"Honey I'm home!" Jane called popping her head cautiously into Maura's home to get an early indication of what she was walking into. No crying females, magnificent!

Jane could see Maura busily preparing dinner in the kitchen, she had changed from the outfit she had worn at lunch into something a little less formal, well less formal for Maura and tied her hair back loosely.

Jane approached the pot Maura was stirring and peered in hopefully. "Hmmmm, smells delicious." She complemented her mouth watering at the familiar smell of her Ma's Gnocchi.

"It should do, I enlisted your mothers help." Maura smiled.

Jane moved to the refrigerator and opened it to find that as she had expected and to her joy, Maura had re-stocked it with Jane's favourite brand of beer.

Jane plucked a bottle from the shelf and turned to Maura. "She joining us?"

"No." Maura shook her head as she continued the preparations for dinner. "She is out on a date with Detective Korsak."

Jane stuck out her tongue and made a "eurggh" face which Maura either didn't see or chose to ignore.

Jane opened the beer and pointed it in the direction of the sofa.

"Well little lady, looks like you have everything under control here so I'm going to watch some T.V and relax after my long day. You let me know when dinner is ready cupcake." Jane sauntered over to the sofa and happily flung herself down and reached for the remote.

"Jane, Hope isn't here right now, you don't have to pretend, which by the way you are awful at."

"I'm not pretending I'm practicing." Jane returned over her shoulder.

Maura smiled whilst dishing food onto plates. "You need to practice, or are you telling me that if we were a couple we would turn into archetypal gender stereotypes from the 1950's?"

"I think I warned you that I would be the guy." Jane said distractedly as she flicked through channels on the TV.

Maura took some dishes over to the table. "I think the best approach to this is just to be normal with each other and then simply add a slightly more physical element."

"Whatever, it's not like I'm going to be seeing that much of her right? So if she comes over while I'm here, I'll hold your hand or something okay?" Jane said dismissively having given up on the TV and been drawn by the appearance of dinner being served, to the table.

Maura took care to place Jane's food down in front of her before she spoke. "Actually Hope and Cailan are coming for dinner with us, here, tomorrow."

Jane's hungry smile was replaced by a scowl. "Maurrra?" She whined.

"Well, Hope and Cailan would both like to know you better and Hope of course wants to make up for lost time with me, plus they don't have many friends or family here in Boston so it is natural that they would like to spend time with us." Maura explained.

"You seem unusually calm about spending time with your biologicals." Jane stated suspiciously.

"Well, lunch today was really successful and I have to admit to feeling a little more relaxed knowing that you will be here." Maura confessed.

Jane smiled as she tucked into the beautifully presented meal. "Hmmm, maybe it is a good thing I will be here, if Hope is bringing Little Miss Sunshine along. Even up the numbers a little, two on two, that's fair." Jane nodded her strong protective streak rearing its head again.

"We are not going into battle Jane or playing one of the many ball games you enjoy." Maura admonished although she secretly cherished the fact that Jane was always on her side, always had her back, it made her feel safe and worthy.

"Sure, I know that. Just a nice meal with me, my best friend who wants me to pretend that I'm her girlfriend her recently found biological mother and her almost died took her kidney sister. I can't wait." Jane attempted a serious face but couldn't help but chuckle as Maura did the same.

Both women then turned their attentions to the meal and ate in companionable silence.

Later as Jane washed up and Maura dried they turned back to talk of the impending dinner.

"So, I'm thinking that maybe you had a good point earlier." Maura broached.

"Yeah, I probably had a lot of good points, I usually do." Jane teased.

"I mean about the practicing." Maura said feeling suddenly a little self conscious which was unusual for her in Jane's company.

"Practicing being a couple?" Jane asked.

"Well, many studies show that the most successful lies are those which have an element of truth in them, exaggerations if you like. The easiest way to lie convincingly is to first convince yourself that the lie is true." Maura argued reasonably.

"So we should just get it on so that you can lie better?" Jane gave Maura a faux surprised glance across the dishes.

Maura felt the reddening of her face as her sympathetic nervous system caused blood vessels to open wide flooding the skin with blood in what was commonly called a blush. What was up with her? She was normally perfectly comfortable with frank discussion about sex.

"That's not exactly what I was suggesting Jane, however if we are going to be more physical with each other tomorrow maybe we should try it tonight, We don't want to look uncomfortable with each other." Maura was not looking at Jane as she put the final dishes away; she thought she managed to sound remarkably calm, she almost felt it. When Maura turned to look at Jane again she noticed that Jane was leaning against the counter top watching her with an amused look on her face.

Maura was not expecting the next move as Jane pushed herself off the counter and quickly moved to position herself all the way up in Maura's personal space, placing both her hands firmly on Maura's hips her feet spaced out on either side of Maura's.

"So kiss me then." Jane challenged with a smirk.

Maura felt a little dizzy and clung on to Jane's shoulders with her hands. Maura quickly placed a very chaste kiss on Jane's lips and felt herself tremble.

Jane pulled back slightly but still held onto Maura. "You feel uncomfortable?" She asked.

Maura shook her head, uncharacteristically at a loss for words.

"Good." Jane pulled back completely.

Maura gripped the back of Jane's neck before she could completely escape and pulled her back in for a more lingering kiss.

Maura pulled back to see that Jane now stood speechless.

"Practice makes perfect." She shrugged.

Hope had arrived at exactly the time specified, another example of a trait that each Doctor shared.

The women were onto the consommé or so Jane had heard Maura announce which obviously meant mini soup and were yet to get to the main course. Jane appreciated the fact that Maura had exercised some restraint when it came to the menu, stopping at only six courses.

So far so good, Hope and Maura had chatted about some breakthrough in medical blah blah blah while Jane and Cailan had rolled their eyes at each other. Cailan herself also seemed much more sociable than the last time she had eaten with them. Jane supposed that the not facing imminent death had something to do with that.

Jane had to admit she was kind of enjoying the evening. The more time she spent around Hope the more the similarities between Hope and Maura struck and amused her and Jane felt a very natural affection for Hope because of this.

Jane was leant back at the table her arm slung behind Maura in her chair in a slightly possessive gesture that she felt was typical of most couples. What Jane found odd was that it felt really natural to her; Jane had always felt possessive towards her friend. Maura was often naive and made herself vulnerable and Jane had never questioned her urge to protect her to the point of warning anyone who might hurt her off. Including her mother, as Constance could testify to.

"So." Hope began, receiving the attention of the table. "There was something I was wondering about Maura."

Maura smiled happily. "Ask me anything."

Exactly Jane's point, Maura leaving herself wide open. Jane had already stiffened at the lead up to an obviously difficult topic of conversation, if the body language Hope was displaying was anything to go by.

"About Paddy. What did your contact with him consist of? When did you last see him?" Hope ventured.

Maura to her credit didn't look too distressed; she must have anticipated this question would come up at some point.

"I saw him a handful of times, usually in less than pleasant circumstance and the last time I saw him was in the hospital after Jane shot him." Maura answered in her typically direct manner.

Hope and Cailan shot Jane shocked looks, which in Cailans case at least quickly turned into an impressed grin.

Jane sighed and sat up a little straighter in her chair. "You couldn't have left that part out honey?" she mumbled in Maura's direction.

"You shot him?" Hope asked.

"I read in an article that he had been shot down by detectives but I didn't realise that was you." Cailan spoke obviously in awe and if Jane was not mistaken fluttering her eyelashes unabashedly at Jane.

Jane shrugged. "He was a bad guy, I shot him, it was complicated and I don't like having to shoot anyone." Jane spoke hoping that this would end the discussion; she shifted uncomfortably and felt Maura squeeze her leg reassuringly under the table. Jane looked to Maura and won a smile to accompany the soothing touch that was now moving into more of a light caress.

Maura turned back to Hope. "He is awaiting trial and has sent me some requests that I visit him but I haven't done so and I don't think I will."

Jane had not known Paddy had been in contact. She and Maura tried to steer clear of discussion about Paddy these days but Jane felt a little hurt for the briefest moment that Maura had kept something from her.

Hope had wisely moved onto another topic of conversation which Jane was finding hard to follow due to the continued stroking she received from Maura beneath the table. Jane suddenly felt a little over heated and leaned away from the table trying to give herself a little more air.

What the hell was happening?. First there was the kiss Maura had given her last night which had gone from an innocent joke into a steamy flirtation in a matter of seconds much to her surprise and now this. It felt like Maura's hand was burning a hole in her. Jane had to stop the pattern Maura was gently tracing before she let out some kind of audible moan. Jane took back control of the situation and thrust her hand over Maura's and squeezed firmly. Maura responded by taking Jane's hand in both of hers and lacing the fingers of one hand with the fingers of Jane's.

Shit, she was trapped. Maura hadn't diverted any of her attention from the conversation she was having with Hope and Jane looked helplessly around the table. Jane took in Cailan who was flashing her come to bed eyes which looked too much like Maura's to help the situation any. That did it.

Jane stood up and started to gather the dishes, Maura took her cue to do the same and the women met in the kitchen.

"Are you okay?" Maura asked rubbing a hand down Jane's arm. Jane pulled away a little.

"I'm fine." She took a deep breath to clear her head. "I think your sister has a crush on me." She said in a hushed tone.

Maura smiled on one side of her face and raised an eyebrow. "It would appear so." Maura nodded. "Cailan has to deal with having been an only child and suddenly having an unexpected sibling who is older and successful in her own right, she is bound to feel some sort of sibling rivalry."

"Oh I see, so she just wants what's yours? This is nothing to do with me being a hot hero cop?" Jane joked.

"I'm sure that has something to do with it." Maura almost purred, leaning into Jane and dropping a quick little kiss on her cheek.

Jane had been taken off guard and for a moment she had forgotten that they were still pretending and her stomach had done a little flip.

Maura finally began to serve the main course and Jane was relieved to have something more substantial to eat so she could have an excuse not to talk so much and have a little time with her thoughts.

Jane wasn't sure if it was the wine she had been drinking or just the pleasant evening but she and Maura had definitely started something they couldn't stop. As dinner had drawn to a close she had found herself being seductively fork fed the last pieces of Maura's dessert, much to the chagrin of a crestfallen Cailan.

This was really not necessary in terms of their performance; anyone who had one of their five senses and had spent ten minutes in the room would swear under oath that these two were a couple.

Maura fed Jane the last mouthful of cake not taking her eyes off Jane's mouth as she ate and then leaning in to wipe away a spot of cream from the corner with her thumb. Jane could taste the slight bitterness of Maura's skin in contrast to the sweetness that lingered in her mouth but resisted the urge to take the thumb completely into it and suck.

Jane looked at Maura, amused by the obvious desire she projected and cleared her throat indicating the forgotten company in the room. Hope was searching the room for something other to look at and Cailan glared at them somewhat openly.

Jane felt his had gone above and beyond the call of duty some time ago but it seemed now that she just couldn't stop herself, like she had been given a licence to explore something she didn't even realise she had wanted so badly.

After her initial shock she had decided just to go with it and see what happened and the results were electric. Jane wasn't sure when Maura had realised that the dynamic had changed, but she had, Jane could see it in her eyes. This was not pretending.

So when Hope and Cailan made their polite escape into the night Jane was not surprised to hear Cailan telling Maura to "get a room." as they hugged goodnight.

At last Maura and Jane were completely alone. This was the moment. They could go back to being BFF'S, and laugh off the last couple of hours as a fine performance, never mention what each of them had clearly felt, couldn't they? ...Or?

Maura closed the front door and turned back to Jane who had taken a few steps away from her. Maura closed the gap between them striding slowly toward Jane her hands clasped behind her back.

"A study by Dr's Gramzow and Willard found that students who exaggerated their grades in interview subsequently improved their actual grades. Often by the very amount they had exaggerated."

Jane was momentarily thrown by this information and also a little distracted by the nearness of Maura as she stopped no more than a breath away from Jane. All it would take was for Jane to reach out to her.

"The grade inflation was less an attempt to deceive than a reflection of healthy over confidence and a statement of aspirations, projecting the self towards ones goals." Maura put her arms up around Jane's shoulders. "Expressions of yearning." She finished, cocking her head to one side as she watched Jane process her words.

Jane looked down at the patient but expectant woman she now held against her.

"You, don't have to be a google brain to know that most marriages don't last as long as most friendships, that is because sex screws everything up." Jane protested even as she allowed Maura to nuzzle into her neck dropping feather light kisses there. "People get hurt."

"Yes." Maura whispered kissing Jane's lips now.

"I'm a much better best friend than I am girl friend." Jane reasoned.

"Probably." Maura agreed taking Jane by the hand and leading her to the bedroom.

Jane stopped them both in their tracks at the bedroom door and pushed Maura up against it, pinning her with the length of her body and sliding a hand into the waves of Maura's hair as she kissed her as she had wanted to the whole night, her tongue slipping swiftly and hungrily inside Maura's.

"Are you sure about this?" Jane managed as she pulled back breathless.

"Are you?" Maura countered.

"Honestly?" Jane asked, though not entirely a question.

"Honestly." Maura stated certainly before throwing herself upon the detective.