Thank you for the continued support with this story everyone! I realize that this is a subject that affects the majority of us in our community. I hope there comes a day when we won't have to deal with this type of discrimination anymore. Enjoy the chapter!


Once the trip to the bookstore had been over and Leo had been bought enough books to last him a month, the Rizzoli-Isles family headed towards the park. Jane had done her research for a while before she'd brought her thoughts to Maura and with a little help from Frankie, they'd found a very gay-friendly park. Frankie had come across it while on patrol and mentioned it to Jane during one of their nights at the Dirty Robber.

"This looks like a nice park, Jane. I'm surprised you brought us over here; I was expecting the usual one," said Maura as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Frankie told me about this one a couple of weeks ago; he thought it may be a nice place for Leo to hang out," replied Jane.

Both women exited the car and Jane went to open the back door for Leo to exit the car.

"Mama I want to get on the monkey bars!"

"Ok bud, go play, mommy and I are going to sit on that bench over here, ok? Let me know when you're ready for the swings!" Jane said to her son.

"Ok mama!" Leo said before running towards the monkey bars.

Jane and Maura found a comfortable seat at a bench nearby and sat down.

"So I found the problem that's been bothering Leo," Maura started. "I don't know what we're going to have to do, Jane, I don't want our son to be bullied."

"What's going on?"

"He told me kids at school won't play with him because they are under the impression that he thinks he's smarter than they are."

"Well, he is, isn't he?" Jane replied.

"That's not the point, Jane. Leo is the smartest child in that school, yes, but he isn't pompous about it. He doesn't flaunt it to everyone; they just treat him differently. He also mentioned that one of the parents called you and I an abomination."

"WHAT?! Who was that?"

"A parent of one of the children in his class."

"I'm going to kick that son of a bi-"

"Jane! There is no need for violence here. We have to find a way for Leo not to get bullied or left out. I've been thinking about it… maybe it's time to change schools, or perhaps home school him?"

"Maura, do you really think it's gotten that far?" Jane asked, uncertainty filling her voice.

"I don't want our son to be subjected to bullying because of his talents or because of whom he has as parents Jane and I know you don't either."

"No, I don't."

"For one or the other, he's going to be bullied anywhere he goes. Maybe we should stick with homeschooling him. I can do it myself, or we can hire a tutor."

"What about the M.E. position?"

"I love my job, but I love my son more; he takes priority. Besides, I can still run the office from home, I can go in and perform the autopsies I need to and then have the techs run all the testing necessary. Homeschooling Leo isn't going to be like a regular school day for him, it would only be a few hours a day. I'm sure something could be worked out. If not, then I can always time some time off. What do you think?"

"I don't think there will be anyone better to home school our son than you, amore. I trust your judgment Maur. If this is what we need to do for Leo to have a more stable childhood, then this is what we'll do."

A woman from the bench over approached them. "Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. I don't want to cross a line, but I just wanted to mention that my son went through something quite similar at school because of my wife and I."

"Please, join us," replied Maura. "I'm Maura, this is my wife Jane," she said as she introduced them to the stranger.

"Oh, I know exactly who you two are; quite the power couple in our community," replied the stranger. "My name is Anne. My wife isn't here with me today, but I hope you'll get to meet her one day."

"We look forward to it," replied Jane.

"So as I was saying, my Andy went through something similar at the school he was at. Kids kept giving him a hard time because he 'didn't have a daddy' or because it was weird for him to have two mommies. They singled him out, wouldn't let him join in any activities outside the classroom or at recess. He would come home crying because he felt left out and then he just stopped, but I saw how sad he was and it broke my heart. My wife Karen and I talked about it and decided that changing schools would be better, so we tried that. We tried two different schools before deciding to home school. The same thing happened everywhere he went and we didn't want that for our son. Now he is much happier, he learns at a good pace, and he isn't isolated."

"Jane and I were talking about the homeschooling our son Leo; it just seems like a better option. Having him in school, aside from the bullying, slows him down anyway. I'd like for him to learn at his own pace."

"Our tutor is wonderful. I can give you her information if you'd like."

"Yeah, we'd like that, Anne. Thank you," replied Jane. "Maura is more than capable of homeschooling our son but we're still looking at options because of our jobs."

"You're quite welcome. It's a judgmental world we live in. Being a mother myself, I know exactly what you've gone through and I wouldn't want to continue subjecting my Andy to something like that. You know, Karen and I are also members of Boston's PFLAG chapter. They have a lot of activities for families to participate in. You should join us."

"We were thinking about that as well," Maura replied. "It sounds like a wonderful idea. We would like to get more involved in the community and for Leo to have more interaction with kids who are like him. How old is your son?"

"Andy is 7. As a matter of fact, here he comes now."

"That's great! Our Leo is 6. Maybe we can arrange a play date or something," Jane said.

"I'm sure he'd like that."

"Mommy, mommy! There's this boy I was playing with and he can get across the whole monkey bars! Isn't that cool?"

"Yes it is sweetheart. Did you meet him? What's his name?"

"His name is Leo. We played for a little while, but I'm tired now, I want to go home."

"Andy, would you like it if Leo came over to our house and played with you?"

"I would mommy! Can I go tell him?"

"Sure sweetheart," replied Anne as her son ran over to the monkey bars once more.

"It seems like our sons were meant to meet," Anne said.

"It seems like it does," replied Jane.

"Seems like our little Leo has made a new friend," Maura said, a smile on her face.


Looks like things are looking up! Should Maura tutor Leo herself or should they hire someone? What do you guys think?