September, 21st 1979
It's a chilly September morning in Boston. A young Angela Rizzoli has taken her daughter Jane to the park to play in the hopes of letting the child wear herself out. Jane is three years old and has long dark curls that her mother has contained into a ponytail. Her little button nose is pink from the chill in the air and her dark chocolate colored eyes are taking in the world around her.
She's dressed in worn jeans and small worn sneakers. Her red wool turtle neck sweater is the only thing on her that wasn't torn or scuffed in some place. She was an active little girl and never was afraid of jumping from any height or getting covered in dirt.
Her mother sets her down near a bench and shoos her off in the direction of the kids playing on all the parks equipment. Jane observes the other children playing while her mother takes a seat on the bench. Not too long after she runs off in the direction of the slides, not a care in the world.
A Minute later an elderly woman approaches the park with a little girl about the same age as Jane. The little girl grips tightly onto her nanny's hand as they make their way towards another bench next to the one Angela Rizzoli is sitting on.
The young mother looks over and watches the two approaching. The little girl has honey blonde locks that start to wave and curl just around her shoulders. She wears a grey dress with a large black pea coat over it and thicker looking tights to keep her little legs warm. Her boots appear to be suede and reach almost to her knees. She is shy and half hides behind her nanny as her eyes meet Angela Rizzoli, who is staring back at the girl with adoration.
The nanny takes a seat on the bench and urges the little girl she calls "Maura" to greet Angela. Maura waves timidly and is given a smile and a wave in return from the young woman across from her.
"MAAAAAAAAAMAAAAAAAA!" Jane yells as she runs towards her mother. The little brunette never slowed her pace. She ran full speed until her mother's body stopped her. Jane giggled and hugged her mother and Angela in turn smiled at her daughter and smothered her cheeks in kisses.
Maura cautiously stood her distance and watched curiously as the mother/daughter pair giggled and exchanged affections. The little blonde looked from her nanny, back to the pair no more than six feet away. Feeling a little twinge of heartache, curious as to why her mother never acted such a way with her, Maura turned to observe the other children on the playground. She was very apprehensive and remained glued to the spot.
When Angela finally released Jane, the little girl spun around ready to shoot back off towards the swings when she caught sight of Maura. Jane froze for a second as she watched the little blonde study the other kids.
When the nervous little girl finally turned back to take a peek at the mother/daughter pair again, her eyes caught sight of Jane's. Realizing someone had been watching her Maura tried to hide her face in her Nanny's lap. Jane instantly smiled and took a few tentative steps towards the other girl, seeing as how she was obviously shy.
The elderly woman rubbed the little girls back and gave her a few encouraging words. Maura stood up straight once again but clung to her nanny's dress. Assuming it would be ok to get closer Jane took a few more steps before she was right next to the honey blonde, staring into hazel eyes.
"Hi!" Jane's little voice squeaked.
"Hello." Maura said softly, trying to maintain eye contact with the stranger but feeling overwhelmingly shy.
"I'm Jane!" The little brunette stated.
"My name is Maura." The little girl replied.
"Mau-a." Jane repeated.
Maura cracked her first smile since arriving when she heard how the small brunette pronounced her name. Jane smiled in turn when she saw the honey blonde's dimples, causing her own to show as she did.
"Come on Mau-a!" Jane said excitedly as she took hold of the little blonde's free hand. Maura quickly flashed a concerned look towards her nanny but was only greeted with an encouraging nod. Jane tugged lightly on Maura's hand, pulling her along towards the swings, their little hands seeming to fit perfectly together.
For the next two hours Angela watched Jane and Maura take to each other. Watching Jane push Maura on the swings and encouraging her to go down the biggest slide. The young woman was even surprised when the two found a frog on a tree and took turns playing catch and release with it through the grass.
Angela approached Maura's nanny on the bench near hers and asked if it was at all possible to set up another play date for the two. The elderly woman told Angela that it was up to Maura's parents and handed her a card with their names and numbers on it. The younger woman accepted the card with thanks and the two commented on the girls gravitation towards one another.
After a few minutes of chatting the elderly woman excused herself and called out to Maura that it was time to go home. The little blondes face fell realizing she had to leave her new friend behind. The two girls walked hand in hand back over to their guardians and hugged before having to go their separate ways.