A/N: Hoo boy. Hooooo boy. I'll be honest with you guys, I'm a little nervous about publishing, since I'm definitely not 100% sure about this one. I do like how it turned out (call me back tomorrow, though), but balancing the language of children and simplifying my own narrative style to not clash with it was definitely tricky! I'm not exaggerating when I say that I have almost NO clue how to write children this age. I spend next to no time around young children, so I'm kind of taking a stab in the dark at the dialogue here. Maura is perhaps a little more wordy due to her upbringing, but I've tried my best to remain true to both the spirit of the characters, and to realistic, child-like interactions. In a way, I picked this idea out of the several that I have to write because I knew that it would prove to be a challenge for me.
As an aside, thank you so much for your feedback on Voicemail! I've yet to reply to individual comments/reviews, but each and every one of them made my day, and bolstered my confidence to boot. I daresay that if it weren't for the overwhelming positive response to that, I likely wouldn't have braved posting this, which I'm /far/ more uncertain about comparatively. Enjoy and, as always, feedback is always loved and appreciated. Whether you have advice, criticisms, or simply want to tell me you enjoyed reading it, drop a post and let me know! Even if I don't respond to you specifically, know that I've definitely seen it, and it's thrilled me no end.
I need to confess, I finished and proofed this chapter while half asleep. I may come back to tidy it up later, but nothing overwhelming will change.
Alright, that's enough out of me; enjoy these Firsts!
Jane Rizzoli was five years old when she first met Maura Isles.
Out running errands with her mother and brother, they had stopped at the park on Jane's insistence; badgering that Angela only really ceded to because two-and-a-half year old Frankie junior had tired of walking and was asleep in his stroller, so stopping at the park afforded Angela a few minutes of seated peace where she didn't have to push him around. Jane immediately took to tearing around the playground, clambering over the equipment, flinging herself down the slide, and taking a running leap onto a swing seat, standing upright on it as she began to heave herself skyward, ignoring her mother's absent-minded yells to sit, not stand, on the swing. It was at the apex of one such swing that Jane noticed a girl around her age, sitting primly on the grass beneath a towering oak tree, a book in her hands, not too far from the swing set.
"Hey!" Jane yelled out, trying to get her attention. When the other girl looked up, Jane, decided to be a bit of a showoff, leaping what she thought must have been quite fantastically at the top of a swing, and flew through the air to land on the grass with a thud. The girl gasped, and Jane grinned as she ran over, pleased that her audience of one had been appropriately enthralled by her feat. As she drew nearer, Jane was struck by the thought that maybe this girl was an angel; she looked just like the pictures of them that she'd seen in books at Sunday school, with soft, loose, honey blonde curls, a nice white dress, and what Jane thought was a very pretty face.
"Mon Dieu!" the girl exclaimed as Jane finally stopped next to her, still sporting that big grin "Didn't that hurt your feet?"
"Nuh-uh! Do it all the time!" Jane puffed her chest out proudly, hands on her hips. She didn't know what a "monjoo" was, but she liked this girl looking at her that way, like Jane was a superhero, and she had sounded more than suitably impressed. Jane squatted down, looking curiously at the book in the girl's lap, resting on the soft cotton of her perfectly white dress. "Whatcha readin'?"
"Oh!" she lifted the book to show the cover to Jane "It's called Ballet Shoes. It's very good. I really like it."
Jane crinkled her nose. "I hate ballet. My ma tried to make me take lessons, and it sucked," her expression morphed back into a grin when her use of the word 'sucked' seemed to make the other girl giggle, bringing the open book up to hide her smile. When she lowered it, her head tilted slightly to survey Jane through long eyelashes, clearly curious about her.
"What's your name?"
"Jane. What's yours?"
"Maura Isles."
Jane breathed out, nodding seriously, her unruly curls bobbing back and forth with the action. "That's a really pretty name," she finally said, expressing the sentiment as though it were an executive decision that required much thought.
"Thank you," Maura smiled politely, closing her book "Jane is a nice name too." At that, Jane shrugged, pushing her hair back to survey Maura again, still squatting beside her.
"You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen," she finally declared, giving Maura that big, cheesy grin again, somehow made all the more endearing by a couple of missing teeth puncturing the otherwise white display. Jane felt pleased as punch, though she wasn't sure why, when Maura's cheeks went very pink at that statement, making her fiddle with the hem of her dress, casting her eyes about as she tried not to seem too embarrassed.
"I, th-thanks, Jane. That's...really nice," she finally stammered, for her part unsure why this scruffy tomboy in a too-big baseball jersey and ratty sneakers was making her insides feel all squirmy kind of like she was sick, but a nice kind of sick "Do you mean it?"
"Yeah, of course!" Jane gave another emphatic nod, still grinning "There's lots of girls at my school and at my church and stuff and not one of 'em is as pretty as you," when Maura couldn't seem to gather together a reply, Jane stuck her hand out. "You wanna play with me?"
Maura looked up from Jane's hand to her face, smiling brightly down at her, and couldn't help but give a big smile in return. Jane could feel her stomach do flip-flops for some reason when Maura's bright hazel eyes met hers, and more again when she daintily set the book in her lap aside completely, and took Jane's hand.
"I do," she beamed as Jane tugged her up, "But just a second, okay?" without letting go of Jane's hand, Maura walked over to another nearby bench, far from where Angela was sitting, and where an older man in a dark blue cap was reading. He looked up when Maura approached, and smiled to see her holding Jane's hand.
"Miss Isles, who might this be?" he asked politely, surprising Jane, who wasn't used at all used to adults speaking like that to her, or any kid.
"This is Jane," Maura replied "She and I are going on the playground, if that's alright?" the man nodded, still smiling warmly.
"Of course. I will keep an eye on you from here. Do be careful." Maura nodded with a giddy little smile, and once Jane realized that they were free to go about their business, Maura could only follow Jane's lead as she hurried over to the playground their hands still entwined. Jane only released her grip when they reached the equipment so that she could instead clamber up the ladder leading to the big slide. Maura seemed hesitant, but gingerly followed, climbing far more slowly and carefully than Jane had.
When they reached the top, Jane looked to Maura, obviously curious. "Is that guy your dad?"
"No," Maura shook her head "He takes care of me sometimes when my parents are busy." Jane seemed interested by this, but didn't pursue it, easily distracted by the slide, which she turned to face, now that the pertinent questions had been asked and answered.
"Hey, I can go head first, watch!" Jane grinned back at Maura, who smiled, only to gasp when Jane rather recklessly flung herself in something of an awkward belly flop onto the slide, racing down the yellow plastic and into a wayward tumble when she reached the bottom. Jumping up and brushing off her hands, she looked up at Maura, who seemed rather frozen up at the top of the slide still.
"Do I have to do it that way?" she finally asked Jane nervously, raising her voice only just enough to be heard.
"Course not!" Jane called back "Whatsa matter? Ya scared?" Maura obviously hesitated at that, afraid of being teased, but nodded. Jane scrambled back up the ladder to her side, more curious than anything. "Ain'tcha ever been down a slide before?"
"Well, not one quite so...big," Maura swallowed, still eyeing the height.
"Don't worry," Jane grinned "I'll go down with ya!" she stood next to the slide and pointed to it "Sit here, and hold on real tight to the sides, 'kay?" Maura did as she was told, careful about smoothing out her dress as she sat gingerly down at the top, knuckles near white as she gripped the sides to keep from falling down. Her cheeks suddenly seemed warmer as Jane suddenly snuggled up behind her, legs on either side of her own, and her front against Maura's back. She also noticed that her stomach suddenly felt funny again when Jane's hands pressed against it, the other girl's arms wrapping around her to keep her steady, and silently wondered to herself if maybe she'd eaten something bad for breakfast.
"Ready?" Jane asked, the question a rush of breath masquerading as speech; somehow, going down the slide seemed more exciting than usual. When Maura nodded, she grinned, still sounding a little breathless "Okay, let go the sides!"
Maura took a second, but let go, immediately leaning back into Jane and clapping her hands over her eyes. When nothing seemed to happen, she peered through a crack in her fingers, then lowered her hands altogether, confused. A moment later, though, Jane gave them a bit of a push forward, and for what seemed like ages, they flew together down the slide, Maura giving a shocked but joyous little shriek, and Jane whooping and hollering all the way. When they hit the ground, Maura stumbled, Jane still pressed close, and the two of them went tumbling to the bark. Jane immediately started laughing her head off, rolling back and forth slightly before sitting up and looking over at Maura, who was laying on her back, and seemed quite stunned. Jane crawled over to her, feeling a little worried.
"Hey, you okay?"
Maura could only tilt her head to look at Jane, and for a moment, she was terrified the blonde was going to burst into tears. But before that fear could settle, Maura giggled once, then again, then curled up slightly on the ground in peals of breathless and melodious laughter, which soon triggered more of the same in Jane.
"That was such fun!" Maura finally exclaimed when the laughter subsided "Can we go again?"
Jane nodded eagerly, and the two hurried back up to the top again, Maura a little less careful than she had been the first time.
For a good twenty minutes, the two girls reveled in each others company, Jane always going full pelt, and Maura always following, cautious but gleeful, right behind. Not a single piece of the play equipment went untouched or unexplored, but when Jane looked over to the park bench to see her mother putting her shoes back on and checking that the stroller was ready, she felt her stomach sink like a stone. She'd seen those signs before, and it meant that it was nearly time to leave. Normally she would grumble, but grudgingly obey, if only because it had been drilled into her to honor her father and mother. Today, however, she felt she was willing to risk it and apologize in confession on Sunday if it meant more time with Maura. She figured if God had wanted her to leave the playground when she was told, he wouldn't have sent her an angel to play with.
With only a rushed "follow me" she grabbed Maura's hand again, leading her in a run to the three stone tunnels that sat, paint flaking, in a slightly curved row on one side of the playground. Maura only briefly protested about how going inside might dirty her dress, but silenced herself on noticing she'd already gotten it, by her standards, filthy. Crawling to the middle tunnel, the pair sat, cramped together, in the shadows, Jane suddenly looking more subdued, her knees up to her chin.
"What's the matter, Jane?" Maura asked quietly, moving closer to her.
"It's my mom," Jane said, half miserable, half grumpy "She's gonna wanna leave, I know it."
Maura smiled, but her heart grew heavy; she didn't normally find other kids who wanted to play with her. Who didn't think she was weird or stuck up. She didn't want to lose this. Lose Jane. But she played brave, trying to convince herself just as much as her new companion when she spoke again.
"We'll see each other again, right? I live here in Boston."
"Yeah..." Jane sniffed, seeming a little morose still, but as she thought on it, she brightened "Yeah! Course we will!"
"Jane! Janie, it's time to go home now, come on!" Angela's voice rang from outside, getting closer. Jane winced slightly at the sound, then sighed.
"I really wish I didn't hafta go," she muttered, her dour mood returning for a moment "You promise we'll play again sometime?"
Maura nodded, with a reassuring little smile "I promise."
"Jane, I mean it! We have to go!" Angela's voice rang out again, closer even than before. Jane was about to yell back, when suddenly, Maura was much closer to her than before, and before Jane could possibly know what to say or do, Maura had pressed an innocent kiss of reassurance and farewell to Jane's cheek.
"I'll see you real soon, Jane, okay?"
Jane could only nod, watching mutely as Maura crawled carefully out of one end of the tunnels, before finally having the sense of mind to exit from the other, not far from Angela who gave an exasperated smile when she spotted her.
"Look at you, dirty as always, and look how red you are! You must have been running a lot!"
"Yeah, sorta," Jane nodded, looking around for Maura, only to see that she was already back by the oak tree, picking up the book she had left there, and returning to her caregiver.
"Ready to go home?"
Jane was unusually silent for a minute, watching as Maura left the park from the gate on the other side. Jane hoped she'd turn back and wave or something, but it never came. Her shoulders slumped slightly, and she gave a gruff little sigh.
"Yeah, ma. Let's go."