Chapter 1

The house was quiet. An energy was missing in the home. A pair of shoes by the door was missing, the jackets that were always thrown over a chair were gone, the sound of happy chatter was missing, leaving the house feeling empty despite the fact that there were still three girls around.

Tears started trickling down Maura's cheeks but she didn't notice. She just stared at Rachel's empty bedroom, unable to stop thinking about how they dropped her off at college that afternoon. They decorated the girl's dorm according to Rachel's taste and she was truly happy to be at college. She met new friends right away and immediately got invited to two parties, something Maura didn't like at all. But all that mattered was the smile that curled Rachel's lips and the happy sparkle in her blue eyes.

But the part that was stinging Maura was the sound of Rachel's voice calling out to her. 'Wait!' She had called them back before walking out of the building and running towards Maura, throwing her arms around her neck for a squeezing hug. Maura had fought back her tears and just told Rachel how much she loved her before letting her go and watching her giving Jane the same squeezing hug and Morgan a sweet kiss on her cheek. She waved them goodbye and Maura managed to hold back her tears until they drove around the corner and her tears flooded over.

A part of her was concerned about Rachel. She was doing a lot better after she lost her father and she was incredibly strong but Maura didn't like her girls being so far away from her. Rachel deserved college. She was smart and independent but Maura knew how she needed them sometimes. She knew the nights where Rachel couldn't sleep or the days when the pain in her heart just started weighing too much and pulled her down. The moments when she needed Jane and Maura to hold her tight and pull her back up on her feet. Now the time was there when she needed to do that by herself.

"Mom?" A mess of dark curls appeared in the doorway, a pair of brown eyes looking concerned and a familiar hesitating smile curling the eight-year-old's lips.

Maura smiled at Lily and wiped her tears from her cheeks. "Hi, baby."

"What's wrong?"

Maura shook her head and sat down on Rachel's bed, looking at the empty walls because Rachel took her pictures and posters with her. "I just miss Rachel, that's all."

"Already?" Lily chuckled and walked towards her mother. "She's only been gone for like a few hours!"

Maura laughed and kissed Lily's temple when the girl sat down next to her mother. "I know."

Fresh tears sprung to Maura's eyes when she felt Lily's short arm wrapping around her neck and her lips pressing against her cheek. She smiled and wrapped her arms around her youngest daughter, pulling her in for a sweet hug. She brushed her hand through her girl's familiar dark curls, and smiled when she felt Lily's arms tightening around her neck. Unconditional love overwhelmed Maura as she gently rocked her from side to side, holding her closer against her while she thought about how she held this girl in the same position so long ago when they welcomed her into their lives as a baby. She remembered how after hours and hours of excruciating labor, the most beautiful little girl was brought into the world and she fell in love. It seemed like yesterday even though eight years had passed.

"Rachel's gonna be okay, Mom," Lily said softly. "She loves it over there."

Maura nodded and smiled lovingly while she brushed her daughter's messy curls back. "I know."

Lily furrowed her brow and reached out to wipe her mother's tears with the palm of her hand, eliciting a sweet smile from her mother. "I'm gonna go get Mama, okay? So she can give you kisses and tell you how much she loves you and other gross stuff." Lily rolled her eyes while she untangled herself from her mother.

Maura chuckled and shook her head as she watched her daughter walking out of the room and calling out for Jane. Maura composed herself and straightened her back when she saw her wife entering the bedroom.

"You okay, Maur?" Jane's brow furrowed in concern as she walked towards the blonde on the bed.

Maura nodded. "I'm fine. I-… I'm just trying to get used to the house without Rachel, that's all."

"Hm." Jane sat down next to her and pressed her lips against Maura's temple. "Time is going fast, isn't it?"

"Very," Maura whispered, thinking about the past few months. It seemed like yesterday they took in Rachel and Morgan after their father died. It had been a little less than nine months and the girls were a true part of the Rizzoli-Isles family.

"And it's only going faster from here, I think," Jane said softly, rubbing her hand up and down Maura's back.

Maura sighed deeply and nuzzled her nose into her wife's neck. "I wish I could slow things down."

Jane chuckled. "Yeah."

"So I could have more time with you." Maura lifted her head and cupped her wife's cheek to look into her dark eyes. "I could spend a thousand years with you by my side," she whispered.

Jane smiled slightly and shook her head. "I'm pretty sure you'll get tired of me after two hundred years.

"I won't." Maura giggled and pecked her wife's lips. "Maybe after five hundred."

Jane chuckled and hummed while she captured her lips in a loving kiss, humming at the taste of her wife. Maura smiled into the kiss and tangled her fingers in Jane's curls, pressing her body against her wife's. When she pulled back she rested her forehead against Jane's and looked into her beautiful dark eyes. "I love you," she whispered.

Jane smiled lovingly and pecked her lips. "I love you too."

Maura's arms moved tighter around the brunette next to her on the bed and squeezed her close while she placed small kisses on her lips over and over again. She felt Jane humming against her and smiled.

"Maur," Jane mumbled in between kisses.

"Hm?" Maura continued the soft, small kisses with a smirk curling her lips, feeling little sparks of electricity every time her lips touched her wife's.

"You're turning me on," Jane mumbled. She reluctantly pulled away and gently pushed Maura's shoulders to stop her kisses.

Maura chuckled and brushed Jane's dark curls behind her ear. "I guess we should stop then."

"Yep." Jane shook her head to get out of the haze she was in and pressed her lips against her wife's forehead. "C'mon." She pulled her up from the bed and brushed her hand up and down Maura's back. "Are you okay?"

Maura nodded, smiling lovingly. "Yes." She followed her wife out of Rachel's bedroom and saw Lily sitting at the dinner table working on a drawing while sipping on a glass of lemonade with ice.

"Where are the girls?" Jane asked, looking around the room for Anna and Morgan.

"Outside." Lily pointed at the backyard with her pencil without looking up from her piece of paper.

In the backyard, Anna was sitting on the porch bench, her dress pulled up too high around her thighs as she sat in her usual position with her legs up on the bench, a book resting against them as she concentrated with her brow furrowed. Morgan was lazily kicking a soccer ball around, her shoulders hanging low, her eyes fixated on the ball. She missed her sister. The last part of her biological family was now gone and that took time to get used to.

Jane walked towards the short girl and kissed her forehead, smiling at her before playfully kicking the ball away from Morgan.

"Hey!" Morgan squealed.

"Come get it."

"Oh, yeah?" Morgan smirked and started a playful fight over the ball with her foster mother, giggling and laughing while she tried to win.

Maura smiled. She loved the sound of her daughters' laughter. After Craig died, Morgan's laughter became a rare thing in the house. Maura was glad to hear it more and more lately. She sat down next to Anna, still smiling when she kissed her daughter's temple and tucked a strand of loose hair into her ponytail. She looked gorgeous. Her long hair got lighter in the summer sun and grey eyes sparkled, the freckles on her nose standing out on her pale skin, her cheeks rosy as ever.

Anna looked up at her mother and saw her dried tears. She furrowed her brow, her usual instinct telling her that Maura had been crying. "You okay, Mom?"

Maura smiled. "I'm fine." Anna picked up on emotions. She felt what other people felt and sucked it all up inside her. She saw that her mother's words were genuine and nodded her head before resting it against her mother's upper arm while Maura pulled her dress back down.

Maura wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulder and relaxed against the back of the cushions on the bench when she heard the doorbell.

"I'LL GET IT!" Lily called from inside.

They heard Lily hurrying towards the front door and opening it before an unfamiliar female voice greeted her. Lily answered an unheard question with 'yeah sure' and Maura straightened her back when they walked through the house towards the backyard.

A slim, tall woman with straight dark hair appeared. She wore an expensive grey suit and was holding a black purse in her hands. "Good afternoon," she greeted Maura who stood up from her seat to shake the woman's hand as she offered it to her.

"Hello," Maura replied, unsure of who this woman was and why she was here.

"My name is Amelia-…" She looked at Morgan who stopped playing soccer to look at the unfamiliar woman. "Morgan!"

Morgan furrowed her brow. "You know me?"

"Well of course! I'm aunt Amelia!"

"Aunt?" Maura shook her head. "That's-… That's not possible."

Amelia smiled a smile that looked a bit evil in Maura's opinion. "I'm afraid it is, Mrs. Isles."

"You know us?" Jane had walked towards them and stood next to Maura.

"I did my research."

"Why are you here?"

Amelia showed that smile again. She motioned towards Morgan, her movement slow and gracious. "I'm here to take her back to her family."