Chapter 48: Happy 4th Birthday, Harper!

A/N: Eekkk! This chapter puts us over 200k (excluding author's notes). I never thought I would write a story this long, let alone one that people are reading. You guys are the best!

Some people have asked for a family tree, and as you know, I always have this stuff planned out, so here it is:

Family Tree
Angela Rizzoli
Frank (deceased)
Jane (46, turning 47 on 9/29) & Maura (47)
-Emma Angela Rizzoli and Finley Grace Rizzoli (6, will be 7 on 3/20)
-Harper Maura Rizzoli (4 'today' 8/10)
-Sophie Jane Rizzoli (3, will be 4 on 1/21)
Frankie & Nina
-Michael Barold Rizzoli (6, will be 7 on 1/31)
-Isabella "Bella" Catherine Rizzoli (1, will be 2 on 10/16)
Tommy
-TJ (just turned 14 on 7/13)
*TJ was aged up slightly for this fic

Constance & Arthur Isles

Hope Martin
Cailin Martin
-Oliver James Martin Hendrickson (due 10/1)

Vince and Kiki Korsak
Catherine Holiday (Nina's mom)
Kent Drake
-Christopher "Chris" Drake (3, will be 4 in the fall)
Susie Chang
-Tina (4, will be 5 in the spring)

And they haven't shown up yet, but Frost's mom (Camille), stepmom (Robin), and stepbrother (Cameron, now 21) will eventually be in the story.

Jane: August 10th, Present Day

Jane knocked on the door to Harper and Sophie's bedroom. She wasn't surprised when she didn't receive a response, so she let herself inside, instantly spotting the lump that was Sophie buried under the blankets on her bed.

Jane sat down next to Sophie and rubbed her back through the blankets. "Soph, can I talk to you?" Jane asked softly without stopping the movement of her hand on Sophie's back.

"Mnmmph," Sophie grunted, trying unsuccessfully to wiggle away from Jane under the blankets.

Jane leaned over and pulled the blankets off of Sophie's face. Sophie tried to resist, gripping the blanket tightly over her head, but Jane was obviously stronger.

"Come're noodle," Jane said as she pulled a pouting Sophie onto her lap. Sophie gave in and melted into Jane's lap, and Jane held her close. Giving Sophie a kiss on the top of her head, she asked, "Why are you so upset, sweetie?"

"I don' want Harper to be 4," Sophie whined without looking up at Jane.

"Well, today is Harper's fourth birthday, but she didn't get to choose it," Jane said slowly. "But, you know, when it's your birthday we'll celebrate you, too. Just like we're celebrating Harper today. But today's Harper's birthday, and I think she really wants to have fun with you. You're Harper's best friend, and she wants to celebrate her birthday with you. I know it's hard that Harper is getting all of the attention, but on your birthday, you'll get all of the attention."

"Huh?" Sophie said, finally looking up at Jane.

"Don't you want to celebrate Harper?" Jane asked.

"No, I want to go to school wit' her," Sophie said.

Now it was Jane's turn to be confused. "What? None of you are going to school today," Jane said.

"I know, but I wanna…I don' wanna be in a diffwent class. I wanna go be with Harper," Sophie repeated.

Understanding finally hit Jane. Sophie wasn't upset that Harper was getting all of the attention today for her birthday. She wasn't jealous. "Noodle, you and Harper will still be in the same preschool class in the fall," Jane said.

"But…but…but Emma and Finn are older than me and Harper and they're in a diffwent class…and…and…and now Harper's older than me too," Sophie said as fresh tears sprung to her eyes. "Harper is four," she said holding up four fingers, "and I'm only thwee," she added, putting down one finger. "Four is bigger than thwee, and da older kids are in a diffwent class, and day go to diffwent camps. I don' wanna go to a diffwent camp. I wanna go wit' Harper."

Jane lifted Sophie to turn her in her lap so that Sophie was facing her better. "You're right that kids are separated by age in class and at camp, but kids don't change classes on their birthday," Jane explained, unsure exactly how to make this understandable for a toddler. "If that happened, kids would be switching classes every day and that would be really hard for the teachers to keep track of, so instead, schools group all the kids with birthdays between certain dates together. Then, all the kids who were born within that year move up to the next grade together. And camps are based on your year in school, so if you're in the same grade, you'll be in the same class."

"I get to go to school wit' Harper?" Sophie asked; her little face was adorably scrunched as she tried to understand what Jane was telling her.

"Yeah, noodle," Jane said. "Nothing is going to change."

"So…so, we get to cewebwate Harper today AND I get to go to school with her?" Sophie asked, her voice starting to rise as happiness replaced her previous sadness.

Jane laughed. "Yeah, how does that sound?" Jane asked with a smile.

"I wanna cewebwate Harper!" Sophie squealed. "She's my BEST friend!"

Jane chuckled. "Okay, well, how 'bout we go downstairs and have breakfast?" Jane suggested.

"Can I give her my pwesent?" Sophie asked, sitting up in excitement.

"Sure, do you remember where we hid it?" Jane asked, and Sophie nodded as she scrambled off of Jane's lap. Sophie sprinted to the guest room with Jane right behind her. They had hidden the gifts from the girls for Harper in the dresser, so Jane helped Sophie find hers.

When they arrived back downstairs, Jane offered Maura a reassuring smile. She could see the confusion on Maura's face at the complete 180 in Sophie's mood. "They're okay," Jane whispered to Maura as she sat down next to her at the table. "I'll fill you in later, but Sophie wasn't jealous. She was upset because she thought they wouldn't be in the same classes anymore since Harper was older."

Maura nodded, a small smile of relief on her face.

Sophie launched herself at Harper, nearly tackling her sister off of her chair. "Happy birfday, Harper. I wuv you!" she yelled happily. "Here, I got you a pwesent!" she added as she shoved the wrapped box in Harper's face.

"T'ank you!" Harper said with a huge smile, but Jane could tell that Harper was much happier that Sophie wasn't mad at her than she actually was about getting a gift – not that she wasn't also happy about the gift.

Jane hadn't noticed that Emma and Finn had also gone upstairs at some point to get their own gifts for Harper. Harper opened gifts like Jane did, so she had all three open within a minute. Jane was pretty sure her sisters could have wrapped up trash and Harper would still be ecstatic, but all three girls had actually picked good gifts. It was impossible to get them to the store without Harper around to pick out their gifts, so Jane and Maura had helped all three of them pick something out on Amazon for their sister. Emma had chosen a splashpad that attached to the end of the hose as a sprinkler. Finn had, of course, chosen a book, but she had done a good job choosing one Harper would like; it was full of ideas for kids' art projects. Sophie had picked out a doll that cried like a real baby. Jane was pretty sure that would end up locked in the guest room closet (sooner rather than later if she had any say in it).

"Em, Finn, why don't you guys go brush your teeth and get your bathing suits on?" Jane suggested. "Sophie still needs to eat breakfast, but after everyone is done, we're going to go outside to paint." Harper had been allowed to choose a family activity for today. The little girl loved art and music, so they were planning to paint outside. They had gotten white sheets – one for each kid – and a ton of washable paint. Jane had also found a list of 'weird stuff to paint with' online, which included things like cooked spaghetti, branches, balloons, a potato masher, a loofa, and panty hose. Maura and Jane had spent a few hours the previous evening making sure they had everything ready for the kids.

Just under an hour later, they had finally gotten all four kids in their bathing suits (figuring this would make it way easier to clean the paint off) and outside. They set the kids loose, letting them have fun with the paints. Jane stood back and watched her family. Maura was fixing Emma's hair, which had come free from its ponytail. Finn was concentrating hard on her own paint project. But the best part was watching Harper and Sophie giggling hysterically the whole time. They were painting each other more than their sheets, but they were having a blast.

When Maura finished helping Emma, she came over to stand by Jane, wrapping both arms around Jane's waist and giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. Jane turned to give Maura a proper kiss and slid her arm around Maura's shoulder. "This was a great idea," Maura said quietly as they shared a smile.

"It's very Harper," Jane said with a laugh.

The painting kept the kids entertained for quite a while, but eventually, they were losing interest. When Harper asked if they could open the splashpad Emma had given her for her birthday and run through the sprinklers, Jane decided that was a good idea. Hopefully, the water would get some of the paint off of the kids.

The splashpad was a hit, but Jane's favorite part was when Harper asked Maura to play with them. Jane knew that running through a sprinkler was probably very high on the list of things Maura did not want to do, but there was no way Maura was going to say no to Harper's excited plea to play with them. Despite the fact that she was still fully clothes – albeit in work clothes – and that she was definitely concerned about the cleanliness of the water, Maura allowed Harper to pull her into the sprinkler. Jane's heart swelled with love as she watched the love of her life play with their daughters. This is all she had ever wanted. She was sure she had never been happier.

"Mama, come play too!" Sophie ran over to Jane and started pulling her towards the sprinkler as well. Tears burned in the corners of Jane's eyes as she let Sophie guide her into the fun. This was the first time Sophie had actually called her mama. She had called her Jane for a long time; then, she just avoided calling Jane anything for even longer.

The six of them played in the yard for a long time. Maura paused long enough to order pizza, which they ate together on the deck, letting the sun dry them off. After lunch, Jane gave Emma and Finn a quick bath in the master bathroom while Maura gave Harper and Sophie a bath before putting them down for their naps. Emma and Finn were so worn out from playing outside in the sun all morning that they fell asleep with their books before Harper and Sophie were even done with their baths. Jane placed their books on the nightstand, making sure to mark their pages, and tucked them in.

An hour later, Jane was half asleep on the couch. She had showered first, and Maura was currently showering and getting ready for Harper's birthday dinner. When she came downstairs, Maura sat down next to Jane, pulling Jane's legs onto her lap.

"Hey," Jane said, smiling sleepily at Maura.

"Tired?" Maura asked, her voice teasing.

"Yeah," Jane replied with a laugh as she brought her hand up to rub her eyes.

Maura let her head drop back against the couch. "I felt so bad for Harper this morning when Sophie said she didn't want to celebrate her birthday," Maura said.

"Well, actually, what she said was that she didn't want Harper to be four," Jane said, causing Maura to roll her head to look at Jane without lifting it from the back of the couch.

"You said she wasn't jealous, but I guess I still don't understand what she was upset about," Maura added.

"She thought that because Harper is now four and she's still only three that they would be in different classes at school and that they wouldn't be able to go to camp together," Jane clarified. "She was all for celebrating Harper's birthday once she understood that they would still be in the same class for preschool."

"That's kind of adorable," Maura commented with a small smile. "I still feel bad for Harper, but I'm glad it didn't last long. I felt like a terrible parent."

"Even if she had been jealous, that wouldn't have made you a terrible parent," Jane said, using her foot to give Maura a playful push. "You're a great mom."

"Even if I had raised a kid that was so self-centered that she couldn't bare to celebrate her sister's birthday?" Maura asked skeptically.

"All kids are self-centered," Jane quipped with a laugh.

"Actually, that's true," Maura said matter-of-factly. "Children's brains aren't developed enough to comprehend other's thoughts and feelings until they are around seven years old when they move from the preoperational stage to the concrete operational stage of cognitive development."

"Thank you, Dr. Freud," Jane teased.

"Piaget," Maura corrected automatically. "Jean Piaget developed the stages of cognitive development and significantly contributed understandings of egocentrism in children."

Jane snorted, causing Maura to narrow her eyes at Jane in mock indignation. But Maura couldn't hold the look for long as they both started laughing.

"There is one thing we are going to need to talk about, though," Jane said, her tone becoming more serious.

"What's that?"

"Kindergarten," Jane said. "Technically, Harper will be old enough to start kindergarten next fall since her birthday is before September 1st, but Sophie wouldn't be eligible until the year after. I guess, we have to decide how important we think it is for them to be in the same grade. To complicate matters, I'm also wondering what the likelihood is that it will be recommended that Sophie skip a grade eventually like Emma and Finn."

"Oh, wow, I didn't even think about kindergarten," Maura admitted. "I've only really thought as far as this upcoming school year."

"Yeah, I didn't think about it either until I was talking to Sophie this morning," Jane said. "I just kept thinking of them as the same age, I didn't think about the fact that they were on different sides of the cut-off."

"What do you think?" Maura asked.

Jane shrugged. "I honestly don't know," she confessed. "I want what's best for both of them, but I don't know what that is."

"What are our options?"

"Well, Harper could go to kindergarten next year and Sophie could start the year after. Then, if Sophie skips a grade, they'd be in the same grade eventually," Jane said.

"I'm not so sure that Sophie will need to skip a grade," Maura said.

"Another option is to start both of them in two years," Jane said. "Since Harper's birthday is so close to the cut-off, it wouldn't be unusual for a kid with her birthday to start later."

"What were you planning to do before we came home?" Maura asked.

Jane sighed. "I was going to send her next year," she said. "But I'm not convinced that that is still what's best."

Maura nodded absently, still deep in thought. "I really want them to be in the same grade," she offered eventually. "But…this may sound terrible…but I'm not sure if I want that because I truly believe its best for both of them or just because I know it's best for Sophie."

"That doesn't sound terrible," Jane said. "The reality is you still know Sophie better than you know Harper. It won't always be that way, but for now you know Sophie better and I know Harper better. That's why we're deciding together."

"Yeah," Maura said quietly, but Jane wasn't sure if she had convinced the other woman.

"I also think it would be better if they were in the same grade," Jane added. "My fear, though, is if we wait to send them both in two years, what happens if they do suggest Sophie skip a grade. It doesn't seem right to hold her back because of Harper, but I don't think it would be good for their relationship for Sophie to be in a higher grade than Harper since Harper is technically older. It was honestly not great for Emma, Finn, and Michael, and they're just cousins. I know you said that you don't think Sophie will need to skip a grade, but we have to at least take it into consideration."

"If the school suggests that a child skip a grade, do they really push it, or do they let parents make the decision? I know they can't force a parent to agree, but you know what I mean," Maura said.

"They leave it up to the parents," Jane said. "They highly recommended it for Emma and Finn, but once they gave me all the information, they let me decide without any pressure." After a pause, she added, "Sophie and Harper seem to be at the same level. Why are you so sure that she won't need to skip a grade?"

"I suppose I can never be sure until she actually goes to school, but I've seen the videos of Emma and Finn at Sophie's age, and I've seen a number of the things they made at that age. Sophie is definitely smarter than average for her age, but I don't think she's as advanced for her age as Emma and Finn are for theirs. Harper seems to be above average in intelligence and maturity as well."

"I don't know if this would work, but the other thing we could consider is trying to get the school to let Sophie start early. Like I said, I don't know if they make exceptions to the age cut-off. Public schools won't make exceptions for that, but maybe the private school will. I think they have a little more leeway to make those kinds of decisions. Also, assuming we send them to the same school as Emma and Finn, the school already knows our family," Jane explained.

"Send both Harper and Sophie to kindergarten next year?" Maura clarified.

"Yeah."

"That actually sounds like the best idea," Maura admitted. "When would we have to decide?"

"Unfortunately, we'd have to decide pretty soon," Jane said. "Applications are always due sometime in October, but we'd want to make sure we talked to the school well ahead of time to find out if it's an option."

"I think it's worth at least finding out if it's possible."

"Okay, I think I agree," Jane said. "Let's try to get an appointment with the administration soon after the school year starts."

They fell into a comfortable silence, and not long after, the kids were up from their naps, ready for more birthday fun.

Later that evening, Angela and Constance arrived for dinner. The rest of the family would be over on Saturday for Harper's party. The lasagna Angela had brought by Harper's request was currently in the oven, and the family was gathered in the family room.

"Nana, look!" Harper said. "Sophie got me a baby." She showed her grandmother the new baby doll that she had received from her sister earlier that day. She had been carrying it around all day, with the exception of when they were outside (and the only reason she didn't have it outside was because Jane wouldn't let her bring it out in fear that it would get covered in paint).

"Aww, she's so cute," Constance played along. "What's her name?"

"Uh…" Harper stalled as she thought about it, not having yet named her doll. She tapped her finger on her chin. "Sophie!" Harper said suddenly with a huge smile.

"What?" Sophie asked, hearing her name.

"No, not you," Harper said. "Her name is Sophie," she added, pointing to the doll still in Constance's hands. "Like her favorite aunt!"

Jane couldn't wipe the silly smile from her face as she listened to the conversation, but it was what Harper said next that brought tears to her eyes.

"Mama named me Maura like mommy because mommy is her best friend, and Sophie is my best friend, so my baby's name is Sophie," Harper explained.

"Me?" Sophie said excitedly.

"Duh!" Harper said dramatically, causing everyone to laugh.

The rest of Harper's birthday was wonderful. The kids all went to bed late, so by the time they had finished closing up downstairs, Maura and Jane were both ready to sleep.

"I think today is the new best day of my life so far," Maura said as she curled into Jane's side, settling into their usual position.

"It was a good day," Jane agreed.

Constance: August, Three Years Ago

Harper was much more interested in playing with the wrapping paper than she was in her actual birthday presents. At a year old, she didn't really understand what was going on anyway. Besides, all that mattered was that she was having fun. Emma and Finn were helping Jane unwrap their sister's birthday presents.

Most of the gifts were cute but generic toys. Frankie, Nina, and Michael had given Harper a number of books, each one made different sounds that went with the pages in the book. One was about animals, one was about 'planes, trains, and automobiles,' and so on. Jane's girlfriend Stephanie had gotten her two adorable stuffed animals. Tommy and TJ had gotten her a baby drum set.

Constance had gotten better at finding age-appropriate toys since Emma and Finn were born, so she hoped that the gifts she had purchased for Harper were better received than the jewelry she had given Emma and Finn for their first birthday. She smiled as she watched the girls open the gift she and Arthur had gotten for Harper. She was surprised but pleased when Harper instantly got excited about the cheapest toy they had given her. Harper seemed to love the crinkle stuffed caterpillar that she was now playing with. It was supposed to be good for sensory development; each segment was made of different fabric and filled with different materials. In fact, Harper continued to hold onto the toy as Jane moved on to opening the rest of the gifts.

The last gift was from Hope, and Constance was glad that everyone was paying attention to Harper and Jane because Jane definitely did a better job of hiding her reaction than Constance had. Hope had given Harper a doll, which would have been an appropriate gift. However, the doll was clearly old, and it wasn't even in a box. She suspected Hope had just purchased the cheapest doll she could at some secondhand shop. The doll had short blonde hair and a yellow tunic dress.

Constance couldn't help but feel smug – even if she knew it was petty – through the rest of the birthday party as Harper kept the caterpillar in her grasp until Jane took it from her for cake (which Constance had to admit was a good idea when Harper was completely covered in frosting 30 seconds later).

Maura: August, Present Day

Maura was pretty sure she had never seen so much princess stuff in one place in her life. Their house was currently decked out both inside and out in everything Disney princess. She and Jane had spent quite a bit of time last night after the girls went to bed decorating inside, and they had decorated outside with Emma and Finn's help during naptime today.

They had already finished dinner, and the sun was setting. They planned to end the evening with an outdoor movie projected onto a sheet that they had hung between two trees. Harper had chosen Moana. Maura was setting out blankets for the kids while Jane set up chairs for the adults.

As Maura laid out blankets on the grass, she got lost in thought. She had never thought this would be her life: her kids playing in the backyard with their friends and cousins; her family and friends scattered around the yard and house, laughing and enjoying each other's company; knowing without a doubt that at the end of the night she would get to crawl into bed and sleep in the arms of the love of her life; her parents actively participating in her daughter's birthday party.

"You okay?" Jane asked, startling Maura out of her trance.

"What?" Maura said. "Oh, yes, I'm wonderful."

"Okay," Jane said slowly. "You've been working on laying on the same blanket down for like five minutes."

"Oh," Maura looked down at the blanket that was half on the ground and half in her hands and laughed. "Sorry, I was just thinking how happy I am that this is my life, that this is my kids' lives," Maura said, looking up at Jane after she dropped the blanket. "It just hits me harder on days like today. I know you know that I didn't really have birthday parties when I was a child, at least not the kind that a kid would enjoy, but the truth is when we were in Utah, I wasn't able to give Sophie these kinds of parties. I always took her birthday off of work, and of course, we would celebrate. But…it was always just the two of us. I tried to make a big deal about it, but there's only so much excitement spending your birthday with just your mom."

"I'm sorry, Maur," Jane said quietly as she reached out to grasp Maura's upper arms in what she hoped was a comforting gesture.

Maura shrugged. "She was little; she won't remember," Maura said in a futile attempt to brush aside her own sadness. "These are the things she will remember," Maura added, gesturing to the party still going on around them. "This is what all four of our kids will remember from their birthdays, and for that, I am incredibly grateful."

Maura stepped into Jane's space, giving her a hug and a chaste kiss. Reluctantly pulling away from Jane, Maura said, "We should get the kids and start the movie."

"Yeah, we should," Jane said. "But first…" Jane stepped back towards Maura and gave her another kiss. "I love you."

Maura couldn't help but smile into the kiss. "I love you, too."

A/N: More of you guessed what Sophie was really upset about than I expected. Still, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Warning: This week is crazy busy because my boss is going on PTO next week, so I doubt I'll get anything out (I'll still try though). Hopefully, things will start slowing down, though, after this week.