The Life & Times of Christiana Hayden

Summary: At 16, Lorelai and Christopher had twins, Lorelai Leigh and Christiana Victoria. Somehow, Christopher's parents pulled some strings and made an unique custody arrangement. Christopher got Christiana and Lorelai got Rory. Lorelai tried to see Christiana as a toddler, but it all became too complicated. Just like in Rory's life, Christopher was also in and out of Christiana's. She was raised by Straub and Francine. Who I know were terribly stuck up in the show, but will not be in my story. Christiana knows about Lorelai and Rory because she is also close to Emily and Richard.

When Lorelai finds out that Christiana attends Chilton where Rory has just been accepted and she figures that it is the perfect time to get to know her daughter.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters other than Christiana and possibly some others along the way. There will also probably be some songs used in this story that also do not belong to me.

I hope you all enjoy! Let me know!

Christiana Victoria Hayden

Lorelai Gilmore-Danes sat in her Jeep in the driveway of her parents' house. She was incredibly anxious and was considering bolting, but she knew that she couldn't. Earlier in the week, her daughter, Rory, was accepted into a prestigious private school in Hartford called Chilton Academy. However, today, she found out that she had to pay for the full semester before Rory could start at Chilton and she couldn't afford that, so, she was at her parents' house to ask for their help.

Her husband, Luke, would probably be upset if he knew she was there. He was willing to sell his truck to pay for Rory's tuition, but Lorelai just couldn't let him do that. However, now that she was sitting at her parents' house, she was regretting that decision.

She took a few deep breaths before getting out of her vehicle and walking to the front door. She chugged her coffee before ringing the doorbell.

"Lorelai?" her mother, Emily Gilmore, opened the door with an extremely confused expression, "Is it Christmas already?"

"No," Lorelai answered uncomfortably, "can I come in?"

Emily nodded before stepping aside to let her daughter walk in. Lorelai walked into the sitting room and took a seat.

Her mother followed her before asking, "Can I get you a drink?"

"No," Lorelai shook her head, "but could you get Dad?"

"Lorelai," Emily told her shortly, "you're scaring me. Are you sick? Is Rory sick?"

Lorelai shook her head again, "No, Mom. I just need to talk to you both."

"Richard," Emily called to her husband, "come here."

Richard walked into the room, carrying a newspaper, "Yes, Em…," he stopped when he saw his daughter, "Lorelai? Is it Christmas already?"

"No," Lorelai sighed, "I just needed to talk to you."

"You need money," Richard assumed.

Lorelai rolled her blue eyes before explaining, "Rory applied to Chilton and she got in and that is very exciting, but they need the semester's tuition up front or they won't let her start. I wouldn't ask, but this is a great opportunity for Ror…"

"Ch-Chilton, you say?" Emily stammered.

Lorelai nodded and her face scrunched up in confusion, "I figured you would be excited about this."

"I am," Emily nodded distractedly, "Chilton is a great school. We are good friends with the Charleston's; the headmaster there. It's just…"

"It's just what, Mother?" Lorelai snapped.

"Um, Chrissy goes to Chilton."

"Ch-Chrissy," Lorelai literally felt her heart break, "like Christiana."

Emily nodded, "Yes. Christiana."

Lorelai would've given anything to melt into the ground. Her mother was referring to Christiana, her other daughter. When Lorelai was sixteen, she got pregnant with twins, Lorelai Leigh and Christiana Victoria. She still never really understood how it happened because she had blocked out most of the memories of the custody battle with her ex, Christopher, but somehow, she had gotten custody of Rory and Christopher got custody of Christiana.

After the custody agreement was made, Lorelai took great advantage of her time with Christiana. However, it wasn't long before Christopher ran off and his parents were forcing Lorelai's toddler into the world of the elite and Lorelai hated it. She had run from that life as fast as she could and didn't plan on looking back.

She had a great life now; it was everything she had ever dreamed of. She had moved from Hartford to Stars Hollow when she was eighteen and she raised Rory, who was the most amazing kid. She married the love of her life, Luke Danes, seven years after moving there. They now had a beautiful son, Joshua William, who is five. Joshua was the spitting image of his father, but talked like his mother.

She wouldn't trade her life for the world, but she needed to fill the void in her heart that was the shape of her other daughter, her Christiana. There wasn't a day that she didn't wonder about what Christiana was like or what she looked like or what her dreams were.

What she found most distressing about this situation was that her parents had obviously been in contact with her daughter without her knowing.

"How do you know where Christiana goes to school?" Lorelai asked.

"We see her regularly," Richard explained, "she comes over at least once a week and we see her at events."

"You see her?" Lorelai's voice cracked as tears filled her blue eyes.

Emily nodded, "We are planning her cotillion now."

"Planning her what?" Lorelai gasped.

"Really, Lorelai?" Emily sighed, "She's turning sixteen or did you forget that?"

"Of course not," Lorelai snapped, "I was the one in labor. How could you not tell me that you see her?"

"Lorelai," Richard started, "Hartford is a small community. We were bound to see her at events."

"But you have a relationship with her," Lorelai said, "you have a relationship with my daughter and I had no idea."

"You're the one that walked away, Lorelai," Emily rolled her eyes, "you walked away from us and you walked away from Chrissy. Were we not supposed to have a relationship with either of our granddaughters?"

"You have a relationship with Rory," Lorelai argues defensively.

"We see you both maybe twice a year," Emily sighed heavily, "Lorelai, you walked away from us and you walked away from that child. Straub and Francine have done well with her, but she has needed a mother and a father, but Christopher is a whole other conversation."

"You and the Hayden's were trying to control our lives," Lorelai groaned, "do you really think a marriage between Christopher and I would've worked? We were teenagers and now, no one even knows where he is."

"Maybe he would've stayed had you given him a chance," Emily shrugged, "but we aren't here to argue about the past."

"We will help you pay for Chilton," Emily told her daughter, "it's a great school and Rory will do well, I'm sure."

"However," Emily continued, "since we are no financially involved in your lives, we would like to be actively involved. I would like a weekly dinner with you and Rory and a phone call at least once a week with updates on your lives."

"Rory doesn't know about Christiana," Lorelai sighed, "I can't send her to a new school and have her see her clone."

"You could tell her now," Richard offered.

"And for your first weekly dinner, we could have Chrissy and the Hayden's over…"

"Grandpa!" a young voice startled them all before a teenage girl with caramel colored hair, bright green eyes and freckles came flying into the room, "Grandpa! I made an A on my business plan!"

The girl ran to her grandfather and shoved a paper in his face; a bright red A was scribbled on the top.

"Oh, Christi," Richard smiled proudly, "that's great, sweetheart! We must do something to celebrate. How about dinner at the club, just me and you?"

Christi nodded excitedly, "That sounds good!"

She turned towards her grandmother, "Look, Grandma!"

Emily smiled, "I'm so proud of you, Chrissy. I know you and Grandpa worked hard on this."

Lorelai was in complete shock. Her child that she hadn't seen in at least fourteen years was standing before her and she was beautiful. Her and Rory weren't identical, but Lorelai figured they could probably switch places if they needed to. Also, the way her parents acted towards Christi was something she had never experienced before. They were genuinely proud of their granddaughter and seemed to care about her a lot. Had they been this way with her, maybe she wouldn't have run so fast.

"But you know you shouldn't just let yourself in," Emily told Christi, "we have guests."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Christi gasped before spinning around and her whole world stopped.

She knew this woman from Christmas card pictures and a photo strip she had tucked away in her room of her parents when they were young. Christi almost fell over when she saw her mother sitting across from her. She never imagined that she would meet her mother again. She had always wanted to, but she wasn't sure it was a possibility.

Her maternal grandparents had told her a lot about her mother and sister, well, they told her what little they knew. Christi had imagined a life with them that was everything a girl could want, but it was only a fantasy.

It wasn't that she didn't love the life she had. Her grandparents had done the best they could to raise her and she did have a great life. She had an amazing family; both sets of grandparents adored her and would do anything to help her. She had a great group of friends and, of course, she never wanted for any material thing.

However, there was always that void that could never be replaced with anything but her mother…and she had tried to fill it with just about every bad decision a teenager could make.

Lorelai stood and stepped closer to her daughter before stroking her face, "Oh, baby, I have missed you."

"Not enough to come around," Christi's voice shook with emotion.

"Sweetheart, there is so much that you don't know," Lorelai sighed, "and probably won't understand…but you have to know that I wanted to be in your life."

"As long as it was on your terms," Christi sniffled, "as long as you got to make the rules and as long as you got to keep your precious Rory away from the cruel world of the country club."

"There's nothing wrong with this world," Christi spat, "yeah, there are some stuffy people and a bunch of boring events, but it makes my family happy and that's all that matters to me."

Christi's green eyes went cold, "All you think about is yourself, Lorelai Gilmore. You never cared about what was best for me or Rory. You never cared about Dad's feelings or Granna and Pops'. Hell, you didn't even care about your own parents' feelings. You wanted out, so you got out."

"Don't you dare," Christi growled, "come to me and say you missed me. If you had missed me, you would've been in my life. You had plenty of opportunities."

"That isn't fair, Christiana," Lorelai wiped tears from her eyes, "all you know is what they've told you and I'm sure it hasn't been pleasant."

"No one ever ran you down to me, if that's what you're thinking," Christi told her flatly, "honestly, they told me that you loved me and even took the blame for the custody agreement, but I may be a lot of things, but stupid isn't one of them. I can put pieces together on my own."

"They adore you," Christi motioned at her grandparents, "they love Rory and speak of her like they have a relationship with her and you just shut them out," her eyes filled with tears, "just like you shut me out. We didn't do anything wrong."

"I know you didn't do anything wrong," Lorelai cried, "I just couldn't be a part of this world anymore. I couldn't do they club meetings and cotillions and the DAR; that's not who I am."

"They aren't who I am either," Christi shrugged, "but I go because I love to see the way my grandparents' faces light up when they see me participating in an event. Lorelai, sometimes sacrifices must be made to keep people together."

"You talk like an adult," Lorelai wiped tears from her face, "you remind me a lot of Rory."

"We are twins," Christi shrugged before asking, "why are you even here? It isn't Christmas."

Lorelai huffed before answering, "Rory got into Chilton."

"I get to meet my sister?" Christi's eyes suddenly lit up, "Has she wanted to meet me too?"

"Oh, honey," Lorelai sighed, "I'm sure had she known, she would've insisted on meeting you."

"She doesn't kn-know about m-me?" The tears we're back in her eyes.

"I just didn't want to tell her if you two couldn't really be sisters," Lorelai felt horrible, "if we had been able to see each other…"

"Whose fault is that?!" Christi raged, "You're the one that kept us apart! We could've been sisters all our life, but you were too selfish and kept us away from each other!"

Christi suddenly choked on her breath before she started to breathe heavily, and her palms began to sweat.

"Chrissy," Emily stepped to her granddaughter calmly before wrapping her in a tight hug, "You're okay. I'm right here. You're okay."

It took several seconds, but soon Christi's breathing regulated, and she clung to her grandmother.

Lorelai was beyond confused about the scene that just happened before her. She had never seen her mother so comforting. Also, she was certain that the look of panic of her daughter's face would haunt her for the rest of her life.

"Why don't you head home?" Emily offered, holding her granddaughter at arm's length, "Grandpa will pick you up for dinner around 6:30."

"I don't wanna be alone," Christi shook her head; her eyes were still full of anxiety, "Granna and Pops are in Maine for something," she shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts, "I don't…I can't be alone."

"Okay," Emily nodded, "just go to your room for now. Let us finish this conversation with your mother…"

"I don't have a mother," Christi spoke to Emily, but her icy green eyes were focused on Lorelai.

Emily's heart broke and she closed her eyes briefly to keep tears from falling before she spoke soothingly, "Go up to your room, dear. I'm sure you have a dress for dinner here. I will come see you in a bit."

Christi nodded silently before walking out of the room and upstairs. She was going to go to her room, but on the way there, she made a stop in her mother's old room. The room was formal and stuffy, unlike the room she had created for herself down the hall. She understood why Lorelai hated it. She even understood the fact that her mother hated the world of the elite, but she couldn't understand leaving her family behind.

She sighed heavily and plopped down on the bed. She couldn't believe Rory knew nothing of her. She had been dreaming of their reunion since she was a kid. She imagined they had longed for each other, but it seems that it would all be one sided now.

"It was terrible, Luke," Lorelai cried to her husband after explaining her encounter with her daughter, "she was so cold and broken."

When Luke first proposed, Lorelai had told him no because he didn't know the whole truth about her life. They went almost two months without talking before she came to his apartment and broke down as she told him all about her life in Harford. She had even told him that she had gone to Christi's elementary school a few times and sat in the car, watching a driver pick her daughter up. Luke had encouraged her to reach out then, but she was too afraid. Now, they were here.

"Well, Lorelai, she's a child and this was a lot to take in," Luke told her, "she probably feels confused and has a lot of old hurt feelings built up."

"Think about it," Luke sighed, "Rory lucked out in this situation…she got an amazing mother that loves her beyond reasoning. Christiana lost both of her parents as a child."

"I bet," he pulled his wife close to him, "That once she gets to know you, she will see how amazing you are and you will have a great relationship."

Lorelai smiles against his chest. Usually, Luke wasn't a man of many words, but when he was…he always made her feel better.

"Ya know, Rory got a pretty amazing dad too," she smirked up to him, "and so will Christi."

"I do love when Rory calls me dad," Luke smiled proudly.

Even though Luke and Lorelai had been married for seven years, him and Rory had always had a child/step-parent relationship until a few months ago when she had accidentally referred to him as dad. Then it just stuck and Luke couldn't be more happy.

"How am I gunna tell Rory?" Lorelai sighed after several seconds.

"Well, Babette has Joshua," Luke reminded her, "when she gets in from school, just sit down and tell her. Rip off the band aid."

"What is she hates me?"

"She may get upset," Luke told his wife, "but I can assure you that she could never hate you."

The next hour went by incredibly slow for Lorelai as she tried to play every possible scenario of her conversation with Rory before her daughter got home.

Lorelai grasped her husband's hand tightly when she heard the front door slam; she froze.

Luke looked to his wife briefly before calling to her daughter, "Hey, Rory, can you come here for a second?"

Rory put her backpack down and walked to the living room, "Hey, Da…"

She immediately stopped when she saw both of her parents sitting on the couch with their hands clasped tightly, "What's going on? Is someone dead? Is Josh okay? Where is he? Is he okay?"

Luke nodded, "Josh is fine," he assured her, "but we need you to sit down. Your mother has to tell you something that's going to be hard for you to hear and harder for her to tell you."

"Okay," Rory agreed slowly as she sat down in the same manner, "what's up?"

"There's something I've wanted to tell you," Lorelai explained shakily, "I've wanted to tell you this since you were a baby."

"Do I have a deadly disease?"

"Let me start with good news," Lorelai sighed heavily before speaking, "you got into Chilton!"

"What?" Rory gasped excitedly, "I got in! This is great!"

Rory's smile quickly faltered when her mother became even more anxious, "What could possibly be the bad news to this?"

"There's someone who goes there," Lorelai choked out her words, "that will shock you."

"Elvis?"

Lorelai covered her face and she took a few deep breaths before she looked up to her daughter, "Rory, you know how I tell you all about your birth on your birthday?"

Rory nodded silently.

"There's a huge part of the story that I don't tell y-you."

"And?"

"You weren't born…alone," Lorelai breathed out.

"What do you mean?" Rory questioned, "I mean, I know that you were there, obviously. So, how does that make your story any different?"

"You have a twin," Lorelai told her daughter after a minute, "her name is Christiana."

"I have a what?" Rory's blue eyes went wide, "Christi…"

"A twin," Rory breathed out, looking down at her hands as she tried to wrap her head around what her mother had just told her.

"After talking to Chilton today, and finding out that you got in," Lorelai explained quickly, "and I went to my parents' house to, um, let them know," she lied for the time being, "and when I told them, my mother literally looked like a ghost."

"When I asked her why she wasn't more excited, she told me that it was because Chrissy goes to Chilton," Lorelai continued rapidly, "Chrissy…that sounds so prissy. I can't imagine Christiana being prissy; she was definitely a fireball today."

"I was talking to them and Christiana came in. And she had some very interesting things to say and she's actually very close to my parents, which is weird because you would think they would've spent the last sixteen years rubbing it in my face…"

"Stop," Rory held up her hand to interrupt her mother, "you're telling me that I have a sister. A twin sister that is close to Grandma and Grandpa? Is she close to Dad? Has she been in Hartford this whole time? I could have known her and I don't."

"How does she know Grandma and Grandpa?" Rory went on, "Has she always known them?"

Lorelai nodded, "As far as I know they've always had a relationship with her and I was never aware of. I'm not sure about her relationship with your dad. I mean, as far as I know, he's in and out. Mom mentioned something about Christiana needed a mother and father, so, I'm guessing that Christopher hasn't been in her life much either."

"Why wouldn't you tell me?" Rory's voice cracked, "We tell each other everything."

"I just didn't want you to know about her if you two couldn't be together," Lorelai told her honestly, "My parents and the Hayden's were trying to force marriage on me and Christopher," she frowned, "they practically had a place for me at the DAR and the rest of my life planned out from the second they found out I was pregnant."

"I felt so closed in," Lorelai cried, "it was like I was trapped and then there was a very intense custody battle that ended with me getting you and Christopher getting your sister. I tried to keep you together, but Chris started disappearing and the Hayden's were talking private schools and college when you were just a baby and they wanted us back in Hartford and I just couldn't handle it anymore."

"Does she know about me?"

Lorelai nodded, "She was very upset when she realized you didn't know about her."

"Why did she get to know about me, but I've been living a lie?" Rory frowned.

"I didn't know that they were going to tell her about you," Lorelai sighed, "and I hope you know that I didn't keep this from you to be cruel. I just couldn't imagine you knowing about her and not being able to be with her; does that make sense?"

"But we could've been together," Rory argued, "I understand that you don't like all the events and the politics, but she is your child. I mean, that could've very easily been me that you left behind. You could've forgotten about me."

"I haven't forgotten about her!" Lorelai screeched, "I think about her every day, Rory. My heart aches every day because I know that she is out there, but I don't know anything about her. Yes, I could've handled things better and I could've stuck around, but in the short years I was in Christiana's life, it was like I was just watching her life because I didn't really have an active part in it."

"So, having no part was better?"

"No," Lorelai's head dropped, "I hate it and I hate that you have to find out this way."

"So," Rory drug out, "I'm not going to Chilton."

"Of course, you're going," Lorelai said quickly, "I mean, if you still want to."

"Well," Rory stood, "it appears that is the only way I will get to know my sister, so, yes, I'm going."

What do you think? I know that everyone's characters are a little off from the show, but I need them this way for the story to work. I do hope you like it though and want to continue to read it. Let me know what you think! I do appreciate ideas and ever constructive criticism. I will be starting the next chapter soon. Thank you!