A/N- Loving the reviews... thought I'd mention it in case I've forgotten lately :-D

A/N 2- This chapter is dedicated to my baby cousin, Ally (She's thirteen, but she's my baby cousin). Because we can have three hour conversations about the OC without any awkward pauses. And because she knows my secret. And she gets it. :-)

Disclaimer: I repeat- I'm 16 with aspirations of being a preschool teacher. I write for fun and amusement. That's it. I own nothing.

Connecticut, Here We Come

Kirsten and Sandy had taken into account the psychiatrist's advice and had quickly gone to work researching towns they could move to. They had decided against big cities; they had too many bad memories rooted in snooty, big towns (though they had plenty of good ones, too). They had told their real-estate agent that they wanted to move to a small town, preferably in the east, to get as far away from the memories of Kirsten's mother's sickness as possible. The woman, Linda, quickly told them about a small town in Connecticut called Stars Hollow, population somewhere around three thousand.

Upon researching the place, they found that it had everything- a neighborhood diner, a mom-and-pop style supermarket, and even weekly town meetings. They booked a flight and inn reservations for the week after the boys were let out of school for the summer. The inn they were staying in was a sweet little place owned by a town resident; it was friendly, homey, and not overbearing. The town seemed perfect.

As the plane took off from the warm-as-usual California landscape, Kirsten and Sandy couldn't help but notice how different it was from the last time they had flown with the boys. Now six years old, they were more relaxed, able to entertain themselves, and had the capability to sit still for long periods of time. Still, they chose a later flight so the boys would fall asleep on the plane ride over.

The Cohens arrived in Connecticut at ten that night. The boys had recently fallen asleep, and Kirsten and Sandy wondered whether to pick them up and let them sleep or to wake them and have them walk. They chose to let them continue sleeping, so both went to pick up a boy. Seth continued sleeping (he still had the same ability to sleep through anything that he'd garnered as a baby), but Ryan's eyes blinked sleepily as his father bent to unbuckle and lift him.

"We there?" Ryan asked, suppressing a yawn.

"Yeah, pal. We're there. Take my hand." Ryan unceremoniously threw his seatbelt off of himself and slipped off the chair, sliding one hand into Sandy's, the other rubbing vigorously at his eyes. The family walked briskly towards the baggage claim; they wanted to get Ryan to the inn as soon as possible. Both knew their son's tendencies and could tell that he was on the verge of collapse.

"Ry, honey, put your sweatshirt on. It's a little chilly out," Kirsten instructed. The boys weren't used to the fifty-degree temperatures that permeated the Connecticut summer nights. Ryan nodded in response, yawning again, and allowed Sandy to help him put on his miniature hoodie, not helping or fighting the process; he was too tired for that.

Soon, they reached the baggage claim and "claimed their baggage," as Sandy had so aptly stated. While Sandy took the bags filled with clothes, Kirsten took the cosmetics bag (Seth was still asleep in her arms, so she couldn't carry anything heavier), and Sandy helped Ryan hoist the bookbag filled with the boys' toys and books onto his shoulders. They met a cabbie and loaded the bags into the trunk, piling into the car, Ryan and a still-sleeping Seth seated in the middle.

"Daddy, I'm cold," Ryan stated; he had pulled off his sweatshirt and put it into the bag of toys after discovering the warmth of the airport.

"I know, buddy. But your sweatshirt is in the trunk. Close your eyes- sleeping will make you warm up." Ryan nodded, yawned yet again, and quickly drifted off to sleep.

"Where you folks from?" The cabbie asked, his eyes reflecting in the rearview mirror.

"California," Kirsten offered, smiling politely at the man.

"So you left California to vacation in Connecticut?"

"I like the change," Kirsten responded, stroking Seth's curly brown hair.

"Suit yourself... cute kids."

"Thanks." The rest of the ride was spent in polite banter, discussing the weather and interesting things to do in town. Soon, they arrived at the inn, thanking and paying the cab driver and following the man who had taken their bags into the small inn.

"Welcome to the Independence Inn. How may I help you?"

"We're the Cohens- we have a reservation."

"Ah, yes. Room three." The man led them up the stairs and into a spacious room with two queen-sized beds. They set the boys down on one of the two and turned to listen to the man as he went through the motions he had been adequately taught.

"Breakfast is served from six to eleven-thirty, lunch from twelve to four-thirty, and dinner from five to ten. We have an amazing chef. There are brochures in the lobby of the best places to go. There's a channel guide next to the bed. Out manager will be here in the morning if you have any problems."

"Thank you so much." Sandy handed him a few bills as the man thanked him and left, bidding them good-night.

"We should get them changed into pajamas," Sandy mused, eyeing Seth and Ryan, who were sleeping peacefully side-by-side.

"Ryan's wearing sweats; he's fine. Seth needs to change his pants."

"I have it."

"I'll start unpacking." They kissed lightly and began their self-assigned tasks, finally resigning to bed at midnight, looking forward to their vacation.

The next morning, Kirsten was awoken by the sound of Ahh! Real Monsters playing softly in the background. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking to adjust to the light, as she rolled over to look at the clock on the nightstand. 7:08. She sat up to find the boys on the floor at the foot of the bed, sitting cross-legged, engrossed in the adventures of Ickis, Krumm, and Oblina.

"Morning, boys."

"Morning, mommy," they answered absent-mindedly, their gaze never leaving the screen. She got up slowly and hopped in the shower, returning fifteen minutes later to find Seth and Ryan seated in the exact same position she'd left them, but Sandy propped up on his elbows, covers still over him. He slowly turned his head to look at his wife and simply said,

"Now I remember why I hate vacations." Kirsten laughed and nodded. At home, the boys would sneak down to the den to watch cartoons, leaving their parents undisturbed. Here, Kirsten and Sandy were forced to wake early. Kirsten motivated the boys to get ready to go and soon, the whole family was dressed and ready to leave.

Once they had eaten breakfast (which really was good; the man the previous night hadn't been lying), they wandered to the brochure rack in the main foyer. Kirsten and Sandy were reading about "Al's Pancake World" and its famous Chinese food when they heard a pleasant woman's voice behind them.

"Hi, welcome to the Independence Inn. I don't believe I've seen you around here before." They turned around and came face-to-face with a woman- tall, beautiful, with brown hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Hi."

"I'm Lorelai Gilmore-Danes. I'm the manager here."

"Nice to meet you. We're the Cohens. I'm Sandy, this is my wife, Kirsten, and these are our boys, Seth and Ryan."

"Nice to meet you all." She got down to the boys' eye level and glanced at the brochure clutched in Ryan, the little blonde boy's, tiny hand, "That's Weston's bakery. They have the best cakes there. you like cake?" Both boys nodded, "Maybe you can try some. How about some dirt cake?" The boys laughed- Lorelai had a daughter, but she still knew how to deal with little boys. As the brothers shook their heads "no", Lorelai added, "You don't like chocolate?"

"No!" Ryan called.

"We love chocolate!" Seth added.

"Yeah!"

"My brother ate two whole candy bars last week!"

"Seth ate three!"

"Ryan had a glass of chocolate milk with it!"

"So did you!" Ryan shot back, angry that Seth had let their secret slip.

"It sounds delicious," Lorelai ended the siblings' argument before it got a chance to escalate. What beautiful kids, she thought as she stood again.

"You're good," Sandy commented, impressed.

"I have one about their age at home." Kirsten was shocked.

"Really? You're so young!"

"Yeah." She pulled out a picture from her wallet- the posed one that she had had taken at Sears. She smiled to herself as she remembered Luke's persistent refusal to have the family picture taken, but he had caved- he couldn't refuse his Lorelais.

"Wow," Sandy was awestruck by the same blue eyes that had struck him in her mother.

"Think she might know any good places for the boys to go?"

"Sure! You doing anything the rest of the day?"

"Nope."

"Well, I'm supposed to go meet my husband... now," She checked her watch, "Rory's with him. Would you like to come along?"

"If we aren't intruding."

"Not at all."

"Then let's go."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Christopher stared at his only daughter. She was there for her twice-yearly court-ordered visit with him and the visit hadn't gone well from the start. When Lorelai had escorted her in, Rory had clung to her mother- she didn't want to stay with Chris. Then, Chris had called her "kid", which had prompted a huffy mood as she was currently going through a "girly phase". Then, he'd commented on the colors in her dress, calling them by the wrong name. No, this visit wasn't going well at all.

As Chris and Rory sat in silence, the little girl stared at the clock, counting down the minutes until one, when she could go home and say goodbye to this stranger.

At 2:01 (and thirty-six seconds, Rory noted), a knock permeated the silence. Chris reluctantly got up, regretting the way things had become with Rory. He swung open the door to reveal Luke.

"Christopher," he greeted through gritted teeth- he really did hate this guy.

"Luke," his tone was bitter, directed at the man he believed stole his wife and daughter.

"DADDY!" They heard a happy shriek behind them and Chris turned, about to answer Rory when, much to his dismay, the little girl ran right past him and into Luke's waiting arms.

"Hey! There's my beautiful girl!" He was well-aware of Rory's girly phase (and her constant pleas to change her name to Aurora) and quickly restrained himself from using his usual greeting of, "There's my beautiful daughter!" in front of Chris.

"Daddy, you're a minute and thirty-six seconds late."

"Am I? I'm sorry. I guess you'll need to fix the clocks for me at home and in the car."

"I guess I will." She smiled at him and kissed his cheek, happy to be back in the loving arms of her father, "Can we go for ice cream?"

"We're meeting mommy for dessert. We'll see what she says." Rory smiled,

"Mommy never says no to ice cream."

"I know. And that's what worries me... You have all your stuff?"

"Yes, daddy."

"Ok. Say goodbye, princess." Rory's face screwed up into a frown, as though she was about to burst out crying.

"Daddy? You're leaving me again?"

"No, no, baby. Say bye," he subtly pointed at Chris to clarify.

"Oh..." she calmed herself, "Bye."

"Bye, sweetheart. Love you." He leaned over and kissed her cheek, but she quickly pulled away. It didn't go unnoticed that she didn't return his affection.

Rory rubbed her cheek clean as Luke carried her to his truck.

"Daddy, I don't like going here."

"I know, princess. But it's only twice a year. And you should."

"How come?"

"Because he's your father," It really pained him to say it, especially since, legally, he wasn't, but he had decided early on that he wasn't going to keep her from Christopher; Luke didn't want her to resent him later in life.

"Nuh-uh. You are."

"Yeah, sweetie." He knew it was pointless to argue. She was far too much like her mother.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

A little while later, Lorelai and the Cohens entered Luke's Diner.

"Hey, Caesar. Luke here?" Caesar nodded and, without looking up from the notebook he was writing in, called out,

"Boss, it's the feds!"

"Hi, honey," Luke called from the back room as he entered the main dining area, wiping off his hands. He gave her a quick kiss.

"Hey, babe. Hey, I'd like you to meet some people. These are the Cohens. This is Sandy, Kirsten, Seth, and Ryan."

"Nice to meet you," Luke greeted, shaking hands.

"Same here," Kirsten and Sandy replied as the boys clung to their legs.

"I told them Rory could help come up with some good ideas for what to do around town. Speaking of which, where is Princess Danes?"

"Oh, I let her go over to Lane's about an hour ago. You want me to go get her?"

"No, I got it. Phone please." He passed her the phone and she dialed the number of the Kim household. Luke listened on intently- the conversations between Mrs. Danes and Mrs. Kim were always amusing. "Hello, Mrs. Kim. It's Lorelai... Lorelai Gilmore... Lorelai Danes... Gilmore-Danes... Rory's mom!... Yes, could you send her home, please... Actually, over to the diner... Yeah, why don't you send Lane along with her... Yes, I did see what Rory was wearing today... Well, yes, it's above her knees... Why, no, I did not know that... well, thank you very much... Ok... no, I'm going to wait outside and watch them walk... Ok, I'll wait outside for them... Ok, bye, Mrs. Kim," she handed the phone to Luke and buried her head in her hands. Luke hung up the phone and quickly returned to his wife, who promptly asked him, "Did you know that apparently, the Lord frowns on girls under the age of ten or over the age of fourteen who wear skirts above their knees?"

"It's a three-year time-span? Must've missed that at our weekly bible study group... Hey, if that's true, then you're in big trouble."

"No, it's different for married women. Gotta keep our men happy," She winked at him. Kirsten and Sandy both laughed while Luke looked embarrassed, and Seth and Ryan glanced at one another, confused.

"Sorry about that," Luke began a conversation with the Cohen adults and Lorelai excused herself to watch the girls cross the street.

"Hi, girls!"

"Mommy!"

"Mrs. Danes!"

"Lane, call me Lorelai."

"I will, but Momma may be listening. Shhh." She pulled her small finger to her pursed lips and looked warningly at Lorelai, who giggled and kissed each girl on the head.

"You girls hungry?"

"Yeah... can we have ice cream?"

"I never say no to ice cream."

"That's what worries daddy." Lorelai laughed again and took the girls' hands, leading them into the diner, face-to-face with the Cohen boys.

"Girls, this is Ryan and Seth Cohen. Boys, this is Rory and Lane."

"Hi," They all said shyly, moving closer to their respective best friend or brother.

"So..." Lorelai attempted to start a conversation amongst the children, "Ror, why don't you take Lane and the boys upstairs and you and Lane can show them all of your toys in your playroom upstairs."

"Ok, mommy," She said quietly, leading the way and whispering feverishly to Lane. The boys anxiously looked at their parents, who nodded, prompting the boys to follow Lane and Rory up the stairs.

Rory waited, impatiently tapping her foot until Seth and Ryan quickly and quietly moved through the door.

"This is my playroom. That's my daddy's office. I stay here after school and when I have nothing to do during the summer." Lane was in the corner of the room, looking through the very large video collection that had accumulated over the years.

"Rory, which movie do you want to watch?" Lane asked. Rory quickly thought of her parents and their constant reminders to be polite.

"Ryan, Seth, which movie do you want to watch?" The boys looked at each other quizzically and slowly got up, making their way to Rory's vast movie collection. They began to gasp, making comments to each other.

"Daddy got us this one for our birthday, Seth."

"Mommy says we can't watch this one anymore."

"Remember when we tried to act this one out?"

"This is Daddy's favorite movie."

Finally, after much debate, the boys decided on a movie.

"Yellow Submarine?" Rory asked, baffled.

"Yeah..." Ryan said shyly, "Most people have never seen it. Don't feel bad. We can pick another one."

"No, no... that's one of mine and Lane's favorites... it's just that I was surprised. No one else has ever even known that movie before."

"Our mommy and daddy love the Beatles. So do we," Seth chimed in; Rory could tell that he was the more talkative brother.

"My momma and papa only let me listen to Korean church music at home. But Rory's mommy and daddy listen to the kind of music I like," Lane added. Rory took the tape and put it in; the sound was still loud from the previous day, when the diner was busy and she couldn't hear the movie she'd been watching.

"Rory! Rory, it's too loud! Turn it down!"

"Sorry, daddy!" She called back from upstairs.

"Sorry about that. She loves that movie," Luke offered, pouring coffee cups for the group.

"No problem. In fact, the boys have never met anyone else who likes that movie."

"Neither have the girls."

"We're huge Beatles fans."

"Us, too. Rory's been singing about LSD since she was two." Everyone laughed and Lorelai reinitiated the conversation, "So, what brings you to Connecticut?"

"Oh, um..." Kirsten hesitated, but for some reason, she liked these people a lot. She had never found anyone so easy to speak to before. She allowed herself to tell them the truth, "Well, the boys don't know yet, so don't tell them, but we're considering moving here."

"Really?" Lorelai asked, excited by the prospect of a new friend, "Do you mind if I ask why? Or do you just like shoveling snow and raking leaves better than swimming and surfing?" Kirsten laughed,

"No, umm... there's a bigger reason," She paused and inhaled, ready to tell the Daneses everything. She didn't mind telling them the truth- she had been entertaining the idea that they could be lifelong friends. She just hated speaking about this, "Well, Ryan's actually adopted." Lorelai was shocked, and wasn't really sure what to say,

"Oh! Does he... know?"

"Yeah, yeah he does. He doesn't understand, but he knows. So, anyway, lately he's been having nightmares that I'm going to leave him. Like every night for a week straight. So we went to a psychiatrist to find out what it was and how we could get rid of it and he told us that it was offset by mother's recent passing away. We explained it to the boys by telling them that she had to 'go away'. But the problem was that Ryan was abandoned by his birth mother. We saw him crying because he needed his mother and then, when I held him, he stopped. And we just decided to adopt him right then and there. So, my mother dying gave him 'subconscious memories' of being abandoned. The doctor said that moving away and giving him a change of environment would make it stop." Lorelai leaned back in her chair; that was a lot of information to process.

"Wow." Kirsten smiled reassuringly; she needed Luke and Lorelai to know that she and Sandy liked them and that there was no reason to be nervous.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sure the two of you think adoption's crazy, especially since you're so young and especially since it wasn't planned... but he made our family complete." Luke and Lorelai shared a knowing look, which made Kirsten curious, "What?"

"I guess we should tell you. It's no big secret and you've told us yours... Rory's adopted."

"She IS?" Kirsten was shocked.

"But she looks exactly like you, Lorelai! You found those blue eyes somewhere else?" Luke and Lorelai were confused, then, suddenly, Lorelai understood,

"Oh, no! No, no, no! I should've been clearer. Luke adopted Rory. She's mine, I had her when I was sixteen. Then, after Luke and I got married, we decided he should adopt Rory- we have some issues with her biological dad."

"Oh, ok! That makes much more sense!"

They laughed and joked until Kirsten glanced at the clock. 5:03.

"Oh, you know what? The boys are probably getting hungry. We should go back to the inn," She turned and walked to the stairs before anyone could stop her and called out, "Seth! Ryan! Come down, please!" No answer. "Seth! Ryan! It's time to go!" Still no answer. "Seth and Ryan Cohen! I don't like that you're not listening!" After waiting a few seconds and getting no answer, she heard three people walk up behind her.

"Why don't we just go upstairs and see what they're all doing?" Luke suggested.

"Oh! Ok." He led them upstairs and into the playroom, where they found drawings strewn on the floor, crayons laying listlessly on the small Playskool table, and an episode of Rugrats playing in the background. Kirsten panicked; her fear of losing the boys had never really gone away.

"Oh my G-d! Where are they! Seth! Ryan! Rory! Lane! Where are you guys!" Luke turned and put his hand on her shoulder, fruitlessly attempting to get her to calm down.

"Kirsten, don't worry. I know where they are." He went back into the hallway and pulled open the closet door, "All You Need is Love" playing, red, blue, and green lights beginning to roll over his flannel shirt.

"Rory, I told you not to turn on your mini disco ball without asking me or mommy first. It can start a fire if you aren't careful."

"Sorry, daddy," came Rory's voice from inside the closet. Puzzled, Kirsten looked at Lorelai.

"Oh, that's Rory's hiding place. If she doesn't want to go somewhere or even if she just wants to listen to some music without being bothered she goes in there."

"Oh," She turned her attention to the medium-sized closet she was now in front of (which fit the four children easily), finding Seth and Ryan huddled in the back with Lane and Rory on either side of them, "Come, boys. It's time to go."

"No!"

"We want to stay with Rory and Lane!"

"We don't want to go back home!"

"We like Connecticut better!" Kirsten was taken aback. She didn't expect their liking of the new town to come so easily.

"Boys, you like it better here?"

"Yeah- it's pretty and there's not so much noise. Plus the people are funny. There was one guy outside wearing a tutu and handing out papers."

"That's Kirk."

"Yeah, him."

"But, boys, what about your friends? Would you miss them?"

"Who? Summer? Luke? Marissa? We like Lane and Rory better. They're funner."

"More fun, Ryan."

"That too."

"And they won't miss us, cuz they have each other!"

Kirsten glanced at Sandy; they had already discussed privately that this town was perfect for their family. Their only concern had been whether the boys would like it. Kirsten decided to take the opportunity to talk to the boys about it.

"Hey boys, mommy and I want to talk to you about something," Sandy mentioned, motioning to Seth and Ryan to come with them. The boys obeyed and sat on the couch in Rory's playroom.

"Boys, what do you think of Rory and Lane?" The Gilmore-Danes family (along with Lane) had already given them their privacy, waiting in the diner downstairs.

"They're funny!" Seth yelled excitedly.

"And cool!" Ryan chimed in.

"And they have really good music!" Seth added.

"And movies!" Ryan poked his brother, then paused, "Plus... Rory's really pretty." His parents eyed him curiously before Seth added,

"I think Lane is really pretty." Kirsten and Sandy looked from each of their sons to the other, and then to each other, finally smiling- they were starting to like girls. Early, but here it was.

"What would you guys think if you could play with Rory and Lane every day?" Seth and Ryan looked puzzled, and stared their parents in the eyes, hoping for any indication of what they may mean.

"What do you mean, daddy?"

"I mean... would you guys like to live here?" The little boys' eyes brightened, smiles spreading from ear to ear. Both nodded vigorously, calling out randomly placed shouts such as,

"Yeah!"

"This place is so cool!"

"We can play with Rory and Lane!"

"We can play at the diner every day!"

Kirsten and Sandy watched their boys excitedly discuss the prospect of their new home (and the possibility that they could live in the diner) and smiled to themselves. I'm so glad they make things so easy for us.

The next day, they left Seth and Ryan with Rory and Lane (per their requests) and set out to look at houses (they found one within three days). They couldn't wait to live their life on 15 Kelly Road, Stars Hollow, Connecticut.