Lorelai watched as Rory boarded the plane. She felt like an idiot watching Rory's plane fly away and staring out the window for a few minutes after takeoff. She walked back to the parking lot, where Luke had parked the truck to take her back home.

Luke turned to Lorelai as she shut the door to the truck. "You okay?" he asked.

She nodded, wiping a few tears away. "I'm good," she sniffled. "Really."

"You don't sound good," Luke replied, putting his hand on her knee.

Lorelai sighed. "It's still hard. She was here for a week, but it's still hard."

"I know," Luke replied. "You miss her."

"It'll get better," she said, trying to sound convincing. "I did okay the first time."

Luke turned and faced Lorelai. "You did more than okay," he insisted. "You love Rory and you're doing what's best for her."

"Sucks for me though," she said, smiling at Luke as she wiped her tears.

"You're just going to have to look forward to the holiday season, she'll be back."

Lorelai nodded, reaching for the seatbelt and buckling it, folding her sweater and using it as a pillow as she tried to get comfortable to take a nap. As Luke drove back to Stars Hollow, Lorelai thought about the fun week she had with Rory. The two had multiple movie marathons, attended a town meeting, and went on two shopping sprees, the second including a Sephora run. But still, there were so many things Lorelai still wanted to do with Rory, and all of a sudden Rory was on a plane, back on the campaign trail.

It was like the first time all over again. A little less jarring, a little less spontaneous, but it left the same feeling in Lorelai's gut. It was a slightly empty feeling, but a feeling of pride. Rory was a successful journalist, covering the campaign for a presidential candidate. Rory wasn't a nobody. Lorelai's little girl was out in the world all on her own, making a name for herself and making Lorelai proud.

Luke gently rubbed her shoulder after he had pulled into the driveway. Lorelai turned to him and smiled. "Hey," she said, stretching.

"We're back," Luke said.

"When I caught a glimpse of the chuppah I knew we were in familiar territory," she answered.

"You want some coffee?"

Lorelai smiled, unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the door to the truck. "You know me well."

He opened the door, waving to April as he walked into the kitchen. He started a pot of coffee and turned to Lorelai. "So, this moving in thing. Is that why you planned that I stay here while April and Rory were home?"

"Elementary, my dear Watson. Well, yeah, I mean, I wanted you to see how nice it could be. The additions we put on really do allow for you living here. Why, are you having doubts?"

"No, no doubts," he replied, opening the refrigerator. "I just… wanted to make sure that you absolutely meant it."

She nodded. "Of course I meant it."

"Good."

"Good."

"Good."

"Okay, is my coffee ready yet?" Lorelai said, breaking the pattern.

Luke smirked. "You're awfully impatient, aren't you? Yes, the coffee's ready," he said, reaching for a mug to pour her coffee in.

"Don't you have to get back to the diner?" Lorelai asked, accepting the coffee mug as Luke handed it to her.

"You trying to kick me out?" he teased.

"No, no, I'm just…"

"Lorelai, I was teasing. Is something wrong?"

She looked down at her coffee mug, tracing her finger along the handle. "No, I just… why am I such a baby about missing Rory?"

"You're not," Luke insisted.

She stood up from the table and started to pace. "It's just that I've started to think about all of this ahead of time. Rory won't be home for her birthday. She won't be here for a lot of town festivals. The next time I'll see her is the day before Thanksgiving and we ship her off again the day after Thanksgiving. The same with Christmas. I hate this, Luke, I feel so selfish!"

Luke pulled Lorelai close. "You're not selfish, you have a right to miss your daughter. You keeping her from doing what she wants would be selfish. You're doing fine."

"I'm normally so independent, so good about this stuff, letting my daughter be independent and strong, and self sufficient. But I want her to be dependent on me again, Luke! Why am I such a terrible person for not wanting her to be so far away? I kind of just had this light bulb moment, Luke, I'm a terrible person."

"Lorelai, you don't get over this stuff in a day. It's okay to miss Rory. Really, it is. No one expects you to go on with your life and ignore the fact that you miss her. She's important to you."

"I don't want to act like one of those dumb princesses locked in a tower, who needs someone to slay a dragon to save her," Lorelai insisted.

Luke gently rubbed her back. "You don't. It's okay. Things will get better."

"I hope so," she mumbled, letting out a sigh.

"I'll run to the diner and grab you some of the pie I made this morning, that should make you feel better, right?" he asked.

She grinned, sniffling. "You're so good to me," she said.

He leaned in and kissed her. "I'll be back," he replied, taking his keys.

Lorelai sat at the table, drumming her fingers against her coffee mug until she felt the need to get up and move around. She was already feeling a little better, knowing that Luke wasn't appalled by her behavior during Rory's absence. She looked outside to see if the mail had come yet, trying to stall until Luke brought back Lorelai's pie.

She slowly walked out to the mailbox and pulled out a large envelope. She looked at the return address and shuddered. She knew what was inside the envelope. Way to make a weird day weirder.

Lorelai walked inside and seated herself at the table, opening the envelope to reveal her divorce papers. Christopher had already signed and dated them, she was the party that was to answer the petition. She laughed for a second, realizing that she'd officially been 'served'. Oh, the references that she could use to go along with the moment. She sniffled again, still on the tail end of her meltdown with Luke, and realized that the sooner she signed the papers, the sooner she would be legally divorced.

She grabbed her 'Bop it' pen from her purse, looking the documents over. This was supposed to feel awkward, weird, sort of unsettling. But for some reason, it wasn't. She'd talked it over with the mediator about a week after they decided to end it all. An uncontested divorce could be final within just a few months, according to her lawyer and all the research she'd done. All she had to do was sign the papers.

She stared at the pen. Exchanging it for a more serious pen, she signed and dated the forms, tossing the pen back in her purse, when she heard Luke come through the front door. Running toward the door, she grabbed a pie from his hand and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Ooh, you brought two pies?"

"I figured you'd want some choice in the matter, and April asked me to pick her up a slice while I was out."

"Killing two birds with one stone, I see," Lorelai said, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a plate from the cabinet.

Luke put the second pie on the counter, glancing at the kitchen table. "What's all that?" he asked.

Lorelai cleared her throat. "That's, uh, my divorce papers," she said, turning her attention to the pie. "Came in the mail today. No big deal."

"You signed them already?"

"No, I sang to them, we played games, and we took pictures in a photo booth to remember the occasion. Of course I signed them already! You know how it was."

He nodded. "I do. But don't you have to…"

"No, no notarizing this time. We reached an agreement awhile back, and the lawyer informed us that we could do it through mail as long as that's what we both agreed on and we both signed it. There's about a zillion ways you can get divorced, and apparently you can even do it online. But we just decided we'd make it simple, you know? No hassle. We both want out, Luke."

He smiled. "I'm glad, because things could get complicated if that wasn't mutual."

She leaned in and kissed him. "I'm sealing them up now and mailing them tomorrow morning."

"You don't have to explain," Luke insisted.

She took a bite of pie and gathered the papers up. "I want to include you, Luke. I don't want to leave you in the dark. Let there be light."

He nodded. "Thanks."

"You betcha," she replied, shoving more pie into her mouth. "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being so good to me and Rory this week," she said with a mouthful of pie. "We appreciate it."

"You're welcome."