"Why didn't you tell me?" Jess snapped. Rory flinched and tried to put something together in her head. "What the hell were you thinking? How could you just leave and not tell me that I was going to be a father?"

"I don't know," Rory admitted. "I was scared you wouldn't-"

"Wouldn't what?" Jess cried. "Wouldn't come back for you? Wouldn't support you? Wouldn't want to be apart of your life? Wouldn't want to see my own baby!"

"Yes!" Rory said, her tears flowing freely from her eyes. "You left once before and I just couldn't handle it if you left me again!" Jess had now thrown his hands up into the air in anger.

"Is my leaving once going to come up in every single fight or conversation I have with you people?" he bellowed. "I left, yes. I apologized, Rory!"

"I know you did," Rory sobbed.

"You had my baby!" he said, his voice cracking slightly.

"I know," Rory said softly.

"How could you keep that a secret from me? To cut me out of your life?" he demanded.

"I don't know," Rory admitted. "I really just don't know what I was thinking. I thought maybe if I didn't tell you then I would never know if it was true. If I had a single shred of hope in my heart that you would come back, then I wouldn't fall apart."

"I would have married you, Rory," Jess said. "I would have been with you when you gave birth or when you had cravings, heaven forbid what they would have been. I would have been there for you! I get the feeling that you won't ever get it." He stopped and took a deep breath as though he were steeling himself for something. He looked at her for a second. "I LOVE YOU!" he yelled. "Alright? I LOVE you! I didn't think I needed to constantly tell you that. I have, do, and always will love you."

Rory didn't know what to say again. He had never said it to her before. When he had come back for Liz and T.J.'s first marriage, Lorelai had made her stay with her grandparents, which was fine. She didn't want to see Jess.

"Well-" Rory began and stopped. Jess had turned around and was now staring down at the baby sleeping soundly in the bassinet, unaware that her parents were fighting mere feet from her. "Do you want to hold her, Jess?"

"What?" Jess cried, his voice cracking. In the kitchen, Lorelai let out a small snort as she saw Jess tense up and glare over at Rory.

"Hold her, Jess. She's your baby you know…you're her father," Rory said, walking over to the baby and easing her out from under the blanket. Jess stared at her and sat down hard on the couch. "Now, mind her head, will you?"

Lola slipped into his arms and let out a mewing sound before closing her eyes again.

"Wow," Jess whispered, unable to do anything but stare. "She has your eyes."

"We'll see," Rory replied. "They may change even though the doctor said that would have happened already." Jess was staring down at the baby in his hands, unable to do much more. His brain seemed to stop giving signals to his mouth and his usual quick comments were suddenly wiped from his mind.

"How old is she?" he whispered.

"Uh, a week or so," Rory replied, smoothing down the baby's hair. It was the same curly brown that Jess's had been. "Her name is Lola. I named her after me and Lorelai and then her middle name is Alexandra because it just sounded really pretty."

"I like Lola and I always figured that if you had a kid you'd name it Lorelai," Jess replied, still looking down at the baby in his arms.

"If she had been a boy I would have named her Oliver," Rory said suddenly. Jess looked up sharply as Rory bit her lip and waited for him to get it.

"After Oliver Twist?"

"Yeah," Rory said with a small shrug. "I don't know, it just seemed appropriate or something." Jess was still looking down at the baby, not saying anything. Suddenly the doorbell went off and they both jumped. "Mom-"

"Got it," Lorelai called, walking over to the door and opening it. "Mom?"

"Lorelai," Emily said. Rory felt her heart leap into her throat as her grandmother walked into the room, carrying a large bag that seemed stuffed with toys and clothes. "Hello, Rory." Her eyes traveled over to where Jess was standing holding the baby in his hands. "Jess." Lorelai and Rory both glanced at each other, both worried about what was about to happen.

"Mrs. Gilmore," Jess said.

"Oh, such formalities. You knocked up my granddaughter, please call me Emily," she said, setting down her bag and shrugging her coat off and placing it on the couch. Rory and Lorelai both glanced at each other as Jess seemed to blush slightly and look down at the baby again. She turned back to Lorelai with a smile which seemed fixed on with plaster. "Lorelai, may I see you in the kitchen for a moment. I brought you some honey roasted nut coffee mix."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Lorelai said, looking at her mother with fear. She followed Emily into the kitchen. As soon as they were in there, Emily whipped around, her face a palet of furry.

"WHAT is he doing here?" she hissed. Lorelai sighed.

"He's the father of her baby, mom," Lorelai said. "How many times did you try and push Christopher on me? He had a right to know that Rory had his baby." Emily sighed and rolled her eyes. She poked her head back out into the hallway to look at Rory and Jess talking.

"Well, what does he plan to do with her?" she snapped, rounding back on Lorelai.

"I don't know mom," Lorelai said, almost pleading with her mother. Secretly, Lorelai was both shocked and a little proud that her mother didn't jump and attack Jess the moment she walked into the house. Emily sighed again and shoved something into Lorelai's hands. "Oh my God," she said, laughing slightly. "You actually brought me coffee."

"You're going to need it if you're raising a baby again," Emily snapped and stalked over to the fridge, pulling it open and glancing inside of it. "Is that actual food in there?" she asked incredulously.

"I do go food shopping, mother," Lorelai said, rolling her eyes. The front door burst open again and they both turned to it.

"Where is he?" Luke shouted.

"In here, Luke," Jess called sarcastically.

"Lorelai!" Luke shouted, coming into the kitchen. "Did you know he was out there?"

"No, he actually snuck into my house when I wasn't looking and then talked to my daughter and the baby without my knowing," Lorelai said sarcastically. "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Oh, he's good! Just getting in here and smoothing his way back," Luke said, shaking his head. He sounded out of breath and was now clutching his heart.

"Did you run all the way from the diner?" Lorelai asked.

"No," Luke said shaking his head. He bent down towards Lorelai and gave her a long kiss on the lips. Lorelai tensed immediately after remembering her mother was probably going to explode in three seconds. "Town line. Miss Patty said she saw Jess going over to the house and I was afraid that you wouldn't be there to monitor him and his stupid sarcastic remarks-" Luke suddenly caught sight of Emily standing at the open fridge, a bottle of formula in her hands. She was staring at Luke in polite surprise.

"Hello, Luke," Emily said.

"Hello, Mrs. Gilmore," Luke said, his cheeks flushing slightly. "And how are you doing today?"

"Fine," Emily said tightly. She looked between her daughter and Luke and sighed. "So are you 'still friends' or is it safe to say that you're now more than that?"

"Mom, I was meaning to tell you-"

"No you weren't, Lorelai," Emily said, placing the formula back into the fridge. "No matter, I didn't mean to intrude. I'll just come back when you're not occupied by company." Emily began walking away and turned back to Lorelai and Luke. "Congratulations. It took you long enough." She began walking away. Lorelai glanced up at the ceiling and growled in frustration.

"Mom! Wait," Lorelai called. Emily stopped and turned around slowly, a perturbed look on her face.

"Yes, Lorelai?" she asked, her tone indicating she expected it all along.

Lorelai wanted to scream out in anger but she felt compelled to stay calm. Her mother had been good the entire twenty minutes she had been there. She hadn't screamed or yelled at Jess, she said nothing negative to Luke, she was almost supportive of Lorelai and Luke's relationship. She didn't deserved to be sent away.

"Stay, don't go," Lorelai said. "Visit with Lola, take her for a walk around the town, bitch about Mrs. Rosenburg and her dog Snicklefritz."

"What a lovely idea, Lorelai!" Emily cried, clapping her hands together. "I think I might just do that! Now, I'm going to take her back to Hartford and buy her some baby clothes, a Christening dress, and maybe a winter jacket-"

"She has clothes mom," Lorelai began and Emily glowered at her.

"I was thinking for my home, Lorelai," Emily snapped. "You said that some nights when Rory was busy at school and you couldn't come up and get the baby that she could stay the night with us, isn't that right?" Lorelai looked back up at the ceiling.

"Yes, mom," she muttered.

"What was that?" Emily asked. "I didn't quite hear you-"

"Yes, mom!" Lorelai said, much louder this time. "Take Lola back to Hartford for tonight, ok? I'll pack some formula and just for tonight, you can take Lola back to your house so Rory and Jess can work everything out. How does that sound to you? I'll come pick her up in time for Friday night dinner."

"Wonderful, Lorelai!" Emily said, smiling brightly. "I'll just gather her things and you'll get the formula?"

"Sounds like a plan," Lorelai said and watched Emily walk back out of the kitchen. There were more mutterings and Lorelai turned to Luke who looked absolutely floored. "You've just seen Emily Gilmore in action."

"I don't know what you're complaining about, actually. She seems really nice," Luke said, shrugging.

"Nice?" Lorelai asked, her voice rising. "Nice? Emily Gilmore is not nice, Luke! She just totally saw her chance to swoop in and she took it! She just manipulated this entire situation."

"Oh…she's good," Luke said, nodding his head along with Lorelai.

"That she is," she replied. "Better go get Lola ready before Emily steals her." The two of them went back into the living room where Emily was holding onto the small baby and smiling happily.

"She's getting chubby, Lorelai," Emily said as soon she Lorelai came into the room. Lorelai stopped and threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

"Yes, well, what can I say? She's a baby!" she snapped. Emily glanced back up at her and then down at the baby. "Rory, Grandma is going to take the baby for the afternoon."

"Back to Hartford?" Rory asked. Both Jess and Rory seemed disappointed with the thought of the baby leaving them so soon after being reunited. Emily had been glancing between Rory and Jess and suddenly placed the baby back into Rory's hands.

"You know, I just remembered I was going to get my hair done," she stated simply. "Maybe another time? I think the baby is too young yet to be taken into the city. I think I'll save her little adventure for next month. For now, just tell me her sizes and I'll be off."

"Um," Lorelai said, not sure what had brought upon the sudden change in her mother. "I think 0-3 months should be good, don't you Rory?"

"Uh, yeah…sure," Rory said. Both mother and daughter exchanged wide-eyed expressions.

"Well, then, I'll leave the four of you alone now," Emily said, placing her notebook back into her bag and snapping it shut. "Rory, would you let me buy you some things for school and your new apartment?"

"Uh, um, er, sure, why not?" Rory said, smiling at her grandmother who was beaming now.

"Wonderful!" Emily said, looking genuinely pleased. "And what about you Lorelai?"

"What? Me? I'm fine," Lorelai said, now feeling as though she had missed something.

"Are you sure you don't want anything?" Emily asked, staring intently at Lorelai. "Weren't you saying something about Prada kitten heels the other week?" Lorelai felt floored.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Say no more, I know your size," Emily was now gathering her things into her arms. "Have a nice day you four. I'll see you tonight for dinner? Unless, Rory would you like to bow out?"

"Could I?" Rory asked.

"Certainly," Emily said and everyone jumped. "Luke, why don't you take her place?"

"What? Me?" Luke said as everyone looked at him. "Really, I don't want to intrude-"

"Don't be silly! It'll be great," Emily said. "Alright, now I'm really going, goodbye everyone."

"Bye," everyone chorused. There was a lingering silence after the door closed.

"WHAT was that?" Rory asked.

"Proof that pod people exist," Lorelai replied, pulling back a curtain and watching her mother drive away from the house. There was an uncomfortable silence that slowly filtered into the room. "Ok, well…I should probably head back to the inn…"

"Yeah, I, er, need to get back to the diner," Luke said. Both Lorelai and Luke edged towards the door and grabbed their things.

"Rory come and get me if you need me, ok?" Lorelai asked. Rory nodded. There was a beat of silence. "Bye Jess."

"Bye, Lorelai," Jess replied, talking for the first time since Emily arrived.

"Jess I want you back at the diner in an hour, understood?" Luke asked gruffly. "Ok, then, bye Rory."

"Bye Luke. Bye mom."

"Bye, kid. Bye my beauty," Lorelai bent down and kissed Lola's scrunchy little head. "Ok, then…bye."

"Bye," Jess said.

"Bye," Luke replied.

"Bye," Rory said.

"Bye," Lorelai said.

"Bye," Luke repeated.

"I have a feeling this could go on for a very long time if someone doesn't end it now," Jess cut in.

"BYE," Lorelai snapped, annoyed. She shot a short glare at Jess and smiled at Rory. "Just call me and someone will be at this house in three seconds, ok?"

"I get it mom," Rory said.

"Ok," Lorelai said. She turned around and walked out the front door, Luke closely behind her. "Bye!" she called, poking her head back in and then closing the door with a snap.

"Have I ever told you how weird your family is?" Jess asked.

"Yes," Rory replied, staring straight ahead. She turned to Jess. "I really am sorry I didn't tell you about her. There was some part of me that wanted to, really wanted to, but I just kept silencing it. I needed that sliver of hope within me that you would come back."

"But if you had just told me-"

"I didn't know what you would do. See, Jess, I was scared. At the time I thought if I told you and you, for some reason, didn't want the baby then I would fall apart; I wouldn't be able to go on if I thought that. I liked fooling myself thinking that maybe I would go back and see you after the baby and reestablish a relationship with you, then tell you about Lola. That was what I planned to do, Jess. When I was ready."

"Rory?"

"Yes?" she asked, turning back to Jess who was staring at her intently.

"Marry me?"

A/N Read and review. Sorry it took so long. If the whole Emily thing seemed OC, I know I did it for a reason so don't review telling me how OC she was. I purposely wrote it that way. Thank you.