Title: I Knew Her Then
Author: filesfreak4life
Disclaimer: This little story is only used to fuel my obsession, not my pocket... so please don't kill me, sue me, or deprive me of my coffee for using ASP's characters!
She finally decided to come get her daughter…after 5 years, Sherry decides to come play mommy. Now what exactly does that leave him? Nothing.
His mind turns to the one person who has always been there for him, Lorelai. They haven't spoken in 4 years. After the prank that was pulled at the Gilmore's vow renewal, nobody could blame her. His other daughter hasn't spoken to him since then either, so he knows that the hurt has stuck. He has everything going for him now though... he really did get it together after all these years. Of course it helped that his grandfather passed away, leaving him a substantial fortune.
As he sorts through the loss of his youngest daughter to her mother, who abandoned her before the age of 1, he wonders what they are doing… did Rory graduate… has Lorelai finally moved on from that loser she was dating? There was only one way that he could find out what was happening… he had to see her, and wanting to splurge his money on his other daughter and her mother was a perfect excuse to do so.
A few days Later…
He still had the silver Volvo, and knew that she would mock it the moment that she saw it, but that was Lorelai. As he makes his way through Stars Hallow, all he can think of was how this was the place to raise a family… this was where we could have gotten our middle. She had always talked about that. Lorelai always wanted to find a man that could give her her middle. Now that he's gotten it together, maybe they could finally try for that. It's better late then never.
He had called her earlier in the week, saying that he had some news to share with her and Rory, so he wanted to meet up with them. She seemed a bit shocked to hear from him after all these years, but told him that she would meet up with him. Rory was out of town doing a few interviews at papers around the country, so she wouldn't be there, but lunch at the Dragonfly would be nice.
As he makes his way through the front door, he sees her arguing with the same stupid French guy that has been working with her for what seems like forever at the front counter, and he is totally struck down by how beautiful she still looks.
"Lor?"
She turns in his general direction, still standing behind the counter next to the French man. "Chris…it's good to see you again!" she says seeming to be genuinely glad to see him, but not overly excited.
She steps away from the counter to hug him, "you are punctual for once in your life!"
"I'm a changed man from the last time you saw me Lor, a changed man."
"Well, you don't look too different, but why don't you tell me about your changed self over lunch?"
"That sounds great." he says smiling in her direction and placing a hand on the small of her back to guide her into the dining room.
As the pair sits down the waiter comes to ask them for drinks. Chris, trying to be the gentleman that he was orders two large coffees for them.
"umm… Lorelai, you know that we've all been given—" the waiter says, getting a bit flustered as he turns to talk to Lorelai.
"Tea for me, Paul, don't worry about it." she says, brushing him off.
As soon as the waiter is out of earshot, Chris leans in, "What was that all about?"
"Nothing… don't worry about it."
"okay… so…"
"yeah…talk to me about this big news."
"Well all right then…to just come out with it, I've finally got it together. I've got a great job, and I've been in the same place now for a while, still over in Boston, and my grandfather just died leaving me enough money for the rest of my life, your life, and I don't know who else's." he says, gesturing throughout.
"Wow, Chris, that's great! I'm happy for you!"
"Here's the good part though… I want to help out you and Rory… Lor, whatever you want, I want to give you. You want to sell the old house and buy a mansion in Hartford...let me know. Do you want me to reimburse the Gilmores for Yale…tell me, and I'll write the check."
"Chris, that's sweet, but what about Gigi?"
At this, he knows his face falls, "Gigi is basically taken care of…at least as much as I can do."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Sherry came back earlier this week."
Her eyes go wide "Wow? What happened?"
"She decided that she wants to play mommy again, and she has decided to take Gigi back to Paris with her. She got remarried, and says that her life is now more fit for children, which means that she married into a crap ton of money and now doesn't have to lift a finger for anything."
"Well, what does this mean for you?"
"It means that I don't get to see my daughter much anymore…"
"Oh… Chris, I'm sorry."
"No… it's okay."
After this, the waiter comes to take their order and interrupts their conversation briefly. Something is different about Lorelai, and he's thought it the entire time, but he still can't put his finger on it.
When the waiter leaves, he starts his offer again. "So… now that you know that Gigi is paid through marriage and a doctorate, what do you want, and what do you think Rory wants?"
"Chris, this is really sweet, but you don't have to do this, you know that."
"yeah, I know, but I've got a lot to make up for after all these years, and hopefully I can start mending bridges that were torn up a bit for the past few years."
"Chris…I'm fine, actually, I'm great. I don't need anything, but I will talk to Rory about this, and see if she-"
"Lorelai!" April says running from the kitchen.
She stands up in preparation for a tale of Sookie needing another ride to the emergency room. "What? What happened!"
"Guess what Sookie said?"
"oh! Child, you can't do that to me, I thought that Sookie blew something up again."
"She's usually more careful with me in there, but guess what!"
"You've decided to drop out of high school and join the circus!"
"What? No…"
"Joke, kid! Continue!"
"Sookie says that she's gonna give me cooking lessons cause I'm soooo good at helping her in the kitchen. She says I'm a natural."
"Well you do have half your father's genes kid, so that doesn't surprise me!" she says, patting her on the top of her head.
Finally noticing Christopher, she covers her mouth and blushes. "I'm sorry that I interrupted your lunch!"
"Don't worry about it kiddo… you heading out?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna head by dad's."
"Okay, will I see you tonight, or is your time with us over for the week?"
"I'm going to see if I can stay the rest of the weekend if that's okay with you and dad."
"I'll see you at home kiddo!"
"Bye Lorelai" she says, giving her a wave as she walks toward the door.
She turns to face Chris, who looks confused at the scene that just played out before him, and is about to sit down when she hears Michele call her from the front desk.
"oops, hold on, I'll be right back."
"Oh, it's no problem at all, you're a wanted woman!"
"It's tiring to be wanted sometimes" she says with a flourish, putting her hand to her forehead and smiling.
She walks over to the counter where a customer is waiting to talk to her about something, and Chris can hear the entire conversation from where he is sitting.
"Is there a problem?"
"Oh no no!"
"All right?" she says expectantly.
"Mrs. Danes-"
"Please, call me Lorelai"
"Lorelai, I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed-"
Finally he figured it out. As he glanced at her from the dining room, talking with the man about how he thoroughly enjoyed his stay, his eyes finally settled on her left hand, which was adorned with two beautiful rings. His heart sank a bit, and he knew that his mood had changed by the time she got back to the table.
She sat down in front of him and glanced at him with a curious expression on her face, sensing that something was different.
"So… you're married?"
"Yeah, almost 3 years now…"
"Anyone that I would know?"
She blushed visibly at the mention of her husband.
"so…Luke Danes is diner man's full name."
"yeah, it's Luke."
"How did Emily and Richard regard that move?"
"With all the grace of an elephant walking the tight rope. They came to their senses though."
"How did you manage that?"
"Had another kid… remember they like their grandchildren, they just don't like me."
"Wow… you work quick."
"It was a honeymoon baby. He's almost two now." she says, smiling with pride at being able to talk about her son.
"Who was the mystery girl then?"
"My step-daughter actually. Luke found out that he had a daughter three years ago, just before we got married, and she's become an important part of the family."
"Wow…it seems like you've got it all now… kids… husband…crazy town…it's the American dream" he says, with a bit of regret in his voice.
Before she can reply, the waiter comes with their lunch, setting a plate full of vegetables in front of Lorelai.
"SOOKIE!"
"Warning from the man!" Sookie screams from the kitchen.
As the waiter leaves, Lorelai begins to munch on her food to Chris' amazement, choosing to not comment on his last words.
"Wow…no coffee, vegetables… the diner man has changed you."
Appearing to get uncomfortable she nods, "yeah, I guess you could say that."
"What?"
She sits up straight and puts her fork down and her napkin on the table, sighing for a moment while gathering her thoughts.
"I'm pregnant."
"And it just keeps getting better…" he replies, slouching a bit.
"Subtle sarcasm Chris."
"Well what do you expect, Lor?"
"I don't know, maybe you'd be happy for me, and not make fun of me finally getting something that I've wanted for a long time."
"A long time? Oh come on, you have never wanted a big family and the picture perfect house in a small town. That has never been you Lor."
"Yeah, it wasn't me when I was sixteen, but times change and so do people. I grew up. What were you expecting out of this lunch Chris?" she says, obviously getting quite defensive.
"I don't know…"
"Were you expecting me to still be pining for you after all these years. Did you have my mother's fantasy of keeping me and Luke broken up so I would come back to your arms whenever you had the guts to try again? Did you think that I was going to drop everything and come running to be with you in Boston?"
"Which answer would you prefer?"
"The one where you're telling me the truth."
"Then yes, to all of it. We go way back, Lorelai, and I thought that we could still have that together after all these years. I didn't expect you to be married with a kid, a step kid, and a baby on the way. I still can't believe it. Is this really what you wanted all this time?"
She sits there quiet for a while, mulling over what has been said. "I think that you should go. I'll tell Rory about your offer, and I'll have her call you, but for now, we're done."
"Lor…I…"
As he starts to make more of an idiot out of himself Lorelai walks out of the dining room, grabs her purse and tells Michele that she'll be back later. He is left sitting alone at the table after being rejected yet again by a woman that he's wanted all of his life. She had never been able to really resist him all those years, and now she's finally got it.
When leaving Stars Hallow, he takes the long way, through the town square, which puts him right past Luke's. Parking his car for a moment, he stares through the window at Lorelai, who has just picked up a little boy who's just come running from behind the counter. Luke is close to them, wiping the counter as they talk about their days, and probably about him. The girl from earlier comes out from another part of the diner to sit beside Lorelai and kiss the forehead of her half-brother. It really was what she wanted, he could see it in her face.
He did know her, but he didn't know her any more.
So, I don't exactly know what made me write this, cause I liked the idea of Chris coming back again, expecting her to fall at his feet, only to find her completely taken... it made me happy. So... yeah... and my little Dynagirl... I know it stinks, but hey, it's fun nevertheless... R/R if you want to... it's appreciated, but I'm not one who NEEDS reviews to survive her day! Happy Gilmore Girls Day by the way!