Author's Note & Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Bloods or any of its characters. All rights belong to CBS.
Chapter 17
Maria is the first one to wake up. It wasn't the first time that they'd fallen asleep together but this would be the first time she awakes before Danny.
He looks so peaceful, Maria thinks to herself.
Not wanting to wake him, Maria carefully gets up from the couch. She puts one of the couch pillows in her place, which Danny automatically goes to hug and pulls it closer to him. She smiles at this and stays there for a few seconds looking over at him, then grabs her phone from the coffee table and quietly makes her way upstairs.
Looking at the time on her phone she notices that she's got about at least two hours before they're supposed to meet Danny's family at church. Not wanting to waste any more time she heads straight for the shower.
Meanwhile Danny is woken up when he hears movement upstairs, followed by the sound of the shower turning on. He takes in his surroundings and notices Maria is nowhere in sight. He takes in a deep breath and does his best to rub the sleep from his eyes. He reaches for his phone and notices the time as well.
Although it won't take him nearly as much time to get ready for church, he decides to go upstairs to shower and get dressed for mass. Maybe he'd had enough time to make a small breakfast for he and Maria. Before heading upstairs, Danny sets the coffee maker so that they'd at least have a warm cup before leaving the house.
—-—-
Maria is the first to come down stairs. Her hair is still damp from the shower but otherwise she is fully dressed. As she enters the kitchen she is met with the lovely aroma of coffee. She goes to make herself a cup and then takes a seat at the breakfast table. Moments later she hears Danny's footsteps as he's making his way downstairs.
"Oh great coffee is done. Good morning, Maria," Danny says, fixing himself a cup of coffee.
"Morning Danny. Thanks for setting the coffee maker. I would've done that before heading upstairs but I didn't want to wake you," Maria says with a smile, taking another sip.
"No problem. Do you want me to whip up a quick breakfast here or would you rather we pick up something on our way to church?" Danny asks, taking a seat across from her.
"We can pick up something. Let me finish up my hair and makeup and I'll meet you down here in about 20 minutes. Sounds good?" Maria says.
"Yup. I'll call in an order for some breakfast sandwiches a few blocks from here," Danny says, smiling at her.
He's really enjoying Maria's morning look at that moment. Sure he's seen her without makeup before, but never like this and especially not with her hair damp and in its natural state.
Maria notices Danny staring and smiling at her which causes her to smile back. Soon she takes the last sip of her coffee and moves to get up from her seat. She reaches for her coffee mug, but Danny reaches out a hand to stop her.
"I got it, Maria. Go finish getting ready. I'll fix us both a cup of coffee to go," Danny says as he takes the empty mug from her hand.
"Kay. Thanks," she says and then makes her way upstairs.
It doesn't take long for Maria to dry and style her hair, she's grateful she had her hair cut a few weeks ago. She still had some length but not nearly as long as she did in the past. This made it easier for her to quickly get her hair done since she always felt pressed for time, especially when she was working one of the many high profile cases that he and Danny would usually work on.
As she's making some final touches on her make up, Maria notices the book her therapist Lauren had given her to read. She opens it to the page that was earmarked. On it was a note that read:
Repeat the following affirmations to yourself daily. Do this in front of a mirror. Then look into your eyes, take a deep breath in and out and repeat the list below.
As I release my pain, I create new space for magnificent abundance to flow to me.
I love and accept myself unconditionally.
I am enough and worthy.
I am worthy of the love I give to others.
I love myself unconditionally
"Hmm, doesn't seem too bad," Maria says. She follows the steps from the book and quickly realizes how uncomfortable and emotional repeating some of these affirmations are. By the end of the list she is on the verge of tears. She sets the book down and takes in a few deep breaths in and out. Maria does another few touch ups of makeup when there's a soft knock on the door.
"Maria, everything okay?" Danny asks from the other side of the door.
"Uh yeah. I'm ready," Maria shouts and quickly gathers her purse and other belongings. She's not surprised that Danny is still standing right outside when she opens the door.
"Hey, sorry. Lost track of time," Maria says with a small smile.
"It's okay, we've still got plenty of time. You alright though?" Danny asks, sensing that she's not completely herself. He then notices her eyes were slightly red. "Is something bothering you? Were you crying?" Danny asks.
"I'm okay, Danny. Just going through some emotions, that's all. Let's get going before we're late to church." Maria says, hoping to change the subject or distract her partner's concern.
She closes the bedroom door and starts heading towards the stairs, but Danny pulls at her hand gently, stopping her.
"Hey, wait a sec. Are you sure you're okay? Seriously Maria, you can tell me. Are you nervous about something? Is it about dinner with my family tonight because if it is I can cancel-," Danny starts.
"No Danny it's not that at all. I just….these emotions with everything that's happened this past week just hit me out of the blue at times, and sometimes all at once," Maria says. "And yea I'm kinda nervous about dinner with your family, but not to the point where I'd be crying about it."
"Okay," Danny says, not really liking her answer but relieved that it wasn't about family dinner. "But seriously if something makes you uncomfortable at all during church, family dinner or wherever please let me know. Alright?"
"Ok, I will. I promise," Maria says smiling back at him. "Now let's go seriously. I don't want your father mad at me for making us late to mass."
Danny just chuckles and follows her. He offers his arm, which she takes, and leads her down the stairs.
—-—-
They arrive at St. Joseph's church around the same time as the other Reagans.
"Hey, you made it," Frank is the first to see and greet them.
"Hey Dad and family" Danny says. "Family, you all know my partner Maria Baez. She'll be joining us for mass today."
"Hi everyone," Maira says with a smile.
"Uh oh. What case or mess has Daniel put you through that he's dragging you along to church with him," Erin says. "Wait don't tell me you both are working a case at this very moment, and in our church Daniel Reagan," she says that last part in a low but harsher tone.
"Would you relax? Maria and I are not working on a case at the moment, not that it's any of your business," Danny responds with a sarcastic tone. Erin just narrows her eyes at him.
"Alright you two," Frank warns.
"I hate to say this but Erin's got a point," Jaime adds in. "And not that I'm complaining but what brings you around here Maria? I didn't know you attended this church before."
"I uh-," Maria starts before another Reagan interrupts.
"Maria is here because I asked her to join me and my family for mass. Now do me a favor and quit with all the third degree questioning and mind your own business," Henry says sternly, looking at both Erin and Jaime. Danny and Frank share the same stern look towards Erin and Jaime as well.
Henry then turns to Maria and holds out his arm and she gladly takes it. "Come with me my dear. Don't mind my nosey grandchildren. Mass is about to start and I saved us the best seats in the house," he says, winking at Maria.
Maria smiles, "Of course. Lead the way, Henry."
Danny smiles watching how relaxed and comfortable Maria is around his grandfather.
"Huh, that was smooth. I guess Pop still gots it," Sean says, earning a chuckle from Danny and Frank.
"That's Pop for you. Always the charmer," Frank says as they all make their way into the church.
—-
It had been several months since she had attended mass, which she always had felt guilty about. She would make time to go to confession and pray her novenas as often as she could, but attending mass alone was always so hard for her. She'd always felt distracted when she would see the couples and families sit together and then mingle with each other after service was over.
Today she was very grateful to join Danny and his family for morning mass. She noticed a few stares as she and Henry made their way to their seats. The other Reagans followed right behind them, Sean sitting in between Danny and Maria. Henry sensed her discomfort and looked around to see a few of the members staring at them. He simply waved and flashed them all a smile then turned back to Maria.
"Sometimes all you've got to do is smile and wave, pretend that their stares don't bother you. That'll stop them enough to at least quit staring. Don't worry, I've got your 6," Henry tells her with a wink. Maria just smiles back. Moments later the sermon begins.
Throughout the sermon Maria has this uneasy feeling that someone is still staring at her. Normally she would get up and look at her surroundings but she's in church and doesn't want to make it that obvious.
It's probably just your nerves. Get it together girl, Maria tells herself.
Maria looks over to Danny, and within a few seconds he meets her eyes. Danny can see the discomfort and concern in her eyes. They've been partners for so long that he doesn't need her to say anything, the look in her eyes says it all. He casually looks around to see if anyone or anything looks out of the ordinary. Then pulls out his phone to send a text to his father's security detail in the area. Maybe it was nothing but he had a gut feeling something was not right, too.
—-
After the sermon, everyone slowly makes their way outside. Before reaching the doors, where the priest was greeting a few members on their way out, Danny pulls Maria off to the side.
"Hey, you alright?" Danny asks.
"Yeah I'm better now. I guess it was just nerves and being around a lot of people. Didn't help that a few were staring at me when I entered with your grandpa. I don't know. It's probably nothing but I just felt a little uneasy," Maria says.
"Yeah I could see that when we made eye contact. I sent a text to the security detail and they were searching the area for anything or anyone suspicious around here. No word yet, so that's good news, right?" Danny says, trying to reassure his partner.
"Yeah. Come on, I think your family is waiting for us outside," Maria says, making her way to the exit.
"Detective Daniel Reagan. Always a pleasure to have you join us for Sunday mass," Father Donahue says, as he sees Danny and Maria approaching.
"It's always a pleasure to be here, Father," Danny smiles.
"I see you brought a guest," the priest says, extending a hand out to Maria, "Father Donahue and it's a pleasure to have you join us this morning, dear."
"Thank you, Father. Maria Baez," Maria smiles.
"Maria is actually one of the best NYPD detectives we have serving in our Major Cases squad. She's been Danny's partner for almost nine years now," Frank says, starting up further small talk between the priest and other family members.
Maria mostly just smiles and nods, only to be polite of course . Suddenly she began to feel uneasy again so as discreetly as she could, she began looking around checking for anything or anyone out of the ordinary. As she turns her attention to an area across the street she sees a familiar face. She saw Marco. Then as a few cars passed by, Marco was gone in an instant.
Immediately she reached over to grab Danny's arm and squeezed it several times. That was her signal to him that there was danger.
Danny instantly looked up and then looked towards the direction Maria was still looking towards.
"What is it, Maria?" Danny whispers to her.
"I saw him. Across the street right over there. I swear I saw him. I saw Marco," Maria says, barely able to breathe out those last few words.
To be continued….