Maura hesitantly pushes Jane's refilled cup of coffee towards her and sits down expectantly.
"Thanks, M," Jane mumbles, eyes still on the newspaper in front of her.
Maura peers at her curiously over the rim of her own coffee cup. It was another lazy Sunday morning with empty plates, the sun streaming into the kitchen, the newspaper spread about.
Jane absently picks the coffee cup up and slowly brings it to her lips without looking. Tipping it towards her mouth, she stops, realizing there isn't any coffee in it. Narrowing her eyes and looking into the cup she notices something at the bottom. Oblivious to Maura's intent gaze, Jane reaches delicately into the cup and pulls the object out, a smile slowly splitting her face. She closes her fingers around it and finally looks up a Maura, her smile growing wider.
"Maura?"
"Jane?" Maura says grinning wider as she gazes at her beloved.
They stare at each other for many moments, the only sound Joe Friday's panting underneath the table.
"Ask me." Jane finally whispers, cocking her head to one side, her eyes joyful.
Maura nods once, sets her coffee cup down, gets up and moves towards Jane.
Jane unfolds her lanky legs to stand and meet her. Maura takes the hand holding the object in both of hers.
Maura closes her eyes for a moment, takes a deep breath in, and blows it out. Jane leans in and kisses her cheek.
"Ask me," on a breath out.
"Jane Rizzoli, I love you and our home, our family unit, our crazy, quirky life." She looks down at their joined hands, Jane hooks her fingers under Maura's chin, brings her eyes back up. Her eyes watery.
"Jane, when I was younger, I never thought I would want this, need this, deserve this…but then you, " she pokes Jane in the chest playfully, Jane smiles even bigger, "you came into my life and changed things, you changed me. So Jane, if you'll have me I would really like to spend the rest of my life loving you, laughing with you, building a life with you."
Jane reaches up and tenderly wipes the tears seeping from Maura's eyes.
"Will you marry me?" Maura asks haltingly, their lips very close.
Jane gently rubs her cheek against Maura's before whispering in her ear, "Yes. I would like to spend my life with you, always."
Maura wraps her arms firmly around Jane's body.
"Yay. Yay!" Maura says giddily, jumping up and down a little, Jane laughing deep in her belly.
Maura pulls back which elicits a groan from Jane. She steps back and holds out her hand.
"The ring, Jane."
Jane opens her fingers for Maura, uncovering a simple white-gold band of diamonds.
Maura carefully takes the ring from Jane, reverently pushing it onto the ring finger of her left hand. Maura brings the hand to her lips and leaves a soft kiss on Jane's knuckle. She looks up into adoring brown eyes.
"I love you." Jane says and wraps her arms around Maura. Her lips ghost along eyebrows, cheeks, below ears until Maura finds herself backed up against their kitchen counter.
Maura's breath has sped up, she grabs Jane's face, "Jane, my mouth, kiss me on the mouth, " she says exasperated.
Jane smirks and obliges, crashing their lips together, sliding over and over until Maura deepens the kiss, their tongues tangling.
Jane groans and lifts Maura up onto the counter, her hands roaming along Maura's back, sides, gripping her bottom. Maura wraps her legs around Jane's waist, lays kisses along her neck, collarbone, her fingers under the detective's Red Sox shirt along the warm soft skin of her waist.
Maura pulls away long enough to strip Jane of her shirt, her eyes raking down Jane's chest, settling on the delicious breasts of her fiancée.
Maura leans in, whispering against Jane's lips, "You are so beautiful."
Jane's hands still on the hem of Maura's shirt, ducking her head, a blush creeps up her torso.
"Only for you, Maura." Jane croaks out.
Maura's warm fingers close gently around Jane's breasts, she runs her thumbs over sensitive nipples until Jane can't help but arch into her hands.
Jane takes a big breath in, "M, this needs to come off," she growls gently pulling off the ancient Boston PD t-shirt Maura has made her own.
Jane crushes their naked torsos together with a sigh.
"We are taking this to the bedroom." Jane says wrapping Maura's arms more securely around her neck, and picking her up from the counter. They stumble down the hall, Maura dragging her lips along Jane's collarbone.
Later that morning, Jane languidly opens one eye and sees Joe Friday looking at her pleadingly from the floor next to their bed. She opens the other eye to take in the blonde hair and naked body of her beloved wrapped around her. She kisses Maura's forehead causing her to stir, take a waking up breath in, followed by a contented sigh.
"Sweetie?" Jane whispers in her ear.
"Hmmm?"
"I'm gonna take Joe out, be right back, OK?"
"Mhmm." She says leaving a kiss on Jane's shoulder and untangling her limbs from Jane's, letting her up.
Jane gets up reluctantly, glancing back at Maura who has settled on her back, one breast peeking from beneath the tangled blue sheet. Not opening her eyes, "Stop ogling, go take the dog out, I can hear her whimpering."
Jane chuckles, pulling on the first pants she finds, she leans over at the last minute, leaving a tiny kiss on the side of Maura's breast causing her to shiver.
A smile creeps onto her face, "Go!"
"OK, OK. I'm going, let's go Joe." She pads out of the room in search of her t-shirt and sneakers.
When Jane returns, Maura hasn't moved, a small smile still on her lips. Jane looks down at the beautiful new ring on her finger, a small smile growing on her own face.
"I can hear you stalling in the doorway. Get back over here." Maura says quietly, waking Jane from her thoughts. Jane nods thoughtfully, a decision made.
"I'm not stalling, just admiring my beautiful fiancée." She says, a smile in her voice.
"Well get over here and admire a little closer." Maura opens her eyes slowly and starts giggling.
"What?" Jane asks, confused.
"Nice pants, Jane." Maura says between laughs.
Jane looks down and can't help but laugh too when she realizes she's wearing Maura's yoga pants which barely cover her knees.
Sheepish she advances on Maura, "What? They were on top of the pile on the floor."
"Get over here." Maura says reaching her arms out.
Jane climbs on the bed straddling Maura's hips, laying a warm kiss on her lips.
"Good morning, again." Maura says grinning, propping herself up on the pillows.
Jane absently plays with the sheet wrapped around Maura. "M, can I ask you something?" Jane asks suddenly shy.
Maura stills Jane's fidgeting hands, her own fingers spinning Jane's ring around and around. "Of course," a smile in her eyes.
Jane reaches over to her bedside table and pulls out a small black box. She places it carefully on Maura's belly.
"I've had this ring for two weeks. Two weeks. I've been wracking my brains for a special, amazing, memorable way to ask you to marry me, to tell you all this forever talk doesn't scare me. I'm in; our life together is what I want. I have been stressed and worried and just didn't know what to do." Jane trails off and wipes tears from her eyes, sniffles.
"Oh, sweetie…" Maura begins.
Jane stops her with a kiss. "I can't believe you beat me to it. You just go and ask on a regular sunny Sunday morning, in our kitchen after our favorite pancakes and it was perfect, perfect, " she kisses Maura again. "And then we made love and I woke up with you wrapped around me and I realized how stupid I've been. I'd forgotten what our life really is-it's all the little things added up together. Not crazy romantic gestures but the Sunday paper and pancakes, shoe shopping together, drinking wine, Red Sox games, walking the dog, eating meals, and laughing and our friends and my family and sleeping naked together and just taking care of each other…" Jane finally looks up from their twined fingers to see a teary smiling Maura gazing back at her.
Jane takes a calming breath in, knowing this was her perfect moment, it was right.
"So Maura, will you keep building our life together? Keep sharing the little moments and not so little moments. Will you keep letting me love you, always? Will you marry me?"
The teary medical examiner sits up and enfolds Jane in a tight embrace.
"That was perfect," she whispers "and the answer is yes."