A/N Merry Christmas friends. I hope this holiday season finds you all healthy, safe and with family. I was originally going to post this in Sack Lunches, but decided to let it stand alone as its own one shot. R&R :)

Jane gripped the phone in her hand tighter as she listened to her mother guilt her into going to Christmas Eve mass. "Ma. Who's gonna cook the meal if we're all exhausted from mass the night before?" She paused and rolled her eyes at her friend. Maura sat behind her desk, working on paperwork as she listened to the detective talk on the phone.

"Ma, you got Frankie and pop. You don't need me….fine, whatever. Ma, I gotta go."

Slamming the phone shut, Jane took a deep breath and sighed.

"Did you get out of it?"

Jane rolled her eyes, "I think so. She just wants us to cook all night, go to mass and stay up even longer to do more cooking. I only have a couple days off and I'd like to actually catch up on some sleep at some point, ya know?"

Maura nodded, wistfully wishing she could be apart of the Rizzoli christmas. The blonde was dreading her Christmas plans.

"What's your plans for Christmas, Maur?"

Maura sighed. Shutting one folder on her desk and opening the other, she shook her head, "Mother invited me to London for the annual Christmas gala at their home."

Jane's heart fell, "you're gonna be gone for Christmas?"

Maura shrugged, "I didn't have any other plans, I don't usually when on my own." She sounded a little sad.

The brunette, "oh. Gotcha." This was their first Christmas as friends. And Jane was hoping that maybe, just maybe…something more.

Hearing the sadness in her voice, Maura looked up at her friend, "what's wrong Jane?"

Jane shrugged, "I just figured…" she stopped and shook her head, "I was gonna invite you over and see if you wanted to spend Christmas with us."

The doctors stomach dropped and Jane must've seen the look on her face.

"What's?"

Maura sighed, "If I'd have known, I would have said no to my mother."

"Then cancel with your mom, stay here!" Jane smiled

Maura greatly wished she could say yes, if just to keep that bright smile on her best friend's face. But she was already committed to her mother, "I can't, Jane. She's already expecting me on Friday."

"Friday?" Jane's eyes widened, "like the day after tomorrow?"

"Yes, I'm actually trying to finish the last of my paperwork before I leave. Her parties are quite over the top and extravagant. She spends the whole year planning it and figuring out ways to make it bigger than the year before." Maura didn't show any excitement for the party.

"Let me guess, full of stuffed shirts and fancy pants rich people." Jane joked

Maura rolled her eyes, "you have no idea."

Before she could say anything else, Jane's phone rang, signaling an end to their conversation.

Maura stood from her chair and trudged to the door of her parents' apartment rather sullenly. In the four days she had been home, almost every second of every day had been filled with planning and decorating, and giving directions to the hundreds of workers trudging through their expansive home. As she made her way down the hall to the front door, Maura realized she'd not had any coffee yet. It had been a long morning of planning with her mother and it was only nine AM. She was even still in her silk lounging pants and matching shirt. Her robe billowed slightly as she whipped open the door.

"Jane?" She gasped, completely surprised

Jane Rizzoli stood in the hall with a backpack slung on her back, and a large duffle bag over her shoulder, wearing jeans, a hoodie and winter coat and hat. "Merry Christmas!" Jane squealed. She dropped her things and pulled the blonde into a hug

"Jane." Maura said again, still shocked at seeing her best friend in London, she pulled back just to make sure she was seeing straight, "Jane, you're here!" Finally realizing, Maura pulled her friend into another tight hug.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, can I come in first? I stepped in a deep puddle outside the airport and my foot is just about frozen."

Maura pulled her friend in and helped her grab her bags. "Take your shoes off and come sit by the fire!"

Jane dropped her things by the front door and followed her friend into the den where a roaring fire was already going.

Jane slipped her boots and socks off as she spoke, "I couldn't sleep after we talked the other night, so I booked a flight and next thing I know, I'm trying to figure out what the hell I'm gonna pack or even wear. So, if you make me do anything other than something I can wear jeans and a nice sweater to, you're gonna have to take me shopping."

All the while she spoke, Maura watched with rapt attention, trying to figure out if she was dreaming or if Jane was really sitting on the floor of her parents' London home.

"Then when ma found out, she made me promise I'd bring all these presents from home with me. I wasn't sure I'd have room for it all."

"Maura!" Came a voice from the hall

They both turned to see Constance walk in the door, looking down at a clipboard, "Maura darling, why are there suitcases by the front door? They need to be moved so the decorator can get the columns in…oh!" She'd finally looked up to see her daughter sitting with a tall brunette on the floor in front of the fireplace.

The doctor stood quickly and rested a hand on Jane's head, which was almost at her hip, "Mother, this is Jane, remember you two met this last summer at lunch one day."

Jane stood up quickly, rather embarrassed to be caught in this woman's apartment without socks or shoes on. She held out her hand and shook Constance's rather limp hand.

The brunette smiled at the older woman, "It's good to see you again, Mrs. Isles. You have a beautiful home."

Constance gave Jane a better look, barely remembering their lunch together all those months ago. Faded jeans, a grey hoodie, and bare feet.

Jane blushed, "sorry about the bare feet. I stepped in a puddle and my socks were soaked. I'll go put them back on…"

As Jane started to ramble, Constance sighed and turned to Maura, "darling, please move the bags from the foyer and good gracious, get dressed. The day started hours ago. An Isles does not lounge in sleep clothes all day." She left the room with a sigh.

As usual, Maura felt the hypothetical smack across her face as her mother left.

Jane waited for the woman to be out of earshot before speaking, "God. Good thing I'm a Rizzoli, we stay in our pjs all day, sometimes for two days if we're lucky."

Maura chuckled quietly and made her way to follow her mother's directions.

"Come on Jane, I'll show you to my room."

After a full day of decorating with Maura, Jane had been dead on her feet since dinner. After flying all night, she'd been up for close to 30 hours. She collapsed on Maura's bed the moment she could while Maura got ready in the en suite. As she washed her face, Maura thought about the conversation they'd had just the night before.

"Jane." Came an exhausted voice

"Hey Maura, just wanted to call and see how you were. We miss you. And Ma specifically told me to tell you hello and that all your mail is being piled on the island and she is definitely not looking through it." Jane chuckled to herself

Her only response was a deep breath and quiet exhale.

"…Maura? What's wrong?"

"I'm just tired. Mother is getting on my last nerve. And…"

Jane waited a moment, "…and?"

"…I miss you."

It was so quiet, Jane almost didn't hear it. The quiet plea was so heartbreaking, Jane felt a tear threatening, "I miss you too." She whispered and then held in a breath,"you sure there's no way you could come back?"

The blonde smiled gently into the phone, her belly doing somersaults, "no Jane. I'm already here. It would be an insult to my mother to leave."

"Yeah, I know." Jane sighed dejectedly

They sat in silence for a long moment. Maura was lying in bed, and Jane was on her mother's couch as she was keeping an eye on the roast her mother was cooking.

"I better let you go." Jane sighed

"Yes, I do have to be up early tomorrow."

Jane closed her eyes, "Merry Christmas Maur. I'll call you tomorrow?"

Maura smiled with watery eyes, "Merry Christmas Jane. I'll be expecting your call anytime."

Once the phone hung up, Maura turned onto her side and tried her best not to cry, while Jane stared up at the ceiling for all of 30 seconds before she was calling her mother.

Maura stepped into the bedroom and took in the lithe body taking up half the bed as she was spread out. She smiled, her heart still beating fast and hard at the fact Jane had shown up so surprisingly.

She crawled into bed and pulled the covers up close. In her sleep, Jane turned towards the blonde and scooted her head a little closer.

Maura smiled and reached over to push some hair behind her ear. The brunette whimpered softly at the touch and moved closer to the warm hand now resting on her cheek.

Jane took a deep breath and just barely opened her eyes, "I missed you."

Maura's lips widened into a cheek splitting smile, "I'm so glad you're here." She whispered

Jane's lips turned into a small smile, "me too."

The blonde ran her fingers through Jane's hair, "sleep." She whispered

Jane reached out and pulled the blonde into her arms with a sigh.

The next day had been filled with errands and mostly Jane just trying to stay out of the way of decorators and movers. When dinner time came, Jane was able to drag her friend from the penthouse to go out for dinner in town. They laughed and drank lots of wine to unwind during dinner and Jane recounted her overnight travels from the states.

After dessert from Maura's favorite shoppe, they finally headed back home after a couple of cute selfies Jane insisted upon.

It was after eleven and the house was quiet as the pair made their way in, giggling about something Jane said.

They weren't drunk, but there was a nice buzz between both of them.

"Let's go get ready for bed." Jane sighed, trying to contain the giggles

"Oh I'm not ready for bed yet." Maura whined

"Okay, but let's at least change. I wanna put sweat pants on." After changing into comfortable clothes the two made their way back to the den to sit by the fire for awhile.

xxx

Sitting against the headboard of the grand king size bed, Constance Isles ruminated quietly while rubbing lotion into her hands. Arthur Isles slept soundly next to her, glasses falling off his nose as his hands still held the National Geographic magazine in his hands.

Every time Maura had talked about this Jane, she seemed to have stars in her eyes and a permanent smile on her face. It was mildly disconcerting. Not that Jane was a woman, no, that didn't matter to the artist. It was that Jane was a cop, from a middle class family from Boston. She had no name behind her, no money, no formal education. And what if something happened to the woman while working? It was too risky for them to be together.

"Connie…" came the quiet sigh of the man beside her, "sleep."

Hazel eyes turned towards the assumed sleeping man and sighed, "You first."

Arthur snorted and made to sit up and take his glasses off, but the woman pushed him down and slipped them off for him, leaning over his body to set them on the bedside table.

"I can smell the smoke from you overthinking." Arthur opened his eyes and looked up at his wife.

"I'm not sure how I feel about this Jane woman."

"She seems alright to me. Has a strong handshake and seems to be knowledgable about the world around her."

"She has no education, no money, no name. She's not from our world.'

Arthur sat up a little and gave his wife a look, "And what does that have to do with anything?"

Constance sighed, "I have a feeling that Maura is falling for this woman."

"And?"

The woman seemed surprised at her husband, "And? And I don't think they're right for each other. And I don't think she'd be able to support Maura."

Arthur sighed, "When Maura started to show no interest in piano or voice lessons as a child, what did we say?"

Constance tapped her fingers on her leg, "As long as she was happy and healthy, she could do whatever her heart desired."

"And what did we say when she decided to go to that boarding school in Switzerland?

"As long as she was happy and healthy."

"And what did we say when she came out of the closet, bringing her first girlfriend, that Annie, home? Hmm?"

"As long as she was happy and healthy. But Arthur…" Constance whined

"Not buts Connie." she paused a moment and watched her pout slightly, "Think back to this whole week she's been here. She's been quiet, reserved, and even slightly depressed."

Constance didn't respond.

"And think about last night at dinner and this morning at breakfast. She's not stopped smiling, genuinely smiling, Constance. She's happy, and she's healthy. And if this Jane is the cause of it, then let things be."

The older woman took a deep breath and sighed, resigning herself to the fact that her husband was right….again. But she wasn't going to say it out loud. A moment later, she threw off the covers and got out of bed.

"Where are you going?" Arthur called after his wife.

"I need a drink." she breathed, tying the silk ties of her robe around her waist.

She padded down the hallway towards the den, hoping to get a glass of the scotch that Arthur kept by his desk. Before she could get there, soft piano music filtered out in to the hallway from the den, making the older woman stop. She peeked in the slightly open door to see two women sitting at the piano.

Maura, clad in an oversized sweatshirt with the name RIZZOLI on the back under two hockey sticks, leaned her head on Jane's shoulder, "play me something you'd have played as a teenager."

Jane thought a moment, "um, ok. It's been awhile though." She stretched her fingers and started playing something sweet and quiet.

The music was beautiful and sounded like a professional was playing. Constance's heart melted a little at the display of affection Maura was putting out as she laid her head back on Jane's shoulder. Even when her daughter had been dating the Fairfield boy or even her first girlfriend, she had never even held either of their hands. This was something new.

Ducking back quietly, Constance abandoned her mission of getting a drink and left the two to themselves.

The day of the party finally arrived. It was Christmas Eve and the two younger women were out of the town doing some last minute clothes shopping for Jane. She'd not brought any nicer clothes, figuring Maura would help her find something. She tried on over a dozen dresses before they settled on a simple black v-neck dress with a red accent collar and hem. Maura picked her out a pair of heels and Jane borrowed some jewelry as well. The hour before the party started, the whole household was abuzz with waiters and last minute decorators flitting about. Jane sat on the end of Maura's bed while the blonde finished her own hair in the bathroom. The detective was afraid she'd get in the way out there by herself so she waited for her friend.

The party was as grand and liked as Constance would have hoped. Everyone who was anyone was invited and the house was soon full. Once Maura had gotten tired of greeting everyone, she retreated from the main group and went in search of her friend who'd disappeared shortly after they'd emerged from her room.

As she walked down a low lit hallway behind the kitchen, she felt someone grab her arm and pull her into a guest bedroom.

Maura looked around the dimly lit room and saw Jane had grabbed a bottle of champagne, two glasses and had kicked off her shoes. Maura gratefully downed a full glass and was halfway through the second when Jane held out her hand. Maura smirked and took it, and was quickly pulled into Jane's long arms as the taller woman started to sway them back and forth. The music was just loud enough to be heard through the closed door. They soon fell into a quiet reverie as they both relaxed.

"I have a hotel room." Jane whispered in Maura's ear

"What?" Maura pulled her head back

The brunette shrugged, "I wasn't sure how welcome I'd be in your home, so I got a hotel room a few blocks away just in case. I have another suitcase there.

"You're always welcome in my home!"

"I know…" she sighed, "it's just…it's your parents' home, and just, your family is intimidating."

"You've never met them." Maura smiled, leaning back in and resting her chin on Jane's shoulder

"I know…but…meeting them for the first time…"

"You're not my girlfriend Jane." The blonde whispered, her heart racing. A sudden haze fell over the two. Whether it was the multiple glasses of champagne, the atmosphere of the night, or whatever; the atmosphere was growing thick.

Jane held in a gasp as she felt lips graze across her collarbone.

A door slammed down the hall causing the two to rip apart.

Maura went towards the door to their room to see what it was while Jane chugged down another glass.

After a moment to gather their bearings, Maura finally turned back to her friend, "can we get out of here?" She asked quietly, the plea evident in her tone

A smile grew on Jane's lips, "you sneak some food and I'll get our coats?"

The joy and mischief in Maura's bright green eyes made Jane's heart melt.

xxx

Within the hour, both Maura and Jane were snuggling into a hotel room bed, both wearing some of Jane's pajamas, and munching on some of the appetizers from the party.

"Oh drat," Maura sighed and looked over their spoils, "I wish I'd snuck some champagne out as well. Mother always orders the best."

Jane reached over to the side of the bed and pulled a bottle from her backpack with a big smile, "one step ahead of ya, little lady."

Maura jumped from the bed and grabbed two mugs from beside the coffee maker.

After their bellies were full, they snuggled under the blankets and recounted tales of their childhood christmases.

The sun shone bright through the room the next morning, Christmas Morning, causing Maura to wake and find the other half of her bed was empty, and one of the blankets was missing. Crawling out of bed, she made her way to the slightly open balcony door.

Maura opened the sliding door and found her bedmate leaning against the railing wrapped in a thick blanket as snow gently fell around her.

Without a word, Jane opened her wrapped arms and held the blanket open for Maura to join her. The doctor stepped into her arms and Jane wrapped the blanket around her.

The town was beautiful at the early hour. The sun was just coming up and made the world glow. Snow fell lazily from the sky and glinted in the sunlight.

Maura thought over the past couple of days, and even couple of months, thinking over how their friendship had progressed quickly. What came out of her mouth next was not something she had planed, but something she'd been thinking for quite some time. "Are you ever going to kiss me?"

Jane smirked, though her heart started to pound in her throat, "What makes you think I wanna kiss you?"

Maura smirked to herself as her eyes followed the billowing smoke from a nearby chimney.

"I'd like to think that if the door hadn't slammed last night, you might have kissed me. I mean…I did kiss your neck." she whispered.

"Yeah, well…"Jane reasoned, loving this whole cute flirty thing they had going on, "I mean, kissing is like, a two person thing, Maur. Why do I have to be the one to initiate it? Is it because I'm the guy in this relationship?"

It was meant as a joke, but Maura spun in her arms to look up at her seriously.

"I very much like that you're not a guy, Jane. And I don't see you as much. Though you do dress a little more masculine, I think you're gorgeous and you exude a type of confidence that I find wildly attractive."

Jane's heart almost leapt out of her chest and she tried to ease the tension between them with a joke, "It's the gun."

A loud laugh bubbled out of Maura and she threw her head back a moment. Before she could say anything, Jane captured her lips in a soft kiss. Maura's arms snaked around Jane's body underneath the blanket and pulled her even closer as they kissed.

Jane finally pulled away as they started to become a little breathless, "Merry Christmas Maur."

Maura smiled brightly and kissed Jane once again before whispering, "Merry Christmas Jane."

xxx

After a slightly worried phone call from Constance, Maura and Jane dressed and made their way back to the penthouse to open presents with her parents.

Jane suddenly felt nervous about her gift compared to the ones Maura had gotten from her mother and father. Maura had already opened the gifts from Angela and Korsak and Frost (a knitted scarf, gourmet fudge clusters and perfume, in that order). Now her two gifts were the last ones under the tree.

Maura picked up the bigger, slightly soft gift with a hesitant smile.

"Is this from you?" She asked quietly

Jane looked around at the room. Arthur was sitting back on the couch with a new book perched on his lap and his glasses atop his nose. Constance was trying to look interested in the painting Maura had acquired for her, but failing because her gaze kept returning to the two younger women sitting on the floor by the tree.

The brunette looked at all the other gifts she'd gotten from her parents. A gorgeous, expensive watch, a couple of cashmere sweaters, some fur lined ski boots that would probably not get used for skiing, a couple of large thick books from her dad and some gorgeous diamond earrings. Her gift seemed suddenly too little and kinda trashy compared to the others.

Jane turned back to Maura who was now opening the gift.

"Wait, that's not what I really want to give you, let me take this back." she tried but Maura had already opened it and pulled out the piece of clothing. Jane blushed and looked down at her hands in her lap.

Maura held aloft the worn, soft, lived-in, Rizzoli & Sons hoodie with a blank expression on her face. It was Jane's old hoodie; the one that Maura always borrowed when she came over. Even when Jane didn't offer to let her wear it, Maura somehow found it, so Jane had kept to keeping it clean and not wearing it, in hopes Maura would want to. It was silly, and it was a silly gift, she suddenly thought, This is terrible and she hates it.

"Jane, I can't accept this."

The brunette sighed, "I know, its a terrible gift."

"No." her voice held an awe like quality, causing Jane to look up. "Jane, this is your favorite sweatshirt, I couldn't possibly take this from you."

Jane shrugged, "Don't worry about it, pop's got a whole box of 'em in the basement at their house. I can go find another one."

Maura held the sweatshirt close to her chest and looked at her friend, "But this one is yours." she whispered, her eyes watering a little

"Yeah, well…" Jane suddenly felt awkward that they were sharing this almost intimate moment with Maura's parents less than five feet away.

Maura launched herself into Jane's arms and hugged her tightly, "Thank you Jane, this is the best present I've ever received."

"You're welcome." Jane blushed

"Merry Christmas Jane."

"Merry Christmas Maura."