Chapter 7: Dead on arrival

"Hey Steph" Rory answered her phone.

"Tell me everything!"

"About?"

"Don't play coy with me, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore! I know your dirty secret!"

Rory sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you…"

"Please, like I didn't already know. The kid just needs an accent and a beer, then he'd be a dead ringer for his old man. Who by the stopped by a few minutes ago to yell some more at Colin."

"No?"

"Oh yes! They're going at it in the office right now" Stephanie said. "So spill, have you talked?"

"Yeah a little. I'm supposed to call him later and arrange something so we can figure it out."

"Yeah good luck with that. He seems really upset."

Rory sighed and sat down at her kitchen table. "I feel so bad, Steph. I never meant to hurt him, I just couldn't bring myself to call him. And I know that's not an excuse…"

"Relax Gilmore, I'm not mad at you. And I think I understand; Finn was not exactly stabile back then. But you should give him a chance now, he deserves that."

"I know" Rory said.

"So, what are you planning in regards to your fun talk?"

"I don't know. Him coming over was a really bad idea, I think there needs to be people around."

Stephanie gasped on the other end. "Rory Gilmore, did you do something scandalous? You do know he's getting married in like a month or something?"

"Yeah everyone keeps reminding me of that. I was thinking maybe a restaurant or something like that."

"Need help with your outfit?"

Rory made a face. She wasn't in the mood for hurricane Steph to come over, but on the other hand, she still couldn't dress herself when it came to things like this. "Maybe… I'll call you when I've talked to Finn."

"Could you call him now? It sounds like he's about to throw Colin out the window and I don't want to look stupid standing next to no one at the alter, when I'm getting married."

"Yeah sure, Steph" Rory said and hung up. She took a deep breath and started to dial the unfamiliar number that Colin had scribbled down on a piece of paper for her.

"Hello?"

"Finn?"

"Rory?"

"Yeah… I just wanted to talk about maybe meeting and discussing an arrangement for Daniel and you?"

"Oh yeah, sure." He sounded flustered and Rory wondered if he had actually tried to throw Colin out the window.

"Any preferences" Rory asked.

"No, I'm not really familiar with New York, I only know the lobby of my hotel and it's not really that great."

"Oh well, there's a couple of nice places around here…"

"Why don't we just meet in Stars Hollow? I'm sure Daniel would like to see his grandparents and you could probably use some time with your mother anyway."

Rory nodded to herself. She would like that, she felt safe in Stars Hollow and if things went south, she could call upon her mom to offer her strength and support. Finn still knew her, apparently. "Thanks Finn."

"It's fine, love. Send me an address and I'll meet you there tomorrow at noon, yeah?"

"Okay, see you" Rory said and hung up. She wasn't sure if she should feel relieved or agitated. She should probably call her mom. And Dean, but she didn't feel like talking to any of them right now. She would have to do it later.

"So Rory's meeting a guy here" Luke asked confused.

"Not just a guy, the guy" Lorelai said with a big hand gesture.

"And he is?"

"Daniel's father!"

"Did you just say Daniel's father" miss Patty interrupted them.

"Yeah, Rory is meeting him here" Lorelai said.

"Oh dear, that's a show I'm not missing. That child is just so handsome, wonder what the father looks like" miss Patty said in a dreamy voice.

Luke sighed and rolled his eyes. He wondered how it was always his diner that had to be the scene of all the drama in Stars Hollow. "So he's just gonna walk into her life again after all these years and what? Demand to see Daniel?"

"Luke, to be fair, it was Rory who decided not to tell him. I think it's only right she at least try to explain that and make some sort of arrangement concerning Daniel" Lorelai said. She still didn't condone Rory's actions, but she also hoped that this either would give Rory a little closure regarding her feelings for Finn or maybe they could work something out? Lorelai smiled at the idea. She liked Finn, a lot, even though she hadn't even had a real conversation with him, and she was a romantic at heart.

"I still don't like it" muttered Luke, who was unable to ever view Rory as the bad guy.

"I can't wait to see him. I should call Babette" miss Patty said and left for the door.

"Please don't turn this into a show" Lorelai yelled after her, but to late. "Maybe I shouldn't have said something?"

Luke shook his head. This was going to be interesting.

Around noon miss Patty and Babette rolled into the diner, ordered their usuals and sat down at the window, waiting for the show to start. Luke had also noticed that Taylor had been sweeping the same length of pavement for about half an hour. Apparently everyone wanted to see Daniel's mysterious father.

And like it was timed out perfectly, not too long after miss Patty and Babette had ordered, a black Aston Martin slowly rolled by the windows. Even Luke did a double take. "That's him" he whispered to Lorelai. It wasn't exactly everyday a car like that visited Stars Hollow.

"I think so" she whispered back. "Nice car."

"It's not that Logan person, is it" Luke asked. He wasn't sure what to do if it was him.

"No thank god" Lorelai said in an exasperated voice just as the doorbell rang and Rory entered the diner.

"Finn's parking the car" she said, as her mom gave her look. She, in turn, noticed miss Patty and Babette and sent Lorelai and angry glare. "You told them" she whispered.

"It slipped my tongue. Sorry."

Rory didn't answer, as Finn stepped into the diner and a sort of awed hush fell over the room. Miss Patty looked like she might have a heart attack. Rory met him halfway and they sat down at a table in the corner; Rory furiously trying to ignore all the people staring at them and Finn acting nonchalant about the whole situation.

"Thanks for coming" she mumbled. "We can order, if you'd like?"

"No it's fine, I had an early lunch with Jane" Finn said.

Rory closed her eyes briefly. She would have to get used to that name, and fast! Worst case scenario, she would become Daniel's stepmother. "Oh, okay…" Rory smiled nervously, fighting her nausea. She was so nervous she was afraid to pick up her glass because her hands were shaking. Finn was not mean or one to carry a grudge, but she could understand if he wanted to take some kind of legal action on the matter.

"Where is Daniel?"

"My friend Lane is watching him. She has twins that are about a year older, they usually get in trouble together" Rory answered.

Finn just nodded and suddenly looked up. Rory did the same and jumped a little; miss Patty had managed to sneak up on them and she was now standing very close to Finn, smiling like a shark. "I just wanted to come over and make my introduction" she started. "It's not everyday such a fine specimen visits our humble town."

Finn gave Rory a look that clearly stated that he had no idea what she was talking about. As she gently touched his shoulder, he seemed to catch on. "Oh me? Right…"

"And an accent too? Pray tell, young man, where are you from?"

"Australia" Finn answered, suddenly also looking a little nervous.

"Miss Patty, if you don't mind, we just need to figure some things out. Maybe we can come by the studio with Daniel later?"

"Please do, Rory. You know how I appreciate" she looked Finn up and down, "visitors…"

When she was out of hearing range, Finn exhaled. "Is she…? All there?"

This made Rory smile a little. "She just really likes men... All men."

"Should I be worried?"

"No, just don't let her sneak up on you and do not accept any kind of drink she's made." Finn nodded. "How long are you staying? In America, I mean."

"Well, I only planned to stay until Steph and Colin's wedding, but I figured… Maybe I could stay a little longer, spend some time with Daniel." At Rory's obviously relaxed look, Finn chuckled a little. "I wasn't planning on kidnapping him to Australia."

"Oh I know" Rory said with a nervous laugh. "So um… Five years. How've you been?"

"Been busy, taking care of things at home. I met Jane through work, actually."

"Really" Rory said and tried to fake her interest interest with a fake smile.

"Yeah, she's an interior decorator. She worked on one of the hotels in Sydney and well, we met and I asked her out. Are you seeing anyone?"

"Nothing serious" Rory said, not really into comparing Finn's happy engagement to her extremely casual hook-ups with an old boyfriend. "So this is kinda awkward, huh?"

Finn made a face. "Yeah…"

"I'm really sorry, about everything. I was so afraid how you would react and I didn't want to force you into something and the whole thing with your dad…"

"Rory stop. I'm not saying what you did was ok, but I understand, I guess. I was not exactly reliable back then, but I've changed and I think I deserve a chance to catch up."

Rory nodded. "What did you have in mind?"

"I'll try to stretch my stay here. Spend some time with David…"

"Steph said you're getting married in a month or so?"

"Two months, actually. Jane is the mastermind behind the event, I doubt I'll be missed much. We still have a couple of branches in the states, I'll try to be here as much as possible."

"Finn, that's not really a solution" Rory pointed out. He would probably spend most of his time on planes getting too and from places.

"I doubt you'd be interested in moving to Australia?"

"Not really, sorry."

"Then this is the best solution, in my opinion. I can't leave Australia, the company's there and Jane's family. I spent a good ten years of my life alienating my family and getting completely smashed, and with my dad being sick… I just can't leave right now."

"I understand that. We'll make it work. And I'll talk with Daniel tonight, try to explain things."

"Have you told anyone else?"

"No! I think it was scandalous enough I had a child out of wedlock" Rory said with a face. "But I'm sure Logan's mom is gonna love this one."

"Oh I bet, Shira was always quite fond of you, right" Finn said with a smile. "How are your grandparents gonna react?"

"Probably with silence and lots of vodka. It's the Gilmore way. I was wondering… Did you ever tell Logan?"

"No, didn't really see the point. Haven't actually talked much with him since then."

"Oh… This is going to be so much fun" Rory said in a sarcastic tone.

A/N: I'm very well aware that this is long overdue and I apologize. I'm not sure if I should continue the story after all this time, and I fully understand if people have given up hope and abandoned it. Just let me know. And again, so sorry