Snapshots 4.0

Chapter 13 – Gen's Announcement

After setting up a lunch date with Gen, Jane and Maura went to the Isles household to pick up Arianna and Mario so they could take them to the airport. Nicky and Giana and their families had left while they were on their cruise and had returned the SUVs to the rental company. Jane and Maura hated saying goodbye to Arianna and Mario but they would see them in a few months as they had another vacation planned with them.

Jane and Maura talked all the way home after lunch with Gen, they were surprised at what Gen had said. I mean surprised but happy. Nina was a valued member of the BPD and she deserved this honor. They were both excited. They wondered how much a discussion it would be for Nina and Frankie. Frankie already had said he would resign. Was Nina really questioning whether or not she would do this? Jane thought she should have said 'Yes' right then.

If the roles were reversed, she would have said 'Yes' right away. Well, she would have consulted with Maura quickly and then said 'Yes.' She knew Maura would have support her though because she had said long ago, "Jane, I will always support your career. You became an officer so you could facilitate training tomorrow's officers and I have complete faith in you."

At 6 PM Jane's cell phone rang. "Hello, Nina."

"Hey, can you get off your lazy retired butt and open your front door?" Nina said to a shocked Jane.

"Sure, what's going on?" Questioned Jane as she rose up off of the couch and headed to her front door. Maura was wondering what was going on. She had just stepped into the kitchen to see about dinner for them.

"Open the door and you will find out." Nina replied.

"Geez, okay, I am getting there." Jane said as she approached the front door and opened it. Nina and Frankie stood there with bags of Chinese take-out.

"I was pretty sure that the two of you haven't thought about dinner so we took the liberty of ordering dinner. We would like to talk to you about the conversation in Gen's office today." Nina said as she and Frankie placed the take-out bags down on the kitchen island.

Maura had already began getting out plates and silverware. Jane grabbed the beer from her brother's hand. This would definitely be a beer conversation. They all sat down and ate. After dinner, Jane asked, "So, what do you think Nina?"

"I was slightly surprised when Gen told me. Frankie and I have talked and we would like to hear what the two of you think before we give Gen my answer." Nina replied.

"Yes, we value your opinion." Frankie told his sister and sister-in-law as he squeezed his wife's hand.

Maura was first to speak up. "Nina, I think it is a great opportunity and you are very deserving of it. Frankie, I was so proud of you when you automatically, without even thinking volunteered to retire so she could take this promotion."

"Yes, Frankie that was remarkable." Jane replied. "Nina, I agreed with what my beautiful wife said, you are very deserving of this opportunity. I think you should put your name in the hat. I doubt there will be too much competition, and besides once any competitor sees your name, they will probably withdraw their name."

"Oh, Jane, you are too kind. There is no guarantee." Nina said as she smiled at Jane in appreciation of her compliment.

"I know but you have been working with her in that capacity and you know the job backwards and forwards. I think your odds are pretty good." Jane added.

"Well, I think I will tell her tomorrow that I will accept her nomination." Nina told everyone as Frankie hugged her and kissed the side of her head.

"That is great Nina. I will be very happy if you are selected." Maura stated as Jane nodded and Frankie smiled at them. They have always been supportive of her.

The next morning Nina informed Gen and she submitted her recommendation. The board would meet in two weeks and then they would know if Nina was in the running. Two weeks later the board finished their recruitment drive and narrowed the pool down to three people, Nina being one of them. They called in all three candidates for a more in-depth interview. They said at the end of the week they would let all three candidates know their selection.

It was the longest week of Nina's life. At the end of the week the family gathered so they could all be present for the phone call. Gen and Steve had also gathered at Jane and Maura's with the entire Rizzoli family. The board had stated that they would call Nina at 6 PM and let her know either way.

Jane and Maura had canceled the first part of their road trip so that they would be around for the results. This was exciting and they didn't want to miss the announcement. They looked at RVs during the day while they waited. After only two days, they found the perfect RV for them. Originally, they were going to get a bigger RV but decided on a 23-foot Class A model. They purchased it and would pick it up the following week.

When they got home, Jane immediately went on the Internet and picked out a present for Maura, it arrived two days later addressed to Maura. When the package arrived, Maura gave Jane a questioning face. "I haven't ordered anything because I thought we wouldn't be home." Maura opened it and laughed, "Really Jane."

"What, I thought it was funny and you know that is what we will be doing." Jane laughed as Maura read the sign out loud.

"It's a sign Jane, 'If this trailer's rockin' don't bother knockin," Maura was laughing. The sign was funny but she really didn't want to hang it in their RV.

"I know, I figured it was perfect." Jane told Maura who was still laughing. She loved this woman so much, Jane always made her laugh. She would have to talk to Jane about her intentions regarding the sign because she really didn't want the sign to be hung up in or on the RV.

Now that they had postponed traveling while they waited on the outcome of Nina's possible promotion. They went back to looking at the slideshow. They were still determined to get through the entire slideshow.

Jane set up the slideshow and they both sat down on the couch to watch it. Several pictures appeared but when one particular appeared Jane paused the slideshow. She had to speak about it.

Picture: Promotion shot of Maura for Real Housewives of Boston

Description: Maura had been asked to be on 'The Real Housewives of Boston' and had taken promo shots.

"Maur, I still can't believe you turned down being on 'The Real Housewives of Boston.' I thought it would have been quite the experience and I would have supported you all the way."

"I know Jane, I just didn't feel that it would benefit me, or us, in any way. I met the people as you know and I spent the day with them. I watched the previous season and it just didn't feel like a great fit for me. It would have taken time away from us and my work, and I love you and at the time my job so much."

"I was proud that you were even selected. They have never had a same sex couple on the show. It would have been a first." Jane said proudly.

"Yes, but I gladly let the next same-sex couple have that privilege. It might have had to wait three years but they enjoyed being on that show so much. I seriously don't think I would have enjoyed the experience. I would have missed working with you and performing autopsies."

"I would have missed you if you had been on that show. The hours away from me and your job would have sucked big time."

"Yes, and that is exactly why I did not go onto the show. What is the next picture?" Maura said as she wanted to get through the slideshow.

Picture: Jane and Frankie standing with their arms around each other with a rock band t-shirt.

Description: Jane and Frankie were standing together side-by-side with their one arm wrapped around the other.

"Jane, do you remember that it was because of that picture that you introduced me to rock music? You told me about Styx, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Journey, The Rolling Stones, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts and so many more. I believe you even started playing a playlist that started with 'Renegade' by Styx and told me that you have to turn the music up for the first part of the song. Same with 'Sweet Home Alabama' by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Once they say 'turn it up' you said we have to 'turn it up.' You played so many songs for me that day." Maura informed Jane.

"Oh yes, I remember. You gave me quite a few funny looks that day. As you carefully tried to listen to the words of all the songs I played. I finally had to stop the playlist, because I wanted to talk to you and you were concentrating so hard on the words of the song that I was bored." Jane replied.

"I remember that I enjoyed the huge make-out session that took place after the music stopped playing." Maura said as she smiled at Jane.

Jane smiled and said, "I remember that also." Jane then proceeded to reenact their make-out session. When they broke for air. Jane went on to say, "we better get to the next picture or we will never get this slideshow done."

They went on to view about twenty more pictures before they stopped the slideshow for the time being.

Friday at 6 PM with the family all sitting around waiting, Nina's phone rang. It was the Chairman of the Board. She put the phone on speaker and placed it on the kitchen island. He said, "Congratulations, Nina, the board has decided that you would be the best person for the job of Superintendent in Chief. Do you accept the position?"

"Yes, I would love to be the next Superintendent in Chief. Thank you." Nina responded.

"Monday morning HR will call you and will start the process with you. Have a great evening, Nina." With that Nina hung up the phone and was congratulated by her family. She had a huge smile on her face, everyone was so excited.

After about ten minutes of celebrating with the Rizzolis, she called her mother to let her know. When her mother answered, she simply told her, "I got the promotion. I will be the new Chief in January." Catherine was so excited everyone could hear her scream with excitement.

Frankie and Nina left a few minutes after Nina got off the phone with her mother. Gen and Steve stayed for about half an hour after so they could chat with Jane and Maura. They wanted to hear all about their Alaska cruise and where they were going next.

Gen and Steve also wanted to get in on the vacation planning. Jane and Maura had promised a while ago that after they retire, they should all take a vacation together and Gen wanted to plan a date in the new year.

She and Steve were also looking at RVs. Maura pulled out the brochure of the RV they had just bought. Gen and Steve thought that RV was perfect. They also didn't want an RV that was too large. They wondered where Maura was going to put all of her clothes, or was she going to dress differently now that she was retired.

Jane told Gen and Steve that they could come see the RV next week after it arrived. As Gen and Steve were leaving Jane told her that she would call them once the RV arrived. They said their goodbyes. Jane was excited she was looking forward to driving cross country with Maura and finishing her goal.

They had looked at routes and one thing Maura thought might be interesting was taking Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles. They were thinking of leaving two weeks later but decided to postpone their cross-country trip and figured they would do East coast trips, like maybe go down to Florida. They had already been to Georgia and Florida and could scratch those states off of their list, but there were plenty of states down in that region that they had not visited yet. Jane was busy planning which states she could knock off of their list. She had some planning to do, she was determined to accomplish her goal.