My spinal tap was okay-they numbed me right up and I'm not in too much horrible pain right now. Hopefully the results of the spinal fluid labs will provide some answers to what has been mysteriously plaguing me for months!

Smut in the first section, if you'd prefer to skip that!

"Did you want to go downstairs and make s'mores in the fireplace?" Maura asked from her perch nestled in Jane's lap, the detective's arms wrapped firmly around her waist.

"Uh-uh," Jane said softly, her arms subconsciously tightening around Maura's waist.

"We'll have to build a fort up here some time," Maura mused. "Then it really will be a safe hide away for us."

"I like that idea," Jane smiled.

"Me, too."

"Let's lay down," Jane suggested. "We can lay under the blanket and watch the snow fall and it'll be like our own cheesy romantic holiday movie."

"You seem to have quite a vast knowledge of cheesy romantic movies," Maura teased as she slid off of Jane's lap long enough for the detective to lay her body out on the loveseat and open her arms, beckoning Maura back into them.

"Only 'cause you make me watch 'em," Jane huffed, though she tugged she and Maura's bodies flush against each other. "How much of our 15.21 days of cuddling have we managed to get in?" she mumbled as she nuzzled into Maura's curls.

"Mmm, not nearly enough," Maura hummed as she felt Jane's hand gently untuck her red blouse from the black pencil skirt she wore and begin to trace gentle patterns on Maura's stomach.

"Damn right," Jane said, smiling when she felt Maura shiver slightly at the feeling of her lover tracing patterns on her stomach. "I remember the first time we had sex you started writing the words 'I love you' over and over on my stomach."

"I did," Maura confirmed as she felt Jane's hand begin to maneuver with the buttons of her blouse and expose her torso to the chilly attic air. Slightly calloused hands began to trace hearts on a pale stomach, goosebumpbs breaking out over Maura's skin in the process. "It seems as though you have more than cuddling on your mind," Maura breathed when she felt Jane's free hand brush her hair off of her neck and begin to cover it with slow, deliberate kisses.

"You complaining?"

Maura's response was caught in her throat when Jane's hand slid up her stomach and into the cup of her bra, the detective's hand beginning to massage Maura's breast eagerly. The blonde's back arched, pressing her chest into Jane's hand.

"How is it that I can't ever get enough of you?" Jane asked, moving her head slightly to watch Maura bring a hand up and unclasp the front of her bra, her nipples tightening immediately in the air chilled by the Boston winter.

"I don't question that," Maura breathed as she felt Jane's hand move to knead her other breast. "I just enjoy that you can't get enough of me and hope you always feel that way."

"Pretty sure I always will," Jane smiled as she slid her hand down Maura's stomach, the doctor's own hand coming up to begin massaging the breast Jane had abandoned as Jane began to tug Maura's skirt up to bunch around her waist. "You went commando today?" Jane asked when the skirt was bunched around Maura's waist and she felt the lack of fabric where it should have been.

A nod from Maura was her only response.

"Shit," Jane sighed as she began to lightly trace Maura's outer lips, already decidedly damp with arousal. "You have got to tell me when you're going commando next cuz that will be the day I ignore all sense of professionalism and have my way with you on that ugly and uncomfortable couch."

"Deal."

Smiling, Jane ran her fingers through the wetness of Maura's slit before beginning to circle the blonde's clit with teasing pressure.

With her hand never stopping it's massage of her breast, Maura lifted her leg up and hooked it over Jane's legs behind her, opening herself more fully to Jane's ministrations. Taking the blonde's silent instructions, Jane made a few quick and firm circles over Maura's clit before swiftly plunging two fingers into her girlfriend.

"Oh, God," Maura choked out at the sudden intrusion and unfamiliar angle of Jane's fingers within her.

"Are you-"

"I'm fine," Maura insisted as her hand shot down to cover Jane's and keep the detective's fingers nestled inside of her. "This angle is just…" she trailed off, gasping as Jane wiggled her fingers against her upper wall. "So good."

"Good to know," Jane teased, feeling the doctor let go of her hand and give her the freedom to begin slow yet powerful thrusts in and out of Maura.

Maura couldn't stop the gasps that escaped her as the long fingers of her girlfriend slid powerfully into her and sought out the most sensitive area within in, never slowing or faltering in their relentless pleasure.

"Jane," Maura gasped as she felt the detective's bite down gently on the sensitive area where her neck met her shoulder, the slight twinge of pain shooting a jolt of pleasure straight to her clit. At the overwhelmingly positive response from her girlfriend, Jane continued to run her teeth over Maura's skin, nipping and sucking until she was certain her mark had been left. And when she pulled away slightly to admire the mark now adorning Maura's neck, she quickly placed her lips back to the blonde's neck and allowed her tongue to soothe the quickly darkening mark.

It wasn't long before Jane began to feel the tell tale clenching of Maura's inner walls, squeezing her fingers tightly as the blonde fought to keep her orgasm as bay for as long as possible. The leg she had hooked over Jane's tensed before beginning to tremble, her own hand once again coming up to firmly tug at her nipples.

"Oh, my God," Maura groaned as the tightly wound coil of pleasure snapped within her and, with an arched back, came unraveled. Her eyes clenched shut, back arched, thighs trembled, and wetness trickled into the palm of Jane's hand. Jane pulled her lips away from Maura's neck to watch the blonde, subconsciously holding her own breath as Maura did the same, until her body relaxed and Maura slumped limply back against Jane, gulping in oxygen.

"You are the sexiest thing I have ever seen," Jane praised as she both felt and saw Maura's chest rising and falling rapidly. She gingerly pulled her fingers from Maura, noting the more abundant wetness than usual and contentedly bringing her hand to her lips to savor the taste of her girlfriend.

Maura could only make an unintelligible sound of acknowledgement before she reached for Jane's arm and brought it to wrap around her waist, their clasped hands resting above her still racing heart and arms running down the length of her torso.

"I'm guessing it's nap time?" Jane laughed as she felt Maura scoot back impossibly closer to the detective's front.

"Mmhmm," Maura hummed, bringing their clasped hands up to place a gentle kiss on the back of Jane's hand. "Just for a little while, though. Then dinner time."

"I think I'm gonna go into the guest house and apologize to Ma," Jane said as she and Maura worked in tandem to clear the dining room table of their dishes and tidy up the kitchen after a homemade dinner.

"Okay," Maura smiled as she turned to look at the detective, who was dangling a spinach leaf in front of Jo Friday's face as the small dog pranced around her heels. "Did you want me to come with you?"

"Nah," Jane replied, laughing as Jo barked at Jane before making her way to her bed. "I think we'll be able to refrain from murdering each other for a few minutes."

"You think you'll be able to refrain from homicide?"

"Yeah," Jane shrugged. "I mean, have you met my mother?"

"You do realize I now can't be a character witness in any trial that comes up should you ever be accused of homicide," Maura pointed out. "I can't lie and you just admitted you're unsure of your inability to not commit a murder."

"Well, then it's a good thing I'm a homicide detective who knows how not to get caught," Jane grinned. At Maura's wide eyes, Jane laughed before kissing the doctor gently. "I'm kidding. Sarcasm is my first language, remember?"

"How on Earth could I ever forget?" Maura smiled, leaning up onto her toes to give Jane another kiss. "I'll be sure to listen for any screaming though."

"You always have my back," Jane said as she wiped her hands on a dishtowel before making her way to her mother's residence. She knocked on the door and waited only a few moments before Angela opened the door to the guest house, already clad in her pajamas and holding a large mug of tea. "Hey," Jane said softly.

"Hey, you," Angela smiled. "You wanna come in? I have some hot water left to make you a cup of cocoa."

"I'd like that," Jane smiled as she followed her mother into the guest house and sat down on the couch, curling her legs up to sit cross legged before gratefully accepting the mug from her mother. "Thanks," she murmured before sipping the chocolate drink.

"I'm sorry for upsetting you earlier," Angela said sadly as she took a seat on the couch near Jane. "I really didn't mean to."

"I know you didn't," Jane sighed as she looked over at her mother. "Which is why I'm really sorry I snapped at you. I shouldn't have."

"Can I share something with you?"

"You know you can always share anything with me, Ma," Jane replied. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Angela replied with a sad smile. "I've just been doing some thinking and realized that the reason I want to be such a meddling mother who is in you and Maura's business is because I'm just waiting for the day you get sick of me."

"What? Ma…"

"That's what happened with your father," Angela admitted. "Or at least that's what it feels like what happened. He got sick of me and left me in the dust. I guess part of me is scared that you and your brothers will do the same, so I've gotta be as involved as possible and experience as much as possible so when you do leave me in the dust…" she trailed off.

"Do you really think Frankie, Tommy, or I is that similar to pops?" Jane asked. "Or that we're similar to that man at all?"

"I know you're not," Angela smiled. "All three of ya are a bit hot headed, but in good ways. Not in the ways your father was."

"Exactly," Jane said. "Ma, none of us are ever gonna leave you in the dust," Jane began, her tone serious. "I mean it. Frankie would starve without your food, Tommy would panic without someone to call every time TJ so much as coughs, and I'd have no one to help Maura keep me in line. We love you and, though I'll deny this! We do love your meddling."

"Yeah, right," Angela said, though a smile tugged at her lips.

"Fine!" Jane said. "Don't believe me. Keep on having a pity party, which you know I hate, and see if I ever tell you the secret I was gonna tell you. Fiiiiine by me," she smirked as she brought the mug of hot cocoa to her lips and took a long sip.

"Secret? You were gonna tell me a secret?" Angela asked, face brightening as she scooted on the couch closer to Jane.

"I was, but not if you're gonna be all mopey and stuff."

"I'm not mopey!"

Jane laughed at her mother's excitement, but her face turned serious a moment later.

"I'm totally serious when I say you can't tell a single person about this, okay? Not even Jo Friday can know."

"My lips are sealed," Angela replied.

"I told this to Maura, but the reason having a kid isn't a top priority for me right now is because she is my top priority now. Getting to see the world with her and learn all about the things I don't know about her and stuff," Jane began. "And I don't have a time frame set yet or any ideas how I want to do it, but I'm going to ask her to marry me and, uh, I really need help picking out a ring."

Jane re-entered the main house a bit later than she'd planned on, but smiled when she saw Maura in silk pajama pants and her Red Sox hoodie, Jo curled up on her lap as she held a cup of tea in her hands.

"I could enter the house to this sight every day of my life," Jane smiled as she leaned over the back of the couch to kiss the crown of Maura's head and give Jo a scratch between the ears.

"Well, it's a good thing I don't ever plan on giving you this hoodie back," Maura grinned as Jane rounded the couch and sat down next to her, the small terrier leaving Maura's lap to prance on Jane's lap. "Especially since it works wonders to hide the hickey somebody decided to give me."

"Whaddya say, Jo?" Jane asked. "Does Mama Maura look better in my hoodie than I do?"

Jo yapped her reply.

"She says I look better in the hoodie but that you can keep it," Jane stated, looking over to Maura with a grin.

"Oh, she does?" Maura asked.

"Yup."

"See if either of you get any snuggles for the next month, then," Maura huffed as she rose to her feet and walked towards the kitchen.

"No!" Jane gasped dramatically. "Jo, quick, take it back or no more snuggles!"

"You try to work out with Jo how you'll earn your snuggles back while I run over to the guest house," Maura teased.

"Whaddya gotta go to Ma's for?"

"I bought a collection of tea that it turns out is far too strong for my liking, and I promised I would give it to her since I know she's fond of stronger tea," Maura stated as she held up a wooden box of tea. "I should be back by the time your nightly check of all the locks on the doors and windows is done."

"Kay," Jane said as she stood up, Jo in her arms. "Come on, Jo. Lets go fluff Mama Maura's pillows for her."

Rolling her eyes, Maura grabbed the box of tea and made her way over to the guest house.

"Maura, dear," Angela smiled when she opened the door to reveal the doctor.

"Hi, Angela," Maura greeted. "I brought you the box of tea I promised."

"You didn't have to bring it right away," Angela said, accepting the box and motioning for Maura to come into the house. "I could have gotten it tomorrow when I let Jo out before going into work."

"I know you could have," Maura said. "But there was something I wanted to talk to you about and I didn't want to wait."

"Is everything alright, dear?" Angela asked when she noticed the nervous tone in the blonde's voice, immediately setting the box of tea on the counter and walking over to where Maura was, leaning against the counter of the guest house kitchen. "Are you sick? Is Janie sick?"

"Oh, no, it's nothing like that," Maura answered, smiling as Angela gave her hands a soft squeeze. "It's something quite different, actually."

"I'm trying not to be nervous but you're not making that easy," Angela noted with a smile.

"I apologize," Maura smiled. "It's just...In hindsight, I should have waited to bring this up until I had a more concrete plan or time frame in mine, but I would love nothing more than to ask Jane to marry me and I feel as though I should ask your blessing to do so."

"Oh, of course!" Angela beamed, her arms immediately reaching to wrap around Maura in a tight embrace.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Maura smiled as she returned Angela's hug. "I am also hoping you'll help me pick out a ring for her."

Laughing? Smiling? Rolling your eyes? Hating where this is going?

Reviews are lovely!