A/N: For a long time I've thought about what to do with this story. In my heart I knew I had to end it, but I couldn't find the right way to do that. I've been writing this for so long that it's hard to let go and I know that I've been neglecting this story lately, not updating as soon as I should have. That's partially because I've been busy with work, and with other writing projects, and partially because I just didn't know how to end this, until it got to me a few days ago. I just wrote it one piece at the time and I'm satisfied with the result and I hope you guys are as well. Please don't be mad at me for ending this story now, or for my lack of updating lately. I couldn't have written this many chapters if it wasn't for you, my loyal reviewers. Every time I updated a chapter, I was looking forward to see your reviews in my mailbox, making me my smile and making my day. Right now it's time to move on to new projects and new stories because even though the show is over now, me writing fanfiction definitely isn't!
I want to take this oppertunity to once again thank all of you who read and reviewed this story. You all rock!
Epilogue
"Mommy, mommy."
Lorelai slowly opened her eyes and grunted when she saw the time on the alarm clock. Only 5.30. He was so his father's son.
"Are the fire works today mommy?" Lucan climbed on the bed and lay down on Luke's side, facing his mother.
"Not until midnight baby."
"When's midnight?"
Lorelai smiled at her almost 5 year old son. "A looooong time from now. Go back to sleep."
"But I'm not tired anymore."
"Then you'll never make it till midnight."
"How long till midnight mommy?"
Lorelai wiped the sleep out of her eyes. "It's way too early to do matt."
"What's matt?"
"Counting."
"Ah." He smiled, finally understanding what his mother was talking about. "I can count."
"I know you can honey."
"One." He put one finger in the air. "Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten." He showed Lorelai all ten fingers.
"Very good. Now go back to sleep."
He shook his head. "But the fireworks mommy."
"Not until very late. It has to be dark again first."
"Midnight is in the dark?"
Lorelai nodded. "You'll find out tonight. I promise."
He bounced on the bed, filled with energy and Lorelai started to realize she wouldn't get any more sleep.
"Where's daddy?"
"Where do you think he is?"
"The diner?"
Lorelai nodded.
"Can we go?"
"For breakfast?"
Lucan nodded.
"Not until your brother and sister are awake."
"I can wake them?" He was ready to jump of the bed but Lorelai grabbed his arm.
"I don't think so. They'll wake up on their own. Let them sleep."
"But then what can we do?"
"Sleep as well?" Lorelai suggested, knowing it wasn't going to happen.
"Can I go to the diner by myself?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because you're 4 years old."
"Almost 5 mommy. I know how to get there."
"You're still not allowed to go alone. Why don't you go play in your room until your brother and sister wake up, on their own. Then we all shower and go have breakfast at daddy's."
"Keey." He was ready to jump off the bed again when Lorelai stopped him for the second time. "What's up?"
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
He smiled and placed a wet kiss on Lorelai's cheek. "Morning mommy."
"Morning Lucan." She kissed his forehead and then gave him a soft push against his shoulder. "Now go and play."
-xxxxxx-
"Mommy, mommy." Lorelai opened her eyes again and saw it was now a quarter past 6. She felt someone jumping on the bed and turned around so she could see who woke her up this time. Sam was standing on top of the bed, jumping up and down and Emilyn was standing at the end of the bed with her left thumb in her mouth and her stuffed bear under her arm. Lorelai smiled at her two youngest children and grabbed Sam's arm. "Sit down baby."
"I'm hungy mommy."
"We'll go have breakfast at daddy's later okay?"
Sam nodded. "Keey." He looked around. "Where's Lucan?"
"Playing in his room."
"Can I go?"
Lorelai nodded and quickly kissed her son before releasing him. "No fighting." But he didn't hear her as he was already gone.
Lorelai looked up and saw that Emilyn was still standing in the same spot. She was a lot less energetic after just waking up. Lorelai opened her arms. "Come here honey."
Emilyn smiled and climbed in her mother's embrace.
"Are you still tired?"
The little girl nodded as she lay her head on Lorelai's shoulder, her thumb still in her mouth and the bear close to her side. They stayed like that for almost 10 minutes and Lorelai almost drifted off to sleep again when she felt Emilyn move. She dropped the bear and wiped the sleep out of her eyes.
"Are you ready to get up?"
Emilyn nodded.
"Okay." Lorelai sat up and put Emilyn on the floor before getting out of bed herself. She slipped into her robe before she held out her hand. "Come on."
"No." Emilyn said, and put her hands in the air, indicating for Lorelai to pick her up.
Lorelai took her daughter in her arms and kissed her cheek. "I'm not sure how long we're able to still do this. You're getting heavy."
Emilyn just placed her head on Lorelai's shoulder, her thumb back in her mouth.
Lorelai walked to Lucan's room and smiled when she saw her two sons. They were playing with the wooden kitchen Luke made for them. They both had baseball caps placed backwards on their heads. Lucan was the first one to spotted Lorelai.
"Mommy do you want breakfast?"
"Absolutely." Lorelai entered the room and sat down on top of Lucan's bed, Emilyn in her lap.
"Do you want pancakes mommy?"
"Chocolate chip pancakes please." Lorelai told her son and the boys pretended to bake pancakes and put them on a plate, handing them to Lorelai.
"Here you go mommy."
"Where's my coffee?"
Sam smiled and handed Lorelai a cup. "Caffeine is gonna kill ya, mommy."
"You guys spend way too much time at your dad's." Lorelai had to smile though.
-xxxxxx-
"Hey." Luke smiled when his family entered the diner. He walked towards them, ran his hand through the hair of both boys and then picked up Emilyn and kissed her cheek before putting her down again.
"Hey." Lorelai said, and kissed him.
"Did the kids let you sleep in this morning?"
She shook her head. "Lucan woke me up at 5.30 asking about the fireworks. I send him to his room and fell asleep again until the twins woke me up at 6.15."
"You did sleep over an hour longer than I did."
"It's your fault the kids won't let me sleep in. The boys are just like you." They even looked like Luke. They had the same eyes and nose as their father. Only Lucan had straight hair and Sam's hair was slightly curled. Emilyn looked more like Lorelai. She had her mother's eyes and nose, her hair curly and dark.
Luke raised his shoulders. "I would have picked them up if you'd called me."
"I know." She smiled. "You can get out with them tomorrow morning."
"Sure." He smiled as well and looked down at his children. "Sit down everybody so I can get you breakfast."
The kids sat down at their regular table and Lorelai joined them.
"What can I get you?"
"Pancakes." Sam yelled.
"Me too." Emilyn yelled as well, a lot more awake than earlier that morning.
"And you?" Luke looked at Lucan.
"I want fireworks daddy."
"Not until midnight."
Lucan pouted. "That's what mommy said."
"Well, your mommy is right. You have to be patient. Now what do you want for breakfast?"
"Pancakes." He smiled.
"Pancakes it is." He walked away and Lorelai started pouting. Then she stood up and went behind the counter to fill a mug with coffee.
"You're not allowed to go behind the counter mommy." Lucan said.
"Yes I can."
He shook his head. "No you can't. Daddy's going to yell at you."
"No he won't."
Just then Luke came out off the kitchen. "What do you think you're doing?" He didn't yell, but he pretended to be mad.
Lorelai turned around. "What does it look like I'm doing?"
"It looks like you're behind the counter and you know you are not allowed to be there. The insurance won't pay if something happens to you."
"Oh honey, we've been over this many times. No sack of potatoes will fall down on my head here. Besides, I think your insurance policy sucks because it won't pay for your own wife."
"We've been over this Lorelai. Every time I tell you that you're not allowed here." He crossed his arms in front of him and shot her an angry look.
"I told her she's not allowed to go behind the counter daddy." Lucan told his father proudly. "She wouldn't listen to me."
"She never listens."
"Are you going to punish her now?"
"I should, shouldn't I?" Luke looked at his kids who were all smiling. "How about… no coffee for one week?"
Lucan nodded. "Yeah. That's just like I'm not allowed to watch TV after dinner if I did something bad."
"Yeah. Exactly." Luke held out his hand. "Hand me the cup Lorelai."
Her mouth fell open. "You've got to be kidding me."
He shook his head. "Nope."
She shook her head, quickly sipped down her coffee and then handed Luke the cup. "Fine." She wasn't going to fight in front of the kids.
After breakfast the kids went to play upstairs in the apartment and Lorelai sat down on her favorite stool at the counter. Luke was standing in front of her, wiping the counter with a rag.
"How about some coffee?" She asked, blinking her eyelashes at him.
He shook his head. "No coffee for one week remember?"
"You can't be serious about that."
"How are the kids going to learn not to do something bad if you keep giving them the wrong example?"
"They know that they're not allowed behind the counter. But I'm an adult."
"Doesn't matter."
"I don't understand why you just won't put me on the insurance forms so that I'm covered when I'm behind the counter. You don't mind if I help you out when it's busy and you're shorthanded."
"That's different. When you're working you won't be drinking all my coffee."
"Oh you can just make a new pot."
"That's not my point."
"Well, I'll go home or to the inn if you won't give me any coffee. But let me remind you that it's our anniversary tonight, and it won't be any fun for you if you're putting up this act."
"Fine." He filled a mug with coffee and put it in front of her. "Just don't tell the kids because I'll never hear the end of it."
"I won't." She took a sip of her coffee.
"What are the plans for tonight?"
"My parents and Rory and Warren are meeting us at the inn around 8 tonight."
"Okay. I'm working until 7 so that gives me enough time to go home and change."
"Sounds good." She smiled and took another sip of her coffee. "You will look after the kids today right?"
"I promised you I would."
"Good. 'Cause I have tons of stuff to do at the inn to get everything ready for tonight. Can't leave everything to Michel. And Sookie is totally freaking out about the food she wants to serve. I think it's safe to say she hasn't slept in 2 days to make sure it's going to be perfect."
"It's only new year's." He raised his shoulders, not understanding where all the commotion was about.
"And our 5th wedding anniversary."
"Right. And that." He smiled. "Can't believe it's been 5 years."
"Me either. So much has changed within time. I was 7 months pregnant with Lucan and you made sure Rory came home from London so we could spend Christmas together, and to celebrate the engagement. Did I ever tell you how happy I am that we didn't wait a few months before we got married, but got married right away?"
He nodded. "A few times."
"Good."
-xxxxxx-
Lorelai walked into the inn with the kids a little after 7. She and Luke agreed that she'd take the kids to the party while he took a shower and changed.
"Mommy, how much longer?" Lucan asked, very impatient.
"A long time honey. It's not even 8 o clock yet."
"Is midnight at 8 o clock?" He looked outside and saw it was dark. His mother told him this morning that midnight was in the dark.
"No honey. But your grandparents and Rory and Warren will be here at 8."
"Then when's midnight?"
"At 12 o clock."
"Oh…." He looked disappointed. "That's a long time from now isn't it?"
Lorelai nodded and ran her hand through her son's hair to comfort him. "Why don't you go play with your brother and sister?"
"Where are they?"
"I think they ran off toward the kitchen to see where Davy and Martha are."
"Cool." A smile appeared on his face and he ran away in search for his siblings and friends.
Lorelai shook her head with a smile plastered on her face as she watched her son ran away. Then she walked towards the party area to see if everything was okay.
The room was filled with people already and the snow theme Lorelai had chosen for the decorations looked beautiful with the party lights and the moonlight coming in from outside. Pleased with what she was seeing she walked into the direction of the kitchen to see what the kids were up to.
Sookie looked up when her friend entered. "Hey."
"Hey." Lorelai smiled. "Where are the kids?"
"Went to play in the lobby."
"You told them to behave?"
"Of course. And I gave them some cookies and potato chips so they should be fine for a while."
"Sookie." Lorelai sighed and her friend looked at her curiously.
"What's wrong?"
"You know they're not allowed to bring candy into the lobby. They always run around and make a mess."
Sookie raised her shoulders. "The place has to be cleaned tomorrow anyway."
"I know. But they think if they're allowed once, they can do it all the time."
"I'm sure they won't."
"Your kids are a bit older, but my 3 year olds don't understand mixed signals yet."
Sookie sighed, knowing Lorelai was right. "I'm sorry. I'll tell them to sit down when they eat it."
Lorelai shook her head. "I'll do it later. How are things going?"
"Good." Sookie smiled immediately. "I found the perfect cake recipe. Here taste." She handed Lorelai a small piece of cake.
"Mmm…" Lorelai said, as she tasted the cake. "Tastes great. You've outdid yourself again."
"I know. Wait until you taste the fresh bread and the ten different salads I made. Oh, and I made potato chips myself. Some kind of paprika flavor with a hint of bacon and I perfectly fried chicken and there's ham and…."
Lorelai put her hand in the air, knowing her friend wouldn't stop talking if not stopped. "I get it. You really really outdid yourself this year. I'll check out the buffet later and promise to try everything. I'll better check on the kids now."
"Okay. Can you ask Martha to come see me in here? I want to show her how to decorate a new year's cake."
"Sure." Lorelai walked in the direction of the lobby and found the kids all together. They were playing with the toys Davy and Martha brought and their hands were all greasy from the chips. "How's it going?" She asked, announcing her presence.
"Good mommy." Lucan looked up. "Is it…"
"No." Lorelai interrupted her son. "It's not midnight already and smiled when she saw disappointment on his face once again.
"Mommy look." Emilyn showed Lorelai one of Martha's dolls. "Her name is Rosie."
"She's beautiful." Lorelai smiled at her daughter. "Martha, your mother asked if she could see you in the kitchen."
The girl nodded and ran off in the direction of the kitchen.
"Mommy, is Wawen coming?" Sam pulled on his mother's pants. He really looked up to his big brother in law, almost as if he was his big hero.
"Warren will be here soon honey."
"Cool." Sam said, something he picked up from Lucan.
"And Rory?" Emilyn asked, who really liked her big sister.
"Yes, and Rory and Grandma and Grandpa."
"And Daddy?" Sam asked, wanting to know if his other hero was coming as well.
"I'm already here." Luke said and Sam turned around to face his father.
"Daddy." He put his arms in the air and Luke picked up his son.
"Hey buddy." He placed a kiss on Sam's forehead. "How's it going?"
"Good daddy. Sookie gave us chips and Davy bought weally cool cars."
"Brought."
"Yeah bought."
Luke smiled while shaking his head and put his son down. "Go play."
"Okay."
"Daddy and I are going to check out the party okay?" Lorelai told her children. "No walking around with the chips and the cookies. We don't want a mess around here."
"Okay mommy." All three kids said before they went back to playing.
Lorelai turned to face her husband who was wearing a dark suit and a light blue shirt, no tie. "You look handsome."
"You look quite beautiful yourself." He smiled as he checked out her black dress.
"Only quite?" She asked with a pout and he just kissed her.
Before they reached the party area she heard a 'mom' behind her so they turned around and Lorelai looked in the eyes of her eldest daughter. She was holding Warren's hand with her left as her right hand was resting on her very pregnant belly.
"Rory." Lorelai smiled and walked into the direction of her daughter, pulling Luke with her. "You look beautiful. Hello Warren," she greeted her son in law who greeted her back
"Thanks." Rory smiled and kissed her mother's cheek. "How are you?"
"A bit tired after being woken up around 6 by your siblings and working all day, but other than that great. How are you?" She pulled her daughter aside and left Luke talking with Warren. "And how's my granddaughter?"
"Shh." Rory said. "Not to loud."
"Nobody will hear us."
"Good, because Warren will kill you if he finds out. He wants it to be a surprise."
"It's only a few more weeks anyway."
"Yeah. And then I'm finally able to hold my daughter." Rory whispered.
Lorelai smiled proudly. "Have you convinced Warren to name her Lorelai already?"
"I did. Her name will be Lorelai Nicola. With Lanie as her nickname. But you really can't tell anyone. Not even Luke."
"Luke doesn't want to know the sex of the baby anyway so I promise I'll keep it to myself."
"Good."
"Why Nichola?" Lorelai wondered.
"That was the name of Warren's mother."
"That's nice."
Rory nodded. "It is. From all the things I heard she was an amazing women. It's sad I never had the chance to meet her."
Lorelai nodded, understanding. "Come on, let's party."
"Let's do that." Rory smiled.
Lorelai put her arm around her daughter and directed her back to their husbands. Rory and Warren got married the October after the twins were born. It was a nice wedding at a little church in New Haven and afterwards a big party for all friends of Rory and Warren, Rory's family and the townies of Stars Hallow. Because Warren had school they didn't go on their honeymoon until he had spring break, almost have a year later, but the trip to Fez was worth the wait.
"Gandma." They suddenly heard Emilyn yell so they all turned around and saw Richard and Emily entering the inn.
"Emilyn." Emily smiled at her granddaughter.
"Look." Emilyn showed her Martha's doll, where she was still playing with.
"Is she yours?"
The little girl shook her head. "But she's pwetty right?"
"Absolutely." Emily smiled and looked up when her other grandchildren ran up to her.
"Grandma. There will be fireworks at midnight." It was the first thing Lucan said.
"He's been talking about it all day." Lorelai told her mother. "Hi mom."
"Hey." She ran her hand through Lucan's hair and looked at Sam.
"Hello Gandma."
"Hello Sam. How are you today?"
"Good." He nodded. "I wanna see firewoks too."
"Oh you do huh."
He nodded, very sure. Then he spotted Warren. "Wawen." He ran towards his big friend and jumped in his arms.
"Hey buddy."
"Rory baby." Emilyn pointed at her big sisters stomach.
"Yes. There's a baby in there." Rory said proudly and smiled at her little sister. They saw each other about once a month. After Warren graduated from Yale he found a job at a small architecture agency in New York City. Rory started looking for a job in the New York region and was finally offered a job at the New York Times which she gladly accepted. They found a 3 bedroom apartment on 79th street where they still live.
After they all said hello to each other they went into the party area just as the band started playing Eternal Flame.
"You have to dance with me." Lorelai told Luke. "This is my favorite song."
He sighed but took her hand, guiding her to the dance floor. Soon Richard and Emily and Rory and Warren followed, all women enjoying the music and being in their husbands arms.
"God I love this song." Lorelai whispered and Luke kissed her lightly. Lorelai looked around and saw her mother in her father's arms and smiled.
Richard finally retired two years ago, this time being okay with spending most of his time at home with his wife. They looked after Lorelai's kids 2 times a week and spend the other days at the county club or just together at home. Richard started reading more and let Emily have her own hobbies. When her friends came over he withdraw in his office, sometimes reading, sometimes serving the internet and at some point he took after his granddaughter and took interesting in writing.
Emily was still in the DAR although not as intense as before she got sick and realized who her real friends were. She had annual check-ups at the hospital and so far everything was perfectly fine.
Lorelai slowly moved to the rhythm of the music and put her head on Luke's shoulder, looking at the kids who were watching them. "Look." She whispered, when Emilyn grabbed Sam's hand and pulled him on the dance floor.
"She's just like you." Luke whispered with a smile.
"I know." Sam took Emilyn's hands in his and together they moved on the rhythm of the music. Lucan was still watching them. "Maybe he wants to dance too."
"I'll have him dance with you."
"Not until this song is over." She held onto Luke tight.
When the song was over they walked towards Lucan. "Do you want to dance honey?"
He wrinkled his nose. "Ewww no."
Lorelai smiled up at Luke. "And you said something about Emilyn being my daughter? He's so your son."
Luke just raised his shoulders and smiled. "I'll go get something to drink."
She nodded as she kneeled next to Lucan, watching her other kids dance.
-xxxxxx-
Ten minutes before midnight Luke and Lorelai walked towards her office to wake up the kids. A little before 9 the twins had fallen asleep in their laps and they placed them in the office so they could sleep without getting disturbed. Lucan tried to stay up, but midnight took way too long for him and half an hour after twins did, he fell asleep as well, but not before Luke promised him that they'd wake him up for the fireworks.
"Do we wake up the twins as well?" Lorelai asked and Luke raised his shoulders.
"What do you think?"
"Maybe it's a good idea. If the fireworks wake them up they're going to be afraid if they're here all alone. And we won't hear them if we're outside."
He nodded. "Then we'll wake them up as well.
It wasn't hard to wake up Lucan. He was filled with energy when he realized it was close to midnight so he could finally see the fireworks. The twins was a different thing. Emilyn was as cranky as she was when she woke up early in the morning, and Sam wasn't too happy about being awoken either.
They went to the party in search for the rest of the family and Richard was waiting with champagne for the adults and apple juice for the kids and Rory, also in champagne glasses.
When it was close to midnight the band stopped playing and they projected a TV channel that showed time square on the wall with a beamer. Soon everybody started counting backwards out loud and Lucan tried to do the same. "5-4-3-2-1- Happy new year."
After they toasted Luke and Lorelai kissed each other first before kissing their kids. After that there were kisses and handshakes for the others until Lucan couldn't take it anymore. "Can we go outside now?"
Lorelai nodded. "Come on."
They went into the lobby and got their coats.
"Make sure you stay with us. No running around okay?"
"Okay." Luke carried Sam and Lorelai carried Emilyn, taking Lucan's hand in hers.
They went outside where fireworks already filled the sky.
"Wow." Lucan pointed to the sky and was amazed by all the colors that filled the darkness. "Cool."
Emilyn buried her face in her mother's shoulder, a bit afraid for the loud sounds that came with the fireworks. Sam was more like his brother even though the loud noises scared him a little as well.
After a few minutes the twins squirmed out of their parent's arms but they wouldn't let go until they promised to stay right where they were.
With her arms empty Lorelai walked towards Luke and put her arms around his neck, giving him a passionate kiss. "Happy anniversary."
"Happy anniversary." He pecked her lips as he looked her in the eyes, moving a strand of hair out of her face.
They remained like that for a little while, just looking at each other enjoying the moment, kissing each other once in a while. He didn't let go of Lorelai until he felt someone pulling on his pants.
He looked down and saw Lucan who was pointing at the sky. "Look daddy. The fireworks."
Luke smiled and put an arm around Lorelai's shoulder, pulling her close to him. "I'm looking buddy."
Lucan nodded and went to stand next to his brother and sister as he looked at the fireworks again.
Lorelai glanced at her husband who smiled at her. Then she looked around and saw her parents standing on one side of them, her father's arms safe around her mother and Rory and Warren on the other side, Warren's arm around Rory's shoulder and one hand resting on her pregnant stomach. Then she looked at her younger kids who were standing in front of her, holding each other's hands as they gazed up at the sky and she couldn't help but think back to a moment years ago when she thought she would never get it.
She placed her head on Luke's shoulder and he kissed her forehead. "Do you remember when I came into your diner a long time ago as Mimi, after we fought that whole summer?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I'll never forget."
"You remember telling me that I would get it, when I thought I would never get the whole package? That person? The couple life"
He nodded. "Yeah. I knew you'd get it."
"You were right. I did get it."
He nodded. "I know." He moved so that she was standing in front of him and kissed her once again. When he pulled away a few seconds later he whispered. "I'm glad you got it with me."
THE END!!!!