Hi guys! Here's the epilogue.

You must think I'm the lousiest writer ever, but let's just say Mia here is trying to get into college and last monts have been very busy. But now it's vacations and I have a lot of fics planned.

Hope you guys like this last part ;)

The characters belong to Janet Tamaro, Tess Geritsen and TNT.

….

"Mommy… Mommy-y!" A small head showed up from behind the couch.

"What, sweetie?" Maura asked, looking up from all the cake tools.

"Lion King is over. Can I watch again?"

"It's almost time for bed, honey. Why don't you go play a bit before you go to sleep?"

"OK!" She replied, and two tiny feet in pink slippers sprinted across the living room.

"Jeez, how does that kid have so much energy in the end of the day?" Jane mumbled, covering her face with her hands. "Sounds so like you." Maura narrowed her eyes at her. "She's also starting to do that! You have to stop giving those kind of examples to my niece!"

"Well, and you could start helping me in your niece's cake." Maura said, a bit exasperated.

"Hey, is that a small hint of bad mood I'm detecting?"

"It's just this fondant that keeps sticking to the surface!"

"Too bad my mother's neighbor had to die."

"She already made the cake, I couldn't ask her for more. But this freaking fondant…" The ME huffed, frustrated. "The black is touching the yellow and it's staining it!"

"Can I do something? I'm not very handy…"

"No, it's fine. Just stay to make sure I don't send this to-" Caroline stormed into the kitchen. "Baby!"

"Is my cake ready, mommy?"

"Not yet, sweetie."

"When is it ready?"

"Tomorrow you can see it. What about you go brush your teeth now and then you go to bed?"

"I really have to?" Caroline clung into her mother's leg and gave her her best pleading look, with her beautiful green eyes matching her mother's shining.

"Yes, you do, young lady." She answered, flashing her a smile and stroking her daughter's dark blonde curls with the hand that wasn't covered in sugar. "You have to look all fresh and new tomorrow. Go brush your teeth."

"OK." Caroline went to the bathroom.

"If this cake turns out… " She made sure Caroline wasn't listening and mouthed "…crap, she'll be so disappointed."

"Well, she may not react that badly if her Minnie looks like a bear. She may even-"

A sound of a foot tapping in the wooden floor caught their attention and they both turned their heads to see a toddler tapping her foot, arms crossed over her chest and looking at them with a naughty look. "I need toothpaste, mommy."

"Can you go there, Jane? She can't put the toothpaste in her toothbrush."

"Yeah, I got it. Run, CJ, run!" Jane yelled, storming out of the kitchen, looking so much like the kid.

"Careful in the bathroom!" Maura warned from the kitchen.

They returned a few moments later, making a racket out of the bathroom, as usual.

"All clean?" Maura asked, and Caroline showed off her teeth. "Ready to bed, then?"

"Can I watch you do the cake? Just for a little time?"

"Hum… I think you can…" The girl put her arms up, waiting to be picked up, and Maura placed her in the counter. "Careful not to get sugar on your jammies."

"You made the Minnie ears already?"

"I haven't made them yet, baby. I'm just cutting these Minnie shapes."

"You can't use that one, there's black on it." Caroline said, pointing at one piece of Minnie shaped fondant. "And that one is all twisted."

"Oh, oh, another pointdexter perfectionist in the Isles family! Who'd have guessed?" Jane mocked, earning a sarcastic narrow of eyes from Maura.

"What is a poinfester?" The ME couldn't help but laugh. "What?"

"It means you're just like your mommy." Jane decided to give her the shorter version. The girl gave her a smile from ear to ear. Everybody knew it was the best thing they could tell Caroline: that she looked like her mother. After a few moments of Caroline watching Maura cut the fondant, exhaustion took over in the three year old and she couldn't contain a yawn. "A yawn! A yawn was spotted, Dr. Isles!"

"Are you sure, detective Rizzoli?" Maura said, taking a look at Caroline.

"Another one!"

"Aunt Janie…" The girl whined, but her eyes were apparently heavier.

"Let's put you to bed, sweetie." Maura washed her hands in the sink and picked the little girl up, placing her on her hip. She snuggled into her mother's embrace and placed her head in the blonde's shoulder. "Give aunt Janie a kiss of goodnight."

"G'nigh, aunt Janie." Caroline mumbled, with sleepy eyes, and gave a kiss to Jane.

"Bye, sweetie."

Caroline's eyes were almost closed, but she kept clung into her mother's neck and playing idly with her curls. "Sleepy, my love?" Maura asked in a low tone of voice, kissing the top of her head.

"Yes-sss" The girl said in a slurred voice.

Maura took her to her room and deposited her in her bed, in the middle of her pink sheets. "Do you want to hear a story?"

"Hum-hum…" Caroline answered, her head already in the pillow and her eyes closed.

Maura chose a book from the shelf near the bed, but when she turned back to her daughter's bed, the girl was already fast asleep. The honey blonde kissed the top of her head and tucked her in the bed. "Goodnight, baby." She left the door ajar and returned to the kitchen.

"Is the princess asleep?"

"Yes. She didn't even stay up for the story."

"So, now that she is in bed: you can still call some bakery and ask them with super urgency for a cake. You show up with it in the school tomorrow and she doesn't dream you didn't make it."

"No."

"Maura, she's not even four, it's not like she'll notice or remember."

"No, Jane." Maura shook her head vehemently. "I'm not going to do that. I will work this out, even I have to stay awake all night!"

"But Maura-"

"Don't, Jane. My mother always bought me everything: I had the most awesome cakes for my birthdays, but she never made a single one of them. I wouldn't have minded if my cake wasn't all elaborated, I would have been completely satisfied if only my mother made my cake for once…"

"You're saying that now, Maur, now that you're a grown up. You probably didn't think that way when you were a kid."

"I did, Jane, I did! I just wanted her to take a while to do something for me. And now that I have Caroline, I learned it wouldn't have been that hard for my mother to take a moment or two to spend with me. I don't want to be the kind of parent she was…"

"You're not, Maur…" Jane assured her with a kind expression.

"That's why I'm doing this cake!" Maura declared, in an usual way for her, which meant that discussion was over.

Jane decided not to push it forward, and changed the subject. "So, she mentioned something about Minnie ears. How're you going to do that?"

"With cereal treats."

"Like that guy that has a bakery and a show?" Maura looked at her surprised. "What? I watch TV. Sometimes…"

"Well, it's something like that baker would do, but I'll make my own cereal treats."

"OK, anything I can start doing?"

"Actually, yes. You can go get the marshmallows and start putting it on the microwave."

"Got it." Jane said, jumping off her seat and heading to Maura's pantry. "Oh wait, what about… You're taking the cake to the school. So what about at night?"

"I've got to make two." Maura answered in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Two? Two cakes? Two completely alike cakes?"

"Yes."

"I don't who's crazier, you or that four year old."

While Jane was immersed in immensity of Maura's pantry, her phone started vibrating on the kitchen. "Jane, phone!"

"Pray it's not work!" The detective said, getting her phone. "Rizzoli! ... Yeah, where? Got it. OK." She hung up. "Maur, it's an homicide…"

"It's fine, you should go. They probably call me but I'll have to decline."

"Are you sure you'll be fine on your own?"

"Yes, I'll manage, don't worry. Go."

"OK. We talk tomorrow."

"Goodbye."

After Jane left, closing the door really quietly to make sure she didn't wake Caroline up, Maura decided she really had to get down to work if she wanted to see her bed that night. But it was when she grabbed a piece of fondant and it tear apart that she realized This is going to be a long night.

…..

A sleepless night and two cakes later, Maura felt like her eyelids had never been heavier. But at least she was proud of her achievements: two Minnie cakes, with Minnie shaped ears and all. She dragged herself to Caroline's room, wishing to lay down at the fluffiness of her daughter's bed. She laid her head down at the pillow, smelling the baby scent of her girl's curls. She kissed the top of her head, admiring the beautiful view of her baby sleeping. Caroline stirred in her sleep and sleepily opened her green eyes.

"Good morning, baby." Maura whispered, kissing her forehead.

"Why are you in my bed, mommy?" The girl asked slowly, clumsily rubbing her eyes.

"Happy birthday, honey. Who turns four today?"

"I do!" Caroline exclaimed, with her still sleepy voice. "I get presents?"

"You do." Maura said, getting up with the girl in her arms, while she tried to hold on into her mother's torso with her tiny legs. "But first we'll have breakfast. What do you think mommy made you for breakfast?"

With her forehead touching her mother's, Caroline smiled in a way that, even if Maura hadn't made her favorite breakfast, she'll do it in a blink. "…Waffies…?" The honey blonde nodded, waiting for her to guess the rest. "Jelly…?" The mother shook her head, and the child's eyes opened wide and she mumbled "Chocolate…?"

"Yes." Maura said, and almost choke with the tiny arms that entangled her neck.

"Awegsome, mommy! What about my cake, mommy? You made it, can I see it?" Caroline asked excited.

"No, you can't see it yet, baby."

"Why not, mommy? I'm so curious!" The girl pouted, when her mother placed her on her chair.

"Because it's a surprise! You have to be patient. Now let's eat so I can get your present." She winked at her daughter, placing a plate of waffles and chocolate and a mug of milk in front of each of them. "So, your friends in school know your birthday is today?"

"Yes, I told them! And Miss Lena told everyone today I'm the princess!" The girl happily announced with her face covered in chocolate.

"That was nice of her."

"She does that to everyone. I like Miss Lena. I'll get her a big piece of cake. My cake is what, mommy?"

"Chocolate. Nana Angela made it."

"Great!" She said, licking the chocolate in her fingers. "I'm done. I get my present now?" She asked, in such an innocent, adorable way that melted Maura.

"You can. I'll go get it. But you wait here, I don't want you spoiling the surprise."

"OK!" The girl assured, sitting still at her seat, watching her mother head to her bedroom. She returned a few moments later, holding a pink and silver gift.

"That's for you, baby. Happy birthday." She kissed her daughter in the cheek.

The girl clapped her hands in excitement and grabbed the gift, eagerly opening it. "Minnie!" She exclaimed, holding a white shirt with a red Minnie bow, a red cardigan with black dots and the cutest par of Converse All Star ever seen: Chuck Taylor model, low top, red, with black laces with white dots and Minnie ears shaped in Swarovski crystals. It had been a nightmare for Maura to find such customized shoes, but she'd managed. "I love them, mommy! They're the best!" Caroline said, jumping on her chair. "I want to wear this to school!"

"We have to find you some pants, but of course, baby." Maura said smiling. She knew Minnie products would delight her little princess.

"Thank you, mommy, thank you, thank you!" Caroline repeated, holding into her mother's neck.

…..

"Happy birthday, mommy." Jane said, when they met in the lobby that morning.

"Good morning, Jane." Maura greeted her, truly drooling.

"How's the birthday girl? I planned on passing by your house this morning, but I didn't wake up on time."

"Oh, she's beaming!" Maura said, showing Jane a picture on her phone of Caroline in her Minnie clothes, with a huge smile.

"Awww, she's so adorable!" Jane said, and took a look at her obviously delighted friend. "And how did the cake go?" Maura looked for another photo on phone and showed it to the detective. "Maura, this is awesome!"

"It's not perfectly executed, but it was the-"

"Maura, knock it off, this is absolutely awesome! How did you do this?"

"Well… She was very precise on what she wanted, so it wasn't very hard to accomplish…"

"It wasn't very hard? Maura, those are freaking Minnie ears shaped in cereal treats! And you made two of them!" Maura smiled modestly. "You had any sleep?"

"No. I couldn't. When I finished the second cake, it was already 6 am, and when I finished cleaning up all the mess in the kitchen, it was time to wake her up."

"And how are you going to hold out today, during the whole day?"

"With coffee." She flashed Jane her dimpled smile, reminding so much of her daughter.

….

Maura entered her daughter's school, after she had left work around 3 pm. She precariously held the cake in her hands, while crossing the colorful halls in her extremely high stilettos, so not looking like a mother. She found the door of her daughter's classroom, where there were pictures of all the kids in the class, including her smiley, dark blonde, hazel eyed baby. She couldn't help but smile at the vision, and took a look inside the room, finding her girl in red cardigan and jeans wrapped up in a game with her friends.

She knocked in the door and precariously opened the door. "Can I?"

"Good afternoon, Miss Isles." Lena greeted her.

Hearing her mother's voice, Caroline's head shoot up. "Mommy!" She exclaimed, and crossed the room in a blink, stopping right in front of her mother and staring amazed at her cake. "Mommy, you made the cake awegsome!" Her eyes shined and she clung to her mother's leg. Maura put down the cake and kissed her in the cheek.

"Folks, gather here. Miss Isles is here with the birthday cake for our dear Caroline! Let's all sing her happy birthday. Honey, here's your crown." Lena put a crown in Caroline's curly hair, with some difficulties, because the girl just couldn't hold still.

All the kids sat around the table, while Caroline took the main seat in front of the cake, and Lena lightened up the four candles, while Maura stood in the other side of the table, taking some pictures, admiring the big smile on her girl's face.

….

Ding dong.

"Honey, come open the door. It must be Nana Angela." Maura called from the kitchen.

The girl quickly ran to the door and opened it to reveal an Angela with a big smile and her arms full of bags. "Happy birthday, my darling!" She dropped all the bags and picked the girl up, hugging her tightly.

"Nana, please!" The girl giggled, squeezed in her grandmother's arms. "I can't breathe!"

Angela loosened her hug on the girl. "Oh, I can't believe you're already 4, honey!"

"See my shoes, Nana!" Caroline showed off her new shoes to her grandmother. "Mommy gave them to me! I love them!"

"They're adorable, honey." Angela replied, changing a smile with Maura.

"And see the T-shirt! And the cartingan! It makes me look like Minnie!"

"You make an awesome Minnie, baby. So, you wanna know what I brought you?"

"Yes, yes!" She jumped excited after her grandmother put her down.

"Caroline…" Maura softly said from behind the kitchen counter.

"Ok, mommy. Yes, please, Nana." The girl said in a total adorable way.

Angela handed the girl a bag and a wrapped gift. "Seriously, Angela, two gifts? You really lost your mind!" Maura said.

"Oh, honey, anything for my only granddaughter!"

Caroline excitedly opened the first gift. "Mommy, a Barbie! A Barbie with a baby, mommy!" She ran to her mother. "Now my Barbies can have babies."

"Thank Nana Angela for it." Maura said, smiling at her daughter's excitement with babies.

"Thanks, Nana!" She put the Barbie aside and grabbed the other present. "A dress, mommy! It's purple!"

"You like it?"

"I love purple!" She said, and turned to her mother. "Can I wear this dress tonight?"

"Yes… You have that one or the one Nana Constance sent you."

The girl wrinkled her nose at her grandmother's choice, and both of the adults in the room had to contain a chuckle. "That one is too… puffy, mommy. Can I wear this one instead?"

"Yes, you can, baby." Caroline smiled largely. "But go put it on your room for now so it doesn't get dirty. I'll go help you dress up when it's almost time." The girl did as ordered and headed to her room. "The dress my mother sent her is just… misappropriate ." She said, suddenly surprised at herself that she managed to express her true opinion about something concerning her mother. Angela smiled comprehensively, knowing Constance fancy choices. "You can't imagine. It's red velvet, with lace…! It's… just so not for a child. I mean, I don't know if she had realized that I, gladly, don't take my kid to the kind of places she took me." She took a deep breath, regretting a bit letting all that out.

Angela patted her arm gently. "Some things are what they are. So, what can I help you with? Is everything ready?"

"No." Maura huffed, overwhelmed. "I still have so much more to do and it feels like not even a pair of extra hands will be enough."

"Calm down. My hands are worth two pairs." The ME couldn't help but smile. "And Jane is probably almost arriving."

Jane arrived half an hour later, bringing a huge wrapped up box. "Where's that little birthday munchkin?"

"Aunt Janie is here, Caroline!"

The girl stormed into the living room. "Hi! Is that for me?"

"No, I think it's for that little boy that lives down the street and is always sticking his finger up on his nose!" The detective mocked, placing the big box on the girl's arms. "Open it!"

The girl shook the box. "Legos! Is it the big house?"

"I'm afraid not, CJ, those were sold out everywhere."

Caroline eagerly opened the box. "Ah, mommy, see, it's the vet!"

"You like it, then?"

"Yes! Can I open it now, mommy?"

"Actually, honey, I think we should get you dressed, it's almost on time. And we don't want people arriving and you not being ready, right?"

"Yes! I'll go to my room now!" The girl exclaimed, printing back to her room.

"Geez, you have to stop giving that kid LSD for breakfast!" Jane mocked at Maura, and she playfully slapped the detective's arm. "So, what can I do?"

"Well, mini pizzas are in the oven, your mother is frying the things up, you can take care of those savories. Just let me-"

"Mooooommmy, I already have my clothes off!" Caroline yelled from her room.

Maura rolled over her eyes and headed to her daughter's room. "I'm going, Caroline."

"See how Maura meticulously prepared all this." Angela said to Jane, handing her a small Minnie shaped cookie. "And check those little cupcakes with small Minnie ears. Seriously, I don't know how that girl has this much patience for all these things."

"And specially time. She has actually been looking pretty tired all week, but I never realized it was because of this."

A few minutes later, Maura returned to the kitchen. "Meet the birthday girl!" And Caroline stepped into the room, in her new purple dress, with matching ballerinas and a little purple butterfly claw clip hidden in her blonde curls. Both Jane and Angela let out "awww" of pure redemption. "Isn't my baby adorable?" She asked, picking up her girl and hugging her tightly.

"Mommy, the dress will get wrinkles!" Caroline giggled and squirmed in her mother's arms.

Maura kissed her cheek and put her down. "Try not to get it dirty, baby."

Soon, people started arriving. Maura hadn't invited too much people: the family, some people from work, including Cavanaugh and Suzie, who brought an adorable mini lab coat for Caroline, Caroline's kindergarten teacher and the girl's best friends, Sarah and Noah, along with their parents. She was throwing a party for the kids on the Saturday afternoon, but she wanted Caroline to have someone to play with that night.

"Mommy, Frankie isn't here yet." Caroline came tell her mother, a bit of sadness on her eyes.

"Don't worry, baby, he'll get here soon."

A few minutes later, the door bell rang again, and Angela went to open. "Frankie, honey."

And in the moment the birthday girl heard his name, she sprinted trough all the guests in the living room and jumped straight into his arms. "Fraaankie!"

"Hey kiddo!" He exclaimed, picking her up. "I heard there was a little girl turning four in this house. Any idea who might that be?"

"It's me, silly." She giggled. "You got me a present?"

"Of course I did." He said, walking to the kitchen. He sat the girl in one of the stools and placed a big box on her hands. "I hope you like it." While the girl was busy unwrapping up the present, he walked over to Maura. "Happy birthday to the mommy, too." He said, kissing her on the cheek.

She warmly smiled at him. "Thank you, I-" But Caroline's shriek stopped her.

"Moooooommmy! It's the big house! Legos! The big house!"

"I suppose I nailed it." Frankie joked.

"Are you kidding me? She doesn't talk about anything else. I've tried to buy it everywhere but it was all sold out. How could you get it?"

"Well, being a detective has its pros."

"Hey, I'm a detective for longer than you and I didn't get it!"

"You probably didn't spend a night waiting outside a store."

"You did that?" Maura asked, astonished.

Frankie blushed slightly. "Anything for my niece."

"For your niece… Yeah right." Jane mocked, with a sarcastic face.

Both Maura and Frankie blushed heavily, and the ME quickly mumbled. "Can I get you something to drink, Frankie?"

"N-No, no, thank you. I'll just… there… Frost." Red as a tomato, he managed to leave the woman aisle rather quickly. And, in her corner, between sips of her beer, Jane just kept laughing sarcastically at Maura's reddened face.

The evening went on, with everyone happily enjoying the small party and spoiling the birthday girl, who nicely hung around like a real socialite.

"Mommy." She said, seeking refuge from the confusion of the party in her mother's arms.

"Huuum, what is it, honey?" She said, picking the girl up.

"Nothing…" Caroline said, putting her head on her mother's shoulder.

"Oh, the baby is tired?" Angela said, caressing the girl's blonde curls.

"Maybe we should think about singing happy birthday, she might be getting sleepy."

"Yes, you're probably right. I'll-"

The doorbell interrupted Maura. "Are you expecting someone else?" Angela asked.

"No. I'll check." She said, passing Caroline to Jane's arms. "See if you can liven her up."

She wasn't expecting the person in the other side of the door. "Dad?!"

"Hi, my darling." Jonathan Isles greeted his daughter.

"Oh my god!" She hugged him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I have a meeting in a couple of days here in Boston, so I thought why would I miss my granddaughter's birthday. And where is she?"

"Granpa!" Caroline jumped off Jane's arms.

"Hey, darling. Happy birthday." He said, picking her up. He was much warmer than his wife and his calm personality had enchanted Caroline since she was born. "I have here a present for you." He handed her a pink box, and turned to Maura. "It's not much, because this wasn't planned, but I couldn't come with my hands empty."

"It's fine, father." Maura said, giving him a reassuringly smile. "What is it, honey?"

"A sicksaw puzzle! With the Disney princesses! And it's pink and purple!"

"You like it?" Her grandfather asked.

"Yes! You know, mommy and I make sicksaw puzzles very times."

"I bet you do. You know, me and mommy also made a lot of jigsaw puzzles, didn't we, Maura?"

"Yes, we did." Maura agreed, with a smile. "So, should we sing happy birthday to this young lady?"

The second brilliant cake of the day appeared and received several "Oh"'s and "Aw"'s from everyone, praising Maura's abilities for cake design.

Jane got the camera, the candles were lighten on, the lights lighten off, and everyone sang Caroline happy birthday. The look on her face while her family and her friends sang her happy birthday was priceless, and Maura's heart melted with joy, and tears appeared in her eyes. And when everyone starting clapping and whistling, even before she started blowing off the candles, Caroline turned her face to her mother and smiled, her shining eyes matching the candles, a smile that could make the whole world go right. A single tear of happiness rolled over Maura's face and she knew this was where she belonged.

Never gonna be alone

A Maryana Snape story

This is it, guys. The end.

It was a pleasure to write this story. I'll keep on waiting that our dear Maura will eventually have a baby :) I know I left some loose ends and stuff in the air, but more stories will come, not sequels, but with this kind of thoughts.

I actually had a sequel of drabbles in mind, no idea if you guys would like that.

Like I said, more fics will come. Are there Tate fans out there? Huddy fans? Calzona fans? I have enough for everybody! I promise I won't take as much time as I did in this one.

Anyway, I hope to see you guys soon ;)

Don't forget to review! Final opinions!