A/N: Well, reader peops, this is the end of this collection. I decided to end it on #23, partly because I think all of my best ideas (and your best ideas that you gave to me) have now been written, partly because I really want to dive into the Next Gen fic now, and partly because Jack was born on 23rd, so what better number to end on than the birthdate of the kid that started this whole thing? Hope you like this final installment.

(For disclaimer, etc. - see 1.)

23. Operation Rossini - 9th/10th August 2015

"You're sure this is a good idea?"

"Billy, you're such a goody-goody!"

"Can it, Tori!"

"Jack! Billy told me to can it!"

"Will you two cut it out?" he urged both his sister and uncle, not that Jack really thought of Billy that way most of the time because it was just too weird.

After all, Billy and Toria were very close in age and Jack was two years older than Billy himself. Theirs was an odd family tree, and it didn't just apply to the two of them but the entire group of nine kids that had gathered here today.

"How about you all cut it out unless you want us to get caught?" said Davey, taking charge as best he could.

At almost thirteen, he had every right to be in command, though as a general rule he didn't try. Davey was way more of a follower than a leader. Generally it was Jack who commanded attention, despite the fact he was only ten. Martha always backed up her BFF over her brother, so that was just how it worked out. Today had been Jack's idea too, but everybody else had agreed without a moment's pause. So here they were, all gathered together in Miss Patty's studio, not daring to put on a light for fear of getting busted.

"Okay, cover story check," said Martha, looking around at her friends. "Our folks think all three of us are at the Crap Shack."

"That's where Mom thinks we are too," said Steve of himself and Kwan.

"Dad thinks we're still home with Mom," said Tori next, gesturing towards Jack to include him. "Mom thinks we went across to the diner to see Dad. Doula?" she prompted since she had yet to speak up.

"I just snuck out," she shrugged. "It'll probably be a while before they notice."

Jack literally face-palmed. He knew his grandma Liz and her husband T.J. weren't the sharpest tools in the box, but they were going to notice their daughter of not yet nine missing from the house before long. Time was limited.

"Okay, so we need to get this done, and fast," said Davey, encouraging everybody to sit down already. "I saved what I could out of my allowance."

"I got a little from helping with dishwashing at the diner," said Jack, pulling a couple of dollars from his back pocket.

One by one, the kids presented a whole bunch of coins from their pockets and piled them onto the floor. Martha was the math whiz and took on the job of totalling up the amount without being asked. In moments, they had a figure.

"Nineteen dollars and eighty two cents," she proclaimed. "That is a long way short."

"Well, maybe we could get something else?" suggested Kwan. "Does it have to be the pin?"

"Yes!" Jack insisted. "Mrs R loved it so much. It's special, just like the one she had years ago from her husband. She gave it back and he took it to war and never came home. She has been so good to all of us, we owe her this!"

Not one amongst the kids would argue with that. Though they all had relations enough between them of the blood kind, Mrs Rossini had been an extra great-grandma to each and every one of them. She baby-sat, she remembered every one of their birthdays without fail. She had very little money but everybody always got a card on every special occasion, and little gifts sometimes too. Now it was her birthday, the adults were overheard saying it was a big one too. Mrs R was going to be ninety years old, and that was a number that none of the kids could really comprehend as an age for a person, especially the littlest amongst them - Jaime and Tori were not yet eight themselves.

It was one day when Mrs R was in town with Jack and Tori that the story was told about the cameo. She saw it in the window of the antique shop and spoke softly of her dear departed husband, the gift he had made to her that had been lost when he was. They immediately decided Mrs R had to have that pin, but it was pricey. With all the kids pooling resources they hoped to have enough, but not-quite twenty bucks was barely enough for a deposit on something that cost so much.

"Her birthday is tomorrow. We're all out of time," said Davey sadly. "I guess we'll just have to-"

"Ssssh!" said Martha sharply. "Somebody's coming!"

The kids all jumped up and scattered at the prospect of being caught. Nobody knew in which direction to run first and so were all of a muddle still when the door slid open and in walked Luke.

"What the hell...?!" he boomed as the kids continued running around frantically. "You had all better be in the centre of this room when I get to three or so help me God there's going to be trouble!" he said angrily, stepping into the studio as he began to count. "One, two..."

All the kids came running back from their various locations, ducking behind each other as if that might save them. Billy was shoved to the front, since his dad was likely to go easiest on him alone. Luke never needed to say three and didn't bother as his foot crunched something on the floor and he stooped to see what it was. Frowning, he scooped up nickels and quarters, a couple of dollar bills. Crouched down on the floor still, he looked up to eye all the kids quizzically.

"What is all this?" he asked Billy more than anyone else.

"Sorry, Dad," said his son solemnly. "We were... We just wanted to do something nice, for Mrs R."

"For Mrs R?" he echoed.

"We wanted to get her a gift," piped up Tori, pushing through her friends and cousins. "A pin, but we don't have enough. Uncle Luke, we don't have enough!" she told him, all wobbly lip and big blue eyes.

She was equal parts Rory and Jess in moments like this one. So sad and cute with the big eyes, it was impossible to refuse her anything, and yet Luke was ninety percent certain he was being played and that a smirk lurked beneath the sad expression on the little girl's face.

"You all want to buy Mrs R a birthday gift of a pin?" he checked.

"At the antique store," said Steve,

"A special pin with a face on it," his brother added.

"A cameo like she used to have," Davey supplied.

"But we can't afford it," said Jack sadly, toeing the ground with his sneaker. "We're not even close."

Luke looked down at the mess of coins and bills in his hand. Maybe twenty bucks. That was a long way short of being enough for a cameo pin, that was for damn sure, but the fact these kids would scrape together whatever they could for the sake of the old lady how had been great-grandmother to them all for as long as they could remember, it was beyond touching.

"Okay," he said at last, getting up. "Since you were all trying to do such a nice thing, I guess we can overlook the lying and making all your parents frantic, including me!" he said sharply. "I'll tell you what, you all get your butts where they're supposed to be in the next five minutes, I will take your little collection here and see if I can't come to some arrangement with Mrs Kim, okay?"

There was a chorus of thank yous and a general shift of sad to happy in the seconds that followed, and then all the kids ran off home, just as instructed. Luke watched them go, ruffling Billy's hair as he rushed by him, just to let him know it was all okay. The kid worried too much sometimes.

Luke looked again at the bills and change in his hand then, his free hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. A cameo pin. That was going to set him back a pretty penny, but he couldn't say Mrs R didn't deserve such a gift. She had been there for all of them when they needed her, not just the kids but the adults too. Shoving the children's money into his pocket he headed out of the studio and off toward the antique store, as promised.

"I am overwhelmed!" said Mrs Rossini with the largest smile ever seen. "You are all too kind," she said of her adopted family, and there were certainly enough of them present.

The birthday party was held on the ground out back of the inn. It was a beautiful summers day and that was a relief since nobody was sure where else all the people would've fit. The Marianos were present, as were the Danes clan, the Gilmore elders too, plus the Melville family, the Van Gerbigs, not to mention Liz, TJ, and Doula. Not a person was missing, and all of the kids were beyond excited to be able to present Mrs R with their gift at last.

"Go ahead," said Rory, giving Jack a shove.

As soon as he headed towards Mrs R with Tori in tow, the other children hurried to join him. Mrs Rossini looked a little confused at first until she realised the pretty little box she was being handed by her adopted great-grandson was another gift and supposedly from the children.

"We all chipped in," he explained, pushing his hair off his face in a familiar nervous habit. "We wanted you to have it because... because you've been so nice to all of us all this time."

"You're everybody's great-grandma," said Tori with a shrug. "We had to get you something good."

"Love you, Mrs R," said Jaime softly, the words meaning that much more from the one amongst them who so rarely spoke.

"Oh, my bambinos!" said the old lady gratefully. "I am not kind to receive kindness," she assured them. "But I am grateful. You are all so special. So special," she said, looking around all their smiling faces.

When the lid came off the box, she gasped, and those that had not known of the gift gasped too when they saw the exquisite brooch lifted from the box by Mrs R's own shaking hands. She knew the children could not possibly have paid for this themselves. They would never have that kind of money. Her eyes drifted to the adult faces beyond and she smiled all the wider.

"Thank you, all of you," she said sincerely, placing the cameo back in the box in her lap a moment and opening her arms to all the children who happily came running. "If I never have another birthday, I will not care," she said, kissing each and every one of them on the cheek. "You have made these last few years of my life so very happy. I love every one of you, with all my heart."

A/N2: Look out for Stars Hollow: The Next Generation, coming soon to Fanfiction net ;)