Chapter 21
Riley's first day of school had finally arrived, as well as the day Jane and Maura would go back to work. Jane was excited to go back. She knew there was a killer on the run and she couldn't wait to dig into the existing case.
Riley was nervous. Maura had to wake her three times before she finally got out of bed. She managed to eat some breakfast, but she said her stomach hurt. Jane worried about the girl. She knew everything was going to be okay eventually, but she hated seeing her daughter this nervous.
"Riley, are you almost ready? We need to leave soon." Jane said as she entered Riley's bathroom, seeing her standing in front of the mirror, trying to tie her hair in a ponytail. Jane and Maura would drop Riley off at school before going to the precinct.
"Hm hm." Riley nodded while she looked at her reflection with a pained look on her face.
"Are you okay?" Jane asked as she leaned against the doorpost.
Riley let her hair fall down again before trying to tie it up in a high ponytail. "My hair doesn't want to do what I want it to do." She said frustrated. She groaned angrily and pulled her hair after another failed attempt. She let her head fall down and Jane saw her hands clamping the edge of the sink as her shoulders started shaking. "I'll never get my hair to look good! Why am I so darn ugly!" She said loudly.
"Baby," Jane quickly took a few steps to wrap her arms around the now crying girl "are you crying because your ponytail doesn't look the way you want it too?"
Riley buried her face in Jane's shoulder and shook her head. Jane felt Riley's tears soaking her t-shirt and rubbed Riley's back. "You're so beautiful, my girl." Jane whispered as she kissed Riley's head that rested on her shoulder.
Riley shook her head again. "No I'm not." She mumbled.
"Are you kidding?" Jane cupped Riley's face and lifted it off her shoulder. She placed her hands on Riley's upper arms and turned her around to look in the mirror. "Look at that!" She said, referring to Riley's reflection. "How can you say that's not beautiful?"
Riley shrugged and looked down at her feet. "I just want to look pretty for my first day of school."
"But you do look pretty! Honey, look." Jane stood behind Riley and cupped her face to make her look at her reflection. "Those clear blue eyes, your gorgeous smile," Jane smiled when she saw Riley blushing, "your pretty brown hair and the way it makes your eyes stand out… You're absolutely beautiful, sweetheart."
Jane wiped a tear that trickled down Riley's cheek and gently spun her around in a warm embrace. "It's not just about your hair, is it?" She asked softly.
Riley shook her head and wrapped her tiny arms around her foster mother. "I'm just scared."
Jane rested her chin on top of Riley's head and saw Maura entering the bathroom. "Is everything okay?" Maura asked softly. She walked over to the two of them and rubbed Riley's back.
Jane smiled reassuringly and kissed Riley's temple. "It will be." She felt Maura's right arm wrapping around her waist as het other arm hugged Riley close.
Riley turned her head to look at Maura and smiled sadly when Maura kissed her forehead. "Everything will be fine, love." Maura said softly as she wiped Riley's cheek with her hands.
Riley sighed deeply and dapped her eyes with her sleeve. "I know."
Maura turned Riley around and took the hair tie from Riley's hand. "Let me see about that ponytail." She said as she winked at Jane, telling her that she's heard their conversation.
Jane smiled adoringly and watched Maura's skilled hands brushing Riley's hair back, teasing it lightly to create more volume and tying it in a classy but playful ponytail. She took out a few strands in the front to make it look more casual and kissed the back of Riley's head. "There." She said softly. "All better."
Riley's eyes met Maura's in the mirror and she smiled gratefully. "Thank you."
"You look beautiful, my baby girl." Maura said with a sweet smile.
Riley chuckled and playfully pinched Maura's arm. "Don't call me baby."
Maura smiled brightly and looked over her shoulder as she left the bathroom. "Yes, my baby."
Jane laughed and wrapped her arms around her daughter again. "You'll be fine."
Riley smiled and looked up at her foster mother. "I know."
"Good." Jane tickled Riley's sides and kissed her cheek. "Now let's go. Did you brush your teeth?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. You wanna smell?"
Jane smirked and walked behind Riley out of the bathroom. "No thanks, I'm good."
When they got downstairs, Maura handed Riley her backpack and put on her coat and grabbed her medical bag. "I made you lunch, it's in your bag."
"Thanks." Riley put on her jacket and followed her mothers outside to the car. Riley's new school was relatively close to BPD so it was no trouble to drive Riley back and forth. After a short and quiet drive, Maura parked the car in front of the big, classic building that was Riley's new school.
Maura turned off the engine and turned in her seat to look at Riley in the backseat. "Ready?" She asked with a soothing smile.
Riley sighed and nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."
"Do you have your schedule?"
"Yep. First class is English lit, B-building, second floor, classroom 32."
Maura smiled and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Give me a kiss."
Riley moved forward to wrap her arms around Maura's neck in a tight embrace and allowed her mother to kiss her cheek. "I love you, honey." Maura whispered as she stroked Riley's cheek.
Riley smiled and slowly untangled herself to grab her backpack from the seat next to her. "I love you too."
Jane opened the door and got out of the car, standing in front of Riley. She placed her hands on Riley's upper arms and looked sweetly into her clear blue eyes. "You're beautiful." Jane said softly. "And you're gonna do great today."
Riley smiled and wrapped her tiny arms around her mother. "Thank you." She whispered.
"Just be yourself. You're perfect just the way you are."
Riley smiled and accepted another kiss on her forehead. "Don't get mushy now."
Jane laughed and pulled Riley close for the last time before letting her go. "Have fun."
Riley took a deep breath and waved at Maura in the car. She tossed her backpack on her back and walked towards the big building. Jane watched her walking the stairs and disappearing into the building. She felt a sting of pain in her chest as she thought about her small daughter in such a big school. She sighed deeply and sat back down next to her wife.
"It's tough, isn't it?" Maura asked softly as she brushed Jane's hair back.
Jane nodded and looked out of the window, seeing dozens of teenagers walking around, chatting cheerfully, complaining about classes and making jokes about teachers. "I finally know what my mom's feeling when she's talking about letting her kids go." Jane said absentmindedly, still staring out of the window. "I know she's 14 but she's all alone in that big building, surrounded by all those kids…"
Jane felt a warm hand on her shoulder that turned her towards her wife. Maura leaned forward to press her lips against Jane's. They kissed slowly and passionately, soaking in their endless love and comfort. It grounded Jane in their familiar foundation of love; she knew that everything would be okay eventually.
"It'll be fine." Maura whispered as they broke the kiss, staring lovingly in each other's eyes.
"I know. I love you so much." Jane whispered, placing another quick kiss on Maura's soft lips. "So, so very much." She felt tears burning in her eyes, her heart swelling with both love and sorrow. Never ending love for her wife and daughter, sorrow for her little girl inside that big, scary building. "I'm so in love with you." She whispered. She couldn't find the words to explain the love she felt for her wife. All she could do was tell her how much she loved her over and over again. Every minute of every day she fell more in love with that beautiful, genius, awkward and caring woman she was lucky enough to call her wife.
Maura brushed Jane's dark curls back and smiled lovingly, adoration and devotion showing in her sparkling hazel eyes. "I love you too, Jane. With all my heart. I'm so lucky to love you."
Jane smiled and pressed her lips against her wife's, softly stroking Maura's perfect curls. "I would love to spend the entire day in this car telling you how much I love you while we wait for Riley to come back, but I really think we should get going."
Maura chuckled and pulled away from her wife, moving to lean back into the driver's seat. "Hmm, that sounds like a lovely day, though." She said with a smirk while she started the engine.
Jane laughed and watched the school getting smaller in the side mirror. "It'd get boring pretty soon probably. After 'I love you so much' and 'I'm so in love with you it hurts', I'm pretty much out."
Maura hummed amused. "You know I would never get tired of hearing that." She smiled as she took a turn towards BPD. "Jane Rizzoli is in love with me, that makes me the luckiest woman in the world."
Jane smirked and they drove in a comfortable silence for a while. She looked at her wife sitting next to her. She watched her gorgeous eyes focusing on the road in front of her, a content smile on her beautiful face. She was wearing a stunning dark green dress that fit her amazing body perfectly. "I always thought it was the other way around." She said softly. "Somehow, the amazing doctor Maura Isles fell in love with the idiot Jane Rizzoli and now I'm the happiest idiot on the planet."
"I have a weak spot for idiots."
"You're supposed to say 'no, you're not an idiot, you're perfect'." Jane smirked while Maura drove the car onto BPD's parking lot.
"You're not perfect, that's why I love you so much." Maura replied simply.
Jane couldn't stop herself from smiling as she looked over at her wife next to her. Endless love overwhelmed her. Jane still couldn't believe she was married to this amazing woman. She would never get used to Maura's beauty, her kind heart and the never-ending love that still grew between them.
Maura turned off the engine and looked at Jane, surprise that she didn't reply. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Jane smiled and pulled Maura in for a sweet kiss. "Absolutely nothing."
Maura accepted the kiss, placing her hands on Jane's neck. "I love you, Jane."
"I love you too, doctor." Jane smirked. They broke the embrace and Jane opened the car door to walk into the precinct.
Jane was looking forward to the day, but she couldn't help her mind from wandering off to Riley in school. She knew Riley was probably fine, but she noticed that she checked her phone more often than usual and time went by slowly.
There had been a brutal murder three days ago. A woman in her mid thirties was killed after she got home from a party. They knew the killer was a middle-aged man that had been arrested for dealing drugs before, but he was on the run and not easy to catch. The team interrogated everyone that had any relation to the killer, but it led nowhere.
By the time it was time to pick Riley up from school, Jane was frustrated and ready to take a break. She walked into the morgue and saw Maura staring through a microscope. "Hello, doctor." Jane teased while she placed her hand on Maura's lower back, fighting the urge to wrap her arms around her wife and kiss her deeply. The lab was full of people and Jane and Maura tried to keep their loving touches to a minimum at work.
"Hello, detective." Maura replied with a sweet smile. "Is it time already?"
Jane nodded and looked at her watch. "Riley will be done in about 15 minutes I think. Are you almost done here?"
Maura sighed deeply, took off her gloves and Jane followed her to the morgue. The dead body of an old man lay on one of the autopsy tables, neatly covered with a white sheet. "I'm afraid not. I just got a call from the governor, he asked me to do an autopsy on a suspicious death." She pointed at the body.
"We got another murder?"
"I don't think so, no." Maura replied, looking annoyed. "It's about politics."
Jane let out a frustrated growl and leaned back against an autopsy table. "So basically someone with a lot of money died and someone who is good friends with the governor and has even more money wants an autopsy."
"I can't confirm that, but that's a way to look at it, yes." Maura sighed when Jane threw her head back in annoyance. "I'll try to be as quick as possible, but I have to at least examine the body today. I can perform further analysis tomorrow."
"Okay." Jane said in a dissapointed tone. "I'll pick Riley up."
"I'm sorry, Jane." Maura seemed genuinely sad. "I wish I could come with you."
Jane walked to her wife and wrapped her arms around Maura's waist, kissing her soft lips. "It's okay. We'll be fine."
"Are you finished for today, Jane?"
"We have one more person to interrogate, but I can ask Korsak to take that. I have to finish some paperwork but I can do that from home."
Maura reached up to kiss her wife and tucked a loose curl behind Jane's ear. Jane smiled at the touch. "Do you have any idea what time you'll be home?"
"Depends on my findings, but I'll try not to make it too late." Maura replied. "You and Riley will have to have dinner without me, though."
Jane nodded and kissed Maura's lips again before she let go. "We'll manage."
"Make sure it's healthy, Jane." Maura said with a strict look on her face. "Riley needs her strength."
"I'll get a salad with the pizza." Jane smirked and dodged a playful slap from her wife. "We'll be fine."
"Give Riley a kiss from me." Maura kissed Jane again and grabbed a clean pair of gloves, bracing herself to cut up yet another dead body.
"Will do." Jane answered as she walked out of the morgue. "I love you!"
"I love you too."
Jane stood in front of the car, searching for her daughter in the crowd of high school students that emerged from the building. After a few minutes, she saw her tiny daughter walking out of the building, waving to a girl that walked the other way. Jane smiled and was happy to see Riley interacting with someone. As soon as Riley spotted Jane, she quickly walked towards her and stood on her toes to wrap her arms around Jane's neck.
"Hey, sweetie." Jane smiled and accepted the tight hug. "You survived!"
Riley laughed against Jane's shoulder and Jane tried to pull away but Riley shook her head and pulled Jane closer. "Not yet."
Jane swallowed a lump in her throat and happily squeezed Riley close. "I'm here." She whispered. She rested her chin on top of Riley's head and watched older students looking at them, some of them laughing, some of them smiling sweetly. Riley didn't seem to mind. Jane felt her exhaustion and she felt that Riley was happy to be in her mother's arms after her first, exhausting day.
Riley took a deep breath and loosened her tight grip on Jane, showing a shy smile. Jane kissed the girl's forehead and opened the car door for her before getting behind the wheel. She started the engine and saw Riley resting her head against the window, her eyes closing in exhaustion.
"Should I wait 'til we get home before asking about your day?" Jane asked with a sweet smile, knowing Riley needed some time to adjust and come to herself.
Riley hummed and nodded. The drive home was quiet and went by quickly. At home, Jane made two damping mugs of hot chocolate and sat next to her daughter on the couch.
"You can ask now." Riley smiled and took off her shoes to pull her feet up on the couch, hugging her knees to her chest.
Jane brushed a strand of hair out of Riley's face and rubbed her back. "How was your day?"
"Better than I expected." Riley smiled proudly and Jane felt her heart swelling with pride and relief. "There's a girl named Sarah in my class, she's really nice and she showed me around and stuff. The classes weren't as difficult as I expected, but I haven't had any of the hard ones yet."
"How are the people in your class?"
"It's alright. Not all of the kids are nice, but maybe that's just because I'm new. The teachers are pretty good, I think. Although the teacher for English lit is probably a hundred years old."
Jane laughed and grabbed her mug from the table, "English teachers are always old."
"He's nice though."
Jane smiled and relaxed against the cushions of the couch, putting her feet on the table in front of her and turning her head to look at Riley. "Did you get a lot of homework?"
"Not really. But I have to catch up on reading because I'm so behind. Mr. West said I should try to finish three books in two weeks."
Jane hummed and watched Riley taking a book out of her backpack. "I'm guessing it's not Harry Potter anymore."
Riley smiled and browsed through the books. "No. I have to finish The Catcher in the Rye first."
"That one's not so bad." Jane replied. "I remember reading it."
Riley fumbled with the paperback of the book and Jane saw a hint of worry in her eyes. She put her mug down on the coffee table and leaned on her elbow, studying the girl next to her. "What's wrong, baby?"
Riley sighed deeply. "Some of the boys were mean."
Jane immediately felt her heart drop and her chest burning with anger. "What? On your first day? What did they do?"
Riley shrugged. "I had to tell the class something about myself and I was very nervous and they teased me."
"How?"
"I don't know, they were laughing at me, making fun of me behind my back, stuff like that." Riley spoke quietly, her cheeks red with an embarrassed blush.
"What a bunch of assholes." Jane hissed. "Don't pay attention to them, okay? Just let them be stupid and ignore them. They'll get bored of it eventually." Jane fought to keep control of her emotion, anger creeping up on her.
"I probably said or did something stupid, giving them a reason to make fun of me."
"Hey," Jane cupped Riley's cheek to make eye contact, "nobody should ever find a reason to make fun of someone. Just be yourself, focus your attention on the classes and that girl Sarah. Those boys will butt out eventually."
Riley smiled and looked at Jane with shimmering eyes. "You think so?"
"Yes." Jane wrapped her arms around Riley and pulled her close to her, kissing the top of her head as she rubbed the girl's back. "And if they don't, I'll knock some sense into them. Nobody makes fun of my daughter."
A/N Again, I'd just like to say that this story is so very close to my heart and it means the world to me that people are taking the time to read and review it. I hope I handled Riley's first day well, I was a little nervous about it. Please let me know your thoughts and feelings, reviews make me so, so happy!