AN: This new set of one shots are somewhat in relation to Chapter 24 of "Increments." And speaking of, my sincerest apologies for the glaring mistake in said chapter. Quantico is in VA, not D.C. Slipped my mind while writing that just because Jane will take up the instructor position with the FBI does not equate to FBI to J. Edgar Hoover Building and then to D.C. And that if she is to be an instructor in Quantico, well chances are great that means finding a place in VA instead. Then again, I might be completely wrong and that Jane decides to teach at Quantico but live in D.C. anyway. Who knows? Dana Scully didn't seem to mind the travel between Georgetown and Quantico that one season. Plus, I'm no American either.
Anyway! I'm slowly trying to adjust to the idea of the show ending. That said, I'm going to try and set this story up as a series of sneak peeks into whatever their lives may be like after chapter 24 (if we're lucky, a potential for "whatever their lives may be like after the finale of the show").
Here we go.
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"So…"
"So?"
"How's cohabitation with Maura?"
Jane's eyebrow arches. "Really? That's the term you came up with?"
Frankie holds up his hands in typical surrender, "Hey. It's just…I never…" He stammers.
"I'd tread carefully if I were you." Jane threatens with a swing of her knife as she goes back to the chopping board.
"I'm just surprised."
"Because it's Maura?"
Frankie shrugs.
"Because it's anyone really."
"Hey!" Jane is a bit offended.
"I'm sorry!" Her brother takes another swig of the beer bottle before he continues.
"I just could never see you as being…you know…all domestic."
"You take that back!" Jane points the knife in his direction. Jane's horrified look on her face cracks up the younger Rizzoli. He knows she hates being described as anything close to resembling her mother. Sort of.
"Aw, c'mon, Janie. You're actually living with someone. I haven't gotten any phone calls from you where you're either in a panic, or frustrated, or just plain upset because someone else is sharing your space. Plus! You're cooking. I mean…" He pointedly looks at her.
"What?" Jane looks down to see if there's anything wrong with her outfit. Or if there's a stain. God, Maura will kill her if she bleaches her white blouse for the umpteenth time.
"You're wearing an apron, Janie." Oh yeah.
"So?"
"Really? You don't see anything…weird about this?"
Jane shrugs and moves on over to the stove.
"Honestly, Frankie. If you told me last year about all those things you listed, I'd probably have you committed."
Frankie nods. Case in point.
"I'd probably give you a wedgie first, but then I'd have you committed."
Her brother rolls his eyes in exasperation. He actually wouldn't put it past her to do exactly that.
Jane covers the pot to simmer and turns back around with a serious look on her face.
"If it were anyone else but Maura, I think you'd be right in your expectations. At this point I'm sure I would have called you up numerous times by now to complain. Or visit Boston just to get the chance to breathe. Or maybe I'd just move back to Boston already."
Frankie grins.
Jane grins.
"Then again, if it were anyone else, I'd likely be calling Maura to rant and complain. And, I wouldn't have thought of moving in the first place. I wouldn't have given the instructor seminar a chance, therefore I never would've gotten the idea about being an instructor—in Quantico of all places—and I definitely wouldn't even think of moving in with another person and share a space with someone who isn't..." Jane trails of momentarily, trying to think of anyone else who she'd be amenable to cohabit with aside from Maura.
"Who isn't my imaginary friend." Jane nods in a satisfied manner and grins.
"Sammy still plays cops and robbers with you?" He pokes fun at Jane's imaginary friend. He never met Sammy. But their mother sure had a bit to say about her.
"Sammy is still a better cop than you." Jane shoots back.
"Hello, everyone!" A voice interrupts the siblings' banter.
Dr. Maura Isles steps into the kitchen and passes by Frankie with a kiss on the cheek in greeting.
She lingers just a bit longer in greeting Jane that Frankie feels the need to look away.
"You're cooking! Stroganoff?" There's a glimmer in her eyes and a glow about her that Frankie cannot overlook.
The same could be said for his sister.
He can't help but smile. Their happiness is certainly contagious.
"Yep!"
"My favorite!" Maura claps her hands in delight. Jane rolls her eyes but drops a kiss on Maura's forehead as she goes back to check on the stove.
"Of course. Felt you might need some cheering up after listening to you earlier on the phone."
"Why? Is there something wrong?" Frankie asks in concern.
Maura shakes her head. "Nothing too serious. I just did not expect book negotiations to be so…stressful."
"Oh yeah! How's that coming along?" He stands up to come around the counter and assist his sister.
Maura drops her bag nearby and starts collecting cutlery for the dining table as she begins to regale Frankie with the rigors of finding a publisher, getting published, and all the negotiations in between.
An unconscious but harmonious act occurs as they work around and about the kitchen preparing for dinner.
Their Sunday dinners in Boston have done their part in ensuring this harmony.
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They are well on their way to dessert when Frankie compliments the two of them for having a beautiful place.
"You can thank Maura for that" is Jane's response to said compliment.
Maura sighs. "Here we go again."
"Did I say something?" A look of confusion is on the male Rizzoli's face, while exasperation lines Maura's.
"Jane always credits me for finding this house when she was the one who actually found it."
"Maura, all I did was to stare at the computer for a few hours—maybe half the day if you really want to be generous. What she fails to let others know, however, is that—"
"Are we going back to the issue of finances again, Jane?" Maura cuts her off.
Frankie shifts his eyes back and forth between the two. He isn't quite sure if he just opened a can of worms, but it's beginning to look like it.
"I'm just saying 'credit where credit is due', Maura."
"Hang on." Frankie waves his arms a bit wildly to get both women's attention.
"So, Jane found this place and you…bought it?"
"We both did, Frankie." Maura's lips have thinned.
"Jane?"
"Like a drop in the well, brother."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Maura is starting to get frustrated.
"Hang on, Maura. I'm just stating facts. It doesn't have to mean anything." Jane tries to placate the other woman.
"It sure sounds like it, Jane." The doctor all but pouts and Frankie hides a grin.
Jane reaches out her hand for Maura to take, which the latter doesn't disappoint.
"All I'm saying is, if it weren't for you, I'd be perfectly happy living in a studio for all I care. You know me, Maur. Give me a bed, a fridge, and a working plumbing and I'm set."
"I fear for you sometimes, Jane." Maura deadpans.
"Goes to show I should never be without you, really." Jane responds in an equal offhand manner.
Jane squeezes her hand and gives Frankie a quick look before continuing, "It took us awhile to find a place. A lot of words were thrown and a few tears were shed."
"You goin' all Ma, Janie?" Frankie teases.
"Shut it, Francesco. Maura cried a few tears too."
Frankie almost rolls off his chair laughing.
Both women have huge smiles on their faces.
Then, Jane's face turns somber and Frankie straightens in his seat. Rarely does his sister ever speaks so seriously, and with an earnest look on her face that shows how she truly feels.
He knows best that when the Jane speaks on such an occasion, he better listen.
"At first, all I was looking for was something that would befit an Isles." Maura appears ready to interject, but Jane's slight squeeze of her hand quiets her.
"I was thinking that if we're moving in together, it should be something she can be proud of, you know? Someplace that Constance would approve of for their daughter. A place that if we're having guests over for some reason, she'd be free to host as many people as she wants. A place where she can decorate and design to her OCD little heart's content."
A laugh slips out of Maura just as she feels something lightly squeezing at her chest: an emotion she can't quite contain whenever she thinks of how much she loves this woman.
"I kept looking and looking. Until Maura here reminded me that it's supposed to be for us. Not Constance, not socialites or donors, or whatever. It's our place."
This time, Maura couldn't help butting in. "I told her that all I wanted was a home with her in it. I've spent years in various places: mansions, castles even, hotel suites, chalets, cabins as big as manors. But never a place like when she came into my life, came into my Beacon Hill house, and turned it into a home just by being in it."
"Including the rest of the Rizzolis." Jane quips.
Maura grins and Frankie's smile is wide as he listens to their exchange.
"I told her I'd be happy with a house that has one bedroom for us and maybe another for an office space."
"Please. You wanted that second bedroom mostly as a stand-in for your walk-in closet." Jane teases.
"I'd have given up closet space for you, Jane."
"If that doesn't speak true love for you, Janie, I don't know what else is left." Frankie cuts in with a laugh.
Both women join him as all three are much aware of the good doctor's shopping habits and subsequent organizational quirks.
"And then of course Maura started spouting off facts about rural and urban areas based on traffic, population density, and I think at one point she all but gave me a crash course on fluid dynamics in relation to traffic. At that point I think my mind started to sputter but I'm pretty sure I got the bottom line which was to find a place that was close enough or at least accessible enough to our work places."
Maura lightly swats at Jane for her teasing but the smile on both women's faces couldn't be erased.
"Well," Frankie disrupts the gazing between the two, raising his bottle in a toasting manner. "I'm glad the two of have finally found the happiness you guys deserve. Janie, you're a lucky bastard and I hope you know just how much. Maura, my apologies in advance for whatever headache my sister is bound to give you."
Jane apparently still hasn't quite lost her touch as she is quick to land a punch on her brother's shoulder.
"Ow! Hey, that was a joke!" He tries to rub the pain away but still can't help but grin when Maura is quick to add, "I'm the lucky one, Frankie. And whatever the future brings, it'll be worth it so long as she's in it."
"Ditto" is Jane's characteristic response as she leans over to plant a kiss on Maura's lips.
"Okay. Let's just remember you guys have a guest, please." He rolls his eyes when the two are obviously taking their time.
A beat.
"Oh, for heaven's sake you guys have a room for that!" Frankie's voice reverberates through the first floor of the house.