Lorelai had spent the entire day packing. Putting things into boxes that she thought they would need – putting things in trash bags that she couldn't believe they had. She had laughed to herself as she wondered why they had three copies of the Annie soundtrack in their CD collection. What even?

By the time the kids would start getting home from school, she had packed up the living room, bathroom, as much of the kids' rooms as she could without them, and was working on the kitchen when the door opened.

Throughout the entire day of packing that left her completely exhausted as she reached up to put the plates into a box – the entire day she had tried to think of the best way to tell the kids that they were moving. But, in her mind, no matter how she spun it, there was going to be a resistance that she had never seen from her daughter. Because if the blowup this morning had been over the possibility of going to stay for the summer, it would only be like dying and going to the wrong place when Lorelai told Rory that they were permanently moving there.

So, despite her hours of preparation, she felt so unprepared as the kids walked into the house.

As usual, Rory was the first one to speak. Her eyes taking in the stacks of boxes piled in the living room, the bareness of the rooms, and finally to Lorelai putting plates into boxes. And she asked, "What the fuck is going on?"

Despite the confusion all around him, Jess, to Lorelai's surprise, was the one to correct Rory on her swearing. "Seriously? There are how many words in the English language and you can't use any but nasty ones?"

Rory rolled her eyes, which as much as she did, Lorelai wondered how she didn't have permanent eye damage. Then Rory's eyes met Lorelai's and she again asked, "What are you doing?" So accusing. So derogatory. So Rory.

Taking a deep breath, Lorelai said, "I just found out today, otherwise I would have told you before you left."

Rory stumbled over boxes to stand at the table where Lorelai was packing a box. "Did you finally make enough money to move us out of this hell-hole?" Lorelai watched as Rory's mind started going even faster, coming up with more and more hurtful things, "Or did you stop paying rent and now we're homeless. Because, sure as hell, that's a plausible explanation."

"Rory." Jess corrected, but Lorelai just held up her hand to him to signal the boy to just be quiet.

Looking at Rory, she said, "We are moving."

Sarcastically, Rory gestured to the boxes and said, "Well, no kidding." She had a look of utter disgust on her face. And Lorelai knew that things were going to only get worse. "I would hope you weren't implementing a new organization strategy that we all live out of boxes."

"We are moving." Lorelai said again, trying to keep herself from lashing out at her daughter. "To Stars Hollow."

And she watched as Rory's face went from confused and irritated to absolutely infuriated. "What!" Her mouth hung open for a second, and then she said, "You have got to be kidding me!"

Lorelai started to give her reasons, "Things have been really tight around here…"

But Rory interrupted with her loud voice, "If that's a reason we're moving, then we should have moved years and years ago!"

Jess again corrected his sister, "Rory, stop. Listen to her. Let her give us her reasons."

Lorelai watched Rory turn to her brother, and start yelling at him, "Oh shut your trap, Jess! It doesn't matter what reasons she…" At the pronoun, Rory flung her hand in Lorelai's direction, and continued, "… gives you because you'll be supportive of whatever new shit she's decided to try."

"Rory!" Lorelai said, loudly, but not loud enough.

Because her daughter went on, chewing Jess out, "You can't think for yourself, you idiot. Can't you see that she's ruined our lives? She kept us here for years in this horrible place, and now, once I was just starting a new school with new people, now she gets this notion that we're going to move to some hick town in the middle of nowhere, and there we will live happy lives because that's just what they do there."

Lorelai again said her daughter's name, but with at little more force.

It still didn't detour her daughter screaming at her son, "If only she could get her act together, get a real job not serving alcohol to losers, if she would do that instead of moving us miles from home, then maybe we could have some sense of a normal life."

That was it. Lorelai yelled louder that her daughter was yelling, which took some force. "RORY!"

Both of her children turned to look at her.

But now that she had some semblance of their attention, her body again fell into a coughing fit from yelling at Rory so loud, and she scrambled to find something to cover her mouth that she was sure would soon be filled with blood. But everything was being packed.

Her throat was burning and she could taste copper in her mouth, so she put the sleeve of her sweatshirt to her lips, knowing that it would soon be soaked through with blood. And she didn't know what to do as she continued to cough. Because the minute she brought it away from her mouth, they would see. If she could sit down…

But when she stopped coughing, she tried to cover her hand over the blood stain the size of a tennis ball on her shirt, but when she looked up, she saw both of her children's faces looking at her with horror.

Jess was the first to speak. "Mom. What is…" He looked at her shirt, and then at her mouth, and just stood there, the question floating in the air.

Grabbing a glass of water from the counter, Lorelai let the cool liquid coat her horribly raw throat before she croaked out, "I'm just sick. A cold. It's been here for a while."

There was not one part of either of her children's faces that showed they believed what she was saying.

And, of course, Rory was the first to throw that in her face. "Bullshit." If Lorelai could have yelled at her daughter right then, she would have. But Rory kept going, "What lame ass excuse is that, Mom?" Pointing to her sleeve, Rory's voice quieted down, like she was astonished at what she saw. "No cold I've ever seen does that."

Of course she couldn't pull that off on them. They weren't little children anymore. She couldn't lie to get them to feel better or see bad things in a different light that wouldn't scare them.

And Jess spoke again, his face almost in pain as he saw her bloody sleeve. "Rory's right. That's no cold, Mom." His voice was barely audible as he tried to speak through what looked like tears on his face. "Are you really sick?"

Lorelai opened her mouth to answer him, but Rory's response came louder and sooner than Lorelai's.

"Of course she's sick, you idiot." Rory flung her careless words at her brother, "You don't cough up blood and be completely healthy. What world are you living in?"

Not being able to take the fighting from Rory any longer, Lorelai started to talk, her voice very quiet. But she was thankful that both her children were silent as she spoke. "I am sick. I just need some rest to recover from working so much." That wasn't a lie. That wasn't a lie. She told herself as she continued. "That's why we are moving. Because I am out of money to stay here." She expected some vocal resistance from Rory, who, instead, just crossed her arms in front of her and sent an angry look at her. Lorelai said, "I also want you two to have a better life. Because, Rory's right…" Rory's eyes widened in surprise, "This isn't how I want you to grow up. So the only way that I can see to do that, is to move to Stars Hollow."

Jess asked, "Do you have a job there?"

Rory also questioned, "What about a house? Have you thought about that?"

The differences between her children were almost as great as the Grand Canyon. Where Jess was asking out of concern for the family and her being able to rest and still work, Rory accused her of neglecting to think about their basic needs. But that wasn't a discussion for right now.

Nodding, Lorelai said, "I have a few leads on a job there in town." Addressing Rory's accusation, she said, "We don't have a house yet, but your grandparents have offered to let us stay with them until I can get back on my feet."

Jess smiled and said, "Oh, that will be good. So you can rest too without having to make a house payment and everything." He walked over to her, and pulled her in for a hug. She couldn't believe how tall he was getting. He was the same height as her, even at fifteen. But his arms wrapped around her, and he whispered into her ear, "I'm glad we're moving. So you can stop working so hard."

His words struck a chord. Deep down inside of her. And she hugged him back and said, "And, if you get in, your grandparents have said they want to pay for you to attend Chilton next year."

He jumped back in surprise, "What?" His voice was excited beyond almost anything she had ever seen from him before, "Really? I might get to go to the best private school around?"

Lorelai nodded and watched him almost jump up and down. He reached over and gave her a quick hug, before he jumped away and said, "I'm going to pack up my room, ok?"

With a slight nod of her head, she smiled as he skipped into his room. She was glad that one child was happy.

But her eyes fell to Rory, who was still standing there with her arms crossed in front of her. Staring her down.

Lorelai was so tired. So sore. From the night before. And from the entire day spent packing. And she fell into the chair, and said, "Rory, I know you're disappointed." Shaking her head, Lorelai tried to be understanding, "I get it. I get the fact that you don't want to move from your friends and your school and…"

Rory interrupted her. Her daughter's voice was clipped and uncaring. "I want to move in with dad."

All Lorelai could do was shake her head at the absurd proposition, "No, Rory. I'm not splitting up this family. You're moving with us." Rory didn't understand. She wouldn't even try to. The stubborn look on her daughter's face told her that this move might never be alright in Rory's eyes.

"Split us up?" Her daughter asked softly. "This isn't even a real family, Mom."

"Where do you come up with this stuff, Rory?" Lorelai asked, having gained some strength from sitting down. She started pulling cups down from the cupboards and putting them into the boxes on the table. "It's hard to take you seriously when you say things like that. Of course we're a family."

The words, although said quietly and without screaming, were just as hurtful. "Jess isn't my brother. You divorced Dad. Jess' grandparents aren't really my grandparents." Rory paused, and then landed the crushing blow. "If you hadn't pushed Dad away, we would have a better life right now."

Lorelai couldn't say anything to that. Of course Jess was her brother. He had lived with them since he was six. He was her son. And yes, Chris and Lorelai were divorced. That didn't make them any less of a family. And in regards to the grandparents, they had been there for Rory more than Lorelai's parents had been there for Lorelai when she was a little girl. So, yes. This was a family. But there was no getting through to her daughter – she was going to think what she was going to think.

But that last sentence – accusing her of ruining the family by freeing herself from the man who had done so many horrible things – that couldn't go untouched.

And Lorelai just said, calmly. "Your father chose to go start a family with someone else. I couldn't do anything about that."

"Oh, really?" Rory taunted, "You were off working your slutty job at the bar while dad was…"

That was the last straw. And she raised her voice as much as possible without going into a coughing fit. "That is enough from you, young lady." Rory took a step back at her mother's anger. "You will NOT speak to me like that, do you hear me?" Of course, Rory's mouth closed and her neck stiffened, showing that she wouldn't respond to that question. But that didn't stop Lorelai, "I am your mother, and I deserve to be talked to respectfully."

Rory's mouth barely opened but she said, "Do you?"

Pointing to her bedroom, Lorelai firmly said, "Get in that room. Pack your things. We are leaving in the morning, whether you like it or not. Whatever isn't packed is going in the trashcan."

Rory's eyes narrowed as she said, "I'm going to live with Dad and you can't stop…"

"Honey," Lorelai said sarcastically, "I have custody over you. Legally, you get to see your father twice a month." Rory's jaw clenched in anger. "You try and go stay with your father, I will call the police and have you brought right back to me."

"You wouldn't do that." Rory mocked. "You don't have the balls to do that."

She couldn't believe her daughter. Couldn't believe that she would talk this way. Act this way. Treat her with such disgust. But Lorelai just threatened, "I wouldn't try me on this one, kid. But if you do, I'll make sure and take lots of pictures when the police escort you back here."

And the one thing Lorelai hadn't seen her daughter do – she did. Rory had cussed at her. Had pierced her own nose to make her angry. Had snuck out at night. Had stayed out late. Had come home drunk. Had come home smelling like cigarette smoke. Had screamed. Had yelled. But she hadn't done this.

She threw her hands up in the air, and flipped her mother off. An angry, defiant look on her face. And she just held them there.

Lorelai was now beyond angry. She was furious. All of this was for Rory. To get her away from the friends she hung out with. To get a job where Lorelai could keep an eye on her better. Where she could have a better life than living here in the crowded city.

So for Rory to be standing there, giving her the finger – that was it. Marching over to her, Lorelai grabbed her by the back of the collar, making sure not to hurt her, but showing her that she meant business. And she marched her straight to her room. And she took her in, pointed at the boxes of clothes that were Rory's.

She hissed in her ear. "Get these packed."

She let go of Rory's collar, and her daughter whirled and tried to slap her in the face. "I'm not moving with you!" Came the blood curdling scream from her teenager.

Accustomed to someone trying to do that, Lorelai grabbed her by the wrist and said, "Pack your clothes or the only clothes you're taking with you will be the ones on your back."

And she let go of her wrist, turned, and walked out of the door. As the door slammed shut, she heard Rory scream, "Go to hell!"

Lorelai leaned against the wall, holding herself up with her hands as she tried to calm down. Her heart was racing and she tried to take calm, deep breaths so she wouldn't start coughing again. She felt all her strength waning away. Like it was a battery, and she was almost all used up. But if she could just make it a few more hours. Tomorrow they would be heading out to start their new life. If she could just make it until then – she just might have a chance.

Even though all she wanted to do was sit on the floor and cry, she pushed herself off of the wall, and made her way into the kitchen, where she found her son putting dishes away into the boxes. He looked up at her, a sad smile on his face, and he said, "This is going to work, Mom."

She barely smiled, but she walked over and started handing him glasses to set into the boxes. "I sure as hell hope it does, Jess."