"Sookie, you do not have to do this," Rory said emphatically as Sookie heaped eggs onto her plate. Rory looked at the ocean of food on her plate as well as on the table.

"What do you mean?" she asked with a smile and a chuckle as she went to put some eggs on the tray of Charlie's high chair. "Feeding my girls, making them happy, I love doing this," she concluded as she put some eggs on Lorelai's plate before putting the pan back on the stove.

"Yeah, so feel the love and pass the salt," Lorelai said with a grin as she broke some banana up for Charlie.

"It makes me feel guilty," Rory complained as she passed the salt to Lorelai.

"Eating can help drown that," Lorelai concluded as she salted her eggs.

"Yeah, yeah, eat, eat. I'm gonna eat too," Sookie said, finally sitting down at the table.

"Gee, can the help sit at the table too?" she asked her mother, sounding more than a little sarcastic.

"As long as they don't sing folk songs, or tell bawdy stories," Lorelai responded with a smile before she leaned over to pick Charlie's juice cup up off of the floor. "Hey, what's with Narcoleptic Nate over there?" she asked when she caught sight of Jackson. Sookie chuckled as she explained about Jackson while he simply groaned ever now and then.

As the girls shared a laugh over Lorelai's aspirins over almonds for Sookie and Jackson's wedding, Charlie began to grow bored with her eggs and decided instead to start watching them as she dropped them over the edge of her tray. "Charlie!" Lorelai admonished when she finally noticed her. Charlie looked her mother in the eye once more as she dropped her last piece over the edge. "Fine, starve," she said, making no moves to put anything else on Charlie's tray.

"See, everything eventually registers. He'll chime in on this in a couple of days," Sookie continued after everything calmed down.

"Days?" Rory asked.

"Days," Sookie confirmed.

"Hey, is Jackson in the house? Let me here you say 'Unh'," Lorelai called out as she reached for her coffee mug.

"Unh," Jackson responded from where he was perched.

"A new toy," Lorelai said with a smirk as she sipped at her coffee.

"Shameless," Rory said with a shake of her head while Sookie snickered into her own eggs. Charlie, on the other hand, flopped back in her seat and tried to decide what to do next.

"Come on Charlie," Rory called. Charlie looked up from her toy for a moment before she turned back to it. "Come on, stubborn girl, let's go," she said as she walked over and picked the baby up.

"Where are you two going?" Lorelai asked as Rory deposited Charlie in her arms.

"Hold her for a minute. I'm packing so we can go out," she said calmly as she went into her room to pack up a few things and grab a sweater. "You need to study and that means she needs to go away," she replied as she left her room and headed to the foyer to shove some of the things into Charlie's bag before slinging it over her shoulder. "Ready Sparky?" she asked Charlie with a smile as she scooped the eager baby up. "We'll bring home dinner," she said, kissing Lorelai on the cheek. "Get smart!" she called as she and Charlie left the house.

Charlie furrowed her brow as Rory walked them past the car and she began to realize that they weren't going for a ride and Lorelai wasn't coming with them. Charlie sighed a little as they continued on their way, but quickly resigned herself to being carted off without her mother.

Rory checked her watch as they walked towards town before pulling out her cell phone and dialling her grandparents number. She asked Emily if they were going to be home for a while and would they mind some company? Emily replied that the wouldn't and Rory smiled, assuring her that they'd be there in about 45 minutes.

"Hi Grandma," Rory said brightly as Emily opened the large wooden door. Rory adjusted Charlie on her hip, keeping her from leaning in to try her luck at hitting the door bell again, as they entered the house.

"Where's the car?" Emily asked as she took the baby from her sister.

"At home," Rory replied. "Hi Grandpa," she said with a smile when she saw Richard sitting in the living room.

"Hello Rory," he said with a smile, folding the news paper before standing and coming over to greet his granddaughters. "What brings you two here today?" he asked as she accepted the baby from Emily. Rory couldn't help but smile as Charlie's attention immediately went to Richards bow tie. She could almost swear she could hear the gears in her sisters head turning as she tried to figure out how to undo the colourful silk.

"Well, I'm here to ask the two of you for something," she said firmly as she headed to one of the couches. "Mom is graduating Thursday, and there's going to be a ceremony and I think it would mean a lot to her if you guys were there. It may not seem like it would, but it's true," Rory finished. She watched her grandparents for a moment.

"Well, if it would mean so much to her then why didn't she invite us herself?" Emily asked, rather put out that Lorelai didn't think she could ask this of them.

"Because she doesn't think you'd want to go," she said as she quickly explained how she had found herself in a similar situation once. She quickly assured them that they didn't have to go if they didn't want to. "But, if you do, here are the tickets," she said, rummaging through Charlie's bag until she found the envelope. "It's Thursday, 7 pm. It's indoors, so weather's not an issue. I'd also really appreciate it if you'd keep this between the four of us." Emily and Richard looked at each other for a moment, the tickets sitting loosely in Emily's hand. "So, what have the two of you been up to this weekend?" Rory asked as she sat back on the couch, a small smile settled over her lips. Emily hesitated for a moment before she called to the maid to bring out some scones and tea and a some what awkward conversation began. Things relaxed, however, after Charlie let out a squeal of triumph after finally undoing Richard's bow tie.

"Well, at least you waited until Charlie was asleep to crack out the margaritas," Rory mused as she picked up a little red book that Lorelai had tossed on the coffee table when she had come home from her final.

"I can be a responsible parent," Lorelai called from the kitchen as she finished blitzing the margaritas. Rory smiled and shook her head as she flopped on to the couch and made herself comfortable. She opened the book and rested her cast against the pages to keep it open. "I am feelin' so good sista, because it's over!" Lorelai announced as she headed to the stereo, adjusting the volume slightly before she came to sit on the coffee table in front of Rory, all the while drinking her margarita through a straw. "No more finals, no more studying, no more school, the pressure's off," she said gleefully and she quickly launched into how much pressure she had been under. Rory finally looked up from the Life Plan book when Lorelai started to describe the pressure she had been feeling on her chest as two giant brothers.

"Mother," Rory corrected after Lorelai had explained about the two giant brothers, Clem and Clem, and their mothers.

"Mothers. There were two Clems."

"Yeah, 'cause they were brothers," Rory said, trying to get through Lorelai's drunken haze.

"Yes, so they had mothers," she replied calmly, not understanding why Rory couldn't figure this out. Rory quickly gave up and went back to the book as Lorelai got up to refill her drink. While Rory contemplated pointing out how quickly she had downed that drink, she decided against it.

"What's this 'Life Plan' book thing?" Rory called, changing to subject. Lorelai called out that it was a gift from the college and after confirming that she had yet to consume too many margaritas, she seated herself on the coffee table once again.

"Okay, here's an interesting question for you. Have you given any thought to how children will work into your future plans?"

"Well, they're not gonna stand in my way, that's for sure. I mean, I plan to have some, of course, but I'm just gonna knock 'em out and, uh, have Nanny catch 'em and care for 'em, make sure Mick Jagger doesn't come anywhere near 'em and then just return 'em to me when they're 21," Lorelai supplied with a satisfied smile, finally releasing her hold on the blender full of margarita's by putting it on the table beside her.

"Well, what about me and Charlie?" Rory asked, closing the Life Plan book.

"While you are my favourite eldest child, Charlie is my favourite youngest child. The two of you get to stay by my side."

"Well, I think I speak for Charlie when I say don't we feel privileged," Rory concluded with a smile as the phone rang. As Rory jumped up to get it, Lorelai called out to her about what to do if Mick Jagger was on the other end. "Hello?" Rory asked, ignoring her mother.

"Hi," Jess replied on the other end, shuffling a little closer to the pay phone, trying to block out the many people walking down the busy New York side walk behind him. "Hello?" he asked when he was greeted with silence. Rory finally collected her wits about her and after making excuses about the music being loud, she ducked into her room, the phone still clutched tightly in her hand.

"Hi," she finally said again after closing the door.

"What's up?" Jess asked, trying to stay casual.

"Nothing. What about you?"

"Same," he replied. The pair fell into silence for a moment. "How's your arm?" he asked.

"It's good, doesn't hurt at all," Rory said quickly. "Lane has taken it upon her self to provide me with a new sticker every time I see her, so it's looking pretty cool right now."

"Good," Jess said.

"What have you been doing?" Rory asked as she sat down on her bed.

"Nothin' much. Just hanging out . . . In the park, mostly," Jess said, shoving his free hand into his pocket to warm it up a little. He glanced over his shoulders to make sure no one was waiting behind him.

"Central Park?"

"Washington Square Park," he corrected with a small smile. "It's cooler. It's where David Lee Roth got busted."

"Right, right. I hope he's got it together now," Rory supplied with a smile of her own. "Jess?" Rory asked after a long moment of silence fell over them.

"I should go," he finally said. "Long distance and all."

"Yeah. Long distance," Rory said sadly.

"So, I'll see ya," he said quickly.

"Yeah, see ya," she replied as they hung up. Rory stared at the phone in her hand for a long moment before she flopped back on the bed, still in the dark, as she tried to figure out what exactly had made him call.

Rory yawned as she climbed off the bus and headed towards Chilton. She hadn't slept well last night after the call from Jess. There had been more that she had wanted to say to him, but he had ended the call. She supposed she could have convinced him to stay on the line, but she hadn't. She met up with Paris as they neared the school and she let her mind drift as Paris told her about her discussion with her advisor.

"So I told her, 'Look missy. . .'."

"You called your advisor Missy?" Rory asked, tuning back in for a moment.

"It was attitudinal," Paris said quickly as she continued on with her story. Rory sighed as she tuned to obnoxious blonde out again, but continued to follow her towards Chilton. As they stepped past the main gate, Rory stopped in her tracks and Paris kept walking, and talking, not realizing that Rory had stopped walking. Rory looked up at the buildings for a moment before she turned on her heel and hurried back the way she had come.

"Are they closed?" Sookie demanded of Lorelai who was currently sitting at the kitchen counter, her hands in her lap and her eyes squeezed shut.

"They're closed," she assured the chef, not even trying to keep the amused smile off of her face. She groped around her waist for a moment before she got a hold of the baby monitor that was clipped there and put it on the table.

"Are you sure?" Sookie asked again, a smile on her face.

"I'm sure," Lorelai assured her one last time.

"Okay, one second," Sookie said her smile growing, as she placed the large cake on the counter in front of Lorelai. "And open, open, open!" she said excitedly.

"Awe, you made me a tassel hat cake!" Lorelai exclaimed when she saw it. She got up from the stool to wrap her arms around Sookie.

"Filled with two pounds of crushed chocolate-covered espresso beans," she added as she hugged back.

"You're evil," Lorelai said as she tried to stop her mouth from watering at the thought of all that caffeine.

"And you're graduating," Sookie said as she gave Lorelai one last squeeze. Lorelai stared at her cake for a moment longer before sticking out a finger to swipe some of the icing before Sookie handed over her graduation pictures.

"Ha, you're stoned," Lorelai snickered when she saw the pictures. Sookie blushed and explained that though she hated it, peer pressure had gotten to her. The smile fell off of Lorelai's face as she noticed how proud Sookie's parents looked, but she didn't have much time to dwell on that thought as Michel came in and her phone rang shortly after.

"Hello?"

"Hey Lor, how you doing?" Chris asked with a smile.

"Christopher," she said, more for Sookie's benefit then her own. "I'm good, I'm excited."

"You should be, it's a big day. How's Charlie?" he asked with a smile.

"She's great," Lorelai said with a smile. "A regular chatter box. I wouldn't be surprised if she starts walking before her birthday."

"Well, maybe I'll get lucky and I'll be around for that."

"Planning a trip?"

"It's not every day your kid has her first birthday," he said as he balanced the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he riffled through some papers.

"That's very true," she agreed with a smile.

"Did you get my present?" he asked as he milled around his office.

"What present?" she asked and Chris quickly explained. "Did a basket come for me?" she asked Michel. He said that one had, but that it was heavy and he had just dropped it. Lorelai rolled her eyes as she left the kitchen. "My crack staff has just informed me of its arrival and I'm going to find it," she told him. "Wow," was all she could say when she saw the monster basket. The pair chatted and joked as she went through the basket. "Ooh, a necklace. And the pearl almost looks real," she said.

"Well, it better look very real, because it is," Christopher said as he sat back in his chair, pleased with himself.

"That's not funny," she said as she continued to stare at the jewelery. She balanced the cell phone between her shoulder and her ear so she could finger the pearl in the necklace.

"This is not a funny gift," he clarified. "I think you're awesome, Lor. With everything you do and raising Rory and Charlie. . . you're superwoman."

"Wow," was all she could get out as she continued to stare at the gift.

"Have a great day. I wish I could be there. Take lots of pictures for me," he said as he stood up again, checking the time and gathering some files.

"Ugh, the camera. I forgot the camera," she said, dropping her head on her shoulders.

"Look in the basket," he told her as he straightened his tie one last time.

"You thought of everything," she said when she pulled out a disposable camera.

"Have a great night."

"Thanks, you too. Bye," she said with another smile as they finally hung up.

"Sookie!" Lorelai called into the phone the day of her graduation.

"What?" Sookie asked as she danced around the kitchen.

"What do I do about Charlie?" she asked as she finished putting on her makeup.

"Gonna need a little more, hon," Sookie said with a chuckle.

"This week has been so crazy that I completely forgot that an 11 month old isn't going to have a blast at this thing," Lorelai said with a sigh as she turned her attention to Charlie who was currently standing in her crib, chewing on the railing.

"You can always bring her along," Sookie said. "She's not that noisy, just load her up with snacks and books and Jackson and I can keep an eye on her."

"I just hate being that person who brings a baby to something that babies shouldn't be brought to," Lorelai lamented as she began to sift through the closet, picking out a dress for Charlie to wear.

"It'll be fine," Sookie assure her. "At the first sign of trouble, I will get up and leave the room with her."

"Fine," Lorelai said. "I'll drop her off on my way to Hartford."

"I'll be on the look out," Sookie assured her. "It'll be fine Honey," she threw in at the last moment before they hung up.

"Okay, let's get you pretty," she said to the baby as she pulled a pink dress out of the closet and tossed it and the phone onto the bed before she headed to the dresser to pick out a shirt and tights. "You have to be super well behaved at this thing," Lorelai said as she quickly changed Charlie's diaper. "I mean it. On better behaviour than you are when we go to Grandma and Grandpa's house," she tacked on as she wrangled the baby into the tights and long sleeved shirt. "And don't feel obligated to stay awake, feel free to fall asleep 5 minutes before things start and wake up 5 minutes after things end," she finished as she did up the snaps on the shoulders of the dress. She quickly clipped her fly away bangs to the side before she grabbed Charlie, her sweater and her shoes before she headed downstairs.

Rory smiled to herself as she finally saw Washington Square Park. She had gotten lost a few times on her way here, but now she was home free.

"Hi," she said to Jess as she came up behind him. She smiled as he jumped a little, but covered it quickly.

"How ya doing?" Jess asked as he shifted on the bench to see her better.

"Good, how about you?"

"Good," he replied with a nod as he dog eared the page he had been reading before shutting the book. "You hungry?"

"Starved," she replied with a smile.

"I know a place," he said as he got up off the bench and hesitated beside Rory for a moment. They shared an awkward moment before they headed off.

Jess and Rory shared a pleasant, upbeat conversation as they headed towards Jess' coveted lunch spot. He laughed as she tried to prove to him that she was urban and fitting into the New York way of life even though this was her first real experience in the city.

"I'm disappointed," Jess smirked when Rory refused to share her withering stare with him. "So, your arm's really okay?" he asked, glancing at her cast.

"Yeah, it looks worse than it is," she said, holding it up and rotating it a little.

"I like this Emily chick," Jess commented as he grabbed a hold of her cast to get a better look at the sticker. "Friend of yours?"

"She's a friend to all of us dispossessed," she said with a smirk of her own.

"So, here's our lunch place," he said as they came to a stop.

"A hot dog stand?" she asked. She was more than a little shocked to see that this was his lunch place.

"Hey, I eat here everyday. It's nothing fancy, but," he said with a shrug.

"No, I love it," Rory said quickly, cutting him off. "It's perfect." Rory offered him a smile that he returned before ordering. Rory asked for the same and they fell into silence for a moment before Jess nervously asked about Luke. An awkward conversation about Luke's fishing trip ensued and was mercifully put out of it's misery when the vendor handed over their hot dogs.

"Oh my God, this is really good!" Rory exclaimed after her first bite. Jess chuckled and told her he was glad she was enjoying it. Upon confirming that she had more than a little time to spend with him, he led her towards the subway, intent on taking her to this great little record shop he knew of.

"Where are you going?" she asked as he ducked into the subway.

"Subway," he replied simply.

"I thought we were gonna walk."

"It's 15 blocks. Come on, I think you'll like it," he said, his smirk reappearing.

"Do they allow hot dogs in the subway?" Rory asked innocently as she moved to join him.

"You are so an out-of-towner," he said with a smile and a shake of his head.

Lorelai rolled her eyes as she stalked back to the gown room. Her mother had hired a camera man. For the life of her, she could not figure out what had been going through her mother's mind. Or her fathers for letting her hire Raul.

Lorelai heaved a final sigh as she approached the rack of gowns yet again and returned to her task of selecting a gown.

"Oh my God!" Rory exclaimed excitedly as she pulled a plastic covered record sleeve out of the rack.

"What?" Jess asked, turning away from the rack he was looking through.

"Look!" she exclaimed again as she raked her eyes over the cover of the record.

"The Go-Go's?" he quizzed her as he came to stand beside her. "You must have that one."

"No, for my mom," Rory exclaimed. "This was her favourite group when she was my age, and it's signed by Belinda. This would be the perfect graduation present. I've been looking for something all week long, and I couldn't find anything and now I have Belinda!" she said with a large smile as she pointed to the record to emphasise her excitement.

"Graduation?" Jess questioned.

"Oh, from college, from business classes," she told him, still not taking her eyes off of her treasure.

"I'm surprised she has time for anything except lighting darts on fire and throwing them at my picture."

"Well, between that and making sure Charlie doesn't get away from her. . ."

"Uh-huh," he replied with a bit of a smirk. "Go on, get it. She'll like it," he assured her with a nod towards the counter.

"Thank you so much for bringing me here. This was fate," she assured him, clutching the record tightly.

"Yes, it was," he said as he kept his eyes on her.

"And in return, I just might show you my withering stare," she said with a smirk of her own and a glance over her shoulder.

"I'm a lucky man," he quipped as he watched Rory bounce up to the counter to pay before he turned his attention back to the records again.

Rory sighed as the bus pulled away from the curb and headed for the highway. While she had told Jess that she had showed up because he had left without saying good bye, she wasn't really sure if she believed that. Her mother had been telling her that maybe she was falling for Jess and she had been denying it.

As the bus continued on it's way to Hartford, the events of the day had begun to sink in. She had cut class and run off to New York to spend the day with a boy that wasn't even her boy friend. She'd had a great time with Jess. They'd had fantastic conversations, good food and a great time in that music store. She'd had more fun with Jess than she'd ever had with Dean. She supposed that was just mostly because there was only so much to do in Stars Hollow and they had done it all, several times, in the three months they had been dating.

She continued trying to wrap her brain around her own actions as she bent down to pull a book from her back pack. She settled the record on her lap, smiling as she glanced down at it one last time before she settled back in her seat and opened her book. She sighed once more, pushing her actions out of her head as she lost herself in her book.

Lorelai cocked an eye brow as she listened to Liza and Zach yell at each other, it was quite a performance and she was welcome for the entertainment to distract her from the butterflies that were starting to appear in her stomach.

"Hey, a bunch of us are going to Shakey's afterwards for a pizza. You wanna come?" Liza asked as she finished looking in the mirror of Lorelai's compact.

"Aw, I'm going out with my kids after, but it sounds like fun," Lorelai said as she accepted the compact back from Liza. Just as Liza was about to reply, Zach came back into the room and began to tell everyone about Emily and her camera man. As Lorelai fought the urge to sink into her chair, she weakly agreed with everything the other students were saying.

"There's our little graduate. Oh my God, look at that gown. You look just like the Statue of Liberty," Sookie exclaimed as she came into the room, Charlie in her arms and Jackson following behind her.

"Ah, all big and stony?" she asked with a smile as she accepted Charlie from Sookie.

"No, you look amazing," Sookie clarified as she straightened Charlie's dress. Lorelai smiled as she shifted the conversation to Jackson and his suit. Sookie soon pointed out that Emily was in the hall, with her camera man and as Lorelai tried to shush her and keep it quiet, Zach bust in to announce that there was now a sound guy to accompany the cameraman. As the insults continued to fly over this development, a florist came in and presented Lorelai with her choice of corsages, quickly blowing her cover.

"So, that's why you didn't want to get pizza, 'cause it's below you?" Liza demanded as she turned on Lorelai, hands on her hips.

"Oh, no, no, no, Liza, pizza is not below me," Lorelai insisted as she shifted Charlie to the other hip and rubbed her back a little. "Believe me, I love pizza, we love pizza. I eat tons of pizza. It's one of my four major food groups: candy, popcorn, and pizza . . . See? It's two of my food groups, that's how much I love pizza!" Lorelai rambled on, trying to diffuse the potential argument that was brewing between her and the rest of her business class.

"I want to believe you," Liza said quietly as she turned on her heel and left the room.

"Enjoy your champagne and caviar at The Ritz, Your Highness," Zach spit out as she rushed out to join Liza.

"I am not rich!" Lorelai called after them as Charlie began to fuss. "It's okay," she muttered to Charlie as she turned her attention back to Sookie and Jackson.

"Come here Pumpkin," Sookie said quietly as she took Charlie from Lorelai, bribing her with a pacifier. Charlie let a bit of a shuddering sigh out as she accepted the pacifier and laid her head on Sookie's shoulder. She understood something was going on, something that she needed to stay with Sookie for. "Maybe we should sit in the back with her, make the sneaking out easier?"

"Probably a wise plan. Oh, can you hang onto all my stuff for me? I don't want to leave it here," Lorelai said, resting a hand on Charlie's back.

"Will do," Jackson said as he accepted her coat and bag on top of the baby bag he was already carrying.

"Thank you," she said as she dropped a kiss on Charlie's head. "Bye," she called after them as they left the room.

"Oh, you don't trust your valuables around us poor kids, huh?" Zach said angrily.

"Knock it off, Zach!" she yelled at him as she turned her back on the whole group and tried to collect herself.

"Hey Kitten," Sookie whispered with a smile as Rory dashed into the auditorium and sat down beside the chef.

"Hey Sookie, Jackson. Hey Charlie," she said, greeting everyone as she pulled her Chilton sweater off and took off her tie, trying to look a little less like she was in her school uniform. Charlie glanced at Rory and simply reached out a hand. Rory held out her hands, offering Charlie the option of moving over to her, but all she wanted was Rory to hold her hand.

"What's that?" Sookie asked, catching sight of the record.

"An original copy of The Go-Go's debut album, signed by Belinda," Rory said proudly.

"The perfect gift," Sookie agreed as she passed it to Jackson so he could have a look at it.

"I've heard of this shop," Jackson said when he saw the store name on the price tag. "When did you find time to go to New York?" Rory paled as she tried to come up with an excuse as Jackson and Sookie both turned to look at her expectantly. As she fumbled for an excuse, the lights dimmed and the ceremony started. Rory let a breath of relief go as she sat back in her chair.

Rory flipped through the program as the ceremony dragged on. When she grew tired of that, she let her mind wander to possible excuses as to how and when she found the time to get to New York. Her first option to avoid all of this, of course, was going to be to take the price tag off of the record and hope Jackson and Sookie didn't spill the beans.

She sighed when she thought about this. While it was plausible that Jackson would bite his tongue about things, Sookie, try as she might, would inevitably slip up at some point. Rory rolled her neck a little as she considered this, but was interrupted when she noticed her grandmother's film crew rush up to catch more shots of her mother.

"John Lawrence Gilfer. . . Lorelai Victoria Gilmore. . . Gretchen Greeman. . . " Rory perked up when she heard her mother's name being called and she clapped furiously as she glowed in pride, a smile nearly splitting her face.

Lorelai paused in front of the flag that was resting on stage. She looked out over the crowd, glancing to where she assumed Sookie, Jackson, Charlie and Rory were before she shifted her glance and found her parents in the crowd. She quirked her mouth into a small smile as she saw the looks of pride on her parents faces. She quickly moved her tassel from one side to the other before she headed off the stage and back to her seat.

"Thank you daddy," Lorelai replied quietly, a little tearfully, as she hugged her father in thanks for the envelope he gave her as a gift for her graduation. They separated and Richard headed off to join Emily. A tight smile graced her face as she watched her parents leave, glad that she had finally done something that had made them proud of her and she hoped that the picture of the three of them would reflect that. Just as she was about to turn and look for the rest of her group, she heard Sookie call out to her.

"Hey, we're so proud of you!" she exclaimed as she threw an arm around Lorelai, Charlie still held in the other arm.

"Yeah, you were great up there," Jackson agreed.

"I'm so proud of my little graduate!" Rory squealed as she rushed up and threw her arms around her mothers neck. Lorelai quickly pulled her eldest tight against her as she hugged her back.

"Well thanks guys," she said with a smile as she and Rory pulled apart. Lorelai still kept an arm thrown over Rory's shoulders while she kept one around Lorelai's waist.

"You wanna go out to eat? Celebrate a little?" Sookie asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes, yes I do. And Rory, because I'm your mother and I love you and I would hate to be embarrassed by you, I stashed a cute little dress for you in the jeep. It's hanging up in the back seat."

"I have never loved you more than I do right now," she said with a smile.

"Meet us back here," she said. "Keys are in my bag." Rory nodded as she took off to liberate the car keys from her mother's purse so she could change. "Hey Baby Girl," she said with a smile as Charlie finally woke up and realised that her mother was within arms reach. Lorelai accepted the sleepy baby from Sookie and held her close.

"Wait a minute. . . Aspirins instead of Jordan Almonds?" Jackson asked. "But we already bought the almonds!"

"Wow. Now that's the longest anything's ever taken," Sookie snickered as Jackson finally remembered the aspirin over almonds joke from a few days ago.

"My family's not gonna get the joke. Can't we just use the almonds?" Jackson begged, not understanding that it was all a joke.

"Okay, sweetie, calm down," Sookie said with a smile as she explained the situation to Jackson. Just as he began to regain his cool, Rory dashed back in to meet up with everyone again.

"Happy?" Rory asked as she and Lorelai, with Charlie in her arms, made their way to the house after getting home from dinner with Sookie and Jackson.

"Very," she said with a smile and a sigh as they entered the house. "Thank you for convincing me to go to the ceremony."

"You're very welcome," she said. "And you really like the record?"

"It's amazing!" she said as she headed up the stairs, Rory trailing behind her. "Where on earth did you find it?"

"Well, in this little record store a friend showed me," she said, keeping things as vague as possible.

"And this record store was in a building? And this friend was breathing?" Lorelai asked with a smile as she laid a sleeping Charlie on the bed before she went looking for a clean diaper and pyjamas for the baby.

"Uh, yeah," Rory said as she handed Lorelai the things she was looking for.

"Where did you find it, Rory? Did you steal it?" Lorelai asked with a chuckle.

"No!" she exclaimed. "I, uh, I found it in New York."

"New York?"

"Jess took me to this little record store and there it was," she said with a shrug as she took a seat on the bed beside her sister. She watched as he mother's hands stopped moving.

"Jess took you to the little record store in New York," Lorelai said slowly after a moment, glancing at Rory as she went back to getting the baby ready for bed. "And when did you meet Jess in New York?" Rory swallowed hard but didn't answer. "Rory?" Lorelai asked again as she finished.

"Today," she answered in a little voice. "I went today. I cut school and got on a bus and went to New York," she finally spilled out.

"You went to New York to see Jess," Lorelai said as she finally moved Charlie from the bed to her crib. Rory nodded, but stayed silent as Lorelai returned to take a seat on the bed beside her eldest.

"Could I have had a stroke? What does a stroke feel like? It had to be a stroke. It made me some one else, and after his phone call last night. . . "

"That was him?" Lorelai asked, vaguely remembering the phone ringing during their celebration.

"It did something to me, I don't know what! If I were to write this down in my diary and I would read it, I would be like Who is this freak? This isn't me. This isn't my diary. I wouldn't do this. . . I wouldn't skip school when I have finals coming up to go and see a guy that isn't even my guy!" she said, ending in a harsh whisper. Her rant may have started to rush out of her, but she still had enough sense not to get too loud.

"Oh my God, take a breath," Lorelai said quickly as she raked her eyes over Rory's face, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. "Nobody wants to say this any less than me, but I. . . maybe you don't have a medical condition or a mental problem."

"Then what? Did I briefly fall into an alternate reality?"

"Maybe, honey, you are falling for Jess," Lorelai finally got out as she pulled Rory close.

"No," Rory said firmly.

"Well. . ."

"I am not falling for Jess," she insisted again. "He's rude and careless and mean and not my type."

"Rory, you've dated one guy, how do you know what your type is?" Lorelai asked. "Look, I hate to say this, but Jess is smart and he reads as much, if not more, than you do and, from what I've heard, he likes the same music and bands as you do. It's not that far fetched." The pair fell into silence for a long moment, each looking everywhere but at each other.

"I can't fall for Jess," Rory finally said quietly.

"And why not?"

"Because he's all the way in New York and he's never coming back."

"Rory," Lorelai started but Rory quickly got up off the bed and rushed downstairs, not wanting to carry on this conversation any longer. Lorelai sat on the bed for a while after Rory left, trying to figure out exactly what this all meant for them now. With a sigh, she heaved herself up off the bed and headed to Charlie's crib. "Don't feel the need to grow up any faster than you already are," she whispered to the baby as she leaned over the rail. Charlie sighed in her sleep and rolled over. Lorelai ran a hand down Charlie's back before she headed to her closet to dig up her own pyjamas.

One more part! W00t!! I'll probably start posting Season 3 a few weeks after 2 is done.