It was the morning of Christmas Eve, which meant that Maura's Beacon Hill residence would be filled to the brim with Rizzolis and members of the Boston Police Department who had become family over the last few years. Jane laid on her back, staring up at the ceiling above her as she enjoyed the last few moments of peace and quiet. With Maura sound asleep next to her and a soft blanket spread across the two women keeping them warm, Jane was happy. She had decided to give herself a couple days off from working out, so she was even more content to lay there with Maura. She turns to her side, shifting gently to avoid jostling the honey blonde awake as she takes her time to revel in Maura's beauty. It was rare to see the other woman so tranquil as her mind was usually running a million miles per second. Jane brushes away a stray hair, caressing Maura's cheek as a smile tugs at the corners of her own lips.
She was going to miss this.
Shaking her head slightly to clear the thoughts from her head, Jane sighs as she closes her eyes. For the next few minutes, she tried to savor every detail of the room and of the woman next to her. She was going to need it if she had any hopes of surviving the FBI trainee program. After years of being on the force, Jane was confident that she could survive anything, but she also had to admit that it was all beginning to catch up to her with how soon she had to leave. With a mix of intimidation, excitement, and anxiety swirling about in her heart, she suppressed those emotions deep down so she could enjoy the holidays. Beside her, Maura's breathing pattern quickened as she left the deeper stages of sleep.
"Hey," Jane whispers, her eyes crinkling as she watches Maura stretch.
Mid-yawn, Maura manages a "Good morning," as she leans in to give Jane a quick kiss on the cheek.
"You're up early."
"Yeah, I've been thinking about the training program and stuff like that."
Maura's sleep-riddled eyes open bigger as she turns towards Jane. "Are you feeling okay about it?"
"I think so. It's nothing to worry about." She replies as she pulls the other woman into her arms. "Plus, it was nice to watch you sleep. You are so beautiful, you know that?"
Even though Maura was complimented on her attractiveness often, a statement from Jane always seemed to make her blush. As her mouth moves into a smile, she rubs the taller woman's arms. "I love you."
"I love you," Jane responds as she moves their bodies together. Taking in the smell of Maura's shampoo, she took a deep breath. "I'm going to miss you a lot, Maur. Having you be the last thing that I see before I sleep and the first thing I get to wake up to."
"I will miss you as well, Jane. However, it's only 20 weeks. You'll be so busy that you will barely notice it," Maura offers, turning to logic to comfort herself. She knew that this period of time would be painful and full of longing, but she wanted to make sure that she gave her full support. Especially knowing how challenging the program could be.
A thud comes from downstairs, which causes Jane to shoot upright as her hand moves to the nightstand where one of her weapons was stored. Not long after, a voice travels up the stairs.
"Hi girls, it's me!" Angela shouts.
As every muscle in Jane's body relaxes, she rolls her eyes as Maura chuckles. Some things never changed.
"Hi, Ma," Jane answers. "You didn't wanna knock?"
"Sorry, I forgot! Come down here, don't shout at your mother."
Jane lets her arms flops at her sides defeatedly as she turns in different directions, trying to find her clothes. She shakes her head, thinking about how they needed to be more careful taking garments off of each other in the future because it was so time consuming to look for her pants the next day.
"Jane!" Angela beckons.
Jane tugs her sweatpants on and buttons a flannel around her upper body hastily. "Coming, Ma! Give me a second."
"You too, Maura!"
As Maura rises from the bed, she makes eye contact with the other woman as Jane shrugs. "She usually waits until noon to force us into Christmas activities. Maybe she's impatient this year."
The two women head down the stairs to the sound of Angela putting down her overstuffed tote bags.
"Ma, it's still early in the morning. What are you doing?"
"It may be our last Christmas together for a while, Janie. You know that FBI agents never get a steady schedule. So, I want to take advantage of every second of it."
Jane blows a curl out of her eyes. "I haven't even started the academy yet."
Angela ignores her comment, instead ordering her daughter to begin unloading the bags. The taller woman groans as the weight of the bags transfers onto her shoulders, causing them to tilt down from the force.
"What do you have in here, Ma? Rocks?"
Retrieving a plastic box and several tubes of frosting, Maura watches as Jane pieces together the reason behind her mother's early arrival.
"Gingerbread houses!" Maura says, having only seen them in movies. "I've never decorated one myself."
As she turns the corner around the island in the kitchen, Angela looks up with a smile for Maura. "I thought it would be something fun to do. We could have a contest and have the others vote on it."
Ever the competitor, Maura, agrees excitedly. On the other hand, Jane ponders on ways to increase the stakes. "What happens when I win? Do I finally get to sleep in without you barging in?"
Angela throws a hand towel at her, nearly touching the wild curls before Jane swiftly dodges the object. "Is it so hard to make your mother happy?" She puts her hands on her hips, frowning as she thinks. "Winner gets to choose the next activity. But it needs to be Christmas themed."
Maura and Jane look at each other, shrugging as they agree to the prize. With steady hands and impeccable sense of style, it was inevitable that Maura would end up winning the contest. However, deep down, Jane knew that it would be a fun time anyway. She couldn't recall the last time that she had spent so much time with her family and especially seeing how much TJ had grown in a month alone, she was beginning to get saddened by her up-coming 5 month departure.
For the next hour, the room was mostly silent as the women focused on outlining their houses with candy. A few times, Angela asked Jane miscellaneous questions to which Jane answered with one word responses. Despite Jane's best attempts to sabotage Maura's decorations by stealing her gingerbread men or eating the candy cane path to her door, Maura's house still outshone the other two by a large margin. Jane's had been a good effort, with intricate piping around the top of the roof and the sides of the walls before Jane had eventually given up and chosen to eat the decorations instead. As expected, Maura accepted her win with grace as Angela watched on with a grin, which made Jane's heart swell with happiness. This is what the holidays are about.
