AN: Thanks everyone for the great reviews. You guys rock :)
I'll need some time to add chapter 9. I need to rewrite it a bit but I don't have time to do it at the moment. Need to study blech.


Thursday, 6.30 pm (1 week after Luke left) Chris' POV

I stood outside on their porch feeling a bit nervous. I knew that I had to do it. Finally I raised my hand and knocked. Footsteps were heard and then to my surprise Rory opened the door.

"Dad, hi. What are you doing here? We didn't expect you 'til morning afternoon."

"Well, there was a change in the plans. You here on a Thursday? Don't you have classes tomorrow?"

"Not tomorrow. I rescheduled some things to spend more time with mom."

"Ah, I see."

"Where's Georgia?"

"She's with a nanny. Is your mom home?" – I haven't even finished the sentence when I heard her say my name.

"Christopher?"

"Hey, Lore."

"This is a surprise. I thought you were coming tomorrow."

"I intended to but I have to talk to you...you both."

"Okay, did something happen?" – She asked worried.

"No, nothing happened. I just made a few decisions that I wanted to tell you." – She gestured for me to sit down and I did. I sat down on the chair next to the staircase and Rory and Lorelai sat down on the couch.

"And this couldn't have waited 'til tomorrow."

"No, because the one thing I decided was to stop coming here."

"What?" – They both said simultaneously.

"I mean I'll come visit you, but not as frequently as for these past few weeks."

"May I ask why?"

"I thought a lot about it and I realized that I'm now ready to take care of Gigi alone. I'm grateful for your help and I'm sure I couldn't have done it without you but I think now is the time to raise her on my own. I already worked things out with my company. I'll travel less in the future to have more time with Gigi. After all I don't want to miss her growing up."

"Are you sure?" – Lorelai asked and I sighed out loud.

"No, but I know I have to do this." – I looked at her and tried to feel as convincing as my words were.

"Well, I think that's great."

"It definitely is." – Rory agreed and smiled at me.

"You want to stay here tonight? We can have dinner and watch a movie."

"No, I'm sorry. I can't. I need to pick up Gigi from the nanny and I need to finish a few things for work. Yesterday I took the day off and now there's a little pile waiting for me."

"Okay, you'll call us?"

"Yes, I promise. I'm not going to visit you regularly but it doesn't mean that I'll disappear completely from your lives. Not this time."

"You better not mister." – Rory said as she stood up to give me a hug. She kissed me on the cheek before letting go of me. Then Lorelai and I hugged.

"I know it's scary to do this on your own but I also know that you'll make it." – I thanked her and they walked me to the door. I was almost to my car when Lorelai called out to me.

"Chris, if you ever need help don't hesitate to call us. We're always here."

"That you are." – I gave her a smile as I climbed into my car. In the rearview mirror I saw them waving at me before walking back into the house.

It wasn't easy to do this but at the same time it felt right. It felt like some kind of closure. I finally let go of Lorelai and a life with her. She had moved on a long time ago and it was time for me to do the same.

TBC