Sugar and Spice: The More Things Change

By Misha

Disclaimer and Notes in Prologue.

Chapter Thirty-Four- Hayden Family Bonds

Christa drove to Straub and Francine's early Friday afternoon. She'd promised to spend Saturday and Sunday with her mom, but had refused the invite to go to Friday Night dinner. Instead, she was going to spend the night with her Hayden grandparents.

Colin had something planned with the guys and they had actually agreed to be mostly out of touch this weekend. Except the occasional text. But, they were working on not being together all the time. Though she had promised she could still be his one phone call if he and the boys managed to end up in jail, which was always a definite possibility.

"Christine," Francine greeted as soon as she got to the house, "it's so nice to see you."

"You too, Grandma," Christa said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She'd noticed a familiar car in the driveway on her way in. "Are Dad and Gigi here?"

Since Sherri had left, her dad had taken to working from home as often as possible, and he tried to take Friday afternoons off to spend time with Gigi, but also with his parents.

"Yes," Francine confirmed, "your father is upstairs with your grandfather. Georgia is playing in the living room."

Christa headed towards said room.

"Kissa!" Gigi cried out as soon as she saw her, running towards Christa with her arms up.

"Hi baby girl," Christa greeted, picking her up and then kissing her sister's head.

"You're very good with her." Francine observed.

"She's a good girl," Christa said with a smile. She observed Gigi's outfit and frowned. "Though, something has to be done with your wardrobe, Daddy doesn't have very good taste."

Francine cast a critical look over the toddler's outfit. "You know, I was thinking that myself. Your father and grandfather could probably manage on their own for a few hours if you'd like to take a shopping trip. I'm sure you could use a few new things."

"Always," Christa assured her grandmother, though she and Francine had drastically different taste in clothes. However, there were a few times her grandmother's taste was more suited for the occasion than her own. "There's a big thing at Colin's dad's New York hotel next weekend and I haven't bought a dress yet."

"Well, I can help you with that," Francine told her, "So things are getting serious between you and Colin?"

Christa shrugged. "We enjoy each other's company," She said evasively.

"He is a very nice boy," Francine told her, "Very suitable. However, you're still young and you don't want to move too fast. We want you to enjoy this time and these experiences."

Read: Don't repeat your father's mistakes. Apparently Lorelai and her Hayden grandparents were actually in agreement about something. Who knew?

"Don't worry, I will," Christa assured her, "Colin and I aren't in a big rush."

Francine nodded. "Go tell your father you're here and say hi to your grandfather and then we'll go shopping. We'll find you a dress and we'll make sure Georgia is properly attired."

It was Christa's turn to nod and then she headed up the stairs to do as her grandmother bid.

"Did you leave anything in the store?" Christopher asked when the women returned from shopping.

Francine had gone upstairs to check on Straub and Gigi had been whisked away by the Nanny, leaving Chris and Christa alone.

"Not much." Christa said with a grin. "Gigi will now be properly attired. We even bought stuff in a few different sizes."

"Of course you did," Christopher said with a laugh, "well, thank you. I admit, baby clothes aren't my strong suit. I was always a little lost when you were young, so my mother would swoop in and buy you what she thought was appropriate. That's probably why you were picking out your own clothes by the time you were 4."

"I have that shopping gene," Christa said with a laugh, "I'm told I come by it naturally."

"You get that from your mother," Christopher told her, "how is your mom?"

"Good." Christa answered, picking up a few of the bags they had brought in, so she could show her dad their spoils. "Have you talked to her recently?"

"Not in a couple weeks," he told her, "she was a great help in that first week after Sherri left, came by, helped me organize the apartment and she called a couple times to check in, but I've been managing on my own. I don't want to drag your mom into my mess."

"Rory talked to you." Christa guessed.

"She sent me an e-mail." Christopher confirmed. "She's right though, it's not your mom's job to be cleaning up my messes. She's got her life and I'm glad that she's happy."

"Rory should have stayed out of it," Christa said, making a face. "But then, I guess, I'm the one who told you to call Mom, so I'm not really staying out of it either."

"It really is ok," Christopher told her, "but I'll call your mom tomorrow to check it so she doesn't wonder why I went silent and so she doesn't think that I only call her when I have a crisis."

"I guess you guys don't really talk much normally?" Christa asked.

"Not really." Christopher told her. "You and Rory are grown now, you have your own lives and that means your mom and I have less to talk about. We're pretty much done raising you guys and despite my best efforts, you've both turned out pretty awesome."

"Despite my best efforts as well," Christa said with a laugh, "I'm sure I'm responsible for those few gray hairs of yours."

"I'm surprised there's not more." Christopher told her.

"I think Mom is too," Christa said with a laugh, "She wasn't impressed with me going to Paris without telling her."

"You're twenty," Christopher said with a shrug, "I figure you can make your own decisions. Plus Colin's a good guy and I know he won't lead you into trouble. Did you have a good time?"

"It was wonderful," Christa assured him, silently musing about how different her parents were. Her mother had been on her case about the trip, unhappy on several levels, but Christopher was easy going about it. "I love Paris."

"Did you look up Sherri while you were there?" Christopher asked with a smirk.

Christa just shot him a glare. "No and thankfully our paths didn't cross." Running into her ex-stepmonster would have totally ruined her romantic weekend. "Have you heard from her at all?"

"No." Christopher told her. "I did get sent some lawyer papers giving me full custody of Gigi this week."

"Wow." Christa said softly. "That's major."

"It is major." Christopher agreed, "but she's been gone over a month, it's good to have things in writing."

Christa just nodded. "Are you doing ok?"

"I'm doing ok," he promised her, "how could I not be, with my best girl watching my back? I appreciate the take-out you keeping sending my way, by the way."

"I figure Gigi would like a break from a constant rotation of hot dogs, pasta and grilled cheese." Christa said with a laugh.

"I've added chicken fingers and fries, as well," Christopher said with a laugh. "I keep telling myself that I should learn to cook, but I'm not quite sure where I'd find the time to do that. You managed ok, though, right?"

"I did and Mom can't cook either." Christa said with a laugh. "Don't worry, Dad, Gigi's gonna be just fine. You got this. As you said, I turned out ok."

"You turned out great." Christopher said, giving her a kiss on the head. "I don't know how I pulled it off, but you're pretty awesome, kid, I just hope I can do it again."

"You will." Christa assured him. She had complete faith in her dad. Yeah, he'd made mistakes and he was a terrible dad to Rory, but he'd done his best by her and while they'd had a few downs, for the most part he'd done a pretty good job and she knew that with his back to the wall again, he'd do the same for Gigi.