I do not own Rizzoli and Isles or its characters.
Jane smiled softly as glanced around the backyard. She and Maura had held a barbecue to celebrate Memorial Day, and the night had been a blur of food and family. As the night had grown darker, their loved ones had slowly begun to filter out, leaving just the two of them to clean the errant beer cans and paper plates scattered around the patio.
Their conversation was light as they stole glances and felt tired eyes begin to drift shut. As they cleared away the last of the garbage, Jane pulled Maura into a comforting embrace. They stood in silence, Jane rubbing a hand over Maura's back, both letting the sensation of the other overwhelm them.
Jane pressed a reverent kiss to Maura's forehead, whispering "Stay here, I'll be right back."
Leaving Maura with a head full of curiosity, she quickly entered the house, grabbing a blanket from the hallway closet. She felt the familiar adrenaline begin to overtake her body, her hands shaking slightly and her heart pounding in her chest. She hadn't planned this, but she decided that that made it all the more special.
Maura smiled when she saw the blanket in Jane's arms.
"Star gazing? Thank you, Jane!"
The doctor loved absorbing the night sky in the privacy of their yard. Jane thought the cliché worth the look on Maura's face whenever she pointed out another constellation, shooting off facts quicker than any search engine.
Jane grabbed Maura's hand assuredly and tugged.
"Come on."
They set the blanket down in the middle of the yard, the sky's beauty uninterrupted as they lay down, Jane's arms instinctively wrapping around her girlfriend as they both sighed happily. The heavens shone brightly, the stars of the Milky Way giving Jane a new wave of confidence.
Maura broke their silence first.
"I had a wonderful night tonight, Jane. I love your family."
Jane felt tears sting her eyes.
"They love you, Maur. They're not just my family, they're your family. Our family."
Our family, Jane thought. She couldn't believe how large her world used to be, full of work, familial drama, and failed blind dates. Now, Maura was her life, her family, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
Jane sat up and pulled Maura's arms gently to do the same. She let her hand wander to her girlfriend's face, the one she had memorized in the glow of the morning sun through their bedroom blinds, the one she'd seen fall to pieces during tough cases, the one that held a smile like a secret, like a weapon to be deployed, eradicating every rational thought Jane held except the one that said she was meant to be with this person forever.
Her thumb brushed back and forth delicately over Maura's cheek as she looked into her eyes.
"Maura, there's something I've been wanting to ask you for…a long time."
Jane let out a breath she felt she'd been holding for months and continued.
"I had all these plans for a fancy dinner at your favorite restaurant. I was going to wear a suit and you'd wear a dress and I was going to try to impress you for once, but I can't wait anymore. I can't go to bed every night planning to make reservations and worrying about what to wear. Look, Maura, I know you deserve so much more than this, but I've been trying not to think that anymore because somewhere along the line, I became enough for you. Somewhere along the line, you fell in love with a blue collar cop from South Boston, and she fell in love right back. I can't give you everything you want. But I'd like to think that I am enough for you because you're my whole world… and nothing anyone could ever buy me could hold a candle to the way you make me feel. I'm sure that you deserve to be loved to the moon and back, and I want to be the one who does every single day."
She looked down, digging in her pocket to reveal the small, velvet box. Lifting her head, she saw the tears leaking from Maura's eyes and the smile she would never, never forget.
"I wanted to do this here because the happiest moments of my life have included holding you here, watching the stars in our backyard. We have this house together, Maura. We have this life together."
Jane took a deep breath, her eyes never leaving Maura's.
"Will you help me make our family official? Maura Isles, will you marry me?"
She opened the box to reveal a beautiful ring, one she'd saved for months to buy but had picked out long before that.
Maura's eyes said yes before she could utter the word herself. Jane felt herself falling into her, their lips meeting to a kiss that made her head spin. She felt Maura's hands wrapped around her neck, felt her breath on her face, and felt more content than she had in her 35 years of life.
"I love you," Jane murmured as she pressed her forehead to Maura's and she smiled in a way that, in that moment, felt permanent.
"I love you, too." Maura leaned in to kiss her again. As they parted, Maura's voice dropped.
"Jane, I think we're done star gazing for the night."
She laughed as she stood, lifting Maura in a true bridal style, carrying her toward the house