Chapters one :

Always.

It was the end of june and only three weeks after burying her father Maura was now about to burry her mother. Sitting on the edge of her bed wearing the same black dress she wore at her father's funeral Maura was nervously playing with the pearl necklace her mother had given her for her sixteenth birthday, rolling the pearls between the finger tips.

After an hour of looking down at her feet Maura gathered the remaining strength she had, took a deep breath as she stood up and walked towards the living room where her family was waiting for her. Walking towards her wife of twenty five years Maura couldn't hear or understand anything of what Jane was whispering in her hears, her vision was blurry from the endless hours she had spend curled in fetal position crying and her throat was dry.

All Maura wanted was to climb back in bed, burry her head in her pillow and drown in her own tears but she knew that she could not collapse, not now, not in front of her children who were also mourning the loss of their beloved grand parents.

Despite being extremely nervous about it paying homage to her mother in front of their entire family and friends was something that wasn't bothering her. She knew that it was her duty as Constance's daughter to honor her one last time and to maybe tell her all the things she never got to tell her before she died.

What she wasn't looking forward at all was having to to sit through the reading of her parents' will.

Obviously as an only child Maura knew she was the only heir to her parents' vast fortune but the thought of having to sit there and have 85 years of her parents' lives reduced to a few bank accounts, real estate properties and philanthropic endeavors wasn't something she was particularly looking forward to.

"How about you go ahead? Your mother and I will join you at the cemetery." Jane suggested holding Maura's lifeless body in her arms.

"Sure. We love you mom." Louis replied kissing her mother's temple. A little over three weeks ago he was in New-York with his editor when he received a phone call from Jane telling him that his grand father had had died of a massive stroke. Bursting in tears as he tried to process the news Louis still managed to go back to the family penthouse on 5th avenue, pack his things and take the first plane home. Now three weeks later he was about to burry his beloved grand mother.

Ever since he was born Constance and Louis had always shared a very strong bond. Obviously Louis has always been close to Angela but his relationship with Constance was different in many ways. They shared the same passion for art in all its forms but also for history and travelling and as a child he would spend hours with her at the museum or in the mansion's library sitting on her lap listening to her reading novel from her favorite authors.

Angela had taught him to cook, had helped him through his particularly shy teenage years teaching him how to be more confident about himself and he felt that he could always come to her for advice if he argued with his mothers or one of his girlfriends. Angela was the woman who had teach him to be in sync with his heart and to accept and explore his emotions while Constance taught him to be in sync with him mind and had guided him to develop his intelligence and potential.

She was the woman who helped him open himself to the world, to different cultures and he was convinced that he was a successful writer partially because of the education she had given him.

Despite Maura being the first person who had had the honor of reading his first novel it was Constance who helped him write the next four he got published. She was the one who would read his drafts, give him ideas, suggestions on how to improve his style or to paint his characters more realistically and who would always give him her honest and sometimes harsh opinion and he had no idea how he was going to continue writing without her by his side.

"Yes, we love you mom." Wrapping their arms around their beloved mother Elizabeth and Victoria were also mourning their grand parents in their own way.

Despite feeling a bit closer to Angela both young ladies were extremely saddened by Constance's death that occurred only a few weeks after their grand fathers' passing.

Like Louis both of them held Constance in high esteem and admired her for her passion for art, her vast knowledge for her devotion to her foundation but most importantly for the ability she had to treat them like adults even since they were children.

Constance was one of those rare adults who never treated them as children and who always spoke to them as equals. Growing every time they were faced to a very hard decision they would take their bikes and ride to the mansion. Many grand parents would have laugh at them for giving so much important to what was at the time children or teenage trouble but Constance didn't. She would sit with them and listen to them and would always give them serious and sincere advice and they loved her for it. So when the time came for them to choose a career they very naturally turned to her for advice.

For them she was the voice of reason, a voice who was always honest and franc and who advised them to follow their dreams despite what other people might think and now that she was gone they had very intention of continuing to make her and their grand father proud.

"I can't do this Jane. I just buried my father and I can't do this all over again." Falling back on the couch as she heard the door closing behind the children Maura bursted into tears once again.

"Yes you can. I promise you I'm going to be by your side holding your hand the whole time." Jane was sitting next to her wife kissing her temple and drawing small circles on her back with her right hand. She knew how long it had taken her to have a normal relationship with her parents, how long they had fought to find each other and develop a strong bond and she was hoping that she would be able to slowly mourn her parents the way she had mourned her father when he died five years ago.

"I know Jane. You have been my rock ever we met but I don't know how I'm going to get through this. I have been thinking about it ever since she died and I can not make sense out of it. My father died of a stroke which considering his age is perfectly understandable but my mother she was in perfect health and she just died. One day she was showing me pictures of their honeymoon and the next day she was just gone." Palming her face with both hands Maura could not rationalize her mother's death and could not get that image of her lifeless mother laying in bed out of her head.

"I know there is no medical reason to explain her death or to rationalize it. I think it was just her time. She lived a very full and happy life and …"

"And because my father died she had nothing to live for anymore?" Despite being retire was still thinking like a scientist and she could not cope with the idea of her mother dying of a broken heart. She had read many stories of people who had just stopped having the desire to live and who had died of sadness but could not bring herself to accept that her mother had just let herself die.

"I'm not saying that Maura. Of course she had you and her grand children and many she could have continued doing but she was married to your father for 63 years and I can imagine that she lost the desire to live after he passed away. God knows I would not survive very long if God forbids you died before me." Unlike Maura Jane could perfectly understand that Constance had lost the desire to live when her husband died. Observing them all those years she knew that time hadn't compromised their love and that they still loved each other very much. Sharing the same symbiotic relationship with Maura she could only imagine how empty she must have felt when Mr Isles died and could not blame her for not being able to see everything she had left to live for.

"Don't you dare say that! Promise me you won't let yourself die If I pass away first." Maura replied rising her voice.

"I'm sorry darling, yes I promise. All I was trying to say is that your mother loved your father in a way that I rarely witnessed. Just like us they had this incredibly strong marriage that had survived many storms and after 64 years they were still as in love as they were when they got married and I can understand that the prospect of living without him wasn't something she wanted to consider. They were 85 years old Maura and they achieve and experienced more than most people. I think they had the most interesting life anyone could dream of and they lived it fully. It was just their time."

"I know, it's just that I feel that there was so much more they could have done or witnessed. They won't be here for Louis' or the twins' weddings or to see them becoming parents."

"Yes but they were there to see you get married and when all three of our children were born and they had the most wonderful relationship with them. Your parents inspired and guided our children in a way that's going to stick with them for the rest of their lives. They made an impact on so many lives through the foundation or just by being your parents and terrific grand parents. You should be proud of being their daughter because I'm so proud that I got to meet them and be a part of your family."

"So am I Jane. Thank you. I don't know how my life would have turned out if I hadn't met you. Promise me you won't leave me." Slightly calming herself down Maura grabbed a tissue on the table next to the couch and after cleaning her face rested her head on her wife's shoulder.

"I promise that I have every attention of spending the next twenty five or if we're lucky thirty years making it up to you for all the dinners I missed because I was on the job. The kids are all grown up and we just retired Maura and the way I see it our lives just began." Sighing Jane kissed Maura's forehead and held her as tight as she could. Over the past thirty years they had been and supported each other through a lot but she knew that this was different but was confident that with the help of their three children and their friends they were all perfectly capable of helping her through the mourning process.

An hour later Jane and Maura finally arrived at the cemetery where all their friends and familial were gathered. Sitting next to Jane holding her hand while the priest was talking Maura could barely hear what he was saying, she knew that in a few minutes he would call her to pay homage to her mother and she still had no idea what she was going to say.

After half an hour of paying homage to Constance's life the priest finally asked Maura to come forward and say a few words. Standing in front of the white casket her mother had already chosen before her death Maura's legs were barely holding her up, her eyes were red and her throat was sore. Looking ahead behind the casket Maura saw the head stone with her father's name on it and suddenly felt him right besides her, his hand on her shoulder. Rising her head, encouraged by this presence Maura finally spoke :

"I remember when I was six or seven year old my mother took me to one of her art classes. I remember siting at the back observing her pacing in the class room, talking with such passion and conviction and telling myself that I wish that someday I would find something that I would love as much as my mother loved art and that I could share my passion with other people the way she did with her students. Right after the class ended I asked her how and when she knew that art was her passion and that she wanted to make a career out of it. She sat me down, look at me in the eyes and told me that she always knew, ever since she was about my age but that under no circumstances I should rush into trying to find my own career. She told me that I was the smartest, brightest and most curious little girl she had ever met and that I would without a doubt find my way. She also said that I was an Isles and that I was destined for greatness. At that very moment I realized that not only I had big footsteps to walk in because both my parents were so accomplished and respected in their respective careers but also that I also had a family name to live up to and to honor.

Everything I did since that day, every choice I made, every sacrifice I made was to make my parents proud and to honor my name. Now that I'm retire and looking back at my life I know for a fact that they were because they told me all the time but also because I could see it in their eyes every time I told them about my work or my family.

Of course I wish that they could have been here to see my children get married and becoming parents but as my beautiful wife pointed out to me earlier today my parents had 64 wonderful years together and they lived and experienced more than most people. There is nothing that they wanted to do that they didn't accomplish, not a country that they wanted to visit that they didn't set foot in. My parents lived their lives and their marriage to the fullest and I know now that the best way to honor them is to enjoy the rest of my life the way they did surrounded by my wife Jane and our three wonderful children, Louis, Elizabeth and Victoria. I will miss you mom please kiss dad for me." Saying those words Maura was unable to hold her tears any longer and as she leaned over to drop a white rose on her mother's casket finally felt her leg abandoning her.

"Here. I got you." Jane said as she snaked her waist pulling her up.

"Jane, you saved me." Maura smiled slightly turning her head as she felt her wife's strong arms around her gently pulling her back on her feet.

"Always."

Hey guys! I know a new story again, I'm spoiling you :).

I started this chapter right after I finished Unconditional Support but I wasn't ready to write this sequel at the time.

I didn't really know where I should start this sequel but I figured that Maura's parents' death was a good start.

I haven't read that many fictions where Maura and Jane's kids were all grown up but I always wanted to write a story where we could see what kind of adults they grew up to be.

This story will evolve around Maura's loss, on how she copes with her parents' death and on how she's going to move on and will also show how she's going to replace her parents at the head of the family foundation. We all know how much Maura admired her parents for their philanthropic endeavors and I'm sure that she's going to put a lot of energy to live up to their accomplishments and I think it might help her mourn.

Obviously Elizabeth, Louis and Victoria are going to be a huge part of this story, we're gonna see them support their mother, maybe fall in love or work with her at the foundation….I have many ideas for this sequel and I hope you're as excited as I am!

PS : I lost my mother just two and half years ago and just finished sorting everything out so I know exactly what Maura is going through. I was adopted and had a distant relationship with my mom too and I think that I'm going to put a lot of myself in this story.

Next chapter will be the wake and Louis is going to receive an unexpected visit from an old friend he hasn't seen in years. Prepare the tissues because every one is going to share a memory they have with both Charles and Constances Isles.