"Jane, honey, come on. Smile for the camera," Maura asked quietly as the photographer fiddled with a new lens.
"I am, Maura!" Jane replied indignantly. In her defence, she really had been trying to smile, but cameras always made her uncomfortable. Maura raised a groomed eyebrow at the detective. "You know cameras make me uncomfortable."
"Yes, Jane, I do, but please, please, please smile very nicely, like I know you can, for me?" Maura rested her head against Jane's cheek, taking advantage of the lull in the photoshoot.
"I'll try harder, okay?" It was really all Jane could promise at this point. Maura beamed and kissed her cheek, leaving her lips to linger longer than necessary, and then they were pulled back into the flow of things.
The pictures had arrived on a CD this morning, but they'd had work and then dinner to get through before they could sit down on the couch with Jane's laptop between them to peruse the footage. Most of it was decent, stills that could be used for anything, but then they opened 'IMG3421' and Maura stopped breathing for a moment.
It was the picture they didn't know had been taken. Directly after Maura's little pep talk, she'd kissed the detective, she remembered that very well. But she couldn't have witnessed Jane's reaction. On the screen, the brunette was looking down at the floor through her lashes, shoulders finally relaxed in the frame as an arm draped behind Maura's neck. It was the smile, though, that had Maura completely breathless. It was wide and showed off teeth, but there was no sarcastic wit behind it, no teasing laced into the muscles. It was the smile of a woman in love and perfectly content with the lovely lady by her side, kissing her cheek.
"Oh, Jane," Maura said softly, turning to face her. "Do you really look like that when I kiss you?" The question was so earnest and unassuming, Jane couldn't bring herself to say something sarcastic. She bit back the "It's not like I carry a mirror with me, Maur" comment, opting for a shrug instead.
"Probably, yeah. You always make me feel calm, like nothing can bother us so long as we're together. And hopefully by now you know that I'm irrevocably in love with you."
Maura gave Jane a large smile, "You look kind of adorable there."
"Aw, Maura! No! You know I'm not adorable!" Jane whined.
"Are too," Maura declared as she hit the print button, sending the photo to the picture printer in the den.
"You're printing it?" Jane was perplexed. "Why?"
"Because this picture has instantly become my favourite photo of us as a couple. As such, it needs to be flaunted in a frame, probably in this living room above the mantel." Maura got up from the couch and leveled such a stare in Jane's direction that the detective knew arguing would be futile.
"Fine," she huffed as the doctor went to retrieve the photo. As long as it makes her happy.