Author's Note: Wow! 42 reviews in 4 chapters...plus 50 if you count the ones from BWR! Thank you so much. I never expected this story to be as popular as it did, and I know I couldn't have done it without you. Consider this gift a Valentine's present. I'm thinking there's about 3 chapters to follow. When we started this, I thought it would be 3 chapters long though, so my track record isn't that reliable.

Hope I did okay with the Christopher conversation. In particular, I am still skeptical about the FB message. I still see Lorelai thinking about Chris from time-to-time in my post-GG land (though not romantically) and wondering how he is doing. He is still her oldest friend, and they had a very strong friendship as children, which is why I have her hoping that he will find the same happiness as she has at a particularly happy moment in her life. I might not be a Christopher fan, but I still wanted to write Lorelai's and his friendship as realistically and sympathetically as possible (side note: I had a conversation with my dad, who has watched a few GG episodes while my mom and I monopolised the TV, about Christopher about a week ago. I believe he said something about liking Chris as a character-but not Lorelai's love interest-so we had a conversation about that. Of course, I also mentioned Luke, and my dad said, "Oh, I really like him," which made my day. Then again, I've had to tell my dad about a million times that Luke and Lorelai aren't married during the show...they're just engaged for a season and then they broke up...which always makes me sad. Though, they are married in this fic, so yay for that).

Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day again, and remember: even if you are a fellow single, there are lots of people in your life who love you!

Christopher had never expected to hear Lorelai's voice on the phone again. After their last phone conversation where she had told him point blank that she couldn't do this anymore-that even staying friends would damage Luke's trust-he had given up on Lorelai ever calling him.

But here they were, ten years later, and Lorelai was calling him on the phone, having presumably gotten his number from Rory.

"Lor?" he stammered.

Lorelai was never one to pretend situations weren't awkward when they were, which was evident by her next statement. "Yeah, when it rains, it pours, right?"

He sighed and looked down. Though the last time he had checked, Gigi was wearing her headphones, she had turned the volume so loudly that he could still hear her music from the other room. "I didn't say that."

"But you were thinking that. I mean, here I am, like nine years after we last spoke, and I want to talk to you again. You have to be wondering why. I know I would if I were you."

"That's not what I was thinking," Christopher said, though this was a lie. "I'm pretty glad to hear from you, actually. It's been too long. I've-I've missed you."

There was a long pause between them. "Yeah, well…" said Lorelai, and she trailed off.

As another awkward pause settled between them, Christopher found himself thinking of Lorelai's two youngest children. The little girl in particular was the splitting image of Lorelai. Not only did she look remarkably similar to Lorelai as an adult, but more importantly, she was almost identical to Lorelai as a child. He could still remember how impish Lorelai's blue eyes had been as a little girl. Though Rory's blue eyes were also identical to Lorelai's, she lacked the outgoing enthusiasm and mischief that filled the eyes of both Lorelai and her youngest daughter.

He knew he was being an incredible hypocrite. Lorelai had adjusted to him having a daughter by someone else, so the least he could do was adjust to her children. Yet whereas the little girl was one thing to digest, there was also that little boy. He was so purely Luke's that it made Christopher's stomach curl. But he was also Lorelai's. Though the boy resembled his father the most and the girl resembled her mother, after looking past their initial traits, Christopher had found himself seeing both of their parents. It might have been easier to pretend that Will Danes belonged to his father and that Lucy was just another Gilmore girl, but that was not the case. They were both of their parents' children, and that was what hurt most of all.

He had told Gigi that after choosing Luke, there was no way Lorelai would have given up on their marriage. Though that was true, Christopher also knew that for Lorelai, the big decision hadn't been to marry him, but to trust him enough to father her children. He could still remember the way she had turned away from him, after he told her he wanted to make a baby. She hadn't wanted to have another child, a wedding party, or a new house, yet he knew that she had considered all of these things with Luke. For Lorelai, Luke represented stability, and there was no way he would ever compete.

He didn't know the details concerning Lorelai's pregnancy with Will. By the time he'd confronted her about it, after the infamous day where Gigi came home to announce that Lorelai was pregnant, she had already been married. Therefore, he had no idea whether she had gotten pregnant right after her marriage or if the pregnancy had been the reason for a wedding so soon after Luke's and her reunion. Still, Christopher knew that in some ways, he would be more hurt if the latter was true. It would not just mean that Lorelai had accepted Luke's marriage request after refusing Christopher's when they had been in the same situation. It would also mean that with Luke, she had let down her guard.

Even if Lorelai had said yes to making a baby that night, it would not have worked. She had been on the pill and had insisted on using condoms. Though he'd tried to assure her that she was safe-that they were safe-she had never hesitated to reach for the box of condoms lying on the nightstand. Every time the protection was put on, she got a distant gleam in her eyes, and he knew he'd lost her. Though it did not affect the sex much in the long run, he knew that for a moment, she was not thirty-eight, but sixteen. He'd tried to assure himself that Lorelai was like that with other guys too, but clearly, this was not the case. With Luke, she had been enough in the moment to conceive not one, but two children, and even if Will had been a Honeymoon baby, it would not decrease the fact that Lorelai had obviously been nowhere as anal about protection with Luke.

Shaking these thoughts aside, Christopher fixated his attention back to his phone call. "Is everything okay?" he said, wondering what had made Lorelai finally break her promise. "Is it Rory?"

Lorelai let out a breath. "No. Rory's fine. I actually wanted to talk to about Gigi."

For a moment, Christopher forgot Gigi was in the other room. He found himself flooded with terror in the same way he had been the other night, when Gigi had turned off her phone and refused to take any of his calls. "Gigi?" he said, closing his eyes after reminding himself that Gigi's loud music was evidence that his youngest daughter was okay. "What about her?"

Lorelai sighed. "I don't suppose Gigi told you that she and I spoke last night?"

"No," said Christopher, remembering that Gigi had been even more upset when he'd returned. Could something have happened that he hadn't been aware of? He gathered his thoughts. "Wait a second-Gigi called you?"

"Actually, she called Rory," said Lorelai. "I picked up, and since Rory was in the middle of something, I ended up talking to her. I was making small talk, asking how you were doing, when she snapped. She told me that I was the responsible for the divorce and implied something about my abandoning her. She sounded really upset, Chris. I'm really worried about her."

Christopher reared back in surprise. His daughter had never defended him before, and most of the time, she snorted whenever anyone brought up his failed marriages. While he had heard Gigi parroting her grandmother about Lorelai being a harlot loud and clear, he hadn't expected her to lash out as Lorelai like that. Still, it was none of Lorelai's business if she had blamed her. Of course it was natural that a child would side with her dad, instead of some random woman she'd hardly known.

"Well, I don't really get what you want me to say to that, Lor," said Chris. "Are you asking me to ask Gigi to call you back and apologize? I saw the way that son of yours looked at me, so I could easily ask you to do the same."

"No, no!" Lorelai said quickly. "It's completely natural. April-my stepdaughter?-well, even though we bonded pretty quickly, I could tell in that first summer after Luke and I got back together that she was still a little wary about me, because she didn't want her dad to get hurt again. She pretty much flat-out told me how miserable her dad was and that there was no way she was letting him get hurt again. And Rory, when that thing with Luke and me started back when April first arrived on the scene? She went over to April's mom's shop to check things out. I was mad at her at first, but in retrospect, she just wanted to protect me. Of course it's natural that Gigi is blaming me. You're her father, and she loves you. I'd be worried if it was the other way around."

"But…?" he said, sensing he had missed something.

Lorelai inhaled deeply. "It's just, the way she started talking about me abandoning her? I…I think she was really talking about Sherry. Yes, I definitely should have said goodbye to her and made more of an effort to continue to include her in my life, since none of what happened was her fault, but that depth of her anger…it worried me, Chris. I could tell she was upset when she saw me earlier yesterday, and I don't know, I can't help wondering if she's transmitted some of her anger about Sherry on me."

Christopher's mind flashed to another time Lorelai had tried to offer parental advice, when Sherry had tried to reengage with Gigi again. "Sherry and Gigi have a wonderful relationship now. They see each other every break that Gigi has and talk at least three times a week-and it would be more, if there wasn't for the time change."

"Oh, I'm sure!" said Lorelai, with clear forced enthusiasm. "I think it's great that Sherry is more involved now. Every child needs a mother and a father, and even though you're a great father…well, it took courage for Sherry to have owned up to her mistake. But Chris, do you really think it's rational to think that Gigi has completely forgiven her mom for abandoning her those first two years? Sure things might be better now, but I know what it's like to have traumatizing experiences when you're younger. It took me a long, long time to get over some of my own childhood. As screwed up as my mom is, I still didn't want to blame her, because you know, she's my mom, and well, I know you felt that way about Straub, too. Though the situation with Sherry is completely different, I can't help wondering if Gigi's the same way."

"So basically, you're accusing me of not realizing that my kid might still be angry at her mother for something she did when Gigi was less than two," Christopher said. "And that apparently, I'm still angry at my dad for being a jerk, when he's been dead for twelve years."

"Chris, stop trying to put words into my mouth," said Lorelai, a little heatedly. "I just thought that as a concerned parent, you might want to know why your daughter was so upset. If it were Rory or April or Lucy or Will, I would want to know."

Christopher could not help himself. "Oh, so that husband of yours has finally granted you access to his kid? Tell me, does he know you think of April so highly, or would he be threatened by your relationship with her? Speaking of which, does Luke even know you're talking to me or is this another secret that's gonna split up your relationship?"

Lorelai's tone was ripe with anger now. He hadn't heard her so angry since he didn't show up for her father's surgery. "Of course Luke knows how I feel about April! Since he feels the same way about Rory, I don't see why that's a problem. And as a matter of fact, he does know about this conversation. We talked about it before I called, and he agreed it would be a good idea-for Gigi's sake, not yours."

"Well, good," said Christopher snidely. "You wouldn't want a thing like a hidden character reference to come between you two, would you?"

Lorelai paused. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I just mean it's clear that Luke and you weren't good at communicating before, so it's good you're better now."

"No, I think you just implied that we're still not good at communicating and that we never resolved any of our issues from before."

"If you didn't resolve any of your issues from before, then that's your problem, not mine."

"And now you're putting words into my mouth again!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Look, Chris. I'm sorry I had the nerve to tell you I was worried about your daughter, but you don't have to lay ten years ago into me. Where's the Christopher who was sensitive to how awkward seeing each our again would be at Rory's graduation? Hell, even the Christopher who understood why we couldn't talk again would do. I thought you understood why things would have been too complicated. And even if you didn't, it's been nine years since that phone call-and a whole decade since our divorce! If you're still bitter about that, then that's a low, even for you."

"I didn't mean that," said Chris quietly, realizing how he sounded. "I'm-I'm sorry, Lor. You've just got to understand, being away from you like this? It's hurt. It hurts knowing that that man has all of you, and that I don't even have your friendship. Even talking once every few years would do."

Lorelai spoke just as quietly. "If I remember properly, it was you who ignored my Facebook request, not me."

Christopher stiffened, remembering the memory well. It had been a couple of years after the infamous phone call, and Christopher had had an especially bad day. He had been in the middle of a difficult business negotiation, when the school called to announce that G.G. (who had then gone by her initials instead of "Gigi," as she did now) had gotten sick with the stomach flu. Because of the business meeting, he hadn't been able to pick her up. Since the current nanny was on her Honeymoon, he asked his mother to take G.G. home.

By the time he came home late that night, all Christopher wanted was to go to sleep. Unfortunately, his day was not about to get any better. As soon as he entered the house, his mother laid into him about not being able to put aside his work for his daughter-an incredibly ironic feat, seeing as Francine had never been there for him, either. Apparently, G.G. had spent the entire day crying for her father, and Francine had gotten sick of it. Though she had finally gotten G.G. to bed, her anger had not diminished. She put Christopher over the edge with five frightening words: "You're just like your father."

In the moments before Christopher logged onto to Facebook in an attempt to distract himself, he found himself wishing for a partner-a true partner to pick up some of the slack, so that he wasn't forced to do everything alone. Someone who wasn't his mother. Nannies were useful, but Christopher missed waking up in bed next to someone and smelling freshly made coffee in the kitchen. He had dated a couple of women since Lorelai, but none had compared with her. They had not even come close.

Therefore, upon navigating to Facebook, Christopher was shocked by a friend request from the very person he had been thinking of. Though the name was now "Lorelai Gilmore-Danes" instead of simply "Lorelai Gilmore," in his mind, she was still the Lorelai Gilmore he had always known. But upon clicking on her Facebook and getting an enlarged profile picture, he was startled to see a tiny pink bundle in Lorelai's arms. After he clicked on her profile picture, he found a caption underneath it that read, Lucy Victoria Gilmore Danes, 2/17/10. Our youngest daughter.

Christopher had found his heart beating very quickly. The comments below, gushing about how much the baby resembled Lorelai and Luke, did not help. Just like Rory had not told him about her mother's marriage and previous pregnancy, she had not told him about this. Our youngest daughter. Hers and Luke's. Lucy Danes.

The similarity between the names "Luke" and "Lucy" was unmistakable. Knowing Lorelai, she had probably tried to pressure Luke into naming her previous child after him (Christopher vaguely remembered something about that one being a boy), but had chosen a name similar to Luke for the girl, when Luke had resisted.

He had been so preoccupied by the friend request that he had not noticed the message in Facebook mailbox. Christopher took in a breath when he saw the message's sender. With shaking hands, he clicked on his messages. Then, he read the letter.

Dear Chris,

Four days ago, my youngest, Lucy, was born. She's a beautiful baby, and everyone says she's the splitting image of me. I don't know, though-while the conceited part of me would like it to be true (she does for a fact have my dark curls, but who knows how they'll change when she gets older?), you know what everyone says. I mean, everyone said Rory looked like me too, and while I guess she does (besides your earlobes, haha), the biggest similarity between us appearance wise is really the eyes and the ability to stay thin while consuming massive amounts of junk food. She's definitely her own person, and I hope Lucy will be, too.

I suppose you're wondering why I'm telling you this. God knows, I don't blame you. It's been two years, and I hope you still aren't putout by the way I ended things with our last phone call. Still, when I had Lucy, I found myself starting to remember G.G.'s birth. Lucy was early too, and I can still remember your excitement after G.G. was born. I don't know how G.G. is doing now, but I sincerely hope she's doing well. She's such a sweet girl, and I hope that when her birthday approaches, you'll tell her about the day she was born. While Rory's told me things with Sherry are better now, I'm sure when she gets older, there will still be a little part of her that blames herself for her parents' failed marriage; I know this, because Rory felt responsible, too. At the very least, G.G. should always know how happy her dad was to have her.

I also started thinking about Rory's birth. Maybe it's the fact that Will, my middle child, is a boy or something, but Lucy and Rory already have a lot in common. Rory also came completely without warning, contrary to Will, who came more or less close to his due date. Luke and I barely had a chance to drop Will off at Sookie's, before rushing to the hospital and letting our families know about the new baby on the way (yes, I even called my parents. Shocker, huh?). Lucy was even born at around the same time Rory was-four fifteen-which was so bizarre I still can't comprehend it. And it snowed (okay, it's February, but still). Luckily, I wasn't in labor with Lucy for as long as Will and Rory…there are benefits to your third child…but there are more similarities than not.

When the doctor said, "Congratulations, it's a girl!"(we didn't know the sex ahead of time) for a moment, I wasn't nearing forty-two, but sixteen. All I could think about was how this girl was going to have such a different life than her older sister. I mean, with Will, it was different enough. But here's Lucy, this little girl, who doesn't just have me, but a dad, two older sisters, a grandfather and grandmother, two first cousins, a crazy aunt and uncle, a crazy dog, and a big brother. Lucy and Will's lives are certainly different, all right.

I'm not saying this to blame you. Rory loves you, and I know you're a great dad to G.G., too...I can't comprehend what it would have been like to explain to such a little girl about the situation with her mother. And, um, living with your mom? VERY brave! Obviously, as we both know, if I'd really wanted to avoid being a single mom I could have married you much, much sooner. But as I sat in that bed holding Lucy, with all my family surrounding me, namely Luke, Rory, April, and Will, I found myself thinking about how far I've come since that single mom, so intent to do everything by herself. And you know, that's what really led me to thinking about you, more than the similarities between Gigi's and Rory's births. Here you are, a single dad, and I know firsthand how difficult that is (well, not the dad part, but you know what I mean). And I found myself wishing things would be better for you, too.

Chris, I'm not so conceited to think that you still have feelings for me after these years. I truly believe that there is a woman out there who is right for you, and I also believe that I am far from being that woman. But I also had a long talk with Luke, and he agreed that I should at least make this tiny gesture to reach out via Facebook. Yes, Chris, Luke feels badly for you. I don't think we can ever go back to the friendship we had, but I just want you to know, when being a single dad get loneliest, that there is someone out there who understands what it's like (again, just not the dad part-I also imagine that being a single dad to a girl is harder, so kudos to you). And I'm thinking about you. Maybe not in the way I used to, but I truly, truly want you to be happy. And that maybe, whether it's kids of her own (your future woman's), G.G., or kids of both of yours, you get to experience what I have, too. Maybe I sound like I'm rubbing it in, but…I don't know. I just want you to be happy. You truly deserve that.

Another thing: Chris, I'm sorry I hurt you. It was low of me, and God, I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for that. But the thing is, Chris, if a friendship between us is going to work-even a friendship of the virtual sort-than you need to accept my life the way it is now, too. I don't want to feel guilty whenever I'm posting news pics of my kids and Luke. I want us both to accept each other, the way we are now. Because I truly believe that deep down inside, just like I was happy for you when G.G. was born, you're happy that my life has worked out, too.

So, post lots of pics of G.G. I can't wait to see how your daughter's growing up.

Your friend (soon to be of the virtual quality),

-Lorelai

After reading the letter, Christopher had navigated to one of Lorelai's public Facebook albums entitled, "We Love Lucy". There, he was able to find a picture that fit the scene Lorelai had described. A flushed Lorelai, who had dark circles under her eyes, was cradling a baby in her arms. She did indeed have her mother's dark hair, which stood out against her fair skin. Sitting on the bed was a brown haired toddler, who looked overwhelmed by the situation he had found himself in. On the opposite side from where the little boy was sitting stood Rory and April, who was about three inches shorter than her stepsister. Both were grinning. In spite of their lack of biological connection, the two looked more like sisters than Rory and G.G. did.

And course there was Luke. He had one hand on Lorelai's shoulder and the other on the shoulder of his little boy. On his face was the biggest smile Christopher had ever seen…a remarkable feat, considering Chris had never seen Luke smile before. But it wasn't a "Ha, ha, look how lucky I am!" smile, as Christopher would have liked to think. Instead, it was a smile that said simply, "I'm happy, and by God, I don't care who knows it."

He knew it had been a mature decision for Lorelai to send this message. Especially on hard days like today, it was nice to know that there was someone out there who had gone through the same thing he had (albeit without a live-in mother to add to the mix), and he did appreciate the update from his oldest friend. Still, Lorelai had given him too much credit. He hadn't stopped having feelings for Lorelai, even after their divorce, three years ago. And it did still hurt to see Lorelai with her family, when he still wished she belonged to G.G. and him. As much as he wanted otherwise, he knew he would not be able to easily accept the fact that Lorelai had a family with someone else. On days like today especially, seeing pictures of Lorelai, Luke, and their two children-plus Rory, who looked so much more at home with her mother's family than she ever had with his-would only tear him apart.

So instead of accepting the friend request and Lorelai's virtual friendship, Christopher had hit "Ignore". It was his last contact with Lorelai Gilmore-Danes until the meeting at Fao Schwarz.

Now, he was on the phone with Lorelai again, and the ignored Facebook request had been brought up for the first time. He could always say that it was an accident, but both would know that this was a lie. It certainly wasn't hard to re-request someone, after all.

"I don't know, Lor," he said finally, deciding on the truth. "I guess I wasn't ready then."

Lorelai paused for a few minutes. "You know, Chris, I remember what I said in that note. I've always wanted you to be happy. And I don't think we can even continue talking once every nine years if you're still not going to accept my kids and husband. They're my life, Chris. Maybe you still wish things had been different, but they are my life. Hiding them or trying not to feel guilty every time I bring them up would just be too difficult."

"Look, Lor, I see what you're saying," Chris said grudgingly. "It's just that you can't come in here, without any real contact for nine years, and then try to change my life. I mean, you haven't seen Gigi since she was a little girl! Of course she's confused."

"But I was just trying to help…"

"I know, Lorelai. But she's my daughter, not yours." He suddenly realized how similar his words probably were to Luke's, back when he had shut Lorelai out of April's life. "I-I just can't do this. I get what you're saying, but it's…hard. And you really don't know Gigi, at least not the way I do. So can you appreciate it when I say that I don't want you meddling anymore?"

It took a few moments to respond. "Okay, Chris. Just please have her call me back if she wants to talk to me."

His stomach tightened. "Goodbye Lor…elai."

The phone call ended. He would have liked to say that the fact Lorelai still cared about his daughter had made him feel better, but now, he found himself wishing she didn't.

Gigi was halfway through one of her favorite songs when she heard her dad referring to someone as "Lor". She froze, recognizing the nickname from their run-in at Fao Schwarz. After lowering the volume of her music down, she listened into the conversation. She couldn't hear the discussion well, and she had no idea what Lorelai was saying, but she had had heard enough.

When at last her father's voice drowned out, signifying that the conversation had ended, Gigi crept into her father's room. There he was, his gaze cast downwards, looking a lot more bedraggled than she had seen him in a long time.

Gigi's heart skipped a beat. In that moment, she wasn't a thirteen-year-old, but the same little girl who had been tuned in to her father's every mood. Without an instant of hesitation, she sat on the bed next to her father and embraced him with all the energy she had. After a few moments, Christopher hugged her back. And for the first time, Gigi felt just a little less envious of Lucy Danes.