Notes:

Ah! I'm scared! I've got lawyers after me and rotton tomatoes flying at me! And apparently I'm evil... well that much I can handle... Oh wait, if I just post the next chapter all will be well and good... phew! Copperboom!

GMB loves Angel - I am officially informed about Christmas, or at least Christmas tradition ;) More than informed, I think I might be able to win the Christmas category on Jeopardy. Hey I was looking back at my reviews and I noticed that I had already read your first chapter because I reviewed it, so obviously I'm already liking your story and come a week from now I will read the rest. But the skeleton structure is something I use on most long chapters, plan it out and then go back and do actual dialogue, I do that with most stories too, not this one but most of the others I've planned out before writing them.

roywthepoodles - Thanks for the other review. I'm not sure why it wouldn't let you review, but I never really thought about the comparison between L&L and the firelight story. Now I have to go back during my free time (that doesn't exist right now) and watch that episode and figure that one out.

Where oh where did Robinpoppins go? I haven't heard from you in so long!

The Hospital

Rory runs into the waiting room to find Luke slouched over in a chair, his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. Emily and Richard follow behind their granddaughter at their own pace. "Luke!" Rory calls as she runs over to him. Luke glances up at her and attempts a 'hey', but really no words come out. "What happened? Is Mom all right?"

"She – I – " Luke manages. He swallows, trying to concentrate on breathing. Rory sits down in the chair next to him, a frightened expression on her face.

"You have to tell me what happened!" Rory exclaims. Luke nods, gathering his strength.

"I was – at the diner – she – Lorelai – she called. And I ran – she was on the bed – and there was blood," Luke chokes out, closing his eyes, still seeing the image in his mind. "So much blood." Rory's mouth is open and she looks like she's about to cry.

"Is she…?" Rory attempts, not actually able to get the words out. Luke slowly looks over at her, noticing the scared expression on Rory's face.

"She's in surgery," Luke whispers. Rory lets out a deep breath.

"So she's still – I mean she's – she didn't…" Rory stammers. Luke shakes his head slightly.

"They're doing a c-section."

"Did they think she wouldn't make it if the c-section wasn't done?" Emily asks. Luke glances up, finally noticing the elder Gilmores. Richard has an arm around Emily, who is white as a sheet. Luke shakes his head.

"The doctors – they said the twins wouldn't make it if it wasn't done," Luke replies simply, a far away expression in his eyes. "They said for twins, two months early, for a first pregnancy, it's not unusual, but this isn't her first." He glances at Rory. "Obviously." Rory nods. She throws her arms around Luke's neck. Luke responds putting him arms around her as well, holding her close, though comforting her more than himself.

"When Sookie called, I was so scared. Sookie didn't really know what was wrong, only that Mom had called you and it wasn't good, and I was so scared," Rory chokes out, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I can't lose her."

"I know, I can't lose her either," Luke whispers, tears in his eyes. In fact, even Emily has tears in her eyes watching the two of them.

"Rory!" they hear Lane call and they separate. Rory glances over to see Lane rushing over to her with Sookie running behind. Rory stands as Lane wraps her up in her arms. As Rory cries on Lane's shoulder, Luke looks down at his hands, trying to keep his mind from going places it should, using all of his concentration to keep the tears from falling.

"How did you know?" Rory asks Lane.

"Sookie called me, she said she thought you'd need a friend, but she didn't really know what happened," Lane explains.

"Yes, what happened?" Sookie asks. She's standing in front of Luke. "Last I knew you were running out of the diner without telling April or me anything." Luke glances up at her only then realized that he left April at the diner.

"Where is April?" he asks.

"I dropped her off at her mom's before picking up Lane, but she wants us to call her the moment we know anything. She's really worried about Lorelai," Sookie tells him, as she sits down in the seat next to him. "Luke, what happened?" Sookie asks, reaching out and touching Luke's shoulder.

"I don't know," Luke answers, in a dry voice. "She was bleeding and I just picked her up, put her in the truck and brought her right here. And I'm just waiting for the doctors." Luke covers his face with his hands.

"She's in surgery," Richard explains. Sookie glances over at the Gilmores and nods.

"I never really told her that I love her," Luke whispers. Sookie turns back to Luke.

"Oh, Luke, she knows," Sookie assures him, rubbing his arm lightly.

"Family of Lorelai Gilmore?" a doctor calls, walking into the waiting room. Luke stands and walks over to the doctor. Rory follows, wrapping her arms around one of Luke's, leaning on him. Everyone else walks over too, Sookie and Lane stand behind the others.

"We're her mother and father," Emily tells the doctor. Richard, who has an arm around Emily's shoulders, nods.

"I'm her fiancé and this is her daughter," Luke adds, motioning to Rory with his head.

"Okay, good," the doctor responds.

"I'm her best friend," Sookie announces.

"Daughter's best friend," Lane adds, acknowledging this with a wave. She and Sookie share a look.

"We can leave them with you," Sookie suggests. The doctor shakes his head.

"No, that's fine," he replies, glancing at Rory, who nods. Sookie smiles, relieved. "I'm Dr. Shaw, I was the surgical OB that worked on Lorelai. The twins are-"

"Please," Luke interrupts, making a stop motion with his hand. "Please tell me about Lorelai first, I need to know." Dr. Shaw nods.

"Okay, Lorelai lost a lot of blood before and during the surgery. We gave her a few transfusions. She was in shock originally but we were able to stabilize her blood pressure during the surgery and we've moved her to the ICU. She's in critical condition, but she's stable so that's a good sign." Luke nods slightly. Rory hugs his arm, relieved to know Lorelai's fine for the moment. "Would you like to know about your children?" Dr. Shaw asks, assuming that they're Luke's. Luke takes another deep breath and nods. "We got your son out first. He's a little small, which can be expected at only 29 weeks, but he's doing well. He can breathe on his own and he gave him an APGAR score of 8, which is good. The highest is 10 and we only give that if they come out reciting the Jabberwocky." Dr. Shaw smiles slightly, hoping his little joke lightened the mood a bit.

"And my daughter?" Luke asks, not responding to the joke. Dr. Shaw nods.

"Your daughter came out second. She was smaller than her brother. She was having a lot of trouble breathing because she hadn't yet built up enough surfactant on her lungs to allow her to breathe on her own once out of the womb. We put her on a ventilator and they're both in the NICU. We gave her a five minute APGAR score of 4, which is low, but I've seen children come back from lower scores."

"That's good," Sookie breathes, reaching up and rubbing Luke's back. Rory glances back at her and nods.

"I can take you back to see your children now," Dr. Shaw offers. Luke shakes his head.

"No, take me to see Lorelai. I need to see her," Luke insists.

"Lorelai lost a lot of blood, she probably won't wake up for a few hours, you should go meet your children," Dr. Shaw says gently. Luke shakes his head.

"No, I don't care if she's not awake, I need to see her. I need to know for myself that Lorelai's – that she's – that…" Luke swallows, not actually able to finish his sentence. He takes a deep breath and looks back up at the doctor, hoping the doctor will understand his wishes. Dr. Shaw nods.

"Okay, I can take you to see her," Dr. Shaw agrees.

"I'll go with you," Rory says. Luke takes his arm out of her grasp, wrapping it around her and kissing the top of her head. "She's going to be fine," Rory whispers attempting to comfort both herself and Luke with her words.