Chapter 53
Lorelai looked across the lawn at her wedding guests. She couldn't believe she'd finally done it. She'd gotten married. Nothing could bring her down. Until she saw her daughter bound around the house, running towards her in tears, holding her cell phone.
"Honey, what's wrong?" Lorelai said, holding her daughter by her shoulders, trying to get her to calm down.
"Mom!" Rory cried. "Dad killed himself!"
Lorelai jolted awake.
It was the first day of May. Her wedding was still a month away. It had been a dream. She turned to see her son lying in the bed between her and Luke. The only thing she'd be celebrating soon, was her son's 3 month old birthday. But her dream haunted her. Had she left Christopher in bad shape?
Christopher had never been a suicidal person, as far as Lorelai knew. But she knew that what she'd said to him the previous night had destroyed him. And she couldn't go talk to him obviously, that would defeat the whole point of her telling him to leave her alone. She could have Rory check on him, but she knew that Rory was busy seeing Logan off today. She wouldn't be in the mood.
Lorelai and Luke sat silently at the breakfast table. Lorelai was busy thinking about Christopher, and Luke was pondering what to do about his daughter. He and Anna had exchanged calls, but he hadn't gotten to see his daughter. Anna wasn't ready to forgive him. Their phone calls consisted of the same fight over and over again. Anna didn't think Luke could be there enough for April. But Luke would prove her wrong.
"If Anna doesn't let me see April soon," Luke told Lorelai, breaking her out of her train of thought. "I'm going to sue for custody."
"Oh, Luke," Lorelai said, she was in full caring fiancée mode. "You want to go to those extremes?"
"Not really," Luke replied. "But she's giving me no choice."
"How much longer are you going to give her?" Lorelai asked him about Anna.
"I'm going to stop by their house today," Luke said. "I'm going to see if I can see April under Anna's supervision. Maybe once Anna sees how good I am with April, she will change her mind about letting me have visitation again."
"That might work," Lorelai said. But she wasn't sure how much she believed that. Anna didn't seem like someone who easily changed.
"We're getting married in a month," Luke said, taking Lorelai's hand. "My daughter needs to be there for that."
"I understand," Lorelai said. She remembered the nightmare she'd had last night. She had pre-wedding concerns of her own. She needed to find a way to see if Christopher was okay.
When Lorelai was at work, she got a visit from Rory. Rory had seen Logan off that morning, and she wasn't feeling great.
"Yay, so you're back!" Lorelai said to her daughter. She put on a happy face for Rory. Looking at Rory made her feel a little guilty. Rory was the spitting image of her father.
"Yeah," Rory said. "I just had to get out of there."
"Aw," Lorelai said in understanding. "How was the goodbye?"
"Awful," Rory replied. "There's nothing good about a goodbye, it's a poorly named ritual." Lorelai understood that all too well.
"What's going on with you?" Rory asked her mother after she got done venting.
"Things with me? Things with me are good," Lorelai tried to say with a smile.
"Convincing," Rory commented.
"Things with me friends are good, things with me Inn are good, things with me not so good."
"What's up?" Rory asked.
"Look," Lorelai told her. "I don't want to talk about this right now. But I want to tell you. I have to tell you. Because it affects you."
"What is it?"
"I broke up with your father last night," Lorelai said.
"Um, 'broke up?"' Rory asked. She questioned her mother's choice of words.
"I ended our friendship," Lorelai explained.
"Why?" Rory asked.
"I don't want to talk about it," Lorelai told her daughter.
"But you said it affected me," Rory argued. "So, I have to know."
Lorelai gave in, and directed Rory to her office. As soon as they were safely inside, Lorelai told her daughter what happened.
"He kissed you at Lane's wedding?" Rory asked. "What made him do it?"
"Alcohol mixed with what he felt was a tender moment," Lorelai explained.
"Were you sending him vibes?" Rory asked.
"No," Lorelai said annoyed. She really didn't like being blamed for this. "He misinterpreted things."
"Which means you were giving him an idea of something," Rory told her mother.
"Don't blame me for this!" Lorelai said. "I didn't want him to do it, I didn't invite him to do it!"
"I believe you, mom," Rory said. "But you have to tell me what else happened. Was your friendship over when Dad came to dinner last night?"
"It happened after dinner," Lorelai told her daughter. "But I had already decided we were done beforehand."
"Does Luke know?"
"Yes," Lorelai said. "That's another reason why this affects you. Luke and I agreed that I would cut your dad out of my life, and only talk to him when it comes to you."
"Okay?" Rory said. She wasn't sure how this would work. "Do I not mention you around Dad or something?"
"I guess," Lorelai said. She wasn't sure either. "But, I need a favor from you. I hate to ask it, but it's going to drive me nuts."
"What?" Rory asked.
"Check on your father," Lorelai said. "Sometime. Soon."
"You want me to be a spy for you?" Rory asked.
"I wouldn't phrase it like that…" Lorelai started to say, but then she saw the questioning look on her daughter's face. "Well, maybe it is."
"What do you want me to do?" Rory asked.
"Make sure he's okay," Lorelai said. "I ended our friendship on the phone, I wasn't able to see his face. I'm afraid he's in bad shape."
"Okay…" Rory said again. She wasn't comfortable doing this. "I will chat with him sometime soon," Rory told her mother. "But, once I'm sure he's okay, I'm not going to be your snitch."
"Understandable," Lorelai said.
"I know he caused you serious trouble, but you hurt him too. I'm not taking sides on this. I'm Switzerland."
"Okay," Lorelai said. "I'm not expecting you to always be on my side."
"It's not that I'm not mad that he almost broke you and Luke up," Rory made sure her mother knew. "But while he might have tried to pull you and Luke apart, Luke actually succeeded in pulling you and Dad apart."
"I understand," Lorelai said. She looked down, she felt even guiltier. "When are you going to talk to your dad?"
"I'm supposed to have lunch with him soon," Rory said. "To make up for missing dinner last night." She was having trouble looking at her mother. "I will get back to you when I know more."
"Are you leaving?" Lorelai asked.
"I'm going to try to get that lunch scheduled for today," Rory said. "Dad doesn't work on Saturdays."
"Shouldn't you give him more time to calm down?"
"It's up to me, mom," Rory told her mother. "I'm calling the shots."
"Okay," Lorelai said for what seemed the umpteenth time. But what else could she say?
All the way in Woodbridge, Luke was at Anna's door, talking to her about April. Even face to face, Anna was still refusing to change. Luke asked her to let him spend a few minutes with April. But Anna refused. April ended up coming out of her room, and begged her mother to let her just go on a walk with her dad. But Anna then flat out refused. April started to cry, and called her mother a bad mom. Anna was most clearly hurt by this, but it didn't weaken her resolve. She turned to Luke and said,
"You can't spend time with her, and that's final. No more arguing."
Then Luke threw in an ultimatum.
"If you don't let me, I will sue for it."
"Sue for custody?"
"Yes."
"You won't win," Anna said.
"We'll see about that," Luke told her, and then he walked away.
When she got into her car, Rory called her Dad.
"Hello?" Christopher said. His tone seemed like he was hiding something.
"Dad?" Rory asked. "Do you have some free time? Lunch?"
"Sure kiddo," he said. He sounded really vulnerable, but he was trying to sound cheerful. "I'll meet you in New Haven around 3. Rich Man's Shoe?"
"Sounds good," Rory said, feeling guilty. And then she hung up. She would ask him if he was okay, and talk to him about how he felt. But she wasn't sure if she was going to tell her mom. Both her parents did terrible things. She wasn't forgiving either of them completely.
