The next morning Jane knew she had slept in as soon as she opened her eyes. It was bright outside, she would guess nine AM or so. She stared beside her at the silent baby monitor. She and Maura each had one that tuned into any sound coming from the baby's room. Either the baby had slept through the night or Maura had taken care of her before Jane could be awakened.
Jane climbed out of bed and stretched to get her blood moving before slipping on a pair of house shoes. Picking up the baby monitor, she made her way down to Maura's room. Usually she would knock before entering but this morning she didn't.
"Morning Maur. Is this thing not working or did the baby…" That was all she got out before she stopped mid sentence.
"Woah! I'm, I'm just gonna, I'll just…" Jane tripped over her words and her face turned as red as a cherry tomato as she did an about face. "S..s…sorry," she stuttered. Behind her, she could hear Maura laugh.
"Relax Jane. It's completely natural. Nothing to get all embarrassed about."
"There is nothing natural about that contraption that, that's doing whatever it is that it's doing to Suzie's boob. Besides, natural or not, I don't want to see Suzie's boobs. She was my colleague. I don't want to know what she looks like underneath her work clothes."
"Well to be fair, this isn't what I usually look like. The baby turned me from a c to a double D."
"Ugh! Stop it!" Jane groaned.
Suzie chuckled. "You can turn around Jane. There's nothing to see. I'm covered. All you can see is the machine."
Jane turned around, cautiously, as if Suzie was lying to her. Her eyes fell on Maura who was holding Noelle, as well as Suzie's little baby, Tessa. A baby in each arm, Maura looked like a complete natural. It made Jane smile.
"She's getting big Suzie," Jane says, gesturing towards her baby girl.
"She sure is. Time is flying by. She is six months old now."
"How are things at work?"
"They're good. I miss having Dr. Isles around but Dr. Whitman is a pretty great guy. The governor made a great choice. Him and Dr. Isles would get along great. I'm trying to set them up on a dinner date tonight but Maura has yet to give an answer," Suzie said with a grin before turning her attention to Maura.
"I'm telling you Maura, you two are like two peas in a pod. I think you would really click. He's like the male version of you."
"So is it Christmas time or Valentine's day Cupid?" Jane had an edge of saltiness in her voice.
Is she jealous, Maura thought to herself. No. She's just being a smart ass in pure Jane Rizzoli fashion.
"I've consulted with Dr. Whitman on a few cases. He seems to be a nice enough guy and I can see where we would share some traits with one another, but I'm not interested in dating anyone right now. Besides, I have plans with Jane tonight. She's keeping TJ and I'm sure we're going to take him to see Christmas lights or something."
Maura stood and placed Suzie's baby in the carseat that was sitting on the floor before passing Noelle to Jane. "Do you mind? I'm going to go to the bathroom to shower and get dressed. Then we can swap."
Jane nodded as she took the baby.
After Maura was gone it was awkwardly silent for a moment before Suzie spoke.
"You should just tell her how you feel, you know."
"Well, if you knew how I felt, why did you just try to set her up with Dr. McDreamy?"
"Oh come on Jane. Don't be dramatic. There's only one Dr. McDreamy." The scowl on Jane's face told Suzie Jane wasn't feeling up to the Grey's Anatomy joke.
"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't know. I mean, I've kind of always had my suspicions but you have never confirmed or denied it. Just now though, you all but gave it away. Your saltiness is right up there with McDonald's french fries."
Before Jane could say anything further Maura came walking back into the room.
"I left my phone. I like to listen to music while I'm in the shower."
As Maura walked to her bedside and unplugged her cell phone from the charger Jane couldn't help but notice her scratching at her neckline.
She let out an audible gasp. "Maura Isles, you lied!"
"About what?" It took Maura a moment to realize Jane saw her scratching.
"Oh, that. Don't be ridiculous. That's not hives. It's just dry skin."
"Come on Maura. The gig is up. If you keep on lying you're going to end up in Anaphylactic shock."
She walked closer and moved Maura's hair away from her neckline.
"Dry skin huh? Looks like hives to me."
It was at times like this Maura hated that she couldn't lie. How was she supposed to say I don't want to date him. I want to date YOU. What a mess.
"Look, I know what's up. It's not hard to figure out."
"Wh, you do?" Maura says in shock.
"Of course I do. You don't want to hurt my feelings. Look Maur, you asking me to move in last year was great. I love that we have gotten to spend all kinds of quality time that we could never find time for before. Especially since we both left BPD. You still have a life though and you can't go find your Dr. McDreamy if you're hanging here with me all the time." Jane forced a grin.
"I want you to go tonight. Go have dinner with Dr. Whitman and talk about whatever it is you doctors talk about and have a good time. Me, TJ, and Noelle will be here when you get home."
"But Jane I…"
Jane held up her hand. "No arguments. This will be good for you."
"Hey guys, I hate to interrupt but Jane, you may wanna turn around. I need to switch sides."
"Aw man," Jane groaned as she quickly turned around, not having to be asked twice.
"Like I said Maur, go and have fun. We'll be fine."
Jane shifted to readjust the baby who was grunting and reaching behind Jane towards Suzie. That made Jane laugh. "No kiddo. That's to go only. No dine in allowed."
That caused Suzie to laugh so hard she could hardly contain herself , her stomach ached and tears rolled before she finally regained her composure.
"Actually, back in the eighteenth century, wet nursing, which was the act of a woman breastfeeding another woman's child, was quite common. Infant formula was not invented until the nineteenth century so if a mother was unable to feed her baby, be it due to illness or something else, wet nursing saved babies' lives. It's completely na…"
Jane held up her finger to Maura's lips. "Don't say it."
"Well, it is," Maura said, muffled behind the finger on her lips.
"Thankfully, modern society has given us some alternatives but if you couldn't have gotten her to take the breast feeding bottle I would have not hesitated to feed her. I think you'll feel differently once you have a baby of your own Jane. It's in a mother's DNA to nurture," Suzie chimed in.
Jane looked at Noelle and smiled. "I don't need a baby of my own to feel that way. When this baby was hungry I would have done anything to make sure she got her belly full. It would have been helpful if Maura would have told me babies this age also eat baby food. I was scared to death that we wouldn't be able to get her to eat. I think Maur was trying to give me a heart attack."
"Like I said yesterday Jane, she needs both. We could have given her cows milk but I thought since she is an obviously breast fed baby we should give her breast milk as long as the option is available. I knew Suzie would help. She was going to breast feed her if she had to but luckily, Noelle took to the breast feeding bottle just fine."
Noelle let out an ear piercing shriek. Her warning that more would follow if a bottle didn't come now.
"Here Jane."
Jane turned back towards Suzie who had switched sides and was covered again, passing Jane the bottle of freshly expressed milk she had just finished pumping.
"Aw man. It's still warm," Jane said as she scrunched up her face.
Maura grinned. "It is when it's fresh. We are warm blooded mammals after all. It just saves you having to warm it. You give her that bottle and I'm going to go get that shower." Maura disappeared and Jane concentrated on getting the breast feeding contraption strapped on before pouring the milk into Noelle's special bottle and getting her settled to take it . After she was situated, Suzie spoke.
"I'm sorry. If I would have known I wouldn't have mentioned her going out with Dr. Whitman."
Jane shook her head. "There's no need to apologize. Let's be real Suzie. I barely know Dr. Whitman and I already know he is a better fit for Maura. She and I, we don't have anything in common. I used to have google on hand to even have a conversation with her because I couldn't understand what she was saying."
Maybe if she said it enough she could come to accept it. Face it, she had thrown Maura plenty of hints through the years and Maura hadn't responded to any of them. She wasn't interested so who was Jane to hold her back.
Suzie looked over at Jane, her mouth hanging open. "Are you serious? Of course you are. You're Jane Rizzoli."
Jane scoffed. "Wait, what is that supposed to mean?"
Suzie began to remove the blanket that was covering her chest to remove the pump. "Um, you mind turning away? I have to get the pump off and if we have learned anything from earlier, I don't want to flash you and make you uncomfortable."
"Right. How about I take Noelle to the kitchen and you can meet us there." Suzie couldn't help but chuckle as Jane's face once again turned beet red before she quickly exited the bedroom.
A few minutes later Suzie came into the kitchen. She placed the carseat with her now sleeping baby next to her as she sat down at the table. "Now, about what I was trying to say upstairs. You can't seriously think that you aren't the right fit for Maura."
Jane sighed as she removed the empty bottle from Noelle's mouth. "How am I the right fit for her, Suzie? We don't have anything in common. I just think she deserves someone who doesn't need to use Google translate when she starts rambling off facts."
Suzie stood and made her way over to Jane. "Look, I can't tell you how to feel or what to do, but you and Maura are best friends and have been for years. Obviously you two have more in common than you think. Don't sell yourself short Jane. Just grow a pair and tell her how you feel, you might be surprised with the outcome."
Jane couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, you have definitely been around Frankie way too much. Really Suzie? Grow a pair?"
Suzie just shrugged as she and Jane both broke into laughter, only quieting down when the babies both grunted at the loud noise.
"Well, I should be going. I need to do some last minute Christmas shopping. If you need any help tonight while Maura is out just give me a call," Suzie said as she slipped on her coat and covered Tess's carseat with a blanket before picking it up.
Jane laid Noelle in her playpen in the living room and walked Suzie to the door.
"Hey, um I'm sure Maura already covered this but thanks for doing this for us, for Noelle." Suzie smiled as she gave Jane a one arm hug, surprised by the one she got in return.
"You're welcome Jane. I'm glad I could help and again I'm sorry."
Jane pulled from the embrace and shrugged. "It's alright Suzie. You didn't know and besides if anyone is to blame it's me for not telling her how I feel. No hard feelings, really."
"If you're sure."
"I'm sure Suzie," Jane said with a smile.
"Alright, well tell Maura I said goodbye. Oh, before I forget," she says before digging in the diaper bag. "Here's a few more bags of milk. Make sure you put them in the freezer. I'll bring more tomorrow."
Jane chuckled but accepted the bags. "Thanks Suzie, be careful on the roads "
"Will do Jane, remember what I said. If you need any help tonight give me a call," Suzie remarked as she stepped out into the cold.
"I'll keep that in mind, Suzie. Now, get that baby in the car," Jane said with a grin as she stepped out, pulling the door closed behind her. She watched as Suzie strapped Tessa into the car before quickly jumping in herself. Suzie waved as she drove by.
Jane looked around at the neighborhood covered in a thick blanket of snow. It was always pretty in Boston this time of year. Everything seemed to still. Her admiration quickly faded as the cold Boston wind whipped around her. "Screw this, it's too cold," she said out loud as she scurried back inside.
Making her way into the kitchen Jane opened the freezer and put in the milk Suzie had handed her. When she closed the door she jumped.
"Geez Maur, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
Maura laughed. "Sorry. Did Suzie leave already?"
"Yes, she told me to tell you goodbye. Noelle is in the playpen in the living room. Are you good for me to run up and take a shower and get dressed?"
Maura nodded.
After Jane disappeared upstairs, Maura stared down at the table where her phone was laying. She didn't want to make that call. She wanted to spend the evening with Jane, and TJ, and Noelle. Realistically though, she knew the dream of being with Jane was just that, a dream. She sighed as she picked up her phone and made the call.
Later that afternoon, Jane was lounging in front of the TV in the living room watching a Christmas movie with TJ when there was an unexpected knock on the door. She went and opened it to find Nina standing on the other side.
"Nina! I wasn't expecting you. Come in!"
"How is my niece?" She asked, as she gestured to Nina's belly while helping her with her coat.
"Active as always. I really wish she would stop using my bladder like a trampoline. I was dropping by because I wanted to give you this in person," Nina said as she reached into her jacket that was now on the coat rack and pulled out a sheet of paper. She passed it to Jane.
"I managed to track down all the women who gave birth at any of the adjacent hospitals last year on Christmas day who also have the initials NW. There were more results than I expected. Boston must be having a baby boom," Nina joked.
Jane scanned through the list of names.
"Did you run these names through the database at BPD?"
Nina nodded. "I didn't get any hits. Whoever this woman is, she's not someone that you have arrested. If she's being honest about her initials that is. You have to consider the fact that she may have just put some random initials though Jane. You have no proof this person is even really going to come back."
"Yeah, I know but what choice do I have but to believe her right now. I'm not turning this baby over to the system."
Jane glanced at the list a bit longer. "I don't know why but this name here is ringing a bell," Jane said, pointing towards the name Natalie Brookswell.
"Hey Maur?" Jane called loudly so Maura could hear her from upstairs.
Jane sucked in her breath as Maura came walking down the stairs in the most stunning black dress with a pair of sleek black heels to match. She was obviously getting ready for her date. She was gorgeous. Jane was caught with her mouth hanging.
"Are you OK Jane?"
Jane tried to shake herself back to reality. "Yeah, yeah. I'm just curious if you recognize this name, Natalie Brookswell? It seems familiar to me."
Maura thought about it for a moment. "I don't know Jane. I mean, like I told you before, we've met tons of people through the years. Did you run the name?" Maura asks, looking over at Nina who nods.
"Nothing," she replies.
"I don't think this is a criminal Maur. Maybe it was a family member of a victim or something."
"I don't know Jane." If Maura was honest with herself, she didn't really care. She was still angry at whoever had dumped that baby.
"Hey, is anyone home?" Jane's eyes widened at the voice she heard calling from the kitchen. Her ma had apparently let herself in right through the side door.
"Vince told me to stop by and see if I could get the baby Jesus for the nativity since you're apparently never going to bring it by."
"Shit! Damn it, I forgot!"
"Jane, watch your…" Angela's voice trailed off as she looked over at the baby in the playpen.
"Who's baby is that?"
"She belongs to a friend." Jane lied.
"Jane Clementine Rizzoli, don't lie to me."
"Wha, i'm not lying."
"Yes you are. Every time you lie you have that twitch in your eye."
Maura laughed. "Hey, how come no one ever told me that before? Now we're on even ground Jane," Maura said with a grin.
"So, where did she come from?" Angela asks again.
"Ma, a friend asked Maura and I to look after her for a while OK? That's all you need to know. How come you are so dang nosy?"
"Because I'm your mother. That's why I'm nosy. Watch your tone." Angela turned her attention to the sleeping baby as she approached the playpen. Jane knew she was headed to pick her up and Noelle was not one to like her sleep interrupted.
"No ma. Don't wake her up. She'll be cranky."
Angela huffed before turning her attention to Maura.
"W,wow! You look stunning! You got a date?"
Jane rolled her eyes. "You just can't help yourself, can you ma? I'll go get the baby Jesus."
As Jane went to walk upstairs she heard her mother call behind her.
"Ask him to forgive you for being such a brat to your mother!"
"Shhhh! I'm trying to watch the movie," TJ announced from his lying position on the couch. Angela and Maura both laughed, apologized, and headed into the kitchen.
"Sooo," Angela said with a huge grin. "Who is he? What is he like?"
Maura shook her head and laughed. She knew Angela meant well. It didn't bother her as much as it did Jane when the elder Rizzoli asked questions. Maura actually found it adoring.
"Well, his name is Jack. He took my place as chief medical examiner. We have only met on a professional basis. Suzie thought he and I would match well together."
"Yes. I'm familiar with Dr. Whitman. He comes downstairs for coffee sometimes when i'm working.. I think it's nice that you have a date. I wish Janie would take a page out of your book," Angela remarks, just as Jane walked in.
"What book would that be ma?" Jane asked, her words full of aggravation.
"I was only trying to say that it would be nice if you went out every once in a while, Janie."
"Excuse me but I go out."
Angela scoffed, "Having drinks at the Dirty Robber with Frankie and Tommy is not the kind of going out I was talking about." Jane rolled her eyes and brushed off her mother's comments.
"Here's baby Jesus," she says, carefully handing over the ceramic statue. "For what it's worth Maur, you do look great. What are you and Dr. McDreamy's plans for tonight?" Jane chose to ignore her mother's eyes that she could feel burning into the side of her head.
"His name is Jack," Maura said as she turned from the fridge with a bottle of wine and began to pour herself a glass.
"Jack? So you two are on a first name basis now? Couple that with you drinking before a date. That's not like you Maur. This guy must really be something special if you're this nervous."
Maura didn't miss the edge in Jane's words, taking a sip of her wine before she spoke. "Yes Jane, his name is Jack and are you going to keep poking fun at me or do you really want to know what our plans are?"
Jane really didn't want to know what this guy had planned for the woman she was in love with but this is what a best friend is supposed to do. They are supposed to be supportive and ask questions about their friends' dates. So Jane plastered on her best Rizzoli grin and spoke. "Alright, I'm sorry. Of course I want to know."
"Jack will be picking me up from here in about an hour. We are going to the Christmas art showing and then dinner. Shouldn't be but a few hours, I'm sure I can make it home early enough for us to go see the Christmas lights."
Jane couldn't help the way her heart fluttered. Maura was going on a date and she was still going to try and make time for their original plans. Giving Maura a small smile, she waved off her comment.
"It's okay Maur, don't cut your date short on my behalf. Like I said, go out and enjoy yourself. We will have plenty of time on another night to go see the lights." Just then TJ came into the kitchen.
"Are we going to see the Christmas lights Aunt Jane?" He asked excitedly. Jane scooped him into her arms and began to tickle him until he squirmed.
"No little man, not tonight." At the pout on TJ'S face Jane quickly spoke. "Hey buddy, that's okay though. You, me, and Noelle are going to watch Christmas movies and drink hot chocolate and eat our weight in cookies. How does that sound?"
TJ'S eyes grew wide with excitement as he nodded. "I like hot chocolate and cookies, but Noelle can't have any."
"And why is that?" Jane asked, ruffling his hair causing him to giggle. "She's too small, only big kids like me can have hot chocolate and cookies," he replies with a huge grin. Jane, Maura and Angela broke into laughter.
"He has a point there Jane," Maura says with a smile before stepping closer. "I'm sorry that our trip to see the Christmas lights will have to wait until tomorrow night TJ," she says sweetly. TJ smiles and softly touches her face.
"It's alright Aunt Maura, we can go tomorrow." Jane leans in and whispers in his ear and he looks back at Maura. "You look very pretty."
Maura smiles at Jane who shrugs with a smile of her own. "Well thank you TJ, that was very sweet of you to say." Just then the doorbell rang.
"Oh! That must be Korsak," Angela remarked happily as she grabbed her purse, still holding the baby Jesus statue in her opposite arm.
"I thought you were taking baby Jesus to him?" Jane asks as she puts TJ down who runs off back into the living room.
"That was the plan, but plans changed. Korsak is going to take me over to the station to replace Jesus in the nativity and then he and I are going to dinner," Angela remarks as she heads towards the door followed by Jane. "Here hold this, and don't drop this one!" She says as she hands Jane the statue to slip on her coat.
Jane takes it before opening the door for Korsak. "Sorry to keep you standing in the cold there old man but you know how ma gets when she starts talking."
"Hey! I have ears you know," Angela says, stepping past her daughter.
Korsak chuckles, "That's alright Janie. Angela, you look beautiful, shall we?" He says holding his hand out to her.
Jane smiles at his gesture. It was about time her ma found someone like Korsak. Realizing she was still holding the ceramic statue she quickly stopped her ma.
"Wait, here you almost forgot this." Jane hands the baby Jesus to her ma and smiles warmly.
"Oh Korsak. I wanted to ask you, does the name Natalie Brookswell sound familiar to you at all?"
Korsak thought it over for a second before responding. "I can't say that it does. Why do you ask?"
"Ah, it's nothing. Thanks anyway though. You two enjoy your night."
Korsak and Angela nod before walking to the car.
"A friend's baby my foot," Angela mumbles.
"What was that?" Korsak asked as he opened the car door for the elder Rizzoli.
"Oh, um, it's not important. Let's get baby Jesus to his rightful place," she says with a warm smile as she gets into the car, allowing Korsak to shut the door behind her.
As Jane went to shut the door, the headlights of a vehicle she didn't recognize pulled up to the curb. Great, that must be Maura's date, she mumbled to herself before yelling for Maura.
"Hey Maur! I think your date is here." Jane didn't even try to hide the bitterness in her voice.
"Oh! Right on time," Maura says as she steps around Jane for her coat.
She looked at Jane as she slipped it on. Jane did her best to hide her emotions but her eyes gave her away every time. "Are you sure you don't want me to cancel? It's not too late."
"The man is about to knock on the door any second, Maur. I'd say it's a little too late to back out. Go enjoy your night, the kids and I will be fine. I should probably go check on TJ anyway. He's been quiet for far too long." Jane gave the best grin she could. She hated the battle that was raging inside of her.
Maura smiled sweetly, "If you're sure," she says just as a knock sounded.
"I'm sure Maur, go. Have fun," Jane said as she opened the door for Maura's date.
"Ah, Dr. Whitman, good to see you again," Jane says with a smile as she extends her hand to the man. Her facial muscles physically ached from forcing them to contort into smiles. What she really wanted to do was scowl at the man and not so politely shut the door in his face but she wouldn't. She couldn't, this was Maura's date and besides she would never hear the end of it from Maura if she was to be so rude.
"Jane?" Maura called pulling Jane back to the here and now.
"Huh?" Jane remarked, confused as to what she missed while in her thoughts.
"Jack was just saying how it was nice to see you again," Maura said while she studied the brunette's face. "Are you sure you're okay? You've been zoning out a lot today. I'm sure Jack would understand if we need to…" Maura was cut off mid sentence.
"Go Maur, how many times do I have to tell you. Go have fun. Jack, you might actually have to coax Dr. Isles here out of the house," Jane says with a chuckle to try and ease Maura's worries.
"Well actually Maura, if we don't leave now we will miss the opening show and I know how you hate to be late," he said, placing his hand in the small of Maura's back.
Jane had to swallow the growl she felt pushing its way out. How dare he put his hands on her. How dare he pretend to know anything about her. Jane shook her head and focused her attention back on Maura.
"I'll leave the porch light on for you Maur. Go," she says, nudging the other woman out the door.
"I'll have her back before midnight," Jack called over his shoulder as he walked Maura to his car.
Jane gritted her teeth together before smiling and nodding politely. She waited until they drove away before shutting and locking the door behind her.
It's official, I hate that guy, she said to herself as she went into the kitchen to make hot chocolate.
Jane tried to spend the next while enjoying her time with Noelle and TJ instead of wondering how Maura's date was going but after the first cup of hot chocolate TJ was out like a light and Noelle was not far behind him, leaving Jane awake to watch the remainder of Charlie Brown's Christmas by herself.
"I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I'm not happy. I don't feel the way I'm supposed to feel," Charlie Brown said from the TV.
"I feel you Charlie," Jane said, holding up her cup to the TV.
She shook her head. I'm talking to the TV, she thought to herself. "Not only am I talking to the TV, I'm talking to an animated character," she mused aloud.
She was startled when she heard the sound of the door opening, nearly dropping her hot chocolate.
"Maur! It's not even been two hours yet. I didn't expect you back so soon."
"Well, I must admit I had a good time but I couldn't stop thinking about that look of disappointment on TJ's face. So I thought we could still squeeze in the Christmas lights." Maura was thankful that was the truth, or part of it anyway, so no hives, but she also wanted to get home to Jane.
She looked over at TJ passed out on the couch.
"Oh, OK, or not. Is Noelle asleep?"
Jane nodded. "She's upstairs in her room. It's just me and you. If you want I can get you a cup of hot chocolate and restart Charlie Brown's Christmas."
"Charlie Brown's Christmas? What's that about?"
Jane dropped her jaw in disbelief. "You can't be serious Maur."
"No. I'm serious. Who is Charlie Brown?"
"Oh Maur. Uh uh," Jane said, shaking her head. This is not acceptable. We're going to fix this right now. Give me a few minutes. I'm going to go make you some hot chocolate."
A few minutes later Jane reappeared with some hot chocolate for Maura. After handing it to her, she carried TJ upstairs to her bedroom and laid him in her bed before going back downstairs and restarting the movie back at the beginning.
As they watched for a while Maura laughed. "I just realized something Jane."
"Yeah? What's that?"
"I'm Charlie Brown and you are Lucy."
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, Charlie Brown is like me, or how I used to be. Afraid of everything and Lucy, she's just the bossy one," Maura said with a grin.
"Hey now!" Jane playfully poked Maura in the side and they shared a laugh before settling back into the movie.
After a bit Jane felt Maura snuggling into her and she looked over at her and smiled. "Are you cold?"
Maura shook her head no but Jane got up and added a log to the fireplace anyway before walking over to the linen closet and grabbing a blanket.
Resuming her seat on the couch, she spread the blanket over her and Maura before turning her attention back to the movie. Once again, Maura snuggled in close. Sure Jane thought she was cold but Maura, she just liked this. The closeness and the bond she and Jane shared. It was comforting.
Jane slowly, hesitantly put an arm around Maura's shoulder before thinking twice about it and quickly pulling it back. Maura smiled as she grabbed Jane's arm and returned it.
"You're fine. It's cold out tonight. This is nice."
If Maura had said she was cold she would have broken out in hives. Instead, she had cleverly worded it to not be a lie, a trick she had learned through the years.
Jane smiled as she nodded. "Yes, this is nice," she said. She kissed the top of Maura's head before they returned to the movie.
This, Maura thought to herself, this is the date night I wanted. If only someday I can get the courage to tell Jane how I feel. In the meantime, right here, right now, this is as perfect as it could be.