Author's Note: I have no idea why this chapter posted originally without an A/N and only a portion of the story. I think it is fixed now. Let me know if you have any problems. I'm thinking maybe 2 more chapters and then I'll move on to something else. Thank you all for your input and your continued readership. -dkc

Chapter 11

Jane's closet now looked as if a tornado had hit. She had looked at every item of clothing in it as she attempted to pick something to wear for dinner with Maura and her mother. Jane was inexplicably nervous. She had finally settled on a shirt Maura bought her for her last birthday and a tailored pair of slacks. She was deciding between flats or heels when a knock came at the door.

"Janie!" Angela let herself in.

"Ma! Now is a terrible time!" Jane hollered out to the living room.

"That's a lovely way to greet your mother," Angela started putting away the items she brought for Jane.

When Jane exited her bedroom, Angela was actually stunned speechless. It was not a sight Jane had seen often.

"What? Do I look ridiculous?" Jane questioned.

"No, you look beautiful, Jane," Angela was actually tearing up.

"Don't you dare cry, they are just clothes," Jane ordered.

"Where are you off to?" Angela was subtly prying into her daughter's personal life.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Jane was gruff with her mother because she knew her mother would put up with it.

"You can tell me you're going out with Maura, Jane. I'm not one of those mothers that are stuck in the fifties, you know," Angela surprised Jane.

"I…uhh…I am, but not like that," Jane stammered.

"It wouldn't bother me if you were."

"We're going to dinner with Constance. Maura hasn't told her about Hope or Cailin or the kidney thing," Jane was checking her hair in the mirror and slipping her feet into heels.

"Oh, god. Really? How did she not tell her?" Angela covered her mouth, as she couldn't fathom being in Constance's shoes.

"You know Maura, Ma, she doesn't exactly ask for help easily," Jane said.

"I know," Angela's tone changed and Jane could tell she was thinking about Maura's arrest.

"Ma…" Jane walked over to where her mother had sat down and rested a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "Just give her time. She'll come around. I think she just needs to see everything getting back to normal and you and she will be close again."

"I was trying to protect you, Jane," Angela suddenly had tears in her eyes.

"I know you were and Maura knows you were. It's just going to take time," Jane rubbed her mother's shoulder, biting her lip as she tried to find the right things to say.

"Are you sleeping with her?" Angela asked abruptly.

"Maaaa!" Jane rolled her eyes.

"I want you to be happy."

"I am happy, Ma," Jane stood and walked to the closet to grab her jacket.

"I've noticed you spending the night more frequently and I can't remember the last time you mentioned having a date," Angela rattled on.

"Ma," Jane rolled her eyes again. "Does it matter?"

"If you're sleeping with the woman you've been in love with for years? I think it does," Angela crossed her arms over her chest.

"Has it really been that obvious?" Jane wondered aloud, knowing her mother wouldn't spare her the truth.

"That you've been in love with her or that you two are sleeping together?"

"God," Jane groaned. "This is not a conversation I want to have with my mother. Both, I guess?"

"She may be the only person that didn't know you were in love with her," Angela smiled. "As for the sleeping together, you've now confirmed it, so…"

"Ma!" Jane tossed a throw pillow at her mother.

"Frankie might have mentioned something and, like I said, you two have hardly been apart recently. More so than usual, anyway."

"It's new and we're not ready to talk about it yet," Jane's tone told her mother that she was serious and that this conversation would not leave her apartment…er…condo.

"I won't say a word until you tell me I can. I love Maura, too, you know. I want this to work out. Don't screw it up, Janie."

"Me?! Why would I screw it up?" Jane whined.

"Maura can't lie. That makes it more likely that you will screw it up. Granted, Maura doesn't exactly understand the expectations of relationships, either, does she?" Angela's words were met by a long sigh from Jane.

"We've got to master one relationship at a time. Hope and Paddy have devastated her. Tonight she has to explain that to Constance. I don't know how she does it, Ma. She's pretty amazing and god is she strong. I could never deal with as much as she has had to deal with in the last year," Jane's face was radiating the love she has for Maura and it wasn't lost on Angela.

"You better not be late then," Angela stood and held out her arms to hug her eldest child.

For the first time in longer than either of them could remember, Jane wasn't reluctant to hug her mother. She allowed Angela to hug her and kiss her cheek before she slipped her jacket over her shoulders and headed for the door.

"I'll take Jo with me," Angela offered as she watched Jane walk out the door.

"Thanks, Ma!" Jane hollered.

Angela was left standing in Jane's living room, a smile on her face and her heart bursting. She wanted most for her children to be happy and since Maura Isles had walked into their lives, she knew that Jane's chance of happiness lie in that woman's hands.

To be continued…