It was a week after Kate Callahan had joined the team. Lorelai hated that the team kept losing a member, but she liked Kate. It was a Friday night they had just gotten home from a case. Lorelai wanted to have a girls night. JJ had to get home to Will and the kids. Penny had plans with Derek. Rebecca was busy studying for a big test the following Monday, so she decided to invite Kate out for a drink.

The two of them went to a restaurant and ordered a couple drinks.

"You wear a ring. You're married?" Lorelai asked

"Yes. I am. Chris. Been married since 2000." She said "I hear you and Spencer are involved. You're very good at keeping it out of work." She said

"Yeah. We were told to keep it out of work, and no one would try to intervene." Lorelai told her

"I've noticed. This team seems very close." Kate said

"We are. We've been though so much. Even before I was around they were close. However, I think when Aaron took me in. He wanted to give me the family I never really had. Um. I was in the foster care system from the time I was about two. And it wasn't a good foster home to say the least. I never really had a chance to be a kid or have a good family. So, I think me being there. Wanting me to be happy. I also kind of insisted on spending time outside of work together. So yes. This team is more like a family." Lorelai said. "And you are now a part of it." Lorelai added with a smile.

"How did you end up being adopted by Aaron?" Kate asked

"Long story. I was put in foster care I was around two. For stupid reasons my biological parents thought it would be better for me if everyone thought I was older. They told those who needed to know I was five. I aged out at what everyone assumed at eighteen. I finished getting my education and joined the FBI. When things went down in my hometown. And we were there working a case the truth was discovered. I thought I was nineteen but turns out I was only sixteen. I had to go back in the care of a foster parent, so Aaron got an emergency licence and took me in to keep me from ending up in another crappy foster home. I was able to keep being an agent in certain terms. I couldn't work in the field. I could be certified to carry a gun. But I was still and FBI agent. Only a few months later Aaron officially adopted me. Before that happened Rachel came to live with us as well." Lorelai said

"Wow." Kate said.

"He and this entire team really saved my life. In more ways than one." Lorelai said

"What about you? Any kids?" Lorelai asked

"Chris and I took in my niece when my sister and brother-in-law were killed on 911. She was just a baby at the time. She knows we are her aunt and uncle. She doesn't call us mom and dad, but she is ours." Kate said

Lorelai nodded. "I'm so sorry for your losses."

"Thanks." Kate said

"If she was just a baby at the time she's about 13?" Lorelai asked

"Yes. Her name is Meg." Kate said

Lorelai smiled. "Well, whenever your ready the team would love to meet her. And your husband. When we do a get together again you should bring them along." Lorelai said

"She would love that. Who else on the team has kids?" Kate asked

"Well Aaron has obviously me. As well as Rachel she is seventeen. And Jack from his ex-wife who is ten. Derek took in and did an adult adoption of one of my former foster sisters. Rebecca she's twenty-two almost twenty-three. Dave is currently fostering another of my previous foster sisters. Julianna. She's eleven. He is adopting her in just a week. JJ and her husband Will have a son. Henry. He's seven. And they adopted a girl Kelsey she's nine. She is the biological daughter of one of my former foster sisters who unfortunately passed away." Lorelai said

"Wow. How many kids were in that foster home?" Kate asked

"When I left there was twenty-three. I think that was the most that had ever been there at one time. But 100s of kids went though that home. I was in the foster home in small town Idaho that the news dubbed the foster home from hell." Lorelai said

Kate's eyes went big. "Shit. Yeah. I heard about that. Wow. That home spanned generations didn't it?"

"The women who owed and ran it. By the time she was murdered. She was at least in her late seventies. She started it when she was just twenty. 99% of the kids born in that town were girls. Must have been something in the water… Or the drugs.. Or alcohol… that produced mostly girls. And most of them ended up in that foster home. My biological mother and I believe grandmother as well were in that home." Lorelai said.

"Damn." Kate said

"My life story. Its something out of a book." Lorelai said

"Wasn't there a sex trafficking case involved as well?" Kate asked

"Yes. Um. If you tried to runaway or reported the abuse to the police. More than once you disappeared. For a long time, we all assumed if a girl went missing after reporting it or running that she was dead. But our foster mother and social worker and the local police would take those girls and sell them into trafficking. That is actually what happened to Kelsey's biological mother. By the time they were found a lot of the girls had produced children. And a lot of them ended up dead from the abuse." Lorelai said

Kate shook her head. "Did you know her mother?"

"Georgia. She was the oldest in the home till she disappeared. I was technically nine but assumed twelve and the new oldest at the time. We all knew she was going to try to run and get us help. We knew if we never heard about her again we would likely never see her again. I gave her the only stuffed animal I had. The next time I saw her it was her body when we broke up the sex trafficking ring. And this little girl came up to me holding the stuffed bear. I saw the bear and saw the eyes and knew instantly that she was her daughter. That was probably the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with knowing that I hadn't gotten to her sooner. She had been alive till about three days before we broke up the ring. We were working on the case when she died." Lorelai said, "And I know this is all depressing we can change the subject." Lorelai said

Kate shrugged. "Yes. It is depressing but its your life. And I want to know. As long as you want to talk about it."

"I have told the story so many times I can talk about it without it affecting me much anymore." Lorelai said

Kate nodded. "That foster home is gone now right?"

"Yes. Um. After everything came to light. The police force was disbanded, and a new team has come together. They have gone though and fixed a lot of the issues the town had. The foster home was shut down and eventually they torn down the home. For two reasons. One being it was shit hole and was not livable. And to bring some closure to all the victims." Lorelai said. "It was very cathartic." She said

"So, you went for it." Kate said

"Yes. That was an intense weekend. My entire world turned on its head that weekend. But I got a lot of closure that weekend." Lorelai said

They were quiet for a few minutes

"Well lets talk about some good things in your life. How long have you and Spencer been together?" Kate asked

"Um. Its kind of complicated. We started dating only a few months after I joined the FBI. Before we knew my true age. When we found out we split because of the legality of the fact that I was underage. When I turned eighteen for real. We started dating again. We dated a couple years. We broke up well for reasons I'm not going to get into. We were apart for about year. We got back together and have been going strong since." Lorelai told her with a smile

"That's great." Kate said

They continued to talk and get to know each other while finishing their drink and heading home.