Lauren was watching the birds swim on the water. There was a mother duck and her six ducklings going in circles around the lake. She felt envious of how simple ducks lives are. They didn't have to deal with fitting in and getting along with a family that until last week, didn't care if she existed.

"Lauren?" Came a voice from behind her.

"I really don't want to talk to anyone. Can you please leave me alone?" Lauren asked as she focused on looking at the ducks.

"That's okay. We don't have to talk. Lorelai never talked to me when she was growing up. I just became really good at keeping people company," Emily sat down beside Lauren. Lauren then realized that the voice came from someone who wasn't sitting at the dinner table.

"Hi, I'm Lauren," Lauren introduced herself and stuck out her hand. Emily smiled at the gesture; so polite and graceful, never like Lorelai to behave like that towards strangers.

"I'm your great grandmother, Emily Gilmore. But you can just call me grandma." Emily replied as she took in Lauren's features. There was no doubt that she was Rory and Dean's daughter.

"So do you want to talk about what happened at dinner? All they told me was that someone messed up and that you came outside."

"Can you put Sophie to bed tonight? I really need to talk to dean and to do that, I need to not be worrying about Sophie," Rory asked Honor as they watched Emily sit down next to Lauren.

"Of course. That is the least I can do for you guys," Honor replied as she hugged Rory.

"Thanks. It looks like grandma is making progress," Rory observed, "I'm going to go and see if Dean is willing to talk to me," Rory gave Honor a quick kiss on the cheek before she left the room.

Rory found Dean on the front walk talking on the phone. As she approached him, she could tell that it was the end of the conversation.

"Thanks for all your help. Please don't hesitate to call when you have further instruction on how to proceed. I owe you one for this. Thanks again Jamie. Okay, I will. Bye."

"I brought you a beer," Rory handed Dean a beer as she sat next to him.

"Thanks."

"So, who's Jamie?"

"Lindsay is filing for divorce. Jamie is my lawyer."

"Oh Dean. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Ya, well it's not your fault."

"If we didn't have the affair, you would still be married."

"If we didn't have the affair, we wouldn't have Lauren."

"Well that's true," Rory looked to Dean, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Chilton."

"It's oka-"

"No it's not. We are supposed to be coparenting. I'm sorry I made the decision with out you. I just saw the reviews that Westmonte had and I just wanted to fix her life. I wanted to make up for the last sixteen years. I rushed into it, and I'm sorry. She doesn't have to go if you don't want her to."

"I want to fix everything too. But we need to fix it together. I need to be a part of the decisions, whether it be what school she goes to or what punishment she will receive if she gets in trouble. If Lauren's okay with Chilton, so am I."

"So what about Lindsay?"

"What do you mean?"

"What is her involvement in your life? What are we going to tell Lauren? Because I know she is smart enough that she is eventually going to figure it out."

"Let's cross that bridge when we get to it." Dean replied as he finished off his beer.

"I completely understand why you got upset," Emily stated once she heard the entire story, "one of the first times I was called ms gilmore, I was really caught off guard. It was like they were not validating that I had a different family other than the Gilmores before I married Richard. Do you want to hear a story about your mother?"

"Okay."

"When your mother was growing up, your grandmother separated us from her. We were never able to celebrate birthdays and holidays with her. When she was accepted to Chilton, Rory was over the moon. One issue; tuition was a fortune. So, your grandmother came to me and asked me for the money. I was happy to give her the money with one condition."

"What was the condition?"

"That they come to Friday night dinner and allow us to be apart of their lives. And it has been like that every Friday since," Emily said, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I understand why you are upset about being called a Hayden, but what's wrong with going to Chilton?"

"Ever since I started being in this family, I gave up my previous life. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to do so, but school is different; It always has been. It's the only ties I have left to my friends. They have been there for me throughout everything. They helped me when my mom died. One of them is even responsible for telling the teacher to keep a close eye on me which led the teacher to report my are the only happiness I have in my life."

"First off, you have always been a part of this family. Second, just because you move schools doesn't mean that your friendships are over. When Rory moved to Chilton, she left her best friend at Stars Hollow High. Granted, in the beginning it wasn't easy, but eventually they were able to adapt and to this day, they are still great friends," Emily explained to Lauren.

"Their not just my friends; their family."

"Can I say something? Something you may not want to hear?"

"I've already heard plenty of things I didn't want to hear tonight."

"I'll take that as a yes. Your friends are always going to be there. This school isn't. Chilton has to be bigger than the friendships you have made over the years. It has to be more important. I'm not going to try and push you to go to the school because I know that the rest of the family is going to the minute you step into the house. What I am going to say is that this school is a once in a lifetime opportunity and if you turn it down, you may regret it later in life. I'm going to go inside now and say hello to the rest of the family. Come in when you're ready," Emily proceeded to get up off the dock and walk back to the house.

That night, everyone was fast asleep in their beds. Logan was dreaming about going on a cruise when he rolled over and his foot touched something wet. Logan woke up to find that Rory was fast asleep and she was bleeding.

"Rory, wake up. Something's wrong," Rory didn't move.

"Rory, can you hear me? Wake up!" Logan yelled. Rory didn't move.

Lorelai woke up to use the bathroom, and as she passed rory and Logan's room, she heard Logan yell.

"What's going on?" Lorelai went into the room suddenly as she heard her son in law panicked to wake up her daughter. Logan acknowledged lorelai's presence as he grabbed his phone from the bedside table and dialed 911.

"911 what's your emergency?"

Next Chapter, the hospital and figuring out what is wrong with Rory…Pleas Review :)