Disclaimer: I do not own Rizzoli and Isles. Those rights belong to TNT, Tess Gerrtisen, and Janet Tamaro and probably more people.
There are elbows on her table and she doesn't give one whit. It's loud and everyone is talking all at once. They're talking around full mouths and Korsak is actually slurping his wine. But she doesn't care. It's Sunday dinner and Angela has once again prepared more food than they could possibly eat at one sitting. Angela, as the matriarch of their little family, is sitting at the head of the table badgering Jane about when she was going to make an honest woman of Maura. Jane groans then winks at Maura at the end of an extended eye roll. Frankie had his arm slung over the back of Frost's chair and was whispering to him about something. At the end of the table, Korsak had Tommy and Lydia enthralled with a story from when he was a rookie on the force. Tommy bumps Frost as he laughs at the story of Korsak literally being caught with his pants down. Frost looks away from Frankie a slight blush on his face and joins in on the ribbing that Korsak is receiving. Angela looks to the left and slaps Frankie's hand from grabbing yet another cannoli. Jane takes this opportunity to grab another one for herself.
Maura still isn't used to this. She still isn't used to this feeling that she only got when at the dinner table with the Rizzoli's. Growing up, if they had family dinners in the Isles household it was always a quiet and decorous affair. Only the polite chitchat of the upper crust filled the table, nothing revealing or personal, just the polite social veneer that is expected. And even now, in a very informal setting Maura still reverts back to old habits; only speaking when spoken to, napkin neatly folded on her lap, the proper silverware for the proper dish and a perfectly paired wine. At these dinners, she retreats into her shell. An observer. A cultural anthropologist. But she is no longer the "outsider," she has become an "insider" some may say she's "gone native." At these dinners, she likes to watch and listen. Within her bubbles up this euphoric feeling of happiness and peace. This is her family. She does not feel the almost compulsive need to throw in a random fact about cannoli or explain the exact angle at which Korsak should have attempted to jump that fence so many years ago. No; she just sits there quietly soaking it in, absorbing all the warmth and belongingness and peace that comes with just enjoying her family.
Jane has noticed that Maura has been quiet throughout dinner. She places a hand on Maura's thigh and leans over to her lover. Warm breath tickles Maura's ear and neck as Jane places a small kiss just to the front of her ear, just before the tragus. "I love you." She whispers, placing her forehead against the side of Maura's head. All this punctuated with a small squeeze to Maura's thigh. Maura turns her head towards Jane and reciprocates with a small peck to the lips. She looks into Jane's eyes and sees all the love there for her and she knows. She knows that if she believed in Heaven, this is exactly what it would be like. It would be an eternity of Sunday dinners with the family she loves.
So, short little piece because. This popped into my head because being from the South family is very important to me (this is clearly not exclusive to the South and not everyone here is as family oriented as my particular family is), in fact all I wanted this year for my birthday was a family dinner with all of my siblings and their respective spouses. And I was thinking of that dinner and how even though I am normally outspoken and honestly tend to dominate conversations, I sat there and just took in everything. I feel like this is how Maura would be, she seems the type who would be very reflective of her emotions and would take the opportunity to just revel in the moment. In something that she has always longed for and refuses to take for granted now that she has it. I wanted to name this 'Last Supper' because I kept thinking of that painting while I wrote this but that tends to have negative connotations. But if you look at the picture Jesus is sitting contently in the middle of his disciples while they all talk and take part in the meal. So instead of 'Last Supper' I decided to go with another iconic image of Rockwell's Freedom from Want. Maura, financially, has everything she could want but the Rizzoli family (and subsequently their dinners) is the only thing that has truly made her 'free from want.' Wow, sorry, that turned into a miniature review of my own work. Embarrassing. Anyway, if you want to leave a review please feel free to do so.