a/n: it's snowing where I live and thus this one-shot was born. enjoy pointless Rizzles fluff :)
Jane always had a love-hate relationship with winter and snow. When she was a kid, snow meant no school, snowball fights with her brothers and her mother's famous hot chocolate. It was red noses and carefree days spent by the fire. But Jane got older, life got in the way and snow began to signify traffic, accidents and being late to work. As a child, Jane loved the cold that came with winter. It was a welcome relief from the blistering summer and the cold reinvigorated her. But after Hoyt, the cold would seep into her bones and make her hands ache with every movement. The chill in the air that made her hands hurt reminded her of cold blue eyes, a piercing scalpel and ghosts long dead.
Those at BPD learned that when the infamous New England winter began, Sergeant-Detective Jane Rizzoli would always be in a bad mood. Today was no different. It was the first big snowfall of the year and while many of the other detectives and cops were drawn to the window to watch the snow come down with childlike wonder, Jane couldn't see the appeal. Snow was just crystallized water molecules falling from the sky, collecting dirt and other gross things from the air. Who cared?
"C'mon people, it snows every year, can you please focus on the case" she grumbled at her detectives who reluctantly moved away from the window and started to work again.
With her team refocused, they were able to figure out their victim had a huge life insurance policy and her husband was having an affair so he killed her to keep the money and his girlfriend. It's always the spouse Jane thought with a rueful shake of her head. After serving the arrest warrant, Jane decided to send her team home and call it quits for the day. The snow was piling up and Jane didn't want anyone to get into an accident.
The sun was beginning to set on Boston as Jane pulled out of her parking spot and began her drive home. She drummed her fingers against the steering wheel and urged the car to move faster so she could get home to Maura and their daughters. Maura and her magic hands who would ease the ache in her palms. Her wife decided to stay home with the kids to enjoy the snow day with them while Jane chose to go to work and avoid it all. But now after a long day of work and her ill feelings towards the weather, she just wanted to be home.
After what felt like forever, she pulled up to the house she and Maura bought and fixed up after they got married. Jane smiled as she remembered how everyone pitched in to help them remodel the house. How cute Maura looked in paint-smeared jeans, a t-shirt and a red bandana tied to keep her hair back, her baby bump just beginning to show. Every weekend, whoever was available would pile into the house and take on jobs to help finish the house before Maura gave birth to their first daughter. Jane let out a happy sigh at the memories.
She exited the car and her eyes were drawn to the lawn, which was covered in snow. One bright pink and one bright blue jacket stood out against the white of the snow which Jane easily identified as her daughters, Adeline (Addy) and Grace. Her eyes wandered until she found who she was looking for. Maura was dressed in her burgundy jacket and black snow pants. High-pitched laughter filtered through the air and reached Jane's ears.
Jane moved closer to watch her family playing in the snow, careful not to draw attention to herself. Both girls were bundled head to toe in their winter clothes. Addy in pink toddled on her short legs, trying to keep up with her big sister, Grace, who was in blue. Maura had her back to the girls, focused on building a snowman. Her hat sat crookedly on her head, the pom pom on top bringing a small smile to Jane's face, knowing it was one of the girls who convinced Maura to wear it.
"I just don't see the point, Jane. How does a pom pom keep one warm in the winter?"
"I don't know, Maur, but the kids love 'em so let's just get them."
"Well, I won't be wearing one."
Jane snorted. "Good luck with that."
Jane placed four matching pom pom hats in the cart and Maura rolled her eyes, grumbling at the ridiculousness of a pom pom on a hat. Jane just smiled, knowing it wouldn't be long before one of the girls got the doctor to wear the hat.
Jane snapped out of her flashback as Grace turned to her sister with a devilish grin and leaned down to whisper something in Addy's ear. The young girl looked up at her sister with a wide smile and eagerly nodded her head.
Quietly, the two girls worked together to begin forming snowballs, placing them in a pile where they could easily reach. Maura was too focused on perfecting the snowman to notice what was happening behind her. Jane bit her lip to stop herself from laughing and giving her position away. She wanted to see what her daughters would do. After they had a sufficient pile of snowballs, each girl took one. Grace turned to her sister and counted down silently on her fingers 3..2..1
"GO!" Grace shouted, causing Maura to whip around and subsequently be pelted with a series of snowballs.
Unrestrained laughter escaped Maura's lips as she held her hands up to defend against the attack. Maura tried her best to make snowballs and gently throw them, hitting the girls in their jackets but the young girls were too fast for her to keep up. Giving up on defending herself, Maura dramatically fell to the ground and their daughters erupted into more laughter as they climbed on top of her. Jane couldn't stop herself from laughing and her daughter's head shot up at the sound.
"Mama, you're home!" Grace shouted as both girls scurried to get up and hug her.
"Mama, come play." Addy tugged Jane's hand and Jane was helpless against those pleading eyes and rosy cheeks.
The snow immediately sunk into her boots and bled through her work pants but she continued to follow her daughters as she listened to them describe their day.
"Mommy helped us bake chocolate chip cookies. Did you know that baking is a science? All the ingredients are like reactants in a chemical equation. And when they react with one another they become a product!" Grace explained to Jane. The brunette caught Maura's proud gaze and held back a laugh at how similar Grace was to Maura.
"I love eating chocolate chip cookies, they're yummy" Addy said as she twirled and fell into the snow, giggling at herself. And that's my girl thought Jane. "Don't worry, Mama, we saved some for you."
Jane bent down and dropped a kiss on the girl's forehead. "Thank you baby."
Grace tugged on Jane's sleeve, drawing her attention again. "Then we watched animal planet. Mama, did you know a giraffe has 6 neck bones just like humans! Obviously theirs are much longer than ours which is why they have such a long neck," Grace finished with a toothless grin. The 6 year old had lost 3 teeth in the past month and Jane loved that toothless smile.
"I liked that giraffes have blue tongues" Addy added getting up and grabbing more snowballs.
"So now I have three google-mouths?" Jane teased, poking their sides to let them know she didn't really mean it eliciting more giggles.
Maura watched her from the ground, breathless from laughter. The wide smiles on her family's faces were infectious and Jane found herself filled with a joy she hadn't felt about winter since she was a kid. Seeing the happiness on her daughters' faces and seeing Maura's shining eyes and red nose began to soften the anger she had towards winter. Suddenly, she was interrupted from her thoughts by a snowball thrown by a giggling little girl.
Jane held her hand up to her chest with an exaggerated gasp and fell backwards next to Maura, joining the doctor on the ground. Her sides hurt with laughter as Addy and Grace climbed on her, their cold noses meeting her face and sending shivers down her body. Maura found Jane's hand in the snow and interlaced their fingers. Jane turned to meet glimmering hazel eyes and a bright smile. Jane deeply exhaled as the tension she had been holding all day began to fade.
"Addy! Grace! Hot cocoa time!" Angela's voice cut through the cold air and the two girls scrambled up and bolted inside at the promise of warm hot chocolate. "Adeline May, you take off your boots this instance or so help me I will drink your cocoa" were the last words Jane heard her mother say before the front door shut.
She turned to face Maura who was looking at her with concern. "How are you, I know the first snowfall is always rough for you."
Despite the snow seeping into her clothes, her frozen fingers and having no feeling in her toes, Jane felt her heart melt. "I'm better now that I'm home."
Maura smiled and leaned over Jane, the doctor's face silhouetted in a golden light by the setting sun. "I love you."
"I love you too."
As their lips met in a soft kiss Jane decided that maybe snowfalls weren't so bad after all, as long as they were spent with the people she loved.
