Author's notes:

Here's chapter 7. I know I'll get flames for Emily's behavior but let's not forget she tends to lay a lot blame on Lorelai when it is not deserved. I really don't think she's acting out of character.

I'm going out of town for two weeks so don't expect any updates for awhile. But the good news is I've finished working out the story in my head and I think you will like the ending I have planned. All I have to do now is get it written.

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"You could have helped her by insisting she have an abortion. It's not too late. Then everything can go back to normal." Lorelai immediately regretted spilling to her mother just how worried she was about Rory. "That's what you should have done in the first place, and then none of this would have happened."

Lorelai took a deep breath and counted to ten. Twice. "Mom, I am going to proceed on the assumption that you did not just blame me for what happened to Rory. And I'm going to tell you once again that I will not tell my daughter what to do when the decision is this big. Neither you nor I nor Dad can make this kind of choice for her. The stakes are too big."

"Explain just what stakes there are here. Rory has an abortion, she's no longer depressed over her pregnancy and her life can go back to the way it was before any of this mess happened."

"No Mom, her life won't go back to the way it was. It's changed. It's going to stay changed. She always have carried that baby, always felt it move and listened to it's heartbeat at the doctor's office. There is no way to make it go away forever. She has made the choice to go through with the pregnancy and the last thing I'm going to do is make her doubt herself. And if you or Dad put pressure on Rory to change her mind, I swear I will never, ever speak to or see you again." The steely resolve in Lorelai's voice told Emily she wasn't kidding. So she tried a different tact.

"She's only keeping it because you kept her. Don't you see? She thinks that becoming a teen mother is the only thing she can do, because she was raised by one. You heard that speech at graduation. She worships the ground you walk one and now she'll follow you down the same path. Single parenthood, raising a baby on her own and a lot of wasted potential. This is the influence you've had on your daughter Lorelai."

She would not start screaming. She would not start screaming. She would not start screaming. "I am closing this conversation before I say something I regret. As always, it was pleasant talking to you Mother." Lorelai hung up the phone and willed herself not to cry. She lasted all of 30 seconds before the tears started falling.

___________________ 1988 __________________________

"Mommy?"

"Yes sweetie?" Rory looked very serious as she settled herself on the couch. Lorelai forced herself not to laugh

"How come Lane has a daddy and I don't? Why doesn't my daddy live with us?"

Oh God. Lorelai had been dreading this question since the day Rory had been born. She was only four now, and Lorelai hadn't really been expecting that question to surface for a few more years. But Rory had always been ahead of the curve. She was already reading. "That's a good question baby. Why are you asking?" Stall. Buy some time. Concentrate on not flipping out.

"Cause Lane said Daddies are supposed to live at home, not in Calfornia." She could read but pronunciation was still in the works for hard words.

"Cal-i-for-nia" Lorelai corrected automatically. "Daddy lives in California, not Calfornia."

"Why?" came the insistent little voice.

"Because he's happy there. That's just the way it worked out. We live here at the Inn and Daddy lives in California." Lorelai forced her voice to stay light and not let the bitterness creep in. "Does it bother you that Daddy doesn't live with us?"

"No. There's no room for him." She waved one pudgy hand around to illustrate her point. All Rory remembered was little shed were she had lived for the last three years and in her head it was the perfect place for her, her mother and no one else. "He won't fit."

Lorelai looked around. Rory was right. There was no space for another person in this shed. In fact, there was barely room for the current occupants. "No, I guess he wouldn't."

"It's okay. I like you better." Rory crawled into her mother's lap. "I don't need Daddy."

______________________ 2003 ____________________

The tears fell for more than an hour.

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"This can't go on." Lorelai pulled the book out of Rory's hands and forced the teenager to look at her.

"Give it back." Rory reached for the book but in her condition couldn't move as fast as her mother. "What the hell?"

"Rory something is really wrong with you. I'm worried." She set the book on the mantel and sat down beside her daughter. "Day by day you're slipping away from the world. You're losing weight when you should be gaining it. You won't leave the house unless it's to go to the doctor. You aren't communicating with anyone. I don't know how to help you. I don't know what to say to reassure you or comfort you and I'm scared that I'm going to lose you. That you'll turn suicidal over this." Lorelai was brutally honest. She was fairly certain that nothing less would get Rory's attention.

"Mom I'm fine, okay? Just chill out. I'm not Mary Sunshine for reason you know." Rory pulled away with the intention of closeting herself in her room. "I was raped. I'm pregnant. I couldn't start school on time. I'm getting fatter by the day and people stare when I go out. I'm so sorry I couldn't continue to be your perfect kid but things happen." She turned around to leave.

Lorelai pulled her back. "No. You are not walking away from this. I know you have been through hell. I'm not expecting you to behave as you always have. And I damn well don't expect you to the perfect kid. You are human. I know this. But your behavior is going too far. This isn't normal Rory. You can't pretend the world doesn't exist. That that baby doesn't exist. I've tried that. I have tried shutting out the world. It doesn't work. You have to face up to what was done to you and you have to start trying to move past it. At the very least you have to start making plans for the baby." She was yelling now, which had never been her intention. "I hate this. I wish more than anything you could have the perfect life, the one you deserve, the one you can still have if you try. You are my daughter and I couldn't protect you and you got hurt and I hate that. I can't do anything to change what happened no matter how much you or I want me to. But I can do something now. I don't know how to help you Rory. I don't know what to do or say or even how to act. I want you see a therapist."

"What!? You think I'm crazy? Poor little Rory, she's knocked up so she must be out of her mind! No way!" Once again she tried to jerk free from her mother's grip but Lorelai was strong.

"Rory, please! I'm begging you. I don't think you're crazy. I think you have so much locked up inside you that it's making you depressed. I just want to you see someone who might be able to help you. That's all. Please!" Lorelai could feel tears streaming down her cheeks as pleaded with Rory. When has she started crying?