"A picnic? You do realize it's snowing outside, right?" Maura asked incredulously.

"Yes. Come on! We dress warmly; grab a blanket and some hot chocolate. It'll be fun." She had gotten the idea from a website the other day and it looked like fun.

Maura couldn't deny the look on her face. "Fine." She said, humoring her.

They got their things together and took off towards the nearest park where they set up their blanket on a patch of fresh snow. They were surrounded by icicle adorned trees and a light snowfall.

They took out two large thermoses and a spoon. Cuddled up close, they fed one another macaroni and cheese and drank hot chocolate. It was a nice break from all the wedding planning and they settled in comfortably.

Maura looked over at Jane in adoration. "Ich Liebe Dich."

She blinked in confusion. "Uh… gesundheit?"

The M.E. just smiled and tried again. "Je t'aime."

Jane's face stayed in its befuddled state.

"Te quiero."

Her face lit up with recognition. "Oh…" She smiled. "I love you too."

She looked at her curiously. "You know Spanish?"

"Not really. But I had to pick up something in high school Spanish class, right?"

Maura laughed.

"What were those other languages?"

"German and French."

"You never cease to amaze me. How many others do you know?"

"Well… I'm not really fluent in anything other than English."

"Yet you can still speak them." She wasn't convinced.

"Well, when you spend quite a bit of your childhood in Europe you pick up a few things."

Jane just nodded and took a sip of hot chocolate. "Want some more?" Jane asked, brandishing the thermos.

"No thank you. I think I'm plenty warmed up now." She smiled and snuggled up further against her. "This was a very good idea."

"Told you." She teased as she rubbed Maura's arm lovingly before she placed a kiss on her temple.

Maura pulled away just long enough to land an affectionate kiss on the other woman's lips.

"Hey! What the hell is wrong with you!" An older woman yelled like a maniac as she walked in their direction.

Jane looked behind them, thinking her anger was directed that way. There was no one there.

"Do you not realize there are kids in this park!" She stopped at the edge of their blanket and stared them down with a glare that's fierceness rivaled a category five hurricane.

"What? We weren't even doing anything!" Jane protested. What was this lady's problem?

"Not doing anything? You're flaunting yourself in front of impressionable minds! It's disgusting and you have no right!"

"No right?" Jane stood up. "Listen lady, I don't know what your problem is but I suggest you start walking away."

She laughed. "And what are you going to do about it?"

"Jane." Maura said, standing up and placing her hand on the detective's arm when she saw her fist clench.

"Nothing. I'm not going to do anything." She calmed herself and sat back down before bringing the drink thermos back to her mouth, hoping the woman would just go away.

She didn't. "I'm not going anywhere until I know you're gone."

Maura sighed. "You know, if you keep this up you could be arrested for disorderly conduct."

"By who! I don't see any cops around!"

"Maybe not in uniform." She countered.

"What? You telling me you're cops?" She laughed haughtily.

"Jane."

Said woman held her badge up, not saying a word.

"Ha! Now I have your badge number! I'll just get you fired!" She walked away, mumbling the number over and over again to try and remember it.

"What just happened?" Jane asked as she put her badge back.

Maura just shrugged. "She obviously had a problem with us."

"You think?" She laughed. "I just hate to be on the other end of that phone call."

Maura's face took on a bit of worry. "She can't actually get you fired, can she?"

"For what? Having a picnic with my fiancée? I'd like to see her try." Then she laughed, thinking of something. "You know what? We should have just gotten up and played baseball with those kids over there. Just to tick her off."

The M.E. laughed along with her and then they continued on with their after-picnic cuddles. They laid together comfortably, on a blanket in the snow, until Jane's phone rang.

"Rizzoli." She answered with a grumble.

"Hey, we just got a very strange visit." Korsak said.

"Oh really?" She asked, amused.

"Yeah…some lady was screaming your badge number and that you needed to be fired. Know anything about that?"

"I might have a clue." She said with a slight laugh.

"This isn't funny, Rizzoli. She said you were endangering kids and then threatened to arrest her when she tried to stop you."

"Relax, Korsak. She saw me an' Maura having a picnic and didn't appreciate the fact that we were being affectionate near some kids."

"And by affectionate you mean…?"

She rolled her eyes. "We kissed. Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Alright, alright. Enjoy your picnic." He said sarcastically.

"Sure will." She answered with fake cheer.

They didn't stay there much longer as it started to get dark, so they decided to head home.

XXXXX

It was his thirtieth day sober and Tommy dusted the snow off his jacket before he walked into his meeting. Just as he was about to head to get his coffee fix he spotted Chris and decided it was time to speak to him.

"Hey Chris." He nodded at the man.

"Hi Tommy. How are you?"

"Doing well." He smiled. "Listen… I wanted to thank you. I know you're the one who gave me that number a while back and I really appreciate it, even if I didn't at the time."

He smiled. "Glad to hear it." Hesitation appeared in his voice before he spoke again. "And you know that offer is still open if you ever want to talk."

"Sure. Sounds great."

"I'm free after the meetings. So… whenever."

Tommy nodded in agreement, definitely planning to take him up on that offer.

The meeting went by without incident and they decided to stop off at a nearby deli for dinner and to chat.

"So, uh… how long have you been going?"

"About ten years."

"Ten?" He asked incredulously. "Wow… kudos, man."

"Thanks. You'll get there, just stick to it."

"I hope so. I messed up not too long ago."

"That's normal." He assured. "But we can talk about it if you want."

Tommy shrugged. "Just had a pretty bad nightmare. I moved into my sister's old place and I guess she left some wine in one of the cabinets."

Chris frowned. "It's understandable. But you made sure there wasn't any more in the house, right?"

He nodded. "Turned out I drank it all."

"Well… now you know how easy it is to relapse. You're better prepared."

"You ever relapse?"

He laughed. "Of course! I don't even know how many times. I've only been sober for six years. The other four were filled with relapses."

Tommy looked down and sighed. "So that means it'll take four years until I can start to get better?"

Chris shook his head. "Naw, everyone's different. And besides, the moment you walked through that door you started getting better."

Tommy smiled. "Thanks. That means a lot."

They got their food and continued with an easy, flowing conversation.

XXXXX

Jane called Maura out to the front yard. It was cold and the snow was falling gently. When Maura appeared at the door, Jane bent down to collect some snow.

"Don't even think about it." The cautious M.E. warned.

"What? I'm only making a snowman."

"Oh."

Jane smiled. "Did you think I was gonna do this?" She asked, lobbing the icy sphere to land at Maura's feet.

"No." Maura said, bending down to pick it up. "I thought you were going to do this." She ran at the detective and, when close enough to assure her accuracy, chucked the frozen ball at the side of her head.

Jane winced at the cold but laughed anyway. A small snowball fight ensued. As Jane started out on the ground, she was at a disadvantage but got a few good shots in anyway. A few minutes later, the game was over and a truce was enacted.

"Can I make my snowman now?" Jane asked, still covered with snow.

"Here, I'll help." Maura kneeled in the snow next to her and started making a ball of snow.

"You know how to make one?" She asked, slightly surprised.

Maura laughed. "Well, first of all it's not that difficult so even if I've never made one before I'm sure I could figure it out. And second of all, it was one of the few outside winter activities we were allowed to do at school."

"Oh, right." Jane felt a little foolish for asking that now but kept at rolling the ball around to make it bigger.

Within a few minutes they had three balls of snow, each of varying sizes, atop one another. Jane looked around before deciding to snap off a few frostbitten twigs from a nearby tree. She stuck them on either side of the middle ball while Maura put a few rocks in the top white globe.

They stood back to admire their handiwork and Maura frowned.

"You know, he's not very accurate."

Jane snorted. "For a snowman? I think it's fine. But you're welcome to stay out here and fix it."

Maura pursed her lips as she looked over their creation. "Nah, I think I'd rather just stay inside with you."

"Good choice." She extended a gloved hand towards the M.E., who then took it, and then led them inside.

They lied on the couch together for about an hour, just enjoying being together, with the fire going.

"Do we have anything planned for tomorrow?" Jane asked.

"No. Why?"

"I was thinking of going to get a Christmas tree. It's getting to be that time."

"Sounds good!" Maura chimed.

They sat there for a while longer before Maura got up.

"Where are you going?" Jane asked when she saw Maura put on her coat.

"Jessica's. To make sure she knows what moments we want photographed."

"You can't do that by phone?"

"I suppose. But it's best if I go there." She said as she headed to the door.

"But, baby, it's cold outside." She said in a half-song.

Maura laughed and then walked over to her. She cupped the detective's cheek and stared into her eyes. "I won't be too long." She promised with a kiss. "Ooh, your lips are delicious." She smiled, not even attempting to sing it, before she left.

XXXXX

The next day, they arrived at the tree lot. It was packed, snowy and cold but they were beyond happy. This would be their first ever Christmas tree together and they couldn't wait to pick it out.

They walked through the rows and rows of trees, gloved hands grasped together. The atmosphere was perfect. Just enough snow to lightly dust everything lightly, causing a magical effect, while not enough to be a hindrance. There were just enough people to fill the air with cheery laughter and holiday spirit but not so many as to be loud and annoying. The temperature had just enough bite to it to make it feel like winter but not so much so that they were shivering.

They took their time, just enjoying the experience. Maura liked to inspect the trees and determine its species. Most were of the expected Douglas, Noble and Grand Fir varieties but there were a few other types scattered about.

After they finally decided on a tree many minutes later, Jane instructed Maura to stay with it while she went to go get someone who would take it to their car.

"You need some help?"

Maura turned around and saw a man looking expectantly at the tree.

"Oh, no. My fiancée just went to find someone, thanks."

"Fiancé, huh? Shame." He looked her up and down, shamelessly ogling her.

Maura uncomfortably looked away towards Jane, who she could see talking to one of the people that worked here.

He followed her line of sight. "I thought you said fiancé."

"I did."

"Then who's she?" He said, nodding his head over at the woman she was looking at. "Or are you just playing hard to get?"

"She is my fiancée."

"She is?" He shook his head. "I can help you out with that. All you need is some good man-loving."

"Excuse me?" She couldn't believe he just said that.

"You heard me. And it would be my pleasure." He reached out to touch her but she yanked her arm away.

"If you don't walk away right now you'll regret it." Maura warned.

"Fine, whatever. Waste of my time, anyway." He said sharply before walking off, deciding to not waste his efforts on her anymore.

Jane walked up to the M.E. as the man was leaving, questioning look on her face. "What did he want?"

Maura shook her head. "Nothing."

Jane detected something amiss. "What did he say?" She asked a bit more forcefully.

"He was just being a jerk, that's all."

No more needed to be said. "Hey!" She started to run over towards him.

"Jane!" Maura reached out to try and stop her but she was too late.

The man turned around. "What?"

Jane grabbed him by the collar. "You messing with my girl?"

"I didn't touch her!"

"For your sake, I hope you're right!"

"Jane! Stop!" Maura protested. "Drop him!"

Jane complied.

He fixed his collar and walked off, muttering. "Crazy bitch."

"I appreciate the gesture but that was unnecessary." She placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled.

They turned back to their tree to find the employee standing there in confusion.

"Oh, sorry. Yeah… we'll take that one." Jane said sheepishly.

They brought it home and propped it up in the living room. Bass inspected it curiously while Joe barked happily. Jane left briefly before returning with a still unopened box labeled "Christmas Decorations".

After putting on some mood setting music, they spent started on decorating the tree with the minimal amount of ornaments she had. When Maura's back was turned Jane put a hat on Bass' back, being wary of the reptile's mouth, and snickered. Joe bounded over to Jane and barked, expecting one for herself.

Jane laughed and patted her on the head. "Sorry, Joe. I only had the one."

"Jane!" Maura said when she turned and saw the item adorning the reptile's shell. She took it off and threw it at the culprit.

"What? I was just having some fun!" She protested and then put it atop Joe's head. "Guess you get it after all."

Joe barked gleefully and began to run around the house in excitement.

Jane laughed at her pet's antics before reaching into the box for the final decoration. "You want to or should I?" She asked, holding up the angel that was to go on the top.

"You go ahead."

With the aid of a nearby chair, she placed it in its rightful place.

They stood back and admired their handiwork.

"It looks good." Maura noted.

"Yep! Now time for the rest of the house."

She gave her a confused look. "But there's no more decorations left."

"Don't worry; I'll take care of it." She placed a kiss on her cheek and walked into another room.

As Maura was busy cleaning up the pine needles that jumped ship, Jane was busy attaching sprigs of mistletoe to every doorway.

"Alright, I'm done!" Jane smiled several minutes later, looking around to make sure she didn't miss one.

Maura's eyebrow cocked up as she couldn't see anything different. "What did you do?"

"Only the most important thing." She pointed to several of the doorways that were in their line of sight. "Mistletoe." She dragged her under the nearest one and placed a kiss on her lips.

"Of course."

"But it kinda feels like we're missing something." She sifted through the box that was now full of packaging and pulled out the missing item. "Here we go!" She exclaimed, holding up her stocking. "Now we just need to make you one." She rifled around the box a little more but frowned. "I guess I used the last spare blank one for Joe."

"It's okay, I don't need one."

"Oh, c'mon, Maura. Where's your Christmas spirit?"

Maura shrugged, figuring it might be fun. She had no reason to doubt Jane in the past.

The next day they went to meet with their officiant and fill out their marriage license. On their way home they also picked up three blank stockings: one for Maura, one for Bass, and one for Watson.

They set to work as soon as they got home and spent the first few minutes in focused silence.

"So," Maura started, completing the second S in glitter glue on Bass' stocking, "are we going to your parent's house on Christmas or…?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"We always go to my grandmother's house on Christmas."

"Your grandmother's?"

"Yeah."

"You mean the one that was noticeably missing at our engagement party?"

Jane rolled her eyes. "I told you, she wasn't feeling well. She'll love you, I promise."

Maura sighed. "I hope you're right."

With that, the stockings were complete and they set them aside to dry and before going to start dinner.

XXXXX

Over the past few days Tommy and Chris had been spending time together and becoming fast friends. Currently they were hanging out at the batting cages.

"Whoa! That was a good one!" Tommy exclaimed when his friend hit the ball perfectly.

"Yeah!" He laughed and put the bat down before walking out of the gate. "Now let's see what you got!"

Just as Tommy was about to take his turn someone walked up to them.

"Hey Chris!"

"Hi Olivia." He smiled.

"Who's this?" She said with a knowing smirk.

"Relax, he's just a friend. His name's Tommy."

"Oh." She frowned, slightly disappointed. "Nice to meet you Tommy. So what are you guys up to?"

"You know… just hittin' some balls." He pointed to the cage that he just came out of.

"Yeah, I just got done… great therapy." She laughed. "But now I need a shower. I'll see you boys later!" She called as she walked away.

"See ya!" Chris yelled after her. He turned back to Tommy with an expectant look. "Well? Think you can do better than me?" He asked with a playful wink.

He did much better than him, not surprising since he had been a baseball fan since birth and was the star player on his little league team.

"I'm impressed." Chris said as they walked to a nearby diner for some lunch.

"Eh, it was nothing special." He smiled, trying to play it off.

While they were waiting for their order Tommy asked a question that had been bugging him. "What did you mean by 'just a friend'?"

Chris' eyebrows furrowed. "Oh… I guess I haven't said it yet. I'm gay."

That caught him off-guard. "R-really? Cool… my sister's – well… she's getting married to a woman."

"No kidding. Tell her congrats."

"Sure thing."

XXXXX

Jane was busy tying bows on their wedding favors when Maura bounded up to her.

"So, I was thinking about a change of pace in our bedroom. Which color should we go with?"

"I don't care, whichever one you want is fine."

"But I really want you to be a part of this, Jane. Which color do you think is best?" She holds up three cards.

"Maura…" She sighed and then studied them carefully. "Is there even a difference?"

"What?" She flipped the cards back to her and looked at them. "Of course there is! Don't you see it?"

Jane shook her head.

"See, this is blue. This is green. And this is yellow." She said, pointing at the respective colors.

"They all look beige to me."

"Well then it shouldn't be hard to pick one, should it?"

"Fine. This one." She said, blindly choosing the one in the middle.

"Green? Great! I was leaning towards that myself!" She said rather chipperly before heading out the door – presumably to go buy the paint. That woman sure didn't waste any time.

Less than an hour later Maura returned, paint in hand.

Jane jumped up to help, eager to do something other than tying endless knots. But, soon, she kind of wanted to get back to that.

She watched her paint roller go up and down against the wall. They had been at this for a while and she was getting really bored. She glanced over at Maura and an idea came to her mind. With a smile, she set the roller down and dipped her finger in the paint before sneaking up behind an unsuspecting doctor. She reached her hand around and touched her on the nose, transferring a bit of paint in the process.

"Jane!" Maura protested with a slight laugh. She turned around and tapped her paint roller on Jane's still smirking face.

Though no paint got in her mouth, she still spluttered. "Maura!"

"What? Only you're allowed to do that?" She laughed. It stopped when she saw Jane going for the paint bucket. "Wait, no! Not on this shirt!"

She stopped. "Why are you wearing a shirt you aren't willing to get paint on, anyway?"

"Because I don't own a shirt I'm willing to get paint on."

Jane put it back down. "You could've just borrowed one of my tank tops. I wouldn't mind seeing you in one, come to think of it." She winked.

"No offense, Jane, but I wouldn't be caught dead wearing anything in your wardrobe. I don't know why you always protest when I offer to take you shopping."

"Really? You don't know why?"

"Yes. I'm willing to completely change your lack of fashion. If I was in your position, I wouldn't be able to agree fast enough."

"Yeah, well, we're not the same if you haven't noticed."

"Thank god for that." She laughed.

They finished not too long after and collapsed on the bed to relax.

Maura looked over at Jane she hesitated for a moment before speaking up. "Jane… I've been… kind of working on something."

"Yeah?"

"Well… remember on Halloween we were talking about kids."

"Yes."

"I've been using some of my spare time in my lab doing research. She stopped to consider her next words carefully. "We might be able to conceive with our own eggs. Not anytime soon, of course, but in the future."

"Really? But I remember high school biology and I'm pretty sure you need both parts."

"Not if you create an artificial sperm and put the other person's DNA inside. It was originally developed for sterile men. There are other proposed methods besides that though."

"That's incredible." She said in awe. "So, wait…now you want kids?"

Maura shrugged. "I don't know. But now we'll have the option."

Jane nodded. "It is always nice to know it's possible."

The M.E. moved in closer, resting her head on Jane's chest. "Yeah, but I don't know if I'd want something getting in the way of this."

Jane just smiled, silently agreeing, as she stroked her hair. They laid there just long enough to get lulled into a nice, comfortable, nap.