DISCLAIMER:I do not own Rizzoli & Isles nor any of the characters from the show. I am writing this purely for entertainment, not profit. Rizzoli and Isles are property of Tess Gerritsen and TNT.
Please find the full disclaimers in the beginning of Chapter 1.
Chapter 43
The Saturday went by in the blink of an eye. Lunch at the bistro was delicious – they had options to satisfy Maura's healthy goals, and options to satisfy Jane's cravings – once she overcame the difficulty of the French menu with Maura's help.
It was a beautiful day, not too hot, not too cold, and with Maura not suffering from any remaining pain on her knee, they could go all over the park leisurely, stopping to get ice cream on the way, but otherwise just enjoying the nice day, the nice weather, and each other's company. They took a few selfies along the way.
Maura was surprised – and pleased – when Jane without hesitation took her hand as soon as they left Maura's home. They walked hand in hand the entire time, except in the few moments when Jane had offered her arm for Maura to loop hers on where the terrain was more uneven. And it felt right. It felt even better to know that Jane was not exactly concerned that someone saw them holding hands.
They were almost finishing their walk in the park, taking the direction of the exit that would lead them back Maura's home, when they saw Frankie and Nina walking distractedly in their direction.
They had gotten married a few months after Jane was in DC, Jane had come to Boston for their wedding.
Maura looked sideways to Jane, trying to assess which reaction this unexpected encounter would elicit.
Jane looked down at Maura, smiled and squeezed her hand, winking at her.
"Frankie!" Jane yelled, without letting go of Maura's hand.
"Janie! I didn't know you would be in town!" he looked at her, and only then realized she was holding hands with someone, and that someone was Maura.
He opened his mouth to say something, and closed it.
As they were face to face, he hugged Jane, and then Maura, and Nina did the same.
"It is good to see you." Jane offered, waiting for him to ask, since after she hugged Frankie and Nina, her hand went back to slip and intertwine with Maura's.
"What brought you here without any planning? Any emergency?" he asked, concerned, looking at Maura.
"Not an emergency. But it was important enough to bring me here…"
"You are finally together, aren't you?" he blurted, and Nina elbowed him on his side, widening her eyes. "What?" he looked at Nina, his hand soothing where she had elbowed him.
"We are." Jane answered directly.
"Let me guess. You got Maura's beautiful letter. And realized you were a coward."
Jane widened her eyes at him, then squinted them, ready to retort. Then she sighed. "Yes, pretty much it."
"You know you've been through more life-threatening situations than she ever will…"
"Yes… And yet I never had the balls to do what she did. You don't need to rub it on. I get it."
Nina and Maura were eyeing the exchange expectantly.
"Are we good?" Jane asked, sheepishly.
"Good? We are better than good, Jane… Took you long enough…" he hugged his sister again. "Congratulations."
"And Maura? You are a saint for keeping up with my sister. I can say because I know." He hugged Maura and kissed her temple while Maura chuckled at his antics.
"You always made a very handsome couple. Only you didn't see it…" Nina offered, congratulating them.
"Does Ma know?"
"Not yet. I came in yesterday to have a talk to Maura. Ma was already out of town."
"Don't worry. We will keep it quiet. But you know how Ma is, she has some hidden crystal ball, so you better get your game together and loop her in, before she does find out on her own."
"Will do, Frankie. Thank you for the support, by the way."
"I am very proud of you, of both of you." He smiled gently at Jane and Maura. "And we should let you enjoy the rest of your weekend. I bet it will be too short before it is already time for you to fly back to DC…" he offered, knowingly.
They said their good-byes and went their separate ways.
"What was that?" Maura asked, confused, still trying to make sense of the conversation, the beginning of it, at least.
"It seems that Frankie knew how I felt. And he was calling my BS for not having done what you did. I had plenty of life and death situations over the years. He was basically telling me we could have been together for a long time now, and have saved both of us a lot of heartbreak in the process." Jane sighed, looking sheepishly at Maura.
Maura squeezed Jane's hand tightly.
"Don't beat yourself because of it. Let's be honest… We likely were not ready to admit it before… And the outcome if we were not ready might have been exactly what we feared the most – a rift in our relationship."
"And we couldn't have that now, could we?"
"No… That is and will always be a condition sine qua non for whatever we have."
"The foundation stone. I know."
They walked calmly back to Maura's home, discussing their different alternatives to order delivery for that night, and which movie they were going to watch.
As soon as they closed the door behind them, Jane pushed Maura gently against the wall, boxing her with one hand by Maura's head on the wall, the other on Maura's hip. She leaned forward, and kissed Maura deeply. "I have been waiting for hours to do this…" Jane rasped against Maura's lips.
"Me too." Maura smiled, before going on tiptoes to capture Jane's lips.
They started to move around slowly, still kissing, towards the sofa.
"Jane Clementine Rizzoli!"
Jane almost jumped out of her skin, but her first reaction was to protect Maura from harm. It took a moment for Jane to register that was her mother's voice.
"Jesus fucking Christ, Ma…" Jane placed a hand on top of her chest, her heart threatening to jump through her throat.
"Watch your mouth, little lady!"
Jane looked at Maura, who had gone pale, her eyes wide observing the exchange. Jane could feel Maura's thumping heart under her hand protectively on Maura's back.
"What happened to your cousin? I thought you were in New York visiting her because she was ill." Jane tried to buy time, unsure if her mother's reaction was for what she had seen, for not having been told, or what.
"I was, until cousin Constantina showed up…" Angela replied, rolling her eyes, wincing pronouncing the name of her cousin.
Jane knew her mother hated cousin Consty, dubbed 'El diablo', so it was doing nothing to help with her mood.
"I didn't know you were coming to Boston…" Angela began.
"It was a surprise." Jane admitted. "To Maura." She continued. This was as good as any time to tell her mother, especially since she likely had already seen their not at all discreet kissing.
"So I saw…" Angela offered, and Jane realized her mother was trying to hide her grin. "Is there anything you need to tell me?" Angela squinted her eyes at Jane.
Jane looked sideways, and saw Maura's skin flushed and blushing, and Jane almost exploded in laughter then and there.
"Yes, Ma, there is. I asked Maura to be my girlfriend yesterday. And she accepted. We are together now."
Angela didn't give up. "That is not the whole story, is it?"
Jane rolled her eyes, growling. "Ma…"
"Don't 'Ma' me. Spill the beans. You got a letter from Maura, didn't you?"
Jane rubbed her face with her splayed hand.
"Yes, Ma. I did." There was no point in denying it. Everyone who got a letter from Maura could figure out for sure Jane would have gotten one.
"And this was what? Almost a month ago?"
"Sounds about right." Jane replied, suspicious of where this was going.
"And it took you almost a month for you to move your lazy bones from DC to here to do something about it?" Angela asked indignantly.
Jane exhaled. "I first had to gather my courage, Ma. My relationship track record is miserable as you know well. I can't afford to hurt or to lose Maura. I needed to do this right."
"Did she do it right, Maura?" Angela turned to Maura, who so far had only been observing the exchange with wide hazel eyes.
It took a moment for Maura to realize Angela was addressing her.
"Yes, Angela, she did it absolutely right…" And the touched and happy smile Maura gave her was enough to break any resolve Angela had to grill Jane a bit longer. Her grin spread broadly.
"Very well, then."
"What is that even supposed to mean?" Jane asked, puzzled.
"It means I am very happy for both of you. It took you both long enough. And I hope you are really careful not to break each other's heart. Because I love you both, and I will beat sense back in any of you who dares to break the other's heart. Are we clear?" Angela said, threateningly, but with the smile making her eyes twinkle.
"It is, Ma." "Yes, Angela."
"C'me here." Angela approached, hugging and smooching them both. "Congratulations… I am really proud of you both."
"Thank you, Ma." "Thanks, Angela."
"Does your mother know?" Angela asked Maura.
"Yes. We told her this morning. Jane was waiting for you to come back to tell you."
"Well, I am back, and now I know… And I will let you enjoy the rest of your weekend, that I suspect will be much shorter than you wish it was…" Angela said with a smile, kissing Jane's temple and then Maura's, and walking out with the bowl of salad she had been working on when Jane and Maura arrival interrupted her.
"I am sorry." Jane offered Maura, chagrinned by the whole exchange.
"I am not…" Maura chuckled, and when Jane looked at her, she realized Maura was making an effort to hold back her giggles, and both exploded in laughter.
"Welcome to the Rizzoli's?" Jane tried, shrugging her shoulders, and chuckling.
"I've been part of the Rizzoli's for more almost ten years now. They are my family…" Maura replied lovingly, circling Jane's neck with her arms and pulling Jane's face down to kiss her deeply, before they resumed their path to the sofa.
