Hello everyone, and welcome back!

It took a little longer than I expected, but here we go. This chapter is set during The Beast In Me. It follows mostly the original episode of the show, though I took some creative liberties; this is more something that happened before and after the events that occurred in the episode. I hope you like it. The focal point is an element that I think is a little overdue in this story, but this chapter felt the right moment to add it.

Please comment and review; they help to improve!

B. M. Adams

Xoxo...

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from R&I, just this plot and OCs

General POV.

Summer came, and with it, the end of the academic year. The youngest members of the Rizzoli-Isles family couldn't be more ecstatic. Summer camp was planned for them, with tons of activities for them to learn and enjoy, keeping them occupied and entertained during the long days of the school holidays, because even though school was off for the rest of the summer. Pesky law-abiders and criminals didn't take holidays, and it was a busy period for their mothers. The other young member of the family was also spending her time doing a lot of activities but with her friends and, finally, as a teenager with no worries other than taking care of herself and being home by curfew time. The moms had found a great piano teacher that could help to boost Megan's potential greatly. The girl had talent, and they knew that was something to cultivate and promote. The girl was also passionate about it, and the teen was more than happy to take the classes.

Megan was practising one morning before going out with her friends. Jane has taken Lily and Lucas to their summer camp activities, and given that she hadn't been called to a crime scene, she managed to enjoy a cup of coffee at home before getting ready to go to the precinct. Maura had left earlier that morning as she had to prepare for a meeting with a new intern she was taking in for the summer.

Jane was ready to leave, but before she decided to spend some time with Megan, she grabbed her cup of coffee and went into the playroom. She sat next to Megan without saying anything as the girl concentrated on practising some scales. The girl smiled at the presence of her mother but kept her gaze on the keys, playing until she had finished the scale she was trying to memorize.

"You are improving," Jane said, taking a sip from the cup in her hand.

"Thanks," Megan said, rubbing her hand in her tights. "The classes have been a challenge, but I'm learning a lot. Thank you," she said, genuinely grateful that they took the time to find a teacher who could help her improve.

Jane started to caress Megan's hair with her free hand. "I'm glad you are enjoying them, but you don't have to thank us," she replayed heartfeltly. Both stayed silent for a little while, but Jane noticed the girl had something going on in her mind. "Hey, what's in that head of yours?" she asked, curious about why the girl was somewhat nervously bouncing her leg and fidgeting with her hands.

Megan breathed deeply and turned her gaze heretofore, locked in the keys of the piano in front of her. "You remember the first time we met at the group home?" She asked, Jane remained silent but nodded her head, she vividly remembered that day. "Trish said to say things about me; I said I played the piano, and Maura said that you used to play … you also said you weren't in your best shape, but…" She trailed off for a second, unsure of how to phrase her words "…But I have never heard you play once in over a year that I've been here," She asked; she didn't know why she was nervous of asking what it seemed such a trivial question, though she suspected the answer was not going to be neither simple nor good.

Jane slowly left her cup on the floor and rubbed her hands, keeping the silence that embedded the room for a little longer while she tried to figure out how to explain to Megan all that led her to stop playing. She sighed. "Years ago, I had an encounter with a serial killer… Charles Hoyt," She started explaining. Megan recognized the name from the adoption court trial; Judge Lambert mentioned the name and said that Jane had been targeted by him. That memory made her cringe, even though she only knew that little thing. "I was reckless and went in to help the victim without asking for backup…" She breathed before continuing and Megan gazed out the thin white scares in her mother's hands "He managed to get a hold of me by hitting me in the back of the head and pinned me down to the floor with scalpels" She explained. The girl breathed sharply, wincing at the thought of what her mother just revealed.

Jane saw the pained expression on the teen's face, so she started caressing her hair again. "That caused some nerve damage to my hands, and certain fine motor skills are a little painful to perform now," She concluded.

Megan was about to softly grab Jane's hand when she refrained from that action. "That is why you don't like people touching your hands…but family," Megan rationalised, more to make sense of some of the things she had noticed about Jane, one of them being how careful she was with her hands. Moreso, when strangers try to shake hands or touch them,

Jane nodded, a small smile playing on her lips. "And that's why I always try to keep my hands warm in winter or to avoid cold water. My hands get stiff," Jane said; she had noticed how the girl was about to take her hand but didn't do it. She then took the girl's hand in hers, lightly squeezing the teen's hand. "But I know you only take my hand for comfort or reassurance... I know the intention is purely loving," Jane stated warmly, looking lovingly into the girl's eyes.

The girl rubbed her thumb over the thin line that was the scar, a slightly raised bump in the back of the hand of the older brunette. After a little minute of silence, "I usually pass it as one of those quirks we all have. Some people don't like too much contact; some others, like my Ma, are too much about contact," Jane joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Megan smiled. "Yeah… I hate it when people touch my hair," she confessed, laughing softly at that little quirk of hers.

Jane raised her brows. That was something she didn't know. The girl always let them touch her hair with no problem. "Then you must have a real bad time here," Jane joked, knowing she and Maura tend to do exactly that quite often. "How come?" she then asked, continuing with the lighter conversations they were having now.

She moved her gaze to the piano in front of her. "Well, there was this girl in first grade who always pulled my ponytails, and since then," she recalled, turning to face Jane again. "But you're allowed", She said.

The brunette looked at her quizzically. "Why's that?".

"Because you're my mom. You only do it to show your love," Megan said, not missing a beat, sure of her world.

Jane's mouth parted slightly, she couldn't utter any words, she felt like the air was sucked out of her lungs, taken aback by the suddenty of the moment "Sweetheart, you don't have to…" She trailed off, the brunette wanting to reassure her, "…If you don't feel like calling me, calling us that. It's ok, we won't love you any less," Jane tried to say, but her shaky voice betrayed her.

The girl smiled, "I mean…You are…You are my mom." She stuttered, a little worried about the reaction of the older woman in front of her. "I have thought of you and Maura as my moms for a while now." Megan didn't find words to express her thoughts and emotions.

"Megan" Jane spoke "I want you to know one thing, we have said this before, but neither me, nor your mom, would never replace your parents, they will always be part of you…" she tried to reassure.

"You are my moms, too," she simply said before Jane could continue, barely above a whisper. Jane took the girl in her arms and let a couple of tears that had formed in her eyes fall. "I love you, Ma", she whispered, now enveloped in the strong arms of her Mama.

"Mama loves you, sweetheart, always and forever," She heartfeltly said, trying to convey all her love for the girl in her words and the embrace she had the girl in.

They remained embraced for a little while when Jane's phone rang. The signal for her to go and solve a new crime. "Could you please…not tell Maura yet?" Megan said unsure, she didn't want for Maura to think that she loved her any less than Jane. Jane nodded and kissed her forehead before leaving for the day.

Jane and Korsak were coming back from the evidence garage when Frost told them that the ME database was hack, someone knew bout Collin, hence someone knew Maura was his sister. Jane had been fast to run downstairs and let Maura know, but when they reached the morgue, it was empty, and the loading bay door was open. Panic started rising in Jane, Korsak, and Frost. She tried calling, but her phone started to vibrate inside the morgue.

"Maura!" Jane called, hoping for an answer that didn't come.

I'll go to the labs and ask the techs if they have perhaps seen her somewhere else," Frost said, leaving the morgue.

"We need to find her, Vince. If who did this to Collin has Maura, they are gonna kill her," Jane said, panic starting to set in her.

Korsak grabbed her upper arms in an attempt to grand the woman, "Jane, calm down. We need you at your best to find her," He said sternly. Jane breathed deeply, calming her nerves. She knew he was right; she needed to act as a detective now, not as a desperate wife unsure of the whereabouts of the love of her life, even though she was desperate to find Maura.

They walked back to the bullpen, and Korsak started to call some of his contacts in Southie. Frost came back with no news from the lab techs. "I need call Ma to be extra careful when she picks the kids up from camp and go straight home" Jane said frustrated, picking up her phone to call Angela.

"I have assigned 2 officers to be outside your house meanwhile we found out what going on" Korsak said after he finished speaking with his contacts. "My contacts haven't heard anything, either," He said.

"Hi, Janie. I'm about to pick up Lily and Lucas," Angela answered the phone.

"Hey, Ma. We are in the middle of a difficult case," Jane said. She didn't want to alarm her mom with the details, but she needed her to understand that she needed to be careful and alert. "I need to… to stay home for a little longer if that's possible," she asked Angela, noticing the urgency in Jane's request.

"Of course, honey…Is everything ok?" She then asked.

Jane sighed, "Not sure just yet. I'll call Frankie, and he will be home, too," she said. But Angela knew better; something serious was going on.

"Janie, what's going on?" she asked seriously.

The brunette detective rubbed her forehead. "We can't find Maura," she explained. "We don't know anything yet," she said, frustrated. "We think it might be related to the case we are investigating." She continued but stopped when Frankie came inside the bullpen. "Ma, Frankie is here. I'll fill him in, and he will let you know," she finished.

"Please, keep me informed, Janie" She pleaded.

"Ok. Please be really careful, Ma. Don't say anything to the kids yet," she said, hanging up the phone.

"What's going on, Janie?" Frankie asked. The two detectives and the sergeant looked at each other and explained everything that had happened to Frankie. He was just as dumbfounded as they were about the news of Maura being Paddy's daughter. Jane confided that he would take care of the kids at home while they found Maura.

"Please pick Megan up. She is at the mall with her friends. I'll call her to let her know," she said.

He hugged her sister. "I'll keep them safe; you concentrate on finding Maura", he said before rushing out to pick his niece up and hold the fort in the meantime.

"Come on, you can't be serious. That guy is an idiot," Megan said to Christina.

"But he is hot," She rebated, laughing.

Megan looked at her with disbelief. "And that erases that he cheated on her ex, with the current one, and now he is likely cheating on her with someone else… Come on," she laughed.

"I'm not saying I want anything with him; I'm just stating that he is indeed hot," she said, picking a French fry from her plate.

"You need to rethink your taste in man," Megan chuckled, stealing a french fry from Christian's plate.

"Can you stop stealing my food?" She said indignantly.

They laughed and continued talking about anything and everything when Megan's phone rang. She saw Jane's number and immediately picked it up.

"Hey, Ma," she said nonchalantly. Christina was perplexed to hear her friend calling the woman by something other than her name. Megan noticed her friend smiling brightly and rolled her eyes.

"Hi, Sweetheart. Listen, something happened at work," Jane started saying. The girl's smile was gone from her face, and she became worried. Those words and the serious tone in her mother's voice couldn't mean anything good.

"Frankie is going to pick you up in a few minutes, okay?... I will explain everything when I get home, but for now, just go home and do it yourself, alright?" Megan agreed to her mother's petition without rebating.

"Everything is ok, sweetheart. Don't worry, ok?" She then said, trying to reassure the girl.

"I love you, Ma," Megan said before hanging up the phone. She looked at her friend with a worried expression and informed her that she needed to go. She didn't explain much because she had no information herself.

"We should be out there looking for her!" Jane said, frustrated at the lack of information.

Korsak sighed "We wouldn't even know where to begin looking" He said disheartened.

Jane was about to protest when her phone rang. "It's a blocked ID," she exclaimed and picked up the call. Whatever you want, I can get it," she angrily shouted at the person on the other side of the line.

But all the anger transformed into relief when she heard the silky soft voice of her wife "Maura" She said in disbelief "Are you ok, love? Where are you?" She asked. The blonde reassured her that she was ok and unharmed, but she needed to speak with her immediately. They agreed to meet at the Dirty Rubber. Maura didn't want the kids to hear this conversation, and she needed first to let Jane know what had happened. Jane left the station in a hurry, eager to finally be able to kiss and hug her wife.

They met at the Dirty Rubber and talked for a long time. Maura was unharmed, but she was shaken up and confused. Part of her life had been shattered, and she felt confused as to who she was now, what this meant for her, and who she was. But Jane was there to ease all those worries. Jane was sure Maura was the gentlest and most loving human being on earth.

"I know you are confused, love. But that he fathered you means nothing," Jane began. Yeah, he provided the sperm to create the most beautiful, intelligent, and loving person, but that's it. He was just that, the donor," Jane reassured her, gabbing her hands lovingly and looking intently into the doctor's hazel eyes.

Maura wanted desperately to believe her wife. "I know it's unfounded, but it's all just so confusing," she said down at the table.

"I know it's hard, but why don't we go home, the kids should be fast asleep by now, we can kiss them good night and rest…I think we need to rest," Jane suggested, gulping down the last of her beer.

Maura sipped the last of her wine. "Yeah, I think I need to see our kids," she said, lovingly looking into Jane's eyes.

Jane took Maura's hand and led her to the car, starting the drive home. It was already after 11 p.m. when they got home. They were both physically and mentally exhausted from the turbulent day they had had. Thankfully, they were all safe and sound at home now.

As they came into the house Angela was impatiently waiting for them "Oh, It's so nice to see you" Angela said, throwing her arms around the blonde, who quickly hugged the older woman back.

"It's nice to be home," She said.

"Thanks, Ma," Jane said, "How is everyone doing?" Jane asked.

They walked to the kitchen. "Lily and Lucas are totally fine. They had a great day at the summer camp. Lily got to go on a horse, so she was so excited and couldn't talk about anything else, and Lucas did archery, so he's equally excited," Angela explained, gathering her things.

Both Jane and Maura smiled, glad that the kids were blissfully unaware of the events that took place during the day. "Though they did ask a lot of questions about why you were at work so late," Angela continued. That always made the women feel guilty. Their jobs were extremely important, and they played a big role in keeping the city safe, but it, more often than not, it interfered with their most important and desired role, being mothers.

"Don't worry; Megan kept them occupied," Angela said. Lucas fell asleep in the playroom while he played with her action figures. Frankie took him to his bed before leaving for his shift, and Megan put Lily to bed rather early. She was exhausted after riding on Snowflake all day." Angela smiled.

"Talking about Megan, where is she?" Maura asked, not hearing any other nose in the house but them talking.

Angela took her purse. "She went to her room a little while ago and I haven't heard her, so she might be sleeping or on her phone," Angela said. "Though she asked what was going on, and well... Frankie explained, not in detail, but she knows what happened. She was worried," Angela said shyly, knowing they would have liked to explain everything themselves.

"That's ok, Ma. Was she ok?" Jane asked.

Angela nodded. "She didn't say much, really. The kids came looking for her just after we told her, and she went to play with them." Both women smiled, knowing Megan's big heart.

"I'm so glad you are fine, honey", Angela said, rubbing Maura's forearm.

"Thank you for staying, Ma," Jane said gratefully to her mother. "Thank you so much, Angela," Maura said right afterward.

"You don't have to thank me," she said, kissing each woman's cheek. "I'll see you later," she said before leaving. Jane checked the surroundings of the house, spotting the two officers stationed outside to keep an eye on them and make sure no one was lurking around.

Both women were left alone in the kitchen. Maura grabbed the kettle. She craved some tea; she needed something to calm her nerves a little. "I'll go grab a shower. See you upstairs," Jane said, disappearing from the kitchen and leaving Maura to enjoy her tea in some peace.

The blonde M.E. was absentmindedly sipping from her steaming cup of tea when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She turned her face, expecting Jane to come inside the kitchen, but she was surprised to see Megan at the threshold.

"Hey," Megan simply said, taking a seat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar in front of Maura.

Maura looked almost regretful at her "Hi, sweetie" She said, "I'm sorry for all the mess today" She said, genuinely feeling remorseful for all the responsibilities the girl took when making sure her little siblings were unaware of the happenings of the day.

Megan shook her head. "It's not your fault," she said calmly. "Frankie told me what happened," Megan began, looking at Maura's now nervous expression, but she didn't allow her to interject. "It doesn't change anything," She stated surely.

Maura looked up to the teen "Well, you now know that my biological father is a mob boss, wanted for several murders, that does change some things" Maura said sadly, looking down to her cup, but closing her eyes, trying to ground herself.

"But not who you are. I'm sure Jane had said this before, but you are incapable of harming people, Maura," Megan said, trying to convince the woman. "You are the most loving, caring, compassionate and gentle person I know, Mom… You wouldn't hurt a fly," The thing said with as much conviction as she could convey in words.

Maura took a few seconds to register the world the girl had just spoken. "What did you say?" she asked, her eyes remained closed.

"That you wouldn't hurt a fly" Megan smiled, knowing what Maura wanted to hear.

"Before that," She asked again, trying to make sure she heard the word she thought she heard.

"That you are the most loving, caring, empathic…" The teen was saying but was interrupted.

"Megan!" The blonde said, stopping the girl from speaking any longer, her emotions getting the best out of her now.

Megan smiled and stood up from the stool. "Mom," she said firmly, making sure the woman heard the word clearly.

Maura finally looked up from the kitchen counter and opened her eyes, now pooled with unshed tears. She was perplexed and taken aback at the word. She thought Megan would never call her Mom, but here she was, having an identity crisis and having her daughter calling her mother for the first time. The woman remained silent but walked to the girl and hugged her as hard as she could, bringing her impossible closer to her.

"Sweetie…Thank you," She said, unable to form more than those words. Megan nestled in her Mom's embrace and didn't say anything either. Until Jane came into the kitchen.

"I believe someone else had her 'Mom moment'," Jane said, smiling lovingly at the daughter and wife tangled in a tight embrace.

Maura was still a little too emotional to speak, so she nodded and cleaned the tears from her cheeks. She regained her composure and grabbed Megan's hand. "I want you to know that we, in any way, will replace your parents, but we will take over from where they left off and make sure you are loved, safe, and protected," Maura said heartfeltly.

Megan chuckled, "Ma said the same thing," and looked at the brunette with her hands on Maura's shoulders, lovingly rubbing her upper arms. Maura turned around and looked at Jane as she lovingly smiled at her and kissed her.

"That's why you were beaming this morning," Maura reasoned, realising now why she was so happy to be at a crime scene. Jane nodded.

"I know you won't replace them. You don't have to; I don't want that. I've thought about you, too, as my moms, for a while. If it is okay with you, I'd love for you to stop being Jane and Maura, but Mom and Ma?" she asked, wanting to be sure this was okay with them. She was surely okay with that.

"You don't have to ask that, sweetie. I would love to hear you calling me Mom every day," Maura said, her voice laced with emotions and her eyes filling with tears again.

Jane had already expressed her happiness at being called Ma by the teen, but she came closer to her and kissed her temple. "Of course, sweetheart," she said.

Maura brought the girl in for another hug, and Jane followed right after. The three of them remained in the embrace for a little longer before retreating to their room for a restful night of sleep. Both mothers went to their bed, tangling themselves in each other's arms and finally being able to leave all this ordeal behind with their hearts full of love.

Please comment and review. And tell me what you would like to see in future chapters.

B. M. Adams