Chapter Twelve

Maura looked at herself in the mirror as she applied her lipstick, a shade she'd chosen to go with the red dress she was wearing, which she had chosen to match Jane's Red Sox jersey. Yes, Maura was going to look a tad overdressed next to Jane, but she was used to it, and this was their engagement photo shoot. She was dressing up for this no matter what Jane did.

"You look beautiful," said Jane's voice behind her. Maura turned around and smiled. Jane was wearing her nicest jeans with the Red Sox jersey, as well as a matching baseball cap. Her ruby ring matched perfectly. "You're not wearing that hat in the pictures, are you?" asked Maura in dismay. "No one will be able to see your face."

"Can't I wear it in a few pictures?"

"I suppose," said Maura begrudgingly. "What's that in your hand?"

Jane bit her lip, looking down at the paper she was holding. "Something that came in the mail I've been nervous about showing you."

"Why would you be nervous?" asked Maura, suddenly very concerned with seeing the paper. "Just show me."

Jane handed it over, and Maura skimmed over the words. It appeared to be an acceptance letter.

"You got into BCU's criminal justice program? I didn't even know you were applying!"

Jane nodded. "Looks like I'm going to BCU after all. I mean, if I do go. I wanted to talk to you about it, but every time I tried, I suddenly felt silly. I mean, I don't know, going back to school at my age and everything…"

"It's not silly at all, but what made you want a degree right now? Have you made a decision about your next career move?"

"Well, I just thought, I love what I'm doing now, but I still miss being a cop. I loved it like crazy, you know? It was what I wanted to do until I retired. I just wanted to stay right where I was, as a homicide detective, forever. But then, everyone else started changing, and it felt like…well, to make a long story short, I think maybe the answer wasn't to stop being a cop. I think maybe I just needed to give myself room to grow in that position, instead of just doing the same exact thing until retirement, you know? I'm turning forty this year. Taking on all the most dangerous assignments is going to get harder, and I have someone to come home to now. So I think maybe it's time to look at moving up through the ranks, so I can keep doing what I love, but in a more 'grown-up' way now."

"So you're coming back to the force?" Maura asked cautiously, afraid to get too excited for fear she might have misunderstood.

"I haven't said yes yet, but Cavanaugh's been bugging me about it ever since he heard I was back in Boston. Why hire someone new, he says, when I'm right here, and he knows I'm good. And he's planning to retire in a few years, so…"

"So you're planning to get a degree so you can qualify as a lieutenant by then."

Jane nodded. "The department's always willing to work with cops who are going back to school for related degrees. They'd be willing to scale back my hours, not send me on any stake-outs, so I can have time for classes and homework. And I can finally go to BCU. Won't be the same, but…"

"Oh, Jane, I'm so proud of you!" Maura jumped up and threw her arms around Jane. "You'll love BCU, I know you will!" She kissed her. "So we'll work together again?"

"It's not official yet, but, yeah, we will."

"But no undercover operations in prisons?"

Jane chuckled. "There are always younger cops who are eager to prove themselves. Maybe I should let them have a chance. I think I've already proven myself, don't you?"

"Many times over!" She kissed Jane's cheek, leaving behind a red lipstick print. "I can't wait for you to become Lieutenant Rizzoli! I've never had sex with a lieutenant before."

"Well, first I have to work on becoming Sergeant Rizzoli."

"I've never had sex with a sergeant before either!"

"I still have to take the test."

"You'll do great. I'll help you study." Maura kissed her again, her heart nearly bursting with pride. "You'd better tell BCU you're attending so they keep your spot, and tell Cavanaugh you're coming back."

"I will, on Monday. Right now we need to get to Fenway for our glamourous photo shoot."

"Oh, let me wipe my lip print off your face."

Jane looked at herself in the mirror. "Nah, leave it. I kind of like it." She smiled at Maura. "We can show everyone that you can't keep your hands, or your mouth, off of me."

~R&I~

"I'm so proud of the way you've been figuring out your life the past few months," Maura said as they parked outside of Fenway. "A year ago you didn't even have a permanent place to live, and now look at you. You're advancing your career and your education, and you're even getting married!"

"You say this as if I'm marrying some random person who isn't you."

"Well, I'm excited for both of us. But admitting your feelings for me was a big step for you!"

"Yeah, it was. But now that I'm having great sex every night and having a photo shoot at Fenway, I'm wondering what the hell took me so long." She turned to Maura. "You really don't mind me going back to school at BCU? The tuition's really expensive."

"It's money well spent." Maura kissed her. "And it's our money now. Don't think of it as me sending you to college, although I would be happy to."

Jane smiled. "Well, if you've always wanted to get it on with a hot college girl, now's your chance."

"I do now!" Maura kissed her. "I know a lot of people at BCU. You know I could have helped you get in."

"I know, but I wanted to do it on my own."

"And you did, which is why I'm so proud."

They got out of the car and made their way into the empty stadium. An employee met them and helped them set up the Green Monster scoreboard with their names and the wedding date while they waited for the photographer.

"It's so weird being in the park when it's empty," Jane remarked as they waited.

"I'm going to choose one of the pictures of us in front of the scoreboard for our save the date magnet," Maura told her. "That way, we won't have to print anything on the magnet. All the information will already be in the picture!"

"Uh huh. And just what is a 'save the date magnet?'"

"Well, some people just send cards. You send them well ahead of the invitations, and they just announce the date of your upcoming wedding, so they know to keep the date clear. But I thought it would be more fun to send magnets! Then everyone will have a picture of us on their refrigerators, and it will be a constant reminder of our upcoming wedding! Closer to the date, we'll send real invitations, which will have more details."

"I kinda like the idea of being on people's refrigerators."

Maura looked at her watch. "The photographer was supposed to be here ten minutes ago. I'm going to call her."

"She's probably just stuck in traffic," Jane said, but Maura called anyway. The photographer answered, sounding a bit annoyed. Maura expressed concern over her being late to their session, and annoyance quickly turned to shock.

"You cancelled the session," the photographer insisted.

"What? No, I didn't! My fiancée and I are here, dressed for a photo shoot. We've got everything ready. You called me just yesterday to confirm!"

"Yes, which is why I was surprised when I got an email from you this morning saying that the wedding was off and you were cancelling the shoot. I emailed back and asked if you understood that the deposit was non-refundable, and you said you understood."

"That wasn't me! I don't know who you got an email from, but the wedding is very much on, and we're waiting to have our picture taken."

There was a pause. "I can be there in twenty minutes. Is that all right?"

"Yes, of course." Maura hung up the phone. "She got an email she thought was from me saying we had called off the wedding. Who would do something like that?"

Jane frowned. "My first guess would be my dad, but he barely knows how to use email."

"Jane, do you think someone hacked into my account? I've emailed her before. She wouldn't have thought it was from me unless it was the same address! What if someone's trying to sabotage our whole wedding?" She could feel her breathing and heart rate speed up as she considered the disturbing possibilities.

"Hey, we'll worry about it later, okay? Right now we're going to do our photo shoot, and we're going to have fun, and you're going to get your save the date magnets, okay? Everything will be perfect. No one is going to ruin our wedding."

Maura nodded uncertainly, trying to slow her breathing down. The photographer arrived a bit later, looking harried, and the shoot got off to a tense start. But Jane made a few jokes to lighten the mood, and once Maura laughed a bit, she was able to relax and have fun. They posed in front of the old score board, by home plate, in the stands, next to a mural from 1912, and in the spot where they would take their vows: on a big wooden platform that said FENWAY PARK on it. For a while, Maura forgot about the fact that someone had tried to prevent this from happening, and just enjoyed herself. When the shoot was finished, they confirmed their upcoming beach shoot with the photographer, who promised not to accept any more email cancellations.

"Can I see the email you got?" Maura asked her.

"Yeah, of course," she said, taking out her phone. "Here it is. Drmiles ."

Maura looked at it carefully. "That's actually a letter off from my email," she said. "Mine is DrMIsles . They left out an S."

"Oh, you're right. I'm so sorry. I should have realized it wasn't you."

"No, it's okay, anyone would have thought it was me." She turned to Jane. "So no one hacked my email, but they must have known what my email was."

"Dad could have done it then, except he wouldn't know your email address."

"As far as we know." Maura frowned, taking out her own phone. Three new voicemails. Concerned, she hit play.

When she'd finished listening, she turned around to Jane, her face pale. "That was both dress shops, our caterer, and the band for our reception. They all said they got emails from me saying the wedding had been called off, and wanted to confirm with me make sure I understood the deposits are not refundable."

"Okay, well, call them all back and tell them it's not off," Jane told her. "We'll tell everyone from now on not to accept any email communication from us. Nothing's getting cancelled."

"I will," said Maura. "But Jane, we need to accept that someone is actively trying to stop us from getting married!"