Her hair smells like honey and her neck smells like roses. She is a summer day on the coldest night. The curve of her smile breaks into infectious laughter like the ocean folds against the shore during tide, and any doubt that Jane could have washes away.

It's the little things about Maura that made Jane fall in love; the things that nobody else is privileged enough to notice. She loves the way Maura smiles at snow, the way she spins and throws her arms out as if to hug the earth. Her eyes sparkle and the wind paints her cheeks apple red. Paris shines around them; the most beautiful city in the world. Jane knows it only earned this title when Maura stepped off the plane.

She stirs her coffee six times, and she drinks it so slowly - Jane finds it mesmerizing - almost as if there can never be another cup, and she needs to remember how it tastes. When her fingers are not intertwined with Jane's, they're tapping against her hip or her leg or her stomach. She's constantly moving. She is always thinking. Her eyes are the most expressive feature. Jane can look at Maura and see the world looking back.

Jane leans forward, her hand slipping into Maura's. Her lips press against the shorter woman's ear. "You look happy," she whispers. And Maura leans back like Jane expected her to, with her body pressed lightly against Jane's and feeling warm and soft and safe. Her thumb is making little hearts on Jane's palm. This drives Jane crazy. She loves it.

"That's because I am." responds Maura, delicately. Her teeth drag against her bottom lip and she gives Jane a painfully shy look, as if this is new. As if this feeling is new to either one of them. But it's not. This is not. But that's the thing about love - it never feels old. It only grows older.

"You lived in Paris when you were a kid, right?"

Maura shakes her head. "More to the south," she says, looping her arm in Jane's. They continue to walk. Most of Paris sleeps. Christmas Eve covers them like a blanket, warm and sound in their beds. "And mostly just in the winter. My mother's parents lived in Bordeaux. We would go for Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve in Paris, though. It was very nice. You know, that's actually one thing that I've always been a little disappointed about."

"What?"

"We don't have many pictures from that time. Some of my favorite memories are from those trips."

"Hmm..." Jane fumbles through Maura's purse and pulls out their camera. "We could recreate them."

Maura laughs and looks away. "We can't do that."

"We can do anything. Come on. Strike a pose," she turns on the camera. Maura gives a bashful smile, and Jane rolls her eyes. "Come on, you can do better. Here. I have an idea." Jane stops on the street, pulling Maura to a halt with her. She flips the camera to face them both and turns it on video. "We'll take stills later. Come on, Maura. Come on," She pokes at Maura's side, right where she knows that Maura is ticklish. "Happy pose!"

They smile. They both laugh. Jane feels her stomach flip. That laugh.

"Surprised pose?" says Maura.

They fake shock. Jane glances sideways. Maura is so beautiful.

"Christmas presents under the tree on Christmas morning, pose!"

Butterscotch colored hair tickles Jane's neck as Maura throws her head towards Jane's shoulder, her laughter now caught in the wind.

"Angela just walked in on us naked, pose!"

"Maura!"

Maura's lips turn up into a cheeky grin. "That will be the best still. We could also appropriately call it 'disgruntled pose' or 'disgusted pose' or..."

"Yeah, I get it." replies Jane. She tries to act annoyed. She can't. "But I think I have the best one."

"Better than that? I doubt it."

"You're challenging me to this? You're really doing that?"

"I think I am. You didn't see your face."

"Okay, get ready."

"I'm ready."

"Close your eyes."

She doesn't object. She closes her eyes, and Jane leans forward. Her fingers tap against Maura's icy cheeks. Jane's opposite hand still holds the camera outstretched. She leans forward and kisses the corners of Maura's mouth. She memorizes how Maura's lips curve upward, how her shoulders shake just slightly, both from the cold and from Jane's fingers only slightly tickling her neck. The only word Jane will ever need to describe Maura is beautiful. She knows that. Beautiful. Beautiful mind. Beautiful heart. Beautiful soul. Beautiful person.

It's the little things about Maura that made the words slip like ice from her lips.

"Propose."

A gust of wind brushes Maura's red scarf across her chest, braids her hair with snow. Her eyes flutter open. She blinks.

"Marry me." Jane says, her voice low. Private. She wants her words for Maura and Maura only. She does not want them lost in Paris. "I don't have a ring yet. Maybe I should have gotten a ring before I did this. Maybe this is cliché; proposing in Paris on Christmas Eve. I don't care. The other day, you asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I told you I wanted everything. I wasn't lying. I want you. That is everything. You are everything."

Maura's smile could compete with the sun.

"This is not cliché," she says quietly, wiping a few tears from her lashes. She leans forward and kisses Jane; it's the kind of kiss that speaks its own language, that cannot be interpreted by anyone but who it is meant for. Jane struggles to continue holding the camera. She wants to take Maura in her arms. She feels so light and weightless. Maura is her anchor. "This is perfect." She peppers kisses down Jane's jaw and rests her head in Jane's shoulder.

Jane's watch beeping breaks them apart.

"I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say that you're saying yes?"

"I am saying yes. Absolutely yes."

Jane glances down. It is midnight.

"I feel pretty confident in saying that this Christmas Eve surpasses any that I've had before," Maura says. She pulls Jane closer by the collar of her coat. "And we even have documentation to prove it. What a bonus."

"It took me months to plan."

Maura raises an eyebrow. "You thought of this a few minutes ago, didn't you?"

"Your accusation hurts." She tilts her head to the side and brushes her fingers against Maura's hair. "It's also completely true. But give me some credit for coming up with all that on the spot."

"It was excellent."

"Excellent is the best word you can come up with? I mean, come on. Proposal in Paris. On video. At midnight. On Christmas Eve! The only thing I was missing was...well, okay. A ring could have helped."

Maura shakes her head.

"It's not the big things that count, Jane. It's the little things. I love you."

"I love you too, Maura. Merry Christmas."