Snapshots 4.0

Chapter 12 – Meeting with Gen

Jane and Maura were happy to be home. Mario had helped them bring their suitcases upstairs to their bedroom and then said good night to the ladies.

Jane and Maura were tired and very happy to be able to sleep in their own bed again. Jane tried to sleep but she kept tossing and turning, she was wondering what Gen wanted to speak to them about. Maura had fallen asleep within minutes of laying down. She hadn't slept on the plane like Jane so she was exhausted.

Maura had set the alarm for 8 AM knowing that Jane would want to talk with Gen first thing after she had her morning cup of coffee. Maura was curious also. Gen was being cryptic and it was puzzling for the two of them. Maura hopped into the shower and Jane went downstairs to fix her coffee and call Gen once her coffee was made and she had a few sips, she called Gen. The phone rang twice and her assistant answered the phone. "Ah yes, Jane she has been expecting your call. I will put you through."

"Jane, thank you for calling." Was all Gen could get out before Jane spoke.

"You told me to call you, what the hell are you being so cryptic about?" Jane asked.

"Can you and Maura meet me for lunch today?" Gen answered with a question, instead of answering the question.

"Sure, we can do that. Are you going to make me wait until then to find out what is going on?"

"Yes, is 11 AM alright. I know you probably need to shower and finish your coffee. By the time you get dressed and drive over here it will be 11 AM. I will have lunch here ready for you guys. Don't worry, this is a good thing. I just want your input before I do what I want to do."

"Man, I wish you would just frigging tell me, but okay we will do things your way. See you at 11 AM." Jane said with a slight frustration in her voice.

"Thanks, Jane and welcome home." Gen replied.

"Ya, ya, see you then." With that Jane disconnected the call. Jane went upstairs after finishing her coffee and joined Maura in the shower. "Maur, she wants us to have lunch with her at 11 in her office."

"Did she say why?" Maura asked as she put shampoo in Jane's now wet hair.

"No, she wants to talk to us about something before she does it. She didn't say anything more than that, except we will be having lunch in her office."

"Okay, we can go to her office for lunch then. I am curious to see what she wants our advice on." Maura said as she finished her shower and started to get out.

"Me too, I don't know why she just couldn't tell over the phone me though." Jane said as she rinsed the shampoo out of her hair and lathered up her body. She wanted to finish her shower so she could have breakfast with her wife. Maura finished drying off and went downstairs to start on their breakfast.

Jane joined her a few minutes later and noticed they were having a light breakfast. Maura did cook up some bacon for Jane though as she knew that would put her in a better mood. As they ate breakfast Maura said, "You know we could watch some more of the slideshow. We still haven't finished watching that."

"Okay, that sounds good but let's set an alarm so we don't get so wrapped up in it that we forget about lunch with Gen."

"I will set the alarm for 10:15. That will give us well over an hour to watch some of the slideshow." They moved to the living room and Jane turned everything on and was ready to hit play on the slideshow when she decided she needed another cup of coffee first. Once she had her coffee and some juice for Maura, she hit play and started the slideshow.

Picture: Jane in her Air Force uniform

Description: Jane eating a meal at Air Force Basic Training

Seeing the picture Jane asked, "Maur, did I ever tell you about how we had to eat our meals in basic training and tech school?"

"No, you didn't. I presume you are going to explain it to me now?"

"Ya, that was the plan. We had to march everywhere we went. When we got to the chow hall, we had to line up in formation and wait to be called in. Once we were in the chow hall, we had to get our food and then go to a table. Each table sat four people and we had to wait until all four people were present before we could sit down. On certain days it was required that we drink two glasses of water before we ate our meal. Some days we could just drink our water as we ate our meal. We had to drink the water though. Our DI (Drill Instructor) was watching us at all times. If he saw something out of order he would come over and handle it at the time. If it was our table, we all had to stand and stop eating. Sometimes he would make us leave before we had finished our meal. He said, "When I am done, you are done, no exceptions.' Bad thing was he got to sit down before we did. It was a weird experience. I'm still working on eating my meals slower."

"Eating your meals that fast is not good for you." Maura stated.

"I know, but for eight weeks during basic training that is what we had to do. Luckily tech school was not like that at all. It was more relaxed but we did have a time limit."

"I always wondered why you scarfed down your meals, now I know. I have known you for almost thirty years and never heard you talk about why you eat so fast and I guess I never asked."

"Well, now you know. It is a hard habit to break especially when I became a patrol officer and we could be in the middle of a meal and have to respond to a call. So, I just kept eating fast." Jane explained.

Maura sensing Jane was finished speaking said, "Let's see the next picture."

Picture: Kate at Cordon Bleu with her chef's hat on

Description: Kate had just graduated from Cordon Bleu

Maura hit the pause button. "I was so proud of Kate when she graduated from Cordon Bleu. She had wanted to go there since she was little and she kept her goal in sight and accomplished it. I am so happy the whole family was able to attend her graduation. Chloe was so happy also as now there is another Cordon Bleu trained Chef in the family." Maura said as she un-paused the slideshow and let a few more pictures pass before she paused the slideshow again.

Picture: Constance and Arthur with newborn MJ

Description: shortly after MJ was born Constance and Arthur arrived to see their newborn grandson and Maura took the picture

Maura smiled as she said, "Mother was so happy to have a grandchild. She promised me she would be a better grandmother than she was a mother. She was in tears. She was so happy and she said she had you to thank for that."

"Well, you have to admit she had been a lousy mother up until I talked to her at her art installation which may I remind you she invited you to and your name wasn't even on the guest list to get in. we only got in because I showed my badge." Jane informed Maura.

"Yes, I remember and yes, I must admit she was not the best of mothers prior to your chat, but since than she has been trying harder. My parents moving to Boston and relocating the Foundation to Boston was a great idea. She and Father have been great since their relocation and the children loved having them around as they grew up. I never experienced that as my grandparents were already deceased by the time I joined the family. Our children have had the privilege of having grandparents in their lives. The children have brought such joy to my parents and your mother. My mother still apologizes to me for not being a better mother to me growing up." Maura stated.

"I feel she has more than made up for that. I have seen the difference she has made in your life by being here for you and our family. She even took my mother in like you did all those years ago. I can't believe how well they get along." Jane smiled as she finished her statement and started the slideshow back up.

Pictures of the children at various times in their lives appeared and they just smiled at each other. They had many wonderful years with their children. They hoped to have grandchildren to share their lives with soon. They weren't getting any younger. Now that they were retired, they had time to devote to grandchildren. Jane stated, "So which of our children do you think will give us a grandbaby first?"

Maura thought for a few minutes and said, "MJ. I think MJ and Chrissy will give us a grandbaby first. They have been together for so long and I know Chrissy said she would like to have children after they graduate from college."

"Ya, but you know you don't have to be married to have children. I know Lilly wants to have children." Jane explained.

"Yes, but I hope our children will wait until they are married. There is no rush, although I do want to still be mobile by the time we have grandchildren."

"Me too, I want to be able to play with them." Jane said as she pulled Maura on top of her and started kissing her. The idea of grandchildren was exciting for her and she became very playful all of a sudden.

"You know, we talk too much while trying to watch this slideshow. We better get ready to go meet Gen, I really want to know what she wants to talk to us about." Maura said as she climbed off of Jane and turned the slideshow off. They would finish it one day. She extended a hand to help Jane up off of the couch. They grabbed their belongings and headed to BPD as they had a mystery to uncover.

The officer at the desk was so happy to see Jane and Maura. He signed them in and gave them visitor badges. Gen's assistant had already given notice that they would be arriving to visit Gen for lunch. It felt strange having to wear visitor badges but understood as they no longer worked there. Jane was happy they didn't have to be escorted to Gen's office. They knew the way and could get there on their own.

Gen's assistant greeted them when they arrived at her desk. It was a few minutes before 11 AM and Gen was ready for them. She knew Maura would make sure they were on time. The assistant announced their arrival and Gen stepped out of her office to greet them. They then went back into her office and the assistant went to retrieve their lunches from the refrigerator. She gave Jane's lunch a few seconds in the microwave to warm it up and then brought their lunches to them.

Gen wanted to eat and talk about their trip before getting into why she called them in. So, they ate lunch. Jane wanted to know what was going on. Gen and Maura could both see that Jane was becoming impatient. Gen put her fork down and said, "I'm putting in my retirement papers."

Jane's mouth dropped she didn't see that coming. She knew Gen would retire at some point. "I didn't see that coming."

"I don't think you would have seen my next comment coming either. I would like your thoughts on my replacement. I have someone in mind and I would like to tell you so you can give me your honest feedback." Gen explained and Jane and Maura nodded their heads, they could do that.

"Spit it out already Gen, you know I hate waiting. You already caused me to lose sleep last night by making we wait until today." Jane almost yelled at Gen.

"Okay, okay settle down. I will tell you. Nina Rizzoli-Holiday."

Jane's mouth did drop a second time. She smiled and said, "I think she would be great. Does she have any idea that you would like her to replace you?"

"No, I have not talked to her about it. She has filled in for me a few times as you know. I think she is up for the job and would be great at it, however I know you two know her better than I do. Do you think she would want the job?"

Maura spoke up, "Nina would be an excellent replacement for you. I think she could handle the job. Not sure how Frankie would feel about it, but Nina has always outranked him. She was already a detective when she came to BPD while he was a patrol officer. BPD hasn't had a Chief would was married to BPD police officer. Have you checked with HR?"

"Yes, it is a murky area. They have legal working on it. One of the options is for Frankie to retire and be the Chief's spouse. That is why I wanted to talk to you two. It affects your family the most."

"Wow, ya, I can see the dilemma, I mean I am sure Frankie would be proud of Nina but giving up his career. I mean they have talked about retiring when we first told them that we would be retiring but this would kinda force him to retire." Jane stated.

"I feel as though Frankie would be proud of Nina and want her to take the position even if it meant that he would have to retire. He has been on the force for over thirty years now. For Nina to become the new Chief would be a huge honor for her and for our family. We are a BPD family. I would suggest talking to Nina about it."

"Would be okay staying here while I call in Nina and Frankie to talk to them about it? I think they would need your support."

Jane and Maura nodded at each other and Jane replied, "Sure, call them in."

Gen pushed a button on her desk phone and told her assistant to call in Nina and Frankie. Within five minutes Nina and Frankie arrived at her door. She invited them in and they had a seat. Jane and Maura had cleaned up their lunch plates while they waited for Nina and Frankie to arrive. Gen was a little nervous. She didn't want to have to ask for Frankie to resign she knew he was moving up in the ranks but it would make Nina's promotion to Chief a lot easier.

Gen explained why she called them in. She first told them that she is putting in her retirement paperwork effective January 1st and that she would like Nina to become the new Superintendent-In-Chief of BPD. "Before you reply, let me notify you of a situation. We have never had a Chief married to another BPD officer. It is a legal murky area. HR is not sure about protocol on this."

Frankie stopped her, "Are you saying I might need to retire so she can be promoted to Chief?"

"Legally, it is not required as far as we know. BPD's legal folks are searching through all the rules and regulations to see what is what regarding that issue."

"If I need to retire for Nina to be promoted I will. If Nina wants the position." Frankie stated as he looked at his wife. "It's up to you babe. If you want to be Chief, I will put in my paperwork and retire the day before your promotion."

"But Frankie, you love your job." Exclaimed Nina.

"I do, but I love you more."

"That is so corny, honey."

"I know but it is true."

Jane and Maura were just sitting there holding hands listening to the conversation. Nina turned to Maura and asked, "Maura, what do you think? You have been my sounding board since I first arrived here, you were my first friend at BPD and are one of my favorite people at BPD."

The sister-in-laws stared at each other in a silent conversation and Maura spoke, "I think it is an excellent opportunity for you, however it is your decision to be made with your husband. It is also about his career, although he has already said he would retire if needed. I think you need to go home and talk about it and let Gen know tomorrow. Sorry Gen!"

"Don't be sorry Maura. I think that is an excellent idea. Please Nina, think about it and let me know tomorrow."

"I can do that, thank you Chief." Nina replied.

"Dammit Nina, we are in a closed room, you can call me Gen like the rest of the Rizzoli family does, after all I am an honorary Rizzoli."

"Damn right you are." Jane said as Maura gave her the 'no cussing' look. "Maur, Gen cussed and you didn't get after her."

"We are in her office and she knows I prefer no cussing." Gen shook her head remembering that Maura prefers no cussing. They talked for a few more minutes and then Nina and Frankie went back to work. Jane and Maura stayed for another half an hour and then went home.

They talked all the way home about the possibility of Nina becoming the new Chief. They were excited about it and were happy that Frankie had already suggested that he would retire so she could take the promotion. Legal and HR would probably still have to conduct their research because the possibility might arise again and they would have to be prepared and address the issue in their protocols.

Frankie and Nina talked in great detail when they got home and decided Nina would accept the recommended promotion. She knew it would have to go to a selection committee for approval but in the history of BPD the person recommended by the current Chief always got the job. Frankie would not put in his retirement paperwork until they were sure that his wife would be the new Superintendent-in-Chief of BPD.

The next day Nina reported directly to Gen's office to give her the news of her decision in person. The assistant announced her arrival and Gen asked for Nina to come in. Nina told Gen, "Frankie and I discussed the issue and we made our decision. I would love to be the next Chief. I accept your recommended promotion." Gen was so happy. She had her recommendation paperwork already all filled out and as she walked out with Nina, she told her assistant that she would be back shortly. Gen turned in her recommendation letter and her retirement paperwork.

Effective January 2nd BPD would have a new Superintendent-In-Chief and with any luck it would be Nina Rizzoli-Holiday.