A/N: One more chapter and an epilogue. Enjoy!

Three. That's the number of times she had eaten dinner at the Isles household since the latest incident with Jacob. Nearly every night she had made dinner alongside Maura and her children but the blonde steadily shoved Jane out of the kitchen. She wanted to pay the other woman back for all of the times she had catered to her family with her culinary skills. They'd had chicken parmesan the first night. Jane was allowed to help with this because Jacob said it was the only thing that made sense. On the second night, Maura and Alice had shared the responsibility of cooking an entire chicken with mashed potatoes and asparagus. To make up for forcing Jane to eat green vegetables, Maura agreed to having a movie night complete with pizza, and later cinnamon buns, on the third night.

That had been at the beginning of the week. The kids were spending the remainder of the week with their father. Without them around on that Thursday, Jane planned on spending the night with Maura. What wasn't in Jane's plan was staying up all night discussing and reviewing the Parker Project. All Jane wanted was a little TLC.

The brunette took advantage of the way Maura scooted forward on the couch to peer down at the papers on her coffee table. Slowly lifting from her spot beside her she stealthily slid behind Maura and sank back down on the couch. The brunette stretched her legs on either side of her girlfriend and wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

"Jane…"

"Hm?"

"What are you doing?" The Italian chuckled and swept the woman's hair to one side of her shoulder before placing her lips there.

"…Hm?"

"Don't Hm me. We have to finish this work."

"Maura," groaned Jane. "Tell me this doesn't feel good." Long fingers slid down the woman's torso to cup her between her legs over her pants. When she gave a light squeeze, the older woman's legs snapped shut, unable to help the gasp that slipped from her lips. Her spine turned to putty, causing her back to fall against Jane's front.

"That's not fair. You know," Maura bit her lip to stop it from trembling. "You know it does. But we have to…fini-….finish."

"In the morning." Jane grumbled as her other hand made its way up Maura's shirt. She wasn't about to stop now.

"But," the blonde's last resolve was ripped away as the raised, rough scar made firm contact with the peak of her sensitive breasts. "Jane." Maura moaned, arching her back.

"Yeah, babe?"

"Early…Early in the morning."

Needless to say, being woken up at six in the morning to finish the reports was totally okay with Jane. Actually, neither of them could sleep even if they tried. This was the opening day and début of the Parker Project. After nearly six months of the late nights, constant construction and meetings it was finally time to see it through. Jane thought about how this project had been with her as long as she'd been working for Maura. Going to see the outcome was kind of cathartic for her, in a way. Like it was something that they did together.

Clearing her throat, Jane quickly glanced at her boss sitting in the passenger seat. The woman was simply staring out the window, appearing completely calm.

"So, you nervous?"

Maura turned to her quizzically. "Of course not. Why would I be?"

"It's kind of a big deal." Jane rolled the stress out of her shoulders and focused back on the road.

"Are you nervous?"

When Jane scoffed and shook her head, she knew that it wasn't convincing at all. The woman in the passenger seat only blinked in silence before a slow smile stretched across her face.

"You are, aren't you?" Before Jane could respond, it dawned on Maura. "This is your first big project. How could I have forgotten that? Well, I know how. You're so proficient at all of this I forget that you just graduated…" Maura trailed off as the uncomfortable demeanor of the woman driving increased. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel and her eyes darted all around the traffic surrounding them. "But this is your first actual project."

Jane smiled at her weakly and chastised herself for letting her nerves get out of control. Maura felt a little guilty for not seeing this earlier and just assuming that Jane would be as prepared for this as she was in everything else.

She couldn't even count the number of openings she'd been to that were projects she propelled. It was second nature to her. At first she had been fearful that all of her hard work wouldn't be appreciated or would not be satisfactory, but of course, as time went on there was only praise and exaltation and she began to realize that she was remarkable at her job. She'd only come across a hurdle once with a client who was not happy with the finished project, but with her experience, Maura was quickly able to turn out a product that was agreeable.

But Maura had been doing this for years and this was her assistant's first. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to let her drive. Placing her soft hand on the woman's knee caused her to jump slightly, but she pretended not to notice.

"Jane. Everything is going to be perfectly fine." Jane only gave a small pensive nod and continued to drive. "Really. It will. You have been so incredible throughout this and I couldn't have asked for a better partner. Everyone is going to absolutely love it."

The brunette looked over at the word partner and wondered. Does she mean partner like girlfriend or like business? Either way it has a nice ring to it.

Apparently reading her mind, Maura leaned closer, placing a sweet kiss on her cheek. "I couldn't have done this without your support in my private life as well as your input on the project. This is as much your baby as it is mine."

The sentiment put Jane's mind at ease and she detached one hand from the steering wheel to wrap it around Maura's. "It'll be fine," she said in what she hoped was a confident voice. "We got this."

"We got this," Maura echoed and they both laughed at how funny the grammatically incorrect sentence sounded rolling off of her proper tongue.

Eyes on the road, Jane raised Maura's hand to her mouth, kissing the knuckle of her ring finger. Maura squeezed her hand in return.

"And without further ado," A red-headed boy walked over to Mr. Parker, handing him a very large pair of scissors before scurrying away. Where in the hell do they even get those big-ass scissors from? The clown store? No, why would there be oversized scissors at a clown store? Well, they are kinda scary looking. Jane was brought out of her random thoughts when the people all around her began chanting.

"Five…four…three…two…one…" The surprisingly soft snip of the ribbon sounded and she looked over to Maura who stood slightly in front of her. Being the woman's assistant, Jane had insisted that she stand on the other side with all of the spectators waiting to go inside the building, but Maura was adamant. After much prodding, Jane finally agreed, but managed to convince the woman to let her stand in the back with the other assistants while she stood at the front where she would be photographed holding the ribbon and shaking Mr. Parker's hand.

"The Parker Recreational Center is now open!" Mr. Parker's voice boomed loudly, but was quickly drowned out by the shrieking voices and laughter of the teens, tweens and toddlers that ran through the doors, paying no mind to the many maps strategically placed along the walls.

Jane smiled as they weaved in and out of the board members to get to the basketball court. Some ventured to the right, going down the hall to the large game room and library. She patted herself on the back when she heard a group of kids proclaim that they wanted to go to the music room first.

She stayed back a little, following Maura along with Mr. Parker and the partners around the facility. That is until she caught Maura's eye. From the blonde's expression, she had been trying to get her assistant's attention for some time. Maura smiled and jerked her head, wordlessly telling Jane to join her alongside Mr. Parker who was excitedly taking in the sights. Jane bit her lip and shook her head. The way Maura's eyebrows shot up would have been comical if she didn't have the feeling she was getting in trouble.

After their silent standoff of squinting eyes and pointed glares, Jane playfully rolled her eyes in surrender and quickened her pace to stand beside her girlfriend. The woman had to remind herself not to grab Jane's hand as they walked from one section of the building to the other. She could, however, feel the warmth of the other woman's arm and very consciously moved closer. Making sure that their arms grazed with each sway, she tried to focus her attention back on the jolly man pointing to various things as excitedly as all the kids.

Jane almost stumbled into Maura as they all stopped abruptly and Mr. Parker whirled around to face them.

"Really, Ms. Isles. I just…this is…" He placed his hand on his forehead, at a loss for words. He grinned even bigger and shook her hand. "Amazing. Just amazing."

"I'm delighted that you think so, Mr. Parker."

"Oh, please. Tim."

"Tim. We are very proud to help make such an inspiring vision come true. The children seem to love it as well."

"You bet they do." They all looked around at the kids from the city's surrounding community running this way and that way and speaking animatedly about the things they had already seen and the things that they couldn't wait to try. "You tell that Garrett Fairfield that I am so glad I decided to go with the two of you."

"Well, actually Tim, my partner in all of this is standing right here." Her hand searched out Jane's arm and pulled her forward and into the conversation. Mr. Parker smiled warmly at her and shook her hand, asking for her name.

"Jane Rizzoli, sir. And really, it was all Ms. Isles. She's the genius." She heard Maura sigh beside her.

"I'm thankful for your contribution in any capacity, Ms. Rizzoli." Praising them one last time for their hard work, he left them near the entrance, walking off in search of his wife.

The shorter woman turned toward her girlfriend with a straight face and stared at her. Jane looked away trying to avoid her eyes. "Why do you have to be like that?"

Jane knew this was coming. "Be like what?"

"Jane," Maura waited for her to look up before going on. "You're never like this. Shy and…I don't know…submissive. What is going on?"

The younger woman swallowed and ran a hand through her hair. "Nothing. This is your baby and I wanted to make sure you got the credit for it. That's all."

"No, sweetheart," Maura stepped closer. "This is our baby." At that moment, they could feel the heat of someone else standing beside them. Looking over they both realized that the tail end of their conversation was caught by none other than Colin Isles. He raised one eyebrow and closed his gaping mouth.

"Uh…should I come back later or…?"

"What? No. I mean yes. You know you have a penchant for showing up at the most inappropriate moments," said Maura, facing her brother with her hands on her hips.

"Probably because you have so many of them, sis."

Jane chuckled and immediately regretted it as the sharp hazel eyes of her girlfriend turned on her. Letting the smile morph into pursed lips, the brunette tried very hard to hide her smirk. Maura continued to frown at her until Colin walked in-between them, draping his arms over their shoulders.

"Come on, Maura. You know I'm right. Don't look at my sister-in-law like that." On either side of him, he could sense the women immediately stiffen. He rolled his eyes and began to walk them out through entry way. "Jesus Christ, relax. Let's just go have lunch."

Jane politely smiled at the waiter, Jefferson, who they had seemed to get every time they came to eat at the country club. He still didn't seem to like her, and frankly, being mistaken for a waitress the first time she dined there with Alice and Maura didn't exactly put him on her good side either. Placing the last of their food in front of them, Jefferson gave Jane one last condescending smile before leaving to attend to other tables.

"Asshole," Jane mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" Maura's asked.

"Pass the rolls," she said louder and looked over to Colin who was smirking and handing her the bread basket. They sat in comfortable silence as they ate. It had been quite the morning and they were just content to sate their appetites for now. After having a sip of water, Colin broke the silence.

"So, Maura," gaining her attention, he slowly said, "The community center is great."

"Thank you…" She narrowed her eyes. There is always a certain tone that tells her that there was something more he wanted to say. Smirking, she said, "Spit it out."

He sighed and loosened his neck tie. "I spoke to Mother yesterday."

Maura's eyes bulged and she nearly choked on her water. She hadn't spoken to her mother in nearly a year and she hadn't seen her since Jacob's seventh birthday. "Oh," was her short response.

"Yeah," he replied and all was silent again until Jane perked up.

"You know, I've always wondered about your parents. You hardly ever talk about them." The Isles siblings discreetly communicated with a single look. Jane looked between the two wondering what she was missing. "What are they like?"

Maura didn't say a word for so long that she thought she was being ignored. She heard the woman inhale sharply, pushing her food around on her plate. "Our parents are… We have a very complicated relationship... we don't speak."

"I figured. I remember you saying once that they discouraged you marrying Ian."

"They did."

"Discouraged is a pleasant word for it, Jane," Colin added. "They threatened to cut her off if she didn't keep the oh so holy Isles name." At that, Maura and Colin chuckled. Jane observed that they didn't seem as angry or bitter about the situation as one would think. If her parents had done something like that, Jane didn't know if she would be so blasé about it.

"I don't get it," said Jane before putting her fork down. "I thought you kind of hated your parents though."

"Well, okay," Colin said readjusting his self in his chair. "We don't hate them."

Maura smiled and shook her head. "No, we don't. We love our parents. I mean, they made sure we were well taken care of…even if it wasn't them doing the caring. I mean, we had a great childhood, but it was all very…" Maura moved her hand around in the air trying to grasp the word.

"Pretentious!" The twins said at the same time.

They all laughed, Jane finally giving up on what ever made this situation so funny.

"Now, if I didn't have my big sister to keep me sane, things would have been a different story."

"By three minutes, Col."

"That still makes you old."

She rolled her eyes. "So, what did mother have to talk about?"

"Oh, the usual. She's traveling to India next week and wanted to, I don't know… check in. She said she would call you."

Lifting on eyebrow Maura grumbled, "Yeah, I bet she did."

"Anyway, she asked how you and the kids were doing and about the divorce. And of course if you were seeing anyone more suitable now."

The blonde could suddenly feel her entire face drain. Her heart thumped and she bolted straight up in her seat. "What did you tell her?"

"That you were shacking up with tall, dark, and handsome over here." He gestured to Jane. He held his straight face until he was sure his sister had stopped breathing. "I'm joking. I told her that she should ask you."

"That's not even remotely funny, Colin Dontѐ." Immediately deflating, Maura fell back in her seat before taking a large sip of her water. "Can you imagine if they found out?"

The smile slowly slipped from Colin's mouth as his sister's girlfriend laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of her neck.

"What would be so bad about them knowing we were dating?" Jane's voice was filled with curiosity as well as something that Maura didn't notice, but her brother did.

"God, it would be an absolute disaster," Maura laughed and Jane shyly joined in, granted it was with less enthusiasm. Colin watched as her laughter quickly waned and she looked down at her plate.

"So I'm guessing that you guys aren't out yet," was Colin's conclusion.

"Definitely not... Well, sort of," Maura said, not noticing her girlfriend's complete shift in demeanor. "Jane's family knows, as well as you and the kids. That's all."

"Why?" He looked from Maura to Jane.

Before Maura could contemplate an answer, Jane jumped in. "Just not the right time." She looked up into his eyes and tightened her jaw. She could tell that he saw right past her excuse. She also knew that he could see the hurt in her eyes so she quickly glanced down to her watch. "We gotta get you back to the office to finalize some things before that office party."

She was already getting up and placing her blazer on as Maura air-kissed her brother goodbye. He watched them walk away and wondered if he should have said something. But mostly he wondered how his sister could be so dense sometimes.

"Why so blue, Rizzoli?"

Not even sparing a glance in his direction, Jane continued to pour juice from the punch bowl into her black and silver plastic party cup. She wasn't in the mood. "Go away, Crowe."

But he didn't, of course. Coming closer, he nudged her shoulder. "Your girlfriend's looking for you." When she began to walk around the table to fill her plate with food, he followed her. "Come on, why the long face? I sure wouldn't be mad if I was banging a hot piece of ass like Mau-"

Crowe thudded against the wall. Looking around and noting that no one really cared or was paying attention Jane walked closer to the man she'd just pushed. "Don't even utter her name, you hear?"

"Why?Cause you'll be screaming it later?" Rearing back, the brunette wound up to rip him a new one when a delicate hand on her elbow stopped her.

"I've been looking everywhere for you. I need you."

Jane clenched her jaw as Crowe waggled his eyebrows and ducked away. She slowly turned back to Maura and adjusted her blazer. "Well, you found me," she mumbled, moving away.

Maura hesitantly followed Jane to the dessert table. She was confused about what was happening. The woman had been acting strange since they were at the opening, but even more so after eating lunch with Colin. "Jane, are you okay?"

"Yeah," she clipped out her immediate response.

"Are you sure?"

"Mhm."

"Are you upset with me?" Maura tilted her head.

"Maura!" She swiftly turned around, taking a deep breath to calm herself as she had gotten the attention of a few people surrounding them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout. But really, nothing is wrong. I'm not mad at you. What's making me angry are all of these fucking questions you keep asking me."

The blonde was stunned into silence. She could only blink up at Jane with her mouth open. The taller woman's tone was low as her breathing picked up and she stared down at the woman.

Slowly closing her mouth and squaring her shoulders, Maura asked, "Where have you been all night?"

Jane rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Right. I say your questions are making me angry so the natural thing to do is ask another. If you really want to know…I was hiding."

"Hiding from who? Me?" She squinted her eyes and pondered why her girlfriend would possibly be hiding from her.

"Yes, you."

"Why? I've been trying to find you-"

"Oh, no. You don't want to be seen with me," she laughed sarcastically. "I might bring your rep down. We don't need anyone knowing we're together, right?" she whispered.

"What? Why would you say that?"

"No. You said that, Maura." Jane ran a hand down her face, willing her temper down. Her throat was thick with emotion and she could feel the unpleasant sensation of tears stinging her eyes. This was one of her biggest fears. That Maura would be ashamed of her; confirming that she was indeed not good enough for Maura Isles. She bit her lip and when she spoke, her voice wavered. "You said it."

The blonde's breath was caught in her throat as realization washed over her. She thought back to the wide berth Jane had given her that morning and it made sense. She immediately felt guilty as she thought back to the way she'd acted and the things she'd said when they were discussing people other than her immediate family knowing. How could she have been so oblivious?

"Jay," she whispered and softly touched her arm.

But the woman lightly pulled away. Her anger was gone now; looking into Maura's eyes, she tried to smile and brush it off. "No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken to you that way."

The architect didn't know what to say. They simply stood there, Jane staring at Maura's shoulder and the older woman gazing at her girlfriend.

"Everyone! Everyone! May I please have your attention?" Sniffing and quickly wiping away a stray tear, Jane turned toward the man in the middle of the room and ignored her girlfriend's stare.

"I want to thank everyone for showing up tonight," said Mr. Fairfield. The old man stood smiling as everyone's attention was solely concentrated on him. "It is time to announce this year's 'Employee of the Year'." Absolutely no one held their breath. It was so blatantly obvious who would be awarded with this title and they all waited for the man to get it over with.

"This person has done more for this company than anyone else has. Including myself." A round of forced laughter. "Sh-…They have worked very hard for this award and I couldn't think of anyone else who deserves it more. Maura," he said turning to her and holding out the small plaque. "I thinks this belongs to you."

She smiled back with grace and walked toward him to the sound of applause from her fellow colleagues and received the award with a quick thank you. She was about to walk away when the large man wrapped one arm around her shoulder.

"If you haven't heard about Maura's unbelievable effort with the Parker Project, you've been living under a building." All of the employees dutifully laughed again. "This woman right here did an exquisite job in securing and executing one of the biggest projects we've had in a while. Because Maura took this on, our name is now on the good side of the inhabitants of Boston and that is something…" he looked down to her face that had grown red, "that we desperately needed. A tie to the community."

"Well, thank you, sir. I really appreciate it," she said again trying to escape the spot light, but he squeezed her tighter.

"And as you all know, I will be retiring this year." A few around the room were shocked, but mostly everyone knew and nodded their heads. "And as you also probably gathered, I have been looking for someone to take over for me as the new co-head of the firm alongside my son Garrett."

Suddenly Maura could feel her heart beat quicker. Her ears began to burn and her chest tightened as she realized where this was going. She'd known that he was retiring, but there had been so much going on in her life that she wasn't really thinking about a promotion.

"I've made my decision, and if she will accept, I would like to offer this position to you, Maura." There were several gasps in the room. Her eyes jumped to Jane who was mirroring her expression of shock. The brunette's mouth soon turned up in a smile and she gave a subtle thumbs up.

"Maura?"

She looked up to him and cleared her throat. "Thank you. Very much, sir. It would be a complete honor to take the place of such a brilliant man but…" She looked around the room at all the eager faces awaiting her answer. "You would understand if I wanted to think about it, right?"

The older man didn't seem deterred at all. He simply nodded and said, "Of course. Absolutely."

"Thank you." Looking back to a still grinning Jane, the proud smile on her girlfriend's face was all she could see. Even when her feelings were hurt, the younger woman was still supporting her. She'd always supported her. "As for the Parker Project…I am pleased that you have given the development so much recognition, but there is one thing you haven't acknowledged." She shrugged her way from underneath his arm, going back over to her assistant before continuing.

"This project wasn't the victory of just my own hard work and commitment." She looked up to Jane who was wary of the eyes all around them that widened as she laced her fingers through the brunette's. "Without the support and innovative mind of my assistant…my girlfriend, Jane Rizzoli, none of this would have been possible."

Jane's hesitant eyes scanned the faces all around the room. Some matching her own in total shock, some red-faced and embarrassed, and others seemed to be exasperated as they handed over wads of money to other smirking co-workers.

She turned back to Maura, who was smiling that beautiful smile. The older woman leaned in to whisper so only Jane could hear, "And for that, I am truly grateful. I wouldn't be here without you."

Unable to wait another second, Maura leaned up and closed the distance between their lips. Jane instantly pulled Maura into her; a hand tight on the small of her back and the other threaded through blonde hair as she deepened the kiss. There was silence. Only the sound of the two women's small, pleasant sighs. And then the room erupted in applause and catcalls.

"Yeah, Rizzoli! Show her who's boss!" was heard from the back of the room, causing everyone to laugh including the women still sealed in a heated lip lock. Eventually, Jane pulled away and nuzzled her nose against Maura's cheek.

"Jane, don't ever think I am ashamed of you. I love you."

"I love you too."

Finally. She thought about how many times she'd seen the younger woman debating with herself on whether or not it was the right time to say it. As many times as she had told Jane she loved her she didn't want to push, but now that she'd heard it, she knew she would never tire of hearing those three words.

"Good," pulling back, Maura smiled and laced her fingers with Jane's. "Now let's go home."

Jane landed on her back, breathing deeply as Maura kissed her way up her long sweat-studded body. When she reached the woman's lips, she moaned at the taste of herself on Maura's tongue and laced her fingers through damp hair. They'd barely made it to Jane's bed before stripping each other and quickly falling into it. Jane was still in awe of what the woman had said and what they both had done in front of everyone at the office. She could have burst with pride in the moment.

She could burst with desire right now as she wrapped her hands under her girlfriend's thighs suggestively. Maura was a bit confused as Jane pushed against the back of her thighs, encouraging her to continue crawling up her body while she shifted downward on the bed underneath her. Finally realizing exactly what the younger woman wanted, she bit her lip to lessen the moan that inevitably escaped.

When her core was positioned exactly above Jane's face, Maura smiled down at her lover, running her fingers through brunette curls. "Are you sure?"

Jane wordlessly ran her tongue slowly against her lips. When Maura shuddered above her, the brunette smirked before roughly taking hold of her thighs and hastily pulling the woman down on to her waiting mouth.

Maura laughed and groaned at the sensation in the same instance. She lifted Jane's hands onto her waist and toyed with her own breasts as the woman's expert tongue whirled and swirled steadily, yearningly around her clit. She could feel the harsh breaths from her lover on her stomach and the way Jane was moaning completely derailed her.

No matter how many times they had made love, this never got old. The way Jane's mouth worked made it seem like she was thoroughly enjoying what she was doing. When the brunette woman was between her thighs, Jane would moan and squeeze and jerk her whole body as if she was the one being pleased. Every. Single. Time. And Maura couldn't help but feel completely possessed when those dark eyes would snap open and stare at her as her body started trembling and every nerve in her body ignited.

It wouldn't take long, so without any shame, she began to circle her hips and grind her core against Jane's mouth. The woman below her looked up and moaned as she latched onto the blonde's clit and sucked hard. Without much more probing, she was soon cumming, grabbing onto Jane's head and pulling on her hair as her body hunched over with her eyes screwed shut.

With her thighs clenching, she raised completely off of Jane's mouth and quickly moved to lay beside her. They both started laughing as Jane greedily kissed all over the blonde's pleasantly quivering body and Maura soon said, "I've never laughed this much during sex in my life."

"Oh really?" She questioned and began to tickle her.

Unlike last time, Maura demonstrated great strength as she clasped both of Jane's wrists rolling over and straddling her to force her hands above her head.

Jane swallowed loudly, the smile slipping from her lips as the woman above her coyly smirked and let her hands run down Jane's arms, over her breast and settle on her ribs. Bending down to whisper in her lover's ear she said, "Let's see how you like it."

A very un-Jane like screech erupted from the brunette's throat as Maura pinned her down more solidly with her thighs and commenced a tickling attack that she wasn't at all expecting.

Maura's senses were a little disoriented as she slowly began to wake. Her muscles ached gloriously and she couldn't help but smile. In that moment, she felt completely whole. Something inside her was causing her to feel full to the brim and that something was Jane. As her body began to stir she could hear the very distinct sound of pencil scratching on paper. Opening her eyes, she was greeted by the sight of Jane sitting up in the bed facing her with her sketch pad in hand. All modesty was gone as the covers sat low on her stomach revealing her exposed chest. Smiling, Maura tried to sit up for a kiss when Jane grunted and shook her head.

"No. Don't move." Maura stilled and placed her head back down as instructed. "Close your eyes." With one last look at the beautifully focused face of the Italian she did as she was told and closed her eyes with a smirk.

"Do you make a habit of drawing the naked women in your bed?"

Jane chuckled at her as she gazed down at the woman she had been sketch for almost two hours. "I couldn't help it. You're breathtaking." She stated almost bashfully. Taking a deep breath Jane paused in her drawing and said, "And I love you."

Maura's eyes fluttered open and without resistance this time, she quickly sat up and kissed her girlfriend softly on the lips. She would never tire of hearing those three words. "Say it again. Please." She whispered against her lips.

Setting her sketch pad aside she laid back down against the covers, bringing Maura with her and she kissed the top of her head. "I love you, Maura."

"I love you, too." A single tear rolled down the woman's face and she didn't even bother to wipe it away. She'd waited so long to hear those words and they felt so right leaving Jane's lip.

A long moment passed as they sat there with Jane occasionally confessing her love and running her fingers up and down the older woman's arm.

"So. Do you think you're still 'Employee of the Month' now that you've publically locked lips with your lowly assistant?" A harsh pinch in the side from Maura had Jane immediately fixing her statement. "Fine. Your super amazing…crazy sexy assistant."

Raising her head, Maura placed a kiss to her shoulder as if to say 'that's better'. "Actually, while you were going off on Crowe for taking an office pool on when we would come out, Mr. Fairfield and Garrett pulled me aside to assure me that the offer still stands."

Jane lowered her hand to Maura's waist and gave it the tiniest squeeze as a grin stretched over her lips. "I'm so proud of you, baby."

The term of endearment caused Maura to blush and cuddle closer. "Thanks. But I couldn't have done it without you."

"I'm sure you could've. You're brilliant, you know that?" At the compliment Maura groaned and hid her face in Jane's chest. She could feel the rumbling against her cooled skin when Jane chuckled. "Okay, I'm done. So what am I going to call you now? Co-Head Maura Isles. Am I still going to be your assistant? Wait, does that mean you get Fairfield's old office, because his assistant has her own private space and that's awesome. With the glass windows…"she rambled and finally trailed off as she looked down at the woman's contemplative face.

"I've actually been thinking about something that I wanted to ask you." Maura sat up against the headboard.

"What is it?" Jane questioned, following her lead and sitting up as well. When Maura started to chew on her lip looking down, Jane reached out and took both of her hands. "Just ask me, Maur."

Looking up, she took a deep breath and started several times before she actually spoke. "Would you…maybe…want to start an architectural firm with me." Jane's eyes widened and Maura rushed on to explain. "It's just, the Parker Project got me thinking about how much I enjoyed giving back to small businesses and doing pro bono work. It would be gratifying, but give me a lot more time with my family. And I mean, it wouldn't be all that hard. We…well I have the funds for it. And I'm allowed to take my client folder with me. I've been thinking about starting my own firm for a while now and who better to do that with than the most creative architect I know? But only if you want to."

Maura finally ended her speech and tried to regulate her breathing when Jane leaned in slowly and captured her lips. When they both pulled back, Maura gazed at her girlfriend grinning from ear to ear.

"I would love to start a business with you."

"Really?"

"Really." The woman launched herself at Jane, nearly knocking her over with the force of her hug. She repeatedly thanked her before suddenly pulling back with a serious look on her face.

"I have one more thing to ask you." Jane pursed her lips then nodded her head. "Tomorrow is April 20th."

Instantly Jane's brain started searching the dates in her memory. When she couldn't find the significance of this date she panicked. "Oh, God. That's not your birthday, is it? Maura you've got to tell me these things ahead of time."

Maura laughed, placing her index finger on her girlfriend's lips. "It's not my birthday…It's the final custody hearing."

Relief washed over her as she understood the situation. "Oh, I'll gladly watch the kids while you're away if you want? I was actually thinking about taking them to my place to practice some self-defense."

Maura couldn't help placing a small sweet kiss on her considerate girlfriend's cheek.

"No, I want you to be there. Jane, the kids love you and I love you. We want you there. No matter what happens."

The brunette nodded her head, accepting. She didn't speak because the emotions were too thick in her throat and she was just barely keeping the tears behind her eyes at bay. "Of course, Maura. Anything for you. I love you."

Maura blushed and laughed at herself. "I don't think I'll get tired of hearing that."

"Good thing I won't get tired of saying it… Now lay down and close your eyes."

Maura complied with an untamable grin. "Anything for you, Picasso."