A/N: Just a touch of the diary for giggles. ROAD TRIP!
Z, MJ, M: Please leave your comments. I need em. Pleeeease.
Three weeks later.
They parked on the outside of the building off of 86th. Jane and Kate got out of the car and after Kate popped the trunk, both women started to slip on their body armor. Jane had strapped her Glock 19 to the small of her back before checking out the new Glock 37 on her hip. It was strange that Jane always seemed to carry two fire arms whenever she could. She adjusted Kate's straps on her vest before turning so Kate could do the same. Neither one of them said a word as I dug out my own vest. Unlike theirs which sported the words police on the back and NYPD on the front. Mine had the words Writer in white.
Jane had tried to tell me to stay in the car but as usual I ignored her as I had done Kate for years. I figured it would take longer for her to get used to me being around than it did Kate. Jane was sharp and didn't have a lot of tolerance for a civilian being on a bust.
This was Jane's first takedown with the NYPD and I wouldn't miss this for anything.
Months had passed since she had come to live with us and Kate had seemed confident that she was ready. That the familiar action would be good for her.
"Jane needs that feeling, Castle. Now more than anything." She had said as we left the station.
So despite my earlier concerns Jane was on point with Kate and as we came around the corner we met up with Kevin and Javi, both sporting vests and guns. Two uniforms stood behind them at the ready. Without a word we entered into the building and climbed the stairs to the fourth floor and settled quietly on either side of 4121. I could hear each member of our team breathing heavily in anticipation. Jane and Kevin were on the left and Kate and Javi were on the right.
I had seen Kate do this more times than I could remember so I was behind Javi watching Jane. I hadn't said anything because I had been told that Jane didn't need any kind of distractions. Not that I would have anyway, takedowns are serious business. The kind of business that can cost lives. Even though I had some lovely material about tall Italian women with guns that would probably get me shot, by my girlfriend and her partner, I kept my mouth shut.
The uniforms stood back and kept the hallway clear while we positioned ourselves for entry. Kate was the sergeant so she was in charge. She signaled Esposito that he was on the door kicking detail. Jane cut her off and signaled she had it. You could almost see the information passing between them before Jane nodded and leaned further into the wall. Giving Ryan the room he needed to cross. He slipped in front of me and Javi took place next to Kate.
Kate signaled Jane with a look and Kate reached over to pound on the door. We all held our breath, adrenaline surged through our veins. What would happen this time? Ideally the person inside would open the door and we'd rush in. Worse case was our suspect would start shooting through the door and we'd all scramble back a few steps and settle in for a shootout. This time was one of the other kind.
Jane tensed up and held her weapon at the ready, she was going in first. Her eyes held a steely determination that was alarming. She nodded.
Kate pounded on the door and Jane yelled, "BOSTON POLICE!"
Kate stared at her, "Really?"
A flash of embarrassment passed over her face before the loud crash of a window echoed from the apartment. In a single stride, Javi stepped around Kate and slammed his muscular leg into the door, sending it hurling open, slamming against the wall. And his next step allowed Jane to pass through the door. Kate was right behind as was Javi and then Kevin. I leaned around the door frame to gauge the situation.
Many times Kate had said I wasn't a cop and that I needed to take that extra second to survey the scene as it were before I walked in to a bullet. That extra second they, by their very profession, couldn't afford to take.
We found our suspects wife and kids huddled in the corner of the bedroom. He was gone.
The rattle of the fire escape cause Kate and Jane to run for the window. "He's going down!" Jane shouted as she lurched through the window and started down the steps.
"Go!" Kate shouted to Javi as she bolted out the same window Jane had.
Javier Esposito was running out into the hallway. We had uniforms nearby on the ground but for the first time I can remember, Kate had them holding back a little farther than she normally would, about half a block, farther.
I rushed out onto the fire escape in time to see the suspect hit the ground running. Jane had reached the ladder but to my absolute shock. She jumped over the rail and landed on top of a metal dumpster, on her feet. Remember what I said about a cape? She leaped from it and landed only twenty feet behind the suspect.
Although she still denies it to this day, I could have sworn I heard Kate shout "Crazy bitch!" as she began pounding the pavement to catch up with her partner.
I made it to the ground and started off after them.
I have to say that since I started shadowing Beckett at the NYPD I have been getting quite a bit more fit. I know that I'm ruggedly handsome but a few extra pounds that I secretly detested had been fading for a while now.
In the distance I could hear Jane shouting, "NYPD! Move!" at least she got the name right this time.
I caught up with them at the end of the next block. Jane had him on the ground, her knee pressed into his back and her handcuffs around his wrists.
She smacked him on the back of the head, "Why you making me run, fool. Do I look fat to you?"
Kate was standing a few feet away, even though the run was only for two blocks, she had hauled ass to back up her partner.She stood with her hands on her thighs, catching her breath. I laughed even though it hurt. Esposito pulled up in his cruiser and climbed out.
"Yeah, bitch!" he said with a groan, "you must weigh two twenty and your standing on my back, get off me, ho!"
"Oh, so now I'm a ho!" She said as she straightened up on him. "Damn, you're just a flatterer aren't you? Tell you what, I know some guys in Lockup who will show you a ho! Now get up." Kate came over and grabbed him by one arm as Jane hauled him up onto his feet.
"Damn, girl, you're fast!" Kate said, there was a gleam of admiration in her eyes.
"She's one of them bull dykes." He said, "Bitch who thinks she's a dude. Probably just needs a nice big dick like mine to straighten her ass out?" The suspect leered at her small frame.
"Boy," she said as she smacked him in the back of the head again, "Don't get into a dick measuring contest with me. I got a drawer full of them and their all bigger than you." She looked pointedly at his crotch before she turned him toward the car. Javi was trying not to laugh at Jane's words as she shoved him in to the back seat, "Watch your head, please." She said as she slammed the car door on him.
"What happened?" I said as Kate slapped a high five with Jane.
"My partnertook him down like a linebacker, slammed him to the ground from the back and drilled her knee into him to keep him from running." She turned to Jane. "And you don't have a drawer full of dicks."
Jane ran a hand through her hair and smiled, "No but he doesn't know that and it sounded good."
Kate laughed. I couldn't help it. I laughed too.
"You know, Beckett warned me about you. Said you got a sailor's mouth and an Italian temper. She also said you were as tough as they come." Javi smiled warmly and held his hand out to her, "Welcome to NYPD, Rizzoli. It's going to be a pleasure working with you."
Jane took it and squeezed his hand hard, "Think we should get back and help Ryan and the uniforms get those kids wrangled." He nodded.
Jane chuckled in the back seat of her Crown Victoria. She remembered the day quite well. Even though she had called out the wrong department name, she had still nailed the guy to the ground. She never said it but it felt good to be doing what she knew how to do. She was a cop and it was what defined her. Kate had been right, it was exactly what she had needed.
She slipped the picture back into the book and closed it as she looked around the car at her family. Not the one she was born to, the one that had been made around her.
Kate had offered to drive them out of New York and would turn the car over when they got about half way to Boston where Jane would take over. Jane was sitting behind her with Maura on the other side and Rick was in the passenger seat with his laptop open.
Even though the trip to Boston was only a three hour drive, Alexis had promptly fallen asleep between Jane and Maura although she was definitely leaning on Jane. Despite Maura's offer to let Alexis sleep between them a few weeks ago, Alexis hadn't really opened up to Maura like Jane hoped she would.
Instead she had constantly found a way to be in between them, as if she was guarding Jane from her girlfriend. The exact opposite of her father and Kate, she was constantly putting them together. Maura had done everything she could think of to reach out to the young red haired genius who adored her girlfriend but she was rebuffed at every turn. Not rudely, just enough to tell the woman that she wasn't interested in being friends.
"I hurt you and she won't forgive that, Jane." Maura had said one night when Jane had asked about the tension between them.
Jane had tried to talk to Alexis but of all the things she had picked up from her and her partner it was pure Rizzoli stubbornness that Jane was cursing right now. Alexis meant a lot to Jane and she wanted her acceptance of Maura into her life. But she was holding out for some reason and she wouldn't say why.
Maura was hurt by that even though she didn't know her like Jane did but Alexis was important to Jane and was important to her too, even if it was through Jane. Oh how complicated families can be.
Jane listened for the soft snore that she had recently learned her niece made at night but heard nothing. She looked over at her girlfriend.
Maura was smiling as she observed Jane and her "niece". She didn't understand the familial ties exactly but from what she could gather, Alexis considered Kate Beckett and Jane Rizzoli as sisters. And though a marriage to her father that had not yet taken place, Kate was still called Kate and Jane was Alexis's Aunt. It was paradoxical at best but Maura had accepted it on her newly found faith.
Being in the car with them had allowed Maura to observe them in a close, confined space for a couple of hours and she was mentally noting all kids of data. One of which was that as Jane was reading and Alexis had fallen asleep, the young woman had slowly slid into Jane, who quite naturally shifted an arm around her, completely oblivious to her actions as she continued to read. Only after she was nestled in her Aunt's shoulder did Alexis let go. Her breathing pattern had relaxed and the tension in her shoulders slid away.
Jane smiled at her and Maura thought back to the dream she had. Jane's child carried inside her own body. Birthed and loved by both of them, a beautiful girl with curly red hair. As she watched Jane with Alexis Maura stifled a gasp as she realized what a wonderful mother Jane would be. Sensitive, loving, and fearlessly protective, Jane was a lioness.
The comparison struck her for some reason. Like the female lion of a pride, Jane could kill viscously and without mercy and she could also love unconditionally. Maura knew there was a side of Jane that she kept hidden that was capable of such unspeakable acts of violence. Jane had used it twice in Maura's presence and she would admit that it scared her, but it also comforted her because Jane wouldn't hesitate to unleash that darker side to protect her and she had never felt safer in her life then she did in Jane's arms. And if Jane ever had a child, that resolve would triple.
"What are you thinking about?" Jane said softly, lest she wake Alexis.
Maura blushed, "Just thinking about a dream I had."
Jane smiled, "Would you care to share it with the group?"
Maura glanced up and seen Kate's eyes in the rear view mirror and although she couldn't see his face, Maura had heard the clatter of the keyboard stop.
"No." she said sweetly. "I'll tell you but not right now." She said.
Jane nodded and after a quick glare at Castle, she picked up the book and opened it again. Maura knew that Jane had something on her mind and the fact that she had the book out and openly reading it was not a good sign. Maura had an idea of what she was up to and although she felt for the writer she was unfortunately bound to keep quiet as her lover plotted revenge against a man she felt had betrayed her trust by writing the very book she was now displaying.
Jane grinned evilly as she lifted her head. "Hey Kate. Do you remember that first bust I went on with you at NYPD?"
"The one where we banged on the door and you shouted Boston police?" A smirk from Kate, she had seen the book.
"Yeah," she said embarrassed a bit again, "I was just thinking. I remember Castle being exhausted after that chase? All huffing and puffing like he just ran a triathlon or something."
"I was not." He said. "Granted, I'm nowhere near as fast as you are but I distinctively remembering being winded, not exhausted."
Kate glanced back at her partner and seen the evil glint in her eyes.
I won't help you but I won't stop it either.
Jane nodded subtly, We'll see about that.
"I remember you almost falling asleep in the car on the way back to the 12th."
Maura watched as Jane dug into the author's ego. Oh this was going to be a train wreck, so destructive but unable to turn away from the carnage to come. Maura watched it unfold.
Jane settled back into the seat and started thumbing through the pages. She pointedly didn't look at Castle as he turned to defend his honor. He froze at what she held in her hands.
He knew it would come too this one day but he had hoped it would be in a place where he could find some cover. "Jane?" He tried.
"I'm a bit busy critiquing your work, Castle." She said without looking up, "I'll get back to you when I'm done." She lifted just her eyes to stare at him before returning them to the page.
He cringed at the look she gave him he passed a look to Kate who was ignoring him.
"Oh, the cape is a nice touch but I do what to know about 'the lovely material about tall Italian women with guns that would probably get me shot, by my girlfriend and her partner.' I wonder what would make you think that."
Kate's eyes slid to Castle, "I wonder, too."
Jane looked at Maura, her eyes pleading for some help. I couldn't say no to her if I tried.
"Well, it might be important information on what not to say so I'd like to know as well." She said before trying to hide in the seat.
Rick kept his eyes on the laptop, "I forgot what it was but if I remember I'll be sure to mention it."
"You do that, Castle." Kate said.
She turned back to the road and glanced in the mirror to see that amused smile on Jane's face. Her partner was planning something and this was just the first nail in Richard Castle's proverbial coffin.
Maura watched Jane's eyes light up with a gleam, clearly something important just happened and Maura had missed the significance of it. Jane would later explain that it was Rick's ego that more often than not got him in to trouble with Kate and Jane had just laid out a convenient path to burst his bubble.
Kate loved Rick madly but she couldn't help deflating his head whenever it got a little too big. Of course Kate was measuring in micrometers so she did it often. But her ego bursting was a lot like Jane and Maura's banter. It was affectionate and never mean spirited.
Kate drove just passed Hartford, Connecticut before she pulled over at a rest area and they all changed places, except for Alexis who snuggled into Kate's shoulder as she had Jane's and promptly fell back to sleep. An hour and a half later they were passing Fenway Park and heading towards Beacon Hill.
Although Maura had put the house up for sale, it hadn't sold. It was a great source of irritation to the honey blond ME who had priced the house to sell quickly, but the realtor had failed to call her back to find out why. It was on Maura's list of things to do when she got back. So she had called the storage company and had what she hadn't taken with her to New York returned to her house earlier that week.
Angela, Sean, Korsak, Frankie, and Frost had moved everything around and so her home was set up to receive her new family. She had thought long and hard about giving the house to Angela and Sean as a wedding gift but for now, it had worked out.
The light was on and the driveway was plowed free of snow and Jane had no trouble pulling her Crown Vic into the driveway. She left the car running while she and Maura climbed out of the car and into the cold New England winter air. Jane shivered. She had forgotten how cold Boston could get. Maura punched in the code for the realtor's box and pulled out the key. She unlocked the door and Jane headed in first.
AS she flipped on the lights she found almost everything in its place except for the item's she knew Maura had brought with her. Since it was relatively warm inside the house Jane went and checked the thermostat. It was set at 60 degrees. Jane dialed it up to 68 and turned around to see her couch sitting where Maura's should have been. She stared for a second as Kate came in and stood next to her.
"What's up." She said as she watched her partner.
"That's my couch from my old condo. I thought everything was still there or thrown out or auctioned or something."
"Frankie has been paying the note on your condo since you left."
"Yeah. And I know he was using it all but after I got back with him, he wanted to take it over since I wasn't coming home. Said as he replaced it he'd put it in storage."
"OH," Maura said as she came in to see them staring at the couch. "Well that doesn't quite go with my decor but it's nice to see it was well taken care of."
Jane groaned, "On no." She started for Maura's bedroom. "C'mon Maur, I have a feeling."
Sure enough Jane's entire bedroom had been moved into the space and was set up almost identical to the way it had been when it was across town. Jane sat down on the neatly made bed. The cloud like mattress was not Jane's. It was from Maura's guest room. Maura sat down next to her.
"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting this."
Jane groaned as she fell back into the bed her palms covering her face. "It's starting already."
Maura looked at her, "What is starting?"
"MA!" Jane said, "She's already trying to get us married." Jane dropped her hands, "I bet you a week's worth of pay that we won't get twenty four hours without her mentioning marriage and grandchildren."
"Oh I only bet when I know I'll win." Maura smiled as she looked around the room, "It was sweet of her to do this."
Jane propped herself up on her elbows, "It's not sweet Maur. It's my Ma having grandma hormones or something. I'm telling you she's going to push for us to come back here and set up house."
Maura leaned over Jane, "It's only for a week, Jane. It's Christmas and we are family."
She kissed her softly but as Jane's arms snaked around her , Maura pulled back, "Come on. We should help unpack the car."
"Yeah since eighty percent of the trunk is your clothes." Jane said sarcastically. "Alright but Maur, please. Don't encourage my mother."
Maura clicked her heels together and raised three fingers in a crisp manner. Her body ridged, "Scouts Campers honor."
Jane laughed at the unexpected humor, "Why Doctor Isles. That was really funny, I didn't know you had it in you."
Maura stretched a hand out to help Jane up and she took it before they headed out to the car.
Alexis stared at the living room that seemed to be out of place, a lot of things matched but a lot of things didn't. The couch and the rug didn't go with anything else in the room. The TV was too small for the space it was at and there seemed to be quite a few things missing. Although the house was beautiful there seemed to be a lot of her Aunt here.
She glanced around and started lugging her roller suitcase over to the hallway that lead to the stairs.
A large bedroom that she assumed was Maura's was in the far corner of the second floor and as Alexis walked around she found a large bathroom on one side and an equally large closet on the other that had a ton of clothes inside. She looked into the next room and found a yoga studio. Apparently Maura isles took up the entire second floor because the last room was what looked like an at home office with a blue punch dummy standing in a metal stand in the corner.
Headed up the last flight of stairs and found a rather large bathroom, and two guest rooms. Kate and her dad's bags were in the first room so she rolled her suitcase into the second before she climbed onto the bed. It was way more comfortable then hers.
As she stretched her lithe body against the mattress she sighed audibly as she sank comfortably into the bed, Maybe I'm being a little too rough on Maura. She shook the thought away and forced herself out of the bed. She picked up her suitcase and placed it on the bed and began shuffling through it looking for something to change into. She pulled out a white tank top and a rich blue button up shirt to go over it and followed it up with a pair of Jeans.
After she changed she started sorting through her clothes and deposited them neatly in the dresser in the corner. She also moved her curling irons into the bathroom where she found Kate washing her face.
"Hey there." Kate said as she rubbed a towel over her face, "Nice place isn't it."
"Yeah," she said with a slightly hesitant tone, "It nice."
"Hey," Kate said as Alexis put the irons in a drawer. "Do you want to tell me what's bothering you?"
"Nothing." She said as she looked at Kate through the mirror.
"Alexi…" Kate was interrupted by a voice booming up the stairway.
"Alexis Harper Castle!" it was a husky voice she had only heard on the phone, "You get your fanny down here and say hello to your Nonna right now missy!"
"Okayyy?" Kate said, knowing who was down there. "Something I need to know?"
Before she could speak, Angela was shouting again, "Katherine Houghton Beckett, you get down here too!"
"Wow." Alexis said, "Her voice carries."
"She's been a mom for thirty six years and in this house for three. So I'm sure she knows exactly where to stand." She put a hand on Alexis's shoulder as she headed out.
Alexis checked her appearance and made sure she was presentable before she followed Kate down the stairs.
Kate stepped into the kitchen and was immediately pulled into a hug by the eldest Rizzoli. She felt her hands rubbing her back before she pulled back.
"Oh Katie, you look so good." She said, "I'm so glad you guys could come up to see us."
The shorter woman grabbed her into another hug and Kate thought her eyes would pop out at the squeezing sensation. No wonder Jane hate's this so much.
Kate patted the Rizzoli matriarch on the shoulders, looking for Castle to help and found him smiling from the island.
Angela finally let her go and took in her hand, "Thank you so much for taking in my Janie. I know that with Maura gone you were the only one she would go to. I had a feeling she'd be there with you."
Kate smiled warmly, "It's alright Angela. It's been so wonderful having Jane around." She glanced around and settled on Rick, "Where are they?"
He sipped at a cup of coffee from Boston Joe's, "They went to Whole Foods for groceries. Jane said not to worry, she'll make sure there's edible food on the list."
"I wish my Janie would take example from my Maura. She should be clean eating." Angela said.
Kate laughed, "Jane's idea of clean eating is munching on a cannoli while she mops the floor."
"My Janie mops?" she asked in awe.
Kate put an arm over her, "Your Janie is a friggin' neat freak. She started to do that about a month after she came down. Her room has always been the cleanest one in the house."
Angela sat back in a chair at the island, "Katie, you are a god send." She clutched at the detectives hand.
"I wish I could take the credit but it was really Maura's doing. Jane became a cleaning addict to try and distract herself from Maura and it stuck."
"I guess all things work out on their own." She said as she seen the movement out of the corner of her eye.
She turned to see a tall lithe girl with long red curls that looked like Jane's black ones. Bright blue eyes and an outfit that had a similar style to the one Kate was wearing. Angela put a hand over her mouth as she watched the young woman walk in slowly. She was beautiful, more than even the photos she had sent to the head Rizzoli.
Alexis smiled at the woman she had only known on the phone. She was shorter than she expected and had a few more pounds on her but she could see her Aunt in the woman in front of her quite easily. Angela Rizzoli gasped and put her hand over her heart.
"You look like my Janie." She stood up and Alexis walked over to her.
"I'm Alexis." She said, holding out her hand, "It's nice to finally meet you in person."
Her hand was brushed aside and she was enveloped in a hug that had her gasping. She watched as her father chuckled and Kate rubbed her ribs sympathetically. She patted Angela on the shoulder and mouthed "can't breathe."
"Ma, you let my niece go before she passes out." Jane said as she walked in and set two bags on the counter.
Air rushed into Alexis's lungs and she gasped, "Oh my." She leaned on the counter as Angela ran to her daughter.
Jane caught her by the shoulders, "Gently, Ma." She said, "Or hugging's off the table."
She nodded and Jane released her. Angela crushed her daughter to her anyway. "Oh Janie, I missed you so much."
"I missed you to Ma." She said as she returned the hug.
She took a step back and looked at her daughter. Jane was dressed in a nice pair of grey slacks with a white button up underneath a V-neck sweater and a log wool coat. But even under all of that Angela could see her daughter's lean build, "You look so god, honey. I can't believe my own eyes."
Jane smiled as she let her mother go, "I'll be right back Ma." She said as she headed out the door, she came back in a minute later toting three more bags and right behind her was Maura.
Maura smiled as Angela came to hug her, "Hello, Angela."
She stopped and out her hands on her hips and gave her stern face. "What did I tell you on the phone, Maura."
Maura paused as she set down the bags, she thought for a second and her eyes lit up. She held her hands out, "I'm sorry. Hello… Ma."
She was yanked into a hug before she could think. Jane set her groceries down and went back out for the last ones. Maura held Angela even though she had a hard time breathing. Kate and Alexis groaned, Rick continued to chuckle.
Jane came back in and shut the door with her foot before setting the last of the bags down on the island. "Ma, I just got her back and I'd really appreciate it if you wouldn't suffocate her."
Angela let go. "Oh I'm sorry Maura, I just missed you and Janie so much."
A warm sensation filled Maura's chest at hearing those words. Even with things so different being here with all of them felt like coming home. It was a sensation Maura wasn't all that familiar with. She hugged the short Italian again and felt like she could always come home.
Jane slid her coat of and hung it up before coming to Maura and as Jane helped her out of her heavy stylish winter coat, Jane kissed her quickly on the cheek before hanging it up alongside hers.
Maura had forgone the usual dress that would have been her style when she lived here for a beautiful black slacks and a gorgeous red shirt with flowing sleeves that ended at her elbows. As if Maura had been unveiled, Jane slid her arms around Maura's waist from behind and smiled as she watched her mother. Maura rested her hands over Jane's and waited for the worst even though she didn't think it would come.
Seeing Jane arms around each other and the way that they looked into each other's eyes gave the older Rizzoli butterflies in her stomach. They were so perfect for each other. Angela couldn't understand how she hadn't seen it before or how they hadn't seen it in each other. She glanced back at Rick, Kate and Alexis who were standing in their own family pose. Rick had an arm around Kate's waist and they both held Alexis to them. They were all smiling.
"I always wanted a doctor in the family." She turned back to her girls and held her hands up for them to come to her.
Jane kissed Maura's cheek again and let her go. They moved to her together and Angela wrapped her arms around them.
"HA!" Alexis burst out loud and looked at her dad, "Told you."
Angela looked back at the girl who promptly held her hand out to her father, "C'mon, dad. Pay up. Gimme Aunt Jane's money."
Rick dug into his pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill and dropped it in her hand.
Angela turned back to her daughter "Jane Clementine Rizzoli, what have you been teaching that girl?"
"Apparently nothing if she can't keep her mouth shut about bets and wagers." Jane glared.
Alexis smiled sweetly, "Oops." She smirked as she stuffed the twenty in her pocket.
She ran her hands through her hair in frustration, "Oh! My God! I swear you are like a frickin' mini me clone or something."
Jane grabbed her mother by the shoulders, "Tell me the truth, Ma. Did I have a little red head child when I was seventeen that you gave up for adoption or something like that to explain her?"
A grin crossed her mother's face. "Well I didn't want to tell you but…"
Jane snorted and glared again at her niece, "Seriously, Ma. I thought the kid just like you curse only applied if you actually had a kid."
"Double or nothing, on the other hand." Alexis said.
Kate dropped her head in her hands. "Oh what the hell was I thinking letting you two hang out?" She said as she shook her head.
Jane walked to Castle, pulled out a twenty and handed it to him. Alexis matched it with the twenty she had just won. He smiled and put the forty dollars in his pocket.
Maura shook her head and laughed, "You are a bad influence Jane Rizzoli."
Her mother put her hands on her hips again, "Jane what are you two doing?"
"Relax, ma it's just a bet. When I told Alexis all the times you said you want a doctor in the family she bet me twenty bucks that said you'd say that before the group hug. I said during or after and she won, the cocky little snot."
Alexis beamed just like her Aunt did whenever she won.
"And the 'other hand' wager." Angela said with a mean gleam in her eye.
"Has to do with Tommy and I'm not at liberty to disclose the terms of the wager at this time." She said putting on her official voice.
Angela turned to Alexis, "Sorry Nonna, I can't help you either or the bets off and I need a new tablet for college."
"Oh you sneaky little…" Jane said under her breath. "Pulling out the Nonna card. That is so dirty and underhanded and" she looked to her niece, "I love it!"
She held her fist out and Alexis bumped it. Angela glowered at them both, "Maura's right, you are a bad influence on this girl."
"Hey, her father gave her the responsibilities part, I'm just adding a little balance." She said sharply, but her tone was amusing. "Tell you what. I win, I'll cut you in on half."
Angela grimaced and then looked at Alexis. She stood there that defiant stare so much like Jane's.
She looked back to her daughter, "Deal."