1Rory was busying looking over a contract when she heard her cell phone start to ring. She reached into the new purse that Logan had purchased her and struggled to find it. Finally she retrieved the noisy device and quickly answered it. "Hello?"

"Uh Ms. Gilmore or Ms. Hayden I'm not really sure which last name you go by but this is Monica, Gigi's nanny. I was calling because I sort of have a dilemma." The young woman whispered into the phone.

Rory was confused. Why in the world would Gigi's nanny be calling her instead of her father? Still whatever was going on seemed to be important because of the way the woman was talking. "Okay. What's your dilemma?"

"Well first I just wanted to let you know that I tried your father on his cell phone a couple of times only to realize that he left it at home. I called his office and his secretary informed me that he was doing business in Providence until four. That's why I called you. I couldn't think of anyone else." Monica paused to take a deep breath. Then she continued. "See the thing is Gigi's mother is sitting in the living room right now."

"What?" Rory asked in disbelief.

Monica was happy she wasn't the only one completely frazzled by this situation. "She showed up here an hour after Mr. Hayden went to work. I was just about to take Gigi out shopping for a dress for the dinner party your grandmothers are throwing this evening. Anyway I answered the front door and there she was with this teddy bear. I didn't know what to do so I let her in. Is it okay that I let her in?"

"I think so considering she is Gigi's mother. So you haven't been able to inform my father yet. Well then let me just finish a few things here at work and then I'll be there in an hour at the most." Rory told the woman. She wasn't sure how to handle this situation. She had never been one for confrontation but she certainly wasn't going to let Sherry go in there and completely frazzle Monica.

Monica let out a breath of relief. She hadn't even realized she had been holding her breath. "Thank you Ms. Gilmore er or Ms. Hayden."

Rory laughed. "It's Rory Monica."

"Okay well thank you Rory I'll see you soon." Monica said and then promptly hung up the phone.

Rory sat there for a minute just letting everything sink in. She picked up her office phone and stared to dial a familiar number and then she suddenly stopped. She didn't need her mother to help her handle this. It was just like she told Jess. She could stand on her own two feet. She finished up her work and then quickly left the office. She told her assistant to reschedule her appointments because a family emergency had come up. She then hopped into her car prepared to speed away when she realized that Logan was sitting in the car next to her. She rolled down her passenger window and gave him an amused look. "What are you doing here?"

"Professor Grigori threw up in the middle of class so we got out early. I wanted to know if you wanted to join me for lunch." Logan explained. "Something tells me though that you aren't up for lunch." He said slowly in response to the weary look on her face.

Rory rolled up her window and cut the ignition. She then got out of her car, locked it and got into Logan's. "I wish the lunch was on my mind right now."

"What happened?" Logan asked uneasily.

"Monica, my father's nanny called. It appears my almost stepmother Sherry is in town and is presently sitting in my father's living room with Gigi."

"And your father?"

Rory grinned as if she actually found the situation amusing. "Is in a meeting in Providence and left his cell phone at home. I'm the only other person she could think of to deal with this. Which means we better go ahead and head over there because I told her I would be there in an hour."

"You are going to be the one to handle this situation?" Logan asked a bit unsure as he backed out and started the fifteen minute drive towards Rory's father's house. Rory usually shied away from the situations that had a good chance of being uncomfortable.

"I know I can't believe it myself." Rory said with a small smile and a shrug. She kissed him softly on the cheek. "That is why it is so good that you are going to be there with me."

Sherry was sitting on the couch fussing with Gigi when she heard the front door open. She turned around and was surprised to see Rory standing there with a tall handsome blonde young man. She wasn't sure what to say. She smiled albeit uneasily.

Rory saw Monica mouth thank you and smiled in return as if she wasn't a stranger to handling situations like this. She noticed that Sherry had smiled at her but she couldn't bring herself to smile back. Instead she sat down on the couch in the exact same spot she had been sitting in the night she came to see her father and reconciled with him. "Hi Sherry. Long time no see."

Sherry didn't miss the coldness of Rory's tone. She was sure she would have felt she same way if she were talking to the woman who had not only ditched her father but had also ditched her baby sister in the process. "Hi Rory and Rory's friend."

"This is my boyfriend Logan Huntzberger. Logan this is Sherry, Gigi's mother."

Sherry's face lit up at Logan's last name. "Huntzberger? As in Mitchum Huntzberger?"

Logan nodded. He wasn't sure whether or not he was supposed to actually talk to Sherry. He had a feeling he was just supposed to sit her and make sure that Rory didn't do anything completely stupid like throw a vase at Sherry's head perhaps. He felt Rory tense up so he reassuringly squeezed her hand to let her know that he would be here for her.

"So was the job in Paris worth it?" Rory asked before she could even stop the words from leaving her mouth.

Sherry felt like she had just been slapped across the face as soon as Rory's words hit her ears. She never in a million years would have thought Rory could be so bitchy. Then again she had never considered this situation before. "It was a good job but I did miss Gigi and your father."

Rory raised her eyebrows at the last part. "Yeah well my father could have used the help."

"He had you and Lorelai. He didn't need me."

"Yeah but Gigi needed her mother to be there when she woke up in the middle of the night from a bad dream. Gigi needed her mother to be there when she said her first word or when she took her first step." Rory countered. "I guess that didn't matter much to you though. I guess your needs were more important."

Sherry opened her mouth to try and deflect Rory's harsh words but nothing came out. She couldn't find what it took to make a case against what Rory was accusing her of. "This is a discussion I feel I should have with your father."

Rory nodded. She didn't like the way Sherry was holding Gigi. She stood up and took the young girl from Sherry. "Well while you think about what you are going to say to him when he asks you the same question and accuses you of the same things Logan and I are going to take Gigi out dress shopping. We are all attending a dinner party tonight."

"That isn't fair Rory. I never get to see Gigi. I don't think you have the power to just take her from me."

Logan was the one to say something this time. He had listened to the way Sherry had tried to make herself seem like less of a bad mother. The truth was the woman was a bad mother. She had chosen a career over her only daughter. She had left the man she supposedly loved and the daughter she supposedly missed to be in Paris handling negotiations for some cosmetic company. "I think it's more than fair. You walked out on Gigi. Now Gigi is going to walk out on you with a little help from Rory."

"You also are a little flaky when it comes to watching over Gigi. What if a job opportunity comes up while your spending time with her. You could just leave her here all by herself and be on the first flight out of her towards a new life."Rory added in a snarky tone. Rory had never been this mean to anyone in her entire life. There were moments when she could have been but she wasn't. Surprisingly enough she didn't regret what she was saying. Instead she felt her anger was completely justified. Women didn't just leave their children because they wanted to advance their career.

Sherry knew there was no point in fighting with them. She watched as they gathered up a few things and then headed out the door towards Logan's car. She felt a pang of guilt as she watched Logan put the car seat in the back. She was supposed to do things like that. A Yale playboy was being more responsible when it came to her daughter than she had ever been. She watched as they pulled out of the drive and headed towards downtown Hartford. She sighed and sat back down on the couch. She waited silently for Christopher to come home from work. She looked up to see the nanny staring at her. "What?"

Monica flinched slightly. "They're only trying to do what is best for Gigi. They really love that little girl. They spend a lot of time with her. Rory even takes Gigi for the night when Mr. Hayden has to go out of town."

Sherry nodded and then pulled some paperwork out of her bag. She figured it wouldn't hurt to finish some work while she waited for Christopher to tear her a new one.

"You really chewed her out Rory. I don't think I have ever seen you so Paris like." Logan joked.

Rory laughed. "I'll never be as tough as Paris. Still I think I could one day be comparable to a Mr. T." Even though she knew it was the right thing to do. She couldn't help but feel guilty for taking Gigi like that. She knew Sherry really missed her daughter. Still she couldn't get over the fact that Sherry had left Gigi like that. She knew Sherry had been a careerwoman but as some point your child has to be more important than your life before your child.

Logan sensing Rory was feeling unsure about her actions gently took her hand and placed a small kiss on it. "You did the right thing Ace. Your mother would be proud of you."

Rory nodded. It amazed her how he always knew what she was thinking about. It was like he was clairvoyant or something. She looked at her baby sister who was no longer really a baby and was now more like a toddler. Still she would always be a baby in Rory's eyes. She could sworn that Gigi had winked at her while she was staring at her. She smiled and turned back around. "I think she's got the Gilmore spunk."

Christopher rushed into his home at a quarter to six. He was rushing not only because he was afraid of being late for the dinner party tonight but also because Monica had called this morning to talk to him. Monica never called him at the office. He stopped rushing though when he walked into the living room and saw that Sherry was sitting there looking timid. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in town for a business conference and I decided to come visit you and Gigi." She explained rather quietly. She had yet to recover from the brutal tongue lashing she had received from Rory.

"Did you think that maybe you should call before stopping by. If you did then you would have known that Gigi and I can't visit with you tonight." Christopher replied in a calm but cool tone.

Sherry nodded. "I know I just wasn't thinking. I thought maybe we could discuss Gigi."

"Like I said we can't because we have plans tonight. We are eating dinner at the Gilmore's in exactly one hour. I still have to go upstairs and get dressed and then get Gigi dressed and ready to go."

"Gigi's already there with Rory and Logan. They came by earlier when they found out I was here. Rory has really gotten good at tearing someone a new one." She tried to lighten the mood.

Christopher sighed. He was too tired to deal with this. "I'm not going to do this tonight Sherry. Maybe tomorrow we can meet for lunch or something but I can't do this tonight."

"I leave in the morning." Sherry said softly.

Christopher let out a bitter laugh. "Yeah well maybe for once you can think of Gigi before that damn career of yours. If you really want to visit with her then you should be willing to take time out of your life. You call once a month. Twice if you forget that you've already called this month. You talk about visiting but never do actually come to visit. So if you'll excuse me I'm going to pull a Sherry and let my life come before you. I'm going to upstairs and get ready and then I'm going to go have dinner with my family. You can call me tomorrow morning if you want to actually meet for lunch."

"So that's it. We aren't going to talk at all tonight. You're just going to go upstairs and get ready for some party?" Sherry asked in a hostile tone. She didn't like being given the brush off. "The Gilmore's huh? Are you meeting Lorelai? Is that why you are in such a rush to get ready?"

Christopher tensed up at the way she said Lorelai's name. She said it as if it was poisonous. "No I'm not. But if I were it would be none of your business. I suggest you leave before you shove your foot in your mouth even further than it already is. I figure walking away with it just above your diaphragm is much better than having it on the verge of coming out of your ass."Christopher turned around and made his way upstairs. He couldn't help but smile to himself at his last remark. It had definitely been a funny one. When he reached his room he did something he didn't think he should do. He picked up the phone and punched in ten familiar numbers. He waited four rings and then smiled at the feminine voice on the other end of the line. "Hey Lore."

"Hi Chris. What can I do for you?" She asked knowing that he needed her because he wouldn't have risked calling otherwise.

Christopher smiled at her uncanny knack for knowing his current mood just by the sound of his voice. "I was wondering if maybe later you could come over and share that bottle with me. Sherry stopped by today. I sort of need a pick me up."

Lorelai couldn't stop the small gasp from leaving her lips when she heard him say that Sherry was back in town. She knew it was the first time since the blonde had left for France while Christopher had been away on business. "I can definitely do that for you. What time?"

"Well I uh have a dinner at your parent's place in like forty five minutes with Rory, Logan, Gigi, and my mother. I should be done with that by nine. So how about a quarter to ten or so. Is that okay? Would Luke notice you had left?"

"I doubt it." Lorelai muttered quietly. "Yeah a quarter to ten is fine. I'll see you then. Give Rory a hug for me just don't tell her it's from me."

Christopher smiled. Lorelai was crazy sometimes. He pretended not to hear when she mumbled I doubt it. He figured they would discuss that later tonight. "Thank you Lorelai. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Well that's easy. You would drink alone. You'd become a regular Ernest Hemingway except you wouldn't as good with words." Lorelai joked. "Have fun tonight in the fifth dimension."

Christopher hung up the phone wondering if it was bad that he had called upon Lorelai to be his shoulder to lean on. He sighed. There was no use worrying about it now. If he didn't get ready soon he would be late. Even at thirty eight years of age his mother still ripped him a new one with her deadly glare whenever he was late. It was one of those things he could always count on and always share with Lorelai who had been on the receiving end of a few those herself. He made a mental note to thank Rory for coming to help him with this situation. He didn't know what he would do without his Gilmore Girls.

Okay so I know I just updated last night but I had to get this one out. I promised drama and you got drama. I think it was shocking drama too. Plus I added some Christopher and hinted at a little Balcony Buddy action next chapter. Thank you for the reviews. I loved them. I couldn't stop smiling because of them all day today. I'd really like my day to go like that tomorrow so how about some more for this chapter. THANKS FOR READING!