AN: So I apologize again for the absence. Long AN at the end explaining the situation I found myself in the last several months so I don't have to waste anyone's time with it here. Things are straightened out now and I should be able to start posting regularly again.


February 19 - Chinese New Year – Part 2

Maura inhaled deeply, savoring the aroma coming from behind the door in front of her. Jane had apparently decided on Italian for their meal, and it smelled absolutely delicious. Smiling in approval at her friend's choice, Maura knocked firmly on the door to Jane's apartment.

The door opened mere seconds after she had finished knocking. "Perfect timing," Jane said, stepping back to allow the blonde to enter. "Dinner's almost ready."

Maura slipped out of her coat and handed it to the other woman. "And what are we having?"

"Baked rigatoni with a Caprese salad," Jane replied, hanging Maura's coat up on a nearby hook.

"It smells wonderful. Where's it from?"

"What?" Jane asked over her shoulder, as she began walking towards the kitchen.

"Where did you get dinner from?" Maura asked. "Calabria? Or did you try that new place on Summit Road?"

Jane turned around slowly and watched in silence as the medical examiner moved to sit down at the counter separating the kitchen from the living room. "I got it from my kitchen."

It took a few moments for the meaning of the other woman's response to register with the medical examiner. "You cooked dinner yourself?" she asked, her voice tinged with disbelief. "You're not just warming up take out in the oven?"

"You don't have to act so surprised," Jane huffed indignantly. "I do know how to cook."

Maura dipped her head slightly and fought back a smile. "Technically true, but it's not something you normally do if you can avoid it."

Jane rolled her eyes as her lips twisted into a grimace. "I don't usually feel like going to the effort after working all day, but I had the afternoon off, so I figured it'd be nice to have something besides take out for a change."

"Well, I appreciate you going to so much effort," Maura said sincerely. "I'm sure it will be delicious."

"That's better," Jane said, somewhat mollified. "And since you're being nice, you may have wine with your dinner," she continued, picking up an already open bottle from the counter.

"Thank you," Maura replied, her mouth curved in amusement.

Jane filled a glass for the medical examiner and then poured a second for herself. The detective handed the wine to the blonde. "Salute!" she said, extending her glass towards Maura's.

"Salute!" Maura replied, touching her glass lightly to Jane's. She took a sip and then nodded in approval. "Mmmm…very nice. Did you make this too?" she teased.

"Yup. Stomped the grapes last week."

Maura started to reply but paused when she heard her phone ring. Pulling it out, she frowned when she saw who was calling. She had told Gerald that she would be having dinner with Jane that evening, and had explicitly asked him to text her rather than call. She looked up at her friend. "It's Gerald," she said apologetically. "We're going to dinner and a play tomorrow night, and I asked him to let me know what time he would be picking me up."

Jane nodded in understanding. "Go on. I'll get the salads."

Maura swiped her thumb across the screen and lifted her phone to her ear, reaching for a pen and piece of paper as she did so. "Hello Gerald," she said, keeping the irritation she felt at being disturbed out of her voice through sheer force of will. She listened for a few moments while he talked about the plans he had made for the following night, jotting down a few details so that she wouldn't forget them. After about a minute had passed, though, and Gerald showed no sign of wrapping up the conversation, Maura politely, but firmly, did it for him.

With a small sigh, Maura placed her phone down on the counter and stared at it pensively. This wasn't the first time that Gerald had ignored her explicit request not to be called while she was with other people. All things being equal, she would have been content to see him for a few more months, but Gerald's continued inability, or perhaps more accurately, unwillingness, to respect her wishes and allow her her privacy and personal space, was causing the medical examiner to begin seriously questioning just how much she wanted to continue her involvement with him. In addition, despite what she had said to Jane, she had found Gerald's gifts on Valentine's Day to be far more extravagant than what was warranted based on the nature of their relationship. The bracelet he had given her was simply a ham-handed attempt to throw his wealth around in a misguided effort to impress her, and she was growing tired of ignoring the fact that he was nothing more than a social-climbing snob.

"You've really gotten good at that."

Blinking in mild confusion, Maura looked up at her friend. "What?"

Jane nodded towards Maura's hand. The medical examiner smiled wryly when she realized that she had been absently twirling the pen through her fingers. As strange as it might seem, she had discovered that she really enjoyed the activity. Not only was it an excellent exercise for improving her dexterity, she also found it oddly satisfying to master new moves. "What can I say…I have very talented fingers," she said with a suggestive wink.

Jane coughed as she nearly choked on her wine. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she shook her head at her friend. "Really, Maura?"

"I'm a doctor," the blonde pointed out, her eyes now wide in feigned innocence. She set the pen aside and reached for her salad. "Having nimble fingers tends to go with the job."

Jane rolled her eyes and carefully took another sip of her wine. "Yeah," she drawled, "That's what you were referring to."

Maura simply grinned cheekily at her friend and then picked up her fork. She took a small bite of the salad and then hummed appreciatively. "This is wonderful."

"Thanks," Jane replied. "The rigatoni should be ready in a few minutes."

Maura nodded as she used her fork to cut a tomato in half. "Is it one of your mother's recipes?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah, it was one of the first things she ever taught me to make." The detective paused for a moment, a reflective expression appearing on her face. "It was also one of the last things she ever taught me to make. For some reason, cooking lessons with Ma have never really gone well."

"I can't imagine why that would be," Maura quipped.

"It's a mystery yet to be solved," Jane replied, a faint note of sarcasm lacing her voice. "But I suspect it's mostly due to the running commentary."

Maura paused just before she was about to take another bite of salad. "The running commentary?"

"Yeah, hearing all about how I need to learn to cook so that I can find a husband and properly feed all the grandchildren I'm supposed to be providing her," the detective said diffidently. "I've never really enjoyed that part."

Maura gave her friend a look filled with sympathy. "You know, she only pushes you about that because she wants you to be happy."

Jane frowned in annoyance. "Really? You're going to take her side on this?"

"I'm not saying that your mother doesn't occasionally cross the line when it comes to interfering in your life." Seeing Jane's outraged expression and recognizing that her friend was about to explode, Maura hurriedly amended her statement to try to placate the detective. "Alright, she frequently crosses way over the line when it comes to interfering in your life. But at least as far as marriage and children are concerned, she's doing it because she wants you to be happy, and she honestly believes that you won't be happy until you have children."

"Yeah," Jane scoffed, "Because I'm so maternal."

"Because it brought her happiness," Maura pointed out quietly. "You and your brothers are the best things to ever happen to your mother, Jane. She assumes the same will be true for you."

Jane exhaled heavily as she considered her friend's words. After a few seconds, she waved her hand negligently. "Yeah, well, that's why I'm always saying you should never assume anything. It just leads to problems that could easily be avoided if people just waited until they had all the facts before they jumped to conclusions."

"Yes," Maura agreed dryly. "You're very wise that way."

"I know, right? You could learn a lot from my example," Jane said with a cocky grin.

"I'll keep that in mind," Maura said evenly, refusing to take the obvious bait. "While we're on the subject of learning, though, if you ever decide that you're interested in learning to make your mother's recipes, I could teach you what she's teaching me."

Jane's left eyebrow rose a fraction as she looked at her friend appraisingly. "Without any commentary?"

"Well, without your mother's commentary anyway," Maura replied with a half shrug, before a faint smile began to play about the corners of her lips. "I'm not making any promises about other things I might choose to remark on."

Jane snorted softly and shook her head. "Yeah that might be even worse." She watched for a few moments as Maura began eating again, before placing her fork down on her plate and pushing her salad slightly to the side. "There's something I've been wanting to talk to you about."

"Oh?" Maura glanced up briefly at her friend. "And what would that be?"

The brunette hesitated before speaking. "You know what today is, don't you?"

Recognizing that whatever was on the other woman's mind deserved her full attention, Maura set her fork down as well. "You mean the beginning of the Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year?" she asked.

Jane nodded in agreement. "Right, so I was thinking…maybe we should make a new resolution to make up for the one we cancelled."

Maura blinked in surprise, completely caught off guard by her friend's suggestion. "What did you have in mind?"

Jane lowered her gaze as she traced invisible patterns across the counter's surface. "How about each month, I pick a food for you to try and something for you to learn, and you do the same for me?"

Maura's forehead creased into a frown. "Jane, if you're suggesting this because you feel guilty about what happened, it's alright. You don't need to do this."

"That's not why I'm suggesting it," the brunette denied. "I just think it would be a good way for us to get out of our comfort zones a bit." Jane looked up to meet her friend's gaze and flashed Maura a crooked grin. "I heard somewhere that's a good thing to do."

Maura took a sip of wine and considered the other woman's proposition. "So you really want to do this?" she finally asked.

"I do," Jane confirmed. "As long as we can agree on some ground rules."

"Such as?"

"No algebra," Jane replied, her face serious, but Maura could see a glint of amusement in her eyes.

"Alright," Maura agreed with mock solemnity. "No algebra."

"And no seaweed ever, in anything," Jane said emphatically. This time, there was no glint.

"Agreed."

"And I swore off healthy foods for Lent," Jane said, as a grin quirked her lips.

Maura rolled her eyes and shook her head "Nice try, but you're supposed to give up something you actually enjoy for Lent. Which does beg the question…" she asked, her voice trailing off meaningfully.

Jane held up her glass. "Beer."

Maura couldn't help laughing at her friend's response. "Well that explains why you're drinking wine. Alright, any other rules?"

Jane paused for a moment, and appeared to be struggling to decide what she wanted to say. "You can't do this with Gerald too," she finally blurted out, deliberately avoiding Maura's gaze.

"What?" the medical examiner asked, not understanding what her friend was talking about.

The detective cleared her throat uncomfortably. "You can't do this with Gerald too. You told me he was interested in the idea, but if we're going to do this, it has to be our thing." Jane exhaled heavily and shook her head. "I know I agreed to try and get better about sharing you with other people, but I don't want to share this with him. Ok?"

Maura nodded. "Ok." It was an easy enough request to agree to. Her relationship with Gerald had a definite expiration date, and she had a feeling that that date was approaching fast. There was no point in committing to an ongoing challenge with him when she knew they would probably be through in another month or so.

The blonde tilted her head to the side and studied her friend. "Was that it?"

Jane took a sip of wine. "Sort of, but I also have one…suggestion, because I think you were looking at this the wrong way before."

"How so?"

Jane swirled her wine around in her glass for a few moments before responding. "When you came up with this plan, you wanted me to choose things for you to learn like how to cook authentic Italian dishes, didn't you?"

"Of course. The idea was to improve ourselves."

"I thought the idea was to get us out of our comfort zones."

"It's the same thing."

"Really?" Jane asked skeptically. "Does the idea of learning how to make linguine carbonara actually make you 'uncomfortable'?"

"Well, no, I wouldn't say it makes me 'uncomfortable,'" Maura conceded, seeing her friend's point.

The detective pushed her glass to the side and then leaned forward so that her forearms were resting on top of the counter. "Maura, you've spent your whole life learning about classy, grownup things like opera, and Shakespeare, and what fork to use when you eat fish. So if you really want to get out of your comfort zone and be exposed to new things, then I should pick impractical, childish things for you to learn, and unhealthy, delicious food for you to eat."

Maura considered her friend's suggestion. She had to admit, there was merit to Jane's proposal. After all, the purpose of the resolution had been to move them out of their comfort zones. What better way for her to do that than to try things she would normally never consider trying?

"And what would I pick for you?" Maura asked.

"Classy, grownup things," Jane said, a broad smile covering her face.

Maura regarded her friend thoughtfully. "And you'd really be ok with that?"

"I really would," Jane said sincerely.

Maura nodded slowly. "Alright, I agree to your ground rules–"

"Great–"

"But," Maura warned, ignoring the interruption, "You should be aware that I have a recipe for Swiss chard smoothies that I've been wanting to try for a while now."

Jane's brow furrowed slightly. "Swiss chard?"

"It has a taste similar to beet greens or spinach, although it can be a little more bitter," Maura replied. "So if you decide to try to torture me by making me eat something as disgusting as poutine again…" she said pointedly.

"You have a Swiss chard smoothie locked and loaded, and you won't be afraid to use it. Got it."

Maura took a sip of her wine and then set the glass back down on the top of the counter. "So have you figured out what you want me to do next month?"

"Actually, I have. In honor of the fact that St. Patrick's Day will be next month, I want you to eat one small bowl of Lucky Charms for breakfast."

The thought of eating a sugar-packed cereal was nearly enough to make her blench, but Maura had to admit, a small bowl certainly wouldn't hurt her. "With or without milk?"

"With, and you have to drink the milk afterwards."

"Of course, because it wouldn't be a complete breakfast if I didn't drink rainbow-colored sugar milk." Seeing Jane's grin beginning to falter, the blonde smiled. "It's fine. One small bowl is fair."

"So no smoothie, right?" Jane asked

"No smoothie," Maura reassured her friend. "What would you like me to learn?"

"Well, at first I was going to ask you to learn a magic trick, but I was afraid that you might see that as lying and break out in hives," Jane said with a smirk.

"Probably," Maura agreed.

"So instead, I want you to learn how to do a 'bar bet.'"

"What's a bar bet?"

"A bet you do in a bar."

"Thanks," Maura deadpanned. "That was helpful."

Jane chuckled lightly and shrugged. "Remember a few weeks ago when Nina laid out a line of four coins and a line of five coins and then bet Frankie she could move one coin and make two rows of five?"

"I do. She moved the extra coin on top of the coin joining the two lines."

"Right. That's a bar bet…a stupid trick you do in a bar, usually to get someone to buy the next round of drinks. I bet Nina could teach you one."

Maura considered the idea for a few moments. It was certainly the sort of thing she would never have chosen to learn on her own. "Alright, I can do that." She picked up her wine glass. "I suppose this means I need to start giving some thought as to what I want you to do next month."

"Actually, I have a suggestion for what I could learn for March," Jane said, as she stood up and walked past Maura into her living room.

The blonde paused, her glass still several inches from her lips. She slowly placed her wine back down on the counter, and turned around to face her friend. A slightly suspicious expression began to steal over her features, as she began to wonder if she had just been gulled. "And what would that be?"

Jane shuffled through several pieces of paper that were covering her coffee table, before finding the one she wanted. "This," she said, walking back over and handing the flier to her friend.

Maura's eyes widened in surprise when she read the words on the paper. "Wine tasting?"

"Yeah. I know I'll never be as good at it as you are, but I figure I could at least learn enough to have some idea what you're talking about when you talk about wine."

Maura scanned the information on the flier. The class looked interesting, and she had to admit, she was actually rather impressed by Jane's choice. It was exactly the kind of thing she would have picked for the detective to learn. "Ok. Wine tasting it is," she said, placing the flier down on the counter.

Jane cleared her throat nervously. "And I was thinking…I don't want to interfere with your relationship with Gerald or the time you spend with him–"

"Yes you do," Maura interrupted, smiling to blunt her words.

Jane grinned sheepishly. "OK, yes, I do. But I promise this suggestion isn't about that." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Maybe you could come to the classes with me?" she asked hopefully. "I know it's a beginner's course and you'd probably be really bored, but it would be less intimating if you were there with me."

Maura reached out and caught her friend by the arm and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "Of course I'll go. Even if it's a beginner's class, there's always something new to learn about wine," she pointed out. "Besides, drinking wine with you sounds like the perfect way to spend an evening."

An unmistakable expression of relief flashed across Jane's face. "Thanks! Now all you have to do is come up with a food for me to try."

Maura tapped her chin contemplatively for a few moments before replying. "I think that this month, we can make things easy. I'll pick a couple bottles of wine for you to try after we've attended the class, and you can let me know what you think of them, OK?"

"Sounds perfect," Jane agreed. "So we have a deal?" she said, extending her hand towards the medical examiner to seal the agreement.

Maura smiled her acceptance as she grasped Jane's hand in her own. "We have a deal."


AN: So the deal was I was struggling with this chapter for awhile, mainly needing to be certain about what happened here since it was going to determine one way or the other where I went next, and I kept going back and forth about which of two ways I wanted to go. My only writing partner is someone who encourages me to write (as I encourage him), but his ability to actually serve as much of a sounding board is limited, so I was driving myself crazy trying to figure out which way I wanted to go, since each option had its advantages.

Unfortunately, right about the time I settled on an option and got several chapters roughed out, I had a coworker decide that the best way to elevate himself was to try to sabotage me, and since nepotism is a wonderful thing, my hands were/are fairly tied as far as what I can do about it (as a bonus, he managed to convince one of my closest friends at work that I was trying to sabotage her, so she joined him to save herself from me. Credit where credit is due, he's an amazing liar).

Needless to say, this didn't put me in the best frame of mind, and I've had to spend a lot of my "free time" over the last few months working extra hours to make sure my position in the company was secure. But I've now managed to get to a good spot, actually spent vacation time chillin' with a friend a few weeks ago who is a great "plotter," and she let me bounce all my ideas off her and helped me to refine what I was doing. I have about 10 more days to go of putting in 15-hour work days, and then after that I should finally be free to spend my evenings writing again.