FAMILY

It was the end of another long day and Dean was absent-mindedly drying coffee cups. Lately toward the end of the day he started to reflect back on his life. Here he was forty two years old working behind the counter of Luke's diner. If you had asked him twenty five years ago where he would be at forty two, Lukes diner was not even on the radar screen.

He and Luke still did not really get along and the basic dislike they had for each other was still there, albeit buried for the sake of family harmony. Family harmony my ass he thought to himself. There was one family. Lorelai and Rory. All others were just like moons circling a planet.

Luke and Lorelai finally married. The ongoing drama that obsessed Stars Hollow finally came to an end. Five years later Rory returned to town, beaten down by bad decisions and trying to make it in a field where she was temperamentally unsuited. Rory was brilliant, but she lacked the innate ruthlessness to be front line journalist.

Rory and Dean became the new Luke and Lorelai of Stars Hollow. The town aware of their history was now obsessed on would they would marry or not. Dean and Rory married, putting that drama to rest. As Luke got older hints were dropped that Dean should help him with the diner. Dean's small contracting business was ignored. It started insidiously; Oh Dean do you think you could help out on Sunday with the after church crowd. Oh Dean do you think you could help Luke close up. Oh Dean do you think you could help Luke open up in the morning. Mother and daughter blissfully ignored that the two men were like oil and water.

Finally Dean just started working there full time. As Luke grew older his participation declined. The two men had one thing in common. They both liked to fix things and both were good at it. When Dean first started working at the diner he wanted to bang his head against the wall. The incessant grumbling and mumbling of Luke drove him nuts. Finally one day at closing it all came to a head. The two men got into a epic screaming match which entailed a chair going through the front window.

Dean's musings were brought to a sudden halt by the arrival of a late unexpected customer. He knew her the second she walked in, even though, he had never set eyes on her before. She was almost the mirror image of her mother. Tall and impossibly blonde. She moved with the grace of an athlete just like her mother; who was a local high school basketball star.

She sat at the counter with out a word. Picked up a menu, squinted at it and put on a pair of glasses. She perused the menu quietly for a few minutes and looked up to see Dean staring at her. She looked around the diner and noticed that she was the only customer. "Are you still open?"

Dean snapped out of his trance "Yes, the grill is turned off, but I can make you a sandwich if you want."

The girl glanced down. "How about a tuna on rye toast with lettuce, and tomato."

"I can do that. Anything to drink?"

"She pondered for a moment. "Do you still have orange juice?"

"Yes I do, give me a minute and I will have your sandwich for you."

Dean put the two slices of rye in the toaster. While they were toasting he poured her up a large glass of juice. Dean sat it down in front of her. She looked up when he did and smiled. That was when Dean noticed that she had blue green eyes unlike her mother who had brown eyes.

Startled Dean turned his attention to sandwich making. He thought well obviously the girl had a father, and she must have gotten her eye color from him. The physical resemblance of mother and daughter was so striking that the fact she did not have brown eyes was almost unsettling.

Dean placed the sandwich in front of her and went back to drying cups. Ten minutes later the girl was finished eating and she asked for another glass of juice. Dean poured her up another glass. "I have not seen you before are you new to town?"

"No, I am driving to Boston from New York and I figured I would stop here and spend the night. My mother was originally from here. I grew up in Washington state, so I never really got to see where she was from. So I took the opportunity to explore and see where she grew up. I am staying at the Dragon Fly Inn."

"How come you didn't eat there?"

She laughed an eerily familiar laugh. Have you ever checked out the prices in that place. Besides what in the world is a deglazed flounder? I never even heard of a glazed flounder."

Dean chuckled, "You have a point. To be honest I never really understood their menu either. I know the head chef there, and she is a genius. Sometimes I think she needs to slow down and let the rest of the world catch up to her."

"You know, your about the same age as my mother. I wonder if you knew her."

Dean dreaded that question, but before he could answer she took a picture out of her purse and showed him. The picture had four people in it. Her mother, a little girl about ten, which Dean assumed was her and a man. The man was about three inches shorter than the woman. He also had a dark complexion with almost jet black hair and brown eyes. Shyly holding his mothers hand was a dark haired boy looking up at her.

"Oh, my mother is the tall blonde one in the center. I am the little girl and the other two are my father and my brother. Do you think you know her?"

"Yes I know her."

"Good, by the way my name is Elizabeth, and please don't call me Beth or Liz."

"Will do Elizabeth. Your mother's name is Lindsay."

"Yes it is"

"What does your mother tell you about Stars Hollow."

"Nothing really. Just that she grew up here. She doesn't really say anything good or bad about the town. Just that she was from here. She moved to Seattle from here when she was nineteen. Five years later she met my father."

Dean looked at the picture again and looked up at Elizabeth. "That would make you about fifteen in the picture"

Elizabeth laughed. "Your right. I guess you would call him my step-father; even though I hate that term. To me he is my father. He raised me and was there when I needed him."

"Elizabeth are you looking for your birth father?"

"Oh God no. I could care less who he is. My mother does not speak of him, and when I was adopted by my father, my birth certificate was changed and his name is on the certificate as my father.

"You can do that"

"Sure you can if your father is a very successful lawyer."

"So how do you know my mother?"

"We went to high school together."

"Good would you mind if I told her you met me?"

Dean hesitated. "No of course not."

"Then what is your name?" She asked laughingly.

"Dean"

Dean was looking at her intently when he said his name. No flicker of recognition in her eyes.

It was nice talking to you Dean. How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing, it is late and the register is closed."

"Are you sure."

"Yes call it the special for children of former residents of Stars Hollow."

"Thank you" and Elizabeth put her hand out and Dean shook her hand. "I may be back for breakfast".

"A quick question Elizabeth. When are you going to mention meeting your mothers long lost classmate?"

"I don't know, when I get time to talk to her, probably after I get settled in my dorm at college."

"Which college are you going to?"

"Boston University on a basketball scholarship."

"Good for you Elizabeth."

"Good night Dean." She turned, and just like her mother, her long blonde pony tail flipped over her shoulder.

"Take care Elizabeth."

Dean sat down, and put his head in his hands trying to think. He decided to to a very unlike Dean thing. He was going to the local bar and have a few beers and figure out what to do.

Dean locked up and walked to his pick up truck for the short ride to the pub. He called home and left a message for Rory that he was going to stop for a few beers and he would not be out to late.

Dean was lucky there was a parking spot right in front of the door. He walked in and nodded to Rose the bartender.

"What are you having Dean?"

"Do you have any Labatt's Blue?"

"Sure"

Rose walked over and gave him a cold bottle. Dean took a long drink and started collecting his thoughts. If Rory or Lorelai saw Elizabeth they would know exactly who she was. Dean was one hundred and ten percent sure that Elizabeth was his daughter. Now what should he do about it if anything. He wondered what happened to Lindsay. Shortly after their breakup the whole family left Stars Hollow. Obviously Lindsay said nothing about him, and it was quite evident that she wished that he would not be part of Elizabeth's life. Lindsay did not talk bad about him. In fact she did not talk at all to her daughter about him.

Dean was trying to imagine Lindsay's reaction when Elizabeth told her about meeting a nice man in a diner named Dean. He wondered if he should try and call her. To let Lindsay know that he was not going to interfere with Elizabeth's life. The last name was readily available from the register at the Dragon Fly.

Dean thought about his two daughters with Rory Fifteen and thirteen. Carbon copies of their mother. You would be hard pressed to figure out that any of Dean's DNA was in them. He loved them, but their lives revolved around their grandmother Lorelai. Who watched them while Dean and Rory were at work. They were good daughters and loved him, but he just did not understand them.

Rory landed a job that was more suited to her personality than cut throat journalism. She started as a proof reader and worked her way up to editor of a large publishing company in Hartford. He was proud of his wife. They had a good marriage. Their earlier misdeeds involving adultery were a distant memory and swept under the rug. He needed to tell Rory about Elizabeth, and impress upon her, that it stay between the two of them. No sense in broadcasting his discovery. No one stood to gain anything.

The one person who ironically got him in his family was his twenty year old son. Or step-son. The little boy hanging on to his mothers hand when they arrived in Stars Hollow. They hit if off and understood each other from the beginning. Several times during family gatherings, which were always chaos, the two of them would sneak down to the basement and shoot pool or watch a ball game. Mark understood his father like no one else and Dean understood his son like no one else, Elizabeth was right. The man who raised you was your father. He had no claim on Elizabeth and he would leave it that way.

A/N I figured this was a good place to end the story, but I can write some more chapters if anyone wants to read them.