THE GILMORE MANSION

Before knocking on the front door of her childhood prison, Lorelai glanced down at her hand, admiring her ring once more before taking it off an slipping it into her pocket. She didn't want to drop that bomb unless Luke was with her. She straightened herself up and pushed the doorbell.

"Yes?" a polite, new maid answered the door.

"Yeah, you're new, I'm used to this… I'm the daughter, I'm sane, you don't have to worry about me. Where's my mother?"

"I believe that Mrs. Gilmore is in the study."

"Okay, thank you."

As she is rounding heading towards the study, she meets her mother coming out.

"Lorelai?"

"Hi, mom, um… I wanted to come say hi."

"In the middle of the day? I thought that you had work, and I thought that Sookie just had another baby?"

"Both of those statements are true, yes, but I took the day off."

"To come have a little chat with me?" she said walking into the living room for them to have a place to sit down.

"Well, no… actually, Mia came into town today, and she was going to be staying for a while at the Dragonfly, so we went out to lunch."

Visibly shrinking at the mention of her name, Emily replied, unimpressed, "Oh, I see."

Noticing this, Lorelai knew she had to proceed with caution if she wanted to get anywhere with Emily Gilmore. "Mom?"

"Yes, what did you come all the way out here to talk to me about?"

"Why didn't you want me to know that you met Mia?"

Again, she flinched. "What are you talking about."

"Well, you came up when we were catching up, and she mentioned that the two of you met when she was in town last."

"Yes, we did." she said in a haughty tone, not wanting to divulge any more information.

"Why? After all those years, why did you meet her?"

"Well, I'm sorry to rain in on your parade Lorelai, but I wanted to meet the woman! I know that you want this life that you have completely separate from us, but I felt that I had the right to meet the woman who saw my granddaughter grow up, and who was apparently playing mother to my daughter all of those years!" She came back angrily, standing up in a rush.

"Mom! I'm not mad at you for meeting Mia! I just wanted to know why you did it, and why you told her not to tell me." she stayed on the couch, not meeting Emily's gaze, but staring at the floor, letting her words come out at nearly a mumble.

Sitting back down, Emily gained her composure. "You ran to her and you never came back…I wanted to know why… who she was that made you want to stay with her instead of with your father and I."

"Mom, I didn't run to her, I ran to anywhere that would take me, and Mia came with the package that took me."

"She seemed awfully fond of you and Rory, and from what little you have said about her, I know that you feel the same about her."

With a look of sympathy at her mother, she was finally beginning to understand what Mia had said. "Mom, I do… it's just different."

"Well, I wanted to see why it was so different. I still don't understand it!" she says calmly, but with her voice raising again at the last declaration.

"I don't think that you ever will then…Mom?"

"What?"

"Can Luke come, at least this week, to dinner?"

Something flashed in her eyes at the mention of Luke as well. It was as if all the people in the life she worked so hard for didn't meet up to the standards of Emily Gilmore, well… except Rory of course.

"Certainly…" she said, visibly straining to say the words.

"All right, well, I'll will see you tomorrow night then?"

"I guess that you will."

Lorelai stood up from the couch, and walked towards the entryway, pausing with her back towards Emily, who still remained on the seat that was opposite of where Lorelai had been.

"I'm sorry… I know that I was hurting, but you were hurting too, and I just want you to know that I'm sorry."

With that admission, she walked out the door, a huge weight lifted off of her shoulder.

Back inside the house, a stunned Emily, remained in her seat, trying to comprehend what her daughter just said. It was true, she was hurting back then, and half of the problems that they face now probably stem from that very hurt. It was never this clear to her though.

LUKES DINER

As Luke came down the stairs, he noticed Lorelai perched on a stool at the counter. Her expression mirrored the glassy eyed gaze that he saw this morning. Coming up next to her, he lightly touched her shoulder.

"You okay?"

Snapping out of her gaze, she turned to him and smiled, grabbing his shirt and pulling him in for a kiss.

"I'll take that as a yes?"

"You can definitely do that."

"You were just with your mother right?" he said with the patented Luke Dane eyebrow raise and shocked expression.

"Yes, I was… oh, and you are coming with me to Friday night dinner tomorrow!"

"What, no… not again… you remember what happened last time we tried that! The nitwit juice, the rustic meaning crap pile…I don't think that I could take that."

"We're going to tell them about our engagement."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Yes. Luke, you and I are so different than anything else that I've had. Sorry, to bring up a past relationship, but with Max, I was engaged for a few months before telling my mother, and she found out because Sookie invited her to our engagement party. That can't happen again… I may not always get along with that woman, but she deserves this."

"If that is what you want, then that is what you get."

"So easily you give in?" She looks down at what she's wearing, and makes a big show of patting her hair down.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just checking to see if I'm in a black dress, a short skirt, or if I've recently flipped my hair… because that happened way to easily."

"Did you ever think that maybe it's because I love you?"

"Nope, never crossed my mind." she said casually, spinning back to the counter on her stool, and taking her coffee cup in hand.

Luke sat beside her, shaking his head. "What am I thinking?"

THE NEXT EVENING AT THE GILMORE MANSION

"Okay, are we ready?"

"Yes, we are."

"But are we sure that we're ready?"

"Yes, Lorelai, we are!"

"Luke, I don't think that we're ready…"

"Oh my God, MOM! You're ready, now ring the bell already!"

Looking between the two of them, she notices an annoyed look on Rory's face, and a laughing smirk on the face of her love.

"Sooo not fair, cause she took your side."

"Lorelai, ring the bell!"

"Ringing" she says as she pushes the button for the doorbell.

"Hello again!"

"Wow, you're still here? She must actually think you're a human being!" Lorelai says, handing the maid her coat and walking into the entryway. This is followed by Luke who tells her thank-you, and Rory, who then turns to the maid, whispering something in her ear.

Noticing this, Luke turns to ask Rory what she said. "I told her that mom was of her meds again"

"Good plan." he says nodding quickly.

Just then, Emily walks into the entryway, gesturing for them to come inside while saying their quick greetings. With the drinks quickly passed out, Emily explains that Richard had to go away quickly on a business trip, and the four then sat uncomfortably in silence.

Lorelai, squeezes Luke's knee cap, signaling that it was time, and begins her speech. "Mom, … um… we kind of have an announcement that we would like to share with you…" seeing no response forthcoming from her mother, she continues unsteadily. "Well, two weeks ago, Luke proposed, and I accepted…" still no reaction. "So… we're getting married…"

Finally, Emily stands up abruptly, and the next words out of her mouth are not what Lorelai could have imagined.

"So, how far along are you?"

"WHAT!"

"When is the baby due?"

"Again, WHAT? I'm not pregnant!"

"Oh, well, I just assumed…"

"You assumed? You assumed that the only way that I would ever consider getting married is if the guy knocked me up! You have got to be –", she couldn't even finish her sentence, and fled from the house, running into the Jeep.

"I think that we're done here." Luke said, in a calm voice, loaded with unspoken anger. He then turns to Rory, with a look of concern. "I'm going to take your mom back home, but you can stay and have dinner with your grandmother, and I'll pay for a cab or come pick you up later…"

"No, I don't want to stay." she says, not allowing her eyes to stray from Luke's.

The two quietly walk out to the Jeep, and getting in, drive the distance back to Stars Hallow, with a tearful Lorelai in the back seat.

"I can't believe that she had the nerve to think that the only reason we were getting married is because I was pregnant. She didn't even say congratulations! It was supposed to be different this time! She was supposed to be happy for me, and be glad that I was finally doing it right."

"It's me…" Luke says, getting a look of disappointment across his features.

"Luke, no. Don't pull this I'm not good enough crap on me again. I choose you, and whether or not Richard and Emily Gilmore are in the picture doesn't matter to me. You, however have to stay in the picture."

"Lorelai…"

"Luke, she's right, they're crazy… well Grandma much more so than Grandpa, but you are most definitely good enough for mom, for me, for all of it."

"That woman really does tend to get on your last nerve doesn't she?"

"Get on it? Hell she grabs it, twists it, stretches it, and then plays jump rope with it."

Grabbing behind him, he grasps onto her hand. "You okay?"

"I will be."

The rest of the car ride is in silence, and the group makes their way back in the house.

"I'm actually kinda tired, so I think I'm going to do a little bit of studying and then head to bed."

"Okay, hon, sleep sweet."

"Night mom" she says, leaning in to give Lorelai a kiss on the cheek, and repeats the same gesture, saying goodnight to Luke.

"Oh… uh… Night Rory."

"Wow… she must really like you…"

"Yeah, well I tend to have that effect on Gilmore women… well some of them at least."

Even a joke to the situation can't stop Lorelai from becoming upset again. He guides them to the living room, sitting down with her in his arms, letting her cry.

Little did the two know that the reason for her tears was standing out on the front porch of the house, looking in on the couple. With an open window, she could hear every uttered word between the pair.

"Hey, it's okay… it will be okay."

"How do you know it'll be okay?"

"Because I know you, and I know us, and it usually works out all right after Emily has done her damage."

Wiping her eyes, she looks up at him. "Luke, I'm so sorry that you get dragged into all of this crap."

"I love you don't I?"

"I don't know, do you?"

"Lorelai, shut up… it comes with the territory, and I knew that coming in. Nothing could make me love you less, and you know that."

"I do… I'm…" with this, she allows her emotion to again take over, crying silently into his chest as he lovingly whispers, "It's okay… I love you… Lorelai, it'll be okay…"

That was all that she needed to see. With a quick wipe to her face to get rid of a tear making its way down her cheek, she turned and left down the porch.

So I agreed that Emily should be nice in this fic, but I thought that we still needed some characteristic Emily insaneness... The good will come in the next chapter... I promise! More Mia to come as well! I hope that you guys are enjoying this, cause I'm having a blast writing it!