"Mama, why?!" Cheyenne cried as her mother closed her suitcase and latched it. "Why?!"

"Cheyenne, don't make this no harder than it has to be." Janeeva replied as she refused to look her daughter in the eye.

"Is it because of the cat?" Cheyenne asked, her voice breaking. "Mama, I'll never ask for another one again! Never! I'm sorry. Please, don't send me away! Please!"

"Cheyenne, listen to me…." Janeeva leaned down closer to the girl. "You're gonna go to a better family, ya hear? You're gonna live with good people who can buy you nice clothes and let you have all the cats you want."

"But Mama…" Cheyenne sniffled. "I wanna stay here. I wanna stay with you."

Janeeva sighed. "Well, ya can't."

"You're sending me away, just like you did the rest of 'em." Cheyenne bitterly replied. "Why didn't you just do it when I was a baby! Why'd you have to wait till I was older?"

"I was dumb and foolish, Cheyenne. Now gather up the rest of your things. They'll be here for you any minute." Janeeva walked out of the tiny bed room, leaving Cheyenne still stunned and drenched in tears.

(Stars Hollow)

Lorelai took a deep breath and opened the door to Luke's diner. She walked up to the counter and sat down. Luke immediately spotted her and came walking over, his usual somber smile on his face.

"I just made a fresh pot of coffee." He began, "I'll get you a cup."

"Thanks." Lorelai replied. She briefly thought back to a few weeks before when they had kissed at Rory's bon voyage party. Luke hadn't expressed any romantic interest or feelings since then, he'd just went back to being same old Luke. It was a good feeling. They were on good terms. But Lorelai couldn't see if there was a romantic future ahead for them or not. The kiss was great. Wonderful to be exact. But there had to be more than just a kiss. Didn't there?

"So, how are things going?" Luke asked as he sat down a cup of steaming hot coffee in front of her. "Getting used to the idea of Rory being in Iowa?"

"Oh, I don't know if I'll ever get used to it." Lorelai smiled. "But it's okay. We talk nearly every evening… She's really happy, so I'm really happy for her." Lorelai took a sip of her coffee.

"Right." Luke smiled again. "Well, that's good…. Good…" He paused. "She's really missed around here… by everyone."

"Yeah. I know." Lorelai cleared her throat. "It was hard to watch her leave but… she's got to live her own life. She's an adult."

"Yeah…" Luke quickly added. "Yeah, she's not a kid anymore."

Lorelai debated in her mind whether or not she wanted to open up to Luke about her plans for adoption. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep it a secret for long, especially once other people in town started to find out.

"You get used to being a mom, ya know." Lorelai continued. "Even after they graduate high school… after they graduate college… you're still in mom mode."

"I don't think being a mom is something anyone ever stops being." Luke answered as he took the conversation in a more serious tone. "You're a great mom, Lorelai. Best of the best."

"Well that's what my Mother's Day t-shirt says." Lorelai joked. "I just don't think I'm ready to throw in the towel…"

"Throw in the towel?" Luke asked leaning across the counter.

"Yeah, with being a mom…. I mean, not just being a "mom" but "being" a mom." Lorelai awkwardly spat out.

Luke stared at her for several seconds, "You're thinking of having another kid?" he finally asked in a low voice.

"Something like that…."

Luke blinked several times and glanced back and forth from Lorelai to the empty seat beside her, "Wha-what do you mean "something like that"? Are you pregnant?"

"What?!" Lorelai shrieked in high whisper. "No!"

"Well excuse me for taking your very vague statement the wrong way." Luke defended.

"What it means is…." Lorelai leaned in closer so that only Luke could hear. "I'm going to adopt."

Luke shot back from the counter and stood straight up on his feet. "Wow…" he replied as he immediately stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Wow?" Lorelai asked as she watched his body language quickly transfer to uncomfortable.

"Wow…" he repeated. "Wow…."

"Can we use another interjection please? Maybe even a couple of adjectives…. A verb."

"That's…. That's…. great." Luke finally ended. "That's great."

"Really? Cause I get the feeling you don't mean that."

"No, no. I mean it." Luke replied. "That's really… wow. Congratulations." He slowly backed away from the counter. "Hey, I'll talk with you later… I've got to get back to the kitchen, a lot of work needs done and Caesar is… slacking. So…"

Lorelai stood from the counter. "Right." She quickly flashed a fake smile. "See ya, Luke." She turned and walked out of the diner.

"See ya." Luke replied then darted back into the kitchen.

Lorelai returned to the inn and burst through the kitchen door. Sookie, who was preparing a chicken for the evening course meal turned around quickly.

"Heaven's sake, Lorelai. You scared the life out of me." She held her hand to her chest.

"Sorry. Do we have any chocolate?"

"Sure, there's some over by the stove in a bowl." Sookie watched as Lorelai marched over to the stove, grabbed the bowl of chocolate, and angrily began munching as she stared off into dead air, her sharp blue eyes rarely blinking. "Sweetie…. What happened?"

"What?" Lorelai quickly glanced over at Sookie.

"Emily?" Sookie asked. "That's the Emily glare, right?"

Lorelai sighed and put down the bowl of chocolate. "No… I told Luke."

"Told Luke?" Sookie eye's widened. "Told Luke what?"

"About my plans to adopt a kid." Lorelai folded her arms.

"Oh!" She gasped. "What did he say?"

"He said, 'wow'."

"Wow?"

"Wow." Lorelai placed one hand on her hip. "He said, 'wow', but you know what he was really thinking, Sookie? He's thinking 'Have you lost your mind? Could you possibly be that crazy?'."

Sookie smiled quickly, trying to ease the mood, "I'm sure he didn't mean that."

"Oh, he meant it. He immediately backed away from me, stiffened straight up, dug his hands into his pockets, and started stammering on about how he had to get back to the kitchen and work…"

"He probably just needs time to process this… I mean, this is huge. This is big. This changes everyone's lives."

Lorelai shook her head, "Well, it's still my decision. It doesn't really matter to me if everyone supports it or not."

"I support it." Sookie added. "And Jackson thinks it's a great idea too."

"I know that Sookie…" Lorelai replied in a calmer voice. "Rory's excited too… I'm excited… So what if Luke isn't? What does that matter?"

"It doesn't. You said yourself you're ready to move on with your future without him."

"And I am." Lorelai stood firm.

"He'll come around eventually. You know Luke. He deals with things in a different way, but he always deals with them."

"That's his problem, Sookie… he takes too long. I need something fast in my life. Something that doesn't end or slow down. It's what keeps me going. It's what I thrive off of."

"Well, bringing another child into your life is definitely something that doesn't end or slow down. Davie and Martha keep me so busy and now that I have another baby on the way, I'm not sure how I'm going to keep up with everything…"

"Aw, Sookie, you'll do great. You're a wonderful mom." Lorelai smiled.

"Well, I keep telling myself that." Sookie teased. There was a pause between them. "Don't worry about Luke… okay. Just do what you feel you need to do…"

"Thanks, Sookie." Lorelai picked up the bowl of chocolate again. "This is incredible chocolate by the way." She took another bite.

"Yeah, can you believe it's fat free?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai immediately spat out the chocolate. "Anything that's that damn convincing, must be evil."