A/N: Male bonding followed by female bonding and definitely some fluff for the gals. Enjoy. Working over the next two chapters carefully because I want them right so enjoy this for a while. Also, some things have been thrown in around the story for tie in so reread.
Jane's NYPD badge number. Anyone get it yet?
Browncoats for everyone.
Z-MJ-M Love you folks.
MJ, just FYI, I do have that answer and once it drops you'll pick up on to it in an instant so I'm trying to make it unexpected.
"See that's the thing, Castle." Korsak said from his stool at the Dirty Robber, "Shopping for Jane is tricky business."
"Honestly, your best bet is to go practical," Frost added. "Something she'll use every day."
With Christmas looming later in the week, Rick had confided in Jane's old partners that he was at a loss as to what to get Jane this year. Especially since her birthday hadn't gone over all that well. So with Frost on his left and Korsak on his right, they had set down at the bar to explain what Rick was getting into. He was beginning to regret it.
He leaned into the wooden back in his stool and took a pull from his beer, "Yeah, but Jane has lived in my house for almost a year now. And being my fiancés best friend, I thought since she's living with Maura, I should get her something both of them would like."
Frost leaned in to Rick, "Yeah but how well do you really know her?"
"What are you getting Kate for Christmas?" Korsak asked.
"I hadn't figured that out yet either." He said, "But Kate's a different deal all together. She likes jewelry and clothes and all the things most women like but unlike most women she has no real value or attachment or to that kind of thing. Jane gets insulted if you get her those kinds of things, plus my relationship isn't as close with her as Kate's is."
"Yeah but how well do you really know her?" Frost asked again, "I know a lot but even I don't bother trying to go past practical."
"See the thing with Jane is, there's two categories," Korsak said, "Practical and sentimental. You're not Dr. Isles so I'll skip over the romantic crap I've seen her throw away."
Rick laughed, "Who tried the romantic thing? This I have to hear."
Frost laughed into his mug, "One thing at a time, Castle."
"So depending on how well you know her you might be able to get away with sentimental," Korsak raised his bottle to the bartender, signaling for another, "but that doesn't work out so well if you don't know her all that well."
"Korsak's right, she may have lived with you for a while but did she ever let you in?" Frost said.
"I've seen Jane at her very best and her absolute worst." He said confidently, "I know things about her that she wouldn't want mentioned. And in the interest of self-preservation, won't be."
"Yeah," Korsak said, "I know things too but that's different than her letting you in."
"She let Gabriel Dean in and he broke her trust." Frost said, "At least that's what I've heard about it."
"Damn near got Dr. Isles' father killed in the process." Korsak agreed. "That was some bad business that one."
"Heard that she wouldn't let Colonel Jones in for the same reason," the younger detective added, "Just a rumor but I heard she couldn't let herself trust him after Dean."
"Really?" rick said, "Anything to corroborate that?"
"Nope." The sergeant said, "Other hot rumor on that one was that she was in love with the Doc and realized it after she went out with Jones. Another one said that she dated jones to make the Doc jealous."
"That's the problem with our rumors, their all full of it somewhere." Grunted Frost.
"Well, rumor two has a higher base in reality." Rick said.
"True," Korsak laughed as he slapped Rick in the back, "But with so many flying around, we didn't believe any of it until we heard it out of Jane's own mouth."
Frost pulled a few bucks out of his wallet and tossed it on the bar. "Well, I have to get home and get some wrapping done. But if you need help, Castle, I'll help you out tomorrow."
"Thanks Frost," Rick held out his hand, "I'd appreciate it."
"See you tomorrow, Old School." He said to Korsak.
Korsak raised his beer, "Tomorrow, New School."
Frost grabbed his coat and headed out.
"Okay what's with the old school, new school, thing?"
"Oh, he knows all about those computers and all that technology crap. Don't tell him I said this but he's a damn good computer detective." He said with a chuckle, "But I'm an old school, 'look with your eyes and find it with your gut', carry a magnifying glass, detective."
"Ah, I get it." Rick laughed. "Jane used to tell us all kinds of stories about you two going back and forth."
"Yeah well, he tries to teach me all this new stuff and I try to teach him about old fashioned police work so we balance out in the end. Jane. She used to be the one."
He sipped at his beer, a remembering look in his eyes, "Best damned detective I ever known." He looked at Rick and pointed a finger at himself, "And that includes me."
"Weren't you her training officer?" Rick asked.
"Yeah in a sense." He took a long pull on his beer before turning back to the writer, "She was a hell of a cop. Smart as hell, great instincts, just a natural detective. She came over from Vice and was Boston's first female Homicide detective.
"I hated her when I first met her. A woman has no place investigating homicides, so I showed her a few things and she picked it up faster than I wanted to show her. I used to say that a woman has no place in a Homicide Squad." He laughed, "Truth was, I was threatened by her. She made Detective faster than anybody. Did a few years in vice and moved up to Homicide in her early thirties. Then we came across a bad case and she got a hunch and a lead that cracked it wide open. I ignored her and she went off alone, by the time I figured out what had happened. She got hurt."
Vince wiped a stray tear from his eye as his voice cracked, "Damn it she got hurt bad. I got to her in time to save her life but the damage was already done."
He emptied his beer in one swig and clanked the bottle down, He took a deep breath and his voice came out normally again, "When she got out of the hospital she requested a new partner. After she got off leave, Frost was assigned to her and I got moved to Division 3. Took a lot of years for us to patch it up but then it was the three of us. Me, Frost and Jane were the best team in Boston."
"Jane never held it against you." Rick said.
"She did for a while, she never said it but I know." Korsak met his eyes, "You seen her like I did, didn't you?"
Rick sipped, "Yeah." he said, "I did."
Korsak nodded and stared into the empty bottle.
"She couldn't even speak, almost died of hypothermia. It was a week before she could even talk. I have never seen anyone like that and she hates that I've seen it."
"I know the feeling." Korsak said, "Doesn't mean I wouldn't do anything for her."
"Yeah," Rick said ordering two more beers, "I know the feeling."
"Give it time, Castle." He said as he patted Rick on the shoulder, "Be her friend and give it time, she'll forgive you soon. Especially since she's your gal's best friend."
Rick nodded.
"Hey where are they anyway?" Korsak said.
"Girls night at Maura's house." Rick said, "Frankie should be here in a half hour for the game."
"Ah, no men allowed over there tonight?"
"Yep," Rick nodded.
Korsak chuckled at the thought of what would be going on at Maura's house tonight. Rick smiled knowing what the old man was thinking.
"Drinking wine, talking trash men and, passing around make up tips." Korsak chuckled.
The wine was passed freely around the island in Maura's kitchen as the girls started passing around embarrassing stories of childhood, love, and bad dates. Kate had complimented Maura on her choice of Merlots, not that either Jane or Angela were surprised by this. Maura always kept an excellent selection of wine nearby.
Angela had asked Jane why she and Maura hadn't figured out their feelings before and Jane had been reluctant to share her experiences with her mother. But when Angela insisted, Jane smiled evilly.
"Janie," Angela said as she grabbed her daughters shoulder, "Maybe this isn't the best story to tell."
"Oh no, Ma! You started this so you can't back out now." Jane glared as she sipped the fruit juice Maura had picked out for her at Whole Foods, "You wanted to know why I never told her so it's only fair to tell you about the time you were most involved in which just happens to be the closest I ever came to telling her."
"Janie," Her mom cried out, "It's embarrassing."
"And it wasn't any better for me, trust me on that." Jane turned back to Kate and Alexis.
"Okay, so as I was saying, Frankie asks Maura if she can turn bike into a Café Racer for his Vice cover and she starts getting all technical about how it works, Something about vacuum sucking air…"
"Oh Jane," Maura said, "That's not exactly what I said."
Jane laughed, "okay then what did you say, exactly?"
Maura smiled to her girlfriend as she recited the words from a year ago as if from a tape recording, "Intake Vacuum pressure pulls the fuel through and mixes liquid with air before it sucks it into the compression chamber."
Jane laughs, "Right, just like that. So Frankie is getting uncomfortable and I can see him start shifting around and I'm never one to miss an opportunity to screw with Frankie so I look at Maura and I say," her voice gets a breathy sound to it, "keep going. Maura looks over at Frankie and sees him kinda dancing around with that look to so she all too happily plays along. She looks at me and says." Jane holds up a hand to Maura.
In a suggestive voice Maura repeats it verbatim, "A violent explosion rams the big piston down with great force… Long connecting rod… forces the crank pin… into rotation, which is what… You... Want."
Kate starts laughing at the innuendos and can easily imagine Frankie getting uncomfortable at that. Alexis too was giggling but it was Angela who was trying to hold back and failing miserably that had Jane and Maura cracking up.
"That's the problem with my partner. You even crack open the sexual innuendo door and she'll blast through it like the Kool-Aid man."
Maura started waving her hands as Jane regained a modicum of control, "No see that's the thing. It was a complete and total back fire."
Maura stopped laughing and stared at her lover, "What?"
"It's true. I told you to keep going so it would make Frankie uncomfortable." Jane turned back to Kate, "Complete back fire. In fifteen seconds, it went from some fun at Frankie's expense to me being putty in her hands. I'm talking totally turned on and with the right amount of beers to tell her everything."
Kate started laughing again.
"Oh it's not funny because, I look straight at her and I can't really say it so I tell her, 'I'd love to get my crank pin rotated about now.' And Miss I-know-a-lot-about-everything looks at me takes in everything I'm feeling and runs completely in the wrong direction with it and says 'I knew you'd miss Casey.'"
"Oh Maura, NO!" Alexis shouts, "You didn't."
"I didn't know it was me she was thinking about." She looked to Jane, "Why didn't you tell me?!"
"I tried," Jane laughed, "I really did!"
Angela points a finger at Maura, and with a laugh, "Maura! You jumped to a conclusion."
Maura put her face in her hands, embarrassed, "I did!"
Jane puts an arm around her and continues, "So I groaned into my beer and am about to tell her that I wasn't thinking of Casey when Frankie finally chirps in saying he's really uncomfortable. So I'm just shut down again completely and now were laughing about Frankie when look who walks in," Jane holds both of her hands up to display Angela. "My Ma with my Lieutenant."
Angela buried her face in her hands, "I didn't know you'd be there."
Jane looks at her mother, "Really, Maura only lives there." She turns back to the New Yorkers, "So like I said I was all fired up and just as quickly shut down and Ma walks in so now I can't help it, sarcasm Jane Rizzoli looks straight at her boss and says 'Hi Lieutenant.'" More laughter, "So Ma says they're just going to make dinner and Cavanaugh says, "I hope you two don't mind."
"Before I can say anything Frankie tells him no he doesn't mind so I'm stuck agreeing with him. Once they go in I stare at Frankie and say what the hell? Maura's trying to shush me cause they can hear us, right? So I'm like, I don't care they shouldn't be doing what they're doing? Maura's trying to shush me again so now I'm having fun with this and just want to mess up their night so I look at Frankie start shaking my hips and say" her voice gets deep and throaty impersonating Cavanaugh, "Hey Rizzoli, you mind if I throw your mother around for a while?"
"Oh Janie we heard you," Angela said over Kate's hysterical laughter.
"Good that was the point when I said 'I mind, yeah I'm out here minding?'"
Alexis' face starts to hurt from laughing so hard when she looks at her Aunt, "So then what happened."
"Oh good lord," Angela says. "Janie please don't."
Jane opens her mouth but before she can finish, her phone starts ringing. The ringtone blares out, "You call me a bitch like it's a bad thing."
"Hold on, I gotta take this." Jane grabs her phone and walks away, "Hey Liv, what's up."
Angela looks at Maura, "Who's Liv?"
"Olivia is a friend of Jane's from New York." Maur said with a smile, "Kate knows her as well."
"Liv's been a friend of ours since LETO." Kate clarified, "She's looking out for Maura's turtle."
"Tortoise." Maura corrected and Kate smiled. Like Jane she enjoyed Maura's corrections.
Angela nodded and looked at her daughter standing in the living room.
"No, the one in the fridge that say's Lotus Leaf." Jane said as Angela listened in, "It's next to the strawberries… two leafs and half a strawberry… okay. And there should be something on the table by the couch for you… Maura and I got that for you, Merry Christmas… Liv. No one should spend Christmas alone… girl, quit making up excuses and get your butt to Boston, we've got plenty of room." Jane walks further into the living room. "Just book an Amtrak and I'll come pick you up, hell I'll pay for the ticket…"
Jane came into the kitchen and refilled her glass of pomegranate juice phone wedged between her ear and her shoulder. "Oh, don't give me that in charge crap. It's Christmas… Well if you change your mind… Okay hon, you take care…bye."
"You have a friend who's alone on Christmas?" Angela asked, incredulously.
"Not if I can help it." Jane said, "Give me another day or two and I'll have her up here."
"Must be something good in your juice if you think you're going to get her to Boston by Christmas." Kate said.
"Just wholesome goodness." She said with a grin and leaned over to kiss Maura sweetly, "Picked out by the best girlfriend a woman could ever have."
"Janie, what happened to you in New York?" Angela asked, "I haven't seen you drink anything but fruit juice since you got home."
Jane's smile faded a bit as she regarded her mother, "I quit drinking after the Frankie thing."
Maura wrapped her arms around her lover, "It wasn't me, Jane did it on her own."
"I dried out in a motel on orange juice until the day I met Maura at the airport. After that, I really haven't had more than a beer on occasion and I almost never finish it."
Alexis slid into the conversation, "She started drinking OJ by the gallon, and we couldn't keep it in our home."
"Recent studies have shown that overconsumption of orange juice can lead to a number of health issues such as indigestion, heartburn, ulcers, stomach aches, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, dizziness, skin rashes, and studies suggest that overconsumption can increased stress level."
Jane smiled at her girlfriend and the talking google that had become part of her own life.
"I started having a couple of these problems so Maura started introducing me to all these different fruit juices. She handed her glass to her mother, "This is pomegranate."
Angela took a sip of the juice and clenched her face, "Ew, it's like grape fruit juice."
Jane laughed and took a healthy pull from the glass, "Not really and trust me, I've had grapefruit juice. This is way better than that."
Maura smiled at Jane before turning to Angela, "Pomegranate has also been shown to have many benefits to the human body, isn't that right Jane?"
Jane took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "Pomegranates have strong antioxidant and health benefits. It not only lowers cholesterol, but also lowers blood pressure and increases the speed at which heart blockages melt away. The have some antioxidant compounds that reduce blood clots and naturally lower blood pressure, things that prevent both heart attacks and strokes."
Maura smiled and said, "Keep going."
Jane got that evil smile, "Not only are pomegranates good for your heart and blood but they help prevent breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, leukemia, Alzheimer's disease, and diabetes."
She opened her eyes to see her mother staring at her as if Jane had just grown a second head. Alexis and Kate laughed at the astounded expression on Angela's face.
Alexis raised her phone and snapped a picture. The flash snapped her out of her daze, "Jane!"
Jane looked to Maura, "Did I get it right?"
Maura hugged her from the side, "Yes, my love, minus the technical terms, you were correct."
"Wow!" Angela shouted, "Maura, what have you done to my Janie."
"I wish I could take the credit but a lot of it was Alexis." Maura said with a smile to the youngest Castle. "I was just as surprised as you are now."
Alexis cringed at the praise from Maura. She didn't want to like her but Maura's praise made her feel proud. But she refused to show it to the honey blond. Alexis took a sip from her own glass of Pomegranate Juice before she sent the picture of Angela's surprise to Jane's phone.
"Oh honey," Angela got up and hugged her quickly, "You are something special. How in the world did I get so lucky to have such a blessed family?"
Jane's iPhone chirped and Alexis' ringtone blared out of the speaker.
"This girl is on fire?" Maura asked.
Jane checked her phone and laughed at the picture, "Hang out with the little genius and you'll understand." She showed her mom the picture.
"What's my ringtone?" Maura asked.
Jane looked uncomfortable as Kate shone with a knowing smile.
"Oh, it's very appropriate for you two." She said. "Go ahead Jane."
Jane poked at her phone for a second, "Okay, here you go, baby."
Her iPhone started playing a piano and a female duet began to sing.
"You are the only one,
The only one that sees me, trusts me and believes me
You are the only one,
The only one that knows me, and in the dark you show me
Yeah it's perfectly reckless, damn, you leave me defenseless
So break in, break in."
"Oh Janie, It's beautiful." Angela said softly.
Maura stared at her lover, "It is beautiful. I've never heard this before." A tear slid from the corner of her eye, "Do you have the whole song?"
Jane nodded, "The band is Halestorm and the song is called Break In, I bought the album on iTunes when it came out and when I heard this I couldn't help but think of you."
"Awful mushy, Aunt Jane." Alexis chided.
"Hey kiddo," in a disapproving tone, "When it happens to you, you'll get it."
"God I can't wait till you two give me grandkids." Angela said.
Jane started laughing, "Ma, I hate to tell you this but Maura and I don't have the right equipment to make babies together."
"Yes we do," Maura said.
Angela frowned, "I want a Rizzoli and Isles grandbaby. How can you do that?"
"We can't Ma." Jane said. "Two women can't have a child with each other. Matching parts remember."
"Actually Jane," Maura said, "That's not true."
Jane threw her hands up. "I give up."
"Seems like artificial insemination would play a part," Kate said. "But you could actually have a child with both yours and Jane's DNA?"
"Yes." Maura said simply.
"How?" Angela asked.
"OH good lord help me," Jane said to the ceiling.
"Well, one woman is artificially inseminated and then the fertilized ovum is transferred into the other female who would carry the fetus to term." She looked at Jane, "If you ever change your mind about having a child, we could have one that has both mine and your genetic makeup."
"Baby, I asked you not to encourage her." Jane groaned and thunked her head on the table. Suddenly she lifted her head and stared at her girlfriend, "And exactly when did I say I don't want children?"
"Well you haven't exactly said, 'I don't want children' but you had expressed concerns in my office."
"I don't remember that?" Jane scowled.
"When confronted with the prospects of a relationship with Casey, you were concerned that it was 'The gateway to mom jeans, baby slime, arguments over the remote control, clipping coupons, and buying in bulk.'"
"Maura!" Jane shouted, "That was Casey! Not YOU!"
"Well, I took several meanings out of that conversation including the idea that you did not want a child or even a serious committed relationship."
The hurt look on her face made Jane reach for her. "Maura. That was Casey. I didn't want all of those things with him."
She wrapped Maura in her arms and held her tight, "Oh baby, I love you so much. And all those things I was afraid of with him, I want to have with you one day." She looked into Maura's hazel eyes and tried to push her love into that moment. "We can really have a baby Jane and Maura?"
Maura sighed as Jane wiped the tears from her cheeks, "Yes, Jane. We can really have a child that's part you and part me."
Angela reached for Kate and took her hands, tears of joy started on their own. Kate smiled then, her best friend and partner now had the chance to have a family with the one she loves. No one noticed as Alexis quietly left the room.
Angela grinned, "So I'm going to start putting some ideas together for a wedding."
Jane and Maura stared at her, "MA!" Jane shouted in surprise.
"Ang… Ma." Maura stammered, "Jane is correct that we both agreed to take things slowly and studies have shown that couples who wait even a few years before marriage have a higher success rate."
Angela put her hands on her hips, "Maura, you and Janie have been together for years, maybe not as a couple but there's definitely been a serous committed relationship going on whether you two were aware of it or not."
Jane grunted, "If that were the case Ma. Then Maura and I have some explaining to do for being unfaithful to each other with men."
"Yes," Maura said with equal mirth, "I would be particularly in trouble for being involved with a serial killer."
"Actually, I think I'd get it worse because I shot your biological Dad." Jane said, "Because a guy I slept with shot at him."
"Jane," Maura said exasperated, "We've been through this. Yes you shot Paddy, but you didn't shoot to kill or he'd be dead. But I still want to shoot Agent Dean for his involvement and his betrayal in your trust."
"Maura Dorthea Rizzoli, I never want to hear something like that come out of your mouth again." Angela shook an angry finger at her. "You are too precious to Janie and the rest of the family. If there's shooting to be done, you leave it to Janie. You hear me young lady?!"
"See what you started," Jane shrugged, "Told you not to encourage her Maura Rizzoli."
"Yes, Ma." The word slipped easily from her tongue. And she turned to Jane, "Actually, Jane I like the way that sounds, Maura Dorthea Rizzoli." She looked at Angela, "Dr. Maura Rizzoli."
Jane looked around and couldn't see Alexis. "Okay, well while you're dangling all my mother's fantasies in front of her I'm going to go find my niece." She kissed Maura's cheek and got up and headed out of the kitchen.
"So are you ever going to tell me about that dream you had?" Jane asked as she caressed Maura's nude back from neck to tailbone.
As had become habit Maura's body was pressed against Jane's side and her head rested on Jane's shoulder. The feel of skin upon skin with no barriers was both exciting and soothing to both of them. Maura had a gentle smile and had nearly dozed off when the words brought her back.
She sighed, "I had a dream when we let Alexis sleep with us in your room."
Jane smiled at the memory. "Tell me, please?"
"It's about a child, Jane." Maura said nervously, "Our child, a daughter."
Jane turned her head slightly and kissed Maura's forehead. "I'm listening, baby."
Maura smiled at that, "I dreamt of being pregnant with your child, Jane. I carried our daughter in my womb. And then she was about 5 years old and had a bad dream and we held her between us, crooning her to sleep."
"What did she look like?" Jane said sweetly.
"She was beautiful, Jane." She said softly, "She had my eyes and your nose and long curly hair just like you."
Jane pulled Maura a little tighter, "She sounds beautiful, Maur. Just like you."
"But I am confused about something," Maura said. "She had red hair like Alexis."
Jane smiled, "It just means you like her, Maur."
"But Jane, she does not like me."
"That's where you are wrong, baby," Jane said and held her tightly again, "She does like you but believe me when I tell you that I know my niece, she feels threatened by you and if you just give her time, she'll accept you and she'll love you as much as she loves me. I know it. Just keep being you and it will come."
"Do you promise," Maura asked.
"I promise, baby. She'll come around." Jane reassured her.
Maura believed her without question because when Jane made a promise, she always kept it. She shifted slightly and Jane's breath caught as Maura draped her leg over Jane's thigh. It was an extremely intimate place to lay her leg and within a few well-placed kisses on Jane's collar bone. She had found herself on her back with the brunette's hips nestled neatly between her thighs and Jane pressing her tongue into Maura's mouth.
Maura loved it when Jane took control, almost as much as when Jane gave up that control.