Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or the characters. It would be really cool if I did.

Synopsis: What if Lorelai had been pregnant with twins? What if she and Christopher had gotten married? What if they had another child years later? How would things turn out for her and the kids. This is my take on that idea.

I hope you all enjoy!

A Place to Call Home

Chapter 1: Our New Beginning

A young Lorelai Gilmore stared at a map of Connecticut. Her eyes went straight to Stars Hollow, a small town only thirty minutes away. She could imagine raising her one year old twins, Rory and Ryan, there. She thought it would be cool to tell people she lived in Stars Hollow. She could already imagine the conversations she would have with people about what she assumed to be a small, quiet, interesting little town.

It wouldn't take her very long to pack up the twins and leave what she considered to be her hell on earth. She knew that this wasn't the life that she wanted. She didn't want her parents controlling every aspect of her kids' lives or her life. She wanted her kids to enjoy playing in the dirt, eating junk food, and figuring out life for themselves.

"Stars Hollow," Lorelai said softly. It had a nice ring to it. She could do it. She could find the courage to leave.

"Lorelai," Emily Gilmore opened the door and walked further into her daughter's room. "What on earth?" Emily was exasperated. "Why aren't you in your dress?" She pointed to the wedding dress hanging on the closet door. "You were supposed to be downstairs five minutes ago." Emily grabbed the dress. "Christopher is waiting for you. And the twins are going to need their nap soon. We need to hurry this along."

'Hurry this along,' Lorelai thought to herself. She felt like it had been hurried along enough. This was not what Lorelai had dreamed about when she was a little girl. This was not her fairy tale wedding. A marriage was supposed to be special. She cared about Christopher, but she knew the two of them were not ready for marriage, and it was bound to end in divorce. She shouldn't have to get married just because she had gotten pregnant at sixteen. She had grown exhausted trying to argue her point to her parents, Christopher's parents, and even Christopher. He seemed to think marriage was the right step for the two of them. He was excited about their little family.

Everyone seemed to have her life completely figured out for her. Lorelai, Christopher, and the twins would live in the pool house. Christopher would go to college and work in the insurance business with Richard. Lorelai would take care of the twins and help Emily with the DAR and all of her high society events. She would be the perfect wife and mother. Emily would make sure of it.

Fortunately, she was able to put the nuptials off for almost two years. First, she said she wanted to wait until after the twins were born because she wanted to make sure she wasn't fat for the pictures. And then once they were born she claimed she would look too tired for pictures. But her mother was done with the excuses. She basically planned the day without even asking Lorelai what she wanted.

"Come on, Lorelai." She held out the dress. "Are you even listening to me?"

Lorelai looked at her mother. Maybe she could be honest with her. Maybe for the first time in her life she could tell her mother what she wanted, and her mother would actually listen. "Mom, I've been thinking." Lorelai said softly, almost in a whisper.

"No," Emily immediately cut her off. "Don't even start, Lorelai. You have given me enough excuses. The day has been planned, and you and Christopher are finally going to get married."

"Mom, I think we should wait. I'm not ready to get married. Why don't we wait a couple of more years? That way you can throw the wedding you've always dreamed of for me." Lorelai crossed her fingers.

"You were ready to get pregnant. And you are ready to get married. This is what is best for you and for your children. Don't you care about Rory and Ryan? They need both of their parents." Emily continued to hold the dress out for Lorelai.

"Of course I care about them," Lorelai said sadly. She would do anything for her babies. That's why she wanted to leave and start her own life.

"Then you will put this dress on, walk downstairs, and marry Christopher. He is a good man, and this marriage will work. You will see that I am right."

"He is still a child."

"The two of you became adults the minute you decided to get pregnant." Emily argued.

"I didn't decide to get pregnant." Lorelai argued back. This conversation was totally déjà vu. They had the same conversation a thousand times since Lorelai told her parents she was pregnant.

"It doesn't matter if you planned this. It is what it is, and the best option for your future and the future of your children is to marry their father. Now please for once in your life, would you listen to me?" Emily shoved the dress in her direction once more.

Lorelai thought about it. She looked down at the map. Although she wanted nothing more than to take her babies and start over in Stars Hollow, she didn't have the courage. Maybe her mother was right. Maybe they could make the marriage work.

Lorelai took the dress from her mother.

"Wonderful." Emily smiled in only way that she could. "I'll see you downstairs in five minutes."

"Okay." Lorelai nodded.

Emily left the room, pleased with herself. She was finally getting her way.

Lorelai took the map and placed it in her night stand. "Maybe one day." She whispered as she took her wedding dress off the hanger.

Present Day

Lorelai Gilmore stood in front of a beautiful two story white house with a wraparound porch. There were beautiful flowers in the flower beds and the realtor had left hanging baskets on the porch. She hoped they could keep those. They made the house look even better. It was a simple house but the perfect house for her family.

She had been dreaming of this house for years. Even after she got married to Christopher, she had continued to dream of living in Stars Hollow. She would research jobs, houses, and town happenings often. One time she even tried to convince Christopher they should move to Stars Hollow, but he would never leave Hartford. Stars Hollow was too small for him. Christopher liked being the center of attention.

When she found the house she was now standing in front of on the real-estate website, she knew that it was fate, especially after everything that had happened. She put an offer on the house and finally made her plans to move to Stars Hollow. She had all of their things packed in record timing, even with the kids questioning her every move.

In her mind it was the perfect time to move. It was summer. Her parents were vacationing and wouldn't know they had left for a while. Christopher was only God knows where. After their divorce, he kept himself as far away from her and the kids as he possibly could. But hell he even did that when they were married. This was their time to start over…To have the life that she always dreamed of having.

"Mom," her dark haired, blue-eyed, fourteen year old mini-me joined her in front of the house. "Are you sure we can afford this?"

"Yes, honey. I've got it covered." Lorelai wrapped her arms around Rory and smiled. Rory was always trying to take care of everyone, even her. "You, Ryan, and Ruby have nothing to worry about." She really hoped that Rory believed her. She didn't want her kids to worry. This was on her. She was their mother, and it was her job to take care of them.

They could afford it. She had been saving money for years. She didn't need her parents, and she didn't need Christopher. And she had plans for a job.

"They don't look all that worried." Rory pointed to the car. Ruby was asleep, and Ryan was consumed in whatever book he was reading.

"Good. I don't want either one of you to be worried." Lorelai told her. "I've got this."

"Don't you think that we should tell grandma and grandpa where we are?" Rory asked.

Lorelai smiled as she led Rory up the stairs of the porch and into the house. Rory was her little worrier. Sometimes Lorelai thought that Rory was the mother and she was in fact the child. Although, times were changing and Rory was growing up. So was Ryan. They were both in the beginning stages of the rough teenage years, and Lorelai was concerned that the move might make it worse. Ryan didn't talk to her much, especially after the divorce. Lorelai was pretty sure Ryan blamed her for everything, and she didn't feel like arguing with him about it. He could believe what he wanted to believe. She didn't want her kids to know about everything that had happened. She was okay letting Ryan believe his dad was a good person. She would be the bad guy.

Rory was always on Lorelai's side, as was Ruby. But then again Ruby was six and still needed her mother for almost everything.

"No." Lorelai finally said as they walked through the house. "They will be home in a month and will figure it out."

"But they won't know where we are." Rory reminded her. "I know Grandma will be worried."

"Rory once we have settled down and made this town our own, I will let them know where we are. But until then you have got to trust me. Okay?" Lorelai turned to face Rory.

Rory could tell her mother was trying and decided that pushing the subject would get them nowhere. "Okay."

"Great. Now I was thinking that you and Ruby could sleep in this room." They walked into the kitchen and then into the only bedroom downstairs.

"Wait." Rory stopped her. "I have to share a room with Ruby." The realization hit her.

Lorelai crinkled her face. She knew when she bought a three bedroom house that someone would have to share. "Yes."

"Mom," Rory exclaimed. "Why can't she share a room with you?"

"Because I'm the mom." Lorelai said simply. "It makes sense for her to share with you."

"She ends up in your bed half of the time anyways."

"Well maybe she won't if she is sharing a room with her big sister." Lorelai smiled. "Besides I bought a trundle bed. That way you two will have more room."

"I can't believe this." Rory walked out of the room.

"Rory." Lorelai followed her.

Rory was already halfway up the stairs. "Why would you buy a house that only had three bedrooms?"

Lorelai joined Rory in the master bedroom. She had thought about not buying the house after finding out it only had three bedrooms, but she loved it so much. "This is the perfect house for us."

"Not if I have to share a bedroom with a six year old."

"Hon," Lorelai touched Rory's shoulder. "I know it sucks, but we really need to make this work."

"Why can't I have this room?"

"This is my room." Lorelai gave her a look. Changing was not up for discussion.

"And Ryan gets the other room up here."

Lorelai nodded. She felt like it was best to put Ryan closer to her. She had a feeling that Ryan would inherit her tendency to sneak out. She wanted to keep a close eye on him.

Rory shook her head. "Fine. I guess there is nothing I can do to change your mind."

"It is a done deal."

"This is a nice room." Rory noted as she walked out of the room.

"Yeah." Lorelai took it all in. It was a very nice room.

"Mommy."

Lorelai heard Ruby's voice downstairs.

Once Rory and Lorelai were downstairs, they saw Ruby and Ryan standing in the furniture-less living room. Ruby had curly, light brown hair. She looked a lot like Christopher, but she had Lorelai's eyes. All of her kids had her eyes.

Ryan was tall like Christopher, but he had dark hair like Lorelai. He reminded her a lot of Christopher when they were younger, besides the fact that he wasn't very talkative. Christopher was always so chatty when they were growing up. It was later in life when he stopped communicating with her.

"Hey sweetie," Lorelai took Ruby into her arms. "Hey you." She ruffled Ryan's hair. He slowly pulled away and rolled his eyes.

"I was worried that I lost you." Ruby told her. "You left me in the car. You aren't supposed to leave kids in the car."

"The car was still on." Lorelai told her. "Did you cut it off?" She asked Ryan. He nodded and handed her the keys. "Thank you."

"You still shouldn't leave us in the car." Ruby could argue with the best of them.

"It won't happen again. I promise." Lorelai kissed her forehead. "Am I off the hook?"

"For now." Ruby smiled at her.

Lorelai wiped her forehead with her hand. "Good deal. So…" She looked at Ryan. "Did you guys take the tour?"

"Yep." Ryan nodded. "I'm guessing my room is upstairs."

"It is. Right next to mine."

"Cool."

Lorelai sat Ruby down. "I think we are all really going to enjoy this place."

"Me too." Rory agreed with her.

"Ryan," Lorelai looked at her only son. "What do you think?"

Before he could answer, "Knock, knock." A woman said as she walked into their house. "Hey a sugars."

"Hi." Lorelai walked closer to the short blonde headed woman, surprised that she walked in without giving them time to answer the door.

"I'm your neighbor. Babette."

"Oh nice to meet you. I'm Lorelai." She extended her hand, but Babette pulled her into a hug.

"I'm a hugger."

"Oh good." Lorelai couldn't believe how tight Babette's grip was.

"I live right next door with my husband Morey and our baby cinnamon."

"You named a baby cinnamon?" Ryan asked curiously. Everyone else was waiting for a response. Even Ruby knew that was a weird name for a baby.

"Oh no. Cinnamon is a cat. But we love him like he is our baby."

"Oh." Lorelai was relieved.

"Mom won't let us have a cat." Ruby said.

"That's because we aren't pet people." Rory reminded her.

"You aren't a pet person, but I think I could be a pet person." Ruby told her as she made her way to Babette. "Could I play with your cat sometimes?"

"Of course you can sugar. You can come over anytime you want."

"Great. I'm Ruby." She hugged Babette. "I like hugs too."

"And this is Rory." Lorelai introduced her oldest daughter. "And this is my son Ryan."

Rory gave Babette a hug, but Ryan just nodded at her.

"It is nice to meet you." Rory told her.

"You too. You are such a beautiful girl." She totld Rory. "And you are just the cutest little girl I've ever seen." She looked at Ryan. "You are mysterious. I like that." Babette smiled at him. Ryan wasn't amused. "I think you are really going to love living in Stars Hollow. It is the best place on the planet. You can't convince me otherwise."

"Well that is what we like to hear."

Lorelai noticed Babette was looking around for something. "Babette, are you looking for something?"

"Oh yeah." Babette said matter-of-factly. "Ya husband."

Lorelai's face turned pale. She could feel it. "I'm not married." Lorelai told her.

"She's divorced." Ryan said as he made his way past Babette to go outside.

"Oh I'm sorry honey. That's probably why you moved here. To get a fresh start."

"That's the plan."

"Well I'm sorry for bringing it up. Never again. And I'll make sure the whole town knows not to bring it up."

"Oh that's okay. You don't have to do that."

"Oh consider it done." Babette touched her on the shoulder. "I really think the four of you are going to love it here. If you need anything just let me know."

"We sure will."

Babette walked out of the house. Lorelai and the girls followed her. Ryan was sitting on the porch steps. Lorelai joined him, and then the girls followed suit.

"She was really happy mommy." Ruby laughed.

"Yeah baby. She was." Lorelai tapped Ryan's leg. "I really think we are going to like it here."

"Yeah." Ryan grumbled.

At least he gave her somewhat of an acknowledgement.

"I think so too, mom." Rory rested her head on Lorelai's shoulder.

Lorelai smiled. Everything would be okay because they had each other. That was all they ever needed.

Let me know if I should continue.