A/N: So here it is folks. The last chapter. Thank you for staying with me on this. I love these characters, they are such fun to write even when the story is full of angst. Please review and tell me what you liked. It's very helpful to know what readers like.

Disclaimer: I borrowed the characters for fun and now I'm done! I own nothing.

Chapter 24

Jane sat and looked out the window to the back yard and frowned. She shoved her hair back over her shoulders and pushed her way over to the door, opening it and rolling outside. She breathed in the fresh air and sighed.

Maura joined her. It wasn't late but the children were upstairs in bed already. The late evening sun was dipping low as twilight descended. Jane continued to stare at the yard.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

A small smile graced the detective's lips. She turned and looked up at Maura. "I was just thinking that this backyard is a little too…. bare ….concrete?" She shrugged. "It's not much of a playspace."

Maura tilted her head to the side quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"Look I know you were a little more 'indoorsy' as a child than me, but we should get some work done in the yard. Maybe some lawn and a swing set or something."

"I was not indoorsy," her wife stated indignantly. Placing her hands on her hips Maura pouted. "I had my fair share of outside exercise. I was a very disciplined child."

Jane laughed. "Just how many trees did you climb?"

"Well, I didn't have brothers to chase me up there, did I?" Maura let her hands fall on Jane's shoulders and massage them lightly as they watched the sun setting.

"I want our kids to climb trees, Maura." Jane stared at the orange light that hovered just over the horizon and felt the hands on her shoulders move until Maura's arms encircled her.

"I think that could be a little ambitious for Lily, but with the amount of progress she's making with your help, nothing would surprise me." A soft kiss brushed Jane's jawline.

The detective nodded thoughtfully. "She's definitely getting stronger. She got dressed all by herself this morning, including getting her shoes on and tying the laces on her own. That's pretty impressive for most five year olds from what I can gather."

Maura's smile widened.

Jane had started to nudge Lily forwards, slowly at first. The most difficult task wasn't getting the girl to try things herself, it was stopping Davey from jumping in there to do it for her. He had been so used to it that he found it hard not to, so Jane had told Lily that she needed to take control.

Maura had explained to the boy why he needed to stop doing things all the time and though he didn't really understand why, the habit had been broken and he had become Lily's cheerleader instead of an extra pair of hands.

Lily had to pick things up for herself if she dropped them now and every morning she had to get dressed as much as she could. Jane would watch over her and make suggestions, teaching her little shortcuts to make it easier. They had spent weeks practising getting up the ramp to the door with Maura covering the push handles until Lily was safe to go on her own. She still found the last half difficult, but Jane had every faith that the girl would manage the whole thing on her own before long.

The couple also had Lily in physical therapy, both appalled that the child had never been given any and it made a huge difference to her strength, meaning she tired less and was able to move herself around much better both in and out of her wheelchair. The therapist was a specialist in pediatric treatment and just made it seem like fun most of the time.

If the couple were conscious of encouraging Lily and trying to develop her independence, they were also mindful of Davey's needs too. He was just a typical little boy in many respects, but his life had been far from typical so far and they wanted him to just have a normal childhood from there on in. It was that more than anything that sparked Jane's interest in the back yard and doing something to allow him to be active and fun. They had to make him feel like he was cared for too.

"I think a swingset is a great idea, but why don't we take them both to the park and find out what they like to play on?" Maura squeezed Jane's shoulders. "I'll do some research."

—

"Hey Vince," Jane waved from the door of the new van.

"It finally arrived then?"

"They delivered it yesterday evening," she rolled down the shallow ramp and pressed the button for it to retreat back under the van, while the door slid shut. "Maura already has a list of places we are going to visit now. I think the gas money may bankrupt me!"

He chuckled and gave her a pat on the shoulder as they went up the ramp into headquarters. They had quarterly review meeting with Cavanaugh and the commissioner to see how much progress they had made with the cases assigned to them. They had steadily been working their way through old cases where there was physical evidence to tie someone to a crime and had a relatively good clearance rate. Where they didn't have enough yet for charges to be filed, they simply worked away at getting more evidence. DNA testing was now so advanced that a number of cases had since been brought to trial on that basis alone. Things were going well.

Jane pushed open the Lieutenant's door and found him looking pleased.

"Hey Jane, Vince. You remember the commissioner."

They shook hands briefly.

"That grip is certainly better than the last time we shook hands Rizzolli."

She gave him a grin. "Yeah I guess. I worked on it some." She knew he was referring to the award he had presented her a few months after the shooting when she was still recovering. "The Lieutenant still has me anchored to the desk though. I was going to ask about mounting a gun to my chair with a remote control, I saw it in this really bad movie once. I think it's a great idea." She gesticulated with an innocent look on her face.

"Rizzolli, I swear you'll be the death of me one of these days. If it wasn't so ridiculous, I might think you were being serious."

Her face broke into a grin and they settled down to discuss the cases currently on their way to the DA's office.

The meeting wrapped up after ninety minutes and the two detectives left Cavanaugh's office pleased with their efforts. The commissioner had just told them the team was doing well and they were going to get a couple of extra personnel to help with the backlog.

Vince and Jane went back through to their office chatting animatedly about baseball and closed the door behind them.

The Commissioner steepled his fingers together as he and the Lieutenant continued to sit and talk.

"I think you did a good job with this idea. Damn shame to lose the both of them as regular detectives, but I think they seem to get just as much of a buzz from this as they did from solving regular cases."

Cavanaugh chuckled. "I confess I was just desperate to keep Rizzolli in the precinct. The pair of them are just as helpful on current cases too. The clearance rate is better when they work with the current homicide team."

"Still, I'd rather see her have a badge back one day. Who knows, maybe we will. She's stubborn enough that's for sure."

"I think the ship might have sailed on that one sir, but I'd love to see it too."

—

The picnic was spread out on the table in the park. Jane left opening tubs and packets to Maura, there was much less chance she would be wearing the food rather than eating it that way.

She took out the new camera they had just bought and put the battery pack in to start it up.

"Why'd we have to have something so fancy, Maur? Surely one of those dinky little point and shoot things would have been easier." Jane turned it over in her hands trying to work out what to do with the thing.

A sigh escaped her wife's lips. "Everyone knows that cameras with a single lens reflex are far superior to those with a small sensor like you wanted. I would really like our photographs to be of good quality so we can display them nicely at home."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Really? Everyone knows this do they?" She figured out how to turn it on and found it was already on full auto mode. She raised the camera to her eye and found Davey at the top of the slide.

"Why don't they make left handed versions? We have left handed most things but cameras are always for right handers."

"Your right fingers work better than the left anyway," Maura retaliated.

"That's really not the point though is it. Photographic discrimination; surely that must be in contravention of my human rights or something."

Maura just started laughing. "Shut up and start pressing the button or we won't have any pictures at all, good or bad."

Jane pulled a face but started taking pictures. The lens let her zoom in quite close to the kids. Davey was already on his way back up the slide. Lily was on the super-sized see-saw which was wide enough to roll her chair up and then wait for it to tip at the halfway point so she could roll down the other side.

"I think I want to go on the see-saw now too, did you see Lily?"

Maura smiled. "Of course I saw her, I have twenty-twenty vision, Jane."

"Funny Maur, very funny. Why am I so surprised that you found it hard to make friends as a young child?" The detective gave her a dry chuckle and rolled her eyes.

"Oh Jane look," Maura pointed out Davey on the slide. He had stopped at the top and held out his hand to pull up a little girl behind so she could go in front of him.

"That boy is never going to go short of girlfriend when he gets older," Jane stifled a laugh.

"He made a friend," Maura placed her hand on her heart. "I was so worried that they might not make friends easily and rely on each other too much, but that's so sweet."

Davey dropped down the slide after his new friend and was going to go back again when he spotted Lily on the see-saw. He watched her carefully for a moment and ran over, following her up the ramp and then down the other side.

Jane watched him for a moment; he pointed over at the slide and waved. The little girl who was back at the top waved at him. Lily watched her too as she slid down to the ground.

Jane glanced at Maura and was about to ask her to take Lily down the slide, but instead the girl ran over to join Davey and his sister instead. She saw the three of them talk for a moment and then they all followed each other over the see-saw a few more times. Jane left the idea alone and went back to taking pictures. She smiled as Lily stayed on one end of the ramp and Davey and the little girl walked along to the other end to see if they could make it tip.

Maura gasped a little, wondering if they might and then just as it seemed the standing pair weren't heavy enough, the see-saw started to tip and Lily rolled forwards a bit. Davey jumped off and it bounced back down, sending Lily tipping backwards as it landed and their new friend went upwards at the same speed, jumping off to avoid crashing back down now that Lily had fallen off the other end. Davey immediately ran to Lily and a moment of chaos and panic later, she sat up with a big grin shouting for them to do it again.

Maura had made it halfway across to Lily, worried she might be hurt, but she was absolutely fine and Davey was fended off as she insisted on getting back into the chair on her own.

Jane had also started to move, as had a number of other parents watching the events unfold and soon poor Lily was surrounded by well-meaning strangers asking her if she was alright. Jane moved people aside to get closer and stopped one of the other fathers from picking her up.

"Let her try on her own please," Jane insisted.

"I fell, Ma" Lily looked up from the springy rubber matting underneath her.

"I know, we watched you. You okay?"

"Yeah," Lily grinned back, her front tooth missing as of the last week. "It was fun. Davey jumped off an' I bounced right out!" Her eyes were as big as saucers as she moved her hands to demonstrate what happened. "Then I fell an' I bounced on here," she touched the rubber matting. "It's all rubbery."

"I know, why do you think we brought you here and not somewhere made out of concrete." Jane rolled her eyes at Lily.

"Hurry up, pleeeeeease!" Davey was impatient. "I want to do it again."

Maura gave him a look that spoke volumes and his face fell. "Maybe you can try out the swings now," the ME suggested, pointing over to them.

"Oh, yeah. I love swings!" Davey ran off and then stopped and came back. "I'll wait for Lily though." He knew how to keep in Maura's good books.

Lily pulled herself up and under Jane's watchful eye got back in her chair. "I'm okay now. Can I go to the swings?"

"Yeah, but let me just check your knees first." Jane was going to reach over and tug Lily's pants up, but found Lily just reached out to her so she pulled the girl across into her lap and spun her around so her legs were dangling over the side of the detective's own.

"You scared Maura half to death you know," Jane whispered in Lily's ear. "I think that's probably enough to get her to buy you an ice cream from the cafe over there."

A huge smile broke across Lily's face and her pigtails bounced as she nodded and chuckled at the same time. "I bounced!" She demonstrated once more with her hands as Jane lifted her pants as far as the knee on both sides.

"You got a little red mark here," Jane pointed out, "but the skin's not broken."

Lily looked down and shrugged.

"I know it doesn't hurt, Lil, but you need to be careful or Maura will make you wear knee pads and a helmet!"

Lily looked horrified. "I don't want to wear a helmet."

"You best be careful then eh?"

The pigtails bounced up and down once more. "I will. Can I go to the swings now?"

"Sure, off you go." The lanky detective watched Lily roll off after getting herself back into her chair without any help.

Maura had let her just deal with Lily without a fuss and saw the pride with which Jane was following their adoptive daughter.

The bystanders had all drifted away after Jane had intercepted them, but Maura could see them still staring at her family. She wanted to know what they were thinking even though it probably wasn't very positive. Maura ran a hand over the detective's shoulders as they watched the kids.

"Should we help her out?"

"Nah, let her try on her own. She'll shout us over if she needs us," Jane responded. "Is everyone still gawping?"

"I think its safe to say we are currently the center of attention."

"I figured." Jane shrugged and a wry smile crossed her face. "I guess we better get used to this sort of attention."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maura tore open the envelope already knowing what was inside but needing to see it in black and white for herself.

She pulled it out and sighed with relief handing it to Jane and walking out.

"Kids, come downstairs right now please."

Maura came back into the room with a huge smile.

"I think you have this whole parenting thing down at least."

Jane heard squeaking and scampering on the floor above and then the elevator descending.

Davey ran right up to her and wrapped himself around her as best he could. Jane squeezed his shoulders and placed a kiss on the top of his head.

"Did it come?" His eyes were wide with excitement.

"Yeah it came, you wanna see it?" Jane grinned at him. He nodded so she held her arms out for him to climb into her lap. He stood on her feet and then clambered up, with her right arm hooked around his rear to help him up and her left hooked around the back of her chair so she didn't lose balance herself.

"Oof," she winced as her wriggled around and pushed into her stomach with his hand as he did. "I think you broke a rib," she joked.

He looked at her and rolled his eyes.

Maura chuckled. "He's got your eye roll down already."

Jane grinned, the little dimple in her cheek showed and it made Maura's heart melt a little to see them together.

"Where is it?" Davey was always impatient.

"Hang on a minute Speedy Gonzalez, wait for Lily."

He huffed a little and sat swinging his legs, kicking Jane in the shins. "Ouch!" she spoke dryly to him.

He turned at looked at her and then pulled a face, knowing that she couldn't feel it.

"Hey, just because I can't feel that doesn't mean you can carry on buster."

He stopped because she asked him to and because Lily rolled into the room.

"You could have waited for me, Davey," she pouted.

"It's alright, honey." Maura gave her a gently smile. "We were waiting for you." The ME grabbed a dining chair and pulled it up to where Jane was sat with Davey. She waved Lily over. "You want to come sit with me while we do this?" Lily nodded and let Maura pull her over.

They sat there, the four of them. Maura took the envelope and pulled out the papers inside. She flicked through the top few sheets and pulled out one in particular and hand it to Jane who used her wrist to make her fingers grip the corner.

The detective moved it in front of Davey so he could see it.

"Is this it?"

"Yeah," Jane gave him a dimpled smile and again kissed the top of his head. "See here? This says 'Certificate of Adoption' for, can you read what this says?" She pointed at the next words with her left index finger, the only one that would straighten properly.

Davey looked and nodded. "It says my name."

"Then it's dated and signed. This is the stamp from the State of Massachusetts."

"Does this mean I belong to you now?"

He could feel Jane's husky laugh through their contact as he lay against her chest looking at the certificate.

"You don't belong to us, you belong with us. This is the official document that says we are a family forever now."

He nodded and wriggled around so he was kneeling up against her and wrapped his arms around her neck, squeezing really tightly. "I love you, Ma."

"I love you too, Davey."

He kept his arms in place but relaxed a little as Lily read her certificate too. She pointed out the words and sounded out each one. When she was done, Lily looked up at Maura. "I want to call you Mom. Is it okay to call you Mom? I would really like it if you do"

Maura teared up instantly. The kids had decided ages ago what they were going to call Jane, but so far they had just called Maura by her name. She had thought it was because of the abandonment by their birth mother; neither child wanted to call them mommy. Mother was too formal and Maura herself felt that just didn't suit her even though that was how she referred to Constance. She didn't mind really, or at least that's what she thought until Lily had suggested Mom.

"I'd like that a lot," Maura nodded and wrapped the little girl up in her arms then tickled her ribs so she giggled and squirmed.

"Tag team swap," Jane nudged Davey down to the floor in stages and let Maura deposit Lily in her lap so she could give her daughter a hug too.

Davey climbed up to Maura then and gave her a huge kiss on the cheek and wrapped his arms around her neck.

"Can we have a party, Mom?" He asked her as if he was asking for the world.

"I think that's a great idea, Davey. We will have a Rizzolli-Isles adoption party. Who do you want to invite?"

"I want Grandma Angela, Uncle Frankie, Uncle Tommy and TJ, Uncle Vince and Uncle Barry." He paused and then carried on some more. "I want to have all my friends at school and Lily can ask her friends too. Oh and Matilda from three doors down and her mom because she gave me a brownie this week and….." he wrinkled his nose. "I can't think a no more." He held his arms out and shrugged.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Their guests hadn't arrived yet, but there was an additional couple of frames on the wall of the gym. Maura's degree and doctorate were beautifully framed on one side and Jane's Police academy graduation and the bravery awards on the other. In the centre sat the new ones, with Davey and Lily's adoption certificates in them. They had been hung up that day so that each of their guests could be escorted in by the kids to see that they were officially a family at last.

"You know I was thinking," Maura mused looking at them.

"I can hear the cogs grinding," Jane teased only to receive a little punch on the shoulder from her wife. She pulled a face.

"I'm being serious. I think that Isles-Rizzoli or Rizzoli-Isles is a mouthful."

"Maybe we shouldn't have gotten married after all. You know I didn't think about that when I proposed, if only I had…."

"Stop teasing when I am trying to be serious."

"Okay, I'm sorry." Jane's face pretended to take the conversation seriously.

"I think I would just like us all to be Rizzoli. I will take your name and then there is no stupid double-barrelled hyphenated nonsense for the children."

Jane's brows shot up. "Really?"

"Yes, I would be very proud to be a Rizzoli."

"You say that, but we're just a bunch of rowdy Italian-American, blue collar loudmouths and you're from New England royalty. Wouldn't you be happier if they had your name?"

"No Jane, I wouldn't. I am very grateful to my parents for letting me have their name and the benefits that came with it, but at my core, I am just as blue collar as you, maybe more so. I'm the daughter of an Irish mob man, at least your parents were hard-working and honest."

"I think you might be overlooking my father and the business with the IRS," Jane countered.

"You know what I mean. I will still have to keep Isles professionally, but I would like us to be a proper family and I think it would be nice if we changed our names to yours. It's a noble name and in this city it means a lot."

Jane glanced up at her wife. "I think that might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said about my family."

"Get used to it. I think it gives our kids something to aspire to, upholding the good name of Rizzoli."

"I love you, like heaps. You know that right?"

"Of course and the feeling is mutual." Maura dropped into her wife's empty lap. It wasn't often free anymore as there was usually a small child in situ these days. "I love you too."

They shared a long kiss and Maura dropped her head on Jane's shoulder when they were done and just breathed. "I feel strange."

"Really? Am I that bony these days? Something poking you I don't know about?"

"I don't mean physically, I mean emotionally."

"Oh, right. How so?"

"I feel something I have never really felt my whole life before."

"What is that?" Jane had an idea. Maura had always known she was adopted and had been sent to boarding school early on in life. It hadn't been an easy childhood and it was only in recent years that she had really developed the social skills she should have had at a much younger age.

"I feel like I belong somewhere. I feel grounded. At home."

Jane nodded. "I know. And for what it's worth, for someone so physically incomplete these days, I feel whole now. I feel like the pieces of me that were missing have been replaced with something else and I have you to thank for it."

"Me? What did I do?"

"You said yes, that day over looking the sea. The anniversary of the shooting. You could have run a mile when I got shot, you cold have thought it was all too much hassle and I wasn't worth it, but instead you stayed and then you said yes."

Maura nodded thoughtfully. "Some life altering decisions are easy. Saying yes to you was the easiest decision I ever made in my life."

They looked at each other for a moment longer and then kissed again, staying close until the kids arrived in their Sunday best making fun of them kissing.

"I guess we ought to make a start," Maura stood up and held out her hand.

Jane opened her fingers as best she could and took a hold. "Lead the way. Let's get this party started."

The End