The next morning, Lorelai woke up when the alarm clock went off. Chris slowly crawled out of bed, and Lorelai gently crawled out herself, making sure not to wake Rory. Chris turned around to come face to face with his wife.

Startled to see anyone else up so early Chris jumped back. "What are you doing up?"

"We need to finish our conversation from last night." Lorelai replied.

"Aw, come one Lore, you have to be kidding me?"

"I'm not kidding Chris. Come on..." Lorelai lead Chris into the bathroom and shut the door.

"What are you doing?" Chris asked.

"It's to keep Rory from hearing us." Lorelai replied.

"Lorelai, must we go through this?"

"Yes, Chris!" Lorelai replied in a high whisper "We must."

"I'm not going to continue living like this. I was up all night thinking about it, and I've reached a conclusion, either I get a job and help us move out of this dump, or I'm leaving you."

Chris's mouth gaped. No way, could he have heard what he thought he just heard. Sure, they had their problems every now and then, what couple didn't? But... leaving? No, no, that would never happen.

"Did you hear me Chris?" Lorelai asked as she stared him straight in the eyes. "I'll leave you, and you better believe I'll take Rory with me."

Chris paused for a moment, then blinked his eyes several times. He shook his head in awe, and astonishment. "Okay, Lorelai... You can get a job."

"Glad you see things my way." Lorelai responded. With the problem finally being settled, Lorelai left Chris alone to shower.

Weeks went by and the two never discussed Lorelai getting a job again. In fact now that there was hope of getting a new apartment, things seemed to be brightening up more. Work wasn't so bad for Chris, knowing that he could soon be in a nicer place. He had to admit that Lorelai did have a good idea. They had been getting along great lately. In fact they had been getting along so well, that Chris had practically stopped coming home in a bad mood anymore. He enjoyed seeing his wife and daughter every evening, and learned not to take advantage of it. He had been putting back as much money as he could to give to Lorelai for Rory's school shopping. Finally the day came when Rory could live her dreams.

"Okay, Sweetie, you be a good girl for Mommy today." Chris said sweetly to his blue eyed beauty.

"I will, Daddy!" Rory jumped up and hugged him tightly.

Chris smiled as he hugged his daughter. He had given Lorelai 200 dollars, it wasn't much, but it was all he could possibly sacrifice.

"I'm sorry I couldn't give you more Lore." Chris apologized.

"It's okay Chris. I can stretch this pretty far. Plus, when I get my job I'll be able to buy her some more supplies."

Chris leaned in and kissed his wife, "I'll see you tonight. Have fun shopping today."

"Oh, we will won't we, sweets?" Lorelai grinned as she looked down at Rory.

"Yep!"

"Good-bye you two."

Lorelai bought Rory 3 new shirts, and 2 new pairs of pants. She found a nice pair of shoes for half price, and a stylish red book bag. They stopped by their local general store and bought pencils, paper, and crayons. Rory had tuckered herself out from all the excitement, and fell asleep on the bus ride home. Lorelai barely had the heart to wake her, but there was no way she could carry all of their bags and Rory. Slowly, a sleepy headed Rory awoke and wiped her eyes.

"Are we home?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, we are." Lorelai replied.

"Come on..." Lorelai lead Rory by the hand off the bus. Lorelai looked up at the apartment complex. It looked even more sickening from the outside. Thank god they wouldn't have to put up with it much longer.

Rory or Lorelai neither one had eaten since they left earlier that morning. Rory hadn't complained too much about being hungry, but Lorelai knew she had to be.

"Hey, sweetie, would you like a pizza tonight?" Lorelai asked.

"A pizza? Oh boy!" Rory jumped with excitement.

Lorelai giggled. "I'll take that as a yes. Let's see, you me and your Daddy, I'd say a 18 inch should be plenty. What do you say babe, pepperoni, cheese, banana peppers, and mushrooms?"

"Mmm!" Rory replied.

"Okay, I'll call it in and we'll have it delivered."

Lorelai picked up the phone to dial the number but there was no dial tone. She hung the phone up and tried again but still there was dead silence.

"Hm, that's strange. Something must be wrong with the lines."

Rory had turned on the tv and was busy enjoying one of her favorite cartoons. Lorelai thought to herself for a moment. Had they paid the phone bill? Lorelai remembered Chris talking about it being due. She knew she had given Chris the money to pay it. He always paid the bills at the beginning of every month before he went to work.

"Hey sweetie, how about we go out and eat tonight when Daddy gets home?" Lorelai was hoping Rory would easily make the change.

Rory looked up with her big blue eyes and sighed, "But I'm hungry now."

"Aw, I know sweetie. Daddy will be home soon. I promise. Then we'll all go to a nice restaurant and eat."

"Can we still eat pizza?" Rory asked hopefully.

"Of course we can." Lorelai smiled and picked her daughter up from the floor. "Come on, let's put on one of your new outfits to show Daddy when he gets home."