Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino, Warner Bros., and all those other rich, smart people.

A/N: Time for a bit of drama, no?

XXX

"Lorelai! How many times have I told you not to come back here?" Luke said roughly from his position on the floor.

If he hadn't been in pain and felt embarrassed beyond words, the scene would have been something to laugh at. Luke was sprawled out in front of the counter, a plate broken beside him, a drink spilled near his head, and food all over the place. Lorelai was staring open-mouthed from her spot behind the counter.

Luke had been coming out of the kitchen backwards (he had been yelling at Cesar about the fries being burnt). The next thing he knew, he had turned and bumped into his wife and slipped on something that had spilled on the floor, which sent him tumbling over the counter and onto the floor.

Kirk jumped up from his seat and offered a hand to Luke. He took it and stood. Lorelai was mouthing soundlessly like a fish out of water.

"Luke, I'm so sorry...I had no idea you...and the thing on the floor...and you were...," she rambled, not completing any one thought, which wasn't entirely uncommon for her anyway. Luke could tell she was also trying to hold back laughter.

"It's fine," he said tiredly. "I just gotta grab something to clean this up with."

He headed into the storage room, looking for the broom and mop. It was hard to find them; they were behind his newest crate of pickles.

So after nearly five minutes of searching, Luke came back out into the quiet diner. His eyes immediately found his wife, who had her cell phone up to her ear, and with each passing second was becoming more and more depressed.

Luke timidly approached her, and as she hung up the phone, she said in a somber voice, "That was my mother. My father is in the hospital." She suddenly began laughing quietly, tears streaming down her face. "Haven't we already done this? I get a horrible message that my dad is in the hospital while I'm in the diner?"

He didn't know what to say. So, he did what all good husbands should do. He hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "Let's go," he said quietly. Cesar had come out of the kitchen. Luke turned to him. "Can you call Lane and see if she can come in earlier? We've gotta go." Cesar nodded.

As they left, he could already see the gossip spreading throughout the diner, and soon it would reach the town. He didn't care at that moment, though. All he knew was that Richard Gilmore was in the hospital again, and this time he was family.

XXX

"Mom!" Lorelai shouted as she and Luke ran down the hallway. He was having major déjà vu.

"Lorelai!" her mother said, relieved. Lorelai hugged Emily tightly. When they broke apart, Luke nodded to his mother-in-law.

"How is he? What happened?" Lorelai was frantic. "You don't want to keep things from a pregnant woman!" she yelled when she received no answers.

Emily took a deep breath, holding back tears. "It doesn't look good. He had a heart attack of some sort, much worse than his last condition. We were just at home, discussing the Gorst's party we were going to attend Satuday...They don't think he's..." She choked up. Lorelai pulled her mother into another hug, fearing the worst.

Luke didn't know what to say. He had lost both his parents, but earlier on in life, and he had gotten along well with both of them.

"Do you need me to call Rory?" he asked, trying to be helpful.

Lorelai looked stricken. "Rory! I forgot to call her, oh, she's going to be so upset..."

Luke could see that neither women seemed capable of using a phone right now, so he offered once more. "I'll call her."

Looking grateful, Lorelai hugged him closely as Emily began demanding attention from a passing doctor.

After letting go and taking his wife's cell phone (he had never really needed one, thus didn't buy one), Luke walked down the hall and out an exit. Outside it was warm, but not hot. It was a perfect spring evening. Funny how bad things happen on nice days, he thought bitterly. Both his parents had died on sunny days; his mother on a Saturday morning, his father on a Friday afternoon.

A bit shaky, Luke punched the little numbers that made up Rory's cell phone number. It rang twice before she picked up.

"Mom?" she said. Luke suddenly felt horrible for having to be the one that had to tell her.

"Hey, Rory, it's Luke," he replied.

She must've detected the nervousness in his voice. "Is something wrong? Is it mom? Something with the baby?"

"No, but, uh, Rory, you're grandfather's in the hospital."

"What?" Luke could hear her drop the pen she must have been using for a paper.

"He had some sort of heart attack, and..." he took a deep breath. "It's pretty bad, Rory."

"Okay, um," she sounded distressed. "Alright, I'll be there as soon as possible. Thanks, Luke."

"No problem, Rory."

He hung up and went back inside. Finding Lorelai and Emily hadn't been hard; the elder Gilmore was pacing up and down the hallway, her daughter trying to calm her from the sidelines.

"Mom, please, sit down. All you're pacing is gonna make me sick," Lorelai said faintly.

"Rory's gonna be here as soon as she can," Luke announced as he took a seat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs.

Lorelai sat beside him, and her hand found his immediately. Luke rubbed his thumb on the top of her hand soothingly. Emily had spotted another nurse and had gone after her.

"This is so screwed up," Lorelai whispered. "I mean, I thought he was okay after last time. And now here we are..." She sniffled.

Luke wanted to assure her that everything was going to be fine, but he couldn't; not after what Emily had said. He settled for, "Let's just not think about it, okay?"

She nodded slowly. Her mother trudged back over to them, and collapsed into one of the chairs, covering her face with her hands.

XXX

"Luke?"

He felt someone poking him, and opened his eyes slowly, groggy from the short nap he had taken. Rory's face appeared before him, looking confused and desperate. He looked to the chair beside his where Lorelai had also fallen asleep.

Luke stood slowly, and the moment he was fully up, Rory grabbed him around the middle. "Is he okay? Has anything changed? There was traffic, and Greg was working late, and then I missed the exit..."

Patting her back, Luke sighed. "I really don't know."

Rory looked around. "Where's Grandma?"

Realizing she wasn't there, Luke also scanned the waiting area for his mother-in-law. "She was here before I fell asleep. She must've...gone for a walk, or something."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, however, Emily appeared, coming out from behind the double-doors where they had most likely wheeled Richard to a few hours ago. She was walking with a doctor, who had his hand on her shoulder. Luke's stomach dropped when he noticed that she was sobbing.

Emily reached them, and when she looked up, he knew what had happened. Rory obviously did, too, for she latched onto Luke for support once again.

"No." The young woman's voice was muffled as she said it into his shirt.

At this point Lorelai had awoken from the commotion in front of her. She took one glance at her three family members before the tears began came.

She stood and hugged her mother, both crying on each other's shoulders. Rory was still holding on to Luke as if her life depended on it.

He really didn't know what to do. It was different from when his mother and then his father had died. Luke had been ten when Lily had passed, and twenty-one when William's life had ended. He had barely started living by the time both his parents were gone. Yet for Lorelai, her father was deceased at an older age, but she still felt like she had never done well in his eyes, even after she and Rory had been pulled back into Emily and Richard's lives. Luke had never told his wife that before their wedding, her father had said how proud he was of his daughter for making her life so colorful and amazing.

Luke had been fond of Richard Gilmore. He hadn't really gotten to know him until a few months after he and Lorelai had been dating, when her parents had began counseling. The elder man had asked him into his study, and the two had had an interesting conversation about his intentions, and Luke had learned how much Richard loved his wife, daughter, and granddaughter just by the way he had spoken of his family.

Lorelai had been growing closer to her father over the past three years; they had finally come to a mutual understanding of things. And now...

Rory had let go of Luke, and was now hugging her grandmother. He closed the gap between he and Lorelai, and she fastened on to him with all her might.

"It's not fair," she whimpered. "We were just getting to know each other again."

"I know," Luke said softly, cupping her head in his hand.

Lorelai slumped against her husband. "Now he'll never get to meet his second grandchild."

XXX

Luke hadn't been to a funeral since his Uncle Louie had died, and that time, it had only been a few people at the service and burial. It was different from his father's, where the whole town came. Since nobody had ever really liked Louie, including himself, he hadn't felt so lost.

Richard Gilmore's funeral wasn't like that. There were more people than Luke could even estimate. There were businessmen, family, extended family, his friends, and then some Stars Hollow townspeople who had met the older man, and had come to show support for the Gilmore's.

Lorelai hadn't been doing well. Richard's death, mixed in with her pregnancy hormones, had made her even more sensitive than usual. Though she still made wisecracks, Luke could tell she was hurting. She'd broken down a few times, saying that she never got the chance to make up for all those years she and her father had missed. Having had much practice by now with crying women, specifically crying Lorelai, Luke had held her close until the tears subsided.

Rory had taken the week of the wake and funeral off from school, saying that one of her classmates was going to take notes for her. She went along, regretting that she hadn't had more time with her grandfather. Greg had come as soon as he had heard, and had been helping out as best he could. Luke had given the most fatherly hug he could muster to his step-daughter.

Emily was the one person Luke was having a hard time of deciphering. She went about planning as if it were another function, and yet three days after Richard had passed, Luke had driven to the large mansion to bring over some food. He had found his mother-in-law crying softly in her husband's study, so he had just left the food with the maid. Emily didn't cry in public.

Christopher, Sherry and their daughter had shown up. They hadn't stayed long- both adults had to return to work- but Lorelai had told Luke that she and Chris had had a nice talk, both reminiscing about her father.

And now here they were, a week after Richard had been buried. Luke glanced over at his wife, who was twirling a stray piece of string from the blanket she had thrown over herself. He moved closer and took her hand, ceasing the twirling. She smiled gratefully at him.

"I hope Rory's okay," Lorelai said quietly.

"Greg is there with her, she'll be fine," Luke assured. Rory had just officially moved in with her boyfriend two weeks ago.

Lorelai nodded, then stood slowly and walked down the short hallway to stand in front of Rory's old room, which was now completely painted light blue and housing the furniture Luke had made. She put a hand on her stomach, which was only just starting to bulge a bit.

"Hey, Luke," she said. "Come here."

So he stood up and walked over to her. She grinned and placed his hand on her stomach. He felt...was that...movement? His eyes grew wide. Lorelai nodded slightly.

"Wow," was all he could whisper.

"Yeah," she agreed, gazing at him.

Luke couldn't resist the moment. He bent slightly and kissed her hard, overjoyed at getting to actually feel his child growing inside her. When he pulled back, she was still smiling, and his hand was still on her abdomen.

"It's kicking pretty early." She thought for a moment. "Maybe it'll have your athletic talent," Lorelai said lightly.

"As long as it can throw a ball. I refuse to have a child that can't throw."

"Hey, Rory can't, and she's done well in life."

Considering for only a moment, Luke shrugged. "Still."

XXX