The following days passed without any incidents and the Rizzoli-Isles household followed a relaxing daily routine of working, going to school, doing the chores, cooking, and spending funny nights at the dinner table.
Only that they had seemed to gain a new addition to the family: Amanda. At the beginning the tall young girl had refused to spend every afternoon at their home, but by the end of the week, it had become a typical picture for Jane and Maura to find the girls sitting at the dining table, doing homework when coming home.
It seemed as if Sophie had accepted Amanda's present and that they had become friends. Every night either Jane or Maura used to drive the girl home.
This night winter was raging hard over Boston as February came to an end.
It was Friday night and Jane was cooking dinner with Sophie, while the wild storm was raging outside. Julia and Amanda were in her daughters' room and she could hear them laugh sillily and talk. Rolling her eyes, she calculated the amount of snow that would fall until they had finished eating dinner. She hoped that Maura was already on her way home and that her wife drove carefully.
„I think that Amanda should stay with us tonight." Sophie said, Reading Jane's mind. The brunette nodded. „I think so too." She mumbled. The door to their home swung open and in with Maura came a load of snow. The doc cursed at the mess while placing her bag to its designated spot on the counter and threw her car key into the bowl to join the other keys.
„It's hell out there!" she stated while padding into the kitchen, glancing at what Jane and Sophie were doing. After sniffing for the smell of their meal in the the air, she gave Jane a quick kiss and also placed one on her daughter's cheek before opening the fridge to grab a bottle of water.
„Was it hard to drive baby?" Jane asked over the pots and Maura who settled onto one of the barstools nodded. „I hope that no one finds a body or murders anyone tonight. I'm on call. And I really don't want to leave the house anymore. The wind blurs the snow over the street. I slipped several times on my way home." Maura stated, rubbing her sore eyes.
„Yeah, I think it's better to let Amanda stay overnight." Jane replied with a serious face. „She can sleep on the couch." Maura was pensive. They had never discussed the topic of their daughter's girlfriend staying over. Hence, Jane wasn't surprised when the blonde gave her a questioning look after mouthing her thought.
Sophie stayed out of the discussion, feigning to be busy with steering the pasta which didn't need steering. „I mean we know that they are probably end up sleeping with each other. We know how that goes. But I think that it's too soon." Jane stated with furrowed eyebrows. „Well, Julia and I can share my bed if she likes. So, no one will have to sleep on the couch." Sophie chimed in with a shrug.
That sounded like a reasonable option to propose Maura and Jane thought. They finished cooking in silence while Maura relaxed with her water. Soon they were all gathered around the table, munching on the bami goreng Sophie and Jane had cooked.
„This is delicious." Maura said and gave them an appreciative look which was replied by a soft smile and a wink from Jane's part.
It was towards the end of the dinner when they proposed their idea to Amanda. The poor girl suddenly became frantic. And when she said: „My parents are going to kill me." Jane felt her heart break. It wasn't just the way a usual teenager would express the fact that she would get scolded, there was some real fear behind these words which made her shudder.
„I can call your parents and inform them if you like." She calmly said, already sensing that it would make things only worse. „No! No!" Amanda jumped from her chair in a panic and Julia tried to grab her hand.
Realizing how weird her behavior must seem the girl slumped back into the chair. „I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… I mean… Your offer is very nice, but I will have to ask my parents." Jane and Maura nodded giving the girl a worried look.
„Wow, that was strange. I sure hope that her parents are reasonable enough to let her crush here. There will be no school tomorrow due to this weather anyways." Sophie mumbled while handing Jane some plates for the dishwasher.
The brunette noticed how Sophie suddenly spent more time with them since Julia had found a girlfriend and agreed with her. The girls had obviously never talked with each other about their suspicion concerning Amanda's family and Jane was going to be the last to fill Sophie in.
Maura who had showered and changed appeared in the doorframe with Will on his arms. „He's not ready to sleep yet. I thought we might let him watch the first ten minutes of the movie with us before putting him to bed.„ The boy was already dressed in his pj's and his index finger was stuck into his mouth as he gave them a stubborn glance. It almost made Jane laugh as she recalled her mother once showing her a picture where she was looking almost exactly the same.
„Yeah. It's fine. Sophie, will you also join us?" Jane turned to the blonde girl who nodded. „Sure. As long as we aren't watching any of these boring documentaries. " Jane was bent down to the dishwasher but heard Maura's distinct huff. „They are not boring. You can learn a lot from them!"
This time it was Jane who stayed out of the discussion. Instead, she walked to Julia's room to check on the latest developments. If Amanda was staying, they needed to change some sheets. Her hand raised to knock but stopped mid-air though when she heard the girls leading a discussion in the room.
„You can't go home! You will freeze to death!" Julia sounded scared and desperate. „If I don't go home my parents will kill me." Amanda's voice sounded muffled but bore the same desperation like Julia's. Jane could clearly hear that she didn't want to go home.
„Hey." She smiled when entering after a knock. „School will be closed tomorrow. They just said so on the news and we got a text from your teacher." Both looked surprised, torn out of their discussion. And Jane walked over to the bed and sat to the edge.
„I don't think it's reasonable for you to go home." she pointed to the piling up snow in front of the window. „As a member of law enforcement I can't let you go." Her voice was determined and she caught Julia mouthing a thank you over Amanda's shoulder. "Its just not safe." Jane stated while glancing at the girls.
„Look. You parents must understand that it's really dangerous to go outside. And you don't have to. Sophie offered to share her bed with Julia. So, you can sleep here."
Janes hand patted the bed she was sitting on. „Now, please give me your phone. I will talk to your parents."
„No, it will only make things worse!" Amanda whispered scared. „You Don't know them!" tears began shining in her eyes. Jane just sat in silence for a very long time. Her hands were interlinked and resting on her knees. Then she asked Julia to close the door to the room.
„He is hurting you." Jane softly said, feeling the girl freeze.
„How?" she calmly questioned. „Since when?"
Julia took Amanda's hand and softly said: „It's okay. You can trust her."
Amanda nodded and swallowed hard but stayed silent. Jane waited patiently until the girl turned her back and lifted her jumper. Jane tried not to cry out in pain, when seeing the marks of cigarette butt's and hat presumably were the marks of a belt.
Some wounds were fresh, and Jane stood to place a reassuring hand on Amanda's shoulder. „I'm going to get Maura okay? She's a doctor and can help you."
Amanda glanced at her with fearful eyes, but Jane saw that she had finally decided to trust her. The brunette wanted to yell and kick the son of a bitch's ass, but right now they had to take care of Amanda. She found Maura with the other kids in the living room waiting for Jane.
When Maura saw the expression on her wife's face though, she immediately walked up on her. „I'm going to fetch the first aid case." Was all Jane needed to say.
They entered Julia's room after a knock. Maura had asked how bad it was, when she saw it she almost cried. Jane watched her bite her lips and opening the first aid case to gently work on the marks.
Amanda cringed when the disinfectant stung her, but she let Maura work patiently. Julia kept holding her hand, and Jane placed her hand on her shoulder. „It's okay. You are safe now." She whispered and Amanda just showed disbelief.
After patching up Amanda, they talked about their possibilities. When Amanda's phone rang, Jane silently took it and answered. „Sergeant Rizzoli." She heard someone sucking in some air. Then a male voice explaining that Amanda had to come home.
Jane in return explained very politely that she didn't think that it was a good idea. To her surprise the man didn't give her much of a discussion but let his daughter stay with them. He was probably intimidated by her title she thought while hanging up.