Hello! I didn't ditch the story- just ran out of steam. I got it back though with this new season premiere and all! I hope you all enjoy! Thanks for those returning, and if there are any newbies, hi! And I hope you like it!

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Maura Isles rolled over, eager to feel the warmth which Jane usually radiated in the night, but was disappointed to find an empty, cool space. Confused, and quite put out, the rotund woman launched herself out of her blankets by the springs of the mattress to her feet. "Jane?" she called sleepily, yawning as she waddled toward the bedroom door. She only peeked into the powder room, but knew she wasn't there. The detective didn't spend nearly as much time a slave to her bladder as her girlfriend did, and Maura was actually jealous of that.

"I'm not on the potty, peeing beauty," Jane teased, shouting over her shoulder while she poured milk into a bowl. "I wanted cereal."

The M.E. raised her tired brow, "At three in the morning?" she asked groggily.

The dark haired lady shot her a fiery look, "Don't lie to me by saying you don't want a bowl," Jane retorted, sliding an already chock full dish of cheerios brimming with milk. "It's that skim crap they're floating in. I knew you'd be out of bed," she added mischievously.

Maura smiled in spite of the exhaustion rattling her state of mind, and headed for the silverware drawer, but Jane stopped her quickly, "Teaspoon," she stated without explanation, holding it up to her partner.

"You know me too well," Maura replied, taking the eating utensil from her.

"I have no idea how you eat with that," Jane pointed with her tablespoon. "If there was some sort of mega spoon that could successfully scoop this whole bowl's worth of cereal into my mouth I would have probably invested in it before I got pregnant."

The doctor pulled a chair across the tile, which made a normally gut wrenching sound to her, but due to the hour, and the weak will of her obsessiveness for the household being in tip top shape, she simply plopped down. "I've always eaten cereal with a teaspoon. When I was young, breakfast was always so rushed, and I would consume my meal so quickly I'd make myself ill for the day. To remedy that, my mother began giving me a teaspoon for my morning oatmeal because it forced me to take smaller bites," she finished the sentence, triumphantly taking a meager munch to prove her point. Her eyes danced as she watched Jane comprehend it all.

Jane only shrugged, "I still think you're weird," she joked childishly, slurping at the milk from the rim of her bowl. "What kind of half-assed breakfast was that? Oatmeal? Ma always used to get up and cook eggs, toast, and bacon. If she didn't feel like cooking we got fed bagels, or muffins she made the night before."

"Oatmeal is a good source of fiber," Maura chewed and swallowed. "I think it's a healthier alternative to the cholesterol packed foods your mother was feeding you." She let the spoon float in her milk. "Big breakfasts like that were usually a weekend thing at my house, almost like a reward for waking up early on Sunday to get your chores done."

"Chores?" Jane repeated with a snort. "Our only chore was to scratch some answers down on our homework, and get outside. Ma did the cleaning and stuff."

The Medical Examiner eyed the woman beside her, "Do you mean our kids are going to expect us to do all of the boring everyday tasks while they play in a sprinkler?" she wondered intensely, struggling to find examples.

"Let's talk about this some other time," Jane countered moving the last few cheerios around in her milk. "I don't want to argue."

"We won't argue," Maura promised, "But this is a serious issue. We have to agree how things are going to work if we want to seem united as parental units. If we do the same things our parents did, we'll only raise entitled…brats!" Maura finished, quite worked up about the conversation already.

The other rotund lady swiped her hair to her side, "Are you saying we're entitled little brats, Maur?"

"We can't raise two kids two different ways, it just isn't efficient!" she answered flustered, nearly breaking her promise. She was now completely unaware of the cereal, and Jane was even disinterested by the crumbs she was usually ravenous to eat. "Not efficient at all," she whispered exasperatedly.

Jane balled up a napkin in her fist, "Can't we just wait until the kids are actually out, before we begin brawling about parenting strategies! Geez, Maura, you've been reading too many of those books lately!"

Maura held her head in her hands, "It's a topic that we very much need to learn and discuss… soon!" she grumbled, hopping to her feet and making her way down the hall to leave Jane alone to cool down, but before she could realize it her feet were carrying her back to the kitchen. "I'm taking care of the dishes, and then I am going back to sleep," Maura scolded, knowing she wouldn't be finding slumber again tonight, as she was now wide awake and wanting to clean.

"Fine," the Detective pouted, "I'll be in the dining room."

With her body seeming all out of proportion, it was an awkward sight to watch her walk away, wobbling left then right, she disappeared through the doorway, where Maura only heard her shove the chair across the rug. Pouting, the cop fooled with her midnight snack for a few more minutes, until she was completely sure the last dish was in the strainer, and the sounds of her partner's footsteps were well off toward the other end of the house. Jane Rizzoli poured the contents of her bowl down the drain, huffing as she began wiping away the cereal crumbs and rinsing them poorly.

Jane dried her hands on her pajama pants, and made her way into the living room, where she grabbed a throw blanket. She laid on the sofa, upset, and ready for sleep, but it didn't come. Around four in the morning, in the haze of exhaustion she had started fiddling with the strings of her pants, and that led to playing with the bubbles rising to the surface of her belly. She perused around the area of each little nudge, tickling herself, mistakenly causing giggles to escape her mouth. "Why aren't you asleep, kid?" she whispered hoarsely. "Did Momma and I upset you?" she went on groggily, "because, we may not have it together just yet, but I promise we will by the time you and your brother get here."

Slowly, as she chatted away with the baby in her womb, her eyelids grew heavier, and she couldn't feel the warm eyes upon her, watching guiltily from the shadows as Jane finally fell asleep.

It was well into the afternoon when Angela poked her head in the door, "Girls!" she called, grinning, "I've brought my grandbabies some goodies!" She piled a few shopping bags on top of the shoe rack, excitedly slipping out of her flats.

She was met with "shushing" from Maura. "Jane is asleep," she stated quietly, greeting Dame Rizzoli. "It was a long night."

Angela's brow furrowed, "Is everything okay?" she questioned worriedly. "I don't need to talk to her do I, Maura?"

The doctor smiled meekly, "I'm willing to take full responsibility for the events of this morning," she replied sipping at her herbal tea. "I became wound up and let myself down."

"That's going to happen now and then Maur," the old hat soothed, "You and Janie are going to be together for a long time, and no relationship is perfect. And babies… well, they don't make things easier," she admitted truthfully.

Maura looked down where her feet should be, but her view was obstructed by the mound in her middle, "You'll be here to help, though," she quavered, making eye contact with Angela, "Right?"

She smiled warmly. "You couldn't chase me away, sweetie," she held Maura's shoulders, planting a kiss on her forehead. "Don't you think for one minute that you and Janie can't do this, because I know for a fact, you can."

"We can?" she whimpered, "Facts cannot be established until there is physical evidence of such," Maura rattled off steadying her tea, while the woman kept her in an embrace.

Angela giggled, "I'm a mother, Maura, I know these things," she assured.

From the couch there was stirring, "God, Ma, you gotta be so loud?" Jane complained, struggling to sit up, throwing the blanket from her body in a sweaty bunch.

"Oh Janie, shush," she scolded, "Get out of your jammies, and I'll make us lunch and show you the goodies I got!"

Jane rolled her eyes, wiping her brow as she stretched. "Good afternoon, Jane," Maura tried brightly, receiving a scowl in return. She approached her slowly, "Listen," she began, "I'm really sorry about this morning. You're right. It's not something we need to be worrying about just yet, and I'll clear my bookshelf of Doctor Spock, okay?"

The detective sighed, "You better be serious about the book thing, Maura," Jane pointed to the piles on the shelves.

"Books are no way to learn how to raise a baby," Angela chimed in, sticking with Jane on the subject, "It's an experience thing," she directed toward the caramel blonde.

Maura nodded apprehensively, "Fine," she said. "The books are gone by tomorrow- but, there's one stipulation," she added promptly.

"And what's that?" Jane inquired. "Because I'll do just about do anything."

"Don't ever spend the night on the couch again," Doctor Isles pleaded, "I can't sleep without you, any more."

Jane smiled in spite of herself, "I guess that's fair," she replied rubbing her side.

Angela had grown semi-comfortable with their relationship, but as the two came closer together, she interrupted, "Now that- that's all settled," she boomed, "Janie go get day clothes on- preferably that cute outfit I picked up for you a couple of days ago." She playfully smacked her daughter with a wooden spoon from the container on the island to shoo her into the bedroom.

The two younger ladies looked at each other with a slight grin.

When Jane emerged, wearing a purple top which clashed greatly with her personality, and a pair of elasticated slacks her embarrassment was overrode by the joy in her mother's expression and Maura's unbreakable gaze. "That's a good color on you," she choked, waving her hand around in attempts to cool herself down during this hormonal burst.

"Well isn't this just precious?" Angela stated giddily, putting her hands on Jane's belly, and then quickly making way to the bags on the shoe rack. "Now let's look at the outfits I bought today! Blues and greens for Baby Isles, Neutral for Baby Rizzoli!" she added excitedly.

The next few moments consisted of the seasoned mother spewing advice and holding up onesies, and little socks, while trying to convince her daughter to find out the gender of her grandchild. Jane was standing firm on her decision to keep it a secret, as they already knew of one and that was overwhelming enough. Although it was selfish, Jane hoped hers was a girl, so the names they had picked out for girls, prior to finding out they were to have a son, was one of the ones she could go with. It would make everything easier in this already overly long process.

Angela Rizzoli wasn't quick to leave, but when she did, the two ladies found it difficult to be so far apart. Unlike high school, they didn't have to be at arm's length. "I'm sorry babe," Jane sighed guiltily, after a few second of excruciating silence. "I should be more open to talking about all of this but-

"You're scared," Maura Isles finished. "I don't need my advanced medical degree to understand that, Jane," she said calmly, brushing the dark haired lady's cheek with her thumb. "Cops are allowed to experience fear, contrary to popular belief."

"It's not because I'm a cop, Maur," she rocketed back, "It's because I never pictured myself as a mother. I never in my whole life sat back and once imagined having to care for a tinier human being and liking it!" she admitted, arms around her belly.

The doctor's brow rose, "It's a little late to be having second thoughts." She scooted over the tiniest bit to show her discomfort with the subject.

Jane's eyes grew wide, "I want this now," she said quickly, looking down. "This baby is a good thing. It's the best thing, the best of the best," she said truthfully yet nervously. "And I'm lucky- to experience this when not everyone gets to and I'm luckier to get to share this with the people I love…. especially you." The detective gulped, "I guess you're my confidence Maura. I never thought I could raise a kid, until you helped me realize I could."

"Then why are you so afraid?" the woman probed intensely.

Jane bowed her head, "I don't want to let you down," she responded, wringing her hands together. "Just because I can do it, doesn't mean I'll be any good at it." Tears trickled down her cheeks, hopeless, heart-breaking droplets fell from her chin, soaking into her blouse.

Maura Isles' wonderful deep globes grew larger than before, and her expression became quite astonished at her partner's words, "You are going to be an extraordinary mother to our children, Jane Rizzoli! And I can't stand that you'd think otherwise!"

Still her head was bowed, and her tears were falling, "You're not afraid?" Jane wondered shakily, "To make mistakes?"

"We're going to make mistakes, Jane," she replied. "We definitely will. And our kids are going to remember many of them, and when they have children they'll make mistakes and they're children will remember, like we remember our parent's mistakes." Maura cleared her throat as if her own words were scaring her as much as they were Jane. "To err is human."

"For some reason that doesn't make me feel any better," Detective Rizzoli snorted sarcastically.

Maura smiled, "Two and a half more months of doubts, and then we get to begin those experiences your mother was telling us about."

Jane shook her head as she finally looked up to the woman across from her, "I don't want to talk about my mother right now." She hustled to be closer, and as their bellies touched, she planted a firm kiss upon the doctor's surprised lips.

"You're not very good at the 'wooing' aspect of mating," Maura joked in her own way.

"Existential crisis, and the terrifying shadow of impending motherhood doesn't turn you on?" Jane quipped, "Believe me, I'm just getting started," she smirked massaging the caramel blonde's temples until the doctor's eyes fluttered with enjoyment, and she pulled Jane upon her. It was a clumsy scene, working around each other's middles was becoming more and more difficult. But, even though the awkwardness of second trimester sex was deterring, they seemed to find ways around the setbacks of their ever-changing situations.

"I like making up this way," Jane growled affectionately.

"As do I," Maura said hurriedly, "Now take your pants off."

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I can't do a steamy scene justice, so you can use your imaginations for this one! ;) Thanks for reading, and please review and tell me what you think!