An Educated Guess – Sequel to Jane Rizzoli: A Case Study
Chapter One – The Cabin
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: The Rizzoli clan all head up to Quebec to spend Christmas at Maura's family cabin. The intention was to spend the weekend having a nice family vacation, but when a blizzard hits and snows them in, Jane and Maura are forced to curb the impulses of their budding romance and "bunk it" with Angela and the boys. Meanwhile, Maura is sure that Jane is hiding something from her, but she can't seem to muster the courage to confront her about it. Instead, she tries to piece things together using careful examination. After collecting plenty of evidence, she's almost ready to make an educated guess. But what if she's wrong? Established Rizzles. Lots and LOTS of fluff, a bit of angst, and a good helping of smut.
Warnings: The following fic is rated M (NC-17) for language and sexual situations. Readers be warned.
A/N: While it's possible to read this on its own, there may be some references from the prequel "Jane Rizzoli: A Case Study," so I highly recommend that you read that first.
"Eyes on the road, Jane!" Angela Rizzoli rebuked in a harsh tone.
"Okay, okay!" the brunette groaned, adjusting her grip on the steering wheel, her gaze shifting back to the winding road ahead of them.
Maura sighed from the back seat, her eyes moving from the rearview mirror to the snowy forest outside her window. She tried to focus on something other than the brunette in the driver's seat, but she could somehow feel Jane's eyes on her again. Her suspicions were confirmed when she glanced back. Dark brown eyes caught hers in the mirror again, causing dimples to pierce both their cheeks. A faint flush spread across Jane's face as she bit her lip in response, adding a sly wink when Maura unconsciously licked her lips.
"For heaven's sake, Jane!" Angela yelled, "Slow down! You're going to get us all—"
"Okay, okay, Ma!" Jane groaned, visibly tightening her grip on the steering wheel as she looked back at the snowy road. "Just calm down!"
Still, it only took a few minutes before Maura caught Jane staring at her again.
Luckily, they managed to survive the near two-hour drive from the airport unscathed. Of course, Angela called it a miracle and sighed so heavily and shakily when she finally got out of the car, she might as well have been holding her breath the whole time.
"Thank God!" Frankie groaned, crawling out from the third-row seat and stretching noisily.
"Huh?" Tommy mumbled sleepily, awaking from deep slumber. "We there already?"
Frankie hit his younger brother on the shoulder, "No, we've just decided to park here in front of this random cabin in the middle of nowhere."
"What?" Tommy frowned, clearly disoriented.
"Leave him alone, Frankie." Jane grunted, hitting him upside the head. "You know he worked last night."
"Yeah!" Tommy agreed, running his hands over his face. Shivering, he climbed out of the car. "Damn, it's fucking cold—"
"Hey!" Angela yelled, smacking him. "Watch your language!"
"Ma!" Tommy complained, rubbing his head.
Maura giggled as she watched the exchange. She had missed these little family moments. The Rizzoli's might be a bit more … physical … in their communication, but Maura found the siblings' little spats to be adorable for the most part. Jane's family might be almost as different from Maura's as possible, but, for the most part, she found that to be a good thing. She had always felt so distant from her Arthur and Constance. Meanwhile, the Rizzoli's had adopted her into theirs with open arms.
Presently, she could see Jane watching her out of the corner of her eye as the brunette unloaded the trunk of the rental. But when Maura looked her way, Jane turned to her brothers, "Hey! Will you two stop horsing around and help me with these boxes!"
"Yes," Angela nudged her boys, "Go help your sister unload the food."
Maura led them up the steps to the Isles' family cabin. After unlocking the door, she pointed Tommy and Frankie in the direction of the kitchen. She looked around the cabin inquisitively. It had been years since she had been to the Isles' Laurentian property, and as far as she could remember, it had only ever been the one time.
Jane audibly shivered next to her. "Dang, Maura. Doesn't this place have heat? It's freezing in here."
"Of course," Maura chuckled, "we can't have the pipes freezing. Jean probably only just stopped by to turn up the thermostat. We did only give him a day's notice."
Maura looked around the cabin, trying to recall the cabin's amenities from vague memories. She pointed across the open floor plan to the living room, "Well, there's the fireplace in the living room there. I think there's one in the master bedroom too. We can light those up to augment the central heat. The last time I was here, the rooms each had individual heating units, but the property was renovated a few years ago.
"The thermostat is likely over there," Maura continued, pointing to the hall by the kitchen. "Down the hall would be the master bedroom and the two original guest bedrooms." She pointed to the opposite side of the living room, "Over there is the converted covered porch. Tommy can sleep there while Frankie and Angela can take the guest bedrooms."
"You mean we don't have to fight over who sleeps on the couch?!" Frankie said excitedly from the kitchen.
"Thank God!" Tommy exclaimed.
"I guess that leaves the master for us then," Jane smirked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
Maura nodded, blushing slightly.
"God, not this again," Frankie groaned, rolling his eyes.
Jane childishly stuck her tongue out at her brother.
"Cut it out you two!" Angela said, pointing at Jane threateningly. "This is our first Christmas vacation in twelve years, and you will not ruin it by driving me crazy!"
Maura couldn't help but giggle. There was something so comfortingly familiar with the Rizzoli siblings making their mother irritable. After years of observing these squabbles, the cold silence of the Isles' gatherings seemed so strange. Now, she was looking forward to building warmer memories here with the Rizzoli's—with Jane.
"I should grab your suitcases," Jane sighed, zipping up her coat again to step back out into the cold.
"What about your suitcase?" Maura frowned.
Jane pointed to a duffle bag on the floor next to the door. "We're only going to be here for the weekend, Maura; I didn't need to bring the whole closet." With this she raised an eyebrow and looked at Maura pointedly.
Maura shrugged, "What? A girl likes to be prepared."
"For what," Jane chuckled, "a photoshoot?"
The honey blond rolled her eyes, "If it's so much trouble, I'll get—"
Jane stepped in front of her, "No, I'll get them." She stepped into Maura's space, dimples piercing her cheeks, "You know I just like teasing you."
Maura glanced at Jane's lips before raising her gaze to dark brown eyes, "In more ways than one…"
"Ugh," Frankie complained as he slipped past the two of them, "are you two going to be doing that the whole stay?"
"Doing what?" Maura asked innocently.
The middle sibling sighed with irritation when his sister simply chuckled. Jane winked at Maura before joining her brother outside to help unpack the rest of their things from the Suburban.
"Tommy," Angela said from the kitchen, "Go help your brother. We need to stock up this kitchen."
"Ma!" Tommy groaned, "I'm exhausted."
"You want to eat, don't you?" Angela chided.
"Yeah, but—" Tommy tried but was interrupted by Angela giving him a menacing face and pointing at the door. "Fine," he sighed.
"Maura, honey," Angela smiled, "How about you show me around the kitchen?"
"Well," Maura admitted, "I haven't been here since I was a teenager. I don't really remember—"
"Oh!" Angela exclaimed as she opened the fridge, "what's all this?"
Maura chuckled, "That's likely Jean Pierre's doing."
"What a lovely young man to stock up the fridge for us!" Angela said.
"Hardly," Maura smiled, "He's managed the property at least since the last time I was here."
They looked at the boxes of food sitting atop the counter.
"But, what are we going to do with all of this food?" Angela said with a mournful sigh.
"We can put it in the freezer outside," Maura suggested. "I think it's by the jacuzzi."
"Did someone say jacuzzi?!" Tommy exclaimed.
Jane gave Maura an excited look. The honey blond chuckled when Jane gave her a wink.
"There will be plenty of time for that later." Angela said pointing towards the living room, "Frankie, you and your brother get that fire started. It's supposed to be getting even colder tonight."
"Jane," Angela directed, "have Maura show you where to bring the suitcases. I need to get dinner started. It's getting late already."
"Lead the way," Jane winked, picking up some bags.
"Well," Maura pointed to the back door, "that leads to the extension."
"Great," Jane said, tossing Tommy's backpack at the door.
"Jane!" Maura exclaimed.
The honey blond jumped as Jane slapped her ass. "Don't worry about it." Jane chuckled. "Next?"
Maura frowned irritably but led her down the hall anyway, "Your mother should enjoy the view from this one. It looks out towards the lake."
Jane plopped a bag onto the bed and turned upon Maura excitedly, "A lake? You never said there was a lake. I would have brought my skates!"
The honey blond chuckled, "You have ice skates?"
"Well," Jane admitted, "they probably wouldn't fit anymore. I haven't been skating in years."
"Huh," Maura replied curiously, "I knew you did ballet, but you never told me that you figure skating—"
Jane laughed, "Maura, I'm talking about skating. You know for fun? Knocking each other around? Racing? Ice hockey?"
Maura blinked. Of course, she knew people didn't just competitively skate; it just hadn't crossed her mind. Certainly, Jane roughing up her brothers at the ice rink made much more sense.
"I've never…" Maura observed quietly.
"You've never been skating?" Jane interrupted, "We are definitely going to change that!"
"Jane I never said…" but the brunette had already left the room to lug the last of the bags.
"You need a proper Christmas experience, Maur'!" Jane said excitedly, her eyes bright and dimples prominent on her cheeks. "The presents, the tree, snow men, snowball fights—"
Maura laughed, a light, fluttery feeling filling her stomach. Jane's excitement was contagious. The brunette continued talking animatedly, but Maura struggled to focus on anything other than how absolutely beautiful Jane was in that moment.
"Hey," Jane whispered, gently pulling Maura close by the hips, "you okay?"
"Yes," Maura smiled brightly, "I'm just … so happy."
"Me too," Jane said, pressing her forehead against Maura's, "I've missed you."
"Jane," Maura chuckled, "you've been staying at my place for the past nine days."
"You know what I mean…" Jane said, her voice low, dreamy.
Maura sighed through her nose, slipping her hands around Jane's shoulders. She put her face into the crook of Jane's neck as the brunette pulled her closer. She got lost in the feel of Jane's skin and the smell of her hair. She pressed her lips against Jane's neck as the brunette tugged her even closer.
"How do the past two weeks feel so much longer than that?" Maura muttered as she kissed below Jane's ear.
"Back-to-back cases might have had something to do with it," Jane chuckled.
Maura tugged at Jane's shirt collar, pulling Jane down into a soft kiss. In her snow boots, she had to step on her tip toes just to reach, but the way Jane pulled her up into the kiss made that giddy feeling swirl through her stomach again.
"Girls!" Angela called from the kitchen.
"Yes, Ma," Jane called as she pulled away. She looked mournfully at Maura's lips and then up into her eyes. She pouted, "Why do we have to spend our weekend off bunking it with my family?"
The honey blond laughed, "What happened to all that excitement a moment ago about giving me a 'proper Christmas'?"
Jane grinned mischievously, "There are other parts to a 'proper Christmas' that should not involve my brother sleeping on the other side of that wall."
"We'll manage, Jane," Maura sighed, stepping away. "Let's go help your mother."
When they came to investigate the trouble, Angela pointed to the living room where the Rizzoli boys were arguing. "Go help your brothers," she said. "They're absolutely useless!"
"Hey!" Frankie complained, "It's not my fault I don't know how to start a fire."
Jane laughed at her brothers, "What the hell are you doing?"
Maura couldn't help but giggle. Tommy and Frankie had soot all over their faces and arms. A pile of logs was messily clumped together on the hearth and there were bits of matches and scorched paper all around the floor.
"This might help," Jane said, reaching for a switch on the mantle.
Her brothers jumped back with a scream as flames burst from beneath the logs.
"Thought so." Jane chuckled, "The Isles are definitely too fancy to light their own fires."
"Jane," Maura complained, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, like you'd be able to start a fire on your own," Tommy groaned, wiping the dust from his sleeves.
"Oh," Jane said, winking at Maura, "I'm pretty good at it actually."
Maura frowned, confused.
"Ew!" Frankie grimaced. "Gross."
"Oh!" Maura laughed at Jane's suggestive lift of her eyebrow. "You mean—"
"Boys, now that you've figured that out, come help me with dinner." Angela called
"Ugh," Frankie and Tommy replied simultaneously.
About an hour later, the five of them sat at the dinner table eating a modest chicken parmesan dinner. It wasn't Angela's typical Christmas Eve dinner, but there were only so many things she was able to buy from town on their way to the cabin.
"It's delicious, Ma," Jane smiled at her mother at the head of the table.
"Yes, Angela," Maura added, "thank you."
Angela was silent for a moment, smiling. When she spoke, she looked teary-eyed, "I'm just so glad I get to spend Christmas with my babies. I can't remember the last time we all had the holiday off."
"Ma!" Jane groaned.
Maura squeezed Jane's knee. She knew Jane hated being referred to as her mother's 'baby,' but Angela was right. This was a very special moment.
Jane glanced at Maura, then sighed, "Yes, Ma, it's very nice."
"Yeah …" Tommy and Frankie agreed distractedly between large bites of chicken and pasta.
Angela was still teary when she turned to Maura, "And it wouldn't be possible without you, dear. I don't know how I can ever thank you."
The honey blond dismissed her concerns with a shake of her head, "I'm just happy to spend the holiday with all of you." Now Maura was growing emotional, "I feel like you guys are more my family than—"
"You are family," Jane insisted, pulling Maura close by the shoulder and pressing a kiss to her temple. "And you always have been."
"Maybe officially sometime soon?" Angela said, looking pointedly at her eldest.
"Ma!" Jane complained, blushing. She let go of Maura's, returning her hands to the dinner table.
"What?" Angela shrugged, "Can you blame a woman for wanting grandchildren?"
"Hey," Tommy protested, "What about T.J.?"
"Yes, of course, honey," Angela cooed, patting his hand. "Of course, there's T.J., but I get to see him so rarely." She looked between the two women, "You do want children, don't you?"
"Yes," Maura smiled. After a beat, she realized Jane hadn't responded. She frowned, "Jane?"
"Um …" Jane struggled. "Yeah."
"Good." Angela beamed, "Because I expect a lot of them."
Seemingly satisfied with her daughter's answer, Angela moved the topic of conversation onto the plans for Christmas morning. But Maura did not join the conversation. Instead, her eyes were on Jane sitting beside her. The brunette did not look her way for the rest of the meal, only taking a few bites of her food and poking at the rest with her fork.
Later that night, as the family sat in the living room watching TV, Maura couldn't stop thinking about how Jane had paused when her mother had asked about children. Jane had said she could imagine marriage and children with Maura, but was she having doubts now?
The honey blond tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her chest, but the worrying thoughts would not fade away. As she sat cuddled up to Jane on the couch, she grew more and more restless. Jane's arm over her shoulder did nothing to ease the anxiety building in her chest.
Finally, she gave up. Standing, she said, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to turn in."
Jane frowned up at her, "Is everything okay, Maur'?"
Maura shook her head dismissively, "I should be fine. I just need some rest."
"Okay, well," Jane sat up, "do you want me to come with you?"
"No," Maura smiled, "finish the game. Good night everyone."
"Good night, sweetie," Angela smiled warmly. "Merry Christmas Eve!"
Maura glanced at Jane briefly before she left. The brunette was still looking at her inquisitively, but she simply nodded, "Goodnight, babe."
To be continued
A/N: I know this has some angst, but I'm working on the next chapter, so, hopefully, it won't be long until the next update.