Ryan's cell phone rang as he walked out of the site and he smiled at the display. He opened it.

"Hey baby."

Three thousand miles away and he could still hear his wife's smile, "I am never letting you go out of town when the inn does a wedding again, you do know that right?"

"You have to learn how to say no when Lorelai asks you to wait tables."

"Her best waitress quit on her last night."

"One of these days, I'll find out how she gets you to do whatever she wants." He scrawled his signature across the clipboard and handed it back. "Then you'll really be in for it."

"I call upon the memory of your last birthday. I did a pretty good job of doing everything you wanted that night."

"Why can't every night be like that?"

She laughed. "Because we've got work? The kids? And sometimes you like me to take charge? Take your pick, sugar bear."

"You're alone, right?" The thought of anyone, especially Seth, finding out about that nickname.......

No. Just.....no.

"I am alone in our bedroom, not to worry. My feet are currently propped up on a pillow and I am flat on my back."

"Taylor, I'm in public." She always did this to him; wound him up when he was away from her. He figured it was partly out of a desire to punish for the separation; and partly because he came home very appreciative of her.

Desperate for something to distract him from his giggling wife, he scanned the street as he tossed his briefcase in the back of the rental truck.

He stopped when he saw a kid sitting on a wall by a phone booth with a bike in front of him. He was about ten or so, the same age as Sookie and Jackson's daughter, Martha. He looked up and down the street and didn't see anyone around that seemed to be looking for him or headed in his direction.

"Taylor, I'll call you later on, okay? Kiss the kids for me."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you, too."

He clicked the phone shut, gaze locked on the boy. An older woman walked by, giving the kid a suspicious look and convincing him that he wasn't imagining things. There really was somebody sitting there, like his long-lost clone or something. Remembering how it felt to have the entire world turning its back on him, he stepped forward.

"Hey, Kid. Need any help?"

The kid looked at him and then down and then back at him with the faintest glimmer of hope in his eyes.

---xxx---

"Hello?"

"I need you to come out here."

"Ryan?"

"Yeah. Can you take the kids to Lorelai's or something and come out here? You have the weekend off, right?"

"Ryan, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just need you to come out here."

"Why?"

"I don't want to have this conversation on the phone. Can you just come out here?"

"Yeah, okay. I'll get a flight."

"Thanks. See you soon." He closed the cell and took a deep breath.

Time to call Sandy.

"Hello?"

"Sandy, it's me."

"What's up, kid?"

"Little trip down memory lane."

"Meaning?"

"Remember when I called you to come pick me up?"

"Which time?"

"The first time."

"Yes, why?"

"Today as I was leaving the site, I saw a kid sitting on a wall near my car."

"You didn't."

"His mom's worse than Dawn was. She didn't even notice he was gone!"

"Kid, you can't....."

"Sandy, I have to. I just need you to tell me how."

There was a heavy sigh from the other end of the line. "Alright, here's what you do...."

---xxx---

Taylor sat down at a table in the restaurant of Ryan's hotel and waited. He'd asked her to meet him downstairs when she'd called him from the airport. She was starting to worry a bit about what he wanted.

"Hey, sorry I kept you waiting," Ryan said leaning down and kissing her.

"What's going on? Are you okay? You're dying, aren't you? Oh God, you've got cancer or something...."

"No, calm down. I'm fine."

Taylor took a deep breath, "Good. Okay, so what is going on?"

"Today, when I was leaving the site I saw a boy sitting on the way near my truck. He needed-needs help, Taylor."

"Help you want to give him," Taylor finished his thought.

"Yeah. Taylor, his mom didn't even realize he was gone."

"What's his name?"

"John."

Taylor nodded, "Okay."

"Look, I know it's a lot to ask but-"

"Ryan, I said okay."

"What?"

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yes."

Ryan blinked at her, "Why?"

"What?"

"You're agreeing to this awfully fast."

"I've been waiting for you to do this since the first time you came to the ER to pick me up and while you were waiting you started talking to that kid whose mother was drying out in one of the exam rooms."

"This is different."

"How so?"

"This time I want to take him home with us."

"I kinda figured," Taylor nodded.

"And you're seriously okay with this?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because of the day Sandy decided to take you home with him."

"Taylor."

"He did that one thing and he changed the course of everyone's life. Marissa got years she probably wouldn't have gotten, Seth got a shot at Summer, and we got a shot at each other."

"I think you're a little biased."

"No, I'm a lot biased."

"So you're really okay with this? You don't know anything about him."

"You're a good judge of character. You'd never bring anyone home that would endanger me or our kids."

"Thank you," Ryan said reaching across the table and taking her hand.

"Did you really think I'd say no?"

"It crossed my mind. Kirsten wasn't wild about me living with them at first."

"No disrespect towards Kirsten but she doesn't see what I see every day. Kids shouldn't be forgotten in the shuffle."

"I wasn't exactly an angel. She was right to be concerned....what's so funny?"

"Nothing," she looked away.

"Taylor."

"I'm sorry, but the thought of you being dangerous? It's kind of funny."

"You didn't know me back then. I was every mother's nightmare."

"To anyone with brains to see the real you, like the Cohens, you were, and are, about as dangerous as a kitten."

"Not true." He frowned at her.

"Okay, granted, you can get a bit intense when your family's in danger, or is hurt; but you are basically a good person and why are we having this conversation? Dangerous, bad men don't want to take home ....how old is he?"

"Eleven."

"Thank you. Don't want to take home eleven year old boys to give them a better life, and they certainly don't check in with their wives about it. Not that dangerous, bad men have wives in the first place."

"I love you."

"I love you too. Can we go pick up our new son now?" He nodded, still a little surprised at her reaction. "He's probably in shock. We need to go carefully with him for a little while. Have you told him about your family?"

"He knows I'm married, that we have kids....."

"Ryan! You should've told him about Sandy. I know it's embarrassing for you, but he's probably wondering what your motives are." Her pace quickened.

"Motives?"

"It's a sick world, honey; you know that better than most." Realization hit and he stopped short.

"You mean he thinks I.....?"

"Have you given him any other explanation?" Disgusted by the very thought of....that.....he couldn't move, tasting bile in the back of his throat. "Come on, let's get this done so we can put you both out of your misery and get John, wasn't it, someplace safe."

"We may not be able to take him home right away. There's paperwork and interviews."

"I know, Sandy warned me, and you are seriously underestimating how brilliant I am with paperwork. Trust me, he'll be sitting on the plane back to Stars Hollow within the next couple of days." Smiling, he pushed the sick theory she'd brought up aside and listened to her planning the rescue of John Hallahan. "What?"

"Welcome back, General Townsend."

"Very funny, honey," Taylor smiled.

---xxx---

"Kind of wish we had a pool house," Taylor smiled at Ryan as they walked along the beach, John a few feet in front of them. "The house might be a little much for an only child."

"I've been thinking about adding on to the house. Maybe renovating the attic," Ryan said.

"The attic would be good. Somewhere he could get away from the madness that is us."

"One of us, anyway." She ignored the remark and twined her arm with his.

"We are definitely keeping Kirk away from him until he's settled. No need to make him think that the inmates are running the asylum."

"Like he won't get that idea when he meets everyone else?"

"Everyone else can behave normally if necessary."

"Michel."

"We're not introducing him to Michel, ever."

"Taylor..."

"Or at least not if we can help it." Taylor smiled, "Hey we hid Kirk from your parents until they signed on the dotted line for the house."

"We can't exactly have Bullitt hire Michel to drive a car back to Texas from Stars Hollow."

"Maybe we can convince him to get married again and have Michel plan it."

"Doubtful. They loathe each other."

"Maybe we could have him deported."

"I think Sandy tried that, after Michel said something about Kirsten having a baby 'at her age'."

"God, I forgot that. Maybe we can lock him in a closet or something."

"Push him down the stairs."

"That's a little violent isn't it?"

"Tell me he doesn't have it coming."

"Who are you guys talking about?" Both shot startled looks forward, to see the boy closer than he was the last time they checked.

"Just someone we don't think is very nice," Taylor said. "You see John, Ryan and I live in a place called Stars Hollow. It's an odd little town that has a lot of odd people living in it."

"Odd is an understatement."

"Are they gonna hit me?"

"Not if they want to continue breathing." Ryan growled, hands fisting.

"No, of course they won't."

"Then I like them."

"Okay," Taylor said with a small smile. "But I think I should warn you about my aunt Emily. She doesn't take to well to strangers."

"That's putting it mildly," Ryan snorted.

"She'll warm up to you," Taylor said, putting an arm around John as they walked down the beach. "Really."

Behind them Ryan rolled his eyes, "Yeah right."

Taylor shot him a look over her shoulder.

"Does she still hate you?" John asked.

"She never hated him," Taylor said.

"Taylor, she tried to hire security the first time I came over."

"She didn't know you."

"She thought that French pervert would be better than me."

"Well he got arrested for public lewdness and she changed her mind."

"She accused me of setting him up."

"You two are serious, aren't you?"

"Well, I realize we're making it sound scary but honestly? Emily is a picnic compared to a certain Texan's idea of appropriate conversation in front of children," Taylor smiled at Ryan.

"Yeah, but the Bullitt doesn't live in Stars Hollow."

"You know someone named Bullitt?"

"Gordon Bullitt, actually; but he likes us to call him "the Bullitt". He's just weird like that."

"Pot, meet kettle." Taylor poked her husband, frowning. "It's okay, John. The nice weirdoes outnumber the scary people at least five to one."

John made a face and walked ahead of them.

"Should we wait to tell him about Mrs. Kim," Ryan asked.

"Ryan, shut up or I'm drowning you in the ocean," Taylor smiled serenely.

"Love you, too, Baby."

----ccc----

"And that's Luke's Diner. I know the sign above the door says William's Hardware but that was Luke's dad. He used to run a hardware store and when he died Luke turned the place into a diner but he just kept everything how it was when it was a hardware store," Taylor pointed it out to John.

"Uh-huh." His eyes were wide in a pale face.

"You're freaking out, aren't you?"

"That woman kept looking at Ryan weird."

"That's Miss Patty. Don't get around her and I don't care how old you are, never drink her punch."

"She spikes it?"

"To say the least," Taylor looked at the woman and fought the urge to pull the boy closer. "Also, don't believe that every new resident has to sign up for a dance recital."

"Dance recital?!" The panicked look was almost the same one Ryan had worn when Miss Patty finally found out about his Snoopy past.

"I promise I won't let her get anywhere near you with a pair of any type of dance shoes, okay? Do you want to meet some of my family? I think Lorelai's at Luke's for lunch."

"Sure. They sounded cool."

She got the feeling it was more lunch than Luke or Lorelai he was sounding eager about, but what of it? He was a growing boy.

"Hey Lorelai," Taylor smiled at the older woman as she sat down at her table.

"The wanderer has returned," the blue eyed woman smiled. "And this must be the newest member of the family. John, right? I'm Lorelai. My best friend's daughter is your age."

"Uh-huh." He hunched in after briefly shaking her cousin's hand, looking like Ryan did sometimes, when he was thinking about his childhood.

Taylor swore it was creepy how similar the two were. If she didn't know better, she'd swear Ryan had another son.

"And this is Luke Danes, Lorelai's husband," Taylor said. "He is a great cook. Between him and Sookie, you'll meet her later, we are very well fed."

"Hi." Another brief handshake and the kid took a seat, hiding rather obviously behind a menu.

"Well." She wondered how the Cohens had handled this. Combination of Seth's oblivious nature and Kirsten's calming influence, probably. "Let's see what sounds good today."

"Well, I'm having a burger," Lorelai said.

"Me too," Taylor said. "John? Do you know what you want?"

"I'll have a burger too," he said quietly.

"Do you want cheese?"

"Yeah."

"Great. Luke? Three cheeseburgers," Lorelai called.

"And a lot of fries," Taylor said.

"Red meat kills," the gruff diner owner called back.

Lorelai giggled.

"Don't mind him," Taylor said. "He serves it but he doesn't really like it."

"He's a vegetarian?" The boy sounded disbelieving.

"I don't think so." Taylor looked at Lorelai.

"He's a convert. The doctor told him the risks of heart attack if he kept eating red meat, so he stopped."

"That, and you badgered him night and day."

"Well, he's getting revenge for it now. Every time I indulge with a little beef, he starts asking me where I want to be buried."

"He's got kind of a point, Lorelai. More women die from heart attacks than men do."

"And now you sound like Dad."

"Sorry," Taylor rolled her eyes. "Speaking of though, I called Emily to tell her to set another place for Friday."

"You know we're gonna need a longer table soon."

"Yeah she told me Rory and Tristan aren't coming to dinner on Friday."

"Tristan's mentor is retiring. The dinner's on Friday. But we're taking their kids with us."

"Tristan?"

"Rory's husband. Rory is Lorelai's daughter from her first boyfriend."

"Oh." John fiddled with his napkin, and Taylor hoped his past hadn't given him a poor opinion of unwed mothers. "I think I need a flow chart or something."

"You're going to fit in great, kid." Lorelai said, between giggles. The look on her cousin's face was priceless.