A/N

Thank you for reading.

To clarify timeline - cafe scenes etc in present, football scenes in future.

Flashbacks are here and there. Will all eventually meet.

This is a short chapter to tide you over.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything from Rizzoli & Isles. Mistakes are however all mine.

Every Sunday is Rizzoli family dinner and for years it has followed the same formula; we get up and go to Mass, go home and Ma would spend hours making dinner whilst me and my two brothers Frankie and Tommy would join our Pa in front of the TV for Sunday football. It was an age-old tradition that served our family well. But recently the dynamic changed, and not necessarily for the better.

Mass was still a non-negotiable but afterwards Pa has started to make excuses and miss out on family dinner. Always citing work as the reason, that he needed more shifts.

"Who else is going to pay for all of these kids?" he says one day as he grabs the keys to his van.

"I know honey, but can't one of the other boys take it? I made your favourite gnocchi for dinner" my Ma says in his direction, a clear sense of hope in her voice. All she gets is a grumble and a half-hearted goodbye as my Pa leaves and closes the door behind him.

I cast my eyes from the TV to the kitchen where my Ma is standing, a hand on her hip and leaning against the kitchen counter, looking out towards the door. I catch a glimpse of her eyes misting up just for a split second but then almost instantly I see her shake it off as if if she was in trance and then re-assert herself back to the present.

"Are you okay, Ma?" I ask tentatively, approaching her slowly, scared to startle her too much.

"Of course, Jane" she replies. "Your father just has just gone to work to sort something out. He says he's sorry for missing out on dinner." I nod in return, accepting my Ma's version of events, not giving away the fact that I noticed my Pa has left his tool belt in the front hallway and he completed his last job just the other day.

I've noticed a strain in my parents relationship for the past few months, ever since my Pa started a job at the other side of the town. He was working for a young woman who needed a full rework of her plumbing in her house, therefore he was spending a lot of time away from home. He says it was good money so he wanted to do a good job. But recently he has been acting strange - he barely pays any of us any attention and is constantly in a bad mood around us, moaning about the smallest of things. Even Tommy, his usual favourite was feeling the change.

"Where's Pa?" Tommy asks as he enters the kitchen, Frankie close behind him. The two boys look between myself and Ma and realise that they must have walked in on something. "Your father…" my Ma starts but is stopped by the crack in her voice.

"Pa has just gone back out to grab something he left at work." I interject. "He told us not to wait on him in case he gets stuck in traffic. So it means more food for us, eh boys!" I nudge Tommy in an attempt to distract him.

Frankie, ever the sensitive one, catches on and joins in. "Yeah Tommy, that means more garlic bread for us!"

Tommy seems to accept this as an answer and goes to the table, placing himself in his usual seat eagerly awaiting his food. Meanwhile Frankie comes round and goes to my Ma, taking her by the arm and guiding her to her seat whilst I pick up the remaining dishes from the counter to take to the table.

Dinner goes by pretty smoothly despite the circumstances and my Ma even has a little laugh when the boys fight over the last piece of garlic bread. "Frank, tell the boys to stop fighting over food." She says, temporarily forgetting that she was alone with us.

It hits her as soon as she finishes saying it and I look over to her just as it dawns on her. It was a minuscule reaction, like watching a crack suddenly appear in a piece of glass, still holding on but dangerously close to shattering. I had never seen my Ma look so defeated in all my life. And in that moment I realised just how strong a woman Angela Rizzoli was. How selfless and dedicated she must be to push past her own emotional turmoil and continue to be who her kids needed her to be - a mother.

It takes her a second longer to recover from her outburst, choosing to force a smile at the two boys either side of her. A difficult task when they remind her so much of the one man she does not want to be thinking about.

She attempts to re-direct the sudden attention she has garnered. "How about you finish up your food and we can have some ice-cream for dessert?"

The mere mention of ice-cream is enough of a distraction for any Rizzoli. And pretty soon the plates are emptied and bellies are full of the sugary goodness.