Chapter 37:

Merry Christmas :

It was now the 23 rd of december. Despite being overwhelmed at work trying to close a double homicide Jane had taken the saturday off to help Maura finalizing the decorations for the family dinner the next day.

The previous week end the couple had already spent hours decorating their tree with the ornaments Maura had ordered and that included a glass gold star, ribbons, very fragile red and white glass balls that had Maura, Jane and Louis' names engraved on them but also multicolored electric garlands placed on the tree and also outside the house, not to mentioned the traditional socks with their names handily sewed pinned on the mantle.

Knowing how important this first Christmas was for Maura Jane managed to buy the biggest tree that could fit into their house and didn't complain when they received the 20 boxes full of ornaments that was probably going to transform their house into the best decorated one of their neighborhood.

Actually Jane was amazed by how tastefully Maura chose those ornaments, engraving them with their names, not to mention that despite not being religious herself she had bought hand painted figurines and reconstituted the nativity scene right next to the tree.

Looking around her Jane had a feeling that this Christmas was going to be perfect and could not wait to give Maura her gifts hoping that she would love them.

Actually scared that she might not receive her new passports, driving license and other papers in time for Christmas Jane had spent days trying to find the perfect back up gift but thanks to their lawyer she had received everything the previous day.

"So what you think?"Looking at the table trying to spot any imperfection Maura was relatively satisfied. All she wanted was for everything to be perfect and had selected and bought new cutlery making sure they matched perfectly with the furniture and the ornaments. She wanted things to be simple but tasteful.

"Well I think that it is tasteful, original, classy, well proportioned just like you."Jane whispered her voice slightly deeper than usual as she gently started to kiss Maura's shoulder while sliding her hand under her shirt.

"Don't think that sweet talking is going to get you anywhere. We still have a lot to do."Maura replied escaping from Jane's embrace.

"Come on! Between work and this it's been 5 days Maur', haven't you heard of conjugal duties?"Despite being grateful for the effort Maura had put in planning their first Christmas Jane could not wait until things went back to normal, because all Maura could think about days and night was this dinner and it was seriously starting to damage their sex life.

"I can not believe you would even…"Maura mumbled shocked that Jane would be that old school and completely sexist on this matter.

"I'm kidding babe, it's just that I miss you…"Jane pouted in an attempt to make it up to her.

"Well in 3 days we will be on our honey moon and you will have the opportunity of having me at every single meal for ten days."Maura replied feeling her phone vibrating in her back pocket.

"I know. I can not wait." Jane replied pressing her lips against hers.

"Maura Isles speaking. Yes. Oh, so soon?Oh…Are you sure?Yes I understand, thanks a lot for your hard work and have a merry Christmas. Yes I will see you in a couple of weeks."Hanging up the phone letting it dropped on the table Maura was pale, she did not know how to react to the news she had just heard or if it was real.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Jane said taking a step towards her wife, seeing the look on her face she immediately understood what this phone call was about and feared the worse.

"That was our lawyer. The judge has ruled this morning. He said he's retiring soon, that we were his last case and that he didn't want me and other parents to spend Christmas without knowing."Maura mumbled tears rushing to her eyes.

"Well that make sense. So what did he say?"

"He ruled in favor of my request. The adoption should be finalized current of january, just the time for the paper work to be processed."Maura replied unable to believe it.

"See, I told you. Congratulations mommy."Jane said pulling Maura in her arms squeezing her as hard as she could.

"I can't believe that everything got sorted out that quickly especially during the holidays."Still in shock Maura was unable to believe it. She had prepared herself to wait another few weeks months even .

"Wait here for a second."Walking away Jane suddenly realized that this was the perfect time for her to give Maura one of her gifts.

"Where are you going?"Maura asked skeptical look on her face.

"To get you a gift."Jane smiled stepping into their bedroom. Walking towards her closet grabbing a chair and grabbing the town envelope she had carefully hidden out of Maura's reach Jane had a feeling that this was exactly what Maura needed to complete the good news they had received.

"What is it?"Maura asked as Jane hands her the large envelope.

"Open it."Jane replied smiling at her wife knowing how happy she's gonna be.

"Alright…Oh Jane, you did it."Maura mumbled pulling out Jane's new passport, ID and driving license from an envelope.

"Yes I did. I never thought I would have everything ready for Christmas but your lawyer knows someone who knows someone. I wanted to surprise you with tomorrow but I figured since we received the good news today that the moment was perfect."

"Absolutely."Looking down at Jane's ID reading the words " Jane Isles" over and over Maura was overwhelmed by a feeling of extreme pride and happiness but also of disbelief. Actually she thought that Jane was going to change her mind or post pone it for ever pretending that she doesn't have time to queue in various administrations' offices and was pleasantly surprised to see that she went through with it.

"Now all we need to do is to amend Louis' birth certificate and we're done with all this paperwork BS. You're alright?"Jane asked looking down at Maura seeing the tears filling up her eyes.

"Yes. I have never been happier. All this, the adoption, the name change feel extremely right. Thank you."Maura sighed burying her head in Jane's chest.

"No thank you for marrying me and adopting our boy."Jane replied kissing her forehead.

Two days later was finally Christmas day. After spending the previous night after eating the delicious meal Maura, Angela and Constance had spent the entire day cooking and exchanging stories about their childhood Christmas with their friends and families Jane and Maura went to bed late.

Waking up the next morning as she heard Louis crying for his breakfast Jane quickly turned the monitor off, bounced out off bed as silently as possible and joined her son in the nursery.

"Hey buddy?You're awake?It's only 8 am. How about we let your mommy sleep a little longer?You know how much effort she put into planning last night's dinner."Sitting back in the rocking chair Jane despite exhausting couldn't help but marveling at how cute he looked in his little green and red Christmas' pajamas.

Despite having less than 6 hours of sleep Jane was excited to finally give her present to Maura and see what she had gotten her, not that it mattered though because marrying her was the most beautiful gift she could have ever given her but she was always amused by her wife's fertile imagination and couldn't wait to see what she had came up with this time.

"You know, it's not that I'm jealous or anything but you're the one who's gonna receive the most presents. Between your grand parents, your uncles Frankie, Frost, Korsak and Tommy not to mention your two insane mothers you're gonna have enough clothes, toys and teddy bears to open your own store."Jane smiled feeling the little monster pumping her left nipple.

The truth was that despite knowing he was growing really fast Maura, Angela and Constance had spent a fortune on his presents buying him clothes, shoes and little hats and there was nothing Jane was able to do to convince them that he didn't need that much clothes or toys .

About 45 minutes later after changing and dressing him up Jane decided to go clean the kitchen and dinner table unwilling to let Maura exhaust herself doing that on top of everything them.

Gently leaving him in his crib in the living room Jane started to clean the table,loaded the dish washer, making sure to place everything back the way Maura would want.

After an hour of intense cleaning the house finally looked as good as before their entire clan barged it and turned it upside down.

Making herself a cup of coffee looking up in the fridge for the perfect breakfast for her sleeping beauty Jane was suddenly attacked by a small 4 legged creature that almost her made her loose her balance.

"Hey Bass, merry Christmas to you buddy. Where were you last night?Were you hiding in Maura's closet again?I can't blame you though, my family is loud. I'm sorry buddy, I realize your life has been turned upside down since I moved in. I appreciate you being such a good sport about it."Kneeling in front of him handing him one of those strawberries he loved so much Jane was despite what she was willing to admit very found of the tortoise.

"See I told you, you're talking to him now."Maura suddenly said walking towards her holding louis in her hand.

"Geez Maura where did you come from?"Jane mumbled surprised and embarrassed as well.

"From our bedroom. I see you cleaned us last night's mess. Thank you, I must say I was exhausted."Maura replied giving her a warm kiss.

"Well you have been over working yourself for the past week to put this dinner together so it was the least I can do. Merry Christmas my love."Her arms around her beloved wife and son Jane was finally experiencing this feeling that feeling of fulfillment her mother had told her about for years but never thought she would ever taste and it felt right, incredibly right.

"Merry Christmas to you too. Are we having breakfast or do you want to open your present now?"

"I think I would love us to exchange present now please." The truth was that Jane was dying to see what Maura had gotten her. She knew that her gift would be tasteful and personal and would prove how much she knows her.

"Alright, follow me. I hope you're going to enjoy this gift, it's from both myself and Louis."Holding Jane's hand still carrying Louis is her other arm Maura walked towards the door all the way to the guest house hoping that Jane would appreciate the gift she had put a lot of money and effort in.

"Were you keeping it in the guest house the whole time?"Jane asked narrowing her eye brows as she followed Maura trough their backyard.

"Yes, you never go there unless I ask you to get me something inside. I knew it was the perfect hiding place." Smiling internally Maura was eager to see Jane's reaction.

"Fair enough."

"Here you darling." Opening the door allowing Jane inside Maura was holding her breath.

"Is it…what the…." Standing in the middle of what used to be their guest house Jane could not believe what was laying before her eyes.

Not only Maura had installed all her baseball memorabilia she had never unpacked when she moved in on the walls but she had installed a bar, a fridge, a 50" flat screen with huge speakers, a pool, an old flipper and two gigantic brown chair on both sides of the couch.

"I think the popular term is man cave."Maura replied observing the look on Jane's face as she roamed around the room.

"Oh baby, that's so sweet. This place is perfect. The guys are gonna love it."Smiling Jane starting to picture herself with Korsak, Frost and her brothers watching games, drinking beers and could already feel the taste of happiness in her mouth.

"Well I know how hard you work and how much you enjoy watching games with your brothers and Detective Korsak and Frost. The problem is that when they are all in our living room yelling and cursing it's really hard for me to concentrate on anything, to read or even for Louis to nap. "

"You're right. Here we won't wake him up or spoil your couch and I promise that I will keep this place tidy and clean. I lack words to express how I feel. Thank you baby. I love you."Pressing her lips against her Jane was shaking, overwhelmed by so much sweetness and care.

"You're welcome. Before being parents we are human beings and being able to take break from work or from each other from time to time is essential. After everything you give to us and to complete strangers every day you deserve a private place where you can feel relax and enjoy yourself with your friends without your wife yelling at you to keep it down."The truth was that Maura knew how independant Jane has always been and that as much as she loved her and their son she needed her own place to relax and forget all the responsabilities being a mother and a lead Detective implied.

"I think this has been the best Christmas, hell the best year of my life all because of the two of you."Holding her wife and son in her arms Jane was grateful because despite everything bad that had happened they were finally having their happy ending and knew that the years to come would bring as many surprises and accomplishments.

"Well how about we get back inside it's a bit chilly here."

"And you want your gift right?"Jane replied following her taking one last look at her new man cave.

"Yes, but I'm sure that what ever you got me is going to be great."

Following Maura through their backyards all the way to their bedroom Jane was a bit nervous. After seeing how much thought and money Maura had spent on her gift she was hoping her gift would be good enough.

"Alright here you go. I hope you're going to like it."Handing a large box to her wife biting her botom lip Jane was hoping Maura would appreciate the gift.

"I'm sure I will. Oh Jane this is a..."Ripping off the paper around the box, opening it Maura's jaw almost drop on the floor as her eyes laid on her gift.

"It's a civil war surgeon set in its original leather case. You said you wanted to redecorate our house at our image, well I figured this would great in your office or on the mantle."

"Jane, this is very thoughtful, it's in prestige condition, this must have cost you a fortune."Maura mumbled roaming her fingers on the different instruments almost scared of picking one up.

"Yeah, don't worry bout' that I married well. " Smiling Jane could see on her wife's face how great her idea turned out to be and feared that it was gonna be hard for her to top that gift for her birthday.

"Thank you. I love it."

That morning right after a quick breakfast Maura spent several hours explaining the history and use for each instrument telling stories about surgeries performed during the civil to Jane and Louis who tried their best not to fall asleep or be disgusted.

That day the little family enjoyed themselves, playing the the snow drinking egg nog, eating home made cookies free from any drama or work related worries.

Despite knowing that live was never perfect and that drama would probably knock on their door again Jane and Maura were trying to enjoy the present moment without worrying about the future. They knew that no matter what obstacle or challenge destiny would give them they would always overcome them because they loved, trusted and supported each other. As a family they were stronger than they had ever been before and knew that nothing would never able to break them appart as long as they were together.

So guys I decided to skip the Christmas dinner and to only mention it. Since I wrote the Thanksgiving dinner and had them give speeches it would have been redundant to do it again and to express how they felt…again.

I hope you enjoyed the presents they gave to each great is Jane's man cave, seriously?And I think the surgical kit was a nice gesture...

Also I know in reality the adoption would take longer and that a passport takes at least 6 weeks to get(at least here in the uk) but hey this is fiction and it's Christmas lol.

New story lines and plot coming in the new few chapters with a possible fast forward but I'm not revealing anything :) I want to keep you guessing and interested ;)