Oops, I Did It Again – Chapter 36
Jane and Maura had just gotten home from the Isles' house when Angela phoned Jane. When she answered the phone Angela asked, "Janie, are you going to bring Maura's parents over to meet us?" Angela knew that Maura's parents were in town, but she had not heard anything from Jane or Maura about them meeting the Rizzolis.
Neither one of them were at work so it is not like she was going to run into them at the precinct. She had gone by Jane's apartment and Maura's house and had not caught up with them. If she knew where Constance and Arthur lived, she probably would have gone over there. Angela Rizzoli did not like being left out and she felt like she was being left out.
"Ma, I'm not sure if that is such a great idea with how pop is acting towards mine and Maura's relationship." Jane was trying to be honest with her ma. She hated that her father was not as accepting as Maura's parents were about their relationship. She didn't want to push the issue with her father. She wanted him to make his decision on his own time. While he was deciding she was going to pursue her relationship with Maura. She knew if she had to make a choice, she would choose Maura.
"Well, I would like to meet them, Janie. You know I love Maura and meeting her parents would make me happy." Angela was trying to get to meet the Isles. Maura had told her about her parents and she wanted to meet them.
"Let me talk to Maura about it. I'm trying hard to not put us in uncomfortable settings. We are happy and if someone doesn't like it that is their problem, not ours." Jane confided.
"I agree, Janie. I still think it will be good to have them over for Sunday family dinner."
"Okay, like I said, I will check with Maura. I will talk to you later ma." With that Jane ended the phone call. She didn't want to talk to her mother about this anymore. It still upset her that her father was not accepting of her relationship with Maura.
Jane turned to Maura and said, "Maur, ma wants me to bring you and your parents to the next Sunday family dinner. Pop still isn't totally agreeable to our relationship. I'm not sure if we should expose your parents to that negativity."
"You know what, why don't we explain the situation to them and let them decide. You never know it might be good for your father to see that my parents accept our relationship and are happy for us." Maura suggested.
"That might work. He is stubborn though." Jane explained.
"Is that where you get your stubborn streak from?" Maura joked.
"Hey, now let's not pick on me." Jane said as she reached over and started tickling Maura.
"Stop, Jane." Maura tried to say but she was laughing so hard and Jane was relentless, she just continued to tickle her. "Please, Jane, I might pee my pants." Finally, Jane stopped.
"Jane, I am glad you stopped tickling me. I thought I was going to have an accident from laughing so much." Maura said as she moved a little away from Jane so her heart could slow down a little and hopefully go back to a normal pace. She loved these moments with Jane but her bladder almost couldn't handle that much laughter.
Jane's phone rang again and she sighed and said, "I hope that is not my ma again. I really don't want to be harassed." Jane answered the phone, "Rizzoli." She didn't recognize the number.
"Is that how you answer your phone Jane?" The caller asked.
"Yes, when there is an unrecognized number on my phone." Jane stated.
"Well, you can program this number in your phone now. I was wondering, do you think you could teach me to shoot your gun? I think that would be fascinating." Constance stated.
"Why sure, Constance. Let me run it by Maura first though and if she agrees we can do that."
"Okay, darling, that sounds terrific. See you for breakfast in the morning." With that Constance hung up, she didn't wait for a response from Jane. Jane looked puzzled.
"What did my mother want, Jane?" Maura asked, she was curious as to why her mother had called Jane and not her.
"She wanted to know if I could take her shooting. She wants to learn how to shoot a gun. You heard me tell her I would have to check with you." Jane was still surprised by the phone call. She was a little stunned. She didn't know what to say. She wanted to teach Constance, but she didn't think that Maura would approve of her teaching her mother how to shoot a hand gun.
"I am not sure if I am comfortable with mother learning how to shoot a handgun. I suppose if she insists I would rather you teach her than someone else. Let me talk to her tomorrow and see if she is serious. I wonder if she even talked to my father about this." Maura was a little stunned also. Her mother had never expressed an interest in learning how to shoot a handgun to her before.
Jane and Maura went upstairs and prepared for bed. After satisfying their need to make love with each other, they fell asleep in each other's arms wondering about Constance's intentions on wanting to learn to shoot a handgun.
At breakfast the next morning Maura asked Constance, "Mother, why do you want to learn to shoot a gun?"
"Darling, Jane is such an excellent teacher and I thought it would be fun to shoot at those paper people. Jane said that she taught you and I figured it might be fun. Jane said she enjoys shooting at the range." Constance informed her daughter.
"I want to learn also." Arthur stated. Maura just looked at her father. She was wondering who these two people were. They didn't shoot guns and hit balls in a batting cage or eat cheeseburgers.
Jane let Constance and Arthur finish and then said, "I guess there is a compliment in there. Thank you, Constance. I am surprised you both want to learn. If Maura says it is okay, I will teach you."
Maura thought about it. Nobody said a word while she thought, they just ate their breakfast. When Maura finished her thought process, she said, "I will agree to Jane teaching you how to shoot a handgun as long as there are some rules established first. Part of your instruction must include disassembling and cleaning the gun. We can discuss the rest of the rules later."
"Thank you, darling." Constance stated. She was happy that Jane would be teaching her how to shoot.
Arthur followed by saying, "Yes, Maura, thank you. I am looking forward to the training."
"I cannot take you to the Boston PD Shooting Range, however I can take you to a local public range. We can set up a time later." Jane explained.
"Mother and Father, Jane's mother, Angela has invited us over for their weekly Sunday family dinner." Before Maura could finish what she was going to say, Constance spoke up.
"Oh, that is great Darling. I would love to meet Jane's family."
"Well, mother, there is a slight issue that we need to address. Jane's father is not a fan of our relationship." Maura explained.
"Why not, you two are perfect for each other." Constance said quite concerned.
Jane spoke up and informed them, "My father was raised Catholic and raised us the same. He believes what the Church believes regarding same-sex relationships. He is being cordial when we go to Sunday family dinner, but has not yet given his approval."
"Well, I don't see a problem with your relationship and if you are comfortable going over there knowing that he feels that way, than so am I." Constance proudly stated.
Arthur nodded his agreement. He thought to himself, 'if our daughters are going to get married, I should meet her parents and now is as good of a time as any.'
"Thank you. I will text her and let her know that we will be there." Jane said as she pulled out her cell phone and sent a quick text to her mother to let her know that they will attend next Sunday's family dinner and bring Maura's parents.
"Now, what were the plans for today, darlings?" Constance asked a bit curious to know what was in store for them. Today was their first outing together, all four of them.
"Well, have you given any thought to miniature golf? I know Arthur would probably be good at it, as it is basically like putting except with obstacles." Jane questioned.
"I think that sounds like fun. Do we compete? I mean is it a team sport or individual?" Constance questioned.
"Mother, it is an individual sport, you compete against the par for each hole and try and score less than others, so yes I guess you can call it competitive." Maura said.
"Maur, you know dam well it is competitive. We compete against each other every time we play, and I know you love beating my brothers when they go with us." Jane stated.
"Language, Jane." Maura said as she raised her eyebrows at Jane. Jane smiled at her.
"Oh, will we get to meet your brothers, Jane?" Constance asked.
"Yes, Sunday, you will meet them. They will be at dinner." Jane offered.
They cleaned up their breakfast mess and set off to go miniature golfing. Jane was looking forward to this. It was Thursday morning so the kids would still be in school so there shouldn't be that many people at the miniature golf arcade. Jane called ahead to make sure what time it opened. She discovered it opened at eleven so that was great.
Once they arrived at got their clubs and score cards, they decided that they would play against each other as teams. Jane and Maura against Constance and Arthur. Arthur took the time to make sure Constance had the correct putter length. He knew he would have to teach her but she was a quick learner so it shouldn't be a problem.
Constance couldn't decide what color ball she would like to play with. She spent more time choosing the color of her ball than it took for Arthur to make sure she had the correct putter length. Maura just shook her head again. She knew that it didn't really matter what color ball you had but rather that each player in your party had a different color ball. Once Constance selected pink, Maura selected green, Arthur yellow and Jane blue. Now they could go to the course.
As they walked to the course, Jane stipulated that every third hole had to be a couple's hole, starting with the first hole. That would mean the two had to hit the ball together as one. Jane rather liked that idea as she would get to hold onto Maura as they putted. They each would score how many strokes it took them on their score card. That also would help Arthur teach Constance how to putt the ball.
There were two courses they could choose from so Jane suggested that Arthur and Constance pick the course. They viewed what they could about both courses and then selected Course A. There were no differences in the courses as far as skill set, just in the obstacles. The difficulty level was the same for both courses.
Constance looked over the score card and noticed that each hole had a par of three. "Is that normal for each hole to have the same par?"
Arthur answered, "In golf it would be different for each hole however for miniature golf they just assign a par of three to each hole."
"Okay, well which team is up first?" Constance asked she was ready to start playing.
Maura suggested that she and Jane go first. Jane placed her putter down and walked up and stood behind Maura. Maura placed her ball on the tee and Jane stepped into share her space with her. They put their hands on the putter and lined up their shot. Jane and Maura had played miniature golf this way before otherwise it would have been awkward as Jane is left-handed and Maura is right-handed. Both Constance and Arthur are right-handed.
Maura looked at the dragon in front of her. She knew they needed to shoot the ball into the dragon's mouth if they wanted a chance at scoring a hole in one. There was a small bridge that the ball needed to pass over to get into the dragon's mouth. If the ball fell off of the bridge their ball would come out on the side of the hole and they would need another shot.
The opening in the dragon's mouth was smaller than the width of the bridge, so they needed to shoot the ball carefully to get it into the dragon's mouth. The ball could successfully go over the bridge and miss the opening in the dragon's mouth and come out to the side of the hole. Even if you managed to get the ball into the opening of the dragon's mouth that didn't guarantee a hole in one.
They carefully aimed their shot and they struck the ball with enough power to roll over the bridge and through the opening. They rushed over to see if they would get a hole in one. Unfortunately, the ball hit the outer edge of the hole and rolled out. They would need a second shot.
Constance stepped up and placed her ball on the tee as Arthur had instructed her. She positioned herself with her feet shoulder length apart and placed her dominate hand on the putter and then placed her other hand above it on the putter. Arthur then placed his hands on top of hers. They brought the putter back slowly and then with a little bit of force pushed the putter into the ball and it went over the bridge and into the dragon's mouth. They walked over to see where their ball would come out. Constance and Arthur arrived just in time to see their ball go into the hole for a hole in one. They were so excited.
Jane and Maura walked over and carefully tapped their ball into the hole. They picked up their ball and moved onto the next hole. Once at the next hole they marked their score cards and then Maura started her play. This hole didn't have any obstacles it just curved so you had to angle your shot correctly to have a chance at a hole in one. Angles and trajectories were right up Maura's alley. She carefully looked at the path and took her shot. The ball stopped just a fraction of an inch away from the hole. Jane was up next and she over shot the hole but it bounced off of the bricks and came back to stop within two inches of the hole. Constance was next she also over shot the hole and her ball stop right next to Jane's but a tad bit closer than Jane's. Arthur's ball bounced off of the hole and rolled a inch away.
Maura was closest so she went first. She nudged her ball in to score a two for that hole. Arthur was next also scoring a two. Constance went next and over shot a little so she finished with a three. Jane nudged her ball in for a two.
The repeated the twists and turns and obstacles until they had finished all eighteen holes. Jane managed two hole in ones and Arthur landed another one. Maura scored three hole in ones, and Constance didn't score another one but had quite a few two shot holes. They sat at a little table and added up their scores before going to the 19th hole to shoot their last shot.
If you made a hole in one at the 19th hole you would receive a free game, if you missed it just returned the ball for you. Maura finished with 40, Jane 42, Constance 46 and Arthur 43. Arthur was really hoping to beat Jane but she had out shot him. They all shot and missed at the 19th hole. They returned their clubs and then decided to go out for a late lunch.
Once they were seated at their table, Constance who had enjoyed playing miniature golf asked Jane, "Thank you, Jane for suggesting this. I had a great time. Weather permitting can we do this every time we come to Boston?"
"Sure, anytime you want." Jane replied. After about an hour they headed home and decided to play some cards until dinner. They all had enjoyed their day. Jane was a little sad that Maura had beaten her at miniature golf but she knew there would be a next time and just maybe she could win then.
