Disclaimer: I own nothing!!

Chapter One:

5 ½ months after Logan left for London.

'Knock' 'Knock' 'Knock'

The sound made its way to Rory, who was sitting in her living room, typing away at her computer. "One minute," she called, as she quickly tried to get her last thoughts typed and saved before she forgot them.

'Knock' 'Knock'

"I'm coming," she called as she set her computer down on the coffee table and made her way to the door. She opened the door and stood there in amazed and confused shock.

"Hello, Lorelai," said the sophisticated woman standing before her.

Having no clue what to say she stepped back, opened the door some more and motioned for her to come in. The woman made her way inside and looked around the apartment, as Rory closed the door.

"You have a beautiful apartment, Lorelai. Although it is a little more masculine than I would have expected."

Rory seemed to have finally found her voice. "The apartment was my boyfriend's first," she said casually. The woman nodded and the two just stood there looking at one another in utter silence.

"What are you doing here, Francine?" Rory finally asked in confused annoyance.

Francine Hayden sighed and looked at her hands for a moment before opening her purse and pulling out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Rory. "Straub wrote this up before he passed away;however, I've only found it recently. And according to the lawyers that I've triple checked with, it would appear to be valid and rather important."

Rory took the paper in confusion, opened it and began reading. As she got farther down the document her eyes widened in shock, which was soon followed by the shaking of her hands. Seeing this Francine guided her to lean against or sit on the closest piece of furniture. This, of course, happened to be the pool table.

Rory looked up at her paternal grandmother in confusion, "I don't understand?" she spoke quietly.

She watched as Francine took a deep, steadying breath, before speaking. "The Hayden blood runs through your veins, therefore Straub felt it his right to keep tabs on you. And that night at your other grandparent's home, he said something that he greatly regretted afterwards. -- You see, my dear, we had no idea that your father had left you more or less fatherless, and we both admit that is and was our own fault, but, none the less, that fact ate your grandfather up inside after he found out, especially after only hours ago saying to your face that you were a mistake and that it was your fault his son didn't go to Princeton.-- Truthfully, I think it was then that he realized his son was never going to be the man he had held out for him to be, and in the process he had lost the granddaughter, that in all aspects, was the most perfect granddaughter anyone could ask for." she spoke quietly as she got a little choked up.

Rory shook her head in confusion. In some part of her brain she understood how hard this was for her paternal grandmother, but she also knew that she had to get a few more things cleared up before they could go any further.

"But, Francine, it wasn't like I popped out of no where and told my dad to get my mom pregnant. I had no more control over the fact that I was conceived or born anymore than any couple has a choice of what sex their child is going to be." She said sternly.

This caused Francine to nod in understanding sadness. "Your grandfather and I finally figured that out, however and unfortunately, that was not so before it was too late. I remember after that night, he spent so much time thinking of a way to apologize, but I think he was always afraid you wouldn't listen to him, truthfully so was I. I believe that this was his way of apologizing, but I think at the same time it may have been more than that." she paused for a moment and looked a little apprehensive, almost as though she wasn't sure of she should say what she was about to say next.

"The day of your graduation from Chilton, I have never seen your grandfather so proud and hurt at the same time. He longed for a part of that speech to include himself, and he knew that the fact that it didn't was his own fault. -- I never understood half of the things that man did in regards to you, but this one I think I do. I don't think he did this to make himself feel better, because I know it couldn't have, I think he did it to punish himself for his actions," she paused for a moment and got a distant look in her eye.

"I remember him saying something about wanting to present something to you on your 21st birthday and that he hoped you would throw it back in his face, just because it was something he deserved. -- Straub may not have been the most emotional man, or the best father but his family did matter more to him than his work ever did, it was just that he could never find the happy medium with working for the world and being what his son actually needed. According to your father there is something you and Straub have in common, neither of you take failure very well. And I can tell you right now, he never felt more like a failure than when it came to being your grandfather. I suppose that was why he took so well to Georgia, although every time he was with her he always had a sad glint in his eyes. He knew he had missed out on all of that with you and it was something he could never fix," Francine concluded with a sad smile.

Rory stood there in absolute silence just absorbing all that Francine had told her. She wasn't quiet sure if she believed all of it quite yet, but she had to believe some of it, because she now knew that it had been Francine and Straub that she had seen at her graduation. She hadn't been sure all of those years ago and had said nothing to her family, but now she was sure it had been them.

After a couple of minutes she finally broke the silence and asked the question she needed to know now, "What does all of this mean?"

"It means that you are the sole heiress to everything your grandfather ever had in his possession." Rory nodded slowly as Francine continued. "All of the money, estates, titles, stocks, enterprises, and so forth."

"So I'm what? One of Hartford's Social Elite now?" she asked cautiously. This caused Francine to smile mischievously. "No, my dear. You see, this was something your grandfather decided never to tell your father, besides your father claimed us in public about as much as your mother refused coffee." Francine knew that with a confession like that, her granddaughter would have some sort of reaction, and she didn't disappoint.

Rory raised an eyebrow that clearly said 'well now this ought to be good.' "Lorelai, you are not just Hartford Elite, as you so eloquently put it;you are what is called the Elite of the world. You are now one of the richest 21 year olds in the world." Rory's look of absolute shock was one of the most priceless expressions she had ever witnessed.

"E-E-Excuse me?" Rory stuttered.

"Lorelai, with the trust fund set in your name alone, you are worth 3.5 billion dollars." At Rory's blank look, Francine thought of how she could explain it a different way. "Let me put it to you this way -- What is the largest home you have ever been in?"

"The Huntzberger's"

Francine nodded and smiled; fore she knew she was about to deal quite the shock to her oldest granddaughter. "My dear, you could fit at least seven of the Huntzberger's homes into the original Hayden Estate in Ireland."

At this Rory began choking on air and her knees seemed to stop working because she fell to the floor in a heap of coughs. "Water." Rory managed to croak out through her coughing, and Francine immediately went into the kitchen.

After that the two of them moved into the living room and began talking about what it all meant and how Rory's life would change because of all of this.

"You will, of course, have to take the Hayden name." Francine told her seriously.

Rory looked at her hands for a second and then looked up shyly. "Um, I kind of already did." she said quietly.

Rory stood up and walked over to the bookcase, at the look of astonishment that Francine was sure was present on her face, and gathered a few things, before walking back to the chair she had occupied moments earlier. "I've already finished my last year of Yale early. And I figured since Dad paid for a lot of Yale, it would be nice to have the Hayden name on my diploma. I got it legally changed on his birthday, and the administration is giving me a special recognition on graduation day for finishing earlier, especially with everything that I went through during my years here. And I guess I really wanted to walk across the stage a Hayden this time, And I now I want to even more so now. I mean I have already walked across the Chilton stage as a Gilmore, so…" she trailed off as she finished.

Francine sat there in amazement as she read over the papers her granddaughter had handed her. "Lorelai, this is the perfect thing to give your father. He will absolutely love it. And I say we keep it a secret from him a little bit longer," she smiled lovingly at her granddaughter, yet she had a mischievous glint in her eye. Which seemed to surprise her granddaughter. "Oh don't give me that look, Lorelai, your father had to get it from someone and it certainly wasn't your grandfather," this caused Rory to laugh and nod.

However, then, a thought came to her. "Francine, do you think you could help me with this heiress stuff. I wasn't raised around any of this, and, as Shira and Elias were so eager to point out, I don't exactly fit into this world." Rory didn't think she had ever seen someone go from peaceful to pissed off so fast, and that was saying something considering she was related to Lorelai and Emily Gilmore.

"Excuse me? -- Lorelai, what exactly was said to you?" Francine's anger caused Rory to shift uncomfortably.

"Um, well it started at a dinner at the Huntzberger's where Shira and Elias pointed out repeatedly that I wasn't good enough to be a Huntzberger, and if I remember correctly it was all because I wanted to work, and I quote 'this has nothing to do with her mother.' And then everything escalated when Mitchum gave me an internship to apologize and then proceeded to tell me I didn't have what it takes to make it in the journalism world."

"They told a Hayden that she was not good enough for the Huntzberger's!" Francine asked is slow rage.

"Well, technically, they told a Gilmore," Rory said in an attempt to calm her paternal grandmother down.

"Well, my dear, we are just going to have to prove them wrong, because I can tell you right now, no one out does a Hayden and no one has for a very long time. What do you say? You up for the challenge?" Francine asked mischievously, in which Rory smiled back in return and nodded. But, what Francine saw made her smile even more. Rory's smile was all Straub Michael Hayden.

Thanks to my Beta DarkWoldYingFa Your the best!!!