"Reed." Joshua told her.
"Mr. Reed, but Luke can not be this girl's father," she told him.
"I'm sorry if this is a problem for you... but your husband is...."
"Husband?" Luke interrupted. "I'm not...."
"We're not...." Lorelai began.
"She's not my wife," Luke finally told him.
"Look, I don't care who she is," Joshua told him. "I'm here to inform you that you're being given custody of your daughter."
"It's not possible... Jacelyn would have told me if I had a daughter," Luke told him.
"Obviously she wouldn't," Joshua told him. "Because she didn't."
Luke shook his head. "What makes you think I'm the father?"
"Cassidy's birth certificate has you down as the father," Joshua told him.
"Well, that doesn't mean anything," Lorelai interrupted, again. "You can put whatever name you want there, that's no prove."
Joshua sighed and looked at Luke. "Would you be willing to take a paternity test? If for nothing else, to prove you're not the father?"
"Yes," Luke told him. "I'd like to get this thing cleared up as soon as possible. Can we go now?"
"If you like," Joshua told him.
Luke jumped up on the counter. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said in a loud voice. "I'm sorry, but something has come up and the diner is closing for the rest of the day. Your food and drinks are on the house, but you all must leave - NOW!"
As everyone stood and left, mumbling curses and such under their breath, Lorelai went over to Luke.
"Do you want me to come with you?" She asked.
He shook his head. "No reason to. I'll just go get this cleared up, no big deal."
"OK," she told him. "Let me know how it goes."
Luke nodded as she left the diner.
"So, what was Luke's reaction when he said that?" Rory asked. They were eating take-out Chinese food for dinner, while Lorelai filled her in on what had happened at the diner that morning.
Lorelai laughed. "What do you think it was? He knows he's not the father."
Rory shook her head. "Why would this Jacelyn person put his name down as the father if she didn't believe it was true?"
Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know, but come on... Luke a father?"
"He'd make a great dad," Rory told her.
"Yes, he would... but I just can't picture him a father," Lorelai told her daughter.
"I can," Rory said under her breath.
"What?" Lorelai asked.
"I said I guess you're right," Rory said.
Lorelai began to make a comment back when there was a knock at the door. She stood and walked through the hallway and opened the door.
"Luke, how did every..." Lorelai began, but stopped when she saw the look on his face.
The two of them just stood there. Luke didn't want to say it... and Lorelai knew better than to ask.
After a bit he looked at her and shrugged. "I'm her father, Lorelai... she's my daughter."
"Oh Luke... I'm sorry," Lorelai told him.
He shook his head. "Sixteen years... she's sixteen years-old... how could I have missed out on sixteen years?"
Lorelai didn't know what to say so she just stepped back and let him come in.
"She's coming here tomorrow... tomorrow! I... I don't think I can do this Lorelai," Luke said as he walked into the kitchen.
"Do what?" Rory asked, looking up from the book she was reading at the kitchen table.
"Rory, can you excuse us for a while?" Lorelai asked.
"Sure, I've got homework anyways," Rory told her, and went to her room.
"Luke," Lorelai said after Rory had shut her door. "You don't have to do anything... it's entirely up to you."
"I know that Lorelai!" Luke exclaimed. "But what am I supposed to do? Phone up that Reed guy and tell him I don't want to help?"
"Well...." Lorelai started.
"Look... I may not have been in this girl's life for sixteen years... but that wasn't by choice!" Luke told her.
"OK, so think back to sixteen years ago... if Jacelyn had told you, would you have been there?" Lorelai asked.
Luke sighed as he sat down and put his head in his hands. "I don't know Lorelai... I don't know. But I wasn't given the choice, was I?"
"No, you weren't, and that wasn't fair, I'll admit it," she told him. "But you can't change that... now you've just got to make the decision if you want to be there now."
Luke shook his head. "That's a pretty big decision."
Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, it is. And unfortunately, you don't have long to make it."
Luke looked up at her from where he was sitting. "You know what? I don't have a choice here... she's my daughter... and she has no where else to go."
"She needs me right now, I have to be there for her," Luke finished.
"Luke, do what you think is the right thing to do," Lorelai told him.
Luke stood up. "Her plane gets into Hartford at noon tomorrow, and I'm going to be there."
"OK," Lorelai said.
Luke began towards the door, then turned back and looked at Lorelai. "Listen, I'm... I'm going to need your help in this. I don't think I can do this on my own."
Lorelai nodded. "Luke, I'll always be here when you need me."
