See Chapter 1 for disclaimer and summery

A/N: WOW, I am really mystified by how many hits this story has and how many great reviews I've gotten so far. And some of you guys put this on your favorites…I'm touched. I really am. It means you like me, you really, really like me. Or, you just like my story. You guys are the best! This chapter is dedicated to LoVeLuKe, who watched Casablanca for the first time and told me all about it. I love reviewers like you.

Chapter 3: A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action…

Lorelai got home without any further incident. She pulled into the driveway, marveling at the fact that Luke's hangover remedy actually made her more focused. Her headache had lessened. This isn't a concoction or a remedy; it's a miracle cure!

She opened the Jeep door and shut it quietly, afraid of waking Rory or even worse, Babette. She took her time up the stairs and took off her shoes once she reached the top. Shoes in hands, Lorelai approached the door. She hesitated, ever so slightly, before she put the key in. She just wasn't quite sure if she was ready to face her daughter and tell her about Christopher and her night with Luke. Are you afraid of your own daughter her conscious scolded. Hello, you are the mom and an adult! You don't have to answer to her for anything.

Slowly, she manipulated the key in the lock and she heard the bolt move aside. She eased the door open, but it creaked ever so quietly. Lorelai found the she was shushing the door, but that was making more noise than it was worth. I believe I am now certifiably crazy. I mean, who says shhhh to an inanimate object. Only me!

As she dropped her coat, shoes, and purse in the hall, she noticed that Rory was peacefully sleeping on the couch, with the TV running softly in the background. That made her feel even worse for not coming home that night. Rory had been waiting up for her and she never walked through the door. She was probably wondering about Christopher. I feel so awful.

SLAM! Lorelai jumped and screamed, "Hey there! Ho There!" when the door slammed shut. She still stood in the hall, one hand gripping her chest. "Elizabeth," she whispered, "I'm comin' to meet you!"

"Welcome home, Nat the Dog walker," said the scratchy voice from the couch. She wasn't surprised that Rory had woken up, but her voice made her jump all the same.

"GAH! I'm still all jumpy from the door slam. You scared me. Hold on a sec, I'm slow this morning…Nat the Dog walker?"

"Mad About You."

"Oh sweets, I'm crazy about you too," she quipped, walking out of the hall and to the side of the couch where Rory's feet rested. Lorelai knew as soon as Rory said Mad About You, that she was referring to her unique scream. She picked up her daughter's feet and sat down, putting the feet in her lap. Then, she covered herself and Rory's feet with Rory's blanket.

"No Mom," Rory groaned, "The TV sh-…Ohhhhh. We are both a little slow this morning."

"That's because even Amish milkmen are not up right now." Lorelai mentally prepared herself for the inevitable question that Rory would ask as she patted her daughter's legs through the blanket. After a few moments of silence, Rory finally posed, "Where were you last night? I waited up for you, but you never came. Did you go see Dad?"

Rory threw Lorelai for a loop. She wasn't prepared for her daughter to think that she was with Christopher.

"No, hon, I didn't go see your dad. I was at Luke's."

"You were at Luke's! I thought you guys were stil-…Oh hohoho, you were at Luuuke's," Rory said in a sing-song voice. Then a look of horror crossed her face and she punched her mother's arm, "How could you be WITH Luke, when you are WITH Dad?"

Oh Boy…Here it goes… "Luke and I are not together!" she said defensively, "I went over there last night for a cup of coffee and Luke and I made up and got to talking. Then we got to drinking. We were both a little too snockered, so I stayed the night on his couch." She felt better leaving out the whole truth. No need to tell Rory that Luke and I woke up in bed together with no recollection of the night before. "As for Christopher, we need to talk about that."

Rory's lips formed a circle, as if she was saying 'oh.' She knew what was coming. Her mother had this talk with her before. She wasn't stupid. She knew when she couldn't find her dad at the wedding after she had walked down the aisle. She knew just by looking at her mother's face the day before. But, most of all, she knew that her dad would never stay forever, no matter how hard he tried and how much he promised. "He's gone for good, isn't he?" Rory felt so naïve for thinking that her mother had gone to see Christopher last night.

Lorelai couldn't help but feel teary-eyed just by looking at the disappointment that crossed her daughter's faced. Hell, she was disappointed too. Chris had really let her down this time, more than ever before. She nodded in response to Rory's question

"Well, what's his excuse this time? I'm sure it's a doozie," she said sarcastically, trying to focus her attention on the infomercial and not on Lorelai's face. She knew if she looked her mother in the eye she would lose all control and break down, and she was sick of crying over Christopher Hayden.

"He had some business to take care of," Lorelai said, her voice cracking slightly. She wanted to ease Rory into the events of Christopher's life, but she wasn't sure why. I don't know why I still try to defend him in front of Rory. She's not a little girl anymore. I should just tell her the facts and let her come to a decision about Chris herself.

"Bullshit!" she exploded, her throat constricted and on the verge of tears. She looked at Lorelai then, the wrath of a thousand suns burning in her eyes. "Tell me the truth. I deserve the truth."

You can't handle the truth. That line was no longer funny to her as it had been in the past, when she and Rory would watch the movie. "The truth is, Sherry's pregnant. She called right before the ceremony started. Your dad was torn, but decided that he needed to be there for this baby, since he missed out on being with you. He went back to Boston to be with Sherry."

Of course, the phone call he got before he left me. Before I saw Jess…"How can you be so calm about this? Doesn't it piss you off that Dad's there instead of here? Doesn't it make you angry that he wants to be the dad of this unborn baby instead of me?" Rory let the tears fall with her realization. He doesn't want to be my dad. He never could be my dad.

"Yes," Lorelai yelled, losing her calm demeanor at the sight of Rory's tears, "It does make me mad. Very mad! But, what can I do? I can't control Christopher. I can't tell him what to do or who to be with. I can't make him be here for us. I can't look him in the eye and tell him that his loyalties should go to us since we were here first. I can't do any of that. And I'm frustrated. I am so damn frustrated! I let myself believe that, for the first time, we were in the same place. I thought that we could finally be a family. I just knew that he was finally going to be there for you, for both of us. I foolishly held Christopher so close and let him kiss me until I couldn't breathe because after all these years I still love him. And I thought he still loved me." Lorelai took a breath when she realized the she was crying. Then she practically whispered, "I was such a fool. I can't believe I let my guard down to let him in again, only to let him trample over both of us."

Rory had turned her face away again, this time staring at the wall. She hated her dad for doing this to her mom. She hated him for doing this to her. She furiously wiped her tears away, not wanting to let herself cry over a man who had hurt her feelings more times then she could count. But this time, it went beyond her feelings. He had damaged her soul and broke her mother's heart once again. She knew it was selfish, but she wanted her father to choose her over this baby. That was what hurt her the most.

On the table next to the couch was the empty glass that Rory had used for water. She had never been the type of person to throw things when she was mad, but it seemed appropriate. Then she saw her mark; a picture of Christopher, Lorelai, and her on a table across the room. She picked up the glass and threw it with every ounce of strength she had, surprising Lorelai. The glass missed the picture by a mile and flew into the wall. It shattered and left a mark on the painted surface. Lorelai flinched and Rory sobbed into her hands. She reached over and wrapped her arms around Rory. She let herself let go to sob with her daughter. She rocked her baby girl in her arms until they had both fallen asleep.

The bright light of day woke Lorelai up later that morning. She was in a rather odd position. Rory's head rested on her lap, the rest of her body curled in a ball. Her head was on Rory's hip. They were holding hands, like they did when she was little. Lorelai's eyes focused and she looked at the clock. 9:15. Not a bad sleep, though the conditions that put us to sleep were slightly trying. I'm starving. She raised her head and allowed it to rest on the back of the couch.

Rory stirred then, and she smiled at Lorelai, "I'm hungry."

"Me too, sweetie darling."

"Since you and Luke are friends again, can we have a Luke's breakfast?"

"You read my mind. Luke said he would save us some pancakes earlier this morning."

"Mmmm, hangover food. I almost forgot that you were at Luke's all last night. What did you guys do besides drink and sleep?"

Still no need to tell her that I don't remember much of the night's activities "Oh, we did this and that. Actually, I've been holding out on the best part of the night."

"Intrigue!"

"I know you probably won't believe it unless you saw it with your own eyes, but…get this…Oh, you'll never believe it…But it happened…I wish I had a camera for that precise moment…But-"

"Would you just get on with it!"

"Luke drank coffee!"

Rory's eyes got big and a huge and wicked grin spread across her face. "Tell me more!"

A/N: Just so you know, I'm not really satisfied with this chapter. It's just a filler until I get a great inspiration of where to go next. I don't really think Rory is in character well. I hope you enjoyed it, though. You guys are still awesome. If you actually liked this chapter or have any suggestions on where to go next, drop a note in my review box. I'm still vacillating (don't you just love that word. I think it makes me sound college-ish. I feel like that since I'm at a university, I should actually use big words in my everyday conversations.) on whether I should write the other story or not. I know its been done, but I want to find a way to set it apart from all the rest.

I also won't be able to update for a week or so. Being a big college girl, I have two huge projects due on Monday and Tuesday of next week, and I have procrastinated way too long on them. Oh, and I also have season tickets for UofA basketball (nearly impossible to get, I lucked out and won the lottery this year) so I'll be at the game tomorrow. Go Wildcats! Yet another reason why I can't update for awhile. Its much easier to whip out one of these in a couple of hours then it is to sit down and pretend to be interested in female prophets in the Bible (ok, yes, the general subject interests me, but I'd rather not write a 6-8 page research paper on it). By the way, it really shocks me how fast I can write a fanfic chapter. I don't know how I've been able to update everyday. I hope I won't disappoint you too much. Let me know when my chapters start to get crappy, and then I'll start spending more time on them.

Since I started watching Gilmore Girls, I have tried to add more pop culture into my conversations. For example, I was in the mall, shopping for my best friend's birthday gift, and I rounded a corner and almost ran full force into this guy. And then he hit on me! He said, "Hello Gorgeous!" Who says that? My Napoleon Dynamite shirt must have been sending a vibe because I had FIVE guys hit on me that day. That does not happen to me, ever. It was so weird. So, anyway, back to my point. I was telling my friend about the guy in the mall and I said, "Who does he think he is, Barbra Streisand?" I was pretty proud of myself that I thought fast enough to make a movie reference in my conversation. So, enough rambling, I hope you'll be able to notice when I add a reference now and then.

Oh, I also wanted to say that I'm a Christian and I really don't like to cuss, but it fits in with the characters more, so I'll be using it in my writing. In reality, I hardly notice it anymore, but I know it might offend some people.

That's enough listening to me, I know most of you have already scrolled and moved on. My a/n is almost as long as my chapter. I'll try to update as soon as I can. Please still love me after this chapter!