Speaking a Dead Language (7/?)
Title: Speaking a Dead Language (7/?)
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles
Summary: "Taking a deep breath, Maura made herself stand still, just waiting."
Disclaimer: We don't own Rizzoli & Isles, this is not a part of the Jai Chronicles. Warning of domestic violence!
Maura ran her hands over the side of her dress again, nervous as she stood outside of the Rizzoli home. She hadn’t even spoken to either Frank Sr. or Angela since returning to the city three months ago. For a moment, she wondered if she should just leave, but Nicholas grabbed her hand, looking up at her. He was as quiet as ever, holding his cop car tightly in his hand and dressed in his best casual clothes.
Taking a deep breath, Maura made herself stand still, just waiting.
“Look at you! Frank look at her!” Angela Rizzoli very nearly threw the door open to greet Maura and Nicholas. And if it hadn’t been for Frank’s steadying hand on her shoulder, she might have thrown herself at them. When Jane had told her mother that Maura was coming to dinner Angela was ecstatic. It didn’t matter that it had been five years, they were just happy to see the woman who was their daughter’s best friend and one-time girlfriend, because mothers knew everything after all.
“I can see her just fine, I’m not blind Angie.”
The smile that lit up Maura’s face was almost instant, even though she was still a little nervous. She had missed coming over here for dinner almost weekly. Even before she was Jane’s girlfriend she had been included as apart of the family and she had always loved Angela and Frank for that.
“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Rizzoli,” she stated after a moment. She wasn’t going to be presumptuous enough to think that after all of this time she could just call them Frank and Angela again. She looked down, feeling Nicholas tug her hand as he stepped closer to her. The medical examiner pulled her hand from his and ran her fingers through his hair instead. It was something that usually soothed some of his nerves, and it helped hers as well.
“Don’t be so formal, Maura. Its Angela and Frank, like always. Frank, go get the box,” Angie instructed and as her husband shuffled away the Rizzoli matriarch explained. “Janie called and told us how much your son loves police cars, so I had Frank go get a box of old toys from the attic for him to play with.” Despite how much Angela plied a young Jane with dolls her daughter was much more interested in cars and blocks, like her younger brothers.
“Frankie, go help you father and stop eating my raviolis before I put them on the table!” Angela admonished when she heard her son in the kitchen. Frankie smiled sheepishly as he walked out of the kitchen and followed his dad up the stairs.
“Thank you, Angela,” Maura stated with a soft smile on her face, looking down to catch the reaction of the boy at her side. Nicholas eyes lit up at the name Janie, which he equated with Jane immediately. When he heard the words ‘police cars’ though, he became even more excited and looked up Angela Rizzoli with the same breathtaking smile of awe he had given the brunette detective when she offered up her badge.
Usually, she had to push him into talking to someone he wasn’t familiar with, and even then it wasn’t always assured that he would say anything. Still, she couldn’t hide her slight surprise when he gripped his cop car tighter and stepped away from her side.
Looking up at Angela Rizzoli, Nicholas smiled gently at her, introducing himself. “I’m Nicholas,” he offered, holding out his hand, the one that wasn’t holding his cop car.
“Its very nice to meet you, Nicholas. He’s precious, Maura,” Angela exclaimed, making a huge fuss about a very little boy.
“Here we go, let’s see what we got,” Frank said as he set down his box. The first item out of the box was a worn and much abused police car the size of a small shoebox, the paint was worn in places and one of the windows had fallen out but all four wheels were still attached. “And we were surprised that Janie wanted to be a cop?”
Moving to the next box Frank cuffed his son lightly, asking, “How old are you?” Frankie immediately put down the action figure he’d taken from the second box.
“Thank you,” Nicholas replied with a smile, his body relaxing. Maura watched Nicholas take the attention in stride, feeling herself relax when he didn’t seem too nervous. Instead, he turned his attention to Frank Sr, smiling at the police car the older man was holding in his hand. He waited before taking a tentative step toward the box of toys, excited and in awe. The only one who ever got him anything was Maura.
“He’s special,” Maura stated softly, watching him with a look on her face that was nothing but pure love. She adored Nicholas so much.
Frank handed Nicholas the car with a smile. “Take it for a spin, why don’tcha.” Seeing a little kid playing with his children’s toys and a few of his own, some of the older cars belonged to Frank when he was growing up, made him feel nostalgic.
“They always are, I had three of them myself. Little angels, all of them. God only knows how they grew up so different,” Angela mused. When it looked as though Frankie wanted to defend himself he stopped dead in his tracks with a single look from his mother. “Frankie, go take the garlic bread out of the oven and turn off the stove so we can eat soon.”
Nicholas smiled at Frank, taking the car carefully. He looked back at Maura to make sure that it was okay. As soon as she nodded her head, he turned his attention back to the car and Frank. Remembering the exchange with Jane still, he held out his smaller car. "You can see it if you want to." he offered.
Maura watched it all with a gentle look on her face, relaxed. "He really likes Jane." she stated after a moment. It was the only thing she could think to say.
“Thanks.” Sitting on the floor with Nicholas, Frank wheeled the littler car along the floor as he smiled at the little boy.
Watching her husband play on the floor made Angela smile. “And she loves him. Janie doesn’t usually like kids but she loves your boy.” And with some unknown signal the older woman knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that dinner was ready. “Frank, its time for dinner,” she announced, ushering Maura to the dining room.
Looking at Nicholas speculatively Frank whispered to the little boy, “You can sit next to me,” as if it were a secret of national importance.
Nicholas glanced over at Maura, nervous for just a moment. When she smiled at him and nodded, however, the little boy relaxed and smiled at Frank, nodding his head in return. For the blonde woman, it all felt a little surreal. Nicholas never took to people this easily, but he seemed to have fallen in love with the Rizzoli clan as a whole. It made her both extremely happy and somewhat sad at the same time.
Taking a seat across from Frankie Jr, Maura bowed her head and closed her eyes as Frank said the prayer. As soon as he was finished, they all started to eat almost immediately. Angela Rizzoli always made the best home cooked meals, and the medical examiner had missed that. Glancing around, it took her a moment to realize that Jane really wasn’t there, which surprised her.
“Jane really isn’t coming?” she asked after a moment.
Fork halfway to his mouth Frankie explained his sister’s absence. “She never comes on Wednesdays. She has a meeting at six so she doesn’t want to leave dinner early or come way late. So she ends up missing ravioli a lot, and it’s one of her favorites. Seriously, there are other AA meetings in Boston,” he said, popping the ravioli in to his mouth.
“Francis Joseph Rizzoli! What have I told you about talking about other people’s business? Especially your sister! Frank!” Angela turned to her husband for backup.
Frankie opened his mouth to defend himself but Frank shook his head. “Quit while you’re ahead, son.”
At the mention of AA meetings, Maura almost dropped her fork. Instead, she tightened her grip around it and fell silent, uncertain of what to say. Since coming back to Boston, a small part of her had still been afraid of Jane. Still worried about her, too. After that night, for the first time since knowing her, the medical examiner had been afraid of her girlfriend and she didn’t like that feeling. However, it wasn’t something that she could just come out and discuss right here. As far as she knew, no one but Frost even had an idea of why she had just left.
Not that it really mattered anymore.
Instead of asking more questions, she went back to eating her ravioli silently.
Nicholas, on the other hand, was almost done with his small portion of food already. He wasn’t the type to eat a lot, and he always ate fast so he could leave the table when they were home. Since they weren’t home, however, when he finished eating he put his fork on his plate and sat quietly in his chair, fiddling with his cop car under the table.
They finished eating, but it wasn’t silence and instead was superficial prattle. But Frankie knew he was getting a dressing down when his mother told him to come in to the kitchen and help her wash the dishes. It wasn’t common knowledge, what he’d talked about, but the family knew and so did Frost and Korsak. Nobody had the whole story but you didn’t ask about it or talk about it unless Jane gave the go ahead.
“Let’s go sit in the living room, see what other toys we got in that box,” Frank suggested, watching Angela and Frankie clean up. Angela handled discipline and Frank was willing to let her have that control.
Nicholas nodded his head, moving to follow Frank almost immediately. He sensed the slight tension in the room and he wanted to be away from it all. Watching them leave, Maura hesitated only a moment before she followed them into the living room. She made herself comfortable in one of the chairs, watching as Nicholas dug through the box to find more cop-related items, but smiling nonetheless when he came up with a well used fire truck instead.
The medical examiner watched them for a few minutes in silence, glad to let Nicholas enjoy himself while he had the chance. She felt the need to say something and the words managed to make it out of her mouth before she could stop them.
“I didn’t know,” she all but whispered, keeping her eyes trained on Nicholas.
“You know Jane, she doesn’t talk about it. Doesn’t like other people talking about it much, either,” Frank said with a shrug as he sat down in his chair. His daughter was stubborn and didn’t tell anyone what she was doing, just stopped showing up for dinners on Wednesday nights. He’d been surprised that his wife had waited a month before asking Jane what was going on. When she’d told them Frank hadn’t said it but he was proud of her for trying. Tommy hadn’t started trying to turn his life around until his third stint in jail.
Watching the little boy play Frank volunteered a piece of advice. “You could ask her. She wouldn’t get mad at you. Just don’t tell her Frankie told’ya.” He knew how Jane would react and it would be worse than anything Angela would do to Frankie.
“… maybe…” she whispered after a moment. Maura would have no idea how to bring that up without wondering if she would get hurt all over again. She didn’t talk about it. Not to anyone. It was hard not being able to get if off her chest, but unloading on Jane wasn’t the way to go. Not this time. Who did you talk to when you couldn’t even say anything to your best friend?
Before she could ask Frank, though, the familiar ring tone of ‘Don’t Panic’ by Coldplay filled the room and she reached into her purse to silence the call almost immediately. Nicholas looked up from his place on the floor, a frown on his three-year-old face.
“We have to go?” he asked, even though he already knew the answer. Maura just nodded, standing up offering a smile to the elder Rizzoli. Nicholas was quick to get up as well, grabbing his cop car as he made his way over to the medical examiner.
“Thank you for having us,” he said before Maura could. Nicholas turned around to look at Frank, offering up the same smile that had captured Jane’s heart.
“Your decision,” Frank said with a shrug. He used the sense the good Lord gave him and stayed quiet. He was a simple man with a simple job, but he called ‘em as he saw ‘em. He’d offer advice and if you didn’t take it that was up to you.
Standing up Frank hollered in to the kitchen, “Angie, Frankie! Come on out here, Maura’s gotta leave.” Kneeling down on the floor next to Nicholas, Frank handed the boy the battered old cop car. “This used’ta be Jane’s but I don’t think she’d mind me giving it to you.”
Angela came out of the kitchen looking sad. “You really have to go?” she prodded. “Well don’t be a stranger, you’re welcome any time you want to come over.”
Nicholas smiled at Frank, taking the toy with all the car in the world. “Thank you,” he whispered softly, holding onto it tightly as he stood beside Maura who was hugging Angela goodbye.
“Thank you. We’ll make sure to come by often,” she offered with a smile. Nicholas liked it here, and the truth was that she did too. She always had. Making sure she had her purse, Maura offered one last smile before taking her son’s hand and leaving the house.