A/N: I am so not a Christmas person. Anyone that knows me personally knows that this is, by far, my least favorite time of the year. So where this fic came from, I have no clue. Maybe it's a holiday coping mechanism? Regardless, it's some Rizzles Christmas cheer, with lots of fluff and a little smut written in. As always, since this is fiction, after all, a brief suspension of reality is necessary. All mistakes are my own, and if something doesn't make sense, especially anything medical I write in here, well, too bad I guess. This isn't meant to be a reference piece. This is yet another quick fic written on a Sunday morning without a plan (or a plot, necessarily). :) Constructive criticism is always welcome, but anonymous flames won't see the light of day. I don't feed the trolls around here.
I didn't think this needed to be said, but now I'm forced to add this to all of my stories:
This work of fiction belongs to me, sociallyawkwardpenguin. The Rizzoli and Isles characters belong to TNT. However this story, and all original characters, belong to me. Absolutely no reposting of this story is permitted (including translations of this story) without my express written permission. If you see this story posted in any other forum besides Archive of our Own or FanFiction, please notify me via private message immediately.
"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
With the hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there."
Despite my intense dislike for the holidays, I found myself humming along to the music as I hung TJs stocking on Maura's mantle. I was so grateful to Maura for letting us Rizzolis essentially take over her home for the Christmas holiday. At the last minute we had decided to invite Lydia and her mother, along with TJ to the house for Christmas Day. The following morning all of the Rizzolis, along with Vince Korsak, Barry Frost, and Lydia's family would sit down to Christmas dinner at Maura's house.
At the moment, Maura and my mother were in Maura's kitchen, putting the finishing touches on the traditional Italian fish dinner for Christmas Eve. My mother was still trying to convince Maura to come to midnight mass with her, Frankie and Tommy. I had already given my mother a firm no.
Maura, an agnostic, wasn't as rude to my mother as I had been, and I could hear her trying to placate my mother.
"Angela, I'm sure it's a beautiful mass. I would just prefer to stay home. It's already going to be a late night followed by an early morning, and I would prefer to just go to bed after everyone leaves."
"But Maura, this is the birth of our savior we're celebrating!" My mother protested.
"Actually Angela, evidence indicates that Jesus Christ wasn't born on December 25th." I loved how Maura deftly avoided the part where Jesus Christ wasn't necessarily her savior.
"You've always got some scientific fact to back up your stories." My mother whined, and I knew it was time for me to head in there and put the final kibosh on my mother's efforts.
"Ma," I said, the volume of my voice matching hers. "Maura has said she doesn't want to go. She's being gracious enough to host Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for all of us again this year. Cut her a little slack, would you?"
Maura looked at me gratefully.
"Fine. Maura, I'm sorry. I would like to have you with us when Father Crowley does this year's mass, but I understand why you can't make it. You on the other hand-" she pointed a finger at me to emphasize her point "should be there to show your support for Father Crowley. It's his first midnight mass since... since the incident with Tommy."
My mother's voice had dropped to a whisper by the end of her tirade, and I just shrugged it off.
"Ma, I'm not really sure that a pew full of Rizzolis is what Father Crowley wants to see at his first midnight mass since Tommy ran him down in a crosswalk on his third DUI. Let's cut him a little slack, shall we?"
"He has been very forgiving of Tommy!" My mother yelled.
"That's his job, he's a priest!" I yelled back.
"Oh, Angela, I think the flounder may be burning!" Maura exclaimed, quickly diverting my mother's attention back to the task at hand. It was my turn to shoot her a grateful look.
Ma pulled the fish out of the oven just in time, and set it on its serving dish. Maura and I took that as our cue to exit the kitchen. We both walked over to the Christmas tree that Frankie and Tommy were decorating. There were dozens of gifts underneath, most of them for TJ, but a few others for each of us.
"TJ is really going to be spoiled this year." I commented.
"He won't even realize how spoiled he is going to be. He's not even two months old yet." Maura replied.
"It doesn't matter though. He is the first grandchild and that means that all of us- not just my mother- went all out on him."
"I hope he'll like the piggy bank I got him. It's painted with a Red Sox jersey and has his initials on it."
"That is amazingly thoughtful and practical, Maura. Thank you."
"I also got him a savings bond and a couple of onesies, and I couldn't help but get him that teddy bear we saw in the mall while we were shopping." She grinned at me, realizing that she too had tried to spoil TJ for the holiday.
"I really wish you would have told me what you wanted for Christmas, Maura." I said to her quietly.
"I have everything I need right here, Jane." She turned to look at me and smiled.
"But what do you want, Maura? I had to guess and I'm no good at guessing. And your 'one gift only' rule made it even harder to shop for you. Every time I saw something I thought you would like, I thought it wouldn't be good enough and wound up putting it down to search for something better."
"Like I said, Jane. Everything I want for Christmas is already here. While I'm sure what you bought for me is wonderful and thoughtful, nothing can compare to having all of you here with me for the holiday."
I grunted in reply, but then I turned to Maura and took her hand in mine. "You're too kind for your own good sometimes, Maura. Thank you for having all of us here."
"Thank you for being here, Jane. It wouldn't be Christmas without all of you." She smiled at me again and let go of my hand as my mother called us all to the dinner table.
Dinner was loud, boisterous, delicious and so typically Rizzoli. It went by quickly, and before we all knew it, it was time for everyone to get ready for midnight mass.
"Angela, Jane and I will clean up. I don't want you to be late to the mass. Please go and enjoy yourself."
"I really wish you would come with us," my mother pleaded once more.
"I'm going to stay and clean up with Jane, and put the finishing touches on everything for tomorrow. Thank you for inviting me though. And thank you for having the holidays here with me."
My mother pulled Maura into a tight hug. "Sweetie, I can't imagine a holiday without you. None of us could. Thank you for having us all here. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Angela. I'll see you all in the morning."
My mother and brothers left, piling into that ridiculous Cano Expresso car to head over to the church. For a split second the first few notes to "Jingle Bells" came blasting through the overhead speaker, the result of my mother's fumbling with the radio and her bluetooth microphone.
"I'm sure that's exactly what Beacon Hill needed to hear tonight." I said as I laughed.
"My neighbors need to loosen up a bit." Maura replied and we started bringing plates into the kitchen as we laughed.
On the third or fourth trip into the kitchen, I watched Maura stumble, nearly dropping the dish full of leftovers before she caught herself and the dish.
"Oh, ow." I heard her say, and watched her frown.
"Are you okay?" I asked, running over to her.
"I rolled my ankle. I guess I'm just tired. These heels aren't usually a problem for me."
I looked down at the heels she was wearing and wondered how she had even gotten as far into the day as she had in them. They looked like they hurt just to put on and she had been wearing them all day.
She took another tentative step forward and cringed.
I touched her arm, concerned. "Do you want to head over to the emergency room and have it x-rayed?"
"No, it's not broken. I don't even think it's sprained. It's just a strain that some ice and elevating it will surely help with."
"Are you sure? You look like you're in pain."
"I think I just need to sit down for a little while."
Without thinking, I just scooped Maura up and carried her toward the bedroom. Her surprised protest stopped when she wrapped an arm behind my neck and laid her head against my shoulder. In a few steps I had her down the hall and was placing her gingerly on her bed. I eased her heels off and grabbed a throw pillow, putting her injured foot down on it gently.
"Stay here, I'll be back with an ice pack in just a second."
I only had a second to see the expression on Maura's face as I turned to go get the ice pack, and in my rush to take care of her, I didn't really take the time to process it.
I dashed back into the kitchen and put some ice into a plastic bag and zipped it closed. Then I put that bag inside a second bag and zipped it closed too. I'd had too many bags like that leak on me when I was icing the various bruises and sprains I'd had over the years. The last thing I wanted to do was upset Maura because the ice pack had leaked onto her silk bedsheets.
I wrapped the ice pack in a clean dish towel and dashed back down the hall to Maura's bedroom. She looked up at me and smiled.
"Jane, I'm okay. You didn't have to do that."
"I wanted to." I said with a smile as I laid the ice pack over her ankle. "Just stay here while I finish cleaning up the kitchen and dining room. I'll be back in a little while, okay?"
"Okay. But you don't have to clean it up, Jane. I can help. This is just a strain."
"Just stay here. It's the least I could do for you after all you did for us tonight, and all that tomorrow is going to entail."
Maura smiled at me and said "Jane, when you're done, can you bring your stocking in with you from the mantle? I know we're supposed to exchange gifts tomorrow, but I would rather give you my gift tonight."
I looked over at Maura and wasn't able to hide my puzzlement. "Sure. Do you want to open my gift to you tonight too?"
"Sure, if you want."
"Yeah. I like the idea of opening our gifts together. Tomorrow is going to be crowded and chaotic and I won't get to enjoy it as much as I would opening our gifts with just the two of us. I'll be back in a little while."
I tried not to rush through finishing up the dining room and kitchen because I wanted it to be perfect for Maura, but at the same time the idea of us opening our gifts together without my family and coworkers there was too appealing. I quickly wrapped up the leftovers and put them in the fridge, then loaded up the dishwasher. Once the dishwasher was running, I took the table cloth off the dining room table and put it in the washing machine. I ran the vacuum in the dining room and then dashed over to grab my stocking and Maura's off the mantle. It occurred to me that we had both bought each other something small enough to fit neatly into a Christmas stocking, and I wondered what Maura had found for me. I desperately hoped what I had found for her would be something she liked. She already had so much, and it was hard to find something up to her discerning standards on my salary.
I walked back into Maura's bedroom and she was dozing in her clothes, on top of the blankets with her foot still propped up. She looked so content lying there, and I didn't want to wake her up. Her eyes opened as I approached the bed and she smiled at me.
"Hey." I whispered.
"Hi." She replied.
"You're really tired. Let's get you into your pajamas and into bed. We can do our gifts tomorrow."
"No Jane, no. I want to open our presents tonight. I'm all right, Jane. I really am."
"Do you want anything for the pain? Is your ankle swelling?"
"I could use some ibuprofen to keep the swelling down. Do you think you could help me into the bathroom?"
"I could just bring you the pills, Maura."
"Yes, but you can't pee for me, Jane, and I have to go." Maura said with a laugh.
"Oh, sure!" I laughed, not thinking that she may need to take care of other things besides the two pills.
She swung her legs down off the bed and stood up tentatively, wincing only slightly when she put pressure on her injured ankle. I draped an arm around her waist and she put an arm around my back, using me to help balance herself. Slowly we made our way to the bathroom in her bedroom. As she closed the door, she asked me to get her pajamas out of her closet for her. I laid them out on her bed, turned down the covers for her, deposited the ice pack in the kitchen sink and then went to the guest bedroom to do my own nightly routine. By the time I was done I had changed into sweatpants and an old BPD tank top, ready for bed.
When I returned to Maura's room, she was just opening the door to the bathroom to exit. She reached out for me and I eagerly wrapped my arm around her to help her back to the bed.
"I'm worried about your ankle." I said, looking for bruising and swelling and noticing it was only mildly puffy with no discoloration.
"It's fine, Jane. The ice and the ibuprofen are helping. By morning it'll be normal again."
I gave her a doubtful look as I handed her the pajamas I had laid out for her. I turned to leave again, and give her some privacy to change, but she stopped me.
"Do you think- could you, um... I can't really stand up to get my pants off." She mumbled.
"Oh, sure. Um. Okay." I felt heat spreading across my cheeks and a different reaction start further south on my body. I walked back to where she was sitting and watched as she unbuttoned her dress slacks and slid the zipper down, and suddenly my heart was racing. I tried not to think about my reaction as I hooked my thumbs in the waist of her pants and slid them down. I could have sworn that I heard her gasp at the contact, and it just added to my confusion.
When I backed away slightly to grab the pajama bottoms I had placed next to her, I glanced up and saw Maura unbuttoning her blouse, staring at me. I couldn't help but stare back, and as soon as she opened her shirt completely and had started to peel it off, I had to avert my gaze.
"Jane." Maura whispered, her voice pleading.
I looked back at her, my mouth dry and my lips moving but no sound coming out.
"Jane," she reached down and grabbed my wrist, pulling me up on the bed next to her and placing my hand on her chest, just above her breast. I could feel her heart pounding just as hard as mine was.
"You asked me over and over again what I wanted for Christmas, Jane" Maura's voice was ragged, her heart beating under my hand and her chest starting to heave as she spoke. "And I kept telling you that I had everything I wanted here with me. That was true. But if you were to ask me again right now what I truly want for Christmas, I would tell you."
"What-" My voice cracked, and I cleared my throat before I started again, wondering why my mouth was so dry but between my legs was so wet. "What do you want for Christmas this year, Maura?"
"You." She said, and pulled me in for a deep kiss.
I froze at first, my brain locking up as it warred with my heart. In the end, my heart won and my brain acknowledged that this was where Maura and I had been heading since the day we had first met, and though we had taken the long road and several detours to get here, we were finally at our destination: each other.
After I let my heart take over for my brain, I didn't just unfreeze, I melted into the kiss. I pushed back gently on Maura so that we were both lying on her bed, with me just slightly on top of her. That wasn't enough contact for Maura. She pulled me in closer, wrapping me in an embrace that I never wanted to end.
I don't know how long we kissed for. It could have been thirty seconds or it could have been three days. I was so lost in her that time seemed too abstract a concept, and I just moved according to my senses. I finally broke away from her lips and started kissing her jaw, moving toward her earlobe. When I took her earlobe between my teeth and heard her gasp, it was like I had suddenly been kicked into gear. I started placing open mouth kisses down her neck, toward her collarbone. I let my hands wander to her breasts and decided that I didn't like her bra there. Sensing my dislike of the barrier her bra created, Maura sat up on and unhooked the bra, and also finished pushing her shirt off the rest of the way.
I stared down at her bare chest, hungry to touch her, and indecisive about where to start. I didn't want to rush this, and decided I could make up my mind after I pulled my tank top off.
Maura reached up and touched a hand to my breast, tentatively and almost reverently. I placed my hand over hers and cupped her hand over my breast, pressing down and showing her just where I wanted to be touched. Then I removed my hand and touched her body in the same place.
She was forced to let go as I moved down, lowering my mouth to her nipple and licking it, watching it get even harder under my ministrations. I moved over to her other breast and sucked on the nipple and reveled in the soft moan that Maura gave in response.
I began to move even lower, kissing and licking over her stomach and abdomen, moving as slowly as I pleased and enjoying the responses I was getting. Eventually I had made my way to the band of Maura's panties, and I paused long enough to look up at her. She met my gaze with hooded eyes and pushed my head down gently, giving me all of the permission I needed. I slipped her panties off and kissed her mons, no longer bothering to tease her. The pressure of Maura's hand on the back of my head told me she didn't want to wait anymore, and I suddenly knew exactly what I wanted to give Maura for Christmas.
My first taste of Maura was nothing like I thought it would be. It was sweet and it was slick, and I couldn't get enough. I passed my tongue over her folds, not bothering to penetrate her because she didn't need to be penetrated. Her breathing and her moans told me she was fine with things the way they were for now. I circled her clitoris lazily, getting to know her and watching and listening to what worked best for her.
I found a rhythm she liked and continued to lave at her, feeling her building her way toward the edge of her orgasm. Suddenly she was pulling me upward, tugging none too gently on at my hair, begging me to come back up toward her face. I found myself back on top of her, kissing her and using my fingers to continue what I had been doing with my tongue. She wrapped one arm around me and used her hand to massage between my legs, my folds already dripping in anticipation.
She stopped kissing me just as her orgasm washed over her, opening her eyes wide and looking, it felt, right into my soul. My orgasm wasn't far behind hers, and I held her gaze throughout.
Spent, I collapsed on top of her and kissed her temple, waiting for my breathing to slow. When she turned toward me, I kissed her lips gently.
"Merry Christmas, Jane."
I smiled, looking at the clock radio behind her before I replied. "Not yet, Maura. We still have seven minutes."
She smiled and kissed me again, and when we finally came back up for air, it really was Christmas.
"Merry Christmas, Maura." I said. Snuggling up to her.
"Let's exchange our gifts." Maura said suddenly.
"Didn't we just do that?" I said with a laugh, amazed that she could even be thinking coherently right now.
"Oh, that was the best gift ever, but I hope that is a gift that keeps on giving. I don't just want tonight, Jane. I want forever."
I leaned over and kissed her, then I picked up her stocking from the nightstand. "Well, if that's the case then, maybe you should open my gift."
I took the small gift box out and handed it to her, and was surprised to see a puzzled expression on her face.
"Let me have that stocking." She said, pointing to the other stocking on the nightstand. I handed it to her and she pulled an identical gift box out of the stocking and handed it to me.
"I think we may have had the same idea for Christmas, Jane." Maura said with a mischievous grin.
We both opened the gift boxes at the same time, and in each box there was a Claddagh ring.
"The everlasting symbol of friendship." I said.
"This is also a traditional engagement ring in parts of Ireland. It depends on how you wear it." Maura replied.
I took her ring out of its box and placed it on her ring finger with the heart facing outward, toward the tip of her finger. "For now, this is a promise of forever, a symbol of everlasting friendship and... more than that. Later, when we're ready, we'll turn the heart around to face your hand and your heart."
Maura took my ring out of its box and did the same thing. "I like that. A promise of forever."
I kissed her gently, and stopped to look at the ring again. "You even got our birthstones in the ring. I love how the heart is my birthstone and your birthstones are in the crown, surrounding it. It's like you're wrapped around my heart."
"Well, you're wrapped around mine, so I thought I would have the ring designed to show you that."
"My ring for you is just plain gold." I said, realizing that I had fallen short of mark.
"It's not plain anything, Jane. It's wonderful. It is exactly what I wanted for Christmas. It's the promise that I love, and the ring is the embodiment of that promise. I'm never taking this ring off, Jane."
I grinned at her and said "maybe you should take it off during autopsies. You know, just in case you get some icky stuff on it."
She laughed at me and wrapped me in her arms. "I'll wear double gloves, just to make sure, but this ring is not leaving my finger."
"Good." I said "because yours isn't coming off of my finger either."
"I love you, Jane."
"I love you too. Merry Christmas, Maura."