Someone asked me after I told them the plot of the story I was writing… "Well, what happened to the kids?" That would be another story altogether I think. This is to help with that question. Here's an epilogue that will help us let go of this story with grace. It was a rough journey, but life is. Life is hard when the time comes to lose those closest to us. A parent, a friend, a lover or a beloved pet take a portion of us with them when they go.

I hope that you appreciated the story even if you weren't a fan. And if you were, thank you for reading and for your support.

I don't own Rizzoli & Isles. If I did, a lot of things about the show would have been different… if you get my drift .. hashtag Rizzles. I am not making any money although it is paying me back in therapy.

This story is completely AU with some canon written on the side for plot lines.

*Tissue alert. I just have to put it in each one. Get a box and a cup of tea. Take a break when you need one…

The Stone

Epilogue

The winter day was brisk and the headstones all stood stalwart against the frigid temperatures. The first stone had now stood watch for going on 60 years. The second was fresher, but it matched the one sitting next to it. The engraving read Jane Rizzoli - Isles. That had been the choice of all of the family, including Chris. Jane had always been an Isles. Chris had only gotten to borrow her for a while, but Jane belonged to Maura. She knew it was the right choice just the same as her headstone would read Fontana-James. They knew and it was okay.

MJ Cleared her throat. It had been too long since she had been up here. "Hi, Maura...Mom. I wanted to just stop by and talk to you for a bit. First a confession. You know, Mom, I knew all along that somehow Maura was in me. You and Mama never told me the whole story until I saw the videos, but I knew somehow. I remember hearing her voice on the videos she made and thinking, I sound just like that. I love the same things she loves. I want to do the things she did. I was not a lot like Mama except that she loved me with her whole heart and taught me how to love like that in return. You, Maura, have always been in my heart since the day I realized who you were.

"Maura, I remember the story mom told me of how you two wanted to have kids and show them all the love you knew how to give. You didn't ever have that chance, but Maura, Mama Chris, did that for you. She loved us so much. She was always proud of all of us. When I went off to med school, I knew the look in her eye said, there goes Maura's girl. I was her girl, but I was always yours, too. She never said a word about it. She just loved us with everything that she had.

"Without you none of this would have happened. The boys wouldn't be here. Yes, I know they're not boys anymore. They are real men. They are good men. You would be proud of them and their families. You get to live on in all of them. Uncle Frankie, who I know is the donor. Come on, who else would have looked and acted just like you Mom? I have no idea how Mama would have talked him into it and I never asked. I could do DNA tests and all of that, but it's not necessary. He's gone now, and he was always the father the boys needed. He tried to be like that to me, but I really just needed my moms. Uncle Frankie made sure that the boys knew how to be good men. Uncle Tommy did his part to teach them how to have fun without getting into trouble. If you know what I mean. I'll tell you this, I know there was trouble made, but they never got arrested. Win, win I suppose."

"I want you to know that I love you both. Maura I never met you, but I know I am a part of you. I think the way I do because….just because. You know that the genetic marker for intelligence hasn't yet been discovered, but I think that the genetic marker for love was passed on perfectly. I was able to grow up with your kind of mind in the midst of so much love. It made me who I am today."

"I came up here to tell you a couple of things. I am building a wing at the Boston General dedicated to cancer research. It will be called the Maura & Jane Rizzoli-Isles Center for Cancer Research. This is not meant as disrespect to Mama, but this was my wish. I am setting up a national trust in her and Jo's name for safe driving and driver education. I haven't hashed out all of the details for it yet. All of the money that the family had when you guys got married has increased exponentially over the years and now that I'm almost at retirement age I think that we'll be okay." Maura laughed at her own thoughts. "We have just over a billion in assets now and I can't think of anything better to do with it than to honor the four women who have influenced my life the most."

MJ stood silent for a minute. She looked exactly like Maura Isles except for her hair. Over the years it had turned darker closer to the shade of Jane's. She had the same dimple and bright smile that lit up a room when something pleased or amused her. She knew that she had reminded Jane of Maura and she always wondered if it hurt her or gave her joy. She never asked, but she liked to think that it had given her hope and pride that she had helped the doctor live on. "Maura, I hope and pray that Mom found her way to you. I don't know if I believe in God, but I believe in the quantum field where everything exists. Maybe, you're in there. I know, now that I'm older and so deeply in love with my beautiful wife, how much she lost when she lost you. A piece of her always lived with you. When we were kids we didn't understand that when Mama lost Jo and Mom lost you they lost a piece of themselves. They held you two in such high regard. They kept their promise to honor you with their lives. They gave everything they could give with love and time and yes, even money. They made sure that no one they loved went without a hug, a meal or an ear to listen. They opened their home to so many kids that weren't theirs. My sciencey friends, Jamie's football team and Connor's chess club geeks were all welcome under our roof. Oddly enough, all at the same time. Some of those kids even married each other because they met and fell in love at our house. Maura, it's all because of you and Jo. They may have over compensated, but we all felt deeply loved and everyone around them was a victim of the overflow."

Maura Josephine looked around at the view and the scenery. The place where all of the Rizzolis and Isles' and Fontana-James rested was still and perfect. "Maura I'm going to tell you a secret that I have never told a soul. I know you'll listen and you won't laugh. When I was young and I brought my homework here, I know you were here with me. I absolutely know you were. I could hear you teaching me the answers and explaining things to me in my mind. I could feel you here. I think you are gone now. I don't feel you here. I think, I hope, you're with Mom. I hope that you two are riding the universe together in some really cool turbo charged chariot of fire. I hope that you are so entwined in each other that nothing else in existence matters. If reincarnation is a thing, I hope if you come back, you get to live long and happy lives together. If you decide not to, I'm totally okay with that." She laughed. She was a scientist and wasn't supposed to believe in all of that metaphysical stuff, but if there was one thing that she had learned from her years of research and working with cancer patients, it's that you can't count anything out. She had met people who were on the precipice of death who had seen loved ones and pets, weeks, days or hours before they crossed over. They learn family secrets that no one had ever shared with a living soul. They found out where the treasures or papers are hidden in the old house. There was something to this dying thing that science still didn't understand. She thought it was really just physics. The energy that keeps a living thing alive has to come from and go to somewhere. "Listen, Maura, tell mom how much I love and miss her every day. She was my solid rock. That woman never missed a beat. When I met Melinda, she said, "Em, if you don't marry that girl I will." I think she was serious, too! The kids sure miss their Grandma. She cooked the gnocchi just right. No one could make it like she did. Well, except for Nonna.`` She smiled at all of the memories that came flooding back of Rizzoli meals and rambunctious games of one kind or another were played during half-time of some very important game. The smells and the sounds filled her mind and heart. "Listen you two. I need to go. No one knows I'm here although I'll bet they can guess." Tears flooded her eyes. "Mom, I can't tell you how my heart aches just to hear you call me your baby one more time. I want to hear my phone ping with a message from you or facetime. I miss you. I'm trying to make you proud. I hope that you are. I know you are, but I'm going to keep trying. I'm getting ready to be a grandmother again and I can hardly even believe it. Time marches on without regard for those who want it to slow down."

"Okay a tad bit of family news then I have to go. Jamie is a pitching coach now for the Marlins. His kids are at Florida. Chrissy is on scholarship for soccer and has a 4.0. Of course. I think she's going to go into sports med. She will be brilliant at anything she does. Winston is already pre-med so we never see him. We always thought football for Jamie, but that arm of his was built to throw a mean slider. Connor runs all of the family foundations with an iron fist inside a velvet glove. He's very good at what he does. I'm working with him on the wing. His wife has the kids in Italy right now. They are going through a rough patch, so they are taking a break. We all hope they can work it out, but not all of us get the fairy tale, right? I did. I surely did. I got the tall blond with the sassy attitude. I deserved it I suppose." She laughed about her wife. She did love that woman. "Okay, I need to go. I miss you ALL! I'm sure that I will join you up here soon enough and we can have a great reunion. I'm going to go talk to Mama for a bit. I'm sure that she heard most of what I said anyway. I love you, Mom. I love you, too, Maura. I thank you for life….an helping me with my homework. Bye for now." MJ kissed her fingers and touched Jane's name on the stone. She then repeated it for Maura's." The dark haired woman turned and walked to the other site. The one that held the woman who gave her birth. "Hi, Mama. It's me, Maura."