Thank you so much everyone for reading, following, favoriting and loving the first chapter of my first R&I story! Thanks a lot also for your great reviews. It means a lot to me.
I like reading scripts, so I chose to write fanfictions as if I was writing episodes more than chapters. Besides, I want to let your imagination flow, means I will not tell you on purpose what the characters are thinking or their point of view (ie. "Maura caught herself looking at the spot where the soccer player had disappeared. " What was she thinking about? We don't know... well I do ;)). Sometimes (not always), you will get answers in the following chapters. So, feel free to ask questions!
Enjoy chapter 2! :)
Chapter 2. "Let's Go Rizzo Let's Go"
Carson – StubHub Center – Sunday, 3:45pm
"Mommy! Row K seats 8 and 9… It's right here!"
"Great! Okay, go sit down, I'm coming!" Maura said, walking down the stairs slowly. Wearing high heels in a stadium was definitely very challenging.
A few seconds later, she finally reached her seat. "Doctor Isles?" The surgeon looked up and saw a woman in her fifties, standing up next to Lorie, grinning broadly.
"Yes?"
"Hello! I'm Angela Rizzoli, Jane's mom. I'm so happy to meet you."
"Ooh, hello! Nice to meet you too, Mrs Rizzoli", she replied, shaking her hand.
"Oh please, call me Angela."
"Hello, my name is Lorie Isles, but you can call me Lorizzo", the little girl said, holding out her hand to her.
Angela and Maura smiled. "Hello Lorizzo!", the older woman said, shaking her hand, "I'm happy to meet you too. Janie told me you wanted to be a Rizzoli girl like her?" Lorie turned beet red and looked down. "Well, I can tell you that you really look like my little Janie when she was your age."
"Really?", she said, looking at her with a big smile on her face. "Jane gave me her 'Red Sox' cap!"
"Your daughter has been very generous with Lorie yesterday", Maura added.
"Janie likes making kids happy, especially the ones who love her. But she's not the only one. I read you care a lot about children, Doctor."
"Please, call me Maura!"
"I'm very impressed by your career and accomplishments. Everything you've done and what you wanna do for women and children is pure goodness and… kindness… Actually, it's hard to say. There isn't a word strong enough to describe everything you do."
"Wow… Thank you very much, Angela", she said, her eyes welling up with tears.
"I had always dreamed that one of my children would love to be a doctor, but unfortunately, the first one, my only daughter, chose to be a soccer player, the second one, my son Frankie, is a police officer and my youngest son, Tommy, became a Chef."
"Mommy! Look! Jane's on the field! LET'S GO RIZZO LET'S GO! LET'S GO RIZZO LET'S GO!", she was singing.
Maura felt embarrassed and laughed, blushing.
"She's really into soccer, isn't she?", Angela asked, with a smile.
"Yes, she is. As she says, she wants to be a 'Rizzoli'… means a professional soccer player as talented as your daughter."
"Does she play soccer?"
"She plays at school, but I'm sure she'd be more than happy to join a soccer club."
"You should talk to Jane about it. She'll give you some very good advice."
"OHE OHE OHE OHE… RIZZO…. RIIZZOOO… OHE OHE OHE OHE… RIZZO…. RIIZZOOO… COME ONNN RIZZOOO!"
Maura smiled. "It's her first time… her first match. She's never seen Jane playing for real so…"
"You don't have to excuse your daughter's behavior, especially in a stadium, you know... The day you'll see my three children watching the Red Sox on TV, I can tell you, I'll be the one to be sorry, trust me..."
"GOOAAALLLL JANE SCORED MOMMY! LET'S GO RIZZOOO LET'S GOOO!"
"So, I read you're gonna move out to Boston next month?"
"Yes… My mother will retire on May 31 and I'm expected to be at the Foundation on May 20. So I talked to Lorie's school principal. He told me she should be a grade ahead of her age, in Grade 2. So, there won't be any problem at all for her to skip school before the end of the trimester. But honestly I am not ready. I have a lot of things to do, to think about, to set up... I took the weekend off, but actually I should be working right now."
"Don't feel guilty, Maura. You're not only a doctor, but also a mom and a woman. Don't forget it! You made your little girl's dream come true this weekend. Now… you should be… selfish a little… I read you were a single mom?!…" The doctor nodded. "No Mr Love?!" Maura did not answer. "I-I'm sorry… It's none of my business, I shouldn't have asked you that."
The surgeon blushed, smiling lightly. "I don't do relationships…" Angela stayed quiet, looking at her with confused eyes. "I-It's… it's complicated", she added.
"Anyways… If you need someone in Boston to babysit your daughter, you can count on me, Maura." She opened her purse and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. "Here is my cell phone number. You'll be more than welcome to call or text me anytime you want."
"Thank you so much, Angela. It's really nice of you. I do appreciate it."
"I'm sure Lorie will like my little TJ… Tommy Junior. He's my first grandchild, but I hope Janie and Frankie will follow their brother's example soon."
"GOOAAALLLL! MOMMY JANE SCORED AGAIN! BRAVOOO RIZZOOO! 2-0! LET'S GO RIZZOOO LET'S GOOO!"
Carson – StubHub Center – At the restaurant - Sunday, 6:45pm
Final score 6-0 - The US team joined all the guests in the restaurant of the stadium, before sitting down for an all-you-can-eat buffet. Jane Rizzoli was talking with Carli Lloyd, but she couldn't help but burst out laughing when she saw Abby Wambach, making funny faces.
"So Rizzo…, who's the hot blonde model with this mini-you? Isn't she the one you were talking to yesterday?", Abby asked.
"Doctor Isles. She's the Chief of Surgery at the LA Children's Hospital, and the Head of the Isles Foundation in Boston… And this little girl is her daughter, Lorie."
"Wow Rizzo…I knew you were into models, but I didn't know you also liked playing 'doctor'?" she said, with a smile.
"I'm not! Besides, I don't date straight women…"
"Who was talking about dating?" Her teammate could not help tease her with the 'doctor' jokes.
"Haha very funny…"
"By the way, what about Jessie?"
"She called me and texted me twice two days ago."
"And?"
"And nothing! She reached my voicemail and I didn't text back."
"What did she tell you?"
"Always the same… 'I'm really sorry. It didn't mean anything. I'm still in love with you. Please forgive me…' and blablabla", she said, imitating her ex-girlfriend, making her raspy voice so girly. "It's an old story for me now… She shitted on me, she broke my heart, period. And you? How are things doing with Sarah?"
"Perfectly fine!"
"Great!... Okay, I'm gonna see my Ma. See ya!"
"Have fun!", she said, grinning.
Jane rolled her eyes, stood up and headed toward her Ma's table.
"…she stopped wearing red socks when she was 10", Angela said, and Lorie giggled.
"Oh my gosh…" Jane sighed, when she heard her last words.
"Aahhh finally!", Angela exclaimed. "The superstar deigns to spend some time with the woman who gave birth to her thirty-four years ago and this brilliant doctor and her little cute baby girl. Thank you Janie!"
"Maaa!", she grumbled, glaring at her.
"What? I'm just saying the truth."
Maura looked down at her salad, smiling. Sitting next to her mom, Lorie was highly impressed, looking at all these soccer stars. "So Lorie, did you like the match?"
"Oh yes… You played super well. I didn't stop supporting you!"
"I think I heard you: 'Let's go Rizzo let's go!', it was you, huh?"
"Y-Yes… You heard me!?", she blushed, happily.
"Yeah I did… Thank you! It helped me score my four goals today."
"R-Really? It helped you?!"
"Huh-uh…", she confirmed, with a smile.
"Did you hear that Mommy? I helped Jane Rizzoli score her goals!", she said, with arms up in victory.
"Yes, I heard it. Now eat your steak before it gets cold", she said, turning her baseball cap back-to-front.
"I hope one day I'll score as many goals as you."
"Do you play soccer?"
"At school, yes. We have a match next weekend against another school".
"Don't you wanna join a club?"
Lorie nodded and ate another piece of meat.
"Janie! Let this little girl eat her steak now!", Angela reprimanded her.
"Oh huh…", the doctor said, "Do you have any advice for us about it? I don't know any soccer club in Boston and… Lorie will turn 7 next month, is it too soon to start playing soccer?"
"No… It's the perfect age I would say… huh… Which school will she go to?"
Maura felt guilty and embarrassed at the question. "A-Actually… huh… I was so busy these days I didn't have time to find a school. I-I know it's late and I should have thought about it earlier but… I've been called to replace my mother two months ago and…"
"It's okay, Doc! I get it!… You know, it's not my place to judge you or whatever… You don't have to justify yourself. Besides, you already explained everything in Doctormag, so…", she said, offering her a comforting smile.
"You read Doctormag! When?", Angela asked, astonished.
"Last week, Ma…", she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Well… huh… Doctor… Does she run fast? Is she good with the ball?"
"Honestly I-I don't know… I've never seen her play."
"Well… I think you know I'm about to launch my academy in August. Well, there's no place left but uh… if she's good I can talk to my co-manager, Vince Korsak, and make an exception. Lorie told me she was in Grade 1…"
"Yes, she is, but I talked to her school principal, and he told me she should be a grade ahead of her age, I mean in Grade 2."
"Good!"
"Well… Can you tell me more about your academy?"
"I'll give you Vince's phone number and he'll explain you everything in details. But to make it short, the academy welcomes ten groups from U7 to U18…"
"From U7 to U18?", the doctor frowned.
"I mean Under 7 to Under 18", Maura nodded, "The junior academy provides the developmental bridge between recreational soccer and competitive soccer. Besides, all teachers we hire are not only highly qualified, but also open-minded, passionate and patient with kids, because I think that 'there are no bad students, but bad teachers'. Kids will learn respect and how to live in love and peace no matter gender, skin color or sexual orientation. All these things are extremely important to me. They also have to understand that to reach their goals, they have to work hard. So, to stay at the academy, we require a GPA of 3.0 or higher. And… if things are going well, we plan to build dorm rooms for teens in the near future."
Maura was listening to Jane carefully. She was very impressed. "Well… Wow… I mean… Your academy seems to be perfect."
"I hope it will…"
"So, do you think you can accept Lorie?"
"She has a match next weekend!?"
"Yes, her school will play against another LA school on Saturday at 2pm."
"Will you be there?"
"I… huh… No… Unfortunately I can't… I've got two delicate surgeries scheduled on Saturday. Francesca, the nanny, will go with her."
Jane took her cell phone out of her pocket and opened the calendar application. "I'm free next Saturday. I don't have any training sessions next weekend. So, I'll come on Sat and I'll bring my camcorder with me. That way, you'll be able to watch your daughter when you're back home."
"Jane… You don't have to…", she sighed, a bit uncomfortable.
"It's okay!", she cut her off. "Besides, I can't accept her at the academy without seeing her play. I had to reject more than two hundred kids who didn't pass the test three months ago. So, it wouldn't be fair towards them."
"Yes, you're right but… Look, I don't want you to ruin your weekend for us… It's…"
"Don't worry Doc, it's okay!"
"You're gonna see me play?" Lorie asked, dropping her jaw in surprise."
"Yes I am, kiddo. I need to see how good you are."
"Why?", she frowned.
"Janie, don't put some pressure on this little girl, she's only 6!", Angela reproached her.
"Because, if you're very good, you'll go to my school and my friends will teach you how to be a Rizzoli girl like me", she said, smirking at her. Lorie turned red and looked down at her empty plate. "But I'm sure you'll be the best next weekend!"
The little brunette looked up with a big smile on her face. "I will Rizzo!"
"Great! Uh… Doctor, could you please give me the address of her school?"
"Oh yes, of course", she replied, opening her purse to pull out a pen.
"Rizzo!", said Carli Lloyd, Jane's Flash teammate, "Sorry but we have to catch our flight to New York at 9:30! Abby called a cab. We have to go now!"
"Oh okay! I'm coming! See ya outside!"
"'Kay!"
Jane, Maura and Angela stood up. "Well…", said the Italo-American player, "Lorie, I see you next weekend okay?"
"Okay!", she said, before running into her arms to give her a kiss on her cheek.
"Wow, goodbye to you too!" She smiled, turning Lorie's 'Red Sox' cap back. "Ma, I see you on Wednesday?"
"Okay, Janie! Take care of yourself and tell Jessie she can go f… fool herself…"
"Maaa!", she sighed deeply, rolling her eyes. "How do you know that? Did you coax Frankie into telling you anything… again?"
"Meee! Nooo never! You know me, Janie, I would never do that!"
"Yes, it's precisely because I know you that I asked you this question."
"Well, I care about you, sweetie, and I always told you I never trusted her. She used you and..."
"Maaa please. I don't need more advertising right now."
"Okay… Sorry!"
"Have a safe trip back home, okay? And thanks for coming today!"
"Take care baby!", the older woman put her in a bear hug in a flash.
"Maaa", Jane said, pulling away from her embrace. Then, she turned around and looked at the surgeon. "Well… huh… Doctor… It was… nice to meet you and your kiddo… Well, I guess I won't see you next weekend so… I'll send a copy of the match on DVD to your attention at the hospital, and I'll let you know what we'll have decided."
"Thank you! Here is the address of Lorie's school and… this is my cell phone number if you need further information for your academy."
"Okay thanks! I'll text you Vince's phone number tonight. The academy is open from 8am to 5pm daily, but not on Sundays."
"Good!... Huh… Thank you very much Jane… again. I do appreciate everything you do for Lorie!"
"You're welcome, Doc! If I can help kids or make them happy, I'll always do it!"
She nodded, with a smile. "Oh, and please, call me Maura."
It was Jane's turn to nod at her. "Ciao Signore!", she said to them, picking up her sport bag and grabbing her suitcase.
Lorie waved at her, "Ciao Rizzo!"
Jane smiled and waved back at her.
To be continued...
