It was still dark outside when Jess and Rory led Ben and Liam into their parents' bedroom and helped them climb onto the bed. Once they were all on the bed, Jess and Rory urged the twins to wake up Luke and Lorelai. Ben and Liam happily crawled between their parents and pushed against Luke's chest until he rolled onto his back. Grunting, Luke wrapped his arms around the twins and pulled them on top of him. "Too early," he groaned.

Lorelai did her best to ignore the fuss by pulling the blankets over her head, but Rory clambered over her and pulled the blankets back down. Patting her mother's cheek, Rory said, "Rise and shine, Mom. It's morning."

Refusing to open her eyes, Lorelai moaned, "Is the sun up yet?"

"No."

"No sun, no me."

"But, Mom," Jess whined. "You have to get up."

"No."

Having failed to convince Lorelai that it was time to wake up, Jess turned to Luke and poked him in the shoulder. "Dad, tell Mom to get up."

"No," Luke refused. "Go back to sleep."

"You have to get up. It's Mother's Day," argued Rory.

Luke pointed out, "It's not day yet."

"Sleep," Lorelai begged desperately.

"Come on, guys, let Mom sleep."

"But, Daaaaad."

"No, Rory. The twins are already asleep, so why don't you get some more sleep and we'll get some more sleep and we can do this all again in a couple of hours?"

Jess and Rory shared a look and a sigh of defeat. "Fine," they conceded in unison before sliding under the blankets and laying down between their parents.

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Two hours later, the kids were sneaking into their parents' bedroom again. This time Luke led the way. He was carrying a breakfast tray, which he set down on Lorelai's bedside table. With his hands free, he was able to pick up the kids one by one and put them down gently on his side of the bed. As he walked around the bed, he held one finger to his lips to remind the kids to keep quiet. When he reached Lorelai's side, he sat down next to her hip. Shaking her shoulder, he whispered, "Rise and shine. For real this time."

"Noooo," Lorelai whimpered pitifully.

"We brought breakfast."

"No."

"And coffee."

"Fine. I'm awake," Lorelai grumbled. She reluctantly sat up and readjusted her pillows to support her as she leaned back against the headboard. After she was settled, the kids swarmed her. Hugging them close, Lorelai crooned, "Morning, my babies."

"Morning, Mommy," Jess responded.

"Happy Mother's Day, Mommy," Rory added, snuggling closer to Lorelai's side.

Liam began clapping excitedly. "Mama. Mama. Mama," he babbled.

"That means 'Happy Mother's Day' in baby talk."

"Thanks for translating, Jess."

"Welcome."

Ben felt he had been patient enough and decided to skip the pleasantries. Patting his stomach, he said, "I hungwy."

"I like your priorities, Ben. What's for breakfast?"

Luke handed Lorelai her coffee. While she enjoyed the first couple of sips, he moved the breakfast tray to lay across her lap and said, "See for yourself."

When Lorelai saw the plate of donuts that sat in the middle of tray, she squealed in delight, "Ooh, yummy! I love donuts."

With great joy, Jess informed her, "They have sprinkles."

"Even better."

"It's a treat. Don't get used to it," Luke cautioned them.

Lorelai rolled her eyes and jokingly asked, "What are you guys eating?"

"Mommy!" Rory yelped in protest.

"Seriously, Lorelai? There's five donuts there. You have to share."

"Oh, alright," Lorelai sighed dramatically. She made a big show of giving a donut to each of the kids. When she go to the bottom of the stack, she found a plain bagel. Picking it up with her thumb and forefinger, she held it out toward Luke. "What is this monstrosity?"

"It's my breakfast." Taking the bagel, Luke assured her, "I don't expect you to eat it."

"Good. Because I won't. There's not enough money in the world to get me to eat that, that, thing."

"Relax. Eat your donut before I change my mind."

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Jess and Rory's exuberance didn't fade after breakfast. If anything, their excitement only intensified resulting in an overabundance of energy that they didn't seem to be able to control. They spent most of the morning running wildly throughout the house and winding up Ben and Liam until they started to chase their older siblings. Finally, Luke and Lorelai decided the kids needed to spend some time outside before they either got hurt or broke something.

After a frenzied walk through town during which Luke and Lorelai barely managed to keep the kids from running off in separate directions, they ended up at the park. The second Jess and Rory stepped into the giant sand pit, they raced to the jungle gym with Luke running behind them. The twins tried to follow, but Lorelai held them back and led them to the swings instead.

Lorelai pushed Ben and Liam in the baby swings until her arms ached, then she took them to play in the sand. The spot they chose was close to the main playground, but still far enough away to avoid being in the way of the children who were playing there. While the twins started to dig a hole with their hands, Lorelai caught Luke's attention and motioned for him to join them.

As Luke walked across the park, he stopped briefly to pick up a toy shovel that had been left behind by another child. When he made it to where Lorelai and the twins were sitting, he asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine. Sit down. You can keep an eye on Jess and Rory from here."

Glancing over his shoulder to where Jess and Rory were climbing up a slide, Luke determined that Lorelai was right, so he sat down. He held the shovel out to the twins and Ben grabbed it first. Almost immediately, Liam tried to take the shovel from Ben. Holding tightly to the shovel, Ben shouted, "No, Lim. Mine!"

Liam pulled harder on the shovel. "I wan' it," he yelled.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Boys!" Luke interjected, breaking up their tug of war. "Take turns or I'll take it away."

"Mine, Dada," Ben insisted, his lower lip starting to quiver.

"Liam, Ben had the shovel first, you need to wait your turn."

"No!"

"They fight so much more than Jess and Rory ever have," commented Lorelai.

Luke nodded his agreement as he told Liam, "Either wait for your turn or you won't get a turn."

"Bu' Dada!"

"No, Liam. While you wait, why don't we make a sandcastle?"

Liam gazed wistfully at the shovel, but eventually relented. "'Kay, 'kay."

"Come here," prompted Luke as he pulled Liam into his lap.

They worked together to turn the pile of sand created by Ben's digging into a misshapen lump that only vaguely resembled a sandcastle. Liam was using a stick to draw patterns on the sandcastle and carve out a moat when a piercing scream came from the jungle gym. It was followed closely by Jess shrieking, "Mommy! Daddy! Mommy!"

Luke and Lorelai looked up to see Rory sitting on the ground underneath the monkey bars. She was crying uncontrollably and clutching her left arm. Jess stood behind her with Lane Kim. Their eyes were wide with terror as they stared down at Rory.

It took Luke and Lorelai a moment to fully comprehend the scene in front of them, but, when they did, they were on their feet in an instant. Mrs. Kim appeared next to them and began issuing orders. With a firm tone, she stated, "I will stay with the twins. You will go to Rory."

Without hesitation, Luke and Lorelai ran to Rory. They skidded to a stop next to her and Lorelai dropped to her knees. Lorelai carefully pulled Rory's right hand away from her injured arm and grimaced at the sight of the obviously broken bone. "Shh, shh, shh. It's going to be okay," she murmured in an effort to comfort Rory. At the same time, she looked up at Luke, silently begging him to fix it.

Luke understood what she was asking, but was unable to think through his initial panic. Helplessly, he stammered, "Okay, okay, I'll, um, I'll, I'll do something."

"Luke!" Lorelai snapped, breaking through Luke's panic. "We have to get her to the hospital."

Suddenly, Luke's mind cleared and he was able to come up with a plan. "We should call Mia," he stated definitively.

"Okay."

"I can call her from the diner. She's close and can drive you to Hartford. The boys and I will go get the car and meet you at the hospital."

"Okay. Good. Go! Do that!"

As Luke ran off toward the diner, he kept repeating to himself, "Diner. Mia. Boys. Hospital. Diner. Mia. Boys. Hospital."

While he was gone, Lorelai did her best to keep Rory calm by stroking her hair and whispering nonsensical soothing noises in her ear. In response, Rory wailed, "It hurts, Mommy!"

"I know, sweet girl. The doctor will fix it."

"Now! Fix it now!"

"Daddy's working on it. It won't be long. I promise."

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Luke and Lorelai spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon at the hospital with Rory. As the hours passed by, they became increasingly grateful that Mia had taken the boys home. It allowed them to focus all of their attention on Rory and the various medical personnel who treated her.

By the time Rory was discharged from the emergency room, she had a bright blue cast on her left wrist and had been given pain medication that caused her to fall asleep in the car on the way back to Stars Hollow. She was still asleep when they got home, so Luke carried her into the house and up to her bedroom while Lorelai went to the living room to check on the boys and then to the kitchen to find Mia. As soon as Mia saw Lorelai, she put down the fruit she was preparing for the boys' afternoon snack and asked, "Is Rory okay?"

"Her wrist is broken. She has to spend a few weeks in a cast and the pain medication knocked her out, but she'll be fine," explained Lorelai. Her voice started to tremble as she tried to convince both herself and Mia that what she was saying was true.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know," admitted Lorelai. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she divulged, "When I heard Rory scream, I-I just legitimately thought I was having a heart attack."

"Oh, Lorelai, honey, everything's going to be okay," Mia said reassuringly. She quickly closed the distance between them and wrapped Lorelai in a tight hug.

"I know."

Stepping back, Mia smoothed Lorelai's hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ears. "She'll heal."

"I know, but, right now, all I can think about is the fact that my baby is broken."

"Only temporarily. How long until the cast comes off?"

"The doctor said he'll take it off in about six weeks."

"See? That's hardly any time at all. She'll be good as new before you know it."

"I don't think I'll draw an easy breath the entire time," confessed Lorelai.

"Yes, you will because Rory is perfectly safe. She's upstairs asleep. There's no reason to worry."

Lorelai looked longingly in the direction of the stairs. Turning back to Mia, she wondered, "Would it be wrong for me to go watch her sleep?"

"Not today."

"Thanks, Mia. Can you stay with the boys until Luke comes down?"

"Of course," Mia readily agreed. "But don't rush him. I have a feeling he's up there watching her right now."

"You're probably right."

"Don't you have better things to do than stand around here telling me things I already know? I know you have better places to be, so get moving." Mia gave Lorelai a gentle push toward the door. "The boys and I will be fine."

That was all the encouragement that Lorelai needed. She left the kitchen without another word and was already halfway up the stairs when she called back, "Thanks again, Mia."

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Upstairs, Lorelai discovered that Mia was right. Luke sat on the edge of Rory's bed watching her sleep. As quietly as possible, Lorelai crept across the room. She stopped just behind Luke and lightly rested her hand on his shoulder to let him know she was there. Without taking his eyes off Rory, Luke slipped an arm around Lorelai's waist and gently tugged her into his lap. "How's everything downstairs?"

"Good. Mia's going to stay for a while."

"That's nice."

"Mhmm," Lorelai hummed absentmindedly. Smoothing the blanket over Rory's legs, she asked, "How's our girl doing?"

"She hasn't woken up," Luke answered as he leaned forward to readjust the pillow under Rory's broken wrist.

"That's probably for the best."

"Just so you know, this isn't the Mother's Day celebration I had planned."

Lorelai scoffed, "I should hope not."

"I'll make it up to you."

"You don't have to."

"I need to. Just tell me what to do."

"You can stop blaming yourself."

Surprised by her request, Luke looked at Lorelai for the first time since she'd entered the room. "How did you know I was?"

"I know you," replied Lorelai, speaking slowly to emphasize each word. "Promise you'll stop."

"I promise."

"One more thing?"

"Anything."

"I want to watch her a little longer. Will you sit here with me?"

"I'm not going anywhere."

Satisfied, Lorelai settled more comfortably into Luke's lap and together they watched over Rory.