"Maura, no!" Jane squealed as she rolled across the king sized bed in the master bedroom. "Oh my God, stop!" She snorted, gasping for breath as she tried to get away from the smaller woman.

"Say it, Jane! Say it, or I'm not stopping." Maura followed the detective across the bed, continuing her tickle attack. "Say you think fencing is a sport."

"Never give up! Ahhhh! Oh God," another snort escaped before Jane found the edge of the bed and the extra blanket she kept there that she normally used as a sort of body pillow. Laying on her left side and wrapping her arms and a leg around the blanket, she held on tight against Maura's attack. "Never surrender!"

"Admit it, Jane. You think fencing is a sport." The smaller woman lay on her left side and wrapped around the lanky form of her girlfriend. Her left hand ran above Jane's head, holding onto Jane's left hand where it rested against the headboard. Maura's right hand snaked up Jane's side, searching for the most sensitive spot to attack as the doctor wrapped her legs around Jane's left leg. "Say. It."

"Coercion!" A husky voice croaked out between gasps and giggles.

"Yes," Maura agreed as she relentlessly continued to tickle the ordinarily well composed woman currently giggling and laughing under her touch.

"Okay! Alright, okay, just stop!" Jane's right hand finally caught Maura's and held it firmly. "Fencing is a sport, okay?"

"Thank you," came the smug reply as Maura relaxed against Jane simply holding the other woman.

"God, woman, you're like a pit bull."

They chuckled, taking time to enjoy the closeness of the moment. Finally, Jane rolled over. She scooted down until she could comfortably rest her head against Maura's chest and took in a deep breath. "We're going to have to tell Tommy and Frankie tonight. You know that, right?"

"Whatever you need, dear-heart. You know I'll do what I can. What do you need me to do tonight?"

Jane groaned. "I don't know. Just be there? They should be here in a few. I guess we should get up and get ready." She pulled away. "Your shirt is wrinkled."

"Well, rolling around on the bed while trying to get one's girlfriend to admit that fencing is, in fact, a sport has a tendency to do that." The doctor rolled back across the bed and slid from the side to stand. "I'm going to change out of my work clothes and freshen up. You have a few changes of clothes still in the guest room." She frowned. "I'm going to move those in here sometime during the week. But, for now, if you feel as though you need to change..."

"Thanks, sweetie. I think I'd rather stay in what I'm wearing. Somehow, being in my work clothes sort of feels right, you know?" Jane stood, retucking her shirt where it had come untucked and straightening her clothes. "I'll be in the kitchen, okay?"

Maura gave a nod before heading to the master bathroom. "Of course. I'll be out in just a moment."

Jane poured a glass of water for herself. She slowly sipped it, shaking the glass to settle the ice as she leaned against the cabinet. At the sound of the front door opening, she froze. Her eyes zeroed in on the entryway as she waited to see which of her brothers had just come in.

Angela's face both surprised the detective and shook her out of her moment of focus. "Ma! What are you doing here?"

"I live here," the elder Rizzoli answered as she made her way through the house. "I don't guess I need to ask you what you're doing here," she commented as she passed the kitchen.

"I don't know if I should be hurt by that or not."Jane set her glass down on the island as she went to head her mother off at the back door. "Hey, come on, Ma. Cut me some slack here."

"Cut you some slack. What kind of slack do you want, Jane?" Angela stopped trying to get by her daughter. It had been four days since she had been told about her daughter's relationship with Maura, and she hadn't said more than a few sentences to either woman since. It was the longest amount time Jane could ever remember where Angela hadn't said anything to her daughter.

"I... I don't know. I just want you to talk to me. I know you said you needed some time, but," her daughter sighed, frowning deeply, "some things have happened, and I really need to know where you're going to fall on this. If you're going to disown me or hate me or whatever, I need to know because the shit hit the fan at work today, and it's all about to roll downhill."

Angela's jaw flexed as she narrowed her eyes at her daughter. "What happened at work?"

"Maura changed her ICE form. I'm her POC now, marked as her significant other, and HR leaked it to Cavanaugh." Jane was quickly getting tired repeating the same story. "He threatened me, saying that, if my and Maura's relationship got out of hand and started affecting our work, he'd yank me from the team. Needless to say, it's just a matter of time before everyone knows. I told Frost and Korsak today, and I'm waiting on Tommy and Frankie to get here." She rolled her eyes. "I thought you were them."

"Wait a minute," with a tilt of her head, her mother's demeanor changed, going from brooding to angry in a moment's thought. "Are you telling me that someone in HR outed you?"

"Yeah," Jane nodded. She frowned, looking down at the floor as she spoke. "We don't know who, and Maura and I are trying to decide what we want to do about it. But... yeah, I'm sorry, Ma. I know you probably weren't ready for everyone to know." She signed heavily. "I know I wasn't."

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Angela's voice was dark with her anger. "I'm not the one that's being hurt here. You and Maura are." Reaching a hand out to place it on her daughter's shoulder, her voice softened slightly, "I told you I needed time, Jane. I didn't say I was going to disown you. You're my child. I love you, and I'm not going to disown you. I don't agree with everything, but I've been doing some reading, and I've been talking to some people." She gave the shoulder in her hand a squeeze. "I'm learning. Do you want me to try to find out who it was in HR? I have a few connections."

Jane's eyes quickly flicked up to meet her mother's. "Really?"

"I'm not going to let someone do this and get away with it. It's not right, Jane. You should have been able to do this at your own pace." Angela stopped talking as she tried to find the right words. "I am here for you, Jane. I just have to figure out how to deal with this new part of you, but I will get there because you are my child. Right now, you're hurting, and you know how I feel when people are hurting my family."

Her daughter gave a weak nod. "Thanks, Ma. That... that really means a lot. But I don't want you digging around in HR. At least, not yet. Maura and I want to talk about it, and we haven't been able to yet. And," she glanced toward the clock on the wall, "Tommy and Frankie will be here soon."

"Do you want me to stay here while you talk to them?" Angela offered, the hurt in her eyes offset by the concern in her voice.

"No. Maura's here, and I don't think it'll be any easier if you were here. I mean, it's like you said. You're still trying to deal with all of this. I don't want to make things harder on you."

"You know where I'll be," the older woman offered as she opened the back door.

Jane nodded before turning back to the kitchen to find Maura watching her.

"How much did you hear?"

Maura tilted her head in thought, "Most of it. I walked in while you were retelling the story regarding HR." She frowned. "At least she's trying."

"Yeah, I just hope that Tommy and Frankie try, too," the detective said as she walked over to wrap her arms around the doctor. "Can we do this?"

"We can but try," Maura replied before placing a gentle kiss on Jane's lips. "The boys just pulled up."

"Yeah, Tommy needs to fix his muffler," Jane muttered as she reluctantly pulled away to get ready to face her brothers.

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