Disclaimer - see chapter 1)

Woot woot! REVIEWS! Yes, it IS that easy to make me happy. Thank you so much for your feedback ... even though I kind of bribed you to get it. Now here's the well deserved chapter 2.
Thanks to Susan for betaing. I am impressed that you're still talking to me. ;o)

Paying the cab driver, she looked at her watch, wincing. It was too late.
She cursed under her breath, walking towards the front door.

It was Friday. She hated the doctors for giving her an appointment on a Friday. Especially for giving her an appointment Friday afternoon. She felt groggy. She always did after the treatment. They said it's normal. She knew that. How she had wanted to scratch that stupid doctor's eyes out for his comment. But she didn't even have enough strength to do that.

She was not in the mood to search for her keys, so she decided to ring the door bell.

"Yes?" The tall blonde looked at her with expectant eyes.

She had only begun working for them today and Emily already was annoyed with her.
Even worse; she didn't move aside to let her in. Her big greenish eyes just kept staring at her. She could almost have sworn she could see the back of this woman's head through them.

"Could you be so kind as to step aside, Else?" She sighed, trying to glare at the girl.

She still did not move. "I'm sorry, but..."

This time, her anger gave her a little of her strength back. "Else. If you don't know who I am, I swear to God we will switch sides of the door and I'm going to slam it right in your face."

Else's eyes widened in shock as she realized who was standing before her. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ma'am."

Finally being let in, Emily shrugged off her coat, trying not to move her arm too much. Soon she would have to get an SVC catheter. Then she would not be able to hide it any longer, as she could now, with long sleeves.
She shivered at the thought of having tubes coming out of the base of her neck.

Stepping into the living room, she froze. "Lorelai."

"Hi Mom." Her daughter turned her head towards her, smiling at her.

Richard stood up from where he had been sitting opposite their daughter and walked towards her. "Ah, Emily. I had just told Lorelai that you would be back any minute. Did you have a good time at the Todds'?"

She gave him a bewildered look as she tried to collect her thoughts, quickly snapping out of it. "Oh yes, it was lovely."

"Yeah, how is Sweeney?" Lorelai grinned.

Furrowing her brow, Emily looked at her daughter. "I beg your pardon?"

"A joke, Mom." She spoke through her teeth. Something was off. Even her mother should have gotten that reference. If not for the recent Johnny Depp movie then at least for the classic Broadway hit.

"Lorelai told me that she wanted to get here early, because she has to leave right after dinner." He steadied his wife, hoping their daughter wouldn't see it.

Emily tried to regain her composure, muttering, "Why is it I have the strong feeling that's not the real reason?"

She hadn't meant for Lorelai to hear her comment, but she had. "Geez, Mom, you most certainly know how to make me feel good."

Gingerly sitting down, Emily had the feeling she had to defend herself. "Well, you don't mean to tell me you suddenly like spending time with us so much that you couldn't bear the thought of not spending at least 3 hours with us instead of just having to sit through dinner and jump up as soon as we're done."

She watched her daughter roll her eyes animatedly. "No, Mom, I actually planned on letting my fork fall and make a run for the door the second you finished your dessert."

"Your spoon," she countered.

Lorelai furrowed her brow in confusion. "What?!"

"You'd let your spoon fall, since we're supposed to be eating pudding tonight." She shrugged, her eyebrows raised.

Her daughter was still confused. "Pudding?"

Fearing what would come next, Emily stood up. "Never mind. I think I will skip dinner. Your accusations have given me a headache."

The younger Gilmore woman followed her immediately when she saw her heading out of the room. "The last time we had pudding was years ago, Mom. Why pudding?"

"It doesn't matter anymore now, since we won't be having it." Emily did not turn as she made her way toward the staircase. If only she could shake her daughter off, she might be able to keep her secret for another week.
It would be wrong to tell her now; now that they both were annoyed with one another.

It was not the way she had planned it. She had planned on telling her daughter in a quiet moment, preferably over one of her favorite desserts; hence the pudding.

"What? Wait! Mother!?" She quickened her steps. "Pudding is a special treat."

"It is not a special treat. It's a dessert," her mother spat.

"Oh, yes it is. In this house pudding is a special treat. You hate pudding. You would rather sit through three hours of Dad's silly golf tournaments than to eat pudding." Lorelai gestured wildly.

She almost bumped into her mother as she turned on her heels, shaking her finger in her face.

"Leave your father out of this!" Emily glared at her daughter before continuing walking.

Lorelai once again tried to prove her point. "You don't like pudding. Dad doesn't like pudding. The fact you are serving pudding makes this day a special day, because it is a special treat. Why is this day special?"

"There is nothing special about today." Emily's voice got dangerously high. She did not feel strong enough to face Lorelai's outburst.

Her daughter was shouting now. "There must be; we're having pudding!"

"I will not listen to your ranting any longer."

"Last Friday you stopped drinking alcohol; this Friday we are having pudding. What the hell is wrong with you, mother?!" Her tone matched the one of her Mom.

Emily lifted her hand in defiance, her eyes fixed on the landing. Just a few more steps. "I will not discuss this."

Seeing her turn towards the stairs, Lorelai yelled. "Talk to me, mother. Tell me what you're hiding." She grabbed her mothers arm forcefully, taken aback when she saw the woman grimace in pain, gasping.
Feeling liquid soaking the silk under her fingertips, she looked down at her hand, pulling back immediately as blood colored the fine material a deep crimson. "Mom?" Her voice shook slightly. She saw the unshed tears in her mother's angry eyes, instinctively taking a step back.

Emily's palm was pressed against her forearm, covering the re-opened wound of today's dialysis.
"If you excuse me now, I'd like to lie down." Her voice was low, her jaw muscles clenched as she tried to hold her emotions in check.

"Mom, please."

Her daughter called after her, the emotion in her voice causing her to stop on the staircase. Not turning around, she just moved her head to look over her shoulder, standing still.

Lorelai slowly stepped towards the foot of the stairs, her eyes fixed on her mother's profile, "Please." She watched the other woman's shoulders sag slightly, her eyes closed.

"Just let it go, Lorelai." Finally turning, she forced herself to look into her daughter's eyes.

"Why don't you just trust me?" She couldn't hold back the tears that colored her voice. "Why can't you, just for once in your life, get past that damn pride of yours and show me that I mean anything to you! Why must you hide things from me?"

"I don't want your pity, that's why," Emily spat before she had time to think about what she was saying.
The accusing look on her daughter's face made her angry enough to rant on, not even hearing her husband's warning. "It wouldn't change anything about the fact that I am ill, and it wouldn't change anything about my being on medication to keep the pain at a bearable level. What did you want me to do? Invite you to dinner, telling you 'Oh, by the way I have a kidney dysfunction and will die without a transplant, now please pass the potatoes'?"

Lorelai's jaw dropped. "Mom..." Her mother didn't stop.

"No, I didn't want that. I didn't want anybody to know. Especially not you and Rory. But you couldn't leave it alone! You never do what you're told. You never listen to me and now you, who insult my life, insult my personality and everything I believe in, have the nerve to walk up to me and say that it's my fault? That you deserve the truth? Well, my girl, now you know it and now I am asking you: Do you feel better?"

There was a long silence between them.

Emily stared at her daughter's face, anger still burning in every fiber of her being. It slowly ebbed away, the realization of what she had just said dawning on her.

She hadn't thought about her words. She had been too angry to do so. How she hated her temper and the fact that Lorelai knew her well enough to know how to raise it.
Her voice shook ever so slightly when she found it again, "Now if you will please leave me alone. I am tired and I'd like to go to bed."

Without a word Lorelai turned around and got her coat, not looking back as she left the house of her parents.

Yes, well. It's not the longest chapter, I know. But I needed to make a break here. You will see once I post the next -again short- chapter. But first to answer your reviews:

Valerie
I'm glad you like the beginning. Thanks for your lovely review and I hope you liked this chapter as much as the last. :o)

caramelapples
lol Yes, a chapter story. Good thing I could brighten your 'crappy day' a bit. :o)

Mrs. Lucas McDreamy
There you go. :o) Want more? ;o)

Miss GoodManners
happy grin You're thorough. I like that. :oD
I'm happy you're happy. And I'm happy I got a rELLIEview. ;o)
I think L & E came a long way since the first season and since this story is set after S7, 'my' Lorelai might care a tad more than the one we saw on screen. I just hope I won't get her OOC. But I'm sure you'd point that out to me. :o)
Emily is ... Emily. Or at least I hope so. You're right, she always keeps her secrets but wants to know EVERYthing about EVERYbody else.
Well, I tend to make Richard more of the ideal husband than he was on screen. But I can't help it. That's the way I see him. When she needs him, he's there. I'm just glad you like him. :o)
Oh and I am proud of that phone call being 'typically GG' :oD. Thanks!

swimmerluver
Muahaha! My evil plan worked. Well, now that the cat is out of the bag ... I hope you will keep reviewing ;o).

Loridhhp
Hmm... I think you're new. Are you? Well, welcome to my story. ;o). I hope you'll enjoy your stay.
The reason I sometimes do and sometimes don't use contractions when people are speaking is because of the way the word/s are pronounced in it. You know how Emily sometimes lays stress on a "not", so I can't write "don't" but have to write "do not" for instance. It's really just because of how I hear them say it in my head.
I am glad you keep on reading anyway and I hope that you enjoyed the new chapter. :o)

B. Alex Milligan
wicked grin Yes, it was not nice of me to end it there. But hey: 14 reviews speak for themselves. ;o)
So... were you surprised? I had this story in the back of my head for a long time now and I never thought I would be able to write it. But now I have read a lot about it and I think I can do it.
Happy that I made her tell her already?
... Drink some coffee and review! ;o)

Emily-RichardFan
Thanks for the pile of compliments! You really lifted my spirits for the whole day. :oD

Monarules
Awww. I'm blushing. I hope you liked the new chapter. And there is more to come. :o)

LorLukealways
Hmm... Alzheimers ... now there's another story worth telling. Ghah!! Ideas forming ... must suppress ... have to finish this first! ;o)
Anybody else up for the challenge? No really, Alzheimer would have been interesting to read & write too!
I can't even pronounce the other illness you proposed, so... shrugging shoulders
And yes: The pain could have been from ANYthing. That's what I liked about it. evil snickers
I'm glad you think it's not too AU. I am trying to keep them in character as much as I can. Sometimes I'll have to bend them a little, but that's fan fiction. ;o)
I hope you liked the new chapter and will keep on reading.

ejl
Thanks for the review. I hope this chapter wasn't too much of a let down. :o)

Eva Gabor is Awesome
Well, was your hunch right? What did you think it would be? If it wasn't what it turned out to be ... you could always write your own story ... 0:o). I would read it. ;o)

Emily&Richard4ever
My, two reviews for one chapter. lol
First one first: Yes, Lorelai was a bit of a jerk. But it wasn't that bad and then... she has the best intentions.As for the secone one: Nope, no cancer. I am evil, but not that evil.