Hey! Another update for another story. Sorry it's taken so friggen long, but life has to be lived, you know? Anyway, this is the last chapter of this story. It's probably not as good as it could be, had I actually thought about it better, but I think it goes alright. It could be worse, and thank God it isn't... Anyway, hope you enjoyed this story, and the ones that came before it. Cheers for all the reviews and the love and the patience. If you had any. Me, I don't. If I were readign this story, I woulda cracked the shits long ago. But, enough about me. Please read.

Some dialogue borrowed from (1x10) Forgiveness and Stuff.

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Chapter 10

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"He made me this promise…" she sniffed.

"…Richard Gilmore, there may be many things happening in this hospital tonight but your dying is not one of them." She stated firmly.

"But –"

"No! I did not sign on to your dying. And it is not going to happen. Not tonight, not for a very long time. In fact, I demand to go first. Do I make myself clear?

"Yes Emily. You may go first…"

Lorelai looked at her mother and for the first time in years she realised her mother and father were really in love. Not that she hadn't thought it before. She knew, simply from the way they always backed each other up when she was fighting with them as a teenager and a child. But it wasn't until that very moment that she realised her parents shared the same love that she herself shared with Luke.

She knew how she'd feel if Luke was to die so suddenly, and instantly she felt even worse for her mother. Because, to Emily, losing Richard would be the same as Lorelai losing Luke.

Lorelai had always imagined her parents would live forever. She would be long dead and buried when her parents finally kicked the bucket, but now that nightmare seemed to be ending and a new one beginning.

She was going to have to say goodbye to her father once and for all.

She had always been closer to her father than her mother. He tended to leave her be. Let her do what she wanted as long as she left him alone. She knew she had used and abused that trust he had in her the first time she climbed out the window and got drunk. But there wasn't a chance in hell she was going to ask them for permission to go to a senior's party at the tender age of 13.

She doesn't remember much of that night after hitting the ground under the tree.

They had been sitting for ten minutes when the doctor came back and told them to take as long as they needed.

Lorelai looked to Luke and they decided to take Charlie and Kate in first. Prolonging it would only make it harder to explain to them.

"Grandpa?" asked Charlie as they stepped through the swinging door.

Lorelai nodded and sniffled. "Yeah, that's grandpa."

"When's he gonna wake up?"

She took a deep, shuddering breath. "He's not, baby."

"Why?" asked Kate, speaking for the first time in hours.

"Cause he's really sick."

"Why?"

Lorelai looked to Luke for help. He was holding Charlie in one arm and tugged on Kate's hand with the other. "Remember when I told you about my dad? Pop William?"

The twins nodded.

"Well, it's a bit like that. Grandpa and Pop William are gonna be seeing each other soon."

"Is grandpa dead?" asked Kate with wide eyes. She was a lot like Rory and April. She was very smart for her age.

Luke shook his head. "Not yet, but he will be soon."

"But he'll be okay, right? Pop William will look after him?"

Even though none of his kids had ever met William Danes, they all insisted on calling him 'Pop William'. Even Rory, who wasn't even related by blood to the man, called him that.

Luke smiled. "Yeah, Pop William will look after him."

Charlie and Kate looked at each other and seemed satisfied with Luke's explanation. "Can we give him a hug bye like after dinner?" asked Kate in a small voice.

Lorelai smiled softly. "Of course you can, honey. Here." She held her hands out to the little girl and lifted her onto the bed.

Kate looked down at her grandfather. He had always seemed so big, like her dad. But lying there with the bandages made him look so small. Even to her. She looked across at her twin brother, who her dad had just placed on the other side of the bed and offered her hand to him. Charlie took her hand and together they leant forward and kissed Richard's cheeks. "Bye-bye, grandpa. We'll miss you." They whispered in unison and sat up.

Lorelai quickly swiped the tears from her face and picked Charlie up, then moved and lifted Kate to her other hip. "C'mon. Let's give daddy a moment to say goodbye." She kissed Luke's cheek and stepped out of the room.

Luke stared down at the man that he had known for almost ten years. Both of them were men of very few words, especially when it came to each other, but they had long ago reached an understanding. Sometime, probably around the time that Rory went to Iowa, Richard had come to realise just how important the diner man was to his daughter and granddaughter. While things were never sunshine and flowers with them, Richard seemed to realise that Luke would never hurt either Gilmore girls.

Frowning and wringing his hands, Luke worked his jaw. He hated this part. The actual saying 'goodbye' part. He was the same when his father died, though, granted, that felt a hell of a lot worse. "Mr. Gilmore. Uh, Richard. I promise you I will look after them forever. The Gilmore-Danes girls, and the Gilmore girls, and I guess the Gilmore-Danes boy, will never be left wanting. I will do everything in my power to give them whatever they need. Whatever they want. Forever."

Luke bowed his head and silently prayed that his father was up there watching, taking in Richard's appearance so he could look out for him so they could watch the giant Lorelai and Luke screens. And maybe Richard could tell William a little bit about his grandchildren.

Luke walked out of the room with his jaw clenched and his eyes set on Lorelai. She could see from his expression that he was struggling just as much as the rest of them and seeing her father like this was probably bringing back memories of his own father.

He walked over and placed a supporting hand on Rory's shoulder as she got up to enter the room.

She was in there for a full five minutes before she came out with silent tears streaming down her face. Luke wanted nothing more than to hug his stepdaughter, but couldn't move as he had two sleepy and upset five-year-olds resting on his lap. Lorelai turned just as Rory reached out to throw her arms around her mother. They embraced for a few minutes, when Rory pulled back and offered her mother an encouraging smile.

Lorelai nodded and squared her shoulders; a move Luke and Rory knew meant she was setting herself. She walked into the room and looked at her father. For the first time since she told them she was pregnant, her father looked small. He looked like any other person, and not at all like the father she had known all her life.

She took hold of his closest hand and took a deep breath. "I know you can't hear me, dad, but I just want to say I'm sorry for everything I put you through as I was growing up. I want you to know that, even if you hadn't told me, I knew your middle name was Charles, and when Luke suggested it as a first name for our son, I couldn't believe it. And now, a part of you will live on. In me, in Rory, in Katherine and in little Charlie. The three of them are so much like you, and I'm proud to say that I am the daughter of Richard Charles Gilmore. I always have been and I always will be.

Thank you for everything you did for me. If it weren't for you, Rory wouldn't be where she is today, and for that I am forever grateful. I love you and will miss you more than you will ever know."

She paused and cleared her throat and wiped away her tears. "Goodbye, daddy." She finished in a whisper. She leant forward and kissed his cheek and backed out of the room.

Lorelai avoided everyone's eyes as she walked out, preferring to turn left and away from everyone to collect herself. She heard her mother go in and it wasn't until then that she could face her family. The Gilmore-Danes'.

Emily had only been in the room for five minutes when the doctor came back. "I'm sorry, but its time." He said quietly to them all and tapped lightly on the door before slowly pushing it open.

He waited until Rory, Lorelai, Luke, Kate and Charlie were in the room before he moved to the machines that were keeping Richard alive.

They stood around the end of his bed, Emily at his side gripping his left hand with her right. Lorelai stood next to her, one arm wrapped around her mother's shoulders; the other around Rory's, who was holding onto Kate's hand. Luke stood next to Rory with Charlie in his arms. His arm snaked over Rory's shoulders and rested across them, lightly gripping Lorelai's shoulder.

Soft sniffles were heard as Doctor Jones methodically switched off all the machines, the last one was the heart rate monitor. The room lapsed into silence as Richard Gilmore died peacefully, surrounded by all who were most important to him.

The End.