"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Jane wonders.

"Are you seriously asking me that?"

"I'm your best friend."

"When would I have brought it up? That isn't something that comes up in casual conversation. 'Oh, by the way, when I was a teenager I got pregnant. Now I have an adult daughter.' I'm sure that would have gone over well."

"Why is it such a secret?"

"I was sixteen when I got pregnant."

"So? A lot of girls I went to high school got pregnant at sixteen."

"And what did you say about them? What did you think about them?"

"That they should have kept their legs closed," Jane admits.

"Exactly. My parents were so disappointed. I never made mistakes. I never did anything wrong. Until, then. I knew better, and I did it anyway."

"People make mistakes."

"Most people's mistakes don't involve the creation of another human being."

"You would be surprised."

"If I had told you, you would think that I am a cold heartless bitch. What kind of person walks out on their own child? What kind of person is selfish enough to fulfill their wants, and needs, without regard to their child?"

"You've thought about this a lot, huh?"

"Yeah. I've had a long time to think about it. I have been thinking about it, since the day she was born. I made every possible mistake, that I could have made, with her. I lied to her. I walked out on her. It doesn't take a genius to figure out, why she only comes around once a year."

"Is that her, or is that you?"

"She doesn't want to have anything to do with me," Maura reveals.

"Then why is she here?"

"It beats the alternative."

"Maura, she's your daughter."

"I know that."

"Do you?" a voice questions from behind them.

Jane turns, and sees Allison coming into the room.

"My whole life you've been running, from me. I never understood what I did wrong. I could never understand why you left me with them. Why you chose anything, and everything over me. I don't know if I will ever understand. You were too selfish to let me go, and to childish to take responsibility for me, yourself."

"I was sixteen years old. I was not ready to be anyone's parent," Maura defends herself.

"Then why didn't you give me to someone who was? You grew up in that house, you knew what it was like. Why would you choose that for me? You could have chosen anyone else, in the world."

"I'm sorry. I did what I thought that I had to."

"You did what you had to, so that you could still have what you wanted."

"I can't go back and fix it. I don't know what you want me to say."

"That you're sorry."

"I am sorry," Maura replies, sincerely.

"Why did you leave me?"

"I wasn't ready to be a parent," Maura swallows hard.

"Do you remember my third birthday?"

"Of course I do," Maura nods.

August 19th, 1993-

Maura stands in her father's office, talking to her mother. Her mother faces the bookshelves. She stands with her back to Maura. She holds a stiff drink in her hand. Maura leans up against her father's massive mahogany desk.

"Maura why are you here?"

"What do you mean why am I here? It's her birthday."

"Every time you come home, it just upsets her more."

"I am sorry for trying to do the right thing. I am sorry, that I want to see her."

"You should go."

"I promised that I would stay with her."

"You should go. It will only make it harder, if you stay."

"I think that she should come with me."

"Come with you? Back to your one bedroom apartment? Who is going to take care of her."

"I am," Maura's voice grows louder, with each passing second.

"You can't take care of her. Who will take care of her, while you're in school."

"I'll put her in daycare."

"How?"

"What do you mean how?"

"How do you plan on doing that, with no job?"

Maura furrows her brow.

"You can take her, but if you do I will not continue to support her. If you want to be her parent, if you want to be an adult, then you will find a way. You can get a job, and take care of her. You can do what every other single parent has to do."

"What are you saying?"

"Your tuition will be cancelled. Your bank accounts will be frozen. Your trust fund will be withheld. I will withdraw all financial support," Constance replies.

"You can't be serious."

"I am."

"You're blackmailing me? I am her mother. Why are you doing this?"

"Maura, you are not cut out to be anyone's mother."

"You just don't want anyone to gossip about what a crap parent you are."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"What would people say if they found out that she is not your daughter? What would they say, if they found out that your daughter got pregnant at sixteen, and had a child, out of wedlock? You would be disgraced. Your reputation would be tarnished."

"Maura she is three years old. It is too late to start playing mommy now," she warns.

"Playing? I am her mother. I am Allison's mother. You are not. You aren't my mother either."

"Maura you should leave."

"I am not leaving without Allison."

"Yes, you will."

"I am her mother."

The three year old pushes the heavy wood door open. She comes into the room. Her hair long, thick, blonde, hair is still pulled back in ribbons. She's still wearing her pink birthday dress. She comes into the room. She stops between the two grown women. She looks at Maura.

"Allison, you should go put your presents away," Maura's mother chimes.

"Whose, mother are you?" Allison questions.

Maura bends down, and picks her up. She carries the little girl, to her room. She sits her on her bed. She begins packing her suitcase.

"Maura? Whose mother are you?" Allison repeats.

Maura drops her shoes into the open suitcase. She bends down to Allison's level. She looks her in the eyes.

"Yours."