"It's too late to drive home," Paris insisted. "Besides, we never had that coffee we talked about".

"Okay," Rory smiled. "I'd like that."

So they ate the rest of Luke's soup, played boggle, watched old movies and fell asleep together on the couch. When they awoke the next morning, Rory packed her bag and walked with Paris to the little bistro on the corner of her street.

"You have an appointment tomorrow with Dr. Patel," Paris said after ordering breakfast.

Rory stared into her coffee, "okay," she said softly. "Paris?" she said looking up at her friend. "I don't want to talk about what happened. Can you tell me about you and Doyle instead?"

Paris half smiled at her friend, shaking her head slightly, "He asked me to meet him at the airport and instead of going home. He had his mom take the kids for the weekend and we flew out to California on a private jet Ron Howard gave him."

"You're kidding?"

"Nope, and we stayed at this little inn on the beach. He said he wanted to do anything to make our marriage work."

"Oh wow."

"Yeah, so since then we are attempting to patch things up. It's been," she stopped, a slow smile spread across her face. "Wonderful. I feel like I'm sixteen again, falling love for the first time."

"That's really great," Rory said. "I'm really really happy for you guys."

"We're a good team," Paris shrugged. "I can't let that go. Besides that, the money for my kids to go to therapy could be better used for a family vacation."

Rory laughed, "that's the Paris I know and love."

They spent the rest of the morning catching up, avoiding the giant purple elephant in the room. She'd been consumed with sadness non-stop for three days and wanted to think of anything other than her own grief.


Lorelai drove into Stars Hollow that afternoon. Rory asked her mother to drop her off with Lane. As Lorelai rounded the corner to her house, she saw a Lincoln Continental parked in front of her house. Logan was waiting at the door pacing back in forth, his phone in hand.

"Where is she?" Logan asked angrily. "I've been trying to call her for three days. She missed our appointment with the lawyer and..."

"Logan," Lorelai said, hushing him. "We need to talk."

They walked into the house and Lorelai started the coffee. "Sit," she pointed to the kitchen table. "On Saturday," she took a deep breath," Rory was taken to the hospital because she lost the baby. She had a D and C and has been in New York with Paris who opened her home to us while Rory recovered from the worst of the after-effects. We just got home."

Logan sucked in a breath, "Is she…" he started to say.

"Devastated? Yes. Heartbroken? Hurting? All of the above."

"Where is she now? I want to see her."

"She is with Lane, she may go to her house later this evening. I swear to God Logan if you say something to hurt her..."

"Honey, Honey," Babette said bursting into the house. "We tried stopping him. We tried to make him go away..."

"...Babette what…" Lorelai asked.

"You...you did this to her…"Morey pointed his finger at Logan.

"You hurt that girl..." Miss Patti added.

Lorelai got up from her seat to get between Logan and Morey "Go," Lorelai mouthed to Logan.

He ran out the back door, getting in the car and telling the driver to go.


Babette explained to Lorelai that upon her outburst in Luke's diner when Jess called, the town had been worried and collectively put together that something terrible happened to Rory. Taylor had guessed whatever it was, was also the reason she had pushed him for a salary, why she'd moved into Sookie's so quickly. When Luke got home they'd cornered him and he would neither confirm nor deny their guesses, but then Logan showed up and marched into Luke's diner angry, demanding to speak to Rory, raving about some appointment with a Lawyer.

"Oh dear," Lorelai said, her head in her hands.

Babette's hand touched Lorelai's shoulder, "She was pregnant and then lost the baby didn't she?"

Lorelai only nodded her head.

"Okay," Patty said. "We'll take care of it. It won't be a matter of discussion in the town."

"How do you know that?"

"Because it isn't gossip. Rory needs to mourn this privately," Babbette pipped in.

"We may be gossipy old woman, but this is different," Patty added. "She's one of us and we protect our own."

"I think what she needs right now is to be treated as if nothing is different."

"She doesn't need to know we know anything," Patty said to Babette. "Spread the word, all anybody needs to know is that she is okay and if she wants to tell people what happened, she will, otherwise no one is to ask or speculate."

"I'm on it," Babette said getting up from the table.

"Leave Kirk and Taylor to me," Patty added.

"You give her a hug for me," Babette said hugging Lorelai before closing the door behind her.

"I will," Lorelai said swallowing the lump in her throat. When the door closed behind Babette, Lorelai couldn't hold back any more tears. Patty enveloped her in a hug.

"Nothing could prepare me for that," she told Miss Patty after calming down. "I'm not the one needing comfort though, she is."

"Bull, you wanted to be a grandmother," the older woman wiped the tears from Lorelai. "It's your loss too."

Lorelai nodded, "I was going to spoil that baby."

"We all would have," Patty assured her.


Logan waited until it was dark to knock on her door, away from the prying eyes of the townspeople.

"What are you doing here?" she asked when she opened the door.

"You missed our meeting."

"Come in," she said moving aside so he could come in the house. She gestured for him to sit on the couch and sat down next to him.

"Meeting? Oh the lawyer," she asked dazed sleepily. "I...Logan...I need to tell you something…"

"I already know," he said softly. "I was waiting at your mom's house because I couldn't get ahold of you and she told me. Which explains why the crazy people in your town want to kill me."

"Oh," she said, looking away from him. "We don't…We don't need a lawyer..."

"I know Ace, your mom told me. Are you okay?" he asked awkwardly.

Rory glared at him, "Go," she demanded. He got up and she practically kicked him out of the door.

Logan knocked again, "Okay dumb question. Open the door, we need to talk."

"No, I'm not okay," she answered through the door. "And we have nothing to talk about."

"Well, what can I do?"

"Nothing, you've done enough. You can go live out the dynastic plan without a child."

"Ace, come on."

"Don't "Ace" me. Look, right now I just need you to go because you're here and being nice and you are the last person I want to talk to or see, so just go. This is your loss too, but I just don't have it in me to see you want right now"

"That's what you really want?"

"Yes."

"Okay," he said. "I'll go. But before I do I just want to say that I'll always love you and our baby would have been a very lucky to have you as a mother. I would have made sure you both were taken care of and I'm heartbroken there isn't a baby because it means you won't be in my life. And even with a dynastic plan, I always want you in my life."

She wanted to open the door and let him comfort her, but whatever held her back, was the same thing that held her back from accepting his proposal years ago. She never regretted turning down his proposal, but this very well could be the end for them. She didn't know when or if she would see him again.

When Rory saw through the door's peephole that he was gone, she sank to the floor clutching her knees, her heart aching.