"Mama…I colored this for you!"
Jane pulled her gaze away from the Bruin's game that she wasn't really paying attention to and turned to look at the picture Jack was holding up for inspection. He had drawn a picture of their family, complete with Maura wearing her black scrubs and Jane with her gold detective badge.
"That's awesome bud! Is that our family?" Jane grinned and motioned for the boy to join her on the couch where she was holding a sleeping Tessa.
"Uh-huh!" Jack climbed up next to her and held the picture closer to his mother's face so she could look more closely at it.
Jane chuckled at her son's creativity when she noticed that he had drawn himself holding a Captain America shield. "Whoa…I didn't know we had a son who was Captain America!"
Jack giggled and snuggled into Jane's side. "I like having you home Mama."
Jane smiled and ruffled the boy's hair with her free hand. "Me too, bud." The smile faded as she remembered the reason she had been home with her kids for the past couple days. She hadn't heard from Martinez or anyone else regarding the investigation into Yolanda's death, and as the days went by, Jane was growing increasingly agitated that she wasn't being kept in the loop about it. She knew that there was going to be some backlash about the unfortunate situation, and she was prepared to face it, but she also felt like she was intentionally being kept away from the investigation, and it was unnerving to not know why.
"Mama can we read books?" Jack looked up from playing with the watch around Jane's wrist. "I wanna read the one about dinosaurs that Uncle Frankie got me."
"Reading sounds like a good plan, little man." Jane replied, looking down at the sleeping baby in her arms. "If you wanna go grab a few books and bring 'em down here, I'll read with you."
Jack nodded and slid off the couch, running towards his room as quickly as his legs could carry him. Jane chuckled quietly to herself as she watched him go.
"Your big brother's quite the character, little peanut." Jane whispered softly to her sleeping daughter. "I can't wait until you get a little older and we see your personality start to come out. I can only imagine the trouble you and Jack are gonna get into." Jane leaned down to kiss Tessa's forehead, and just as she was pulling back, she heard the doorbell ring. Jane frowned, knowing that it wasn't her mother, who had just dropped Jack off from kindergarten an hour ago, and it definitely wasn't Maura, since she had a key. She got up as smoothly as possible to avoid waking her daughter, and headed to the front door to see who it was. As she peered through the peephole, a grin spread across her face when she saw her brother standing on the front steps.
Jane opened the door to greet her brother, who must have just gotten off a shift as he was still in his police uniform.
"Hey Frankie!" Jane slugged her brother on the arm in greeting.
"Hey Janie." Frankie replied, shifting to the side to avoid another playful smack from his older sister. "How's it goin?"
Jane motioned for her brother to come inside. "Well, considering the fact that I'm pretty sure they are keeping me out of the investigation…alright, I guess."
Frankie nodded, placing his uniform hat down on the kitchen counter. "Yeah…Maura told me about that. I'm sorry to hear about how this is all going down Janie."
Jane was going to reply, but Jack came barreling into the kitchen and ran smack into his uncle's legs.
"Uncle Frankie!"
Frankie absorbed the force of his nephew's tackle and bent down to hug the boy. "Hey Jack! How's it goin' my man?" He pulled a couple of comic books from his back pocket and held them up in front of the boy. "I brought a some of my favorite comics for my favorite nephew!"
Jack fist pumped excitedly as he took the offered comics. "Aw yes!" He hugged Frankie tightly around the neck. "Thanks Uncle Frankie!"
Frankie grinned and patted Jack on the shoulder. "No problem dude. Why don't you go read those for a few while I talk to your Mama for a bit."
"Okay!" Jack replied enthusiastically, clutching the comic books in his hand as he trotted off into the living room. Jane and Frankie smiled as they watched him go, and then turned to one another again.
Jane shifted Tessa in her arms. "You wanna hold her?"
Frankie blushed and nodded. He had a soft spot for his niece. Jane grinned and gently transferred her sleeping daughter into her brother's arms. She watched Frankie hold the baby for a few seconds then sat down at one of the stools by the kitchen island.
"How was your shift?"
Frankie looked up at his sister. "It was alright…nothing too crazy, which was a nice change."
Jane nodded, remembering her time as a beat cop and how unpredictable every shift was.
"I worked with Frost on a traffic detail for a couple of hours." Frankie said with a grin. "It was nice to catch up with him. He says he's planning on taking the detective's exam soon."
Jane raised her eyebrows. "Really? That's great! That kid's a computer whiz, so whichever department he ends up in will be lucky to have him." She reached out and flicked her brother's ear. "That reminds me…when are you gonna take the exam, little brother?"
Frankie scowled and rolled his eyes. "I dunno…when I'm ready, I guess. Not all of us can be prodigies, Jane." He replied sarcastically, rubbing his ear where Jane had flicked him.
Both Rizzoli children were silent for a few minutes before Frankie spoke again.
"So how are you doing, Janie? For real." He asked quietly. "I heard about what happened, and I know it has to be taking a toll on you."
Jane dropped her head briefly. When she raised it, she could see the concern in her younger brother's eyes.
"I'm doing alright." She replied with a shrug. "I keep replaying what happened in my mind and trying to figure out where I went wrong…or how I could have saved her." She raked a hand through her curls and sighed. "I think what's freaking me out the most is that Martinez is refusing to speak to me."
Frankie shifted Tessa so that he was holding her with one arm. With his free hand, he reached out and placed it on Jane's shoulder.
"I'm sure he'll come around. If he doesn't, then he's a real asshole."
Jane grinned and leaned so that she could bump shoulders with her brother.
"Eloquent like always, Frankie."
Maura returned from work to find her son lounging on the couch reading comic books and her daughter resting contentedly in her mechanical swing. As she put her briefcase down and hung up her jacket, Maura looked around for Jane. When she didn't see her, she entered into the living room to greet her children.
"Hi Mommy." Jack looked up from his comic book.
"Hello handsome." She replied, bending down to kiss his cheek. "What are you reading?"
"Batman!" Jack replied exuberantly. "Uncle Frankie brought them for me."
"That was nice of him. Did you thank him?"
"Yup!" Jack nodded and then returned his attention to the brightly colored pages.
"Good boy." Maura smiled, and gave Jack's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Where's Mama?"
"Um…upstairs? Her phone was ringing."
As Maura approached the swing, Tessa smiled widely at her mother and kicked her legs excitedly. Maura couldn't help but smile in return and bent to pick up her daughter. She held Tessa up so she could kiss her cheeks.
"Hi pretty girl! Did you have a good day with Mama?" Maura cooed softly at her daughter. "Were you good for her?" Maura held the baby close to her and went in search of Jane. As she made her way up the stairs, she could hear Jane in their bedroom and headed in that direction.
Jane was sitting on the edge of their bed with her phone in her hand and looked up when Maura walked in.
"Hey…I didn't hear you come in." Jane's smile seemed a little forced.
"Jack said you were on the phone." Maura shrugged, sitting down next to her wife on the bed. "Who was it?"
Jane paused, chewing the inside of her cheek for a few seconds.
"Cavanaugh." She replied quietly. "They want me to come in tomorrow morning to tell my side of the story and to answer some questions they have."
"Well that's good." Maura said brightly. "You are finally going to be included in the investigation." She tickled Tessa's belly, which elicited a gummy smile from the baby.
"Yeah…I guess." Jane replied noncommittally. "I just…I get the feeling that I'm being thrown under the bus here. Something just…feels off about all this."
Maura patted her wife's thigh reassuringly. "I hope that's not the case. Martinez has always been supportive of you, Jane. Just go in there tomorrow and tell your side of the story, and everything will work out fine." She kissed Jane's temple and laced their fingers together.
Jane sighed. "I hope you're right Maur."
"Thank you for being here Detective Rizzoli and for providing your account of Tuesday's unfortunate events. We will notify you of the results of the investigation as soon as it is complete. Per Detective Martinez's recommendation, Lieutenant Cavanaugh has ordered that you are to remain on disciplinary leave for the rest of the week."
Jane flinched as the door to the conference room shut. She wiped the bead of sweat that was trickling down the side of her neck and turned to face Martinez, who was sitting across the room with his arms crossed and his jaw set. Jane's anger was starting to boil over at what had just happened, and she'd had enough.
"What the fuck was that Rafael?" Jane's eyes flashed with anger as she struggled to process what had just happened.
Martinez shrugged and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know what you want me to say Jane."
His words only riled Jane up more, and she let out a snort of disbelief.
"Are you kidding me right now? You just basically threw me to the wolves and made it sound like this whole thing was my fault."
Martinez crossed his arms as anger flickered across his face. "Don't you try and pin this on me, Jane. Do I need to remind you that it was your idea to use your CI for a drug buy? That's on you. Not me."
"Fuck you Rafael!" Jane spat. "You are my partner, but you are my supervisor! You could have shut this down at any point!" She slammed her fist down on the table in frustration. "I can't believe you are throwing me under the bus like this! You're too concerned about looking bad in front of the brass that you are willing to throw our partnership away. I've worked for the drug unit for almost two years, and this is how you repay me? All because you don't have the balls to admit to Cavanaugh that we both fucked up?"
"You better watch it Jane!" Martinez slammed his palms down on the table and stood up. "You are out of line!"
Jane stood up as well, angrily pushing her chair out of the way. "I was wrong about you Martinez. I thought you were a team player, willing to help a young detective out." She paused and took in a shaky breath. "But you just showed you are only in this for yourself."
Jane grabbed her keys and badge from the table and stalked across the conference room toward the door. The gravity of what had just happened was starting to catch up to her, and her anger was quickly threatening to spill out in the form of tears. As she grasped the door handle, she turned back around.
"We're done." She said hoarsely. "I want a transfer."
As she twisted the door handle and pulled the door open, her tears started to fall. Jane headed in the one direction she knew she was going to find comfort and reassurance…Maura's office. The door slammed behind her and she walked away as quickly as she could from a stunned Martinez.