In some ways it feels like we're reaching the end of the story, but I also know there is so much more to come. I have about 30 chapters planned in total, so we're just over half way - the exact number could change as the story evolves, and also some chapter plans have merged together. I hope you enjoy where the journey has left to go...
Maura knocked on the door of her father's house for the first time in six months. Ever since she officially left home, it felt larger and larger. Today it felt imposing, and cold. She longed for the warmth of her childhood. On opening the door, the woman that stood before her smiled wide and she pulled Maura into the house and her familiar embrace.
"My Maura!" She held her at arm's length and gave her a quick once over. "How you grow."
"Hello Marina," Maura said. "It's so lovely to see you again."
"Your father is in the seating room." She pointed across the hallway. "Go, sit, I bring tea."
She found her father stood by the large windows, staring out across the yard. Teo, the gardener, was pruning and mulching the rose bushes. Maura walked over, hesitant at first, as she stood beside her father to look out at the beautiful land he'd cultivated for decades.
A sense of calm settled over her. "I miss living here."
Paddy folded his arms, silent as he continued to watch Teo shovel mulch around the base of the plants. Maura took a seat by the window. She waited for her father to sit opposite. She soaked up the feel of the orchestral music playing out across the room, sounds that pulled memories out of her mind. Her childhood home was a far cry from the life her father led outside of it.
"We had a great life here," Maura said, thanking Marina as she placed a tray of tea and cookies onto the small table between them. It was a small thing but sharing tea the way her father's grandparents made it, brought her closer to her family line. Once she'd left the room again, Maura continued. "Marina keeps you whole in a way Benny never could."
"Marina does her job."
Maura scoffed so loud that Paddy narrowed his eyes. "I know you see her as more important to your life than that. You pay her to be here, but you've always cared deeply for her wellbeing."
"She's family. You care about family." He poured himself a cup of tea, dropped in a splash of cream and gave it a stir. "You don't keep secrets from family."
"What secrets?" Maura asked, stirring cream into her own cup.
He took a sip of his tea and for a moment Maura felt sixteen again. The day she told her father she was bisexual had been very similar; drinking tea while looking out across the yard, orchestral music filling the room. She didn't care if he accepted it because she was who she was and nothing he could say or do would change that. He'd merely shrugged, taken a sip of tea, and told her he loved her just the way she was.
"Jane."
Confusion etched across Maura's face. She sat up, shrugging. "I don't understand."
"I thought she was one of many."
"One of many what?"
"Men, women, whoever you choose to have sex with." Maura placed her cup onto the tray and sat back again. "You should have told me that things with her became serious."
"I didn't think it mattered to you." Maura closed her eyes and listened to the gentle sounds of the cello strings. She focused on the relaxing rhythm to the music. "Who I date is none of your concern."
"It is," he said, banging his fist against the arm of his chair. "You are my daughter and everything you do reflects on me. On my life. She is a cop, Maura. Having sex with a cop is one thing, but having a relationship with one? Are you trying to discredit me in front of the whole of Boston?"
"I…I didn't…" She let her voice drift off into the silence. For the first time in her life she was happy to be with someone she wanted to build a life with. She actually thought about their future. All of the fear, and the dread at becoming close to someone disappeared with Jane. "I love her."
"Love?" He scoffed. "No. No. You cannot fall for a cop. I won't allow it."
Maura sat upright, her shoulders back. Her happiness crumbled. She sipped her tea, silently waiting for whatever else her father had to say. If he wasn't going to listen to what she wanted, then she wasn't going to offer him anything more.
"You need to understand where I'm coming from," Paddy said, leaning forward, his elbow on her knee. "You're not a child, Maura. You're a grown woman and I need you to be thinking seriously about our future. I need you to settle down and find a good man who will help you to bring children into this world."
"But what…" Maura began to say, then thought better of it.
"We need a strong leader at the head of the business. I'm growing older, Maura, I don't want to be doing this forever. But I need to know that you've got the strength to handle this. Right now, I doubt you're cut out for this world, so you need to marry someone who can take the reins."
She placed her empty cup onto the tray and poured herself another cup. "What are you saying?"
"You and I both know you're not strong enough to do the grunt work." He sighed. "I didn't want to believe it was because you're a woman, but maybe it is. To hold you up as the person to take over the company, I need someone who is going to be the strength that you don't have. Benny's nephew…"
"No."
"No?"
"You want me to marry Benny's nephew? I won't do it."
"You have six months. If you don't find someone I consider worthy of standing by your side as the head of the company, then you will marry Alfie."
"No." She stood up, knocking the tray with her knee. The jug of cream toppled over sending white liquid across the tray. She sighed. "I love Jane. I won't marry someone else. I can't. I want to be with her."
His face reddened and his temple pulsed. "Over my dead body. You will not marry a cop. You will not be with a cop. You need to grow up and learn to take some responsibility over your actions, Maura. I need you to stop screwing around with women."
"I thought you were okay with me being bisexual." She stood, frozen to the spot, the memory of her coming out flooded her mind. "You sat there, I stood here, and I told you that I like women. You said that was fine. You said you loved me the way I am."
He got to his feet and rested a hand on each of her arms. "I do. It is fine for you to like women. But when it comes to the business the priority is strong leadership. Only a man can give us what we need for the future."
"Bullshit!"
"So, what Maura? You think Jane Rizzoli is going to take over as the head of this business? She's barely cut out to do the job I hired her to do. She's not even cut out to be a cop."
"But I love her."
"I don't expect you to never sleep with women again. She can be a hobby, believe me, I understand. I've had plenty of my own. But she will not be the person that you marry, Maura. I forbid it."
"You're fucking unbelievable," Maura shouted, marching out of the room, and the house, without another word.
X
The movie ended and Maura shut off the television. She wrapped her arms around Jane's middle and rested her cheek against Jane's head.
"You've been quiet all night. You can talk to me about what happened with your family."
"Not much to say," Jane muttered, holding Maura's arms closer around her. "It went about how I expected."
"Badly?"
"Worse." Maura sat up. Jane shuffled out of her arms and settled onto the couch beside her, one leg under her. "Pop was so calm. He never gets calm. The last time I think was when Tommy was brought home in the back of a squad car."
Maura cupped her face and Jane turned her head into it. "What did everyone else say?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing at all?"
"No." The strain in Jane's voice made Maura's heart ache. She pulled her into an embrace. "Ma just left the room, acted like nothing was going on. Frankie and Tommy didn't say anything. It was all Pop, and he was vicious. He said it wasn't his fault that I got caught up with your dad, that I should have let him kill him instead."
"What?" Maura pulled back, holding her at arm's length. "It's his fault you got involved in all of this and then he acts like it was your decision?"
"He's never been very good at admitting his faults." Jane shrugged and settled back down against Maura's shoulder. "When I was small, I looked up to him like he was a God. I'd walk around with tools in my belt talking about plumbing. I wanted to be like him so badly."
"I bet you were so cute, with your dark curls walking around with a wrench bigger than your arm."
"Yeah." Jane laughed softly, remembering the weight of the wrench every time she tried to lift it. "Everyone thought I'd follow him into the family business. It's not like Ma wasn't proud when I graduated from the Police Academy, but they all thought I'd be a plumber. I considered putting my dreams aside because I thought that's what everyone wanted. But my Pop, he told me no, he told me that it was my duty to do what I wanted to do. He'd worked so hard all of his life to give me the life I wanted. He lied, Maura. He fucking lied. He didn't want me to have my life, he wanted me to have the life he expected for me. I always thought the job was what mattered, I didn't realise that what really mattered was who I would fall in love with."
"It's okay."
It wasn't. They both knew that. Jane turned around, tear stains on her cheeks. She brushed fresh teardrops from her face and stared at Maura. "Tell me we'll get through this."
"We will." Maura wrapped her arms around her tightly. She wanted to believe her words, but everything her father had said to her stayed in her mind. She needed to be honest, to share the pain she felt with Jane, but something stopped her. She sat up and took Jane's hand. "I'm tired. Let's go to bed."
"How tired?" Jane asked, linking her hand.
Maura pressed her lips together and rolled her eyes. "Not that tired."
"Great." Jane rested her hands on her hips, and they ran towards the bedroom.
On the other side of the door, Maura stripped down to her underwear and pressed her lips to Jane's, pulling her shirt up and over her head. They tumbled onto the floor, laughing loudly. Maura ignored the pain throbbing as her knee hit the floor and worked her way along Jane's torso. Jane pushed her pants down and kicked them off. As Maura tugged down Jane's underwear, a loud scream came from the room next door. Maura leant forward, burrowing her face against Jane's stomach as her whole body shook with laughter.
"What's so funny?"
"Chelsea and Alex have been going at it like rabbits for days," she said, rolling her eyes. "Now we get a moment of peace and they're still at it."
"She seemed happy when I arrived."
"I have a feeling they're lifers."
Jane tugged at her elbows and Maura crawled up to Jane's side. She settled against her shoulder and they lay there on the floor, laughing at the sounds coming from Chelsea's room.
"Do you think we're lifers?" Maura asked, linking their fingers across Jane's chest. "Do you think this could be it for us?"
The silence that followed made Maura doubt asking the question. She closed her eyes and listened to the slow and steady beat of Jane's heart.
"I think I love you enough to want to be with you now, to want a future together. I've not really had time to consider beyond today. My parents knowing the truth is the hardest thing I've ever had to face."
"Even harder than facing Paddy Doyle?"
"Fuck yes." Jane scoffed. "Paddy is scary but my family…they were my safety, and now, now I don't know what the fuck I'm gonna do."
"If I had to choose anyone to be with forever, right now," Maura said, straddling Jane. The sounds from the room next door had dissipated, and silence followed. Maura leant down and kissed Jane on the lips. She trailed her tongue down across her chest. "If I absolutely had to decide today. I wouldn't hesitate to choose you."