"Maura, I'm home!" Jane quickly shut the open doorway to shut out the bitter cold Boston wind and the snow that was blowing so hard she had barely managed to make her way up the drive.
Maura stuck her head from around the doorway in the kitchen and giggled when she saw her. Her roommate was covered in snow and all bundled up. The only part of her face you could see was her eyes, and even those were just barely peeking out.
"Did you get the tree?" she asked as she made her way to the living room, wiping her wet dishpan hands on her holiday apron.
Jane nodded.
"Tommy should be here soon with it. It was a twenty footer so I couldn't fit it in my car or even on the roof. He's pulling it with his trailer."
Maura's eyes widened in surprise. Twenty feet? That's not even going to fit in the house Jane."
"Oh ye of little faith," Jane said as she grinned. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone, showing Maura a photo she had found on Pinterest.
"What do you think? If you don't like the idea, tell me now and I'll make Tommy be the one to haul that thing back to the tree farm."
Looking at the photo, Maura dropped her jaw in awe. "How are we supposed to do that?"
In the photo, a huge tree literally "burst" through the roof of a house, or so it appeared.
"You cut it in half. The top half will be screwed into a heavy piece of plywood on the roof. Pretty genius huh?"
Maura replied by jumping up and down giddy with excitement before throwing her arms around Jane in a hug.
"You are the best! I think you've totally outdone yourself Jane Rizzoli! See, you CAN get into the spirit of Christmas!"
Jane shook her head side to side as she began to peel off the layers she had put on to go out. Safely inside the toasty home and standing near the fireplace, she was starting to burn up in all of her layers.
"It's not that I don't like Christmas Maura. I just don't like that it starts getting shoved down our throats at midnight on Halloween. That fat old man tries to push the Thanksgiving turkey right off the calendar. We are now a week past Thanksgiving so Christmas decorating is socially acceptable."
"Oh, I forgot. No one comes between Jane and her food," Maura playfully quips back.
Jane sniffed the air. "Speaking of food, something sure smells good in there. What are you cooking?"
"Well, your mother is cooking. I'm just helping. She's making lasagna, garlic knots, broccoli, and a side salad."
"Let me guess. The salad and broccoli was your idea right?"
"She's making lasagna Jane. Adding a little something green on the side won't kill you. Your mom is making enough to feed an army. I asked her to make extra because I thought we'd have the family could invite Tommy and Lydia to join us after they get here with the tree and of course, Frankie and Nina also."
"Did someone say food?" Tommy says, walking through the front door, stomping off his snow boots.
"Don't you ever knock little brother?"
"Hush it Janie, or you can carry this humongous tree inside by yourself." Tommy's wife Lydia is the next inside, along with five year old TJ.
"Aunt Janie! Aunt Maura!" The little boy runs towards Jane with his arms open wide and Jane scoops him up into her arms.
"Hey Buddy."
"Did you see your tree?" TJ asks, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "It's this big!" He holds out his arms as wide as possible.
"Yes, I saw. That's pretty cool huh? Here, let me help you take your coat and stuff off. It's plenty warm in here."
Jane smiled over at Lydia as she helped TJ with his winter garb.
"Hey Lydia. How have things been going?" There was a time Jane couldn't stand Lydia but through the years Lydia had done a lot of growing up after TJ was born. Tommy also as far as that goes. Lydia and Jane had become quite close. Sure she was a little birdbrained and flighty at times, and honestly, she fit the stereotypical dumb blonde, but Jane had come to accept it as part of her charm.
For example, the next words out of Lydia's mouth.
"I'm doing good. That's a beautiful tree you got out there," Lydia says, hitching her thumb behind her.
"I can't believe you're going to cut a hole in the roof though, or that Maura is letting you. I guess the tree will block the snow but what happens after Christmas? You just, like, patch it back together or what?"
Jane just stood there and stared at Lydia in shock. At first she thought Lydia was joking but quickly realized she was one hundred percent serious.
"I'm going to let Jane do what?" Maura asks, overhearing the conversation from the kitchen where she had stepped away to check on Angela.
Jane hid her grin behind her hand. "Lydia here can't believe you're going to let me cut a nice big hole in your roof. I tried to talk her out of it Lydia," Jane says with a shrug. Jane tried to hide her smirk but failed before busting into a fit of laughter.
Maura made her way back over shaking her head before playfully smacking Jane on the shoulder. "She's not putting a hole in the roof Lydia. Jane, stop picking on Lydia or Santa is going to leave coal in your stocking."
"Wait, what?"
Jane busted into laughter again at the look of confusion on Lydia's face prompting another smack from Maura before she explained.
"The top of the tree will be screwed into a piece of plywood that will be secured to the roof. It will just be an illusion that there is a hole in the roof. It was an idea Jane found on Pinterest."
"Oh." Lydia blushed. "Well that's great."
"So, are we going to get this tree off the trailer or what? You know I'm not going to be able to do it after ma's dinner. I'm going to be too stuffed," Tommy said as she rubbed his belly at the thought of his ma's cooking.
Jane groaned. "OK. I didn't think you would get here this quick. Let me get layered back up. Would you mind texting Frankie and Nina Maur? Tell them don't be late because I won't be held responsible if all the lasagna is gone and they get stuck with your green stuff."
Maura laughed and grabbed Jane's coat. "I'll call her instead. Here, let me help you put all this back on."
"Thanks," Jane said with a smile. She didn't notice Tommy watching their interactions. When Jame was bundled back up she turned to face her brother. "Alright, let's go."
Tommy shook his head with a grin and opened the door.
"What?" Jane remarked as she moved past him.
"Nothing," Tommy said with a slight laugh, quickly shutting the door to keep the wind from pushing snow inside.
Jane raised an eyebrow at her brother. "If you say so T. Are you going to keep being weird or are we gonna unload this tree?"
Tommy held out his hands. "Lead the way."
Jane and Tommy had removed the straps as Frankie and Nina pulled into the drive. Jane stopped what she was doing and made her way over to Nina's side of the car. "Dang.I know I told Maura to text you but I didn't think she would tell you to speed," Jane remarked, looking over the car at Frankie as she opened the door to help a very pregnant Nina out.
"I didn't speed Janie, we were almost here when she called." Nina laughed as she took Jane's hand and stepped out of the car.
"Hey, what's with the tree? I don't think that's going to fit inside," Frankie says, walking over to the trailer the tree was on. Jane walked Nina around the car, holding on to her arm tightly to keep her from slipping on the slick surface.
"I'll explain while you are helping me and Tommy unload it." Jane had gotten Nina to the door just as it flung open and there was a beaming Angela on the other side.
"Oh, I'm so glad you two made it and early no less." Angela looked at Jane who was still holding on to Nina before looking over at Frankie. "Frankie! Why are you not helping Nina inside? She's your wife, not Janie's."
"No, that would be Maura," Tommy remarked under his breath, or so he thought, as he received a death glare from Jane.
"It's okay Angela," Nina said softly. "I don't moves much slower than Frankie. It is nice not to get dragged along," Nina says, looking at Frankie with a smile.
"Hey!" He said offensively. Angela waved him off.
"C'mon Nina, let's get you and my grand baby inside before you freeze," Angela says as she opens the door and ushers Nina inside. After the door shut behind them Jane walked back over to her brothers.
"So what exactly are you going to do with this huge ass tree Janie?"
"Well, I had an idea I wanted to do. See I got it this big because I want to cut it. Most of the tree will be inside in front of that big window there," she says, pointing to the huge window that overlooked the front porch. "The rest will be screwed to plywood on the roof. We are going to decorate both parts and make it look as though the tree broke right through the roof." Jane smiled.
"Mmmm, okay. So you're telling me we are going to cut this tree and then haul it up onto the roof in the wind and snow?" Frankie remarked, looking over at his sister in disbelief.
"Yup, that's what I'm saying little brother."
Frankie looked over at Tommy and then back to Jane. "Why not just cut the tree to the height you need to fit it inside? Why go through all this trouble?"
Jane looked at the tree and then the ground and shrugged. "Because,"
Tommy and Frankie both waited a beat before saying in unison. "Because, what?"
"Because I already showed Maura what I wanted to do."
"So? Tell her you changed your mind," Tommy says, hiding his grin. He knew Jane was in love with Maura and he had made a pact with himself to get them together before the new year. The first step was getting Jane to admit it.
"I can't do that Tommy. Just help me unload it please."
"Well sure you can Janie," Frankie pipes in as they all grab onto the tree.
"No, Frankie. You two didn't see how excited she was." Jane replied as the three of them picked up the tree, carrying it towards the garage where it would be cut into two parts. They were just about there when Frankie spoke.
"When are you going to admit you love her Jane?"
Jane lost her grip on the tree causing her two brothers to grunt under the weight. "Shit, sorry," she remarked as she grabbed a hold of the tree again. They took the last few steps and placed it on the ground.
"Look, of course I love Maura, she's my best friend. You guys know how much her childhood sucked when it came to the holidays. I just wanted this to be special I guess," Jane said, turning away from her brothers as her face turned red.
"No Janie, that's not what I meant and you know it," Frankie says grinning.
"Yeah Janie. You don't just love Maura, you LOVEEEE her," Tommy says snickering before getting a smack behind his head from Frankie.
"Ow! What?! It's true." He says, rubbing the back of his head. Jane began pulling out the tools and things needed for the project as she spoke.
"I don't love Maur that way okay? Don't be ridiculous. Can we just focus on getting this done?" Jane put down a few things before turning to face her brothers. "Besides, even IF I was, or felt that way about her it would never happen."
Both Frankie and Tommy snort with laughter. "I'm serious!" Jane defends. "I mean have you seen Maura? She could have any man or woman she wanted. So why would she choose me? Besides, like I said, she's my best friend."
"C'mon Janie, anyone with eyes can see it," Tommy says.
"Tommy, just forget it alright? Let's get this done because I don't know about the two of you, but I'm freezing and can't feel my toes," she says with a grin. Tommy and Frankie shrugged and decided to leave it be for now.
An hour later, Jane, Tommy and Frankie successfully cut the tree and placed the bigger half inside, right in front of the big window like Jane had instructed. After some adjustments Jane stepped back to admire their work.
"Jane, I love it," Maura says, coming to stand next to her best friend.
"Really?" Jane said with a huge smile.
"Really, really." Maura replied. What she did next caught Jane completely off guard. Maura stood on her tiptoes and kissed Jane's cheek. "Thank you, for all of this," she says with a smile.
Jane shrugged nonchalantly as she looked down at her feet, her face painted with a slight blush. "You're welcome Maur, but this was the easy part. Frankie and I still have to climb up on the roof and place the second half," Jane says, finally looking up into Maura's hazel eyes.
Has Maura's eyes always held so many golden flakes? She thought to herself before shaking her head and clearing her throat as she was caught staring.
"So, um yeah, we should probably go get that done if we are going to sit down to dinner on time."
Maura smiled warmly. This hadn't been the only time she caught Jane staring. She always summed it up to, well she didn't really know, but something changed. Something in the way Jane was looking at her tonight was different. Realizing she hadn't said anything she quickly spoke.
"Oh right, but Jane wouldn't you rather finish tomorrow? The temperature is dropping significantly and the wind is picking up. Surely it can't be all that safe for the two of you to be on the roof," Maura said with worry.
"No Maur, I want to do this tonight. We will be safe, I promise." Jane gave Maura her best Rizzoli smile and it worked like a charm.
"Fine Jane, but be careful," Maura says, poking Jane in her chest.
Jane chuckles. "We will Maur. Frankie! Tommy! Let's go finish this." Jane yells across the house receiving a glare from Maura.
"Sorry," she says as her brothers come back into the living room.
"Do we really have to finish tonight Janie? It's freezing out," Frankie whines.
"Don't be a big baby Frankie. If you stop flapping your gums we can get it up and finished before ma even pulls the lasagna out the oven. Now come on," Jane says, opening the front door. Frankie and Tommy follow her out.
"Alright, Tommy you and Frankie will stay down here and pull on the rope to hoist the tree up. I'll climb up to grab it once it's there. Frankie, once it's on the roof I'm going to need you to come up and help me get it into place. Tommy, you will have to let us know when it's in position so we can screw it down. Alright?" Frankie and Tommy both nod before getting started on the last part of Jane's project.
Once the tree was tied up and Jane on the roof,Frankie and Tommy started to pull. "Damnit Janie! I'm going to throw my back out," Frankie yelled from the ground.
Jane laughed. "Yeah, because you're getting old. Now stop complaining and pull." Frankie and Tommy groaned. After a few pulls the tree was on the roof. Jane kept hold of it until Frankie came up.
"Alright, now Tommy is going to tell us when it's in place. You ready Tommy?" Jane yelled down to the ground.
Tommy gave a thumbs up, too cold to do much else. Jane and Frankie began to slowly move the tree, careful not to slip on the snow covered roof. Once they had it in place and Tommy gave another thumbs up sign Jane started to screw it down. Everything was going better than expected until the drill slipped and smashed into Jane's cold fingers. Jane dropped the drill and let out a slew of cuss words.
"Son of bitch!" She yelled before putting the drill down and taking her glove off to make sure she wasn't bleeding. While she did so the drill began to slide off the roof. Jane, not having enough time to grab it quickly yelled.
"Oh shit! Look out below!" She said, trying to get to her feet to the ladder. Angela had just stepped out when she heard Jane yell out and stopped, keeping the drill from hitting her in the head. Instead, it landed directly at her feet.
"What in the world is going on out here! From the loud thud and the yelling we thought one of you fell off the roof," Angela yells, stepping over the drill.
Jane's eyes widened. "Shit, sorry ma!"
"Language Janie. Why don't the three of you come inside? I think that's enough for tonight and besides, dinner is almost ready," she says, pulling her coat tighter around herself.
"What? No, ma we are almost finished. I only need to place a few more screws. Tommy, grab the drill and hand it to me," Jane says stubbornly. Tommy shakes his head and sighs but does as Jane asks.
"Jane Clementine Rizzoli! If you are not done when dinner comes out of the oven you can eat a cold sandwich," Angela remarks before heading back inside.
The three of them snort with laughter.
"You two can head inside if you want. I only need to place a few more screws. I'll just be a minute."
"Nah, I'm not leaving up here on the roof alone. Finish the last few screws then we can all go in," Frankie says with a smile. Jane finished up and they picked everything up, putting it back in its rightful place.
The three stepped back to take a better look.
"That looks awesome Janie!" Frankie says.
"Yeah, Jane, it looks really good. Maura will love it," Tommy remarks. Jane smiles and looks up at the roof.
"Thanks guys, I wouldn't have been able to do this without your help," Jane says, not paying attention to the fact Tommy disappeared from her view. She was just opening her mouth to say something else when a snowball hit her in the head.
She closed her eyes and smiled. "I know, you did NOT just hit with a snowball," she says, turning around to look at Tommy who had two more snowballs in his hands.
"I did, what are you gonna do about it?" He says with a smirk.
"Oooo, you are so dead!" Jane yells as she scurries to make a snowball. The packed snow had no sooner left her hand before Maura came to the door yelling dinner was ready. She was just in time to get nailed square in the face by the snowball that Jane had just hurled towards Tommy who had ducked.
Jane stared at Maura, shocked. "Sorry Maur."
Maura grinned. "Dinner is ready. It's time for you children to come inside."
Jane, Frankie, and Tommy all laughed as they made their way back inside After they got out of their winter layers, Angela and Lydia came in with coffee for the three of them.
"Thanks ma," Jane says as she takes a sip of the steaming hot beverage. "The lasagna is smelling great."
We were just about to take it out of the oven. We have a couple more joining us though," Angela said. "I invited Korsak and Coop. I thought you might like to catch up."
Jane grinned. "You may have invited Coop for me but you invited Korsak for you. I don't know who you think you're kidding."
Though she was giving her ma a hard time, Jane was glad Korskak had been there to pick up the pieces when Cavvanaugh had taken off on her ma without so much as a goodbye. To this day none of them knew what happened to him but Jane knew if she ever did see him again she would give him a pounding for what he put her ma through. After everything she had gone through with Jane's pop, then Cavannaugh being douchebag number two, Jane was glad her ma finally found what she was looking for in Korsak.
The doorbell rang in perfect timing.
Angela went over and opened it, greeting her beau and Jane's old partner, Nina's current one.
Korsack immediately embraced Angela and Riley Cooper made her way to Jane."
"Sup Rizzoli?" She bumped Jane's shoulder before pulling her in for a hug.
After Frost had died, Jane had gone through partner after partner ultimately chasing them all off. No one could fill Frost's shoes in her eyes. For a few years, she worked with Korsak because no partner paired with her lasted long. That was until Riley came along. Riley had managed to do what no one else had. She made Jane deal with her grief and the loss of Frost so she could move on. After that, they too had been a great team up until last year when Jane finally made the decision to leave BPD. Then Riley was partnered with Nina and luckily, they got along great and it was a smooth transition.
"How's the Academy going Jane?" Riley asked as she slipped off her coat and hung it on the coat rack, before removing her scarf and gloves.
Jane had been offered a job teaching at the local police academy and she had struggled with the decision for a while before ultimately deciding to take the plunge. Not only was the pay better, she didn't have to worry about crazed killer's putting a target on her back every time she turned around. The life of criminals targeting you wasn't the life she wanted for her future family. The family that still was yet to be but she remained hopeful would come to fruition.
"It's going great. We're out for winter break so no work for the next few weeks until after new years. I took on an interrogation class this semester so that was fun. I had them confessing to all kinds of stuff,' Jane said as she laughed. "How are things at the station?"
"Coop is getting all the action, that's how it's going," Nina complained loudly from her spot on the couch. "Why don't you tell Korsak here that just because a woman is pregnant that doesn't mean she's useless. I've been pushing paper behind a desk for months."
"Yeah well, I'm actually on the old man's side Nina. Sorry. Those crazy criminals don't give two shits about you or your baby." If anyone knew that it was Jane. She had been four months pregnant when a suspect had hit her across the stomach with a steel pipe and she lost her baby and damn near lost her own life.
Maura saw the pain flash across her eyes and immediately knew where her mind went. It was a painful memory that Jane didn't like to think about. She felt Maura rub her back in a bid to comfort her.
Everybody get seated at the table and I'll get the lasagna out of the oven," Angela said before making her way to the kitchen.
As everyone made their way towards the dining room Maura hung behind, holding Jane back as well.
"You OK?" She asked softly so no one else could hear.
Jane forced a smile. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Let's go eat. Then maybe I can talk them into helping us decorate that Christmas tree."
Maura grinned. "I sure hope you're talking about the inside portion."
"Yes Maura. The inside," Jane said as she chuckled and motioned Maura towards the dining room. She pulled a chair out for Maura and once she was seated she went to the kitchen to help her ma bring in the food. As she placed the broccoli and salad on the table, she kept her ear on the conversation as she headed back for the bread.
"So Maura, I know why Jane left but why did you decide to leave? You never really said. You didn't have the same danger Jane did. I mean, everyone you worked with was dead,"Lydia pointed out. That drew a round of laughter around the room.
"Not true!" Jane piped in as she walked towards the table with the bread, placing it on the end. "She was kidnapped. Then there was that one time she was almost killed."
"Well that wasn't her job Jane. That was because she hung out with you." Tommy realized that was a stupid thing to say the moment it came out of his mouth. Jane glared at him. He was right though. That was the exact reason she had decided to leave. Her job didn't just put her in danger. It put everyone she loved in danger as well.
"No, the one that tried to kill me was just a crazy boyfriend," Maura piped in, trying to break the tension.
It worked as everyone laughed. "You have managed to find your fair share of those haven't you?" Jane teased.
"You're one to talk!" Maura quipped back.
"OK everyone! Enough of all that. I remind you there is a five year old at the table. While you all may think m-u-r-d-e-r is perfectly normal dinner time conversation, not with the k-i-d at the table," Angela pointed out. "Besides, let's eat before the food gets cold."
As everyone began to make their plates, Maura answered the original question.
"To answer your question, I decided I didn't want to work with, um…" Maura glanced over at TJ. "D-E-A-D people anymore. I mean, bringing families peace was an important part of my job, but with time I started to get this desire to work with the living. You know? Save them before they are d-e-a-d." Maura grinned. "When I first met Jane I had an actual people phobia. You all, this family, you've helped me overcome that."
There was a collective awwwwwww throughout the room.
"Once I worked through that I knew it was time to open my own practice and in a few weeks I'll be delivering Nina and Frankie's baby. It's like my life has done a complete 360. I admit, I like how it looks from this side."
"If she decides to make an appearance before then that would be alright by me!" Nina said, staring down at her lasagna that she knew would no doubt give her heartburn.
For the next hour the family talked among themselves as they ate, discussing past memories, present moments, and the future. After dinner, Lydia and Coop cleaned up the kitchen while everyone else went to work hauling box upon box of Christmas ornaments out of Maura's basement.
TJ squealed with delight as Jane lifted the little boy time and time again to place ornaments on the upper part of the tree. Before they knew it, they had the tree fully decorated in no time, every single person pitching in to get the job done.
"Is everyone ready?" Jane asks as she holds the cord to the lights in her hands, ready to plug it in. Everyone nodded. Jane plugged them in and the tree lit up in a ray of lighted brilliance. Maura sucked in her breath.
"Jane! It's perfect!"
"Nah, not yet Maur. The top part of the tree outside is still naked."
Maura chuckled. "Still, what has been done so far is amazing! I can't believe you came up with this. You're a genius."
"Nah. Genius is your specialty. I just stole an idea from someone on Pinterest."
Everyone helped get the storage boxes the ornaments had been packed in put away before everyone left one by one. Tommy was the last to leave. "You want me to come over tomorrow and help you do the top half?"
"That would be a huge help if you can swing it T. It'll have to be tomorrow afternoon because in the morning Maura and I are going to go help put up the Nativity outside BPD."
"Well, when you two get home just text me and I'll head over."
"Sounds like a plan."
Jane walked Tommy, Lydia, and TJ out to their truck and saw them off before making her way back inside.
Maura was standing there admiring the tree and it made her smile.
Maura's parents had given her all the material possessions she could have wanted growing up. She missed the little things though. Like the joy of decorating a Christmas tree with your family instead of having it done by a professional decorator.
Jane was just getting started. She had made it her personal mission to see to it that Maura had the best Christmas ever. To see the joy on her best friend's face was worth every second of work she had put in so far, and all the work that was to come.
"Jane."
Jane heard Maura calling her name, pulling her from her thoughts.
"I said I'm going to bed. We have to get up early to go work on that nativity."
Jane nodded. "Yeah. I haven't forgotten. I'll set my alarm."
Maura headed to the stairs before turning back behind her. "Hey Jane?"
"Yeah Maur?"
"Thanks for this. I'll never forget tonight."
"Good. I'm glad," Jane said as she smiled, following Maura up the stairs, each disappearing into their rooms to turn in for the night.
As Jane laid there in bed she thought about the things her brothers had said earlier in the night. They were right, she did love Maura. Not just loved her but looooovvved her. The problem was she was her best friend and Jane wasn't willing to risk their friendship on a fucked up notion that she could ever have a chance. If she was ever dumb enough to admit it it could destroy everything and that was not a risk she was willing to take.
Jane sighed before turning over in her bed and falling to sleep.