Things are beginning to shape up. Simply put, it's getting interesting. Thanks to Silence for looking this over before school… that's what a good sister's for. Thanks to Green Eve for her… to put it simply, intelligent review. And Christine and Loz, simply because they're the best.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who is she?"

Rory frowned at Callie's tone. "Jess's fiancée. Azura, remember?" Rory stared at Callie. "This doesn't upset you, does it? I mean, you are with Tristan." Rory's voice was almost harsh.

Callie shook her head quickly. Too quickly for Rory's liking. "No. Nothing like that. I'm just wondering if you're okay with this. Inviting his fiancée into the house and everything."

Rory nodded. "I'm fine, Callie. Jess and I were over a long time ago."

"There was a you and Jess?" Scarlett was leaning against the doorway, arms crossed over her chest.

Rory nodded again. "Yeah, I guess so."

Scarlett smiled. "I knew it." She walked into the room, standing next to Rory and Callie. "I could've sworn you two seemed too intimate. But Azura was like, 'Jess is just a very friendly person.'"

Rory looked at Callie and they both started laughing. Scarlett frowned. "What?"

Callie shrugged. "That will be the common reaction when Jess and friendly are heard in the same sentence."

Scarlett frowned. "He's always been friendly to me and Az."

"You are among a select few, then." Rory smiled at the younger girl. "And this is a small town. You aren't going to find a lot of people who haven't had some sort of relationship with someone else. With the exception of Lane."

"Lane?"

"My best friend from high school. Her mother's a strict Korean, and Lane's only allowed to date Korean boys, and, well…there's kind of a shortage of them here."

Scarlett laughed. "Really? You don't say." She paused. "If you don't mind, could you not act as if there were anything between you and Jess ever because Az will flip out and get all jealous and take it out on me."

Rory shrugged. "Sure. I probably would too."

Scarlett turned to Callie. "So, I heard some pretty good things about your boyfriend…especially his appearance."

Callie frowned. 'My boyfriend? Huh? Oh, yeah. Tristan.' "Oh, yeah, he's cute." She paused. "I also just found out he has a kid so…" She tried to look upset.

Scarlett frowned. "Oh, wow. That's big. How old is the kid?"

"Eleven months. I haven't seen her yet but Rory has."

"Aw. She must be adorable."

When Lane walked into the Gilmore residence later that day, she was surprised to see it had turned into an office of some sorts. Rory, Tristan, Callie, Jess, and two girls she didn't recognize were sitting around the kitchen table, passing around papers. "Whoa, what's going on?"

Tristan glanced up at her. "Project DuGrey mansion. We're discussing where to build the house, how much to spend, who to hire, and such." He paused. "Want to help?"

Lane nodded, pulling a chair over and plopping down next to Tristan. "Just tell me what to do."

Tristan grabbed a pile of papers. "Go through these and map out the ground and pipes under the potential east wing."

Lane stared at the thick stack of papers that Tristan had put in front of her and it suddenly occurred to her that this was really going to happen. She smiled, picking up the first paper and observing it.

"No."

At that one word, Tristan's heart hit the floor. "What?" Tristan stared at his father, eyes wide. "I thought-"

"You're such a rash child, Tristan. So much like your mother. I said no. It would be an insane idea."

"I'm finally taking responsibility for something, for the first time in my life, as you'd like to believe, and you're saying no?"

Robert DuGrey stared down at his son. "Yes, I am. Building a house for this… this stray, would be admitting your guilt. It'd-"

"My guilt?" Tristan interrupted, furious. He slammed his hand into the varnished maple table. "I have a daughter. I don't care who knows it. It's not something to be at fault for!"

"An illegitimate child, in this day and age, could… ruin our family, Tristan." Robert ran a shaky hand through his graying hair. "Especially after Katarina's… misfortune."

Tristan glared at his father. "Kat didn't do anything wrong."

"Your sister became involved with an inferior man. If that knowledge had become public, that Katarina had… experimented with anodynes."

"Drugs, Father. That's what they were. And all she did was experiment. She wasn't an addict."

"Still, something had to be done." Robert's demeanor became chilly. "Disinheriting her was the least severe method."

"This isn't about Kat anyway, Father. This is about my daughter."

"Fine. She'll be kept a DuGrey. She'll be raised by Audra. I'll call her in the morning."

"Audra has as many mothering skills as a praying mantis has relationship skills!"

"Audra will not eat your daughter, if that's what you're concerned about. She has a feeble appetite." Robert paused. "That will be all," he said formally, dismissing Tristan as if he were a common maid.

Lane frowned, flipping over onto her stomach and laying down next to Tristan on the living room floor. "I don't know." She met Tristan's eyes. "I'm so sorry, Tristan." She trailed off, her eyes trained on Tristan's. She licked her lips, trying to figure out what to say. When she looked into his eyes like that she lost her train of thought. "If they're anything like my mom, then I guess they-"

This was so wrong. He shouldn't be looking at Lane like this. First of all, she was Rory's friend. He liked Rory. He had since they were sixteen. Second, he had to keep up the charade of going out with Callie. Tristan gulped, glancing at Lane as she licked her lips.

She continued to talk, but he didn't comprehend what she was saying. His eyes were trained on her lips, and an overwhelming desire to possess them had come over him. He groaned. This was so not good. His eyes focused on Lane's eyes. She was staring at him, and he realized she had stopped talking. She must have asked him a question. "Uh. I guess you're right," he murmured, leaning towards her against his will, as if he had been possessed.

Lane's eyes searched his, and he wasn't sure if he should say something, break the connection. He didn't want to. He saw her gaze flick to his lips, and a second later, his did the same. It was as if he were watching a slow motion movie; he saw her eyes close, her tilt her head, lean forward in anticipation. He leaned towards her, until their lips were a mere centimeter apart.

Lane's heart was beating erratically, and her breath had become shallow. A hunger had overtaken her, and she was powerless to stop it. She closed her eyes, waiting for his lips on hers.

It never came. Tristan brushed past her, grabbing the cordless phone from behind her. "I want to call my sister before my father does," he said, his voice nonchalant.

Lane frowned. Had she imagined the whole thing? "Okay," she said weakly, her voice shaking.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Audra. It's Tristan."

"I haven't heard from you since you visited your mother."

"Yeah, I know… Listen, Father's going to be calling you in the morning."

Audra let out a sigh. "What did you do know, Tristan?"

Tristan wrung his hands together. "Spoke to Father."

"About…"

"My daughter."

"Your…" Audra trailed off. "Your daughter?"

"Yes. I found out about her the other day. Her name's Grace Isabella. And Father's going to have you raise her."

Audra swore under her breath. "I love how he makes my decisions for me."

"Don't we all." Tristan paused. "You will, right? I'd rather you raise her than she grow up in filth."

Audra let out another sigh, resigned. "As if I have a choice. Yes, I will. How old is she?"

"Almost a year."

"Would you be a darling and fetch me a lemonade?"

Callie looked up from her seat on the ground to see Azura Skye standing over her, examining her manicure. "There's already cups poured." Callie nodded to the table next to her.

Azura picked up a cup gingerly, glancing inside. "This is lemonade?"

Callie nodded. "I believe so."

Azura placed the cup on the table, her nose wrinkled in disgust. "Were the lemons even freshly squeezed? I'm pulled outside to this, this picnic of sorts because you have a depressed friend, and the lemons aren't freshly squeezed?"

Callie raised an eyebrow. "It's Minute Maid."

"Meaning?"

"An instant mix...never mind. So, what are you doing here anyway?"

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah." Callie nodded. "What are you doing in Stars Hollow?"

Azura smiled. "Visiting the love of my life, of course."

Callie laughed. "That's a load. So you flew from Milan to Hartford, then drove here?"

Azura nodded. "Yes, obviously. It was on my way home." Callie laughed again and Azura frowned. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Callie said, smiling. "Nothing."

"Tris!" Rory shielded her eyes as a football flew at her, hitting her in the corner of the eye. "Ouch."

Tristan glanced down at her and laughed. "There's no way that could have hurt, Rory. It was barely moving. Plus, I had told you to catch it beforehand." He approached her anyway, just to make sure. Placing his hand on the side of her face, he said, "Roll your eye back a little."

She did as she was told, keeping her good eye focused on Tristan. "This isn't the first time I've rolled my eyes at you."

Tristan let out a laugh, smiling, gently wiping something from her eye. "I'm aware of that."

Rory glanced up at him, blinking rapidly, the pain still evident in the redness of her eye. She caught his gaze, opened her mouth, faltered. "So…"

Tristan brushed his hand against the side of her face and shrugged uncomfortably. "You really will have a bruise."

Rory nodded slightly, her lips parted. "Yeah." She smiled self-consciously. "You should known by now that I'm not a very athletic person. When someone tells me to catch a flying ball, I just look at them like they're crazy...then I usually start flailing my arms." She stared at him.

Tristan's lips curved into a smile, and he brought his arm lightly around her waist. "Yeah." He leaned toward her.

Rory's lips parted slightly, mirroring his actions.

"Tristan, can you explain to Azura what Minute Maid is?" Callie interrupted. Rory turned to see Azura standing off to the side.

Tristan nodded, leaving Rory to mull over her confusions.

"So what did you find out about Azura?" Tristan asked Callie.

Callie sighed. "Well, apparently, Stars Hollow was on her way home. And she actually thinks Jess returns her feelings completely."

"Poor woman." Tristan laughed, glancing at Azura out of the corner of his eye. "And Stars Hollow isn't on anyone's way home."

Callie nodded. "That's what I thought."

"Every bone in that body of hers is possessive."

"It seems like Azura might be a tad bit…possessive." Callie's arched eyebrow accentuated her point.

Tristan nodded in agreement. "That's certainly something we can use against her."

Callie grinned. "Great minds think alike, DuGrey."

The Hendersons were shocked when they were served with papers leading to Grace's removal from their house. Tristan had accompanied the lawyers to the house, feeling as if he didn't, he'd be a traitor.

It was clear the Hendersons already considered him to be just that. Jesse, glaring at Tristan, accused, "This has to be some kind of record, even for a DuGrey. You come into our lives and within a week, you ruin them."

Since the time he was a little boy, Tristan had been trained not to show emotion in situations such as this. His father had often told him that 'open emotion is a sign of weakness.' Still, Tristan couldn't help but bite his lip and stare at the Henderson family with sad eyes. "I'm sorry."

It wasn't much, but it was all he could muster. He looked over at Mrs. Henderson, her weak form trembling as she held Grace tightly in one hand, packing an overnight bag with the other.

Tristan approached her. "My father made plans for her to live with my older sister, Audra Reynolds, in California. You can visit whenever you'd like."

Mrs. Henderson looked up at him, her eyes full with unshed tears. He understood, of course. She was a stubborn woman- she'd never cry in front of the people doing this to her. "I could never afford-"

"I'll pay for the plane tickets, for your whole family. Whenever and as often as you'd like. And I'll talk to Audra. I'm sure she'll be glad to have you as house guests."

Mrs. Henderson offered him a feeble smile. "Thank you." She paused, glancing toward where her children were shouting at the lawyers. "I- I know it's not your fault. They do too." She shrugged her shoulders, eyes trained on his. "They just need someone to blame."

Tristan nodded. "Then let them." As one of the lawyers approached, Mrs. Henderson tensed.

"It's time to leave, Sir."

Mrs. Henderson let out a strangled gasp. Tristan gulped. "Let them say goodbye." As the lawyer walked away, Tristan continued. "Here's my cell phone number," he said, handing her a card. "And eat out tonight. You shouldn't have to cook." Handing her a restaurant business card, he added, "This was Sarah's favorite restaurant. I figure you'll like it. I called ahead, and made reservations for seven o'clock. The check's covered."

Mrs. Henderson nodded. "Thank you," she said quietly, looking down at Grace. Her children started to encircle her, saying their goodbyes to their niece. "Thank you," she whispered again.

"Mama, why are you talking to him? It's his fault that all this is happening," Jesse accused, squeezing his mother's shoulder.

As Tristan walked away, he tensed as the dark haired boy's reproachful gaze followed him.

"Lane!"

Lane jumped from where she was laying on her bedroom floor, quickly shutting off the 'Here are the Sonics' CD she had been listening to. "Yes, Mama?"

Mrs. Kim opened Lane's door, hands on her hips. "I do not want you seeing that Tristan boy anymore."

Lane's eyes widened. "He's just a fr-"

"Friend, I know," Mrs. Kim interrupted. "But he still has semen. And according to Miss Patty, it works."

Lane froze. Her mother wasn't much of a social butterfly, so she had been hoping that that particular piece of gossip wouldn't reach her. "Mom."

"Measures had to be taken. I don't want you with him. There's a boy waiting downstairs to take you to church. You should be praying for your soul right now, Lane."

"Mama!"

"Go on." Mrs. Kim shooed Lane from her own bedroom, and as she watched her daughter descend the stairs, she gave a conspiratorial little smile.

Saying Lane wasn't happy with her mother was like saying the Titanic tapped an iceberg. It was a ghastly understatement.

Not only had her mother dictated who she could or could not see, she had set her up! Again! She was nineteen, out of her mother's custody, at least according to nationwide laws. Of course, the laws were flawed inside the Kim household.

Mrs. Kim had looked so pleased with herself as she announced there was a boy downstairs. It was probably a friend of a friend, a nerdy, 5'4, Korean-doctor-in-training who's first love was singing hymns at church every day of the week.

Lane clomped through the downstairs store, looking for what her mother clearly considered to be her future husband.

What she saw stopped her dead in her tracks.