Dancing Through Life
Jane and Maura met at a dance party and have been dancing ever since.
8&7
"Ma, why do I have to go to this stupid party?"
"Because it's your friend Joey's birthday and you wanted to go."
The small brunette stomped her foot. "That's before I found out it was a stupid DANCE party." She crossed her arms.
"Jane Clementine Rizzoli, you said you wanted to go, so you are going. Plus you look so cute in your dress."
Jane rolled her eyes at her mother.
"Fine but I'm not dancing."
...
Jane stood against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. She was the definition of a ray of sunshine...really.
Everyone seemed to be dancing on the floor but she noticed another girl sitting at a table by herself. She walked over and sat next to her.
"Hey, I'm Jane. I haven't seen you around before." She offered her hand.
"Maura. I don't really anyone here. My nanny is Joey's aunt. She brought me along because I can't be home by myself." She shook the offered hand.
"Well now you know me. So you're not so lonely anymore, right?"
The other girl nodded.
"Come on, let's dance."
"Oh. I don't know how." She blushed.
"Well it's a good thing I don't know either. We'll just have fun. Plus look at these guys, they don't care."
Jane stood and held out her hand.
"Dance with me, Maura?"
"Ok."
The two girls made their way to the makeshift dance floor and "danced" the day away. They hopped and shuffled and twirled until the last song came to an end.
Jane turned her head over to where her mother was.
"That's my, Ma. I gotta go. I really had a lot of fun today, Maura. Thanks for dancing."
"I should be thanking you, Jane, for this wonderful time."
Jane gave the smaller girl a hug and turned to leave.
"Bye, Maura."
"Bye, Jane."
16&15
Jane grabbed her wallet and keys on her way out the door. She nearly made it to the door before get mother came out of the kitchen.
"Where are you going dressed like that?"
She looked down at the tux she rented from the store down the block.
"It's Maura's debutant ball thing tonight. I'm going."
"Dressed like that? Why don't you wear a nice dress or something?"
"Because I'm Maura's escort. She said she'd only dance with me and I don't want to be the only escort in a dress. I don't want to let her down. She's my best friend and I'm going with or without your permission." She stood tall and started down her mother. Angela caved.
"Ok, ok. Well come here, no daughter of mine is going to walk around town with a poorly done bowtie."
Jane's smile rivaled the sun.
"Thanks, Ma."
"There. Now you look perfect." She smoothed the lapels of the jacket and walked her daughter to the door.
"Janie?"
"Yeah, Ma?"
"You don't have to lie to me anymore. I know about you and Maura. I think I've known since Joey's birthday party."
Jane looked down at her shoes.
"Look ma, I really like her and I'm not giving her up."
"I'm not asking you to. I just want you happy."
"What about Pop?"
"I'll deal with him. Now go dance with your girl. I won't wait up."
...
Jane walked into the ballroom and her breath was stolen by the sight. Everyone was dressed to the nines and there were waiters waking around with trays full of food and drink. She tugged at the sleeves of her jacket and shifted nervously from foot to foot.
"You look stunning, Jane."
She turned to face Maura as she stepped into the spot next to her. Jane took in the dark green dress from the straps slightly hanging off of smooth shoulders, all way down to the hem that brushed against heel encased feet. " You look...wow."
"Wow?"
"Yeah, wow."
"I like wow." She grabbed Jane's hand and headed for backstage.
"You know people are going to talk about us right, Maura?"
"I don't care. Do you, Jane?"
"Nah. My Ma, already knows." Maura gasped.
"You told her?"
"No. I was on my way out the door and she stopped me. She fixed my bowtie and told me I didn't have to lie to her anymore. She's ok with it. With us."
"Oh, Jane. I'm so happy!" She gave her a quick kiss as not to completely ruin her makeup.
"And what about your parents?"
"We're about to find out." She took Jane's offered arm and took a step forward.
The M.C. spoke into the microphone. "Maura Dorthea Isles escorted by...guest?"
The duo walked out onto the stage.
The room was full of polite applause.
...
"Let's dance, Jane."
"Everyone is staring." She stood and offered her hand to Maura anyway.
"Doesn't matter. They're all too "polite" to actually do anything."
The girls made their way to the dance floor and Jane spun Maura out and back in.
"You've been practicing."
"I wanted tonight to be perfect for you."
Maura placed her head on Jane's shoulder.
"It is, I'm with you."
They stayed like that until the song ended and another started. They made their way to the edge of the floor and stayed in their embrace swaying in time with any song that came on. They were lost in their own little world.
18&17
Jane stood in front of her mirror and tried to fix her tie. She groaned in frustration.
"Ma!"
Angela came bustling through the door. "What? What is it?"
The teen pointed at her neck.
"It's evil."
"Sure it is, Janie. Stay still."
She fixed the bowtie again.
"I thought you would've learned after the debutant ball."
"It's evil."
"Whatever you say, Jane. When are you and Maura coming home?"
"Sometime before 1 maybe 130. Prom ends at midnight."
"Ok. I'll leave some cannoli for you guys to snack on."
"Sweet! Thanks, Ma. I gotta go. Love you."
She kissed her mother on the cheek and walked down the hall to the guest bedroom turned Maura's soon after the Ball. She knocked on the door.
"Maura we're going to be late getting to the restaurant."
"Come in, Jane. I'll only be a minute."
The brunette walked in and sat on the bed that's way if she passed out she'd hit something soft.
"I know it's kinda tradition for couples to match for prom but this is a bit much, don't you think Maura?"
They both broke out in laughter.
"I figured after the Ball I'd be the one in the tux and you'd be in a dress. I guess I was wrong." She fiddled with her bowtie.
"Can you?" She pointed to her neck.
"Nope. Ma!"
Angela came back in. "You girls are going to be...late." She looked back and forth between her girls.
"You girls took the matching outfits to heart didn't you?"
"Angela, can you fix this evil thing?"
"Man, you guys even talk the same."
The Rizzoli matriarch fixed a second bowtie and walked them to the door.
"Be good my babies."
"Always, Ma."
...
The tux clad girls walked into the hotel ballroom hand in hand and made their way over to one of the empty tables before anyone else took it.
They ignored the hushed whispers and sideways glances. A slow waltz came on and Jane extended her hand and bowed down.
"May I have this dance, Milady?"
Maura giggled and took the offered hand. "Of course you may, good sir."
They started dancing and the crowd parted like the Red Sea to give them space. Most were in awe that two teenagers could move so fluidly, others were jealous and valiantly tried to compete with them. They failed.
The waltz gave way to a simple salsa as the requisite Spanish song played. They upstaged everyone again. One of the girls that had been watching came up to then as the song ended. Jane stood slightly in front of Maura and stood to her full height.
"Where'd you two learn to dance like that?"
They relaxed when they realized she didn't mean any harm. Jane spoke up first, "We kinda taught ourselves. Dancing was always been our thing. Ever since we were kids."
Maura gave Jane a quick kiss on her cheek and spoke up. "It's actually how Jane and I met."
With that the couple walked of the dance floor and to the refreshment table.
The King and Queen were announced and it was no surprise that Miss Captain of the Cheer Squad and Mr. Running Back Captain of the Football Team were crowned high school royalty.
That didn't matter to them. They lost themselves in their own world once the music started playing again.
...
Jane and Maura stood in the kitchen of their house lightly swaying to the music in their heads.
"I had an amazing time tonight, Jane. Thank you."
"It was nothing. You know I'd do anything for you. I love you."
Maura leaned into Jane and buried her head in her neck.
"I love you too, Jane. Thank you for everything that you did after the Ball."
"You're family, Maura."
"Not really. I'm just a disgraced Isles. I'm not a Rizzoli."
"You can be."
"What?"
"Marry me, Maura."
Maura looked up into Jane's eyes. She saw only love and devotion.
"We're young."
"So we wait. We wait until we're out of mom's house and have jobs and our own place. What do you say, will you marry me?"
"Yes, Jane. I will most definitely marry you."
They kissed one last time and went to their separate rooms. Neither was aware of Angela, Frankie or Tommy listening from the living room.
24&23
Jane opened the door to her and Maura's apartment. They finally did it. They finally had their own place. Jane saved every cent she could of her paycheck since she joined the police academy right out of high school. Between all of the grants and scholarships Maura revived she was able to go to BCU virtually for free.
She walked into kitchen to find Maura standing there holding a bottle glass of wine and a bottle of beer.
"So how'd it go?"
Jane took a long pull off her beer.
"You're looking at Boston Police Department's youngest detective."
"Jane!" Maura wrapped her arms around her detective and kissed her soundly.
"Congratulations, Jay. I'm so proud of you."
"Thanks, baby."
"This calls for a celebration." Maura dragged Jane to the living room and started pushing the furniture toward the walls.
Jane went over to the corner and turned on their playlist. She pulled Maura into her arms. "Can you believe it? I just made detective, you and your super genius-Ness are about to finish medical school and be one of the youngest doctor's BCU has ever had." She softly kissed Maura.
"It's seems just like yesterday you were pulling me onto the dance floor of Joey Grant's birthday party."
"Time sure has flown by."
Jane and Maura dance around their living room until the playlist ended. Maura restarted it.
"Do you remember prom, Jane?"
"Best day of my life."
"You said we'd wait until we'd had our jobs and our own place. We have all that now, so let's get married."
"What right now?"
"As soon as we can, Jane. Just our friends and family."
"Yeah?" Jane and Maura kissed.
"Yes. Let's get married."
24&23 (3 months later)
Jane stood from her chair at the table.
"I wanted to thank all of you for being here at our wedding. I can't really explain how we got were today; we just did. We met when we were kids and have been together ever since. We've lost people we never thought we'd lose but we stayed together. We danced when we met, we danced when we came out, and we we danced when we got engaged."
Maura stood next to her.
"We danced in the beginning, we are dancing now, and we will continue dancing until the end. It's what we do; we're just dancing through life."
Hope y'all enjoyed it. If you didn't, sorry. I can't please everyone. See you lovely people next time.
I still don't have a new charger for my computer so I can't update Doctor, Doctor. Sorry, loves.
Hold on a little longer.
Cheers,
Max