A/N: Thank you so much for the fic love. This story isn't going to get angsty, but our newlyweds need to have SOME disagreements. I hope you enjoy this chapter, though. :)

Maura saw the flower and the note that Jane had taped to the door, but instead of appreciating her wife's gesture, she grabbed them and carelessly placed them on top of the box she was holding. Her interview at The Basement hadn't gone according to plan. She had answered the questions as best as she could, but it was a group interview and one of the other girls had outshined Maura. She dressed similar to Mark and Jane and she knew more about music than Maura did. Jerry had talked to Maura after the interview and suggested some other places she might want to apply to, but Maura was far too discouraged to take his advice. She didn't want to work there just for the money; rather, it was yet another way for her to spend time with Jane in a place where Jane felt comfortable. Jane may have married her, but there were still ways in which Maura wanted to feel even more a part of her world.

To cheer herself up, Maura decided to visit her dorm room. Everything about it was still the same besides her empty closet, but it was all so deserted. With Markie in Seattle, Roxie in Santa Monica, and Stash in Alabama, Maura had never felt so alone. If they were in the dorm room with her, they'd all engage in their usual banter or suggest something else that would lift Maura's spirits, but they were all in different parts of the country and they wouldn't be reunited until school started again. She knew exactly what her friends' reactions would be to her not getting the job, but she feared Jane's reaction. If they wanted to get an apartment, they needed Maura to have an income. It was either that or place an even larger burden on Jane.

Before she left her campus, Maura decided to make a stop at the mailroom just in case her Christmas gifts from her parents had arrived early. There was a medium-sized box addressed to her from her parents, but Maura was hesitant to open it, so she carried the box to her car and placed it on the passenger seat. She had debated opening it at home, but her curiosity had gotten the best of her so she opened it while she was all alone in her car. There was a purse and a skirt inside the box, neither of which were Maura's style anymore, but they were both very fashionable nonetheless. They were her style before she met Markie and Jane, but now she found her style becoming more influenced by theirs. The purse is nice but I'll just give the skirt to Roxie, Maura thought. It'd look great on her and I can't just let it go to waste. There was one more gift left for Maura to open, one that her mother had specifically instructed her to open last. Maura had expected jewelry or something else of great monetary value, but she was pleasantly surprised to find a framed photograph of her and her mother that was taken just days before Maura started college. Maura took a long look at the girl in the picture, the girl she once was. Her hair was different, her makeup was different, her clothes were different—nearly every aspect of her physical appearance was different. Maura also noticed her smile was far less genuine than it was now. Her mother knew nothing about her and when she looked at the label addressed to her, she realized her mother no longer even knew her last name.

There was a letter attached to the back of the frame, which Maura eagerly read. Maura dreaded reading a letter that was short and formal like the letters her mother wrote to her during her adolescence, but after reading the first sentence Maura knew this was going to be different. Her mother wrote about missing her and wishing she had been there for her while Maura was growing up. She wanted a better relationship with Maura, but she knew Maura was now a grown woman with a life of her own. She doesn't know how grown up, Maura thought as she read the letter. Her only daughter is a married woman and she isn't even aware. The realization made Maura tear up.

Knowing they would be home alone, Jane walked into her room wearing nothing but basketball shorts and a sports bra. It wasn't the most enticing ensemble she owned, but she wanted to play it casual just in case Maura wasn't in the mood. Hoping that Maura would be in their bed and ready for her, Jane was surprised to find her wife crying instead. Her flower and the note had been carelessly placed on their dresser and, instead, Maura was clutching another piece of paper.

Jane's first instinct was to hold her, but Maura gently pushed her away. "I need to be alone for awhile," Maura insisted.

"Okay," Jane said softly, trying not to sound too hurt. "I'm going to put some pajamas on and then I'll go to the living room until you're ready to see me."

Maura scooted over to where Jane was sitting upright on the bed. Before Jane could get up, Maura reached from behind and wrapped her arms around Jane's waist. She held Jane as closely to her as she could, so she could not only take in Jane's scent but also so she could reassure her wife that she was loved. "Stay with me," Maura whispered into her ear.

"I thought you wanted me to leave," Jane smiled.

Maura rested her head on Jane's shoulder, so she could take in her post-shower scent of lotion and body wash. "Jane, I don't know what I want anymore. I'm worried about our marriage and our future together."

"What about our marriage?" Jane asked worriedly.

"We rushed into this," Maura reminded her. "We don't have a plan, Jane, and I don't think we're completely ready for this. What we wanted was to share a bed, but did we fully take into consideration everything else that comes with being married?"

"We didn't," Jane admitted. "But we went through with it and I'm glad we did. I love you so much, Maura, but trust me when I say that I have the same doubts that you have."

Maura playfully pulled Jane down on the bed with her so that Jane was resting her head on her chest. "I love you. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone, but I worry about failing you as a wife."

"Just as I worry about failing you as a wife and a provider," Jane added.

"You could never fail me."

"And you could never fail me," Jane insisted.

"Don't be so sure," Maura began. "Jerry didn't hire me. He gave the position to another girl."

"And that makes you think you're failing me?" Jane asked in disbelief. "It's going to take a lot for you to actually fail me and there is nothing you could do or say that would make me stop loving you."

"Go Yankees!" Maura quipped.

"Except that," Jane added. "We're going to be okay, Maur. We have somewhere to stay for the time being and I'm going to work on getting a third job. You need to focus on school, anyway. Ma is already ecstatic about having a doctor in the family and I like the sound of Doctor Rizzoli."

"As much as I like the sound of Officer Rizzoli?"

"Maybe even more," Jane teased. "If only I didn't have to wait another three years. We'll be set then. I'll be doing what I've always wanted to do while simultaneously providing for you. Sometimes I feel so helpless, Maur. I want to be older and give you the life you deserve."

"We'll get there someday," Maura insisted. "But it doesn't matter how much money we make. What matters is our love for each other."

"And we really love each other."

"We do," Maura agreed. "I'm so proud of you, Jane. I'm always going to be proud to be your wife, but there are times when I'm going to miss who I was before I was your wife."

Jane lifted her head up so she could look Maura in the eyes. "You miss your friends, don't you?"

"I do," Maura admitted. "And I know you miss Mark. Jane, we love each other, but we don't have to spend every second together to prove our love for each other."

"I'll spend time with Mark when I want and you spend time with the girls when you want," Jane beamed. "And we can still go on dates with each other and have fun with each other. There's friend time and wife time."

"And family time," Maura hesitated. "I got a letter from my mother. It was attached to the back of a framed photo of us."

"What'd it say?" Jane asked. "Is that why you were crying?"

"I miss her," Maura admitted. "That's why I was crying. She wants to be more of a mother to me, but there's so much she doesn't know about the woman I've become and I don't know how to begin telling her. She knows I'm attracted to women and that doesn't bother her, but she doesn't know I'm married or that I'm even in a relationship. She wants to see me before the semester starts, but I'm worried about how she'll react to our marriage and I feel guilty for not telling her."

"Do you want me there with you?"

"No," Maura shook her head. "I need to do this on my own. I want her to get over the initial shock before I introduce the two of you to each other."

"How bad could it be?" Jane asked, but once she remembered how bad her parents' initial reaction was, she kept quiet about the subject. "Maur, I'm glad she wants a better relationship with you. I've never understood how someone wouldn't want to be in your life. I've known since the moment I saw you that I want you in my life forever."

Maura was about to kiss her wife until their kitten decided to make herself comfortable in between them. "Somebody is hungry," Maura said as she playfully scratched the kitten under her chin. When Chrissy started to purr, Maura picked her up and carried her over to the kitchen with Jane in tow.

Jane and Maura couldn't help but smile as they heard the little crunching noises their kitten made as she ate.

"Did we have an argument?" Maura asked.

"I think we did," Jane smiled. "Time to make up?"

"Time to make up," Maura agreed.

Jane lifted her up and sat her down on the table. They knew it was risky, but the risk made it all the more exciting for the two of them. "I want to make love to you," Jane whispered as she positioned herself in between Maura's legs. When Jane gently nibbled on Maura's neck, Maura let out a soft moan. The sound of Maura moaning and the feeling of her tugging at her hair caused both of them to lose track of their surroundings.

"Janie!" Frank Rizzoli shouted to get his daughter's attention.

Jane was too embarrassed to look at her father, so she hid her face in Maura's chest. When she realized that was an even worse decision, she got off of Maura and stood up to face her father, grateful that they were both still fully-clothed save for Jane in her sports bra. "Pop, when did you get home?" Jane asked nervously.

"In between the moaning and the hair pulling," he responded. "Janie, we eat on there. Disinfect the table before your mother gets home."

Maura smiled. "You aren't going to tell her?"

"Consider it a Christmas gift," he told them. "For you and for me. I don't want to hear her go on and on about this. Just don't let me catch you two again."

"Okay, Pop," Jane said, trying not to sound too excited.

"It's all these kids do," Jane heard her dad mutter as he walked away. "I can't keep them off of each other for more than five minutes."

"Jane?"

"Yeah?" Jane laughed into Maura's shoulder.

"We need our own place."

"Soon," Jane agreed. "Very soon."