A/N - The story will be two chapters, Chapter 1 leading up to New Year's Eve and Chapter 2 about the family gathering for New Year's Eve. The second chapter will be posted on 12/31/21 before 9 PM EST.
Rizzoli-Isles Family New Year's Party
The week between Christmas and New Year's Eve was very busy for the Rizzoli-Isles family members. The snow had been falling lightly off and on during the week. In between the fall of the snow the children would ride their bikes. They were enjoying them, even for the small bursts of riding time that the snow allowed for. They were so bundled up because of the cold, but they were still having so much fun. TJ's training wheels were removed before the end of the year. He had quickly learned how to ride this bike and balance himself. He didn't want to be the only one with training wheels.
Christmas Day
Constance and Arthur had gone to stay at their own house after the Christmas morning festivities. That had been the plan all along but Mario's surprise arrival had necessitated the move as Arianna would need a room for the children and Constance and Arthur were occupying that room, not that the children were really sharing a room with Arianna all night long. They were still sneaking into Jane and Maura's room and cuddling up with them.
Once Constance settled after she arrived at her rather large empty house, she had a thought and picked up her phone and said, "Hello darling, I have an idea, why don't you and Mario come stay at our house and Jane and Maura can have quality time with 'their children.' I think they would love that."
Arianna was surprised by the offer and let out a small laugh. The running joke of Nicky and Giana being Jane and Maura's children was known by the entire family. Maura had even introduced Nicky and Giana at their wedding as 'their children' and everybody had laughed. Nicky and Giana were very attached to Jane and Maura and when they were around Arianna felt as though she didn't have any children.
"Constance, you don't have to do that." Arianna had stated as she seriously thought about the offer.
"I know darling. I want to. Besides Arthur and I would love to spend some quality time with you and Mario as well." Constance admitted as she poured herself a glass of red wine. She thought of Arianna as another daughter. They have spent quite a bit of time together as Arianna worked part time for the Isles Foundation, but Constance didn't get to spend that much time with Mario.
"I will ask Mario and let you know tonight at dinner." Arianna stated as she folded the laundry for her and the children. They always had to make sure they had clean pajamas. They only had three sets of matching pajamas so every few days she needed to wash the pajamas for her family. The children loved having matching pajamas and were smiling so big in the family picture that was taken Christmas morning after they had opened all of their presents.
"That would be fine, darling. We will be over in a few hours." Constance said with excitement evident in her voice as they ended the phone call. She had a few small presents at her house for the children and wanted them to open them Christmas night. She had known the children were getting bikes and wanted the children to have plenty of time to ride their bikes and play before she gave them her presents.
Jane and Maura were patiently, okay maybe not so patiently, waiting until Christmas night to exchange their gifts as they had been so exhausted after getting the bikes and other gifts ready from Santa for the children Christmas Eve. They said they would wait until they were awake enough to enjoy the moment.
They had set a hundred-dollar limit on the value of their gifts. They realized that they both could get carried away if they didn't set a limit, so this was the first year they were trying to exchange gifts with a price tag limit. Their courthouse wedding had been in November a few years ago and then their wedding in Santorini the following March, so this time of year was filled with personal events that they could give gifts for.
Tommy and Chloe were in the kitchen. Chloe wanted to cook lunch for everybody so they were cooking together. Angela was sitting on the kitchen island talking to them. Chloe wouldn't let Angela help because she knew that Angela cooked for the family all the time and she wanted to cook for her. She had banned Jane and Maura from helping as well. Tommy was acting as her sous chef and assisting her.
After they came in from riding their bikes the children wanted to be in the kitchen cooking with Chloe, but she had insisted that she wanted to cook for the family. Chloe's family had decided that they would travel this year for the holidays and Chloe couldn't go with them because of work. After meeting Tommy, she was happy that she didn't go with her family. She always thought she wouldn't meet someone that she would be interested in, but then Maura met Jane and it gave Chloe a renewed hope. She was so happy that Maura brought her brother-in-law to dinner that Friday night.
Jane and Maura were sitting on the couch watching the children chase Jo Friday around when Jane leaned over and told Maura, "Maur, I am really enjoying having this time off with you and the family. I'm able to relax and enjoy going places and doing things with my family without having to worry about my phone ringing and getting called into a murder scene."
Maura looked at Jane and said, "I agree, I know exactly how you feel. It's nice to enjoy this time with you and family. My mother wants to have us over New Year's Eve for a family New Years celebration. What do you think about that? She used to throw big parties and invite anybody who was anybody in the town but now she wants just family. She said that you have had a great influence on her life and she wants to be more family oriented like you."
"Wow, Constance said that. I'm surprised. I know she changed her ways and is getting more involved in your life but I never expected her to get this involved. Don't get me wrong, I love it but it is just so not Constance. I did tell her to open her eyes and see what was right in front of her. I just never thought she would take it to this extent. I mean she has the children calling her grand-mère." Jane explained.
"I think she will be an excellent grandmother when we get ready to have our own children." Maura expressed.
"Yes, she will. I'm elated that she is an energetic participant in our magnificent life and that she's not as domineering as my Ma." Jane added.
"Trying out your big words this morning love?" Maura asked.
"Ya, I thought you would appreciate that." Jane laughed. "I guess I could have just said that I'm happy she is in our lives and not as overbearing as my ma."
"You are far more intelligent than you let people believe." Maura stated.
"Ya, that's one of my super hero powers. That and my ability to wield lightsabers."
"You always have those on your mind, don't you?" Maura asked.
"What can I say I love them." Jane said thinking about lightsabers and how much she loved them. Wishing she could have some like they have in the movies. That would be so cool she thought.
"But you love me more, right?" Maura said jokingly, but maybe a little bit scared knowing how much her wife loved lightsabers.
"Well, let me think about that for a moment." Jane said as she brought her index finger up to mouth and placed her thumb on her chin and had a very serious look as if she was thinking about it. Maura punched her in the arm. "Hey, Maur, you punched me."
Maura smiled at Jane and said, "Yes, I did, you deserved it for that comment and your mock thinking face."
Jane smiled back and said, "I love you more, Maur. I was just funning with ya."
"I know, otherwise you would be in the puppy jail."
"That's the dog house, Maur." Jane corrected her.
"Okay, dog house and I really don't want you to be in the dog house." Maura said lovingly as she looked at Jane.
"Trust me, I don't want to be in the dog house either." Jane exclaimed as she kissed Maura.
Giana walked over and climbed up in Maura's lap and cuddled with her. "I love you Aunt Maura and Aunt Jane. Thank you for my bike."
Jane broke the kiss with Maura that she had wanted to deepen and immediately said, "The bike is from Santa, sweetie."
"Aunt Jane, I'm nine, I'm a big girl. I know there is no Santa Claus." Giana stated matter-of-factly. "Santa Claus is for little kids like TJ. Big kids know that he is just make believe. It will be nice having a bike here so when we come for our visit this summer, we can ride them. Do you have a bike? I didn't see any other bikes in the garage." Giana questioned.
Jane and Maura looked at each other and Maura said, "No, but we are getting them soon. We want to be able to ride with you, TJ and Nicky this summer. There are some nice trails that we can take our bikes on and maybe take a picnic lunch."
"That sounds nice. I think I will like that." Giana said as she moved over to Jane's lap. She didn't want Jane to feel left out. She gave Jane a hug and climbed down so she could go back to playing with the boys.
Tommy sauntered out to the living room and announced that lunch was ready. Everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered around the dining room table as Chloe brought out their lunch. Chloe had made a huge pan of her mac and cheese and cooked the left-over ham. She knew the children would love the mac and cheese. The adults would love the ham and salad, well except for Jane.
She knew Jane didn't like salad she made some cannoli and placed one in front of Jane. Jane's face lit up. "Jane, it will not insult this chef if you have dessert before lunch."
"Chloe, are you trying to suck up to my wife?" Maura said as she tried to take the cannoli from Jane.
"Not at all Maura." Chloe said as she placed a cannoli in front of each person sitting at the table. "We are going to start lunch with dessert. So many times, at our restaurant people do not have room for dessert after they eat, so I wanted to have a backwards meal today." She had made small cannoli for the children.
"I think I like backwards meals." Jane announced.
"Me too." Arianna added.
Maura smiled widely and said, "I knew you two would. You and the children who had finished their cannoli already."
"Chloe, the cannoli is delicious." Angela admitted.
"I know this isn't your typical Christmas Day meal but Tommy said you were having Christmas dinner later so I just wanted to fix something light for lunch." Chloe said as everybody smiled. They were enjoying the backwards meal.
"It's perfect." Mario said. "I love this mac and cheese. Do you serve this at your restaurant?"
"No, this is my own personal recipe. I know that TJ liked it, so I figured I would share it with you. I normally don't share this with others. Maura liked it when we were growing up and she told me that Jane loved mac and cheese so I figured I would make this today. I appreciate you letting me share in your family Christmas time."
"Chloe, it has been our pleasure getting to meet you and you are welcome here anytime." Angela said. "Would you like to prepare dinner with me this evening?"
"Angela, I would be honored to cook with you." Chloe answered with a huge smile and a hug for Angela. Maura had told Chloe that she often cooks with Angela and that Angela is the primary cook for all family functions by her choice, as Angela felt that is a parent's responsibility and she is the matriarch of the family. Arthur would be helping her when he arrived but Angela was certain that he wouldn't mind having a Michelin Star chef helping.
They were having a 7 PM dinner and Arthur and Constance arrived around 4 PM to visit and help with the cooking. They had gone to their house to get settled and unpack a few things as they would be staying in Boston for a few weeks. Lately they have been talking about moving back to Boston now that Maura was married. They liked Jane and her family and wanted to follow Jane's advice of being more present in their daughter's life.
Constance put the small gifts they had for the children under the Christmas tree. They had arranged for the children to open them after dinner. The children had no idea what Constance and Arthur had gotten them. Arianna and Tommy had told Constance and Arthur that they didn't need to get anything for the children. They did so much for the children during the year so a Christmas gift was not necessary. Constance wouldn't take no for an answer and purchased gifts for them anyways.
Angela and Chloe went into the kitchen so Angela could show Chloe the recipes for what she had planned to cook for dinner. Angela didn't use recipes as she had all the recipes memorized, but she understood that Chloe would like to see the recipes so she could assist. Arthur always just completed whatever task Angela asked him to do. After he said hello to everyone, he joined Angela and Chloe in the kitchen to go over the game plan for dinner.
Angela had planned cannoli for dessert but they had that for lunch so she asked Chloe what she would suggest as a replacement. Chloe asked, "Is there a rule that we can't have cannoli again?"
"Well, no I just thought you may not want it again." Angela responded.
"I love cannoli and we still have some cannoli from lunch, everybody only had one and I made quite a few." Chloe told Angela. "Arthur, what do you think?"
"Well, I have a new found love for Italian food since joining the Rizzoli family and cannoli is something I love very much along with Tiramisu. Whatever you ladies decide I will be fine with. Constance also loves cannoli." Arthur answered.
"Well, how about this, we will have both cannoli and tiramisu that way we have plenty of desserts, but we will have dessert after dinner." Angela stated.
Arthur looked confused as to why Angela said they would have dessert after dinner. Arthur asked, "When else would you have dessert, Angela?"
"Chloe prepared lunch for us today and declared it a backwards lunch, we had dessert first and then lunch." Angela answered Arthur.
Arthur smiled, "Oh, I like that. We will have to do that again one day while we are here."
"We can definitely do that," stated Angela as she smiled at Arthur. She loved that Arthur had taken an interest in cooking with her. Anytime he and Constance were in town Arthur assisted Angela.
They proceeded to make dinner while everyone else watched or played with the children in the living room. The children were enjoying playing with the Hot Wheels cars and were having a tournament. TJ told them what the prize was for winning and Tommy wanted to play being as Chloe was busy in the kitchen with his mother. He still wouldn't mind getting kissed by Maura, he didn't care about the glass of milk though.
Chloe was having so much fun hanging out with the Rizzolis and Isles families. She was so happy. She discovered really fast how talented Angela was in the kitchen. "Angela you should come cook with me one night at the restaurant."
"Oh, I'm not that good sweetie." Angela said as she looked at Chloe.
"Angela, I have had some of the leftovers at Tommy's and yes you are. My presentation might be different but your food is very tasteful and delicious. I would be honored to have you cook with me at my restaurant."
"We'll talk about it later, okay?" Angela suggested.
"Yes, that would be fine." Chloe agreed.
They fixed lasagna, eggplant parmigiana, garlic bread and tiramisu. At 7 PM sharp dinner was served. Every one enjoyed the dinner and fellowship and then they went to sit in the living room so that the children could open their presents from Constance and Arthur.
Constance asked that all three of the children open their package at the same time. She had gotten each of the children a NOAA long-range rechargeable walkie-talkie. She gave a blue one to Nicky, orange to TJ, green to Giana and kept the silver one for her and Arthur. "This way we can keep in touch when we are here in Boston. The range is up to 20 miles and I only live about 10 miles from here so we should be able to talk to each other and say goodnight to each other every night."
The children all smiled, they loved them. Jane just looked at her mother-in-law and told the children, "We will have to set some ground rules up about the use of these walkie-talkies, okay?" all the children nodded in response.
"This is going to be fun." Arthur said as he smiled at Constance. She knew Arthur would like this. They both loved the children so much and wanted to be around them as much as they could.
Nicky asked, "Can we use them in France also when we come to visit you?"
"Of course, darling." Constance replied as the children approached her and Arthur to thank them for the radios.
"Do I get to go to France also?" TJ asked not understanding where France was.
"We will take you there one day TJ, when you are older." Maura quickly answered.
"We will?" Jane asked Maura quietly.
Maura whispered, "Yes, Jane, we will."
Arianna let Constance know that Mario was fine with her offer and they grabbed their belongings and said good night to the children and left with Constance and Arthur.
Tommy and Chloe left at the time also and Angela retreated to the guest house.
After everybody went to their rooms to go to sleep for the night. Jane and Maura went to their bedroom and exchanged gifts. Jane opened her gift first. Maura couldn't resist getting Jane an Apprentice lightsaber. Jane said, "Thanks babe. I love it," as she gave Maura a kiss and jumped out of bed so she could try out the lightsaber.
After a few minutes Maura said, "Jane, are you going to play with that all night or are you going to give me my present, or did you get me a present?"
"Of course, I got you a present babe." Jane said as she put the lightsaber down and reached over and picked up a wrapped present and handed it to Maura. Maura opened it and discovered that Jane had gave her three books about photography to add to her collection. The books were: Camera: A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital by Todd Gustavson, The Camera by Ansel Adams, The Negative by Ansel Adams.
"These are wonderful Jane, thank you. I love them. I haven't read any of these." Maura said as she snuggled into Jane. Maura didn't know that Jane had locked the door when they entered the room. She kissed Maura and Maura mentioned they shouldn't fool around.
Jane then told her, "I locked the door, Maur. So, I think we have some time before we have any young visitors." Maura smiled and pulled Jane into a hug and proceeded to kiss her very passionately. They spent the next few hours making love to each other and then took a shower and dressed in their pajamas and then Jane unlocked the door and they climbed back into bed.
December 26th
In the morning they woke up with three children in their bed. They smiled at each other. They loved these three children so much. TJ had slept in the bed with Nicky and Giana last night because he wanted to be able to come in the room with them in the morning rather than be out in the guest house with his father.
"Auntie Jane, what are we going to do today?" TJ asked.
"I'm not sure what would you three like to do today?" Jane asked.
"Can we play boardgames?" Nicky asked.
"Sure, if that is what you wanna do, how about we have some breakfast first and we will let Auntie Maura sleep some more?" Jane suggested as they all got out of bed and left Maura to sleep. Jane gave Maura a kiss on the forehead and whispered, "I love you, Maur" into her ear.
Maura opened one eye slightly and whispered, "I love you too, Jane, I will be down in a few minutes."
"Maur, I didn't realize you were awake."
"I wasn't until I felt you getting out of bed."
"Okay, see you downstairs in a few minutes."
When Maura came downstairs, they ate breakfast and then played some games before Arianna, Mario, Constance and Arthur joined them for lunch. After lunch they played some more games and then had dinner about 7 PM. After dinner Arianna, Mario, Constance and Arthur went back to the Isles' house.
They followed this schedule for the next two days. Tommy and Chloe joined them as often as they could. They both had work to attend to.
December 29th
After waking up and having breakfast they decided to watch a Disney movie. At 9 AM it started snowing and Jane asked the children, "Do you want to go outside and catch snowflakes?" Maura looked at her like she was crazy. The children nodded their heads and went to the coat rack to get their coats and boots on.
"I will read a magazine while you four are outside." Maura said as she gave them all a kiss and hug. The four went outside.
"Auntie Jane, how are we going to catch the snowflakes?" TJ asked.
"With our mouths, silly, how did you think we were going to catch them?" Jane answered.
"TJ, you have never caught snowflakes?" Nicky asked.
"No, I haven't." TJ responded.
"It is fun, we catch them with our mouths." Giana said.
"We catch them with our mouths just like Giana said." Jane responded. "It is fun and I like catching snowflakes."
Jane took the kids outside and they started catching snowflakes. They were laughing and having a great time when Tommy and Chloe drove up. They joined them in catching snowflakes. Angela had put on her jacket and walked out with Maura so they could take some pictures and video. Arianna, Mario, Constance and Arthur pulled up. Constance, "What are you doing, darlings?"
Giana walked up and gave her a kiss and a hug and told her, "We are catching snowflakes. It is fun, haven't you ever caught snowflakes, grand-mère?"
"No, darling I haven't? How do I do catch snowflakes?" Constance asked.
"With our mouths, you simply try and let the snow fall into your mouth." Giana explained.
"Oh, I think I can do that. Can I do that with you?" Constance added.
"Yes, grand-mère, I would love for you to catch snowflakes with me. If the snow sticks to the ground, we can make snow angels later." Giana informed her grandmother.
Maura made sure to get pictures and video of her mother catching snowflakes with Giana. It was such a sight and something she never thought she would see her mother do. Her mother had been surprising her lately with her actions. She was becoming the mother she had always wanted and it pleased her.
Nicky and TJ grabbed Arthur and asked for him to catch snowflakes with them. Arianna walked up to Jane and said, "I see I still have no children, they didn't even acknowledge me and Mario."
"Ari, you know that is how it is, I'm not even sure why it worries you. You know they love you but they see you all the time." Jane stated.
"Ya, ya, but I would like to do these things with my children." Arianna said.
"Well, as I tell my wife, just do it. Join them, they will acknowledge you eventually." Jane joked with her cousin.
"Okay, okay." Arianna said as she went and stood by her daughter and Constance and started catching snowflakes.
"It's fun, huh mommy." Giana said as she grabbed her mother's hand.
"It is baby, I'm having fun." Arianna said as she squeezed her daughter's hand.
Giana grabbed one of Constance's hand and said, "Mommy, hold Constance's other hand and let's form a circle as we catch the snowflakes."
They all continued catching snowflakes until they got cold and then Jane asked for everyone to come in. They needed to have lunch and figure out what they would do for the rest of the day. The children simplified that decision when TJ put in a DVD and the children all sat down to watch a movie.
They visited the zoo the next day and stayed in on New Year's Eve day and watched movies and played with Jo Friday in the backyard. The children had plenty of toys to play with and were not bored. Maura asked if they could take a nap so they could stay up late for the New Year's Eve Party later that night. The children managed a two-hour nap. Jane and Maura laid down on the couch and took their nap with Jo Friday snuggled up at their feet and Bass laying on the ground by their heads. Jane had one arm down with her hand resting on Bass' shell. A nap would hopefully aid in their efforts to stay up past midnight so they could bring in the New Year.