Author's note: Thank you very much for your messages and reviews.

Chapter seventeen: The Magellanic Tuco-tuco And Other Stories

Maura pressed Jane's shoulder with her thumb and began to draw circles on the bone with a delicate regularity. Once she found the appropriate pace, she sat Indian style in her partner's back and closed her eyes. It was the best way for her to focus on the sensations stirred up by the massage that guided her movements as well as the level of pressure she needed to apply on the sore shoulder.

Jane sighed and leaned her head backwards in a gesture of obvious relief. The bath she had taken once she had come back home had slightly improved her general state but her shoulder nonetheless still hurt.

"Next time you need a box full of files, ask a taller colleague to help you. You could have suffered from a concussion, you know. It wasn't a smart move."

Maura's voice didn't reflect any reproach. The sweetness of her remark melted in the kiss that she planted on Jane's shoulder. A furtive one; light. Warm. She took a deep breath in the crook of her partner's neck before letting her lips brush Jane's skin again.

The detective straightened up and moved her shoulder to make her stop.

"Not the neck, Maura. Not again. Please. I'm not a scarf woman in case you haven't noticed yet. People'll be suspicious if I start showing up every day with something to hide my neck."

Maura obliged and leaned her forehead against Jane's shoulder. She laughed, passed a hand under her partner's shirt to hold her tight.

A week had passed by – barely a week since they had ended up in bed together for the first time – but Maura had the feeling that it had always been this way.

Their gestures of affection were logical and natural. They easily came up, all by themselves. Everything was smooth, enjoyable and strong. She had never experienced this in any of her previous relationships. It was different with Jane. Different and sweet.

"I can't believe you tried to climb these immense shelves all by yourself."

Jane shrugged but the gesture made her wince in pain. She needed to be careful, less brutal. At least nothing was broken nor sprained which meant that she didn't have to stick to paperwork at the BPD. She had avoided the worst.

"Call me Spiderwoman."

Maura sat up and raised an unconvinced eyebrow. She didn't want to ruin Jane's dreams to become a superhero of some sort but the incident the Italian had got earlier in the afternoon had actually been a great source of entertainment for all the units of the BPD.

Jane turned around to lock her eyes with Maura's hazel ones.

"Kiss of a spider woman...?"

The medical examiner tilted her head and squinted her eyes at Jane. Her ability to understand Jane's jokes had reached its limits.

"You compare yourself to Manuel Puig's novel? To Molina and Valentin?"

"No." Jane repressed the desire to sound harsher. "I was just joking around with the title and what I had said before..." No reaction. "That you can call me 'spiderwoman'? Got it?"

Maura nodded slowly and was about to reply when a knock on the door prevented her from doing so. Margot timidly walked into the room.

"Am I interrupting something... Again?"

Jane and Maura laughed lightly. The French girl was certain of walking in on them all the time since the date of their so-called wedding anniversary. Little did she know that she was now simply witnessing the live of a real couple, now.

Jane and Maura didn't hide much when at home. They touched – held hands – and kissed freely in front of Margot. But as soon as someone else arrived – someone close enough to them – they put back this respectable distance friends are supposed to have. They didn't want to say anything to anyone. Not just yet. It could wait a little.

"I hurt my shoulder at work. Maura's massaging it. What do you want, Frenchie?"

Margot cast a glance at the scientist as if to have a confirmation of what Jane had just said. She had arrived to Boston a month ago and perfectly knew by now how Jane and Maura's couple worked.

Jane was not the one who took the final decision over anything, especially regarding the house. It always depended on Maura. She had found it odd at first but had now got used to it and ceased to question herself about it. After all, Maura and Jane seemed to do just fine this way so it was not a problem.

"Angela is downstairs for dinner. She wants to know whether you want classic lasagna or salmon and spinach ones."

Jane made a face of disgust and got up right away. She rushed to the door.

"Since when is that even a question?" She stepped out of the bedroom and walked to the staircase. "Don't even dare to put fish and vegetable in the lasagna, ma'!"

Jane's reaction made Maura smile. In other circumstances, she may have complained and told her partner that eating fish and spinach was important for their daily diet but she didn't feel like being this kind of person, tonight. Jane had been hurt at work; she needed a break. Yet curious to see the face-to-face in the kitchen, she left her bedroom as well and walked downstairs.

First dinner with Angela since the wedding anniversary evening. First time they would be in the same room for more than thirty seconds. Some things would hardly have a chance to be avoided, now.

Jane had come to the conclusion that their mothers had simply plotted the scenario of the anniversary to make it all a bit more complicated; a harmless punishment for the lie they both accepted to say. Or at least that was what she said out loud. Maura didn't share her opinion but remained quiet on it.

She thought that her mother and Angela had tried to push them in each other's arms. They hadn't planned a joke but a real scenario to make sure that they would end up together.

Why? She had no idea whatsoever. Yet she strongly believed that it was how it had gone. Coincidentally, their plot had succeeded except they didn't know about it.

"Good evening, Maura."

The scientist smiled back at Angela as she walked in the kitchen and spotted Jane by the fridge, spoon in hand; ready to fight back at the next remark.

"Angela..." Maura walked slowly towards the matriarch. "I am going to assume that you were extremely busy this week as we didn't see you here."

Jane didn't miss Maura's snarky tone. Surprised – happily surprised – she looked at her partner and smirked. They hadn't really planned anything to get their vengeance over the wedding anniversary but she surely liked the idea of verbal torture.

She nodded at Maura then looked at her mother.

"Working hard to offer us a second honeymoon to the Bahamas?"

Angela opened her mouth to reply but found herself speechless. She looked down at the counter and shook her head. The smile that curled up her lips betrayed her obvious amusement, though. She was well aware of what was going on. The game had just begun.

"Where did you go for your first honeymoon? What destination?"

Maura turned around. She had almost forgotten Margot. The adolescent had probably followed her when she had gone downstairs. She was now sitting on a stool, chewing on a slice of bread.

"We went to..." Jane took a deep breath but never had a chance to finish her sentence.

"Patagonia!" Maura almost screamed. Jane and Angela jumped in surprise and stared in disbelief at the scientist who now had to deal with an incongruous lie. "Patagonia is... A sparcely populated region located at the southern of South America, shared by Argentina and Chile."

Margot leaned her chin on the palm of her hand and pouted appreciatively.

"That's where you went to?" The girl didn't pay attention to Maura's very vague reaction. "That's... Unusual. But it must be cool. What did you see, there?"

Jane stifled a chuckle. Why on Earth had Maura said that? She should have let her make up a way more believable honeymoon destination.

"Now, this is an excellent question." She turned to her partner. "What was I supposed to see out there while I was in Patagonia, Maura?"

Angela giggled at the way her daughter pronounced the scientist's name. They were talented at putting themselves in complicated situations.

"The Magellanic tuco-tuco."

Jane blinked. Was this Maura's attempt to make a joke? Yet she seemed extremely serious; way too serious for someone who would have tried to fool a whole room.

"It is a subterranean rodent." Maura smiled at Margot - satisfied of her own answer – while Jane simply buried her face in her hands.

Only Maura could see in the observation of a rodent a honeymoon activity. It was definitely her science geek signature.

"Although Patagonia is more famous for its marine fauna: the southern right whale, the Magellanic penguin, the orca and elephant seals."

Margot nodded. She looked surprised but nonetheless interested.

"You saw all this, Jane?"

Don't laugh now, Rizzoli. Don't do that. C'mon, be serious. Poor Margot's just asking a very random question. Answer.

Jane bit her lips to repress a laugh and finally looked up at the teenager. She swallowed hard, took a deep breath to control her voice.

"Oh yes. I absolutely looooved the tuco-tuco. Highlight of my honeymoon... Like, for real...!" She turned to her partner for confirmation. "Right, Maura?"

The scientist seemed to hesitate. She hadn't missed Jane's sarcasm, not this time.

"Well... It is not a type of rodent that you can see everywhere!"