Chapter Fifteen – Epilogue.

Dr Maura Isles looked around the room. She breathed deeply and took in all of her surroundings. Smiling faces were everywhere. She surveyed each and every one of them and felt herself floating, elated, though still a little nervous. She wasn't sure she would ever be completely comfortable around so many people, but she was much better at it now.

Detective Vince Korsak stood in his dark navy suit. Beside him, hanging on his every word, stood a woman that Maura had only met once before, his date for the day. He was clearly regaling her with some comical tale as both of them would fall about laughing every so often. He noticed her watching and his eyes softened as he smiled across the room at her.

Along from him, she fixed eyes with Frankie Rizzoli. He looked so handsome in his uniform. Grinning at her across the room, he rolled his eyes, much like his sister did when their mother began to fuss, as she was doing now, licking a tissue and rubbing it on some spot that only she could see. Angela was buoyant, that was the word; she seemed to bounce and bob around everyone as she mothered them and checked that everything had been organised as it should be.

Maura had found a comfort in Angela that she hadn't realised she had needed. The first time Jane took her home to meet the family, Maura had been nervous. She had never been taken home before. Anyone she had seriously dated in the past was already acquainted with her parents, and vice versa. Angela had accepted her in an instant, taking her under her wing and mothering her in the same way that she did with her own three children, and Maura loved it. Every second of it. While Jane complained about her helicopter mother, Maura immersed herself in it. They went shopping together and spent time at the spa, all the things Jane didn't want to do. Not that there was much that Jane didn't want to do. Maura understood perfectly just how easily she could get Jane to bend to her will. She tried not to use it too often, but it was a handy tool to have in her armoury.

She smiled as Angela looked towards her before her attention was taken with the commotion of Tommy arriving. He was barely out of prison but was trying desperately to make amends with his family. He and Maura had become friends over a game of chess.

Life was different now, with Jane.

Jane made her feel things she hadn't ever felt before. She had confidence now, the ability to see herself as others saw her: slightly quirky, humorous in her own way, smart and witty. She was kind and generous, not just with her money, but with her time and her emotions. Jane had taught her that her emotions were valid and real and should be allowed to surface. No longer was she known as The Ice Queen or Queen of the Dead.

The town hall wasn't the place she had ever envisaged herself being on a day like today, but as she looked around one more time, she realised that it was perfect. It was so them, so Jane.

As though her thoughts had summoned her, she looked up and found those dark, brooding eyes on her. She smiled and took her in. She was so beautiful that it almost hurt Maura to look at her. She was wearing a simple white dress that hung loosely from her frame, her hair a contradiction: dark and wild.

In the beginning Maura had feared every time Jane left the room that she wouldn't return, but she always did, and now Maura knew that nothing would stop Jane from coming home to her.

She loved every minute of her life with Jane, from waking up and eating Lucky Charms to going to bed and making love for hours on end until both of them were sated, from family Sundays to romantic picnics in the park. Jane would surprise her with impromptu nights out and little gifts that people with her background wouldn't even consider a gift, and yet to Maura, they were the most precious things she could own.

She felt a warm hand on her arm, and turning ever so slightly, she caught sight of her father smiling down at her. Her relationship with him and her mother had been strained to say the least, until Jane. She grinned at the memory of Jane telling her mother off. Nobody had spoken to Constance Isles that way in her entire life, and for a moment Maura had thought maybe it was a little too much. But then things began to change and her mother began to make time, not just to visit, but to talk. She took interest, and now when she visited, it wasn't a chore but a delight to spend time with her. Her father had taken a little longer to catch up, but he was here now along with everyone else, ready to celebrate.

She looked back at Jane and watched as she walked down the short aisle towards her on the arm of her own father.

They were going to be married.

This was the last time she would be Dr Maura Isles. In just a few moments she would say her vows and promise her love to Jane. She would become Dr Isles-Rizzoli, and their life together as a married couple would begin with two weeks aboard a yacht moored in the Caldera off of Santorini: a gift from her parents.

"So, ready to finally make an honest woman of me?" Jane whispered as she reached the end of the aisle and stood beside her bride-to-be. There were dimples on display as she smiled wildly at Maura. Happiness.

"You wouldn't believe how ready I am," she whispered in reply. "I love you, Jane Rizzoli."

"Back at ya, Babe. Now, let's get married."

AN: Well, there it is! The end has come. Thank you all for the comments, reviews, messages and new friendships! Its been fun... who knows when the next idea will hit me, but for now I need to try and concentrate on editing my next book. A huge thank you to all of you that have downloaded, bought or read any of my books...you're all amazing and I will definitely be back with another Rizzles tale at some point! Cheers, Claire