Maybe It Was Fate

by JLCM09

Sometimes you can feel the moment when your life changes; something happens and you feel a shift. Maura Isles didn't believe in fate; not really, and yet the day she and her daughter met Jane Rizzoli she couldn't help feeling like somehow her life had changed. She wasn't really sure what she felt that day and yet she couldn't help thinking that maybe, just maybe it was fate.

11. To Tell the Truth

To be honest when I started this chapter I wasn't entirely sure where I was going with it, but I just kept writing and eventually ended up with this. I really hope you all will enjoy it! It's a bit of a filler chapter, and I have big plans for my next chapter, which I can't wait to start!

Thanks to everyone who's reading! You all rock! -J

Chapter 11- To Tell the Truth

"We…we should stop," Maura said, biting back a groan as Jane kisses a particularly sensitive spot on her neck. "J-Jane we're….we're at work," she tried again before the brunette moved to place her lips over hers.

Standing in the corner of Maura's office, the pair couldn't really be seen by anyone walking by, a fact, which Jane decided to take advantage of as she travelled down to the Medical Examiner's office on her lunch, intent on enjoying some alone time with her girlfriend. It had been three weeks since Maura and Jane had decided to give a relationship a shot, the couple not yet sharing this news with anyone else as they decided to keep things to themselves for just a while longer.

And though they were doing their best to remain discreet, the couple had taken advantage of every opportunity they had to be together; having lunch together, spending time with Amelia, getting drinks after work and enjoying the occasional evening together, simply being together and sharing kisses. Jane didn't think she could ever tire of Maura, constantly finding herself wanting to be near the Doctor even if it was to simply to watch her work. For her part Maura did her best to remain professional at work but often found herself unable to resist the Detective once she got things started.

"Mmm Jane," Maura huffed, finally pulling herself away from the brunette, placing her arms between them since she was currently stuck between the wall and Jane. "We're at work," she repeated more firmly, though her breathing was still ragged. "We agreed we weren't going to do this here remember? We're trying not to get caught. You can't kiss me like that here."

"If you don't want me to kiss you like that, you shouldn't wear dresses like this," Jane smirked, placing her hands on Maura's hips as she took in navy blue dress the blonde was wearing that fit her like a glove. "I don't know how you expect me to resist kissing you when you look like that."

"This is how I always look," Maura furrowed her brow. "And this dress is similar to most of the dresses I wear to work. I'm not sure how my attire forces you to kiss me when we should be working. Even if it is our lunch hour we're at our place of work and we agreed…."

"Okay, okay," Jane sighed, placing a kiss on Maura's forehead before taking a step back, reaching out to grab Maura's hand before pulling her towards the couch. "No making out at work. I got it," she rolled her eyes.

"We've already almost been caught by Frost once," Maura reminded the brunette. "Unless you're ready to tell everyone I think it would be best if we kept our making out to when we're at home or out on a date."

"Or we could always go make out in your car," Jane suggested with a grin that had Maura rolling her eyes. "You know maybe we should consider it. Telling people I mean."

"You would be okay with that?" Maura quirked her eyebrow.

"Are you kidding? I'm dating the Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth," Jane replied. "I'm ready to shout it from the rooftops," she smirked. "But we would have to tell Mia first. Do you think you're ready for that?"

Considering this for a moment, Maura thought about the last three weeks and how great things had been between her, Jane and Amelia. Would Amelia knowing that she and Jane were dating change that? Would the little girl understand? Would she be happy? "You know what? I think I am," Maura nodded, smiling at the look of delight on Jane's face.

"Okay then," Jane nodded just as both her and Maura's cell phones began to ring, both sighing as they simultaneously picked up their phones. "Rizzoli."

"Isles."

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She was young. It was the first thing that Maura noticed as she and Jane approached the crime scene. The normally scientific and stoic Medical Examiner didn't see the bruises or the blood; her mind forgot to think about cause of death as she took in the sight of the young blonde, immediately determining that she couldn't be older than 15 or 16.

Though she was surrounded by death every day; though she had seen the worst of the worst in what people could do to each other, the fact that their victim was so young hit Maura hard. She immediately felt her whole body freeze in fear, trying to shake it off as she listened to what Jane and Frost were saying while attempting to focus on her breathing as her head felt like it was spinning. She couldn't fall apart. There was no time for that as they had a killer to catch, so Maura took a deep breath and did what she always did, mechanically reciting her findings to Jane, Frost and Korsak.

It wasn't until later, as the young girl lay on her autopsy table that Maura finally allowed herself to really look at the girl, still not knowing who she was as she prepared to begin cutting into her. Taking in the young face and the long blonde hair, Maura felt her heart clench, knowing someone must be looking for this girl; someone must be missing her.

"I'm sorry this happened to you sweet girl," Maura whispered, leaning down over the body even though she knew she couldn't be heard. "I need to find out who you are and who did this to you. Please help me honey. Please help me, help you," she said stroking her hand over the victim's head, not noticing when Jane came in, and froze in the doorway as she saw what the honey-blonde was doing.

"Hi," Jane greeted softly, not really wanting to interrupt the moment, but not wanting to be caught watching at the door either. "Sorry I just wanted to come see if you were getting started."

"Just about," Maura nodded, standing up straight, the slight blush on her cheeks indicating she knew Jane had seen her talking to the body. "Have you figured out who she is yet?"

"Can't find an I.D anywhere," Jane shook her head sadly. "Frost is going through missing person reports, but we'll have to run her prints, maybe if we're lucky something will come up, though I doubt she's in the system. Hopefully someone is looking for her," she said, watching Maura out of the corner of her eye, not missing the Doctor's unusual behaviour. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm…." Maura paused, knowing if she said she was fine she was likely to break out into hives. "She's just so young Jane. She's somebody's little girl. How could someone just…she's just so young."

"I know Maur," Jane nodded understandingly, wishing she could reach out for the blonde, but knowing it wasn't the time. "We're going to find who did this to her though. We're going to figure out who she is. We've just…we gotta keep our heads in this."

"I know," Maura replied, picking up her scalpel and taking a deep breath. "Will you…do you want to stay for this?" She asked, not wanting to be alone, but not wanting to admit it.

"Sure," Jane answered with a small smile, easily able to read the Medical Examiner. "I'll stay."

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"You need to go home," Jane said when she walked into the morgue later that evening to find that Maura was still bent over the body of the young girl who they had determined to be 15 year old Alicia Moore, who had been missing for three weeks. The young girl's parents came to identify the body, an experience, which Jane always hated, but seemed even worse today as she and Maura stood and watched as the couple fell apart over their daughter's body. "It's late. There's nothing more we can do today. We'll start fresh in the morning. You're no good to us if you exhaust yourself. Come on I'll give you a ride."

"I think we should tell Amelia about us," Maura replied as if she hadn't truly heard any of what Jane had said. "I want to tell her. I'm ready."

"Alright," Jane nodded, wondering if perhaps Maura had forgotten that they had already decided that they were going to tell Amelia that morning. "We can tell her. As soon as the case is over we can sit down and have dinner and…"

"I want to tell her tonight," Maura interrupted. "You're taking me home, she'll still be up….she'll be waiting for me. Life is too short Jane. I don't want to keep this from her anymore. We can tell her tonight."

"Maur," Jane sighed, stepping forward and placing a hand on the blonde's arm, wanting to hold her hand but unable since she was still wearing surgical gloves. "Look I wanna tell Mia too okay. I really do. But I don't want you to make this decision because of the case. Let's just solve this thing and then talk about this okay?"

"It's not about the case," Maura shook her head, looking Jane in the eyes and willing her to understand. "I…it's not that Jane. Really it isn't," she repeated, begging the brunette to believe her; to hear her. "I want her to know Jane. I don't want to hide this. I'm ready. Please. Let's tell her tonight. Please."

Looking into Maura's eyes Jane recognized the desperation shining back at her, knowing there was no way she was going to be able to deny what her girlfriend was asking her. "Of course Maur. Of course," she nodded. "I'm ready to tell her if you're ready to tell her, but you know if we tell her tonight then we'll have to tell my mother in the morning because I highly doubt Mia will be able to keep it to herself. And once my Ma knows…"

"I'm ready," Maura was quick to reply, her heart beating fast, feeling oddly exhilarated. "God I'm ready Jane," she repeated as she leaned in for a kiss, forgetting her promise to keep things professional at work.

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When they arrived at Maura's house it was to find the house quiet, Angela sitting in the family room with a book in her hand, explaining that she had put Amelia to bed ten minutes ago. Knowing that Amelia was likely to try and keep herself awake until she got to see her mother, Maura was anxious to get upstairs; grateful as Jane caught on as she quickly ushered Angela out of the house and towards the guesthouse, explaining that she just wanted to say goodnight to Amelia before she planned to leave.

Though she thought she would be nervous about the prospect of finally telling people about her relationship with Jane, Maura felt relief as she led Jane up the stairs, holding her hand tightly, smiling slightly as she felt the brunette give her hand a tight squeeze as if silently reminding Maura that she was with her. It wasn't until they stood in front of Amelia's room that Maura turned to Jane, giving her a soft kiss and releasing her hand before quietly opening up Amelia's bedroom door.

"Amelia? Are you awake sweetheart?" Maura called into the room softly, hoping the little blonde was still awake.

"Mommy?" Amelia called back, the obvious excitement in her voice indicating that she had not been sleeping. "You're home," she exclaimed, turning on her bedside lamp, lighting up the room with a big smile on her face, holding her arms out to her mother, her face brightening even more when she noticed Jane. "And Janie's here!"

"Oh I missed you sweet girl," Maura swept Amelia up into her arms, kissing the side of her head and pulling her as tightly as she could.

"Mommy too tight," Amelia said when it seemed like Maura wasn't going to let go. "Gotta hug Janie too."

"Oh well I'm so sorry," Maura pulled back, pretending to look scandalized as she felt the piece of her that felt broken at the morgue coming back together with her daughter in her arms. "I didn't mean to keep you from your Janie," she said, shuffling over and watching with a smile on her face as Jane wrapped her arms around the little blonde.

"I missed you Bug," Jane whispered into Amelia's hair, though Maura could still hear. "I missed you so much."

"You guys are so late," Amelia said, when she was finally released, leaning back against the headboard. "You missed dinner. You shoulda came home early."

"We're sorry for missing dinner sweetie, but we had to stay at work late today," Maura replied, stroking a hand over the four-year-old's head. "Someone needed our help so we couldn't leave. But we're here now. Just in time for bedtime kisses and Jane came special just to see you."

"That makes me very happy!" Amelia beamed, wiggling under the covers in excitement. "But do I have to go to sleep? I wanna stay up!"

"It's still bedtime," Maura nodded, glancing at Jane to see that the brunette looked slightly nervous. "But there is something Jane and I wanted to talk to you about before you go to sleep."

"Okay!" Amelia replied happily, sitting up straight to show she was listening. "What?"

"Well," Maura took a deep breath as she gathered her thoughts, considering where to start. "Do you remember when we talked about families and how some families have a mommy and daddy, while some have two mommies or two daddies or…"

"Just a Mommy and Amelia like us," Amelia finished proudly, a big smile on her face. "Or just a Daddy," she added as an afterthought.

"Yes exactly, very good," Maura smiled, placing a hand on her daughter's leg which she could see wiggling under the blankets. "And do you remember what I told you about…couples?" She asked hesitantly. "About how some girls like boys and some girls like girls and some boys like boys."

"Mommy likes girl," Amelia nodded, still following. "But Gramma likes boys. She likes grampa."

"Yes, that's good…good," Maura replied, turning to Jane who seemed to be watching the interaction with amazement, impressed by the four-year-old's understanding, eventually turning to Maura and giving her an encouraging nod. "Well remember I told you that someday I might meet a woman and I might date her and if I did then we would talk about it. Well honey…Jane and I…well…I like Jane," she said, watching as Amelia's brow suddenly furrowed, giving her mother a confused look. "Jane and I went on a date a few weeks ago and we've decided to start a relationship. We're…Jane is my girlfriend."

With her breath held, Jane watched, as Amelia seemed to consider this; scrunching up her face as her eyes went from her mother to Jane, seeming unsure before finally settling her gaze on Jane. "You like Mommy Janie?" She asked, with big, wide eyes.

"I like her very much," Jane nodded, not missing Maura's smile out of the corner of her eye.

"Yous are girlfriends?" Amelia said, doing her best to understand.

"We are," Jane replied, considering her words carefully. "But we're also still friends. We care about each other very much."

"Are we still friends?" Amelia then asked, surprising Jane whose mouth immediately fell open.

"What? Yes! Honey, yes of course we're still friends," Jane was quick to assure the little blonde, moving so she could put an arm around her. "Oh baby we're still best friends," she emphasized. "Nothing's gonna change that. Okay?"

"Okay," Amelia nodded, leaning her head against Jane's chest as she turned her attention towards Maura, who was watching this interaction with tears in her eyes. "Mommy. You happy?"

"I'm very happy honey," Maura nodded with watery eyes. "You and Jane make me very, very happy."

"I'm happy too," Amelia replied, her eyes suddenly heavy as she allowed herself to relax against Jane. "Love…Mommy….love….Jane," she whispered sleepily.

"We love you too sweet girl," Maura told her, leaning down and placing a kiss on the smaller blonde's head, helping Jane to lay her down.

"Sweet dreams little bug," Jane whispered, placing a kiss of her own on Amelia's cheek before allowing Maura to take her hand and lead her back out into the hallway, waiting until the door was closed before turning around to pull Maura into her arms. "Well that went well," she said, smiling as Maura tucked her head underneath her chin. "Are you okay?" She asked, when Maura seemed like she wasn't going to say anything.

"Stay with me tonight," Maura said, feeling Jane freeze against her in surprise, as they had yet to spend a night together. "Just…just to sleep," she clarified, the sadness she felt about the case creeping back up on her now that she was away from her daughter. "Please. I don't want to be alone. Just to sleep. Please?"

Kissing the top of Maura's head, Jane didn't reply, instead, releasing her hold on the blonde before taking her hand and leading them towards the bedroom.

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Waking up with Maura in her arms, Jane felt a wholeness she hadn't felt in a long time as she pulled the honey-blonde tightly against her, burying her face in her hair as she allowed the smell of lavender to invade her senses. Maura had been restless the night before, their case obviously still in her head as she had a difficult time allowing herself to relax, comforted only by the feeling of Jane's arms around her. Wanting the Medical Examiner to get a little extra sleep, Jane carefully released her hold, kissing the back of Maura's head before quietly crawling out of bed, changing back into her work clothes before tip-toeing out of the room.

Wanting to do something nice for her girlfriend, Jane decided to make breakfast, peaking her head into Amelia's room to see that she was still sleeping before heading down to the kitchen. Knowing how much Maura hated instant coffee; Jane decided to start making eggs before attempting to work the robot Maura called a coffee maker, truly having no idea what she was doing. So lost in trying not to burn breakfast, while fighting with the coffee machine, Jane didn't hear the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs, nor did she hear anyone approaching until a pair of arms circled her waist, making her jump.

"It smells good in here," Maura said, placing a kiss against the brunette's shoulder. "Have you been up long?"

"About half an hour," Jane replied, turning around to face the blonde, wrapping her own arms around the shorter woman. "I didn't mean to wake you," she said, placing a kiss against Maura's forehead. "I was hoping you would get a little extra sleep."

"My alarm went off," Maura smiled, allowing her hands to drift under the hem of Jane's shirt, finding warm skin there. "Thank you though, that was sweet of you. This is sweet of you," she said gesturing towards breakfast. "And thank you for staying last night. I…I really needed you next to me last night."

"My pleasure," Jane replied, leaning down and placing her lips against Maura's, smiling into the kiss as Maura pulled her tighter against her.

It was Maura who deepened the kiss, the pair moving slightly until Jane had the blonde pressed up against the counter, the couple completely lost in each other, not pulling apart until the sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted them. Knowing that sound anywhere, it was Jane who pushed away from Maura, gasping as she turned to the side door where Angela stood watching with a shocked look on her face.

"Ma!" Jane exclaimed, completely flustered. "I…we…ummm…oh God…Ma I can…I…."

"Angela," Maura's calm voice interrupted, placing a hand on the small of Jane's back. "We were going to speak to you this morning," she said. "I know this may come as a surprise and it's fairly new…we only just told Amelia last night and…"

"You two are seeing each other?" Angela asked, not letting Maura finish as she began walking towards the couple.

"Ma I swear we were gonna tell you we just…." Jane was cut off when her Mother threw her arms around her; pulling into the tightest hug she had ever experienced. "Ma! You're…what are…"

"I am so happy," Angela gushed, rocking back and forth as she held onto her daughter. "You two! Oh it couldn't be more…and Amelia…oh I…" She finally let go, pulling away but resting her hands on Jane's shoulders. "I am so happy for you," she repeated before turning towards Maura, her eyes shining happily, before opening up her arms for the honey-blonde. "Maura!"

"I'm…we're glad you're pleased Angela," Maura said, trying not to laugh as she returned the older Rizzoli's hug.

"How could I not be?" Angela pulled back to look at her daughter's girlfriend. "You're wonderful; both you and Amelia. This is just so wonderful."

"Thanks Ma," Jane grinned just as her cell phone began ringing and Amelia came down the stairs. "Rizzoli," she answered the phone, moving into the family room so she could hear better while Amelia sleepily made her way over to her mother.

"Mommy is there breakfast?" Amelia asked, raising her arms, wanting to be picked up. "Mornin' Angela."

"Morning Sweetheart, let me get you some eggs," Angela replied, while Maura moved to sit on one of the kitchen stools, Amelia in her lap.

"Did you have a good sleep Honey?" Maura asked, placing a kiss against Amelia's head, loving the moments in the morning when her daughter was sleepy and cuddly.

"Mmm hmm," Amelia nodded, resting her head against Maura's chest. "Where's Janie?"

"Right here Bug," Jane called, placing her phone back in her belt as she returned to the kitchen, bending over to greet the little blonde with a kiss before standing up to look Maura in the eyes. "Frost found something. We've gotta go."

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It was Frost who had uncovered the chat room that Alicia had been using on her laptop. It was Maura who discovered a paint particle in the young girl's hair that led them to the area where Alicia had been held, eventually leading them to their capture and killer. They solved the case, they gave Alicia's family the closure they needed, but a young girl was still dead.

"It doesn't seem fair does it?" Jane sighed, her hand playing with a strand of Amelia's hair as the little blonde slept with her head in Jane's lap, her legs draped over Maura. "She was just a kid. She had her whole life ahead of her and some bas…some jerk takes it all away. And for what? It doesn't even make sense."

"A killer's motive rarely makes sense," Maura reminded her, her hand rubbing up and down her daughter's leg as if reminding herself that the little girl was still there. "Carter was…deranged. He baited Alicia on the Internet and killed her simply because he could. There's no point trying to understand it. I'm not sure there's a point trying to understand any of it. This world can be…frightening," she continued, watching as Amelia slept on peacefully. "Sometimes I just wish I could keep her young and innocent forever. I hate that one day she's going to find out that the world isn't the happy, magical place that she thinks it is."

"Well we could always just wrap her up and keep her home till she's like 30," Jane suggested, making Maura laugh softly. "I hate the thought of her getting bigger though. She's so adorable and small and funny. Why can't she just stay this small? I don't know how you've done it these last four years."

"Trust me it wasn't easy," Maura chuckled. "Although I think it was a relief to make it past the diaper stage. I enjoy watching her grow though. I like watching her discover knew things and learn," she continued. "I don't think there's anything better."

Smiling, the pair fell into a comfortable silence, neither even thinking about moving Amelia, simply enjoying having her there between them.

"You know I could get used to nights like this," Jane eventually broke the silence, her hand still idly playing with Amelia's hair. "You, Me, Amelia. I could get used to this."

"Me too Jane," Maura smiled, her eyes drifting shut, feeling relaxed and content. "Me too.