A/N - Found this short little one-shot wandering around on my hard-drive. I modified it slightly for clarity. Takes place after "Orange Colored Sky", the last installment in my Boston series. Despite the rating, this story is light on anything of M-rating material so feel free to read at work or in public venues. Hope you like.

I Remember

A one-shot set in the Boston series universe

"Remind me."

Luxuriating in the warm, sweat stained sheets of their shared bed, Jane Rizzoli raised an eyebrow before turning weakly toward Maura Isles' exhausted body.

"You're kidding me."

Maura playfully kicked the taller woman in the fleshy part of her calf, ignoring the resulting pout from her lover.

"That hurt."

"I know. That's why I did it, smartass," Maura said, beaming with a tired grin. "So remind me. Remind me of our first time."

Jane frowned. "You don't remember it?"

With a devious smirk, Maura motioned toward the bright green light of the baby monitor sitting on the small desk next to the bed. "Having a baby with the love of your life will do that to a girl."

After a long pause, Jane released a heavy sigh. "Don't laugh when I tell it this time."

"Of course, honey." Maura made a zipping motion with her fingers against her lip. For further assurance, she locked and threw away the key in a childish manner.

Jane shook her tangled loose curls before closing her eyes in thought. "Well, it all started with that stupid game of Scrabble we played in my old apartment…"

-/-/- Flashback -/-/-

For once in Jane's life, everything was blissfully perfect. The whole mess with Elias had been taken care of in her favor and she had finally managed to finish up her mandatory rehabilitation for the bullet wound acquired from the siege at BPD. All that remained was the final therapy sessions and Uckey Sluckey could officially sign his name on all of the papers so she could get back to her desk.

But having Maura in her arms after all of the emotional angst from the last couple of months made all of that pale in comparison.

They had decided to try and make this attraction between them work. Feeling such a strong sensation for another woman was a first for Jane but she knew that whatever the complex emotions she felt for the blonde were 100% real.

Out of respect for the changing roles developing in their relationship, Maura had happily taken things slow, not wanting to force the issue of bringing physicality to the table. She knew Jane was still struggling with understanding the shift from friendship to love. It was a lot to take in.

It had been nearly three months since they had made the unspoken decision to keep things above the belt for the time being. But, after patient and careful steps, Jane was finally, completely, and absolutely ready to move to the next hurdle. Literally overnight, a switch was flipped in her head, demanding the detective to touch and be touched in kind by her accepting best friend.

She won't refuse me… All of these desires in my soul, the adoration I feel for this woman building, coiling, bubbling into – dare I say it so early? – love, will be met by Maura's kind and accepting smile.

As Maura looked up at the brunette with questioning eyes, her body waited for Jane's words. "Are you sure?"

"No…I can't say I'm sure of anything anymore, to be honest."

"We can wait. There's no rush, Jane."

Jane shook her head vehemently, loose chocolate curls tickling Maura's nose with the smell of cinnamon and something distinctly unique to the detective. "But I can't, Maura. I…I can't wait anymore or I think my heart will explode out of my chest. I need," she choked up suddenly, her face surprised at the level of emotion she had managed to let herself feel, "to touch you, make you…make you all mine."

"Ditto," Maura growled, her hazel eyes focused on Jane's rapidly darkening pupils.

A long pause covered the two women as they lay in wait upon the hardwood floor of Jane's apartment, the Scrabble game long forgotten. Despite the rapidly cooling air seeping from the air-conditioning unit and the waning sunlight peeking in from the open blinds, their attention was focused exclusively on each other, all else failing to matter to the passionate women.

Maura licked her lips in excitement. "Jane…what's the hold up?"

"Well…I'm waiting."

"Waiting for what? The sun to rise anew from the horizon? We'll have to sit here for a while before that can happen."

"Aren't you gonna drop another fun factoid at me before we do this? Something about arousal levels and dopamine's stimulant properties?"

Maura giggled. "There's not enough words in the universe to describe how much I want you to want me. For once in my life, I'm not going to use science as a wall to hide behind my true feelings for you. I want to make you mine just as much as you want to do the same with me. We've waited far too long."

"I want you too," Jane said before her face contorted into a bashful expression," but do you think you could take the lead with this?"

"With…us making love for the first time?"

Jane nodded, blushing in embarrassment. "I… I've never done it with another woman. Not to say that you have or anything but…you're so open about all of this. I don't know what to do, how to make you feel as good as I want you to. You probably know more about…the techniques we can do with each other than I do. God knows I don't want to get it wrong on our first try. You might decide that this was a mistake and break up with me."

With a loud draw of breath, Maura started to laugh in amusement. Each guffaw brought shivers through the woman's frame, leaving her breathless, unable to do much other than shudder compulsively. Jane could do little but frown at the blonde.

"Well isn't that great? Thanks for laughing at me, Maura. I really appreciate it. My confidence has jumped tremendously with that display of sympathy," Jane said, sarcasm dripping from each syllable.

"Oh, Jane, don't pout. I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at how remarkably sincere you look about wanting to please me for our first time together." Maura lifted a hand up to caress the smooth olive skin covering Jane's chiseled facial features. "It's been a long time since anyone has ever treated me with such…delicacy."

Jane frowned. "Delicacy."

"Yes, delicacy."

"Which is code for you think I'm acting stupid. You think I'm a virginal schoolboy who doesn't know much about sex."

"The only thing I think is stupid is why we're both still clothed and on the floor when we could be in your warm, albeit slightly dirty, bed exploring each other in the way we've been dreaming about for far too long."

Jane narrowed her eyebrows with an amused smirk. "Yeah…you might be right about that one."

Maura stood up as Jane moved to allow her girlfriend to move. With a smile, she extended her hand toward the brunette, warmth and love seeping from every pore.

"Will you do the pleasure of spending the night with me, Jane?"

"Yes," Jane said, taking Maura's proffered hand. "I'd love to spend the night with you. But you know what I'd love even more?"

"Enlighten me."

"To spend every waking moment with you until the day I die."

Crossing her arms across Jane's neck, Maura lifted her bare feet to whisper against her lips, "What a romantic."

-/-/- End Flashback -/-/-

Jane yawned, glad to be finishing the story from their past. "At least you didn't laugh this time. I know it was kinda corny, but I was really feeling the moment. It just felt right at the time, don't you think?"

A quiet snore rose up from the sheets in reply.

"Maura?" Jane asked, rolling over to see her girlfriend passed out with a small line of drool seeping out of her mouth. The detective shook her head, ignoring the adorable mess of sun-kissed locks splayed out on the pillow. "Seriously? And I'm the one you call a pretty man in really convincing drag? What kinda woman falls asleep in the middle of a conversation? Especially when you asked me to tell the story in the first place…"

"I love you so much, Jane," Maura mumbled in her sleep.

Jane chuckled before lowering back into the covers to snuggle with her beautiful lover. "And I love you more, Maura. Even though you manage to kill my sanity like nothing else."

Unexpectedly, the sound of the baby gurgling in his sleep brought Jane's attention to the baby monitor on the dresser. "And I love you too, Bart."