Chapter Title: Late Night Talks

AN: I'm finally updating this; hopefully some of you are still reading it. If you are, then thank you for being patient. There are only four more chapters after this one, so there isn't much more to go. Hope you all like it.

Rory looked around the loft wondering how one child can make so much mess in less than five minutes. She had gone into the kitchen to order dinner and when she came back into the living room it was trashed. Maddie stood in the middle of the room with Jack sitting at her feet. Maddie looked up at Rory with a look of fear in her eyes.

"What happened?" She knew she should remain calm; it wasn't like it couldn't be cleaned up.

"Jack wanted my Snickers. I told him no." Maddie said holding up the candy bar.

Rory held out her hand and Maddie brought the candy bar over to her.

"Dinner will be here soon." She said smiling down at the little girl.

By the time Rory and Maddie had finished cleaning the living room half an hour had passed. The intercom rang and Rory hit the buzzer to let the pizza guy in. She turned her back for ten seconds to pay for the pizza when she heard Jack start to bark and then a crash down the hall. 'What else can go wrong? Is somebody up there testing me?!' She thought looking up in desperation.

Maddie started crying as soon as Rory turned the corner. Rory picked her up holding her close to her.

"What happened now?"

"I slipped in the bathroom." She said in between hiccups.

Rory held in the sigh that was threatening to come out. She took Maddie back into the bathroom to check her. She silently thanked God when she saw nothing was really wrong. Maddie only had a red mark across her left knee. She wasn't bleeding and the redness would eventually go away. She wouldn't even have a bruise. Rory carried her into the living room and sat her down on the couch. They were about to start eating when Rory's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"How are my girls?"

"We're fine." She said with a smile.

"Daddy!" Maddie said with a mouthful of pizza.

"She's telepathic, I swear. She's not giving you any trouble is she?"

"Not really. But I just might let the dog loose. Hopefully he won't come back." She said once Maddie got up to go into the kitchen.

"Put him in the laundry room if he gives you anymore trouble."

"I might do that later."

"I wanted to tell you, I think Maddie might be coming down with something. Make sure she doesn't go outside. If she does come down with something, there's medicine in the hall bathroom."

"Great, you tell me this now." She said sarcastically.

"If you think you can't handle it I'll be on the next flight home."

"Don't worry I've got it."

"I've got a meeting in a few minutes. Can I call you later?"

"You better."

"I love you."

"I love you too." She said with a smile.

Maddie came back into the room holding up a movie. She sat down next to Rory and put her head in Rory's lap. She ran her hands through Maddie's hair before feeling her forehead. It couldn't hurt to check. She wasn't hot, but she wasn't cool either.

"Can we watch this?" She asked holding up the movie.

Rory took it from her and smiled. She hadn't watched the Wizard of Oz in forever. It had been one of her favorite movies as a kid. It didn't compare to Willy Wonka, but it was a great movie. Rory put it in and got lost in the story of Dorothy and all of her friends.

By the time Dorothy had met the Cowardly Lion Maddie was out cold. Rory decided to leave her where she was. It wouldn't hurt her to sleep on the couch for one night. If Tristan and Rory could both lie on it and be comfortable so could Maddie. Once the movie was over Rory went into her and Tristan's room. She left the light in the hall on just in case Maddie woke up in the middle of the night.

Her cell phone rang just after ten and she answered it on the first ring. She didn't want to take any chances and wake Maddie up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Gilmore!"

"Don't you ever get tired of doing that?"

"No. What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing mom. Just tired."

"You weren't asleep were you?"

"No. I was about to turn the light out though."

"Then I didn't wake you up. So ditch the 'tude."

"Did you call for a reason?" Rory asked trying not to sound tired.

"I just wanted to know how you were. It's not everyday that someone leaves their child in your care."

"He'll be home Sunday." She said with a sigh.

She heard footsteps down the hall and walked to the door. Maddie was standing in the hall rubbing her eyes.

"Mom I'll call you back." Rory said before hanging up the phone.

She could tell just by looking at Maddie that something was wrong. 'Oh God, please don't let her be sick. Please don't let her be sick.' She thought over and over. She had never dealt with that kind of thing before. It wasn't her fault that she hadn't dealt with that many kids in her life. She blamed her mom; she had always wanted a brother or sister. It was her mom's fault for waiting until she was out of the house to have more kids.

Rory led her into the bathroom and sat her on the counter. She was searching through the cabinets for a thermometer when Maddie slid off the counter. Rory followed her into kitchen and Maddie pulled the thermometer out of one of the drawers.

"Well that's a good place for it." She said rolling her eyes.

Maddie shrugged her shoulders as she stuck the thermometer in her mouth. Rory sat down at the table and Maddie crawled into her lap. Rory rubbed her back with one hand and ran her other hand through her hair. The thermometer beeped and Rory took it out of Maddie's mouth. Her temperature was over a hundred. Rory sat her down and made her way down the hall back to the bathroom. It didn't take her long before she found the medicine Tristan had told her about. She was debating who to call first her Tristan or her mom. She called Tristan first to let him know what was going on. Even if he was on the other side of the country he needed to know. She called her mom next.

"Hello?"

"I need to talk to my mom Luke."

"Rory?" He asked groggily.

She looked at the clock and realized it was almost eleven-thirty.

"Yeah it's me. I'm sorry for calling so late. But I really need to talk to my mom."

"Hold on."

She could hear him trying to wake her up. It took him a couple of minutes but Lorelai finally answered the phone.

"Someone had better be dying." She said in a threatening voice.

"Maddie's sick. She's throwing up the medicine I gave her a little while ago."

"Oh man, it must suck to be you." She said in a sarcastic voice.

"What's going on?" Luke asked in the background.

"Rory's dealing with a bile projecting little girl right now. She's a little freaked."

"Oh no."

"I'm still here!" Rory said holding Maddie's hair while she threw up again.

"Do you want me to come there?"

"Now? Would you?"

"It'll take me a couple hours, but I'll be there as soon as I can."

"I love you mommy." Rory said letting out a grateful sigh.

"I love you too honey. You owe me some serious baby-sitting time."

"Let me know when." Rory said before hanging up.

Rory gave Maddie more medicine and this time she was able to keep it down. She collapsed on the couch to wait for her mom. She woke up a few hours later hearing the intercom buzzing. She went downstairs to let her mom in herself.

"How is she?"

"She's asleep."

"You should get some sleep too. I'll take care of her if she wakes up."

"Are you sure?" Rory asked laying her head on Lorelai's shoulder.

"Go." She said pushing Rory down the hall.

Lorelai watched Rory get settled into bed before she walked back into the living room. She was glad Rory had finally found someone that could give her everything her other boyfriends couldn't. None of them had come close to making Rory as happy as she was now. She fell asleep wishing she could be closer to Rory. But Rory didn't need her anymore. She was having a hard time letting go.