"Who said anything about marriage?" Frank opened the door with Joe in tow. "What did I miss?" he asked as Maura shook her head rapidly in a failed attempt at winning his silence.

"Oh, you know, the usual." The younger Rizzoli crossed the room to stand beside Maura. "Ma's being nosy, insisting I give her grandchildren, and Maura is embarrassing me in a justified manner. So, how was your walk, Pop?"

"Not as exciting as your talk, thank God," he hung the leash up and kissed his wife on the cheek. "You going to be okay, Ang?"

"I don't know." She leaned against her husband. "None of this is how I thought it was going to be, and… I don't know. I told the girls we'd talk about it more at gnocchi night."

"Yeah?" Frank gave his daughter a look full of meaning, "Sounds like a plan to me. Maybe Maura'll bring that cake you like so much?" He looked over to the smaller woman, asking with his eyes for her to respond.

"I'd be delighted to be responsible for desserts. Perhaps that could be our regular contribution to the meal." Maura responded with alacrity and effulgence. "Any cake you like, and maybe some cannoli?" Yes, because that's just what the world needed: Jane's parents and brother watching her girlfriend eat cannoli. Perfect.

The next work day was tense and busy, as was the day after that. In fact, the rest of the week was a whirlwind of paperwork and court appearances. It didn't slow down until gnocchi night, which went swimmingly. Apparently Angela had spent all week at the library, learning all about "the gays," and regaled the family with information about lesbians, homophobia, the Stonewall riots, bisexuality, and other topics which she found fascinating and everyone else found either embarrassing or old hat.

Still, it was her way of coming to grips with something she had never thought she'd have to understand, and so they all let her rattle on. Frank actually looked interested now and again, and Maura at least enjoyed watching Angela process what she was discovering, so Frankie and Jane dealt with it. They tuned out over the food (except when Maura was eating cannoli, at which time Frankie and Jane both tended to pay attention and offer more, until Jane noticed that Frankie was doing it, and took the cannoli plate away), then went to watch the game while the parents and Maura discussed social theory.

Mid-morning Monday, Maura wound up in the homicide division bullpen with three folders in hand. Inter-office mail could have delivered the autopsy results from the previous week's work, but she'd come to enjoy coming upstairs, even when Jane wasn't actually there. Barry and Vince were really very nice men, and they clearly cared about the partner they were still learning to share. They also asked questions she found interesting and entertaining to discuss. She was responding to one just at the moment. "Actually, you probably wouldn't really enjoy a threesome," she was telling Barry as she handed him one of the three files in her hand. "It sounds interesting, I'll grant you, but I doubt it would be much fun in practice. Everyone assumes they'd be the one in the middle, and sure, they would be for a while, but it only makes logical sense that logistically, someone would always be feeling left out at all times. I don't think I'd enjoy it, either."

"And, I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that."

"It wasn't an invitation, Jane," Maura protested, trotting up to greet her lover. "Barry was discussing the idea, not making a suggestion."

Jane walked over to Frost's desk where Maura was standing with the folders in her hand. "I'm guessing these are the test results for the Schumann case. So, I'll just take them, and go back over to my little corner where I can pretend no one has sex, or, if they do, they don't talk about it in public." Jane made to grab the folders from Maura's hand and make a hasty retreat to her desk.

Maura pouted, but surrendered the folders only after hanging on for an extra second or two. "Fine," she said, making the most of those seconds, "but I'm taking you out for a respectable lunch in two hours, so don't load up on pastries at the break table."

"You can take my freedom, but you can never take about my maple glazed!" Jane gave a defiant look to the doctor as she took a bite of the doughnut hat had been sitting on her desk. After swallowing, she stuck her tongue out. "You can't stop me." She moved to take another bite.

Instead, Maura put her hand right over the sticky pastry and pushed it away from Jane's open mouth, which she then also claimed. At least a full minute passed before she sat back, pastry smooshed between the two women's hands. "Let go of it right now, and I'll let you lick the frosting off my fingers in the elevator," she murmured…

…almost quietly enough that Korsak didn't hear. He started grinning from ear to ear. "That's hot," he said over Barry, who was back at his desk and deciding aloud that he loved his job.

Maura stood up and deposited the sinful sweet into the garbage can, leaving her hand sticky with maple glaze. "Coming, Jane?"

Jane jumped up from her chair, nearly knocking it over. Giving a quick glance to the other two detectives, she pointed to Maura and said, "Do I even need to say it?" She didn't bother to wait for the response, quickly catching up with the medical examiner.

"Noooo," Barry stated definitively, serious as he could be. "All yours."

Best. Elevator. Ride. Ever.