DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rizzoli & Isles nor any of the characters from the show. I am writing this purely for entertainment, not profit. Rizzoli and Isles are property of Tess Gerritsen and TNT.

Please find the full disclaimers in the beginning of Chapter 1.

Chapter 13

Jane and Maura turned, and Liz was still stunned, looking at the three closed boxes. Jane kissed the top of Maura's head, before crouching close to Liz.

"Would you like to open them here? Or should I take them to your bedroom so you can open them there privately?"

"Can we open them here? I don't think I can do it alone…" Liz raised her beautiful eyes welled in tears.

Maura moved to sit on the floor, in the lotus position, and was surprised when Liz immediately came to sit in the nest formed by her crossed legs. Maura could feel Liz was slightly shaking, and hugged her tightly.

"Should I open one?" Jane offered.

Liz nodded, and Jane carefully lift the flaps of the closest box. Maura felt Liz tensing with anticipation on her lap.

"Oh, I think the books you were reading made it through here…" Jane picked the boxed paperback set version of Divergent, placing it on the floor by her side.

Liz smiled fondly at her books.

"And your homeschool books are also here." Jane added, picking up a pile of spiral books marked with homeschool material, placing them by her side.

Jane picked a small decorated box, and handed it to Liz, not wanting to guess what was inside. She watched as Liz' face lit up.

"It is my jewelry box…" she whispered, opening it. There, a few earrings, a few necklaces and bracelets. Nothing particularly expensive, but they all clearly had an emotional value for Liz, who closed the box carefully before placing it by her side.

Jane picked the last decorated box from that carton box and handed it to Liz.

This time the tears immediately rolled through Liz' face.

"Oh my God, this is my mom's jewelry box…" Liz picked the box reverently, her hands shaking. She opened it carefully. A few discrete earrings and necklaces became visible. There was a pair of cuff links, and a pair of wedding rings. Liz picked them both, knotting her eyebrows.

"These are not my parents'…"

Maura took her small hand in hers, turning the rings. "They are, Liz. These are their original wedding bands… See? It has their original names on it, as well as the date of their wedding…" Maura explained gently.

"Wow…" Liz breathed, reverently.

Jane reached for the tissue box, and got closer to gently dry Liz' tears.

"Are you okay, Liz?" Jane's warm chocolate brown eyes alternated between Liz' and Maura's, whose hazel eyes were also full of tears.

"Yes, I am fine…" Liz replied in a strangled voice.

"Do you need a time out before opening the other boxes?" Maura offered, gently.

"No… I really want to see what is in there…"

"Okay…" Jane smiled at her, moving aside the now empty first box, flattening it out, and pulling the second one, raising the flaps of the carton box.

"Oh, it seems we got some of your clothes and shoes." Jane pulled two big plastic bags, one with clothes, the other with shoes.

Liz opened the top of the bags, and smiled broadly.

"Yes! It seems most of my clothes and of my shoes are here!"

"We can put them up in your room later, and then we can see if there is anything missing and we will buy them for you, okay?"

Liz nodded.

Jane pushed the empty box aside, flattening it out. And picked the last box, opening the flaps. She felt the punch to her own stomach, and looked quickly at Maura, who noticed her reaction, and instinctively squeezed Liz more tightly on her lap, anticipating what was to come.

Jane had spotted, on the top of the box, a picture – that seemed to have been on a frame that was likely broken by whoever had invaded the house. Liz was in the middle of a handsome couple – Jane was sure those were the parents.

Jane picked the picture carefully, before passing it on to Liz, who immediately covered her mouth with her hand trying to stifle a sob.

Maura carefully took the picture from Liz' hands, so Liz' tears would not smudge it, placing it on top of the coffee table, and turned Liz to lie against her chest, so to best comfort the small body rocked by sobs. Liz moved her thin arms around Maura's neck, burying her face into Maura. Jane moved from closer to the box to sit in front of Maura, encompassing them both with her long arms.

They didn't try to shoosh Liz. They just were there for her. And although they knew it was a punch on the girl's stomach to see her parents, she now would have an image to remember them – maybe more if what Jane spotted in the box looking to be albums proved to be so. But, for now, they needed to go through the stages of grief for the huge loss that was so recent to Liz.

It took a long while until Liz' sobs subsided. Jane and then Maura relaxed a bit their hold, so Liz could move. When she removed her face from Maura's chest, Jane had tissues handy to help dry her tears.

"I am so sorry…" Liz started to apologize, lowering her eyes.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Liz. Everything that happened is recent, and raw, and it hurts. We are here for you." Maura explained gently, but with conviction, kissing Liz' temple.

Liz raised her eyes to the coffee table, and Jane picked the picture and bought it closer so the three of them could look at it together.

"You have your mom's eyes, and your father's nose and mouth." Jane mentioned, alternating the look between the photo and the picture.

"Yes… They always said I was a good mixture of their features… This picture… It used to be in the shelf of our living room, in a beautiful frame…" Liz replied, longing in her voice.

"We will make sure this gets digitized so there is no risk to damage it, Liz, and we will find a new beautiful frame to put it on, okay?"

Liz just nodded, sniffing, before asking: "What else is in the box?"

Jane moved back, and picked two large albums. "More pictures, it seems. Plus a few board games." Jane removed the boxes of five or six board games and put aside, before moving closer to Maura and Liz, and placing the albums on top of the coffee table.

Liz placed her small hands on top of each album cover.

"I don't think I can handle going through the pictures, yet. But I am so glad he recovered those… Could you please thank Gabriel again? For me?" She asked, in a small voice.

"Of course, we will do that. And since there is no computer, Liz, if you allow us to, we will also digitize the pictures in the albums to make sure they will not fade with time. Are you okay if we do that?"

"Yes, thank you, thank you very much…" Liz hugged Maura and then Jane.

"Why don't we go set your clothes and shoes in your bedroom, and see if anything is missing that we need to buy?" Maura offered, sensing Liz was overwhelmed and needed a break.

Liz nodded, and they all stood.

Jane moved the flattened out empty boxes to the recycling bin, and texted Dean. "You have a new fan. Liz sends her most heartfelt thanks to Gabriel. Seriously, Dean, you did a whole lot of good today, you will likely never have any idea how much. Thank you, very very much. We owe you big time…"

Jane moved to her former bedroom, and Maura was helping Liz to organize her clothes and shoes there. From the clothes, Jane could see Liz had a lot of comfortable items – shorts, t-shirts, jeans – but a fair selection of dresses.

"PJs, underwear, socks, it seems you are covered. Did all of this fit you?"

"Yes, some were things I already used or was using, and these ones I didn't use yet." She said, separating a few hangers.

"Good, so we should be good, and if we notice anything missing during the week, we can make sure to go shopping next weekend. Is there a brand of soap and shampoo and conditioner that you prefer?" Maura asked. So far, Liz had used the things Jane had on her bathroom.

Liz looked puzzled at her. "No, the things I used here are okay."

What made Jane chuckle. "See, Maura, not everyone reads the bottles' labels."

And Maura rolled her eyes at Jane, making Liz chuckle.

Jane brought the homeschool books and the reading books to the bedroom, and only kept the pictures so she could digitize them before putting them on Liz' room.

"Are you all set?" Jane asked, when she saw the last hanger in place and the last pair of shoes positioned.

"Yes, thank you very much."

"You don't need to decide today, but think about it. We can paint the room a different color, or find a different color palette for the bedding." Maura suggested. "You just need to ask us, okay?"

"There is actually one thing I would like to ask you…" Liz lowered her eyes.

"You don't need to be shy of asking things from us, Liz." Maura reinforced.

Liz swallowed hard, before continuing. "I don't want to call you by your names, it does not feel right now that you are my… parents. Would you… Would you be okay if I called you mom?" She asked, hesitantly, raising her blue eyes to Jane and then to Maura.

Jane didn't need to look at Maura to know she was crying. That was all that Maura ever dreamed of. But Jane was sure that she had already given up on it, especially when adopting a teenager.

"I am totally okay that you call me mom if that is what you want..." Jane said, betrayed by her breaking voice.

Liz and Jane turned to Maura. "I would actually like it very, very much, that you called me mom, Liz." Maura added, her voice also breaking.

Maura and Jane hugged each other and Liz.