A/N: Hey all - so I guess this is like a pseudo-continuation of the shots a while ago where Maura and Ian had a daughter together.

Breathe in, breathe out.

You can do this.

It was a little after seven. Jane stood on the front porch of Maura's house, flowers in hand, trying to reclaim her nerve. This was actually going to be her fourth date with Maura, but it would be the first one where Maura's daughter would be home as well.

Lily was seven and still devastated by her parents' divorce, which had been finalized months ago. She was too young to realize that in Maura's point of view, her marriage to Ian had in fact disintegrated years ago.

(And how could she explain the slow and painful death of her affection for this man? How it had seemed natural to be married when they were so devoted to each other, and when Maura would drop anything and everything to be with him every time he was stateside? When they'd had a child? She figured the strains on their relationship were no different from people whose spouses or partners were in the armed forces: communication was kept up, but in-person visits were a rare treat. The disillusionment with the romance of this idea had been taking a toll on Maura for years. She had confided in Jane, who adored her daughter and cared for Maura greatly. When that care started turning into something more, the doctor had too much integrity - for Ian's sake, for Jane's sake, for her own sake - to go on married to someone else just for the sake of appearances.)

Ian had been in New York, and Lily went to spend a week with him there. While she'd done this, Jane and Maura had gotten the chance for a good first date, a great second one, and a spontaneous, phenomenal third one. For this time around, Maura had offered to meet Jane someplace or pick her up, but Jane had insisted that would only be postponing the inevitable conversation that needed to happen, and she had no problem seeing Lily if that's what Maura had been worried about.

She knocked, and Maura opened the door. There was some reservation in her smile as she let Jane in, kissing her on the cheek. "Hi."

"Hey there."

"Wow, Jane. These flowers are beautiful."

"Thanks, I thought so," Jane said, picking one pink snapdragon out of the bouquet. "This one's for Lily," she explained as Maura went about getting some water in a vase. "She told me once these were her favorite kind of flower. Probably just likes the name, huh?"

"Probably," Maura said, her lack of enthusiasm apparent.

"Did you talk to her?" Jane guessed.

"I did."

"And?"

Maura was silent for a moment as she put the flowers in the vase, arranging them just so before walking into the living room to put them on the table behind the couch. "I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell her about you right away. I just didn't know if it was such a good idea, if it would upset her. But then the first thing she asked me when she got back from New York was if I was in love with somebody else."

Jane's heart stopped for a moment. Did she tell Lily she's in love with me?

"And it threw me off," Maura said, her back still to Jane as she needlessly arranged the flowers. "And she's a smart kid. She could sense what my hesitation was for. I just told her that I did in fact care for someone else a great deal, and she kept pushing."

"Did Ian say something to her…?"

"No, I called him to ask, and he sounded insulted that I'd even suggest such a thing. Her parents are divorced, Jane. It's not so crazy to think she would try to rationalize it like this."

"So…what else did you tell her?" Jane asked, walking over and putting her hand on Maura's back.

"Well," Maura sighed. "I had to tell her why your mother is babysitting here tonight. Or rather, she asked why, and you know me. I couldn't lie to her."

"What did you say?"

"I said you were taking me out on a date."

"And… she didn't take it well."

"I don't know," Maura said softly. "I don't know if it's just because she's still upset about the divorce, and she feels I've betrayed her, or if it's because …you're a woman, or…"

"Can I talk to her?" Jane asked.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Maura said. "She's kind of sensitive about you right now."

Jane bit her lip. "If you don't think I should, I won't. But I would really appreciate the chance to try—it'd be a load off my mind, off both our minds, I think, if I could have a shot. But again, I don't wanna overstep my bounds here, Maura. We can just get going now."

Maura considered doing just that, but thought if maybe there was a chance Jane could reach Lily in a way she hadn't, this date would go a lot more nicely if it wasn't obscured by Lily's disapproval. She nodded, and Jane gave her a quick kiss before walking back towards Lily's room.

She smiled at the "no boys allowed (except dad)" sign that hung crookedly on the door. Twirling the snapdragon in one hand, she knocked with the other.

"Hey, kiddo. It's Jane. Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"What?" came a loud voice from the other side.

"Uh, it's Jane. Can I come in?"

There was a long silence. "Fine."

Jane stepped inside to see Lily wrapping her headphone cords around the iPod she'd gotten for her birthday. Jane always had to laugh a bit when she saw Lily's room - it was almost unnaturally tidy for a kid's space, and even the way she put her headphones away was neat and organized. Everything about her, including that, reminded Jane of Maura. She had seen pictures of Maura as a young child, and Lily was her spitting image - the same very blonde hair (that Maura was certain would darken with time), the same nose, same dimples. Their eyes were different, though; where Maura's were a light brown, Lily's were a beautiful green color that was somehow light and dull at the same time, like sea glass.

"Yes?" Lily huffed, sitting on her bed and tucking her knees up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around them, and Jane was able to briefly imagine her as a miffed teenager in the same position.

"Brought you this," she said, holding out the snapdragon.

"Why? What is it?"

"Uh…it's a snapdragon. You said a while ago it was your favorite flower."

Lily's annoyance was replaced a bit by confusion. "This is what they look like?"

"Yeah," Jane laughed, sitting next to her on the bed as Lily slowly turned the flower around, inspecting it.

"How come it's called a snapdragon? It doesn't look like a dragon."

Ha! I knew she only liked them because she thought the name sounded cool. Must've heard Maura talking about them once. "That'd be a good question for your mom. I really have no idea what it's called that."

"Do you have your phone? We could look it up."

Jane was about to say they had more important things to talk about, but she figured getting Lily in a good mood was a good idea. So, she pulled out her phone and held the screen so Lily could see what she was typing.

"Okay, let's see…why is a snapdragon called a snapdragon? Because if you pinch the sides… the little petals, which look like dragon heads, will open and close. Like snapping its jaws."

"Huh?"

"Let's try it," Jane muttered, putting her phone away. She pinched one petal near its stem, and Lily let out a surprised giggle when the petals indeed opened like a mouth. Jane laughed too, pinching and relaxing her grip to make it look like the petal was talking: "See? I'm a fierce dragon flower! Rawrrrr!"

"Let me try," Lily said, and once she got the hang of it, she observed, "It still doesn't really look like a dragon, though."

"Ah, maybe the person who named 'em couldn't see too well."

"Maybe."

Jane watched her continue to play with the flower for a few moments. "Hey, kiddo. Can we talk about something else for a minute?"

Lily didn't answer right away. With her eyes on the flower, she said, "Is this about how you're going on a date with my mom?"

"Uh…yeah. Yeah, that's what this is about."

"Is that why you brought me a flower? Are you trying to blackmail me?"

"Blackmail you?" Jane laughed. "Honey, do you know what blackmail is?"

Lily pursed her lips. She didn't like being called out on it when she mistook words for other phrases. "Are you…" She racked her brain for other "shop talk" lingo she had overheard Jane and Maura exchange. "Is this a bribe?"

"Oh, a bribe. Mmm, I'm gonna go with no, Alex, for 200."

"What category would that be in?"

(Jeopardy! was one of Lily's favorite shows, and Jane planned to mock her heavily in the future for declaring Alex Trebek as the love of her life when she was seven.)

"Look. Lily, the point is - you and I both want what's best for your mom, right? And so does your dad."

"Then how come they got a divorce?"

"Because … because they weren't happy together."

"Why not? How come they aren't happy now when they were happy before?"

"I…Lily, I can't really answer that, I'm sorry," Jane said. "All I know is that your mother loves you, and your father loves you, and…" Oh, why did I think I could do this right now? I should've had Maura come with me. I'm going to screw this all up. "If they had stayed married, trust me, things down the road would've been really hard on all of you. I know that's kind of hard for you to understand, at your age. You don't think too much about the future, not like grown-ups have to."

"If it's in the future, it hasn't happened yet. So how do you know what it's going to be like?"

"Past experience."

"How?"

"Things happen that give you an idea of how they might play out in the future. Like let's say the Sox—let's say the Yankees are having a horrible, horrible year. Like, they are sucking hardcore, even more than usual. They bomb every single game. Do you think they're going to win the World Series?"

"Well, no."

"How come?"

"Because you just said they sucked."

"But if the World Series hasn't happened yet, how do you know what'll happen?"

It wasn't a perfect allegory, but Jane could see Lily lining up the connections, and it effectively silenced her. At least, for a moment. "I just want dad to be in my future."

"Oh, honey. This divorce doesn't mean he won't be in your future. Heck, you just spent a whole week in New York with him, didn't you? And I bet you were having so much fun, you didn't even remember to spit in the direction of the Yankee Stadium for me."

"Oh, yeah…I didn't. I'm sorry."

"Hey, that's okay. Maybe next time." Jane put her arm around Lily, hugging her close, and while the girl didn't reciprocate it she also didn't push Jane away. "I am not trying to replace your dad, okay?" She further tested her luck by kissing the top of Lily's head. "That's not my job. That's no one's job. Your parents are always gonna be your parents."

"You're going on a date with my mom. Isn't that what my dad would do?"

"Not—Lily, I like your mom. I like her a lot."

"You don't kiss her, do you?" Lily asked, and though Jane couldn't see her face she could hear the kidlike disgust in her voice at the thought of anyone kissing anybody.

Jane sighed, not sure how much further she could get into this conversation without checking in with Maura first. She wasn't sure exactly how much the woman wanted her daughter to know at this point.

"I just don't get it," Lily said after a long silence.

"You don't have to get it all right now," Jane said, and she heard Angela come in from the guest house. "All you need to understand is that I really care about your mom a lot, and making her happy is the only thing I want to do."

"The only thing? What about your job?"

"Not as important."

"But you're a cop. That's an important job, isn't it?"

"I guess. But your mother comes first with me. Tied with you, maybe."

There was another long silence, and Jane would've given just about anything to know what was going through the girl's head. Lily wasn't really sure herself. She always believed everything Jane said, because Jane worked for the law and the law wouldn't ever lie. She thought about her dad and how his job kept him away from his family. She was frustrated about all the details she had no access to.

"Mom likes you," she finally said. "She told me."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Is that…how do you feel about that?"

Lily shrugged.

"You think I'm a bad guy?"

"What? No!" Lily shouted, pulling away from Jane to stare incredulously at her.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay." Jane firmly held out her hand. "Do you trust me with your mother?"

"I don't know."

A new voice entered the conversation: "You can take my word for it." Jane and Lily both looked to the doorway, where Maura was standing. "Honey, you can trust her with me."

Lily frowned, then took Jane's hand and squeezed it as hard as she could. Jane might've thought it was intended to express Lily's trust, but the slight scowl on her face made it feel more like an intent to threaten or intimidate her. Jane understood.

They left a few minutes later, with Angela ordering a pizza.

"How long were you listening?" Jane asked.

"Oh, I heard the whole thing."

"And?"

"And…I obviously have some things we still need to work out, but I think she'll be all right, in time."

"I hope so. I sure like that kid a lot." They reached Jane's car, and she stopped to kiss Maura against it. "And I definitely like you more than a lot."

Maura smiled, rubbing her thumb along Jane's cheek before kissing her again. "Do you know nobody's ever made me feel quite like you do?"

"Likewise," Jane said with a small grin. "And may I say, it's my pleasure."