I know it was a weird 1st chapter and I'm glad some of you are willing to give it a try, thanx.
Ok so bear with me, it'll start making more sense
R&R
.o0 Hearing Room 0o.
Overall the past 2 weeks had not changed much, not even the impending hearing date had softened them. Luke had been able to see his son but not because of Lorelai, it was due to townspeople that had offer to babysit the boy while Lorelai work, they always made sure to stop at the diner for the duo to spend some time with each other.
It was tough to get character witnesses that would testify against the other so each witness would end up appealing for both of them, it wouldn't be easy but who ever held the hearing would have a tough job at deciding Jake's fate.
Only Mia and Sookie had agreed to be character witnesses but only if they both agree they could testify for both of them.
"Good Morning, I'm Thomas…" a man announced walking into the room.
"Good morning your honor" Lorelai said and Luke rolled his eyes.
"I'm not a judge Lorelai; this is not a court room"
"Oh"
"And I will try my best to avoid you guys actually going to court" Thomas promised.
"Is that a good thing?" Lorelai asked. "I mean, what if we're not happy with the result?"
"Well, you have to remember we're not here to make you happy, we're here to make Jake happy" he clarified. "Let's get started, shall we? Let's see… Luke, you're suing Lorelai for partial custody of Jake?"
"Yes" Luke nodded and Lorelai turn to look at his with a shocked expression.
"Partial?" she asked.
"Yeah, it was in the papers I dropped of"
"I didn't notice that part"
"So we're clear now?" Thomas asked. "We are her for partial custody of Jacob Gilmore… Gilmore?" Lorelai nodded with a proud smile, Luke did a little shrug. "Was there any reason you didn't recognize him as your son with your last name?" he asked Luke.
"Yes. I didn't know when he was born, or when the certificate was made. I couldn't dispute it after it was all signed without having to go to court and of course she wouldn't allow it"
"Ok" Thomas nodded and noted on his legal pad. "So, let's start from the beginning, how did you two met?"
.o0 Approx 6 years before 0o.
Mia had offered to babysit 4 almost 5 year old Rory so Lorelai could go to a town event Sookie had invited her to. It wasn't often that Lorelai went out, actually she never did but Sookie had been very persistent and had already asked Mia to babysit before she told Lorelai about the event.
It was well into the night when Sookie had decided to call it a night, after downing several cups of Patty's punch. Lorelai had decided to stay a little longer since she had never attended one of these events, plus the punch was very good.
She had gone there to accompany her friend, which had left by now. And he was there to try and forget the awful week he'd been having; just last weekend they had buried his father after a long illness that had left Luke hoping for him to finally stop suffering. He didn't usually go to this things, his father did up until he got sick, but he had heard of that magic punch that made him forget who he was if even for a night.
They had been looking at each other the whole night, smiling at each other here and there. They were both getting tipsier and tipsier as the minutes went by. Finally Luke had approached her with a red plastic cup of punch, he had mumbled something 'clever' or as clever as a drunker twenty something grieving man could muster; and it had work. For a while Luke and Lorelai sat on a bench drinking patty's punch.
If you asked them, they each had a different story of what had happened that night. The only thing they could both agree on… they had ended up in Luke's old room, on Luke's old bed, in Luke's old home. Who initiated what? It wasn't clear.
.o0 Hearing Room 0o.
"What I get from your story is that it was basically a one night thing?" Thomas asked trying to make do with what they each had told him of what had happened that night.
"I was not expecting to see him again" Lorelai confessed. "I woke up the next morning with a major hangover and not a lot of memories of the night before"
"Luke?"
"She was a beautiful girl, I was young and not in the best state of mind. It's not something I'm proud of but it's not something I regret either"
"Ok, you guys didn't know each other, you weren't planning on a long haul" he kept taking notes. "What happened afterwards? What happened once you found out?"
"I went looking for him"
"For help?" Thomas asked and Luke snorted
"She yelled at me for a while then when I told her I would help her she said she didn't need help from anyone and left me standing there and it'd be weeks before I'd see her again"
"Lorelai?"
"I didn't need help to raise Rory I don't need help with Jake"
"It's not Jake's fault Rory's dad is a dead beat that doesn't care about his kids"
"He cares for Rory, he just doesn't show it well; he's still young"
"So are you"
"You guys are trailing off. When did Lorelai come back to ask you for help?"
"She didn't" Luke answered. "I went to the inn because I remembered her mentioning that Mia was her boss"
"How did that go" Thomas asked.
"Mia freaked when she learnt it was Luke's" Lorelai answered
"I learned about the condition she lived in and I met Rory for the first time"
"The condition they lived in?" Thomas asked.
"When I first got here I had nothing so Mia hired me and gave me a place to live, a small shed in the back just big enough for me and Rory"
"But had no place for a newborn" Thomas finished for her.
"Yeah" Lorelai agreed
"What happened when you found out where she lived?"
"He flipped and said no kid of his would live in those conditions"
"And I helped you get the house you live in now" Luke finished for her
"Helped how?"
"I cosigned the lease" Luke answered. Thomas looked at Lorelai for confirmation.
"I couldn't afford a house by my self with my income. So I figured if he wanted his son to live in a better place he should help me get it"
"And I did, if I had known what was going to happen in the long run I probably wouldn't have tried so hard"
"Ok so you guys met, found out you were pregnant, he helped you get a real home for your kids, where did it go wrong?"
"When did it ever go right?" Luke asked.
"Funny Luke" Lorelai said.
"I mean it. When was it good? When you wouldn't let me go with you to the doctor appointment? Or when you didn't even tell me you were in labor? Oh! I know! The best part was when Patty came up to me to congratulate me on my 'handsome boy' that I had no idea was already born let alone up in his nursery sleeping" Luke finished his rant. "I wasn't even there when my son was born" he added.
"Lorelai?"
"I didn't want him there"
"For the appointments or the birth?"
"Both"
"Why?"
"I was alone the first time, this wasn't any different""
"No, it is different; you just won't let me in to show you what it's like to have the father help you out"
"Alright I think I've heard enough" Thomas said.
"That's it?" Lorelai asked. "I didn't even say half of what I was planning to"
"That's ok, I already know everything I need plus I already saw the tapes all three character witnesses sent"
"Three?" Lorelai said confused. "We were only able to get two"
"Rory made a tape also. It seems she is very fond of Luke and feels you need to give him a chance and that's what she stated on the tape so don't hold it against her"
"I don't know what you did to her to defend you to the death" Lorelai mumbled Luke.
"Very well, let's move this along. Lorelai, what do you want; what do you expect to happen today?"
"I want to keep full custody of Jake..."
"I'm not here for full..."
"I know. I want to be the one to decide when and if he gets to go to his dad on the weekend. I want it to be my choice"
"Luke?"
"I want the opposite of that. I want a schedule set of when and for how long I am allowed to see my son"
"Are you sure about that?" Lorelai challenged.
"Of course I'm sure. I'm tired of it always being you calling the shots"
"I'm calling the shots? Really?" she challenged.
"Yes, and you know it. If you get upset during the week then I don't get to see him"
"What are you talking about? You see him almost everyday, what you think I don't know? I do, I know that whenever Mia goes into town to 'run an errand' she is actually taking him to the diner; or when someone is babysitting him they somehow always end up at the diner. You see him everyday"
"Luke?"
"I didn't ask them to bring him over, they just do. Am I supposed to kick him out or hide in the backroom until he's gone?"
"You should've told me" Lorelai said.
"No, if you had known then I wouldn't see him in the weekend at all"
"Very well. Here's what were doing" Thomas finally stated. Both Lorelai and Luke got nervous. "We won't be deciding custody today..."
"What?" Luke asked incredibly. "Then why are we here?"
"Look, I know both of you, very well might I add. This is clearly not a regular case therefore I'm suggesting something out of the ordinary, well no so much suggesting"
"Tom I don't like where this is going" Lorelai told him.
"It gets better" he said with a smirk. "I think the problem between you two is that you never gave each other a chance, you never got to know each other; you had an idea of who the other person was and never broke free of that so... This is the best part. I am making you guys spend time with each other, uninterrupted time"
"What do you mean?" Lorelai asked.
"I'm keeping you guys locked up for a full 24hrs, together, no interruptions, no kids, no distractions. Just the two of you in an 8 by 10 for 24 hrs"
"No. I have two kids I need to take care of"
"That's taken care of" Thomas assured.
"We both work" Luke told him.
"Also taken care of" he assured.
"How? It's my own business? How is it covered?"
"Don't worry about it Luke" tom assured.
"You can't arrest us" Lorelai argued.
"Not under arrest" he assures her too. "I just think this would benefit you both in the future, not to mention Jake"
"How is me spending 24hrs with him will benefit Jake?"
"I think you guys wouldn't be here if you could just learn to communicate with each other without arguing"
"Tom, not to offend you or anything but you're not our marriage counselor; heck we're not even married, so... Could you please just do what we came here for?"
"Sorry Lorelai but this is what I had decided ever since I read your case"
"Then why didn't you just tell us this when we first got here" Lorelai asked.
"I wanted to make sure I had made the right choice, and I did. Your main problem is your communication, you're both trying to be in charge and show your dominance over the other and that's not how parenting works. Jake comes first, no matter what and after tomorrow you'll learn that"
"No" Lorelai deadpanned
"Sorry, I was not asking. You two will leave here, get ready, get some stuff together and be back at 6pm. don't make me send an 'escort' to go get you"
"What if we don't agree?" Luke challenged
"Like I said. I'm not asking and you had no choice"
You've been LoVeLuKe-ized
Again let me know what you think, like I said the story is done I'm just pacing myself cuz I dono if people are reading it, and if they are I don't know if you guys are liking it
R&R plis
