Chapter Twenty-Five
A/N: I apologize that it's been so incredibly long since the last update and I left you guys hanging... and I hate to say but I'll be leaving you hanging for a bit longer with this one too. However, on the plus side, I'm enjoying my brief Christmas break before classes start up again in January and I hope to pound out a few more updates before that happens. Hope all your festivities were enjoyable and Happy New Year!
"Happy birthday to youuuuuu," the gathering of family members and friends crowed as Jane sat, eyes averted down to the 'cake' that Angela had prepared with Maura's help. Truthfully, it wasn't a traditional cake one would expect to see at a birthday celebration. From an early age, Jane had begun to critique the pink frosted cakes Angela would pick for her. After consecutive years of complaining, Jane's late nonna took on the task of baking a different traditional Italian dessert for her grand-daughter's birthday until Jane declared that tiramisu was her favourite. It has since become Jane's birthday 'cake' and Angela has attempted her best to duplicate nonna's recipe as best as she can since she passed.
Jane took a moment before blowing out her candles, submerging the room in darkness for but a second. In that moment, however, she thought of her nonna and how proud she'd be of Jane if she still were here. She breathed a sigh and allowed for the thought to wash over her just as the lights flickered back on, illuminating the faces of all those gathered. The usual Rizzoli clan crowded the table to be nearest to Jane. Friends of the family stood around, scattered about the room. Many of them had had the chance to witness Jane grow up as they lived in the surrounding neighbourhood. Maura stood by Jane's side, observing everything happening around her, relishing the loving gazes directed towards her girlfriend. Angela, who stood on Jane's other side, wrapped her arms around her daughter, planting her hands firmly on the side of her face and pulling her in closely for a hug.
"Happy birthday, Janie!"
Jane scrunched her face, squeezing her eyes shut and attempted to wrestle her way out of her mother's bear like grip.
"Ma, don't you think I'm getting a little old for all these candles?" Jane finally pried herself away, her face red from the extertion.
"You're never too old for candles," Tommy reached out, avoiding a swat from Angela, and swiped a candle from the tiramisu platter. He grinned happily as he cleaned the end of the candle.
"Candles are the best part, sis," he continued.
"Okay, okay. Can we just cap it at like 20 candles or something from now on? If we were to put all the candles on ma's birthday cake, we'd…" Jane stopped herself, mumbling the end of her sentence as her mother towered over her.
"We'd what, Janie?"
As she slowly rose from her seat, Jane hurriedly plucked out the candles and placed them down on the table top.
"… need a bigger cake," she teased before quickly dodging Angela's swat and hiding behind Maura. With her fingers gently wrapped around the blonde's biceps, she poked her head around Maura's left shoulder, narrowing her eyes towards her mother.
"Oooh, hide behind Maura, that's real grown-up of you, Jane!" Angela jokingly scolded.
Maura twisted slightly in Jane's grip to look at her and rose a delicate brow,
"I don't remember consenting to being used as a human shield."
Jane's fingers loosened on Maura as the corners of her lips curled up into an amused smirk.
"It's all in the fine print," she teased.
The Rizzoli men roared with laughter.
"What?" Maura looked about curiously, wondering if it was something she'd done or said.
Angela eyed her husband suspiciously, and it dawned on Maura that this was a Rizzoli thing. Jane hadn't bothered to clarify and waited, contently, as she watched her girlfriend's expression change as it became clear.
"It's okay, Maura, us girls can stick together. We know what it's like to have to put up with a Rizzoli," Angela reached out for Maura and pulled her out of Jane's grasp, and into a big hug.
"Ma!" Jane cried out.
"What? It's true! You're a Rizzoli through and through, Janie. If Maura was a guy, I'd do the same," Angela retorted. Maura lightly laughed as she extricated herself from Angela's arms.
"Can we eat this tiramisu, already? It smells delicious!" Tommy exclaimed, leaning down and inhaling deeply.
Jane couldn't deny that the strong aroma of the lady fingers soaked in espresso was mouthwatering. She could never imagine being able to prepare the dish without dipping into just about every component that went into making it. This was probably one of the main reasons Angela, more often than not, kicked Jane out of the kitchen.
"Let's!" Jane stepped out from behind Maura and grinned, "This looks amazing. Ma, you and Maur did a wonderful job. I think nonna would be proud."
"Thank you for allowing me to help, Angela," Maura began, "I appreciate any opportunity to spend some time in the kitchen."
Angela grandly gestured in the air, waving towards Maura as if it was nothing.
"Oh, sweetie, I enjoy the company. Janie always picked at everything."
"Ma!" Jane groaned, stopping in the middle of cutting up the tiramisu.
"What?!" Angela exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air at shoulder height, "It's the truth! You used to tell me that you needed to make sure that every step tasted right."
Maura stifled a laugh, covering her mouth with her hand. It seemed very much like Jane to come up with such an excuse. Jane finished cutting up the tiramisu, serving herself the biggest piece before jokingly pointing at Maura,
"You! For that you get served last," Jane attempted to scowl but couldn't pull it off convincingly. None the less, Maura feigned a pout, dropping her hands and clasping them in front of herself. Jane exaggerated a sigh, rolling her eyes dramatically before quickly closing the gap between them as she skillfully balanced her plate in one hand and kissed Maura's cheek lightly.
"I can't say no to that pout," she grinned, "I'll share my piece with you since I cut myself a generous piece."
"Whoa, Jane sharing her cake? I hope you realize how serious that is, Maura," Frankie stepped up and grabbed himself a piece.
The blonde picked up a fork and as she dug into Jane's piece of tiramisu, perked a brow curiously.
"Is that so?" she questioned.
Jane shrugged as if it were no big deal,
"Don't listen to him. He doesn't know what he's talking about."
Frankie momentarily stopped shoveling bits of tiramisu into his mouth to scoff and throw back at Jane,
"Excuse me but let's all take a moment to remember your 15th birthday party when ma asked you to share since there was no cake left and you wouldn't budge an inch. You wanted that entire piece of cake all to yourself."
"Yeah, well… shut it, Frankie!" Jane had no good come back for that one. It was true. When it came to desserts, especially if it was her birthday, she wasn't the best person to ask to share. As Jane was attempting to come up with a witty comeback for Frankie, Maura stealthily took a forkful of Jane's piece of cake. She had just placed the fork into her mouth when Jane whipped her head around and locked her eyes on her.
"Maura!"
The blonde took a moment to enjoy the flavours as they melted in her mouth before attempting her most innocent smile with a small tilt of her head.
"Yes, Jane?"
The tall brunette smirked as her eyes dropped down to Maura's lips, and in that moment, she forgot they were surrounded by family and friends, she eliminated the space between them and kissed the corner of her mouth before whispering,
"Nothing. You had some cream just there," she smoothed her thumb over the flesh she'd just kissed.
Frank Sr cleared his throat,
"Should we do gifts while people enjoy the cake?"
Maura slowly closed her eyes and sucked in a sharp breath, as she was instantaneously reminded that they weren't alone. Her cheeks flushed and a warmth blossomed in the pit of her stomach. Jane took one quick bite of her cake before handing the plate to Maura,
"There better be some left when I'm done," she teased before turning back to her father.
"Lay 'em on me, pop."
Two pairs of softball sliding shorts, a set of batting gloves, and new cleats later, Jane was nearing the end of the gift pile. Some distant relatives would often send greeting cards and Angela always insisted that Jane save them for later so that she could open them all at the same time. No matter how much Jane argued about how tedious opening a dozen of cards all at once was, Angela always won.
While Jane was tackling the fifth card in the pile, Angela gently pulled Maura off to the side.
"So did you get it done?" Angela whispered, raising both brows skywards.
Caught off guard, it took Maura a second to connect the dots. When it dawned on her, she nodded quickly and smiled,
"Yes but I was thinking of giving it to her later… when we are alone."
Seeing the puzzled look on Angela's face, Maura pushed on,
"Because of how Jane is… I feel as though she wouldn't want to get emotional in front of friends and family."
"You think she'll get emotional?" Angela challenged, her fingers lightly squeezing Maura's elbow.
"Hey! What are you two whispering about over there?" Jane shouted over her shoulder, lightly hissing at them.
Maura apologetically looked over to Jane,
"Nothing," Maura smiled and directed a rushed whisper at Angela, "I don't want to risk it."
"If you think that's best," Angela finished before raising her voice, "Are you all done with the cards, Janie?"
Jane surveyed Maura's hands, noticing that she was no longer holding their shared cake. She looked around quickly and finally spotted that the plate had been laid down just next to her.
"Yeah, all of them," Jane replied, mouth full of tiramisu.
"Jane, don't talk with your mouth full. You're an adult for crying out loud! I shouldn't have to remind you anymore."
Jane dramatically swallowed before replying,
"All right, all right."
Maura noticed Jane eyeing the gift bag she'd brought in earlier. She had put a lot of thought into this particular gift, even if it wasn't the real gift. It was a gift, that's for certain, however, this was just something for Jane to open in front of her family and friends. What Angela had been referring to was the real gift and it was something that they'd discussed together. Maura consulted with Angela as to what she should get for Jane's birthday. Maura really hadn't given it much thought before but Jane was particularly difficult to shop for.
"I guess you can open mine next," Maura sing-songed as she scooped the gift bag up and in one swift motion, placed it down in front of Jane as she kissed her cheek lightly,
"Happy birthday."
Jane began to delicately extricate one piece of tissue paper at a time.
"C'mon, Jane! Just tear into it," Maura encouraged, ripping out another sheet, crumpling it and tossing it at Jane. The brunette caught the crumpled tissue and lobbed it back at Maura before pulling the rest of the tissue paper out of the gift bag.
"No way!" Jane shouted, standing up as she looked into the bag.
"What is it?" Tommy enquired, attempting to peek into the bag.
Jane pulled out a Red Sox home jersey, holding it up for a moment before flipping it over in her hands.
"It's an authentic Manny Ramirez jersey!"
"No way!" Frankie and Tommy exclaimed in unison. They made a grab for the jersey to look at it but Jane stood up and held it out of their way.
"Nuh uh. My jersey! Get your grubby little fingers off of it."
Jane quickly pulled off her t-shirt, standing for but a minute in her tank top before pulling on the jersey.
"Peeerrfect!" Jane beamed, smoothing her hands down the front. She looked up to her girlfriend and pulled her in for a hug,
"Thank you, Maur. I love it," she expressed, pressing her lips to Maura's forehead.
"I'm glad you like it," Maura mumbled into Jane's neck.
By the end of the night, Frank and Angela had had their fare share of wine and were rosy cheeked and for Frank, he was chattier than usual, as for Angela, if it were possible, she was louder than her regular self. Tommy and Frankie had retired to the living room to play some video games and slowly the guests started filtering out of the house, wishing their good wishes to Jane for the upcoming year.
Maura cornered Jane just outside of the door leading down to her bedroom after she'd finished bringing down all her gifts and cards.
"So you had a good time?" Maura asked, running her fingers up the back of Jane's arms. She played with the edge of the jersey Jane was still wearing. Jane nodded, leaning back against the wall and dropping her hands to Maura's waist.
"So…" Jane began, slipping her fingers under the hem of Maura's shirt. The pads of Jane's fingers skated against warm soft flesh, drawing out a full body shiver from the blonde.
"So…" Maura replied, a small playful smiling tugging at her lips. She leaned in, painfully slowly, and stopped, her lips barely grazing Jane's.
"There's a certain something I couldn't include in that gift bag. It just wouldn't have been appropriate," Maura murmured against the brunette's lips.
The power Maura wielded over her still took Jane by surprise. Never had she succumbed so easily to anyone before. She was thankful for the wall she was currently leaning back against as she felt her knees buckle underneath her. She closed her eyes as she breathed in slowly,
"Hmmm… might this be birthday sex?" she whispered, keeping her eyes shut.
A small light laugh escaped Maura's lips, and Jane felt her warm breath against her lips. The smaller woman leaned up on the ball of her feet and slowly brushed her lips against Jane's.
"Mmmhmm," she hummed, "afterwards… I'm going to take you home… undress you…" she punctuated every pause with a delicate and slow kiss.
"And?" Jane pressed on, feeling her extremities tingle with anticipation.
"I'm going to kiss every part of your body," Maura continued. Maura's voice was so sultry and the timber low that Jane's fingers pressed gently into Maura's hips, pulling her as close as possible. She exhaled slowly as her lips crushed Maura's, her tongue immediately seeking the warmth of her girlfriend's mouth. Jane curled the tip of her tongue and flicked it against Maura's, drawing out a barely audible moan. She savoured the flavours of the red wine and espresso Maura had delighted in throughout the night, the mixture an odd combination yet it made Jane's head spin. She pulled back just long enough to insist,
"Can we get out of here as soon as possible?"
Maura dipped her chin, taking advantage of being alone in the dimly lit hallway and placed a few light kisses to Jane's jaw.
"As much as I love to see you in that jersey, I want you out of it."
"I'll get our jackets, you grab the keys. We'll sneak out."
"Meet up in five."
"You learn quickly," Jane teased before peeling herself off the wall and reluctantly pulling herself away from Maura. She was about to walk away when Maura pulled her back in for another quick kiss,
"I learnt from the best."