A/N: Hello! I'm back. And I'm back with a good one. I had some pretty strong writer's block so I jumped ahead to what I really wanted to write – the events leading up to and surrounding Maura and Jane's wedding.
I'm also going to start adding episode synopses before the fic so you know what the case of the week is if you haven't watched in a while.
So now, on with the show.
...
Synopsis: "A musician is stabbed in a bar and the squad realizes that the stabbing victim had something to hide. Jane's father returns with shocking news." [courtesy IMDb]
(I do not own Rizzoli & Isles)
...
Jane, Maura, Angela, and Frankie sat at the dining room table in Jane and Maura's house. The wedding was only a week away and everyone was busy putting the finishing touches on the plans. Jane and Angela were hunched over a giant board that contained their seating chart making last minute changes. Maura was casually scrolling through their wedding checklist on her ipad to make sure everything that needed to get done was done or would be done by the big day. And Frankie was sat at the end of the table offering moral support (he was really only there for dinner).
"Okay, flowers, check. Music, check." Maura narrated her way through the checklist. "Hair stylist, booked. Makeup artist, booked. Oh, tuxes. Frankie, you were able to get yours, yes?"
"Yes. It is pressed and ready to go in my closet," Frankie responded.
"Perfect. Jane?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you have your suit ready?"
"Um, no. Final fitting is tomorrow. Ma, we can't put Constantina next to Tarquinio."
"Why not?" Angela asked.
"Last Christmas Eve they got in that fight over whose kid should play the baby Jesus. They don't talk anymore."
"Well put 'em together, let 'em work it out."
"I'm all for family reconciliation, just not at my wedding. Move one of them."
Angela obliged. As she was moving Tarquinio next to another relative that he probably wouldn't get along with, the door opened and Tommy walked in.
Maura looked up and upon seeing it was Tommy, took the opportunity to cross another thing off her list. "Oh, Tommy, perfect. You got TJ's suit, corr-" Maura stopped short when she saw who walked in behind Tommy.
Jane heard Maura stop mid-sentence and looked up to see what had Maura stunned. She was shocked when she saw who it was. "Pop?"
"Why are you here?" Frankie asked as he stood from his seat.
"I need a reason to see my family?" Frank said.
"We haven't heard from you in over a year," Angela said.
"I'm sorry," Frank offered.
"Sorry doesn't cut it," Jane said, shakily. She was flashing back to the last time she saw her father – the night he said he was disappointed in her.
"Come on guys, give him a break," Tommy defended.
"No, Tommy, you gotta quit defending him," Frankie shot back.
"Look, I know I should have called," Frank interrupted as he held his hands up in innocence, "but, uh, I wanted to surprise you guys."
"Great, we love your surprises," Jane said sarcastically. "Surprise! I'm disowning you because you're gay!"
"All right, let's not do this in front of people," Frank said.
"What people, Frank?" Angela said. "It's only family here."
"Oh, that's right. He doesn't consider my fiancée family," Jane spat out. Maura looked down awkwardly at her ipad. "Probably doesn't consider me family either."
"Listen, I didn't come here to have an ethical argument," Frank stated. "I came here to tell you all something important."
"Just get it over with so you can go." Frankie said.
Frank took a deep breath, then said, "I got cancer."
As soon as the words left Frank's mouth, the whole atmosphere shifted. The air felt heavy. Jane felt her heart sink. Even though she wasn't the biggest fan of her father right now, she didn't want him to be sick. She did eventually want to mend her broken relationship with him, but she couldn't do that if he was dead.
"When did you find out?" Angela asked, solemnly.
"A few weeks ago. It's prostate."
"How bad?" Tommy asked.
"They sent me here for a second opinion at Mass General."
"I'm sorry, Pop." Jane said, sincerely.
"I could really use my family right about now."
Frankie scoffed. "You put us through hell. You put Janie through hell. You put Ma through the worst kind of hell imaginable. Now you wanna walk back in here and ask for help and you just expect us to give it to you?"
"We were a good family once. We had good times, right?"
"We did, Frank. Until you decided to throw it all away. And throw our daughter away with it."
Jane and Maura's phones chose the wrong time to start ringing. They both answered them in their usual "Rizzoli" "Isles".
"We have a murder," Jane informed. "You guys feel free to stay here and work this out." Jane and Maura stood from the table, grabbed their things, and left.
...
The second Jane put the car into drive she could feel the anxiety leave her body and the sorrow replace it. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white in the process. Maura could see Jane was struggling with her emotions.
"Prostate cancer is one of the most survivable cancers if it doesn't spread," Maura said, trying to comfort Jane.
"Oh, joy. He can live many more years viewing our relationship as the work of the devil."
"I know that you are just saying that to hide your pain."
"I mean, yeah, I'm sad. He's my Pop you know. For so long I idolized him. Now, I just..."
"It's okay to have conflicting emotions."
"Part of me wants him to go home and stay there. And another part wants to take care of him. I'm not even sure he deserves that. Frankie's right. He put us all through hell."
"You can be as mad as you want for as long as you want. But whatever you decide to feel, I will support. Even if you decide to forgive him."
Jane's hands tightened on the wheel again.
Maura sat silent for a moment, thinking about what she wanted to say next. She knew better than anyone how much Jane truly wanted to fix things with her father. And if the cancer was really bad, she would need things fixed fast. So she said, "I know you said you didn't need him to walk you down the aisle. But I also know that you wanted him to."
"We decided we weren't doing that."
"Plans can change. If you decide that it's something you want to do, and your father is willing to do, then we can make it happen. I just want you to be happy."
Jane took her eyes off the road to look at her amazing fiancée. "God, I love you."
Maura smiled. "I love you, too."
...
The next morning, Jane headed down to the morgue to join Maura for the autopsy of their victim. They had headed home for the night after doing all they could at the scene. They hadn't really talked more about last night's surprise guest; Maura had tried to give Jane the time and space she needed to work through her conflicting emotions. But now, all Maura wanted to know was if Jane was okay.
"Hey," Jane greeted as she walked through the doors.
"Hi." Maura replied. She looked up from stomach contents she was analyzing and offered Jane a smile. "How are you doing?"
"Oh you know," Jane moved to stand opposite Maura on the other side of the autopsy table. "Still trying to process my feelings, which is extremely difficult to do while also trying to solve a murder."
"And with no sleep." Jane looked at Maura like she had just been ratted out. "We sleep in the same bed, Jane. I could feel you tossing and turning all night."
"You didn't say anything."
"I was trying to give you space to process your emotions. I got you coffee, though. It's on the table." Maura pointed to her left and Jane's gaze followed to see a venti coffee cup sitting on the table. She thanked the good lord for sending her Maura and walked over, grabbed the cup, and sipped.
"Smell this," Maura said as she held a metal container full of stomach contents in Jane's direction.
"You know my policy. Unless that bile stew can help me track her movements before she was stabbed, I do not sniff."
"I just thought you would recognize vanilla."
"She had a drink with vanilla in it?"
"I don't know if it was a drink, but her blood alcohol level was .06."
"That's one or two drinks for a girl her size. What about her tox screen?"
Maura put the bowl of stomach contents down, pulled off her gloves and walked over to her computer, Jane following her. She tapped the keys a few times and then replied, "Clean for common prescription and street drugs."
"Okay, talk to me about the murder weapon."
"Still unclear, but I did check the toolmark database. There are hundreds of possibilities... knives, daggers, letter openers, nail clippers, bayonets, stilettos."
"Stiletto shoes?"
"Yes, and stiletto blades."
"Maura, you were supposed to narrow it down and not tell me we're still looking for a sharp pointy thing."
The door to the morgue opened and Korsak walked in. "Got a hit and the victim's credit card. Guy was using it down the street at a 7-Eleven."
"Great. Let's go talk to him." Jane's phone vibrated and she checked it as she answered Korsak. "Except, Ma needs me upstairs. 'Family meeting'."
"You go take care of your mother. Frost and I can handle him," Korsak said.
"Okay. Uh, Maur, you coming?" Maura just stared at Jane. "It's a family meeting. You're family," Jane added.
"Oh, uh, I have a lot of work to do here," Maura replied. She loved that Jane was including her in this, but she also knew that this was something the Rizzolis had to deal with on their own. After all, she wasn't officially a Rizzoli until next week.
Jane nodded and then stepped towards Maura and placed a soft kiss atop her head. "I will see you later, then."
...
Jane walked out of the elevator, looked to her left and saw Frankie getting off the other elevator.
"Hey, you get a text from Ma, too?" Jane asked.
"Yeah. You know anything about this family meeting?"
"No. Only that I'm missing an interrogation."
The siblings walked into the café to find Tommy, Angela, and Frank gathered around a table waiting for them.
"What's he doing here?" Frankie asked.
"I'm taking your father to his oncology appointment."
"Your mother's been a godsend," Frank said.
Frankie chuckled. "Too bad you just figured that out."
"You're wrecking it. Would you stop?" Tommy shouted.
"Will you stop, Tommy?" Jane asked back.
"Look, I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. All I'm asking for is one last family dinner before it's too late. Please."
Jane rolled her eyes but bit her tongue.
"Okay, fine. We'll do it at Jane and Maura's tonight," Angela said.
"Ma!" Jane protested.
"Let's do it at Mario's," Frank said. "You know, just us family."
Jane balled up her fists at her father's implication, but before she could say anything Angela responded.
"Maura is family. She took me in when I had no place to live after you left me. She has loved and taken care of Jane in a way that every parent wants for their child. And if you want our support, it has to be done my way. With my family."
"Okay," Frank responded.
...
At the end of the day, Jane headed down to Maura's office to pick her up so they could head home. As she walked in and greeted Maura she noticed some case files and evidence on Maura's coffee table that piqued her interest.
"Oh, is this the crinkled paper I found in her guitar case?" Jane asked.
"You know, the crime lab found traces of cacao-bean extract on it."
"Chocolate? Where was she between rehab and the bar?" Maura shrugged in response. "And what was she hiding in the guitar case?"
"What about Mr. Bucket?" Maura asked referring to the street performer that Jane and Frankie interviewed earlier.
"Dead end. Busta's alibi checks out. He was with his old lady. The neighbors saw him come home. What if this is just some random kill that we can't solve?" Jane asked as she took a seat on the couch.
"Don't say that," Maura replied.
"Well, I mean, there are a lot of homicide departments that have piles of unsolved cases like this one."
"Why are you talking like this?" Maura gently asked as she walked over to Jane and sat down next to her.
Jane sighed. "My father's PSA numbers came back, and they're through the roof."
"It's not a very reliable test. Numbers can rise with a routine prostate examination or even digital stimulation during sexual experimentation."
Jane's face contorted in disgust. "Maura, stop."
"Have they done his ultrasound yet?"
"It's tomorrow."
"Okay. So we will wait and see. And until then you shouldn't worry about it."
Jane smiled a weak smile. Maura kissed the top of Jane's head.
"Let's go home. We can order your favorite food for dinner."
"Oh crap."
"What?"
"My family is coming over for dinner tonight. I totally forgot to tell you." Jane smiled a wide, sorry smile.
...
Jane and Maura walked in the front door of their home to find Angela in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on their family dinner and Tommy and Frankie arguing over how to set the table.
"It's about time you two got here," Angela said as Jane and Maura walked into the kitchen.
"Sorry, Ma, I totally forgot." Jane gave Angela a kiss on the cheek in apology.
"It's fine. Go help those knuckleheads set the table before they kill each other," Angela directed.
Jane walked over to her brothers and Maura could hear Jane admonish them for not even being able to set the table without arguing.
"Okay, I've got the tuna casserole, Vienna sausage wrapped in bacon with water chestnuts, the Jell-O mold, and the Boston cream pie," Angela narrated her mental checklist of dinner.
"Uh, Angela, where are the vegetables?" Maura asked.
"Right here." Angela held up a can. "Canned corn. It's Frank's favorite. We'll eat extra kale tomorrow, I promise."
Maura forced a smile as she thought about the food she would be consuming tonight.
"Well, the table is set," Jane said as she reentered the kitchen and placed her arm around Maura's waist.
"Good because our guests will be here any minute," Angela said.
"Guests?" Maura asked. "Plural?"
The doorbell rang and Tommy ran to get it. Maura looked up at Jane with concern in her eyes.
Tommy opened the door to find Frank standing in the doorway with a small bouquet of blue carnations.
"Hey, Pop," Tommy greeted. He hugged his father then stepped aside to let Frank in.
Frank walked farther into the house. He noticed Jane standing with her arm around Maura's waist. He scowled and turned his attention towards Angela who was making her way over to greet him.
"Hi, Frank."
"Nice flowers, huh, Ma?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah. Thanks." Angela replied.
Still standing at the counter, Jane couldn't help but comment on her father's choice of flowers. "Blue carnations?"
Maura looked up at Jane. "They're actually white. But dip them in blue dye, with capillary action, you get that."
Angela noticed the wine bottle in Frank's hand. "Listen, I don't think this is a good idea tonight."
"Well, it's one bottle for six people," Frank argued as Angela tried to take the bottle from him. "It's all right. Come on. It's okay." A knock on the door prompted Frank to ask, "Who's that?"
Angela replied, "I told you we're gonna do things my way," and walked over to open the door for her guest, Sean Cavanaugh.
Jane watched as her mother greeted her boss (it would never stop being weird that her mother and her boss were dating). She knew that tonight could go wrong in a myriad of ways, but now that Cavanaugh was here, it added a whole host of new scenarios to her doomsday thinking.
She took her hands off of Maura's waist and moved to grab the dishes and bring them to the table.
...
Dinner was quiet. A tense kind of quiet that Maura hated because it reminded her of dinners with her parents. She had never known the Rizzoli family to have those kinds of dinners. Ever since she had been a part of this family, she had known loud, happy gatherings. She needed that. So, she thought about what topic she could start a conversation on. Her first thought was to talk about the wedding. She was getting more and more excited the closer it got. All she wanted to talk about was what she knew would be the happiest day of her life. But, with Jane's father at the table, it may not be the best choice in conversation. She didn't want to start an argument, she just wanted the atmosphere to not be so tense.
The case. She could talk about the case they were working. That would be a nice, neutral topic.
"Well, uh, we certainly have an interesting case that we're working on, don't we, Jane?" Maura said.
"Yeah. Uh... yeah, why don't you tell them about it?" Jane said. She was not in the mood to talk about some poor 20 something getting murdered while she sat at this awkward family dinner.
"Um, well, it's tragic, really," Maura started.
"I'll say," Frankie inserted.
Maura looked at him pointedly. She knew he wasn't talking about their case. "The case. I mean, the victim. She was a child prodigy."
"I was a prodigy," Tommy added. "I could skate backwards when I was 3."
Frank laughed. "That was me skating backwards holding you up. You were no prodigy. He ... he was like an idiot savant. But that was because of the way he could play chess. Useless at everything else."
Jane couldn't bear to hear her father talk about her brother that way, so she jumped in. "Tommy did a lot of things well, Pop."
"And Frankie here ... see this kid?" Frank continued. "This kid had a million-dollar arm. I thought you'd be playing for the Red Sox."
"Yeah. Me too," Frankie said dejectedly.
"He kept whining about his sore elbow," Frank kept on.
"Want to know why? You know what coach Tony said?" Tommy asked.
"Tommy, don't waste your breath," Frankie urged.
"No, I'm gonna say it. You made him throw so many curve balls, he threw his arm out," Tommy replied.
"Nah. He was a quitter!" Frank said. "And you, Janie. I thought you had such a bright future. Go to community college, get married to nice man, start a family. But no. You had to grow up and become a cop. Throw your whole life away. Now you want to-to-to marry some chick. I don't know what I did wrong."
Jane stood up from her seat and left the table, tears welling her eyes. Maura quickly followed.
"Oh come on Jane. Don't be like that. I didn't say anything!" Frank shouted.
"Frank, you know what alcohol does to your tongue," Angela said.
"Don't embarrass me here," Frank replied.
"I think you've done enough of that on your own, Pop," Frankie said.
"It's okay," Tommy jumped in. "I'm sober."
"I'm sober, too, Frank," Cavanaugh added.
"It's okay, Pop. We all know what alcohol does to you," Tommy said.
"Yeah, and for the record," Cavanaugh said, "Jane and Frankie are great Detectives. And Tommy is a great father."
"You know, on that note, I got to go see my kid." Tommy wiped his mouth on his napkin and stood from the table.
Frankie followed suit. "Yeah. I'm gonna get out of here, too. Thanks for dinner, Ma." Frankie leaned down to give his mother a kiss on the cheek.
"Really? Come on." Frank said as the door closed behind Tommy and Frankie. "Why we gotta ruin a good time?"
"A good time, Frank?" Angela asked, flabbergasted. "You think saying that stuff about our kids is a good time? Jane is getting married next week! And instead of being supportive of her, you are telling her what a disappointment she is."
"You really support her? You support what she is?"
"What she is? I support who she is. A kind, smart, loving, hardworking, woman who fights every day to bring justice to this world. I think she is someone to be damn proud of and I am ashamed that you are not."
"She isn't some monster out to destroy the world, Frank," Cavanaugh added. "She is a damn fine detective. And I have only seen her be better with Dr. Isles."
Frank shouted, "No one asked you!"
"Frank!" Angela exclaimed.
Maura stepped down the last couple of steps and addressed Frank. "You need to leave," she told Frank.
"Why?" Frank asked.
"Because I do not want someone who can so easily and callously upset my fiancée in my home."
Frank scoffed. "Fiancée? It's not even a real marriage. You're just playing dress up."
"You know, Jane thought the world of you," Maura said. "She would have done anything for you. She was so scared to come out to you because she knew how you were going to react. I pushed her to tell you, and I regret it every day because it only causes her pain to know that you don't love her enough to accept her."
"She is breaking biblical law," Frank replied. "It's against nature."
"Frank, she asked you to leave. I think it's best that you do," Angela said.
Frank waved his hand. "Whatever." He turned to walk back out the front door. It slammed behind him as he left.
"How's Janie?" Angela asked Maura.
"She's very upset. She wanted to be alone, but I think I'm going to go back up and check on her."
"No need. I'm fine." Jane came clomping down the stairs, arms crossed across her chest, frown plastered on her face.
"You're not fine, Jane," Angela said. "No one would be." She wrapped Jane in a hug. "I'm so sorry. I should have never let him drink."
"It's not your fault, Ma. You aren't responsible for his actions."
"Jane's right," Maura added. "No one here tonight blames you for what happened."
"I just wish it didn't have to be this way," Angela said, her voice thick with emotion.
"Me too, Ma. Me too." Now it was Jane's turn to wrap Angela in a hug.
...
Jane and Maura were out on the patio treating themselves to a much needed drink after the case... and the family drama.
"Oh, hey, I forgot to tell you, my suit is ready to go for the wedding. I finally got in to the final fitting. So you can cross that off of your list," Jane said.
"Oh, perfect." Maura sighed. "I can't wait to marry you."
"You sure you still want to? You really wanna marry into this crazy family?"
"I've already been a part of this crazy family for years, Jane. I am excited to make it official."
"Me too." Jane leaned in and kissed Maura. She was going for chaste, but Maura deepened the kiss until it was bordering on indecent.
"Ehem."
Jane and Maura quickly pulled away from each other at the sound. Jane's eyes went wide when she realized her father was standing on her patio watching her make out with her fiancée.
"Pop," Jane started, "what're you doing here?"
"I came to talk to your mother."
"She's inside," Jane replied and gestured towards the front door of the guest house.
Frank just stood there, so Jane got up and knocked on the door. Angela opened it with Cavanaugh behind her.
"Pop's here," Jane said. She turned around and went back to her seat next to Maura.
Angela stepped outside and looked at her ex-husband. "Why are you here, Frank?"
"I came to apologize. I was a pig last night."
"I wish that I could say that I forgive you, but you hurt our children."
"I'm going back to AA. I'm gonna get sober again."
"That's great, Pop," Jane said. "But that doesn't fix what you said."
"I'm never gonna be okay with your lifestyle, Janie, but I shouldn't've said what I said. You're very accomplished. I'm proud of that."
"Oh, so you're proud of part of me, just not all of me. Okay." Jane rolled her eyes.
"You know what they say, 'love the sinner, hate the sin'."
"I can't do this." Jane stood up and moved to go inside.
"Wait, Janie, please. I have some news I want you to hear." Jane paused at the door and Frank continued. "I do have cancer, but it's stage two."
"That's very treatable," Maura said, mostly to Jane and Angela.
"I'm glad to hear that," Jane said.
"So what now?" Angela asked.
"I was thinking of moving back to Boston," Frank said.
"You have a new life in Florida, Frank. And I have a new life here." Angela gestured to Cavanaugh. "I think that it's best that you go back to Florida."
"Janie?" Frank asked, looking for her input.
"I'm glad that your cancer is treatable. But, what you said last night, what you said the last time you were here... you can't take that back, Pop. Go back to Florida."
"Okay. Well, then I guess I'm gonna go."
"Bye, Frank."
"Bye, Pop."
Frank turned and left. Angela said goodnight to the girls and headed back inside her guest house. Jane sat back down next to Maura.
"So, now that we're good and depressed, what do we do?"
Maura put her hand on to of Jane's. "We focus on our wedding."
Jane smiled. She leaned in to give Maura a kiss, this time with no intention of keeping it chaste. It wasn't long before they were heading inside and up the stairs to their bed.
