Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with Warner Brothers or Dorothy Parker Drank Here or anyone else attached in any way with Gilmore Girls.

Chapter 18 – Closer

April is sensing something weird about Luke and Lorelai today. It's not like they're fighting or anything, but it's just that there's a weird vibe. Lorelai is unusually quiet and Luke seems to be sort of preoccupied yet they both seem to be trying so hard to act normal that it's abnormal.

Her mom has been acting weird lately too. She is also kind of preoccupied and nervous. April wonders if it is some cosmic occurrence that only affects grown ups and makes them all act weird.

"So your Mom tells me that you're going to camp," Luke begins finally.

"I guess."

"You don't sound very excited," Lorelai comments. "Don't you want to go?"

"Yeah, I suppose."

"Hmm, you know I went to camp every summer from the time I was 6 until I was 14. I have probably been to most of the camps in the area. Which one are you going to?" Lorelai asks.

"Oh it's not here, it's in California."

Surprised, Luke repeats, "California?"

"Uh-huh, at Stanford."

"University?" Lorelai asks incredulously.

"Yes."

Lorelai looks at April and exclaims, "You're going to a camp at Stanford University? Wow, that's way cooler than camp Shennecossett!"

Aprils questions her, "Shennecossett?"

"It was my favorite camp that my parents sent me to. It was fun because it had horses. Unfortunately I wasn't there very long."

April and Luke both ask, "Why?"

"I was asked to leave."

Luke smirks at her as he asks, "You got kicked out of a kid's camp? What'd you do?"

Lorelai bats her eyes innocently as she explains, "Oh, the normal stuff. Short sheeting beds, stealing underwear, sneaking out after hours and of course my pièce de résistance was when I set the horses stampeding through the counselor's tents."

Confounded, Luke inquires, "Why on earth would you stampede the horses?"

"It was an accident. Jennifer Masurs and I were in the stables attempting to create the perfect smoke bomb. It sort of denoted too soon and freaked out the horses. The camp counselors were not impressed with our ingenuity so they sent us home."

April giggles as Luke advises her, "Do not let her be your role model for camp behavior."

April explains, "The camp I'm going to isn't like that, it's a science camp, the Sally Ride Science Camp. The July 9 session is at Stanford University."

Lorelai exclaims, "Wow, Sally Ride the first American woman astronaut in space? She has her own camp? That sounds very cool!"

"Yeah."

They had arrived in Stars Hollow and Luke is pulling the truck next to the curb. "You don't sound excited about going." he remarks to April as they are getting out.

"Hmm, it's okay I guess."

As the three of them enter the diner, Luke automatically heads behind the counter and April makes a beeline for a seat at the counter. Lorelai lags behind and sort of stands in the middle of the diner. Suddenly she feels out of place like a third wheel.

April asks Luke, "Can I have a piece of blueberry pie?"

Luke cuts a small piece of pie, pours a glass of milk, and hands them both to April. It's then that he notices Lorelai still standing in the middle of the floor looking extremely hesitant and awkward. Confused by her posture, he starts to ask her what's wrong but before he can get the words out, Lorelai nervously speaks.

"I need to get back to the Dragonfly. Uh, April, it's great to see you again." With that, Lorelai turns toward the door.

Luke scoots quickly around the counter and catches her before she can actually open the door. "What's wrong? Where're you going?" he asks softly.

Lorelai is looking down at her shoes as she answers Luke, "I told you, I need to get back to work. I've already taken so much time off. Michel will have a fit if I don't get back soon."

Luke tilts his head around as he tries to catch her eyes, "First of all, I believe Michel works for you, not the other way around. And secondly, I don't want you to leave." His voice switches to that lower timbre that he uses only with her and whispers, "Lorelai, please stay for me." A winsome smile breaks across his face, "I'll give you pie, you know you always want pie."

A sheepish smile spreads across her face as she responds, "I guess that I have time for a piece of pie."

Luke puts his arm behind her to lead her back to the counter. He cuts a big piece of pie and sets it with a glass of milk in front of her.

Lorelai stares momentarily at the milk then looks incredulously at Luke. His face is deadpan but there's a twinkle in his eye.

Capitulating to the inevitable, Lorelai takes a big gulp of milk before digging into the pie.

Luke turns to face April so to hide his victorious smile from Lorelai. "So tell me about this camp?"

"It is kind of cool. You get to select a major project to work on with a team. I can choose between astronomy, marine science, or robotics. I really like astronomy but I am leaning towards robotics. Robots are the wave of the future, you know."

"Oh I know." responds Luke seriously but with an amused twinkle in his eyes. April had talked about robotics many times.

Lorelai remarks, "So this camp of yours is more like a summer school than the camps I was sent to."

April thought about it for a second and then said, "Yeah, sort of but more fun than school. I mean there's no English or PE and it's all girls. Though I guess school can be all girls, too. I mean, there's this school that I kind of wanted to go to for awhile and it's all girls."

Luke's interest was suddenly piqued, "You want to go to a private school?"

"Nah, not really. I think I was just kind of excited that this school wanted me. I mean they are like really known for their program in science and math, but it's clear out in California. No way am I going to a boarding school and my mom wasn't going to move. Besides, this school is really intense, I mean, they have classes almost year round! Yuck, they break it up into these trimesters that last like 90 days. I would hate it. It's more like a job than a school. Plus, it's not a good place to build your social interaction skills."

Lorelai looks at April, "So it's an all girl's school, right?"

"Yeah." April replies shyly.

Luke stands up straighter and speaks, "You know April, if you wanted to go to a private school, your mom and I could talk about it. Rory, Lorelai's daughter, went to Chilton in Hartford."

Lorelai adds, "Rory only went to Chilton her last three years but she loved it. Before that, she went to public school."

"Didn't she miss her friends?" April asks Lorelai, clearly interested.

"No, not really. Of course she made some new friends at Chilton but her best friend is still Lane. You know Lane, right? Well, Rory and Lane have been best friends since kindergarten. Going to Chilton didn't have any affect on their friendship."

"In fact, it didn't really have much impact on her social life at all. Rory continued to be more involved with the people here in Stars Hollow than with the Chilton kids. Even all of the boys she dated during high school lived here. She didn't date anyone that went to Chilton."

"It's kind of funny but she met her first boyfriend, Dean, just before she started Chilton. Meeting him made her temporarily reconsider going to Chilton which was stupid." Lorelai turns to look directly at April, "Never let a relationship with a guy keep you taking advantage of an opportunity. There are always guys but opportunities are fleeting."

April thought for moment about what Lorelai had just told her before she asks, "How long did Rory go out with this Dean?"

"Oh, they were together about two years. Then she started dating Jess. You know your cousin Jess, right?"

"Rory and Jess are dating?" April asks.

Luke answers, "No that was over a long time ago, now Rory and Jess are just friends."

April is confused, "I didn't know that Jess lived here in Stars Hollow, I thought he's from New York?"

Lorelai smiles, "He lived with Luke for a couple of years."

April processes this new information. Jess lived with her dad. Obviously Jess was a teenager when this happened. That's why her dad and Jess are so friendly.

Rory had wanted to accompany her mom and Luke to the doctor's appointment today but her crazy schedule at the Stamford Eagle Gazette wouldn't allow it. Basically the paper has just been using her to fill in on the copy desk or as a paginator. One time she got to work with the pox team that covers the police and courts which induced a major flash back to her own experience with the penal system but the paper hasn't given her a chance to write anything. The staff at the SEG doesn't seem overly impressed that she is the editor and former features writer at the Yale Daily News. To them, she's just a newbie that needs to earn her stripes.

Of course, this is only her fifth day back at work.

It is just that she already knows how to give a story its final edit and write the headlines and captions. She has been designing and placing stories and art elements on a page using the computer since her days at the Franklin. Pulling wire stories filed by the AP or Reuters isn't her dream job. She wants to write.

She has already submitted five ideas for stories to her boss, but so far, he has yet to acknowledge any of them. This has not discouraged Rory; she intends to keep plugging away. Her goal is to get at least one article printed in the SEG with her byline before September when school resumes.

April is busy in the corner filling the salt and pepper shakers when Lorelai suddenly remembers the papers that Anna left. Reaching for them in her purse, she quietly reminds Luke that he needs to sign them.

As he reads over the first paper, Luke comments, "I thought Anna said it needed to be notarized. This is just the contact information for the camp. Heck, Anna could have filled this out, she has all my numbers."

Lorelai unfolds the second sheet as Luke is busy filling out the first. She reads it:

"I, Lucas Danes, give my permission for Anna Nardini to take our daughter, April Nardini to California."

Lorelai's face takes on an indignant countenance as she passes the paper to Luke and coldly tells him, "Here, this is what you're looking for!" In an apparent snit, she picks up her purse and tells April goodbye before she marches out of the diner.

Totally confused by Lorelai's sudden change of temperament, Luke grabs the papers and quickly follows. As he's leaving, he speaks loudly to attract April's attention. "April stay here with Caesar. I have to run down the street to Mail Boxes, Etc. I'll be back in 10 minutes." Luke scurries out the door and catches up with Lorelai just as she is getting into her Jeep.

Blocking the Jeep door so that she can't close it, Luke demands, "Okay, what the hell just happened in there?" For some unknown reason, Lorelai is furious at him and he's not letting her leave until she explains.

Breathing deeply, Lorelai stares straight ahead as she thinks. She doesn't want to get into this now, she just wants to leave. Putting the key in the ignition, Lorelai attempts to drive off but Luke is too quick for her.

He grabs the keys out of the ignition and yells, "Damn it Lorelai, quit pulling this passive-aggressive crap and tell me what's got you so pissed. Apparently I'm stupid because I haven't got a clue."

She turns to face him and points to the second paper he's holding. "That, that's the problem!"

"What?" Luke hadn't even had a chance to see what's on it. Quickly unfolding it, he reads out loud, "I, Lucas Danes, give my permission for Anna Nardini to take our daughter, April Nardini to California." Still unenlightened, Luke gives Lorelai a bewildered look.

Frustrated at his apparent lack of understanding, Lorelai asks, "Do you make Anna ask your permission every time she wants to take April out of town?"

"What? I dunno, what do you mean?"

Angry, Lorelai continues to point to the paper. "This is a permission slip. It's like she has to get permission from you just to take her own daughter to camp; like you're suddenly you're in charge of her of life."

Luke confused, is still looking at the paper still in his hands. "Lorelai, I don't know. This is just a paper Anna asked me to sign. I didn't write it."

"Well don't think you're going to pull that crap on me!"

"What?"

"If I want to take our unborn possible twins to New York to see the Bangles or go shopping, I do not need your approval, do you hear me?"

"Okay."

"Don't think you can get your sleazy lawyer to pull that on me. I'll get my own sleazy lawyer and fight you."

"Whoa, first of all, are you planning to keep my kids from me?"

"Of course not."

"Do you plan to take my kids out of town without telling me?"

"No."

"Then why will I need a sleazy lawyer?"

Lorelai doesn't have an answer but she's still pissed at him, so she just stares out the window.

"Look Lorelai, I never wanted to get lawyers involved in this, all I wanted was to know my kid but Anna, well, she made it hard. She kept threatening to keep me away from April every time something didn't go exactly like she wanted. It was driving me crazy; you saw what it did to us? Okay, that's not fair, I was the problem with us but Anna's pressure didn't help. I simply went to a lawyer just to get things settled."

Lorelai is now looking at Luke and he can see that her anger is lessening. He holds up the offending permission slip in front of her and continues, "I honestly don't remember the lawyers talking about needing anything like this. Sure, I know my lawyer issued some sort of temporary restraining order but I thought that was cancelled after the custody agreement was in place. I didn't like it then and I didn't intend it to be permanent. My lawyer insisted on it because he was afraid that Anna would take April out of the court's jurisdiction before the custody was settled."

"Actually, it turned out not to be such a bad idea. The first thing Anna did when I told her I was seeking joint custody was threaten to leave the state. Of course, it was probably just a bluff because she was angry. I mean, she's lived in this area all her life and she has her store and everything. She isn't going to just up and leave."

"You and I don't need lawyers." Luke looks her sincerely. "We're doing this parenting thing together, remember? If you want to take our twins to a concert in New York, I'll go with you, okay?"

Feeling a little ashamed of her reaction, Lorelai still isn't satisfied. "It's just that I sort of identify with Anna. If Chris had tried anything like that with Rory, I'd killed him. I don't like it."

"Okay, I agree." Luke takes out his phone and starts dialing. "Look let me call my sleazy lawyer and straighten this out."

"Yes, Luke Danes calling Martin Friedman. Sure, I'll hold." Luke waited a few minutes until his lawyer came on the line. He explained the situation and then was put on hold again while his lawyer checked the file.

Luke rolls his eyes as he tells Lorelai, "He put me on hold. He always puts me on hold. I think he does it on purpose just to run up the bill.

After about five minutes, the lawyer apparently returned because Luke commences with a monosyllabic conversation consisting of "Yes", "No", "No", "Yes", "Sure", "Yes", "No", "Yes", "Fine", "Fine", and "Thanks".

Luke hangs up, turns to Lorelai and tells her, "According to my lawyer, Anna misunderstood our agreement. The only time she would need a document like this would be if she was taking April and moving out of state. Otherwise, she just needs to let me know and provide me with an itinerary. So see, I'm not trying to control her."

Lorelai feels like an ass. Of course Luke wouldn't do something like that. She should have known that and it scares her that she thought he would. "Luke, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have freaked out like that. I don't know what got into me."

Knelling down next to the car, Luke grins as he leans over and rubs her belly, "I think I do." He gives her a quick kiss.

With an apologetic face, Lorelai looks at Luke and says, "Why do you put up with me?"

Fixing his face in a deadpan expression, Luke replies, "Well, somebody has to and I lost the draw."

She whaps him in the chest and is about to do it a second time, when he catches her hand and pulls her in for a longer kiss. With his lips still against her mouth, he whispers, "Crazy lady".

Pulling back, Luke asks, "When will you be home for dinner?"

"Sorry, I really have a ton of work to catch up on at the Inn, I'll just eat there."

Luke gives her a skeptical look but Lorelai swears, "I'll eat something healthy. Sookie will see to it. I promise I'll eat something green."

Luke responds, "Okay but remember lettuce essence doesn't count."

Rory just let off a big woo-hoo which caused heads to pop up from behind cubicles like prairie dogs on the plains. She quickly apologizes to everyone and returns to talking with Lorelai on the phone.

"Mom, I can't believe it, twins! It is just like your dream. Maybe you're psychic? You are going to be so-o-o fat!"

"If I'm psychic then my powers are really off these days. At this point, my future looks pretty murky."

"Quit saying that Mom, you're future looks great! You've got everything, a great job, a man that loves you and now the baby, err, babies. It's everything that you dreamed about."

"Maybe, I guess so. It's just keeps feeling like I'm going to loose it all. That everything is just temporary and I am going to screw it all up, again."

"You are not screwing anything up."

"Oh, I don't know, look at my track record."

"Mom, I think your track record is pretty good. Remember when we first left Hartford? You said you were so scared that you were screwing things up for me but look, everything turned out fine. You didn't know what you were doing and probably made a ton of mistakes but it all worked out."

"Look, I told you that I really was going for the punk look with that first haircut I gave you. It wasn't a mistake."

"Mom, everything is going to work out. Just have a little faith."

"I have faith; it just seems that history is working against it."

Hesitantly, Rory switches subjects," So Mom, Grandma and Grandpa are getting back today, are you going to call them?"

"I'm sure they are all jetlagged and don't feel like talking."

"Mom!"

"What? I said that I will go to Friday night dinner."

"Mom, you need to talk with them. You have to tell them about the pregnancy."

"Not yet, babe. You know the experts always say not to tell anyone until after the first trimester."

"They are talking about friends and acquaintances, not family. You should bring Luke to dinner with you and tell them together."

"Rory remember I'm trying to keep Luke around, not run him off."

"Luke will want to go with you and tell them. He knows Grandma and Grandpa and he can handle them."

"Oh, I can see it now, 'Mom, Dad, guess what? I'm pregnant again and this time I went for the bonus pack, twins! And no, Luke and I aren't getting married because the past six months proves he doesn't really want me in his life.' Then poor Luke will get pummeled."

"Mom, first of all, I think Luke could take Grandpa in a fight. Secondly, you're not getting married because you are being stupid and paranoid. Luke has done everything to prove he wants you and needs you but you refuse to see it."

"He hid his daughter from me and he didn't want me to be involved with her. That says a lot."

"It says he was stupid. Mom, you've always forgiven Dad for all of his screw ups and they were much more numerous and severe. Why can't you forgive Luke?"

"Because I know Chris and I know what to expect from him. Before I thought I knew Luke and I wouldn't have ever imagined that he would push me out of his life like he did. I don't know him anymore."

"Mom!"

"Hon, I've got to go. Michel is screaming at someone at the front desk. Love you!"

Rory yells for her mom again but the line goes dead. Frustrated, she goes back to work.

Anna walks into the diner a few minutes before 7:30 but doesn't see Luke or April. She is about to ask, when Luke comes down the stairs.

"Hey." he greets her.

"Hey yourself. Where's April?"

"Oh, she's upstairs on the phone. She wanted to call some friend of hers before it got too late. Something about making plans for a movie or something tomorrow. I'm sure you'll hear all about it."

He leads her upstairs where April is lounging on the sofa with the phone at her ear. "Oh, my mom's here now, I got to go. See ya!"

"Hey Mom!"

"Hey kid! Get your stuff together and we'll leave."

April runs downstairs and leaves Anna and Luke alone.

"Oh hey, here's the paper you need." Luke hands here the contact form for the camp.

"Luke, I think you forgot one of the forms."

"Oh yeah, look I wanted to talk to you about that. You don't need a permission slip from me to take April. I never intended you to think that. I double checked with my attorney and it's not necessary."

"That's okay Luke. I don't mind. Just give me the paper and we're good."

"I threw it away."

Luke is baffled when Anna starts rifling through his waste basket. "What are you looking for?"

Anna replies brusquely, "What, you threw it away? I need that."

"Anna, stop. It's not there. I threw it out down in the diner. It probably has garbage all over it."

Anna is clearly getting agitated. "Okay, okay, so do you have a computer or maybe a typewriter? Who am I talking to, no of course not, you wouldn't. I know, we can go to the local Kinko's and type a new one up. They can notarize it then."

"Anna, calm down. I told you that you don't need any permission slip just to send April to camp. Anyway, this is Stars Hollow; we don't have a Kinko's."

"No, you don't understand. I do need it. You have to sign that permission form before I take her to California. I can't take her without it; I won't take her without it."

April who had returned upstairs heard what her mother said as she walks in the apartment. She turns toward Luke and asks, "If you don't sign this form, I don't have to go?"

Luke is confused by April's statement. "Don't you want to go?"

"No, Mom's making me."

Suspiciously he looks at Anna, "You're forcing her to go to this camp?"

Exasperated Anna responds, "For cripes sake Luke, you don't understand. She begged me for weeks to go and now that it's almost here, she's nervous. If you knew anything about teenagers you would know that's just how they are.

Now Luke questions April, "Is what your mother said true? Did you beg to go to this camp?"

"Yes, but you don't understand. That was months ago and I didn't get in it. Mom sent the application too late. I was upset for awhile but then it was okay. Now, all of a sudden last week, Mom says I have to go. An opening became available and she never even checked to see if I still wanted to go. I've already made all of these plans with my friends for the summer and going to camp ruins everything."

Luke takes a deep breath as he tries to make sense of this whole thing. After a few seconds, he decides what he needs to do. "April, go downstairs and wait for me to call you. Your mother and I need to talk alone."

April hesitates because she knows they're going to talk about her and she wants to be here.

Luke, knowing that this is not a conversation that he wants April to hear, uses his commanding tone, "April now!"

Though April hasn't known Luke that long, she does recognize the tone he used. It's his "no arguments" tone and he means it. Disgruntled but obedient she heads downstairs.

When he is sure April is gone, he turns to Anna. "You want some tea or something?"

"No, I'm good."

"Now explain this to me. Is what April said true? Did you just enroll her in that camp last week?"

"Yes, but she really wants to go. She's just being contrary."

"Don't you think you should have talked with her before you enrolled her?"

"I didn't think it was necessary. Maybe I should have but she'll get over it."

"I still think you should have talked with her and I know you should have talked to me first."

"What?" Anna responds rashly, then recovers her composure and continues. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I forgot. I'm just getting used to this new arrangement."

"Well you better get used to it because nothing like this is happening again. Now I don't know what were going to do."

"You're going to sign another permission form and April is going to camp."

"No, I'm not. At least not until I've spoken with April and heard her side."

Frustrated, Anna tries to cajole him. "Oh come on Luke, she doesn't want to go because she has a crush on a boy. She's afraid he'll forget her."

"This is over a boy? It's not that Freddie is it? Because she's too young to be serious about a boy, hell I think she too young to think about boys but I guess I can't stop that. Even if it is over a boy, I want to talk with her first. She shouldn't give up something that she would enjoy over a boy."

"Luke, all of this is unnecessary. April is going to camp, that's all."

"Come on Anna, relax. I'm just going to talk to her."

Anna is starting to come unglued. This is all going wrong and she can't handle it. She begins to pace in front of Luke, trying desperately to find a way out of this mess. "You don't understand she has to go."

"No she doesn't. What the hell is so important about this camp anyway?"

"I've already sent in the money."

"I'll help cover the money. If necessary, I pay for the damn thing."

"She has to go to this camp."

"Why Anna, what's so important about this stupid camp? It's not like it's a school or something. It's just a girl summer camp."

"You don't understand. She has to go to California. She has to go to that interview."

Luke snaps to attention. "What interview?"

"Shit!" thinks Anna. Inhaling deeply before she begins, "I misspoke, I meant camp."

The more he and Anna talk about this, the more suspicious Luke is becoming that he doesn't have the whole story. Anna is definitely acting strange, almost guilty, but guilty of what?

"Look Anna, I know I'm new to parenting, but you seem to be blowing this whole camp thing way out of context. It isn't that important."

"You're right Luke, you are new to parenting. Therefore you should defer to my expertise. I know what's right for my daughter."

Now Anna is just pissing him off. "First of all, she not just your daughter, she's our daughter. And if I'm new to parenting, well that's your fault. You chose not to tell me about April. Besides that, I don't believe you have all that much experience with 13 year olds either. Whether you like it or not, I am April's father and I am a part of her life. She will go to this fucking camp only if both of us, you and I agree; is that clear?"

Anna is getting really mad. Luke is messing up everything. "No, that's not clear. April has to go to this camp. No discussion."

"There will be a discussion and you will just have to learn to deal with."

"No, she's going, that's final."

"What is it that is so important about April going to this stupid camp? What are you trying to pull, Anna?"

"Nothing, I'm just trying to send April to a camp she will enjoy!"

"Bull! You come clean with me or no camp, no way

Now Anna has reached her limit and she's truly angry. The time has come to play her last card. She decides to tell about the school and see if she can play on his desire for the best for April. "Damn it Luke, she has to go to California. She has a chance to be accepted at this really prestigious school and the interview is in California. If she doesn't go she can't get it. This is her big opportunity. Graduating from this school will almost guarantee that she can get into any university that she wants. You would deprive her of that chance?"

"Are you talking about that all girls boarding school in California?"

"What do you know about it?"

"April mentioned it and she doesn't want to go there. Besides, I'm not letting you send our daughter out of state to school. She's too young. If you want to talk about sending her to a private school, well, we can do that."

"Luke, don't kid yourself that you're a good father. You're just being selfish. This school is a wonderful opportunity that will help her get into the best college. You want to stand in her way?"

Everything is suddenly clear to Luke. He shakes his head as he speaks, 'You know Anna, I can be a little naive sometimes but I'm not a fool. This has nothing to do with April going to the best school. You're just trying to get April away from me, aren't you? Well, it's not going to happen."

Luke is on a roll now, "It all makes sense now. You never wanted me to know about April because you just wanted to keep her all to yourself. It was never about me being a good enough to be her father, it was all about you. You are a selfish bitch, do you know that?"

"It's fucking unbelievable! When I think of all of the hours that I spent beating myself up because you didn't think I could be a good father. I did everything trying to prove that I was trustworthy to you but I never had a chance, did I? I could have been Robert Young from Father Knows Best or Ward Cleaver from Leave It To Beaver and I still wouldn't have impressed you."

"It was all about you and what you wanted. You never did consider April did you? Man, you are a piece of work. Did you really think you could get away with this? What were you planning; to sell you business and move to California with her? Didn't it ever occur to you that April wouldn't stand for this? My God, she did her own DNA test to find me. Did you really believe she wouldn't call me and tell me where she was?"

"Oh yeah, now I get it. You were trying to trick me into signing that stupid permission slip weren't you. You thought that would be enough to keep me from bringing her back? That slip wouldn't have been worth the paper it was printed on. Trust me it requires a lot more than a single line on one sheet of paper to allow you to move my daughter from Connecticut."

"Here's what's going to happen. I am going to have a talk with April. I wouldn't say anything about your little scheme, not yet at least. There's no reason to upset her. If after our talk she still doesn't want to go to camp, she won't."

"If she does go to camp, she will be returning to Connecticut even if I have to fly out there and pick her up. Is that clear?"

"Whatever little plans you have set in motion, you better hope that you can undo them. April will not be leaving this area until she's ready for college, do you understand? If I have to, I'll move her in with me. I wouldn't have any problem getting residential custody after telling the court about this trick."

Anna is so mad that she can hardly speak, "They will never let her live here in this tiny apartment with you!"

"But this isn't where I live. Didn't I tell you, Lorelai and I have a house? If our house isn't big enough, I'll buy a bigger one. Don't worry, April will have her own room."

"Remember this, if you ever try anything like this again, April and I will have a more detailed discussion about your scheme. I will share with her the whole plot and I can be very convincing. If need be, I'm sure that school in California can corroborate the story, no doubt they keep records of such things."

"As long as you behave and abide by the rules, April need never know what you tried to do."

"Now, you go downstairs and wait while I talk with April."

(tbc)