Family Portrait

Author's Note: This is a bit of a fluffy chapter, there's still a bit of drama and conflict but it's mostly to take have a bit of a lighter chapter after all the drama in the past. Plus, it's what came out as I wrote so didn't have much of a choice. Like I said I'm dedicated to finishing this story so expect more frequent updates until the end. Thank you to those who reviewed and I hope you like t his chapter as well. Trust me, the drama isn't nearly done because more ideas keep flowing in. Review and tell me what you think of this new chapter.

Chapter 15 Dad

Rory groaned and rolled over in bed, but instead on finding another comfy spot she found herself landing hard on the floor, blankets knotted around her. Letting out another loud groan she brushed her hair out of her face and sat up, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. It was almost eleven o'clock in morning and as far as Rory knew it was the Sunday after the dance marathon and she had not slept through another day as she felt she had.

Slowly standing up she went to the bathroom and took a quick shower, and looked herself over in the mirror. Her hair was long, falling over her shoulders and it was already beginning to curl slightly as it began to slowly dry. Checking her watch once more she threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt and headed out of her room in the Inn.

Stopping by the kitchen to say hello to Sookie, Rory grabbed her breakfast and left the Inn quickly, heading towards the main street. Within mere minutes she found herself in front of the hair salon and she stepped in. She needed a change.

"Rory!" Monique the young lady behind the counter grinned at her. She had moved to Stars Hollow a year ago and was already wrapped up in the small town gossip and knew everything about everyone.

"Hi," Rory greeted quietly, "I'd like a cut."

"A cut or a trim?" Monique raised her dark brow, "There's a difference."

"Cut," Rory nodded, decisively. She was not an impulsive person, usually, her impulses landed her in trouble, but this was something she felt she had to do.

Surprised, Monique nodded and looked down at the appointment book in front of her, moving her finger down the page. "Right, I can take you right away or you can wait until Cass gets in."

"Now," Rory told her, "If I wait I'm probably going to think this out and change my mind."

Monique laughed lightly and then led Rory to the back of the salon and washed her hair again. As she did Rory closed her eyes and thought about the previous twenty-four hours. So much had happened Rory found it hard to keep track of everything. At the end of the night she had been left with a big, life altering decision.

She could go back to Jess and hope that things would be as they were, as she had always dreamed they would be if they were together again. Or she could try and make a new life with Tristan and their new baby along with Liza. To some it might seem like an easy choice, but they weren't in Rory's shoes and they could never truly know how she felt about either of the men. Really, this might be the most difficult decision she would ever have to make.

About an hour later, Rory emerged from the hair salon a changed woman. Changed in appearance as well as in thought. For the past hour she had sat quietly and thought to herself without any input from others to influence her thoughts. She did have to listen to Monique's gossip for a good portion of the hour, but it still hadn't really affected her train of thought.

Although she didn't know whom she was going to chose, she did know that she was going to take her time and carefully consider everything. It was what she did; evaluate every option and chose the best one out of them all. She was going to do this just as she would have years ago before Liza. This wasn't a decision to jump into.

Her hair was shorter now, falling right under her chin and instead of being flat and dead straight as it usually was after being blow-dried it was a mass of dark curls. Her blue eyes seemed to shine brighter now and she looked more sophisticated, older and had less of a child-like innocence. This was what she had needed, what she had been looking for.

As she walked towards Luke's she received many stares from the familiar Stars Hollow folks. Ignoring them, she walked confidently up to the diner and pulled the door open, the jingles of the bells above announcing her arrival. From behind the counter Luke looked up and froze in mid-argument with his wife, Lorelai noticing this turned brusquely and looked at her daughter wide-eyed while Liza ran out from upstairs, Jess walking slowly down behind her, stopping upon catching sight of Rory. Tristan, who had been arriving behind Rory, realized that the pretty girl he had been watching was none other than his Mary.

Rory looked at them all, turning when she sensed Tristan's presence behind her, wondered if she had been wrong about how it looked. Seeing their stares she suddenly felt self-conscious and tucked some of her curls behind her ear nervously, only to have a few fall loose once more. "You're hair!" Lorelai explained, racing over to her daughter and touching the ends.

"It's ugly isn't it?" Rory frowned, looking away. All of a sudden she didn't feel so great anymore.

"No," her mother shook her head slowly, "It's beautiful."

Luke nodded in agreement, "It…brings out your eyes." Rory smiled at his compliment. She knew Luke wasn't one with words, so those meant a lot to her. Jess and Tristan could do nothing but nod.

"Looks like my Mary has grown up over night," Tristan grinned, finding his voice. Jess, much like his uncle, could still not form words to compliment her. Rory didn't mind though, she could see in his eyes what he thought about her new look.

"Mommy?" Liza looked up at her mother, head tilted to the side, "Where'd the rest of your hair go?"

Rory stooped down in front of her daughter and smiled a little, tucking the child's long brown hair behind her ears, "I got it cut."

"How come?" Liza asked curiously.

"I needed a change," Rory told her daughter who still look utterly confused.

"Why?"

"Sometimes it's just something that people need," Rory had no other way of explaining it than that, "Did you have breakfast."

"Yup!" Liza nodded enthusiastically, food was something Liza was always eager to talk about, "Luke gave me pancakes with lots of syrup on 'em."

"That's great sweetie," Rory smiled and went over to Luke to get the decaf cup of coffee he had just poured for her. The she took a seat at an empty table, Liza climbing up onto the chair next to her and Tristan pulling out a chair to sit across from her. Lorelai had gone back to taunting Luke and Jess was now filling some order for other customers, glancing Rory's way as often as he could manage.

"What're the plans for today?" Tristan wondered, "Anything I can be a part in before I go back to Boston."

Rory hadn't realized that Tristan was only here for the weekend until just then. He hadn't planned on staying any longer because he hadn't known he was going to find out Rory was pregnant. She felt a sudden pang in her heart; she didn't really want Tristan to leave just yet. Not with everything they needed to talk about, not with the choice she had to make.

"I don't know yet," Rory told him, staring into her cup of coffee, "When are you going to come back? Or come to New Haven again?"

"After my last class," Tristan replied, "That is, if you don't mind. I've only got three to go to this week so I should be able to drive down for Thursday."

"That'd be okay," Rory nodded, "I mean, there's a lot we're going to have to talk about."

Before Tristan could say anything in response, the bells above the diner door rang loudly again. Rory looked up to see if it was Lane, Dave or Paris finally come to join them, and she nearly dropped her cup of coffee when she saw whom it really was.

The man had many features that Rory herself had inherited, and next to him was his five-year-old daughter Georgia 'Gigi' Hayden. Christopher Hayden looked the same as Rory had seen him almost a year earlier at Christmas, a bit more tanned maybe. She could not tear her eyes away from her father to see what Lorelai and Luke's reaction to him was, but she was sure it was all to similar to the expression she wore now.

Liza, spotting her grandfather jumped off the chair and raced over to him. "Gramps!" the four year old jumped into his open arms and gave him a huge hug. Rory smiled faintly, Liza had always loved her grandfather, even though she rarely saw him.

Holding Liza in his arms and keeping a hold of his own daughter's hand Chris approached Rory and smiled, "Hey there kiddo, been a while."

"Yeah," Rory nodded, not sure what else to say, "Why are you here?"

"Was passing through," Chris offered, "Thought Georgia and I would stop by and see you and Liza."

"Chris," Lorelai approached her former flame, a curious frown on her face, "To what to we owe the pleasure of your appearance here?"

"I just told Rory, we were passing through," Chris looked Lorelai directly in the eyes and Rory thought she saw a flicker of what once was, what would never be again. She wondered which one of the men she had to choose from she would have that with.

"Where's Sherry?" Lorelai raised a brow.

"At home," Chris replied, "Packing."

"Packing?" Rory stood up then, "What happened?"

"We had a fight," Chris sighed, "She's leaving."

"I'm sorry," Lorelai put a hand on Chris' shoulder and offered Georgia a smile, "Do you know what's going to happen with Georgia? With you?"

Chris shook his head; "She doesn't want anything to do with us anymore." He spoke low so that Georgia, who had been dragged off by Liza, couldn't hear what he had said.

Luke had come up behind Lorelai and stood protectively behind her. Although he knew that Chris was no threat to him or his marriage to Lorelai, Rory knew that sometimes Luke just couldn't help it. He knew how much her mother had loved her father and that they had a special bond with him having fathered her first child. She offered her stepfather, the man who she had considered like a father to her long before her mother married him, an encouraging smile.

"I thought you guys were happy," Rory put in, "You were happy last time I talked to you, you both looked happy last Christmas."

"Things change," Chris shrugged, "I don't think we were ever happy. I think she thought I was only married to her because of Georgia and we pretty much lost any love we had for each other a long time ago. She just got fed up."

"How can she just leave her daughter thought?" Lorelai wondered aloud, watching Georgia across the room then. Liza was introducing her to Jess.

"I don't know," Chris told them, "She says she's not suited to be her mother." A frown appeared on his face as he caught sight of Jess, "Who's he."

"Umm…dad…" Rory hesitated a minute, she remembered her father's strong disliking for the father of her child. Not only because he impregnated his eldest daughter, but also for breaking her arm before that. "That's Jess."

"That's the hooligan who broke your arm and then knocked you up!" Chris nearly bellowed and a few customers glanced over at them briefly before turning back to their mirror.

"Hush!" Lorelai hissed, glaring at Chris, "First Liza doesn't know anything about Jess' being her father. Second, he didn't know until about two months ago and thirdly…" Lorelai stopped herself then and looked at her daughter.

"And thirdly?" Chris urged.

"Thirdly you ought to save your anger and sit down," Luke advised, "I think that Rory's got some more news you should know about."

Frowning, Chris took the seat Rory had once occupied and for the first time since he had arrived in the diner acknowledged Tristan's presence, sizing him up. Rory caught sight of her mother rolling her eyes and muttering something about men while Luke dragged her away so that Rory, Tristan and Chris could be alone.

"Who're you?" Chris asked Tristan, his fatherly tone slowly coming out.

"Tristan DuGray," Tristan leaned over and offered Chris his hand, but Rory's father did not accept. Instead he just nodded and Tristan shrugged and stood up going to Rory and taking her hand, letting her know he was there supporting her. When she saw her father's expression though, she knew that was not the brightest idea. Her father was extremely protective of her when it came to boyfriends after what had happened with Jess.

"Dad," Rory took a deep breath, "I'm pregnant."

"What?" Chris stared blankly at his daughter and Rory didn't dare repeat the news she had just told him. She saw Jess talking with the girls and watching the three of them carefully out of the corner of his eye, deeply interested in what was happening.

"Sh-" Tristan began but was cut off by Rory shooting him a glare. She knew him, knew that he would likely offer up some unneeded sarcastic remark. Right now, that would only make things ten times worse.

"I heard what she said," Chris exhaled, "I can't…" He stood up, frowning at Tristan, "You! You did this!"

"Dad, it just happened," Rory said quietly, defending Tristan.

"Let's go have a talk," her father suggested, taking Tristan by the arm and dragging him away out of the diner. Rory looked to her mother, begging for help, begging her to tell her what to do but her mother just shrugged.

"Let him be," was all she had to offer, "They'll talk and everything will be fine. You know your dad, he won't harm him."

"Yeah," Rory nodded and then sat down again. She saw Jess get up and approach her, but Georgia and Liza reached her first and Liza looked up at Rory with that same questioning look from earlier.

"Mommy, who's my daddy?"

"W-what?" Rory stuttered. This was the first time Liza had actually asked Rory about her father. In the past she had asked about different guys Rory talked to, about whether they were her 'Jamie' or 'Dave', but she had never really asked about who her father was. Although she had been expecting it to come out someday, it was the last thing she expected this morning.

"My daddy," Liza repeated, growing antsy, "Georgia says that everyone has a daddy but I don't know who my daddy is."

Looking up at Jess he saw that his eyes were glued on her. He hadn't moved since Liza had spoken those five little life-changing words. She wished he would say something, but she knew he wouldn't. Jess was waiting for her to decide whether it was the right time or not. Lorelai too was waiting, offering no advice on the matter.

"Do you really want to know who your dad is?" Rory asked, drawing her daughter onto her lap. Not saying a word, Liza nodded eagerly and Rory sighed. There was no time like the present. "Look over there," Rory pointed to Jess, "You see Jess, sweetie?" When Liza confirmed her question with a yes she continued, "He's your father."

"Jess?" Liza wormed around to face her mother, "How come you didn't tell me before?"

"I didn't want to confuse you," she replied.

"Why would I be confused?" her blue eyes were filled with wonder and innocence.

"Because he wasn't around until two months ago," Rory told her.

"How come?"

"One day I'll explain," was the only answer she could give her daughter right now.

"Grams says that I'm going to get a little brother or sister soon," Liza mentioned and Rory shot her mother a look. She wasn't really upset, just surprised that her mother had mentioned it to Liza. It was probably for the best though, she would've found out anyway. "Is Jess its daddy too?"

"No," Rory shook her head; she didn't want to have to explain all those hard facts to the five year old, she wouldn't understand them. "Tristan is."

"Does that mean it's still my brother or sister?" curious as every, Liza kept tossing questions at her mother.

"Yes," Jess stepped in, seeing that Rory was tired and running out of answers to give her daughter. Liza whirled around to face Jess them.

"You're my daddy?" she asked.

"Yes," Jess nodded.

"I'm glad," Liza grinned and slipped off her mother's lap to go over and give Jess a hug. Somewhat startled, Jess returned the gesture and Rory couldn't help but smile at the sight of the two. In the two months that he had returned to Stars Hollow and discovered his daughter, had had really stepped into the shoes of a father. They seemed to fit him well too.

When Tristan and Chris returned, both were in one piece and seemed to be getting along quite famously. It didn't surprised Lorelai at all considering how alike both of them were. Sitting in her stool by the counter she watched everything unfold. Nothing surprised her anymore, not after twenty-two years of being a mother.

Lorelai knew who her daughter would end up picking, or she had a good idea of who she would pick. Rory had surprised her many times though. The first was breaking up with Dean to date Jess, the second getting pregnant and not telling Jess and then kept mounting. They newest batch of surprises included sleeping with Tristan, getting pregnant again, telling him, cutting her hair and finally telling Liza who her father was.

The biggest surprised though was how well her daughter was handling all of this. Just two days ago she had been a nervous wreck and now, watching her she looked happier. The weight of her decision still lay heavy on her shoulders but it seemed that she was going to take her time with this. Lorelai was glad too. If Rory jumped into a decision it would certainly be the wrong one and she would end up miserable. Much like Chris and Sherry seemed to.

Although, Chris' mistake led to Lorelai's happiness with the love of her life, the one man she knew she would love forever and could count on. Chris would always be her first love, but that was nothing compared to the kind of love she now shared with Luke.

Looking at her husband now, Lorelai couldn't help but smile. He had Lucas in his arms now, who had just woken up from a midmorning nap, and was skillfully refilling coffee cups of the quiet customers who had observed their fair share of Gilmore drama for the day. He was a great father to Lucas, had been a great father figure to Rory and would surely be a great father to the twins in four months time when they were born. She could not have chosen a better man to be a father to her children.

Her gaze drifting back over to her daughter and the two fathers of her children, Lorelai knew that both of them would be there for her no matter who she picked. They both loved her more than words could tell and they both would and did love their children.

"So, you sure you're ready to become a dad?" she overheard Chris asking Tristan as the two of them sat down.

"I don't know," Tristan replied honestly, looking over at Jess with Liza, Luke with Lucas and Chris himself with Georgia, "But I don't have much of a choice. Plus, I've got nine months to get ready."

"Trust me," Chris laughed, "Nine months isn't enough."

"You'll learn fast," Luke said as he passed by, "You have to."

"Plus, there's a whole instinct thing," Jess put in quietly from his spot. The three already dad nodded in agreement and both Gilmore girls glanced at each other and smiled a little. They sure had chosen quite the men, but nonetheless they were all great dads.