The security line at the airport doesn't take long and before Jane knows it, she is settling back into her seat. The flight attendants had served champagne while they were boarding, since Maura always purchased first-class tickets. Jane had drank the liquid from the flute in one quick gulp, as she was eager to get to sleep so the flight would go by quickly. Not long after she closes her eyes, Jane feels a soft tap on her arm. She lifts the eye mask that the airline had provided, peeking with her right eye. As her eyes adjust to the darkness, she sees Maura's face smiling back at her.

"Sorry. Just wanted to make sure you're alive."

Jane chuckles. "Well, Maur, if you had give me five more minutes, you could have confirmed that by my snoring." She sits up a little bit, rubbing Maura's hand reassuringly. "I'm alive and well. Get some rest."

Maura looks as if she has more she wants to say, so Jane pulls the eye mask off, knowing she wouldn't get a wink of sleep until Maura had processed whatever was on her mind. "Okay, Maura. Talk to me."

"It's just that you were so close to dying, Jane. Clinically, you were dead for a few seconds when your heart stopped. If it wasn't for Olivia calling 911 and the paramedics, you wouldn't be here right now."

Wincing slightly, Jane is reminded of how much it hurt to have her heart shocked. Although she was out of it, she remembers feeling like a horse kicked her in the chest when she woke up. Jane rubs at her shirt in the area where her heart is. "But I am and we are about to have so much fun in Paris. So stop overthinking." Jane's words were meant to comfort Maura, but she sees that her efforts have failed.

Maura is pulling at her hair as she continues to look worried. "Okay. Come here," Jane says, opening her arms. Maura lays on Jane's chest, needing to turn her entire body to the side so she can do so. Jane wraps her right hand around Maura, stroking the woman's hair before moving down to rub her back. She takes Maura's hand and places it over the side of her neck where her pulse point is, letting Maura feel the thump of her heart. "Better? Now you know that I'm alive and you can stop worrying that pretty head of yours."

Maura's blinking slows and she gives Jane a grateful smile, as she begins to feel exhausted from having to balance work and all of her preparations for this trip. She alternates between running her fingers along the texture of Jane's shirt, tracing the outlines of her heart, and reaching back toward Jane's carotid artery. As Maura counts, she falls asleep to the steadiness of Jane's heart rate and the comfort of numbers.

When Maura wakes up, she is in the same position and her arm has gone numb from laying on it. Jane has headphones over her ears and she is snacking on pretzels as she watches a movie on the little screen in front of her. With fiery explosions and fighting, Maura immediately recognizes the scene from one of Jane's comfort movies. As she shifts, Jane looks down at her, smiling as she pulls one side of her headphones off.

"Sleep okay?"

Maura brushes her hair with her fingers, smoothening out the bump that had gathered after a few hours of laying on it. "Yes, thank you for that. I slept really well." She nods in the direction of the screen, "Die Hard?"

Jane flashes her teeth at Maura, smiling in an exaggerated way as she wiggles her eyebrows. "It's almost December. Christmas movie time."

Maura rolls her eyes, remembering the first time that Jane had convinced her to sit through that movie under the guise that it was a Christmas movie. "Die Hard is not a Christmas movie, Jane."

Shrugging, Jane crumbles up the small bag of pretzels and places it in the pocket in front of her. "It is to me."

Maura laughs, shaking her head. She turns on the screen in front of her, checking the flight status to see where they were. The plane was situated above the Bay of Biscay, which meant that Paris was only of couple hours away. She presses the call button above her and asks the flight attendant for a bottle of water, looking in Jane's direction to see if she wanted anything as well. Jane shakes her head, turning her attention back to the movie. For a few minutes, Maura watches as Jane's face lights up at the action that is playing out. Maura knew then that she was in trouble because there was no way that she could ever dismiss the fact that she was deeply and completely in love with the woman before her.

After the two women had landed, Maura's mother had sent for a chauffeur to pick them up from the airport. They sat in the back of the family town car and Jane stared in awe at the scenery outside of the window. Maura's mother, being the art fanatic, had adamantly required that one of their homes be located near the Louvre. Since it was in the heart of the city, this home was a duplex with only 4 rooms, a much smaller size compared to their grand mansions that were located in the countryside. Jane looked at the shops lined against the street and at the people, admiring the way that they carried themselves through fashion. She recognizes that this may have been where Maura inherited her sense of style.

The duplex is modern, with white walls and windows bordered by black balconies. The ceiling is lined with gold bordering, which was hand-painted with an excruciating amount of effort and attention to detail. Windows the length of the room let sunlight in and they were lined with flowy curtains the shade of Nadeshinko pink. Tasteful art hung in every open space on the walls, often with bold frames or light fixtures above them. To Jane, it looked as if the building were a museum instead of a home. As she saw how cold and uncomfortable the living room was, Jane began to understand why Maura had felt so alone when she was younger. This was certainly no place to raise a child. The furniture looked as uptight as the rest of the place and nothing looked like it was ever used or sat on. Vases with intricate designs or abstract sculptures lined the walls, which Jane knew she and her brothers would have surely broken in a heartbeat if they had been forced to live there as a child. Constance Isles was dressed in a suit, which made Jane feel even more unnerved as she had expected the woman to dress more casually at home.

Jane watched as Maura and Constance made small talk, chatting about their flight and their upcoming plans. Constance was headed to Spain for a lecture on art history in a few days, which meant that Maura and Jane would be left to their own devices. Arthur Isles was, as usual, on some trip halfway across the world. As Constance shows them to the rooms upstairs, Jane can't help but realize that two of the three available rooms are lined in plastic with paint buckets scattered throughout them. Maura must have realized this at the same time since she raises an eyebrow while making eye contact with Jane.

"Mother, I hate to be ungrateful and I hope that I am not coming across as so, but I noticed that there is only one room ready for use right now."

Constance looks at Maura with a confused look. "Yes, I am in the midst of having the other two rooms repainted. You know how I like to have them painted a neutral color during the winter months. Is that a problem?"

Jane and Maura look at each other, not wanting to answer for one another or step across any boundaries.

Constance continues, "Well, I assumed that you would want to sleep in the same bed as you typically do."

Maura begins to turn a little red. "We don't actually sleep in the same bed that often."

"Do couples in America not sleep in the same room?" Constance asks.

Jane's jaw goes slack as she realizes that Constance had mistaken her relationship with Maura. Maura blushes even more, before rushing to say, "We're not a couple, mother."

Constance puts her hand up to her mouth, apologizing instantly. "Oh! Please excuse my assumption. When I visited you in Boston and saw how intimately intertwined your lives were, I had simply accepted that you two were a couple. Especially after Jane stood up for you by confronting me about how I treated you."

Maura looks at Jane, feeling her heart swell with love for the woman. "I never knew that Jane did that."

"Why, yes. This woman truly loves you. She made it very clear that the way that I had dismissed you before was incredibly hurtful and she made me realize some things." Constance pats Jane's shoulder firmly. "And any woman who can do that to my face is one worthy of respect."

Jane places her hand on Constance's shoulder for a brief second. "I just want what's best for your daughter."

Constance returns the touch. "I know, Jane. I'm glad she has you." She turns towards the only available room. "I'm afraid you may have to share a bed anyway for the time being. Perhaps I can rush the painters but they're on holiday until next week at the earliest."

Jane waves Constance's suggestion away. "Don't worry about it. Thank you for hosting us anyway. I don't mind if Maura doesn't."

Maura shakes her head, agreeing with Jane. "I'm fine with sharing."

Constance clasps her hands together. "Perfect! Now if you'll excuse me, I must begin preparing for my trip," she says before heading down the long corridor to the other end of the house.

When she leaves, Jane unzips their suitcases and begins laying out some of the necessities.

"Do you mind if I shower, Maura? I feel grimy from the plane."

Maura feels her hair, scrunching her nose as she thinks about the germs. "No, go ahead. I'll take one after you."

Jane heads into the bathroom, stripping as she takes in the gigantic mirror in front of the tiled shower. The shower had an option for the temperature of the water, type of spray, and pressure as well. Jane mumbles to herself, "I could get used to this." As she tries to turn the water on, she realizes that she has no idea how to do it.

"Maura!" Jane yells from the bathroom.

"Yes?"

"Can you come in here a minute? Turning this thing on is more complicated than it should be."

As Maura enters the bathroom, Jane points to the temperature dial. "Look, Maura. It's like operating a spaceship just to get this thing at the right temperature."

Maura focused on the dial, trying not to look at Jane's body. It had been months since she last saw Jane semi-naked, as Jane was insecure about her body after what Olivia and Sarah had done to her. The scars were a bit more faded now, but they were still reminders of that time.

"Thanks," Jane says.

Maura's eyelids drop a bit as she glances down at Jane's body. Catching herself, her eyes travel back up until they meet Jane's. She licks her lips unconsciously, thinking about how good Jane looked. Jane must have been working out more frequently than usual, as she had quickly regained the muscle mass that she had lost during her rehabilitation. Maura turns the dial and sets the temperature to one that she knows Jane would like, leaving before she can make Jane uncomfortable.

While Jane showers, Maura wanders through the hallways, basking in the nostalgia of being back in her childhood home. As she runs her fingers against the wallpaper, she is brought back to what her life was like back then. In this picture-perfect setting, Maura had never felt comfortable being who she truly was. With Jane, Maura felt seen. She felt heard and above all else, she felt loved unconditionally, even if Jane liked to tease her eccentricities sometimes.

A voice behind her startles Maura, drawing her out of her thoughts and back into reality.

"You love her, don't you?" Constance is near the entrance of the reading room that Maura is inside of, her voice full of curiosity instead of confrontation.

Maura offers her mother a small smile. "Hello, mother. Whom are you referring to?"

Constance walks in, sitting on the edge of a chair positioned against one of the windows. "I think both of us know who I am speaking about, dear."

Dropping her head slightly, Maura looks down at her feet. Her mother was never someone who she was able to speak freely with, especially not about her feelings. Maura recognized that her mother was trying to change and she decides to open up to her mother a bit to reward the effort that Constance was making. However, she was hesitant to reveal too much, as her mother was still a traditional woman at the end of the day.

"Yes," Maura whispers. Constance beckons for Maura to join her on the seat beside her and Maura abides. She places two fingers under Maura's chin, raising Maura's head up so she can make eye contact with her daughter.

"Keep your head up, Maura. Love is a wonderful thing. You should be joyous."

Maura is surprised, having not expected this response from her mother. She wondered what Jane must have said to her mother to inspire such a drastic change from the mother she had grown up with. "I must admit, mother, I thought that you would have been against Jane and I being together."

Constance's mouth turns into a sad smile. "I apologize that I was not the mother that you needed, Maura. I was just so scared about being a mother, which was why I was so strict with you. Perhaps too strict. You were such a brilliant child and I just didn't know what to do. In efforts to guide you down the proper path, I had pushed you too hard without even realizing it." Constance wipes a tear off Maura's cheek and tucks a strand of hair behind Maura's hair. "You turned out so well even without my help. Your father may not have realized it yet, but I realize now that you are much more important than any art installation or award that I can earn. You, you are my greatest project, dear."

Maura watches as tears stream down her mother's face and she is taken aback, as she has never seen her mother cry before. The two women hold each other with a deep appreciation for the second chance that they had been given.

Constance pulls back, laughing amidst the tears. "Look at us, how silly we must look, crying not even a few hours into your arrival here."

As both of the women wipe at their tears, Maura laughs as well. Constance stands up, bringing Maura up by tugging at her arm.

"Come, dear. Let's get freshened up for our evening meal."