One-Shot: The Haydens Meet Rory

"Straub! Francine! How are you?" Emily Gilmore greeted as she ushered the Haydens into the Gilmore mansion. It was Christmastime 1985, and it would be the first time the thrown-together family would be uniting for the holidays. Emily now tried to greet 17-year-old Christopher Hayden as warmly as she could. Richard Gilmore now approached the group.

"Straub, how's the firm treating you?"

"Working me to the bone, Richard." The two men shook hands.

"Hello, Francine!" Upon reaching Christopher, Richard looked him over critically. "Christopher."

"Sir." A stiff, civil, correct handshake followed. Christopher now stared past the Gilmore patriarch to the landing.

His girlfriend, Lorelai Gilmore, was standing with their 14-month-old daughter, Rory, in her arms. Christopher approached, looking relieved, and held out his arms. "There's my favorite girls. Rory, do you have a kiss for Daddy?"

The toddler looked at Christopher quizzically. "Da-da?"

"Yes. Da-da," Christopher beamed. Taking her from Lorelai, he began to bounce her gently. Strobe and Francine were watching the sight almost warily; it was only the second time they had seen their granddaughter. Christopher now turned to his father.

"Would you like to hold her, Dad?"

Rory suddenly interrupted him by pointing right at Straub and pronouncing, "Santa!"

Francine gasped, her eyes filling with tears as she clapped her hands, enraptured. "She's talking! Oh, isn't that wonderful, Straub?"

"I'm jumping up and down, Francine." Even though Straub had something akin to a scowl on his face and both feet remained firmly planted on the ground. Indeed, he seemed almost offended that his only grandchild would commit the cardinal sin of mistaking him for Santa Claus.

Lorelai frowned in disapproval at the Haydens' reaction. "She's been talking for months..."

"Would you like to hold her, Dad?" Christopher repeated deliberately, hoping to head off any tension before it exploded. And he all but pushed Rory into Straub's arms before the old man could answer.

Straub looked positively terrified. He bounced the baby once, twice, then a third time, all while Rory tried to reach for his beard. Scarcely 30 seconds had passed before he practically threw her back at Lorelai. Christopher was not pleased.

"Honestly, Dad, she's a baby, not the nuclear football..."

"Why don't we all go into the dining room?" Emily herded everyone away.

After dinner, the group was settled around the TV set in the living room. Meet Me In St. Louis was playing, and Lorelai seemed to glow as she bounced Rory on her lap in time to the music, making her tiny hands wave at everyone:

"Meet me in St. Louis, Louis, meet me at the fair..."

From where he rested against his mother's legs, Christopher smiled proudly at the sight. One of the show's famous ballads now began:

"How can I ignore the boy next door? I love him more than I can say... Doesn't try to please me. Doesn't even tease me. And he never sees me glance his way. And though I'm heartsore, the boy next door affection for me won't display..."

"Oh, that Judy Garland! What a voice!" Emily clutched a hand to her heart.

"Yes. Yes, she was..." Richard mused. "Tragic death, though: didn't she drown after falling off a yacht?"

"Oh no, dear. You're thinking of Natalie Wood; that was just a couple years ago."

"Judy or Natalie, I think Rory's gonna beat them both someday! Look at her go!" Chris laughed, as he watched Rory wiggling along to the movie.

None of the adults, and especially not Straub or Francine, took Christopher up on his attempt to make Rory part of the conversation. In fact, none of the grandparents made any effort to engage with the baby in any way.

After the movie, it was time to go. While his parents were distracted putting on their coats, Christopher huddled close to his child and her mother; the three were rarely allowed to be alone together, per Straub's demands.

Christopher kissed Rory's forehead; he seemed pained to leave her. Then he stole a kiss from Lorelai and whispered to her, "We'll be a real family. I promise."

It was a promise Christopher couldn't ultimately keep. Not long after that Christmas, Lorelai spirited away her baby to a small town called Stars Hollow, Connecticut where the mother and daughter pair would begin life anew.