Sorry lovely readers, I know it's been a bit since I've updated, but I promise I can make up for it. As I treat to you all, and secretly because I couldn't stop typing, I've prepared for you this evening ….. Wait for it... Two chapters instead of one! I know, I'm amazing right, please hold the applause;)
Anyway's, yes you heard right (or read actually), after you get finished reading this insanely long chapter (like over 11,000 words [my longest chapter ever]) you get to read a whole other one! (You can thank me after you finish chapter 37;) )
Alright sorry, I'll shut up now... As always Enjoy!
December...
Two months, that's how long it took for us to find another school for Lucas. And to make matters worse, the school is an hour away from our house, meaning that we'll either need to put him on a bus, which will NOT be happening, or one of us will have to drive him to and from school every day. It's going to be such a pain, but Lucas is more than worth it. Maura and I searched high and low for good schools around our area, but sadly we came up short. We ended up having to go to Worcester where we found Sun Stone Academy, a school that met Maura's curricular standards, and was very on top of bullying and discrimination awareness. The area seemed good and when we took Lucas to see the place, he seemed to like it. Tomorrow is his first day, and I'm going to be the one taking him. Ma is unavailable to watch the kids so I'll be packing Simon and Bella along with me. It's going to be a rather fun morning.
"Are you all set for taking Lucas to school tomorrow?" Maura asks, breaking me out of my thoughts. I smile up at her, a smirk on my face, this being like the fifth time she's asked me this.
"Yes, honey, I'm good. I've got his papers, I know how to get there, and even better, the Tahoe is full of gas. I won't need to make any unnecessary stops." I say, my smirk turning playful.
"Good. You'll have to leave around 6:45 so you can get there fifteen minutes early. You're going to walk him in right?"
"I know baby, trust me, I know. And yes, I'll be walking him in, don't worry." I say, wanting to calm her nerves. Maura really wanted to be able to come with us tomorrow, but after getting stuck with several autopsies today, she has to be in bright and early to finish up, and get her results going.
"I really wish that I could go with you all. It makes me sad that I'm going to miss his first day at his new school." She says, and she's beginning to get all worked up about it again. I walk over to her and grab her shoulders, holding her still.
"Relax Maur, it's all good." I tell her, leaning in to give her a soft kiss. She stays frozen for a moment before relaxing, and she begins to kiss me back. I pull away and look down into her eyes.
"It's okay babe, trust me. There will be plenty of activities and what not to go to in the future. Missing this day is no big deal. Plus, it's not like its his first day of school ever. He's already been in school for about five months this year, so he's like half way done." I say, and she nods her head in understanding.
"I know, I know. It's just my overactive motherly instincts kicking in. I can't help it." She says, and I chuckle at her. Not in a making fun of her way, just a playful one. I wrap my arms around her and pull her to me, tucking her head under my neck, right against my chest. She wraps her arms around me and holds herself to me tightly. We stay like this for a few minutes, taking comfort in the feel of each other, when suddenly a loud crash from downstairs causes us to break apart.
"What was that?" Maura asks me, looking curiously out our bedroom door.
"Don't know." I say before briskly making my way out into the hallway and down the stairs, Maura following right behind me. When we get to the main level, all we see is the main floor empty. Curiously we make our way into the living room, and upon further inspection we find our family photo that was on the fireplace mantel lying on the stone floor, broken. Bella's pink chair is sitting suspiciously at the base of the fireplace.
"Weren't Bella's markers up there?" Maura asks me, and I suddenly remember taking her markers away from her earlier because she was coloring on her brother's shirt. I thought they were out of her reach, but apparently she's too smart for me, and used her chair so she could grab them. Unluckily for her though, is that she knocked off and broke our family picture in the process, which is going to get her in worse trouble than if she hadn't.
"Isabella Jane!" I call out loudly, knowing for a fact that she can hear me. Maura and I wait patiently for Bella to appear. After a couple of minutes I see her blonde hair poke out from around the corner of the hallway, and her little face appears right after. She has a guilty look on her face, and she walks extremely slowly over to us with her head down. She most definitely knows that she's in trouble.
"What is this?" I ask her calmly, but with an authoritative tone to my voice. She shrugs her shoulders in response, her head still hanging down. I reach my hand out to rest under her chin, and slowly nudge it up so she can look at me.
"Bella? What is this?" I ask once more, gesturing with my free hand to the broken frame on the floor. Silent tears start running down her face and her lip begins to quiver.
"Sorry mama, I didn't mean to's." She cries, suddenly breaking out into heavy tears. Her actions have the desired effect, melting me instantly, as I hate to see my daughter cry. I'm about to respond when Maura cuts me off however.
"Isabella, you know better than to climb up on your chair to reach things. What if you had gotten hurt? What if you had fallen and hit your head? Mama took those markers away from you for a reason. You were in trouble for coloring on your brother, and now you're in even worse trouble. Now go sit in the corner and think about what you've done." She says to our daughter. Her hands are resting on her hips in a typical stern mother pose, and she's looking down at Bella with a disappointed/angry look. Bella nods her head as more tears stream down her chubby cheeks, and she slowly mopes her way over to the corner, resting her head against where the walls meet. I can see her little shoulders shaking with her sobs, and it breaks my heart, but I know she's okay. She's just upset because she got in trouble.
I turn my attention away from Bella to look at my wife. I have to say that I'm rather shocked that she stood up like that and laid down a punishment for Bella. We've been discussing things more regularly about our relationship and our kids lately. She must have taken to heart what I said about me always having to be the bad guy. I can't help but let a smile fall upon my features, and Maura looks at me curiously.
"Why are you smiling?" She asks.
"Sorry, I guess it just makes me happy that you took control on that. Our discussions have really helped." I tell her, and it takes a couple seconds before she gives me a small smile in return.
"As much as I hate seeing her upset like that, I know that it needed to be done, and that I needed to be the one who did it. I don't want my children growing up thinking they can walk all over us and get away with whatever they want. And I wanted you to be the good parent on this one." She ways with a wink, and I chuckle before taking her into my arms. I lean back and kiss her lips briefly, pulling away with a smile.
"Thank you." I say to her.
"Of course, we're in this together, we have to be equals." She responds, and I nod in agreement.
"Mommy, juice peez!" I hear a small voice say near by, and look over to see Simon walking towards us with his cup in his hand. He's holding it up towards Maura, looking at her expectantly. She instantly rushes over to him, scooping him up in her arms.
"Careful baby, there's broken glass over there. We don't want you getting a boo boo now do we?" She says sweetly to him, and he nods his head side to side vigorously. She quickly takes him into the kitchen to pour him some juice while I get to work cleaning up the glass mess.
A couple hours later finds me sitting on the couch, flipping through the channels, trying to find something to watch. After her ten minutes in the corner, Bella went upstairs to take a nap, having completely tired herself out from crying. Simon followed soon after, it being his regular napping time, and Lucas is upstairs playing with his toys. Maura is in her office getting some work done, and by work I know she means going through the kids Christmas lists, assembling one of her own on what to get them for Christmas. I usually let her figure that out, and when we go out shopping we go over it together and usually end up picking several things we find while we're out. It's actually quite fun, and I hate to say it, but having a rich wife makes Christmas shopping for your kids rather easy and enjoyable. I know there are parents out there who worry about having enough money to buy their kids nice gifts, and I thought for sure that I would have been one of those parents, but fortunately I am not.
Maura and I don't flaunt our wealth, well except for the big house and the nice cars, one of which being my gloriously sexy Audi R8, so I don't think of us as snobs. We give a good amount of money each winter to foundations that supply gifts for kids who are less fortunate, and of course the Isles Foundation and the many charities it gives too. But I can't help but feel bad at times. I know, and my whole family knows, that I didn't marry Maura because of her wealth, but there are people out there who think that I did. I guess I can't blame them, I mean I am just a blue collar cop from South Boston, but if they really knew me, they would know how much I love that woman. I love her so much that it physically hurts at times. And our three gorgeous children are my world. So why wouldn't I want to spoil them and give them everything this world has to offer? Of course I would, and that's what will happen this year. And I have to say that I'm rather excited for it.
"Ma, can I go over to Jimmy's house and play?" Lucas asks, seemingly coming out of nowhere. I look up at him, a little startled, and notice his face full of anticipation. I also notice that he has his football tucked under his arm, already ready to head out the door. I pick up my phone and look at the time, finding it to be about 5:30 in the evening.
"No, we're going to have dinner soon." I say, and his face falls, which is instantly replaced with a pleading look.
"I can eat at his house, please mama!" He says, doing a little bounce in place. I can feel my resolve begin to waiver, but one look at the time again and I shake my head.
"No bud. It's almost dinner, and you were at Jimmy's house yesterday. I want you home to have dinner with the family." I tell him, and his shoulders slump in defeat. He hangs his head slightly and turns to head back towards the stairs. I feel slightly bad, but I know he'll be fine later. Plus, Maura made a good point early about not letting our children walk all over us and think they can do whatever they want. We need to set boundaries and let then know to obey them. I lean back more into the couch and grab my phone, wanting to shoot a quick text to Maura.
Hey babe, wht should we make 4 dinner?
It doesn't take more than a minute for her to respond.
Jane, your grammar is simply horrible when you text. I've actually lost track of time and hadn't realized that it was approaching dinner time. I'll come out in a moment and we can decide.
I have to laugh slightly at her comment about my grammar. Of course she would be formal even in a text message. She always has however, and its one of the many things I find so sexy about her.
Its a text Maur, I dont have to be proper. Now get your sexy ass in here so I can see u. I miss ur beautiful face;)
I add the winkie face, knowing she'll get a kick out of it, and set my phone back down. I suddenly feel the urge to pee, and quickly get up to head into the bathroom. When I get back out Maura is in the kitchen looking through the fridge, no doubt seeing what we have and making a plan in her mind for dinner. I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. She jumps slightly at first contact, but melts back in to me once she realizes it's me.
"Hey sexy." I purr into her ear before nibbling on her lobe. I can feel her shiver as I do so, which makes me smile wickedly.
"Hi back." She says, turning in my arms to plant a soft kiss on my lips. I pull her tight against me and start nipping at her bottom lip, while grabbing a handful of her glorious ass. She giggles at me and plants her hands on my chest, pushing herself away from me. I reluctantly let her go, knowing any one of our children could come walking down the stairs, and I wouldn't want them to catch us in a compromising position.
"Behave yourself Jane." She tells me, giving me a wink with a playful smile. I reach out and smack her ass as she walks away to put something in the sink. She yelps in surprise at my actions and turns around to give me a faux glare.
"That is the exact opposite of behave my dear." She says, and it's my turn to give her a wink with a playful smile.
"I need you to go outside to the Tahoe and grab my bag. I just remembered that Susie gave me a book of recipes I wanted try, and that would be great to find something for dinner in." She says, turning her back to me once more to head over to the panty. I can't help but admire her amazing rear end, especially when she bends over to move Coopers toy out of the way. I guess I hum out in appreciation at the sight before me, because she stands quickly and turns back to me with a glare.
"Jane! Car!" She snaps, pointing towards the side door. I chuckle as I hold my hands up and turn around, heading for the door. I slowly make my way out into the side yard and across to the garage where the Tahoe is parked. I open up the passenger side door first, thinking that she would have put her bag there, but find the seat empty. I open up the back door and begin to search through the backseat. I find her bag on the floor near where Bella sits. I reach across and grab it, pulling it towards me. It falls over however as it gets snagged by a small shoe lying on the floor. It falls over and some of the contents fall out of it. I start to pick her stuff up and put it back in the bag when my eyes fall on to a folded piece of paper. I pick it up and look at it, seeing that it has Maura's name printed out on it. Upon further inspection I notice that it's a letter from the Governor, stating that he would be glad to have her relocate to Worcester, taking up her Headquarters as the Chief Medical Examiner there. I stare at it in confusion for a moment before it hits me. Maura talked to the Governor about relocating to Worcester. That means that she wants us to move there. If that is the case, she hasn't said anything to me about it. I'm not so sure if I like this.
I quickly get the rest of her stuff back into her bag, along with the letter, and make my way back inside. I decide not to say anything until tonight, after the kids have gone to bed. I walk back into the kitchen and hand her her bag. She gives me a smile and leans over to give me a quick kiss.
"Thank you honey." She says, and I nod and smile in return. She seems to have everything under control in the kitchen, so I decide to head back into the living room and watch some TV again. Shortly after I sit down, I'm joined by two sleepy children, as they mosey their way over to me, both wiping the sleep from their eyes. Bella climbs up into my lap first, followed quickly by Simon. They both snuggle up to me closely, and they both gives sighs of contentment.
"How was your naps my babies?" I ask them sweetly.
"Good mama." Bella says, followed by a pretty big yawn. I chuckle at the adorable face she makes, and lean my head down to plant a loving kiss atop her head. I turn and do the same for Simon, who is tucked tightly against me with his eyes glued to the TV. I lean back against the couch and wrap my arms protectively around my two youngest children, and together we sit and watch the screen.
Half an hour later Maura calls us into the kitchen for dinner, and I make a show of carrying both children in under my arms, them both wiggling and squealing in playful delight. As we approach Maura gestures towards the bathroom with a stern look on her face. "Hands!" She says, and I suddenly veer off to the side, acting like a plane, taking my children to the bathroom to get their hands washed. Once that's done we all race back to the kitchen, Bella and Simon going to the table, while I head over to Maura to help her grab dishes. I look down at the pan of food on the counter, confused by what I see.
"What's this?" I ask her, looking up to find her walking towards me.
"Susie calls them Flying Saucers. Her mother used to make them for her and her siblings when they were kids. I thought tonight I would make a fun dinner for the children." She says with a happy smile on her face. I look back down at what I can only describe as a pile of mashed potatoes resting on top of a hotdog that's cut in half, a generous amount of melted cheese on top. I can't help but smile at her effort to make a kid friendly meal, and my smile widens when I see a bowl of broccoli resting next to the pan. Of course she would have to incorporate something healthy.
"Could you grab the plates out of the cupboard while I get these set up on the table?" Maura asks me as she picks up the pan with the saucers and heads towards the table. I do as I'm asked, grabbing the plates, as well as the broccoli, and meet my wife at the table. We get sat down and start dishing up the food, when I realize that someone's missing.
"Did you call Luke down for dinner?" I ask Maura, cutting up a piece of hotdog with some potatoes, putting them in my mouth.
"No, he's at Jimmy's house for dinner." She says casually, taking a bite of her food as well. I stop chewing and look up at her in confusion.
"What?" I ask around my food, and Maura scowls at me.
"Manners Jane. And Lucas is at Jimmy's house. He asked me if he could go over there for dinner, and I said yes." She answers me back, suddenly looking at me confused.
"Why?" She knows me well, and can tell that something is wrong.
"When did he ask you?" I ask, setting my fork down on my plate.
"When you went outside to get my bag he came downstairs and asked. He was all ready to go, so I said yes and kissed him goodbye." She tells me.
"That little shit!" I say, louder than I intended, and Maura glares at me once more.
"Jane, language!" She snaps, attempting to cover up Simon's ears, even though the word has already been said.
"What is wrong with you Jane? Why is Lucas a little... you know?" She asks me after a moment.
"When you were still in your office earlier he came and asked me if he could go over to Jimmy's house to play. I told him no, that he needed to stay for dinner. He then asked if he could have dinner there, but I still said no. He went upstairs in a huff, and I haven't seen him since." A look of confused shock befalls Maura's face, and she suddenly looks at me apologetically.
"I'm sorry Jane, I didn't know that you had said he couldn't go." She says.
"He knew, and he played you. This is on him, and when he gets home, he's in big trouble." I say, picking my fork back up and cutting a bite of food a little too aggressively.
"Oh, Luke's in troooubblllees." Bella says, dragging out the word with a grin on her face.
"Uh oh!" Simon says, as always following in his sister's footsteps.
"Knock it off you two." I say sternly, giving them both a warning look. The nod their heads and turn back to their food. We finish our food in silence, and once the table is cleared I head into the kitchen to start on the dishes. The kids head into the living room for their designated hour of TV before bed, and Maura heads upstairs for reasons I don't know. I find as I scrub the dishes that my mind begins to wander and I calm myself down.
I think about Lucas and what I want to say to him when he gets home. I think about how he's growing up too fast, and that he's lying to us now. I think about that letter I found in Maura's purse, and what that means. After what seems like minutes, but is most likely about a half hour alter, I feel Maura's arms wrap around my waist, brining me back to the present. She rests her chin on my shoulder and gives my body a brief squeeze.
"What's going on in that mind of yours?" She asks softly in my ear. I don't make any move to look at her, I just keep scrubbing away at the dishes in the sink. It takes me a moment to answer her, not sure what exactly I want to talk about first.
"I know Lucas lied, and he is in trouble, but please go easy on him. I know he's nervous about starting a new school tomorrow, and I don't want him to be upset the night before, he needs his sleep." She says, no longer waiting for me to respond.
"We can't let him just get away with this. He needs to be punished, and know that what he did was wrong Maur." I say, finally turning around to look at her. She's changed into her pajama pants and her face is void of any make-up. She looks relaxed and natural, or in other words, completely gorgeous. I can't help but give her a soft smile, and I reach out to tuck a bit of blonde curls behind her ear. She grabs my hand as it retreats and pulls it to her mouth, planting a loving kiss on my palm.
"I know baby, and I'm not suggesting that we let him get away with it. I'm just as bothered as you are by this. I never thought he would do such a thing. All I'm suggesting is that we sit down with him once he gets home, and have a discussion, the three of us. Can we do that?" She asks, looking at me with hopeful hazel eyes.
"Okay, we'll sit down and talk with him, but I'm not going to sugar coat anything. He's going to know how upset I am." I tell her, raising my eyebrows as if to say try stopping me.
"Okay Jane, that's fine." She responds, pulling me to her by my hand. She wraps her arms around my neck and leans up to give me a sweet kiss. My arms instantly wrap around her waist, and I pull her impossibly tighter. I let her go after a few moments, wanting now to talk about the letter that I found. Once I let her go, she heads over to the cupboard and grabs out a wine glass. She heads over to the cooler and gets a bottle of wine. As she turns back to her glass she looks at me expectantly, her eyebrows raised up, waiting for a response.
"I'll have a glass." I say, and she nods before grabbing another glass from the cupboard. Once poured, she hands me my glass and heads around the counter to sit at the bar. Dishes long forgotten, I set my glass down on the counter and lean against it. Maura's looking at me curiously, as I'm sure she can tell that there's something on my mind. With over eight years of marriage and even longer being friends, she definitely knows me well.
"What's on your mind love?" She asks before taking a healthy sip from her wine glass.
"I wanted to talk to you about something that I found in your bag when I went and got it earlier." I say, reaching into my back pocket to grab the letter out to hand to her. Realization falls upon her face as the note comes into view, and she looks up at me expectantly, knowing that I have something to say about it.
"I can explain-" She starts, but I cut her off.
"When were you going to tell me that we're moving to Worcester? Were you even going to discuss it with me?" I ask, not sounding rude or harsh, just genuinely curious as to what she was thinking. She sighs before setting the letter down on the counter.
"Of course I was going to tell you- talk to you about it. It's not set in stone, I just wanted to contact him and see his thoughts on the matter." She says, not quite desperately, but I can tell that she's nervous about what I'm going to say next.
"Do you want to?" I ask, my voice sounding more vulnerable that I want it to.
"What?" She asks, clearly confused by my question.
"Do you want to move? Do you want to live in Worcester now, instead of Boston?" I ask, my voice gaining confidence. She stays silent for a moment before she answers me.
Her shoulders shrug up slightly. "I don't know. I obviously thought about it, but like I said, I was going to talk to you about it and see what your thoughts were." She says a little softer than before.
"It would make things easier. We wouldn't have to drive two hours just to get Lucas to school, and soon Bella too, and I can work in their Medical Examiner's office there."
"What about me Maur? I'm set to take my Lieutenants exam next week! You were the one who encouraged me to just go for it." I say loudly, startling her slightly.
"And I still want you to Jane. An hour isn't too much of a drive, you can make that commute each day. And you'll only have to do it on week days." She says, reaching for my hand. I don't pull away when she does so, in fact I relish in the feel of her soft, warm hand around mine. Even to this day, any small amount of contact from Maura makes me tingle. I smile down at her and lean in for a kiss.
"I'm not saying yes, but I'll think about it. We can talk more later, because right now we have some parenting to do." I say, gesturing towards the door with my head. Maura whips her head around and sees our son coming in the front door. He has a smile on his face, but once he sees his mothers looking at him sternly from the kitchen, it vanishes. He suddenly makes a break for the stairs, but my stern voice stops him in his tracks.
"Lucas Benjamin, get over here now." I say, my tone loud but not yelling, and very authoritative. I see him close his eyes shut momentarily, mentally preparing himself no doubt, before making his way over to us, very slowly.
"Do you have something you want to say to us?" Maura asks him once he's at a close enough distance. He stands stock still, his arms held behind his back, with his head looking down to the ground.
"Lucas." I say in warning, letting him know that he needs to answer his mother. He looks up at us slowly through his eye lashes, and he has an extremely guilty look on his face.
"No." He mumbles, and I can see his arms moving behind him, letting me know he's fidgeting nervously with his hands.
"You know what you did Lucas." I say to him, really wanting my son to admit to his wrong doing, which will save him a small bit of punishment.
"I just went over to Jimmy's house." He mumbles again.
"But I told you no."
"Yea but mom said I could." He says quickly, as if that will make this all better.
"After I said no, and you knew that she would say yes, that's why you did it. You used your mother to get what you wanted, without her even knowing." I say, my voice rising in anger. I suddenly feel Maura's hand on my arm, silently telling me to calm down, and that she's got this.
"Lucas, you knew better than to do that. If your mama tells you you can't go somewhere, that's final. You can't come to me and ask the same question, knowing that I have no idea she told you no. That was a very dishonest thing you did, and I'm rather disappointed in you." She says softly, in her sweet mothering voice. And I know by the look on his face that its far worse than any yelling I could possibly do. He broke his mother's trust and disappointed her. That goes straight to the heart. I feel slightly bad as I watch the silent tears begin to run down his cheeks, as his head lowers once more.
"Go to your room and get ready for bed." She says next, and he slowly starts making his way towards the stairs. I reach out and wrap my arm around Maura and pull her to me, knowing that that was hard for her. She leans into me and I plant a soft kiss on her head.
"He needed to know that what he did was wrong. And I think we went about it in a good way. You let him know that lying is bad, and that it hurts your feeling when he does it. It teaches him to be honest with the people he loves and respects." I say to her, trying to be comforting.
"I know, but it doesn't make it any easier, especially when he starts crying." She responds back quietly.
"That's how you know it's working. Your words struck deep, that will make an impact." I say, finishing off with another kiss before I unwrap myself from around her.
"Now, what do you say we get those two munchkins to bed, then head upstairs for a nice relaxing bath." I say, winking at her as I say the last part. She smiles at me and nods her head before getting up to help me get Simon and Bella to bed.
"Alright mister, here we are." I say, pulling into a parking stall at the front of Sun Stone Academy. I look over at Lucas sitting in the passenger seat, and I can clearly see that he's nervous.
"It'll be fine buddy. I'll walk you to your classroom so you don't have to go alone." I tell him, reaching out to run my hand over the back of his dark locks. Maura went and got him a hair cut on Saturday, cutting it short once more, and this morning I styled it into a faux hawk for him. He's wearing a dark blue hoodie that Maura bought him from J Crew, along with a nice pair of gray denim jeans, and topping off the ensemble is a pair of black Converse shoes that I bought for him. I have to say that he looks rather handsome.
"You look good bud, and I know you'll do great today." I say to encourage him. "Come on, let's go so you're not late." I say, opening my door, getting out and opening the back door on Simon's side. I unbuckle him from his seat while Lucas opens up the other door for Bella. Together, the four of us head into the school and walk Lucas to his classroom. Ever the sweet boy that he is, he gives each younger sibling a hug as we stand outside of his classroom. I kneel down to be more on his level and rest my hands on his shoulders.
"Do worry bud, you'll be fine. And your mom and I will be here right at three to pick you up." I tell him.
"Promise?" He asks, and I smile at him.
"Promise." I say before giving him a tight hug. I stand back up just in time to see the teacher walking up to us.
"Hello, I'm Miss Newbury, you must be Mrs. Rizzoli-Isles." She says shaking my hand. "And this must be Lucas." She says sweetly, looking from me down to Luke with a happy smile on her face. This woman can't be older than her late twenties, with brown hair and average features. She's shorter that me, but not by a whole lot, and she has a very sweet and innocent vibe about her.
"Yup, we're the Rizzoli-Isles' and this is Lucas." I say in response to her.
"And who might these two little cuties be?" She asks, looking down at Simon and Bella. Simon blushes, but Bella gets a wide grin, happy to be acknowledged.
"Hi, I'm Bella!" She says loudly, reaching her hand out to Miss Newbury, who chuckles lightly before grasping her hand for a small shake.
"Nice to meet you Miss Bella." She says sweetly.
"This is Simon, my youngest, and as you can tell, he's rather shy." I say, resting my hand on Simon's back. He leans against me, grabbing my leg for comfort.
"Well hello Simon, it's nice to meet you." She says to him sweetly, and I can feel his grip on my leg loosen.
"Well Lucas, class is about to start. What do you say we get in there and do some learning? Today we're talking about amphibians, so that means frogs, lizards and snakes!" She says to him excitedly, and he responds with a big smile. He looks up at me and I gesture towards the classroom.
"Go on bud, have fun. We'll be here after school to pick you up." I say to him, and he quickly follows his teacher into the classroom. I watch him go with a smile on my face, before turning back to the kids.
"Alright you two, lets head over to Nona's house." I grab both of their hands and lead them back out to the car, get them strapped in, and take off back for Boston.
Are you almost done? I finished my paperwork, and now Im bored I text to Maura, before setting my phone back down on my desk. I lean back in my chair and wait for her response.
"When are you and Maura headed out?" Frost asks across from me. My phone buzzes on my desk, so I pick it up as I answer him. "I just messaged her, seeing if she's ready. Just a sec, let me read her response." I say, not even bothering to look up at him. I swipe the lock screen on my phone to the side to view her message fully.
I'm sorry that you're bored. I'm just finishing up a few last minute reports. If you start to make your way down here now, I should be done once you arrive. She responds. I smile up at Frost as I stand to gather my things.
"She's almost done, wants me to meet her down in her office" I say, grabbing my coat from off of the back of my chair.
"Alright partner, have fun Christmas shopping." Frost winks at me after saying this, thinking that this shopping experience is going to be rough for me. Its true that I normally hate shopping, but I'm excited for this trip.
"Oh I will, you don't know cuz you don't have kids yet, but it's super fun shopping for their presents. And I hate to say it, but it's especially nice when you have money." I say with a wink, and he chuckles at me.
"Alright mama bear. You go get your woman so you two can shop for your spoiled cubs. I'll stay here and hold down the fort." He says, and I know he was joking when he called my kids spoiled.
"Thanks again Frost." I say seriously, wanting him to know that I'm grateful for him covering for me.
"Well I have to kiss up to my future boss, now don't I?" He teases me. I've talked to him about what Cavanaugh said to me, and him along with Maura helped me decide to take my Lieutenants exam.
"You're damn right you do." I say with another wink, and he chuckles once more.
"Alright partner, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye Jane, have fun."
I wave back over my shoulder as I head for the elevator, and once on, I make my way down to the morgue with a smile on my face. Maura is still in her office when I get downstairs, and I walk in casually, shutting her door behind me. She doesn't look up as I walk towards her, but as I stand behind her, and rest my hands on her shoulder to start massaging, she lets her head fall forward and moans slightly.
"Oh Jane, that feels so good baby." She purrs, her whole body going limp. I smirk to myself at my ability to turn my wife into putty. I absolutely love that my touch still does this to her. And I'm also happy that I can make her feel good. I know she's been having a rough time at work lately, with extra cases from the Governor on top of her already large workload on Boston's homicides. I wish I could do more than just massage her neck, but that will have to wait till later.
"You're tense babe."
"It's all this extra work the Governor has me doing. It can't be any other Medical Examiners in the State. I really should be honored that he trusts no one but me, but working his special cases, on top of all the normal BPD cases, and not to mention coming home to three children, is rather stressful and exhausting."
"I'm sorry baby. You really should just let me take care of the kids until this whole thing blows over with the Governor. I can more than handle them." I say, working on a particularly big knot in her shoulder. She groans a little in a mix of pain and pleasure before answering.
"I know you can, but they're my children too, and I want to spend time with them after I get home. It's tiring, but I'll be fine Jane."
"Alright, if you say so. Are you almost done? I'd like to get started on shopping, I've been looking forward to it for a while now." I say, moving my hands from her shoulders to around her upper torso, moving my head around to kiss her on the cheek.
"Yes, let me just send this off and then we can go."
After Maura gets her report sent, she takes my hand and leads me to the door. She shuts the lights off and locks her door, and together we make our way out to the parking lot and to the Tahoe, ready to get a start on our Christmas shopping.
Maura's phone rings as we head into the house to put our purchases away. I can tell by the ringtone that it's dispatch. She gives me a look as if to say I'm sorry before setting her stuff down and answering it. I continue to make my way upstairs to our closet, where all the presents are being hid for now, sad that Maura won't be joining me to go pick up Lucas from his first day. I hope he's not too upset, seeing as I told him we would both be there to get him. I'll take the Audi though, I know that will make him happy, and me too for that matter.
"I'm so sorry Jane, that was dispatch, they found another body and I have to go." Maura says as I get to the bottom of the stairs.
"I figured as much by the ringtone. It's okay, duty calls." I say, leaning in to give her a sweet kiss.
"Go, catch the bad guys, I've got this."
"I really wanted to go with you to pick up Lucas, and normally I would task another Medical Examiner to take this, but all there is is Pike, and I'm not really up for cleaning up after him."
"I still don't know why you never fired that guy. He shouldn't be allowed to handle crime scene evidence, or have his Medical License for that matter." Maura gives a shrug, her way of agreeing with me without having to say anything mean.
"I'm sorry, and tell Lucas I'm sorry too, that I really wanted to be there to get him." She says, once again gathering up her things to head out.
"He'll be fine. I'm gonna take the R8, so that will make him happy."
"Be careful Jane, I know how you like to drive fast in that car." Maura warns, but I just lean in to give her another kiss before ushering her out the door.
"Yea yea I know, we'll be fine." I wave it off, and normally she would protest, but she really needs to get going, so she just gives me an incredulous look as she walks out to her car.
"Bye, love you!" I call, receiving the same back before she shuts her door and heads off to the crime scene.
It only takes me about ten more minutes to get the rest of our shopping into the house. I quickly grab the keys to the Audi, excited to take her for a spin, and head out myself. Despite Maura's warning, I end up driving a little too fast, and make it in about forty five minutes, but in my defense I was running late, and only just managed to make it on time. Lucas spots the car right away, for obvious reasons, and comes rushing over as I get out of the car to greet him.
"Hey bud!" I say as he runs into my arms. I can honestly say that I was not expecting that. Don't kids usually shy away from hugging their parents while at school?
"How was your day bud?" I ask him once he pulls away.
"Good." He responds, but doesn't elaborate. Instead he walks over to the car and gets in. I look confused for a moment before shrugging and heading back over to the drivers seat.
"So that's all you're going to say, is that it was good?" I start the car back up and begin to slowly make my way out of the school pick-up area.
"It was good. I learned about frogs and lizards, then Miss Newbury let us touch one she brought. It was awesome ma!" He says, his face alight with excitement. I chuckle at him and smile widely, happy to see my son happy.
"That's cool dude, so your first day was successful?" I ask, and he shakes his head yes.
"I made a friend too." He says after a few moments. I look over at him curiously.
"Oh yea? What's his name?"
"It's a girl, and her name is Emily."
"Oh really? Is she cute?" I ask casually.
"Yea." He says, and I have to chuckle at the almost airy tone to his voice, like he's entranced or something.
"Alright little man, you found yourself a girlfriend." I say teasingly, and the look of shock on his face is priceless. He hadn't realized that he let slip how he liked her, and now he was mortified.
"It's okay buddy, I don't blame you. Girls are cute." I say with a wink, and I manage to get a small smile out of him.
"She in your class then?" I ask him after a moment.
"Yea she sits right next to me. She started talking to me when I got there, and she was really nice." He says, a giant blush covering his face. I reach over and ruffle his hair, happy that he's made a friend, and loving the way he's all embarrassed because he likes this girl.
"Where's mom?"
"She couldn't make it, got called into work at the last minute." I tell him, and I'm a bit surprised that he waited until we were about half way home before asking.
"Oh, okay." He says, his attention turning to back out the window. We continue on our journey in silence, and pull up to the house at the exact same time as Hope does with Bella and Simon. All three kids give their grandma Hope hugs before rushing into the house to play. I chuckle at them as they go, and turn back to Hope once they're inside.
"Thanks for watching them." I say to her, and she shakes her head side to side.
"Oh it was my pleasure. They are blast to babysit." She responds. I'm about to say something else when my phone starts ringing. I look at the caller ID and see that it's Frost.
"Sorry, I have to take this." I say to Hope before answering my phone.
"Hey Frost."
"Jane, are you busy?" He asks, and I can tell by his tone that he's upset.
"What's wrong Frost?" I hear a sniffle before he answers me.
"Jake and I got into a fight. Do you think you could come over here for a bit?" He asks, and he sounds so broken. I instantly look to Hope who's staring at me curiously.
"Uh, hold on a sec." I say to Frost before resting the phone against my shoulder.
"Is there any way I could convince you to stay and watch the kids until Maura gets home? My partner Frost isn't feeling well and needs me to go over to his place." I say to her.
"Of course, no problem. Go, make sure he's alright." She says gesturing for me to get back to my car.
"Thank you so much. You're a life saver." I give her a brief hug, and head back over to my car, getting in quickly.
"Yea buddy, I'm on my way, be there in fifteen." I tell him before hanging up.
Frost opens up the door to his apartment, and I can tell that he's been crying. He steps aside and lets me in, so I quickly rush past, then turn around to face him.
"What's going on? Are you okay? Where's Jake?" I ask him quickly, not giving him time to answer. He gestures towards the couch, and together we make our way over to sit down.
"We got into an argument, and he stormed off. He was really upset and I don't know when or if he's coming back." He says sadly.
"What exactly did you argue about?"
"Well, when you left the pen earlier today, you said something about when I have kids I'll understand how fun shopping for them is. Well that got me thinking, and I brought it up to Jake, which was apparently a bad idea. It just escalated from there, and now he's gone." I can tell that he's trying to be strong, and not show much emotion, but I can also tell that this is hurting him very badly.
"How long ago did he leave?" I ask softly.
"About an hour ago. He just suddenly stopped yelling and left the house. I haven't heard from him, but I also haven't tried to contact him. I know he needs his space, and I want to give that to him, but I'm worried. I don't want him to do something stupid out of anger."
"Do you think he'll actually do something?" I ask, not knowing for sure if he would or not. From what I've seen of the guy, and how Frost talks about him, he seems genuine and laid back. He's been nothing but nice to Maura and I, so I can't imagine him being violent. You really never know though.
"No, but he was really angry." Frost says, looking like he might let a few tears fall.
"What happened exactly?" It would be nice to know what was said, so I can get an idea of the severity of it all.
"Well, he was already home when I got here, and we started to make plans for dinner as we sat at the kitchen table drinking some coffee. Our conversation started to die down, so I decided to bring up kids. At first he was okay, asking me what I thought about them. I told him I'd like to have two, a little boy and a little girl. He asked how we would accomplish something like that, and I said we'd have to find a woman willing to carry them for us. That was when he started to get mad." Frosts gaze is focused on some random object in his living room, and he seems very deep in thought.
"What happened after that?" I ask, encouraging him to continue.
"He instantly got defensive, saying how expensive that was, and how we couldn't trust any woman we find, and that the kid wouldn't be both of ours, but either mine or his with some woman's egg. He got up and started pacing, and I tried to calm him down, but he just shrugged me off each time I tried to touch him."
"Then he started to get mean." Frost says, almost in a whisper, and I wait expectantly for him to elaborate.
"He said that we don't even know if we'll be together long enough to have kids, and that he doesn't know me well enough to know if I would be a good father or not. And then he started saying that the kid would have a hard life being half black. That it wouldn't know where it belonged being a half black child of two queers." Frost finally loses his fight against his emotions at this, and hangs his head as the tears start to flow. I instantly pull him to me in a tight embrace. My heart breaks for this man, a man who wants nothing more than to be loved unconditionally like he deserves. Frost is the most amazing man that I know, and I really thought that Jake was going to be good for him. I guess I was wrong.
"How do you do it?" He asks, the sound muffled by my chest. I loosen my hold a bit so he can move back to look at me.
"What?"
"How do you do it? How do you have a successful relationship with a person of the same sex, and raise a loving family? You and Maura make it look so easy?" He says, wiping the tears from his face, attempting once more to control his emotions.
"It's not all peaches and cream Frost. Maura and I have had our fair share of fights, trust me. But we love each other, and we find a way to make it work. And the kids are the icing on the cake. They're a declaration of our love, and they literally complete my life. I wouldn't be who I am without my wife and kids. And yes, being married to a woman is difficult. We get looks all the time going out, and we've had people tell us our children are an abomination. It hurts, I can tell you that, but it also makes us stronger, because we know it's not true, and we know we love those kids more than life itself. I know, and Maura knows, that we would do anything, lay down our lives, for our kids, and that's one hell of a bond." I say, my eyes alight with the passion I feel.
"It sounds to me like this thing with Jake stems from a deep wound in his past. Maybe something happened to him that made him feel this way. My advice is to let him have his time alone, and then talk to him when he gets home?" I say, trying to be supportive and help him out.
"You're probably right. Still hurts though."
"Oh I know, like I said, Maur and I have had our fair share, but we work it out, and I have faith that you and Jake will too." I say, giving him a smile. He gives me one in return.
"Now, hows about we get the guys over here and have a fun night? We can find a game and drink some beers, just relax and have a good time." I say, and his face lights up.
"I like that idea." He responds. I nod my head and pull out my phone, excited about a night of fun, and being able to make Frost feel better.
Several hours, and a good amount of beers later, my phone goes off on the coffee table where I set it earlier, and I pick it up to see that it's Maura.
"Hey baby." I say into the phone, happy to hear from her.
"Jane, where are you?"
"At Frostie's house, havin' a guys night." I say back to her in response.
"Have you been drinking?"
"Maybe." I say, trying to be coy and failing miserably.
"Jane, how many beers have you had?" Maura asks, and by her tone I can tell she's not happy.
"Uuummmm, a lot." I say, looking at the table that is covered in bottles. I honestly have lost track of how many I've had. Frankie, Tommy and Korsak came over, each bringing a twelve pack, and Korsak only stayed long enough to have two beers. We drank the rest, including some that Frost had in his fridge, and I'm pretty sure there was some shots involved at one point. It's safe to say that all of us are pretty drunk, and there's no way I'm going to be able to drive home tonight. It's a good thing I don't have to work in the morning.
"How many?"
"I don't know babe, like a...lot!"
"Dammit Jane, I need to here!" Maura snaps into the phone, taking me by surprise.
"Whoa babe, calm down, it'll be alright." I say to her, no doubt slurring my words a bit. Little do I know that I will come to seriously regret this, but that's for later.
"Excuse me?" Maura asks after I finish speaking.
"What's a matter babe?"
"Get some rest Jane, because tomorrow when you get home, you and I are going to be having a serious discussion." She says before hanging up. I look at the phone for a moment, then shrug and set my phone back down. My attention turns now to the game of Madden football going on on the TV, completely capturing my attention.
I wake with a serious headache, and blink a few times before my vision finally goes clear. I look up to find Jacob standing over me, his arms folded and a scowl on his face.
"Mind telling me what happened here last night?" He asks, his tone neutral, but the anger is hidden there underneath. I look around me at the room. I see Tommy and Frankie passed out on the floor and bottles everywhere. I honestly don't remember a whole lot of what happened last night, but clearly we took things too far. I haven't gotten drunk like that in years, and my insane headache is clear proof of that.
"Where's Barry?" He asks next, moving on from the first question he asked me.
"Uhm, I'm not quite sure." I say honestly, really having no clue where Frost is. Jake rolls his eyes before walking away, most likely in search of his boyfriend. It suddenly dawns on me as he walks away that I got drunk and spent the night here. I have no idea if I even told Maura where I was doing, and she is no doubt either frantically looking for me, or extremely angry. I spot my phone on the coffee table and pick it up. It won't turn on, so it must be dead.
I start looking around to see if I can find one of my brother's phones, and luck out as I see Tommy's iPhone not that far away from mine. I pick it up and unlock the screen, clicking on the phone app so I can call Maura. It rings several times before going to voice mail. I try a couple more times and finally give up. She must be mad, and not answering her phone. Crap, that really sucks. I stand up and groan at my stiff muscles. My back is way too old to be sleeping on a couch, especially after passing out drunk. I'm really going to be paying for last night, in more ways than one. I make quick work of finding my car keys and heading out the door, not even bothering to say goodbye to my brothers.
The ride home goes by quickly, and I pull up outside the house, seeing my mother's car in the driveway. What is Ma doing here? As far as I know, she didn't have any plans to be at our house. I groan once more as I get out of the car and head inside. My back really is killing me with all the aches and pains. I walk into the house to find my mother cleaning up in the kitchen, and my kids all sitting in the living room watching cartoons. I head into the kitchen in search of the medicine cabinet, in desperate need of some Excedrin. I look up as I'm fetching a glass of water to find my mother glaring at me.
"What?" I ask before tossing the pills back with a big gulp of water.
"Don't you what me missy. Do you have any idea what your actions last night did to Maura?" She asks in an angry voice.
"Is she okay?" I ask, suddenly worried that something happened to her.
"Physically she's fine, but she really needed you last night, and you just decided to get drunk with your brothers."
"I honestly didn't intend for any of that to happen last night. Frost called and was upset because he and Jake got into a fight. I went over to console him and try and make him feel better. One thing led to another and then I had the guys come over, each of them bringing with them a lot of beer, and we guess I got carried away."
"You guess? You guess?!" Ma says, practically yelling at me. I flinch back at her tone, and see all three of my kids heads pop up over the couch to look at us.
"You wife needed you when she got home yesterday, she needed you to be here to make her feel better, but you went off to have a guys night. In her exhausted state she had to get all of the kids taken care of, and then little Simon ended up getting sick. She eventually called me over after she talked to your drunk ass on the phone, and I was able to help her. And, to make matter worse, you didn't even come home! Seriously Jane, sometimes I wonder about you." Ma says, a very disappointed look on her face,
I look at her for a moment before turning to make my way upstairs. My mother's voice however makes me stop.
"She's not up there."
"Well then, where is she?"
"She went for a run, she needed to clear her head she said." Ma responds in a clipped tone.
"How long ago did she leave?" I ask, starting to get annoyed with the way my mother is speaking to me. I understand that I pissed Maura off, but this has nothing to do with my mother. And if she keeps this up, I'm probably going to say something.
"About an hour ago. She's most likely going to be home soon." Ma responds, not looking up from what she's doing. I sigh and put my hands on my hips, thinking for a moment about what I'm going to do. We definitely need to talk, and I don't want to put it off, I just don't want the kids to be here when we do. Maybe Ma will take them back to her house for the afternoon.
"Do you think that you could take the kids back to your house for the time being? I want to be able to talk to Maura when she comes back. I'm not sure what's going to happen, and I don't want them here for it." I say in the nicest tone I can muster. After a moment she looks up at me, and I honestly can't tell what her answer is going to be. She looks almost like she wants to protest, and tell me where to shove it, but I'm not quite sure. She finally stops glaring at me long enough to answer.
"Fine, I'll take them to my house for a while, but you better make things right with Maura. You apologize to her Janie, until she forgives you."
"Ma, why is it that you always jump down my throat whenever I do something even remotely wrong? It's like you're always against me, looking for dirt, but Maura can do no wrong. You know, she's done dumb things before, and hurt me." I say, and my mother looks at me as if to say I doubt that Janie.
"Whatever Ma, please just take the kids so Maur and I can talk." I say before turning around and heading into the living room to see my babies. I get a chorus of Mama's when I make it in there, and when I sit down on the couch, they all pile on top of me. My head starts pounding more, but I ignore it, because I'm just so happy to see them.
"Hello my babies, how have you been?" I ask them in a sweet voice.
"Good ma." Luke says casually.
"I's good mama!" Bella exclaims, hopping up and down.
"Goods mama!" Little Simon says last in the most adorable voice. I have to chuckle at how cute they all are.
"I'm glad to hear it. Did you guys have a good night last night with Grandma Hope?" They all nod at my question.
"Mama, I's nots a guy, I's a girl!" Bella exclaims to me, a glare on her little face, and her nose is scrunched up.
"You're right pumpkin, you're not a guy. You're my little princess and I love you." I say, pulling her to me so I can plant kisses all over her face. She starts giggling and squirming, trying to get away from me. After I let her go, she sits back and looks at me curiously.
"Mama, why was mommy sad and angry yeserday?" She asks me. I falter for a moment, not quite sure what to say to my daughter. I do however feel really bad, because my actions made Maura upset, which in turn made my kids notice. Last night was bad, and I need to make up for it.
"Uhm, mommy was sad because of something stupid that mama did. I didn't come home last night because Uncle Frost needed me, and mommy wanted me here to make her feel better. I didn't do that, so that's why she was mad."
"Oh, wells you bestis make it right mama, cuz I loves mommy, and I wants her to be happy." Bella says matter-of-factly, sounding just like her mother.
"You're right little bug, I do, and I promise I will when she gets home. Nona is going to take you guys back to her house for the afternoon to play. How does that sound?" I ask, wanting to change the subject and get them excited about the rest of the day.
"Yay!" Both Bella and Simon call out at the same time.
"Yay is right. Why don't you go upstairs and pack a small bag for the trip?" I say, and they both nod vigorously before hopping off the couch and taking off upstairs. I turn back around and see Lucas looking at me curiously.
"Ma? Are you making us go with Nona so you and mom can fight?" He asks, not looking angry but generally curious to see if he's right for not. This boy is way too smart for his age, and he totally gets that from Maura.
"Go get a bag packed mister." I say, playfully grabbing his neck and making him move.
"You're too damn smart you know!" I call out as he goes, and he turns back to smirk at me, all confident like. Now that he gets from me.
The kids get their stuff ready and come back downstair, ready and roaring to go to Nona's house. My ma gives me a couple more glare and a few choice words, but finally they all head out and I'm left with a quiet house. I sit on the couch and wait for Maura to get back. Luckily I don't have to wait long, as she comes walking in the side door wearing her jogging outfit, and she's covered in sweat. If she wasn't mad at me, and I wasn't afraid of what might happen, I honestly can say that I would take her right where she stands. But she is mad, and I am afraid, so I wait for her to come to me so we can talk.
She notices me sitting there after a moment, and gives me a small glare before heading upstairs, no doubt to shower and change. What is with all the glares I'm getting this morning? It really freaking sucks.
I sit downstairs on the couch, waiting patiently for Maura to get cleaned up. I think because she's angry with me, she takes an insanely long amount of time getting ready, but I continue to wait, knowing that she deserves for me to be patient. When she finally does come down, she heads into the kitchen and pours herself a glass of wine. I figure this is my cue to head over there so we can talk.
"Maur, I know we need to talk." I say to her as I approach. She just looks up and glares at me, once again, and I know that this one is going to be difficult to work my way out of.
One to the next one! lol