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 11

They disconnected the phone, and Maura sighed.

"There is so much I want to ask her…" Maura began, trailing off.

"But you are afraid of how much more attachment you can handle without breaking your heart in case she decides for freedom…" Jane completed, as if reading Maura's mind. In a way, she was feeling the same.

Maura nodded, and Jane squeezed her tightly by her side.

"I feel the same… I think we need to give her some time and space to decide before we overwhelm her with questions too."

"I don't want her alone until she decides. I will take the day off tomorrow to stay home with her, and take care early of burial details as well."

"Okay. And if she has not decided tomorrow, I will take the day off on Tuesday to stay with her."

They used the time to get their things organized for the week, before sitting in bed, their backs to the bed frame, to talk quietly. But they were just talking for a few minutes when they heard the soft rap by the door. It was Liz.

"Hi…"

"Hey, baby, come and join us." Jane patted the space between them where they were sitting in bed. "Are you awake for long?"

"For a bit… I have made my decision…" Liz walked closer to the bed, but still not moving to sit between them.

"Okay. You don't need to be afraid or to worry. We already told you we will support you regardless of which decision you make."

"Would you really be willing to adopt me?"

"Yes." Jane and Maura replied in unison, without any hesitation.

"I would really like that…" Liz completed, shyly.

"You would?" Maura asked, incredulous, her high-pitched voice betraying her excitement.

"Yes…"

Jane, who was closer to her, picked her up from where she was stopped by the bed, and brought her to the middle of them, so Jane and Maura could hug and smooch her, what made Liz laugh. She looked at the two women surrounding her, who were grinning widely among tears.

"Sorry…" Jane was the first to recover, chuckling. "I feel I just turned into my mother smooching you without asking for permission." Maura chuckled in response, knowing full well what Jane meant.

"I don't mind…" Liz said, hugging each of them tightly, and kissing them on the cheek.

"So what do we do next?"

"We need to call our friend to put this alternative in motion." Jane picked up her phone. "Last chance to change your mind." She looked seriously at Liz.

"I am not changing my mind." Liz replied firmly, with a smile.

"Glad to hear." Jane dialed Dean, and placed the phone on speaker, thinking it was only fair that Liz heard as well.

"Hey Dean, you are on speaker…"

"And who is listening to me?" he asked, amused.

"Dory, myself and Liz."

"Nice to meet you, Liz. By the way, my name is Gabriel." He offered, gently.

"Nice to meet you too, Gabriel."

"So Dean, Liz made her decision… She seems to be willing to take the plunge into our crazy life…"

"Very smart decision, kid. They are the best."

"They are…" Liz agreed.

"So I take you want me to help smooth out the process with the different parties..."

"If you can, Dean. Or to let us know what we need to do to put this in motion."

"Let me make a few phone calls, and I will get back to you."

"Thank you, Dean."

They disconnected.

"I wanted to say that I am old enough to stay home on my own. You don't need to quit your jobs or change anything in your routine to care for me. I am perfectly capable of re-heating my food, not opening the door to strangers, and to stick to a self-study regimen… I will ask questions or help for any assignment when you are home in the evening and on the weekends…" Liz began.

Jane had to hold back a chuckle. She could see now exactly what Maura meant referring to herself as a very independent child in the past.

"You becoming our daughter means we will take care of you, Liz. We want to be present for you. I was adopted, and my parents were very distant, very busy. I vouched to be a very present mother if I ever had the opportunity to do so…"

"And kiddo, she has so much love to give… Besides, you are getting the smartest person in the world to help you study… As for me, I am zilch in studies. But I promise I will compensate on physical education and outdoors adventures and practical life knowledge, okay?" Jane teased, gently.

"I don't want you to change anything for me… What you are doing for me… It is already…" Liz exhaled, tears in her eyes, shaking her head, unsure how to express herself.

Jane put a finger under Liz' chin, forcing her to look at her, to make sure she got her point across.

"Liz. We are not doing you a favor… You are our daughter now. We don't have any intention to ever replace your parents – they will always be your parents. But we are honored that you accepted to be our daughter from now on. And we already love you… I can honestly say that I loved you the moment you raised those smart blue eyes of yours at me in the park yesterday…" Jane said gently, her warm chocolate brown eyes boring into Liz'.

Liz just nodded, her eyes welled in tears, and Maura hugged her tightly, before adding.

"We have several questions we would like to ask you to know you better. Is it okay if we ask? Also, we want you to ask us any question you might have…"

"Okay… Why don't you begin?"

"What are your favorite subjects in school?" Maura started, with an inconspicuous subject.

"Hmmm… I really like all of them. I think I am particularly good at Math and Science."

"What is your favorite thing to do when you are not studying?"

"I love reading. And I enjoy playing chess and other board games, like Monopoly. Not a huge fan of tv. And I don't like videogames."

"Are you reading any book in particular?"

"I was reading the Divergent series. I've read all of Harry Potter, and all of Narnia books before that."

"We all had different professions we wanted to be growing up. I thought about being a ballerina and then an NFL goalie. Maura always wanted to be a pathologist… Have you given any thought about what you want to be?"

Liz chuckled. "I wanted to be an astronaut when I was little. But I've been thinking a lot about becoming a teacher lately."

"What did you do for Physical Education?"

"We did a lot of calisthenics at home. But we also walked a lot…"

"Do you follow any sports?"

"Not really. Except for Olympic sports. I loved watching the Olympics competitions on tv, any of the disciplines they were showing I would watch over and over again!" She replied excitedly.

Jane and Maura felt that at least they had an inkling about the new member of their family. There would be time to find out more.

"What about you… Do you have questions for us? Anything you would like to know?"