Oops, I Did It Again – Chapter 38
On the way home, Jane said, "I can't believe my father acted that way. I am so sorry. I thought he would keep his opinions to himself for the evening."
"Jane, we knew there would be a possibility that he would make a scene. That is why we told my parents about his objections to our relationship ahead of time. We don't have to see him, if you don't want. I will support you in your decision on how we should deal with your father." Maura told Jane as she snuggled into her.
They had hired a car service to take them to and from the Rizzoli household so that if they all wanted to drink some adult beverages and enjoy the company they could. Jane felt like having a drink now and not a beer, she needed something stronger. She just might have to join Arthur in a glass of whiskey tonight.
When they got home and settled back in the living room Constance remarked, "Jane, I am sorry that your father doesn't agree with you being in a relationship with Maura. Please do not let anything he says influence your choices in life. You and Maura are so happy together and love each other so much. As I told your father, that truly is what every parent should want for their children. I will also support any decision you make regarding how you would like to deal with your father."
"I concur. I like you Jane and I love how much you love our daughter. You have our continued blessings with your relationship. You are both adults and do not need your father to give you permission to date Maura. You have the rest of your family and friends, and of course, us." Arthur said as he pulled Jane and Maura into a hug.
"It has been an emotional evening why don't the two of you stay here tonight and we can do something fun and lighthearted tomorrow." Constance stated.
"You mean, like have me show you how to shoot my gun?" Jane said as they all laughed.
"No, Jane with the way I am feeling right now I might want to shoot someone. Let's wait on that event." Constance said and then brought both Jane and Maura in for a hug. "I am not a hugger but I felt as though you both needed a hug right now."
"Thank you, Constance. I almost thought you were going to slap or punch my father tonight." Jane said as they broke their hug.
"I might have if Arthur didn't stop me from reaching him. That is behind us and I doubt I will see him before we leave next week." Constance added. "I think we should all get ready for bed as soon as we finish the drinks Arthur has poured for us." They all drank their glass of whiskey and then retreated to their bedrooms, hopefully to put this night behind them and start fresh in the morning.
When Jane and Maura climbed in bed, they just held each other. They both had tears in their eyes. Jane was sad that her father was still not accepting her relationship with Maura. She loved Maura and was the happiest she had ever been in her life. She was hoping that he would come around and accept their relationship.
Maura was upset because Jane was upset. She loved Jane and hated to see her hurting like this. Her parents had neglected her in the past and that hurt her, but Jane is feeling a different kind of hurt because she always had her father's love. Maura never felt like she had her parent's love until recently when her parents came back into her life. They fell asleep whispering 'I love you' to each other as they snuggled up.
Constance and Arthur laid in bed and chatted for a little while. They were still upset about how Frank reacted. They swore they would make the rest of the time with Jane and Maura fun and show them all the love that they had for them.
Before Constance turned out her bedside lamp, she told Arthur that they should plan the rest of their time in Boston with the girls in the morning over breakfast, he agreed and she turned the lamp off so they could go to sleep.
Jane slept but she tossed and turned which caused Maura to not sleep well. The next morning during breakfast they discussed what they would do for the rest of the time Constance and Arthur were in town. They decided that they would have a dinner on Wednesday night and invite Angela, Frankie and Tommy. Frank would be at church and thus he wouldn't be attending. He wasn't invited. Angela had stated that she didn't want to go to the church with him ever again.
They visited more museums, played cards, watched some movies at home and went to a baseball game. They had fun together. For Tuesday nights baseball game, they went to the official Red Sox store to purchase jerseys for Constance and Arthur. Constance really didn't want to wear a jersey. Arthur was all for it. Frankie and Tommy were going with them. All five tried to convince Constance to purchase a jersey and wear it. After about half an hour they found the perfect jersey for her and she wore it out of the store.
With all six of them properly attired for the game they went to the stadium. Frankie escorted them to their seats and took their food orders. He and Tommy were going to make the concession run. Arthur decided to accompany them. They purchased six Fenway Franks, four beers and two glasses of wine and three bags of popcorn.
The line wasn't that long so they were back within fifteen minutes. Constance balked when Jane handed her a Fenway Frank. "Jane, I said I didn't care to eat one of those … things."
Maura laughed. "Mother, that was my initial reaction the first time I had one also. I told Jane what those hot dogs are made of and that I refuse to eat it. Needless to say, I ate one. Now I have one every time I come to a game with Jane."
Constance was surprised how much Maura interacted during the game. She was jumping and cheering just like Jane. Every time the Red Sox scored a run, Jane, Maura, Frankie and Tommy went wild. Constance and Arthur just smiled. They were having fun watching the three Rizzoli children and Maura. The Red Sox won the game and the entire conversation on the way back to the Isles house was about the game.
On Wednesday night Angela had arrived early. Constance gave her a tour of the house and then introduced her to their chef. She was impressed with the house and also with the fact that they had a personal chef. Angela had wanted to help with the dinner preparations. She thought it was the least she could do. Constance had asked the chef to prepare an Italian dinner. Angela and the chef engaged in conversation about the menu and the next thing they knew Angela was showing the chef a few things. He enjoyed cooking with Angela.
Frankie and Tommy arrived about an hour later followed by Korsak and Frost. Korsak immediately went into the kitchen to help with the dinner preparations.
Everyone decided to play cards while dinner was cooking. They taught Constance and Arthur how to play UNO. Frost discarded to Tommy giving him a 'Draw Two' card and he immediately put down a 'Draw Two' card on top of it. Maura, who was next to him and on the receiving end of his discard, looked at him and said, "Tommy what are you doing? You cannot play you have to draw two cards."
Tommy looked at her and said, "Maura, we play stacked UNO. If someone plays a card like that and you have one in your hand you can play it, so now you have to draw four cards unless you have a 'Draw Two' card in your hand."
Maura smiled, Jane was sitting next to her and she had a 'Draw Two' card in her hand. She placed the 'Draw Two' card on top of Tommy's and looked at Jane, "Your turn love, you have to draw six cards."
Jane fumbled through her cards and said, "Dam, I don't have a 'Draw Two' card."
"Language, Jane." Maura stated as Jane drew six cards and the game continued with Constance.
"I think I like this version." Constance said as she drew a 'Draw Two' card and discarded it to Arthur and said, "UNO." Arthur didn't have a 'Draw Two' card so he drew two cards and then it was Frankie's turn.
Jane was still pouting when her turn came around again. She had never shown Maura how to play stacked UNO because she didn't like to have cards stacked against her. Jane ended up losing to Maura and she wasn't happy about it. She had been almost out of cards when she had to draw the six cards and Maura went out before she got a chance to play again because she was skipped with the 'Skip' card that Maura played on her next go around. Maura called UNO and the game ended before Jane could play again.
Constance told Jane, "Jane, darling, it is okay. Maybe you will be able to win the next time we play or win at another game."
"It's fine. I don't feel like playing cards anymore." Jane said as she leaned further back into the couch she was sitting in. Maura tried to snuggle up to her and Jane tried squirming away until Maura found a ticklish spot and started tickling her. A few minutes later Jane's mood changed and she was laughing and joking around.
Angela came out and told them it was time for dinner. They all went to the dining room table and sat. After discussing the change in the dinner menu with Constance the chef and Angela cooked up some of her family recipes. They cooked eggplant parmigiana, spaghetti with meatballs, gnocchi and of course cannoli for dessert. The chef enjoyed his time cooking with Angela. Constance asked him to join them for dinner tonight.
They laughed and joked around during dinner and before the cannoli was served, Jane and Constance passed out glasses of wine to everyone, with sparkling cider for Tommy. Each glass had a marker charm on it. Nobody was really paying attention to the charm that was on their glass until Maura saw that hers was shiny. She brought her glass up to look more closely at it and that is when Jane knelt down in front of her and took her hand that was holding her wine glass, thus stopping Maura from taking a closer look.
"Maura, I have fallen in love with you. From the first time we met I knew there was something special about you and I have been falling more in love with you as each day passes. Will you do me the honor of marrying me?" Jane took the ring off of the glass and presented it to Maura.
Maura was in shock. She looked at Jane and then her parents. "Yes, a thousand times yes, Jane. I love you and I will marry you."
Jane was excited. She placed the ring on Maura's finger. Jane went to kiss Maura to 'seal the deal' and Maura stopped her before she could kiss her and looked at her mother who was handing her a velvet box. "Mother, what did you do?"
"Open the box, darling." Constance said as Maura took the box from her. Maura opened the box and saw the engagement ring that she had wanted to purchase for Jane. "Go ahead darling, ask her."
"Jane, I also knew there was something special about you when we first met. I have been looking forward to the day when I could ask you one important question."
Before she could continue, Jane looked at her and said, "Yes, Maura, I will marry you."
"Jane, you are supposed to let me ask before you reply." Maura said as she held one of Jane's hands.
"Sorry, I just want to kiss you so badly right now, ask me, please."
"As I was saying, Jane, I love you with all of my heart and would love it if you would become my wife and life-long partner, will you marry me?"
"Yes, yes, I will marry you. Now, can I kiss you?" Jane asked as she stood and pulled Maura up with her.
"Yes, you may now kiss me." Maura said as she slid the ring on Jane's finger. Jane looked at the rings on their finger and then kissed Maura passionately.
After a minute or so, they were interrupted by their mothers coughing, politely trying to break up the long kiss so that the family could congratulate them. They both looked at their rings and then each other and starting kissing again. Constance grabbed Maura and Angela grabbed Jane and gave them huge hugs. The rest of the family followed them and after a few minutes of hugs. Jane looked at Constance and mouthed, 'how?'
Constance just smiled and said, "later."
They enjoyed their cannoli and drinks and everyone had a chance to look at both rings. Jane and Maura had huge smiles on their faces. The men all followed Arthur to his cigar room so the women could talk.
"I must say that this has been a tough few days for me. Both of these young ladies let me know that they loved the other and told me that they wanted to propose. I went ring shopping with both of them without the other knowing." Constance informed the group after the men had left.
"Oh my, Constance, that must have been hard keeping that secret." Angela said. "I am so excited, our babies are getting married."
"It was difficult, I will admit but it was also so beautiful. I could tell how much they each loved one another. I felt honored that they both trusted me enough to share with me. I haven't been the best mother to Maura over the years. Arthur and I are trying to be there for her now, so for her to share this with me is a memory I will treasure forever." Constance admitted as she looked at Jane and Maura who were just smiling at each other.
They were holding hands and were sitting on the couch so close to each other that they were practically sitting on each other. Maura got up and came over and hugged her mother. Angela smiled as she looked at the girls. Jane had heard some of what Constance had just said and asked, "Wait, is that how you figured out my ring size, and got me to purchase the ring?"
"Yes, I wanted Maura to have her grandmother's ring and Maura had picked out a ring for you but we didn't know your ring size. By taking you to the jewelers I was able to find out your ring size and also have you purchase a ring. You just didn't know that you were purchasing your own engagement ring. When the clerk went in the back to run your credit card, she boxed up the ring that you had tried on and gave it to me when you were putting your credit card away. She had given you my mother's ring that Maura used to admire when she was a child."
"That is tricky, Constance." Jane said as she also got up and came over and gave Constance a hug and then took her fiancée's hand and walked her back to the couch so they could continue to snuggle.
Once they were back on the couch, Constance said, "Jane, I knew you wouldn't let me purchase the ring, because you had already stated that you wanted to buy it yourself. I didn't want to hurt your feelings, I know you are a proud woman and that you wanted to do this for Maura. I knew you would love the ring that I had given the clerk to show you. I just had to figure out how to get you to put on a ring so I could learn your ring size."
"You did great, Constance. Thank you." Jane said as the men came back into the room. Arthur had taken them to his cigar room so that they could share in some whiskey and a cigar. Tommy had grabbed a bottle of apple cider for himself after Arthur had announced what they were going to do. He was making great strides in his recovery from his bit with alcoholism and he vowed to stop drinking. He would always be labeled an alcoholic but he could and would make sure he did not drink again.
Jane and Maura went back to their house. They had some celebrating to do without all the other family members present. They made love for the first time as an engaged couple. They did manage to get a little bit of sleep before morning arrived and it was time to join Constance and Arthur for breakfast again. They arrived with smiles etched into their faces. They were both so happy, they were getting married. Nobody could dampen their spirits not even Frank Rizzoli.