Sookie held a cooing Martha on her waist as Lisa cradled a newborn Dean in her arms. Max never left her side, his hand firmly around her waist the entire ceremony.

"…from this tragedy, we lay these young souls to rest and can only hope that they finally find their peace in the heavens." The minister closed his Bible as the three coffins were lowered into the ground.

"Are you okay, Rory?" Lorelai asked, leaning on Rory one side and Luke the other, her crutches tossed in the fresh mud. "I know this is hard, babe, but it'll get easier."

Rory smiled sadly at her. "It's so weird, you know? I never thought my first two boyfriends would…" she broke off as she choked into sobs and Lorelai turned her arm into a hug.

"It's ok, Ror."

Lisa watched the three across the way as dirt was poured over the fresh graves. She shook her head and watched her enemy finally sink into the soil. Dean gurgled a bit in his sleep.

"Lisa, are you going to be okay?"

She looked at Max and shrugged. "I don't know. It's hard getting used to…this. Not in a bad way, just…different. I'm not afraid anymore."

"I know. I used to…I used to worry 24/7 when Rippner was still alive that he'd be there, waiting in our apartment to catch you and take you away from me. That would kill me."

Lisa smiled at him. "Did I tell you that I love you?"

"Since we got back from the hospital, only about six hundred times, but I think you've only had about three times today, so let's hear it again. I'm feeling a bit slighted."

Lisa laughed quietly. "Love ya."

"Right back at you." Max looked fondly upon the dark-haired baby nestled against her breast. "And I love this little bugger just as much."

"Do you think we upset Rory by… you know…?" Lisa glanced at the crying girl again. Now Rory was just sobbing quietly against Luke's chest.

"Nah," Max sighed. "I don't think so. She probably felt…honored. I can't think of a better way to pay homage to a boy who helped us so much."

The yard began clearing out as most of the guests left. The tri-funeral was postponed for eight weeks until everyone was out of the hospital. Lisa was admitted for her gunshot wound originally for a month, but had gone into stress-related early labor just before she was scheduled to be released. Baby Dean was born two weeks after Baby Martha and although neither was capable yet, Lisa knew that the two would be great girlfriend-boyfriend material when they grew older together.

Rory had been admitted overnight for her snapped ankle that had been hastily Do-It-Yourself fixed by Jackson. She'd been subject to a good portion of the press hassle, as she wasn't hidden behind beeping IV s for more than a day. Max had nobly taken the insect-like reporters whenever he went to get Lisa food from the diner-because she hated hospital food-every night and managed to arrange it so Lisa would have one interview only.

Luke's Diner, in the meantime, had never had better business. Everyone was eager to speak to the soon-to-be-stepfather-of-the-girl-who-got-kidnapped and, as the newly posted sign outside his diner read, "NO ORDER, NO STAY." It worked quite to his advantage and he had his wedding half-paid for within the first week after 'Hurricane Jackson' as they'd come to refer to it as.

Joe and Cynthia both bought places in Hartford to be closer to Lisa and her new family, and Cynthia settled in quite nicely at the Holiday Inn with a former Olympian bellboy. Lisa was happy for her and asked her to be a bridesmaid in her December wedding. After much deliberation, she picked Rory to be her maid of honor.

The yard had mostly cleared out, all except for Luke, Lorelai, Rory, Sookie, Jack, Lisa, Max, and, of course, the babies. The opposite sides approached each other and stood over the three fresh graves.

"It's over," Luke murmured. "Hard to believe, but…we're finally free."

"I think Dean would be happy with the way things ended," Rory decided. "He would have been happy to know that he died to protect Mom, to help us. We wouldn't be where we were, that's for sure."

"Yeah," Lisa agreed quietly. "I just hope you all can forgive me."

All heads swiveled to her. "Why the hell would we need to forgive you?" Jack asked bluntly.

"Because I brought this all upon you," she sighed. "If it weren't for me, Jackson would never have come here."

There was a pause until Max spoke again. "That's not true, sweetheart. He came here for Jess. There would have been an explosion either way but look at it like this: Jess would take Rory whether or not Jackson had you, right?" she nodded.

Rory turned to Lisa and touched Dean's head gently. "If it weren't for you, I don't think I'd be alive."

"What do you mean?"

"When Jess…" Rory closed her eyes painfully and swallowed. "When he…hurt me like he did, I was a zombie. I wanted to kill myself and was thinking of how but you changed everything. If you hadn't been there, I wouldn't have been able to cope and I'd still be in a fog or dead. But you helped me, Lisa, you saved me."

Lisa's eyes clouded over and she hugged Rory. The rest of the group smiled sadly at the two as they cried together.

When they finished, Lisa nestled back into her fiancée and thought. All was silence for about ten minutes as they all stood in a peaceful silence as the wind whipped around the stones. "Guys?"

"Mmm?" Luke murmured in recognition.

"We should go."

"Yeah," Luke sighed. "Coffee and donuts back at the diner?"

Everyone shouted out an agreement and headed back to the cars. Rory and Lisa lingered. "We'll be along, Max, okay?" He nodded and went to get in his Saab.

Rory kissed her fingers and gently touched Dean's stone. "Thank you, Dean. For what you did for me. I'll never forget you. You were my first love and my greatest love and still are." Then she looked at Jess's stone. "Jess, all I can say is that I hope you find the peace up there that you couldn't find down here. I wish you the best." With a smile, she added, "And I'd buy some eternal pepper spray, too, while you're at it, because Dean is going to kick your angelic ass."

Lisa laughed quietly as Rory ran back to the car and Lisa paused over Jackson's grave. If she was hearing correctly, the wind tickled her ear and whispered, "We'll talk again, Leese."

She smiled at its touch and at Jackson's resting grave. "Thanks for the quickie, Jack."

XX

THE END