Lorelai was working the next day. She was at the front desk going over the calendar for that month seeing what was booked and what the inn had coming up. She was now the executive manager at the Independence Inn. Mia kept telling her that one day soon she would be the manager, running the inn and hiring people and firing people. Lorelai had to admit that the job sounded amazing. Plus it paid a little bit more. Now that she had a house she was saving to buy a car. She and Rory always got a paper and they would spend hours going over the cars that were for sell trying to find one that was affordable but ran perfectly. Rory said she wanted a Jeep Wrangler. She said that for just the two of them the size was perfect and Lorelai had to agree. Plus Jeeps were cute cars.

After looking over that months calendar (they had three weddings that month) Lorelai looked at the time and groaned. It was only two o'clock. Her date with Luke wasn't until seven. Mia looked over at Lorelai. "Are you okay?"

Lorelai smiled. "No. I want the day to hurry up and be over with." She paused considering her next words. "Luke and I are going out tonight."

"I guess you're excited about it."

"Yeah, I am. But I'm also nervous. I shouldn't be because Luke is my best friend and I love him. But it's been over ten years since I've seen him, let alone been out on a date with him. What if he realizes that I'm not the one for him?"

"That's not going to happen," Mia told her. "I'm sure Luke loves you very much and now that you two have found each other he won't be letting you go so easily."

"You're probably right," said Lorelai after a moment of silence.

"I'm always right," teased Mia.

That evening Luke picked Lorelai up right on time. He smiled when she opened the door. "You look nice," he commented.

Lorelai blushed. "Thanks." She grabbed her purse and keys and locked the door. "Should we get going?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, leading her to his truck. "So where's Rory tonight?" He opened the passenger door to let Lorelai in and then walked around and climbed into the truck starting the engine.

"She's staying with Sookie tonight. Apparently Sookie thought we should have the house to ourselves tonight."

"Ah."

Lorelai looked out her window as they headed out of Stars Hollow. "Where are we going?"

Luke shook his head. "Sorry, it's a surprise." He smirked at her.

"But I hate surprises!" she gasped. She had to admit she did hate surprises. When she had been pregnant she wanted to know what she was having, but Luke hadn't. But both of them had been forced apart by the time she found out she was having a girl. But then for the rest of her pregnancy she couldn't decide on a name. Not until she met her precious baby and just knew she was a Rory.

"I know." Luke flashed her a grin that made her heart do somersaults.

"Mean," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. Lorelai looked back out the window until they got to the restaurant. The sign said Sniffy's Tavern. "What is this?" she asked as they walked toward the door.

Luke shrugged his shoulders. He had debated on bringing Lorelai here or to an Italian restaurant. He had finally chosen Sniffy's not because it was his favorite but because he knew the owners very well and they knew all about Lorelai. "It's just a place I like to come to every now and then," he told her as he lead her to a booth in the back. The owner's Maisy and Buddy appeared and Luke introduced them to Lorelai.

After they left Lorelai turned to Luke. "Wow. They know you."

"Well I've known them most of my life. They're good friends of my parent's."

Lorelai nodded. That brought back memories of how close their parents had been until that fateful day they announced they were having a baby. "So, uh, what's good here?" she asked changing the subject.

"Just about everything," he replied.

During dinner they talked about what the two of them had been up to in the past ten years. Finally during dessert (Lorelai ate the dessert while Luke watched) the conversation turned to Rory. "So, uh, I wanna know more about Rory."

Lorelai swallowed the piece of cake she was eating and said, "Well, she's one smart kid. Seriously, that child gets straight As in everything. I don't know where she gets it from. And she's constantly reading a new book every few days. Which reminds me, I need to look for a bookshelf for her."

Luke nodded. "I can build her one, if you want me too."

"Really? That'd be nice. So more about Rory. Let's see...she was born early in the morning," began Lorelai launching into the story of Rory's birth. As she told Luke the story she had a flashback to that night in early October when she had her daughter.

Lorelai was in her room watching TV. She had the house to herself that night. Her parent's had gone to some function or other that afternoon so Lorelai had spent the rest of the day doing homework. She was being tutored until after the baby was born. All afternoon she had felt funny but she brushed it aside until that night. As she ate a sandwich she felt a pain shoot across her abdomen and winced. A few minutes later she felt it again and this time she knew she was having contractions. As soon as she was able to she made it to the hospital. She didn't understand why they couldn't just go ahead and put her in a room right then. The contractions hurt and she needed something for the pain.

But the nurses wanted her to fill out the necessary paperwork before they could give her a room. A while later she was finally given a room and something to ease the pain. She needed Luke with her. He was supposed to be there holding her hand and coaching her through the painful contractions. But she was alone and scared. She asked for a phone book and checked the listings for Stars Hollow for a 'Danes' listing but she didn't find anything. That meant Luke's parent's hadn't listed there phone number. As another contraction came, more painful than the last, she desperately wished that Luke was with her. The doctor came in around 3:30 that morning and announced that she was finally ready to go to the delivery room.

As they wheeled her to the delivery room the contractions kept coming. "Okay, this is a big pain and I'd really like it to go away, please," she said through clenched teeth.

"Just breathe deep, honey," answered the nurse.

"Breathing doesn't help. Can I hit you instead?" she asked.

"What?"

"Or pinch you really, really hard cause that might make me feel better." Lorelai was scared out of her mind. She had no idea what to do and really needed to focus on something to make the pain go away.

"No, you cannot hit me," said the nurse, kindly.

"Lorelai Gilmore!" shouted Emily as she and Richard started following the nurse and Lorelai.

"Wheel this thing a little faster please," begged Lorelai.

"Lorelai, you do not do this. You just do not leave a person a note," continued Emily.

"Okay, see the timing here?" she asked sarcastically.

"'Dear Mom and Dad, I'm in labor. See you later, Lorelai,'" said Emily reading the note Lorelai had left her parents hours earlier.

"Ow," whimpered Lorelai as another contraction hit.

"Emily, please, I feel ridiculous," Richard cut in.

Emily continued on with her rant. "You do not leave your house when you are having a baby without telling your mother. You say, 'Excuse me, Mom, I'm having a baby give me a ride to the damn hospital!'"

"Emily, please, I wore the wrong shoes for this," Richard begged.

"Of all the things I had a right to do, driving my daughter to the hospital to give birth is one of them."

"Ma'am I need you to wait out here please," said the nurse before they headed to the delivery room.

"Why?" demanded Emily.

"Because we're going into the delivery room."

"I want to go in."

"No, Mom, please," begged Lorelai. That was the last thing she wanted. She didn't want her mother in there with her. She really wanted Luke but she didn't know where to find him or how.

"Yes, Emily, please," said Richard, agreeing with his daughter.

"Fine, we'll be here when you're done," said Emily.

"Super," said Lorelai as she was wheeled into the room. It didn't take long for her to give birth and at 4:03 in the morning on October eighth the doctor announced that it was a girl. After the baby was cleaned up and wrapped in a blanket with a hat on her head Lorelai got to hold her daugther. "Hi, baby, I'm your mommy," she said as tears spilled down her cheeks. Now she finally had a name for her baby girl. "You're gonna be Lorelai Leigh Danes. That's right, I'm giving you your father's last name. But I guess until your Daddy and I find each other again you'll be known as Rory Gilmore." She brought the baby closer and snuggled with her. "I love you, Rory. You're perfect."

"Wow, I feel bad that I missed all that," said Luke, once Lorelai was done with her story. "So Rory has my last name?"

Lorelai nodded. "She does. It just fel right when I named her. I looked at her face and I saw you and there was no denying that she was a Danes. Of course my parent's don't that I gave her your last name. And Rory doesn't know either. But it's there on her birth certificate."

Luke didn't know what to say to that. He was glad that Lorelai had given Rory his last name even if they were the only ones that knew. "How old was Rory when you left your parents?" he asked, wanting to know more.

"She was four weeks old," she told him. "She was still so tiny then. I had packed all our stuff up the night before and left when my parents had left the house."

Lorelai stared down into the crib of her sleeping baby. Rory was now four weeks old and even though she was still tiny but she was a little longer now. "Tomorrow, little one, we'll be out of here," she whispered. "As soon as Grandma and Grandpa are out of the house, we are gone. I'm going to find your daddy no matter what." She covered the sleeping baby up with her blanket and then Lorelai crawled into bed.

The next morning after having breakfast with her parents and feeding and changing Rory, Lorelai took a shower and got dressed. Rory was asleep in her car seat ready to go as soon as Emily left for the DAR. Lorelai bounded down the stairs to grab some extra bottles and the diaper bag.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" demanded Emily.

Lorelai hesitated. "I'm going to the mall. I thought I'd get a jump start on my Christmas shopping. After all, it's Rory's first Christmas. I thought getting her some clothes would be nice."

Emily pursed her lips not sure if she believed her daughter or not. Finally she nodded her head. "That's a good idea. Here's some money if you need more. I'll be back around three and your father should be home around five-thirty. And if you get hungry you'll just have to fix the food yourself. The maid was fired last night." Emily left some money on the hall table as she left.

As soon as the coast was clear, Lorelai grabbed what she needed and went to get Rory. "Okay, little one, we're out of here." Lorelai grabbed her bags and the car seat with the sleeping baby in it. When she got downstairs she realized she would need the stroller too. She left a note for her parents on the table and made it to the bus stop. Forty-five minutes later a tired Lorelai was finally in Stars Hollow. She made her way off the bus but once on the sidewalk she had no clue where to go. She looked up and down the street and then she saw a shop that said it was Weston's Bakery. She decided to go there first to get something to eat and a cup of coffee. And it would be a good time to feed Rory a bottle. She went inside and found an elderly woman behind the counter.

"Hello, dear, how may I help you?" said the woman.

Lorelai bit her lip. "Uh, I think I'll just have some coffee and a piece of pie if that's okay."

"That's fine." The woman took in the sight of Lorelai and the baby. She brought the coffee and pie over to the young girl. "I"m Fran. I own this place."

"I"m Lorelai. And this is my daughter Rory," said Lorelai, gesturing to the baby that was now wide awake. She knew she shouldn't talk to anyone she didn't know but Fran seemed so nice. "Do you know of any place that's hiring? I need a job."

"Oh, did you leave your parent's house?" asked Fran. She looked at the baby. "She's such an adorable baby."

"Thank you. And yes I did run away. But I'm only here looking for Rory's father. He and his family moved here a few months ago."

"Well, this is a small town, maybe I could be of some help. But as to your question about a job, there is an inn that's hiring or there's a hardware store just down the street."

Lorelai nodded. "Thanks. I think I'll check out the inn first. Thanks for the pie and coffee." Lorelai pulled out some money and was about to hand it to Fran.

"No, dear, it's on me. Save your money to take care of that precious baby of yours."

Lorelai left the bakery following the directions that Fran had given her to the inn. She saw the hardware store at the other end of the street and glanced at the sign. It said 'William's Hardware' but Lorelai doubted that would be Luke's father. After all William was a pretty common name. She hurried on to the inn. When she got there she asked for the owner.

"Hello," said a voice behind her. "I"m Mia Holloway. I'm the owner of the Independence Inn."

Lorelai faced the woman. "Uh, hi. I'm Lorelai. And I need a job. I don't care what job, I just need a job. I can work Saturday's and Sunday's and after school Monday through Friday." Lorelai looked down at the floor. "I just can't go home. Not right now."

Mia studied the young girl. She couldn't be more than sixteen and she had a newborn baby too. "Well, I can give you a job working as a maid. And you're in luck. A position just became available. Why don't we go into my office and you can fill out the paperwork?"

Lorelai nodded and followed Mia to her office. "How old are you?" asked Mia once they had sat down.

"I'm sixteen, I'll be seventeen at the end of April. And this is Rory. She's four weeks old."

Mia nodded her head. "Why can't you go home?" She handed Lorelai a clipboard with the necessary paperwork.

"Because Rory and I need to be on our own. And I also need to find her father." Lorelai looked over at her baby daughter.

"Who's her father?"

Lorelai doubted Mia would know who Luke was since he had just moved here a few months ago. "Luke Danes. I doubt you know him. He and his family moved here a few months ago." Rory started whimpering and she grabbed Rory and started feeding her a bottle.

Mia sucked in a breath. She couldn't believe it. She had just met Luke Danes' girlfriend and daughter. She was good friends with Will and Kelly and she knew all about it. "Actually, dear, I do know Luke and his family. And I'd be willing to help you get reunited with Luke."

Lorelai smiled. "Really? I would appreciate that. Rory needs her father. I'd hate for Luke to miss out on so much of her life."

Lorelai finished telling Luke everything she could about Rory's life on the way back to her house. "Do you want to come in?" she asked him as she unlocked the door.

"Sure." He followed her into the house and into the kitchen.

Lorelai opened the refrigerator. "Let's see, I've got water and beer and apple juice and orange juice. Man, Rory's a health nut."

Luke smiled. "Must get that from me."

"She must." She pulled out a bottle of water and handed one to Luke. Lorelai was nervous. It had been ten years since she had been with Luke and she wasn't sure what to do. She took a tentative step forward closing the distance between them.

Luke swallowed hard. He watched as Lorelai moved closer to him. He could smell her perfume and her shampoo. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous. It was only Lorelai. The girl of his dreams. The mother of his daughter and the woman he loved. Finally he couldn't take it anymore. He pulled Lorelai against him and kissed her. It was a kiss filled with longing and passion and as they made their way upstairs he knew she was the one he had to be with. Later in bed curled up next to Lorelai Luke promised himself that he was never letting Lorelai go again. Now that he found her and she was back in his life it was going to stay that way. He already knew he wanted to marry her, but he knew he would have to wait a few months before asking Lorelai to marry him. He fell asleep knowing that he was a lucky guy to have two beautiful girls in his life.