Author's Note: PLEASE READ FIRST! I forgot to include a warning at the beginning of last chapter for Katherine's confession story, so really sorry I threw that at you. This chapter also has some tough stuff that happens. I promise it does ends on a lighter note, I made sure of it. Hope you continue to enjoy this story even though it is very sad.

Chapter 21

As soon as Lorelai had gotten out to her car, she called Celia right away to inform her Katherine had finally shared with her what had happened, confirming their suspensions. Celia wasn't sure whether to be relieved or heartbroken. It was great they had the truth, but at the same time, what this mother and daughter was going through and why.

Celia told Lorelai, she would have to get back to her in a few days. For one, it was a Friday, and two, Celia would have to discuss where to go from here with Jerry. They were going to have to cancel the visits between Jaiden and her grandfather, which was a relief in of itself. They weren't even sure to call him, her grandfather. It was also during the talk, Lorelai realized Katherine hadn't mentioned if Jaiden even knew her grandfather was actually her father. Whether or not she did, Celia was going to have to tell Jaiden.

It was more than a week before Celia got back to Lorelai. In the meantime, Lorelai had gone back to see how Katherine was doing, only to be rejected this time. Both her and Jeff tried knocking on her door. Lorelai even tried reasoning with her.

"I promise I'm not here to talk about Jaiden. I just want to make sure how you are doing, Kath," she called through the door.

Nothing. Eventually, they had to give up for now. Lorelai made sure to let Katherine know the hospital staff had her phone number, and Katherine could call anytime she needed. Lorelai gave her a minute to respond before having to leave. A few days later, she called the hospital to see how Katherine was doing. The air turned cold and thick when the woman on the other line broke the news. Somehow, Katherine had gotten a hold of some extra medication she wasn't supposed to have and overdosed. The whole place was closely monitored so it was staggering how Katherine was able to accomplish such a task before somebody getting there on time.

Lorelai couldn't help feel the guilt as though it was somehow her fault. She had been at the inn, in her office when Lorelai had called.

Sookie came in at that point already discussing the menu of that evening's meal. When she noticed Lorelai was holding her face in her hands, leaning forward on the desk, Sookie stopped mid-sentence. "Lorelai? What's wrong, hun?"

Lorelai lifted her head, revealing tears soaking her face. She sniffed in first. "Jaiden's mother overdosed last night."

"Oh no. Honey, I'm so sorry."

She shrugged. "I don't understand. I thought everything was fine. It didn't seem like I was forcing her to tell me what happened. She just started talking and before I knew it, the words were spilling out. I told her I would help her, Sookie, but she just shut me out."

"This wasn't your fault. You mustn't blame yourself," Sookie tried to assure Lorelai. "If Jaiden's mother felt she could no longer keep going then she was already too far gone."

"But I could have done something. I should have done something. I didn't even see this coming. Why didn't I see this coming?!" The tears were now starting to pour.

"We don't always see what's on the inside, and what they're dealing with," Sookie shrugged. "They push it down deep inside and put up these walls, and pretend like everything's fine when it's really not. It's sad and heartbreaking, but that is their choice. To them, it seems like the only choice." Reaching over, Sookie pulled out a couple Kleenexes from their box to hand out towards Lorelai. "You did the best you could."

Lorelai took the Kleenexes, using them to blow her nose. "It doesn't feel like I did, Sook. I feel like I could have done more."

"You still have Jaiden. There's still hope with her."

She threw the Kleenexes into the wastebasket beside her desk. That right there made Lorelai want Jaiden back even more. She didn't even want to think about how the little girl was going to take the news about her mother. And now, there was an urgency to help Jaiden. They couldn't let go through the same thing sad end. Jaiden had to be different.

"I'm really sorry, hun," she heard Sookie tell her.

They had to get Jaiden back. In Lorelai's mind, it may as well have been Howard who gave Katherine those pills. That horrible man was not getting away with all of the damage he had caused these girls.

Luke was already out for murder when he first learned the truth. When Lorelai told him about Katherine, it had sent him over the top.

"I swear, if I ever get my hands on that bastard." He began pacing around the room. "They will never be able to identify the body. I will make sure of it."

"Luke, you are not going to kill him," Lorelai brought him back to reality.

He stopped pacing to ask, "Why not?"

"Because, regardless of the reason, it's still a felony," she told him.

Luke let out a tired sigh. He sometimes hated when Lorelai was right. Stress was greatly filling his plate at the moment. It was the beginning of summer break so that meant April was going to be coming back, in a few days. They had been hoping to have Jaiden back by now, but it was only a fantasy. It was bad enough he had to have a conversation with Anna, April's mother, who wanted to keep April this summer, pointing out how many summers they had left before April graduated and would be moving on to college. Luke had agreed to that, but reminded Anna about her having her first twelve summers, and it was only fair he'd have the last five or six summers. Then came the other reason why. Anna told him, she didn't like April had gotten to know Jaiden before the adoption was even final, pulling the same crap she had pulled about April getting to know Lorelai while they were still dating, and felt April shouldn't be exposed to what they were dealing with either. Thankfully, this time, Luke had jurisdiction. If anything, he needed as much of his girls around to keep him sane through this whole process. And if April wanted to come back over the summer, she was more than welcome to. Thankfully, she took her dad's side, not caring if he and Lorelai were in a mess. April just wanted to see her baby sister again.

By the time April had finally returned, Celia had finally gotten back to Lorelai.

"How did everything go? Is he behind bars yet?" Lorelai couldn't help blurt out.

"Unfortunately not yet," Celia replied. "We did make sure to confirm Katherine's confession by getting a cheek swab from all three."

"And?" Lorelai couldn't help feel anxious.

"After a tough battle from both Howard and Jaiden… For separate reasons of course," she quickly added.

"What do you mean?"

"With Howard, we ended up having to get in touch with Jaiden's judge who is in charge of her case plan, so we could get a DNA test. As soon as he could, he got his lawyer involved, and apparently wants to sue CPS for all the trouble we're causing his family."

Lorelai scoffed. "You're the one causing your family, trouble, buddy." She used buddy, very loosely.

Celia agreed. "Thankfully, we did get it. He was arrested but of course Howard made bail. At least for now until we go to court and the judge makes the final decision. With Jaiden, however, it took several people to hold her down and get the swab inside her cheek to scrape it."

"How's Jaiden doing otherwise? Is she still giving everyone a hard time?"

"The swabbing didn't help matters, I'll say that," she explained, sadly. "Jaiden won't let anybody near her. Now, if anyone gets within a few feet of her, she'll lash out. She's eating even less than she was, she won't participate in any of the games or school."

Lorelai felt a lump rise in her throat and her eyes water. It seemed like they were losing Jaiden, too and that wasn't going to happen. Not if Lorelai could help it.

Celia broke into her thoughts. "I do have a theory I would like to try out, though, but I need to borrow Luke to test it out."

"What kind of theory?"

"Even though she's shutting everyone else out, Jaiden is still singing that lullaby. And, when I went to visit her, the last time, to let Jaiden know the visits with her grandfather would be over and told her, her mother had confessed… Actually, I told her, you had been talking to her mother, and when I had mentioned what you had been doing in the background, and how you and Luke still want to adopt her, I saw her eyes move up towards me, and I swear this, too. There was a slight hint of hope."

"So, what do you want Luke to do?" Lorelai asked, relief washing over her that there was indeed a chance with Jaiden.

"I want him, and you if you would like, to come with me the next time I go to see her. I'd like to see her reaction if she were to see you again. Because once the others who tried to adopt her left, she never saw them again," Celia explained. "Do you think Luke would be willing to do it?"

Lorelai smiled a huge smile. "Are you kidding? You wouldn't even have to ask him twice. That man has been so miserable since Jaiden left a month ago. I had to make him take some time off from work. He couldn't even find the interest to go fishing."

"That would be so great if he did," she replied, cheerfully.

"When would you like us to come with you?"

"Lately, I've had to see her at least once a week, usually Thursday afternoons. Would you both be available then?"

"If not, we will clear our schedules."

"Thanks, Lorelai," she thanked her.

"What happens if Jaiden responds positively towards us? Will she be able to come back home?"

"I'll have to talk it over with Jerry, but yes, if she does respond to you, I will fight tooth and nail to get her back with you."

Lorelai dropped her head back. "Celia, you don't know how much that means to hear you say that. Things haven't been the same without that kid. I've barely even wanted to eat myself, and if anyone who knows me, knows it's catastrophic when I turn down food." She heard Celia laugh at that.

"Well, I have to let you go. I am walking into the court building for another one of my kids. I'll call you Thursday morning to give you directions to the group home facility."

"No problem. Bye." After exchanging closings, the ladies ended the call. Her spirits were finally lifted that they would finally be seeing their little Jaiden again. So excited, she didn't even let Michel's whining of whatever had pissed him off, get her down. She immediately called Luke to tell him, not wanting to wait until later.

Luke was pretty much speechless.

"Luke? Luke? Oh, Luke. Luke?"

"I-I-I… This is so great." He too was so thrilled that he ended up giving everyone in the diner a round of coffee, on the house. He even gave Kirk a free piece of pie to make up for almost murdering him the other day.

Since April was in high school now, during the summer when she would stay with them, Luke would let her work there to earn some extra cash to save for a car. She had asked him what was the sudden change of mood.

"We're gonna go see Jaiden on Thursday," he told her.

April gasped in happiness. "Can I come too?"

"We'll have to ask her caseworker if it's alright. If it is, then yes, of course," he assured.

April then joined in with his excitement.

Thursday couldn't have come any faster. When Celia called to give her the directions, Lorelai asked if it would be alright if April came along.

"Did Jaiden get along with April at all?"

"Yeah," she relied. "As a matter of fact, Jaiden was upset when our girls had to leave at the end of their spring break."

"Then yes, she can definitely come."

Around one in the afternoon, Lorelai pulled up in front of the diner, honking her horn repeatedly to get their attention. Luke knew to have coffee and lunch with him when he opened the passenger door. Letting April climb into the backseat first, he slid in, having Lorelai hold everything. He took everything back except for her coffee. That, of course, she kept.

While Lorelai drove, Luke passed out lunch to the girls. It was amazing watching Lorelai drive, eat, and drink coffee all at once as if she were a pro at it.

"I brought chicken fingers and onion rings in case Jaiden was hungry," Luke said as he rolled up the paper bag with his diner's logo on the front and set it on the floor at his feet. "I would have brought milk, but there would be no way of keeping it cold, and putting ice in milk is a terrible idea."

"Milk isn't even that good for you anyway," April inputted from the backseat. "I mean, sure, it gives you calcium, but if you don't drink the right kind, it's basically full of fat."

"Well, Jaiden seems to like the fat-free milk, anyway," he replied, twisting around briefly to glance back at his daughter.

"Unless it's mixed with cereal or going in coffee, there's really no reason to drink milk," Lorelai pointed out which reminded Luke, he was so glad both April and Jaiden were on his side when it came to food and beverages.

It wasn't that long of a drive to Lichfield, and soon, Lorelai was pulling into the designated parking area, beside where Celia was parked.

"Hey, guys," she greeted once Lorelai parked and everyone had gotten out. "Find the place alright?"

"No thanks to Luke," Lorelai teased, smirking over at her husband.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault. Those directions you printed out were the ones that were lousy," he protested.

"Yeah, sure, blame Google," she told him, lightly crossing her arms in front of her.

"Well, the important thing is, you're here," Celia assured them, breaking things up. She then led them inside, explaining she hadn't mentioned them coming to Jaiden, wanting a blind reaction. Both Luke and Lorelai listened as they peered around at their surroundings.

The place looked almost like a school campus complete with dorms. There was a building with mostly windows with a sign that read it was a cafeteria. Celia had already explained to Lorelai over the phone, it was a thirty-two bed facility that had doctors, therapists, and trained staff right there on campus, 24-7. Plus a cafeteria and even a gym where the kids could play sports. There was a playground on the other side that they couldn't see but could hear the laughter and excited screams of the kids who were outside playing.

Celia led them inside the main office area where she introduced them to the facility supervisor in charge of all operations. "Felicia, this is Luke, Lorelai, and April."

Felicia shook each of their hands, including April's. "I hope this theory of yours works," she told Celia, afterwards. "We're about at the point, all of the other kids are afraid of her."

"How's she doing?" she asked.

"She hasn't eaten at all today, and she didn't eat dinner, last night, either. She had took to hiding under her bed and my staff have been trying to get her to come out," Felicia explained.

Luke held up the paper bag he had brought in with him. "I brought her something to eat if we're able to get her to come out."

She shrugged, "Let us hope so." The woman looked tired, complete with bags under her eyes. There was no doubt Jaiden had been giving everyone a hard time, remembering how tired he and Lorelai were, waking up with Jaiden, every single night.

Felicia led the group back outside and to one of the dorms. As soon as she opened the door, the familiar screams of the kid echoed from down the hall where a couple of staff were standing outside an open doorway.

Luke immediately passed the bag of food to April before sprinting inside. The second he got close, one of the staff stepped in front of him, raising a hand towards the guy.

"You can't go in there, sir."

"The hell I can. Move, that's my little girl in there." He informed them, firmly.

They still tried to refuse until Celia ordered them to let Luke inside which Felicia gave the say with a slight head nod. Stepping to the side, the staff member let Luke inside, telling the other staff member who was in there trying to restrain Jaiden, to let Luke take over.

Luke immediately pinned his arms around the little girl, who tried to break free during the transition but was able to keep a firm grasp on her. He wrapped his arm around Jaiden's forehead so she couldn't headbutt him. Now that Luke had a firm hold on her, he began singing in her ear.

Jaiden continued to squirm, probably not realizing who had taken a hold of her. Tears were soaking her face as she cried out. As Luke sang, though, Jaiden slowly started to cease. He sang the song five times before she had completely settled down and saw her eyes slowly open. Jaiden then lifted her head and her gaze met his.

Things were silent. Nobody said a word as both Luke and Jaiden stared at each other for a long time, just like the first time he had to restrain her. Only this time, Jaiden didn't try to break loose.

Lorelai and the others had joined in the doorway, watching and waiting. Sometime during the silence, she had grabbed onto April's hand, giving it a firm but gentle squeeze, waiting and hoping, who squeezed it right back just the same.

Finally, after a while, to everyone's surprised relief, it was Jaiden who broke the silence.

"Lu...Luke?"

He smiled. "Hey, sweetie. Miss me?"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Jaiden ambushed him, throwing her arms around his neck. Luke was taken off guard. It quickly wore off and wrapped his own arms around her, feeling her small form tense up, but did not let go.

Feeling her foot step forward, Lorelai headed inside the room, heading over to the other side of the room where they were. She kneeled behind where Luke was kneeled.

"Hey, sweetheart."

Jaiden opened her eyes, meeting them with hers. They were then filled with grief and Lorelai heard her say, "I'm sorry," from Luke's shoulder when she couldn't hold them any longer at her.

"About what, sweetie?" she asked, slightly tilting her head.

Luke gently nudged the little girl off of his shoulder to look at her when there some hesitance. "It's okay, sweetie. Say whatever's on your mind."

"Remember, I said you do have a voice, sweetheart," Lorelai reminded Jaiden as well.

Jaiden stared towards the floor. After a moment, she lifted her gaze towards Lorelai again. "I don't hate you," she shook her head, timidly.

"Oh, sweetie, I know you don't." Lorelai gave her a reassuring smile. The next thing they knew, Jaiden was leaping over Luke and tackled Lorelai, grabbing onto the woman's neck. Lorelai had to catch herself on her right hand.

Luke turned around, sitting back on his leg once more as he watched it happened. While hugging Lorelai, he noticed Jaiden's head lift. Luke looked in the same direction where April was still standing in the doorway, and motioned with his head for her to come over. The teen headed over to them.

"Hey, sis," she told Jaiden, kneeling on Lorelai's other side, setting the bag on the floor beside her. "I missed ya." April smiled for the younger girl. "I still have the drawing you made me hanging up in my bedroom at my mom's."

Jaiden still had her head on Lorelai's shoulder, so neither her or Luke could see her face. Glancing back at the doorway, Luke noticed Celia had vanished. Felicia held her hand to her ear in the shape of a phone, letting him know she had stepped out to make a phone call.

At that point, Jaiden lifted her head. She stared up at Lorelai with a pitiful look. "Come home?"

Lorelai exchanged a quick look with Luke before turning back to her. "You want to come home with us, sweetheart?"

Jaiden nodded with timidness, still.

"As soon as we get the say, yes, you are coming home with us. I think Paul Anka misses you more than we do." Lorelai snickered at that, lightheartedly.

"Miss him, too," she replied.

"Can you do us a favor in the meantime?"

Jaiden hesitated before nodding.

"Can you try to eat for us, and not give everyone here, a hard time?"

There was some more hesitance. "I-I'll try." She then hugged Lorelai one more time.

Celia returned, getting Luke's attention once more, and held a thumb's up out towards him, nodding her head with a big smile. It made him perk up upon seeing it grabbing both Lorelai and April's attention, who twisted around to look at her, as well. Celia did the same thing again.

Jaiden had looked up at her caseworker, too.

"It looks like that's a yes, sweetheart," Lorelai told her and felt Jaiden's hold, tighten.

There was a glimmer of light in the darkness, after all. The journey was far from over, but at least they were getting their little Jaiden back home where she belonged. Lorelai still wished they could have helped her mother, but at least they could save her.