This is my first fanfic so please be nice and criticism is appreciated! Read and enjoy!
For years I saw two sets of blazing blue eyes pleading for the elixir of life and a massive amount of unhealthy food that will slowly but surely lead them to an untimely death. I wasn't just the guy that supplied coffee, I was their unnamed protector and the whole town knew I had a soft spot for both of them. Both of them, with their witty banter, crazy anecdotes, and lively energy, managed to capture my heart. From the minute Lorelei barged into my diner begging for coffee and babbling about my birthday I was hooked. I can still remember when Rory went around inviting everyone to a caterpillars' funeral.
They were my alkalis heel. They were the reason I always had that dopey smile on after they left and they were the reason I learned to open up to someone. When I saw Lorelei and Rory interact I knew I had to open up and share with someone to get what they had.
They were the closest thing to an actual family that I had. Both my parents had passed away long ago and Liz was off attempting to raise her kid and get a stable relationship. I would've done anything for them. When I went and saw Rory walk across that Chilton stage I felt like a proud parent and not just a close friend.
When I saw her make that speech I saw the tears in her mother's eyes and realized I had them in my own too. When I saw her accept that Chilton diploma I realized she was not the little girl trying to cheer up weeping willows anymore. She was a grown up and trying to prepare for college. I felt the over whelming need to go back to when she was young and protect her. I felt like her dad.
Then Lorelei and I starting dating and I finally felt like I was going to get that family that I always wanted. The one that is so rare everyone envies it. I was going to have the love of my life and her daughter to call my own. We were going to have a picture perfect family, but then everything fell apart. We went to Richard and Emily's vow renewal and found Rory and some stuck up rich blonde guy groping each other in a closet.
That image of the little girl pleading for coffee had been tainted with the image of a young woman kissing someone in a closet. The need to protect her came back and I practically murdered that guy. Then Christopher jumped in. He jumped in on my territory. Sure he was her biological father and had known Lorelei forever, but he gave that up when he left. I felt like he was trying to take away my perfect dream of that family that everyone envied. He was trying to replace himself with me and be the dad in that picture perfect family. I left to mourn.
Months later I suddenly woke up to the horrible mistake I'd made. I went back to Lorelei, we made up, and I felt like I could finally get my picture perfect family back. Later I learned that Rory was still seeing that blonde rich kid. When I was told his name was Logan I spat it out every time I said it. It came out as if I was going to throw up.
I couldn't get that picture of closet groping out of my head. A couple of months went by with little or no turmoil between Lorelei and me, but Lorelei and Rory were a different story. They had little spats, whether it be because of the way that blonde acted at dinner or the way Rory acted around the blonde, and they didn't tell each other everything anymore. Not like they used to anyway. Things were kept hidden and feelings remained unsaid. Lorelei was a mess and I did my best to console her, but I was never that good with feelings.
Then the unimaginable happened. Rory dropped out of college after stealing a boat. When I heard the news I felt like all the wind had been knocked out of me. I began to rant, like any respectable person would do after spending as much time with Lorelei as I had, and she proposed. It wasn't a proposal of 1000 yellow daises or somewhere in a romantic setting that was said after months of planning. It was a surprise proposal after a couple seconds of thought and set in the place where we first met, my diner.
I jumped at the chance anyway. I said yes so fast I'm surprised she even processed it. The moments after were a little awkward, but we quickly ended that with a bottle of Zima and a mind-blowing kiss. It was in that kiss that I knew I'd get that picture perfect family. Together we would convince Rory to go back to school and get rid of the blonde. Things would be perfect again. They had to be.
Six months later and nothing. No wedding date, no Rory back in school, no quirky mother daughter relationship, and definitely no steps closer to my picture perfect family. I tried to talk to Lorelei about talking to Rory, but each time she would answer with the same thing "Tough love baby". When Rory came into the diner I almost choked.
She looked the same. A little older, a little more tired and some of her spark was gone, but she still had those eyes. The Rory eyes that got me to give her everything and tell her about me and Lorelei's upcoming nuptials. The look on her face after I told her gave me that same overwhelming to protect her like I did on the day of her Chilton graduation or her grandparents' vow renewal.
Weeks went by and still nothing. I was getting so frustrated with the two of them, but I knew I couldn't interfere. This was between them and they had to solve it. Just when I thought things couldn't get more complicated I find out I have a daughter. Of all things a daughter living and breathing, part of me was out there in the world for thirteen years and I had no idea.
Just the day I find out about her, Lorelei comes rushing into the diner to tell me she and Rory have made up and we can finally set a wedding date. I'm so overjoyed I want to jump for joy. I can finally have my picture perfect family, but I stop mid-whoop and think about April. Where does she fit into all of this?
For two months I couldn't answer that question. First I wasn't going to even acknowledge that I had a daughter, but then I realized I had to get to know her and love her because in some way she had to fit. I was too afraid to tell Lorelei though, because she might not think that she fits or might not accept a new addition to my life and leave. Then where would my picture perfect family be?
The minute I saw Lorelei after she found out that I had kept that huge a secret instantly told me I made a huge mistake. I wanted nothing more than to take her in my arms and tell her its ok and we'd work it out, but I let her go think and "process" because I was too afraid if I smothered her she'd leave.
From there it all went down hill. Lorelei and I were never the same. Sure I saw Rory again and they both had that sparkle back, but it wasn't the same because I couldn't enjoy it. I tried to keep Lorelei and April away from each other in fear that April would like her better which is the stupidest thought I'd ever had. For a second I forgot all about that picture perfect family and focused solely on me. I didn't notice I was hurting the person I loved more than life itself and in turn hurting her daughter.
Not until Valentines weekend. I woke up. I don't know if it was being away from the diner and April or seeing how well Rory and Logan (I can know say his name without tasting a little vile in my mouth) fit together, but I realized Lorelei was hurting. I set the picture of that family back in my head and promised Lorelei that everything was going to be okay.
When I saw Rory standing there dumbfounded when Logan left I got that feeling to protect her again. I hadn't gotten it in so long it was almost abnormal to me, but it was their none the less. I promised myself and silently Lorelei and Rory that I'd set the perfect picture of that family back and everything would get better. Obviously I didn't keep that promise because right when we got home it was back to making sure Lorelei and April didn't meet each other and knowing almost nothing about Rory's life.
Then that critical night when Lorelei came to me, begging me to elope I said no. What was wrong with me I could've had that picture perfect family I just had to say that one word that I almost spit out a year ago YES?
Now I sit here years later going over pictures and contemplating my life. The day I heard Lorelei had slept with Christopher I left and told her I'd go back to me being her coffee supplier, but of course it'd never be the same because I was never just her coffee supplier. For almost a year after that we tried to avoid each other the best we could and try not to show emotion.
I thought they were all happy, how they always wanted it to be, but one day Rory came into the diner with the Rory eyes and asked me to come to her Yale graduation. Of course I couldn't turn her down. As I watched her walk across that stage and receive that diploma I felt that fatherly need again and that picture of the family that I had buried deep in brain sprung back up.
I realized I wanted that. That day Lorelei and I got back together, both vowing not to be idiots this times (or snickelfrittzes as Lorelei so nicely put it). Also that day I watched Rory grow up and get engaged to one Logan Huntzberger. I got that feeling of being fatherly again, but this time it was a little suppressed knowing she was taken care of. Blissful months went by of Lorelei and I rediscovering our relationship and Rory coming around to plan her wedding with the help of Lorelei as it should be.
This time I did it right though I introduced April and Lorelei and we listened to each other. Rory and I became close again having little moments like when she asked me to walk her down the aisle. Now 5 years later Lorelei and I are married and the grandparents of twins Lorelei and Elias. Once every two weeks Lorelei, Rory, April, Logan, the twins, and I go and do something together. I finally got my picture perfect family, sure there is a couple more people, but I wouldn't change it for the world.
First Fanfic so please read and review!