The room was filled with tiny humans, running, crawling, and screaming and laughing all around. Jane stood at the front of the room by the punch table, away from the other adults, sipping on a glass of the pinkest punch she'd ever seen. All the other adults/parents were on the other side of the room gathered around the cookies and cake, keeping small hands away from all the sugary treats. Jane watched her little one, brown curly hair bouncing as she toddled after another little girl. Elly had been walking for a month now, and was gaining better balance every day. Jane couldn't stop the smile on her lips from forming. Though, occasionally, it was replaced with a grimace when her mind wandered to Maura. She kept thinking, Maura should be here. Grimace. Oh look, someone got her a stuffed turtle. Smile. I wonder if its a tortoise. Maura would know. Grimace. Oh look at her eat the cake. She looks so cute with it all over her face. Smile. Maura would have a panic attack if she was here. Grimace.

Her train of thought was derailed by the sound of another person, "You look like you're thinking too hard."

Jane looked away from her daughter and forced a smile for Elly's daycare teacher, Claire, "Just a lot on my mind."

Claire nodded, "Feel free to not answer, but, I have to ask, is it just the two of you? Or is there a father somewhere?"

Jane sighed and looked back to her daughter. Her hair was a little lighter, thanks to Casey's genes. That was about all she'd gotten from him. Casey. He was off in some desert doing only who knows what. She hadn't seen him since she told him she was pregnant. It was over Skype. She couldn't wait till he got home to tell him, because she didn't know when he would be home. He'd taken it well, and even re-offered his proposal. She'd be taken care of. She could have lived on a base and the Army would have helped out while Casey was gone. If she'd accepted, who knows where she'd be. On a base in the middle of nowhere, instead of California. Would that be any better?

"Um. He's not really in our lives. I hate to say she was an accident, but, she kinda was." Jane sipped at her drink, "So it's just us."

Claire, the teacher nodded, "No family anywhere?"

Jane thought of her family back home. Frankie had also been taken into Witness Protection. Though they were in different places. Dean told her that they'd even have an eye on Angela. Vince had declined being placed somewhere, but Dean had an FBI agent undercover as a bartender there. Tommy and Lydia had moved just outside of Boston, in a quiet suburb. He'd finally finished trade school and was a master plumber, and had started Rizzoli and Sons up again.

"No. Not really in touch with the family I have left."

Claire nodded again. "Well. I don't want to push you, but there's a single parent's group that meets here once a week for support. We have events every now and then. You're more than welcome to come." she offered with a smile

"Thanks." Jane said, offering a smile back, "I'll think about it."

Jane walked into their little beach house, arms laden with a very asleep Elly and a few stuffed animals. After depositing the baby into her bed, Jane went back out to the car to get the rest of the gifts. The leftover cake went into the fridge. The new toys were deposited into Elly's treasure chest by the TV. Jane threw a load of laundry in to the washer, opened a bottle of beer and sat down at her writing desk. Opening her journal, she started to write,

Well. She's officially one years old. I can't believe its been a year. I can't believe its been six months since I've been in Boston. I can't believe anything anymore.

A knock on the front door pulled Jane from her thoughts. Looking at her watch, it was only about seven. She hesitantly got up, grabbing her firearm from the desk drawer, and walked over to the door. Looking through the peep hole, her anxiety quieted down and she opened the door, "Dean. What's up?"

He had a large duffle bag over his shoulder and he put his hand on it, "Can I come in?"

Jane nodded and let him in, shutting the door after him.

"What's in the bag?"

Agent Dean put the bag on the coffee table, "Gifts for Elly. From your mother and others."

Jane smiled and opened the duffle to see a dozen or so gifts, wrapped in bright colors. "Wow." She pulled them out and started opening them. Among them were a few stuffed animals, a knitted sweater from and a tub of cookies from Angela, a softball glove from Vince, and a few books from Frankie.

"You do know how many rules I'm breaking by allowing this, right?"

Jane looked up with a sympathetic smile, "Yeah. Dean, I really do appreciate it. I don't think I'd survive without your help to communicate to them."

He nodded.

Jane pulled a small teddy bear out. It had an FBI jacket and a pair of sunglasses. "Who's this from?" Jane laughed

The agent just smiled sheepishly and cleared his throat.

Jane's smile grew, "Thanks Dean."

"Yeah, well. Uh. Do you have anything you want to send home?"

Jane nodded. She grabbed the flash drive from her desk and handed it to him, "Just some pictures from today and a video of her blowing out the candles on her cake. You can watch it to make sure there's nothing revealing in it."

He nodded and took it, "You ma will have this by tomorrow."

"Thanks."

They both stood there a little awkwardly.

Dean looked at his watch, "Well, I guess I'd better…."

Jane cut him off, "You want a beer?"

Dean eyes shot up to hers.

"I could use some adult talking time. I spent the day with a bunch of babies and toddlers, and all the parents ever talk about are mortgages and diapers rashes. I could use some cop talk."

He smiled, "Sure."

They talked for quite awhile; regaling many stories of past cases while drinking up the six-pack Jane had had in her fridge for too long now.

"Hey remember that time I tackled you in the creek?" Jane laughed, taking a swig of her almost empty beer.

He chuckled, shaking his head, "Yeah. And I couldn't change for like three hours because I had to go give a report and explain how I let a suspect get away because some chick detective tackled me in a creek."

"Hey!" she laughed, "That was no 'chick' move, I tackled you like a linebacker."

Dean's phone rang and he looked at the time, "Wow, it's almost midnight." He stood slowly and stretched, "I've got to go." he sighed, "I've got a flight in a few hours."

She walked him to the door, "Listen. Thanks for staying. I had a good time."

He nodded, "No problem."

She opened the door and he stepped out, "When you gonna be back?"

He shrugged, "A few days, maybe a week. Just depends."

"Okay. I'll see ya later then."

Shutting the door, she was alone again. The house was quiet again. Looking across the room, she saw her journal was still open from hours earlier.

"Tomorrow." she mumbled. Her brain was tired, and muddled with three beers. "Another day."

Plus sign. That meant pregnant…right? Maur would know.

Plus sign.

Shit.

Jane sat on the toilet in her bathroom. She'd been sick every morning for a few days in a row, then would go the rest of the day with no problems. While walking through the pharmacy, getting anti-nausea pills, her eyes landed on the pregnancy tests.

She's gonna kill me.

Ma will be ecstatic.

Crap. What's Maura gonna say?

It was just one night. Casey was in town for one night.

Jane walked into Maura's living room, heart pounding and palms sweaty.

Maura stood at the stove, a pot of water on to boil. She was already in her silk pajamas and robe. Jane sighed and took those three steps across the kitchen to the island,

"Maur? Can we talk?"

Maura turned with a smile, "Of course. What's on your mind?"

"I have something important to say, and I want to get it all out before you say anything." Jane took a deep breath and looked in her best friend's eyes.

Maura just smiled warmly at the brunette. She turned when the tea pot whistled and poured two glasses. She slid the mug across the counter to her counterpart, and slid over a wooden tea box as well. She pointed to each one, "This one helps with nausea, this one is loaded with antioxidants which are fantastic for cleaning out your system, and this one is good for your heart, it'll keep you strong so your body is strong for the baby."

Jane's shoulders sagged, "You knew?"

Maura just smiled again and picked out a bag of tea, dropping the bag into Jane's mug, "You've had nausea the past few mornings, bags under your eyes due to exhaustion, likely from the amount of stress your body is going through growing a baby, an aversion to coffee - which was the most alarming symptom. With all the symptoms, it wasn't hard to diagnose the problem. I was going to propose taking a home test by the end of the week if you hadn't already."

All the stress in the detective's body suddenly evaporated.

"Casey?" Maura asked

And there was the stress again. "Just one night. He was home a few weeks ago. He called me. It was late." she was rambling, defensively, "He left the next morning. It was a relapse. Nothing more."

"Jane." she took the brunette's hands with a smile, "I'm not mad, I'm not upset. You're defending yourself like I'm going to run. I'm not. I'm here, Jane, for anything; for everything."

"Maur."

"No, I'm serious. If you need anything, I will be here for you…" she placed her hand on my belly, "for him or her."

Groooaaannnn.

This house is a mess and I have no energy to do it.

Jane sat on the couch in their living room, on her back with her feet up. It had been a particularly stressful week, plus a growing human inside of her took all of her energy, and Jane finally had the day off.

I don't want Maura to think I'm not pulling my weight. What's something I can do that requires the least amount of energy?

Jane spotted the empty laundry basket by the chair and decided on her task.

Laundry.

She jumped up and headed for the bedroom to grab both of their hampers and went to the laundry room. She separated each either into Maura's laundry organizer or the bag for dry cleaning. Once separated, she threw a load of darks into the washer and stopped. Jane's t-shirts and Maura's socks. She looked at the dry cleaning rack: Jane's work slacks and Maura's dresses and blouses.

She walked out to the living room and saw her DVD's mismatched with Maura's documentaries. In their bedroom, their bedroom, most of Jane's clothes were in Maura's closet, and a few days prior, a second dresser had appeared and more of Jane's clothes were added. Maura often picked up maternity clothing when she was out shopping.

Have I moved in? Jane thought, Jo Friday's food dish is by the fridge, her coat closet houses my coat, there's a gun safe by the front door. Have I really moved in?

The front door opened suddenly and in came the Doctor. Maura's hands were full with three paper bags. She set them down after a smile of greeting towards the brunette.

"Grocery shopping?" Jane asked, following the doctor into the kitchen

"Yes. I noticed Jo's food was running low, so I picked up a bag. Some milk, vegetables, chicken and pasta for dinner, and a new bottle of the cocoa butter lotion. The lotion will help combat stretch marks and keep your skin healthy."

Maura started to put the food away, but kept speaking, "I did some shopping yesterday morning when you were at work. I got you a few new tank tops to sleep in. They're a size up, so they'll be roomy and comfortable to sleep in."

I couldn't stop the smile on my lips.

"I already washed them and put them in your dresser."

Yup, I've moved in. I don't even think she realizes it.

"I put some laundry in and separated out the dry cleaning." I said with a little shake of my head, showing her that I had done something productive on my day off.

"Well, thank you Jane. I appreciate that. We can drop off the dry cleaning on our way to work tomorrow."

Jane woke with a start. It had been awhile since she thought about the early days of her pregnancy. And now she was wide awake, memories flashing back. She looked over at the window and saw the saw was just starting to peak over the horizon.

Dawn. A new day.

She got up out of bed and turned off her alarm before heading to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. Once armed with a strong cup of liquid caffeine, Jane sat back at her journal and started up where her dreams left off.

It was shortly after I realized that I'd moved in that I realized how much I loved Maura; like really loved her. We were lying in bed, late at night. I was around four months pregnant, and only had a small belly showing so far. But even though there wasn't much there, Maura always found a way to have her hand on my belly. Like that night. She was cuddled up with me, her legs intertwined with mine, and her hand lightly resting on my exposed stomach. This had been becoming a habit for her. Whenever we laid together, whether on the couch or in bed at night, her hand would find its way under the hem of my shirt and rest on my skin. Sometimes, I don't even think she knows she's doing it.

I could see myself doing this every night for the rest of my life. Maybe Maura will want to carry a kid too. Oh, we should probably get married first, before the next one. Jane smiled. I wonder if she'd marry me.

Jane sat back and looked out the big bay window overlooking the ocean. The sun was just was still a half circle on the horizon, and cast a pretty glow over the beach. Jane took a sip as her mind drifted to the time she told Casey about the baby.

"What do you think?" Jane asked, nerves on end

The soldier had his hands folded, chin resting on them, while he thought. The video-feed was grainy and shook a little from the bad reception one got in the desert.

"Well, I guess, I'll put my offer back on the table. We could get married, and you could move onto base. The army would take care of you."

"And what would you do, Casey? Let the army take care of me while you're off…what? Running around the world? Our marriage would be nothing except a contract; and a meager one at that. You don't want that Casey. And neither do I. We deserve something more than each other. We deserve something amazing. You should have the opportunity to find something amazing."

"And have you found your something amazing?"

Her phone suddenly vibrated and she looked down at the screen to see Maura Dear on the screen. "Don't forget your vitamins. And dinner is at 6. See you two later, darling."

"I think I have, Casey. And I want you to be as happy as I am."

He nodded, thinking.

"I'm not going to cut you out of the baby's life, Casey. I couldn't. You can be apart of their life as much as you want, or as little as you want. I know you never really wanted kids, but we'll be here if you do."

"Thank you Jane, I really appreciate that."

There was a loud explosion on Casey's end and the whole computer shook.

"Casey?"

The video feed started to cut out, and his voice was coming in and out, "Sorry Jane…talk…later…Love…" and the feed went out.

She sighed, and shut the screen.

A quiet gurgle startled Jane from her thoughts. She turned her head towards the door.

Awake? she thought. Sometimes Elly would make that noise when she slept, sometimes when she was awake.

A louder gurgle came, along with some longer unintelligible syllables.

Awake. Jane smiled.