~*~*~ Four Months Later = June 2002 ~*~*~

Lorelai and Rory were driving to Hartford for a weekly Friday night dinner. Rory was all smiles and happy since school was over.

"So how many ideas for the wedding do you think Grandma will have this week?" Rory teased

"You better hope it's less than last time cause I'll get really drunk if I have to listen to her drone on and on about how disappointed her D.A.R. friends are that they can't come and that we should consider a second reception in Hartford."

"Is that such a bad idea?" Rory braced for Lorelai's response.

"What?!"

"Just think about it. You get the Stars Hollow wedding exactly the way you want. Then, without having to subject your friends to the Hartford world, you can make Grandma happy. Plus think of the gifts you would get from her group. Remember my sixteenth birthday? I could almost afford a car with what they gave me in their envelopes."

"Why are you pushing this? You know Luke would hate it. I thought you liked Luke."

Rory sighed, "You know I love Luke. I love you. I also happen to love Grandma. I especially love when things are good between everyone I love. You're their only child. And they are being supportive when we all just assumed they would hate Luke. Just think about it."

Rory's speech ended just as they pulled up to the door. Lorelai nodded, they headed to the door and began their evening.

It was a typical Friday night with drinks in the living room, kudos to Rory on another successful year completed at Chilton and then they made their way to the dining room table.

"So Lorelai, how are the wedding plans coming along?" Emily asked.

"Really well. I wanted to confirm that you guys want a room at the Inn for that night so you don't have to worry about driving home?"

"Yes, that would be lovely," Emily smiled and wiped her mouth. She was just about to say something else when the doorbell rang.

The maid went to get the door and was heard saying, "Wait right here." She then entered the dining room, "Sorry to disrupt dinner, Ma'am, Sir. But you have a visitor. A Mister Christopher Hayden."

Rory's face dropped and her porcelain skin went even whiter than usual. Lorelai looked shocked and quickly noticed that both of her parents did as well. Her first instinct was that Emily had called him, but her mother was not that good of an actress.

"What could he be doing here?" Richard asked.

"I have no idea," the sincerity in Emily's voice was evident, calming Lorelai's fears.

Richard stood up and went to the front door.

The women sat quietly at the table all straining to hear the conversation.

"What can I do for you Christopher?" Richard asked.

"I need to see Rory and Lorelai. I know they're here for dinner and figured you wouldn't throw me out," Chris explained.

"That's an odd assumption," Richard responded curtly.

"Please, things have transpired and I want to make amends. I want Rory in my life. I miss my friendship with Lorelai. I love them."

"What things have transpired?" Richard asked.

"I got married. I know Lorelai is engaged. We don't have to worry about that aspect of our relationship. I just want to make things right with Rory."

"You got married?" Rory's voice startled them.

Chris spun to face Rory who was standing right outside the dining room, "Rory! Hi, Kid. We need to talk, do you want to go upstairs or maybe outside?"

Suddenly both Lorelai and Emily were by Rory's side. Each one on either side standing as pillars of support.

"Since you've chosen to disrupt our dinner, I suggest we don't go further than the living room. Certainly you don't want to give Rory the task of retelling your story to the rest of us."

As usual Chris crumbled under the strength of another. He hung his head as he followed the Gilmore women to the living room with Richard behind him.

"Would anyone like a drink?" Richard asked.

Lorelai, Rory and Emily were sitting on a sofa with Chris directly across from them on the other couch. They all refused Richard's offer, so he downed some scotch and sat in his usual chair.

"So?" Rory prompted.

Chris was wringing his hands, "Right. Well you guys haven't been returning my call. And I get it, I apologized a million times in my messages, but I apologize again. I know now that trying to say 'I'm sorry' with a car was not the best move. I mean, I still say that you having your own car instead of being on the bus -" He saw Lorelai's face harden and changed tacit, "Sorry. I'm just sorry for it all, that I missed your debutante ball and how badly I handled my attempted apology."

Emily rolled her eyes, "How does this explain your marriage?"

"I was just explaining why Rory didn't meet Sherry before the wedding."

"Sherry?" Emily asked.

"Yes," Christopher smiled. "My wife's name is Sherry. We met shortly after I took a job in Boston. She's a junior vice president for a cosmetics company. She's stunning and brilliant."

"So what is she doing with you?" Emily snided.

Richard stifled a laugh.

Lorelai didn't bother to hide her smile.

Rory looked shocked, still not used to Emily's ability to be so nasty.

"Sherry and I dated for a few months and we just hit it off so well that we knew that marriage was inevitable so we chose to elope and start our lives together right away. Since you weren't speaking to me there was no need on my end for a big wedding and Sherry doesn't have a big family. We thought spending the money on a big party didn't make sense, when we could use that money on a house."

"When is the baby due?" Lorelai asked.

Everyone looked at her with shock so they all missed Christopher's face instantly turn red.

"Mom!" Rory snapped.

"If I'm wrong, not only will I apologize to Chris now, and I'll write a note for him to take to Sherry."

All attention was focused back to Chris. He was rubbing his forehead and then the back of his neck. "She's three months along."

Lorelai nodded and got up to get a drink from the cart, "Can I get anyone else something?"

"I'll have another scotch," Richard sighed.

Rory was silent, her chest began to rise and fall as if she was about to burst into tears. Emily placed her hand on Rory's back to give her strength. "So you're planning on raising this child?" Rory asked.

"Yes."

"Good," Rory nodded. "A kid should have a Dad. Someone who's there for them, someone who they can depend on, to scare monsters away and help them fix their bike."

Chris smiled self consciously.

"The way that Luke has been there for me," Rory added with a bite in her voice.

"Ror-"

"No, it's okay. Living with Luke these past few months, having someone around all the time, when Mom's at work, making us dinner or breakfast, asking about my day, giving me advice, it's been amazing. I love Mom, but having a different perspective, someone who isn't so much like me, it's been nice. And then there is the fact that he makes Mom so happy. I'm sure once I meet Sherry and see how happy you are together I'll feel the same way for you."

Chris laughed nervously, "I'd really like you to meet her. Maybe you could spend a weekend with us in Boston."

"Maybe you would like to bring Sherry to meet your daughter and make sure they get along before asking Rory to commit to a weekend?" Lorelai offered.

"They'll get along," Chris said.

"How do you know?" Lorelai retorted. "Or do you mean they have to get along because Sherry is already your wife?"

"Lor, could you not make this harder?"

"You think I should make this easy?" Everyone in the room, except Christopher, recognized the tone in Lorelai's voice to know she was about to snap. "Because I didn't want to get married, you used that as an excuse to never be around. You saw the house she lives in for the first time last year and we've been there almost seven years. I supported whatever relationship you could muster because I didn't think you were capable of more and now suddenly you are married and ready to take on being a full time Dad?"

"I was sixteen! I didn't know how to be a Dad. You saw the stellar example I had with my own father!"

"You haven't been sixteen her whole life!"

"Stop. Just stop!" Rory finally blurted out.

"Perhaps it's time for you to go Christopher," Richard said. "Give everyone a chance to digest all of this information and decide how we want to move forward."

"With all due respect Richard, I don't care about how anyone feels about this except Rory. Please, can we talk privately?"

Before anyone else could say anything Rory stood up and nodded, "I'll walk you to your car."

"That guy is a real character! And Rory you're a saint," Luke sighed as he took a sip of his beer.

Lorelai was on the couch beside him, her head resting on his shoulder. Rory was pacing in front of the TV. She had just finished the first half of the story.

"So what did he say when you went outside?" Luke asked.

Rory softened, "He apologized again. He sounded really sincere and explained that he really thought the car was a good idea. He said that finding you with me just hurt him because it was a clear slap in the face of how he failed us. He had convinced himself that it was meant to be that Mom and I were alone and all the other needed. But seeing how you just fit so well into our lives, seeing how happy we are with a guy around, it made him wonder if he could have fit in our lives if he tried more."

"Poor Chris," Lorelai sighed.

"Really?" Luke scoffed. "You two always had your door open for him to come around. You were always welcoming when he came to visit. It was clear to everyone that if this guy wanted to stay, he could have. But now that you are happy without him he suddenly wants to be around? Now that he's married to someone else and is having another kid, he suddenly finds you two appealing?"

Rory flopped onto an armchair and sighed, "I agreed to go to Boston for the July fourth weekend."

"What!" Lorelai quickly sat up.

"Okay, calm down," Rory started. "Look, the fourth is on a Thursday, I'll go in that day and I'll come home Sunday. It will barely be four days. I need to meet this woman, I mean she's carrying my half sibling. I should get to know her, right?"
"Yeah, I guess." Lorelai sank back beside Luke.