Author's Post Dinner Ramblings- Hi everyone! It's me, and this is the second update in a week. I know, I know, it's not the sporadic updates that you have all come to hopefully love, but I hope that you'll all enjoy reading this next offering of 'The Last.' I wouldn't get used to the frequent updates though. I had some angst building up inside of me, and I figured that this would be the healthiest way to release it. I have to get into a fluffy place to write the next one, so hopefully, the wind will change, and I'll get a miracle or something.

Thanks go out to my wonderful beta extraordinaire, Sara, (Shouhei) I don't know how she keeps doing it, but she catches all the little things that I don't get, and puts up with my annoying questions and frequent changes of the same chapter. I'm still not sure how I haven't annoyed her to within an inch of her sanity yet, but I'm grateful that she always comes back for more!

Oh, and I had a reviewer point out a mistake a few chapters ago. soccerchica08, thanks for the info, I took care of it, so the inky nit pick is no more!

Enough of my yammering, on with the show!


Chapter Nine- Shattered Glass

Mollie didn't stop running.

She couldn't. The thoughts in her head were still screaming, trying to get out. The questions, the need for answers that didn't exist, were all pounding against her skull in a jumbled mass of confusion.

How long had it been going on?

Was this the first time?

Were there other women?

Why had he done it?

Was her mother not enough for him?

Did she do something wrong?

Did she not love him enough?

If she hadn't found out, would her mother still be alive?

Mollie collapsed onto the soft, green earth just before the beach. As her knees hit the ground, a sob tore its way from her throat. So many questions, but would she ever have any real answers?

"Oh, I'm sorry, Dear." Mollie looked up, and saw Emily Gilmore sitting a few yards away, her feet invisible in the sand. "I didn't know that this was your spot too."

"Huh?"

"This is where I always like to go when the world gets a little too crowded with people who just don't get it." Emily smiled wryly.

"Oh."

"Would you like to be alone?" Emily asked politely, standing up and dusting the sand off her dress.

"It doesn't matter." Mollie said quietly, curling up into a ball. "I'm alone all the time now."

"That's impossible." Emily informed her, sitting down next to Mollie. "No one is ever alone, especially not you."

"But it's true!" Mollie cried out, more tears flooding from her eyes. "I lost my mother, and now, I've lost my father too!"

"How can that be, when he's right inside the house?" Emily asked, confused. She hadn't witnessed the events that had transpired only moments ago. She had been outside, hiding from her own problems and wallowing in her own pain.

"He's not my father anymore." Mollie said sharply. "My father would never have betrayed my mother like that. I don't know that man in there, but he's not my father."

"What happened?" Emily asked, understanding the way that the girl was feeling. Betrayal by a loved one was never easy, no matter how old you were.

"He had an affair, years ago." A tear rolled down Mollie's cheek, and she continued on. "She was trying to keep from dying, and he was sleeping with some chippy from the office."

Emily was shocked. She had known Stephen and Isabelle Calloway very well. She had watched Isabelle grow up and get married. She had seen the love that the couple had shared, how was it possible that something so impossible could occur?

"I mean, he was never there that last year. It was like he disappeared." Mollie looked out at the ocean, the waves lapping against the shoreline. "I remember her, she was always so tough, even though everyone thought she was fighting a losing battle, she still put on a brave face, and never gave up. Mom didn't want to leave us, and she fought so hard for a long time."

"Then, all of a sudden, it was like nothing mattered anymore. Mom refused to go for any more chemotherapy, it was like she just gave up. Even at eleven, I knew that something happened, something horrible that broke her unwavering spirit. I watched my mother die, and he wasn't even there. He was never there."

"And I always wondered, what happened? Why did she just let it beat her?" Mollie shut her eyes, trying to force the tears not to fall. "And then, two months ago, I got my answer. He was unfaithful, and she knew about it."

Emily rubbed the girls back soothingly, trying not to distract her from telling her story. "When I found those diaries, it was like I got part of her back. I read all about her first kiss, her graduation, when she and Cassie Sullivan backpacked through Europe, when she met my dad, her wedding. I got to live all of those moments through her eyes, and it was like she was sitting next to me, and telling me all of those stories."

"That is, until I got to the end. She kept a diary from her seventeenth birthday to the day before she died, did you know that? Every single event that happened to her in her life from that day to the end, every emotion that she felt, every fear that she had, every wish she made, every thought she had, no matter how irrational or goofy, they were all documented in those books."

"She found out about my father's affair on accident. Mom called his room when he was in Chicago for a 'business trip.' And a woman answered the phone. She hung up, and had the concierge put her through, since she obviously had the wrong number, and that woman picked up the phone again. That's when she started to do some digging, you know, going through the credit card bills, his business schedules, hotel receipts, and she found out that it had been going on for a while."

"At first, she didn't seem to want to believe it, but the truth was undeniable. And it killed her. She said in one of the last entries that she didn't want to live in a world where the love of her life didn't love her. And then, she just gave up."

"And when I read that, I couldn't believe it. I mean, she must have made a mistake. I couldn't believe that my father, the man who had told me all my life that my mother was irreplaceable, because you don't find love like that everyday. He told me all about how much he loved her, how their love would last until the end of forever, and even after that, but it was all a lie. If he loved her like he said that he did, he would have never been able to throw it all away on some cheap whore."

"I looked into all the clues that she left behind. A friend of mine hacked into his computer, and there was all the proof, right there, clear as day. My dad keeps excellent records. It must have been fate that I found out now, or else they would have gotten rid of all the evidence after seven years, when they delete and shred all the old files."

"But when I saw the records, all confirming what Mom believed, it was like I lost her all over again, but for a new reason. My dad killed her."

"They say that cancer patients that have loving families, something, or someone to live for make mind bending recoveries. What would have happened if he hadn't been unfaithful? Would she still be alive? Would I have had to spend seven years without her?"

"Oh, Dear." Emily pulled Mollie closer as new tears fell from her eyes. "I know how you feel. Betrayal is never easy to cope with, no matter how old you are."

"Who betrayed you?" Mollie asked, her prying nature coming into play. Even with all of her emotions running high, she couldn't resist getting the dirt that Lulu had been trying to obtain for weeks.

"My husband."

--&--

Everything in the house was still silent. Even though they had all left the hall, where all the spectators had seemed to be glued to the spots they stood on, their minds were replaying the events that had just taken place.

Mollie had left them all to pick up the shattered pieces that she had left behind.

Her father had gone, it was pretty obvious from Lulu's demeanor that he was no longer welcome in her home.

The shards of glass were still lying on the floor. A maid had attempted to clean up the mess, but cut her hand in the process.

It had been a beautiful vase. The crystal sparkled brightly as the light had danced in the shapes cut into the base, handcrafted in Switzerland in the early eighteenth century.

So stunning, and now, it was a broken mess on the floor.

Much like the father daughter relationship that had shattered it into a million pieces.

--&--

Rory was stunned.

She had just heard about the great love between Stephen and Isabelle Calloway, how it had conquered over everything, even death. Now, that same love story was nothing but a fairy tale told to a little girl as a bedtime story.

Was there ever any truth to it?

Or was it all just a lie?

Was this what the effects of an affair did to someone? Did it tear up their insides, bubbling over in a torrent of angry words and hateful phrases when the pain of betrayal reached its boiling point?

Lindsay.

In all the time since that fateful night she had lost her innocence, Rory had thought about herself. What the affair had done to her, what it had done to her relationship with her mother, what it had done to Dean, even. But never Lindsay.

Why not Lindsay?

She was the wife, the 'Isabelle' in the mess. The innocent bystander, who did nothing but love her husband, trusting in his love and fidelity, as Mollie's mother had done.

Did she know?

Did she sense it?

If she ever found out about that night, would she react the way that Mollie had? Would she hate Dean, would she blame him?

Or would she blame Rory?

Rory was to blame too. It wasn't all Dean's fault. She could have said no. She could have told him to leave.

But she hadn't.

Why didn't she tell him to go? Why hadn't she reminded him of the wife that he had waiting for him at home?

Why hadn't he remembered? Why had he even come looking for her in the first place?

Lorelai and Lane had been keeping her up to date on the gossip and goings on of Stars Hollow. Neither had mentioned a break up between Lindsay and Dean.

Lorelai might have chosen not to inform her, thinking maybe it would be too painful for her to know. But Lane would have told her. After all, she knew nothing of what had transpired between Rory and Dean.

And a divorce was big news.

Someone would have told her.

So, Dean had obviously gone back to his life pre-adultery. He had slipped back into the role of the loving husband, the one who would never dream of cheating on his wife.

He had forgotten about their one night of passion.

But the question was, could she do the same?

--&--

"What do you mean?" Mollie asked, turning to Emily. "Did he…"

"Have an affair?" Emily finished for her. "I don't know. But something must have been going on, because he has been having secret lunches with Pennilyn Lott for years. Who knows what else he has chosen to keep from me?"

"I'm sorry."

"I am too." Emily sighed, looking down at the green grass beneath her still bare feet. "I don't have any proof, but if he didn't tell me about this, what else didn't he tell me about? Were there other women? And if so, how many? Less that ten? More than twenty? When one lie is uncovered, it brings a whole lot more to the mind of the person who was lied to."

"Yeah, you start to question every single thing that they ever told you." Mollie agreed, feeling her pain.

"And then, the way that he treated Jason, his business partner." Emily's lip quivered, but she held her tears hidden way. "He just tossed him aside, not caring in the least what happened to him."

"Wow."

"If he could treat his partner like that, what was stopping him from shoving me out of the picture? What was stopping him from replacing me with Pennliyn Lott, the way his mother had begged him to all those years ago?"

"She did that?" Mollie's eyes widened. Emily Gilmore was a great lady. Her grandmother wouldn't be friends with just anyone, and the stories that Lulu had told her about their escapades in college had painted a picture of a woman who was everything that a man could want.

"Oh yes, that old bat never thought I was good enough to be a member of her family." Emily said, a sharp edge in her voice. "When my daughter Lorelai and I were going through some of her personal effects after she died, we found a copy of the letter."

"You know, it's so weird. I know so little about Gran. I mean, like, what was her maiden name?" Lorelai asked, glancing at a few papers.

"Gilmore."

"No, no, her maiden name."

"Gilmore."

"Wait. Y-you're not saying…" Lorelai had a horrified look on her face at the notion.

"She and Charles were second cousins." Emily answered, matter of fact. She was seemingly unaffected by the disturbing information.

"Ew! What?!"

"Oh, don't act so scandalized. It was not at all uncommon for prominent families to keep the bloodlines closed."

"Keeping the bloodlines closed. Is that what we're calling it?"

"Well, what would you call it?" Emily asked, looking up from the papers she was going though.

"Oh, I don't know. How about 'Good morning, Appalachia, I got a mighty cute sister and an extra set of toes.'" Lorelai said, only half joking.

"No one has any extra toes."

"I have a double-jointed thumb." Lorelai informed her.

"Remarkable. Use it to hand me some more papers, please." Emily requested, ignoring her daughter's antics.

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand how everyone was so okay with this. I mean, what, did they just go, "What a cute couple. They look so much alike." After hearing no comment from her mother, Lorelai turns to her. "Mom?"

"This is to your father. It's a carbon copy of a letter she sent to your father." Emily said, looking at the paper in her hands.

"Hmm. That's nice."

"My Dearest Richard, It is with heavy heart that I write you this letter tonight, but I cannot stand by and let you make a terrible mistake. Until now, I had thought, hoped, prayed that you would come to the same conclusion that I have. But you have not, and therefore, I feel it is my duty as your mother to beg you to reconsider your impending marriage."

Lorelai gasped at the information.

"I'm sure that Emily is a very suitable woman for someone, but not for you. She will not be able to make you happy. She does not have the Gilmore stamina or spark. She is simply not a Gilmore."

"Well, sure, 'cause you weren't directly related to him." Lorelai joked, attempting to lighten the mood.

"I don't know the circumstances surrounding your breakup with Pennilyn Lott, but it is still my belief that she is much better suited for you than Emily."

She continued on, her voice breaking slightly as she read more.

"I know that the timing of this is particularly awkward, since you are to be married tomorrow."

"No way!"

"But your happiness is too important to me, so timing be damned."

"She wanted Dad to leave you at the altar."

"She begged him to leave me at the altar! She begged him in writing, and then she saved the carbons!" Emily exclaimed, growing angry at the heartless actions of her own mother- in- law years ago.

"That was pretty cold." Mollie said, surprised.

"Yes it was." Emily concurred, the resentment evident in her voice. "And then I started thinking about it. What if Richard had thought differently about the letter? What if he had a change of heart, but it came too late, and we were already married? Did he and Pennilyn Lott start an affair then, or did it start later? Or am I just going crazy and nothing of the sort ever happened?"

"The trouble with lying is, after you find out about it, you no longer know if anything the liar told you was ever the truth." Mollie said softly.

"Yes, that is the trouble with lying." Emily agreed, looking back out on the waves as they crashed together in the distance. The sound of the water lapping against the shores soothed her frazzled nerves, and the salty sea air refreshed her spirit.

Maybe she could live without Richard, after all.

But did she want to?


So... you wanna find out what's around the bend for everyone?

What's Rory going to say to Tristan?

What's Lulu got up her sleeve?

Will Mollie ever get the answers that she seeks?

And just who exactly is the REAL Master and Commander, anyway?

There's only one way to find out...

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