Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! They are appreicated. As for Rory and Logan, I'm not sure where I'll take them. I'm kind of on the fence.

Chapter 13
"Unrealized Potential"

Lorelai entered the dining room of the Dragonfly grudgingly at 12:55 p.m. She had gotten to the inn early and she found herself working instead of waiting on what was supposed to be her day off. She scanned the room and sure enough Emily was already seated at a table in the corner.

"Mom," Lorelai said as she approached the table.

"Lorelai," Emily said as if she were surprised. "You're early."

"So I'm early, it's not that shocking," Lorelai said with a slight attitude.

"You're habitually late," Emily replied setting the menu down.

"I'm not habitually late," Lorelai replied taking a seat.

"Well I'm glad that you're early," Emily said.

"Well I'm glad you're glad," Lorelai replied.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything when I called this morning. I wasn't expecting Luke to answer your phone."

Lorelai knew her mother was trying to bait her. She had a chat with Luke before she set off on her lunch adventure and she promised she would try to stay calm during her visit with her mother. "No, you didn't interrupt anything," Lorelai said pleasantly. "Luke only answered my phone because it woke him up."

"So Luke is staying the night now?" Emily inquired.

"No, as a matter of fact we were at his apartment," Lorelai said opening her menu and pretending to peruse the contents of which she knew by heart.

"So this isn't serious enough for him to stay at your house then?" Emily asked hopefully.

"No," Lorelai gritted her teeth. "I just happened to have gone to the diner last night."

"And since he lives above it, it was just convenient."

"And I can't even guess how you feel about that."

"Living above a diner isn't exactly the mark of successful man."

"First of all, Luke owns the building that he lives in and second, he won't be living there for long," Lorelai smiled smugly.

"Why is that? Is he packing up the old chuck wagon and taking it on the road?" Emily joked sarcastically while she scanned the menu.

"No," Lorelai smiled relishing the moment that was about to come. "He won't be living above the diner for long because he's going to move in with me."

Lorelai put down her menu and smiled like the cat that ate the canary. She took in the look of shock on her mother's face and it somehow made the last few minutes worth it.

"You're not serious," Emily said as a statement more than a question.

"Oh I'm very serious," Lorelai continued to torture her mother. "We talked about it last week and we finalized the plans last night. In fact, he's going to start moving a few of his things over tomorrow."

Emily shut her menu and swallowed shallowly. "So this is really happening," Emily replied as if she had to convince herself of Lorelai's assertion.

"Yes," Lorelai said smiled. "But you didn't come here to talk about Luke, you came to talk about…what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Rory," Emily said feebly.

"Right. I can't believe you didn't tell me about the court date," Lorelai said. "How long have you known about it?"

"They contacted Rory about two weeks ago," Emily said regaining her composure. "If I had known she hadn't told you I would have said something."

"Sure you would have," Lorelai scoffed. "You love that we're not talking."

"I do not. I wouldn't be here if I was happy about that. Honestly, what you think of me," Emily said almost hurt.

"Sorry," Lorelai replied sheepishly. "But you have to admit that you love to take control of things when Rory gets mad at me. I mean, I stupidly thought you and Dad were going to help me talk some sense into her, but I guess that was too much to hope for right?"

"Lorelai, your father made the decision to help Rory, not me."

"Oh I forgot you can't think for yourself," Lorelai retorted sarcastically. "You just do what Dad says because he's right all the time."

"That isn't fair," Emily said warningly. "I wanted to help you. I was on your side. I was perfectly willing to talk to Rory about going back to Yale, but then your father changed the plan. He told Rory he'd do whatever he had to do to help her and how could I go back on what he said?"

"So you couldn't have voiced your opinion?" Lorelai replied. "You couldn't have expressed your disappointment? No, instead you gave her a place to live complete with daily gourmet meals, a pool and a maid. You set her up with a job that she didn't have to look for. It was just given to her because Dad knows a guy."

"That's not what you want for your daughter?" Emily asked. "You'd rather her be a maid and scrub toilets while she figures out what to do with her life?"

"Why do you bring that up all the time? In case you haven't noticed, I've worked my way up in the world Mom. I own this inn."

"Now, but you were a maid. You'd rather demean yourself as a maid than live with me and your father."

"And I'm not ashamed of it," Lorelai replied louder than she'd intended. She lowered her voice before continuing. "It no wonder you can't keep a maid. You have an inherent distain for the profession. Well guess what? Someone has to do it Mom. I started as a maid, but look how much I've accomplished since then. I worked my way up from nothing to the owner of an inn."

"And that's what you want for Rory? You want her to work her way up from nothing like you? Well I have news for you Lorelai you didn't start out life as nothing. You were a Gilmore. You had all the advantages you could imagine at your fingertips and you turned your back on it. You wanted to start from nothing. Rory doesn't have to."

"I don't want her to start from nothing," Lorelai replied a bit desperately. "I want her to value the opportunities she has. I want her to stay in school. It's what she worked so hard for and I see her throwing it away. I don't want her to have to go to community college to at night because she regrets dropping out now."

Emily studied her daughter's face for a moment before she replied. "You regret not going to college?"

"No," Lorelai lied.

"It sounded like you regretted not going," Emily insisted.

"I regret that I had to do it the hard way," Lorelai spit out quickly.

"So you do regret it," Emily said satisfied. "Why would you want Rory to have to do it the hard way like you did? You got pregnant and--"

"Here we go again," Lorelai interjected.

"You got pregnant and your father and I never once told you that were unwelcome at home," Emily continued.

"Told me? No. Made me feel like I was unworthy of your charity? Yes."

"I'm sorry if you felt that way," Emily replied without a hint of regret. "The point is that we never told you that you didn't have a home with us. You've told Rory she isn't welcome in your home. Your father and I didn't care to see Rory struggling to find a place to live. Although I'm sure she'd have found a nice potting shed somewhere."

Emily's last few words stung Lorelai more than she cared to admit. While it was true that she did struggle to make ends meet, and she and Rory had lived in a potting shed at the Independence Inn, she remembered those times fondly for the most part. Now it felt like Emily was there to launch yet another attack on Lorelai's life and she was in no mood to deal with it. She stood up from the table abruptly.

"This conversation is over," Lorelai said leaning down to grumble at her mother. "Was this ever about Rory or did you see a hole in your schedule and you thought it would be fun to come to my town, to my inn, and tell me that I've always been a disappointment to you? Well, newsflash Mom, I've known that for years. You didn't have to take time out of your busy day to remind me."

With that Lorelai stalked away from the table and into the lobby. Emily sat for only a moment before she was on her feet and following Lorelai. "We're not done," Emily called after her as Lorelai walked out the front door.

"Lorelai Gilmore," Emily called again as she followed her to the porch. "Get back here."

Lorelai was half-way to her car when she spun around and continued to walk as she spoke. "I'm not really in the mood for this today, okay?"

"This isn't about us. This is about your daughter," Emily said closing in on her. "Or have you washed your hands of her too?"

"I will never turn my back on Rory," Lorelai defended herself. "But you've been here for twenty minutes and you've said nothing remotely constructive about Rory or the situation. You've found plenty to say about Luke, my career, my first home, but you haven't said a word about Rory. So what? What was the big issue that you were so desperate to discuss with me?"

"I think you're right," Emily spit out breathless from having to follow Lorelai so quickly.

Lorelai, who was just about to open her car door, stopped suddenly and her muscles seemed to tense slightly. "You think I'm right?" she asked cautiously as she slowly turned.

"Yes," Emily grudgingly admitted.

"What am I right about?" Lorelai asked.

"I think Rory needs to go back to school," Emily said.

"Why?" Lorelai asked, still hesitant to take Emily at her word.

"I agreed with you the night you came to us and asked for our help," Emily admitted. "Rory is working at the law firm, but I don't think it's what she wants to do. She's been spending almost every night with Logan and she just doesn't seem happy."

"You love Logan," Lorelai commented.

"I think Logan is a nice young man," Emily admitted. "But, if his family treated Rory as you said then I'm not so certain she should be spending that much time with him."

"You practically had her married off into the Huntzberger family," Lorelai insisted. "But that isn't the point. The point is that you want to take my side now? Don't you think it's a little late? You and Dad probably have Rory's ten year plan notarized and looked up in the safe by now."

"Now you're being ridiculous," Emily said getting irritated. She was never one to admit she was wrong, and now, although she wasn't really admitting it, she was getting tired for Lorelai's comments. "I think you need to talk to Rory again. Make her see that she's making a mistake."

"I can't do that," Lorelai said. "I tried to, but then you and Dad completely undermined me. She won't listen to me anymore."

"You've got to make her listen to you," Emily insisted.

"Mom, what has Rory done that has you so concerned all of sudden?" Lorelai asked feeling a bit of anxiety.

"Nothing specific," Emily said. She thought about how the pool house was in disarray and how she had seen Rory come home later and later each night. She seemed tired and unhappy for the last week and Emily didn't know of another way to make things better. As much as she liked Logan she didn't want Rory to fall into the trap that Lorelai had, escaping her problems through a boy. "I'm just concerned. I'm perfectly happy to have Rory stay with us for as long as she'd like. I just think you need to talk to her about going back to school."

"Well I'll keep that in mind," Lorelai replied.

"Are you going to talk to her?" Emily asked.

"Eventually," Lorelai said rather dismissively. "Thanks to you and Dad she doesn't care about what I think. You've finally fulfilled your life-long dream of nullifying my relationship with my daughter. She knows you'll back her up no matter what and how can I compete with that?"

"This isn't a competition Lorelai. You've never let the issues we have with each other get in the way when it comes to Rory. You might want to think about that before you sit back and do nothing."

With that Emily turned on her heel and started to walk to her car. The conversation was over. She had said what she came to say and now it was time to leave. She wasn't even sure what compelled her to see Lorelai. Maybe it was to reassure herself that Lorelai had made mistakes but she was still standing. She wasn't living the life Emily had hoped for, but she seemed to like it well enough. There was something unsettling about the situation with Rory and she felt like she had to do something about. Luckily, she walked back to her car feeling a little better about the situation.

Lorelai watched her mother walk away and she opened her mouth to say something, but she realized she didn't wish to prolong the conversation any longer. Emily had made it clear that she had nothing more to say on the subject. Lorelai got into her car, suddenly not hungry at all, and she drove home. Her mother had not only given her a headache, but she'd given her something to think about as well.

TBC