Ten
"Is it going to be just us?" Maura asked, while pounding on the dough.
"Looks like it. Tommy's got a family day with Heather's side of the fam. Frankie and Sydney are out on wedding duties." Angela said. "Getting tired of me?"
"No no! I would never! It's just odd not having such a loud and full house." Maura quickly replied. She pounded more while watching her kids. The TV illuminated the Discovery Channel. Arissa laid on her stomach, reading the latest Psychology Today magazines with several Disney books scattered around her. Johnny sat up straight, clutching onto his signed baseball glove, eyes glued on the television, watching Jamie and Adam test their latest experiment.
"I forgot to mention that Tanner is finally settling in!" Maura said, half smiling.
"What? As in moving in?" Angela asked. The thought of Tanner made Angela tinge in discomfort despite knowing him, briefly, for close to a year. He had a world renowned career, money, but a desperate personality. Something about him made Angela try extra hard just to like. She knew his professional life and very little about his personal. Hence knowing the arrival of Tanner made Angela confused. Was she happy Maura is seeing someone? Heck, she didn't even know if they were anything at all.
"No! It's not…not yet time." Maura said." He'll be settled in his apartment tonight. He also insisted on seeing us."
"Oh…" Angela muttered. She tried to give her Rizzoli smile, but failed half way. "Well, I look forward on seeing him!"
"Angela, is there something wrong?"
"No! I suddenly remembered-." Angela was interrupted.
"Mommy! What does this word mean? Arissa asked.
"Which word, honey?" Maura wiped her hands before crutching down.
"This one." She pointed at the bolded word. Maura squinted her eyes before realizing what her daughter's little finger pointed at.
"Where did you get this?" Maura asked, suddenly feeling light headed.
"That's what it means?" her green eyes sparkled.
Maura quickly shook her head. "No, sweetheart. That's not what it means."
"Well what does Riizzzzooolliii mean?" Arissa asked again. Angela quickly dropped what she was doing. "And what does Jaaaaaaaaaaaaannnneeee mean? And why is there a line after the R word and Isssles."
Maura laughed at her mispronunciation, but was quickly drawn back to her questions.
"Maura, what is it?" Angela asked.
"It's," she whispered, "the birth certificates. Arissa found them."
Angela's eyes grew wide. No one had seen the certificates since they were born. At a quick glance, Angela saw Jane's signature on the line and below it, read mother. She noticed the curves of each letter, suddenly missing and hating her daughter.
"Mommy!" She said. "Aren't you going to tell me?"
"I…" Maura's voice cracked. She didn't have an answer nor did she ever anticipate having this discussion.
Then there was a knock on the door.
Maura's throat refused to signal out any words. She let her eyes display her lost state.
"I'll get the door." Angela said.
Maura nodded, still unable to speak. She watched Angela exit the kitchen. "Arissa, give this to mommy."
"Will you tell me what it means though?"
"Later, okay?"
"Promise?"
Maura couldn't reply. Instead, she looked into her daughter's eyes. She grabbed the birth certificates and placed it on top of the microwave.
"Maura! Look who's here!" Angela yelled. Behind her appeared a tall, well-built man, dressed in a suit, and holding several bags.
Maura's eyes alerted up. "Tanner!" She walked to him, meeting halfway. She didn't initiate the hug, but once it was, she couldn't help but to smile, even for a little while. Kisses began to smother Maura's face as she tried to pull away.
"I miss you." Tanner said in between kisses. From Angela's view, Tanner wrapped his entire body around Maura as she attempted, but failed, to pull back. In short, it could have been his over-desire for Maura or Maura simply did not entirely love the guy. She decided to follow along with the second possibility.
"Tanner!" Maura said as she gasped in between breaths. "Tanner, stop!"
"Why?"
"We're not the only ones here." With that, Tanner stopped. Over Maura's shoulder, he eyed the two children.
"Oh…" he said. "Before I forget," he ran back to his bag and pulled out several gifts. He went over to Johnny and Arissa and said, "These are for you! I got them from Italy!"
Neither one of the children budged. Like all kids, they were taught to not accept anything at all from strangers. And although Tanner entered their lives when they turned three, Johnny and Arissa viewed Tanner as a complete stranger.
"What do you say, you two?" Maura said.
In unison, they replied. "Thank you, Tanner."
"You're welcome." He smiled forcefully; sadden by the lack of emotion and appreciativeness in their voice.
"Are they always like that when he's around?" Angela quietly asked Maura.
"I…" The two women continued to observe Tanner. He kneeled down on both knees while the two kids stood side by side, almost two arms apart from Tanner. They showed no friendly or hatred to him. From a grandmother's perspective, Tanner was over doing his actions. He simply tried too hard to get something that was never there.
To save Tanner from further rejection, Angela called for dinner. He quickly grabbed Johnny and Arissa's, pulling them to the table, despite their refusal.
"Angela?" Tanner said. With the sound of her name, Angela felt chills run down her spine. Although she didn't mind being called by her first name, for reasons yet to be admitted, Angela hated hearing it from Tanner's mouth. She felt disrespected and at most, disgusted.
Hiding her disapproval, Angela smiled and said, "Yes, dear?"
"Thank you for letting me come here at such short notice."
"Oh!" Angela pretended to be surprised. "Not a problem. You are welcome here all you like!"
"Let's eat!" Maura said. "Kids, what did I say about elbows."
"Sorry, ma…" Johnny said.
"I've got a story about my last patient back in Italy!" Tanner said.
ˣˣ
Jane tried to control her breathing. Her hands shook as she looked through her binoculars. Twenty minutes ago, a young blonde walked into the house. Since then, nothing came about.
Jane thought about her talk with Dr. Greene ad how she would talk to Frank. She thought about faking an arrest. But if that spread to headquarters, she'd be out of a job.
"Suck it up, Rizzoli." Jane said. She took a deep breath, slipped on her aviators, and exited her car. She walked onto the pathway, remembering Frank's positions on the grass. She could see large imprints still fresh on it. Jane gulped for air as she made her way up the porch. She faced the door, realizing in the next few minutes, someone was either going to get hurt, arrested, or everything would be calm.
Jane knocked on the door.
With every passing second, Jane felt her lungs tighten and contract. Her posture suddenly shot up. The rest of her body remained unmoved. Then she heard footsteps.
The young blonde opened the door. She tied her bathrobe together and from the look of her face, Jane must have interrupted a round of sex. The blonde's expression read aroused, still recovering from her climax. Jane did her best to show little emotion as she held up her badge.
"I'm with Florida State Police. I need to speak with Frank Rizzoli." Jane said clearly. The blonde continued to smile.
"What's this about?" she asked.
Before Jane replied, Frank walked behind the blonde, wrapping his arms and kissing her neck. He too looked like he came out from his own climax. Suddenly, the sound of Jane's voice registered in Frank's mind. He quickly stopped and stiffened his posture.
Frank squinted his eyes. "Jane? Is that you?"
Jane removed her sunglasses. Her eyes were fierce with anger, disgust, and betrayal. She purposely did not reply, intending that her appearance would do the talking.
"Sweetheart," Frank said to the blonde. "Go upstairs. I'll be up soon."
"Okaaaaaay. Not too long." She replied seductively. "Promise?"
"Promise." Frank smiled. He watched the blonde retreat upstairs. Turning back to Jane, his smile faded and terror grew in his eyes.
"Shouldn't you change too?" Jane asked. "You're practically calling out to the neighborhood 'Ladies, I'm free and my dick is waiting for you!'"
"When did your tongue get so disrespectful?" he asked.
"When did you start to put your dick up young bimbo's asses?" Jane shot back. She slammed her fists against the wooden pillars, hearing a small crack. "And I'll be the one asking questions."
Frank's brown eyes stared back.
"I need…I need to know why you left."
Silence.
"I need to know when you wanted to leave." Jane's eyes turned into a deadly shade of gray. "I need to know what changed."
"Janie-."
"Don't Janie me."
"Its been seven years." He said.
"Eight."
"Fine eight. Shouldn't you have forgotten me?"
"Damn it, what part of 'I'll be the one asking questions' do you not understand? And to remind you, you left when we were adults. ADULTS. Capable of remembering. Are you going to answer?"
Frank looked with no emotion. He studied every popping vein of his daughter's face. He shook his head, afraid to speak the words he would most likely regret.
"Okay." Jane put her aviators on. "Just know I'll be back. You better have answers when I return."
Jane stomped out of the porch, feeling her hair bounce with authority. She entered her car and drove away without glancing back at the house.
ˣˣ
"Jane, try not to break the knob, will you?" Dr. Greene said. She watched Jane walk into the room.
"Sorry." She replied.
Dr. Greene set aside her files. "How did it go?"
"He didn't say shit."
"What did you ask him?"
"Why he left, when in the relationship he wanted to leave, and what changed."
"What was his response?"
"He bullshitted his way out of it." Jane said. "I told him I'd be back tomorrow."
"And how did he take that?"
"I drove off before I looked at his face. Would you believe his girlfriend answered the door?"
"How do you know she's a girlfriend?"
"Both of them had the 'I had sex' written all over their faces." Jane buried her head in her hands. "God, she was such a skank! I can't believe she had the guts to do that!"
"No one knew you were going there."
"But still! Do they answer the door every time after having sex?"
"Jane, I think you need to -."
"SLUT. SLUT. SLUT. And my dad; A DOUCHE!" Jane yelled.
"Jane -."
"He had his damn arms around her and kissed her fucking neck. IN FRONT OF ME, god damn it!"
Dr. Greene dared to not interrupt. Knowing Jane, nothing would stop her from venting.
"And he had the balls to try and father me up again." Jane closed her eyes, exhausted by the reoccurring images.
"May I…say something…?" Dr. Greene asked.
"Yeah, sorry…it's so…"
"I understand. I really do." She replied. "Now, taken that your visit produced very little desirable results, what is it that you really wanted to get to?"
"I thought…I just said them." Jane said. "Unless, you're asking about something else."
Dr. Greene stared at Jane. "Do you remember what today is?"
"Thursday…"
"Yes…that. I meant the significance of the date."
Jane thought about it. Did she forget something? "What is it, doc?"
"Four years ago, you came bursting through those doors just like you did today. In fact, if I remember correctly, you broke it. Do you remember what you said?"
"I was drunk. I was crying. I was…lost."
"Mmmhmm." Dr. Greene said.
Jane voice heighted with fear. "Do we…do I have to-?"
"I need you to tell me what you remember."
"I remember saying 'I hate myself…how could I do that? I'm a terrible person.'"
"Good. Now Jane, you know my policy and how I don't do background checks and so on, right? I only work with what you tell me."
Jane nodded.
"We've spent four years trying to work out what you have yet to admit to."
"What's your point?" Jane asked.
"Exactly what I just said. Now, I respect your decision to not tell me certain things in your life. I work according to my patients time. But its been four years and I -."
"Could you stop saying that?"
"What?"
"Just stop… I hate that num-."
"Four? That number agitates you right?"
"Stop…"
"I stand by my policy with patient confidentiality. However, I decided to read some old newspapers."
"You did not." Jane gasped.
"I did, Jane. I had to get the ball rolling and under your circumstances, it had to be done."
"How much did you read?"
"First date to your disappearance. Did you know they stopped writing about you after three months of your sudden disappearance?" Dr. Greene allowed the statement to settle. "Is that why you're here in Florida?"
"I don't need this shit." Jane threw the pillow aside and headed for the door. She felt hurt and betrayed, even though she knew she shouldn't. Her life in Boston suddenly became exposed within seconds. How could she let this happen? As she reached for the doorknob, she heard Dr. Greene say:
"Don't let your dad's past actions cover for yours. You're going to resent me for saying this, but your actions from four years ago, mirrors what your dad did to you and your family. When you go back tomorrow, I suggest you put your anger aside because once he finds out what you've done to your own family -."
"Dr. Greene," Jane started with her back still against her. "Just…stop. I can't…believe… just… I'm leaving."
Dr. Greene watched Jane slam the door behind her, knowing what she said and read finally cut open the broken fragments of Jane Rizzoli. And finally after four years, the two could start working on putting the pieces back together.