Chapter 25 :
Planning the wedding :
The next morning Jane woke up, a little hangover from all the champagne and wine she had the night before. When she opened her eyes, Maura was against her and her own arm was wrapped around her shoulder, just the way she imagined waking up every day for the rest of her life.
Not wanting to wake her up, Jane delicately extracted herself from Maura's embrace put on her engagement ring and discretely left the bedroom.
After that Jane made her way to the kitchen hoping that coffee was ready.
"Good Morning Detective." James enthusiastically said.
"Please James, not so loud, god that champagne and that wine…" Jane groaned rubbing her face with her hands.
"I'm very sorry Detective, would you like some aspirin?"
"I'm fine thank, but I can smell coffee."
"Yes, I just made a pot, will you be making Miss Isles' breakfast this morning?" James asked serving Jane a cup of black coffee.
"I don't think so, you know soon you will have to call her Mrs Rizzoli, well technically Mrs Isles-Rizzoli . For obvious professional reasons she wants to keep her name as well, but I'm pretty sure people are going to start calling her Mrs Rizzoli anyway." Jane said taking a sip of her coffee.
"I suppose that it's better that she keeps her name for work, but I'm sure if you emphasize on the fact that she took your name people will start getting used to it, even at work."
"Exactly, so tell me James, what do you think of our engagement?"
"I think it's not my place to make any comment about that Detective."
"Well I think it is, Maura loves you very much, she says you're family and speaks highly of you."
"Well I'm flattered, I have known Miss Isles since she was 5 and we spent a lot of time together, when she was little I took care of her and when she went to college here as well. And I'm very happy that she finally found someone who loves her as much as you and who takes such good care of her."
"Well thank you. So do you know if Maura and her mother have plans for us today?"
"I think they want to draw a schedule of all that needs to be done."
"By schedule you mean, a military timed schedule, with precise dates, times and duration for each single thing we need to do?"
"Pretty much yes, Mrs Isles and Maura are very organized. I think they both know what they want and who to contact, so things should run smoothly don't worry."
"Let's hope so, I'm happy I was able to take the week end off but I'm quite busy at work, so a tight schedule might be a good idea, you know I just want to give Maura her dream wedding, so what ever she wants is fine by me."
"Well If I may give you some advice, if you want to make her happy, don't just agree with all her ideas, you have to show her you're 100% invested in this. Propose some ideas, when she asks your opinion tell her the truth, you know." James said serving her eggs to Jane.
"I know Maura wants me to take a part in this give her ideas and all but I'm not into that stuff, but I will make the effort. I think the real challenge will be to keep up with the schedule and the tension. But I'm sure I will be fine, here she comes." Jane said raising her head hearing Maura approaching the kitchen.
"Good morning James." Maura happily said.
"Good Morning Maura." James replied serving her a cup of tea.
"Good morning love." Maura said sitting on Jane's lap wrapping her arms around her neck.
"Good morning babe, slept well?" Jane replied rushing her lips against hers.
"In your arms, always. So today we have a lot of things to do, I hope you're up for it."
"I sure am, let me guess, you and your mother want to draw a precise schedule so we know exactly what we need to do and when."
"I see you know me well." Maura smiled winking at James.
"Well yeah, I mean I think it's appropriate to have a schedule because we the hours we work if we don't set precise dates to do what we need to do we're always going to post pone."
"Exactly, so we're meeting my mother in about an hour to discuss everything starting with the date and the invitations, considering that we know exactly what printer we want Mother went there to take some samples."
"Perfect, well we just need to find a date."
"3 months from today would be great, the 9th of june, the weather should be nice, not to hot, but not cold either." Maura said taking a sip at her cup of tea.
"3 months?Can't we manage everything in I don't know a month or 2 maximum?" Jane choked her refusing to stay abstinent for that long.
"No we can't, a wedding needs time if we want it to be perfect, and besides my dress will at least take 10 weeks to be made."
"Oh, less me guess, custom made?" Jane said a grin smile on her face.
"Absolutely, we have an appointment in New- York next week. Come on hurry we should get dressed before my mother comes back." Maura said jumping up Jane's lap.
"You're not eating your breakfast?"
"I'm not hungry , please join me when you're done."
"Alright, just give me a few minutes."
A few minutes later when Jane arrived in Maura's old bedroom, she found her in front of her mirror, in her underwear.
"I like what I see." Jane smiled closing the door behind her.
" Do you think I'm fat?" Maura asked her hands on her belly.
"Of course not." Jane said wrapping her hand around her.
"Well I know I'm not fat, but I still need to loose a few pounds if I want to look my best in my dressing dress, from now on, not alcohol for me and the only sugar that I'm going to eat will be the cakes samples." Maura mumbled.
"I'm stopping you right here, you don't have a single pound to loose, you're perfect from toes to head, alright?" Jane objected trying to reassure her.
"You're saying that because you love me." Maura pouted.
"No I'm saying that because it's the truth, you have a perfect body, you have curves, but you don't have a single pound of fat, you're perfect. I don't want you to loose any weight, I'm serious, if that stupid designer says otherwise maybe you should find another one. "
"It's just I want to look beautiful, you know, you're lucky because you're naturally thin, I never have weight issues but I need to work out to maintain this body."
"Alright, first put this on, otherwise I won't be able to talk looking you in the eyes." Jane said handing her a robe.
"Thank you." Maura said sitting on her old bed.
"Look, you're the most gorgeous woman I ever met in my life, you're sexy and your body drives me crazy, you're marrying me, so my opinion should be the only one that matters. Well actually ask Frost or Frankie they will tell you the same thing. And even if you had a few extra pounds I would still love you alright, so just relax." Jane said pressing her forehead against Maura's .
"Will you still be attracted to me when I'm 9 months pregnant and I won't be able to see my feet?" Maura asked rubbing Jane's scars with her thumbs.
"Of course, there is nothing more sexy for me then my wife pregnant with my child. Alright?"
"Alright, anyway, are you alright with me leaving for New- York next week?It shouldn't take more then a couple of days."
"Well, I don't know, you know I don't sleep well If I'm not with you, but it's for a good cause.I'm going to miss you."
"Oh I know babe, but it's only for a couple of days. So before we meet my mother is there anything you like to discuss, things you don't want for instance."
"I don't see anything, but I'm sure I will find some things to object don't worry. Well actually there is one thing."
"Alright, what it is?"
"I absolutely refuse that you have strippers male or females for your bachelorette party."
"Well, you know my mother and my friends, the few close friends I have from my residency, they're not really the type to invite stripers don't worry. How about you? I'm quite positive Frankie Jr and Frost are going to hire a very gorgeous female stripper to give you a personal lap dance."
"Well, don't worry I will be happy to decline . Don't worry, you're the only one I want on my lap."
"Alright, I trust you anyway, there is something else." Maura said grabbing something behind her. I started making this when I was a little girl." She explained handing it to Jane.
"It's a scrapbook…"
"A wedding scrap book, I collected pictures, ideas, samples, you know." Maura explained biting her lip expected Jane to make fun of her.
"I thought those only excited in movies. I think it's cute, I'm not surprised actually you're always so well prepared. I hope I will be able to give you everything you dreamed of baby, really." Jane said going through the book.
"Well I already have you, which makes things perfect already." Maura smiled leaning over to kiss Maura.
"I'm sure you never imagined yourself marrying a woman."
"No, but when I imagined the ideal life partner , I imagined that person as carrying, loving and supporting as you."
"You're more romantic then I am, all I wanted was someone who could put up with my job and my crap you know . I never expected to find you, someone as good as you."
"Me neither, we're a perfect match in heaven, come on let's get dressed Mother should be here soon." Maura said jumping out off bed.
"Just promise me that this is still our wedding not her wedding. I won't let her decide what our wedding should be."
"I know babe, It's our wedding, we get to decide but taking some suggestions from both our mothers is always a good idea."
"Alright." Jane nodded hoping that Mrs Isles wouldn't impose her ideas.
The last thing Jane wanted was to come between Maura and her mom, she was happy that they finally had the relationship Maura always hoped for.
A few moments later Constance Isles arrived, so the 3 women started to work on a Schedule. Maura and Jane agreed on the date, well at least Maura did.
"So now that you chose a date we need to write the invitations and choose the paper, have a look at the samples I brought. Jane do you have your list of guests?" Mrs Isles asked.
"Yes, it's quite short, about 15 people ."
"Alright, well from our side it's going to be a bit more I'm afraid."
"I figured that much." Jane mumbled knowing that their small intimate wedding was turning into a royal wedding.
As Maura and her mother were discussing flowers, ice sculptures and food Jane sat there trying to visualize everything and realize that's absolutely not what she wanted. But it seemed to be what Maura wanted so she didn't object. After 2 hours of making the schedule Maura and her mother finally asked Jane her opinion.
"So, what do you think, do you think it's manageable?" Maura asked seeing that Jane's mind was somewhere else.
"I think we should have italian food." Jane let out without even thinking about it.
"Excuse me?" Maura's mom squealed .
"Well my family is italian and everybody who ever tasted my mother's food loves it, so I think it would be a great idea."
"You want italian food served at my daughter's wedding?" Maura's mom repeated hoping she had misunderstood her future daughter in law.
"It's my wedding too remember?Yes that's what I want or maybe it's not posh and fancy enough for you?" Jane said narrowing her eyes at her future mother in law.
"Jane, would you stop?" Maura objected not wanting to cause a scene.
"What? We said, actually you said you didn't a huge fancy wedding, but a small intimate one."
"I know, it's not because it's going to be small that it doesn't have to be perfect."
"I know sweetie and I want to give you the wedding of your dreams, but if I visualize what your mother is describing it looks more like a royal wedding then an intimate wedding for family and friends that's all."
"You're right, It's just I've been dreaming about this day my entire life, you know."
"Yeah it figured that out when I saw your scrapbook, look we can have the wedding you imagined when you were a little girl alright?Just know that I don't need all this to make this day memorable, I would be happy to marry you, tomorrow at city all, no fuss." Jane said holding Maura's hand .
"Well, don't worry about that, the mayor will be marrying you." Mrs Isles said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, he's an old friend of the family ."
"That's exactly what I'm talking about, I know we come from different backgrounds but the mayor?Really? I mean I thought we would asked Korsak to perform the ceremony."
"Who is that?"
"It's Jane's previous partner, he's a Sergeant now . Jane and him are very close." Maura explained.
" You get that right, he saved my life, he's like a father to me." Jane groaned a bit defensively.
"So if I get this straight, you want my daughter to eat italian food and to be married by your old partner?"
"Yeah, so?" Jane groaned feeling her pulse rising, but trying to control herself.
She knew Mrs Isles didn't want to hurt her feeling by insulting her family and friends, that she was just a bit posh.
"My daughter is…"
"I know an Isles, I know you guys are almost royalty but Maura is going to be a Rizzoli soon and we do things a bit different in my family and where I come from, get used to it ." Jane rasped raising her voice.
"Jane, mother please would you stop. I both love you but mother, Jane is right, this is our wedding and we should be the only ones to make decisions." Maura said trying to stop the quarrel.
"So you agree with Jane, you really want that kind of wedding?"
"Actually yes, I want a wedding that represents us, that represens who we are."
"You are an Isles and you deserve the best."
"The best for me is Jane, I don't really care if we get married at city hall or on a private island. I just want to marry her. I'm not rejecting where I come from but, after I met my biological father, I had this identity crisis, I didn't who I was. I was raised as an Isles but my blood was criminal blood. Jane and her family helped me through this, when I think about it, the most natural thing for me to be is a Rizzoli. I was born as the daughter of a criminal, raised as an Isles but I became a Rizzoli. Mother, I love you and dad, but this is who I am, who I became. It doesn't make me less you daughter. Please try to understand." Maura pleaded trying not to offend her mother.
All her life Maura dreamed to have a closer relationship with her mother, and now that they were finally close she was rejecting her and her name.
"Alright darling if that's what you want, I can't blame you for choosing another family, I was barely there for you when you where young."
"Please don't say that Mrs Isles, Maura loves you very much, nobody is perfect. Maura and that from the first day I met her became a part of my family, even if she was different from us we accepted her and now we accept you and your husband as well. We're going to be a big family soon. I think we can compromise. We can make this wedding as much a Rizzoli wedding then a Isles wedding." Jane said trying to calm things down.
"Alright, I'm sure we can do that, I will have to meet with your mother so she can refer me to a good italian caterer." Maura's mom said willing to accept to compromise.
Maura's mother wanted the best for her daughter, and was surprised that they didn't share the same definition of perfect. Just like Maura she was happy that they were finally close and didn't want her luxurious and ambitious tastes ruin their relationship. So she decided to compromise, trying not to be to offended.
"Absolutely , thank you, really, for your help and understanding. I know it must be hard to adjust to the situation, I mean between your daughter marrying a woman and the fact that I'm working class, I think you've been quite understanding, thank you." Jane said standing up and leaning over to hug her future mother in law.
"Well, I always wanted the best for y daughter and you seemed to be good for her so, I have no choice but to accept it ."
"Thank you babe, I'm happy we came to a good compromise between what I want and what we want, but there is one thing I won't negotiate about." Maura stated.
"The wedding dress?"
"Yes. I want the best wedding dress money can buy."
"Alright I won't argue on that I want you to look like a princess on our wedding day, but I will not let you start a diet. Mrs Isles please make sure that the designer doesn't ask her to loose weight ."
"Of course, if we pay a fortune to have a dress custom made it's not to lose weight to fit in it. "
"Exactly and besides Maura is perfect the way she is. "
"Thank you darling, I will try not to loose weight, but with the stress I can't promise anything."
"Well I'm here to help, we share everything now remember, the good things and the stress and tension as well."
The 3 women spent the rest of the afternoon talking about the wedding, mostly trying to choose the perfect paper for the invitations.
At first Jane had decided to agree with everything Maura wanted, even if it wasn't what they agreed on at first. But she realized pretty soon that it was her mother who actually wanted a royal wedding, that Maura truly wanted a simple wedding.
At first she was a bit nervous to stand up to her mother in law like that, she didn't want to create any tension. But after thinking about it, she realized it was necessary for her to impose her ideas and opinions if she wanted Mrs Isles to respect her. She knew Mrs Isles only had good intentions but she didn't want her to make decisions for them, otherwise she opened the door for her to choose their future house in a fancy neighborhood, the names of their future children….Allowing her to make wedding related decisions was like opening Pandora's trunk.
At first Jane was expecting her to fight a bit, but she quickly understood that Jane was right, that the wedding was theirs, not hers. Lucky for her Maura was on her side and deciding to go with the wedding they talked about from the start. Jane knew that even if they agreed on what kind of wedding they wanted, planning it was still going to be a pain in her butt.
So guys what do you think?I think Jane had to stand up to Mrs Isles and show her that it was her and Maura's wedding. I'm happy Maura decided to stand by Jane instead of taking her mother's side. I think they will have enough to deal with Angela who is quite intrusive without having to deal with Constance making decisions for them as well. It was important for Jane to set up some boundaries but without rejecting Maura's mom either.
As I said before I don't have a plan for this story, I just let my imagination go, that's why it's a bit disorganized, but at the same time it creates more drama and it's quite fun!
As always reviews are my drug, don't worry about me having an overdose!