Ch 25: The Kids Are Alright

The year is 2019, and another Rizzoli-Isles Thanksgiving is about to commence. So much has changed for the better. The three girls are practically women, and Samuel is six years old, and in the first grade. He is in school with his cousin TJ who had quickly become his best friend. The two boys went out for Halloween this year as their favorite superheros, with Sammy as Batman, and TJ as Captain America. They loved going house to house together, running down the street pretending to fight crime before falling asleep in the living room still in their costumes with candy wrappers on the floor.

Angela is busy in the kitchen preparing the turkey, with all of her grandchildren helping peel potatoes and cut up vegetables. Nikki is now coming through the door happy to be greeted by th smells of Thanksgiving dinner soon to be in front of them. Nikki is now twenty-four and recently engaged to her boyfriend Matt. Everyone could see this has been a long time coming for the two of them, and are very excited for her.

"Hi Nanny." Nikki said hugging her grandmother.

"Hi Sweetheart. Where's Matt?"

"He's at his parent's house, but he'll be here for dessert. Where are Moms?"

"Your Mom is upstairs in the shower, and Momma went to the bakery. She wants to surprise your mom with a cake to celebrate her promotion."

As soon as she said that, Maura came home with the cake in hand searching around the room for her wife.

"Hi Momma."

"Hi Sweetie." She said kissing Nikki. "Is your mom still upstairs?"

"Yeah, she's still finishing up her shower. Can I see the cake?"

Maura opened the top to reveal a sheet cake iced in vanilla frosting with a police shield on it and blue lettering that read "Congratulations Sgt. Rizzoli-Isles." Jane was promoted to Seargent of the Homicide unit a few weeks ago, and everyone was happy for her. She received a lot of congratulations from her family and all the officers in the precinct. Jane had to admit, "Seargent" did have a nice ring to it, and she was more than ready to take this job.

"Wow, that looks awesome, they did a nice job on it. It is chocolate right?"

"Oh, of course. You're mother wouldn't have it any other way." Maura said quickly depositing the cake in the fridge to hide for later.

Maura is so proud of her wife, and so proud that they've shared fifteen years of marriage together raising these beautiful children. Times weren't always easy, and not always fun. This job they have together has pushed them in harms way more than once. Luckily both are still here to serve justice another day. Their kids have made friends, lost friends, spent many nights studying and working on school projects, and basically trying to figure life out. They are by no means perfect, but all the kids have grown up learning to have compassion and respect for others, and for both moms, that's as close to perfect as you could get. Jane was soon downstairs to join the rest of her family in preparing for dinner. She kisses all of her loved ones, then joins her daughters at the table.

"Hey, Congratulations Seargent." Nikki says to Jane.

"Thank you. When did you get here?"

"A little while ago. Matt will be here later for dessert."

"So...how goes the wedding plans for you two?"

"Uhm, not too bad. We're hopefully looking at August or September for a wedding date."

The upcoming wedding certainly had a lot of details, and decisions to be made. Still there was one detail that weighed heavily on Nikki's mind, something she's yet to reveal to her parents, and wants to this weekend. She just doesn't know how.

Kaylee has finished cutting up the carrots, and Gracie was still quietly peeling potatoes. Kaylee herself has grown up a lot in the past few years. She is now fifteen, and has been dating her boyfriend, Luis for two years now. They have been friends since they were children. Luis is the younger brother of Nikki's friend the years, the two grew close, their friendship turned into a relationship, and before they knew it the two were in love. There were many things about Kaylee's relationship with Luis that excited and scared her. She was still so young and not yet an adult, and the two have been taking it slow. Being in love made Kaylee feel like an adult, and Kaylee hoped she was ready for it. She was happy to have Nikki around this weekend to talk to about it. Nikki and Matt moved back to Boston after graduating college, and the family was happy to have her close by again, especially Kaylee since she has a lot she wanted to discuss with her big sister. Nikki later found Kaylee in her bedroom, and the two were able to talk privately.

"Hey little sister"

"Hi." Kaylee said looking up from her book. "So are you excited about getting married?"

"I am. I hope I'll be good at this whole marriage thing."

"You will be."

"So how are things going with you and Luis?"Nikki asked her.

"It's going good."

"How good?" Nikki asked in a sly tone teasing her sister.

"Ya know, good." Kaylee blushed.

Nikki joked, but she could see her sister and Luis really cared about each other. Kaylee talked about Luis a lot, and how sweet and genuine he was. He was always kind and courteous towards her from the time they were children holing the door open for her. An act of chivalry he picked up from his father. Luis had even carried Kaylee all the way home one time when she fell off her bike, and broke her arm. He's always been kind and gentle, and Kaylee truly cared for him as he did her. There was no doubt in her mind she really loved him.

"I've been thinking a lot about Luis lately. It came up once or twice in conversation, and I'm not sure, but I think I may be ready." Nikki knew what Kaylee was getting at, and could see she was nervous about the conversation, so she thought she'd help her along.

"For...what, sex?"

"Maybe." Kaylee sighed." I've been thinking a lot about it. I know I love him, and I think I want to, it...it's just a little scary. When did you know it was the right time for you?"

"Well, it's hard to say. Not everybody is going to be ready at the same time, but it has to be something you know you really want, not something you're doing because you feel like you have to. Of course it'll be scary the first time. If you really love them then it's great. Just make sure you're really ready."

"I know, I will."

"Did you ever talk to Moms about this?"

"No, I mean. it's not that I don't want them to know, it just feels weird talking to our parents about this. I know they'll give me the speech about safe sex which of course I've heard before. From them and from school."

"Yeah, I remember." Nikki chuckled.

"Actually, I have something I haven't told Moms yet. Something I want to tell them this weekend. I want you to be the first to know."

"What is it?" Kaylee asked.

"I'm pregnant."

"Wow."

Kaylee couldn't believe it. Her big sister was going to have baby. It's a secret Nikki hadn't shared with their parents yet she shared it with her. It made Kaylee feel honored to be privy to this information, and for Nikki to want to confide in her.

"So how far along are you?" Kaylee asked.

"Eight weeks."

"Does Matt know?"

"Yeah, he's been great about it, thank God. We talked about having a baby someday, I just thought I'd be married by then."

"So...How are you feeling? Are you happy about having a baby now?"

"Well yeah. It's a little early, but I'm happy. I just hope Moms aren't disappointed in me."

"But you're married or you will be anyway. They know you and Matt are in a loving relationship, so it's not like you're being irresponsible. I'm sure Moms will see that."

"Yeah, I hope so."

Kaylee smiled taking her sister's hand. The girls were definitely in different places at this stage of their lives. Kaylee and Nikki were talking about their love lives, which was a far cry from Barbie dolls and Frozen. Nikki liked seeing her sisters so grown up.

The turkey was finally ready, and as more people are arriving, it is now time to eat. Frankie and Tommy are here with Lydia and TJ. TJ and Sammy greet one another showing off their new superhero toys. Also Hope arrives with Cailyn joining the family for dinner. Hope has rather enjoyed having more family around to spend the holidays with making things more interesting. Angela reflected happily at all the people in her life. She's always wanted to be surrounded by those dear to her heart. She's had a few rough patches between her divorce, having to sell her house, and start over again after raising three kids most of her adult life. to top it off she got stuck with her husband's 27,000 dollar tax bill. If it wasn't for Tommy's help contributing money from his settlement, she doesn't know where she'd be now. Today she is the grandmother of five wonderful children, and she is proud to see her own children have raised great kids.

Dessert time soon arrived, and so has Nikki's fiance Matt. Matt observed the family all around him that he would soon be marrying into, and while he was a little nervous he loved Nikki very much, and he couldn't wait. Matt told his parents about Nikki's pregnancy, and they were thrilled about becoming grandparents. Thankfully he was there to be with Nikki when she revealed the news to her parents, hopefully they'd be equally excited. Soon Nikki found herself alone with Maura, and she saw an opprotunity. Maybe divide and conquer was the strategy.

"Hey Honey."

"Hey Momma. Everything was really good. Nanny really out did herself this year."

"She certainly did." Maura paused for a moment wanting to ask what was on her mind, but didn't know how to say it. She thought it best to just come by it honestly.

"So...Honey can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." Nikki answered curious as to what was coming.

"How far along are you?"

"What?" This caught Nikki by surprise, but she probably should have figured she couldn't hide something like this from Dr. Isles.

"Well I noticed you're flushed, you're breast size has increased."

Nikki quickly covered her chest at this observation.

"...and of course the no wine at dinner. So...?"

" A-about eight weeks. I wanted to tell you this weekend..."

Nikki was quickly interrupted by a hug from her momma, much to her relief.

"Mom doesn't know yet;does she?"

"No, not yet. She's gonna be so excited."

"I hope so. I mean I was hoping this would happen after I was married."

"Sweetie, you're grown up, and responsible. Mom will be happy that you're happy."

"Hey what's going on?" Jane said walking over to them, and Nikki froze.

"Go ahead Honey, tell her."

"Uh...Mom, I'm going to have a baby."

Jane was speechless, and could only wrap her arms around her daughter. Nikki was happy to have this out in the open, and released a few tears. Jane kissed her face.

"You're really gonna have a baby?"

"Yeah."

Nikki was happy the news went so well, and all were happy for her. The Rizzoli-Isles family was happy and excited to welcome the next generation. Jane was really excited to see how she and Maura would be as grandparents, and to see what has made her mother so happy all these years.

The evening was soon winding down, and another Thanksgiving has come and gone. Jane loved her congratulations cake, and sharing her happiness with those she loved. Dinner was being cleaned up, and everyone was gathered in the living room, All but Gracie who was sitting by herself outside. The twelve year old was surrounded by people who had their lives figured out, and plenty to look forward to. Meanwhile she was just trying to deal with Junior HIgh, and figuring out who she was, and how she was feeling inside. They were feelings she didn't know how to describe or how to talk to anyone about them.

"Hey you." Gracie heard from Nikki as she was joined by both her sisters.

"Hi. Congratulation on the baby."

"Thanks, What are you doing here all by yourself?" Nikki asked her.

"Just needed time to think." Gracie responded staring at the ground.

"Is everything okay?" Kaylee asked. "Do you want to talk about something?"

"Not really."

"Whatever it is Gracie, you can tell us anything." Nikki told her.

"I don't even know how to start I just...I - I don't know, I'm so confused."

"Gracie, we're here to help you. It's okay." Nikki said patting her shoulder.

Gracie nervously wrung her hands. She's never said this aloud to anyone in her family before, and she's not even sure she's ready to admit it to herself.

"Well the thing is...I'm not sure...I think I might be gay."

Gracie let the statement float in dead air as she slowly looked up at her sisters while they glanced at each other, and then back at her.

"You don't look surprised."

"We kind of figured you might be. We were just waiting for confirmation." Kaylee told her.

"Yeah, I think Moms know too." Nikki added.

"I haven't begun to talk to them about this. I'm not even sure what this all means yet."

"Well Gracie, you certainly don't have to worry about them not accepting you, given the obvious." Nikki said.

"I know, that's not the problem."

"Then what is?"

"Once people know then word will get around school, and I don't want people to think the reason I'm gay is because my parents are."

"Let them say what they want to. We know what the truth really is." Kaylee said hugging her sister.

"Look I know how hard things can be at school, and I can only imagine what you're going through, but I think being out in the open would be a relief; right?Keeping this secret can't be easy."

"There's just still so many people that are unaccepting. I don't know how Moms do it."

"Well no one would know better than they would. You should go talk to them." Kaylee told her.

"Yeah, we're all here for you G dawg." Nikki said earning a chuckle from Gracie. "It'll be okay, I promise."

With that the girls joined the rest of the family inside. Throughout the years the Rizzoli - Isles family has been on an amazing journey . Through first kisses and falling in love, to welcoming new life. There have been sad, scary, exciting and happy times, and none of them would be traded for the world. With the kids grown up there's still their own journeys to come. Their own first loves, and soon another little one on the way. Life can be the craziest rollercoaster ride anyone is apart of, and if you're lucky you're not on that ride alone. This family has never left anyone alone. When one person falls another will pick them up. There has been more love in this house than one could ever hope for, and for whatever the future holds, surely through it all they will be alright.

The End

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