Camille saw Lorelai in the distance sitting on the park bench. "Over here, Zeke." She guided her husband. She watched as Lorelai stood up, and called the children over to her. Camille then saw two little kids run from the playground over to where Lorelai was standing.

By this time, they were close enough that Camille could see both children reach for their mother's hands. Lorelai had a smile on her face, and was looking down at one of the children.

And Camille saw him. And she stopped walking, a few feet away from her grandson. Putting her hand over her chest, she had to take a deep breath and calm herself while she looked at the little boy for the first time in almost ten years. His hair was so curly, just like Luke's had been. And he held onto his mother's hand, not cowering behind her, but not standing right out. And Camille knew she would need to take her time so she didn't scare the boy.

Zeke stood back and let her take the lead, something she had asked him to do earlier. Only because Zeke was so tall and could come across very strong and gruff. As could Luke.

So she took a step forward, looking at Lorelai for confirmation that Jess was doing ok. And Lorelai smiled, then got down to Jess' level and said, "Jess, this is Camille, your grandmother."

His brown eyes met hers, and she could have melted right then and there with happiness. He looked confused, and then looked at his mother.

"It's ok, Jess. I'm right here." Lorelai whispered, and Camille knew right then that Jess must have been afraid to meet them. Which was understandable, but that made it Camille's job to make him comfortable.

Then Camille watched as he extended his hand for a handshake. And he smiled just a little, and said, "I'm Jess."

A smile came to her face as her hand met his, small but strong. And she shook it gently and said, "You can call me Grandma if you like?"

His little chin nodded, and his smile got bigger as he said, "Hi, Grandma."

Camille didn't have time to cherish the words that she had so longed to hear for ten years. Because behind her, Zeke cleared his throat, signaling that he wasn't going to wait much longer. Turning to her husband, she said to Jess, "This is your Grandpa Zeke."

Zeke, being so tall, crouched down and extended his hand, and when the little boy shook his hand, Zeke said, "Nice, firm handshake." And Jess nodded, a tough look coming to his face as he was congratulated on his strength. Zeke turned to Lorelai and said, "Takes a good woman to raise a strong man." And Camille watched as they shook hands, Lorelai's face widening in a smile at her husband's words.

Then Zeke noticed someone that Camille had forgotten about in her excitement to meet her grandson. Peering around Lorelai, Zeke asked, "And who is the pretty little lady that's hiding from me?"

Lorelai stood up and held the little girl's hand as she introduced her daughter, "This is Rory." Camille was struck by how much pride this woman took in her children. At their meeting the other day, that had been the thing that stuck out to Camille – how in love Lorelai was with her children as she talked about Jess and mentioned Rory. But with her kids around her, it was even more obvious how much love this woman had in her heart for the boy and girl that crowded around her. The smile that lit up Lorelai's eyes was absolutely gorgeous as she said, "Rory, this is Zeke."

Zeke extended his hand to the shy girl who was still holding onto her mother's hand with both of hers. After just a few seconds, Rory took his hand, and Zeke feigned surprise and looked at Jess and said, "Boy, this girl is giving you a run for your money on the firm handshake thing." He then turned and winked at Rory, bringing a smile that reminded Camille of Lorelai's smile to the face of the little girl.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Luke didn't know how to take this scene that was unfolding before him. He knew how excited his parents had been to see the little boy, their grandchild. His mother had been talking about it since two weeks ago when she had lunch with Lorelai. And his father had packed the bag of sports equipment that Luke was lugging around the park the same day the visit had been scheduled. So this was so good for his parents.

But part of him was irked that they, Jess' grandparents, had to wait to schedule a meeting to see their grandson until the woman who wasn't even related to them gave them permission. Sure, she had taken Jess in when Liz had been unable to care for him, but that didn't give her the right to completely control all access to the boy from his real family.

He watched as his parents interacted with Jess, their faces full of joy, and Jess' before wary face began to soften. And Luke could see that Jess was so much more relaxed here than he had been that night that Liz had brought him to the diner. Where the scared little kid had been, shaking there in his bare feet, here was a kid who was uncomfortable but not afraid.

And then Luke looked at Lorelai, her eyes following every move Jess made with such motherly concerns as she watched to see how Jess was reacting to everything around him. Her hair fell over her face as she crouched down to introduce what Luke assumed to be her daughter to Zeke. Luke wondered what was wrong with him as he waited for her to brush the hair out of her face so he could see her again.

Because she was so confusing to him. This strong woman had barged into a small town diner, asking if he had seen a little boy. Then, once she had figured out that Luke knew where Jess was, she had taken on what could only be described as a mother bear stance, getting in his face to let Luke know she wasn't going to leave until he told her. And if he thought her glare was intense, when she heard Jess calling out from upstairs, he knew if looks could kill he would have fallen over dead when she pushed his hand away from her to fly up the stairs. He had never seen such a strong woman so sure on what she was going to get.

But then, what confused him, was how she had comforted Jess that night. How she wasn't angry or stubborn, she was there for him. That embrace he had witnessed, how she had held Jess so close to her, whispering that she wasn't going to leave him, that she promised that they were going to go home. Concern about if he was ok, and her tense questioning of what had happened to him – she had seemed just like a mother.

But she wasn't his mother. She was someone that had taken Jess in. And Jess was attached to her, there was no questioning that after the boy had grabbed and hugged her. But that didn't change the fact that Lorelai wasn't part of the family – that she didn't have the right to make decisions that would keep Jess' real family away.

And Luke knew that when he let her take Jess away that night, that he had probably validated her feelings of control in the situation. But when he listened to his mother talk about the lunch date, he realized just how much say that Lorelai felt she had in this – and she didn't. Jess wasn't her son. He was their family – Jess was HIS nephew. And she was going to have to realize that soon.

He realized he was staring at her when she looked up at him with recognition. He nodded his head at her, his way of greeting her without having to utter a word. She nodded back, then looked down to the boy standing next to her, and he heard her voice, so sweet, say, "Jess, do you remember? This is…"

The boy looked at him and nodded, bringing a smile to Luke's face, and said, "Uncle Luke." Jess looked up at Lorelai and said, "I remember him from that night, Mommy."

It was Luke's father who reached over and pulled the sports bag out of Luke's hand, while asking loudly, to change the somberness of the moment into an excited tone. "Jess, what do you say we play some baseball?"

Jess' eyes widened as they went from the bag in his grandfather's hand to his grandfather's face, then to Lorelai. Almost as if he wanted to make sure it was alright for him to play with his grandfather before he did. Which kind of irked Luke.

Once he was satisfied his mother didn't have any objections, Jess said, "Yes." Then his brow wrinkled, and he said, "I don't really know how to play though."

Luke could just about predict the words that were going to come out of Zeke's mouth. And he was word perfect as he listened to his father say, "Well, boy, there's no time like the present to learn to throw a baseball."

And before he knew it, Zeke and Jess were halfway across the field, and Zeke handed Jess a glove perfectly sized for little hands. Luke remembered how Zeke had bought two gloves in preparation for today, one for each hand because he didn't know if Jess was left-handed or right-handed. He watched as Zeke tossed the ball lightly to the kid, but the ball went right under his feet between his legs. Luke knew that if his father was successful, Jess would know how to catch the ball from any direction by the time his father was done playing for the day.

Luke looked around to find his mother and Lorelai sitting there on the bench, laughing as they watched Jess run after another ball that went sailing over his head. Lorelai seemed like such a different person here today. She didn't look so frantic here in the light of day. Luke almost stared again at her as he tried to figure out what drew this mystery woman to take up so much of his thoughts. He wasn't the type that would stare at women, but this wasn't because he was checking her out. Not that she wouldn't be something to be checked. Because in the superficial part of Luke, he knew that she was very attractive. Her hair hanging down and around her face made her skin look almost like a pearl, and the way that her tongue brushed her lips as she talked didn't make her look ugly at all. And even though her clothes weren't trying to draw attention, he could tell that underneath she would have a pretty attractive frame.

He blushed at his thoughts, almost angry at himself for letting his mind go there. Because the thing that drew him in wasn't her body, or her hair, or her skin. It was the confidence that she had. Perhaps the confidence was covering something else. Because that night in the apartment above the diner, he had seen how determined she was to get Jess home safe, but he had also seen her afraid, afraid that she wouldn't be able to take Jess with her, afraid that she wouldn't find him.

And that was how he again found himself staring at this woman, the woman who confused him because of her complexity and intrinsic beauty.

He suddenly felt a tug on the sleeve of his coat. Looking down, he found Lorelai's daughter looking up at him.

Confused, he stared down at her. And she stared up at him. And they held that for a few seconds before he realized that he was going to have to initiate the conversation that she had started with the tug on his sleeve.

"Did you need something?" He knew that sounded so stupid, but he rarely knew how to interact with children, much less a little girl.

She looked over at her mother and then back at him and said, "Do you want to talk to my mommy?" Her voice was not quiet at all, and for some reason he wished that it was. As he tried to form words that would answer her question, she rambled on, "I saw you staring at her, and I thought you might want to talk to her because she's really a great Mommy and she has beautiful hair and she makes the best oatmeal and she said we should be nice to you so I thought you might want to go talk to her."

Blinking his eyes at the amount of information he had just received, he opened his mouth to respond when he heard Lorelai call from where she was sitting with his mother a few feet away, "Rory, what are you doing? Don't bother the poor man."

He looked over to see his mother laugh, and he knew she must know how uncomfortable he was standing there talking with this kid.

He jumped as Rory yelled over to her mother, "I was just asking him if he wanted to meet you because he was staring at you and I think he wants to talk to you." He looked down at her and glared, and then back over where the women were sitting. His mother had her hand over her mouth, and he knew she was trying to hold back a laugh. No thanks to her, he walked over to them, the little girl staying right next to him as he made his way over to the bench.

With no idea how to start this conversation, he stuttered, "I wasn't… i was looking behind at the…" He shuffled his hands that were in his pockets, and he looked at his feet as he tried to say something, "It wasn't what it looked like."

He heard his mother's voice first. "Rory, do you want to come with me and see if we can help those boys out with that baseball out there?"

"Really? Girls can play baseball?" The little girl's voice rang out. "Yes, can we please?"

His mother laughed, extended her hand, and soon the grandmother was walking and little girl was skipping out to where Zeke and Jess were playing. It would have been sweet except that it left him alone with Lorelai.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lorelai had no idea how to react to her daughter's declaration that the man had been staring at her. Nor to the sudden departure of Camille with Rory. She was used to men staring at her. It was a normal thing for her. But normally that was when she had her clothes off and was somewhere in the vicinity of a metal pole. And for it to be this man staring at her just made her more confused.

She could see that he was just as uncomfortable as she was when he sat down on the end of the bench, with as much space between them as possible. His hands went to the legs of his jeans, just like Jess had been doing on the subway when he was nervous. Lorelai smiled at the familiar action of the nephew and uncle who had only met for the second time today.

Deciding to break the silence, she said, "I wondered where Jess got that nervous habit." When Luke's blue eyes looked up at her in confusion, she said, "Your hands running up and down on your legs." He looked down, and stopped, but she just said, "Jess was doing that today on the way here. He was so nervous."

Hoping that was a neutral subject, she looked over into the field to see Rory with a baseball glove on her hand, and Jess looked like he was showing her how to catch and throw the ball, a skill he had learned maybe five minutes ago.

"I was nervous too." Luke's words brought her back to the bench they were sitting on. He wasn't looking at her when he said, "After that night in the diner, I didn't know how it would go with you today."

Lorelai's turn for a confession, "I was too." Now he met her gaze with surprise on his face.

"You were? Why?"

It was her turn to be surprised because he should know why she would be nervous to see him again. So she said, "You first, why were you nervous to see me today?"

It was quiet for a few seconds, and Lorelai fiddled with the hem of her sleeve with her fingers, realizing that she would have to sew up the tearing material the next chance she got.

He finally spoke, and said, "I wasn't sure what the crazy woman who came into my diner that morning would be outside of that situation."

And they just sat there for a few seconds while Lorelai attempted to digest what he had just said. He called her a crazy woman. A crazy woman. Sure, she had been intense that night, but that was only to be expected. And he thought she had been crazy? That was where his nervousness came from? She didn't know what it was about this man that made her want to argue with him. Maybe it was the fact that he had pointed out the window of his diner and told her to go back to the city and leave her son there in the hands of strangers. Or that he had dared to grab her arm when she was searching for her son.

Sure, he was good looking, with the dark scruff on his face contrasting the light blue eyes that seemed never to meet her gaze. He looked like he had a strong build, the flannel shirt he wore adding a mountain-man aura to his already gruff attitude.

And she decided to tell him why his reason for being nervous was completely and absolutely a horrible reason. Using her hands while she talked, she started, "I'm the crazy woman? What about the crazy woman you call your sister who stole my son out of my house in the middle of the night?" He opened his mouth but she didn't even give him a chance, "I was just doing what was right for my son and coming to…"

"What gave you the right to think you know what's right for Jess?" He said, his voice escalating.

Her mouth dropped open at the stupid question. Who did this man think he was? "How about the fact that since he was six, I've taken care of Jess? I've done the job of a mother to him." Her hands adamantly waved in front of her as she finished, "So, that pretty much gives me the right!" She could see red as she couldn't believe what she was hearing from him.

"What about my right as his uncle? Huh, what about that?" He was now standing above her in front of the bench.

Not to be outdone, she flew to her feet and she stood so she was looking him straight in the face. And she yelled, "I don't know, I think you gave up that right when you left him with that woman for six years without trying to find her." Her hands on her hips, she couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that his guy was mad at her. At her! For what? "I took care of him when you didn't."

"And now, we're ready to take that back. We're ready to be what he needs." Then his eyes narrowed as he hissed at her, "We're his real family."

Lorelai hated the fact that he deciphered between "real" and her as family. "I'm not saying that you're not his family." She gestured to where the kids were playing in the park. "I wouldn't have brought Jess here if I didn't think that he needed to interact with his family, would I?"

He looked over briefly and then said, "Family doesn't have to wait for permission from a caretaker to be able to see their grandson."

She bit her tongue, but only for a second before she lashed out, "Family has to understand that after another member of that family has hurt Jess so much that the person who looks out for Jess' wellbeing would be stupid to just turn him over to family without thinking and meeting with the family!"

He started pacing back and forth in front of the bench, waving his arms as he said, "You can't judge us based on what Liz did! We never wanted anything like that to happen to Jess."

"I know that…" She tried to interrupt, but he was on a roll.

"You don't know this family, but we are standup people. We have a life, we don't do drugs, we are part of the community, and we really want to be involved in Jess' life." Somewhere along the way, his tone had gone from yelling to just talking loudly. "And to see you standing in the way is just so tough for me. To watch my parents, who are good people, have to jump through your hoops to be able to see their grandson…It's just hard for me to see."

And she understood right then where he was coming from. And she said, "I wasn't doing it to be cruel, Luke." He was still pacing, so she hoped he was listening. "Jess is my son, he thinks of me as his mother…" She knew that was probably a hard one for him to swallow because he had reiterated many times that she wasn't family, so she said, "Either way, Jess depends on me to protect him." She watched him start to pace faster, and she said, "Not that you are something to be protected from, but…" She tried to use the right words to make him understand, "What kind of person would I be if I just let people get close to my son, I mean, Jess without looking them over, making sure that they would be good for him?" Now she was talking more to comfort herself in the decision she had made. "I would do the same with Rory." She thought of her parents and she said, "Rory doesn't see her grandparents because I know that they would hurt more than be there for her."

And the pacing stopped. He looked at her, waiting for her to say something else.

She searched for what she wanted to say, "And please know that when I said I needed to meet your mother before I could let them see Jess, it wasn't to be mean. At all."

He nodded, and then asked, his voice back to a normal tone. "What was it, then? You didn't trust them?"

She knew that wasn't the reason. But she searched for how to put it into words, her feelings and fears into something that could be understood. She bit her bottom lip as she pulled her coat around her, suddenly feeling vulnerable at what she was going to say. "I just couldn't lose him." She watched as he stared at her, trying to figure out what the hell she was trying to say. And she tried to elaborate, hating how she felt talking about her feelings, but she wanted to communicate this the best way possible. "That feeling I had coming home to find my daughter crying and telling me that Jess was gone, I never want to feel that fear ever again." She swallowed against the hard lump in her throat, "I didn't know if I would see him again, I didn't know if he was safe, if he was scared, if he was even still alive." And then she sat down on the edge of the bench, tired from arguing and digging deep into her emotions. "And I never wanted to feel that way again."

She then looked up at him, and made sure he was looking at her when she said, "I really like your mother, and from the little I've known your father, he seems like he will be really great for Jess."

Luke nodded, and sat down on the bench beside her.

Lorelai finished, "I never wanted to keep Jess from you. It's just that Jess and Rory, they're my whole world." She looked down at her hands and said, "I have trouble trusting people. I'm working on that."

It was quiet between the two of them for a few minutes, Lorelai trying to keep herself together after having said more about her feelings than she had in a very long time. Lorelai was just wondering why Luke hadn't said anything to her when he finally spoke.

In a quiet voice, he asked, "Why were you nervous?" She looked at him, her turn to be confused, and his turn to clarify, "You said you were nervous about today."

She nodded and said, "I didn't know what I was going to say to you."

They sat there again for a minute, and then he chuckled and said, "Well, I guess we both were nervous for no reason."

She smiled as she said, "You mean you don't think I'm a crazy lady?"

His face held a grin as he shook his head and said, "I don't think. I know." Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to get angry with him, when he added, "You're crazy. But in a good way. Crazy for your kids. Crazy with your words."

"Good crazy?" She asked, a smile on her face as she looked out as the kids were running across the field to them, Jess' grandparents walking behind.

His quiet words made her know that even though they had argued, they had come to an understanding. He understood why she had been so afraid to let them in Jess' life. And she understood why he felt uncomfortable with her.

Just before the kids reached them, he said, "Endearing crazy."