See Ch 1 for disclaimers…

And who appreciates their beta? This girl! Because I have another update ready to go and any mistakes on the last one are mine b/c I did a last minute tweak and I think I perhaps made some errors (I will go stand in a corner now)


Maura inhaled the steam that rose from the cups as the boiling water passed over the tea infusers and let the mint her senses. In the middle of her family room was a collection of boxes. Her neat ornament organizers from last year were piled alongside bent and weary cardboard boxes from Angela's storage unit. Tommy and Mike were struggling to sort out Angela's tangle of Christmas tree lights, while Vince was pawing through the shopping bags of garland Angela had bought that afternoon. Last year she had used brass beads for strung ornamentation and this seemed to be a travesty that the Rizzoli matriarch was determined to correct via yards of glittering, feathery rope.

Garland, Maura learned, was supposed to be silver. Or rather, it should be shiny, light reflecting, voluminous and silver. By the end of Angela's educational discourse Maura was able to ascertain that, in theory, garland was to represent snow that had fallen on the branches. When she had asked about the appropriateness of using white instead of sliver, Angela had merely given her look she could only equate with pity.

Which was not an incorrect emotion considering the inordinate amount she was bestowing on herself as she watched Vince shake the garland around. Staring at it again in Vince's hands under the light, she'd been honest earlier when Angela had pulled it out in all its glittering glory. It certainly did catch the eye.

At the very least it certainly caught TJ's eye and poor Lydia was moving rapidly as she tried to distract him with the toys she had brought but from where Maura stood it was a losing proposition. The garland was impossible to forget. When Angela looked up with a smile Maura held a mug aloft and the other woman stepped carefully through the debris and made her way over.

"Thanks honey." Angela sipped her tea and watched Mike and Tommy threading white lights along the trunk of the tree. "Those white lights will help brighten up the inside of the tree."

Maura nodded but decided to hold her tongue. It seemed like a large amount of illumination for one tree. When she turned to respond Angela appeared to be introspective and weighted with something she wanted to say. When the silence stretched on Maura took a chance. "Mike seems like a kind man. TJ interacts with him favorably."

Angela's sigh was long and drawn out. "I have to agree, even if part of me wishes it wasn't true." She watched as both men handed off the white strand to each other as they wound the lights down the tree. "I am in the impossible position of feeling horrible for my son while being happy for my grandson. Mike seems like he will be a good influence on him and Lydia deserves some stability and happiness. Tommy helps but it is not the same thing as having a partner at your side when you go to sleep and wake up."

Letting the warm mint tea slide down her throat, Maura tried not to laugh at Vince who had the baby laughing hysterically as he played peek a boo with the fluffy garland. She could see the lines deepen at the corner of Angela's eyes as she stared at Tommy. "I don't know if this will help but I don't believe that Lydia was looking for Mike. I think he happened and I think she tried waiting for Tommy." As she watched Tommy and Mike started chuckling when TJ laughed so hard he fell down. "For whatever reason Tommy couldn't commit."

Angela nodded. "I only hope he doesn't regret it later. Sometimes I want to strangle Frank Sr." She sighed. "You would think our divorce wouldn't have affected our grown children, but sometimes I think it shows in little ways even if the lot of them would never admit it. Tommy in particular tends to internalize things and he doesn't have the maturity of his siblings to work his emotions through and put it in perspective. Frankie you can tell has already figured it out, even if he can't balance the fact that his Ma is also a woman. He'll get there. Jane pushed it off for a while, but now I can see her finally dealing with it in little ways. Dating Sean turned out to be best thing to force her brain into gear. But that is my Jane. She avoids the issue until she can't get around it anymore. But Tommy? I'm going to have to handle him one on one. Sometimes he needs more help."

Suddenly Angela reached out and squeezed Maura's arm before letting it go. "Be patient with Janie, okay honey?"

The front door bursting inward broke the conversation before Maura could respond and the sight brought a huge smile to her face. Jane and Frost stepped out of the cold and instantly the noise level increased.

Frost pulled his scarf away from his neck and handed it off along with his coat to Jane. He waved as he walked in the room. "Sorry we were late but it's not my fault." He gestured back at Jane. "Your girlfriend can't get it together with this whole Christmas thing and I was stupid enough to agree to go with her to run a…" Frost made air quotes around his head. "quick errand." He shrugged. "Like trying to get around the city during rush hour right before Christmas is going to be quick."

Jane rolled her eyes. "You can't blame me if you knew what you were getting into. It's not like I held my gun to your head. I'm going to change." She paused for a moment. "Wait a minute Frankie's shift was over this morning and he left the station even earlier than Korsak. He said he was coming right over here. Where is he?"

Angela waived her off. "Go change, your brother is being a good son by picking up something I need for Christmas. He said to start decorating without him."

As Jane was turning to leave the garland in Korsak's hand caught her eye. "Oh good, we have garland. Did you get tinsel?" When her mother nodded Jane grinned. "Perfect. I'm on garland duty. None of you geniuses, including the legitimate one, will get it right." She ignored the one fingered gesture Tommy flashed her from behind the tree. "I can't wait to teach Maura how to tinsel." When Maura looked at her, she gave her a wink. "It's the best part."

This time as she turned to go, Jane realized Tommy wasn't by himself threading lights along the tree. She shot a quick glance at Maura who nodded. She walked over and offered her hand. "You must be Mike. I hear congratulations are in order."

His grip was firm and sure. He met her eyes with a smile and his face was kind. "Thank you and thank you for having me tonight. You have a beautiful home."

She went to tell him that it wasn't her house when she caught the expression on Maura's face. Jane could see her shoulders square a little as she contained herself. It wasn't much but it was one of her tells. It made Jane hesitate for a moment letting her eyes darting around the space while she gathered her thoughts and the picture hit her hard. Looking around again, slowly taking in the people and the mix of ornament boxes the answer was simple and it tightened hard in her chest.

Jane looked back to Maura and let their eyes lock together. "Thank you, we love it." And it was true. She did love it. The walls might belong to Maura but the home was theirs. The hazel eyes looking at her were impossibly soft and infinite. Clearing her throat Jane felt her cheeks flush and she looked back at Mike. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go change."

Maura watched Jane go and for a moment debated following her. Ultimately she decided to give her a moment alone and turned to Angela instead. "I hope you realize you don't have anything to worry about with Jane and me. We might approach a case from different angles but in the end we solve it together." With that she put down her half finished tea and went to help Lydia with TJ.


Jane closed her underwear drawer with satisfaction. With Maura's gifts stowed away she was officially ready for Christmas. She rubbed her upper arms for a moment, positive she had made the right choice and it brought a sense of peace that was rare. Christmas morning had not been this hard to wait for since she was 8 years old and the anticipation was hard to contain.

At the bottom of the steps the excitement made her tingle and Jane paused to take in the sight of almost everyone close to her heart in one place. Frost was working on the garland with Korsak and she was only going to have to fix it slightly just to make a point for not listening to her. Not bad for a couple of Rizzoli garland application amateurs.

Tommy and Mike had done a perfect job with the lights and the white lights glowed from within and the boughs were cheerfully bright from the multicolored strands. Lydia was at Mike's side and her ring glinted faintly on her hand. They looked good together. With a soft sigh she studied Tommy standing off to the side a little. She made a mental note to sit down with him soon. After their conversation up on the ladders a couple of days ago, he had to be having a hard time, but he seemed to be handling it well. He'd grown up this past year.

Her mother was pulling something from the oven and Jane breathed in deeply. That smell could only mean lasagna for dinner.

Finally she let herself look at Maura. She was crouched next to TJ in his chair at the kitchen island. His fist was a chubby mess of crumbs and chocolate and he was laughing while patting her cheek. Maura was practically nose to nose with him, her eyes soft and curling at the corners, making Jane ache someplace deep and private where only Maura could reach.

The hand trailing up her back made Maura smile and she straightened up, leaning back as Jane's arms wrapped around her waist. "Hi."

"Hi." Jane squeezed her arms and dropped her chin on Maura's shoulder, relaxing as Maura's hands held her arms in place. Noticing a streak on Maura's cheek she ran her lips against the spot with a murmur. "You have chocolate on your cheek." The soft skin was intoxicating and she trailed a discrete line of kisses along Maura's cheekbone.

Maura bit her lip as goose bumps tickled her arms. "I had that much chocolate on my face?" She could feel Jane shake her head against her shoulder, spongy brunette curls teasing her cheek.

"No, just the first spot, everything else was for me." Jane closed her eyes in contentment when Maura crossed a hand over to bury it in her hair and scratch lightly against her scalp for a moment. Suddenly something bounced off her cheek and her eyes flew open as she straightened up. She looked at the wadded piece of newspaper on the floor with a frown. Everyone was elbow deep in her mother's boxes of ornaments, uncovering each newsprint wrapped treasure and hanging it up.

Korsak was grinning at her and held up another wadded ball ready to go. "You going to join us Rizzoli or should we give you and the Doc a little privacy?"

"Jealous old man?" All the same Jane took the hint and gave the waist under her arms a final squeeze as she let go.

"Jealous? What do I have to be jealous for? I believe Angela promised I could catch her under the mistletoe." Korsak barely had time to step behind Frost before Jane was around the couch and stalking towards him as he gave a small wave from behind Frost's shoulder.

Frost frowned at him and picked up a box of bulbs and went back to the tree. "Oh no, don't put me in the middle of this."

Jane raised an eyebrow at Korsak her voice dropping to a warning only partially in jest. "I have a feeling you are going to regret all those Christmas cookies you've been eating for weeks in a minute." Before she managed to take another step a sharp pinch on her arm made her yelp and spin, coming face to face with her mother. "Ow. Ma!" Scrunching up her nose and forehead she rubbed her arm vigorously.

"Did you ever stop to consider your mother might not mind a kiss from a handsome gentleman under the mistletoe?" Angela ignored the look on Jane's face and held out an angel ornament dressed in a tutu and ballet slippers. "Here, hang this up Jane. I believe this one belongs to you." Just as Jane was about to move towards the tree and closer to Korsak, Angela grabbed her elbow, her tone laced with warning. "And you had better act like just like that ornament."

Jane passed Korsak with an eyebrow raised in promise but that only made him laugh and after a minute she was laughing at herself. Still chucking, she placed the angel ornament carefully on a branch. It was worn, the skirt torn on one side but the wings still held their glitter edge and the tiny point shoes sparkled the same way they did the day her Nonna had given it to her to celebrate her first Christmas recital. With a half smirk she remembered the way the tights had twisted uncomfortably under the leotard and how she had fought her mother every step of the way of having her hair smoothed into a bun. And then there had been that incident on stage. Who knew fake spray snow was that slick? She had just wanted to dress up her slippers and how was it her fault the other girls had wanted to copy her? Jane gave the little angel a tap with her finger so she glittered as she pirouetted under the branch. Needless to say, her first recital was also her last. She needed to remember to tell Maura that story later.

With that thought on her mind, Jane sought out the other woman, stealing a glance at Maura where she stood by her couch with TJ on her hip. It didn't surprise her that Maura had her nephew. After the debacle of Lydia leaving him on Maura's doorstep he held a special place in both their hearts. Jane found it interesting that even though it had been over a year since Lydia took him back that they still hadn't spoken directly about the topic of future children. Sometimes Jane thought Maura avoided the topic deliberately, or at least stepped around it in that delicate way she had to avoid upsetting her. Maura caught her gaze with an affectionate look and Jane rubbed the back of her neck against the heat creeping over her skin at the intensity. Lately though, Jane found herself wanting to bring it up. She just wasn't sure what she wanted to say made any sense, because on one hand nothing had changed.

Jane Rizzoli absolutely did not want children.

But on the other hand, more than anything else, she did want Maura's children. It was a paradox that she was hoping Maura could understand. She didn't care where those children came from. Maura could have them. They could adopt them. Hell, if absolutely necessary, she'd have them herself and that said a lot. A fuck of a lot. But wherever they came from she wanted Maura's children and watching Maura rocking slightly side to side with TJ, she wanted them with an almost desperate ache.

Jane felt another set of eyes on her and when she looked around she found her mother giving her a pointed look. For a moment she was positive her mother could read her mind and she quickly went back over to the ornament boxes and chose another wrapped bundle. Tossing the paper aside, Jane held up a cartoonish reindeer bouncing a basketball wearing a red, white and blue uniform. It was another ornament belonging to her from childhood. Her father had bought this one to celebrate the father-daughter outing they took when the Harlem Globe Trotters had been in town. She turned it over in her hand with a sigh. Years of memories flooded around her. All the joking and laughter with her Pop when she'd uncover it each Christmas, followed by a coin flip to decide which one of them would hang it up. For a moment Jane debated wrapping it back up and putting it back in the box.

Instead, she walked over to Maura and held out the ornament. "I was wondering if you would hang this one up for me?" Maura studied her for a moment, head tilted but she accepted the plastic ornament and ducked TJ's chubby fingers as he grabbed for it, putting him down when frustration had him struggling in her arms. Jane watched her examine the tree, before walking up to consider a certain branch a little more. Finally she seemed to settle on a spot and carefully secured it in place. Maura turned to her in question and Jane gave her a thumbs-up, a sense of peace curling through her as a part of her new life combined with the old.

"Is that okay?" Maura could feel the emotion but she wasn't certain the cause. Jane offered her a soft smile and nodded before crouching down to rummage through the box at her feet.

Jane sifted through the loose paper in the box. "Done with this one." She looked around the floor at the empty boxes and at the tree, breaking into a smile. "It would appear that we are done with the ornaments." She rubbed her hands together. "It's tinsel time." Gleefully she pulled the plastic packages out of the bags and handed one to Maura.

Academically, Maura knew what tinsel was, but looking at the already eclectic tree with the fluffy, silver garland, she tried to imagine the finished product after they covered it with the shiny, sparkly strands. "Jane I know there is a tradition to using tinsel as a final accoutrement, but modern tinsel is made of polyvinyl chloride. It's mildly toxic and difficult to recycle. I researched it last year when I was trying to determine what I should have on the tree for your mother." Maura tried giving Jane an earnest smile. It was an unlikely argument but it was worth trying.

Shrugging Jane ripped open a package. "Live a little Dr. Isles. I promise not to swallow any and this year I won't sneak any wrapping paper into the trash. All of it will go in one of your 10 recycling bins outside."

"You put wrapping paper in the regular trash last year?" Maura frowned at her. "And I do not have 10 recycling bins. I have four and each serves a particular purpose."

"Five if you count that black thing that turns." Jane tossed Tommy a package of tinsel and passed out the remaining to everyone else. "Now hush while I show you proper technique."

Maura watched Jane select several shiny strands. "That black thing is my urban composter and there is a technique to this?"

"Oh yeah Doc. Your Y-incision skills are going to come in handy." Jane held up the tinsel. "Okay you take a few strands like this and you flick your wrist up and carefully drag your hand along the tips of the branches so only a few strands drape down. Uniform is key."

Frost was shook his head. "Oh hell no. That is not how you tinsel." Frost walked up with a handful of silver and tossed it on before combing it down. "That, partner, is how you tinsel."

Mike was laughing. "That way looks right to me. I was one of five kids, you learned real fast to grab a handful and go for it if you wanted to get your chance to put any of it on. We didn't even comb it out after." He walked up and tossed a small handful at the top of the tree.

Now Tommy buried his face under his arm. "Mike, dude, no. I like you but you're not teaching TJ how to tinsel. Right Lydia?" Tommy turned around expecting to see Lydia at his side but she was gone. Looking around he noticed her over with his mother.

Angela yelled over from the kitchen island as she handed TJ and sugar cookie. "I rescued poor Lydia. Maura you might want to join us. Trust me, I learned in the first year of marriage not to help with the tinsel and Frank Sr. taught the three of them. They're neurotic."

Hands on her hip, Jane looked over her shoulder at her mother. "Some say neurotic, others call it skilled." She pointed to the tree. "Come on Maura. Show them how it's done." Looking back on it later Jane would realize the glint in Maura's eyes gave her away but suddenly there was tinsel hanging off her hair, into her eyes and sticking to her lips. Dragging her fingers across her face she cleared the sparkly strands from her eyes. Korsak and Frost were the first to break down into laughter.

Angela yelled in from the kitchen. "Now that is what I call technique!"

The rest was inevitable because there was no way Jane wasn't going to give as good as she got. There was also was no way that Frost wasn't going to come to Maura's aid so Jane needed to put him in his place and Korsak had it coming to him from earlier. Tommy grabbed a handful of tinsel from the box as she darted past him and as Jane watched a floating silver cloud cover Mike's head, she knew there had to be some personal satisfaction in throwing something at him.

The doorbell brought them all to a sparkling standstill. Jane looked around the room. The only person missing was Frankie and why would he bother with the bell? She tossed her handful of tinsel at the tree and went to follow Maura to the door when her mother was at her side, grabbing the back of her shirt. Annoyed, she looked at her but there was a big, ear to ear grin on her face. Jane felt a moment of trepidation. She knew that smile. She watched Maura pull open the door, telling Frankie he knew better than to ring the bell when the sentence stopped half finished. What in the hell had her mother done? Jane pulled away from Angela's hold and hurried over, coming to a standstill immediately at the sight. Suddenly she became very aware of the fact that she likely had a fine coating of tinsel over her head.

Maura recovered first. "Mother!" she brushed frantically at her shirt but reached out and helped her mother in, kissing her cheek. "I thought you were in Vail."

Constance shrugged out of her coat and let Jane take it. "I decided to join your father there after Christmas. His flight doesn't come in from Japan until the 27th. When Angela contacted me with the idea to surprise you for the holidays I thought her suggestion perfectly lovely." She stepped aside to allow Frankie to pass by with her bags.

Frankie walked over to Jane and dropped the suitcases. "Sorry we're so late but I had to get her from Bedford and there was an accident on 95."

Still off balance Maura turned around to face Angela. The older woman walked up and kissed her cheek. "Merry Christmas honey. I couldn't think of anything you would want more for Christmas than to have all your family together. Your mother and I have been frantic these past few days trying to get her here with all the cancellations and delays."

Pulling tinsel out of her hair Jane shook her head, finally understanding her mother's new obsession. "Now your new fascination with the travel advisory status makes sense. I was starting to think you had signs of early dementia."

Angela shook her head at her. "I have been disappointed in you Jane. I was positive you at least would have figured it out after the storm. We almost didn't make it with all the cancellations but Constance managed to arrange for a private charter at the last minute." Walking over to Constance she smiled at her. "Glad you made it." She looked at Maura. "And you young lady, watch me, this is how you greet your mother." Angela pulled Constance in for a quick hug before grabbing Maura's arm and giving her a little push. "Have I taught you nothing? Now greet your mother properly."

Watching Maura hug her mother, Jane rapidly walked over to her mother and embraced her hard. "Thanks Ma. Thank you so much. I love you."

Angela rubbed Jane's back and kissed her cheek. "Merry Christmas baby. I love you too."


A/N – SHOUT OUT to Jobee24 – Way back when you caught the thought about Angela having Constance come. I was like oh SH*T did I make that part that obvious? The case I was hoping would be sublevel but I wanted my other little gems well hidden and I thought I had that one "there" but hidden enough at the time, especially since the draft had it here in Ch 13 (well 12 at the time). Anyhow kudos. I wanted to say so at the time but I didn't want to wreck the story.

I love my readers… I honestly do. All of you are so much fun :) You've been playing along, guessing, encouraging me. I lovehearing how people interpret things, even if I never viewed it like that myself. I don't think I say thank you enough to those riding along with me. So thank you :)