Rain: Hey everyone! Rain here with a brand new chapter for A Mother's Love and boy I've been waiting for this chapter. In the meantime, I have another R&I fanfic called One Week so if you guys wants to see a short little fic regarding our favorite gals in high school with a tinge of bittersweetness, that fic will be for you so check it out! Now it's time to sit back, relax and enjoy the show!
A Mother's Love
Chapter Six: Angela and Frank
Jane was a big ball of emotions.
Between her fallout with Maura, them admitting their feelings, sleeping together and then leaving the woman she loved to now staring at Ma and her father, Frank Rizzoli, at the divorce table was getting to her.
"Glad to see you made it," Frank said with a gruff tone, pausing briefly to nod at Jane, who merely scowled in reply. She loved him once but after trying to get his marriage with Ma annulled, essentially making them all bastard children along with hurting her Ma, she had no more love for him.
Ma had given him so much and put up with so much only for him to do this? It was horrifying to Jane.
"A little late but I wouldn't miss this for the world," Ma replied with a frown on her face.
"I'm sure," Frank replied with a smug grin. "You bought Jane…Trying to guilt me from signing these annulment papers?" He asked.
"No. She is helping me with something later. This little farce was on the way," Her Ma said smoothly, which surprised Jane. She had never heard her mom so dismissive of anyone before, especially Frank.
She was honestly impressed.
"Everything is nearly completed with the divorce process. All that is left to do is sign the annulment papers," Frank said as he slid the papers across the papers over to Ma.
"If it was just you and me, I would have signed these at the first request," Her Ma admitted with a cold expression. "What I am having trouble with is why you are doing this to Jane, Frankie and Tommy. We have our issues but you have no right trying to make them bastards and hurt them."
"Oh please," Frank replied with a roll of his eyes. "Let's really cut into the issue here. The only reason they are my kids is because your "Best Friend" went away."
Jane watched her mother's eyes widen and her body stiffen.
"What?" Jane questioned.
"Oh yeah? That's right. She never wanted to tell you three about her best friend. The one that "Completed" her," Frank said with smirk.
"Shut up," Ma hissed out with anger Jane had never seen before.
"Why should I? We both know that "Friendship" Was more than what it was," Frank taunted.
Jane could cut the tension with a knife from the rather heated glare her mother was giving Frank but this only caused Frank to smirk. "There it is. That look you get every time this subject comes up. And you wonder why I don't hold any regret in doing this? You can't let her go," He said.
"Let who go?" Jane asked.
"You act as if I didn't love you," her mother said, clearly ignoring Jane's question.
"You didn't. I was only a replacement," Frank said angrily. "You forget, I was there when your friend left Angela. I had to pick up those pieces."
"You didn't have to pick up anything," her mother replied. "I did that on my own."
"Oh yeah? By what? Locking yourself away in a dark room with no response for a week?" Frank asked.
Jane felt her stomach clench. That was exactly what she had done….
"It fixed the issue Frank. Besides, this isn't about her…this is about us and what you're doing to our children," her mother said calmly.
"This is about us Angela," Frank said. "It always has been. Us and your feelings about Eliza," Frank said.
"Eliza?" Jane asked.
"Yes, Elizabeth Clementine Ruiz. your mother's best friend," Frank replied. "At least that was the cover story."
Jane blinked in surprise. "Ma?" Jane asked.
Her mother was silent but there was a look of death in her eyes.
"You wanna know where your middle came from? It came from her girlfriend as a tribute to their illicit tryst," Frank said with a smirk. "We all knew it back then. How inseparable the pair of you were. I was friends with them both and it was as clear as day that you two were banging," Frank taunted.
"Frank…Shut up right now," Her mother warned but Jane was silent.
Her mother was in love with another woman?
"When Eliza moved, your mother fell apart and who picked up the pieces? I did but you know what I realized? She was never going to get over her dear best friend. I was merely there as a sperm donor for your sinful lesbian mother," Frank said, spitting out "Best Friend" and "Lesbian" with such anger that it stunned her.
"You want to know why I'm asking for the annulment? Why I'm forcing my kids that I care for to become bastards? Because you could never accept the fact that she left you so you used me and leeched off me all while pining away for her. Hell, If it wasn't for your best friend moving away, Jane, Frankie or Tommy wouldn't exist in the first place so being bastards is only a step up from non-existence." Frank said as he stood up and tapped the paper.
"So tell you what Annie, the beans have been spilled to Jane. You sign this paper and your secret continues to be safe with your two so-"
Jane didn't even see her move.
One minute, she was sitting across the table and the next, her father was on the ground her Ma's hand was in the air. "Ma!" Jane exclaimed in shock as she watched her mother pant, a look of absolute fury on her face.
"Ma, calm down," Jane said as she rushed to her mother, trying her best to calm her down. "Ma, look at me. Don't focus on him," Jane told her but in her mother's eyes there was remorse, fury and sadness.
Frank leaned up from the ground, a look of surprise on his face as her mother moved away and stood above the downed Frank. "Look at that…You sat there and got all angry for insulting her. You are so predictable."
Jane turned around and shouted "Stop antagonizing her!"
"No…" Jane turned her head to look at her mother, who gave her a sad smile. "It's okay…"
"Mom, you sure?" Jane asked.
"I'm sure and when I'm finished, I'll explain everything, okay?" Her mom asked.
Jane merely nodded and stepped away from her so her mom could get a good look at Frank. "It seems you have some misconceptions about everything so let me clear them up before I walk out that door and leave you to the rest of your life with your fiancée…"
"I loved Eliza with everything that I had and when she left, it hurt me but she and I both understood why it had to be done. Family always comes first. Her mother, who was sick and dying, wanted her to come spend her last years in Spain and my siblings needed me here. If I were to leave or if she were to stay, we both would going against what matters to us and that is our families," Angela said softly.
"I knew this but it still hurt so much to be without her and yes, I did shut down and while I eventually managed to pick myself up and start again, you, my other best friend, helped every step of the way. You were kind, patient and loving to me and through that hurt, I fell in love with you Francesco," Jane watched as her mother wiped away her a stray tear as her sad smile deepened.
"We have three wonderful, beautiful children together. Each one with the mixture of the best parts of us and I wouldn't trade them away for anything or anyone. They are my treasure…But you changed Frank. The Francesco I knew was a bright, funny, hardworking, loving man that would do anything for his wife and children but through the years the Francesco who I gave my heart to morphed into you. A bitter, lying, vindictive, combative, jealous, gambling, cheating scoundrel," Angela said, her voice turning from sadness to disappointment and finally, to anger.
Jane was stunned.
She had received a lot of information that she was not expecting. It was now that Jane realized she really didn't know her mom as an actual person. Her mom never mentioned her past or how she really met Frank or even her siblings so to get a full picture only bought on more questions.
She watched her mom take a deep breath before she said "You gambled away your business and when that didn't clear your debts, you put us in financial ruin to the point that we lost the home we fought for since before Jane was born. You got jealous of anyone that showed a single ounce of care for me like Sean and Vince, you constantly threw every mistake I've made in my face when I bought up something inconsequential you did. You even cheated on me without hesitation since Tommy's birth…With the last time being on your birthday last year!"
At Frank's shocked face, Jane watched her mother let out a low laugh. "Oh what? You think I didn't know what you were doing at work?" Angela asked with a sarcastic edge, which reminded Jane a lot of herself when she was tearing down a perp.
"Do you remember your birthday a few weeks before our daughter saved our son's life by shooting herself? We got into an argument regarding Tommy and girl Lydia, a girl I eventually found out you were sleeping with as well. I felt so bad about the argument, I wanted to surprise you at your office but low and behold, you were cleaning different pipes."
Jane could see her mother's shoulders but Jane couldn't tell if it was because she was upset or if she was pissed. "Ma…" Jane said as she lifted her hand but her mother lifted her hand to stop her from moving.
"I have faced a devil in the eyes to protect my siblings and I have sacrificed love, happiness and dignity in staying with you until the night you asked for this divorce and do you know why?" Angela asked.
At the silence, Angela leaned down and stared Frank right in the eyes and to her surprise, Frank seemed to shrink away from her. "Because at the end of the day, I never changed from that teenage girl raising her siblings when they had no one. Family comes above all else," Angela said with conviction heavy in her voice.
"So you can sit here and try and antagonist me, upset me or blackmail me into signing that annulment to make our children bastards. Hell, you can hit me like you always threatened but I will never cave into you. I faced down a devil to protect my siblings and you do not want to see what I will do to protect my children so either take the divorce as it stands or you can test my resolve but I promise you, If you start that test, I will ace it every time. Do I make myself clear?"
Frank nodded slowly.
Angela then leaned away from Frank and looked back at Jane, who had a stunned expression on her face. "I think we're done here sweetie. Let's go," her mother said with a smile.
Jane merely nodded and took her mother's hand and without sparing Frank a look, she escorted her mother out of the room.
And her respect for her mother grew to unparalleled levels.
Jane drove the car in silence as Angela slept in the passenger seat. The minute they had got in the car, Angela immediately went to sleep, leaving Jane to her thoughts.
For years, all Jane thought about her mom was that she was a nosy-busy body and yet today, she found out so much about her mother that she wasn't expecting.
But on the flipside, she found out a lot of things about Frank.
She wouldn't dare call him "Pops" ever again.
It was then she heard Angela's phone begin to ring. She pulled out the cellphone and saw Constance's name on it, which surprised her. She answered the phone and said "Hello?"
"Jane! I wasn't expecting you to answer Angela's phone," Constance said.
"Ma took a nap. She was real tired after dealing with a few things," Jane replied as she looked over to Angela's sleeping form before she continued to drive. "I can pass on a message to her if you like?"
"That would be lovely. I was calling to let her know that the dinner reservations were ready and that I would there to escort her to our ride," Constance explained.
Jane blinked. "Dinner reservations?" She asked.
"Yes. I…Invited your mother out for dinner tonight," Constance explained. Jane felt as if her entire world had shifted. "A-As friends of course…"
Why did Constance stutter like that?
That was so unlike the Isles Matriarch.
Hell, there was so many things going on today that Jane had trouble thinking about. "Alright…So you're taking my mom out on a date…as a friend of course. Alright cool. I'll have her call you when we get to the house. You can also stop by of course. It is Maura's guest house after all," Jane said with a nod.
"That is quite alright…I will come by when it is close to our time for our dinner reservation. I hope you'll see us off," Constance said.
"Of course. She is my Ma after all," Jane replied.
"Very good. Until later then my dear. Give my regards to your mother in the meantime," Constance said before the line went dead.
Jane moved the phone from her shoulder and once she hit another red light, she slipped the phone back into her sleeping mother's pocket.
Jane glanced at her mother once again before the light turned green and she began to drive back to her mother's home.
She had to talk to Maura about this.
Wait…She couldn't. Maura wouldn't want to talk to her. Jane shook her head.
No, she made a promise that she wouldn't talk to Maura after their night of passion.
But as she continued to drive, Jane couldn't stop herself from wondering about Constance and her mother…
She had to break her rules.
She had to talk to Maura about this...
Rain: WHEW. That was a heavy chapter but the next chapter will have Angela and Constance's date! Along with our two resident duo acting as spies?! Well, only one way to find out. Until next time!