Months had passed since Paris and I arrived in Geneva. It was getting closer and closer to our last day. I couldn't believe how fast time had gone. It seemed like we had only been here for a few weeks, rather than a few months.

Ella had started crawling a few weeks after we got there, I couldn't believe how fast she was growing. A few weeks later Paris and I turned 18. Mom and Luke visited for Thanksgiving and got to see Ella pull herself up for the first time. When they visited on Christmas, Ella was walking.

Now it was two days before Ella's 1st birthday and four days before Paris and I had to leave again. I could barley stand it. I hardly ever let anyone take Ella anymore, only really Shira and that was because of school. I wouldn't even let Logan take her from me, I just held her as much as I could. Everyone understood why though and didn't fight me when I said no. I wasn't going to see her for five months. I was going to miss so much and I wanted to see all I could before I went. It wouldn't be enough though. I didn't want to miss a single second of her life.

Friday was our last day of school. We took our mid-terms and turned in our books. Mr. Medina gave us our plane tickets as we handed in our books. Our flight was on Monday morning at 10am. I didn't want to leave.

Saturday was Ella's birthday, we had a little party. We put her in a little hat and got her a cake. She had more fun playing with it than she did eating it.

I smiled as I watched her play with it. Logan came up from behind me and snaked his arms around my waist. I leaned back into him.

"I can't believe that she is one already." I said as we watched her and Finn play with her cake.

"I know. It's seems just yesterday you were throwing ice chips at me and the nurses, with your mother laughing hysterically in the delivery room." Logan said kissing the side of my neck. I laughed at the memory.

"Yeah well it's tradition. Every Gilmore Girl is required to pelt the nurses in the delivery room with ice chips." I said with a smile.

"I know. Just like it is tradition that you woke up our daughter at 2:17 this morning to tell her the story of her birth." He said into my ear. I smiled as I remembered the story I told her this morning.

----

I looked up at the clock. 2:15. I climbed out of bed and walked over to Ella's crib and picked her up. She slowly stirred as I walked over to the rocking chair in the corner and sat down. I made sure she was awake as I started the Gilmore Girl birthday tradition.

"Happy birthday, little girl." I whispered to her. She made a little noise back.

"I can't believe how fast you're growing up. One year old." She made another noise at me as she stared up at me in wonder.

"I bet to you it's slow but trust me, it's fast. So what do you think of your life so far?" she made a gurgle.

"Any complaints?" she made a face and grabbed at the air.

"All right, I'll start working on that." I said smiling down at her. She made another gurgle and started to play with her hair.

"Do you look older? Oh yeah. You walk into Denny's before five, you've got yourself a discount missy." I smiled and tickled her tummy she giggled at me.

"So you know what I think?" I said. She looked up at me like she was waiting for my answer.

"I think you are a great, cool kid and the best friend a girl could have. And no matter what anyone tries to tell you. I will always love you and I will always fight for you." I said pushing her blonde bangs out of her bright blue eyes. She laid her head on my chest.

"And it's hard to believe that at exactly 2:17am, many moons ago I was lying in a hospital bed in a little different position than I am now, only I had a huge, fat stomach and big, fat ankles, and I was swearing like a sailor on leave." Ella looked back up at me.

"And there I was in labor. And while some have called it the most meaningful experience of your life, to me it was something more like trying to push a desk though a key hole." Ella looked up at me in wonder. I heard a chuckle from the direction of the bed. I looked over and Logan was propped up on one elbow watching me tell Ella the story. He didn't say anything and I knew he didn't want to interrupt. I turned back to Ella who was clinging on to my shirt as she sat in my lap.

"And I was screaming and swearing and being surrounded as I was by a hundred prominent doctors your dad and Gramma. I assumed, just as Gramma had, that there was an actual use for the cup of ice chips they gave me. But there wasn't. But it sure was fun to pelt the nurses and your dad with them. Gramma thought that was funny and even helped a little too." I smiled down at Ella. She made another gurgle as her grip on my shirt became tighter.

"Shh. I'm getting to the part where he sees your head. So there I was screaming and swearing. When all of a sudden I hear this cry. Everyone in the room shuts up as they hear you cry. I thought I was one of the most beautiful sounds in the world. Then the doctor says 'It's a girl' and I started to cry. When they handed you to me I knew my life would never be the same. You were perfect." I told her.

"Your daddy and Gramma were crying too when they handed you to me. I took one look at you and knew what your name was. Gramma cried even harder when I said it out loud." I said pushing back her hair again.

"You know what Gramma said next. That this is a day I get to hang over your head for the rest of your life. We all laughed. After that they took you to where all the other babies slept and I got to go to sleep after 27 long hours of labor. And yes I will hang this over your head for the rest of your life, so be prepared." I warned her. She looked up at me with wide eyes. I kissed her on the head and stood up again. I carried her back over to the crib and set her down.

"It's your birthday little girl. I hope your happy and I'll work on the air thing. I love you. Sleep tight." I say as I kissed her one last time before I went over and crawled back in bed with Logan. He was still awake as I laid down facing him. He didn't say anything again just kissed me and pulled me close and we both fell asleep.

----

I smiled.

"Yeah Mom will be happy to know that I am keeping the tradition alive." I told him. We both laughed as Ella threw a piece of cake into Finn's face. She started laughing hard as the cake hit Finn's face dead on. Everyone started laughing at Finn as he whipped off his face.

"You know I am really gonna miss this." I told him.

"Miss what?" he asked.

"Just hanging out with everyone. Laughing at Finn cause Ella threw some kind of food in his face." I chuckled.

"She does seem to do that a lot." He said.

"Yeah well that's what he gets for trying to teach her how to start a food fight." I said with a smile.

"I know what you mean though. It won't be the same without you. and I'm sure Ella will miss her mommy too. But I promise that we will call you every day and the days will fly by. We will be back in Hartford before you know it." he said giving my waist a tighter squeeze.

"It won't fly by, that month without you two was the longest month ever." I said turning in his arms to face him. He kissed me and held me close.

"I know it'll be long but I promise that well will see you as soon as we can. We will leave the day school gets out. I promise." He said kissing me again. I nodded and then turned around to face Ella again. I saw that she was now covered in cake. I laughed and pulled out of Logan's arms.

"Well it looks like it's time for your bath." I said as I walked over to her.

"I don't wanna take a bath." Finn said from next to Ella. I looked at him as I picked up Ella.

"Oh you meant her. That's fine then." He said looking away. We all laughed.

"Yeah well Finn it might be a good idea for you to take a bath too. I think you have cake in your hair." I smiled at him. He jumped up and ran into the bathroom. Everyone laughed again.

"He didn't have cake in his hair Rory." Colin said as he watched his friend run to the bathroom.

"I know. I just wanted to see him do that." I said smiling as I took Ella upstairs. They all laughed as they heard Finn cry out when he realized he didn't have anything in his hair.

"Your uncle Finn is crazy. I hope you know that." I told her as I filled the bath part way she clapped her hands together. I smiled at her and put her in the bath.

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out in the house.

Sunday night was our last night and we were all sitting in the living room watching 'The Breakfast Club'. Logan, Paris, Steph and I were on the couch with Colin and Finn at our feet. Ella was sleeping upstairs, I could hear the sound of Ella's mobile going faintly though the baby monitor.

When the movie was over Finn got up to put another in. I sighed and looked around at everyone.

"I'm gonna miss our movie nights." I said to them all. Steph took one of Paris' hands then reached over and grabbed one of mine with her other.

"Me too. I am going to miss you both so much. You both are my best girl friends. Once you leave the only girl company I am going to have is little Ella." She said giving our hands a little squeeze. I gave her one back before letting go.

"I can't believe we are leaving tomorrow." Paris said, "It seems like we just got here."

"I know what you mean." I said putting my head on Logan's shoulder.

"I think I'll actually miss you." Colin said from his spot on the floor.

"Aww Colin. We'll miss you too." I said leaning forward and hugging him. He gave me a quick hug back.

"Hey what about me. I don't get a hug?" Finn said as he put in 'Better Off Dead'.

"Aww Finny I'm gonna miss you too." I got up and gave him a hug. He lifted me off the floor in a tight hug. He put me down and we both went back to our seats. When the movie came on Paris laughed.

"Hey Finn what is with the movies you picked out tonight?" she asked him.

"Well I felt like watching them. And if you have a problem with the movies that I picked then you can pick the next one." He said pressing play. She laughed. Just as the movie was starting I heard a noise come from the baby monitor.

"Finn press pause. I think I heard something." I said sitting up and grabbing the monitor from the table next to the couch. Logan looked at me with worry. We all paused waiting for a noise. I heard a fuss and Logan and I made to get up to go get her.

"Mama." We heard over the monitor. We all stopped and stared at it.

"Did you all hear that?" I asked a small smile coming to my face.

"That fact that she called out to you. Oh hell yeah." Steph said smiling at me.

"She said her first word." Logan said sounding dazed as he sat back down on the couch.

"Yeah. She said mama." I said with tears in my eyes. I heard her start to fuss again and looked to the stairs.

"Go get her mama." Paris said pushing my butt towards the door. I walked up the stairs and headed towards Logan and mine's room. I found her standing up holding on to the edge of the crib.

"Mama." She said holding out her arms to me. I had tears in my eyes when she said it again.

"Hey baby girl." I said walking towards her. I picked her up and kissed her.

"Did you say mama?" I asked her. as I bounced her on my hip. She said it again and it made me smile.

"Come on baby girl I think that you have some people downstairs that want to hear you speak." I said walking out of the room and back downstairs. I walked into the living room and everyone looked at me. I sat down on the couch and looked at Ella.

"Ella can you say mama?" I asked. She looked at me and extended a hand towards my face grabbing for my nose.

"Mama."

"Awww. That is so cute." Steph said. Paris and Logan were smiling. Finn looked a little shocked and Colin was looking a little impressed.

We kept Ella downstairs for a little longer as we watched the movie when it was done, I went and brought her back upstairs. I gently laid her in her crib and watched her sleep for a minute before heading back down to watch Finn's next movie choice. I was desperately hoping that someone else would talk him out of another 80/90's movie. As I made my way back I heard the beginning of "Terminator" I shook my head and I couldn't believe that Finn talked them into watching that movie. I took my place next to Logan on the couch and snuggled up to him.

"I can't believe that she is talking already. It seems like yesterday that she was born." He said into my ear. I turned to him and smiled.

"Yeah it does. But I am so glad that she started talking before I left. I would be so upset if she started talking after I left. Especially if she said Mama." I told him my smile fading. He kissed the top of my head.

"I'm glad too Ace. I'm glad too." He said. We went back to watching the movie.

I'm not sure when I fell asleep but I woke up the next morning in our room with Logan shaking me awake.

"Ace come on you got to get up." He said. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes. Logan was sitting on the edge of the bed with a big cup of coffee in his hands for me.

"See, I knew there was a reason I said yes." I said smiling and sitting up. He laughed and handed me the coffee. I took a large gulp and smiled. He leaned in to kiss me.

"So I have Ella all ready to go and yours and Paris' bags are out in the limo. All we are waiting for is you to get ready." He said with a sad face. I gave him a sad smile when I realized what day it was today.

"How long do I have to get ready?" I asked. He sighed.

"30 minutes. It would have been longer but you didn't want to wake up earlier." He said with a small smile. I sighed and finished off my coffee. I handed him the cup and got out of bed. I stretched as I made my way to the bathroom grabbing my plane clothes on the way.

I got dressed and headed back towards our room and made sure I had everything. I didn't see anything so I made my way down stairs. I saw Paris, Logan and Ella in the kitchen. Logan handed me another cup of coffee as I walked in.

"Where's Steph, Colin and Finn?" I asked looking around for my other friends.

"They wanted to be here to say goodbye but they had to leave. Apparently my mother's party thing is tonight and they are all required to go. Their parents all want them to get ready with them. They said to say goodbye." Logan said. I nodded in understanding.

"So when are we leaving?" I asked.

"As soon as you finish your coffee." Logan told me. I looked down into my empty cup.

"I guess it's time to go then." I sighed. Paris got up and put her cup into the sink. Logan took mine and did the same. I walked over to Ella to get her out of her highchair.

"Mama." She said as she held her hands out for me to pick her up. I picked her up and held her close.

"Ready?" Logan asked us. Paris just nodded her head and headed towards the door.

"Never." I sighed as I followed her out. Logan followed me out to the limo.

It was a long and silent ride to the airport. I had Ella in my lap and I snuggled up to Logan. When we got to the airport we made our way through the paparazzi and headed in to check our bags. Paris and I took our carry-ons and we all made our way through security without saying a word.

When we reached our gate we checked in with Mr. Medina. I saw Tristan glare at Logan as we stopped in front of the gate. I didn't have the patience or the nerve to deal with him today. I turned away from him and towards Logan again with tears in my eyes. I opened my mouth to say something and my tears began to fall.

"Ace." He whispered whipping my tears.

"I don't want to leave Logan." I cried.

"I don't want you to leave either. But you have to. Otherwise we'll lose her." he said looking down at Ella who was looking up at us with wide curious eyes. More tears fell as I looked at my daughter.

"I know." I cried. Logan took Ella out of my arms and handed her to Paris. Paris gave us a small smile and took Ella to look out the window at the planes. I saw Madeline and Louise come over to Paris to see Ella. I turned away as Logan pulled me close and kissed me. I cried as I held onto him as hard as I could. I didn't want to pull apart but a hand on my shoulder made me pull away.

"Hey sorry guys but they just announced that our flight was boarding." Paris said. More tears came. I turned from Logan and took Ella from Paris. I kissed her head and held her so close. I held her for a few more minutes before Logan pulled her from my arms.

"You gotta go Ace." He said. I could hear his voice breaking. I didn't dare to look at him as I walked towards the gate. I gave the stewardess my boarding pass and I finally looked back. I saw him with tears in his eyes. I looked at Ella and she was fussing in his arms trying to get away. I assumed to try and get to me. More tears slipped out. I didn't even realize that we were moving again until I didn't see them anymore. I looked at Paris, silent tears streaming down my face. She hugged me close and escorted me onto the plane. We took our seats. I saw Tristan walk by me and I looked down. I didn't want to even think about him. I was so glad that Shira had exchanged our coach tickets for first class ones.

The plane ride was a blur to me. I spent most of it starring at a picture of me, Logan and Ella. The other part I spent sleeping. I didn't eat or drink anything the whole way home. The flight attendants gave me funny and concerned looks as I declined food and drink. But the closer we got to New York the happier I felt. I wasn't going to be truly happy until I saw them again but I was going to get to see my Mom and Luke again. And that made me smile.

Before I knew it we were heading in to land at JFK. I was happy I was going to see Mom again but I still missed my daughter and Logan. I gathered up my stuff as our plane pulled up to the gate.

"So are we going to have a wallowing night tonight?" Paris asked me as we waited for the all clear to leave. I sighed.

"Maybe. Let's see how it goes. I think I'm okay though." I told her. The fasten seatbelts sign went off and people started to get up.

"Chilton kids, we will see you all tomorrow bright and early for your schedules." I heard Mr. Medina call. I groaned as I thought about tomorrow.

"Hey do you think that the gossip twins spilled the beans about us being Haydens?" I asked as we gathered up our stuff. Paris shrugged.

"Maybe. I guess we'll see when we leave." She said as we walked off the plane. We both began to look around as we exited the plane. I spotted mom and Luke waiting for us. I nudged Paris and pointed over to Mom we both smiled and ran towards her. She saw us and ran towards us. We met up in a really big hug that knocked all three of us to the ground.

"Mom." We said as we hugged her.

"Fruits of my loins. I missed you both so much." she said as he hugged us tight. We all laughed and sat on the floor.

"Okay so I think that that tops all of the falls that we have done yet. What do you think." Mom said.

"I don't know I think this last summers was pretty damn good." I countered. She thought about it for a minute.

"Alright well I don't think we are going to ever have another one like it then. So I guess we are trying for second. Which this one was." She said back. We all laughed.

"Jeeze I swear, I'm never going to get used to you guys doing that. Every time I see it I think you all are going to break something." Luke said as he walked up to us.

"Luke!" I said standing up and hugging him. Paris got up after me and got in on our hug.

"Hey. I missed you guys." He said hugging us back.

"Missed you too." I said.

"And your coffee. Your coffee was definitely missed too." Paris said. He laughed.

"Well if it was missed so much let's go get some then." Mom said.

"Yeah." I agreed smiling. As I saw Tristan walk by my smile faded.

"We might have a problem getting out of the airport Mom." I said. She looked at me.

"What do you mean sweets?" she asked.

"Well let's just say the gossip twins know about everything and leave it at that." I told her. She nodded her head.

"I see what you mean. Okay Luke can you go see if there are any paparazzi outside while we get their luggage? If there is come back in and we'll leave a different way go out a different terminal or something." Mom said.

He nodded and went to go check. We went and got our bags and waited for Luke to return. He came back out of breath.

"They're out there all right. They are at every exit in this terminal. There is no way we can leave without them seeing us." He said. I sighed.

"Alright well I guess we are going to have to get out fast then." I sighed.

"Did you pull the car around into the loading zone?" Mom asked.

"Yeah I did. So lets go before I get a ticket." He said grabbing Paris's bags and mine. We put our sunglasses on just before we got to the door. As soon as we stepped out the paparazzi recognized us. We were swarmed. It took us a while to get through but we eventually did. Luke sped out of there as fast as he could. He took alternate routes home just incase we were followed.

When we got home I was glad to see that there were no paparazzi there. But I'm sure that would change after tomorrow or this week when someone followed us home from school. I guess we have to start locking our doors now.

As Paris and I unpacked Mom listened to the stories of what happened in Geneva. I had already told her most of the stuff about Tristan when she came at Thanksgiving and Christmas but after that she didn't really know a whole lot else. When I told her that Ella started speaking she started crying. That got me too. We spent the rest of the day hanging out and talking. I called Logan to let him know we were home safe and told him about our adventures with the paparazzi. After I talked to him, Paris, Mom and I decided to have a movie night.

----

The next day was horrible. When we got to school there were paparazzi everywhere. When we finally made it into the school the rumor mill was insane. I knew those girls were good at what they did but there was not one person who didn't know who we were at the beginning of school. In third period, Paris and I were called into the headmaster's office. He apologized for the paparazzi and promised the they would stay outside of the gates from now on. He made good on that promise but there were still a few now and then that got through.

----

After a month I got used to it. I was glad that they still didn't know where I lived though. That's why I love Stars Hallow. They protect their own. Tristan went back to his usual self once we got back. It was like he didn't remember the fact that I had Logan and I had a daughter with him. He tried to kiss me in the hallway and I slapped him. I almost thought Logan was going to jump through the phone when I told him.

----

A few weeks after that Paris and I were walking down the hall after first period.

"Hey what was up with Mom this morning? She was acting very weird." I said as we headed towards our lockers. Paris started to play with her hair.

"I don't know. I guess she had too much coffee or something." She said twirling it around her finger. I looked at her.

"Mom? Too much coffee? Never." I said as I gave her a funny look. She never played with her hair unless she was nervous. She just shrugged and kept on walking.

Something caught my eye at the end of the hall, a student I didn't recognize. I swore I knew all the girls, especially now that they had started sucking up to us. Whatever, she must be new or something. We reached our lockers and we started to pull our books for our next class out. I looked over at Paris who was still twisting her hair. I was about to ask her why she was doing that when a commotion at the end of the hall caught my attention. Normally I would ignore stuff like that but I heard a familiar accent.

"What do you mean 'inappropriate conduct'? I merely told her that I thought her breasts were marvelous specimens of womanly gorgeousness. How was I to know she was a teacher? It's only my first day, cut me some slack! Aren't people allowed to look admiringly at artistic things anymore? No, I would not call it 'ogling'." The voice was dragged off towards the headmaster's office before I had the chance to look at his face. It couldn't possibly be Finn he was in Geneva with Logan. I shook my head. I must be hearing things. I must miss them more than I thought, I'll call them when I get home. I turned back to Paris and saw that she was twisting her hair faster.

"Okay Paris what is going on? You're nervous about something. Don't try to argue, you twist your hair when your nervous. Mom was acting weird, hell even Luke was acting weird."

"Nothing's going on. I'm just nervous about college applications. We should be getting our acceptance letters any day now." She said her voice a bit too high for me to believe her.

"No, No I don't think that's it. Cause I swear I just heard Finn." She was about to say something else when I felt a pair of hands on my waist. If it was Tristan again there is no way I am going to stop Logan from coming here to kick his ass. I turned around to give Tristan a piece of my mind and my mouth dropped open. My books clattered to the floor and I was sure that everyone in the hallway was looking at us now.

"Hey Ace, fancy meeting you here." Logan said smirking at my shocked face.