6 – My Dinner With Maura.

Pushing through her front door, Jane Rizzoli juggled the two bulging bags full of groceries, her keys and a case of Sam Adams. The telephone was ringing and after depositing her things on the counter, she picked it up.

"Yeah, Ma?" she asked noticing the caller ID.

"How'd you know it was me?" her mother asked.

"Detective, remember Ma?" Jane said and began to empty the grocery bags. "It's my job to know."

Angela chuffed. "Anyway, what are you doing?"

"I just got back from the grocery store," she answered. "The veal sauce is already simmering on the stove, but I needed some fresh vegetables for a salad."

"You're cooking?" Angela asked, surprised. "Janie, do you have a date?"

"Yeah," she said folding the bags and storing them away for next time. "Maura's coming for dinner."

"Oh," Angela cooed happily. "Are you having two gentlemen over?"

"No, it's just Maura and I," Jane said and grabbed a pot for the potatoes.

"Oh," her mother repeated, this time more thoughtfully.

"So how is her highness?" Jane asked as the pot filled with water. "She's not giving you too hard a time, I hope?"

"She's a perfect angel," Angela said.

Jane snorted doubtfully. "If you say so. What's she up to?"

"Vince has been trying all day to get her to call him Pop Pop."

Jane had to suppress a groan and remind herself once again that her mother was happy and that was all that should matter, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to bop Korsak on the head come Monday. "Listen, Ma, thanks for taking care of Regina and Joe for me." She moved the pot to the stove.

"You deserve to have some time for yourself, Jane," Angela said and after a pause asked, "Is Maura staying over there tonight?"

"I don't know," Jane answered as she began to wash the potatoes. "I hope so. Probably. She always spends the night after we go out. Not that we're going out tonight, but you get the idea."

"Yes, Jane," Angela said softly. "I understand."

Jane paused and smiled, feeling a burst of love for her mother.

"Tell Maura not to worry," Angela continued. "I'll feed Bass for her. I even have some organic Swiss chard to give him."

"Thanks, Ma. I'll let her know."

After saying goodbye to her mother and putting the potatoes on to cook, Jane took a quick shower and changed into a pair of khaki slacks and a new blouse she hoped Maura would like her in. She applied some light makeup and then returned to her dinner preparations.

Always punctual, Maura arrived at Jane's door carrying a bottle of wine and smiling. She was wearing a simple sleeveless black dress and high heels, but Jane thought she looked awesome.

"You are as beautiful as ever, Maura," Jane said. She took the bottle of wine from the doctor's hands and then leaned in to kiss Maura lightly on the lips. "Come in."

"Thank you," Maura said, her eyes shining brightly as she stepped through the door. She followed Jane to the kitchen. "Jane, is that blouse a Vera Wang?"

Jane nodded. "Do you like it?"

"It's lovely," Maura answered and took a deep breath through her nose. "And it smells fantastic in here."

"Thanks," Jane placed a corkscrew next to the wine bottle, and then re-donned her apron. "I'm a little behind in getting things ready."

"That's all right," Maura said. She began to open the wine. "What can I do to help?"

"Just relax," Jane said.

Maura watched as Jane stirred flour into a bowl of mashed potatoes and eggs and when the dough was thick enough, she turned it out onto the board and began to knead.

"I love to cook, even though I'm usually too busy to do it," Jane commented. "It's relaxing and can be very intimate, especially when I cook for someone I care about. Like you."

Maura's eyes met Jane's. "You do?"

"So very much."

"Me too," Maura said, her voice hitching slightly.

Jane smiled and returned her attention to the dough. "It's been a long time since I made gnocchi for a date."

Her head tilted as she watched Jane's nimble fingers roll out long ropes of dough. "I wondered if you meant tonight to be a date when you asked me," she said. "Instead of just best friends having dinner together."

"Yes, tonight is a date," Jane affirmed. "And I think you and I have been dating for some time now, Dr. Isles."

Maura glanced up to see Jane's eyes glittering playfully at her. "I thought you would have figured it out sooner."

"Oh, I realized something was up a while ago," Jane said. "Especially since there was a certain theme to the places you took me." She laughed. "I wasn't really surprised when we went to Merch the other night."

"M," Maura, ever the perfectionist, absently corrected. She scratched at a spot on the back of her hand, and then looked at Jane again. "You weren't upset?" she asked. "I wasn't trying to be deceitful, but I wasn't upfront about my intentions either."

"Nah, it's all right," Jane said, smiling. "If you had been more direct, I might have freaked. It gave me time to adjust to the idea. To become open to the possibility we can have more between us than we already do. This is very new to me, so it's a little scary."

"It's new and scary to me too," Maura said. "But I think it can work."

"So do I."

Jane glanced at her and then went back to pressing her thumb into the small flour dusted blobs. Each perfectly shaped piece bore a faint imprint of Jane's finger as if she was sharing a part of herself with Maura. The intimacy of the process made Maura's mouth water.

When the last of the gnocchi were formed, Jane took the tray to the stove, poured a dollop of olive oil into the pot of boiling water and began adding the little lumps of pasta. While Jane waited for the first ones to rise to the surface, she turned to Maura with a one-sided grin and asked, "Do you know how flattering it is to be wooed by a beautiful woman?"

Although she knew it to be impossible, Maura's heart seemed to flip over happily in her chest and she felt herself blushing. After taking a few deep breaths, she said, "Judging from the incredibly romantic dinner you're preparing for me, I think I'm about to find out."

Jane's grin was all the promise Maura needed.

Jane had already set the table with her best china and silverware. Maura watched as Jane lit the two long tapered candles, and then turned down the all of the lights except a small one, giving the room a warm, cozy feel.

"Can I do anything?" Maura asked as Jane glided between the kitchen and table, her actions smooth and efficient, qualities that Maura had always admired about her friend.

"No, it's good, almost done." When Jane finished setting the dishes of food on the table, she removed her apron and held out a hand to Maura. The doctor took it with her own, feeling the rough calluses that came from Jane's long hours practicing with her weapon on the firing range.

Jane led Maura to the table and then pulled out the chair for her. The doctor sat down and looked at the array of dishes on the table. The first time she sat down with the Rizzolis, she had her first experience with 'family-style' dining. Growing up, Isles family meals were prepared either by the chef, or on occasion, her mother, and each course was served on a carefully prepared plate, perfectly proportioned to maximize nutritional benefit and designed to entice all of the senses.

The Rizzolis simply served the food in its own dish piled on the table and everyone literally dug in, serving themselves with spoons or forks, heaping food on their plates without regard to any type of spatial order, in fact, taking delight in the admixture of dishes that would not be compatible with each other by the people her family socialized with. At the end of the first meal she ate with the Rizzolis, she watched in amazement as Frank Sr. piled a mound of oil and vinegar dressed salad on top of the remains of his spaghetti. The Rizzoli patriarch had leaned over and whispered confidentially to her, "Salad always tastes best mushed up with tomato sauce."

"What's funny?" Jane asked as she sat at the other place setting next to hers, Maura noted, rather than across the table.

"I was thinking about the first time I had supper with your family," Maura answered.

"I'm surprised you made it back for a second meal," Jane deadpanned.

"So different from my family," she said as she picked up the spoon and began to scoop gnocchi on her plate. "Did you know that gnocchi is plural for gnocco, which comes from the word nocchio and means a knot in the wood?"

"Is that right?" Jane was looking at her with fond amusement.

Maura nodded and used her fork to pick up a piece of ground veal and a dumpling. She swirled it in the tomato sauce and took a bite. Closing her eyes, she savored the delicate rosemary seasoning. "Oh, this is delicious, Jane."

The detective watched her friend's enjoyment, loving the look of contentment that crossed Maura's face. "Thanks." She handed Maura a piece of garlic toast and then served herself.

The conversation flowed easily as the dinner progressed. Now that they had come to an agreement about their relationship, that there would be a relationship, Maura felt free to relax and bask in the warmth of Jane's company. And Jane was the perfect hostess: attentive, charming and affectionate. It seemed her hand was always reaching out for Maura as if she wished to remain in physical contact with the doctor. Rather than comforting though, each caress only seemed to heighten Maura's craving for the brunette and judging by the amused sparkle in Jane's eyes, the detective knew exactly the effect she was having.

At the end of the meal, Maura excused herself to the bathroom and when she returned Jane had the table cleared and coffee brewing. Maura frowned.

"You should have waited for me to help, Jane."

Jane placed cannoli on a plate and then walked over to Maura, putting her hands on the slightly-shorter woman's shoulders. "Tonight is for you, Maura," she said. She ran one hand along her cheek and Maura leaned into the touch.

"I hope it's not all about me," Maura said, her voice husky.

Jane smiled and leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "Believe me when I say, Dr. Isles, that tonight your pleasure is my pleasure."

Maura moaned as she gripped Jane by the hips and pulled her closer.

"Jane," she said, her mouth so close to Jane's she could feel the soft puff of the other woman's breath. "I'm suddenly not very interested in having cannoli."

Jane rubbed the side of her nose against Maura's. "What do you want, Maura?"

"I want you to take me to bed, Jane."

Jane pulled back, her dark eyes searching Maura's face. "Are you sure?" she whispered, butterflies soaring wildly in her stomach. "I mean, I really don't know what I'm doing."

"Neither do I," Maura said. "But I think together we can figure it out."

Jane's heart swelled as if it would burst and as she stared into her friend's eyes, she felt that she was on the brink of a precipice where her life as she had always known it lay behind her and before her was a whole different life, one more than little scary, but full of new and richer possibilities just waiting to be explored. And when faced with such a life-changing event that had the potential to change her life even though it was unnerving, Jane did what she always did.

She jumped.

Running her hand down Maura's bare arm, she intertwined their fingers together and led the doctor to her bedroom. Candles were already softly burning, providing warm light and the scent of vanilla.

"You were expecting this?" Maura asked as Jane stopped beside the bed.

"You always stay, so I was sure of that at least," Jane said with a wry smile. "But I do admit I hoped for more, even though the thought terrified me."

Maura wrapped her arms around Jane's neck. "It does me too, but Jane, haven't we faced terrors more frightening than us loving each other?"

"Maura," Jane whispered, "I think that loving you will bring me some of the greatest happiness of my life."

"Oh Jane," Maura said and Jane finally brought their lips together.

As they slowly undressed each other, Jane could not help but compare this with her other experiences. Before, she had always been the aggressor, taking charge and never, ever showing any sign of submission. For Jane, she had to prove herself the equal of any man, outside or inside the bedroom.

With Maura, they were already equals, they always had been and instead of struggling to prove her dominance, Jane found herself receptive to Maura, just as Maura was equally receptive to her. And as their first awkward, tentative touches turned bolder and grew in passion, Jane Rizzoli knew she had finally come home.

The End

R&I

Author's Note: Well, this is the end. I want to thank everyone who stuck with my insanity and for allowing me to share some of my favorite people and moments from the novels. In one of my most favorite scenes from The Sinner, while preparing gnocchi, Jane and Angela have a heartfelt conversation that leads Jane to make a decision that changes her life. I figured her making gnocchi on another life-altering event was apropos.