We continue to move forward in the story

Frankie and Nina's house, a Saturday lunchtime

The living room is filled with laughter and the smell of a roast that Nina has prepared. Maura was at a forensics conference and Jane had had a week with a complicated investigation so Frankie and Nina had told her to come and Nina had said that Tommy, Susie and TJ would be there too. Jane had accepted right away because she really liked spending time with her family and she adored her nephew TJ and her niece Abigail. Jane is sitting on the couch, a beer in her hand, looking unusually nervous. Frankie, married to Nina Holiday for three years, is sitting in an armchair with his daughter Abigail on his lap, while Tommy, married to Susie Chang for two years, is playing with his son TJ under the watchful eye of Susie who was pregnant. The two brothers notice that Jane is quieter than usual.

Frankie looks at Jane and says to her

"Jane, you look like a cop thinking about how to tell her lieutenant that she lost her badge. What's wrong with you?"

Jane sighed and put her beer on the coffee table and said, "Okay, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I've been with Maura for almost a year, and... I want to propose to her."

Tommy said, turning around with Jane, a big smile on his lips.

"Seriously? That's great! Wait, do you have a ring or not yet?"

Jane nervously said, rubbing her hands on her thighs, "Yeah, I have the ring. It's been in my jacket for two weeks. But... I don't know how to do it. How do I tell her this? I want it to be perfect, she deserves it, she deserves a perfect statement, not some boring thing you find on the internet, but I'm not good at that stuff. Anyway, I've told her I love her many times and in different ways, but this is my proposal! What if she thinks it's corny? Or what if she says no?"

Frankie bursts out laughing and says:

"Say no? Wait, are we talking about Dr. Maura Isles, the chief medical examiner of Massachusetts? The woman who has officially been in your life for almost a year but has actually been in it for much longer than that? Jane, that woman looks at you like you're covered in gold and precious stones. Relax."

Tommy says:

"Frankie's right. Maura is crazy about you. Have you seen the way she smiles at you when you make your stupid jokes?"

Jane laughing says:

"My jokes aren't stupid."

Then she pauses, then continues more seriously,

"But seriously, guys, I'm freaking out. I love her, okay? Like... really. But saying that, in front of her, with words... that's not my thing. I say things frankly, sometimes even a little too frankly so I don't want it to be trite or brutal."

Frankie exchanges an amused look with Tommy and says

"Me, with Nina, I have everything planned. Romantic dinner, candles, the whole lot and I didn't tell you, I had written a little speech - yeah, yeah, don't laugh, you two - and I read it in front of her. I was even more nervous than my first day as a detective but she said yes before I finished because she threw herself into my arms and suddenly I spilled wine on the table. »

Tommy smiling says:

"Me with Susie, it was simpler, we went to the park with TJ and then at one point, I went to buy ice cream and I gave TJ hers and instead of giving Susie an ice cream, I got down on one knee and showed her the ring and I didn't even have to say anything because she said yes right away and TJ jumped for joy and gave Susie a big chocolate kiss."

Then Tommy leans forward, serious and says:

"Listen, Jane. Maura loves you for who you are. You don't need to make a three-page speech or organize a thing with violins. Do it your way in Jane Rizzoli mode. I understand your doubts, you know, I had the same ones

Really?

Yes, you doubt your ability to tell her that you want to share your life with her because you are a woman of Italian descent who is the daughter of a plumber and a housewife and Maura is a woman from the upper class and the sole heiress of the Isles family and I felt that when Susie took an interest in me! Can you imagine that? A criminal lawyer who comes from a wealthy family, certainly not as wealthy as the Isles but still wealthy and who falls in love with a modest plumber like me, who certainly has his own business but still. Susie with all her knowledge, degrees and so on fell in love with me, married me and is now pregnant with my second child, sometimes I still have trouble believing it's real"

Susie takes Tommy's hand and says to him

"And yet it's real! And when you seduced me, I didn't care that you were a plumber, it's an honorable job and I love you Tommy and I'm very happy to be your wife and to be the mother of our future child"

Then Susie says to Jane:

"Jane, get that doubt out of your head, Maura loves you and she'll be happy and delighted that you're asking for her hand and she doesn't care about your humble origins otherwise she wouldn't live with you"

Frankie says:

"It's true that it was easier for Nina and me. The only two big differences are our skin color and the fact that she's from Chicago but other than that... She's in the police force, so am I, she likes baseball"

Nina says from the kitchen

"Go Cups!"

Everyone laughs and Frankie says

"As long as you don't support the Yankees, I'm fine with that!"

Everyone laughs again and Frankie continues

"So I was saying, she likes baseball, so am I, she was second in her class at the Police Academy, so am I, she likes astronomy, so am I and so on. We have our differences too but that's what makes a couple"

Nina comes and kisses Frankie and says

"Our common points and our differences make a couple who love each other and everyone knows that Maura loves you so why are you doubting? Go for it!"

Tommy says,

"Yeah, do it Jane Rizzoli style. You're a tough cookie with a heart. She loves that about you. Remember how you came into her life: direct, no filter. Do the same for this."

Jane smiles and says

"Jane Rizzoli style, huh?"

Nina says, holding her daughter in her arms,

"Exactly. Remind her of all the times you spent together that brought you closer, make her crack up with pleasure."

Jane finally laughs, a little relieved. She grabs her beer and takes a sip, the idea starting to form in her head and says,

"Okay, okay… I'll do it. But if I'm ridiculous, I'll hold you responsible."

Frankie says,

"You're never ridiculous when you want to marry the woman of your dreams."

Jane finally feels the pressure ease and reflects that now all that remains is to find the right time and the right place.

A few days later, Jane takes Maura to their favorite place, a small hill near Boston where they sometimes go to admire the view and be quiet, a place where they are alone, quiet and in love, the sun is setting in an orange blaze, streaking the sky with purple and gold, while a cool breeze makes the tall grass around the hill sway. Jane and Maura sit on their red and blue plaid blanket, a metal thermos and a basket with food between them, Maura, elegant in her fitted beige coat, her honey blonde hair dancing slightly in the wind, holds a metal cup, her slender fingers clenched around it as if to warm herself. Jane, in faded jeans and worn boots, her leather jacket half-open over a black t-shirt, nervously pulls out blades of grass, crushing them between her fingers. In a pocket of Jane's jacket is the ring (a silver band decorated with a small emerald, chosen for Maura's Irish origins) reminds her that tonight, she must go for it but Jane still doubts but she wants to do it and she does it and says:

"Maura... I need to talk to you."

Maura puts down her cup with a little metallic sound, her hazel eyes shining with infinite tenderness for Jane:

"Jane my dear, I'm here. I'm always listening to you. Go ahead."

Jane breathes in and out and starts

"Before being in a relationship with you, I hadn't had any luck in love, between Casey who wasn't often there but hey as a soldier, it was normal and it's the lot of many girlfriends of soldiers and that's why Casey and I broke up and then there was Dean and we know what happened with him..."

Maura often thinks that Jane's relationship with Dean had been the cause of a long falling out between them and Maura took Jane's hand and said

"Jane... darling... You don't need to remind you of all that, you know"

Jane gently squeezed Maura's hand and smiled and said:

"Emotionally, I was a ghost, I had no life, I had my job and I devoted myself only to him. I chased after criminals, clues, days that all followed one another identically. As for leisure, I had my beers, baseball, I had my family, Ma, Frankie, Tommy and TJ to keep me going, and I thought that was enough but it was a lie. And then you came along, and it was a shock, like a punch I didn't see coming, do you remember when we first saw each other?"

Maura smiles and rests her head on Jane's shoulder and says

"You were still in Narcotics and you were a prostitute

Yes, and oh my God, that outfit! If you knew how I screamed at Martinez when he gave me that outfit. The worst part is that he wanted to go out with me shortly after the investigation was solved, I told him to go graze anyway...

I was undercover for the Narcotics, disguised as a prostitute, with this skirt that was too short and these heels that made me trip. I was knackered after a night of watching a dealer, so I showed up at Stanley's cafe for a coffee and a doughnut. But this old grumbler looked me up and down and said: 'No money, no service.' And there you are, all spruced up, with your luxury bag, and you insisted on buying me a plain yogurt and a green salad because according to you, I needed them because I had a vitamin D deficiency given my nocturnal activities"

Maura smiles, a twinkle in her eye and says

"I remember. You glared at me when I handed you some cash. I thought you were a lost soul who needed a little kindness

Yeah, and I thought you were a rich snob who wanted to play the good Samaritan"

Jane looks at Maura, and a wave of emotion runs through her and she says

"I remember when I was transferred to Homicide and I saw you again and you were surprised that I went down to the morgue to see you, some of the cops told me to watch out for the 'Queen of the Dead' but I knew you were better than that and then we became friends, you came into my life Maura. You didn't just come into my life, Maura. You saved me. Literally. Remember when those lunatics attacked the station, gunshots everywhere… Frankie was seriously injured and then… I shot myself too, and you saved us both. The heroine that day was you?

Jane wipes away a tear with a sudden movement, a shaky smile emerging despite herself.

"And then you helped Tommy so he could keep TJ and when he took over Pa's plumbing business, you helped him too. And then after that when Pa and Ma got divorced, and Ma was lost, broken, you were the one who took her in. You opened your house and your guest house, your fridge, your heart to Ma and believe me, that's no small feat with her recipes that feed an army and her sermons. You got her back on her feet, gave her a place where she could breathe, live and that, I'll never forget. You weren't just there for me, you were there for my whole family."

Her voice softens, a spark of tenderness breaking through the vulnerability.

"And TJ, that little volcano… You know he adores you. I remember when he was a baby, he was already very happy to see you, so much so that his second word was "Mau". The other day, he showed me a drawing he did at school, it represented you and me, I had my badge and my uniform and you had a lab coat but we had a cape, like superheroines. He is so happy that you are in our lives, and it melts me to see that. Because you are already one of us, Maura. And then our friendship has strengthened, we have declared our love, we live together, we are inseparable! But I want more than that.

Jane leans in slightly, her dark eyes shining with a feverish intensity, the words speeding up like a confession she can no longer hold back and says in a voice where love dominated:

"I love you, Maura. With a love that terrifies me, yes that terrifies me because I have never loved anyone as I love you! The love I have for you amore mio makes me want to give you everything and I want more. I want to live the times when I grumble because you put books on the little table in the living room again and so I can't put my beer down, I want to live the evenings when you make me try your weird recipes, I want the arguments when I say that a red stain is blood and you say it's something else, I want the times when you tell me when we go to a Red Sox game not to eat a second hamburger and fries, I want the silences when we watch the rain together, snuggled up on the couch, I want the times when I want to watch Alien and at the same time you want to watch a documentary about insects in Australia and so I let you watch your documentary but I'm snuggled up against you"

A tear rolls down Jane's cheek but she laughs softly, shaking her head as if she can't believe it herself.

Jane kneels down, pulls out a box and opens it and hands it over and Maura is watching Jane feel a tear roll down her cheek and Jane says,

"I want all of that, Maura. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to make you laugh until you're breathless, hold you when you cry, I want to see your smile every morning when I wake up, I want to still feel your body against me when we go to bed, I want to be able to kiss you in front of everyone at one of your medical conferences or at the Dirty Robber, at work and even at a Red Sox game and say afterwards 'Kiss my wife!' "I want to watch you grow up to be this eccentric old lady who will still be correcting my mistakes when you're 100 and because I want to make you a Rizzoli, make it official, I want to give you my name and if you want, I want to carry yours, I want to make you TJ's second aunt. I can't imagine a day without you. So Maura Dorthea Isles, will you marry me? Tell me you want this, that you want to be my wife, because I am yours, until my dying breath."

Maura, her cheeks streaming with tears, stares at the ring, the emerald sparkling like a promise in the light. Her hands tremble as she reaches out to grasp Jane's, her warm, soft fingers wrapping around Jane's, squeezing them tenderly and lovingly.

Maura says in a firm but emotion-filled voice,

"Jane… Yes, yes! Of course I agree to marry you, of course I agree to be your wife, I want to be officially a Rizzoli. I want every day, every hug, every moment because I love you more than words can say."

Jane, a sob of happiness escaping her, slips the ring onto Maura's finger, the emerald catching a last ray of sunlight. They embrace, their foreheads pressed together, their tears mingling in a tender then passionate and loving kiss. Under the twilight sky with Boston sparkling in the distance, they seal their future – an unbreakable love, a united family, and a life to build together.

Jane hugged Maura and looked at the hand of the woman who was now her fiancée and saw the ring and smiled and another doubt flew away and Jane felt happier and happier.

The End