Notes: Christmas Time! Feels a little weird writing about Christmas in April, but oh well. This is part 1 of 2 of the Christmas times, there was so much I wanted to do with Christmas I decided it needed two chapters. I'm sure you all won't mind.
CH 20: Two Turtle Doves
Frankie reached across the table to snag a couple of Jane's french fries, "So, finished your Christmas shopping yet?"
"Mostly, I still have to get something for Maura's parents, she got Ma and Pop something separate from the gift we picked out together so now I feel like I gotta do the same thing for her parents."
Frankie raised his eyebrows as he took a swig of soda, "Nervous about Christmas Eve diner?"
"Jesus, yes, between when Maura's mom slapped her and the day after the attack when she came over to the apartment I know Ma's not a fan. Frankie, you gotta help me make sure she behaves. This has to go well, and if Ma causes a scene…"
"Don't worry Janie, I got your back. So, what did you get Ma and Pop for Christmas?"
"Well, Ma had been complaining about needing new pots and stuff so Maura went and picked her out some new cookware from us and I got Pop a new deluxe toolbox. I have no idea what Maura got them or you from just her, she won't tell me."
"What did you get Maura?"
"You know Sgt. James from K-9? His wife runs like an antique and collectible book store type place. I asked her to find me some kind of antique medical book; I thought Maura would like something like that. Anyway, it's pretty cool, it's in Latin not that I'd probably have any idea what it was about if it was in English," Jane laughed, "and I got her a new journal and some fancy chocolate."
Frankie chuckled, "What? No sexy Christmas lingerie?"
Jane lobbed a fry at her little brother, "Maybe you shouldn't concern yourself with Maura's lingerie and what additional gifts I might have gotten her for Christmas," she said laughing.
"Gross Janie, don't worry, Maura's like…practically my sister now. You can keep that stuff to yourself."
Jane stretched out on the floor amidst the Christmas wrapping paper litter, throwing one arm behind her head to rest on as she looked up at the towering Christmas tree in Maura's living room. "Maur! I'm done wrapping you can come in now."
Maura giggled, "Merry Christmas to me," she said as she bent down and plucked a red bow that had adhered itself to Jane's elbow. She began unpacking her own wrapped gifts and placing them under the tree with Jane's save for a small box which she held onto as she joined Jane in the floor.
"Merry Christmas Eve eve," she said as she presented the box to Jane.
Jane slid the small red ribbon off the box and opened it to find a gold Christmas tree ornament shaped and engraved to look like a Boston police badge. She couldn't help the grin that spread across her face as she lifted the ornament up for closer inspection. "Maura, this is perfect."
"There's something on the back," Maura said as she flipped the ornament over.
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage" ~ Lao Tzu
To Jane, Merry Christmas. All my love, Maura
"Come here," Jane pulled Maura to the floor relishing the vanilla flavored lip gloss Maura was wearing as their lips met. "Mmmm," Jane moaned when their lips separated, "I like that lip gloss; it tastes good on you."
Maura smiled, brushing some stray wavy tresses of hair from Jane's face, "It's being discontinued, but I bought the last 10 tubes of it the store had because I know how much you like it."
Jane laughed and stole one more quick kiss, "Ok, so where should I put this?" she said holding up the ornament.
Maura looked at the tree, "Well, I can think of one very large and obvious location."
"You expressly said, only silver balls and those little clip on flower thingies on the tree."
"Hmmm," Maura said as she wrinkled her nose, "Indeed, I did. Well, I think we can make an exception."
Jane popped up and hung the ornament, grabbing a large box with green paper bedecked with reindeer and handing it to Maura as she returned to the floor, "Since we're doing an early gift now. I was talking to Frankie and he was joking about me getting you lingerie for Christmas…don't worry I threw a french fry at him for uttering your name and lingerie in the same sentence, anyway it reminded me of something you do have to have. Rizzoli family Christmas Eve tradition for when we spend the night at Ma and Pop's tomorrow."
Maura tore the paper and popped the tape on the box to reveal the most atrocious pair of flannel pajama pants and matching flannel shirt covered in dancing Christmas elves. "Oh, Jane, these are…wow, these are….truly…special," she said bursting into laughter.
Jane couldn't help but join in, the pajamas were indeed an eyesore, an affront to the good name of pajamas everywhere, "Don't worry, tomorrow night after Mass, Ma will present me, Frankie and Tommy each with our own brand new pair of equally horrendous and likely embarrassing Christmas pajamas. She's never missed a year. Didn't want you to feel left out."
Maura leaned over and gave Jane another kiss, "Thank you," she smiled looking at the pajamas in a new light, "I never feel left out with your family."
"Maur! Your parents are here," Jane hollered to Maura who was still preening in the bathroom. Jane grabbed her suit jacket off the back of Maura's sofa and opened the door. Maura emerged in a white wool sweater dress with an aubergine snakeskin belt cinched tightly around her tiny waist and matching heels. Breathtaking, Jane thought as she watched Maura greet her parents with hugs.
"We went ahead and brought presents, no reason to wait until New Year's this year," Judith Isles said motioning to the bag her husband was carrying. "You also put up a tree this year I see." Judith walked over to inspect the large and classically decorated fir. The lone non-silver ball ornament caught her eye and she looked more closely at the BPD badge ornament, flipping it over she read the engraving and smiled.
Maura watched with delight as her parents opened their presents; she'd never felt the Christmas spirit like this before. Looking up at Jane, she smiled.
"Oh, that one's from Jane," Maura pointed as Judith reached for the gift.
Judith unwrapped the book-shaped object, a coffee table photography book of images from around Boston by… "Joseph Rizzoli," Judith said flipping through the images.
"My cousin Joseph is a photographer."
"A very good one it would appear," William Isles mused as he glanced through the book.
"Thank you Jane, this is very thoughtful," Judith said with a smile.
William handed Jane a gift.
"No…way!" Jane pulled out a Red Sox jersey signed by all the current starters, "Thank you!"
"You're welcome," William replied with a sly smile, "I just happen to know Tom Werner."
"You know one of the owners of the Sox?" Jane laughed, "Of course you do. This is really great, thank you again."
Jane couldn't take her eyes off Maura on the drive over to her parents' house.
"What?" Maura laughed, "Why are you staring at me?"
"You look really beautiful tonight, and you seem really happy. It's nice to see you like this considering the past few weeks."
"I think this is shaping up to be the best Christmas I can remember, thanks to you Jane."
"Well, you might hold off on that until we see how dinner with our parents goes," Jane chuckled, "Did you get those tranquilizers?"
"Jane…" Maura laughed shaking her head.
Frankie opened the door and reached for some of the bags Jane was packed down with.
"Frankie! Is that Jane and Maura?" Angela called out from the kitchen.
"Yeah Ma."
Angela rushed into the living room with Frank in tow. She grabbed Jane giving her a hug and then she pulled back to check out Jane's ensemble, "I like this suit Janie, it fits very nicely! And you're wearing heels! Did Maura pick it all out?"
"Of course," Maura said stepping up to give Angela a hug.
"Merry Christmas sweetheart," Angela said kissing Maura on the cheek.
"Merry Christmas, Ma," Maura replied. Judith Isles stiffened slightly at hearing that.
Jane introduced everyone. Angela's smile was strained but she managed to conjure one up anyway as she shook Judith's hand. Judith had brought wine of course and gave it to her. They all moved to the living room where Angela had laid out some appetizers. Jane mentioned the Red Sox jersey and in mere moments William, Frank, Frankie and Tommy were bonding over baseball. Angela and Judith sat silently while Jane and Maura looked nervously at each other.
Angela looked at them, "Jane, you and Maura are staying the night after Mass right?"
"Yeah of course, I already took our bags upstairs."
Angela turned her attention to Judith and broke the silence, "We have lots of family traditions for Christmas, the kids always come back and spend the night on Christmas Eve and then I cook a big breakfast in the morning and we open presents and then we go over to my sister Sophia's for a late lunch with the whole family! Maura says you and William will be going out of town tomorrow?"
"Yes, my sister Elizabeth has a place in the Hamptons. We go there every year. Actually we usually head over a couple of days before Christmas but we decided to postpone the trip a couple of days so we could see Maura on Christmas Eve this year."
"Maura doesn't usually go?" Angela inquired, a tone of confusion in her voice.
"No, I usually work," Maura jumped in.
"Oh. Well, we're more than happy to have Maura in our family for Christmas. Frank and I we just adore her. She's like the well-dressed, polite, feminine daughter we never had."
"Gee Ma! Thanks," Jane exclaimed as Maura laughed and patted her shoulder.
"Oh Janie, you know your father and I love you just as you are, but now I get to see what it's like to have a daughter that acts like a girl. I've got over thirty years of catching up to do."
Judith tried to keep the smile on her face, but she shifted uncomfortably as Angela referred to Maura as her daughter, "Well Angela, I must say Jane has been nothing but polite every time we've met and it would seem Maura is helping with her style as well."
"Apparently I missed the memo for pick on Jane night," Jane looked over at Maura with a teasing glint in her eye.
"Aww, Jane," Maura pulled Jane's face towards her and gave her a sweet kiss on the lips. Jane smiled as she lost herself for a moment in the joy-filled hazel eyes that stared back at her.
Judith offered to help Angela clear the dishes away after dinner. Jane lingered in the doorway trying to observe their interaction lest her mother act like her typical self. Thus far she had been relatively impressed with her mother's restraint.
Maura stepped up behind her wrapping her arms around Jane's waist and resting her chin on her shoulder, "Come on, let them talk. I could use some fresh air, come stand outside with me." Maura took Jane's hand and led her to the back porch.
"What was your reaction when Jane and Maura told you about…their relationship?" Judith inquired as she helped Angela clear the dinner plates and load the dishwasher.
"Well, Frank and I had already talked about the possibility that Jane might be gay. Then when I saw how Maura watched over Jane while she was in the hospital I started to think there might be more to their relationship. So, when Jane told me I wasn't really surprised. She's my daughter, I love her; I just want her to be happy. And she's never been happier since she's been with Maura." Angela stopped tinkering with the dishes and turned to face Judith, "Maura's good for Jane, and Jane's good for Maura. You know they came over here right after Maura came out to you…"
Judith took a deep breath; she knew where this was going, "I'm sure I sounded like an awful shrew. I'd never struck Maura before, never, not once, not even a spanking when she was a child. I…there's no excuse for it I just lost my composure."
"And now?" Angela pressed.
"And now I'm really trying…it hasn't been easy, this isn't something I was raised to think is ok…"
"But she's your daughter."
"She is, and because I love her I'm trying. William and I, we both like Jane, it's obvious how much she loves Maura and Maura her, you'd have to be blind not to see that. I've never seen Maura as she is now, affectionate and social and…comfortable, she seems very comfortable with your family."
"We consider Maura a part of our family now."
"I heard her call you 'Ma'…"
"Did that upset you?"
Judith paused and then answered truthfully, "A little. Maura and I, we never had a very close relationship. I regret that now. I have a lot to work on, and Maura and I have a lot to work on together to build a better relationship than we've had. The attack happened and it brought up all the fears I had about this relationship, about what other people would think, but then Maura reminded me that unfortunately random acts of violence happen all the time. It's…it's different when it's your child though. But, then you would know that better than anyone I suppose."
Angela smiled, "Do you know what else I know?" She beckoned for Judith Isles to join her at the kitchen window, which looked out on the backyard. She pointed to the scene on the back porch. Maura was sitting on the porch swing, reclining back in Jane's arms, Jane shimmied out of her coat and draped it across Maura's lap to cover her legs as she kissed her temple. "I know my daughter. She'd lay her life on the line for someone she loves. She'd do anything for Maura; she'd fight to her last breath to protect her. This, you can be sure of."
Judith smiled and nodded, "I'm starting to see that. We…started off on the wrong foot, when I barged into Jane's apartment that morning. To be honest I'll probably stick my foot in my mouth at some point in the future…"
Angela laughed, "We wouldn't be parents if we didn't mortify our children, in fact I think Jane asked Maura to spike my drink tonight. Jane thinks I talk too much. I'm always embarrassing her."
Judith and Angela were sharing a hearty laugh when Jane and Maura joined them in the kitchen. Maura squeezed Jane's hand.
"Lemme guess, still cracking on me?" Jane joked.
"Not at all, Judith and I were having a nice talk."
Frank, Angela, Jane and Maura walked Judith and William to the door. As they drove off Angela turned and placed her hand on Maura's cheek. She smiled reassuringly and gave Maura a wink. "Ok! Coats on! If we don't get going we're going to be late and you know I don't like sitting in the back of the church, Father Tuohy's hard to hear even in the sections where the speakers work."