Chapter Text
Chapter 3
Jane walked into her office and draped her blazer over the back of the chair. She was wearing two guns in a leather holster that looked like suspenders. It was part of the changes she’d made while she’d been away from Boston. She smiled when she spied a picture from her and Maura on their wedding day that was sitting on top of her desk. She kept the picture in her office and not on her desk in the bullpen because they hadn’t announced their marriage around the station yet. She marveled yet again at her wife’s beauty. That beauty was only added to by that day being the happiest that both of them had ever been.
Maura wore a yellow lacy beach dress with a red sash tied around her waist and sandals holding a bouquet of white, yellow, and red roses. She had a yellow rose tucked behind her left ear and her hair was down in waves. Jane was dressed in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up at the elbows and a yellow and red striped tie pulled down. She had on a pair of khaki pants with her bare feet in the sand. Her hands were in her pants pockets as she leaned down to plant a sweet kiss on Maura’s cheek.
Jane’s head whipped to the side when she heard on knock on her door. “Come in!” She called out. The door opened to reveal the last person that she had expected to see.
“It’s great to see you, Janie. I’m sorry to just drop in on you at work, but I thought this would be the best chance at me getting to see you without having to make an appointment.” Frank Rizzoli replied as he stood in the doorway.
"Come on in, Pop.” Jane waved her father into the office. “I would ask what you’re doing here, but I know that Ma probably called you to talk some sense into me.”
Frank closed the door behind him and walked into his oldest child’s office. “Yeah, I did hear from Angela, but I wanted to hear it from you.”
“Pop,” Jane said in a pleading voice before taking a deep breath, “Pop, I’m gay and I’m married to Maura. She is the love of my life and I can’t imagine being married to anyone other than her.” This was the first chance she’d had to say the words I’m gay and have to worry about the reaction of the person she had said them to. The boys didn’t count, because they recognized her as the one who had truly raised them and they would have her back no matter what. Her mother hadn’t given her the chance to say those words, but she had always known she would react badly. She was unsure about how her father would react not after his behavior over recent years.
"Ok," Frank nodded his head stoically and paused before he said anything else. “As long as you’re treating her the way a lady should be treated you don’t have to worry about my reaction. I thought I made that clear to you, years ago when we had that hypothetical conversation about how I’d feel if it turned out that you liked girls the way you’re supposed to like boys.”
Jane let out a deep shuddering breath and she tried to fight back the tears she felt forming in her eyes. She could still remember having that talk with her dad when she was fifteen while they were working on her mom’s old car. She didn’t have to say a word he had just gone on and on about how she was his daughter and would always love and accept her no matter what. The only thing that mattered to him was that she behaved like he had taught her how to treat a lady. “Daddy,” she slipped into what she called him as a child.
"Come here,” Frank held his long arms open to his only daughter.
Jane didn’t hesitate to rush into her father’s arms and wrap her arms around him tightly.
“You’re my number one daughter, Janie.” Frank kissed the top of her head. “There is nothing you can say or do that will ever make me turn my back on you or make me stop loving you. I just ask that you treat that beautiful wife of yours with the love and respect that she deserves. I want you to know that the only way you could disappoint me is if you don’t treat the mother of my future grandchildren right. Don’t do to her what I did to your mother.”
"I promise that I will always treat her right, daddy. I love her too ?much to ever lose her.” She looked up at her father with nothing, but love in her eyes. This was the kind of parental affection that had been lacking from Angela.
He swiped his fist across her chin in a show of affection. “Janie, I’m so proud of you not just for making lieutenant, but also for finally deciding to live your truth and chase what makes you happy. I know that you’ve always wanted to please your mother, but don’t you worry about her now. I will handle her. You don’t deserve to face her wrath and disappointment alone. I always tried to shield you from that when you were growing up and I’m sorry if I fell down on the job. I should have made it clear to you years ago that you didn’t have to keep dating those men you had no interest in. You should have known you coulda come to me and I’d have made your mother get on board with who you are. I’m here now and I’ll help you handle this.”
Jane gave him the lopsided grin she’d inherited from him. “I love you, Pop, but you need to get out of here. However I will see you tonight at the Robber. We are having a little party to celebrate my promotion and you know announce our marriage to the office.” She had to take a moment to get her emotions back under control if she had any hope of getting anything at all done today.
“You know me, Slugger, I never pass up a good party. I’ll see you tonight. I’ll even swing by early and help set up just in case you get caught up here.” Frank took that as a sign to take his leave. He knew how his daughter detested showing her emotions in front of anyone.
Not long after Frank left Jane made her way into the bullpen and took a seat at her desk.
Reed stopped by her desk with a cup of coffee made just the way she liked it.
“Either you did something that will piss me off or you want something from me. I’m not in the mood to guess, so tell me which one it is.” Jane eyed the younger man suspiciously.
“I don’t have to want something from you to be nice to you, boss. As a matter of fact that cup of coffee is for the good of the squad. I know how your moods are when you’re under caffeinated.” Wyatt snarked at her.
Jane arched her eyebrow at him. “Go to your desk before I have a reason to kick your ass and Frankie’s ass, Reed.” She shot a warning at him.
Wyatt strode over to his desk and plopped down in his chair. “We are free to work on cold cases for now right?”
“Yeah, occupy yourselves so I don’t have to find something for you all to do.” Jane barked at him. “You didn’t have to bribe me with coffee to work on cold cases. That’s what you’re supposed to be doing if you don’t have a case to work on.” She shook her head to knock away the confusion that she felt. She didn’t pretend to understand Wyatt, he was an anomaly to her on a good day, but she liked him anyway. He was up to something and she didn’t yet know what that was. She booted up her computer and put his behavior out of her head. She had more important things to worry about than why he was up to right now. It wasn’t like he could get into much trouble looking over a cold case.
Wyatt shot the thumbs up sign to Frankie and Riley who had both just walked into the bullpen. The three of them were obviously up to something that they most likely shouldn’t be involved in. They were grownups that shouldn’t require constant supervision to make sure that they weren’t behaving like teenagers with guns and badges.
Frankie and Riley both returned the gesture with a quick nod of the head.
Jane looked up again just in time to catch the exchange between the three of them. She took a deep breath and held it in before she slowly let it it. “Whatever it is the three of you are up to, I hope it is worth the trouble it will cause.”
“Don’t worry, Lieu. I’ll keep the boys in line.” Riley reassured her.
That sentiment wasn’t very reassuring to Jane at all. The younger woman had shown her time and time again that she could be just as bad as the men were when it came to behaving. “If I’m counting on you to keep them in line then I am in serious trouble.” She made a show of rolling her eyes. “You three need to get to work and stay out of my hair. That means don’t get into any shenanigans that I will have to bail you out of.” She gave them a word of warning.
They had been working on paperwork for a few hours when Vince walked into the bullpen. He took a good hard look around at all the detectives working away. It felt like home to him. He had taken a few days to think over Jane’s offer for him to come back to the force. Now he was here to let her know what his answer was.
“Vince, you have no idea how happy I am to see you. I’ve been supervising these almost housebroken puppies all damn day.” Jane knew that her former partner was in the room just by the sound of his walk.
“From where I stand you have been doing a damn good job of it.” Vince observed after taking another look around the room. “I know that you don’t have any time for bullshit, so I won’t try to feed you any. I want back in.”
A huge smile made its way across Jane’s face. “I knew that you would see things that way. That’s why I kept your desk open for you.” She gestured at his empty desk to prove her point.
“I figure that Angela can handle the bar for us and I can sneak in a few more years of being a cop.” Vince replied. His divorce from Kiki had made it necessary for him to sell half of the Robber to Jane so he wouldn’t lose it in court. Angela had been installed as the other co-owner, but he didn’t know how that work now that the woman was at odds with her daughter .
“I agree. Ma can keep running the bar anyway that she sees fit to while we do the job that we were meant to do.” Jane was quick to agree with him. The money to buy the other half of the bar had come from Maura. Jane had been able to pay that back quickly with the money the Robber brought in. She never for one minute wanted her wife to think that she was only with her for her money.
“I don’t know how long I’m back for. I just know that coming back to work is the best thing for me right now.” Vince admitted.
“You’re back long enough to help me get these puppies fully housebroken. Then we will go from there. I know that Ma isn’t my biggest fan right now, but I know she would never do anything to drive the robber into the ground she loves the place too much.” Jane gave her old partner a reassuring smile.
Vince stuck his hand out. “I can agree to that for now.”
Jane shook his hand enthusiastically. “Welcome back, Partner.”
“It’s good to be back, Boss.” Vince had twinkle of pride in his eye. He had basically raised Jane from the rookie detective who had came to him into the seasoned leader she was now.
“That’ll be enough of that. I’ll expect your ass parked at your desk first thing on Monday.” Jane plowed on before he could say anything too sentimental. She already expended her monthly allotment for emotions with her father earlier that day.
“Hey, Ange, where do you want me to hang the banner?” True to his word Frank had shown up to the Robber early to help get things set up. He was in the banquet room putting up decoration for the party.
“I don’t care, Frank. Put it wherever you want it.” Angela snarked at him. She knew that she needed to celebrate her daughter, but it was hard to do when Jane had gone back to the job that worried her mother so much.
Frank hung up the banner and looked at it to make sure it was up straight. “Have you even told her that you’re proud of her, Ange? She is our only daughter and she’s worked her ass off for this. And she is finally settled down and gotten married. That is something we both thought would never happen for Janie. Are you really upset with the situation or are you upset you didn’t get your way?” It was apparent that he was trying hard to rectify the mistakes he had made with his children by up and running away on them.
“It it too much to ask that she be a normal girl for a change? She’s always had to do things her way what anyone else thinks or wants be damned. She’s been that way since the moment she was born. All I wanted was for her to find a nice man and settle down and hopefully put police work behind her.” Angela was actually pouting.
"Jane is who Jane is. There was never gonna be any changing her. If her having a wife comes as a shock to you, it shouldn’t. I’ve known since she was about six years old that she was a lesbian. I think you knew too, you just turned a blind eye to it, because you didn’t want to see it. You wanted her to be the perfect daughter that you had envisioned in your mind and when she didn’t meet up to your standards you took your disappointment out on her.” Frank felt the need to make his feelings known for once. He had done wrong by his family at the end of his marriage, but he had done his best to be present before things had gone south. He knew that he had failed Jane by never stepping in when Angela decided to take her ire out on their only daughter.
Angela scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Of course, you would say that you are always on her side no matter what ridiculous thing she does. You had your two sons, you didn’t have to take the daughter I should have had from me too. Janie always preferred you to me. She’d rather hang out with you fixing other peoples plumbing or going to ballgames than spend time with me having tea parties or playing with dolls.” She let her true feelings on the matter out in full force. While she was making her feelings known was going to say the things she’d been holding back for years.
"And there it is." Frank said with a knowing look on his face. They'd finally gotten to the heart of what Angela’s problem was.
"What does that even mean? There it is?" Angela had a scowl on her face that looked like it would turn deadly at any moment.
“Your real problem with who Janie is as a person. You didn’t get the daughter you’d always dreamed you’d have and you’ve let her know that every day of her life. Why do you think she didn’t come out to us as a teenager and put herself through the misery of dating men she didn’t want to be with? It was to make you happy. She thought if she was her true self with you then you wouldn’t love her or want her as a daughter anymore. She made herself miserable to appease you and make it up to you for not being the daughter you wanted. Our daughter is a hero and you’ve never once told her that you were proud of her without first telling her how upset she made you by becoming a cop in the first place.” Frank really let her have it. It was time that she learned that hard truth about herself. She was a great mother to their sons, but she had failed their daughter on more than one occasion.
“That is ridiculous, Frank. There is nothing that she could do to make me stop loving her.” Angela argued.
Frank arched his eyebrow almost like it was a challenge. “I’m pretty sure that’s not how it feels to her right now. She told you that she finally got married like you always wanted her to and so far you have done everything that you can to undermine that. If you were truly supportive of her no matter what you would have accepted her marriage with open arms. There was no way in this world that you were ever gonna be happy having our Jane for a daughter, but just this once you could have put her feelings ahead of yours. If that’s not enough for you then think of it this way, every major relationship she’s ever had she has probably kept all the details from you. You put yourself on the outside of her life and then you get mad when she doesn’t tell you everything like you think she should. You have proven to her over and over again that she can’t trust you to have her back when she is in a tough situation.”
"What are you saying, Frank?” Angela sank down in to an empty chair. “Are you calling me a bad mother?” That was the greatest insult that anyone could give to an Italian mother. If you called her a bad mother, then her life was for naught.
He rand his hands through his hair and started pacing agitatedly. “Jesus Christ, Ange, I’m not callin’ you a bad mother. That is the one thing I could never say about you. I’m just sayin’ that you have never exactly been fair to Janie. You’ve never met her where she’s at, you’ve only expected her to live up to the version of her that you have in your head.”
“That’s not true at all.” She tried her best to argue with her ex-husband.
Frank took a moment to calm himself down before he spoke and said something that he would really regret later. "Look at it this way. You were willing to throw a whole welcome home party complete with decorations to your specifications for our ex-con son, but you don’t even give a damn where we hang the congratulations banner for our newly promoted decorated hero cop daughter.”
Frank stared at his ex-wife for a moment and ran his hand through is hair to collect his thoughts.
Angela’s mouth flopped open and closed a few times like a fish struggling to breathe outside of the water. She had words that she wanted to say in her own defense, but she couldn’t get them to come out. Everything that came to mind would just sound like an excuse at this point. There was really nothing she could say to justify the way she’d treated her only daughter. Hearing her former husband put it to her in words the way he just has, had left her momentarily speechless. “Damn you, Frank Rizzoli. It doesn’t happen often, but I hate it when you say things in a way that leaves me with no argument.” She fumed at the fact that he was right and there was no way she could defend herself.
“Ange, you really need to think long and hard if this is the hill you wanna die on. Do you wanna push away our daughter and risk not being involved in the lives of our future grandchildren from her?” Frank had to get in the last word on this one to try to fix this for his daughter like he’d promised he would. He went back to decorating without saying another word.
Jane leaned against the doorjamb to Maura’s office and watched her wife as she worked. Staring at her she couldn’t believe that not only were they finally together, but they were also about to start a family as well. This was everything she’d dreamed of since the moment she had met Maura, even if she wouldn’t let herself admit it at the time. She was beyond happy that she had finally pulled her head out of her ass and gotten the balls to tell the doctor exactly how she felt about her.
“I know that you’re watching me, Jane. I can feel your presence every time you step into the basement.” Maura looked up from the computer screen and flashed her wife a dazzling smile.
Jane smiled back at her. “I came to get you. It’s time to head over to the Robber for my promotion party. It wouldn’t do for the guest of honor to be late.” Her voice was laced with thinly veiled sarcasm.
“You came down at the right time. I just finished up the last of my paperwork for the day. I would love nothing more than to go celebrate my wife at the bar she co-owns with her former partner.” Maura retorted. She had supported Jane’s choice to use her FBI signing bonus to buy out Kiki’s half of the Robber when she divorced Vince. And she had insisted on pitching in money to make what she thought of as needed upgrades to the bar. She stood up from her desk and grabbed her purse.
Jane walked over to her wife lazily and threw her arm around her shoulders. “Let’s get outta here, beautiful. I need to feed you and Junior before I start drinking with the guys. Besides the sooner we get that out of the way the sooner we can announce our marriage to the whole unit.” She let her hand wander down the smaller woman’s back before resting her hand in the small of her back. It was how she gently guided her wife where they were going. She had been doing it for years. She had been doing it even before they got together.
"Ma,” Tommy spoke loudly to get his mother’s attention. “Before Janie and Maura get here I just wanted to make sure that you are gonna be cool tonight. This is Jane’s night to celebrate her well deserved promotion. You might not like it, but you can behave for one night. I’m begging you, ‘cause I owe Janie that much at least. She hasn’t always agreed with my choices, but she has always done her best to support me.” He hadn’t really expressed his thoughts to his mother about her reaction to Jane being married to Maura yet.
Angela turned to glare at her youngest child. “I’m not some child that you need to keep in line, Tommy. I know how to behave. I would never do anything to ruin this night for your sister. Especially not here, I mean Jane is my boss just as much as Vince is and I would be stupid to cause a scene here. She is my daughter and I don’t want to embarrass her, even if I don’t agree with her choices at the moment and I don’t like that she has gone back to the job that has already cost her so much.”
Tommy took in his mother’s posture and he could see that she was just about at the point of giving up. He just needed to say some things that pushed the scales the way that he wanted them to go. “If you don’t make peace with the fact that Jane has found her future with Maura and that she is the love of Janie’s life then you will lose me. I don’t want TJ being around your bigoted bullshit. I want him to love both his aunts without any reservations.”
"You can't be serious right now, Thomas. I would never say anything like that in front of my grandson. Your brother already said that I would lose him if I don’t accept Janie’s choices, I don’t need you adding yourself and my grandson on the list of people I will lose.” Angela grabbed her chest at if she was in pain.
Tommy gave his mother what could only be described as a pitiful look. “Then don’t lose us. Accept Janie for who she is and be a good example for TJ and any grandchildren that Jane and Maura may give you in the future. I mean I can’t imagine Janie and Maura letting you around their kids if you have a problem with their mothers.” He knew how to hit his mother where it really hurt to make her think about how her actions would effect her standing as a grandmother. That seemed to be the only thing she’d cared about since the moment her children had became teenagers and no longer needed her the way that a baby or a small child would. He didn’t say anything else, he knew that bold statement was enough to make his mother think about what she was doing.
Jane and Maura showed up at the Robber not long after Tommy had his talk with Angela. “I see that when I said to keep things low key no one was listening to a word I said.” Jane observed sarcastically. She couldn’t let her family know how touched she was over the gesture.
“Jane, be nice.” Maura scolded her wife playfully. “You’ve earned this let the people who love you be proud and celebrate you.”
Jane let out a playful huff. “Fine, I won’t complain too much.” She grumbled.
“Well, would you look at that? I never thought I’d see the day that my Janie would back down that easily.” Frank walked up to the pair. He handed a beer to Jane and a glass of wine to Maura. “You keep her in line well sweetheart.” He flashed a huge smile.
“Pop, don’t start.” Jane mock glared at him.
“You hush; I’m talking to my beautiful brilliant new daughter-in-law.” Frank turned his back on Jane and gave Maura a hug. “Welcome to the family. You class all of us up a little bit.”
Maura felt her eyes fill with tears. “Thank you, Frank. That means a lot to me.” She hadn’t realized how much she needed his warm welcome until he’d given it to her. This was the welcome that she had expected from Angela, but so far the older woman was barely speaking to her.
Jane blinked her eyes rapidly to keep the tears at bay. She would have never in her wildest dreams thought that her father would have been the one to accept her marriage with open arms. “That means a lot, Pop.”
“I told you that you’re my number one daughter I’m always gonna have your back.” Frank reassured her once again.
Angela watched her ex-husband interact with Jane and Maura with a thunderous look on her face. She couldn’t understand how he could be so accepting of this lifestyle for their only daughter, but at the same time she couldn’t remember the last time Jane had looked so happy. She’d certainly never lit up for any man the way she lit up for Maura nor had she ever seen Jane look at any boyfriend the way she looked at Maura. Maybe just maybe this wasn’t the bad thing that Angela thought it was.
Once everyone who mattered had gathered in the back room of the Robber Jane stood up and clinked a spoon against her beer bottle. “Listen up, everyone, I need your attention for just a minute.” Jane got the attention of the room. “I’m so happy that you all came out to celebrate my promotion that means I get to share with all of you the news that I have been keeping to myself.” She gripped Maura’s left hand tightly in her right hand and raised them up. “Maura and I are married now. I pretty sure all of you think that it is about time. We made it official six months ago and couldn’t be happier to finally be in on the secret.” She raised her glass after she’d made the announcement.
"Way to go, Rizzoli! We all figured out a long time ago that the Queen of the Dead was your girl.” Det. Chris Roberts of the homicide division cheered loudly.
"Thank you so much, detective.” Maura expressed their gratitude with a warm smile. She was more than comfortable speaking for her and Jane. She even let her hated nickname go. She knew that as long as she was a part of the Rizzoli family she would never be the Queen of the Dead ever again.
Vince threw an arm around Jane’s shoulders. “I know that you said that she was your girl, Janie, but I didn’t know that meant you had married her. I couldn’t be any happier for you right now if I tried. She is what I have always wanted for you since I figured out that you would rather be with a woman than a man.” He dropped his voice so only Jane could hear what he had to say.
“Thanks, Vince,” Jane reached up and gripped the hand that he had on her shoulder. “That woman is my forever and I’m glad that you’re treating her as such.”
"I haven’t known you as long as the rest of the people in this room have and I know that you two were made for each other. If it is that obvious to me than it has been more than obvious to the rest of the people that know you.” Wyatt couldn’t help adding in his two cents on the matter.
Frankie raised up his beer. “To Jane and Maura, may the two of you have a long and happy life together.”
“To Jane and Maura.” The rest of the people in the room toasted to the couple that they all knew should have been a couple long before now.
Rafael Martinez walked over to the group that had gathered around Jane and Maura. “So, Rizzoli, when is your official swearing in ceremony?” He inquired of Jane.
“A week from now, Martinez. They are having their fancy pants ceremony in a week and we will all have to behave live we know how to act.” Jane teased her former partner.
Sundays were always reserved for Rizzoli family dinners. This particular Sunday was even more special. Jane and Maura were going to announce their big news to the rest of the family. They had waited long enough to make sure that they were in the safe zone before they let anyone else know that they were having a baby. Jane and Maura had invited Wyatt to join the rest of the family.
Angela slipped into the kitchen from the guest house. She found her daughter standing at the counter standing behind her wife with her arms around her waist. “Janie, I was hoping that I could talk to you outside for a minute.” She broached the subject carefully. She knew that she had no right to ask anything of her daughter after the way she had treated her.
Maura gave her wife a look that said she should give her mother a chance to talk.
“Sure, Ma,” Jane shrugged her shoulders before she walked out the back door with her mother. “Say what you have to say, Ma.” She wanted to get this over with as soon as possible so she could have a good time at family dinner.
"Teresa Colombo,” Angela said to start the conversation.
Jane knitted her eyebrows together in confusion. “What are you talking about, Ma?”
“The first girl that I know you had a crush on, but didn’t tell me. She acted like she liked you the same way that you liked her. I wanted burn her life to the ground when she stopped spending time with you to be with some boy. I always knew who you were, Janie, I just never wanted to admit that to myself. It has been brought to my attention recently that by holding on so rigidly to the life I wanted you to have that I may have missed parts of the life that you were actually leading. You couldn’t be honest with me about who you really are so I missed the first heartbreak that mattered, I missed you falling in love for the first time, I missed you realizing that you had found the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with. I may have been there, but I didn’t know all the details the way that I should have if I wasn’t so busy forcing you to be a version of yourself that doesn’t exist outside my mind.” Angela let herself go deep and get vulnerable in that statement in a way she had never shown to her daughter before.
“Ma, I don’t know what to say to that.” Jane admitted. Her mother wasn’t making an apology, but she was showing her that she had always seen her for who she was.
Angela took a chance and put and gentle hand on Jane’s shoulder. “Gina Manginelli I’m pretty sure that she was your first real girlfriend before she left you looking like a fool for some popular boy. I wanted to expose that girl to the neighborhood, but I couldn’t do that without outing you as well. I was half way tempted to find some Zia to put a curse on her.”
"I almost found a Zia to curse her. I was so hurt at the time I don’t think that I would have cared about being outted.” Jane retorted with a loud scoff.
Angela leaned her head against her daughter’s. “When Sophia Tortelli broke your heart I wouldn’t have cared about outing you if it meant causing that girl a world of hurt. I denied you having my comfort through all of that because I was so set on the version of your life that I had dreamed up for you. I will say that I knew the minute you brought Maura home she was your forever I just didn’t want to ever have to admit that. It’s why I pushed so hard for you to be with Charles even though I knew you deserved better than someone who would treat you the way that he did. That being said I have never seen you light up for another partner the way that you light up for Maura. I know that she is you forever and I can admit that now. I was wrong to say all the things I said to you and I was wrong for ever putting my hands on you. I’m not gonna say sorry now and you don’t have to forgive me, now, but the words needed to be said.” She could finally admit that She was wrong to hold Jane’s happiness against her.
Jane reached over and gripped her mother’s free hand. “I appreciate that you see it that way, Ma. I’m not ready to hear you say I’m sorry or forgive you yet. For right now you saying you were wrong is enough for me. We should get inside and make sure that the boys don’t tear the house apart and I’m sure that Maura needs your help in the kitchen.” She looped her arm through her mother’s and led them back to the house. “Be glad that you didn’t have a front row seat to my ex-girlfriends those relationships all ended messily. One of them went down in flames because she cheated on me with Tommy.” She felt ok enough to trust her mother with that information. She led them through the back door. “You should take over the kitchen. The sooner you get dinner on the table the sooner we can tell you what we wanted you all here for.”
Food was piled on the table waiting for the people gathered around it to start making plates. Jane stood up before anyone could make a move to start eating. She was going to keep this statement brief and then let everyone else get on with their meal. “Before we eat I just wanted to share a bit of news with all of you. Maura is pregnant and we are gonna have a baby soon.” She didn’t bother going into detail, her statement spoke for itself.
Frank jumped up first. “Janie, I’m so damn happy for you. You’re gonna make your old man proud with this kid.” He hugged his daughter fiercely and kissed her cheek.
“You really think so, Pop?” Jane asked him.
“I know so, kid. You’re gonna be the kind of dad I was only you’re gonna follow through into adulthood.” Frank replied with a huge grin on his face. He didn’t find anything wrong with telling his daughter that she was going to be the dad he always wished he could be.
Tommy leapt out of his seat and clapped his hands. “I’m gonna be an uncle! I can’t wait to meet this kid.” He pumped his fist triumphantly.
Frankie went to Maura and he kissed her cheek soundly. “You are the only person who was woman enough to make my sister settle down and have a kid finally. I’m so glad that you’re the one she is taking that step with. You are perfect for her.” He let his emotions all out at once. There was no need for him to hold back if he didn’t have to.
“Frankie, I wouldn’t have a baby with anyone, but Jane. I didn’t settle her or tame her, I just made her see that there was a way for her to be who she is and have the family she wants.” Maura corrected her brother-in-law. It was never her goal to have Jane under her thumb, she just wanted her love to be safe and have the life that she wanted without any undue influence from anyone else. She knew Jane better than anyone else could hope to be able to. The same thing worked in the opposite way when it came to the way that Jane handled the doctor. Maura didn’t control Jane, but she was able to temper her worst impulses before they really got her in trouble.
“This can’t even be seen as you two moving too quickly given the fact that you two have basically been dating for seven years. Some would say that you waited too long to take this step.” Vince commented. He was happy to see that the partner he had raised from a young detective was finally getting her happy ending. He believed in that for her even if it would never happen for him.
Jane slapped him on the back in a show of affection. “You better get in shape, Grandpa. This kid is gonna need you to be on your toes.” Her mentor had earned that honorific title and she wouldn’t hear any arguments about it. “Junior is counting on you to be there for him.”
Vince's eyes were shining with unshed tears. "You really mean for me to be this kid’s grandpa?” He gushed.
“Of course, you are this kid’s grandpa. You raised me as a detective that makes you my dad of sorts. You gave me Jo Friday and you made into the best detective that I can be. I need you here to help shape my kid.” Jane said like it was no big deal. She had just worked Vince into the family as a grandparent to her unborn child.
Angela threw her arms around her daughter’s neck. “Janie, I can’t believe that you are finally giving me a grandbaby.” She didn’t care how this baby had came into being or who it was genetically related to, this was her newest grandchild. She was so glad that she had given her version of an apology earlier.
Jane laughed lightheartedly. “Ok, Ma, I know that you are excited, but let me breathe. I won’t be here to raise your grandchild if you strangle me.”
“I can’t help it, I’m just so happy.” Tears of joy streamed down Angela’s face. “We are gonna have another baby Rizzoli.” She said like that explained her reaction.
“I’m finally gonna be an uncle!” Tommy exclaimed excitedly. He had to share that sentiment again to show how happy he was to be an uncle.
“And I’m gonna be an uncle again!” Frankie chimed in again. He wasn’t going to pretend like he wasn’t just as excited to have a niece or nephew from Jane as he was to have one from Tommy.
Maura smiled at them warmly. “And I know that you will be the best uncles that ever lived.” She told them. She shot a look at Jane. She could tell that there had been a shift with Angela, because
her wife’s shoulders seemed lighter and not like they were held down by the weight of the world anymore.
“Don’t give those two bigger heads than they already have right now. Their egos are bigger than normal peoples’ anyway. They don’t need compliments to make them even worse.” Jane couldn’t help teasing her brothers. They needed that to keep them humble.