AN: For this chapter, I will be including quite a bit of dialogue from "The Real Paul Anka" as it's necessary for the progression of the story in terms of characterization. I'll be adding some stuff to the dialogue for dramatic effect. Please bear with me through this as there is a point to it. Thanks once again to everyone who's been reading and reviewing. I doubt I'd have had the motivation to keep this going without all of the wonderful encouragement I've been getting.

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Monday morning Luke had the truck packed up and was making a stop at the diner to drop Lorelai off for breakfast and to make one final check on Caesar before departing. It was a good thing too, because Caesar was having a freak out.

"Okay, day six. If your cell dies? Is there a phone in Gettysburg that I can reach you at?" He asked nervously.

"Yeah, the one Grant used to call Lincoln. The number's in the book," Luke replied dryly inciting a giggle form Lorelai.

"Oh, good, he's a funny man today! He's Jerry Lewis," Caesar said with a hint of panic in his voice.

"Caesar, calm down, you're going to do great," Lorelai reassured him. "You're the best cook Luke's ever had. You so make better pancakes than he does."

"True."

"No he doesn't!" Luke said indignantly.

"You just have to be confident," Lorelai said, still trying to encourage him.

"It's just that when I'm working the grill, sometimes I get a locked elbow. And Luke's the only one who knows how to rub it to get it working again," Caesar explained.

"He rubs your elbow?" Lorelai asked with a bemused look on her face aimed at Luke.

"It's like a sports injury, it's okay if it's sports," Luke defended himself, then turned to Caesar and said, "You want to step back about three feet so I can say goodbye to my girl?"

"Fine," Caesar said in a huff and he stepped back and turned around to give them a moment.

Luke took Lorelai in his arms and said,"You gonna miss me?" he asked with a mischievous grin.

"Especially if my elbow hurts," she replied with a smile.

"I'm going to call you a lot."

"Same here."

"You know, I was happy when she asked me but now it just struck me. I'm going to spend ten days with a bus full of teenagers."

"I think you're ready." Lorelai reflected on all the time they'd spent with April lately and realized that he was becoming a lot more comfortable with his new role as a father. She couldn't wait to see him with their children.

They shared a lingering kiss. "Thanks for seeing me off. You take care of yourself while I'm gone and these two," he said as he lightly brushed his hand across her stomach.

"Your pancakes are better, by the way."

"Thanks," he said as he headed to the truck.

Caesar turned around and said with a little more confidence, "Don't worry, Luke, just a momentary panic. I'm going to be fine, I promise."

"Good. Now go back in there and reclaim your turf," Like said pointing to the diner.

"Reclaim my turf?" He looked back into the diner where Kirk is pouring coffee for the customers and acting like he runs the place. "Kirk!" He yelled as he ran back inside.

Luke waved goodbye to Lorelai and got into the truck. She waved back and turned to watch the scene in the diner as Caesar started yelling and snatched the hairnet off Kirk's head and ran away with it.

"That's my favorite hairnet," Kirk yelled and started chasing him.

Lorelai watched as they chased each other around the diner. Her amusement only lasted a moment though as it hit her she wouldn't be seeing Luke for ten days. She placed her hand on her stomach where his had been only a moment ago and already missed the warmth of him being near. She sighed, and said to her unborn children, "Come on, Kids. Let's go get some breakfast." She walked into the diner just as Caesar was chasing Kirk out the door.

"Stay out of here!" He yelled a Kirk's retreating form. "I'm in charge!"

Lorelai couldn't help but laugh and when Caesar walked back in she said, "You sure showed him who's boss."

"Damn straight!"

"So, Boss, can I get some coffee?"

"Sure, decaf."

"Caesar, come on!"

"No! The boss said no coffee for you!"

"But he's not here. You're the boss now!"

"Only until he gets back and I'm not taking the chance that he'll come back here and fire me if he finds out I gave you the real stuff. He's determined that kid of yours is gonna come out healthy and not caffeine-addicted."

"Fine, hit me with the decaf," she said with a sigh. She smiled a little though, knowing that though Luke wasn't there, he was still looking after his children.

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Rory was just about to sit at her desk in the newsroom after her fruit fly conversation with Paris when Logan approached her.

"Hey, Chief," he said awkwardly. "Got a minute?"

"Um, a minute," she replied just as awkwardly.

"I'm a little confused about something," He was confused about a lot of somethings, like why she wouldn't return his phone calls, and why she moved back in with him after their talk only to move out two days later after spending the weekend with her mom.

"How can I help?"She asked tentatively, not really wanting to talk to him, but knowing she'd have to if it was regarding the paper.

"I was working on the piece about textbook prices. You assigned it to me a couple of weeks ago? "

"Uh-huh."

"It wasn't going to earn me my Pulitzer, but I put a lot of work into it and I just checked the server and noticed that a piece on the same topic's been written."

"Yes, it has been," she said noncommittally.

"Our wires get crossed?"

"Nope, "Yes, she thought. I thought we were in a relationship and you didn't.

"Who wrote it?"

"I did," she said smugly.

"Why?"

"It's topical. It affects every student. It's an important story; I wanted to be sure that it would get done."

"It wasn't due for two more days.

"I didn't think you'd meet the deadline," It's not like you're good at keeping promises, she added to herself.

"Based on what?"

"Based on past performance," she said unable to resist one more allusion to the fact that she wasn't going to put up with his philandering ways.

"Past performance is no indication of future performance," he said hoping that she'd get his meaning.

"Wise men call that a sucker's maxim," they both knew they weren't talking about the paper anymore. She couldn't believe that he was standing here in front of her and actually expecting her to trust him again.

"I did a lot of research on this thing. I interviewed textbook publishers, I interviewed authors, I was going to get more quotes from students."

"I know. I used your research. A lot of it came in handy."

"Really?" He said sarcastically.

"The stuff that I could make sense out of."

"Good," he said in an even more sarcastic tone.

"Look, you'll get your byline if that's what this is about."

"You know that's not what this is about!"

"I thought I was doing you a favor!"

"Everyone knew I was assigned that piece and now they know it's been taken away from me,"

"Logan, I'm sorry," she lied. She wasn't a bit sorry. Maybe it was petty, but she'd done it on purpose to humiliate him, just like she'd been humiliated at Honor's wedding. "It's as you said. Our wires got crossed, it happens, let's move on," knowing that he would get what moving on really meant to her.

"Okay. We'll move on." He walked away, but stopped at Paris's desk, holding up the jar of flies. "And what's with this?"

"Keep walking, whitey," Paris said sardonically.

"You let fruit flies in the newsroom?"

"It's not hurting anybody," Rory said defensively.

"It's disgusting."

"I just need five more minutes," Paris said.

"Don't rush, Paris," Rory said glaring at Logan. "The fruit flies are not hurting anybody, and Paris is working on something that I'm waiting on. I would prefer it if she weren't interrupted. "

"Sorry, Paris," he said. "Come on, Ace," he said pleadingly.

"Don't call me that! And don't call me 'Chief' anymore either. I don't want to hear anymore cutesy nicknames from you. My name is Rory, No, wait, scratch that, it's Lorelai to you. Only people that are close to me call me Rory."

"Lorelai? What the hell are you talking about? Nobody ever calls you Lorelai."

"My mother called me Lorelai the day I was born. It's my name, so you better get used to it"

"Fine, Lorelai," he said mockingly as he stormed out of the newsroom.

Rory sat down at her desk and was just about to get back to work when she heard her name again.

"Lorelai, wow, that was a little harsh."

Rory looked up to see her father standing there with a carryout drink tray in his hand. "Great, like there's not enough drama in the newsroom as it is."

"Ouch!" Christopher said. "I feel like I should be wearing a parka and snow boots in here. I guess it's good thing I brought coffee to ward off the iciness." He pulled a to go cup out of its holder and handed it to her.

"What are you doing here, Dad?" Taking the proffered cup from him.

"I just thought I'd come by and see my kid in action. I've never been in a newsroom before and I thought it would be kind of cool to see my daughter, the big editor at work."

"Well, you should have called first. I'm busy."

"So I see," He said, reflecting on the scene he'd just witnessed between her and Logan. "I'm guessing that was about more than just the paper."

"Of course it was about more than the paper," Paris butted in. "That stupid little blueblood Hugh Hefner wannabe broke your daughter's heart."

"I've got this covered, Paris. Thanks."

"Ok, I just wanted to give you this anyway," she said handing her a printout of her article.

"Thanks, so the revolting bugs are leaving the newsroom now?"

"Yep, I'll see you at home, Rory," Paris said as she gathered up her stuff including aforementioned jar of fruit flies and headed out.

"Home?" Christopher questioned. "You're living with Paris again?"

"Yep," Rory said, not offering any further information to her absentee father.

"So you moved out of Logan's place?" Christopher tried again hoping his daughter would bend and give him just a little insight into her life.

"Yep," she said again. She wasn't going to volunteer any information about herself until her father could at least start to show that he had some interest in having it.

"When did that happen?"

"Monday," she stated still not willing to concede.

"Today's Monday," he said.

"Last Monday,"

"Well, at least I got more than a one word answer that time. That's progress," Christopher said trying to make light of a tense situation.

Rory rose from her chair and faced her father. "What the hell do you want from me, Dad? I mean seriously, what do you want?"

"I just want to be a part of my kid's life."

"Then maybe you should start acting like it. You admitted that you didn't really know me, and you said you wanted to change that, but then a week goes by and I don't hear from you, not a phone call, not an email, not even a smoke signal, and then all of a sudden you just show up here unannounced and act like everything's ok and we're just suddenly gonna have this great father-daughter bonding experience. Well, I'm sorry, but it doesn't work that way."

"I'm trying, Rory. What am I supposed to do?"

"Here's a start, when I say 'Let's make a plan to do something next week,' you pick up the phone and we make a plan to do something that week."

"The phone works both ways, Kiddo."

"Not with you, it doesn't. I'm tired of being the one to call you to make plans. I'm tired of having to beg for a little attention from my father. I left the door open for you to make the next move and you never did."

"Sure, I did. I'm here now, aren't I?"

"You always do that! You just show up unexpectedly. You showed up at Luke's and made a scene, then you showed up at the house and put Mom in a very awkward position with Luke."

"We're back to him again," he said in a huff. "If everything you said is true about all the stuff he's done for you, how the hell am I supposed to compete with that?"

"It's not supposed to be about competing with Luke. It's supposed to be about you getting to know me for me, so leave him out of it."

"How can I when you said yourself that he's got that place in your heart that should've been mine?'

"He earned it and that's something you can't ever get back." She looked around the newsroom at all the faces staring at her and realized this wasn't the place or time for this. She took and deep breath to calm herself and said, "Look, Dad, I can't do this. Not here, Not now. If you really want to spend time with me, call me later and we'll make a plan to do something together. Right now, I have a paper to get out and I need to focus."

"Fine, I'll just get out of your hair then. Enjoy the coffee," He said and like Logan before him stormed out of the room.

Rory turned to the newsroom and all the staffers that were staring at her. "Hey, people! Get back to work! The paper's not gonna put itself out.

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That evening after Christopher had sent the nanny home and put Gigi to bed, he picked up the mail that had arrived that day and started thumbing through it until he came across a thick white envelope with a Stars Hollow postmark on it. He dropped all the other mail and ripped the envelope open, knowing what was inside. He felt a twinge of pain as he read:

Lorelai Victoria Gilmore

and

Lucas William Danes

Request the honor of your presence

as they celebrate their marriage

He dropped the invitation on the floor unable to read anymore.

TBC