Jane POV

I keep tossing and turning in the blankets… I can't fall asleep. I regret with all my heart that I went along with you when you proposed to spend the night before the wedding apart, I should have rebelled against this absurd request. The temptation to screw up my good intentions is about a couple of feet away from me, which is the distance to my car keys. I want to grab them and run to you. But I won't, I'll just stand here and be patient. I'd like to take it out on Frankie, who's so willing to put me up in his apartment for the night. How much I wish he'd said no!

Sleep comes and goes, I keep falling asleep and waking up after a while. Until I feel like I won't be able to fall asleep anymore, too caught up in the healthy tension of this big day. I stare up at the ceiling until I see the sun rise through the window and this image finally gives me relief.

Maura POV

Fortunately, my mother is as much of an early riser as I am. I almost couldn't sleep a wink tonight… between the excitement of this big day and not being used to sleeping without you, it was predictable that insomnia would set in. We leave early so we can be sure to get to the hotel well in advance. There's no traffic and as soon as I see this magnificent place I am surprised that it is even more impressive than it appeared in the photos.

We walk in and walk to the front desk… I wonder if you're already here. Hope and I check in and the kind receptionist gives us our room key. We promised not to see each other until the ceremony, and I'm surprised you went along with me on that. I'm sure it will make everything even more exciting. I arrive in the room, the colors between cream and ivory relaxing me as much as possible. My mother hangs the hanger with the dress on it from the closet and I listen as she slides the zipper of the garment bag.

I look out the window, trusting in the calming power of the waves. I need to take my mind elsewhere right now. The sand is so clear, the greenery surrounding the cove makes this a true piece of paradise. From here I can see the place prepared for our wedding: a nuptial arch adorned with what seems to be a vinca minor, but I am not sure from looking at it from so far away, and here and there on it white roses have been woven; I admire the chairs, and the walkway they have placed between them… to walk the steps that will take me to you, on those neatly placed slat: how I wish it was that moment already!

"Maura... there's an envelope for you here", my mother tells me.

"Oh, it's going to be a welcome message from the hotel", I reply as she passes it to me.

That's weird, there's usually the logo of the hotel on these envelopes. I read my handwritten name, and I recognize that handwriting right away. It's yours. I distinguish it by the way you write the M, which is so sharp compared to the other letters, which are much more rounded, harmonious.

"It's not from the hotel... it's from Jane", I tell her, worried about what you might have written on the paper I find inside the envelope when I open it.

"I leave you alone"... Hope replies, realizing that this is a way to have a moment of our own before the wedding.

"No… it says here she wants me to go to the beach to read it... wait here, it won't take long", I murmured as I leave the room looking for the fastest way to get to the beach.

When I arrive, I take off my shoes and socks, I want to feel the sand under my feet and I have to say it's a wonderful feeling. I am ecstatic by the sound of the sea... ok it will not be the view that there was in Santa Monica, but this place is really wonderful.

I hold these sheets of paper in my hands, afraid I'll find something written on them that I'm not ready to read, that you're ready for the wedding, or that you've woken up and realized you don't really love me... but I can't stay in doubt. I take a breath, try to let the calm of this perpetual motion of the waves that come and go on the shoreline enter me.

Dear Maura,

First of all, before you start reading what I'm going to write to you, I'd like you to go to the beach. Because it is from here that I am writing to you, sitting in one of these chairs already prepared for our wedding, while admiring the sea.

I almost feel like I can see you, sitting there, looking at the water... that thoughtful, focused look of yours. Every time I see you like this, I stop and watch your mind travels, with a clear direction to take. I sit on the sand, my body turned to the image of you, writing this letter.

I've never been a big talker, and I'm afraid I'm gonna mess up doing vows, in front of all those people, but now... now that it's just you and me, once again, I want to make sure I'm doing things the right way. I still remember our first case together: I had heard that there had been a change in high places in the forensic medicine department of Boston. Some colleagues told me about the notorious "Queen of the Dead", as charming as Aphrodite and as cold as her scalpel. I couldn't remember our first meeting in the cafeteria, and neither can you. Good thing considering I was dressed as a prostitute, when I was working undercover with the DEA.

I remember that first meet... you thought I was a rude snob who wanted to jump the line, but I just wanted to be nice to a girl who reminded me a lot of Vivian from Pretty Woman... in fact, it should've suspected me that a prostitute was having breakfast at the police station bar.

It was hard to get closer to you, you were impenetrable... only later did I understand why. People up to that point had only disappointed you. And over the years you have given yourself more and more, body and soul, to your work... but in small steps, I managed to break through that fortress you had built around yourself to protect yourself. We became friends, great friends...and then, we became something more. It took us a long time to figure it out, and I regret the time wasted on this every day.

I'm not sure I can go on reading. It's true, I feel stupid when I think about it, but the risk of losing the most important person in my life didn't seem to be worth it. If only I'd known you had the same feelings...

But it always makes me want to give you my best… to make up for the time we lost. That's the beauty of you: you love me the way I am, but by being with you, I'm the one who wants to be better.

I fell in love with the bumbling, clumsy Detective Rizzoli... I wouldn't change a thing about you. Everything you do surprises me, your strength, your drive, your determination... and the sweetness you reserve just for me. And to your family of course, but you're different with me... your eyes betray you every time you look at me.

Today is the day that our life begins... it's the day that I promise to love, protect and honor you for the rest of my life. This is the day that you will make me the happiest woman in the world, by choosing to be by my side. Because there's nothing I could do without you, and there's no fear or demon your presence can't drive away. I can't imagine a better life than this in all honesty.

Oh Jane, your words take my heart and wrap it in a strong, warm embrace...and I can almost feel it, feel you here with me. I instinctively take my pendant in my hands… by now it's an unconditional reflex when I'm in a moment of disarming emotion, good or bad. I just hold it and hear the words you had engraved on it repeat like a mantra in my head.

Walk those steps, come to my side... marry me, Maura Dorothea Isles. If you'll do this for me, if you'll let me be your wife, I swear I'll always be there for you, in good times and bad, ready to protect you, to help you... to love you.

Always. Every day as if it were the first.

Omnia vincit amor, Maura.

With love, Jane.

I dry my tears, which come down abundantly. Lucky I haven't put on my makeup yet, otherwise it would have been a real mess! I look at the sea and take one last breath of air. It's time for me to go get ready. But thank you... thank you for this gift. I hope you can hear that thought of mine coming to you.

Jane POV

You followed my words exactly... you're sitting there on the beach. I can see you through the bedroom window and as far away as you are, I feel you so close. Okay, so it wasn't premeditated, putting me here like a stalker for observation... but as soon as I saw you coming down the short stairs from the hotel to the little bay, I couldn't resist.

"Jane, are you here? It's time for you to start getting ready… c'mon! You don't want to be late on the day you have to get married!"

Imagine if my mother with her usual calmness could not interrupt what was the gift I wanted to give us of a moment that was somehow just ours.

But I like the way she takes care of me: she helps me with my make-up, which is light, mostly to cover the signs of the sleepless night I had; she fixes my hair, gathering it up and leaving my neck uncovered.

"So Jane, can we finally reveal what's hidden inside the garment bag?" Frankie asks, all too curious about the dress I've chosen. I've kept absolute secrecy from everyone. I picked it up last night at the store so I wouldn't leave it at my brother's house for too long, thus reducing the chances of my mom ruining the surprise effect for me to zero.

"Don't you dare! Okay Mom, if you're done with your hair, get out so I can change. Wait out here, as soon as I put it on I'll call you"

And this is the gift for me… a moment of my own, this moment. I open the case and run my hand over this gorgeous dress… I hardly ever admit it, but when I was a little girl I dreamed, like all little girls my age, of my wedding day, and I dreamed of wearing exactly a dress like this. So when I saw it in the window of that store, I didn't even hesitate.

I walked into the store, tried it on, the saleswoman took measurements to make a couple of adjustments, and I bought it.

Spared no expense, not for this day, not for the dress I had always dreamed of. I caress it, while it is still attached to the hanger: the boat neckline, discreet, partially covering the shoulders; the bodice with a lace weave, like the sleeves, with simple designs that make my fingers jerk as I pass over them; and then the fabric that goes down soft, straight, without many frills.

I put it on, and when I just have to close my zipper completely, I let my mother and brother back in. As soon as they enter, my mom starts sobbing, and my brother looks like he only realised now that his sister's getting married.

"Jane...wow, you're beautiful", she smiles at me. He's got shiny eyes, too. Maybe because he didn't think this day would come sooner or later.

"Ok ok ok don't cry please because otherwise I'll start too and I can't because it means I'll drool my makeup and be late… so let's get ourselves together, please!"

We watch the clock. It's almost time to go.

"Hey Frankie... since Dad's not here and if God wills, Mom will have a chance to do it with you... I'd like you to walk me down the aisle, if you can say so..."

He hugs me, but my mother yells at him right away to make him realize that he risks ruining my dress, makeup and wig all at once.

I look at him and I realize I've never seen him so excited before.

"It would be an honor, Jane."