Notes: Thanks again everyone for all the reviews! This is somewhat of a filler chapter but I kind of felt like exploring the day after the dinner disaster with Maura's parents.
CH 12: Little Miss Sureshot
Surprisingly, Maura had fallen asleep almost immediately upon crawling into the bed after the dinner nightmare. Sleep didn't come so easily to Jane. The scene from dinner replayed in her head. It wasn't anger she felt as she relived the look on Judith's face and the words that spilled out of her mouth. Rather, it was a profound sadness that swelled in her chest. Maura's face was pressed tightly to her heart; she tightened her embrace around her even more. There was an unexpected feeling of guilt as well. She had taken Angela and Frank's reactions for granted. Tommy, Aunt Sophia, Joey Grant, the Dive Team, their reactions had stung but paled in comparison to watching Maura be rejected by her parents. It occurred to Jane that if her own parents had reacted that way it would have been emotionally unbearable. Out of that came a newfound sense of appreciation for her parents, especially Angela for what she had said to Maura. For all their quirks and eccentricities she had never wanted for feeling loved, as Maura had, never wanted for feeling accepted, as Maura had.
You're my daughter now…she heard the words in her head again. Jane kissed the top of Maura's head and flexed her fingers into her back.
"What are you thinking?" Maura mumbled.
Jane brushed a wisp of hair from Maura's face, "That I should tell Ma I love her more often."
Jane walked into the unit that morning with a coffee cup she could practically swim in.
Note to self, things to do before I die: swim in giant pool of coffee…or maybe beer.
"Well?" Frost questioned.
"Disaster."
He made a pained face, "Ouch."
"Maura's mom is a piece of work. She freaked out basically, called me a gold digger, slapped Maura across the face…"
"Damn!" Korsak chimed in, "What did you do?"
"Just stood there and held her hand, took it on the chin ya know. It was something she had to handle in that moment and then I got to pick up the broken little pieces afterwards."
"Is the Doc ok?" Frost stood up joining Korsak at Jane's desk.
"She held it together in front of her parents, but as soon as we left she fell apart. She's hurting, but we'll get it through it. You know, I don't think I've ever been more grateful to have the parents I do…"
Korsak placed a friendly hand on her shoulder, "Hey, it's Friday, whaddya say we hit the Robber for some drinks and darts tonight, bad after-family-times are always better spent with friends."
Around lunchtime Frankie popped into the unit, "Hey Janie, you free for lunch?"
Jane checked her watch and then looked up at Frost who waved her on, "Yeah, you know we never ate dinner last night, I'm starving!"
"Yeah, Ma told me about what happened."
They stepped out in the hallway and Jane smiled upon seeing Angela, Frank and Maura all waiting on her and Frankie.
"Your Father and I were out running some errands and we thought we'd take you all out for lunch!"
Jane grabbed Maura's hand and observed she seemed much more present than that morning when a distinct air of detached sadness still hung heavily over her.
"That'd be great, I could eat a cow."
Maura raised an eyebrow, "Highly unlikely, but should you be successful, you'll be sleeping alone tonight."
Frankie guffawed.
"Geez, Maur, where'd you learn to be funny all of a sudden."
Maura chuckled, "Your eclectic sense of humor must be rubbing off on me."
Red plastic baskets lined with wax paper and piled high with burgers and fries covered the table in front of Jane and family. The fries were fresh and piping hot, little swirls of steam rising off their golden brown skin. The Rizzolis dove in. Maura sat back for a moment, a content smile on her face. She had so desperately wanted her parents to accept her relationship with Jane. So many emotions had raged within her when they left her parents' house, anger – no one had ever struck her before, disappointment – at their reaction, guilt – for putting Jane through her mother's tongue lashing, and a general sadness – why couldn't they love her enough?
But, then Jane had driven her straight to Angela and Frank's house. She hadn't wanted Angela and Frank to see her unraveled. But, most of all she didn't want to resent Jane for having the family she never did, the family she never would. Maura glanced over at Angela, who looked back with a warm smile. There was no resentment.
This is my family.
"Maur…?" Jane's voice brought her back to reality.
"Hmm?"
"Something wrong with your burger?" Jane asked a little dot of ketchup lingering on the corner of her mouth.
Maura giggled as she reached up and wiped it off with her thumb, "No…I…need a knife."
"Pfft. What for?" Jane looked at her as if she was an alien from another planet.
Maura reevaluated the seemingly colossal sandwich in front of her, "To cut my burger in half."
"Haha…" Frankie chimed in, "Nah, Maura you just gotta grab the bull by the horns!" Frankie demonstrated by clamping his hand around the giant burger, licking his lips and diving in.
Angela rolled her eyes and placed a hand on Maura's knee under the table, "Maura, sweetheart, I pray daily some of your good graces may rub off on these two inadvertent hoodlums I've raised."
Maura wrapped her slender fingers around the burger and became instantly aware of four pairs of eyes fixated on her, "You're going to laugh at me," she stated looking over at Jane.
"I'm going to laugh at you if you cut that burger and eat it with a fork and knife."
"No, no, no Doc, we have rules! This isn't some fly by night dart game. You have to hold a beer in your free hand." Korsak presented a pint of amber-colored mystery lager to Maura.
"You're teasing me." Maura looked skeptically at Korsak, her hands on her hips.
"Maur, I know you practically have one of those…photogenic memories or whatever…"
"Jane, eidetic, or 'photographic' memory is actually quite a controversial term and is most likely misapplied…"
"Maura! Just think, have you ever seen one of us throw a dart without a beer in our free hand?"
Maura paused, cocked her head as her eyes looked up and to the left, "You know, I can't say as I have." She took the pint in her left hand and the dart in her right and began eyeing the board as she made exaggerated practice throwing motions.
"Oh lord," Frost said.
Jane laughed, covering her mouth with her hand as Maura stopped and looked over at her.
"Have a little faith Jane, darts is all about arc and trajectory. Remember how well I did at bowling!"
"Yeah, but you can't blind anyone with an errant bowling ball…" Jane retorted as Frost, Frankie and Korsak all laughed into their beers.
Maura pursed her lips and turned back to the face the dartboard, she sent the dart flying only to have it ding off the wall and fall to the floor.
"Geez, ok, ok little miss sureshot…" Jane jogged up behind Maura.
"Did Annie Oakley play darts too?" Maura asked, looking over her shoulder at Jane.
"What?"
"Annie Oakley, the famous exhibition shooter that traveled with the Buffalo Bill Wild West show, her nickname was little miss sureshot."
Jane rolled her eyes, "Right, of course…umm, no she didn't play darts, or I don't know if she did or not, anyway just…" Jane removed the beer from Maura's hand and set it on the table. She placed her left hand on Maura's left hip and stepped in close behind her.
"Ok, hold it like this…" Jane manipulated the dart in Maura's hand, "…and elbow at this angle, then a couple of practice motions, slow and easy and as you let it go flick your wrist forward to follow through. Ok?"
Maura smiled, nodded and repeated all of the moves Jane had just led her through. She released the dart and watched it arc into the single segment ring for five points.
"I hit it!"
Jane wrapped her arms around Maura's midsection and pulled her even closer, using her face to sweep the sandy brown locks off her shoulder Jane laid a congratulatory kiss on Maura's neck.
"Shots!" Korsak hollered from the bar.
Jane stood at the bottom of the stairs in her building. She had decided they would spend the night at her place because it was closer to the Robber; but, now as she looked up the flights and then over at her drunk and swaying girlfriend she was thinking it might have been worth the longer drive to go to Maura's house and not have to deal with the stairs. Maura was lilting and only on her feet by Jane's sheer will and death grip around her waist.
"Ok drunky drunkerton, you gotta help me out here, I'm pretty strong but I don't think I can deadlift you up these stairs."
Maura gasped, trying to focus on Jane through half-mast eyes, "Are you calling me fat!" She started to sniffle.
"Oh dear God no, come on, suck it up, puke and rally, whatever you need to do to get up these stairs."
"Puke and rally? I don't know what that means, but it sounds very unpleasant."
Jane couldn't stop the laugh, "Maur, please don't make me laugh right now or we're going to have to sleep here in the hallway."
Maura took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and kicked off her shoes, which Jane leaned down to pick up, "Ok, I'm ready."
By the hardest Jane managed to half-haul Maura up the stairs, at which point Maura was definitely starting to look a little green around the gills.
"Maura? You feeling ok?" Jane asked as she led the teetering woman into the apartment.
"I'm…I'm not feeling so good all of a sudden…" Maura sucked in a quick breath of air as her eyes started to water involuntarily.
"Oh…oh…bathroom! Bathroom!" Jane instructed as she whisked Maura to the porcelain throne as quickly as she could.
A light touch rubbed Maura's back as she gripped the sides of the toilet. Jane strained for the sink to wet a washcloth trying not to lose her grip on Maura's hair. She placed the cool cloth on the back of her girlfriend's neck.
Maura reached up to flush the toilet as she sat up. Kneeling down next to her Jane took the washcloth and dabbed at her mouth before helping her stand up and move to the sink for a glass of water.
"I feel much better now, thank you…oh! Puke and rally! I get it now!"
Jane laughed as she shook her head and set to unbuttoning Maura's blouse, "Come on, let's get you in some pajamas and into bed."
Maura leaned forward wrapping her arms around Jane, she raised up on her toes to lay her head on the slightly out of reach shoulder, "Thank you…for everything these past two days."
Jane smiled, returning the embrace and kissing Maura on the temple.
"Jane?"
"Mmmhmm?"
"Promise me something."
"Ok?"
"No more whiskey shots in the future."