AN: Hey y'all. So, I have it from a very good authority that one of my readers sat on Santas lap yesterday and asked him for this chapter for Christmas. Oh, wait. No, that was my lap she was sitting in and I had a Santa hat on at the time. (And I think I might have just made a naughty list somewhere for telling y'all that.) Anyway, Bee darling, here is what you've been waiting on... Enjoy!

Maura's jaw dropped at the same time she saw Jane's hand clamped down around her mouth. It was like her brain had just emptied itself of everything. There wasn't one single thing in there that she could pull out and try to get passed her lips to say in response to a statement like that. She started to feel herself go weak at the knees, she needed to sit and fast.

Before her brain could process what had happened she felt Jane at her side. Jane's arm was around her and she was being moved. Once she felt her body sink into something soft she realized that Jane had helped her to the chair by the couch. Jane sat down on the end of the coffee table near the chair where she could take in the sight of Maura.

"I…" Jane started to say. Maura held up her hand signaling for her to stop.

Maura's brain had kicked back in as Jane had helped her down into the chair. Jane had just sort of proposed to her. That was what that was right? Did she just say it as a reflex because she was in shock? Was there any possible way she could mean it? Why on Earth would Jane even say something like that in the first place? Could Jane really have felt about her the way she felt about Jane and both had been too scared to say anything about it? Those and what seemed like a thousand other thoughts were now bouncing around inside of her head. She needed a moment to process them; it's why she had silenced Jane when she had started to speak.

Maura slowly looked up at Jane. Her eyes scanned up her body. Jane was sitting on the end of the coffee table. She was slightly hunched over, meaning that her elbows were resting on the tops of her knees. Her right hand was furiously rubbing at the scar in the palm of her left hand. Her bottom lip was pulled in between teeth and her eyes were cast down at the carpet somewhere to the right of where she was sitting in the chair. Jane's leg started to bounce up and down, and if it was possible in the seated position she was in Maura could almost swear Jane was rocking back and forth a little bit as well.

They had to talk about this. There was nothing they could do to avoid it. It was time they talked things out. And Maura found herself more nervous about trying to have this conversation with Jane than she had about trying to tell Jane she was pregnant.

"Jane," it came out so quiet it was a whisper. But everything was so quiet in the house Jane had heard it without any problem. Her head immediately snapped up and she looked Maura dead in her eyes.

Both sets of eyes were filled with a gamut of emotions that were flowing throughout their bodies at the moment. They could read hope, fear, anguish, pain, and joy in the eyes of the other; but at the same time those emotions seemed to flow out of one of them and to the other. It was like they could physically feel the emotions of the other even though they were feet apart.

"Maur, I didn't… I didn't mean it like that…" Jane was struggling with her sentence.

This was it. Maura could feel it. This was the part where Jane said that she didn't mean it like that because she didn't have feelings in that way. She meant the words as a sign of a support; a sign that she would be there for Maura and the baby when they needed it. She could feel yet more tears start to well behind her eyes and thought for a moment of cursing the hormones in her body, but it wouldn't do her any good.

Jane had stood up from the coffee table and was now pacing back in forth in a small space that wasn't cluttered with the boxes from their decorating. Her hand kept running through her messy curls.

"Jane, it's okay," she managed to get out without tears falling. "You don't have to say anything. You were in just a bit of shock finding out and caught up in the moment. I understand."

Jane stopped pacing and looked at her. "No, Maur, it's not that…" The pacing started again. "I just… There's so much going through my mind I can't really make heads or tails of where to start or how to get out what I want to say."

Maura took a big breath. She willed the tears back. She needed to be level headed here. She knew Jane would have questions she would need to answer. "Start with the one question you want answered the most."

Jane stopped pacing again and looked at her. "How long?" she asked without any hesitation. Maura knew she was talking about how far along she was.

"Twelve weeks in a couple of days," she replied calmly. To her surprise that got a giggle out of Jane.

"Wow. I think you might have hit the nail on the head earlier while we were decorating in saying that I must not be much of a detective. How could I have gone this long and not noticed any signs? How did I overlook the fact that you hadn't been coming to The Robber or that I didn't see you with any sort of drink at Thanksgiving dinner; or completely miss the morning sickness?"

"Jane, please come sit down," Maura politely requested of her.

Jane did as asked. She took her seat back on top of the coffee table. She knew that Maura probably wasn't too happy about her sitting there, but it was the nearest thing to sit on so they could be face to face and have this discussion. She looked deeply into the beautiful hazel eyes of the woman across from her.

"First off, please don't be hard on yourself and feel like you've missed something. Other than being more tired than usual, I haven't had any other symptoms with the pregnancy. Honestly, I thought it was a stroke of luck that I made it through Thanksgiving dinner without you or your mother noticing that I didn't have any wine. And I hadn't been going to The Robber because I was tired after some of the long days we'd been putting in lately at the station."

That sat for a moment just looking at each other before Maura continued.

"I'm sorry."

"Maur what do you—?"

"No, Jane, let me get this out. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before now. I've spent weeks trying to find the right way to tell you and then after a few weeks I was worried you would be mad when I did finally tell you because I had kept it from you for so long. I didn't want you to think that you're not important enough to me for me not to share major new like this with you right away. You are the most important person in my life and I'm always afraid I'll lose you."

As tough as she tried to look and act on the outside, there wasn't anyone on this planet that could make Jane melt faster than Maura Isles.

"You could never lose me, no matter what," Jane said as she reached for one of Maura's hands and wrapped it in her own.

"Really?" Maura asked, tears threatening to make their way beyond her eyes this time.

"Really, really," Jane replied.

"Thank you," Maura said smiling, but her voice cracked on the words and tears made their way down her cheeks.

"Hey," Jane said as she moved from the coffee table to kneeling on the floor right in front of Maura. She reached up and brushed some of the tears away with the pads of her thumbs. Maura slightly leaned in to the touch. "It's going to be alright. I do have a couple of more questions though."

"Okay," Maura said giving her permission to ask the questions.

"Jack?" she asked quietly. Maura nodded.

"Does he…" Maura responded with a shake of her head without Jane having to finish the question.

"Do you want him to?"

"I don't know," Maura replied honestly. She had thought of it so much. Really he deserved to know, but there was a part of her being selfish here. She knew that Jack would try to be a good man and want to be a part of the baby's life and she just wasn't sure she wanted that. It was wrong of her to think that way, she knew it, but she just couldn't help it.

"Hey, it's okay," Jane said to her. "Whatever you decide to do it's your decision."

They stayed quiet for a few moments as Maura's tears dried. There was only one thing left to really talk about and it seemed to be the elephant in the room now. Though Maura technically hated that phrase because it was illogical to have a pachyderm in a room like this.

"About what I said earlier," Jane said deciding to finally broach the subject. They couldn't really avoid it much longer.

"Jane, you don't have to—"

Jane placed her finger over Maura's lips to quiet her. "No, my turn to speak now. I want to get this out. I know you think it was something I said because I was caught off guard or in shock of what I had just found out. Yes, I was caught off guard, but that's not why I said it. I'm sure you think that I just meant it in a way as I'll always be there for you and this baby whenever you need help, but that's not it either."

This was it; this was her 20 seconds to finally say to Maura everything she should have said long ago. "I love you Maura Dorothea Isles. I love everything about you, except for the fact that I haven't been the person in a relationship with you. I know you love me too. I've seen it in your eyes and on your face in the way that you give me a smile that's just for me. I'm sorry, that I've been too much of a coward to say it before now, but I love you. Marry me. At least someday marry me…"

"I guess we could go on at least one date before we tied the knot," they both let out a little chuckle at Jane's attempt to lighten the mood just a bit. "But I sort of feel like we've been dancing around dating each other for the past few years. So, I guess I'd be okay with getting married and then doing the whole thing in reverse if you wanted, but whatever happens I just want to do it with you."

Jane could see tears starting to brim in Maura's eyes again. They started to well in her own as well. She hated it that Maura had shed so many tears today, but she hoped at least these now were going to be happy ones. "I want you, and I want this family with you. So please," she uttered as her voice finally started to crack with emotion, "please say you'll marry me." Tears finally slid down her cheeks as well.

Maura had sat in a sort of stunned silence throughout Jane's speech. She could hardly believe that she was hearing the things coming out of her mouth that she had only dreamed that she might one day hear. She almost felt like she needed to pinch herself to make sure she hadn't fainted while they were decorating and that she was in some sort of hyper realistic dream.

Whether this was a dream or not she could think of only one way to respond to a proposal such as this. She leaned down slightly and captured Jane's lips in a kiss. Jane's lips were softer than she had imagined them being. The kiss was light, but both women poured all of the love and affection they felt for the other into the kiss.

Maura was the first to break the kiss, but she couldn't bear to pull back from Jane completely so she rested her forehead against Jane's. She kept her eyes closed not wanting to end the intimate moment between them just yet.

When she finally did open her eyes and lean back a bit she could see Jane's eyes shining brightly at her. "Yes," Maura whispered so quietly even Jane almost couldn't make out what she was saying. "Yes, I'll marry you, Jane Clementine Rizzoli. And, I love you too."

Jane couldn't help the smile that stretched itself from ear to ear across her face as she heard those words. She leaned in and captured Maura's lips for one more kiss as she pulled Maura's body closer to hers at the same time. When they broke apart Jane's eyes moved down to Maura's stomach and then back up again. She was silently asking for permission.

Maura nodded. She felt Jane's hands slide just underneath the hem of the light sweater she had put on that morning. Soon, Jane had the fabric pushed over where a small bump had just started to show. Jane placed her hand on the spot and caressed it lovingly.

Before Maura realized what she was doing Jane leaned in and placed her lips on the tiny bump. When Jane leaned back Maura heard her whisper as she caressed the spot some more, "Hi baby. I'm your Ma, and I love you and your Mommy so much. I can't wait to meet you."

THE END

So, that's all she wrote for this one. I do hope all of you have enjoyed reading it as much as I did pushing myself to write it. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing this story. Thank you for the good luck wishes on my final. I hope all of you have a wonderful rest of your holiday season. I'd still love to hear what you all thought of this story so don't forget to leave me a review. And, I'll see y'all for my next story!