Chapter 14: The Aftermath
"Do you have any idea how worried I was about you? Do you know what could have happened to you? Do you…"
"Dad, I know. I know. You've been repeating yourself for the last hour now."
"Your mother and I were worried sick."
"My mother was here?"
"And Max. I called them after I found your note. I thought they should know."
Heather nodded. "I need to talk to her—to Lorelai."
"Tonight? Now?"
Heather nodded.
"Her cell number is on the counter."
Luke started walking away.
"Dad, I'll need you there too."
Luke nodded.
"Lorelai? It's me, Heather. Listen I'm sorry to call you so late but I need to talk to you. In person. Tonight. Thank you…."
"She's on her way."
Luke nodded.
An hour later….
Lorelai hurried through the door of Luke's diner. She ran over to Heather and gave her a big hug. "Thank god you're all right. Your father and I and Max were so worried. And your poor grandfather…"
"I'm fine Lorelai."
"So did you meet him?"
"Yes and no."
"Heather, did something go wrong? Is that why you called your mother tonight?" Luke said.
Heather nodded. "Logan and I tracked him down to an office downtown at one of the newspapers that Logan's father owns. We went into his office and Logan pretended that he was checking up on the newspaper on behalf of his father. I pretended to be his assistant. And then Logan noticed a picture of little girl on his desk. He said it was his only daughter Gigi. Lorelai, he acted as if I didn't even exist. He doesn't want me."
Heather started crying and Luke and Lorelai both took her into their arms.
"Honey, look at me. You have a wonderful father who loves you very much. Biology doesn't matter."
Heather nodded looking at her father.
"Heather, Lorelai's right. I'm your father. I will always be here for you. If you want to pursue a relationship with your biological father, I'll stand you by you but I will always love you as my daughter. Always no matter what."
Finally, Heather calmed down and went upstairs to read for a while.
Luke turned to Lorelai, "So tell me about this jerk."
"Christopher and I were high school sweethearts. After I got pregnant, he sort of dropped out of the picture. At first, he denied that the child was even his. Eventually, he proposed to me. I think his parents forced him into it. After I turned him down, his parents sent him away to a boarding school in Europe. I tried to get in touch with him after Rory was…. When I finally did, he acted as if it didn't matter. How could he do this? Luke, he's probably lying to his wife and kid. They don't even know that Ror…Heather exists."
Luke nodded. "No doubt in my mind. So now what?"
Lorelai sighed. "I think I should contact Christopher myself. I think he needs to know the truth. Not that Heather will ever trust him after today but…."
"She needs closure."
Lorelai nodded. "I'll talk to Max. Maybe we can head to Boston this weekend. I'll be in touch."
With that, Lorelai got up and left.
Luke sighed. He wished that he could spare Heather of any pain but yet he knew that was impossible.