As always thank you so much for all the reviews, faves, and follows. I'm sorry this one took me a while to get posted. I am finally ahead a few chapters, so it should be better. This is a much longer chapter, so that should make up for it!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I really like it.

P.S. Thanks DSLeo for your idea. I hope you like how I did it!

A Place to Call Home

Chapter 53: Punishment Enough

Lorelai and the girls were patiently waiting for Ryan to join them at the front door of the Gilmore mansion. "Mom. Seriously. Can you yell at him?" Rory asked her mom. She was tired of waiting. "This is ridiculous."

Lorelai gave Rory a look and then looked back at her son, who was walking slower and slower by the minute. "Ryan. You are staying with your grandparents. It doesn't matter how long it takes you to walk up the driveway." Lorelai warned him.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "You taught me this."

"I think he needs a consequence." Ruby suggested. "He isn't being very good."

"This is punishment enough." Ryan groaned. "The worst punishment."

Lorelai was now the one rolling her eyes. "Ryan. Come on. If you take any longer it will be Christmas."

"I will go get the presents." Ryan turned around.

"Ah uh." Lorelai walked towards her son and pulled him to the door. "Now."

"This is cruel and unusual punishment."

"I really need you to get on board with this and be on your best behavior." Lorelai told him. "Okay. It's just two days. You like your grandparents."

"Doesn't mean that I want to stay with them. I want to be in Stars Hollow."

Lorelai was happy to hear that. She never thought the time would come when Ryan wanted to be in Stars Hollow. She was grateful for that. It showed improvement, but at this very moment she needed him to get over it.

"I still think that it is unfair that Rory gets to see her friends while she is here, and I can't go back to Stars Hollow and hangout with Jess. You could have left us at home. Luke trusted Jess enough to let him stay by himself."

Lorelai sighed. She wasn't too happy about that, but Luke thought Jess would be fine staying at the diner. He was supposed to work most of the time and wouldn't have time to get into any trouble. Lorelai on the other hand was not convinced. "Yes. Well. I don't agree with Luke on this one. You are staying with your grandparents, and you can hang out with Jess next weekend."

Ryan grumbled. Lorelai understood his frustrations. Her parents were not the easiest people to get along with, but they did love their grandchildren.

"Can we knock now?" Ruby was growing impatient.

"Yes." Lorelai told her.

Emily opened the door immediately. "You are here. I thought I heard you fifteen minutes ago."

"You did." Rory whispered. She was tired of her brother's antics.

Lorelai nudged Rory. "We were waiting on Ryan. He was getting his things together."

"Well good. Come in. Come in." She ushered them into the foyer. "Richard. They are here." She turned and looked at Ruby. "Oh look at you. You have grown a foot."

"Not possible." She gave her grandmother a very big hug. "I love you grandma."

Lorelai smiled. It was sweet.

"Oh how I have missed you all." She gave Rory and Ryan both a hug after releasing little Ruby. Emily then looked at Lorelai. "You look nice."

"Thanks, mom." Lorelai never knew how to take a compliment from her mother.

"We are going to have a wonderful time this weekend. Maybe we can all go to the club."

"That's fine, but Ryan needs to study. He has a history test on Monday." Lorelai informed them. Ryan sighed. Of course she would remember.

"And Paris, Louise, and Madeline are coming over tomorrow." Rory told her grandmother. "I thought you said it was okay."

"Of course it is okay." Emily touched Rory's shoulder. "The more the merrier."

"I'm not kidding about that history test." Lorelai said again, her focus still on Ryan.

"We will make sure he studies." Emily reassured her daughter.

"Great." Ryan said sarcastically.

"You will be back on Sunday?" Emily thought that was what Lorelai had told her.

Lorelai nodded. "Around lunch time."

"This is a business trip?" Emily asked.

"Oh yeah." Lorelai lied.

"Liar. Liar." Ryan whispered in her ear, earning the death glare.

"What was that?" Emily asked.

"Nothing. He was just clearing his throat." Lorelai answered for him. She was not ready to explain Luke to her mother.

"Richard." Emily yelled. "I swear that man never takes a break."

"I can hear you, Emily. I'm right here."

"Grandpa." Ruby ran into his arms.

"There's my princess."

"Little devil." Ryan whispered again.

Lorelai nudged him.

"I think you have grown a foot."

"Not possible." She repeated.

"We are going to have a wonderful time this weekend."

"That's been established." Ryan said quickly.

"Oh let me guess." Emily looked at him. "You aren't happy staying here. You would rather be with your friends."

"I'm thrilled grandma." Ryan put on his best fake smile.

"You are just like your mother." Richard told him. "Always had a foot out the door."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. They always had to bring up her past behavior. It never failed. "Thanks, dad."

"Oh Lorelai. I was just joking."

"Sure."

"I had the chef make some of your favorites." She told the kids.

"Pudding?" Rory asked. "Pudding is our favorite."

"Chocolate pudding. I remembered." Emily smiled. She was very proud of herself.

"Can we go watch TV?" Ruby asked.

"No." Lorelai told her before either of her parents could answer. "You can't watch TV this weekend."

"Mommy." Ruby pouted. "That's not fair. It has been three days." Ruby remembered the timeline of her punishment.

"Yes I know, but you got in trouble at school today."

Emily and Richard shared looks. They weren't used to Ruby getting into trouble. She was always such a sweet girl.

"Your teacher sent me an email. You got your whole class in trouble. So no TV. That was the rule." Lorelai told a very disappointed Ruby.

Emily was actually impressed with her daughter. Lorelai wasn't one for discipline.

"This isn't fair." Ruby stomped off.

"Ruby." Lorelai started to go after her.

"It's okay mom. I'll talk to her." Rory gave her mom a kiss on the cheek. "Have fun on your business trip." She winked at her mom as she walked out of the room to find her sister.

"Bye sweetie." Lorelai turned her attention to Ryan. "Be good for your grandparents." She told her only son. "Please."

"Oh Lorelai you have nothing to worry about anything. Ryan is going to be just fine. Right, grandson."

"Right grandpa." Ryan faked a smiled. "Have fun. I hope you learn a lot." Ryan joked with his mom.

Lorelai gave him a hug and messed with his hair. She knew it was his favorite.

"Bye."

"Love you." Lorelai told him. Ryan waved and walked out of the room. "What a sendoff. I hate to leave Ruby so upset."

"She will be fine." Emily told her. "We will take good care of all of them."

"What is wrong with young Ruby?" Richard asked.

"Oh." Lorelai really didn't want to tell them. "She is just going through a phase." She hated using that word, but it was the only word that seemed appropriate. "She's been getting into a little trouble at home and at school." She admitted.

"You went through a similar phase from ages 4 to 16." Emily gave her a smirk.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Thanks, mom. I know. I was a wild child, and now I'm getting paid back by my seven year old. I'm sure you are happy about that." She crossed her arms and waited for her mom to give her more grief.

"Of course we aren't happy about that, Lorelai." Emily sighed. "Seriously. We would never wish for our grandchildren to misbehave. I am actually very impressed that you have set rules and consequences. You used to swear that you would never punish your children because I was the meanest parent on the planet, and I never understood you."

That was absolutely true. She never did and still didn't. "Sorry mom."

"No need to apologize Lorelai. I am sure with a little consistency Ruby will get right back on track." Richard thought.

"Maybe it is her new school." Emily suggested.

"It is not her school, and it is not the town. End of discussion." She didn't want to talk about it any further. She didn't need them psychoanalyzing her life and telling her what she needed to do with her own children.

"Lorelai. Really." Emily shrugged.

"Mom. Promise me you won't let her watch TV. She has the really cute eyes and the pouty face, but you have to close your eyes and say no."

"We will be fine." Richard interrupted his daughter. "Lorelai, you have nothing to worry about. Go and have a wonderful time on your business trip. Need I remind you that we have raised a child before."

"As long as Ruby doesn't get pregnant." She saw the look of terror on her parents' faces. "Joke. Horrible joke. Sorry." Lorelai squinted. She shouldn't have said it, but she couldn't resist.

"Goodbye, Lorelai." Emily told her.

"I should probably say goodbye to Ruby." Lorelai thought. She was nervous about leaving them. She hadn't left them overnight very often. "I hate leaving her when she is so upset."

She will be fine." Richard ushered Lorelai to the door.

"Okay. Call me if you need anything."

"We will." Emily told her daughter. She was surprised by how overprotective Lorelai was being.

"And watch Ryan. Because he will tell you that he is studying, but he really isn't. Oh and he is prone to sneak out."

Richard continued to push her out the door.

"There are a lot of ways he can get out of this house if you aren't paying attention."

"We know." Richard smiled.

"I don't think you know all of the ways." Lorelai was sure of that. She had always been the best at sneaking out and getting back in without being noticed.

"We do. We had some of them sealed up."

"But." Lorelai protested.

"Lorelai. Again they will be fine. We will not let Ruby watch Television. We will make sure Ryan studies, and we will watch Rory and her friends tomorrow. Make sure they aren't too mischievous." Richard reassured her. "We have watched them before without any problems. You can trust us. We will call if anything comes up."

"Okay. Okay. Give Ruby a kiss for me."

"Goodbye, Lorelai." Emily said as she shut the door.

Richard shook his head. "When did she become so overprotective?"

"It has to do with me. It always has to do with me." Emily was sure of that, but she didn't care. She was just excited that she was going to get to spend time with her grandchildren. She missed them dearly.


"Alright Jess." Luke said as he finished packing his bag and turned to Jess who was sitting at the kitchen table. Jess looked up at his uncle. "We need to discuss the ground rules."

"We already have. Like a thousand times. You are really turning into a broken record."

"Well if it keeps you out of trouble, I don't mind being a broken record."

"I get it, Uncle Luke. I'm going to be on my best behavior."

Luke gave him a pointed look. He hoped and prayed that he wasn't making a huge mistake by living the boy unsupervised. There were so many things that could go wrong, but he wanted to trust his nephew. He wanted to give Jess a chance to prove himself. "This is a big deal. You staying here alone."

"I won't be alone technically." Jess hoped to make his uncle feel at ease. "Caesar is going to watch me during the day since you have said that I have to work in the diner while you are gone. We should really be discussing child labor laws."

Luke glared at him.

"I'm not even sixteen."

"Okay. That's enough. There are no child labor laws being broken." Luke shook his head. "But there might be some laws broken if you get into any trouble this weekend. I mean it, Jess. You better be on your best behavior. Lorelai is already not happy with me for letting you stay here alone."

Jess rolled his eyes. "It's not my fault she is so overprotective."

"She isn't overprotective." Luke defended.

"Oh okay. You have to say that. You are her boyfriend."

"She is a good mother."

Jess nodded. He knew that was true. He would never admit it out loud to anyone, but he was jealous of Ryan and Rory. He wished that his mom was half the mother that Lorelai was.

"But I want to trust you." Luke continued. "Don't blow it."

"I got it. I won't."

"Jackson and Sookie said they would check on you." Luke pointed.

"Again. I repeat. I got it." Jess sighed. "You can go away with Lorelai and have no worries. I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself. I used to stay home by myself all the time when I lived with my mom, and I was much younger." Jess reminded him.

Luke cringed. He hated hearing about Jess' life with Liz. It really sucked that she was so irresponsible when it came to her son. He knew their parents would be so disappointed in her. But he promised to do better by Jess. He would make sure that his nephew had the best life possible. As he thought about all of this, he tried to find the right words to say to Jess.

"Don't worry about it Uncle Luke. You don't have to say anything. I know how you feel." Jess could tell that his uncle was struggling.

Luke nodded. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out some money. "Here is some money just in case you get tired of diner food."

"Thanks."

"Spend it on food." Luke warned him.

"Got it boss." Jess saluted.

"Enough of that."

The boys turned towards the door when they heard a knock.

"That's your girl." Jess gave him a cheesy smile.

Luke rolled his eyes and grabbed his bag. He smiled as he opened the door. Lorelai looked more and more beautiful every single time he saw her. "Hi."

"Hey." She smiled right back at him. "Hey Jess." Lorelai looked over Luke's shoulder at the teenager.

"Hey Lorelai." Jess gave her a nod. "You two have a blast."

"Behave." Luke warned which earned an eye roll from Jess. "We will be back Sunday."

"Okay. I might be here."

"Jess." Luke's tone was stern.

"Kidding." Jess smirked.

Luke gave him a look and then looked back at Lorelai. "You ready."

"Yes. See you Jess." She said as they walked out of the apartment.

"Are you still mad at me?" Luke asked. "I know you aren't happy about Jess staying here alone."

"I'm not mad. I was never mad."

"You were a little mad." Luke remembered. "I could tell."

"How could you tell?" Lorelai was curious.

"Your eyebrow did this thing and you weren't smiling. You are usually always smiling."

"I'm not always smiling." Lorelai tried to hold a straight face, but started giggling once Luke began tickling her. "Hey that's not fair. You aren't playing fair." She continued to giggle.

"I'm really excited about this weekend." Luke told her.

"Well then we better get going." Lorelai grabbed his hand.

"You should take my bag. It is heavy." He joked.

Lorelai shook her head. "I'm a true lady. We never carry any bags ever. Not our own. Not others."

"Let's get out of here." He led her down the stairs. He was positive this was going to be the best weekend. She was too.


Back inside the apartment, Jess pulled out the flier for the Outsider. This was the perfect weekend for him to try the place out. He only wished that Ryan could go with him. He would make sure that no one caught him and that he stayed out of any trouble.


The Gilmore's had finished dinner. Emily was surprised by how quiet Ruby was during dinner. She was always so chatty, much like Lorelai at her age. She hated to see her granddaughter so sad. Emily walked up the stairs and made her way into the room they had always called Ruby's. Each grandchild had their own bedroom, decorated how they wanted. "Ruby." She looked around for the little girl, who was sitting on the floor playing with her dolls she had brought from home. "There you are. I thought you were going to get your pajamas on."

Ruby shook her head. "I'm not ready to go to bed." She told her grandmother, not losing focus on her dolls.

"You do not have to go bed just because you put your pajamas on."

Ruby had a pouty face. Emily stared at the little girl and then did something she couldn't remember ever doing. She sat down on the floor next to Ruby. She noticed Ruby look up at her with a confused face.

"Can I play with your dollies?" Emily asked.

"You want to play dollies with me?" Ruby was still a little confused. She loved her grandmother but wasn't used to her playing with her on the floor.

Emily nodded. "They are very pretty dollies."

Ruby handed her one. "This one is my favorite. I like her red dress."

"I like this one too." Emily smiled. "Where did you get this one?"

Ruby thought about it. "My daddy bought it for me." She remembered. "That's not why it is my favorite." Ruby quickly told her grandmother. "My daddy is never around. That's why he buys me a lot of dollies."

Emily felt her blood boil. She hated that Christopher wasn't around for his children. Emily felt guilty. For the longest time she blamed Lorelai for his absence. She thought that Lorelai wasn't being a good wife. It made her mad to think that Christopher would cheat on her daughter. He had not turned out the way she always thought that he would, and now his children were the ones that were suffering. "Do you miss your daddy?" Emily asked.

Ruby shook her head. "No. I have my mommy." She told her. "Even though she hasn't been very nice to me lately."

"Is that true?" Emily hoped to get the little girl to open up to her.

Ruby nodded. "She has been very mean to me."

"I heard you weren't being very nice to her or at school."

Ruby looked up at her grandmother and then back at her dolly.

"Do you think you've been acting differently lately?"

Ruby thought about it and shook her head. "I'm not different. My mommy and my teacher are different. My teacher Ms. Wallace was really mean today."

"How so?" Emily continued to pry.

"I was trying to tell her a story, but she didn't want to listen." Ruby said dramatically. "It was a good story, but she didn't care."

"When were you trying to tell her this story?"

"She was trying to teach us how to add. I already know how to add. 1 plus 1 is 2. 2 plus 2 is 4. See. Easy Peasy." Ruby explained.

Emily smiled. Ruby really was just like Lorelai.

"My story was better, but she made my whole class miss five minutes of recess. They were all mad at me." Ruby sighed. "That was so unfair."

Emily thought that was a good idea. The teacher was smart to put Ruby on the spot. "Ruby you can't interrupt your teacher even if you already know what she is talking about. That is rude, and Gilmores are not rude."

"I'm actually a Hayden." Ruby corrected her.

Emily gave her a look and tapped her on the nose. "It does not matter what your last name is. You are a Gilmore through and through. Never ever forget that. Understand young lady." She said softly.

Ruby smiled at her grandmother.

"I know it is very hard sometimes to pay attention to adults. We can just talk and talk and talk." Emily made her hands talk back and forth causing Ruby to laugh. "But most of the time we know what we are talking about, especially your teacher. You have to listen to her so you can become even smarter than you already are. I can already tell you are going to do amazing things Ruby Victoria, but you will have a very hard time succeeding if you have a bad reputation."

"What does that mean?" Ruby asked innocently.

"A reputation is how people view you based on how you behave and what other people say about your behavior." Emily tries to explain in the simplest terms. "You don't want to get a bad reputation. It will follow you around forever. You want people to know how sweet and good that you are." Emily kissed her forehead. "You are the sweetest little girl I know, and I always want you to be like that."

Ruby smiled at her grandmother. She understood what she meant. "I like to tell stories."

"You can tell stories Ruby, at the right time." Emily reassured her. "But you have to stop interrupting your teacher and disrupting your class. Okay."

Ruby nodded.

"And you have to be nice to your mommy."

Ruby nodded again.

"I miss you a lot, grandma." Ruby jumped into Emily's arms and gave her the biggest hug. Emily's heart felt full.

"Oh Ruby. My sweet Ruby. I miss you too." She held her tight. Oh how she loved her grandchildren. "So you know, if you want, you can tell me your story."

"It was about Luke and Kirk. Kirk has a thousand jobs, and he drives Luke crazy. Sometimes his head looks like it might explode. It is really funny."

"Who is Luke?" Then she remembered that Luke was the man who saved Ryan that night. They had met him in the hospital.

Ruby's face lit up. "Luke is the best, grandma. He makes really good chocolate milkshakes, but only if I am good at school. I have to be good for a whole week before he will make me another one. He is tough. Maybe tougher than mommy."

Emily became curious. "How do you know Luke?" She wanted to know more about him.

"He feeds us at the diner, and he is mommy's boyfriend." Ruby told her nonchalantly. "I really like him. I hope they get married and that we can become a real family." She had never said any of that out loud before.

Emily was shocked. Of course Lorelai had not told her about Luke. She was always so secretive, and Emily hated it. But then again, Emily should have known. The man wouldn't have stayed at the hospital all that time if there was nothing going on between the two of them.

"Can we play some more, grandma?"

"Sure, Ruby." Emily had a feeling that Lorelai was not on a business trip.


Ryan was upstairs in the room they had always called the upstairs living room. It was the only room with a TV. It was always Ryan's favorite room in a house with way too many rooms. He was supposed to be studying like he promised his grandparents, but instead he was lying on the couch talking to Grace on the phone. "I'm sorry that we can't hangout this weekend." Ryan told her.

"It's okay." Grace said on the other end of the line. "I understand. I still miss you though."

"I miss you too." Ryan said with a smile.

"Ryan." Richard said as he walked into the room.

Ryan jumped, his grandfather took him by surprise.

"This doesn't look like studying to me."

"Grandpa." Ryan sat up on the couch. "Hi."

Richard pointed to the phone, and Ryan sighed.

"Grace, I've got to go." He said as he hung up the phone. "I was about to start studying." He lied. He really had no intentions of studying.

"I thought we sent you up here an hour ago." Richard remarked as he joined his grandson on the couch.

"Well. Yeah. I had to get situated. There are a lot of things that go into studying. I've really got to get comfortable. It's good for the brain. Releases tension." Ryan babbled on.

Richard chuckled.

"I'm not trying to be funny grandpa. This is serious business." Ryan said with a straight face.

"Oh I'm not laughing at you. I'm remembering."

"Remembering?" Ryan shifted so that he could see his grandfather better.

"Your mother used to offer up similar reasoning when we would catch her doing something other than what she was actually supposed to be doing." Richard smiled. He would give anything to go back to that time and enjoy it better. He realized he had taken a lot of things for granted, especially with Lorelai.

"She's a very smart lady." Ryan nodded.

"Yes. Your mother has always been extremely smart. She was the smartest person in her class. It always came natural to her. She had…" Richard stopped himself before continuing. He didn't need to get into that with his grandson. Richard had always dreamed of his daughter's future, and it definitely hadn't turned out like he imagined.

Ryan could see the look on his grandpa's face. "She's doing well." He wanted his grandpa to know that. "She really likes her job. I would never tell her this and I'll deny ever saying it, but she's pretty awesome." Ryan smiled, as did Richard.

"That's good." Richard nodded. "That is really good. Your secret is safe with me."

"Good. She would never believe you anyways."

"I'm really glad that things are working out for your mother, but…"

Ryan looked at his grandpa. Of course there would be a but.

"An education can lead to an endless amount of opportunities. It can open so many doors." Richard told his grandson. "You have to be disciplined and focused."

Ryan nodded. "I know. You don't have to worry about me, grandpa. Mom tells me those same things all the time, and even though she doesn't think that I am listening, I am." He reassured him. "I listen."

"I want you to have the best future available, and I know that your father has not set a very good example for you."

Ryan shrugged. "He hasn't really set any kind of example for me. You actually have to be around to do that."

Richard nodded. He still couldn't believe how Christopher had turned out. Nothing had turned out how Richard thought it would. "I'm sorry that your father hasn't been around. Your grandmother and I."

Before he could finish his sentence, Ryan interrupted. "You don't have to say it. I'm glad they were married for a little while. We got to pretend we were normal." Ryan sighed. "I'm fine. Really grandpa. You don't have to worry about me."

"I want you to know that I am here for you. Even if we live thirty minutes away. If you ever need any advice or to talk about manly stuff, I can help you with that." Richard offered. He should have offered sooner. He wanted Ryan to have a good male influence in his life.

Ryan smiled. He could tell his grandpa seemed a little nervous. "Thanks, grandpa."

"I miss having you so close. I enjoyed our trips to the club on occasion."

Ryan nodded. He hadn't enjoyed the club as much, but he did enjoy his grandpa's company. He was a smart man. He thought differently than Ryan, but that was okay. He was still a good man. "Me too. Maybe we could go tomorrow." Ryan would do anything to get out of the house.

"Oh no. Your mother gave us strict instructions."

"I won't tell her." Ryan smiled.

Richard chuckled. "I suppose we could go in the morning, and you could come back and study. Really study. No phone calls to this Grace." Richard remembered her name. "I'm guessing that she is your girlfriend."

Ryan nodded.

"How long have you been seeing her?"

"A few months." Ryan thought that was about right.

"You like her a lot?" Richard asked.

Ryan nodded.

"You will have to bring her over so that we can meet her." Richard told his grandson.

"You may have already met her."

"Is that so?"

"She came to the hospital to visit a few times."

Richard shook his head. "I don't remember much about that time other than how worried we were about you."

Ryan sighed guiltily. He knew how much trouble he had caused, and he felt bad about it. "I'm sorry grandpa. I'm sorry I worried you."

"You were lucky." Richard pointed at him softly. "Very, very lucky. You better remember that the next time you think about doing something dangerous like that again." He warned him.

"Don't worry, Grandpa. Mom already gave me a thousand lectures and a pretty strict punishment."

"Good for her." Richard was happy Lorelai hadn't let him get away with it. "That's the only way you are going to learn." He looked at his watch, stood up, and grabbed the phone from Ryan. "I want you to study for at least an hour."

"Yes sir." Ryan smiled and grabbed his textbook.

Richard gave his grandson a nod before walking out of the room. He was so happy to have the kids for the weekend. He wished there was a way they could see them more often. All of three of them brought great joy to his life.

Ryan flipped through his textbook. He had been pleasantly surprised by his conversation with his grandfather. It wasn't so bad.


Lorelai and Luke were driving in the rain. "I can't believe this weather." Lorelai stated. "Did you know that it was going to rain like this?" She asked.

Luke shook his head. "Nope. I thought it was supposed to be a nice weekend."

"It's going to be a nice weekend." She took his hand in hers. "It's going to be the best weekend."

Luke smiled but before he could say anything, there was a loud pop and the truck began to wobble. "Oh damn."

"What happened?" Lorelai jumped.

"I think we have a flat." Luke said sadly.

"Oh Luke."

"I'll get out and fix it."

"It's raining."

"We can't just sit on the side of the road." He grabbed his jacket. "I'll be fine."

"I can help."

Luke chuckled. "We both know you are more help staying in the truck."

"Mean." Lorelai said but couldn't hold a straight face.

"I'll fix it, and we will be on our way." He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss before jumping out of the truck into the rain.


Rory was sitting in her bedroom reading her favorite book Anna Karenina. She always liked to read a book before bed. Oddly enough it helped her relax. It was a little weird for her to be back in her grandparents' house. She had stayed with them so many times before, but this time it was different. She missed being in Stars Hollow. She missed her house, even though she had to share with her little sister. She also missed Dean and Lane and even Jess. Life in Stars Hollow had been so much better than she ever imagined. She was happy that her mom had taken a chance on the small little town.

She stopped reading her book when she heard a tiny tap on the door.

"Come in." Rory said, knowing who it was.

It was Ruby. She walked into the room and shut the door behind her. She was holding a pillow and a blanket. "Rory." She said with her little voice.

Rory tilted her head and closed her book. She knew she wasn't going to read anymore that night. "What are you doing in here? You are supposed to be in your bed."

"I have a headache." She said with a sad face.

A smile crept across Rory's face. She had a feeling her little sister was faking it. Ruby had gotten used to sleeping in the same room with Rory. "Do I need to get you some medicine?" She knew Ruby would say no. She hated medicine with a passion. When Ruby was two, their mom tried to give her grape Tylenol. However, not a single drop got into Ruby's mouth. It was all over the walls, floors, and Lorelai. It was a huge mess, and Lorelai vowed to never give her little girl medicine again.

Ruby shook her head as expected. "Can I sweep with you?"

Rory smiled. She couldn't say no when she talked like that. It was extremely adorable. Rory scooted over and Ruby ran to the bed.

"Thanks, Rory." She fixed her pillow and got comfortable.

Rory felt her head. Oddly, she felt a little warm. "Are you okay, Ruby?"

"I told you I had a headache, but I'll be okay." Ruby snuggled next to Rory. "I miss mommy."

"I thought you were mad at mommy." Rory thought she should mention it.

"Well she took TV away from me. That's not very nice." Ruby thought she had a valid reason to be mad. "But I still miss her."

"I miss her too."

"I hope she is having fun with Luke. Maybe they are watching TV." Ruby said innocently.

Rory chuckled. She didn't want to think about what her mom and Luke were doing.


Luke and Lorelai finally walked into the cabin. Luke was soaking wet. Lorelai was only slightly damp from the walk to the cabin. Poor Luke. He was exhausted. It had taken him forever to change the tire because of the weather. "We are finally here."

"Luke, I am so sorry."

"This is not how I wanted this weekend to start."

Lorelai sighed. "Me either. But that's okay. We have all weekend." She kissed his cheek. "I know you are tired and cold."

"I'm going to get changed and start a fire."

Lorelai nodded. "I can start a fire. Surprisingly I know how to do that."

Luke smirked. "That's really sexy."

"Go get out of those clothes." Lorelai smiled at him. She was actually pretty tired too. She never thought it would take them that long to get to the cabin, but the weather and the flat had put a slight damper in their plans.

After Lorelai started the fire, she decided to head to the bedroom. It wasn't hard to find. There was only one, even though the cabin was a pretty nice size. "Luke. The fire is all warm and cozy. Waiting for you to join me." As she rounded the corner, she smiled. Luke had changed his clothes and fallen asleep on the bed.

Lorelai got herself ready for bed and joined Luke. It wasn't what she had planned, but maybe it was better. She snuggled closely to him. They would always have tomorrow.


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