"Emily, I'm home. What's the problem?"

Emily rushed to greet Richard with a scowl, "Oh you would not believe the day I've had. Not only did the dry cleaners ruin my favourite blouse, the cook went home sick, so I had to scramble to make a last minute dinner reservation and then I had a surprise visit from Christopher!"

"Christopher? What did he want?"

"He wanted my help with the girls. Apparently he went to their house to apologize last night and a big fight broke out."

"A fight?" Richard asked as he followed Emily to their bedroom.

Emily walked to Richard's closet to pull out the sport coat she wanted him to wear to dinner and a matching tie. "Christopher said that when he arrived Rory was home alone with Luke. Christopher had brought a gift as an apology for missing the debutante ball but it was not received well."

"That does feel like classic Christopher, he can't devote any time to Rory but thinks a gift will solve it."

Emily huffed, "He bought her a car and she told him that Like is more of a father to her. I love Rory, but that is not how to act when someone expresses regret and offers you a lovely gift. She spends all that time on public transit with hobos and riff raff."

Richard gave his tie a final adjustment and chuckled, "You, my love, are a snob. There's nothing wrong with a high school aged girl riding the bus. It's not like she's riding through any rough neighbourhoods."

"Richard, that is such a small part of the problem. Christopher knew that Rory could save time every day if she had a car, he thinks that she refused it because Luke was there."

"What does Luke have to do with any of this?"

"Christopher thinks that Rory is worried that Luke would not respect her if she accepted a gift like this instead of earning it, or that she didn't want to embarrass Luke who couldn't afford such a gift."

"It sounds like Christopher is making assumptions and you know what they say happens when you assume."

Emily put on her coat and shook her head, "Don't be crass. This is serious. Rory and Christopher fought and then Lorelai came home and made him leave the house. He said that he's not going to try with them anymore."

Richard scoffed, "So they will go from seeing him twice a year to not at all? I think they'll live."

"I thought you liked Christopher? You always expressed regret that he and Lorelai didn't marry."

"To be honest Emily, I thought if Lorelai married Christopher she wouldn't have run off the way she did. It was never that I thought he was a great man. Think about it, were you really surprised when he didn't show up for her at the ball?"

"Well, I thought … He had to work."

"Emily?" Richard used his tone that said 'come on, be honest.'

"Okay, okay, you're right. I wasn't surprised. But I am worried that this Luke is going to be a bad influence on the girls. His life is embedded in Stars Hollow, now Rory and Lorelai are cutting ties with Christopher, doesn't that make you worried that we're next?"

"That feels like quite the leap, Emily."

"Is it? They were fine without us in their lives before. If they are creating a family within Stars Hollow with a certain type of people they may not see room for us in that world."

Richard paused to let Emily know that he was giving her words time to resonate with him, he looked her square in the eyes trying to convey all the sincerity in him. "You need to stop worrying. We are in a good place with the girls, maybe the best we've ever had with Lorelai. And Rory is at an age where she is able to choose and maintain her own relationships. And if you want to know what I really think about Luke, I think that he'll be a good influence on both Lorelai and Rory. Just from what the private investigator told me and from what we learned from talking to him on the Friday he came to our home, I'm impressed with him."

"Really?"

"He's hard working, he owns the building, his parents may have passed away but he still talks about them with love and respect. He keeps up his father's sign at the business he transformed. You saw how he looked at the girls, he's obviously very in love with Lorelai and he's protective and loves Rory as well. The best advice I could give you is, stay out of whatever fight Christopher is having with the girls. If your fear is losing them, do not criticize Luke, or Lorelai's relationship with him."

"I suppose you're right."

"You know I'm right, you're just still feeling the emotions you are dealing with after confronting that Mia woman."

Emily nodded and the couple finally exited their home and headed out to one of their favourite restaurants for dinner.

Sookie was in the kitchen going over the menu plans for the week when Lorelai rushed into the kitchen.

"I know we fought last week and you might still be mad at me, but I NEED to talk to you!"

Sookie stood up, "What is it Sweetie?"

"Let's go into the office," Lorelai said while keeping her fast pace and Sookie following.

Lorelai closed the door behind Sookie and began talking, "First of all, we're good, right? We talked it out and you know that I was just crazy thinking about someone else owning this place."

"I know. And of course we're good. You know that I could never stay mad at you."

Lorelai sighed with relief and fell into Sookie's arms, "I love you Sook! And I really need your help. I don't know what to do."

Sookie hugged her friend tightly, "I'm here for you. But you're scaring me, what happened."

"You know how close Luke and I have gotten, right?" Lorelai led Sookie to the couch and they sat down together.

"Oh Honey, one of you haven't screwed things up already have you? I told you that I think you're perfect for each other and I stand by that."

"No, I need your help to avoid screwing things up!"

"Wow, okay. How can I help?"

"Things are so good, almost too good. But I pushed those feelings aside and was enjoying the fact that everything felt so right, and the fact that it seemed to make Rory so happy too."

"I know that it can be scary when you feel like you are getting something so good. I kept saying 'Really? Why?' whenever Jackson would tell me that he loved me. But he got mad so I had to stop. Lorelai, I love you. I have watched you be alone for years, putting Rory's needs and what's best for her ahead of anything for yourself. We joke that you have a bad dating record, but you just wanted Rory to have a stable life. No one can really fault you for that. You're a good mother, not bad at relationships. Trust your heart and your head. You know what's best for everyone, any advice you've ever given has been spot on. You told me to ask Mia for the Head Chef job and she gave it to me, you told me to trust my own pallet and I got that rave review, you told me to ask out Jackson and now I'm with the love of my life. You deserve that happiness too, you and Rory deserve this life with Luke."

"He said he wants to get married," Lorelai finally blurted out.

Sookie's mouth fell open and she was in complete shock.

"Sook, are you okay?"

"Married? You guys have been dating for two weeks. Wait, you said that he said he wanted to marry you, but did he ask you? What did you say?"
Lorelai smiled and her eyes glazed over …..