Author's note: thanks a lot for all your reviews! (fpr some reasons, the website won't let me access your last reviews to reply to you, hopefully the issue will be solved soon)

Chapter Thirty-Five: Provincetown

It was the first time that she saw the small town under the snow, its narrow streets covered in white – embracing the wood of the houses – while the beach had succumbed to a monochrome of gray and the foam of the waves seemed to vanish in a sand of ice. The vision was singular yet beautiful. Different.

"Are you sure you want to go to the harbor? It's far."

Her cheeks red from the cold, Maura nodded enthusiastically and sped up the pace of her steps as if to prove that she wasn't tired. The truth was that she was not. At all. The ride had been perfect – she had even managed to sleep for a while – and as the first houses had appeared straight in front of them, she had felt a new boilt of energy rise inside of her.

These were their last vacations before she gave birth. There was no way that she would spend her time napping. She wanted to enjoy Provincetown and Jane's presence by her side. Their last getaway before a long while without children. She would live it fully.

"It isn't far. We can see the first boats from here... You know... Through the blizzard." Her laugh filled the air as she looked at Jane and bit her lower lip joyfully. Except for some brave tourists, most of the streets were now empty. It was too cold for a walk.

"Okay but then we stop for a hot chocolate and for you to have some rest. And slow down, please. The last thing I want is to see you fall down in the snow!" You're a party pooper, Riz'. "I mean, watch out."

Pulling on her wife's hand, Maura nodded and leaned up to plant a loud – icy – kiss on Jane's cheek. It was surrealistic to be there. Apart from their 24-hour getaway on one of the Boston islands, they hadn't gone anywhere since Punta Cana and the current landscape couldn't be more different than Dominican Republic. Exit lagoons and coconut trees, hello snow and icy wind.

Perhaps under other circumstances, they would have gone somewhere else; to some exotic place. But it had seemed better to not go too far, just in case. She had had contractions a few days earlier. Nothing as serious as one could think but a long travel wouldn't have been wise to say the least.

"For years my mother had a deal with one of the local art galeries. I remember the rainbow flags by the windows and how I found them pretty. I was five or six." Maura laughed at the reminiscence of such a memory.

She had spent many summers in Provincetown as a child. Perhaps in a little while, her own daughters would come to Cape Cod and build their own memories of holidays spent out of Boston.

The harbor looked like a cemetery of sailing boats, the masts appearing through the fog formed by the icy wind as the jingling of metallic pieces and the roaring of the wood rose in a strange melody. After the long walk until the end of the pier, both women came back hand in hand towards the small streets and stopped by a cozy tea room; the bright – warm – light piercing through the windows, sliding along the snow that covered the sidewalks.

"Don't ask me to go for another walk, today. I mean it." Rubbing her hands against each other to warm them up a bit, Jane smiled at Maura and accepted the menu that the waitress had brought her. "I might come back to Boston with a few less fingers if it keeps on freezing like that!"

"I told you that it wasn't such a good idea to take your digital camera. It will be sunny tomorrow, you could have waited." An eye on the homemade pastries that the table next theirs had ordered, Maura bit her lower lip and took a deep breath. She was starving. For a change.

"Hey, it's my Christmas present! You should be happy to see I'm using it!" Jane grabbed the device and turned it on to have a look at the last pictures she had taken. Maura had made the right choice. For once the person who shared her life hadn't invested in jewels that she wouldn't wear very often... She was beyond happy with her Canon.

"I wouldn't mind if you slowed down on all these portraits you make of me... I always have a cookie in hand." But this time, it would be a blueberry pie. They looked delicious. Yes. Blueberry pie and tea.

"This one is my favorite."Obviously not listening much to Maura's complains, Jane smiled proudly as she turned the camera around and showed the honey blonde the picture in question. She had taken it a bit earlier in the morning as they had arrived at their hotel. Ready to go out – disappearing under layers of clothes – they had struck the pose in front of the large mirror of their bedroom and kissed while Jane had pressed the button to take their reflection in picture. It was sweet.

Maura's blushing melted in the brunette's as she nodded in silence at it. You are in Provincetown, Isles. You can kiss Jane without any problem, here. What are you waiting for? A quiet sparkle in her eyes – making them shine – she grabbed her wife's hand to plant a kiss on it before her fingers got intertwined with Jane's. Warm skin against warm skin.

The babies moved, responding to the delicate feeling that such gesture had stirred up in her own body.

Four days out of Boston. Far from the traffic – the crime scenes – and that cold case the senator wanted them to work on. They had turned off their cell phones and were enjoying the quietness of the moment. It was rare, precious.

"Perhaps we can bring back a few things for our dinner with Elizabeth and Joanne. Local products. The market is a very good one."

It was weird to think about her OB/GYN and her partner in such moment but the truth was that she had enjoyed the dinner at the doctor's and had invited them in return. Such a busy schedule for the last days of the year. So different. They had seen Lisa and Guadalupe before leaving as well. The painter wasn't doing so bad but hadn't had a chance to leave the hospital for Christmas. She would stay there until the delivery, now.

Friends. They had friends. It might have sounded stupid but it was the first time Maura had the feeling to really have some since she had started working as a medical examiner. Her career had been and still was her priority but just like Jane, she had pushed aside any chance to have a social life out of it. Until now. Would they keep in touch with her OB/GYN once she gave birth? She liked the idea.

"Good idea. I'm thinking about bringing back one of these plastic crabs for Frost – hide it on his seat – and the goddamn thing will bite his ass when he sits down."

Maura rolled her eyes. "You are still angry with him because of the new BPD outfit? It was a joke... And you started it, saying that he would look like a steward!" Her blueberry pie arrived. She took a bite and restrained a moan of delight. You have reached Heaven. Congratulations, atheist Isles.

"I don't care. Nobody calls me "flight attendant Rizzoli". That's all." Oh, chocolate! Not knowing by which one she should start – the chocolate cookie or the hot chocolate – Jane frowned and pursed her lips before what would obviously be the dilemma of her vacations. She finally grabbed the pastry and was about to bite into it when the sound of her Canon stopped her. She looked up. "Hey! Why are you taking a picture of me gorging myself on chocolate?"

Maura laughed lightly and shrugged. With a confusing fluidity considering the size of her stomach, she moved to the couch her wife was sitting on and settled by her side. She turned the camera around for a picture of the two of them.

"I don't want to be the only one who looks like a food addict."

Jane rolled her eyes but played along and turned around – cupping the honey blonde's face with her hand – before bending over to plant a kiss on her cheek as Maura took the picture. Eager to see the result, the medical examiner sat up and selected the menu.

"Oh..." Disappointment.

Jane chuckled and choked on her cookie. "Wow. I didn't know you were the Picasso of photography, Maur'. Show me that again."

The blonde shook her head vehemently and hurried to delete the picture but Jane turned out to be a lot faster and grabbed the camera, laughing hard.

"Give me back this camera, Jane. And now!" In vain. Not that she had ever held hopes over the fact that the Italian would oblige. She knew her way too well. Okay, focus back on that pie. Food brings comfort.

"I will teach you, if you want. Like... Tonight?" Unlike Maura who had restrained a moan of delight as she had bitten into her blueberry pie, Jane openly expressed her feelings as she took a sip of her drink. "Gosh this is delicious."

"But it is cold, Jane. I don't think I will feel like going out for a long walk, tonight. I thought you didn't want to go out again yourself."

Not really taken aback by the comment, the Italian locked her eyes with her wife's and let a smirk play on her lips. Suggestively. "We can work on other kind of landscapes from the bedroom..."

Maura frowned – cast a glance at the tea room as if afraid the other customers would overhear them – then squinted her eyes at Jane. "You will have to step on the balcony to actually have a look over the town, Jane."

And facepalm. Why? Why did she have to be so literal? Trying to not lose her patience, Jane grabbed her mug – took another sip of her hot drink – and sighed loudly. "I was not really thinking about that, Maur'. I was being a bit metaphorical and such. Jeez... You and me in a bed taking pics? Do you see what I mean, now?"

One. Two. Three.

"Oh!"