I do not own Rizzoli & Isles, most of the characters in this story belong to Tess Gerritsen and TNT.

I would like to thank Ava for beta reading this story.

Chapter One

The newly purchased house was finally considered a home. Fresh coats of white paint covered the walls, the wooden floors polished, the rooms furnished and each box unpacked. Toys, games, books and sentimental trinkets were scattered across the house, giving it the homey touch Maura Isles craved. The Doctor knew she had gone overboard when purchasing the mansion-like house for three people located in Boston's finest; Beacon Hill - but Maura preferred the finer things in life. It wasn't as if she couldn't afford it. At the age of thirty, Maura Isles made one of the biggest decisions of her life when she decided to move her family back to Boston were she was born. For years, the blonde had allowed her husband to manipulate her into living a life she no longer enjoyed. Although she adored Africa and the memories it held for her, she knew it wasn't fair for her children to continue to follow her husband to more poverty filled villages where disease and danger lurked around every corner. She was so blinded by the good her partner was doing she failed to see that her two young children had been exposed to illness and death even if they didn't fully understand what was going on around them. At six and four, Maura knew Charles and Hope deserved a stable home, a proper education and needed to be around peers their own ages.

When Maura discussed her thoughts and feelings with her husband, she had been delighted to know that he agreed and encouraged her to get the ball rolling by booking a short flight to Boston to arrange a meeting with their real estate agent. After falling in love with the third house she viewed, Maura anticipated her husband flying out for a few days and viewing their home before buying it only to discover Ian had made arrangements of his own, all of which didn't include Boston, his wife or his children. Maura was hurt when she realised he never had any intention of returning to Boston, he already planned to move onto the next village, a village the local militant often ransacked and left people to die. Ian had repeated over and over how much he loved his wife and children but explained he and a few other doctors were desperately needed in places where parents had been injured and killed, leaving orphan children to fend for themselves. The man was doing what he did best, providing as much medical attention and supplies as he could.

Maura had argued how dangerous is was and that their children needed their father around; that she needed her husband but after many arguments on the subject, the blonde knew she was fighting a losing battle and gave into the man. Ian had stressed the fact that his children were fortunate to have a wonderful mother and all the money they could ask for and made a promise to his confused children and annoyed wife that he would visit when he could. Maura loved Ian in all his kindness and willingness to help others but she loved her children more. It was true, sick families living in poverty needed him more than she did, but she never forgave him for not being there for his children. Forgive but never forget Maura told herself repeatedly. Months later after a heart breaking goodbye before boarding a plane back to Boston, and decorating her new home, September came around and Maura was beginning her new life in Beacon Hill with her two young children starting a new school while she prepared herself for her new teacher job. Despite the busy and tiring few months, Maura knew she had made the right decision for herself and for her children. A fresh start to a new life.

Jane Rizzoli was late. She was always late. No matter how many alarms she set, how early she woke up or what time she set off, she was always late. At the age of eighteen, Jane had spent her final summer of high school doing the odd babysitting job in her free time and spending some weekends helping her father with his plumbing job, if she wasn't watching her youngest brother, making sure he stayed out of trouble, while most eighteen year olds had spent their summer out partying and heading off to the beach. All of her friends had spent the last day of summer relaxing, preparing themselves for the new school year but unfortunately for Jane, she had spent hours at the library getting the text books her schedule had said she would need for her chosen subjects. Jane regretted leaving everything to the last minute although she would never admit that her mother, she would rather take the confession to her grave than give her mom the satisfaction of knowing she was right.

The teenager knew her mother had been worrying about the cost of school supplies for her daughter's final year, knowing she had to take extra subjects. The Rizzoli's didn't have a lot of money, they weren't poor but they weren't exactly wealthy either, they were your typical blue-collar Italian Americans but this summer had been an expensive one. Angela had discovered her youngest son needed braces the same day the medical bill for Frankie's broken arm arrived in the mail, followed by Frank's company losing out on a big contract because he lacked the amount of employees and supplies needed to get the job done.

Jane had always done everything she could to help out around the house, this included, her reluctantly looking after her younger brothers Frankie and Tommy when they were growing up, as her mother was busy holding down occasional jobs whenever she could. Her father was constantly working on plumbing jobs and renovating houses; getting them ready for people to move in. That left Jane to basically raise her brothers on her own. It was difficult for Jane to look after her brothers and work as a babysitter, so for the past three years, she had only taken the odd part time job now and then. However, Jane had never been more relieved when Frankie finally turned sixteen and had the role of looking after their mischievous younger brother Tommy, who had recently turned fourteen. Jane Rizzoli was determined to make something out of her final school year, now that she could finally concentrate on her school work and find herself a real job.