Chapter 1:
*10 years ago*
"How could you do this!?" Lorelai Gilmore demands tearfully. "She's my daughter. You know I can't afford a lawyer like you can."
"Oh Lorelai honestly, you need to stop being so selfish." Her mother, Emily Gilmore, scolds. "You were going to keep Rory from us. It's time you put her needs ahead of your own. Do you honestly think you can raise and provide for her like she deserves?"
"I can do better than you can!" The seventeen year old exclaims. "At least Rory would know that she was loved. Unlike I did."
"Lorelai, stop acting like the world revolves around you." Richard warns. "Rory will have everything she needs, and if you can prove to us that you're ready, you can take Rory back."
Lorelai couldn't believe this. She knew exactly what her parents were trying to do. The wanted to mold Rory into the perfect daughter. They were going to use her to replace Lorelai. There was nothing Lorelai could do. Her heart was breaking.
"Please, don't take her from me." Lorelai sobs. "She's all I have. I love her."
For a split second, there's guilt in Richard's eyes. It's gone almost as quick as it came. Lorelai knew that her father was doing what Emily wanted, and he wouldn't change his mind now. She was going to lose her daughter.
"You may visit her on Fridays once we've decided you are stable." Emily says showing absolutely no emotion. "You should leave. Rory will be up from her nap soon, you wouldn't to upset her."
"Can I at least say goodbye to her!?" Lorelai cries. Emily sighs, but she gives Lorelai the okay.
Lorelai makes her way to the nursery and leans over the crib railing. She gently strokes the sleeping baby's cheek, and tries her best to hold it together. Lorelai reaches over to Rory's dresser and pulls down a stuffed bear that had been Lorelai's as a child. She places the brown bear into the crib.
"We're gonna be apart for a little while," Lorelai tells the baby, even though she's still sleeping soundly. "So if you ever miss me, you'll have your teddy bear. I know it's not the same, and I'm so sorry it's gotta be this way. Just know that you are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and that I love you more than anything in the whole world."
"That's enough." Emily's voice says from the doorway of the room.
With a final kiss to Rory's head, Lorelai exits the nursery. She feels heavier and more pathetic than ever before. Her parents had officially taken everything from her. She had nothing.
*Present day*
The diner was at its lunch rush when Lorelai enters to receive her coffee and to see her boyfriend. She and Luke had been friends since she'd moved here, and after nearly 9 years of friendship, they'd admitted their feelings for eachother.
"Hey, I'm glad you're here." Luke smiles when he sees his girlfriend. He leans across the counter to give her a hello kiss. "How was work?"
"Mia was out sick today so it was a little crazy. I think I'm just gonna head upstairs and take a nap." Lorelai explains. Luke still had a bed upstairs, but he had moved in with Lorelai not long ago. "If you don't mind that is."
"Of course not." Luke assures her. Lorelai gives him another kiss, takes her coffee, and heads up the stairs.
Lorelai sighs when she enters the apartment. She felt a sudden sadness that happened every once in awhile. The pain over losing Rory had never fully gone away, and some days were much worse than others. Even after Lorelai had gotten on her feet, her parents wouldn't let her take Rory. Lorelai knew she still would never win in a courtroom against them. They had money and power. She was an inn manager. As much as she wished things were different, this was the way things were. Her daughter had grown up without her, and she hated it.
The next day the inn is even busier than usual. Some out of town group was staying for the weekend, and Mia was still sick. Lorelai, Sookie, and Michel were all overwhelmed by the time lunch hit. Lorelai was counting down the hours until she could go home and see Luke.
"There is someone here for you." Michel's french accent says.
"Did they say who?" Lorelai asks.
"I don't ask questions." Michel reminds her with an eye roll. Lorelai sighs. She was not really in the mood for Michel's attitude.
After taking a deep breath, Lorelai heads to the lobby. She scans for anyone she might notice. Michel gestures to the sofa where a brunette is sitting with her nose in a book. Lorelai doesn't have any clue who she's about to meet. She walks over to the girl, and the second the girl looks up, Lorelai knows.
"Rory." She gasps almost inaudibly.
"You must be Lorelai." Rory says. She sets her book down and stands up. "I didn't know if I should make an appointment or not. "If this is a bad time for you, I can come back another day. I mean it might be hard sneaking away from grandma and grandpa-"
"This is perfect." Lorelai tells her daughter softly. "Come on, let's talk somewhere a little more private."
Lorelai leads Rory to a back meeting room. Her mind was racing. She's imagined this moment so many times, and now it was here. She'd had no time to prepare for this. What did she say? Why was Rory here now? She'd always thought if her daughter came to find her it would be years from now. Rory was only ten. How had she gotten all the way from Hartford to Stars Hollow alone?
"You're probably wondering why am I here." Rory begins once they're seated.
"Uh...yeah." Lorelai admits. "Not that I mind, I mean I'm glad to see you, you have no idea."
"If you're so happy to see me why did you leave me?" Rory asks bluntly. Lorelai is a bit taken back. "I mean they told me you were really young, but you never even came to visit. I understand that it was probably hard…"
"Rory…" Lorelai had no idea what to tell Rory. She didn't want to lie, but she didn't know if the truth would cause her daughter more pain. "Your grandparents….they wanted what was best for you. They didn't think that was me."
"They said you didn't want me." Rory tells her mother, looking a little sad. "I always thought…"
"No, Rory, you were the only good thing in my life. Leaving you was not my choice and it was the worse thing I ever had to do." Lorelai says moving closer to her daughter. She starts to reach out for her, but decides against it. She didn't want to make Rory uncomfortable. "I have always wanted to be in your life. They just wouldn't let me."
"Why would they do that?" Rory asks crying. "You're their daughter."
"My parents and I have always had a very difficult relationship, hun." Lorelai says softly. "We've never seen eye to eye on anything. I promise you, though, if you want me to be, I'll be here. I won't allow them to keep us apart ever again."
"I do want that." Rory says with a small smile. "I knew that they weren't telling the whole truth. That's why I came here. I bought a bus ticket and came to see you. I don't want to go back to their house. Please, don't make me."
Lorelai throws all reasoning out the window and pulls her daughter to her. She didn't care how hard she had to fight. She wouldn't let things go back to the way they were. She was going to be a mother to her daughter, just like she should have been all along.
Luke and Lorelai had set Rory up in the small bedroom downstairs in their house. Lorelai knew she couldn't hide her daughter here for ever, but for tonight she just wanted to be with her family. Luke had been so happy for his girlfriend when he heard the news. He knew she'd always felt so horrible for not being there for Rory. If she'd had the choice, Luke knew Lorelai would have done anything to get Rory back. He was so glad she'd found that missing piece of her puzzle.
"She's perfect, right?" Lorelai asks Luke as they snuggle on the couch. Rory had fallen asleep as soon as they'd tucked her in.
"She is." Luke agree, he kisses Lorelai's temple. "She looks just like you." This makes Lorelai grin.
"Thank you, for being so great." Lorelai tells him. "I know things might get tough, but I am so glad you're here."
"She's your daughter, Lorelai. I love her already just because of that. We will figure this out together." Luke promises. Lorelai smiles and snuggles closer to him. Tomorrow she'd deal with everything, tonight she was just going to be happy.
Luke is the first awake, as usual. Normally he would already have left for the diner, but he wanted be there in case Lorelai needed him today. He'd called in some of his staff and explained that he needed the day off. Since this was a very rare occurrence, they didn't argue.
When Lorelai wakes up she hears giggles coming from the kitchen. It takes her a second to remember that her daughter was her. With a smile she goes to see what she's missing. Rory is seated at the table with a plate of pancakes in front of her.
"He made them look like Mickey Mouse!" Rory tells her mother gleefully.
Lorelai grins and sits next to Rory. Luke sets a cup of coffee and a plate of breakfast in front of her. It's scary to Lorelai how domestic they were. This could be their life everyday. She was afraid because she wanted it so much and she knew that at any given moment, it could all be taken away.
"Luke, are you my step dad?" Rory asks the man sitting across from her. Lorelai almost spits her coffee out. They hadn't talked about marriage.
"Not yet." Luke says with a calm smile. "Why, do you want me to be?"
"Yes!" Rory grins. "You make really good breakfast!"
Luke chuckles, happy to have won the little girl over. He gives Lorelai a smile and mouths a 'thank you.' Of course Lorelai would love to marry Luke, but she also knew that he would ask when he was ready. She didn't want to push him if he wasn't sure he wanted this yet.
"Okay Rory, why don't you get dressed." Lorelai suggests with a smile now that Rory was finished eating. "I just washed your clothes from yesterday, they're sitting on your bed."
Rory does as her mother says with a smile. The young girl had warmed up to her mother immediately. Rory felt like she belonged with her mother, and she was so happy that Lorelai was just like she'd imagined. She was funny, and kind, and warm, and so beautiful. She was so many things Rory often felt that Emily wasn't. Emily never let Rory watch two movies in a row, or stay up past 10:00. She only let Rory have one scoop of ice cream on rare occasions, and she had stopped tucking Rory in with a bedtime story when the girl was five. Sure, Rory knew her grandparents loved her, but it just wasn't the same. Rory had dreamt of her mother for so long, and now that she had her, she never wanted to let go.
Rory had just gone off to change. Lorelai was helping Luke clean up when the doorbell rang. She gave Luke a look, silently asking if he was expecting anyone. When he shrugs, Lorelai get a feeling in the very pit of her stomach. Her gut was clenching and she felt the pancakes threaten to rise back up. She slowly makes her way to the door. She opens. There on the other side stood her worst nightmare come to life yet again. Emily and Richard Gilmore.
A/N First GG fanfic. I clearly own nothing, but I wish I did. Luke and Lorelai are my favorites, and I had this idea in my head. Let me know what you think. And yes I know this is very anti Emily, but I was never a fan of her or Richard really. If you want I can make them get better, but for now I think they're going to be troublesome for our favorite mom/daughter pair. -Kaila
