I'll save my mushy gushy author's note for the end.

For now, please enjoy the epilogue to the most daunting fic I've ever embarked upon.

Nearly two years had passed since Jane slid the phenomenal ring onto Maura's hand and, true to her word, Maura was never without the ring. Worn either on her finger or on a necklace when necessary, the silver band truly had marked the beginning of the women's journey moving nowhere but forward.

Smiling at the memory of their Cape Cod vacation, Maura sat behind the large oak desk in the office of she and Jane's Chestnut Hill home and ran her fingers over the leather bound book she pulled out every so often, sometimes to add letters to the clear sheet protectors and other times simply to reminisce on the letters Jane had written her.

"Two years," Maura whispered to herself, smiling widely as she opened the book and began to peruse the letters. Jane had told Maura they had special plans to celebrate their two year anniversary, though refused to tell Maura, and the doctor chose to reflect on those years while waiting for Jane to pick her up.

Though she had most of the letters nearly memorized, Maura began to re-read her favorite ones.

My hands won't stop shaking and you probably won't be able to read this but I'm gonna try. You are the most precious thing in my life, Maura, and I am so sorry I ever let that monster of a man near you. I am so sorry that your perfect skin has a scar from Hoyt's scalpel. I can hear you crying in the shower and I know you don't want me to come in because the taser made you lose control of your body functions and you soiled your clothes and you feel so dirty and I respect your wishes. But God I just want to hold you and never let you go. Keep you safe and have you keep me safe and never let each other go. I love you so much, Maura. You were the one to give me the courage to fight him and win. You made me strong.

Happy Valentine's Day! Stupid murderers making me go on stake out on our first Valentine's Day together. Do they not understand that I've got the world's most gorgeous lady to pamper? Yeesh. I know it's not the same as a fancy dinner, some dancing, and hot romantic sex but I hope you enjoy these flowers. The lady at the florist thought I was weird for requesting forget me nots and ranunculus (from the bouquet I gave you with the poker chip), sunflowers (from our very first date), and yellow tulips (from our second date) all in one bouquet but as long as you like the bouquet, I'm happy. I'm trying not to be all mushy gushy romantic but I love you so, so much and I promise that the next fifty Valentine's Days we spend together will be done in person.

P.S.
I left you another gift in your top drawer. Maybe, if you wanted to keep me entertained while on stake out, you could send me a photo or two so I know that it fits. ;)

Maura,
I know you're pissed and me. And you have every right to be. I shot your biological father. And went out to dinner with Dean without telling you. But I swear all we did was eat dinner. I would never, ever cheat on you. Never. But this isn't about me. Or at least I'm trying not to make it about me. You're pissed and you're hurt and I deserve every bit of anger you direct at me. Every feeling you have towards me right now is totally valid. But, Maura, you have to believe me when I say I wasn't choosing my job over you or our relationship. I went to Dean because I thought he could help us figure shit out, not because I want anything to do with him. And I shot Paddy…God, Maura. He had a gun and I thought he was gonna shoot me. And I don't wanna die. Not yet. Not until we're a hundred a one and lived a long life together with a kid or two in a house with a white picket fence and all that.

I don't know where we stand right now, if we're still together or we're separated. But please, Maura. If you've read this far, give us another chance. I can't stand being this far away from you, even though we work in the same building. I'm not above begging, Maura. Cause I can't let us end like this. I mean, I can't let us end at all but especially not like this. I love you so much. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me and please let me make this up to you. Let me prove to you that you mean more to me than any job or lead or anything.

Please.

365 days ago we professed our love for each other on the BCU rooftop and I can't even begin to express how wonderful this past year with you has been. Even though we said we weren't exchanging gifts, I know we both bought each other something. This photo is one of my favorites of us. My ma took it at the BPD picnic and I'm not sure if she's ever shown it to you. We were sitting on the blanket, you in between my legs, just laughing our asses off at some sorta shenanigans Frost and Frankie were getting themselves into. And I think we both look the happiest we've ever looked in the photo. And I know the photo is, like, way bigger than normal but I had to get it printed in an 11 by 17 size cuz, if you flip the frame over, you'll see that I wrote 365 things that I love about you on the back. And that required a lot of space.

Here's to many, many more years of happiness, love, and letters.

Happy Anniversary, Maur. I love you.

He touched me. Dominic did. He touched me and he changed my clothes and saw parts of me I only want you to see. You're sitting behind me holding me as I write this but I'm too nervous or scared or shaken to say this out loud. I need you to touch me and see me and remind me that I'm yours and only yours. Please, Maura. I'm gonna hand you this letter and once you read it I need you to take me upstairs and wipe away any trace of his finger prints on me. I don't want to belong to anyone but you.

You're never allowed to leave me, Maura. Never. You understand that? I don't even have the words to describe how terrified I felt when I saw Dennis holding the knife to your throat and dragging you towards that elevator shaft. Just like you told me all the things that flashed before your eyes when I shot myself—us getting married, having a little mini us who is a genius with knotted curls, getting old—I saw them flash before mine. And I have never been more glad to hold you in my arms than when Dennis threw you forward and you stumbled into my arms. If I had only been a minute later, I would have lost you. And I can't ever lose you. It's three in the morning but I can't sleep because I just need to see you. I need to know that you're still here in my bed with me and you're still breathing and that you didn't leave me.

I guess writing you letters is gonna be easier now that our address is the same. Not that I've ever addressed them to your actual address. I just hand them to you or leave them for you to find. But still. You get what I'm saying. I love you so much and I cannot wait to begin this stage of our relationship living together! Think of the instant coffee, cocoa puffs, and singing in the shower you're gonna have to deal with! And all the early morning yoga I'll have to deal with!

I'm so in love with your thoughtfulness and insistence that we purchase a new house instead of me just moving into your Beacon Hill house cuz even though we still have a billion boxes to unpack, this place feels more like a home than anywhere else. I love you and cannot wait to christen every room in this house with some sexy times.

Love ya, roomie. :-)

As Maura went to turn to the next page, an unfamiliar flash of color caught her eye and, curiously, she flipped to the last page in the collection of letters and saw a lavender envelope tucked into the sheet protector that hadn't been there before.

"Don't question how I snuck this in here. Just open me," Maura read out loud, laughing at her girlfriend's antics. Checking the clock and seeing she had enough time before Jane told her to expect her, Maura pulled the envelope from the protector and opened it.

My Maura,
I knew that today, on our two year anniversary, you'd spend time re-reading the dozens of letters in this book. From the first letter I wrote after the siege to the very last one, I know that you're in your office re-living the past two years as you wait for me to come grab you after putting the finishing touches on our date.

But the truth is, we aren't going on a date. At least not really. Ya see, I'm a sneaky, sneaky detective who has, since you went upstairs to begin getting ready for our date, transformed our living room into a romantic bubble for us to enjoy tonight. I know that you got all dressed up and look perfect, as always, so maybe you're gonna be bummed that we aren't going out. But I'm really hoping that, at the end of the night, you'll forgive me for wanting to keep you all to myself.

You are the best, most wonderful, perfect, and beautiful part of my life, Maura. Not a day goes by where I don't look at you and see my home base. Or my future. Or my everything. Because you're all of those things and more.

I've thought for so freaking long about how I wanted to do this. And then it hit me that, since letters brought us together two years ago, a letter would be the perfect way to do this. And by do this, I mean propose. But I'm not gonna actually ask you those four words in a letter. What I am gonna do is ask you to come down into our living so I can ask you in person.

Please?

Maura's eyes widened as she read the final paragraph, a hand coming up to feel her now racing heartbeat in her chest. Tentatively, with emotions threatening to overwhelm her, Maura rose to her feet and smoothed the skirt of her deep green dress with hands that trembled with anticipation of what she would see when her feet finally began to do what they were supposed to and she began to walk down to the living room.

Reaching the bottom of the curved staircase that led to the living room, Maura was greeted with dozens of candles scattered around the room, casting a beaming Jane in a soft glow.

"I thought lining your path into the living room with rose petals might be a bit too cheesy," Jane grinned.

"Plus Bass and Jo's digestive tracts might not appreciate rose petals," Maura added softly, walking fully into the living room to stand in front of Jane.

"Are you nervous?" Jane asked upon hearing Maura's whisper, reaching her hand out to clasp Maura's and give it a gentle squeeze. "Cuz we can put a pause to this and-"

"No!" Maura quickly interrupted. "I-I don't want to put a pause to this."

"Me neither," Jane smiled as she reached into the pocket of her slacks and pulled out a crimson velvet box.

"Oh, God," Maura said, her voice almost chuckling when she watched Jane run her thumb over the velvet.

"You okay there?"

"This is really happening right now, isn't it?" Maura said in lieu of an answer.

"Yeah," Jane replied as she let go of Maura's hand and dropped to one knee, now looking up at a smiling Maura from below. "This is really happening right now."

"You're really proposing to me in a letter?" Maura teased.

"Hey, I didn't actually ask you in the letter!" Jane defended. "Which I means I'm gonna have to make it official by asking you out loud if you, Maura Isles, would do me the biggest honor in the world and become Maura Rizzoli-Isles."

"Of course," Maura beamed, nodding her head for emphasis.

"Really?" Jane asked, eyes widening hopefully.

"Yes, really!" Maura laughed, lowering herself to kneel in front of Jane and take the detective's face between her hands. "It would be an honor to be Maura Rizzoli-Isles."

Before Jane could reply, Maura was pressing her lips to the detective's happily. When Jane felt Maura begin to lean backwards, tugging Jane on top of her, Jane reluctantly pulled away.

"Wait," she breathed. "Your ring. I'm not gonna let months of searching get overlooked."

Nodding, Maura watched as Jane pulled out the ring, reaching for Maura's hand with a nervous smile on her face.

"I know it isn't the most traditional engagement ring in the world, but even after trying to find a different one, I kept coming back to this one," Jane explained as they both watched the ring slide onto Maura's finger. A gold band was the base with a pearl as the central focal point, small diamonds surrounding the circumference of the pearl and trickling down the sides of the band.

"It's perfect," Maura smiled. "Have you been looking for a ring for a while? And I've been oblivious to it?"

"I've been looking since I wrote you your very first letter."

And there we have it, folks. Letters to Maura is now complete.

I want to give some shoutouts:

To Alvean, Rachel, and Aparna, whose readership has blossomed into friendships I have so grateful to have.

To the following readers who have been so consistently positive and encouraging: Detective Marx, Terri411, Lktwh13, tlc125, cjunited38, L2GQ, and the countless others who have given me the nudges forward I sometimes need and boosts in confidence I almost always need.

And to anyone who has given this story a chance, weather you've reviewed, voted in the fan awards, or not. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.