know how it is. So, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, my cousin Robbie's getting married, I'm his best man. The wedding's tomorrow and then I have to get back to work. I thought I'd stop by and see if you were around, grab some lunch if you're free."

"I have lunch plans with Maura actually and she's waited past her usual lunch break for me to get done with some case work…but, you're more than welcome to join us if you'd like."

Lunch was filled with the usual catching up pleasantries. Grant talked about his job and naturally Jane had to fill him in on Hoyt once again sending an accomplice after her and the shooting of course. An awkward lull in the conversation fell.

Grant took his napkin and wiped his mouth, finally mustering the courage he spoke, "So, Jane, are you seeing anyone?"

She nearly choked on a sip of water as Maura gave her a playful kick under the booth.

Jane put the sandwich down she was about to take a bite of, "Umm, yes, actually I am."

"Oh" Grant nodded, a slight look of disappointment on his face, "That's great, he's…very lucky to have you."

Maura couldn't resist, "Yes, she is" she replied looking up at Grant, a mischievous smile on her face.

Jane snorted under her breath, looking at Maura and then to Grant, a completely dumbfounded look smeared across his face. His eyes got wide, as he looked from Maura to Jane, back to Maura and then Jane again.

He pointed at Maura, "Really?"

Jane nodded, "Yeah, we started seeing each other after the shooting."

Grant laughed slightly, "So, I mean, you're not like, really serious."

Jane straightened up, "I'm not sure I follow you."

"I mean, Jane…you're not gay," more nervous laughter, "Sure you've had some rough luck…but…really?"

Maura shifted uncomfortably but was stilled by Jane seeking out her hand under the table.

"Yeah, really." Jane reached for her wallet and tossed some cash on the table as she slid out of the booth still holding Maura's hand.

Jane closed her eyes and let her head loll back on the sofa as she propped her feet up on the coffee table. The whirring of the ceiling fan provided a soothing background noise, sending the occasional breeze wafting over her skin. Jane felt some of the hair on her arms stand up as the cool air teased over them. She noticed the sofa dip down and then a dainty pair of feet found their way into her lap. Jane smiled but didn't open her eyes. Maura had just showered, so Jane took in a deep breath relishing the intoxicating aroma that was her girlfriend; she loved that smell, flowers and honey. Maura was what peacefulness smelled like. Her hands found one of Maura's feet and began to massage it, eliciting a thankful groan of satisfaction.

Jane gave equal treatment to each foot and then opened her eyes, looking down she ran a finger lightly up the bottom of Maura's foot. Maura giggled as her toes curled inward.

Jane looked at Maura with a raised eyebrow, "Another ticklish spot I see."

Maura glanced up from her book, "Don't get any ideas."

For once Maura was wearing shorts rather than her usual silk pajama pants, Jane took the opportunity to let her hands continue their massage efforts up her calves, she watched Maura reading as she did so, "What's the book?"

"It's a play actually, Mourning Becomes Electra by Eugene O'Neill."

"Aren't plays supposed to be seen?" Jane looked skeptical at Maura's choice of reading.

Maura smiled, "Ideally yes, but they can be very rewarding reads as well. Mourning is actually based on the ancient Greek myth of Orestes and is modeled after the Oresteia trilogy by Aeschylus. This particular play because of its length is not often performed…"

A knock at the door interrupted them before Maura could launch into a proper plot summary.

"Ma? What are you doing here?" Jane questioned, more than surprised to find her mother on the other side of the door.

Angela Rizzoli barged into Jane's apartment, visibly flustered. What the hell? Was running through Jane's mind as her mother walked in slung her purse up on the counter and turned, hands on her hips.

"You saw Joey Grant today" Angela said, looking at Jane, one eyebrow raised as if Jane was supposed to divine why she was there and in such a huff.

"Yes, unfortunately…what of it?" Jane looked at her mother.

"You told him about you and Maura."

"Well, yeah, he asked if I was seeing anyone so of course I told him I was. You know I actually think it was you who told him we were seeing each other" Jane said as she glanced over at Maura, still sitting on the sofa.

"Janie, you could have called to warn me!" Angela gestured wildly her impatience with Jane's failure to recognize the "problem" growing.

"Warn you? For what? Ma, I'm confused, why don't you just come on out with it, what's the damn problem?" Jane walked back to the sofa and sat on the arm in order to be closer to Maura.

"Well…Joey told his mother, who of course called up Cynthia Morrison, who just couldn't wait to ring up Edna Bovina, who naturally told Carla Talluci who I'm sure you're aware is a colossal gossip…"

Jane couldn't help it, she started laughing at the mental image of this particular game of South Boston telephone.

"Jane! This is not funny! You know I hadn't told anyone else in the family about your relationship yet…"

"Well gee, Ma! Whose fault is that? If Maura was a Mark I'm sure we wouldn't have made it out of the house that night at dinner without the whole town knowing when we first told you!" Jane put her arm around Maura and lightly squeezed her shoulder.

Angela observed Jane's defensive posture and realized how she must be coming off, "Oh! Jane, Maura, oh my I must sound awful. I, I just wasn't sure what the best way to go about telling the family was and I kept thinking that there would be some perfect time, when I would just know it was right. But, I wanted to have that opportunity or for you to and now Carla Talluci has told your Aunt Sophia and the phone's been ringing off the hook and I just wasn't expecting it tonight is all."

Maura placed a comforting hand on Jane's knee, "Angela, I won't speak for Jane but I understand what you're saying. I haven't even told my parents yet, and if Jane will think back I'm sure she'll remember struggling over the right time to tell you and Frank."

Jane sighed, looking down at Maura and then at her mother, "Well, the cat's out of the Rizzoli family bag now. What did everyone say?"

"I only answered the phone when Sophia called, she didn't say much really. She asked if it was true, I told her it was and that your father and I think Maura is wonderful and that you're happy and that we're happy for you. Then she asked if you would be bringing Maura to Nonna Berta's birthday party this weekend."

"Oh crap, Nonna Berta's 90th birthday, I completely forgot." Jane threw her hand to her head and then looked down at Maura and smiled plaintively, "Want to go to my Nonna's birthday party?"

Maura bit her lip and looked at Angela, "Maybe Angela should assess if there's any major fallout first, I wouldn't want to disrupt your grandmother's party."

"Nonsense!" Angela said, "No one in the family's got a sharper tongue than me, if anyone has a problem with it they can keep it to themselves."

Angela grabbed her purse and keys providing no opportunity for Jane or Maura to respond, "Ok, that's settled then. Janie give your Ma a hug, I'm sorry I barged in here all in a tizzy. Oooh Carla Talluci just gets me sometimes, I'm going to call and give her a piece of my mind tomorrow!"

Jane locked the door behind her mother and then flopped face down over the arm of the sofa and across Maura's lap. "UGH!" she moaned into the sofa cushion. Maura laughed, scratching Jane's lower back that was laid out across her lap. She leaned down and kissed the exposed skin and then rested her cheek on it.

"Why is my family insane?" Jane laughed.

"I think your family's charming" Maura's breath lapped across Jane's back as she spoke sending a shiver up her spine.

"Heh, give it a little more time. What do you think your parents will say?" Jane asked.

"I honestly have no idea…are you sure you still want me to tell them?" Maura tried to force a little laugh out as she said it.

Jane rolled over, sat up and then switched to put her head in Maura's lap. Maura ran her fingers through Jane's hair as Jane intertwined her fingers in Maura's free hand, "Yeah I still think we should tell them." Jane took a deep breath, "Maura, is it going to change anything if they don't approve? With us?"

"No one else's reactions are going to change how I feel about you. I love my parents, even though I never had a family life like you did, I still love them and I want them to approve and I want them to be happy for me like your parents are for you. If they can't give me that I'm sure it will hurt, but I also know that having you by my side will help me deal with that pain."

Jane smiled, looking up at her girlfriend, "I'll always be there for you Maur."

Maura brought Jane's hand to her mouth and kissed the back of her palm, "I know."