Thank you for the continued support everyone! Here's the next chapter!=)
Anne's recommendation had seemed to be a good fit for Leo. Maura had gone through the process of interviewing Mrs. Johnson. After her rigorous interview, she'd brought Leo into the conversation to see if there was any chemistry between teacher and student. It seemed like they had gotten along quite well; Maura and Jane decided to give it a try.
At first Jane had questioned the idea of the two boys studying together since Andy was a year older. It didn't take her long to realize that her son was at a more advanced level than even a second grader and dropped the subject completely. It seemed like student and tutor were the perfect fit for one another. Leo was an academic sponge, picking up anything and everything Mrs. Johnson threw at the boy. By the second week, he was working on multiplication and division, much to Jane's amazement.
Sure, she and Maura would spend every possible moment with their son, yet it was Maura who would go over most of the academic stuff with him. They'd fallen into a comfortable routine. Both would get home from work as early as their job would allow, with Maura usually beating Jane home. By the time Jane would arrive, dinner would be in the oven and Maura would be sitting with Leo, going over the things he'd learned that day.
"Mommy, Mrs. Johnson taught me a really cool trick today!"
"She did? What did she teach you sweetheart?"
"Look!" He picked up his pencil and made a column with the numbers 0 through 9 and then one right next to it with the numbers 9 through 0. "She said it was a good way to remember the multiplication table of 9. It's the same numbers, just flipped. Isn't that cool?!"
"It certainly is, sweetheart. Math has a way of working out in mysterious ways. What else did you learn today?"
"Mrs. Johnson gave me a list of all multiplication tables all the way to 12 and told me to work on them. She said she would start giving me 1 minute tests starting next week. We also started working on handwriting my name in cursive. I'm still having a little trouble with that mommy, but she said to keep on practicing. I started learning about oceans and their names, and she told me about Pangaea too, and how that changed over the course of time and spread all over the world."
"I'm impressed, sweetheart. It seems like Mrs. Johnson is teaching you a lot of different things. Do you like the pace she's teaching you at? Is it too fast?"
"No mommy, I like her. I like her more than my other teacher. She was still teaching us about addition and subtraction; that was boring. Mrs. Johnson makes it a lot more fun! And she gives me stickers on my papers!"
"I'm glad you like her, sweetheart. Let's put your things away; mama is almost home and dinner will be ready in a few minutes. I'll sit with you and we can practice that cursive after dinner, alright?"
"Ok mommy."
Maura began to set the table for dinner with Leo's help. Tonight she'd made chicken alfredo, Leo's favorite dish. There was one thing that had yet to be sorted out. Angela had taken some time off from the café the last two weeks so that Leo wouldn't be left alone once the tutor left in the early afternoon. Everyone knew that Angela loved her job, and though she had offered to stay at home and look after her grandson, Jane and Maura knew that they were going to have to find a different solution. She and Jane would just have to discuss that once her wife got home.
Dinner was had by the little family, who was joined by Angela. Leo had his turn and enthusiastically told everyone what he'd learned with Mrs. Johnson that day. The adults could see that he was definitely a happier boy than he had been weeks before. He also talked about his last play date with Andy, and how he was looking forward to seeing the little boy at the playground the coming weekend. Once dinner was finished, Maura sat down with him as promised and they worked on his cursive for a while before it was his bed time. Once Leo had been tucked in, she returned downstairs to join Angela and Jane in their conversation.
"I'm just saying Jane. I love Leo, and I wouldn't mind staying at home with him at all, really. That's what I did with you kids and you all turned out fine!"
"Ma, it's not that, really. Maura and I just know that you truly enjoy your job at the café, and we don't want you to give that up. It's a good distraction for you; we wouldn't want you to be spending your days at home again, not yet at least." Jane replied with a smirk.
"Jane's right, Angela. We couldn't, wouldn't ask you to do this for us. We had talked about the possibility of getting a nanny, but I honestly don't want to bring in another person. I was raised by nannies and butlers and maids, I don't want to subject my son to the same if I can help it. I've been thinking a lot about this, and I think that I'm going to be taking a step back and taking a lighter workload so that I may be able to spend more time with Leo. I know that realistically speaking, Jane isn't able to do that, but I am. Being the Chief Medical Examiner has its perks. As it is, I work on more cases than I need to. I can assign another medical examiner to some cases and supervise the testing and the occasional autopsy. There may come a time, when we can get a sitter until we get home, but I'd like for him to be a little older for that. I want him to really enjoy his childhood in a way I was never able to, and I believe nurturing is a big part of that."
"Baby, are you sure you want to do that? I know you love your job too, and I couldn't ask you to give it up." Jane stated.
"I'm not giving it up, Jane; I'm just taking a lighter caseload. I really think everything will be ok this way. We said we wanted what was best for Leo. He really seems to be enjoying his new tutor and is excelling from what I'm able to see. The look on his face when he tells me about the things he learned that day just make my day. I want to see our son happy. I think that continuing with his education the way it is going is great. By my being around, I'll be able to have him interact more with kids like him; I'll be able to take him to the park, or play dates. I don't want you to feel left out, Jane, but please think about this."
"No, I totally understand what you mean. And I know I won't be left out. I'll still get to spend plenty of time with our son when I get home and on the weekends. I know you wouldn't do that to me Maur," Jane replied with a smile. "Besides, there will be times when we will have a light caseload and I'll be able to come home early too."
"So I think it's settled, then. I'll speak with Lt. Cavanaugh in the morning and make the necessary arrangements."
"Whoever thought, Maura Isles, Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a part-time stay at home mom?" Jane joked.
"Don't start with me Jane; you know that if you could, you would do it too. Big bad Rizzoli, look what she's been reduced too." Maura joked right back.
"Yeah amore, you're right."
How will Maura's decision impact her work relationship and marriage with Jane?
