A/N. So, this is it, the very last part of the story. Thank you to everyone who has followed this from the start, and has reviewed and have just been so darn nice about it...it means the world to me that you've enjoyed it...and it's not always been easy to fit writing into long, busy days, so thank you for your patience.

You know, one of the great joys in life is reading, whether it's fan fiction like this, or actual published novels, it doesn't matter- if it moves you, or entertains you, makes you laugh or cry, the important thing is that someone wrote something that touched you in some way, and it felt almost personal to you...that's what writing is for me - personal, and from the heart. Thank you for reading my stories, and I hope you continue to support all of us who do this for the simple pleasure and joy of it...see you at the next one I hope...

Ranger :0)

Epilogue

August 2013

"Maura, I've loved you since the first moment I saw you, and it's taken four years for us to finally get our act together and tell each other...I don't think I could stand waiting another hour to be married to you, let alone four years...so... yes, Maura Dorthea Isles, I would be honoured to marry you..."

~0~

Present day...

When Maura asked Jane if one day, in the not too distant future, would she marry her, she had no idea how quickly things would change for both of them. After their first date, and then their first time making love, Jane just couldn't keep away from the house in Beacon Hill, so, that was were Jane stayed from that moment on - at home with Maura.

After that first incredible night together both of them knew they couldn't bear to spend another night apart, and within a few weeks Jane and Jo Friday had moved in completely with Maura and Speedy the Turtle, as Jane called Bass...the tortoise.

For the first month or so, when they weren't on call they were in bed, the novelty of their sexual awakening not having worn off at all - in fact their lovemaking had Jane very glad they weren't at her apartment, the walls were so thin she'd never be able to show her face there again.

Making love with Maura was like the Fourth of July and Christmas rolled into one, and it only seemed to get better. Their family and colleagues couldn't fail to notice the changes that were happening to both of them, and the 'new, improved' Detective Rizzoli was quite the revelation. She still had her 'badass' moments but now she seemed softer somehow, as if Maura had filed down her rough edges to reveal the 'real' Jane.

She smiled, a lot, and subconsciously perhaps, took fewer needless risks in her job - always at the back of her mind knowing she had someone to come home to who needed her, and preferably in one piece.

The idea of shooting herself for example was never broached again.

Maura seemed to grow in confidence simply because Jane allowed her to be her true self. Often seen as aloof and diffident in the past, Jane brought out the very best side of Maura - playful and sassy, but with a sense of equanimity that kept both sets of feet on the ground.

It really was amazing what love could do.

There were teething troubles of course, and the occasional disagreement, as there are in any relationship, but their life was pretty near as perfect as it could be. They learned about each other as they went, and with give and take, and mutual support they grew together as a couple as their relationship took them to new levels of 'oneness'.

They also talked about having children, something that up until recently they had never seriously considered, and it was agreed that if they were to have children, then they would both like to be married first...to tell each other how committed they were, and to tell their child just how much he or she was wanted by two loving parents.

It was also decided very early on that Maura would be the one to have their first child, if a child were at all possible. Jane jokingly declared that Maura 'had the hips for it' but really it just seemed to make more sense, career wise. Maura would still be able to work until late into the pregnancy, whereas Jane would be confined to desk duties just a few months in.

After the appropriate tests were carried out and it was found that Maura was highly fertile and capable of carrying a child, it was decided that they would wait a couple of years to just enjoy their new life together before they added to the family.

For Maura in particular it was a long, hard wait- she hadn't realised how much she actually wanted a child with Jane.

But before children could come along they needed to be married, and there seemed no reason to wait - having had no real desire to say 'I do' up until now, suddenly it seemed the most natural and urgent thing in the world to be married to each other, and call each other their wife. And so it was that in mid September, only weeks after they had finally got their acts together they were married at Fenway Park...Jane had finally got her wish.

Their vows were said to each other over Home Plate, after Maura used the pull of the Isles name to make it happen for them. Jane arrived at the stadium in a dress that made Maura gasp when she saw her, but soon pulled on her Redsox jersey over it, much to the amusement of the guests.

It made for interesting wedding photographs.

In the absence of her errant father, Vince Korsak proudly gave Jane away, with Barry Frost as her Best Man...but tragically, the happiest day of their lives would be the last time they ever saw Barry. While Jane and Maura were honeymooning on Santorini, he was killed in the line of duty. He died a hero's death, saving a child from a life of virtual slavery, but paid the ultimate price for his dedication and his love of 'the job'.

His funeral was held in time for Jane and Maura to attend, and the speeches they gave were the hardest thing they would ever have to do...particularly as the last speech they had heard was from Barry himself, as their Best Man.

As an emotional Jane struggled to say of her friend and 'brother'...'he was the very best of men'.

He would never be forgotten, they made sure of that...and he would continue to have an impact on their lives.

Three years later, after a frantic rush to get her to the hospital in time, Jackson Barold Rizzoli-Isles impatiently made his arrival into the world.

When her waters suddenly - and it has to be said, spectacularly - broke a month early, while she and Jane were at a spa in the middle of nowhere, there was no time to clean themselves up, and they arrived at the hospital both caked in mud and looking like they'd been dragged through a swamp...twice.

After some hurried explanations to the bemused staff, Maura was admitted and within two hours of being cleaned up she had given birth and was sitting up in bed cradling their child. As Jane later said to the visiting Angela and Korsak - who had now been 'seeing' each other since she and Sean broke up after a fight at the wedding - 'all Maura really had to do was cough and he just popped out'.

Maura couldn't deny that all the horror stories she'd read about four day labours, and the exhaustion that goes with it hardly applied in this case...she'd barely felt a thing.

When Jane took their baby and held him in her arms for the first time she couldn't have felt more love for anyone, except for Maura of course. Her heart filled with so much pride and awe that this little person was theirs, and that they got to keep him that she just burst into tears and sat sobbing for a few minutes while a teary Maura cuddled them both...they were now a real family, with someone who relied on them both to keep him safe and loved.

Love was certainly never in short supply - with Frankie and his wife Lauren as one set of Godparents, and Robin and Camille, Barry's 'Mothers' as the others, little Jackson had the very best of mentors and role models...it was indeed a charmed life.

~0~

Jane and Maura's lives had come full circle since that day that Jane had knocked herself out and lost - and gained - her memory. Ten years ago she and Maura had vowed to be true only to each other, and to spend the rest of their lives together.

And now, on this balmy September evening at their house in Beacon Hill, with their son Jackson as Best Man and with Korsak having been ordained online as a Minister (which Jane still couldn't quite get her head around...was this even legal?) they took their places outside in the courtyard. Family and friends assembled around them, as the sun began to set and the new moon heralded the arrival of the stars in the evening sky.

Once Vince had got to the appropriate part of the ceremony Maura nodded to Jackson and he proudly walked up to his mother with the eternity ring she had for Jane. As Maura slipped it on to Jane's wedding finger, she told her that this ring symbolises the love that they share now, and the continuing love that is yet to come...

As Maura finished her heartfelt speech, Jane turned away and reached into her bra...much to the surprise of her wife who was ready for the 'you may now kiss the bride' part...Jane held her back for a minute, she had a speech of her own to give.

"Maura Dorthea Isles...when you asked me ten years ago if I would marry you, I said that I would be honoured to be your wife...and you've been the most amazing, caring, loving and it has to be said, patient wife to me!" she said as the guests and Maura laughed.

"I was expecting to be at one of our favourite restaurants tonight, not renewing my vows, but it's the most wonderful thing we could be doing on our anniversary...well, almost..." she whispered to her wife, who blushed a little.

"And I was going to give you this over dinner, but now seems like just the right time..." and she held out her hand to reveal a diamond eternity ring, almost identical to the one Maura gave her. Smiling, she took Maura's hand in hers and slid the ring on...

"Maura, this ring symbolises everything you mean to me, everything that has already gone...and everything that is yet to come...I love you Mrs Rizzoli - Isles...thank you for our son, and thank you for loving me...but most of all, thank you for all the memories..."

~0~

The end.