A/N: Surprise, one more chapter before I head off to camp today :) I apologize that you'll have to wait for the next one until next weekend at the earliest. I just want to thank you all for your trust and support so far. I know its been a very rocky ride, and while it may not seem like it, this marks the upward journey - you've been through the worst of it, and I promise it's only going to get better from here.

Jane shifted impatiently from foot to foot as she hovered by the door, listening to the lingering echo of the doorbell reverberate in the hallway. She gulped in a breath, feeling her eyes sting with the inevitable tears she had done poorly at subduing today. Inhaling sharply once again, she commanded herself to rein them in.

The door clicked a moment later, warily edging open until Jane could make out the features of her daughter's face. "M-ma? What are you doing here?" She wore only a bathrobe, silk, thigh length, embroidered with a pattern of exotic flowers. Her golden curls tumbled down her chest, framing her face. She looked so much like Maura that it made Jane's chest hurt.

Jane swallowed sharply, pushing past the tears once again. "Your Mom and I just got divorced." The words, though well rehearsed and somewhat safe within the unspoken confines of her mind, now throttled her with a crippling force.

"What? When?"

"Signed the damn papers this morning." Jane nudged herself over the threshold, despite not having an official welcome.

Jenna hovered by the door, though Jane was oblivious to her apprehensiveness. "Ma, I'm so, so sorry. Really, I am," she stepped toward her mother, resting a hand against her arm. "But I am a bit curious as to why a phone call wouldn't have sufficed. You do still have your own apartment, right?" She spoke, as if to make sure she wasn't putting her mother out, as she had driven all the way from Boston to Chicago.

"Yeah, still got my place," Jane looked over at Jenna, feeling a little wounded at just how quickly she was being turned away. She had moved out of their - Maura's - home about a month ago, into a small apartment in the city to give them both some space. "But I just couldn't stand the idea of being alone tonight," her voice nearly cracked. "Plus, the drive gave me some time to cool off a little."

Jenna nodded, looking a little panicked as Jane ambled toward the kitchen. "Ma, I'm more than happy to have you here, but it is getting on the later side, so what if we put you up in a hotel room and we talk more about this tomorrow?"

"Jenna, honestly, am I that much of an inconve—"

She cut herself off as the sound of footsteps came from the bedroom next to the kitchen. A young man appeared, bare-chested, and with a wave of shock, Jane realized that his bottom half was just as naked. He spoke, unaware of Jane's presence for a fraction of a second. "Jen, you com—" his face widened in dread as he realized Jenna was not alone. "Jesus, babe, I thought you said it was the Jehovah's witnesses again! I didn't think you invited someone in…" He flailed for a minute, before snatching a sizable library book that rested on the edge of the counter, shielding himself poorly.

"I said I thought, Matt," Jenna snapped. Jane watched Jenna's face flush miserably. Jane's eyes darted back the boy (not man. This disgusting thing in her daughter's kitchen was hardly worthy of the title). He was having quite difficultly covering himself, looking miserably vulnerable as he scooted himself back toward the bedroom. Jane stepped closer to her daughter, almost smug by the discomfort she was causing. "This is my mother."

"Oh, Christ!" Matt nearly dropped the book, his eyes broadening in horror. "Jen, I'm so sorry. I'll just be…I'll be in the bedroom." Taking the book with him, he disappeared quite quickly back into the confines of the bedroom.

Jane wheeled around, her amused expression suddenly morphing to one of anger. Jenna's face captured the look of panic with a hint of defiance that she had worn many times in her rebellious teenage years.

At last, Jane spoke, her voice loud and full of irritation. "Well, if I had known you'd be running a brothel, I would have thought twice about letting you move out here on your own." She eyed the bedroom, the door now shut tightly. Probably locked as well, Jane reasoned, though she would have no problem breaking it down if necessary.

"Ma…." Jenna groaned. "We weren't expecting anyone tonight—" She leaned up against the countertop, tugging her robe tighter against her body.

"Oh, so he lives here?"

"No…"

"Jenna…."

"Sometimes. He's new in town, so I've been letting him crash here," Jenna admitted sheepishly.

"New? Fantastic! So what, you've known him all of three days and you're already f—" Jane cut herself off this time. She couldn't even pertain the vulgar expression to her daughter.

"Stop. Ma, I'm twenty-three years old—"

"Exactly! You've been alive for all of two decades, so I don't think you have the right to play the maturity card right now, young lady." Jane was now quivering with fury. Perhaps she was overreacting, but after all the anger, hurt, and frustration she had experienced today (and not to mention in the prior months) it felt good to suddenly have a new outlet.

"I live on my own. I have a great job with a good income. And I met Matt six months ago when he was in town visiting my friend, Sarah, and we've been talking ever since. He moved to Chicago two months ago, and he's been in between places, so yes, I've been letting him stay here quite a bit, until he finds something more permanent." Jenna defended, holding her head a little higher as she fought for justification.

Jane narrowed her eyes. "Which will inevitably be here. In my daughter's bed."

Jenna let out a frustrated sigh. "Can you, for just one minute, remember what it was like to be twenty-three-years old?

"Yes, I was a respectable Catholic virgin still living with my mother," Jane shot back at her daughter.

"Ma…"

She raised her voice again. "Jenna, my past experiences are hardly relevant to all this! I walk into your apartment, only to find a strange naked boy here, who you've failed to tell me you've been dating for six months!"

"First off, the fact that you waltzed into my apartment unannounced is our first problem here. This situation has gotten wildly out of hand – if we have been prepared for a visit—"

Jane cut her off. "Then he would have had time to, what, present himself like a human being, like he should be in the habit of doing every minute he's around my daughter?"

Jenna groaned loudly, running her hands through her hair. "Ma, it's after nine o'clock at night. No one rings the fucking doorbell unannounced this late at night. Would it kill you to at least try to remember what it's like to have a sex life?"

Jane's breath hitched. She narrowed her eyes lividly, the influx of pain much more raw and startling than she expected.

"Fuck, Ma….that's not what I meant…" Jenna's face paled considerably.

Jane's stomach hurt too much to come up with a proper retort.

"Give me one minute to kick Matt out of here, and then I'm all yours, okay?" Jenna mumbled quietly in defeat.

"Really?" Jane looked up with a coy look on her face, though she did feel a tiny bit guilty.

"Yes, Ma. Just wait here. I won't be long…"

Jane put on her parental tone again. "No funny business, okay?"

Jenna disappeared with a huff.

Jane sat herself down on the couch, taking a moment to properly look around her daughter's apartment. She held Maura's refined sense of style, though the place still felt cozy and homey, especially with the piles of books she had scattered around the place, with no room to properly shelve them in her tiny home.

Jane heard a small shuffling from behind one of the piles, glancing at it suspiciously as a tiny black creature appeared. It let out a small mew, padding its feet softly against the carpet as it came to examine the unfamiliar visitor.

"Hi, cat," Jane muttered, letting it sniff her boots. She brought her hand down towards it face, letting it sniff that as well. She heard muffled voices coming from behind her daughter's bedroom door, and she let out a sigh, feeling a bit overwhelmed at how tonight's events had panned out. With another huff of air, she picked up the cat, placing it onto her lap. The cat meowed loudly, as Jane continued to pet it, before it turned to sink its teeth into her hand quite severely.

"Ouch," Jane hissed, shooing the cat away, examining the small, bloody marks left of on her hand.

A moment later, the bedroom door clicked open. Jenna and Matt filed out, now both fully clothed. Jenna gripped her boyfriend's arm, leading him toward the couch, where they stopped in front of Jane. "Ma, I know that I didn't do this right the first time, but can we try again. This is Matt, my boyfriend." The boy waved hesitantly.

Jane rose from the couch, extending her hand.

"And this is my mother – well one of my mothers. My Ma," Jenna settled on, still looking flushed.

Jane hooked her thumbs into her pockets, shooting him an intentionally threatening glare. "If I find out that there's a reason my daughter has failed to mention you until now, you'd better start watching your back, kid."

"Yes, Mrs…err," he fumbled, and Jane concluded that Jenna had debriefed him on the reason for her sudden visit. "I mean, Ms. Rizzoli. Ma'am," he added for good measure. "I promise I'm taking good care of your daughter."

Jane only let out a small snort. Jenna narrowed her gaze at her. Jane rolled her eyes, but she spoke politely to appease the two. "It was nice meeting you, Matt."

"You too, ma'am," he muttered, looking desperately toward the front door.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Matt," Jenna granted him his leave, kissing him quickly on the cheek. Jane watched him scamper toward the door.

She plopped herself back down on the couch, as Jenna took the chair opposite her. They sat in stony silence for a moment, neither of them quite ready to let their guard down just yet.

It was Jane who finally broke the silence, her words sarcastic, though there was a forgiving tone in her voice. "Well, he seemed well-endowed, at least from what I can remember…"

"Ugh, Ma, please, can we talk about your divorce?" Jenna buried her face in her hands.

Jane's smirk faded. She shifted on the couch, before exhaling a drawn out sigh. "There's really not much to say."

"I thought you guys were still trying to work things out." Jenna fiddled with her fingers nervously.

"We were," Jane assured her. "We really were. But things just have really just gone to shit." They hadn't really been able to resolve things after the big blow out at Cody's graduation, though it had been several months ago. Though they had both tossed around the painful concept of divorce, especially after they had separated, it had been Maura who had eventually drawn up the papers, tired and weary of their futile efforts. "Maybe I've been too harsh on her, but it's been tough, you know? And we haven't been able to fall back into any sort of rhythm – and if you thought we fought a lot before, you ain't seen nothin'." Jane kept her tone light, but her insides clenched as she spoke.

"I'm sorry, Ma," Jenna's words felt sincere for the first time that night.

Jane dared to continue on. "Things went pretty down hill when I accused her of having an affair with Amy."

"Shit…" Jenna breathed.

Jane looked down at her hands. "Of course she wasn't – you know she can't lie for shit, but I knew all along she wasn't. It was just another excuse to get angry…another excuse to try to let her know how hurt I was feeling. This just hasn't been working out for so long now." She chewed on her lip, pushing back tears once again. "Sometimes I wonder how we even made it this far."

"It's gonna be okay," Jenna's voice was soft, as she spoke the only words she could think to.

Jane was silent for a minute, as she focused on the task of breathing, until she was certain she could speak without crying. "So I see you got a cat." She had exhausted the topic of her divorce for now; perhaps she'd have more to say later, but for now, she tucked the subject away.

Jenna laughed lightly, though it was somewhat forced. "Yeah...Matt picked him up at the shelter a few weeks ago, so I wouldn't be lonely when he wasn't here."

Jane made a face, refusing to acknowledge the gesture as sweet. "Well, it's not a very nice cat." She held up her hand, displaying her new scabs.

"No, certainly not," Jenna agreed.

"Does it have a name?" Jane watched the cat peek out from behind the books once again.

"They were calling him Mr. Fuzz down at the shelter - but we've taken to calling him things like 'that darn cat.' Matt even cleverly calls him 'Saddam Pussein.'"

Jane reluctantly let out a small laugh.

"I prefer not to skirt around the issue, so I merely call him 'Satan,'" Jenna finished with a laugh of her own.

The pair was silent for a moment. "You should've just gotten a dog."

Jenna shrugged. "He has character. I may not be able to cuddle him, but I'm growing strangely fond of him."

They were quiet again; Jane pulled her knees up to her chest, licking her lips again, as she tugged her eyes away from her daughter's. A moment later, she felt the couch cushion sink in beside her, as she felt Jenna's arm snake around her frame. "You can stay here as long as you need to, Ma," Jenna offered, leaning her head up against her mother's shoulder.

Jane nodded against her, reaching to clasp her daughter's hand in her own, no further words necessary.

XXX

Jenna was up before Cody the following morning, feeling fresh and rejuvenated as she entered the kitchen.

"Another fancy breakfast for us?" she smiled, stepping over to kiss her mother on the cheek as Maura flipped the bacon on the stove. "And with real bacon, not turkey bacon. You're really spoiling us."

"My children deserve the best," she smiled, as Jenna stepped away, pulling a mug out from the cabinet. She poured herself a sizable portion of coffee.

"Will you and Cody be visiting the hospital again today?" Maura asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Jenna sipped her coffee, taking in a breath. "Yeah, she get's discharged today, so I think we're gonna go help her get settled at her place."

Maura nodded, though Jenna could only see the back of her head, making her expression unreadable.

Jenna carried her coffee over the barstools, when the loud buzzing of her phone interrupted her. With a small frown, she accepted the call. "Hello."

Maura turned from her post at the stove, watching her daughter curiously.

"This is she," Jenna spoke, stepping toward the hallway as she took her mysterious call.

Maura lowered her spatula, hovering a fair distance away from her daughter.

"Yes. We'll be there as soon as we can." She hung up the phone.

Her face was ghostly pale, making Maura's stomach tighten. "Who was that?"

It took Jenna a moment to find her voice. "That was the hospital. They said Ma developed a blood clot - something about the medication she was taking and a clotting factor they were unaware of. I don't know, they were talking so fast." Maura's face now matched Jenna's. Her knees felt weak as she leaned up against the countertop. "They have her back in surgery now."

Maura's knuckles grew white as she gripped the edge of the countertop. The smell of burning bacon now wafted from the kitchen. "What kind of clot? Did they tell you the location? And how severe is it?" she spouted off, her voice an octave too high.

Jenna licked her lips, her voice cracking over her words. "Mom...I...they were talking so fast with terms I didn't really understand. I-I don't know. I just don't know."

Maura inhaled deeply, holding back the tears that her daughter could not. "Go wake your brother." Jenna wiped her tears, nodding in her mother's direction, as Maura regained her composure. "We're leaving for the hospital now."