Echo's due date was two days after Scalini's famous bambino eggplant parmagiana, and she still hadn't budged. Jane was starting to feel guilty about Constance being cooped up and waiting, so she insisted that Maura take her out somewhere. Reluctantly, Maura spent the better part of the day with Constance at the MFA, Maura texting Jane every few hours to make sure everything was alright and she wasn't missing anything. Jane texted back every half-hour with pictures of everything she was missing: Jo Friday with a blurry tail, the peanut butter and fluff sandwich Jane had for lunch, the tips of her toes as seen over the lump of her belly. Maura knew it was time to come home when Jane sent her a picture of a diaper tower built on top of the changing table, reaching halfway to the ceiling. That was followed by a picture of the mess it made when it toppled. Maura texted back one word, Love.

At home, Maura and Constance found Jane sitting on the living room floor next to a rumpled receiving blanket. She explained, "I was trying to make Bass into SuperBass, but he got away. And I couldn't get up."

Constance raised her eyebrows and stifled a laugh. "I think I'd like to have a rest before dinner, if you'll excuse me." She left Maura to collect Jane.

Instead of offering a hand up, Maura sat down beside her, leaning back against the cuddle chair. "I missed you today."

Jane snorted. She knew that what Maura really meant was, You missed me today. Jane playfully denied the accusation. "You were only gone a few hours."

Maura shrugged and kissed Jane on the cheek.

Jane was a sucker. She folded. "I missed you, too." Jane swayed from side to side, bumping shoulders with Maura. "It was good that you got to spend some time with your mom, though."

Maura nodded. "I think we're finally beginning to enjoy each others' company." She bit her lip before continuing. "The exhibit was inspiring."

"Oh?"

"It was photography. One hundred portraits by one hundred different photographers. Some of them were quite moving."

"That's great, Maur." Jane waited for Maura to say they should go together sometime.

"I was thinking... if you didn't mind... my mother could take some pictures of you. During labor." Maura spoke quickly, trying to eliminate any doubts Jane might have. "Only for a few minutes at a time. She wouldn't share them without your permission and she would be quiet and keep her distance and leave as soon as you wanted her to." Maura bit her lip again. "I'd like something to help me remember, and we're both likely to be... occupied. To say the least."

Jane never could say no to Maura. "Ok."

Maura's eyes brightened. "Really? Oh, thank you." She kissed Jane and sighed in relief.

"She might have to stick around a month to do it, though. Echo seems pretty comfortable where she is." She rolled her eyes.

Maura swatted Jane's shoulder. "Oh, Jane."

"I don't even care how much it's going to hurt anymore, I just want to get it over with."

"It'll happen soon enough. And if not by next Monday, they'll induce."

"Isn't that bad, though?"

"It's better than letting her stay."

"Is there anything we can do? Maybe Ma can make more of that eggplant parmesan."

Maura rolled her eyes. "Or we could try another of the many scientifically unproven methods floating around the internet."

Jane frowned thoughtfully. "Like what?"

Maura started rattling off things she'd read, all of which came with the disclaimer that they weren't proven to work, but they also weren't harmful. She figured if Jane wanted to be proactive it would at least be productive in keeping Jane entertained while she was unable to do the physical activities that usually occupied her. As she listed the options, Jane scrunched her nose and shook her head. "Dancing. Raspberry leaf tea. Pineapple. Acupressure. Nipple stimulation. Sex. A glass of wine and a bubble bath—"

"And we have a winner!" Jane used jazz hands to cheer her choice. "Help me up. I'll start the bath while you pick out the wine."

In her bikini and a towel, Jane sat on the edge of the tub while it filled with hot water and suds.

Something had changed in the last few weeks. She couldn't pinpoint the cause—maybe there was more than one—but she had started to feel more comfortable. Content. Maybe it was when she realized how much Maura loved and needed her, and that what Maura really wanted was not just a family or a baby, it was Jane. Maybe it was being reminded that Maura had loved Jane long before Echo existed and even before Casey had reappeared. Maybe it went as far back as their last bubble bath together and the way Maura accepted without judgement the things Jane had said. And the way Maura gave herself so completely to Jane afterward. There was trust in that bond. Love. And Jane was finally beginning to believe in it.

She turned off the water and breathed in the steam.

It felt good, love. Being loved. Loving. It felt like floating. Like belonging. She felt it when Maura smiled or put her head on Jane's shoulder. When she kissed Jane's neck and it tickled a spot on her lower back. She felt it that day in the park when Maura shrugged and smiled and said she'd like to be a Rizzoli someday. And she felt it when she read that one word in a text message an hour earlier. These days, she felt it all the time.

She'd felt it before, before she knew what it was. Before Echo. When Maura looked at her a certain way. Sometimes it was a glint in her eyes, sometimes it was a wry smile, like she was trying to hide how amused she was at whatever Jane had said or done. Whatever it was, it was something Jane was certain only she got to see. And it felt good. Before, those moments were fleeting. Jane would shake them off as if they were nothing special. She doubted. And even after she knew what they were, she felt like she didn't deserve them. That she was somehow cheating if she accepted them. And that at some point Maura would realize she'd been cheated and… stop. Leave. Take them all back.

She'd talked to Maura about Casey. About how she didn't feel like herself when she was with him. She hated admitting it. It made her feel weak and embarrassed, how she'd degraded herself when she was supposed to be strong and independent. Indomitable. She hated admitting that she wasn't. There was something about the darkness of the middle of the night that made talking about it easier. Or maybe it was Maura. She made it seem as if the whole Casey thing wasn't Jane's fault. As if it wasn't her being stupid and blind and trying to force a relationship that never had a chance. Instead, in Maura's eyes, Jane had been injured, and she was recovering. In Maura's eyes, just the fact that she had endured was evidence of strength. It might have been a matter of perspective, but Maura's perspective was the one that mattered.

The truth was that Maura knew Jane. She knew her strengths and her weaknesses and loved them all. She loved Jane when she was jovial and when she was brooding. She loved Jane completely. All Jane had to do was let her. And she was finally starting to believe that she could.

Maura rapped lightly on the open bathroom door. "Jane?"

"Yeah, come in."

She was holding a bottle of white in one hand and two glasses in the other. She stopped just inside the doorway and let her eyes float over Jane. Jane felt her gaze gliding down her chest and over Echo, then traversing the space where the edges of the towel exposed her leg. Jane's stomach did a little somersault. Maura licked her lips as she looked back into Jane's eyes, then found her words. "Do you need help getting in?"

Jane smiled. "No. I just need a pillow."

"Oh!" Maura set the bottle and glasses on the sink and reached into the linen closet for a fluffy towel. "Here, this should—"

"You, Maura."

She halted in place, still facing away from Jane.

"Aren't you going to join me?"

"I wasn't sure you wanted me to."

"I do."

Maura turned to face Jane and hugged the towel tightly to her chest, frowning. "I don't want to be…." Her eyes searched the floor for the right words. "I don't want to make you feel as if you have to do anything to please me, especially if it compromises your integrity." At the slightly amused doubt on Jane's face, she tried to explain, "I know we're just talking about a bath, but I don't want to assume. I don't want to push you. I want you to have your space if you need it."

"I don't want it. Not right now." Jane reached out and wiggled her fingers until Maura came close enough to touch. She linked their fingertips together, the pads touching, then smirked up at Maura. "You can wear a bathing suit if it's more comfortable."

Maura smiled, but she still wasn't convinced. She frowned down at their fingertips.

Jane let the towel fall away and used her other hand to tug gently at Maura's skirt. She whispered, "You're not like that, Maura." Encouraged by Maura's eye contact, she went on. "I like it when you push me. I like it when you touch me. I need it. It makes me feel like," she dropped her gaze, trying to come up with an explanation that made sense. "You know how when a wild animal is trapped, it gets defensive? No matter how nice you are to it, it has to fight back, because that's all it has." Maura nodded. "Sometimes it feels like the world is against me." She glanced down at their hands. "When you touch me, the world is on my side. I don't have to fight. Because there's nothing to fight against."

"I want you to be happy. I want you to be whole."

"I am. When I'm with you." Jane squeezed Maura's hand. "Come on. Please? Without you, I'd just be sitting here waiting for the water to get cold."

"And with me?"

"I'll add more hot water to make it last longer."

Maura smiled, then bent down to kiss Jane. "Ok." She poured a glass of wine and handed it to Jane. "Drink slowly. Your tolerance may be low. I'll be right back."

A few minutes later, she reappeared in a navy blue one-piece that did nothing to hide her allure. She turned her back to Jane only long enough to pour herself a glass of wine, and brought both the glass and the bottle over to the tub. Jane steadied her while she stepped in, then joined her.

Jane didn't particularly like the taste of wine, but after so long without any alcohol, she savored it. It was cool and tart and after just a few sips, she could feel the intoxication relaxing her muscles and closing her eyes. She leaned back into Maura and felt Maura's fingernails combing lightly along her scalp.

A few minutes more and Echo began to feel the wine, too. She was awake, and though she didn't have much space to move around in, Jane could feel slow ripples inside her. She found Maura's free hand and guided it to Echo's foot. Maura smiled into her neck.

Both their glasses were sweating on the ledge beside the tub, but neither wanted to forego contact in exchange for another sip. Instead, Maura continued combing Jane's hair, brushing the tendrils aside to make room for kisses behind her ear and down her neck. Jane shifted, silently urging the kisses to continue down her shoulder, and Maura's lips skipped over the thick bikini strap and onward.

Dissatisfied, Jane leaned forward enough to separate them and tugged at the knot behind her neck, loosening it until it fell away completely. Then she reached around to her back and fumbled with the clasp there. "Can you help me with that one?"

Speechless, Maura did, and Jane removed the top completely, dropping it unceremoniously on the floor next to the tub. Then she picked up her glass and sipped again. Replacing the glass on the legde, she looked back at Maura. "Ok?" Maura nodded, and Jane relaxed back into her arms. Jane waited a moment, then pointed to the newly available spot on her neck. As instructed, Maura kissed. Jane's eyes closed again.

From her vantage point, Maura could see over the stretch of Jane's trapezius, over her protruding clavicle, and down to where the curve of her breasts disappeared under the suds. There was a mole between them, which she had seen a few times and kissed when she had the opportunity. It was a landmark for her. Mere centimeters away. She could see it before, but now the faint tan line nearby eclipsed it.

Maura wondered if Jane could feel her staring. She watched the bubbles moving slowly as Jane breathed. She was calm. Relaxed. Not nervous at all. Jane's jaw was angular, but her lips were smooth. As in sleep. Comfortable. Maura slowly draped her arms around Jane's shoulders, then leaned her head back against the towel and closed her eyes.

After a few moments, Jane kissed Maura's fingers to get her attention. "What would you do?" She kissed again. "If I was ready."

Maura extended her index finger to receive another kiss. "Anything you want."

"I don't know what I want."

Maura closed her eyes again. What they were doing at that moment was enough in itself. Just enjoying each other. But Jane was asking about sex. Maura tried to gauge the question, to figure out what Jane was looking for. Maybe she wanted ideas or options. Maybe she just wanted to know what to expect. Maybe she wanted to know whether Maura's approach would be gentle or ferocious. Whether she would feel loved or devoured. Full or empty.

Maura admitted to herself that she had been hungry in the past. That if she hadn't been denied, if Jane had been receptive, she would have taken as much of Jane as she could get. She would have touched and cradled and squeezed, and kissed and licked and sucked, and she would have done everything imaginable to elicit whatever primal sounds she could. It would have been frenzied and it would have left fingerprints and hematomas in delicate places.

And maybe it would be like that, someday. Someday when Jane wanted it to be. When they both wanted each other like that, and when it was tempestuous because they both knew it would make them stronger together.

Maura wondered what it had been like for Jane. She imagined him rolling over in the middle of the night and kissing her, and her just lying there waiting for him to get the message and go back to sleep. Thinking about her choices. Tell him to stop, say she was tired, and feel guilty, or let him continue and feel empty.

Maura had to find a way to know that she was never putting Jane in that position again. She had to know that whatever she did was something Jane wanted, something she actively wanted, not something she just put up with, for Maura's benefit. And if Jane couldn't tell her what she wanted, Maura would have to figure it out herself.

Maura eyed Jane. So many options.

It would be fun, actually. Learning Jane. She already knew where to begin. "I would start by kissing you. On the corner of your mouth, right where it turns up when you make a wry joke. I'd whisper that I love you and if you said it back and smiled, I would kiss your smile."

Jane tilted her head back again, resting it on Maura's shoulder. Maura cracked one eye open momentarily to see Jane's gentle smile. She slowly brought her right hand up to cradle Jane's head and comb the hair at her temple again. Jane leaned into it.

She spoke slowly and imagined Jane in front of her on the bed. "I would settle myself on your lap while I continued kissing you. Your mouth, your cheeks, your eyebrows, your jaw, then your neck and behind your ear, down your shoulder." Her left hand tickled the skin on her shoulder, the newly bare spot.

Jane's head lolled, making room for the imaginary kisses.

"I'd wait for your hands to find my waist, to start undressing me." And if they didn't, she assured herself, she would go no further. "I'd watch you, your eyes. They say everything. You might stare. You do that, you know." Jane let out an amused puff of air. "I'd encourage you to touch."

Maura's fingers skimmed down the length of Jane's arm, raising goosebumps. She continued, "Your touch affects me, too. I like when you hold me around the waist, and I can feel every fingertip on the small of my back. It makes my muscles burn. It makes me want you to hold me closer."

"Never close enough," Jane mused.

"Yes." Maura stopped talking and let her fingers drift over the hairs on Jane's arm. She couldn't decide what would happen next, not without Jane's feedback. There was so much she wanted to do, they could spend the rest of their lives exploring each other. The possibilities and permutations were endless. But it was something they would have to do together, not something Maura could plan out ahead of time.

Jane seemed to feel Maura's hesitation. She turned her left hand over and raised her arm until their palms met. She took Maura's hand in her own, then turned it over and placed it over her heart. Maura could feel it beating. Still gentle, still calm. "You have this way. When you touch me." She put her hand over Maura's, holding it to her chest. Her thumb moved back and forth across Maura's fingers. "Of making it seem like all the important things will be ok, and all the little things don't matter."

Maura spoke quietly into Jane's temple. "That's not me, that's just the way it is." Maybe it was the wine and the intoxicating confidence Jane exuded. Maybe she wanted to make Jane laugh. Maybe she was just weird. Whatever it was, Maura explained, "By the time humanity has made the earth so inhospitable we can no longer survive here, the two of us will be long dead." Jane guffawed, and Maura continued, encouraged. Jane loved her weird. "Life will go on without us, it always has. Some of the most amazing things come out of mass extinctions." Her index finger curled around Jane's thumb, linking them. "The age of mammals was made possible by the extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Tertiary. The Permian extinction put an end to countless forms of marine animals, but allowed the survivors to evolve into tetrapods. There's no reason to doubt that something just as extraordinary will occur once we're wiped out by climate change."

Jane reached for her wine and took a sip, trying not to laugh too much. "I guess I was thinking on a smaller scale. Things that would happen within our lifetimes." She turned her head enough so Maura could see her raised eyebrow.

Maura grew serious again. Her hand shifted lower, to rest on Echo. "You mean things like… will Echo be healthy and happy."

"Yeah."

She shrugged. "I have no data on that."

"I know."

"I know that you and I will do everything within our power to make it so."

"Yeah."

"And we have the support of our family and friends, including three mothers whose experiences probably cover just about anything we might encounter."

"That's more mothers than most people have. And if Lydia can do it, it can't be that hard. Maybe Cailin could babysit."

Maura's fingertips pressed possessively into Jane's belly. "I don't know if I trust her enough for that just yet."

"Fair enough. We'll try her out on TJ first."

They both laughed and sipped and relaxed.

Maura kissed Jane's temple and registered her slowed breathing. "How are you feeling?"

"Good. Relaxed. Happy." Jane's eyes blinked lazily. "I don't think she's packing up her things yet, though."

"She will, when she's ready."

Jane felt like she could stay here forever, in this warm bath with Maura's body wrapped around her. She almost didn't mind how big she was. She felt like she could float. She hadn't had enough wine to really affect her, but she was feeling sleepy and wanted to hear more of Maura's voice. Jane prompted, "What's she gonna be like?" Before Maura could reiterate her lack of data on the subject, Jane clarified her request. "It doesn't have to be true. You're good at stories. Like when we kissed and made Echo. Tell me something like that. A fable."

Maura brought Jane's temple to her lips once more, then settled in, trying to imagine the future. Despite Jane's assertion, Maura didn't consider herself a storyteller, especially one who could fabricate a story extemporaneously. She started with the obvious, things she could be sure of. "She's going to be small. Like when you found TJ on our doorstep. She'll sleep a lot. When she's all clean, they'll put little mittens over her hands to keep her from scratching her face, and a striped hat on her head to keep her warm. She'll sleep in a little plastic box on a cart.

"We won't leave her there for long, though. As much as we can, we'll hold her and warm her and keep her with us. Even if your hospital bed is too narrow for the both of us, we'll sit there together, adoring her. She'll be perfect."

Maura paused and closed her eyes, imagining the scene. Then she continued, "Just when we think she can't be any more amazing, she'll wake up hungry. Maybe she'll just open her mouth and latch on right away, with the same appetite as her mother." Maura smiled when she said this. Then more quietly, she added, "Or maybe she won't know how to ask for what she needs." Maura squeezed Jane's shoulders briefly. "Either way, we will make sure she gets it."

Lifting her chin, Maura predicted with more certainty than she would have expected, "She will have more hugs than she can stand, and she will never doubt that she is loved. She will be strong. And smart. Gentle. Confident. And kind. She will look to the stars and see that she came from two people who overcame more than their share of obstacles and managed to find love and happiness in themselves and in each other. And in her."

Jane wiped at her eyes, then turned her head, her forehead nestled in Maura's neck.

"I don't know that all the important things will be ok," Maura admitted. "There will probably be more challenges for us in the years to come. It seems like there's always something." Her eyes floated around the room, searching for the strength to face whatever challenges lay ahead. They landed on Jane. "I do know that whatever comes our way, we will get through it together. We always have. We always will."