Snapshots 4.0

Chapter 15 – Nina Takes A Break

Nina was overwhelmed. She was happy but in less than six months her life would change. She would be catapulted into a new position. She would be the new Superintendent in Chief of the Boston Police Department. A position she never thought was obtainable. She had always been behind the scenes and now she would be the face of BPD. She would be the one speaking at press conferences. She would have her every move being criticized by nay sayers.

She had watch Gen in the position for the last few years and had helped her with everything from approving promotions to approving speeches. Gen included Nina in almost all aspects of her job. That is why Gen knew that Nina would be a perfect replacement for her. Gen was so happy that the selection board agreed and selected Nina. Gen also knew that Frankie would support her. It helps to have a supportive spouse.

At the end of July Gen brought her senior staff in for a meeting. She wanted this transition to go as smooth as possible. Gen had stipulated one more item in her retirement and that is that Frost take Nina's current position. She knew that Frost would also be an excellent Chief and wanted for him to get familiar with the role.

Frost had just been promoted on July 1st when Jane retired, so she had to pull some strings but she was able to secure this new position for him. He would be 'green' but his record with BPD was outstanding and Gen wanted this for him. Nina was excited for him. She knew Jane would be also once she was informed. Gen's retirement would mean quite a few position changes and promotions within BPD. Gen was looking out for her Rizzoli family members. Being an honorary Rizzoli family member, she felt it was only right and that is why she stipulated the positions for Nina and Frost before turning in her retirement paperwork.

Jane was the second person Frost called after the meeting. He of course called his wife first. Jane didn't mind being second. She was happy for her former partner. He deserved the position and the possibility of being the Chief one day. January would be a new start for BPD. Numerous retirements, promotions and position changes. Nina would be the last Rizzoli standing at BPD and Frost the last honorary Rizzoli.

About half an hour after Frost called Jane, Gen called her. She wasn't surprised that Frost had already told her. Gen wanted to make sure Jane and Maura were happy about Frost's new position. She knew how important Frost was to them and she liked him and wanted to see him continue to advance in BPD also.

After a few minutes of talking about Frost with Jane and Maura Gen changed the subject to their Route 66 trip. Gen was so excited that Jane and Maura had agreed to postpone their trip so that she and Steve could follow along. She sent notes at least twice a week via email of sights she and Steve wanted to see along the journey.

"You know Steve and I were discussing your goal and decided we would accomplish the same goal. Steve has been charting and remembering all past trips to come up with a list of states we need to visit. He is a man on a mission and I have the two of you to thank for that." Gen informed Jane and Maura.

"Well, I actually made an Excel spreadsheet and have pinpointed the states we have left to make love in to complete my goal." Jane proudly announced. She had taken weeks to review and fill in data on her spreadsheet. Maura was very pleased with her accuracy. She didn't know that Jane had started a journal of their accomplishments once she announced her goal. Jane only had to back pedal to figure out the states they had already made love in prior to the announcement of her goal.

They took a quick trip up to Maine for a few weeks to test out the RV. Maura loved Maine and found it a great place to relax and get away from everything and everyone. As long as Jane was with her, she had everything she needed. They had a lot of memories of their various trips to Maine. They had initially planned to go every year but their caseload didn't always allow that so about every three years they were able to vacation in Maine. The children loved their cabin in the woods. They had to add a few extra bedrooms but overall, they were able to keep the cabin feel after the addition.

Kate and her girlfriend, Carina, had stayed in their Beacon Hill house while they were on their cruise and left for Paris for the remainder of the summer upon their return. Jane and Maura told them that they would come to Paris before Kate started at Le Cordon Bleu. They knew once she started school, she would be busy.

When they returned from Maine, they unpacked the RV and Maura started packing for their trip to Paris while Jane took the RV to get cleaned and then parked it in storage while they were gone. They would only be spending a few weeks in Paris. Maura had certain places she like to visit while she was there. They had kept the apartment in Paris as well as her parent's apartment as all of the family seemed to love Paris.

The family actually had a web-based schedule for use of the apartments. Maura found that the best way to make sure that the apartments were not double booked. Jane had Frost make sure that no one could change anybody else's reservations either. Frost, Korsak and Gen all had access to the web-based schedule as well and were encourage to use the apartments whenever they wanted.

Constance and Arthur had Maura add all of the remaining Isles' residences to the schedule, as they wanted to share the family homes with the family. They had been selling some of the residences over the years and hanging onto their favorite homes throughout the world. Constance asked Karen and Dan, her former pilots which place was their favorite and she gifted it to them. They were so excited.

They retained a small staff that would relocate a few days ahead of time and prepare any of the residences that the family would be staying at. It took Jane a little while to get use to this arrangement, but once she did, she enjoyed knowing the names of the staff members that assisted them anytime they went somewhere. Maine was one of the few locations that the staff didn't go to. That was theirs and theirs alone.

Kate was due to start school in September. She and Carina would work at the bakery until Kate's class started. They both loved Paris and were happy to be spending time their together. This was the first time Kate had brought Carina to Paris with her. Carina loved the little bakery that Kate worked at and the owner loved Carina.

After they arrived it was late at night so they went to bed and when they awoke in the morning Kate took her to all of her favorite places. They visited the Notre Dame Cathedral and then the Louvre. They enjoyed a city tour and ended up at the Eiffel Tower in time for sunset. Carina was taken aback by the beauty of the Eiffel Tower at sunset.

They would have three weeks in the city before Jane and Maura arrived. Kate wanted to make sure they saw all the sites as she knew her mother would want to do some shopping when she arrived. That was one of Maura's favorite things to do in Paris. Jane could care less about the shopping. She would let Maura and the girls enjoy that while she wandered around and checked out her favorite cafés and pastry shops.

Jane was surprised when the ladies got back and Maura had only purchased a few things. Now that she was retired, she felt as if she didn't need to purchase the latest fashionable dresses. It surprised her also. She did purchase a few outfits for Kate and Carina and was very pleased about that. She wanted the girls to look nice.

Maura had made dinner reservations at their favorite restaurant and they all ate too much. They walked along the river after dinner. Jane and Maura called it an early evening and Kate and Carina went out and enjoyed the nightlife. Kate knew once school started, she wouldn't have too much time to party. When Kate and Carina worked, they got up at 3:30 AM so they could be to the pastry shop at 4 AM. The owner took a break when Kate was there. Kate knew how to run the place and it was the only time the owner ever took a vacation. Kate was very dedicated to the pastry shop and loved working there every summer.

Jane and Maura slept in when the girls worked. They were lazy, just hanging out in bed and making love until the early afternoon when they knew they had to get up before the girls came home for their early afternoon break. They would be home to rest for about two hours and then go back for about four more hours before the pastry shop closed down for the day.

They also had to make sure the other apartment was ready as Angela, Nina, Arianna and Giana would be arriving later that night for a week-long visit. Arthur was not able to travel so Constance stayed home with him. Arthur tried convincing Constance that she should go and enjoy the time with the ladies but she refused, as Arthur was more important. The family was scheduled to come to Paris when Kate graduated so she figured she could wait a year to go back to Paris. Constance asked Angela if maybe Nina should join her as once she was promoted to Chief, she may not be able to take too much time off. Angela contacted Nina.

"Sweetheart, I was wondering if you might want to take a two-week vacation with me and go to Italy and Paris?" Angela asked a surprised Nina.

"Angela, that is very tempting, let me check with Frankie and Gen to see if that would be possible." Nina had a huge smile on her face as she would love to make this trip with her mother-in-law and spend time in Paris with Jane and Maura.

Nina called Gen right away after Frankie agreed. "Nina, what a surprise, I didn't expect a call from you."

"I know Gen, I wanted to see if I could take two weeks off and travel out of the country?" Nina was a little nervous asking knowing that Gen wanted to spend as much time as possible with her to get her ready for her new position.

"How soon?" Gen asked.

"Starting the week after next. I would be going to Italy and France with Jane's mother and spending a week with Jane and Maura in Paris." Nina replied.

"Crap, that sounds like a great trip, can I go too?" They both laughed and then Gen said, "Yes, it would probably be a great thing to do before we start our training. You can submit your leave paperwork in the morning."

"Thanks, Gen, I will see you in the morning." Nina hung up the phone and called Angela right back. "Angela, I can go. Do you have your flight information so I can make sure I am on the same flight with you?"

"Constance is chartering a plane so I will let her know that you will be accompanying me. Thank you for agreeing to go with me. I will feel better having someone with me."

"Thank you for asking. I am looking forward to this trip."

"Me too, give Frankie my love and I will text you with all the flight information as soon as Constance provides it to me."

"Thank you, Angela, goodnight."

"You're welcome, Nina, goodnight." Angela said as she disconnected the call.

Constance had booked Angela and Nina's flight so that they would spend two days with Arianna and Giana in Italy before coming to Paris. That would allow the four ladies to travel to together and for Angela and Nina to visit with family in Italy. Neither one of them had been to Italy in years. They would spend a week in Italy after Paris to visit family.

The day Angela, Arianna, Nina and Gina were to arrive Jane was very slow about getting out of bed and the only way Maura could get her moving was to agree to a shared shower. They still enjoyed doing the things they did when they first starting dating and Maura loved that. Lots of other couples they knew got into a routine and the couples were often bored in their relationship. Not Jane and Maura, they kept their relationship alive and continued to enjoy each other's company throughout their marriage.

They disagreed at times but often made up quickly and Jane sure loved the make-up sex. Maura often wondered if Jane picked fights with her sometimes just because she enjoyed the make-up sex so much. Jane tried to reassure Maura that she didn't pick fights so that there would be make-up sex. She did enjoy it also so she didn't argue with Jane about it, she just enjoyed the outcome.

Jane wasn't too thrilled about her mother joining them on their vacation but it was only for one week so she figured she could suffer through it. Plus, Angela would be staying in the other apartment and not with them, for that she was thankful.

By the time Angela, Arianna, Nina and Giana arrived Kate and Carina had taken a break from the pastry shop so they could spend some time with them. Angela hadn't been to Paris in quite some time and was looking forward to seeing the city of Love again. She was also looking forward to spending some quality girl time with some of her favorite family members. Nina had never been to Paris so this was all new to her.

The eight of them spent two days sightseeing. Maura loved visiting the museums and acted as a tour guide. Jane hung back with Arianna and Nina was arm in arm with Maura. Maura was in her element. She loved sharing Paris with newcomers. Nina was trying to take it all in. There was so much to see. She wondered why Frankie had never brought her to Paris before. In all the years they had been married the only places he had taken her was to Italy, Hawaii and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Angela had the three younger women with her. She wanted to make sure her grandchildren were paying attention to what Maura was saying. She knows Giana and Kate had probably heard all the She almost thought about quizzing them during their lunch break. Kate and Carina kept pausing to kiss and Angela had to usher them along. She thought Jane and Maura were bad about that, Kate was so much like Jane in that regard. Jane had always been very expressive when it came to her love for Maura and Kate picked up that trait from her.

Carina told Maura, "You know so much about all of the places when visited."

Jane piped in and said, "She is a walking googlemouth." Maura just gave Jane the look. Jane smiled at Maura and stepped up and gave her a great big hug, "and I love that about you." Jane gave Maura a quick kiss.

Nina added, "Well I appreciate all the information, and yes Maura does know quite a bit of facts about almost anything. Her facts have actually helped us solve cases in the past. Jane even quoted Maura one time when Maura was away at a medical conference. The information that Jane recited was useful in solving the case and she was so surprised she remembered that fact. When Maura questioned her about it later, she told Jane, 'I didn't thing you listened to me.' Jane replied, 'I always listen when you talk.' It was such a cute moment between them in front of the whole homicide department." Jane and Maura both remembered that and smiled.

They had dinner that night at a restaurant with a view of the Eiffel Tower. The weather was perfect and they were able to sit outside and watch the people walk by as they ate. They were laughing and telling stories of past trips to Paris and work stories. This was Angela's second time in Paris and she was enjoying this trip so much more because she had her girls with her and was able to hear the pleasure in Maura's voice and she told them everything there was to know about each place they visited. She wished Constance and Arthur would have been able to join them but with Arthur's heart problems he didn't have too many more trips left.

Kate made sure they had fresh pastries every morning. She snuck out of bed early and went to the pastry shop. On several occasions she spent an hour or so there helping the owner get ready for the morning rush before coming back to the apartment with the pastries. She was enjoying sharing the pastries with her family. The owner joined them a few times for dinner. She loved Jane and Maura and visited with them every time they were in town.

Nina was sad that the week in Paris was over so fast. She vowed that she would come back one day. She might have to wait until Kate's graduation but she would be back. Next time she came she would bring Frankie with her. She wanted to experience the city of love with her husband.

When Angela, Nina, Arianna and Giana arrived back in Italy they were able to do some sightseeing and visit with lots of family. Nina loved the photo wall that was still present at Aunt Sophie's house. Her youngest daughter was living in the house with her family and she promised to keep the photo wall up. It was a family tradition. Nina stood looking at the wall for about an hour. She commented on several photos as different family members approached her and talked with her.

She knew it would be a while before she would be able to take a trip like this again and was so pleased that Angela had asked her. Arianna's sister, Maria had copies of Aunt Sophie's recipe book made for Nina and Maura. Nina was so pleased. Angela had been teaching her and Maura some of the recipes over the years but she had never been given a recipe book. Maria made her promise to secure it as these were family recipes and were not to be shared with people outside of the family.

When Nina reported back to work after her two-week vacation Gen wanted to know all about her trip. Nina spent over an hour filling Gen in on all the places she went to and how Maura had served as tour guide and filled her head with so many facts. Gen was jealous she sent a text to Jane, "Steve and I are going to have to go to Italy with you and Maura."

Jane laughed when she read the text message. Maura asked her why she was laughing and Jane showed her the text message. Maura laughed and told Jane, "I guess we are going to have vacation buddies for a while."