Nearly a week had passed since Jane and Maura had gotten married, but the two of them had yet to actually experience married life. All of Maura's exams were in the morning, so she stayed in her dorm the entire week to avoid being late. Jane missed her wife, but she knew the brief separation was necessary for the two of them. Jane had her own final exams to focus on and, although she preferred to study with Maura, Jane did the next best thing and studied with Mark. Jane and Mark set aside five hours a day to prepare for their finals, but instead they became sidetracked with video games, MTV, and the occasional Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots battle. What started out as a battle for glory soon turned into an all-out war once Frankie, Tommy, and Mark's younger brothers joined them. When money became involved, there was no turning back for Jane and, in the end, she was twenty dollars richer and knew next to nothing about the material on her final exams until she had a cram-session with Mark.

Now that her finals were over and she felt as if she did relatively well, Jane was finally at ease. She had a month off of school, as did Maura, which meant the two of them would finally be able to spend every day with each other. There'd be no worrying about attending class or completing assignments. Instead, Jane planned on hour after hour of being attentive to her wife and having as much with fun with her as she possibly could. Jane would never admit it to Mark or her brothers, but she counted the minutes until she'd be reunited with Maura. Jane always enjoyed spending time with her best friend, but nothing could compare to spending time with Maura. Regardless of what they did, Maura always had a way of making the moment special for Jane. Sometimes there were kisses and moments spent cuddling on the couch while watching TV and other times it wasn't Maura's actions but her words that made Jane feel loved.

Jane glanced at the clock on the VCR in the living room and realized that Maura was due home in five minutes. Because her exams were over, Maura was going to bring all of the clothes and necessities she'd need for the next month. During winter break, Maura would still have access to her dorm room, but she had no desire to go back to campus once her friends left. She'd have a month's worth of luggage in her car and Jane wanted to be sure she was available to help her when she arrived, so she bundled up and sat outside her front door in the cold. While she waited for Maura, Jane contemplated how she'd greet her. Would she lift her up? Would she kiss her? Would she just hold her close? Jane had mentally compiled a list of over ten possibilities, but they all escaped her the moment she saw Maura pull into the driveway.

Maura noticed Jane looking at her, but she still wouldn't get out of her car. When she rested her head on the steering wheel, Jane made her way to the car without giving it a second thought. Something was wrong with her wife and she hoped it was unrelated to her parents' visit, but with the way Maura described her parents Jane had a feeling Maura's melancholy state was because of them.

Maura gingerly reached for her wife's hand the moment Jane sat on the passenger seat. "I've missed you."

Jane held Maura's hand up to her lips. A lip print from spearmint chapstick remained on Maura's hand, but Jane knew she didn't mind, especially at that moment. "Come here," Jane insisted. "I want to feel you." It was Jane's way of telling Maura she wanted to be her safe haven and fix everything to the best of her abilities in that moment and for the rest of their lives. Without saying another word, Maura unfastened her seatbelt and maneuvered her body to the passenger seat. While sitting on Jane's lap and her head rested securely on Jane's shoulder, Maura felt the hurt start to lessen.

"My mother called me at my dorm," Maura began. "It was the third conversation we've had the entire semester."

"Did you tell her about us?" Jane asked, hoping her wife's tears weren't because of yet another parent disapproving of their marriage.

"I couldn't," Maura informed her. "She knows nothing about you or our relationship. Whenever she calls, it isn't to talk about what is happening in my life. She calls to inform me of something. The first time was to tell me she wasn't coming to Parents' Weekend, the second was to tell me they were spending Christmas in Boston and this conversation was to tell me they wouldn't be spending Christmas here after all but they'll send my gifts. I wanted to tell her that I don't need gifts because I have a wife who has already given me everything I could ever want."

"But that would mean she'd have to have a conversation with you," Jane said as she held her.

"Exactly," Maura agreed. "Jane, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"And I don't know what I'd do without you, either," Jane added. "I used to be content with my life, but I was never truly happy until you became mine."

It dawned on Jane that had it not been for her and her family, Maura would have been alone in her dorm room, not just on Christmas, but for her entire winter break. With that in mind, Jane placed a series of kisses along Maura's jaw line. It was one of her ticklish spots and Jane was willing to be as playful as she could if it meant seeing Maura smile.

Jane was disappointed when her wife's facial expression showed no changes. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Jane, clinging to her as if her life depended on Jane. "Jane, do you want to have children?" Maura asked, her facial expression still unchanged.

"Someday, I guess," Jane shrugged. "I've never put much thought into it. Have you?"

"Not until recently," Maura admitted. "I want a family with you."

"Then we'll start a family of our own someday," Jane reassured her. "But not in the near future. Maur, I bought a Super Soaker this summer—a Super Soaker. I'm eighteen-years-old and I spent money from one of my paychecks on a water gun because Mark, his brothers, my brothers, and me wanted to have our own water wars."

"There's nothing wrong with being playful," Maura pointed out. "That's one of the benefits of marrying your college sweetheart; we're going to grow up together. We're a married couple, but we're still two eighteen-year-olds."

"Maurwife?"

"Yes, Janewife?"

"I know where this is headed," Jane said as she shifted the beanie Maura was wearing, the very same beat-up olive green beanie Jane had given her even before they had become a couple. "It's okay, Maur. I'm your wife and I'm here for you whenever you're ready to talk."

Maura twirled a few strands of her wife's curly hair around her finger as she mentally prepared herself for what she was about to say. "I want you to promise, when we have children, they'll never have to experience this benign neglect and everyday we'll tell them how much we love them."

"We're going to love them so much," Jane told her. "Just as we love each other. We'll have a perfect little family and everyone will hate us for it. We'll even take awkward family Christmas portraits at a department store while we're all wearing matching sweaters. Speaking of awkward family Christmas portraits, my brothers and I are picking up the Christmas photo that we take every year for our parents and then we're getting a tree. Have you ever picked out a tree?"

"No," Maura shook her head. "I've never had a Christmas tree before. No, I have had Christmas trees, but they were always professionally decorated. I've never picked one out or decorated one."

"That's changing tomorrow," Jane beamed. "You're going with me, Tommy, and Frankie to pick out a tree and then the two of us can decorate it together. I even have a surprise for you."

"What is it?" Maura asked.

Jane playfully rubbed her nose against Maura's. "You'll find out soon enough."

Maura leaned in to kiss her wife. The familiar flavor of Jane's chapstick put her at ease. It had been nearly a week since she had kissed Jane and she had longed for the softness of her lips and the closeness she felt between them whenever they kissed.

"Do you hear that?" Jane asked, breaking their kiss.

Maura leaned in to kiss her again. "It sounds like a kitten."

Not longer than a second had passed before Jane pulled away. "Maur, it's cold out there. We can't leave a defenseless kitten in the cold."

Maura was curious as to why her wife was so insistent on taking care of this kitten, so she grabbed her by the hand and followed the sound of the kitten's meow. There, on the porch, was Tommy holding a kitten with a red bow tied around its neck.

"She's yours," Jane whispered into her ear.

Maura waited for no further explanation. Once she heard the kitten was hers, she quickly made her way over to Tommy and took the kitten. When Maura cradled her in her arms, she heard her kitten start to purr. Maura had never had a pet before, let alone one that had taken to her so quickly. "You're so beautiful," Maura whispered.

"She already loves you," Jane commented. "She has never purred like that with me or with Tommy."

"I'll leave you three alone," Tommy said before quickly petting the kitten. "Have fun with your moms, Meowcenary."

"Meowcenary?" Maura asked after Tommy had gone back inside.

"That's what I named her," Jane proudly stated. "I think it suits her perfectly."

"No," Maura responded. "She's our baby and she needs a beautiful name. How about Chrissy? She's Chrissy the Christmas kitten."

"Chrissy the Meowcenary," Jane suggested, but she changed her mind when Maura gave her a worried look. "Or just Chrissy."

"Are your parents okay with us having her?"

"They're fine with it," Jane insisted. "Ma even went with me to adopt her and to pick out a litter box and kitten food."

Chrissy playfully touched her paw to Maura's cheek. "Babe, you adopted her just for us?"

"Ma and I went to an animal shelter today," Jane informed her. "Little Chrissy was the runt of the litter and her mom abandoned her. She was starving and alone when she was rescued, but they were able to nurse her back to health and here she is now. She's a little survivor."

"You were abandoned by your mom, too?" Maura asked Chrissy in a soft tone of voice. "Our moms didn't want us, but we have each other now and we have Jane. We'll always have Jane."

"We're a little family now," Jane beamed. "Me, you, our kitten child. I don't think this is what Ma was referring to when she talked about grandchildren, but she said she'd be more than happy to be Chrissy's grandma."

"Jane, this is the best surprise anyone has ever given me."

"There's another one tomorrow," Jane said as she wrapped her arms around Maura. "You're getting a surprise everyday from now until Christmas."

"Jane?"

"Hmm?"

"You wanted to name our cat Meowcenary," Maura pointed out. "Promise me if we have children, I'll get to name them."

"I can't promise that," Jane stated. "While you're in recovery, I might just put some name of my choosing on the birth certificate."

Maura let that last statement slide. They were years away from having a baby, but for now Jane, Maura, and Chrissy were a little family of their own. There were days of surprises ahead for Maura, but Maura wanted to make sure there was an equal amount of surprises in store for Jane.