A/N: Thank you so much for all of the comments on the last chapter. I smile uncontrollably when I read them. For those who wondered when Jane and Maura are getting their own place, it's happening very soon, but there's still holiday fluff in store for them first. I hope you all have a very happy New Year. :)
While at a department store just outside of Boston, Maura held onto a wallet-sized portrait of the three Rizzoli siblings. Maura had seen family portraits before, but none had ever been quite like the portrait she was holding in her hand. Instead of matching sweaters or formal attire, the Rizzoli siblings had decided to dress as Rambo, complete with matching charcoal gray tank tops and red bandanas tied around their heads. Maura knew Frankie and Tommy loved and accepted her as their sister, but looking at the portrait in her hand made her realize that she was a Rizzoli only by marriage, which meant she wouldn't always be included. She wouldn't have a stocking hanging near the fireplace and she wouldn't be in the family portrait with Jane, Frankie, and Tommy. With no siblings of her own, Maura had never known what it was like to have a sibling rivalry or complain about parents being unfair. She also had never known what it was like to stay up late with a brother or sister on Christmas Eve to try and spot Santa. There were times when Maura wished she had a sibling, but never as much as when she was around the Rizzoli siblings. The three of them had their occasional disagreements, but they'd do just about anything for each other. The more time Maura spent with them, the more she learned about the inner workings of the Rizzoli family and the more she longed to be one of them. As the oldest of the Rizzoli siblings, Jane was always in charge and she'd take advantage of every opportunity she was given to boss her brothers around, but it was obvious to Maura how much she loved them and how she'd do just about anything for them. Jane Rizzoli may have had a tough exterior, but she was really a loving, family-oriented young woman and Maura found those qualities so endearing in her wife.
"What do you think?" Tommy asked as he looked at the picture with Maura and his sister.
"Good, but nothing is as good as the Christmas photos from '76 and '77," Jane pointed out. "Those were the best."
Tommy gave his sister a confused look. "You were the only one in them."
"Yeah, and that's why they were the best," Jane insisted.
"This is going to look crazy next to our cousins' picture," Tommy laughed.
"Is that why you do this?" Maura asked.
"It's become a tradition," Jane informed her. "My cousin Jessie, the Little Miss Perfect that I told you about, and her brothers and sisters always take these perfect Christmas photos, but there's nothing special about them."
"Nothing stands out," Tommy added. "Their pictures always look boring, but they're boring so I guess it fits."
"Ma and Pop were tired of Grandma comparing us to them," Jane continued. "So, they let us do whatever we want and wear whatever we want in these portraits and we give one to Grandma every year and they get included in the Christmas cards that Ma sends out. It's our way of saying we're not perfect like our cousins and we don't care."
"Every year, the three of us put different themes in a jar and then pull one out," Tommy informed her. "If we all agree, we'll end up using it. Last year was 'I'm with stupid' and the year before that was grunge, which meant we basically dressed as bad as Jane does everyday."
"I love the way she dresses," Maura said defensively. "She was wearing ripped jeans the night I met her and I wanted her from that very moment."
"I love the way you dress," Jane pointed out. "I love your blazers and your skirts and I really love your short baby doll dresses."
"Why is that?" Maura asked playfully.
"Easier access," Jane whispered into her ear.
When they started kissing in front of everyone at the department store's portrait studio, Tommy felt obligated to intervene. "No one ever wants to see their sister make out," he told them. It didn't exactly bother him when his sister kissed Maura and he was happy that the two of them had found each other, but what he didn't want was for Jane and Maura to overhear any ignorant comments.
"Dykes," some guy commented as he walked by with his mother.
"Hey!" Tommy shouted out. "You're just jealous because neither of them would ever date you even if they were straight. Have fun shopping with your mommy."
"Thanks, little bro," Jane laughed when she saw the guy turn beet red.
"Some people are just assholes," Tommy responded. "How do you guys do it? I mean, when I kiss a girl in public no one says anything, but you two get so much shit talked about you. Either that, or you get people drooling. It sucks and I wish it were different."
"Me, too," Jane agreed. "But I love Maura and I don't care who knows it. We hear what people say, but it doesn't stop me from holding her hand or kissing her. I'm never going to see these people again, so they're opinions don't matter. What matters to me is Maura and making sure she knows she's loved. Sometimes I'll look at her or listen to what she's saying and I can't stop myself from wanting to hold her hand or hug her no matter where we are. She's this perfect woman and I feel so lucky to be her wife. That's how much I love Maura and I hope you can find that type of love someday, but let's not get all emotional right now."
"No, let's not," Tommy agreed. "We don't want to make it weird. Should we punch each other in the arm just to be safe?"
"Or hug," Maura suggested.
"That would be making it weird," Jane brought to her attention. "How about if I hug you instead?"
Instead of hugging, Jane lifted her up and spun her around. She would have continued regardless of how much Maura protested, but when Frankie arrived with a shopping bag in hand, Jane knew it was time to let Maura's feet touch the ground again. The moment Jane had been waiting for had finally arrived and she couldn't wait to see the expression on her wife's face.
"This is for you," Frankie told Maura as he handed her the shopping bag.
"Me and Frankie didn't know what to get you for Christmas, so we thought we'd pay for this instead of having Jane pay for it," Tommy added. "Open it."
"You didn't have to get me anything," Maura insisted, although she was excited to find out what was in the bag. She pulled out a gray tank top and a red bandana, exactly like the ones Jane, Frankie, and Tommy wore in the Christmas portrait.
"We're all wearing our tanks underneath our clothes," Jane pointed out. "And our bandanas are in our pockets. All we need is for you to get dressed."
Maura was nearly moved to tears. "You three are—"
"We're re-taking the picture," Frankie interrupted. "Ma and Pop are okay with it. They want all four of their kids in the picture."
"It's too late to send this one out in the Christmas cards," Tommy added. "But this one is going to be hanging up in the living room."
Maura had never considered herself a hugger, but at that moment she pulled both of them in for a group hug against their will. For the first time in all of her eighteen years, Maura felt as if she were part of a family.
"Maura is fourth," Tommy pointed out. "This means I get to boss her around."
"Maura is second," Jane corrected him. "It goes by birth order."
"No," Tommy argued. "It goes by the amount of years you've lived in our house. That makes Maura fourth."
"It goes by birth order," Jane dictated. "I'm the oldest, so if I say it goes by birth order, it goes by birth order. Either way I'm first and what I say goes. Maura is second, Frankie is third and, Tommy, you're fourth."
"That's fine," Frankie agreed. "I still get to boss Tommy around."
"Someday, Jane, I'm going to marry a woman older than you so you won't be first anymore," Tommy stated.
"Okay," Jane shrugged. "I'll be second, but you'll be fifth. You're just moving further down on the Rizzoli chain of command either way."
"Just quit, Tommy," Frankie told him. "Quit now."
"First and second in command are going to the fitting rooms," Jane announced. "This argument is over."
The fitting rooms attendants usually allowed just one person per room, but since nobody was around, Jane managed to sneak in with Maura. She had planned on letting her wife get dressed, but the moment Maura took off her sweater, Jane could no longer resist her. She still hadn't calmed down from seeing Maura in the shower and, since they were alone, Jane saw it as the perfect opportunity.
"We never made up," Jane reminded her.
"And we've never made love in a fitting room," Maura added before going straight to the button on her wife's jeans.
Jane stopped Maura's hand when she began to unzip her. "You first."
"Simultaneously," Maura suggested.
Frankie shook his head in disbelief when he saw his sister and his sister-in-law return nearly half an hour later. "I don't want to know," he insisted. "Jane's smile says it all."
"And Maura is walking a little funny," Tommy pointed out. "What were you guys doing for so long?"
"Do the words 'Jane's smile says it all' mean nothing to you?" Frankie asked.
"It's time for the picture," Jane announced in hopes of changing the subject.
With matching tanks and bandanas, the four of them posed for the camera. For Jane, Frankie, and Tommy it was just another family portrait, but for Maura it meant so much more. Posing with them in matching clothes made her feel as if she finally belonged.
"I love you," she whispered to Jane in between shots.
"I love you, too," Jane responded. "And I'm ordering an extra 8x10 just for us. We're going to need a picture to hang up when we get our own place."
Our own place. Just the thought of having a place with Jane made Maura start to smile. Her parents may not have wanted to see her on Christmas, but that no longer phased Maura. She was a Rizzoli now and as she smiled for pictures with her wife and brothers, she felt as if her initiation into the family was complete. This was the greatest holiday season Maura had experienced and, when it ended, it would be time for her and Jane to start their new life together in their own place.
When they returned home from the department store, Maura noticed a stocking hanging from the mantle with her name embroidered on it. It was her first stocking, her first Christmas portrait, and her first Christmas with the woman she loved.