Okay, I know I said Lorelai and Max broke up a few chapters ago, but that was a typo. Apologies.


Lorelai and Rory watched as Emily, in her robe, stalked out of the room to go for a walk. Lorelai had a feeling that Emily was going off to sulk on her own for a bit and she also had a sinking feeling that all of this would some how come up to bite her on the ass at the next Friday night dinner.

"You're quiet," Rory commented after Emily had left the room to go for her walk, finally breaking the silence.

"Just thinking," she said as she checked on Charlie, who was fast asleep in one of the play pens they had stashed at the inn for families.

"About?" Rory asked as she crawled into bed.

"You've heard Luke's jam hands rant, right?" Lorelai asked as she took off her robe and crawled in beside Rory.

"Yeah, who hasn't?" Rory asked as she sat up in bed.

"Do you ever think it strange that as he's giving that lecture one minute, he's waltzing around the diner with Charlie the next?" Lorelai asked as she fussed with the blankets on the bed and the pillows behind her. "Well?" she asked after Rory had been quiet for a long moment.

"I think Luke has a thing for you," Rory said, not looking at her mother.

"Oh not you too," she said dramatically. "Sookie and mom will not stop going on about this 'thing' Luke has for me either."

"Well, isn't it possible that we're right?"

"No, Rory. No way. Go to sleep," she said, laying down and trying to end the conversation.

"Why is it so hard to believe?" Rory asked as she got up on her knees to lean over Lorelai to try and convince you to keep talking. "And would it be so bad if he does have a thing for you?"

"Because it's Luke!" she said, like that should explain everything, giving Rory a slight push away from her as she rolled over. This conversation was obviously not going to disappear quietly into the night. "We'd starve if anything ever happened and we couldn't go to Luke's. Beside that, there's Max."

"And this would be the same Max that you've been avoiding phone calls from for the last 3 weeks?" Rory asked. Mr. Medina had actually gone so far as to ask her if her mother was getting the messages. Lorelai sighed, she had been delaying with Max and she knew it. She did like him and she knew Rory liked him, but Charlie was indifferent to him, probably because he was rather indifferent to her. She was also starting to put more stock in what everyone was saying about her and Luke. She even found her self comparing Max to Luke on occasion, mostly where Charlie was concerned.

"I know," she finally answered with a sigh.

"You know what?" Rory asked.

"That he needs to go," Lorelai confirmed as she sat up in bed, smoothing the covers slightly. And, I think I may have a thing for Luke," she finally admitted, looking everywhere but at Rory.

"What?" Rory demanded. "Are you serious?"

"Keep your voice down!" she hissed and they fell into an abrupt silence as they waited to see if Charlie would wake. She snuffled and rolled over, but didn't wake up. "I said I think, I'm not sure," she said softly. "Maybe, maybe I've just gotten this in my head because you and Sookie and mom and everyone else takes every opportunity they have to point out that Luke has a thing."

"Maybe it's because of the way he acts around Charlie?" Rory finally asked, figuring out where her mother was coming from. She was also pretty sure that her mother was working on talking herself out of whatever it was she was feeling.

"Probably," she said as she thought about it a little longer. "Don't say anything about this, ok?"

"Lips are sealed," Rory promised as she glanced over at her mother. "Night?"

"Night," she said as they both snuggled down under the covers. Lorelai lay awake in bed for a long time after she had said good night to Rory. While she rationalised that she was waiting to see if Charlie was going to wake in the middle of the night like she had for the past few, she knew she was really still awake because her mind would not stop thinking about Luke. He was good to Charlie and Rory and to her and she knew that that affected how she felt about him. She also knew that she really wasn't sure about things. Was she convincing herself she had a thing for him because everyone said he had one for her? Was this because of how he acted around Charlie? How he took care of the three of them? She sighed as she realised that Rory had drifted off and she shook her head, willing the sound of her kids' breathing to lull her to sleep as well.


"Hey," Rory said tentatively the next morning, early enough for the first few rays of sun to be filtering through the curtains. She watched as Lorelai finished morning diapering ritual.

"Hey," Lorelai said softly with a smile as she deposited a half awake Charlie on the bed with Rory.

"About last night," she started.

"Don't worry about it," Lorelai said. "I was tired and stressed and worried about mom and dad. . . It's fine now."

"You sure?" Rory asked as she pulled Charlie onto her lap.

"Very. I'm gonna shower, keep an eye on her?" she asked as she dug out a change of clothes from her luggage.

"Always," she said with a smile, glad there was nothing hanging around from last night.


Lorelai had been thinking about what to do about Max since the conversation she'd had with Rory while they were at the Independence Inn. Several people had commented that she was distracted but she had blown them off. She had finally decided that she was going to have a rather cool phone conversation with him and drop off the few things of his that she had acquired off at his place a few days later. As she sat in her second favourite coffee shop after her business class, she was mapping out the conversation she was going to have with Max in her head.

"Hey, I've been calling your place, you never answer," Max said as he ran into Lorelai at a coffee shop before her Thursday business class. Lorelai jumped a little in her seat, surprised to hear his voice.

"Things have been crazy," she said after she got herself back under control. "We had a huge dinner at the inn and Charlie is starting to discover that she's mobile and Rory is, well, Rory. . . It's been a nut house and with Christmas coming up, my mother is going all out this year. She kind of missed the first Christmas Rory would be any fun so she really wants to make good with Charlie."

"So you've just been busy? Nothing horrible has happened to any of you? No flesh eating monkeys?"

"Nope. The flesh eating monkeys did show up but we locked the door and played some Enya and they ran away screeching," she said with a smile that he returned. "We're all fine. How are you?" Lorelai asked, playing with the rim of her coffee mug.

"I'm good too. Busy with all the marking of exams and final essays, but good. I was wondering something," he said, playing with the rim of his own mug.

"Are you happy with this relationship?" she blurted out. Her plan for the phone call/box drop was already shot to hell, so she might as well just get this over with.

"Okay, not what I was wondering," he said after a moment. "I don't see you as much as I'd like, but yes, I'm happy."

"I mean really happy. So happy you day dream about this fabulous, happy relationship?" He considered it for a moment.

"No," he said finally. "I don't."

"Neither do I," she admitted. They looked at each other for a long moment.

"So that's it?"

"Do you want something more? I could throw this coffee at you, it's kind of cold and not very tasty," she suggested with a smile.

"No, I don't really think you need to do that," he said as he pulled the mug away from Lorelai. "It was fun while it lasted."

"It was fun," she said as folded her hands on the counter in front of her. With her coffee cup gone, she didn't really know what else to do with them.

"I guess I'll see you around," he said as he pushed away from the counter.

"Oh, the Booster Club has sucked me in, I'll be around," she assured him with a tight smile. Max bid her farewell once again and left the coffee shop. She pulled her mug back in front of her and stared at the last mouth full of coffee in her mug before she finally downed it and pushed away from the counter herself, grabbing her book bag and heading to car. She had to pick up Charlie before Emily started to call, demanding to know where Lorelai was.

That odd weight that had been on her shoulders for the last week or so also seemed to have disappeared.


"So what? That's it?" Lorelai asked. She had told Rory that she had broken up with Max and she hadn't gotten much of a reaction.

"Were you expecting a song and dance number? Or did you want me to burst into tears, going on and on about how unfortunate it was?" she asked, glancing up from her home work.

"I don't know," Lorelai said with a shrug as she tied her hair back. "I just expected something more than 'oh, that's too bad.'."

"Wanna start again? I'll give a more appropriate reaction."

"No," she said with a sigh as she and Charlie sized each other up. "I'm okay. I am glad that you didn't jump up and down in joy."

"Why would I do that?" Rory asked, slightly insulted that Lorelai would even think she'd do something like that.

"I know you didn't really like me dating Max," she said as she grabbed a fork, small plastic spoon, bowl and a banana.

"But I love you and I want you to be happy. If being with Max mad you happy, I would have gotten used to it."

"You are my very favourite daughter," Lorelai said with a smile. Rory returned it as she started to get wise as to what was going on in front of her.

"Should I move?" she asked as she watched her mother peel a banana. "I mean, if the mashed potatoes could make it half way across the kitchen, I'd really hate to see how far mashed banana can make it." Lorelai glanced over at Rory and judged the distance.

"You'll be fine," she said with a slightly dismissive wave of her hand. "Notice how she facing away from you?" she asked as she proceeded to mash half the banana. Charlie watched the whole process while chewing on a finger.

"Very considerate," she said as she stood her text book up in front of her like a wall. Though she did peak over it to watch the performance. Lorelai shook her head at Rory before she took a deep breath and turned her attention to her youngest.

"Okay, are you ready?" Lorelai asked before she gave Charlie some of the banana. There was a long pause as the baby rolled it around in her mouth before spitting it back out. Charlie made a face for a while but soon went back to her finger. Rory sat giggling behind her text book. "You are going to eat solid food Missy," Lorelai assured her as she prepared another spoonful. "I can understand the whole being grossed out by rice cereal, I mean, Rory didn't like it either but a banana? It's about as close to candy as you're gonna get right now."

"Maybe it's the texture," Rory supplied when Charlie rejected the second spoonful as well. "Why not give her an unmashed piece?"

"Okay, that fancy school apparently isn't teaching you all the right things. She doesn't have any teeth yet." Rory rolled her eyes a little.

"Banana's are soft enough, especially that one." Lorelai looked between her girls for a moment before breaking off a whole piece of banana and offering it to the baby. Charlie stared at it for a moment before opening her mouth and taking it.

"Pain in my butt, the two of you," she said with a head shake as Charlie finally accepted a piece of solid food and Rory snickered away behind her text book.

"You didn't break up with Mr. Medina because of Luke, did you?" Rory asked cautiously when the only real sounds in the room were Charlie and Lorelai talking to each other.

"What? No," she said as she tried some of the mashed banana again. She didn't really have time to sit and watch Charlie to make sure she didn't choke to death on banana pieces. The baby finally took it this time. "It just. . . It wasn't there and I don't think he liked Charlie as much as he let on."

"How can you tell? They were barely around each other."

"Well, there's that little fact," she pointed out as she continued to feed the baby. "She's also hit that point where you can tell who she likes and who she doesn't and she never had much of a reaction to him."

"Compared to her reactions to?"

"Everyone," Lorelai said. "Emily, Richard, Sookie, Patty. . . " Rory bit her tongue. She was tempted to throw Luke into that mix, but she didn't.

"Gotcha," she replied instead, finally starting to concentrate on her homework.

"So, what about your love life?" Lorelai asked casually. Rory's head snapped up at that.

"What about it?" she asked cautiously.

"Anything going on with it? Or did you just give up after Dean?"

"I did not give up after Dean. I just haven't really met any one," Rory said quietly, beginning to fidget in her seat a little.

"At all? Rory you go to a school with a few hundred kids, how could you not meet anyone?" Lorelai asked, amazed that such a thing would come out of Rory's mouth. "You're also in your second year there. Are you telling me that you have not met anyone but Paris, Louise, Madeline and Tristan?" Rory sighed.

"I've met people other than them," she admitted.

"So?"

"Just because you no longer have a love life to speak of doesn't mean you need to pry into mine, or lack there of," she said as she gathered her books. "So just you never mind Missy," she finished, heading into her room to study.

"So, there is someone special?" Lorelai called out with a smile on her face.

"Go away!" Rory called as she shut her door. Lorelai chuckled to herself as she turned all of her attention back to Charlie. "So, what? You're done with me too? Fine," she said with a sigh as she cleaned the baby up. "Get lost," she said as she took her from the high chair and sat her on the floor. Lorelai picked up a handful of toys that seemed to be on the counter and dropped them in front of her too before she cleaned up and pulled out her own books to study.


"Remind me again why you're changing her in the car," Rory asked as she leaned over her seat to watch her mother wrestle Charlie into a pair of tights.

"I'm doing this now because between the car seat and the snuggly bag, did we ever decide on a name for this thing?"

"No," Rory confirmed. "Keep going."

"Because between the car seat and snuggly, she will come out looking like one giant wrinkle," she said, some what distractedly as she moved o to pulling a dress over Charlie's head and doing up the buttons in the back. "This way, she comes out looking perfect, or close to, by Emily's standards.

"I see," Rory said as watched Lorelai wrestle a small clip into Charlie's hair after putting on a pair of black leather slippers on her feet.

"Let's go," Lorelai said. Rory slipped out and pulled the seat back so Lorelai could slip out with Charlie, safely tucked back into the car seat. "Go ring the pretty bell."

"You're late," Emily said as she flung open the door.

"Hi mom," Lorelai said with a smile as they came in. "Here," she said as she freed Charlie from her seat.

"Just darling!" Emily exclaimed when Lorelai handed Charlie over to her at their Christmas party. Charlie eyed her grandmother before her eyes settled on Emily's necklace.

"Watch the jewellery mom," Lorelai warned as the maid took her coat as well as Rory's and the carrier. Emily kept Charlie's little hands under control as she headed to the living room to show the baby off. "Man, I totally should have had another kid sooner," she whispered to Rory. "Absolutely nothing said about us forgetting to RSVP or the fact that I'm wearing a pant suit this year." Rory chuckled as they joined everyone else in the living room.

"Hi Grandpa," Rory said brightly as she gave him a hug. Lorelai watched as Rory was quickly rushed off to his study to see some rare book he had just gotten his hands on. Lorelai took a seat on one of the couches and accepted the soda from her mother as she watched Charlie being passed around the room to all the guests. By the time she finally got her back, Charlie was looking for something to eat which was extremely convenient for Lorelai since she was ready to escape the craziness for a while.


After the dinner guests had left, Emily turned to Lorelai.

"You forgot to RSVP," she pointed out. "You also seem to be wearing pants. Did you not have time to change after work?" she asked.

"Sorry mom," was all she said as she kept Charlie from dropping her cookie on the carpet or the couch.

"I'm sure you are," she said, not believing it for a minute. "Here," she said as she handed a gift to Rory and two to Lorelai, one of which was for Charlie. Rory gushed over her new books from her grandparents and, typical of a baby, Charlie was already happier with the box than the pull toy and book that had been in it.

"They're really great," Lorelai assured them as she tried to turn Charlie's attention to them.

"Don't worry, I remember Rory doing the same thing until she was about three," Emily said with a sad smile. Lorelai quickly opened her own gift ("A slightly pornographic statue," Lorelai said when she saw it. "To go with your slightly pornographic monkey lamp," Emily had replied.) and thanked them for it as well. Not long after this, Charlie's eyes began to droop and the Gilmore Girls packed up and left.

"It was good this year," Rory said as they all buckled in.

"It was," Lorelai agreed with a smile. "Of course, you know next year will be like it always is."

"Of course," Rory said with a sigh.


Charlie's first Christmas at home was an entirely different matter. This tree was wildly decorated with multicoloured lights and a paper chain as well as all the decorations Lorelai and Rory had ever made for the tree and a healthy smattering of store bought ornaments as well.

Charlie had sat, wide eyed, in her mother's arms when she had first seen it and since then had spent every waking moment trying to figure out how to get a hold of something, anything, on the tree so she could put it in her mouth.

"Merry Christmas little girl," Lorelai murmured to Charlie when she woke up on Christmas day. She carried the baby back to bed with her and the pair had a quiet moment, like she'd often had with Rory when she was a baby. After a while, Rory came up and joined them.

"How can you be so calm about this? Usually you're dragging me out of bed," Rory commented as she crawled into bed next Lorelai and Charlie.

"This is her first Christmas," she said. "It should be savoured and dragged out. We did this your second Christmas," she told Rory with a smile. "We were both too tired to really enjoy your first Christmas. We laid in bed, ignoring the maids until my mother finally came up and pounded on the door, demanding that we grace her and my father with our presence."

"Was it a good Christmas? My first?" Rory asked quietly, but eagerly as she stroked Charlie's head.

"Emily was in her element," Lorelai replied. "She bought you mostly clothes and everything she bought you was in triplicate. Same style, different colours and I remember being so thankful she had done that because it meant I had just saved about $200 for when we left."

"You knew we were going to leave that early?" Rory asked as she offered Charlie a hand to play with.

"I had an idea. I knew I needed to pack you up and leave, that we needed our own place away from Emily. She was already trying to raise you, contradicting what I did with you, altering the schedule I had set up for us. . ." Lorelai shook her head as Charlie began to pull herself up onto Lorelai's chest. She paused the story as she helped her get situated. "That was also when my dad started to give me $150 a month for you."

"That's not a lot," Rory said.

"It was plenty. My mother had him convinced that I needed it for diapers and formula."

"No formula."

"Nope, so I put a little away every month," she said. "And Emily took it upon herself to make sure you were properly dressed since I could barely dress myself, so all your clothes were paid for."

"So, Grandma and Grandpa basically funded our running away?" Rory asked, slightly in disbelief.
"They helped. I saved every little bit of money I got for my birthday and yours and any other time one of my parents friends handed me an envelope," Lorelai replied with a sad smile as she tried to smooth some of Charlie's curls. "Okay, I'm sad, we need to do something about this."

"Presents?" Rory asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Let's go!" Lorelai said with a smile of her own as she followed Rory down the stairs, Charlie in her arms. "Look at that kiddo, Santa was here," she whispered to Charlie. Charlie yawned, not particularly interested until Rory and Lorelai started to help her unwrap presents.


As the New Year passed ("She slept through all of that? How could she sleep through all that noise we made?" Lorelai demanded a few minutes after midnight and when she and Rory realized that Charlie had slept through her first New Years Eve.) Lorelai forgot about all the conversations regarding the supposed thing Luke had for her. Rory threw herself into school, mostly so that Lorelai would know she was busy and not ask about her love life, or lack there of and Richard reveled in retired life. Emily, on the other hand, wished that Richard would go back to work, or at least get out of the house more often. By the time February rolled around, she was begging Lorelai to take him off her hands for a day.

"I'm sorry," Emily said tightly. "But I'm desperate. I just need one day of peace and I will do anything to get it, anything," she said, shifting slightly in her seat. Lorelai rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Okay mom, fine, uh, I'll take him," she said sadly as she stood out side of Stars Hollow Video, her cell phone pressed to her ear. She did smile a little as she saw Rory battle Charlie over who would hang onto the video.

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate this," she said as Richard called to her from the other room. "I have to go. Tomorrow morning," she said quietly.

"Tomorrow morning. Bye," she said as she hung up. She couldn't help but stare at her cell phone for a moment before shaking her head and heading back inside to deal with Kirk and the issue of her lost video card. "So, I seem to be baby sitting your grandfather tomorrow," she said as they finally got their videos and headed towards Luke's to pick up their order.

"Really," was all Rory said. "Why?"

"Your grandmother is desperate and will to do anything to get him out of the house," Lorelai explained as she took Charlie from Rory so she didn't have to juggle the baby and the videos.

"Living with a retired man not as much fun as she though?" Rory joked as she got a better handle on the videos.

"Apparently," she said dryly as they walked into the diner and headed for the counter.

"It's not ready yet," he said when he saw them.

"We ordered 20 minutes ago. How long does 2 cheese burgers, 2 orders of fried and 2 sodas take?" Lorelai asked as they took a seat at the counter.

"Look, there were issues. I need another 5 minutes," he said with a shrug. "To tide you over," he said as he placed a donut in front of Lorelai and Rory. "None for her," he said, pointing a finger at Lorelai.

"Please! Do you really think I would?" she asked as she undid Charlie's snow suit.

"Yes, I do," he said. "I'm watching the two of you," he said, pointing a finger at each of them before he headed back to the kitchen.

"Mom!" Rory hissed when she saw her slip Charlie a tiny piece.

"Of course, this you eat without a fight," she said, shaking her head. "Keep your voice down, he doesn't really have x-ray eyes."

"I thought I told you not to do that!" Luke called. from the back.

"Super sonic hearing however. . . "

"Here," he said, putting the bag and cups in front of them. "Get out," he said as he took the money from Lorelai. Lorelai grinned as she bundled the baby up again and soon they were on their way home to watch their Worst Movie Ever film festival.


"Rory, please. I can't handle the entire day with him. I can't, I can't, I caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan't." Lorelai whined as she followed Rory through the house, trying to convince her to ditch school in order to deal with her grandfather.

"Mom, I promise. Just make it till the afternoon, and then I promise I'll come right home and I'll take Grandpa off your hands."

"Alright," she pouted, still trying to change Rory's mind. Charlie giggled from her place on Lorelai's hip over the whole affair.

"It'll be fine," Rory said confidently.

"It is not going to be fine. It's going to be horrible. It is going to be a bad, depressing Lifetime movie and Nancy McKeon will be playing me. I am Jo," she finished just as the door bell rang. Greetings and pleasantries were exchanged as Rory ducked out for school and Lorelai was left holding the baby and her father. Charlie looked at Richard with big eyes as she grabbed the blanket Lorelai had thrown over her blouse a little tighter.

"Hello Charlie," Richard greeted the baby. He gave her a little tickle and she finally came around.

"Oh, here," she said, taking Richard's coat from him. "Would you like some coffee?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Do you want coffee?" he asked.

"Oh yes, God yes, thank you," she said as she headed to the kitchen. Charlie wiped her head around to keep an eye on Richard. "So you sure you don't, um. . . "

"Coffee? No no. I would, however, like my granddaughter," he said as he held out his arms.

"Right," she said. She tossed the blanket over his shoulder and handed him the baby who squealed in delight at being so high up. "Can I get you anything else? Some Pop Tarts or, well. . . That's pretty much it."

"I'm fine," he said as he took a seat at the table. "She's getting big," he remarked as he held the baby who was now standing on his thighs.

"She is," Lorelai remarked with a smile as she grabbed the paper off the counter and tossed it on the table.

"And vocal," he added as Charlie babbled away and began reaching for his bow tie.

"She's a Gilmore Girl," Lorelai replied. "We like to talk. Would you like to read the paper? I mean, it's not the Wall Street Journal, but the Gazette does some times have something worth reading in it," she said as she nudged it towards him.

"Is she walking yet?" he asked, still engrossed in his granddaughter.

"No," she blurted out after a moment. "But she has definitely mastered crawling. Turn your back for a minute and she's gone." Lorelai started to relax. If Richard was going to be this interested in Charlie, she had the potential for a fairly quiet day. Eventually, however, Charlie started to fuss and Richard panicked, so she took the baby back and headed up stairs to change her and get her dressed for the day.

It was then the comments started.

He called up to her about how a quilt on the floor wasn't really a suitable play area for a growing baby and why didn't she have a gate up to keep Charlie from climbing up the stairs? What was she going to do when Charlie needed her own room? If she was interested, he knew of a fantastic contractor with good rates or he could even set her up with a realtor he knew.

"Dad," she said when they came back down. "How about we head to Luke's?" she asked as she handed him back the baby while she got some of Charlie's things together.

"Shouldn't she have something more than a sweater on?" Richard asked as Lorelai pulled one on over Charlie's head before putting her in the carrier.

"See, that's what is so great about this. This little bag is warm enough that she doesn't need a snow suit which makes her happy, which in turn makes me happy so it's really a win-win situation," she said as she put Charlie's hat on her head and tossed an extra blanket over the carrier. She handed her father his coat and put on her own before slinging her purse and Charlie's bag over her shoulder and grabbing the carrier. "Let's go," she said as she headed for the jeep.


"You have your own table?" Richard asked as he followed Lorelai to the table in the back corner.

"It's just easier," she said as she took Charlie and put her in the high chair. "Luke knows we come in every day and it's just easier to leave the high chair set up back here than it is to move it around the diner." Just then, said diner owner came over to the table. Lorelai introduced him to her father and quickly ordered.

"She okay with eggs?" he asked.

"Yeah, light on the cheese and a banana?"

"Milk yet?"

"No," she said with a shake of her head as she dug through the bag and handed him a bottle.

"Be right back," he said as he took it from her and headed back to the kitchen. Richard watched the whole performance with interest.

"What?" she asked him.

"Is he normally this attentive to all his customers?"

"Some times," she said. Quietly. "But we're special," Lorelai replied. "Me and Rory single handedly keep him a float."

"Really," Richard said with a sly smile. "You didn't order any grapefruit," Richard said, changing the subject.

"Yeah, I don't really like grapefruit." Richard quickly began talking about how he always had grapefruit and that she should start her day off with one too. "See, the problem with this is that she doesn't really like grapefruit either," Lorelai added, pointing towards Charlie.

"I don't really see how that's a problem," he replied. Lorelai sighed and hung her head. This was so not a conversation she wanted to be having with her father.

"Okay, dad, while she is eating solid food now, I'm still responsible for part of her dietary needs."

"Of course you are! Don't be ridiculous Lorelai, it's not like she can feed herself yet."

"No, dad," she chuckled awkwardly before leaning in closer to him. "She's not 100 on the bottle yet." He turned to her and she hoped to God he got what she was saying.

"I don't understand." She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh.

"She's still nursing dad," she finally blurted out. After Richard had recovered from that announcement, he launched into a little speech about how could that still be going on? She was nearly a year and most babies are weaned by 6 months. "Well, she wasn't and we're happy with that. So just forget the grapefruit," she said as Luke returned with the bottle. "Thank God," she said as he gave it to Charlie and the conversation halted.

"Rest'll be out in a minute," Luke said as he headed back to the kitchen. Lorelai shook her head slightly as Luke brought out the rest of the food. She was very glad she had brought Charlie with her this morning as she kept Richard occupied while Lorelai ate as quickly as possible.


"Have we heard from Manny yet?" she asked as she sorted through mail. She had been at the inn for about an hour and a half and was just now getting to the mail as there were other more pressing issues.

"No, and I have paged him twice," Michel replied.

"We only have enough linen for one seating tonight. Hand me the phone."

"Plus we are out of clean towels," Michel threw in. Lorelai rolled her eyes as she dialled.

"Hi, Sophie, it's Lorelai. I need to talk to Manny. . . Well, when will he be back?" she asked, starting to get annoyed. "Okay, I need him to call me really, really soon, like five minutes ago. Okay, thanks," she said as she hung up. "We need a backup plan," she said as she looked to Michel.

"Mm hmm," was all he said as he looked at her.

"Call Patty's and see if she has any party rental tablecloths we can use for tonight and then pull all the towels form the pool and call Gandolfi's and order a case of champagne," she rattled off, her mind already 3 steps ahead of the problem. "Send a bottle to every room that's towel-less and just page him every two minutes and oh no!" she exclaimed as she saw Richard come into the inn with Charlie.

"Hi," he said with a smile.

"I thought you were gonna tour the town," she said as she came down to take Charlie from him. As she freed Charlie from the carrier, Richard told her about all the things he had gone to see. Lorelai nodded as she picked Charlie up and handed her back to Richard so she could put her socks back on and smooth down her fly away hair.

"And then I realized the only thing I had not seen is my daughter at work."

"Oh, well," she said as she took Charlie back from him and grabbed the carrier, heading towards her office. "Watching me at work is not very interesting, trust me," she tried to assure him as he followed her.

"Oh, you underestimate yourself," he commented as he watched her head behind her desk and grab a few toys, handing one to Charlie immediately.
"Okay, well, um," she said as they headed back out to the lobby. "There's books on the shelves over there," she said, pointing them out.

"No no, I have my newspaper, I'm fine," he said with a smile. "Would you like me to take her?"

"Ah," she said as she considered her options. "In a bit. We're just gonna. . . What's the matter?"

"Is your jacket still in your office?"

"My jacket? I don't have a jacket," she said, wiling this conversation to end swiftly. Richard frowned slightly.

"And you have some one to watch Charlie?"

"Yeah, me," she said. "Michel has the desk covered and I have work to finish in my office and when that's done, we will probably come out to the desk and Michel will complain while she clings to my pant leg to stand up. It's a good system we have. Just, take a seat dad, I'll bring her over in a bit," she finished, making a hasty exit to the desk, only to get a call from Rory telling her that she wouldn't be home until dinner. "I hate my life," Lorelai muttered as she headed to the kitchen with Charlie still on her hip.

"Hey Sugar Pie!" Sookie said with a smile when she saw Charlie.

"Save me," Lorelai muttered as she rested her head on Sookie's shoulder for a minute. She quickly spilled out everything about the lack of linens and towels and the fact that her father was here and Rory couldn't get home until dinner. "You need a bigger kitchen," Lorelai lamented as she glanced around.

"I do. I do? Why do I need a bigger kitchen?" Sookie asked.

"Because then I could stash her in here in a play pen and not have to turn her over to my father," she said with a sigh as she headed back out. "She's all yours," she said with a smile as she deposited Charlie on Richards lap. "Give a shout if you need anything."


"Rory, we're home!" Lorelai called out as she hurried into the house with Charlie, Richard following behind her.

"Really Lorelai, I still don't see how it's appropriate to keep her with you at work."

"Rory, for the love of God, be home!" she yelled as she headed towards the kitchen.

"I'm here, sorry! I was on the phone. How was your," Rory didn't get a chance to finish because by the time she met up with Lorelai, she had already put Charlie down and pulled Rory into a tight hug. "Ohhhh, ok."

"I don't think I've ever loved you quite as much as I love you right now," she muttered in Rory's ear.
"Ah, ribs cracking, organs crushing," Rory complained.

"Yeah, well, love hurts," Lorelai said as she let go of Rory, pushed her towards her grandfather and picked Charlie's carrier back up and headed for the kitchen. "Come make mommy feel better," she whispered to Charlie as she freed her from the carrier. She leaned against the corner of the counter and held Charlie close. Still sleepy, Charlie allowed the cuddle for a moment before she demanded to be put on the ground. Lorelai sighed as she complied and moved to sit on the stairs in the living room willing Rory to occupy her father for more than 5 minutes.

Eventually Richard did come out but fortunately as he and Rory took up residence in the living room, she was able to escape upstairs to change and order Chinese food for dinner.


"Should she still be up?" Richard asked around 7:30 when the 8 month old was lazing around in Lorelai's arms, working her way through a teething biscuit.

"She's fine dad," Lorelai said, a hint of fatigue in her voice. "She'll be in bed by 8," she assured him. Richard caught sight of the time when Rory announced that while she was enjoying the conversation, she really needed to do some home work.

"I should go as well," he said as he stood and headed to the foyer to get his coat. "I had a wonderful day girls," he said as they walked him to the door.

"Good," Rory said as she hugged him.

"I'm glad," Lorelai added with a smile as Richard kissed her on the cheek and dropped a kiss on Charlie's head.

"I will see the three of you girls on Friday," he said with a wave as he headed out into the night and to the car.

"Oh thank God," Lorelai said as she sagged against the door in relief. "Never again. I don't care what my mother is holding over my head, we are never doing this ever again."

"Come on mom," Rory started.

"No. All he did was pick. Pick, pick, pick," she complained. "About everything. Where Charlie plays in the living room, no gates on the stairs, where was she going to sleep when she out grew the crib? And then we moved on to why I shouldn't still be nursing."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. Definitely a conversation I had no need to ever have with my father. And when we got to the inn? Don't I think it's inappropriate to have Charlie with me and I should have a work jacket. And why was I flirting with Manny?"

"Because it's Manny?"

"Exactly. But flirting is wrong and letting her stay behind the desk with me was wrong and the list just kept. Getting. Longer. Your grandfather is exhausting," she concluded as she accepted the half eaten cookie from Charlie who had lost interest in it. "We're going upstairs for some 'inappropriate' bonding."

"Have fun!" Rory called as she headed off to do her home work and Lorelai headed upstairs with Charlie.