St. Patrick's Day

March 17th was fast approaching. Jane and Maura had just had a wonderful Pi Day event with their four children (MJ was almost eight, AJ and Lily were almost five and a half and Kate was three and a half). They were wondering how they could make St. Patrick's Day fun for their children. The parade wouldn't take place until March 20th at 1 PM in South Boston, so that was out for now. Jane wondered why did St. Patrick's Day have to fall on a school day, just like Pi Day this year?

They had purchased cute 'Kiss Me I'm Irish' t-shirts for each of the kids. Kate and Lilly's had a dinosaur on it. MJ and AJ's t-shirts had a shamrock in the middle surrounded by 'Kiss Me I'm Irish.' Jane got herself a t-shirt with the words "Lucky Charmer" on it. She knew she wasn't Irish but her t-shirt was green and had a huge shamrock in the middle. Jane knew Maura wouldn't wear a t-shirt so she purchased a stylish 'Kiss Me I'm Irish' pin for her.

Jane and Maura loved doing special events with their kids. They cherished every minute they could spend making memories with them. Maura felt so loved by Jane and their children. She loved the feeling and craved more. She hated when work interfered with enjoying events with their children. She was determined to capture all of their memories in pictures and videos.

At times she thought about quitting her job and just being a stay-at-home mom but she loved her job and she was great at it. She loved being able to provide closure to loved ones. Until she met Jane, she never thought she would get married and have a family. Work was always her priority. Now that they had the children, she was questioning everything. She talked to Jane and they came to a compromise and made sure that one of the two of them would always be available for the children.

Wednesday night they presented the kids with their t-shirts so they could wear them to school the next morning. The kids were excited. The boys were so happy that they didn't have a dinosaur on their t-shirts and the girls were thrilled about the dinosaurs being on their t-shirts. Maura loved her pin and the t-shirt that Jane got for herself, she was a 'Lucky Charmer.' The only thing Irish about Jane was her love for her wife and family. She was a 100 percent hot-blood Italian who fell in love with an Irish woman and had four beautiful children with her.

Kate was so excited about being able to wear her 'Kiss Me I'm Irish' t-shirt to school. She got up and got herself dressed and she went in her mother's room at 6 AM to show them that she had dressed herself and was proudly wearing her new t-shirt.

Just like she did a few days ago, on Pi Day, she climbed up on the bed and hugged and kissed her mommy and then climbed over her and hugged and kissed her mama. Jane once again opened one eye to see which kid was in bed with them. The kids normally didn't climb in bed with them. "Kate, how are you little one, is something wrong?"

"No mama, I fine, I wear dino shirt." Kate answered as she wiggled her little body between Jane and Maura. Maura, who was sound asleep, scooted over to make room for her and then snuggled up to her just like she did when Jane repositioned herself during the night, so it didn't phase her at all. Jane had closed her eye and was laying on her back, she turned to face Maura.

Jane opened her eyes and looked at Kate who was snuggled up in Maura's arms. "You look so beautiful in your dino shirt."

"Tank you mama." Kate said with a huge smile. "I dressed myself, I is a big girl."

"You're welcome little one, and yes you are a big girl. Is your mommy awake?" Jane asked, still sleepy but loving her time with Kate.

Kate turned to look at her mommy and said, "No mama, mommy sleep."

"You look comfy snuggled up with your mommy. Can I snuggle up with you also?" Jane asked.

"Yes mama." Kate replied so Jane moved so she could snuggle up with Kate and Maura. "No squish me mama."

"I won't little one." Jane said as she kissed Kate on the forehead. "Let's go back to sleep until the alarm goes off."

The alarm went off half an hour later and they all got up. Maura was surprised to see Kate in bed with them again. Maura said, "Good morning, sweetheart."

"Morning mommy." Kate said as she turned around to face her mommy.

Jane leaned over and gave Maura a kiss on the lips and then kissed the back of Kate's head and said, "Time to get up, we have to get ready for our day and eat breakfast before we leave the house."

"Okay." Kate said as she gave her mommy a kiss and climbed over her to get out of bed.

When it was obvious that Kate was going to walk out of the room Jane said, "Hey little one, what am I chop liver, where's my kiss?"

"You not chop river, mama." She ran around the bed and went over to Jane's side and gave her a kiss on the cheek and then ran out of the bedroom.

Jane and Maura had discussed how to make breakfast 'green' and couldn't really think of a way. They finally agreed on dropping some green dye in the pancake batter. They normally didn't make pancakes during the week when they had to work but today was special, so they made pancakes, or rather Maura did while Jane squeezed the fresh orange juice and set the table.

They knew the kids would be excited to see they were having pancakes for breakfast. The kids loved pancakes, especially bunny pancakes, which is what Maura was making. She got some chocolate chips to put in Kate's pancakes because she preferred chocolate chip pancakes.

"Mommy, our pancakes are green?" MJ stated. All the kids had smiles on their faces, they thought it was funny.

"Yes, sweetie, it is St. Patrick's Day and everything is green on St. Patrick's Day." Maura explained. "That is why you have green t-shirts to wear today. Sunday we will go to the parade and you can wear your t-shirts again."

Jane had some Lucky Charms cereal and had taken four green shamrock marshmallows out of her bowl and put one on each of the children's plate. She figured one little green marshmallow wouldn't kill them. Plus, Maura had said it was okay so all was okay.

After they cleaned up the breakfast dishes they took the kids to school. More than half of the kids at school had "Kiss Me I'm Irish" t-shirts or buttons on. MJ was telling Jane and Maura that when they picked him up. Maura explained, "There are quite a bit of Irish people in Boston, quite a few Italian families also. You are both Irish and Italian. Today we celebrate that we are Irish."

"But Mama isn't Irish, she said she is a 100 percent hot blooded Italian!" MJ stated.

"You are correct, that is why her shirt says she is a 'Lucky Charmer.' She is my lucky charm and I am Irish. So, it is okay and yes, she is a 100 percent hot blooded Italian."

"How come you don't have a green t-shirt on, like the rest of us mommy?" AJ asked. He was curious.

"Well sweetie, I couldn't wear a t-shirt to work so Mama got me this beautiful lapel pin to wear." Maura showed him the pin that she had worn all day. AJ smiled.

Constance and Arthur were having them all over for dinner. Constance had the dinner catered and they had Corned Beef and Cabbage. They weren't Irish but they knew Maura was and that she had been researching her family ever since she found out who her birth parents were. That is why she and Jane had done their DNA testing when she was pregnant with Kate.

At dinner Lilly asked her grandparents, "Are you going to the parade with us on Sunday?"

Constance answered, "Yes darling. Your nonna is going to join us as well. We are making a family day out of it."

"Yeah, is Grandma Hope and Aunt Cailin coming also?" Lilly asked. "They are part of our family as well."

"Yes, your uncles and aunts will be there also. Like I said it is a family day." Constance replied to her granddaughter.

Maura spoke and said, "Did you know that the people of Boston were the first to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in the United States in 1737?"

"Mommy, how do you remember all these facts you always tell us about?" MJ asked.

Jane responded by saying, "Your mommy is a google-mouth. She has such a big brain and can remember so many things."

"Yes MJ, I am capable of remembering many facts. I imagine you might be able to do that also." Maura stated.

On Sunday, the kids were all dressed and ready to go to the parade by 11 AM. They still had half an hour before Jane wanted to leave. Maura was in the kitchen packing up their picnic basket with all sorts of food that should last for the duration of the parade. All of the family were bringing their own food so she just needed to worry about the six of them. She fixed sandwiches for them and had some fruit sliced up. She also made sure to pack an extra hat and glasses for Kate as she often took them off and Maura wanted to make sure that Kate didn't get a headache while waiting and watching the parade. Kate had picked out a green top hat to wear just like a leprechaun and shamrock glasses.

The family arrived at their designated meeting spot at noon. Frankie had arrived first and set up chairs in a semi-circle for everybody. He spread out some blankets in front of the chairs for the children. He knew the kids wouldn't sit still in the chairs. Frankie and Nina's daughter Kimberleigh was eleven months older than MJ and Francesco III (Trey) was six months younger than MJ. Tommy and Chloe's daughter, Alessandra Rose, was almost four years younger than MJ.

Angela had always said she wanted grandbabies and she has them, eight in all, ten if she counted Nicky and Giana, which she always did. She has always treated them as if they were her grandchildren. Nicky and Giana were both in college in the surrounding area, so they would be at the parade. Constance and Arthur didn't tell Jane and Maura or the children as they wanted it to be a surprise.

The family was seated and the parade started right on time. When Frankie and Jane were planning where to sit, they knew the start of the parade route would be crowded so they researched the route and picked an area that was appropriate for laying out blankets for the kids. They were situated about in the middle of the parade route, as the end of the route would be congested also. Constance and Angela wanted this to be a family gathering. They attempted several times a year to get as many of the children and grandchildren together.

All of the grandchildren called Constance and Arthur grandma and grandpa as well. They loved it. It made Maura feel great that the entire Rizzoli family treated her parents so nicely. They knew they were terrible parents while Maura was growing up and they promised to make up for it. Angela loved knowing that she had them to help with her grandbabies if needed. Constance and Arthur had taken Chloe under their wings after her parents had died, so they already felt like TJ and Alessandra Rose were their grandchildren. They gladly accepted Frankie and Nina's children as well.

When the parade ended everyone piled into their vehicles and drove to the Isles Mansion. Constance and Arthur wanted the day to continue and they had agreed to host the weekly Rizzoli Family Dinner. Chloe had a few of her friends start the meal preparations for them while they were enjoying the parade.

It seemed as if half of Boston PD was there as well. Jane and Maura had made quite a few friends during their time at BPD and they invited everyone. Captain, soon to be Superintendent, Genevieve "Gen" Booker and her family attended at least once a month. She had known Jane from her Vice days and their bond tighten after the Crime Scene Kitchen competition. Jane and Maura often had double dates with Gen and her husband, Steve. They tried to have a date night once a week and have a double date with another couple at least once a month.

Outside of the normal extended family: Frost and Susie; Korsak and Kiki; The Millers; Gen and Steve were the two people Jane and Maura looked forward to attending their family dinners. Gen and Steve loved to be included. They didn't have family in the area so it was nice being included in the Rizzoli-Isles extended family.

Upon arriving Angela immediately took over kitchen duties and thanked Chloe's friends for getting the dinner started. They volunteered to stay and help Angela. Constance joined her and Arthur went out to play with all the children. They had a bouncy house set up in the backyard and Arthur was having a blast with all the children. Jane and Maura had no idea that Constance and Arthur had rented a bouncy house. When Jane mentioned it, she found out that Constance had purchased it. She figured they would get their money's worth out of it.

At 6 PM everyone gathered to eat. They set it up buffet style and everyone grabbed what they wanted. It was a little chilly outside where Constance had the tables and chairs set up, so she had some heat lamps set up to warm up the dining areas. Everyone was able to choose where they wanted to sit, inside or outside.

The children were all talking about the parade and how they liked to see the men in the kilts playing the bagpipes. That was the highlight for almost everybody in attendance. The parade had not taken place for the last two years because of Covid-19, so they were happy to see the parade again.

Kate walked up to Jane and climbed up in her lap and said, "Mama, parade tomorrow?"

Maura and Gen just smiled. Jane replied, "I'm sorry little one, we have to wait until next year for the next St. Patrick's Day parade. It only happens once a year."

Kate frowned, "but Mama, I like parade. Want more. Me like pipes."

"Me too, I like the bag pipes. Maybe mommy has some in her collection of music." Jane informed her.

Kate smiled as she looked over to her mommy and said, "Mommy, you pipes music?"

"Yes, sweetheart I have some bagpipe music. I believe Grand-pére has some also." Maura said as Kate climbed down off of Jane's lap after giving her a kiss and went to find her grand-pére.

Gen said, "She is so cute. I love her little green top hat and shamrock glasses she is wearing, but then I just love all of your children."

"She is our most emotional child. She gets upset easily and is so loving. I just wish her speech therapist could help her more with her speech. They think it might be related to her headaches that she has had since birth. The neurologist thinks she is doing better and he believes she will grow out of it by the time she is five." Maura explained. She knew Gen knew about Kate's condition already because they had talked about it since they first found out about her headaches.

Kate found her grand-pére, she walked up to him and after giving him a hug and kiss, she asked him, "You have pipe music? Mommy said."

"Yes darling. Would you like to listen to some bagpipe music?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, peas." Kate replied.

Arthur walked over to the stereo system and found the bagpipe music that he had purchased a few years ago after taking MJ to his first St. Patrick's Day parade. He set the CD up and pushed play. Kate gave him the biggest smile. She looked at him and said, "Tank you. Dance?"

"Of course, darling, let's dance." He picked Kate up and swirled around with her.

Constance heard the music and came to see what was going on. She saw her husband dancing with their youngest granddaughter. "Can I join you?" she said as she looked lovingly at them.

"Yes grand-mére." Kate said and Constance just melted at Kate saying grandma in perfect French. This was the first time Kate had said the word perfectly. She joined them in their dance, she was so happy.

Soon Jane and Maura came in and saw Kate dancing with her grandparents. Kate saw them and said, "Dance mommies."

"Okay little one." Jane said. She didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed her wife and started dancing with her. Kate smiled and snuggled up with her grand-pére.

Cailin walked in a few minutes later and Kate motioned for Cailin. "I dance wit auntie." Arthur transferred Kate to Cailin and then continued dancing with his wife. They were having fun dancing to the bagpipe music. It wasn't really dancing music but it made Kate happy and they all loved to see Kate smile and be happy.

A few songs had played when they heard Angela announce that dessert was ready. The six of them walked out and went to have dessert. Angela had made cannoli. After dessert everybody went home.

"I had fun, I can't wait for next year's parade." MJ said. "Thank you, for taking us to the parade."

"You are welcome, MJ." Maura said.

AJ, Lilly and Kate also stated how much fun they had and how they are looking forward to next year's parade. It was after ten when they got home and the children went right to bed. They had school in the morning.

When Jane and Maura laid in bed later all snuggled up, Jane said, "I had fun today, although I forgot to have some green beer, but I did have green cannolis. I can't believe my Ma made the cannolis green." Maura just laughed and they fell asleep a few minutes later with smiles on their faces. It was another successful Rizzoli-Isles family day.