She sits in the room, in silence. She isn't certain why she has been summoned to this particular location on a Tuesday afternoon. She stares at her mother as she enters the room. Without a single word Emily takes a seat next to her. She places her hand on her leg. Lorelai stares into her brown eyes waiting for some explanation, or indication of what is going on. Finally she decides to shatter the silence.

"Mom, what am I doing here?"

"I need you to tell me what's going on."

"What are you talking about?" She arches her eyebrows.

"If you don't talk to me I am going to have to see to it that you talk to someone."

"What are you suggesting?"

"I think that it would be reasonably prudent for you to talk to a professional."

Lorelai's nostrils flare, and her cheeks redden as she shakes her head, "Unbelievable."

"I know…"

Lorelai cuts her off, "You know nothing."

Emily nods, "You are probably right. I don't know anything about any of this. You never let me in. You never open up to me. I know that you and Rory have a different relationship than we do, but I am still your mother!"

Lorelai exhales, "I see my therapist on a regular basis."

"You do?"

Lorelai nods, "I have for years. Though I don't know why, it doesn't really help."

"I didn't know that. You never mentioned it."

"It isn't something that I talk about."

"That is the problem. You used to talk incessantly. Now you don't say anything. I can't even get you to make some ridiculous joke, or sardonic remark."

"I am sorry that I am not the person that I used to be."

"Lorelai what is going on? You have been incredibly introspective lately. What's going on?"

"I don't know if I can do this."

Emily furrows her brow, "Do what?"

"My entire life was turned upside down."

"I know. I was there."

The tears begin falling from her eyes, "I know. It seems as if no one understands the magnitude. I think they feel as if I should have grieved the loss by now."

"I don't think that, for a minute. It must take a lifetime to grieve the loss of a child. That may not even be long enough. We all loved that little boy, and to have him taken away to abruptly is something that I know I will never get over. How could you be expected to?"

"This is a hard time of year for me."

"I can imagine."

"The rest of the world moved on, but part of my world ended on that day. The first snow always brings up all of those feelings I tamp down the entire rest of the year. I found out about his existence on the first snow that year."

"You know that there wasn't anything you could have done. You know that, right?"

"It doesn't make it any easier."

"You seem sadder than usual. Lorelai, you can shut me out forever, if you would like. I know that you see me as the enemy, but at the end of the day I am still your mother."

Lorelai stares into her brown eyes. She picks up on the worried look in her mother's eyes.

"I acted very poorly when Liam died, and I pushed a lot of people away. My relationship with Rory hasn't been the same since. We work on it every day, but it still isn't what it used to be."

"Because you lock her out, just like the rest of the world."

"I just don't want to drag her into the darkness with me. No one should have to face such a thing. I don't want to subject anyone else to it."

"You don't have to go it alone. We are all here for you."

"It isn't that simple. I never considered wanting another child, after Rory. Then there he was all of a sudden, and I couldn't imagine not wanting him there with me. He should be here now. Sometimes I find myself wondering who he would be today. What would he look like? How would he act? I will never know," her cheeks sting with tears. "Part of me is always going to be missing. I can never get him back."

"Now you're forty eight, and Rory is grown, and out of the house. It is just you, and Luke. Opportunity doesn't come knocking anymore."

Lorelai nods, "It is so quiet. He never brought up trying for another baby. I always felt like I robbed him of the opportunity to get to raise a child of his own. He refused to leave my side, even though I gave him plenty of reasons to. Maybe he never pressed the issue, because he felt that neither one of us had the heart to go through any of it again."

"So how are you going to move on?"

"Most days I simply don't know."

"So what has you so down, lately?"

"The realization that it's too late. My opportunity to move on, has passed me by. I guess that I am just having a hard time coming to terms with that."

"I see. Have you told Luke?"

"We can barely get through the grocery list without me in tears."

"You have to tell him."

"And say what? I am sorry that I have been so hard to live with for the past seven years. You have put up with all of my crap, and I have nothing to give you in return. I can't change the past. Oh, and by the way, we avoided the discussion of considering the possibility of another child so long that now we can't have one? Which by the way, is my fault, because men can sire offspring until they keel over dead?"

Emily shakes her head, "I would consider broaching the subject with a less dramatic flare, and a different tone of voice."

Lorelai just shakes her head.