When Lorelai rushed into the house ten minutes later, Luke was pacing the living room. She dropped her purse on the floor next to the couch and walked over to him.

"Luke?" she asked. "What's going on? Where's Rory?"

"She's in her room," Luke replied. "I think you should talk to her."

Lorelai rushed to Rory's room and knocked on the door before she pushed it open gently. Rory was curled up on the bed, wearing sweats, facing away from the door.

"Rory?" she asked softly as she walked over to the bed and sat down, putting a gentle hand on her back. "What's wrong?"

Rory sat up and wiped her tears away. "I need to tell you something," she said softly. "And I need you to not say anything about it."

Lorelai swallowed hard, wondering what kind of trouble was in. She knew that whatever it was, she would be behind her; she'd gone through too much with her parents to criticize her own daughter.

"What is it, babe?"

"I'm dropping out of Yale."

Lorelai's jaw dropped. "What?" she asked.

"I just…so much is going on here," Rory replied. "I don't want to miss any of it. And at Yale… I just don't like it."

"What happened?" Lorelai asked softly. "You love school. You love learning."

"I know," Rory replied. "But I don't have to go to Yale to learn."

"Rory..." Lorelai sighed. "I don't know what to say about this."

"I'm doing this," Rory replied. "I need some time to figure out what I want to do."

"You want to be a journalist," Lorelai argued.

"I've said that for years," Rory replied. "But if I really want to do something else? I just want to take some time, be here for you and Luke and the baby. Is that so bad?"

"Look, Rory, I told you I wouldn't get upset," Lorelai said. "I'm going to go process this information and calm down a little bit before I can really talk about this."

Rory watched, stunned as Lorelai stood and started to walk out the door.

"I got into a fight with Luke," Rory said as Lorelai reached the door. "I've never fought with Luke before."

Lorelai smiled slightly. "He wants what's best for you, hun," she said. "And, well, he's not really used to dealing with troublesome children."

Rory nodded. "He yelled at me. In the diner."

Lorelai crossed the room and placed a kiss on the top of Rory's head. "He thinks you're making a mistake," she said. "I'll talk to him, but he only did that because he wants what's best for you."

"I love you, Mom," Rory whispered.

"I love you too, kid," Lorelai replied. "Now, let's both calm down, and then tonight we can order Chinese from Al's and have a calm, rational talk. Okay?"

"Okay," Rory replied.

Lorelai walked out of the room and into the living room, where Luke was now sitting on the couch, drumming his hands on his legs nervously. When Lorelai sat down next to him, he looked at her expectantly. "Did you talk to her?" he asked.

"Yes," Lorelai replied, taking his hand and resting her head on his shoulder.

"And?" Luke prompted impatiently.

"And…I'm not happy about it, but I need to think this out before I can talk to her in a civilized way," Lorelai replied.

Luke didn't say anything, and she craned her head to look at him. "Luke, don't feel guilty," she said. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"I embarrassed her," Luke replied. "I just…I couldn't believe what she was telling me, and I exploded. I didn't know how to react."

"It's okay," Lorelai replied. "She's upset, but I think you need to calm down too. We'll all have dinner to night and talk about this like adults.

"Lorelai, how did you know what to do?" Luke asked desperately. "I mean, I feel bad about losing it with Rory, but she can handle herself. What happens when our baby does something wrong? I can't yell like that at a little kid."

"You'll learn, Luke," Lorelai said softly. "I have no doubt of that."

Luke sighed as he leaned his head down against the top of Lorekai's head. "What are we going to do about Rory?" he asked.

Lorelai sat up and sighed. "She's pretty determined," she said. "I guess what we'll have to do is let her do things her way."

"And let her drop out of Yale?" Luke asked. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I know Rory pretty well," Lorelai replied. "She loves to learn. And I think that if she takes time off, she'll realize how much she loves learning and she'll want to go back. By then it might just be an issue of whether the school will let her back in again."

"That's a pretty big risk," Luke commented.

"I know," Lorelai replied. "And we'll have to make sure that Rory knows that."

"How come you're not more upset about this?" Luke asked.

Lorelai looked down for a moment before she raised her gaze to meet Luke's eyes. "I know it might sound selfish," she said softly. "But part of me wants to have some time with her here all the time. I've really missed her over the past couple of years."

Luke kissed the top of her head. "We'll get through this," he said. "Rory's a smart kid."

"Yeah, we will," Lorelai replied as she snuggled into him, drawing strength from his embrace.

XXXXXX

After Luke returned with the Chinese food, the three of them settled into the living room to be comfortable for their conversation.

Luke started things, clearing his throat before he said, "Uh, Rory, I want to say that I'm sorry for what happened in the diner this afternoon. I overreacted, and I shouldn't have blown up at you."

"It's okay, Luke," Rory replied. "I know that I kind of dropped a bomb in your lap."

"Rory, we know that you think you know what you're doing," Lorelai said. "But we want to make sure that you've really thought this through. Are you ever going to go back to school?"

"Eventually," Rory replied.

"Well, then you're going to have to consider the fact that Yale might not take you back," Lorelai continued.

"I know."

"And you can live here, but you're going to get a job," Lorelai continued. "And start paying for some of the expenses around here."

"Okay."

"And…well, I want you to promise me that you won't depend on us forever," Lorelai said. "I want to know that if we do this, if we support you, then you're going to take your future seriously and go back to school, eventually learn to support yourself."

"I know," Rory said softly. "Are you sure that you're okay with this?"

Lorelai and Luke looked at each other for a moment. "I'm not thrilled," Lorelai replied. "But you're a smart girl, Rory. A lot smarter than I am. I trust you to know yourself and know what you're doing. And I know what happened when my parents tried to control my life. I don't want that to happen to you, so I'm trying to handle this right."

Rory set her plate aside and leaned in to give Lorelai a hug. "I love you, Mom," she said. "Thank you for making this easy for me."

"I love you too," Lorelai replied.

Rory pulled back, then stepped over to give Luke a hug. "Thanks, Dad," she whispered.

"You're welcome," Luke said as he hugged her back. "I'm sorry about this afternoon."

"It's okay," Rory replied as she sat back down and picked up her plate.

"All right, enough with the serious discussions," Lorelai said. "Who wants to watch the Princess Bride?"

Rory nodded excitedly as she chewed, while Luke groaned. "Do we have to watch that?" he asked. "Can't watch a movie that we all like?"

"Like what?" Lorelai asked.

Luke shrugged. "The Godfather?" he suggested.

"I'm not really in a Godfather moon," Lorelai said.

"Two to one, Dad," Rory agreed. "Sorry."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I can't wait til the baby's born," he muttered. "At least then I'll have someone on my side."

Lorelai smiled as she returned to Luke's side. "Don't worry, hon," she said. "We can watch the Godfather after the Princess Bride."

Luke smiled down at her. "Thanks," he said. "I appreciate it."

"Well, I figured that we might as well give Luke Jr. an opinion even though he's not watching with us," Lorelai replied.

"Are you really going to name the baby after Luke?" Rory asked.

"No," Luke replied.

"I was thinking we'll use it for a middle name," Lorelai replied.

"Lorelai, no," Luke insisted.

"We'll talk about it later, Luke," Lorelai said. "We have five months."

She turned to Rory, who was staring at her stomach. "Rory?" she asked.

"Yeah?" Rory asked.

"What are you staring at?"

"It's just…it's so cool," Rory replied. "That my brother's in there."

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, it is pretty cool, isn't it?" she asked.

Rory smiled up at her mother for a moment before she returned her attention to the movie.

XXXXXX

Later that night, as Luke and Lorelai were getting ready to go to bed, Luke commented, "You know, there's one thing that we haven't thought about."

"What?" Lorelai asked as she slid under the covers.

"Where's the baby going to live?" Luke asked.

Lorelai frowned as she watched him take off his jeans and flannel shirt. "I don't know," she said. "I never thought of that."

"Well, there are a couple options," Luke said. "We can add onto this house."

"What else is there?" Lorelai asked. "There aren't a whole lot of places to add anything onto this house, but that's what we'll have to do."

"Unless…you want to think about moving," Luke suggested tentatively.

Lorelai stared at him blankly.

"Lorelai?" Luke asked after several seconds. "Are you okay? We can just forget it if you want to."

Lorelai turned to face him. "You don't mean leave Stars Hollow, right?" she asked. "Because I have the inn, and you have the diner, and Sookie's here, and Rory has Lane, and…"

"We don't have to leave Stars Hollow if you don't want to," Luke replied. "But…moving might be a simpler situation than having all kinds of construction going on around here while you're pregnant."

Lorelai nodded, but she said, "Luke, this is a big decision for me. I've never thought about leaving here. I worked so hard to save up for a house for me and Rory, and we have a lot of memories here. I just…this was our first house. It means a lot to me, and leaving it would be hard."

Luke leaned forward and kissed her gently. "Take as much time as you need," he said. "And if you don't want to do this, that's fine with me. We can fix this place up."

"Okay," Lorelai said softly. "Good night, Luke."

"Good night," Luke replied softly.

XXXX

When Luke's alarm went off at five thirty the next morning, he turned to check on Lorelai and was surprised that she wasn't there. With a frown he got up and pulled a pair of sweatpants on before walking out of the room.

He found her five minutes later, sitting on the couch in living room and flipping through a photo album. He looked down at her for a moment, then walked the rest of the way down the stairs. "Hey," he said gently. "What are you doing down here?"

Lorelai looked up and smiled at him as she moved over on the couch to make room for him. "Just looking at some old pictures," she said. "Remembering Rory as a baby, wondering what our little boy is going to be like."

"He's going to be perfect," Luke whispered as he pulled her close.

Lorelai smiled as she turned the page and looked at a picture of her and Rory on the porch of the house. "This was the day we moved in here," she said. "God, I still remember how proud I was of myself that day. I wanted to run to Hartford and scream that I had done it, all by myself. I'd earned a living, bought a house for me and my daughter."

Luke kissed the top of her head. "You had good reason to be proud of yourself," he said. "I'm still proud of you."

"There's so much going on right now, Luke," Lorelai said as she closed the album and leaned into him. "The baby, my mother starting to be nice to me, Rory's sudden change in life goals. I just…I don't know if I can handle all of that and move at the same time."

"Okay," Luke said. "I don't want you to do anything that you don't feel comfortable doing."

"But the baby does need a place to go," Lorelai said. "I mean, when I bought this house I never really thought that there would be anyone besides me and Rory living here. But now…"

"Hey, it's okay," Luke said. "I'll call Tom later and see what he thinks he can do. He was a huge help when I was converting the diner from the hardware store."

"You don't mind?" she asked. "I mean, we might have to move later, especially if…" she trailed off, and Luke tilted her face up to meet his.

"Especially if what?" he asked curiously.

"If we want to have more kids," Lorelai said softly, biting her lower lip, waiting for Luke's reaction.

Luke smiled down at her. "You'd really want more kids?" he asked.

Lorelai shrugged. "Well, it's been a long time since I had to take care of a baby, but I still love being a mom," she said. "And I wouldn't have changed the way that things happened for anything. I got Rory, and if I hadn't run away, we probably never would have met. But I guess in the back of my mind' I've always wanted that American Dream. You know, husbands, kids, white picket fence."

"I'll keep that in mind," Luke replied with a smile. "And I know that we weren't planning on having a baby now, but I'm thrilled. And eventually it might be nice to have more kids."

Lorelai leaned forward and kissed him gently. "thank you for being so understanding about this," she said softly. "I knew that there was a reason that I kept you around."

"I aim to please," Luke replied.

Lorelai laughed as she leaned into him. "I don't want to go to the inn today," she said. "I'm too tired.

Luke frowned down at her. "Did you sleep at all last night?" he asked.

"I tossed and turned for an hour or so," Lorelai replied. "I guess I just had too much on my mind."

"Go back to bed," Luke ordered. "I'll call Sookie later and tell her that you're not feeling well."

"I have to go to work," Lorelai mumbled as her eyes drifted shut, her head resting on Luke's shoulder.

"Come on, let's get you to bed," Luke said, helping her stand up. Lorelai leaned heavily on him as they walked towards the stairs.

XXXXX

When Rory walked into the diner later that day, Luke smiled at her as he poured her a cup of coffee. "Morning," he said as he slid it across the counter to her.

"Morning," Rory replied. "Where's Mom?"

"She went back to bed," Luke replied. "She wasn't feeling well."

"Oh," Rory replied. "Well, I was just going to go out job hunting. I wanted to have breakfast with her, but I guess I'll eat at the counter here instead."

"Sorry, I guess my company will have to do," Luke replied.

"I don't mind at all," Rory said with a smile.

"So do you have any place in mind to work?" Luke asked.

Rory shrugged. "I was going to talk to Andrew and see if I could get a job at the bookstore until I fin d something a little more permanent," she said.

Luke nodded. "I'm sure you'll find something," he said. "And you know that if you ever need an extra few dollars, you're more than welcome to take some orders around here."

"Thanks," Rory said. "But I'd kind of like to do this on my own. Without help from my parents."

Luke opened his mouth to speak, but before he could answer, Rory's cell phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered, ignoring Luke's finger that was pointing towards the door. "Hi Grandma…what?...Grandma, I just decided that I need some time off…I did, and she's fine with it…No, Grandma, wait!"

As Rory hung up the phone, Luke had a pretty good idea of what had happened. "Your grandma found out about your plan?" he asked sympathetically.

"Yeah," Rory replied. "And she's coming to the house. She said she needs to have an important discussion like this face to face."

Luke winced. This was not going to be pretty. From what he had seen, when Emily Gilmore was mad, she was not someone that anyone wanted to encounter.

"I don't want her to upset Mom," Rory said.

"Maybe she'll sleep through it," Luke suggested doubtfully.

"I have to get home and warn her," Rory said, standing as she drained the last of her coffee.

"I'll come with you," Luke said as he untied his apron.

"You don't have to do that, Dad," Rory said. "I know that you're not exactly best friends with her."

Luke put his hands on Rory's shoulders and guided her towards the door. "Rory, we decided that you're my daughter, right?" he asked.

"Right," Rory replied.

"And fathers watch out for their daughters," Luke said as he got into the truck. "I don't know a lot about this parenting thing, but that much I know."

"You're better than my dad," Rory said. "I mean, my real dad. You're always there, and that means more to me than you'll ever know."

Luke smiled over at her before he returned his attention to the road.

XXXX

A few minutes later, Luke pushed the door to their bedroom open. Lorelai was spread out over the bed, her hair falling in her face. Luke smiled for a moment, looking down at her and marveling at her beauty, even as she slept.

When Lorelai shifted slightly, he moved to the bed and sat down on the edge. He brushed some hair out of her eyes before he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Lorelai," he whispered. "Hon, wake up."

Lorelai groaned as she opened her eyes. "Luke?" she asked. "Why are you waking me up? What time is it?"

Luke glanced at the clock. "It's ten thirty. I hate to wake you, but I think Rory might need you," he said.

"Why?" Lorelai asked as she sat up.

"Well, somehow your mother found out about Rory's plan to take some time off," Luke started.

"How?" Lorelai asked.

"I don't know," Luke replied. "But, um, she's on her way here. She wants to talk to Rory in person."

Lorelai groaned and fell back against the pillows. "Luke, can we please please move to some far off isolated place where my parents will never find us?" she asked.

Luke leaned down and hovered over her. "Sorry," he said. "I'm pretty sure that your mother would find us anywhere we go."

Lorelai crinkled her nose. "Yeah, that woman has the nose of a bloodhound," she agreed. With a sigh she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. As she reached for her pants, the doorbell rang. Lorelai groaned, then hurried into her clothes.

"Can you please go down there and try to keep peace for five minutes while I change my clothes and pee?" she asked.

Luke leaned in and kissed her. "No problem," he said as he walked towards the door.

"Thanks, babe," Lorelai called after him.

Lorelai dressed quickly, hoping that there was a way that she could mediate things between her mother and Rory so that they could come to some sort of reasonable agreement.

But she knew that that was a false hope.