Lorelai POV

"You're going back to school next week," I said, trying to sound excited. We had just come back from another follow-up, and the surgeon had cleared her for most school activities, but to ease her back in, starting with a week of mornings only.

Rory was happy about it, but I wasn't. I wasn't ready, and by the seems of it, neither was Luke. He had been quiet all the way home from the hospital and was silently cooking dinner in the kitchen. While Luke isn't particularly chatty anyway, he normally had a conversation with us while in the car, usually to distract Rory since driving still makes her slightly nauseous.

He was silently doing what both me and Rory tended to do out loud. We run through all bad scenarios out loud, driving him insane since he knew it helped nobody. However, he was clearly doing that, just in his head. And so was I.

She could fall and we wouldn't be there to catch her. She could have a tremor and be unable to complete her work. She could get nauseous and throw up in front of the whole class. She could be forced to remove her hat, revealing the scar. The other kids could make fun of her scar since there's almost no way to fully hide it with her hair. She could over-exert herself and cause all of these problems listed above.

"I can hear you thinking from over here," He wrapped his arms around my middle as he murmured that, and I leaned my head back and against his shoulder.

"I could say that about you, too," I kept my voice quiet, not wanting Rory to hear.

He pressed a gentle kiss to my neck, "I don't think I'm ready for her to go back to school..."

"Neither am I," I admitted, turning around to face him, "But a big part of being a parent is doing what is best for your child, no matter how you feel about it, even if it kills you inside."

He sighed, "I admire you; you know? I have no idea how you've done this for 10 years, completely alone. I don't think I could do it without you."

I chuckled, "It takes a village; I was never completely alone and I couldn't have done it without Mia, or Sookie, or you."

I pressed my lips to his, wrapping my arms around his neck. When I pulled back, I started talking again, "We are going to put our personal feelings aside and do what's best for Rory, and we'll do it because of how much we love Rory. I'm terrified, but this will be good for her. I know it."

"Dad, how long will dinner be?" Rory called from her bedroom, and he grinned the way he does when she calls him 'Dad'.

"Twenty minutes," He called back, and a realisation hit me.

"Crap," I swore, stepping out of his arms, "We need to have dinner with my parents before Rory goes back to school. Why did I suggest monthly dinners once Rory was better?"

"You were emotional," He said with a laugh, "Call them while I check on the food."

"I can't believe I suggested this," I muttered under my breath, getting out of the car. Luke rolled his eyes, having spent two days listening to me say the same thing over and over, and helped Rory out of the car, ignoring the fact that she didn't really need the help anymore.

"Please can I wear the hat," Rory pleaded with Luke. She had spent the last few hours pleading with me and had now moved onto Luke. She knew it was in my bag, just in case things got particularly bad or we decided to stop on the way home, but she wouldn't be able to wear it at dinner, and I knew she couldn't hide behind it forever.

"Sorry kid, but if I can't wear one, neither can you," He said softly, crouching down to her level, "The scar isn't as bad as you think and they've seen it before. It's not like school."

I could see that she wanted to argue further, but knew she wasn't winning this fight. She sighed and shoved her hands into her coat pockets, walking towards the door. We joined her, knowing that we'd be late if we idled any more, and I pressed the doorbell, ignoring my shaking hands.

My mother immediately opened the door, having been waiting behind it. I barely got a word out when she wrapped her arms around Rory in a way she had never done before. I don't even remember her doing that with me at any point, and my heart broke a little further.

"I apologise, Rory, I just... We came so close to losing you and I needed to do that."

Her cheeks had turned a bright red and she straightened herself out, "Rory and Luke, go on through there, Richard is waiting for you but I need a quick word with Lorelai."

They went through and I could hear Luke and my father talking about god-knows-what, and my mother grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the dining room, out of earshot to everyone else.

"How dare you not tell us that it was Christopher who did that to her," She was angry, and her voice was dangerously low, a tone I hadn't heard since I had informed her that I was pregnant, "He is never allowed anywhere near her again, do you understand?"

Her second sentence took me back, "Do you think I'm stupid? We're pressing charges, Mom. We're fighting to have his parental rights removed, for him to go to prison and for Rory's medical expenses to be paid."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She looked rather hurt, so I explained.

"It's Rory's story to tell. I didn't feel right informing you about this without her permission. If we had needed money for a lawyer, we would have come to you, but right now, it's pretty clear cut and we have everyone on our side. Please don't tell her that you know; she's so ashamed of what happened and just isn't ready to tell the world. Other than the necessary professionals, and me and Luke, she hasn't told anyone."

Mom thought for a moment, "Is she able to testify if he doesn't plead guilty?"

"We don't know yet," I admitted, "She has to be evaluated by a physiatrist to see if she's mature enough and well enough to go up on the stand."

"Okay," She said and, as I was about to ask how she found out, "We better rejoin the others."

We walked into the dining room and Dad passed me a glass of wine. Luke looked at me curiously, trying to figure out what just happened, but I slightly shook my head.

"So Rory, you're going back to school on Monday?" Mom asked, acting like our conversation never happened, thank god.

"Only for the first two lessons. I have to do that for a week, and then it's a week of staying until lunch, and then I can go back full time. Well, that's if everything goes well," She explained, wrinkling her nose a little at the end.

She furrowed her brow, "What do you mean?"

"Mom and Luke have to watch me closely for new symptoms to make sure I don't overdo it. If I get a fever or start passing out, I have to stop going or cut back on the hours."

"Or you'll have to stop reading halfway into the night," I pointed out, knowing she had 6 weeks of class reading to catch up on; luckily, she didn't currently know what books she was supposed to be reading.

"Or you'll have to stop stressing out about the fact you're 'behind'," Luke said, raising his eyebrows at her. She had stressed herself out about 3 weeks ago because Lane had told her she missed a standard test, and it had caused a slight set back in her progress.

Dad looked confused, "You're ten, it's not like you can really get behind. Especially a smart kid like you."

Luke laughed, "That's what I thought, and she's been doing a bit of makeup work at home, anyway. Mostly reading comprehension and basic maths to keep her up to date."

"But I'll have to go to summer school this year, and I'm pretty sure Harvard won't accept students who need that kind of help!" Rory insisted for probably the fiftieth time since her operation.

"You had brain surgery. You aren't in summer school because you were lazy or stupid, but because you had brain surgery. I'm fairly certain Harvard can forgive a 10-year-old for having brain surgery and needing time off to recover. And if not, they're a bunch of idiots, which is really saying something given that they're supposed to be highly intelligent."

I looked down into my glass as I fought the urge to smile. Luke has had this conversation with her almost daily for three weeks and while it didn't seem to be sinking in, it mattered that he was still saying the same thing.

"That was very well put, Luke," Mom said, and when I looked up at her, her eyes seemed softer. Kinder.

Maybe this entire experience has put things into perspective for her as well.

AN: Another chapter that I really enjoyed writing, and I hope that you enjoyed reading it. Let me know what you thought.