"C'mon, I need groceries," Jane said, patting Maura's thigh as she got up.
"Oh, can I come?" Maura asked, eyes lighting up. "I've always wanted to see what a grocery store was like."
"Not if you turn it into one of your 'expeditions'," Jane groaned, grabbing her keys. "C'mon."
Maura beamed as she followed Jane, and Jane shook her head indulgently.
"High fructose corn syrup - Jane, no! You can't have that."
"They're my groceries," Jane insisted. Anyone would think Maura had never been in a grocery store, trailing behind her parents, racing off to the toy aisle. Of course, she probably hadn't. People turned to watch Maura as she went by; they always did, but it was more pronounced next to fresh produce.
"Is it even ethically sourced?" Maura asked, aghast at Jane's nonchalant shrug. "Jane!"
"One more 'Jane!' out of you and you don't get a treat," Jane said firmly, filling her cart. She could see Maura's frown as she read ingredients, watched as Maura substituted items in her cart for things that were healthier. She sighed; it was a compromise.
"Where's my treat?" Maura asked, putting the last bag of groceries on Jane's counter. "Also I object most strongly to the way you chose to support Nestle - they've shown themselves to be corrupt in almost every possible way from child slavery to stealing from Indigenous communities. Some of their permits expired in 1988. "
"Oh," Jane said, looking at her chocolate. She dug out the receipt; suddenly it wasn't appetising any more. Maybe she should have let Maura explain in the store.
"My treat?" Maura asked again, starting to unpack as well.
"Uh, here," Jane pulled out a ring pop. "Tada!"
"Oh." Maura's face fell a little, but she caught herself and gave Jane a beatific smile. "Thank you." Jane's stomach fell.
"Ma used to get them for us, when we went shopping, if we were good," Jane explained. "I got myself one too," she pointed out, pulling out her own ring pop. She shrugged. "Maybe I shouldn't have..."
"It's something your family used to do?" Maura asked, examining the pink candy.
"Yeah, every Saturday we'd pile in the car and go to the shops. After sport and school shopping, whatever else. And everyone would be kind of wound up and worn out from the week and Ma would always say if we were good, we could have a treat. And usually it was three of these, and we'd fight over who got the pink one because it was always the best and we'd swap and sit on the couch and stab each other with them while we read comics or watched cartoons or whatever we did back in the 80's. Maybe both at once." Jane shrugged again, reached for the ring.
"No, I love it," Maura said, quickly unwrapping the ring she now noticed was pink and sticking it in her mouth. "I love high fructose corn syrup right before dinner," she added, and Jane looked up, her eyes still worried. Maura put the candy on her finger and took Jane's hand. "It means I'm part of the family," she added.
"Hell yeah you are," Jane enthused, pulling the candy off Maura's finger. "And I didn't mean to give you that one." Maura swiped at Jane's ring pop but she held both of them behind her back, pulling out a small velvet box instead. "D'ya... d'ya wanna be part of the family forever?" Jane asked, her eyes still a little worried, the taste of strawberry sugar against her mouth a moment later as Maura kissed her. When Maura pulled away, Jane opened the box and slipped a simple but elegant diamond ring onto Maura's finger, admiring the way it looked on her. Maura kissed her again, twice as sweet due to the fact that Jane had finally, against all odds, put a ring on it.
"Forever," Maura agreed.