A/N: Sorry it has taken me so long to update. I have been working like crazy and have had no time to write. Anyway I have thought long and hard about what I'm going to do about Ryan and Audrey. Yeah like I'm really going to tell you in my note.

Thank you to all my readers who love this story. It warms my Yahoo inbox whith the sight of FFReview: Collide. Anyway on with the story.

Previously on Collide:

"Audi, you'd tell me if anything was bothering you right?" Lorelai asked. "You can tell me anything."

"Mom, when did you know for sure that you were pregnant with me and Chip?" Audrey asked quietly.

"I don't really remember, Audrey. Why are you asking?"

"Please don't tell Daddy until I know for sure but I think I'm pregnant, Mom," Audrey whispered.

"Oh my God," Lorelai gasped.

Chapter 53: A Visit From Beyond

"Mom are you all right?" Audrey asked her mother, who was now sittting on the edge of the bed looking very pale.

"Get up," Lorelai said quietly."Come on."

Audrey looked at her mother strangly. Something was amiss. "Where are we going?"

"You're going to tell your father what you just told me," Lorelai said, taking her daughter's hand.

"No Mom. I can't tell him until I know for sure," Audrey argued.

"We don't keep secrets in this house, Audrey. You know that. I'll ignore the fact that you had sex with Ryan without telling me but you have to tell your father. I won't keep something like this from him."

"Mom I can't face him. He's going to be so mad," Audrey said.

Lorelai led Audrey out to the living room and called to Luke. He came downstairs and saw the concerned look on his wife's face. He knew something was up.

"Hey girls. What's going on?" he asked.

"Audrey has something she needs to tell us," Lorelai stated. "I suggest you sit down and take a deep relaxing breath."

"Lorelai, what's going on?"

"Ask your daughter."

Audrey sat down on the couch and faced her father who had now takena seat in his old green chair. She took a deep breath and looked over at her mother who had joined Luke in his chair. Lorelai knew the face that Audrey had on. It was the same one she wore when she told Richard and Emily about Rory. A small tear trickled down her face.

"Audrey? Is everything ok?" Luke asked, his voice full of love and concern.

"No Daddy. Everything is not all right. I have to tell you something."

"What?"

"I think-I think I'm- I think I'm-," she stammered.

"Do not finish that sentence!" Luke exclaimed. "Do not."

"Luke, honey, let her talk," Lorelai said, placing her hand on his arm.

"Daddy, please," Audrey whispered, trying not to cry. "We didn't mean for it to happen. Honestly."

"Audrey no!" Luke yelled. "You are not pregnant!"

"Luke, calm down," Lorelai said softly. "Let her explain."

"There's nothing to explain!"

Luke jumped to his feet and stormed for the front door. It made an eerie echo in the house when it slammed shut. Audrey sat on the couch letting the tears that had been pooling in her eyes drip down. She had disappointed her father, her best friend on the planet. All the dreams that she'd been living were now on hold.

Luke stormed around town. His precious baby girl was pregnant. His Audrey. His baseball playing, dirt rolling, working on the car, pageant queen was 17 and pregnant. His daughter had become her mother's child. He picked up a rock and threw it at the cloeset tree. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to have more. She was going to be the first Danes kid to go to college. She was his everything.

While walking, he formulated a plan. He and Lorelai would raise Audrey's baby until she and Ryan were able to take care of themselves and their child. When they can prove that, they can have their kid back. He thought it a good plan. He calmed down enough and returned home. He came in and saw his daughter and wife sitting together on the couch, talking quietly.

"Ok so here's what we're going to do," Luke said. "Audrey you are going to have this baby. Your mother and I will help you raise the child. You will go to school and when you can provide for yourself and the baby we will grant you full custody."

"Luke, don't you think we should discuss this with James and Natalie?" Lorelai questioned.

"Who?"

"James and Natalie Turner. Ryan's parents?"

"At a later date. I'm going upstairs. I'll see you in the morning."

Lorelai was stunned at his lack of sense for this matter. He was acting like, like her father so many years ago. She remembers the night that Richard, Emily, Straub and Francine sat in the Gilmore living room discussing what was to be done about her and Christopher. She remembers sitting on the stairs with Chris listening to her parents planning their lives. Luke was wanting to do the same thing.

Audrey sat quietly unsure of if she should try to talk to her father. She knew he was upset and she knew that he was still very angry. She knew that this was going to be hard for them to take but she also knew that deep down there was nothing she could do that would truly disappoint her father. Luke loved her too much. Audrey was the only thing he had that was truly all his.

Luke sat up in his and Lorelai's room. He was flipping through an old photo album. It was the one that Lorelai put together when Audrey and Christian were babies. How adorable they were when they were dressed in similar colors. He would have loved to see the two grow up together. He often wondered what would have happened if Chip had lived. Would he have been protective of his little sister? Would he have gone deaf like Dr. Gregory said?

Soon his attention was brought to the familt picture hanging over the dresser. It was taken the night Audrey won the Miss America pageant. Audrey was in the middle with Lorelai and Rory on her right and Luke and a young man about 17 on her left. Now he knew that it wasn't Ryan because when the picture was taken he was over talking to Jess and Marty. When he looked at old pictures of himself Luke knew how the young man was. It was Christian. It had to be. Lorelai even agreed. They never showed the photo to Audrey but if they had she could have told that it was him.

"Hey Pop," a voice said, causing Luke to jump.

A young man stood in the room, wearing a gray t-shirt, blue jeans and a blue baseball cap, on backwards. He had shaggy brown hair and bright blue eyes that could only come from one woman, Lorelai Gilmore.

"Christian?" Luke breathed. "Is it really you?"

"For the love of Pete, my name is Chip. Only Gram and Pa call me Christian," Christian sighed.

"No, you were always my son Christian," Luke said. "Why are you here now?"

"Dad, you need to trust Audrey. She wants so badly to please you and Mama. She's trying to make up for me not being there."

"Why did you have to die?" Luke asked, trying not to cry. He loved seeing his son again. "Couldn't you feel how much we wanted you here with us?"

"Pop it was just my time to go. I loved you and Mama very much. Pop you've got to stop blaming yourself for my death. Mama doesn't blame you. It wasn't your fault. I was going to die even if you hadn't put me on the vent. Pop, if it helps I didn't want to go," Christian explained. "I could feel the love that you and Mama poured into me and into Audi."

"How do you know her nickname is Audi?" Luke asked.

"Gram and Pa have this big picture screen at their place that has you and Mama on it 24 hours a day. I go over and watch all the time. Gram was very upset when you and Mama were seperated both times. She loves Mama so much even though they never met," Christian said. "Pa wanted to come back and haunt you for what you did to Mama."

"What I did?" Luke wondered. "When I hit your mother. That has to to be the lowest point in my life. I'm so sorry that you had to see that."

"Why did you keep my life a secret from Audi?"

"We didn't want her thinking she had to live two lives. Her own and one in memory of you."

"But you guys lied to her for 17 years."

Luke stared at his son. The truth of the choices he and Lorelai had made concerning their children had been difficult but they thought them nescessary. He loved how hehad his mother's eyes and his build. He looked like a baseball player. He hated that he had grown up without him there to see it.

"Pop I know that things with Audrey seem bad right now but you'll see that everything will be fine. Oh yeah here." Christian said, holding out a stack of baseball cards. "Uncle Louie wanted you to have these. He still doesn't understand why you just didn't take them when he died."

Luke looked through the cards in his hands. Louie Mays, Lou Gerhic, Dimaggio, even a Ted Williams. Luke chuckled at the cards in his hands. They were all the cards that he had wanted when his uncle had died. Just as quickly as Christian had appeared he was gone. The only way that Luke knew that he wasn't dreaming was the stack of cards in his hand. He thought about what had happened.

Lorelai came upstairs and saw Luke sitting on the edge of the bed. She came and sat next to him.

"Our baby's pregnant," Lorelai whispered. "It's going to be all right though. You have to keep believing that."

Luke stared at his hands and shuffled through the cards. He smiled suddenly, as if he was remembering something. Lorelai looked over at him strangely. Luke's eyes danced and he began to laugh.

"Luke what is it? You're starting to scare me," Lorelai whispered. "Luke?"

"Do you remember the first time I made homemade cupcakes with you and Audrey?" he asked, chuckling.

"There was more flour on the floor than in the bowl. I think she was about four. It was the last thing we did before I took that job with the Durham group," Lorelai replied. "What made you think of that?"

"I don't know. It just came to mind. This isn't the end of the world right? We can get through this."

"We can. We can do anything."

The next morning Audrey stood outside the Planned Parenthood center. She knew what the take home tests had said. She knew what her body was telling her. She just needed the doctor's seal of approval to make it real. She opened the door and walked into the warm and inviting waiting room. A young girl, just about her age, was sitting at the check in desk. Audrey wished then that she had thought to bring Tarah or Camille with her to this appointment. She should have brought Rory or Annie. Who she needed the most was her mother. Audrey signed her name to the sheet and waited for her name to be called.

After thirty or so minutes she was called back to one of the exam rooms. A friendly nurse name Chaela took her vitals and history. Soon she was lying comfortably on the table waiting for the ultrasound. The doctor came in and introduced herself to Audrey.

"Good morning Miss Danes. My name is Delia Brown. Let's take a look," Dr. Brown said.

Dr. Brown took the ultrasound wand and the squirted the cold jelly onto Audrey's abdomen. Moving the wand around Audrey tensed hoping that Dr. Brown wouldn't find anything.

"Well Miss Danes, I have good news for you. You're not pregnant."

A/N: Sorry it has taken so long to update this story! I was very torn as to which way I wanted this to go. I hope you liked the Chip/Luke interaction. I thought it was necessary for Luke to see his son and get a chance to talk to him, gain closeure. I hope you liked it.

Anyway who else wanted to march to LA and beat the crap out of Luke last week? I wish that he and Lorelai would just tell each other what they are feeling. It's driving me insane. Well I've already lost my mind but who cares?

The pretty purple button is calling you!