Hi there! I've recently watched 'Jane's Wedding' and besides the fact that I was quite disappointed - it gave me an idea. I might turn this into a longer story if you guys will like it. I'd also like to thank my beta Scubysnak for offering some of her private time to correct my work. :) please enjoy!
It's not like Angela Rizzoli wasn't proud of her daughter, because she was - truly. Jane was the best cop in the whole BPD. She always thought about everybody else before herself. She was courageous, smart and had a great sense of humor. But there was one thing that Jane didn't have. A husband. And truth to be told, Angela wasn't very thrilled about that. Her daughter was 37 and had a great job so there was no reason why she shouldn't have already started a family. Yet there were no grandchildren, no son-in-law, no fiancé-in-law or even boyfriend-in-law. No one.
Angela stood next to Maura's kitchen sink and was mindlessly cleaning the same plate for five minutes. Seeing this, Frankie walked up to her and rested his hand on her back. "Are you alright, Ma?" he asked.
Frankie. He was a fantastic son. Great detective, great person and to top it all off - great husband. Frankie met Elizabeth while he was working undercover. After his three months' mission was over, he had to go back to his normal life and leave the fake one behind. But he kept in touch with Elizabeth. After a few months, he proposed. The wedding was beautiful. Angela cried throughout the ceremony. And now, Elizabeth was expecting a baby and Angela was over the moon, buying every tiny onesie she saw. And she new what she was doing was not healthy for the most part. But she couldn't help but transfer all of her maternal feelings onto Frankie's wife simply because she couldn't do it with her own daughter.
Angela sighed. "Yeah, I'm just worried about Janie."
Frankie looked over at his sister who was sitting on the couch and bickering with Maura about the remote. "Why? She's fine, Ma."
After the miscarriage and Frost's death, Frankie felt that his sister was already through too much loses in her life. Everyone has their own way of dealing with personal tragedies and if that meant no husband for Jane then Frankie was content with that.
"Can't you see, Frankie?!" Angela hushed angrily. "You're are already married, Tommy's got himself a girlfriend and Jane? Jane is all by herself. And she's not getting any younger."
Frankie rolled his eyes. "Ma, Jane is an adult. She can take care of herself. I'm sure she's waiting for the right guy."
Frankie remembered that bass fisherman that brought his boat in front of the precinct just so he and Jane could watch a sunset. He was impressed with the guy, but that was long time ago and Frankie doubted that anything would ever come out of that.
"Right guy, Frankie?! What? Is she waiting on a knight in shining armor? Well, guess what? There are no guys like that left. And by now, a guy with a pulse would do." Angela hissed grabbing the plate and kitchen towel.
"You guys talking about dead bodies over there?"
Angela and Frankie jumped upon hearing Jane's voice. Frankie looked at his mother uncomfortably and grabbed dried plates to put away.. "Ma is worried that you're never getting married," he murmured.
Jane's body tensed and she looked at her mother with defeat. "Really, Ma? You want to start this again? Can't we get through one family dinner without this?"
Angela threw kitchen towel on a counter and looked at Jane with a challenge. "Don't 'really' me! Is it so bad that I'm worried about my only daughter?" she rested her hand on her right hip.
Jane sighed, "No, but this is not 1920s. Having a husband is not the biggest dream of every woman in the world. It's certainly not my dream."
Frankie shut the drawer and turned to his sister and mother. "She's right, Ma." He turned to face Jane, "Although I am surprised you don't have anyone yet." He crossed his arms over his chest as he shrugged in her direction.
Jane looked at him shocked. "Oh, really?!"
Maura walked into the kitchen, her face frowning with confusion. "What is going o-'"
"You really want to be the one to make comments about my love life? I had no idea that having a wife for all of a few months made you such an expert!" Jane interrupted while pointing at her brother.
The younger detective sighed in defeat. "Come on, Jane, you know it's not like that. It's just, me and Ma are worri-'"
"Why do you care so much about it, huh?!" The anger building inside of her was starting to take control and before she could stop herself, words flew out of her mouth like bullets, sharply piercing the air.
"Has it ever crossed your mind that I might be in a relationship but I never mentioned it cause everyone in this family is so god damn nosey?" Jane shouted and the room fell silent. Three pair of eyes looked at her in shock and suddenly everything was boiling hot and Jane felt like she was about to faint. She shouldn't have said that. She should've kept her mouth closed and let her family be her family-her nosey, meddling family. But now her feelings took over, anger kicked in and Jane was about to dig a hole in Maura's kitchen and lie down in it, waiting for her own death.
Jane's inner monologue was stopped by her mother. "Excuse me? Are you trying to say that you're dating somebody but you won't tell me about it cause I'm too nosey?!" Angela raised her voice and looked at her daughter in disbelief. Jane sighed looking curiously in the ME's direction for some kind of-any kind of-help. All that she ould see was something between shock and suspicion painting Maura's face.
"Are you serious, Jane?" Frankie said, averting his sister's attention. "Who is he?"
Jane looked down at her sweaty palms and swallowed hard. This was not how she wanted it to go. "It doesn't matter, okay?"
"What do you mean 'it doesn't matter'? Of course it matters!" Angela cut in, her eyes drilling holes in Jane's head.
"Wait, are you… are you ashamed of him? Is he married or something?" Frankie added, a little bit curious. Maura's hand flew to her mouth as shock washed over her at the very thought.
Jane then decided that further answering might lead to total disaster, so she simply turned around and opened the fridge to grab a beer. She definitely needed a drink. Behind her three sharp intakes of breaths went trough the air and hung just above the celling, silently judging Jane and her poor choices.
"Jane Clementine Rizzoli! Are you involved with a married man!?" Angela's voice was filled with distress and judgment. Jane looked up and really, if she wasn't the one that had caused this whole mess, she would most definitely be laughing at the expression on her family's faces.
"Ma, listen-"
"When did it start!?" Angela asked and suddenly Jane felt like keeping this lie alive was the only way-the easiest exit from this situation.
"Year and a half," Jane answered and watched people in front of her react to the revelation. Her mother threw her hands in the air and started swearing in Italian which could only mean she was helpless. Frankie had a stupid grin on his face. He was probably really proud of himself about revealing his sister's biggest secret. Idiot.
And then there was Maura- sitting next to the kitchen island, her face hiding behind her hands. Her head was hanging low in preparation for – what Jane imagined – an upcoming headache.
"This is so cool" Frankie murmured and in response was smacked with kitchen towel.
"No, it's not!" Angela said and turned to Jane while pointing finger her. "First of all, I will not tolerate you dating somebody who is married. Do you understand?! I did not raise you to be a home wrecker! Are you trying to be your father now? What were you even thinking?!"
Jane was looking at her own feet, feeling like a five-year-old who was being scolded for eating sweets before dinner. This situation was second by second getting more and more out of hand and Jane felt like she was driving a car that had no brakes and was doomed to crash. And there was no turning back now, was there?
All of a sudden, the water in the kitchen tap stopped running and Jane looked at her mother drying off her hands on the towel. The silence was suffocating; Jane could hear it laughing at her.
"I'm done for today. I need to clear my head and think about what I just heard. Just so you know?" Angela pointed at her daughter. "I am really disappointed in you," she finished and a few seconds later the sound of slamming door filled Jane's ears.
Frankie stood awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen, deciding what he should do next. He approached his sister and patted her on the back. "Sorry, Janie. If it helps, I'm okay with you dating that guy as long as you're happy." Jane smiled with embarrassment and watched her brother say goodnight to Maura and disappear out the front door.
Jane's heartbeat finally started to slow down as she eased into the chair next to Maura. She rested her forehead on the kitchen counter and sighed heavily. "I am the biggest dumbass in the history of dumbasses". After what felt like light years to Jane, she finally heard doctor's voice again.
"You should have told them the truth, Jane." Her voice was filled with sadness and a bit of anger. Jane turned her head toward Maura, her cheek still resting on cool marble surface.
"I know" she sighed. She was so fed up with lying and doing things behind her mother's back. At first she was a bit impressed with herself. Keeping a secret from Angela Rizzoli was quite an achievement and Jane was proud of herself for doing so well for so long. But soon it started to be more tiring rather than fun and Jane grew more and more impatient and angry with herself. Yet, something was still stopping her from telling her mother the truth and even if deep inside she knew Angela might take it well, the other part of Jane stopped her every time she was about to say something. And it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to her. It wasn't fair to her friends. And it wasn't fair to her family. And despite knowing all of that, here she was: guilty of lying yet again.
"Well, at least you understand that what you did was uncalled for," Maura stated and stood up from her chair. Her voice filled with sadness.
Jane sighed. "Maur, please don't be mad."
"I'm not mad, Jane." Maura responded and headed towards the kitchen sink to wash her wine glass. "I'm not mad."
The sound of water escaping the tap was calming Jane's nerves as she took a deep breath. She had let her down because she was a coward and made everyone think that they weren't worthy the truth. That Maura wasn't worthy the truth.
The sound of expensive heels hitting an even more expensive wooden floor caught Jane's attention and she opened her eyes to the doctor standing next to her. Maura's soft hand rested on the small of the detective's back and Jane felt like all of her troubles and mistakes were magically washed away.
"I promise I'm not mad. If anything, I might be a bit sad because you had an opportunity right there and you didn't take it," the examiner said. "But then again, I know why you lied and I also know that you feel awful right now and I want you to know that I don't think any less of you after what just happened. I know that one day you will be ready to tell them the truth. And I will be here with you when you do, I promise. Alright?" Maura looked at Jane with a reassuring smile on her face.
Jane swallowed hard and closed her eyes. What did she do in her life to gain that kind of trust from her? She grabbed Maura's free hand and placed a kiss on the inside of her palm. "I love you very, very much," Jane said with emotions gripping her by her throat. She didn't deserve her.
Maura smiled wildly. "And I love you, Jane," she answered and placed a light kiss on her fiancée's temple.
And just like that, Jane realized that everything would be okay because no matter what happened, she would still have Maura and Maura would have her.
And telling her mother and Frankie and everyone about their engagement suddenly didn't seem so bad.