Richard sat in his study silently. His arms rested on the arms of his expensive plush leather chair and his legs were crossed. He checked his watch then glanced up at his grandfathers clock which stood proudly by the door. Gradually he heard the clicking footsteps of his wife's high heels getting closer to the door. A polite knock woke him from his trance He cleared his throat and then welcomed her into the room.

"You wanted to see me?" She asked, stepping into the room.

"There is something we need to talk about, please sit" She nodded and sat down in the identical chair opposite.

"What is it Richard?"

"I want to talk about our daughter" Emily's face darkened and she began to stand up. "Sit down Emily, we need to talk about her. Ignoring the problem will not make it go away" Richard spoke more harshly than he intended. Slowly Emily relaxed back into her chair.

"I'm quite busy Richard so please make this quick"

"Our daughter got married without us. I didn't even know she was engaged! Now she's pregnant"

"I know this Richard, I was sitting there too when she told us"

"I'm tired"

"Tired of what?"

"Tired of fighting her, tired of swimming against the current, tired of the emotional ups and downs, the weeks where we don't see her, the weeks where she's counting down the seconds till she can escape. The seconds, Emily!"

"She keeps things from us! She lies and hides things about her life, like we don't mean anything to her!"

"Because we don't let her speak! We make her feel like she cannot come to us, like she can't share with us. I think it's about time we got over our feelings about the life she's chosen because she has chosen it over us!" Richard got up and walked to the window. "I want to know our grandchild, she is never going to want the life we have and we have to accept that. I want to be a part of their lives" Richard spoke quietly. "I'm just afraid that's it's going to be all or nothing for Lorelai and that you won't be able to accept this as I have come to do"

"Richard-" Emily started but he cut her off quickly. He twisted around to face his wife and spoke.

"I think you should take some time to think about what you want Emily. Are you going to forgive, forget and accept? Or are we going to lose our family?" He turned back towards the window and sighed, dropping his head. Emily pursed her lips and stood up rigidly.

"Its roast duck for dinner tonight" Emily spoke politely. She clasped her hands together tightly and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. She passed through the hallway and glided up the stairs. She closed a door that had been left open by the maid and walked further up the long corridor. She stopped in front of a door she had barely entered in twenty years. Inside was a dollhouse barely used and posters of boy bands that were famous when Lorelai was sixteen.

Even Emily knew that Lorelai's bedroom was fabricated entirely by her and not her daughter. Lorelai would never have chosen that colour for the walls, wanted the plaster decoration on the ceiling, and had barely tolerated the gold chandelier that hung in the middle of the room. She noted how tidy the bedroom was and how tidy she had made Lorelai keep it, comparing it in her head to the bedroom she had seen at Lorelai house. The photos of people she had never met, the quilts she didn't know Lorelai could make and the mess on the floor that didn't bother Lorelai in the least. Walking to the dressing table, she picked up a silver framed photo of Lorelai when she was younger. Her hair long and curly, her eyes bright and wild and her smile reached across her face, wider and prouder than Emily had ever remembered seeing it when Lorelai was that age. She didn't know where the photo had come from. All the family portraits taken had Lorelai with a large frown across her face caused by the itchy dress she had been forced to wear or the way Emily had pulled at her hair as she tried to tame it. Emily had never been able to make her daughter smile like in the picture.

She held the frame in one hand and pulled out another photo from her pocket. This one wasn't of Lorelai, this photo was of a tiny creature not even born yet. Through the blues and the blacks of the sonogram she could just make out the small curled up figure fast asleep. Emily could imagine what the child would look like when it was grown. In her head, it looked like a cross between Lorelai and Rory. A young girl with long dark curls and a sweet innocent face. Of course it was a girl, Gilmore's have girls.

All Emily could think of was how she had missed Rory grow up. How Lorelai had taken Rory and had left the house as soon as she could, living in a shack rather than live in warmth and comfort. She knew how much she would regret not knowing this new grandchild of hers but she would regret not learning from her mistakes more.