Chapter 45

Lorelai eventually came downstairs, ready which Luke told Jaiden to turn off the TV as he stood to his feet.

Paul Anka moved to the other end of the couch when April also stood up, and pushed himself up onto the couch arm, on his front legs as his tail wagged as if he thought he coming along.

Lorelai rubbed his neck. "Trust me, boy, you do not want to go where where we're going," she told the dog. To Jaiden, she suggested, "hey, why don't you bring your sketchbook? You can show my parents your drawings."

"Will they want to see them?" she asked, unsure.

"They might. Quick, go get it."

Jaiden hurried upstairs.

Leaning in towards Luke, Lorelai asked, "Did you help Jaiden with her shirt?"

"A few, to show her," he said. "But Jaiden fastened the rest, all, on her own."

Lorelai looked surprised but in an impressed way. "Really?"

He nodded. "Figured she should probably learn on her own, especially since I remembered seeing formal clothes on that supply list of things she needs for camp."

"What does she need formal clothes for at a summer camp?" April asked.

"Not sure," Lorelai replied. "Maybe they have something formal going on during the week."

Jaiden returned, coming down the stairs with her sketchbook under her free arm.

"Alright, let's head out, crew!" The family headed outside to where the jeep was parked.

Jaiden climbed in on Luke's side before Luke could slide in.

On the way, April asked Jaiden if she knew why formal clothes was needed for an outdoor summer camp?

"On the last night, there's a dance the staff and everybody puts on for us," she explained.

Luke perked up first at the mention of the word, dance. He twisted around in his seat to look behind him. "Dance?"

Jaiden nodded. "They move the tables away where we eat and decorate it with balloons and stuff, and play loud music, and everyone dances."

"Like, girls dancing with boys type of dancing?" Luke continued to probe, a little anxious.

"Sometimes. Usually, everyone dances with their friends."

He let out a sigh of relief at everyone dancing with friends. "Okay. Just remember, if you do dance with a boy, make sure you're three feet apart. Someone should be able to walk between you."

Both Lorelai and April rolled their eyes at Luke's protectiveness.

"Dad, she's eight. I doubt anything is gonna happen," April was the one to point out.

"I don't dance anyway," Jaiden admitted.

"How come, sweetie?" Lorelai asked in the rearview mirror.

"Because I don't like the music they play."

"You know there's be- I mean, other music besides country. Right?" said April.

"Yeah. I like some cla'tic rock."

Lorelai perked up that time with interest. "You like classic rock?"

Jaiden nodded. "Only a little bit."

"Like what?"

She shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know any names of bands or names of songs."

"Can you sing any that come to mind?"

Jaiden looked up towards the roof of the jeep as if to think about it. After a moment of silence, she sang, "even as I wander, I'm keeping you in sight…" She paused briefly before singing some more. "You're a candle in the window on a cold, dark winter's night. And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might. I can't fight this feeling anymore." In a regular speaking tone, she said, "that's all I can remember."

"REO Speedwagon?" Luke asked, listening to the words.

Lorelai glanced over at him, surprised he knew who Jaiden was singing. "Wow, guess not all music is lost on you."

"I do know some rock, yes," he told her, half annoyed.

"Anyway…." Lorelai looked up at the rearview to ask April, "April, can you look through that box at your feet? There should be a CD for REO Speedwagon in there."

"Sure." April pushed part of her seat belt behind her so she could reach down and pick up the box of CDs, and began looking through them until she found the CD.

Lorelai twisted her arm to reach back for the CD when April handed it to her, thanking the teen. On top of the steering wheel while keeping most of her attention on her driving, she took the disc out and slipped it into the CD player, switching to the song Jaiden had been singing.

"Is this the song you like?" she asked, turning the volume up a little.

Jaiden listened as the music started. It wasn't until the singer began singing did she nod. "Yeah, this is the song."

"The song's called, Can't Fight This Feeling."

"Oh, okay," she said and started singing along.

Lorelai smiled as the little girl attempted to sing along, wishing she had a video camera so she could record the adorable scene happening behind her.

Luke caught a quick glimpse with Lorelai and they both exchanged a smile. Lorelai had to look ahead but couldn't help continue watching Jaiden from the corner of her eye while Luke looked back, behind him again.

As Lorelai eventually pulled onto the street her parents lived on, a silver Prius appeared behind the jeep.

"Oooh, look who's behind us," she announced while looking up at the rearview mirror to look behind them. In the driver's seat of the Prius was Rory. She had told her mom, she would be meeting them there.

Luke and April both looked over their shoulders, able to see through the back window just fine. However, because of Jaiden's height, she could barely see over the seat and what she could see, she ended up blinded by the headlights.

"Who is it?" she asked, squinting her eyes towards the back window while using her hand to shield them from the headlights. "I can't see."

"Rory's behind us," April was the one to answer her.

"Don't worry, though," Lorelai assured when Jaiden tried even harder to see over the seat, "we're less than a minute away and you can see her, then."

Jaiden faced forward again, looking bummed at not being able to see like the rest could.

"If it makes you feel better, Jaiden, I used to be small for my age, too. Well, most of me was small for my age." She caught a puzzled look on the kid's face in the rearview mirror. Clearing her throat, Lorelai forced herself to admit to having a large head as a young child and was constantly reminded of it.

"That just means you are so smart that your brain needed lots of room because...of how...smart you are?" Jaiden didn't sound confident but it was sweet she was trying to cheer Lorelai up about having a unusually large head, growing up.

Lorelai smiled at her. "Yeah, maybe," she agreed.

"Actually, your intelligence doesn't have any effect on the size of your head size," April pointed out. Of course, they knew she wasn't trying to purposely shoot down Jaiden's thought, Jaiden was broken-hearted as she looked close to tears at having her figurative balloon popped.

"April, hun, I love you and all, but you have got to learn to stop taking things seriously. Scientifically, yes, it's might not be the reason, but Jaiden was only trying to help cheer me up. Let's try to keep what innocence she has left for as long as we possibly can, okay?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure," she said, apologetically and turned to apologize to Jaiden. "That does sound like a good reason her head was so big."

A corner of Jaiden's mouth lifted a little. She then asked, "April?"

"Yeah?"

"Are…?" Jaiden looked away while trying to keep eye contact. "Are you still mad about this morning?"

"You mean about my experiment?"

She gave her a timid nod.

"Honestly, not really," April admitted. "I thought about it, and a change in environment does add to the research. And, sometimes, scientists does have to keep unexpected changes in mind. Sorry about calling you a pain."

"It's okay," said Jaiden. "Daddy says it's my job because I'm your little sister."

Luke smiled at the kid's response, staring at the car door.

But Jaiden shook her head. "But I won't try to be."

April smiled for the kid. "That's good, but I'll still love you, no matter what."

The kid smiled wider that time and reached over to hug the older girl. April wrapped her own arm around her, hugging Jaiden, in return just as Lorelai was pulling into the driveway.

Luke and Lorelai let the girls out first before shutting their doors. When Rory parked and got out, Jaiden made a dash for her oldest foster sister, squeezing her around the legs, tight.

"Hey, Jaiden," Rory greeted, holding her hand around the kid's head, happy to see her. "Missed ya, too" she snickered at being tacked around the legs. "I see you got a haircut."

Jaiden let go to look up at the young woman. "Mommy took me today when Daddy and I got back from camping."

"It looks great," she told her.

"Thank you," Jaiden replied.

Rory smiled. "You're welcome."

Once Jaiden had her turn, the rest of the family took turns greeting and hugging Rory before they headed up to the front door. The current maid answered the door and let them in, letting the family know Emily was in the living room which they thanked her, for.

Jaiden ended up, pinning herself to Luke's side, seeming like she was still nervous about being there despite starting to like them.

When they entered the living room, Emily greeted them, cheerfully, exchanging a hug with Rory, and yelled for Richard to join them.

"Where's Jaiden?" Emily asked once she greeted everyone else.

"Crap!" Lorelai exclaimed in a mock but convincing gasp. "We left Jaiden at home!"

But, Emily just rolled her eyes as if she could see her daughter wasn't being serious. "Very funny, Lorelai," she said, unamused, in a sarcastic way.

Lorelai chuckled but got serious when no one else did. "She's behind Luke, Mom."

About that time, Jaiden poked her head from behind Luke's right leg, in a shy manner like she did at the salon.

"There you are," Emily smiled at the little girl. "Hello, Jaiden."

Bashful, Jaiden waved at the woman before finally stepping out to stand beside her foster dad.

"There, that's much better now that we can see that beautiful face of yours." The compliment got a small smile from the kid. With the greetings settled, Emily told them all to sit and offered everyone a drink.

Both of the older girls took a soda while Jaiden whispered to Luke, she wanted water. Luke of course just requested a beer while Lorelai got her usual drink. As everyone was getting settled with their drinks, Richard finally emerged from his study, having been on the phone with a client.

"Hello, everyone," he greeted and individually said each of their names, who greeted him in return. When Richard got to Jaiden, he was especially excited. "Jaiden, so glad to see you."

Jaiden waved hello to him, still bashful as she was with Emily.

"So, I hear the first trial went well," Richard directed towards Luke and Lorelai once he sat down in one of the chairs. "The man is locked up now, I hope."

"For now, yes," Lorelai was the one to answer her father. "Because he pleaded not guilty, as we expected he would, we have to go through with the rest of the court process."

"And when is the next trial?"

"The next trial is, not this Tuesday, but the Tuesday after Jaiden gets back from camp," she explained.

He nodded. "I see. And I assume you're in good hands, correct? Norman find you a reliable prosecutor?"

"Absolutely. Norman trusts this guy is one of the best and will make sure things go in our favor," Lorelai assured him with a nod.

"That's good to hear," Richard replied, satisfied.

"I still can't believe you're letting Jaiden be a part of this if she isn't needed until the actual trial," Emily insisted even though Lorelai had already explained over the phone, the other day, this was Jaiden's decision.

Lorelai tossed her head back in frustration. "Mom, Jaiden wants to be there, I told you, that," she tried to remind her.

"But if this man is the reason she's terrified of the world around her, why put her in the same room if it isn't necessary?"

"That's just it. Jaiden wants to overcome her fear of him and make sure he gets what should be coming to him."

"I have to agree with your mother, on this, Lorelai," said Richard. "If it's not absolutely necessary for the child to be there, then she shouldn't need to be there."

Lorelai sighed, holding her eyes closed towards the floor. "Mom, Dad," she tried to remain calm. "This is our decision. If Jaiden wants to be a part of this and hear with her own ears what's happening, then that is okay with Luke and I. We are trying to be open with her, and make sure she has as much of a voice in all this as much as she possibly has. Please just let us handle this, ourselves."

"Fine, Lorelai, if you insist, as you always do, we will stay out of it," Emily told her daughter, even though there was a hint of reluctance.

Lorelai thanked them and redirected the conversation so she could bring up Jaiden bringing her artwork to share with the class.

"Oh, I love seeing pieces of art," Richard stated, excited once again. He was probably expecting artwork children Jaiden's age usually created, but when Lorelai encouraged Jaiden to pass them, her sketchbook, which Jaiden nervously did, and they opened to the first drawing, their jaws dropped in surprise.

Emily was the first to respond. "Oh my- Jaiden drew this?"

"Yep," Lorelai smiled, proudly, exchanging a look with the kid.

Luke also smiled towards Jaiden, just as proud.

"I know you said, Jaiden was talented, but I wasn't expecting this," Richard also said. "This is incredible. Real, genuine talent." The Gilmores continued to turn through the pages of the creations Jaiden had made. The kid's formed relaxed and a small smile appeared at the positive feedback. One particular drawing caught Emily off guard in another way.

"Oh, my… There are even people, completely naked in here? Lorelai, how can you let your soon to be daughter draw something like this?"

Lorelai looked confused as she wasn't sure what her mother was talking about. Did she mean the action scenes Jaiden loved to draw?

Rory, being the closest to her grandmother, learned over to see for herself. Having been sitting there with Jaiden, watching videos with her again when she visited, fourth of July weekend, came to the kid's defense when Jaiden tensed up. "It's actually common while practicing drawing people, to draw them completely naked so you can get the basic shapes of the human body, down. In fact, many art classes start out that way."

Luke wasn't too thrilled hearing Jaiden was drawing naked people, anymore than the Gilmores were. Not to mention, Lorelai was also weirded out by it.

"I will admit, I've known about artists having to start with the nude form, myself," Richard admitted. "I'm just surprised someone Jaiden's age is drawing those and in such, uh...detail." His eyes darted between the others and the drawing.

Lorelai stared at her father in confusion. "Detail? You mean with...certain...parts?"

It was Rory who said, "Thankfully, the person chose to shade in shadows for...those parts. Plus, Jaiden was at least mature about doing it."

She felt herself release a breath of air.

"Jaiden and I have actually already discussed and looked into art and animation colleges for when she grows up," Rory also admitted.

Lorelai flinched in surprise. "How come I didn't know about this?"

She shrugged. "It was just something we talked about during one of our sisterly bonding moments. We even found out there are high schools that focus on the arts, as well, that help in getting into those colleges. Kind of like how Chilton helps get you into schools like Yale and Harvard. I told Jaiden, with her talent, she should do well in schools that specialize in the arts. They still have the regular core classes like math and English, but they focus more on stuff like drawing, painting, and even photography and other artsy stuff."

"I have to agree, I think Jaiden would do very well in a school such as that if these pictures are anything to go by. These are just incredible," said Richard as he flipped through the rest of the sketchbook.

"But how will Jaiden be able to support herself?" Emily pointed out. "Art doesn't sound like a very stable career."

"Actually, with media and technology continuing to grow, there are a rise of artists doing well," Rory explained. "I have faith Jaiden will do well in the animation field she wants to work in."

"Animation? You mean as in making cartoons? They pay people to sit in a room all day, drawing silly pictures children waste their time watching?"

"Oh, yeah, they do. In fact, people of all ages loves cartoons," Lorelai joined in.

Richard also added, "I do find myself laughing to myself at those comic strips in my morning paper."

April nodded in Luke's direction. "And, Jaiden already made her own comic book she gave Dad, for father's day. It pretty much looked like a legit, unpublished comic book."

"You know, if you asked Jess, he could probably be able to print it into an actual book form at his place in Philadelphia," Rory suggested towards Luke and Jaiden.

He stared at her. "He can?"

"Yeah, they are a publishing company, after all, with machines that print books." She then added, "I don't mean, like, actually getting it published and sell it. But it would be cool to have something like that like a book."

"I think that would make it a graphic novel, wouldn't it?" April said. "Usually, comic books are paper thin, stapled together, whereas, graphic novels, I've noticed, are more book-like."

Rory shrugged. "I'm not really an expert on comic books, but I'm sure Jess can do, either, or."

"I'm not either. Graphic novels seem to be the popular thing among some of the nerds at my school."

"Regardless, I think helping Jaiden pursue a career in the arts is a terrific idea, and we would even help make sure the tuition is paid for, as I'm quite certain both high schools and colleges that focus on art is just as expensive as Chilton is," Richard stated.

Lorelai was quick to jump in at that. "And both Luke and I will start saving now in preparation for when Jaiden reaches high school." She was not about to go through all they had to endure getting Rory through Chilton, and eventually Yale. Lorelai did not want to go through it again.

Of course, her mother gave her a disapproving look, but said nothing.

Even Richard was at a loss for words. "Uh, well, alright then." At least they accepted it, even if they did want to help Jaiden live up to her potential. Being her future parents for the rest of Jaiden's life, Lorelai felt only her and Luke should be the ones supporting Jaiden in reaching her dreams. How pathetic would it be, needing help getting two kids through school, especially when Lorelai wasn't a single mother this time? No, this time, she was going to be smart about this and make sure they had the money.

About that time, the maid returned to inform them, dinner was ready. So, everyone moved to the dining room where the conversation was changed to how Rory's work was going as a journalist, as well as how Richard's business was going, among other topics.

Thankfully, dinner went better than the last one with Jaiden able to keep Stanley, as that was the deal.

When everyone was finished, dessert was brought out as they finished the dinner conversations, and soon the meal and the evening came to an end. Exchanging good nights, they retreated outside to where they were parked. Once Jaiden found out Rory was staying the night, she timidly but politely asked if she could ride home with her which Rory gladly said she could.

Parting company for now, the Danes-Gilmores went to their respective cars and to head home.