January 1 - New Year's Day

"So did my mother throw things out the window again last night?"

It was an Italian superstition to throw old pots, pans, clothes, appliances, and in some cases even furniture out the window on New Year's Eve. The activity symbolized the idea of letting go of past unhappiness to prepare for the future. Jane's father had adamantly refused to allow his wife to throw "perfectly good things" out the window when they had been together, seeing it as nothing more than a waste of money. Now that she was on her own, though, Angela had fully embraced the custom.

"As a matter of fact, she did," Maura replied, a trace of laughter in her voice. She and Jane were currently sitting side by side at the counter that separated the detective's kitchen from her living room, drinking wine and finishing up a dinner that had been prepared by the aforementioned Italian matriarch. "Which was almost very unfortunate for me. I completely forgot she would be doing that, and I almost tripped over a pan that was lying on the ground when I got home last night."

"I don't know why you keep letting her do it," Jane said, half exasperated, half embarrassed by her mother's behavior. "Just tell her to stop and she'll stop. She didn't do it while she was living with my father."

"Yes, that's true, and look how lucky that turned out to be," Maura said pointedly.

Jane's eyebrows shot up. "Sarcasm on the first day of the year, Dr. Isles? I'm impressed."

Maura chuckled softly. "I'll admit that it's a bit of an inconvenience, but it's her home. I can't tell her that she can't do something if it's important to her."

"Of course you can," Jane scoffed. "You're her landlord."

"It's a tradition, Jane."

"It's a tradition to put you at risk of breaking your neck tripping over the crap she throws out the window?" Jane asked.

The medical examiner sighed and shook her head. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Alright, fine. I'll tell her not to do it next year."

"No you won't."

"Yes, I will. Maura, it's just a ridiculous superstition."

"'A ridiculous superstition'? You mean like eating cotechino con lenticchie on New Year's Day?"

Jane looked down at her plate. Cotechino con lenticchie, or pork sausage with lentils, was a traditional Italian meal served on New Year's Day. Eating the dish was supposed to bring good fortune and wealth in the upcoming year. For as long as she could remember, Jane had eaten her mother's cotechino con lenticchie as her primary New Year's Day meal. And while she didn't really believe it would bring her wealth and good luck, she also didn't see any reason to risk not eating it either.

Jane lifted her head to see Maura smirking at her. "No, this is a delicious superstition," she replied, before taking another bite. She tried to keep her features neutral, but despite her best efforts, a smile began to appear on her face. "There's a difference."

"Of course there is," Maura replied solemnly. The medical examiner studied her own plate. "Well at least the lentils are good for you, but the fatty sausage–"

"So what time did you get home last night?" Jane asked, deliberately changing the subject.

Maura looked up at the detective. Jane's expression was one of complete innocence, but the medical examiner knew her friend far too well to be fooled. Deciding it wasn't worth arguing about Jane's eating habits while she was enjoying a special dinner that her mother had cooked for her, Maura ate the last bite of her meal, set her fork down, and used her napkin to dab at her mouth. "About one o'clock," she replied.

"Really?" Jane asked, not bothering to hide her surprise. "You were home by one o'clock? Obviously I was right about the party. It couldn't have been that great if you were home so early."

Maura had attended an annual New Year's Eve charity event thrown by the Isles Foundation the night before. Every year for the past four years, Maura had invited Jane to attend with her as her guest, and every year for the past four years, Jane had declined. The detective had made it clear that she had no interest in attending a formal event where she would feel uncomfortable and out of place, when she could instead spend the evening at home in comfortable clothes.

"Actually it was wonderful. The music, the dancing, the food. You should have come with me. You would have had fun."

"Right, and which part would have been fun?" Jane asked sardonically. "The music I don't like, the dancing I don't do, or the tiny weird food I can't stand to eat?"

"The company you enjoy?" Maura asked meaningfully, her left eyebrow rising a fraction.

Jane sighed contritely. She knew Maura had really wanted her to go with her to the party, and that fact had almost been enough to convince the detective to go. The memory of five years ago when she had attended the party, however, was still clear enough in her mind to prevent her from doing so.

The Isles Foundation New Year's Eve party was one of the most prestigious events of the winter season, and was attended by the crème de la crème of Boston society. As hostess of the event, Maura had been required to spend her time mingling with the members of Boston's wealthy elite, every single one of whom seemed to have been intent on having a long, drawn out conversation with her. As a result, Jane had barely seen Maura the entire night. Instead, she had found herself talking to people she didn't know while pretending to be interested in things she wasn't interested in. On the one occasion she had been asked to dance, she had tripped her partner and nearly sent them both crashing to the floor. She had never felt more like an uncultured, graceless clod in her entire life, and she had no intention of putting herself through that again when there was no reason for her to do so.

"The company would have been enjoyable," Jane agreed, somewhat chastened. "But as hostess, the company had duties to attend to that would have made it impossible for her to spend more than a few minutes of time with me anyway. I'm sure there were plenty of fascinating people there to keep you occupied."

Maura nodded her head slightly. "As a matter of fact, I did meet one interesting gentleman: Gerald Ayers. He's an environmental lawyer for the state."

And that was the other part of the Isles Foundation charity event that Jane had hated: the part where she had been forced to watch every single man in the place drool over her friend like she was a piece of meat. It would have been one thing, Jane supposed, if the men fawning over Maura had been doing so because they had seen for themselves just how incredible her friend was. But they didn't see the kind, thoughtful, intelligent person behind the beautiful face, the perfect body, and the expensive clothes. No, all they saw was the beautiful face, the perfect body, and the expensive clothes, and perhaps more important, the ticket to instantly increasing their own social status amongst Boston's elite. Watching her friend gliding effortlessly across the dance floor with pretentious suitor after pretentious suitor, each more shallow and less deserving of the amazing gift that was Maura Isles than the last, had been nearly more than Jane could bear. And that had been five years ago; now, Jane knew, it would be far worse.

Five years ago, Jane had not yet realized that she was attracted to women.

But things had changed over the last five years, and slowly but surely, Jane had begun to accept that she was just as interested in women as men, if not more so. Nine months ago, she had finally found the courage to go out on her first date with a woman. Since then, she had dated a handful of other women and only had one date with a man. Jane had kept this change in her dating habits private, and none of her friends, coworkers, or family members had any idea that she had begun to see women. It wasn't that Jane was ashamed of what she was doing, but she wanted the chance to figure out her feelings for herself, before she invited everyone else to weigh in on her life.

The one thing that Jane did know for certain was that, regardless of the label that she or others might ultimately choose to attach to her, she was most definitely attracted to the beauty and grace of the female form. And as far as Jane was concerned, there was no more perfect example of the female form than Dr. Maura Isles. Because of this, Jane couldn't help but be drawn to the charming medical examiner. There were even times, crazy times admittedly, but times nevertheless when Jane considered revealing her attraction to women in general, and Maura in particular, to her friend. However, even though she didn't believe that the medical examiner would be upset by the revelation, for a variety of reasons, Jane had remained silent. First and foremost, she had chosen to keep her feelings to herself because, although she was reasonably confident about how Maura would react, she wasn't absolutely certain. The last thing Jane wanted to do was to in any way risk or even put a strain on her friendship with the medical examiner. The second issue was that, as far as Jane knew, Maura wasn't interested in women and only dated men. Of course, all of Jane's friends and family would say the same thing about the detective. That fact notwithstanding, though, Jane had no concrete evidence that Maura could be attracted to any woman, let alone to her.

Unfortunately, even if the medical examiner was interested in women as well as men, as far as Jane was concerned, Maura was so far out of her league that it was ridiculous to even consider such a match. Maura was like a starting pitcher on the Boston Red Sox, while Jane was just some poor schlub toiling in Single-A ball. Still, there were moments, especially when they were alone together like they were now, that Jane allowed herself to wonder what it might be like to date someone like Maura Isles.

Knowing that no good could come from such thoughts, Jane did what she always did and pushed them aside and focused on the conversation she was having with her friend. "If he was so interesting, why were you home by one o'clock?"

"I had a very early conference call this morning with a professor of forensics sciences at Cambridge. I didn't want to stay out too late."

"Wow, that sounds like a great way to start off the new year," Jane said.

Maura shrugged matter-of-factly. "I've had worse. Besides, after the call was over, I had a nice breakfast with Tommy and then went for a short run."

Jane immediately scowled at the mention of her youngest brother. Tommy was as bad if not worse around Maura than any of the men at the damn charity event. Between the lecherous looks and the pathetic come-ons, Jane had lost count of the number of times that she had had to restrain herself from punching him in the face over his lack of proper respect for the medical examiner. "What was Tommy doing at your house first thing in the morning?"

Maura took a sip of her wine before answering. "He came over to get the things your mother threw out the window last night. She sent him over so that my first visitor of the new year–"

"Would be a tall, dark-haired man," Jane finished, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"You forgot good-looking," Maura teased, "But yes."

The detective made an involuntary face in response to Maura's comment about her brother being good-looking, before shaking her head at her mother's actions. "God she's unbelievable sometimes," Jane muttered. It was another one of Angela's superstitions. The first person to enter someone's home after the stroke of midnight would determine the kind of year that they would have. For good luck, the "first footer" was supposed to be tall, dark-haired, good-looking, and most definitely male. Sending Tommy over to Maura's house in the morning, though, was going too far. Jane was definitely going to talk to her mother about it the next time she saw her.

The detective stood up and picked up their empty plates and then took them over to the sink to rinse, before placing them in the dishwasher. "Too bad things didn't go better with Mr. Environmental Lawyer. He could have been your first visitor."

"Oh that wouldn't have worked at all," Maura replied.

Jane turned around and leaned back against the sink. "Why not? Wasn't he good-looking enough?"

"Devastatingly handsome actually, but he's blond."

Jane gasped and placed her hand over her heart. "The horror!"

Maura laughed. "He had a friend at the party. If you'd come with me–"

"I would have been bored, uncomfortable, and miserable, and I probably would have made you miserable too." Jane straightened up and walked over to the fridge to get a beer. A part of her had hoped that Maura would say that the lawyer was not attractive, but deep down, Jane knew that had been unlikely. After all, Maura was drop dead gorgeous, so it was only logical that anyone who caught her eye would be ridiculously good-looking as well. Jane opened up her beer and took a drink. "Trust me. I was much happier here, drinking beer, eating pizza, and watching TV in an old t-shirt and sweatpants."

Maura watched as Jane took another drink. "And red underwear?" she asked, a twinkle in her eye.

Jane nearly choked. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed, as she wiped beer off of her chin. "Please tell me that she did not buy you underwear for New Year's Eve!"

Maura laughed, enjoying Jane's discomfort. "No, of course she didn't. She just made sure that I knew the importance of wearing red underwear on New Year's Eve to ensure good luck in the coming year. I take it from your question, though, that she bought underwear for you."

"Boundaries woman!" Jane exclaimed. The last thing she had any intention of discussing with Maura were the details regarding her underwear. Such a discussion would inevitably lead to discussing Maura's undergarment situation, and that was definitely not a conversation that Jane was prepared to have. "God, you're as bad as my mother."

Maura regarded her friend with amusement, as she took another sip of her wine. "So," she said, resting her chin on her hand. "Did you make any New Year's resolutions?"

Jane snorted. "No, why would I do that?"

Maura tilted her head slightly to the side. "About half of Americans make New Year's resolutions each year in an attempt to make changes in their lives."

"So you're saying I need to change who I am?" Jane asked, feigning a look of hurt. "And here I thought you liked me for who I was."

Maura arched an eyebrow at her friend's attempt to bait her. "What I'm saying is that everyone has room for improvement in their lives. For example, you could resolve to eat better."

"Oh I think we both know that won't happen," Jane said. "On the other hand, you could resolve to bug me less about eating better."

"Oh I think we both know that won't happen," Maura replied wryly.

Jane took a long pull from her beer and then frowned slightly. "What's the point of making New Year's resolutions anyway? No one ever actually keeps them."

"That's not true," Maura said. "Approximately ten percent of people are successful in achieving their resolutions each year."

"Wow. Ten percent?" Jane asked, her voice laced with sarcasm. "Well sign me up then. I'll be a better, more fulfilled human being in no time. In the meantime, though, I think I'll just watch a movie. You want to stay and watch with me?"

"I assume you're planning on watching Die Hard?"

"Of course, it's New Year's Day."

"That movie doesn't take place on New Year's Day. It takes place on Christmas."

Jane walked over to her DVDs and began searching through them. It took her only a few moments to find the one she wanted. "That's not the point. It's a tradition to watch my favorite movie on the first day of the year."

Maura watched Jane put the DVD into the player and then pick up the remote. "Tradition, or superstition?"

Jane turned to face her friend before responding. "Tradition," she said emphatically.

"So it wouldn't be 'bad luck' for you not to watch it?" Maura teased.

"Only for you, because I'll be grumpy if I don't watch it."

"Well I certainly wouldn't want to ever experience 'grumpy Jane,' Maura said with a smirk. She rose to her feet and walked over to sit down on the couch. "But I get to pick the movie next time."

"Fine," Jane agreed, as she moved to sit beside Maura. She waited impatiently for the DVD to cycle through the opening "commercials" and disclaimers, until finally the first menu appeared. Just as she was about to hit play, however, Maura reached out and placed her hand over the remote.

"Wait."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just had an idea. Studies show that setting specific small goals is better than just planning to generally become better at life."

Jane groaned and shook her head. "Seriously, Maura? The resolution thing again?"

"Hear me out. How about if we agree that in each month of 2015, we'll both learn something new and eat something new–"

"Fine," Jane interrupted, ready to agree to almost anything if it meant she could watch her movie. "For January I'll learn a new way to play solitaire and I'll eat deep fried bacon. I've always wanted to try deep fried bacon." She aimed the remote at the player and hit play.

Maura sighed in frustration. "I wasn't finished." The medical examiner waited a few moments for Jane to look at her, but the detective pointedly ignored her friend and kept her attention focused on the TV. "Jane," she said warningly, after several seconds had passed.

"After the movie," Jane said, waving the hand that was holding the remote at the blonde dismissively.

Maura reached out and snatched the remote from Jane's grasp and hit pause. "I wasn't finished."

Jane slowly turned to face her friend, an incredulous look on her face. "Give me the remote."

"No."

"Maura," Jane half growled. "Give me the remote."

The medical examiner's left eyebrow arched defiantly. "No," she said slowly and deliberately. She shifted slightly away from the detective and placed the hand holding the remote behind her back. "Not until you let me finish."

Jane knew that the sensible thing would be to simply allow Maura to say whatever it was that she wanted to say, get the remote back, and then watch the movie in peace. The challenge she could see in Maura's eyes, however sparked a need inside Jane to meet that challenge head on. "Last chance," she said, holding out her hand. "Give me the remote."

Maura lifted her chin slightly, obviously daring Jane to make her move. "Not until you let me finish," she repeated, carefully enunciating each word.

Jane leaned closer, her eyes never leaving her friend's. "One."

A slow smile began to play at the corners of Maura's lips.

"Two," Jane warned, her voice lowering to a deep rumble. Her body tensed as she prepared to launch her attack.

"Listen to my proposal, or I will point out the huge plot hole in Die Hard," Maura said calmly.

Jane immediately froze. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

Jane clenched her jaw in frustration. She hated giving in to anyone for any reason, but the last thing she wanted was for Maura to ruin her favorite movie by pointing out something that Jane had never noticed about it. After all, she hadn't been able to watch The Karate Kid ever since a puzzled Maura had asked how Ralph Macchio had won the tournament using a kick to the face, when they had said over and over during the tournament that kicks to the face were illegal.

"I just have to listen?" Jane ground out through her teeth.

"Yes."

With a muttered oath, Jane sat back and impatiently gestured at her friend to speak. "Alright, finish what you wanted to say."

Maura tried to hide her triumphant grin, but she was only partially successful in doing so. "I propose that each month, we agree to learn something new and eat something new, but I'll pick what you have to learn and eat, and you pick what I have to learn and eat."

"That's it? Nothing else?"

"That's it," Maura agreed.

Jane held her hand out expectantly. When Maura placed the remote in her grasp, Jane turned so that she was once again facing the TV. "Absolutely not," she said, as she hit play to start the movie.

Maura stared at her friend for a moment. "Why not?"

"Because I don't want to," Jane replied petulantly.

Maura shook her head and reached for the remote, but Jane quickly extended her arm to hold it beyond the medical examiner's reach.

"Jane–"

"The agreement was that I would listen, not that I would do it."

"Jane."

The detective closed her eyes briefly when she heard Maura use her caring, gentle tone of voice that Jane was powerless to resist, and then hit the pause button. Jane sighed and turned to face her friend. "Give me one reason why I should agree to do that."

"Because it would be good for you, for both of us, to try new things," Maura replied without hesitation.

"And do you have peer-reviewed papers to back up that hypothesis?" Jane asked, her eyes wide and earnest.

"As a matter of fact, I do. If you'd like I could bring them to work tomorrow…and you don't actually care about the papers, do you?" Maura finished ruefully.

"No, I really don't," Jane replied, running a hand through her hair in mild frustration. "How about this…you've been after me for years to take a real vacation, so why don't we go somewhere together for a week this summer, and that can be our new thing to do?"

"We can do that too."

"No, not 'too'…instead. We could do that instead," Jane urged. "Maura, I like my life. Why should I make any changes? I'm perfectly content."

The medical examiner studied her friend thoughtfully. "Content?" she finally asked. "Is that really what you're looking for out of life, Jane? Just to be content?"

The words were softly spoken, but there was something about the way that Maura had said them that made Jane suddenly realize that it was a question that at some point, she was going to have to answer at least for herself. She had been drifting through her life for a long time now, and that fact hadn't really bothered her. But maybe it was time that she figured out what she really wanted out of life and go after it.

"I don't know," Jane said at last. "I guess I haven't really thought about it."

Maura shifted closer to her friend and placed her hand on the detective's knee. "Please Jane? Say you'll give this a try."

Jane looked over at the blonde, a resigned expression on her face. "So the reason for doing this is what exactly?"

Maura smiled. "To get us out of our comfort zones."

"Our 'comfort zones'?"

Maura nodded. "Yes, comfort zones. Situations where a person feels comfortable, secure, and in control."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Jane said with a slightly nervous laugh.

"There are certainly some benefits to operating within your comfort zone, and truthfully, I usually prefer to stay well within mine," Maura confessed. "But the fact is that comfort zones create mental boundaries that can lead to an unsupported sense of security. From time to time, it's a good idea to step outside of them. Sometimes, taking chances is the only way to get what you want out of life."

Jane's brow furrowed, as she looked at her friend. "And what is it you want out of life, Maura?"

The medical examiner shook her head. "Honestly, I don't know either. But I do know that I want more than just to be 'content'."

"And you somehow think learning new skills and trying new foods is going to help us to change our lives for the better?" Jane asked skeptically.

"Making changes in your life is never easy, Jane, but you have to start somewhere. This seems like as good a place as any to start."

The detective lowered her head and considered her options. Almost immediately, she realized that she had none. Maura had been able to get her to do ridiculous things that no one else possibly could for years. This wasn't going to be any different. God help her; she was already whipped and the two of them weren't even actually involved.

Jane shook her head and exhaled heavily. "Wow, I am really going to regret this," she muttered.

A slow smile began to appear on Maura's face. "So you'll do it?"

"I'll do it," Jane agreed, "But only on three conditions."

"Ok, what are your conditions?"

"First, if either of us doesn't learn what we're supposed to learn, or eat what we're supposed to eat, then the deal's off."

Maura crossed her arms and looked at her friend suspiciously. "And what's going to keep you from just refusing to eat the first thing I pick for you so that you can get out of the deal?"

Jane grinned. "You actually think I'm going to let you beat me at this?"

Maura laughed, acknowledging the truth behind Jane's question. The detective was far too competitive to simply give up and allow Maura to win by default. "Alright. What's the second condition?"

"I'll eat regular healthy food that is served in regular people's restaurants and in regular people's homes, but I'm not eating bugs and snails and other weird, slimy things."

"Actually, although snail meat is quite healthy, escargot itself is generally prepared in such a way as to add a considerable amount of cholesterol and fat to the dish. But I understand what you mean," Maura continued hastily, seeing Jane about to deliver an eyeroll of epic proportions, "And I agree. Fish, fruits, grains, vegetables, and fungus only."

"Fungus?" Jane demanded.

"Mushrooms are fungus and they are not weird or slimy."

"Alright, mushrooms," Jane agreed grudgingly. "But no other 'fungus'."

"And the third condition?"

"You promise that you will never, ever, tell me the plot hole in Die Hard."

Maura grinned. "I promise."

"All right, then," Jane said, sighing slightly in defeat. "I'll do it."

Even as she verbally agreed, however, Jane found herself mentally groaning at the entire idea. She reminded herself, though, that they were only talking about once a month. Besides, she could surely break Maura before this went on for too long. All she had to do was pick completely pointless things for Maura to learn, and greasy, fatty, sugar-laden things for her to eat. The cerebral, health-conscious medical examiner would be desperate to call the resolution off in no time. To that end, Jane racked her brain for a suitably idiotic skill to assign to her friend to learn. After several seconds, the perfect choice came to her. "Pen spinning."

"What?" Maura asked, confused by the detective's non sequitur.

"Pen spinning. That's the skill I want you to learn this month."

"What on Earth is 'pen spinning'?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," Jane said. "Spinning a pen around your fingers. Look it up and learn five different tricks."

Maura nodded, accepting the challenge. "Alright. I want you to learn to speak Italian."

"I can't learn a foreign language in a month," the detective protested.

"I understand that. Learn four phrases that would be useful while on vacation and then one more phrase of your choice."

Jane's eyes narrowed. "Vacation? It was either vacation or the resolution, not both."

"I thought it was both," Maura replied, "But in any case, I'm not planning on taking you to Italy this year. It's always good to start preparing for the future, though."

Jane considered Maura's choice. Learning to speak five phrases in Italian wouldn't actually be all that hard. Although her parents had rarely spoken Italian, her grandparents had immigrated to the United States from Italy when they were young, and Jane had heard the language spoken frequently when she was a child. "The fifth phrase can be anything I want?"

"Yes, but you're going to have to tell me what you're saying, so I'd appreciate it if it wasn't completely obscene."

Jane grinned at her friend. "Alright, I'll learn to speak some Italian. What do I have to eat?"

"A spinach salad."

"Oh come on Maura. I hate spinach."

"It won't be that bad. I know a place that makes a spinach salad you'll love."

"Careful Maura," Jane grumbled. "You don't want to give yourself hives."

"I'm not lying. We'll go there for lunch next week."

Jane grimaced, but nodded her head in acceptance. From what she vaguely recalled, spinach salad usually involved hard boiled eggs, bits of bacon, and sometimes bacon dressing. She'd be able to eat one small spinach salad. "Fine, and for your special January meal, I want you to eat a fried bologna sandwich."

"A what?"

"Don't worry," Jane said, fighting back a smirk at the thought of Maura's reaction when she had her first bite of the fried bologna goodness. "I'll explain what it is when I make it for you." She knew full well that Maura would look up the sandwich on the internet when she got home and would be dreading the thought of eating it the moment she saw it. 'We may not even make it to February with this stupid resolution.'

Knowing that she had no alternative but to go along with Jane's choice, Maura nodded. "A fried bologna sandwich it is." She extended her hand to Jane to complete the deal.

Jane hesitated for a moment. "So do you really want to go on vacation together?"

"Of course."

Jane considered the idea for a few moments. She knew if she protested, Maura would probably agree to drop the issue and would never bring it up again. After all, the medical examiner had already gotten Jane to agree to the resolution. If Jane were honest with herself, though, she'd have to admit that the idea of spending a vacation somewhere with Maura actually did sound like a great idea. "Alright," she said at last.

Decision made, Jane took Maura's hand in her own and shook it briefly. When Maura tried to release the detective's hand, however, Jane held on. "You're not taking me anywhere for vacation."

"I don't understand. You just agreed to go on vacation with me."

"I agreed that I will take vacation time, and that I will go someplace with you. But you are not taking me on vacation. We'll go someplace that I can afford."

"Jane–"

"No, Maura, I mean it," Jane said, cutting the other woman off before she could voice any protest. "You want us to get out of our comfort zones, fine. But letting you pay for me to go on some extravagant vacation that costs more than I make in six months is too much. I could never be…well I could never be comfortable with something like that."

Maura smiled her acceptance. "Alright. We'll come up with someplace that we can both agree on that is within your budget. Is it a deal?"

"It's a deal."