A/N This will be the last chapter of this story for now. I do have some more ideas, but I think it's a nice point to end it here, and I don't have the time and energy I would like to put into this. I might add something to it later on, so give it a follow and you'll be notified if I do. Thank you so much for your kind reviews, for reading this story and for sticking with me! It means the world to me. I hope you like this last chapter.

Chapter 8

Christmas with the Rizzoli family is never the same. It's loud, overwhelming and sometimes even confusing, but mostly it's warm and loving. Angela outdid herself again with dinner and she allowed me to make the salad, which appeared on the menu much to Jane's disappointment. We managed to get some presents for everyone last minute and they even got us a few presents too. I loved it. I love sitting around the tree, listening to Frankie and Tommy bickering, Angela trying to break it up while TJ plays on the floor with Jane.

I love seeing that caring, sweet look in Jane's eyes when she interacts with her little nephew. She's so good with children. She makes him laugh and knows just the games he likes. In this case, it involved a very inconvenient game of driving the little toy cars all over our furniture until one of them 'won' the race. I almost chastised them for ruining the marble on the fireplace but the way TJ laughed convinced me to stay quiet.

Ever since I've been a part of the Rizzoli family, I feel more at home than I have ever felt before. Christmas with my parents always consisted of a formal dinner with their friends and fancy presents under a professionally decorated tree. With the Rizzoli family, things are loud and messy. The gifts are anything but fancy and the tree is a mess. But I love it. I'd rather get a pair of socks with so much love and laughter than a thousand-dollar gift, given with a mandatory smile. They make me feel loved. They make me feel like a part of their family even though I'm so different. I'm forever grateful for them.

It's a shame days like this have to end. The family has left and we are putting the last glasses in the dishwasher. I close it and notice Jane has left the room. "Jane?"

"Hold on," she calls from the guestroom downstairs.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting your present." She smiles when she walks back into the kitchen.

"Present? Jane, we agreed not to get each other presents!"

She shrugs. "I got one anyway."

I tilt my head and purse my lips. "That's not what we promised."

She looks down and I see a hint of shame crossing her face, but I quickly stop her by cupping her cheek. "But I got you something as well."

"You did?"

I nod. "Hold on." I hurry towards the garage and open the back of the car where I hid the small present I got her. I run back to the kitchen and put it on the counter. "Who first?"

"Me." She takes a deep breath and looks deeply into my eyes. She smiles nervously and takes a little black box out of her pocket, eliciting a gasp from me. "I promised you this," she whispers. She slowly lowers herself down and ends up on her knee.

I put my hands in front of my mouth and feel tears burning in my eyes. "Oh, Jane…"

"Maura Isles…" she sighs and lowers her head to find the right words. "God, this was a bad idea."

"It's not." I shake my head while a few tears trickle down my cheek. I lower myself in front of her, grabbing my own gift from the counter before I come to the same level as her. "I think we had the same idea."

Her eyes go wide when she notices the similar shaped box I'm holding. "Damnit."

I chuckle and shake my head. I take her hand in mine. "Jane Rizzoli… I love you with everything I have. You are my friend, my lover, my partner in crime, my everything. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you and I know I already asked you this… But will you marry me?"

"Maura… You are the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on. You are brilliant, caring, so sweet and so good to everyone around you. All I want to do is make you happy. I want to grow old with you, have a family with you, love you and be with you until the day I die. And I know I already said yes, but yes, there's nothing I'd rather do than marry you."

Before she even finishes her last words my arms are already wrapped around her, my lips kissing her neck while I try to pull her as close as humanly possible. "I love you so much, Jane," I whisper through the tears in my eyes.

"I love you more." She pulls back and opens the box, taking out a gorgeous silver ring. It's absolutely beautiful. It has a few diamonds and it's slim, but it fits me perfectly. I get out her ring and she gasps when she sees it. I picked a simple ring for her, knowing she wouldn't like big stones or anything too sparkly. She's giving me just the reaction I was hoping for.

"It's perfect," she whispers. "Absolutely perfect."

I look at the ring that is now on my finger and blink the tears away in my eyes. It looks perfect. It's a reminder of the fact that I am truly engaged to the love of my life, the most amazing woman in the universe. I chuckle when I look up at my love. "I can't believe we both came up with the same idea to get a ring."

"Right?" She raises her hand. "How'd you even do it? We spend every minute of every day together!"

"Not really, you go running sometimes. And you know… Sometimes you use the bathroom." I smile and brush a curl behind her ear before I help her get up from the floor. "You did the same, and you pulled it off as well."

"Yeah, but I could just order it while you were reading. Easy peasy." She smirks. "I just prayed it would be as perfect as I hoped it would be when the package got here."

"It is. It's perfect, I love it." I pull her back into a hug and press my lips against hers. "I love you," I whisper against her. "I can't wait to marry you."

She rests her forehead against mine, her eyes filled with tears and love. She stares at me for a few moments, simply staring and being quiet, smiling lovingly. She chuckles after a short silence and captures my lips in another kiss, this time passionate and deep. I moan against her and smile when she lifts me up. My legs wrap around her waist and we stumble up the stairs, never breaking our kiss.

I lift her sweater and fumble to unhook her bra, pulling both over her head when she slowly drops me on the bed. I moan when her naked chest comes into view, I gently cup her and pour all my love into our kiss while she unzips my dress. Once our clothes are gone, we lie on top of each of each other and freeze, looking in each other's eyes without moving. I love feeling her skin against mine. She is warm and so strong yet so soft. Her hands are trembling when she moves them over my skin, but her touch is still determined and loving. When she kisses me, my stomach tingles and my entire body hums with pleasure.

"I love you so much," I whisper against her lips. "My fiancé."

She smirks and nuzzles herself into the crook of my neck, placing kisses against my skin. "I like the sound of that."

"Hmm," I moan when her tongue moves over my neck to my collarbone. "I do too."

We barely sleep that night. We make love gently and excruciatingly slow, with passion and heat, with laughter and fun, with love and care. She overwhelms me. Her scent, her touch, her heart touches me and fills me up. I can never get enough of her. That tall, strong body, those unruly dark curls, those deep brown eyes, that intoxicating smile… I'll never get tired of her. It's like I'm addicted to her touch. Every single time she touches me, my stomach tingles and a feeling of happiness fills my heart.

During the week that follows, we take some space from each other. She meets her friends at the Dirty Robber, I attend a lecture on forensic science. She goes to a baseball game while I go shopping with Angela. We spend some time apart only to find each other again at the end of the day, spending every single minute as close to each other as we can.

This week is good for her, I can tell. She feels more alive and sparkling. She loves to see everyone again and she loves being back in Boston for a while. But by the end of the week, we're both itching to get out there again. Being home has too many memories. Memories of kidnapping, murder and stalkers. We need more time to get away from the memories, to strengthen ourselves so that when we get back, we are strong enough to handle them.

So, after we've spent New Year's with the family, we pack our bags again. We say goodbye and hit the road again. To where? We don't know. We are driving in the early morning sun, away from Boston, away from memories. Jane's hand is resting on my thigh as I drive across the mostly empty highway. I take her hand and lace our fingers together, hearing the sound of our rings clashing. It makes me smile. I look to my side and see her staring at me with a similar smile curling her lips.

"Are you okay?" I ask softly, knowing that it was hard for her to say goodbye to her family.

She nods. "Yeah. I'm ready to be on the road again."

I smile and squeeze her hand while looking back at the road in front of me. The sun is high in the sky, a small layer of snow is covering the fields next to the highway. "Where do you want to go?" I ask, feeling her looking at me.

She shrugs. She rests her head back against the headrest, staring at the road with a relaxed smile. "I don't care," she whispers. "Anywhere."

I smile and take a random exit, without looking where it will lead us. "Anywhere it is."