Flameout Chapter 21
After tucking Charlie into his bed and then retreating to their bedroom, Jane was nervous, she didn't know the protocol for an eight-year old's tea party. When she was younger, she never had or attended a tea party. She was not a girly girl, she was a tom boy through and through. She really didn't have any female friends, except for her cousin Arianna. Maura thought it was cute when Jane turned to her after they had climbed into bed and asked, "Maur, what do I wear to Bella's tea party?"
Maura smiled as she snuggled into Jane, "Oh, Jane, have you never attended a child's tea party?"
Jane repositioned herself so that she was facing Maura, "Maur, I was a tom boy. I played with the boys growing up. I really didn't have any female friends. Of course, I have never attended a tea party. Arianna and I didn't do the tea party thing. Well maybe she did but not with me and we were pretty much inseparable when we were younger."
"Well with Bella, the main thing is to show up and enjoy yourself. She loves you already and is just trying to allow you to join in her activities. She has a tea party every week. She normally only invites myself and her stuffed animals. She had invited Charlie and he merely replied, 'I don't want to attend a girly tea party.' The first time he said that it hurt her feelings but she got over it and hasn't invited him since. She has skipped her last few tea parties with all the changes that have been going on. She asked me last night, 'mommy, now that we have a girlfriend can we invite her to my tea party?' I told her yes, so she invited you. I thought it was cute that she said that 'we' have a girlfriend."
"Okay, that makes me feel better." Jane replied with a sense of relief. "Do we have to worry about the fact that she thinks that I am her girlfriend also?"
"No, I will explain that to her. I haven't dated since we moved to Syracuse, so she has never seen me with anybody before. She was so young when Sam died, they both were. I am not sure if Charlie remembers his father or his grandparents."
"They were very young, Charlie might have some memories. I think I will change when I get home from work. I want to look nice for Bella's tea party." Jane replied as she pulled Maura into her and spooned her from behind. She loved holding onto Maura as she slept. She didn't mind when she found herself flat on her back with Maura half on top of her either, she was happy just as long as Maura was with her.
The night that Constance and Arthur had been killed, Constance had presented Maura with a small wooden tea bag box for Isabella. Constance wanted little Bella to share in their tradition of tea parties. Maura cried when she opened the gift for her daughter. Sam knew of the tradition of the tea parties and pulled Maura into a hug. It was the perfect gift and Maura would ensure that Bella knew as well.
When Maura learned of her parents' death, she clung onto the little tea bag box that was still sitting on the coffee table next to Bella's carrier. It was the last memory she had of her mother and she would cherish it forever. Constance had the little tea box engraved, 'To Isabella from your Grand-mére.'
Over the past seven years Maura had told Bella and Charlie about their father and her parents. She wanted them to know who they were. She had made a picture album for each of them with pictures of them with their father and grandparents. Maura didn't have too many pictures from her childhood as her parents hadn't taken that many, so she cherished the pictures that she did have.
Weeks ago, Jane had been surprised to see how few pictures Maura had of her childhood and was embarrassed to share the multiple albums that her Ma had put together of her childhood. Maura told her she wanted to see them so Jane provided them for her viewing pleasure. Jane had hundreds of pictures and Maura cried while looking at a few of Jane's baby pictures. She thought chubby little baby Jane was so cute.
She stopped and asked Jane about the picture of her with her broken arm when she was eight. Jane told her about falling out of the tree while playing with Frankie. "Really Maur, I didn't cry but Frankie was wailing. He ran in the house and told Ma and she came running out. I was just sitting on the ground holding my broken arm. Frankie had to wipe his tears away before he could talk to me. Poor little guy he was only five and he had jumped off the branch we were on and it caused me to lose my balance and fall."
The morning of the tea party, Jane found a handwritten invitation from Bella by the coffee maker. Jane was thrilled when she read the handwritten note. The note read, 'Mama, you are cordially invited to attend my tea party tonight at 7 PM. Love, Bella.' Jane showed Maura the note. Maura smiled and pushed the button on the coffee maker while Jane continued to look at the invitation.
Later that morning, Jane had a smile on her face when she approached Gen's office. "What has you all smiles this morning?" Gen asked as Jane walked into her office.
"I have a date tonight." Jane gladly replied.
"It's not date night with Maura. Did you guys manage to squeeze in another date night this week? If so, I am going to tell Steve that he needs to up his game. We have to keep up with you."
"Nope, I have a date with Bella. She invited me to her tea party tonight."
"How sweet. Have you been to a tea party before?" Gen was curious, she knew that Jane had pretty much been a tomboy however, she did have Arianna in her life and Arianna is the type that might have had or went to tea parties.
"Never, but I am looking forward to it. Maura said she does them every week. However, this is the first one she is holding since I moved in with them."
"That is sweet that she is including you. Do you have to dress up and act all proper, because that is so not you?"
"Maura said I am fine dressing in what I am in, but I am going to change and wear a nicer shirt and ditch the jacket. I am sure Bella will be in a dress and of course Maura will be. Charlie will not attend what he calls a 'girlie tea party.' I am sure he will be playing video games with his friends online after dinner."
"Well, I hope you have lots of fun, you will have to tell me all about it tomorrow morning. I will see you at our 10 AM meeting."
"Yes, you will. You know you have to wear your uniform today?" Gen asked seeing as Jane was currently wearing a suit.
"Yes, I am going right now to change. I had left my uniform here in my locker."
"Not wanting to let Maura see you in your unform?" Gen winked at Jane.
"Well, she will see me at lunch after the meeting, if the meeting doesn't run long like last time."
"I think it will be a short meeting today, about an hour maybe an hour and a half. So, you should be free to have lunch with Maura. Let her see you in your uniform, I am sure she will love it just like the rest of the department." Gen said and they both laughed. Jane had quite the fan base. There were quite a few women that were not pleased when they found out that Jane was dating Maura. They didn't know about Jane and Maura's history.
When Jane arrived in the morgue to pick up Maura for lunch, Maura was surprised to see Jane in her uniform. She gave Jane a huge smile. Maura's heart rate increased, she loved the look of Jane in her uniform.
They walked to the coffee shop around the corner. Maura asked Jane a few questions but was more interested in checking Jane out, she couldn't believe how attractive Jane looked in her uniform. Maura was a fan. Now she just had to see her in her military uniform. She was looking forward to going to Syracuse with Jane and the children for a week for the children's February recess. Jane needs to make up her missed drill dates with her Air National Guard unit and Maura would get to see her in her flight suit.
When Jane got home from work, she took a shower and decided to wear her best pair of black dress jeans and a nice dark blue button up shirt. She added a black skinny tie to the mix to hopefully appear a little more dressed up. The family had dinner and after cleaning up Bella went upstairs to finalize the plans for her tea party. She told Jane and Maura, "please do not come up until 7 o'clock. I need time to finish my preparations."
"Yes, ma'am." Jane replied and smiled at Bella as she turned and walked up the stairs. When Bella got to her room, she pulled out her tea bag box and placed it on the table. She placed her stuffed animals in her extra chair. She had four chairs, one for her, one for Jane and one for Maura. She had to limit the number of stuffed animals for this tea party. She had two extra stuffed animals, one for Jane and one for Maura to hold during the tea party.
At 7 PM, Jane and Maura walked up the stairs hand in hand and knocked on Bella's door. Bella answered the door and invited her guests in. She instructed them where to sit and gave Jane a choice of which stuffed animal she would like to hold. Jane selected the Koala bear, which left Maura with the Panda bear.
Once everyone was settled, Bella handed Jane the tea bag box so that she could select her tea. She then passed the tea bag box to her mother. Bella then selected a chamomile tea bag and set the tea bag box aside. They each had a small tea kettle with hot water in front of them. They let their tea brew while they selected small treats to eat while enjoying their tea.
Bella took the time to introduce all of her stuffed animals to Jane. Jane was surprised that Bella remembered all of the animals' names. Jane wasn't sure if she would be able to remember them. They enjoyed conversing with each other while they ate their treats and drank their tea. After about half an hour the tea party was over and Jane thanked Bella for inviting her. They hugged and Jane and Maura left the room.
At bedtime, the children wanted Jane to read them another story. This time Jane used a book, she was still able to make the voices. She had to have Maura hold the book and turn the pages so that she could use her hands to animate the story. The children loved when her hands were flying all over the place as she spoke. Jane really thought they would be tired of her story telling ways by now but they loved it so she kept telling the story. As long as Maura was okay with it, she was okay with it.
Before story time was over, Charlie asked, "Can we celebrate Valentine's Day together? I know it is your first Valentine's Day as a couple but it is our first Valentine's Day as a family and I would like to celebrate it with the three of you ladies."
"Of course, sweetie. Jane and I can go out before Valentine's Day." Maura replied and Jane nodded in agreement. "We will celebrate Valentine's Day on our date night and how about we have take-out from our favorite restaurant on the actual day?"
"That sounds great, mommy. What do you think mama?" Bella asked.
"That sounds great to me. I would love to spend Valentine's Day with all of you. A few days later we are going to travel to Syracuse for a week. You will get to see my little apartment and see Ace and his family again."
"I like Ace, he is pretty cool. He showed us all around the base." Charlie added.
"Are we going to stay in your tiny apartment?" Bella asked, she didn't want to share a room or bed with Charlie.
"No sweetie, we will be staying at our new apartment. We will have to move some stuff from my little apartment to our new apartment. When I am at work, your mommy is going to take you shopping so you can decorate your own rooms."
"We have our own room?" Charlie asked excitedly. He also didn't want to share a room with his sister. They loved each other but they were used to having their own space.
"Of course, mommy and I will share a room though. So, it is a three-bedroom apartment in my same building, so we don't have to move my stuff too far."
"I can't wait to see my friends again. I miss them. I love Boston but I miss my friends." Charlie stated. "Now, when we are in Syracuse, I will miss my friends in Boston." He smiled as he understood that he will still see them online and be able to play video games with them just like he had been doing.
Nikki
Jane and Maura were out on their weekly date night right before Valentine's Day when they ran into Nikki and Mark. Maura had never met Nikki so she didn't realize who Jane was talking to.
Jane and Maura were seated at their table when Jane suddenly got up and walked over to a woman and a man and started talking. Maura could hear Jane say, "You need to leave, the restraining order is still in affect and I was here first."
Nikki looked over at the table that Jane had just came from and spotted Maura. "Oh, is that your doctor from Syracuse? What is she doing here?"
"It is none of your business. How are you out of jail already?"
"I did my time. The court offered me six months in jail and 200 hours of community service with two years of probation. I served my six months in jail, so I am out. Nice to see that you are up and walking. I was worried about you."
"Please!" Jane said and then motioned for them to leave. "Leave now or I will call the police and have you arrested for violating your restraining order."
"Fine, we are leaving. It was great seeing you, Jane. I still care about you."
"Now!" Jane motioned to the doors again. Maura had risen from her seat and joined Jane wrapping both of her arms around Jane's forearm. Nikki and Mark turned and exited the restaurant.
Maura turned to face Jane, "Let's go back to our table and enjoy our meal. Nikki is gone and she cannot ruin our date night."
"How did you know that was Nikki?"
"She is the only one that you have a restraining order on that lives in Boston. I know Stella and she is locked up in Syracuse and will be for quite some time."
"True, let's enjoy our date." Jane escorted Maura back to their table. Their food arrived as they sat back down. They spent the rest of the evening enjoying each other's company. Nikki and Mark were not mentioned again.
Stella
Stella had been given a cell phone by one of the guards and called one of her friends. "How is our plan progressing?" She asked.
"Right on schedule. Do I need to be looking into anything else for you?"
"No, not at this time. I will check in again next month as we had scheduled. Just keep things on track. You can text this number if you need to get in touch with me. Just remember no names are to be given. This phone is only checked in the evenings and a message will be given to me if you send one. It might take me a few days to get back to you though."