Things at home were weird. Not weird like the kid who ate ants during recess, but still weird. Mom and dad reminded him of that movie April showed him about the robot who looked like a little boy but people didn't like him because he was a robot. He was so high tech that nobody could tell at first, but boy when he ate that spinach…

It was like someone had hidden under his parent's bed and kidnapped them. Now, there were a pair of robots here who looked just like them. Only robots would sit at the table during breakfast and not talk to each other. His dad would never stay at his job so late at night that he'd never see him, only a robot would do that. Only a robot would want to drive to grandma's house in different cars, not his mom. Only robots would act the way his mom and dad were acting now. They didn't laugh at each other or talk. If mom walked into a room and dad was there he would leave. If dad was there and mom came, he would leave. Dad didn't even try to get mom to come to his volleyball games anymore.

James knew there was no such thing as robots who hid under your bed so they could pretend to be your parents but, James couldn't figure out what was happening. Even having Rory back for Christmas didn't help. All Rory did was babysit him so mom and dad didn't have to stay at home. New Year's was the worst. Every year dad would stay home from work so they could go to Inn and watch the ball drop and drink fizzy apple juice. This year dad went to work. It was just him and mom. It wasn't the same.

One night before bed, James was wasting time on Youtube. A suggested video caught his eye. "Kids Meet Kids with Divorced Parents". James knew that word. He knew that auntie Lane and uncle Zach didn't live together anymore because they're divorced. Seth Perry missed a week of school because his parents got divorced. His English teacher told them they could go to the guidance counselor if they needed to talk. In the video, there were a lot of kids around his age who talked about their parents getting divorced, but their parents didn't act like his parents. Their parents yelled and screamed at each other and sometimes hit each other! His mom and dad would never do that. Never ever. The video was almost over when an older girl started talking about her parents. She talked about how her parents started to spend less time with each other. They didn't want to be in the same room with each other. Her mom started staying at work later and coming home after she and her brother were in bed. Her mom and dad wouldn't do stuff together if she and her brother weren't there. It was so familiar it made his stomach hurt.

James jumped when his bedroom light clicked on.

"Do I have to take your phone away again? I sent you to bed half an hour ago." Luke said, putting his hands on his hips.

"No! You always forget to charge it! I'll go to bed, I promise."

"Fine." Luke walked over and looked at James' phone. The hair on the back of James' neck stood up.

Luke squinted. "Are you watching those videos about kids eating things? You stayed up late for that?"

James relaxed. He forgot his dad couldn't see good without his glasses. "They put up a new episode about kids eating durian. Somebody puked!"

Luke rolled his eyes. "I don't get you, sometimes," he said with a smile. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to James' head. "Watch those kids puke tomorrow. I don't wanna hear anything about you being tired in the morning, okay? Goodnight."

"Night dad!" James replied.

James listened to the house creak as his dad walked away. If he had gone upstairs to be with mom, James would've heard the stairs creak and the sound of him in the hallway. Instead, James heard the soft sounds of the TV come through his door.

James checked the window for what felt like the 100th time to see if Steve and Kwan were home yet. Auntie Lane's car was still missing from the driveway so Mr. Cho hadn't brought them back from school yet. He squished a couple of french fries between his fingers as he waited. Dad's place didn't have WIFI and he didn't feel like using up all his data waiting. Just when it felt like he was going to die of boredom, the minivan rolled up and Steve and Kwan jumped out.

James grabbed his book bag and ran up to the counter. "Dad!" he yelled, "I'm gonna go hang out with Steve and Kwan."

Luke nodded, "Okay, look both ways before you cross the street. And call me when you're ready to go home."

"And put your hat on!" his dad yelled after him.

James dutifully looked both ways before crossing the street. He cut through the town square and met Mr. Cho at the door.

"Hey, James, go right on in, the boys are in the basement."

James shook the snow off his boots and walked downstairs where Steve and Kwan were on the floor surrounded by baby clothes.

"What're guys doing?" James asked, sitting down next to them.

"Grandma's here," Kwan said with a roll of his eyes.

"She's making us fold all this stuff for the baby," Steve said.

"She keeps feeding us tofu and pickled radish and slimy stuff! I haven't eaten an Oreo in forever!" Kwan said.

"She's starving us!" Steve said.

James rolled his eyes. Kwan and Steve were such babies. "My mom said that your mom was supposed to have the baby already."

"She was, but the baby's late? Henry said that if the baby doesn't come out by herself that they have to go to the hospital and take her out." Steve said.

"Is that how it works?" James asked.

"I dunno," Kwan said as he pulled a bag of M&M's out of his pocket. "I think so."

James happily accepted the candy offered to him. "What's your sister's name?"

"Amanda," Steve said. "I can't remember her other name."

"I think it's Mi-something," Kwan said.

"You guys need help?" James asked, picking up a shirt.

"Sure."

James folded a sock and half before speaking again. "Can I ask you guys something?"

Steve and Kwan shrugged.

"What's it like for your parents to break up forever?"

"What?" Steve replied.

"Divorced," James said when he finally had the strength, "What's it like for them to be divorced?"

Kwan shrugged. "It's fine."

"Yeah," Steve said, "It's not bad."

"It doesn't suck that your dad doesn't live with you anymore?" James asked.

"We see dad all the time. Plus, we don't even remember when he moved out. We were like, 5."

"I remember," said Steve.

"No, you don't, idiot," Kwan replied.

"Shut up, butthead! I do! It did kinda suck when dad moved out and it kinda sucked when mom and dad started dating and stuff cause I thought they would have new babies and forget about us."

"Man, you were a super crybaby back then. But then dad gave you that book, remember?" Steve said.

"Right! Mom read it to us every night for forever! It was called "Mom Home, Dad Home."

Kwan wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Is your friend's mom and dad getting a divorce or something?" he asked.

James swallowed. "Uh-huh. He's really sad about it."

Born and bred in Connecticut, Lorelai thought she could handle the cold. But the chill that swept between her and Luke after the appointment made the winter blast outside feel like the Sahara Desert. She thought things were okay now. Luke had been there for her. He held her hand and drove her home and held her during an embarrassing cry session in the bathroom. It was hard to pinpoint when things had turned upside down, but it was like living with a ghost. Often, Lorelai would lie awake at night, waiting for Luke to crawl in bed beside her and hold her close. She always woke up alone.

The last time Lorelai felt this cold, alone, and cast aside in her own home was when her parents found out about Rory. Lorelai found it a little unfair that her uterus had turned her life upside down again. She should get a prize or something. When Luke flinched away from her when they reached for salt at the same time during breakfast, Lorelai knew what she had to do.

Like clockwork, Luke ambled into their bedroom to get ready for the day. He turned his back to her and made sure to stay 3 feet away at all times like she was a contagious spore. Sitting up in bed, she stared down at her hands and took a deep breath.

"How are we going to tell James?" she asked.

Luke pulled his shirt on over his head and turned around. "Tell James about what?"

"About us."

Luke looked even more confused. "What about us?"

"Luke, c'mon. We can't keep living like this. You can't even look at me sometimes. I know I barely graduated high school, but I'm not an idiot."

Luke's shoulders slumped before he shook his head. "You want to get a divorce."

"What I want is for you not to walk around here like I'm keeping you, prisoner." Lorelai sighed, "If that means divorce, then yes."

Luke ran a hand over his face before sitting down on the bed. "Not this again," he said.

"What?"

"This! This thing you do when you pretend that you're married to yourself. You decided we need to get a divorce. What's next, you're gonna decide where we're gonna be buried or when my next prostate exam's gonna be? Are you kidding me?"

"How am I supposed to know what you want when you don't even talk to me?"

"What I want is to not be afraid that every conversation we're going to have, is a lie." Luke rubbed a hand over the stubble on his chin. "But I don't know how I'm gonna do that," he said, staring down at his knees.

Lorelai didn't either. She bit her lip. "Sookie and Jackson went to a marriage counselor for a while after Jason was born."

"Yeah?"

"It was so bad that Jackson had found a lawyer and everything."

Luke didn't say anything. Lorelai ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head. "You don't have to if you don't want to, I–"

"Don't put words in my mouth again, Lorelai," Luke said, looking at her. "I'd never be able to forgive myself if our problems screwed up James. I'll try. For him."