Early the next morning, Lorelai woke Rory up. "Hey, baby," she whispered, brushing a few strands of hair away from her face.

"Mommy?" she asked, eyes blinking in the dim morning light.

"Want to go on a road trip?" she asked, trying to sound upbeat to mask the sadness she felt.

"What's a road trip?" Rory mumbled, struggling to sit up with her mother perched on the bed, holding down the edge of the blanket and impeding her mobility.

"We get in the car, put on some music, and drive. See where the roads take us. It'll be an adventure!"

"Okay," Rory said, her eyes starting to light up with excitement. "Can we listen to New Kids on the Block?"

Lorelai winced inwardly but covered it up in another bright smile. "Sure, kid. Now let's pack a bag."

While Rory was stuffing as many books into her bag as possible, Lorelai picked up the phone in the living room, taking it down to the kitchen in order to prevent Rory from overhearing.

"Independence Inn, Mia Holloway speaking."

"Mia, it's Lorelai," she said quietly.

"Lorelai? Hello. Aren't you off today?"

"Yeah. About that." Lorelai cleared her throat, still trying to speak quietly. "We're going on an impromptu family vacation. Do you mind if I take the rest of the week off?"

"Oh! Well," Mia replied, sounding shocked.

"I'm so sorry for the late notice, but we just thought of it last night."

"Well, I think we can do without you for a week," Mia replied. "Next time, try to give me a bit more notice, okay?"

"Oh, thank you, Mia!" Lorelai said, relieved. "Rory will be so excited. Thank you!"

"Have a wonderful trip, dear."

Lorelai hung up the phone and looked around the house. She didn't know when she would be back, but she knew she couldn't stay.

On the second listen to Rory's New Kids on the Block tape, the easy chit chat between mother and daughter hit a lull. Lorelai felt lighter than she'd felt in days. Weeks. Months. It had been much too long since she'd felt this free. She reveled in the feeling, with the highway flying under their feet and the exit signs whizzing past. She had no idea where they were going, but it felt wonderful. She and Rory, once again, fleeing the scene. This time, however, her heart felt heavy at what she was leaving behind.

"Did you and Luke have a fight?" Rory asked suddenly.

Lorelai looked over, and her jaw dropped. "What makes you say that?"

"He wasn't home this morning or last night," she replied matter-of-factly.

Lorelai gripped the steering wheel tightly. "We had a disagreement, yes," she replied.

"Are you going to break up?" Rory asked, suddenly sounding small.

"Oh honey," Lorelai said, trying to put on a brave face. "Don't worry about it, okay? I'm sure everything will be fine. We just needed to spend a few days apart, get ours heads back together."

"Okay," she said, slightly mollified. They neared a McDonald's sign, and Rory pointed to it. "Does this mean we can have Happy Meals?" she asked, and with a grin, Lorelai switched lanes, veering toward the fast food restaurant.

As they sat in the molded plastic seats with their veritable feast spread between them, Rory dipped a french fry into the ketchup and said, "Why don't I call Luke 'dad'?" Lorelai froze, mid-slurp from her cup.

"What?" she choked, trying to swallow around her shock.

"I know he's not my real dad, you know, the one that made me with you," she said, sounding more like a college professor than a five year old.

"Made you?" Lorelai repeated, eyes wide. "Honey, we have not had the birds and bees talk yet. Where is this coming from? How do you know this?"

She shrugged, still looking down at her food, a slight blush tinging her cheeks. "I found a book in the library. I got curious."

"Right. Well, you've met your other dad, once," Lorelai said, setting down the cup. She clasped her hands in front of her, never having guessed she would be having this talk in a McDonalds, of all places.

"I did?" Rory said, finally looking up to meet her mother's eyes.

"Yes, when you were two years old. We went to Grandma and Grandpa Gilmore's Christmas party that year and he introduced himself. He'd had a little bit too much to drink so I didn't let him talk to you too long. He's been out of the state since then, as far as I know."

Rory nodded, dragging another fry through the ketchup in circles. "So, why don't I call Luke 'dad'?"

Lorelai sighed, pressing her hands together while she tried to think of an answer. "No real reason," she finally said. "I met him when I moved to Stars Hollow, and we got to know him as Luke, and after we got married it just never changed." She shrugged. "According to the law, you are his daughter, though."

Rory wrinkled her nose. "What does that mean?"

"It means that if I'm not around or if no one can reach me, Luke can make important decisions regarding you. Like, if he had to take you to the hospital or something. He's your dad in every way except he didn't, uh, help make you." Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "How much detail did this book go into, anyway?"

Rory ignored the question. "So why haven't you and Luke made more babies?"

"Uhhh," Lorelai gawked, thankful she hadn't started eating again.

"That's how it works, right?" she said. "A grown up man and a grown up woman can make a baby together."

"Yes," Lorelai replied, hesitating. She needed to get her hands on that book, stat, and find out what she was dealing with.

"So, why haven't you? Is that the reason we're going on this road trip? Luke didn't want to make a baby?"

"Oh my god," Lorelai groaned, letting her head fall into her hands.

"Because it would be really cool to have a brother or a sister, but I'd rather have Luke if we have to choose."

Lorelai looked up, and her heart broke at the expression on Rory's face. "Hon," she said softly, "we're not going to have to choose, okay? Luke and I needed to take a few days apart, like I said, to figure some stuff out. I can't promise you that everything is going to go back to the way that it was, but Luke cares very much about you and I know that he'll always make a place for you in his life, no matter what. Okay?"

"Okay, Mom," Rory replied, her voice hardly above a whisper.

"Now, this delicious, not-Luke-approved feast is getting cold, so let's dig in before we press on to our accommodations for the evening, shall we?"

"Hello?" Luke called, walking inside the house. He hadn't noticed Lorelai's car in the driveway, nor heard from her since the day before when she'd locked herself into the downstairs bathroom after their argument. He felt bad about hurting her. He hadn't planned on ever telling her the reason that he'd proposed to her, that aside from helping out a young, single mother, he'd be removing himself from the rat race of love. "Lorelai?" He peeked inside Rory's bedroom. "Rory?" He started to panic. He ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and went into the bathroom. He knew if Lorelai had left she would have taken a few certain things with her, and when he opened the medicine cabinet his worst fears were realized. She had taken all of her moisturizers and potions, along with her favorite cosmetics. He dashed to the closet, and pawed through the mess on the floor, and was unable to find her suitcase.

He stood in the center of the room, hands running through his hair, his cap long fallen off in his rush up to their bedroom. While he stood there, desperately trying to think of what to do, he saw a gleam out of the corner of his eye. Both of Lorelai's rings, resting on a sheet of folded paper. "No," he murmured. He brushed the rings aside and picked up the paper with trembling hands.

Luke, it read. When you gave me these I made a vow for better or for worse. And I fully intended to keep those vows, maybe forever. But when your dad was sick, he made me promise something else. That I wouldn't let myself get lost. Maybe he knew how things would go. How you would be. You've changed. So this is me, not letting myself get lost. If you decide that you'd rather not be married anymore, well, then. I will respect that. But I can't just be happy with half of you anymore. I'm planning to call Mia and let her know that Rory and I are safe. Lorelai.

"Shit," he muttered. He ran back downstairs, still clutching the note in his hand. He picked up the phone and dialed Mia's home number.

"Hello?"

"Mia, it's Luke. Have you heard from Lorelai?"

"Not since this morning… what's going on?"

"She left," he said, and the piercing truth made a direct hit into his gut.

"Left?" Mia repeated. "I thought you all went on vacation together."

"No, she left me," he said, and he felt himself becoming dizzy. He sank down on one of the kitchen chairs, dropping his head between his elbows, the phone in one hand and the note in the other.

"Left you? No, Lucas, you can't be serious."

"I'm serious," he said. "She left. There was a note and she took Rory and they left."

"Why on earth would she do that?" Mia wondered aloud.

"I may have… said some… things…" he admitted, cringing.

"Oh, Lucas," Mia chastised.

"In the note," he said, trying to think, "she said that she would contact you, let you know that they were safe. I need to know where she is."

"I'll try, but she may not want to tell me," Mia replied honestly.

"I know, but, I need to find her," he insisted, the desperation clear in his voice. He wasn't even sure why. Why he desperately needed her to come back home. As he hung up the phone, he felt a sickening churning in his stomach, like there was a hole that couldn't be filled. He should have known. After the things he'd said the night before, he couldn't blame her for leaving. He'd practically asked her to. He slumped to the floor, still holding the phone, hating himself.