Author's Notes: Okay, so I'm still visiting family but before I came here I added this chapter to my account in case I found time and turns out, i did! This chapter wasn't meant to be a 'part one' but it would be waaaay yoo long otherwise and I didn't know where else I could cut it. So yeah. I have a thing that tells me how many people have this story on their alerts and although I only get 4 reviews per chapter on average...30 people get alerts. So please, I know more than 4 people read this...a few sentence reviews is all I'm asking, I wanna know what you think!

Thanks chloe2007, JavaJunkie4evr and Jeremy Shane for your reviews! I would thank you one at a time but you all have the same general comments (which is great, just easier to reply this way). Yes, Lorelai is showing sypmtoms/hints of being pregnant but you'll have to wait and see. Trust me though, if she gets pregnant again...the timing will be right. She may be now, or it may not being for another year...but, she will at some point, I can tell you that much.

And Kat321, Emily and Lorelai are indeed going through a nice patch at the moment...the only thing is: how long will it last? I think they should of had more bonding moments in the show, which is why I'm doing that in the fic. They're not perfect but they should at least reach a level of tolerance/understanding.:) Anyhow, enjoy this chapter! Part 2 will be up when I get back 'home', which is about Friday/Saturday..Sunday at the latest.

Chapter Fourteen: Family, pt 1

It took another month of finding the right house, Lorelai just wanted to ensure that it was perfect. In the end, she found the best possible new home. It was a five-bedroom house with two bathrooms. There was a double garage joined onto the house and a tree nearby that was strong enough to attach a swing to. It was on a small block of land, but not too small that they were short on space or privacy. The verandah was in good condition and there was room for a small couch to be placed out there, just like their old house had. The new house was only an extra five minutes from the inn and the diner. It was also only a few minutes walk to town so not everything had really changed, just that it took slightly longer and a different path. One of the hardest things for Lorelai was the fact that she was no longer going to be living beside Babette and Morey, that broke her heart since she had known them to be her neighbours and close friends for many years, ever since Rory was quite young.

Lorelai put off moving as much as possible, thinking up more and more excuses to delay but in the end, as Christmas time approached, she knew that it was now or never.

It was mid-November and holiday time for Rory. April had recently graduated from High School so she had also decided to come down for the time being. She was actually moving in with them until she made up her mind as to which college she wanted to go to. April has several weeks before she needs to make up her mind, but Rory only has a two-week holiday from work and her stay would be shorter.

Luke parked his truck and got out, walking up towards Lorelai's house and tried to avoid the saddened expressions from Babette and Morey. He opened the door to find Lorelai sitting on the floor and just staring into space.

'Lorelai?' he asked and glanced around in search of Richie but the boy was nowhere to be seen. 'Where's Richie?'

'Trying to force Paul Anka down the stairs' Lorelai replied sadly. 'I've changed my mind, I don't wanna move. This house means too much to me, all the memories…'

'But in our new house we'll make new memories' Luke told her, helping her to her feet. 'It's already bought, all furnished and unpacked…come on'

Lorelai sighed and called Richie.

'He won't move!' Richie squealed angrily, coming into view from the top of the stairs.

'Paul Anka!' Lorelai called and whistled, making the dog come running down the stairs.

'You ready to go, Richie?' Luke asked and picked him up.

'I don't wanna move' Richie said, in the same tone that his mother had a few minutes ago.

'I second that' Lorelai sighed but headed towards the door.

Luke got a call from April and had to leave, saying he would see them there. Lorelai got Richie all settled in the Jeep before getting into the driver's seat.

'Bye-bye house' Richie said sadly and waved to it, pressing his nose against the window while Paul Anka moaned softly beside him.

Lorelai wanted to help Richie adjust to moving into a new house but right now she just felt miserable. It was as if she was saying goodbye to a best friend that she was never going to see again. Lorelai sat there in her seat and just stared at the house for another ten minutes before finally starting the engine and driving out of that driveway for one last time…

Luke and April helped Richie get the last of this stuff out of the Jeep, along with Paul Anka. Both were sympathetic towards Lorelai, Rory and Richie. The two girls had lived in their old house for so long and it meant so much to them. For Richie, it was the only home he'd ever known.

After the final packing arrangements were taken care of, Luke and April decided to make lunch while Richie played outside with Paul Anka.

Lorelai and Rory wandered into the living room and collapsed onto their couch, staring straight ahead.

'It doesn't feel right' Rory said, crossing her arms. All the furniture was set out in a very similar way to their old house since both houses had the stairs and living room in the same areas, but it was bigger and there was much more space to move around.

'I agree' Lorelai nodded, crossing her arms. She stared some more but the room didn't change. 'Maybe it's the wallpaper' she frowned.

'No, nope…Hm' Rory analyzed the walls, but it wasn't the walls that gave them a weird less-homey feel.

'The floor?' Lorelai stared down at it but that wasn't it either. 'Gah!' she let out a growl of frustration.

'I got it!' Rory yelled and stood up. She walked over to the TV and moved it two inches to the side.

'Ahh' Lorelai nodded and smiled a little. 'Perfect' She then glanced over as Richie came back inside. 'What's the matter, honey?' Lorelai asked, seeing the annoyed look upon his face. A look he'd inherited from Luke, clearly.

'Paul Anka doesn't want to run with me anymore' Richie said sadly, climbing onto the couch between Lorelai and Rory. 'He won't chase anything and he sleeps too much!' Richie crossed his arms.

'He's getting too old for that now' Rory tried to comfort her little bother while Lorelai searched madly for the phone that was now ringing loudly.

'Hello?' Lorelai asked.

'Hello Lorelai, It's your mother. How is the moving coming along?' Emily asked.

'Fine, it's fine' Lorelai said as she lifted Richie onto her lap.

'That's good' Emily nodded and after a moment of silence, she spoke again, bringing up the main reason for her call. 'I would like to know who is attending our Friday night dinner tonight? I need to know who to cook for'

'You're cooking?' Lorelai asked, shocked.

'No, don't be ridiculous' Emily rolled her eyes.

'How very stupid of me, to think you would actually do manual labor' Lorelai sighed. 'Ahh…hang on a sec' she covered the mouthpiece and called Luke. 'Hey, we've got Friday night dinner tonight…why don't we all go? I don't think April has met them properly yet and it'll be fun'

'Fun?' Rory raised an eyebrow, surprised by her mother's sudden calmness to be in the same building as Emily Gilmore.

'I don't mind' April nodded.

'Okay' Luke shrugged. 'We'll all go then'

'Mum? We're all coming' Lorelai told her. 'Luke and I…Richie, Rory and April'

'Oh, how wonderful!' Emily grinned. 'We start at seven, don't be late' she then added and hung up.

'Argh' Lorelai tossed the phone away and sighed. 'Richie, we're going for a drive' she said and carried him outside before anyone could question or object.

The group heard the Jeep pull up outside an hour later and Luke saw April glancing out the kitchen window and sniggering.

'Please tell me she didn't get-' Luke started to say but Lorelai burst into the room.

'A puppy!' Lorelai cheered, holding up a small, brown puppy. 'His name is Pepperjack and he's a few weeks old' she added, making Luke hang his head in defeat and sigh.

'Go play with him outside' Lorelai told Richie, handing the puppy to him.

'Come on Pepperjack!' Richie said; the biggest grin was spread across his face as he went to introduce the puppy to Paul Anka.

'You didn't' Luke said, hoping he was imagining things.

'We did' Lorelai smirked and sat beside him while the girls left the room to busy themselves with books. 'And he's so cute, you gotta admit he's cute'

'He is not cute' Luke frowned. 'We already have a dog'

'But Paul Anka is too old to run around, Richie wants someone to run around with' Lorelai said but then went quiet.

Luke assumed she'd gone quiet because of his reaction towards the dog, but upon further inspection of her face he saw it wasn't that.

'Lorelai?' he asked.

'It's nothing…just that, if Richie had a younger brother or sister then he wouldn't need a puppy' she sighed. 'Rory was…is, a bookworm so she was occupied easily when she was little…but Richie wants to run around and be active' Lorelai shrugged. 'Which he must get from you, because I am certain that I have never expressed any joy in doing such a thing'

'Do you want another kid?' Luke asked, feeling he was being a bit forward by asking it straight out but he wasn't a mind reader so he had to ask.

'I don't know' Lorelai said. 'Dinner is at seven, I'll be back before then' she sighed and grabbed her coat before heading out the door to go check on the Dragonfly.

By seven that night, everyone was awkwardly and nervously crowded outside the Gilmore mansion. Emily opened the door enthusiastically several minutes later and welcomed them inside, allowing her new maid to take their coats.

'Drinks anyone?' Emily asked, leading them into the living room.

'Martini' Rory asked, sitting with April.

'Ah, soda?' April asked, not sure what there was to offer.

'Beer' Luke requested and Richie just sat on his mother's lap a little nervously.

'No coffee' Lorelai hissed to him.

'Soda please' Richie asked as nicely as he could, just as Richard was entering the room.

'What fine manners he has' Emily smiled at her grandson.

'Indeed' Richard nodded and greeted the group.

'Drink Lorelai?' Emily asked, seeing Lorelai hadn't requested a Martini.

'No thanks' Lorelai replied, not in the mood for a drink for some reason. Her mind was still buzzing with the thoughts of more children. She was so unsure and confused that she couldn't get it out of her mind and had been distracted by it all day. It wasn't just a fact of having children, but Lorelai knew her biological clock is already ticking fast.

'Oh what a treat it is to have you all here together' Emily smiled, taking a seat in her usual armchair. 'And April! My, you've grown'

'Thank you' April replied politely.

'You just graduated from High School I believe?' Richard asked, wanting to get to know the girl some more.

'Ah yes…yeah. I'm just trying to work out which college I want to go to' April replied which sparked a strong interest from Richard.

'Which ones did you apply for?' he wondered.

'Ah…Harvard, Yale, Columbia…the usual' April shrugged. 'I got accepted into Yale and Harvard, I just don't know which one to pick'

'Ten bucks saids that by the end of this night it'll be Yale' Lorelai hissed to Luke.

'Rory went to Yale' Emily added. 'Richard and myself also attended the fine college'

'Yeah, she told me. It sounds great, but so does Harvard' April said and felt a little awkward at being the center of attention.

'I got a puppy!' Richie remembered and decided to tell the story of how he got his new puppy. Richard and Emily tried to be happy about it, but it was no secret to the adults as to how much they disapproved of pets…especially dogs.

While the others continued their discussions, Rory glanced over at her mother and was surprised to see that she wasn't even listening. Lorelai was just sitting there beside Richie and staring at the floor absent-minded.

'Dinner is served' the nervous maid said and everyone wandered into the dining room, which had a larger table there to comfortably fit everyone.

--

Lorelai took her usual seat near her mother. Luke sat opposite her and Richie sat to her left. Rory and April sat on the same side of the table as Luke, with Rory nearest her grandfather.

The discussion of Yale was thrown around a lot and while those closer to Richard's end of the table commented on the college, Emily and Luke hardly muttered anything unless they felt it to be necessary. Richie was swinging his legs contently, eating his dinner and then desert calmly while humming softly to himself.

'Lorelai?' Emily asked, placing a hand over hers once she saw how quiet Lorelai seemed, just staring at her hardly-touched meal. 'Is there something wrong with the food?' she wondered and then entire table turned to glance at her.

'Hm?' Lorelai looked up, realizing someone had spoken to her.

'The food, is it okay?' Emily repeated, getting a little concerned but had removed her hand.

'Oh…ah yeah, yeah it's fine' Lorelai nodded and smiled at everyone. 'Excuse me' she wiped her mouth with her napkin and left the room.

'I'll be back' Rory said and left the table to follow her mother. 'Mum?' she asked as she found her down the hall, just standing there. 'Are you okay? You seem distracted'

'Does Richie need a little brother or sister to play with?' Lorelai asked, keeping her tone low.

'He has a puppy' Rory shrugged.

'We got Pepperjack because Richie doesn't have a little brother or sister to play with' Lorelai sighed.

'Well um…do you want to have another kid mum? I mean you've got April and I but then you've got Richie…that's three kids already. And Richie's only four…' Rory saw the confusion on her mother's face and realized this issue hadn't just popped into her head; she was really considering it. 'There's almost a twenty year difference between Richie and I…you want to have a third baby so soon?'

Lorelai looked at her and thought about it some more. 'If I'd married Luke sooner, I don't think I would have waited twenty years' she sighed honestly. 'I don't know, it's just that you and April are only home for a few weeks at a time and then Richie's…never mind, I'm fine'

'You sure?' Rory asked.

'Yeah, let's get back to dinner' Lorelai nodded and headed back to the dining room. She felt a bit better also and started to involve herself in more conversations, bringing up the weird jokes that everyone had been expecting (and that Emily had hoped not to hear).

Lorelai and Rory had gotten a bit lost on their way home since they weren't used to driving their cars to the new house. But once they'd arrived, Richie was obviously ready for bed and April seemed to have made her mind up.

'I think I'm going to go to Yale' she said. 'I mean it sounds really good and it's not far from here' April shrugged.

'Good choice' Rory nodded approvingly. 'You'll love it, I know I did'

'You're sure?' Luke wondered.

'Yeah, I'm sure…I'm going to Yale!' April grinned.

'You owe me ten bucks' Lorelai held out a hand to Luke.

The next few days went by rather smoothly for the Gilmore-Danes family. Business at the Dragonfly Inn and the Diner were rather calm but profitable and Richie was having a lot of fun with his new puppy, Pepperjack.

It was around lunchtime and the two girls were off seeing a movie while Lorelai, Luke and Richie were at the diner. There wasn't really too much of a crowd since the lunch rush started to die down. Lorelai and Richie were sitting at the counter with their Danishes and coffee, which Richie had been lucky to get.

'I told you he was going to be spoiled' Luke sighed, watching his son but then the phone rang and he moved to answer it. 'Hello? Oh hey Liz!' he grinned and spoke with his sister while Lorelai cleaned up Richie's face.

'We'll pick up a collar for Pepperjack later, okay? Red or Blue?' Lorelai asked.

'Red!' Richie grinned. 'He'll like that'

'I bet he would…' Lorelai stopped mid-sentence as Luke started yelling in joy with a big grin across his face. 'Urgh, he's been discovered…we're moving to Hollywood' Lorelai groaned and laid her head on the table as Luke hung up.

'Liz is pregnant' Luke told her happily. 'She and T.J are over the moon'

'Yeah, I think you rode the cow over there too' Lorelai joked.

'What cow?' Richie glanced up, confused.

'Ah, nothing' Lorelai sighed. 'That's great news, good for them!' she said enthusiastically to Luke but deep down she just felt sick. She really was happy for Liz, but the confusion of her having-a-third-child issue was brought back to the surface and she no longer wanted to hear about someone else falling pregnant.

'I got to get back to work, alright if Richie stays here?'

'Sure' Luke nodded and was a bit confused to the way Lorelai dashed out of there the moment she'd heard about Liz's pregnancy. Especially since she'd said she was going to stay for as long as possible. His mind then lost track of that thought the moment Jess walked into the diner.

'What are you doing here?' Luke asked.

'I see your vocabulary skipped "hello" again' Jess frowned and glanced down at Richie, whom was looking up at him. 'Ah…hi' he said awkwardly.

'Jess!' Richie suddenly realized who he was and went to hug him but Jess moved away.

'I don't do the whole "hugging" thing' Jess said and turned to Luke. 'Mind if I crash here for a few days? I was passing through but my stupid work partner got the event mixed up and it's delayed three days'

'Ah…sure' Luke shrugged.

Richie watched his cousin go around the back of the counter and then head upstairs.

'Jess!' Richie said and jumped of his stool before running to stop him.

'What?' Jess rolled his eyes and turned to look down at the small boy.

'Play with me' Richie pleaded.

'No way' Jess said and went to go upstairs but heard Richie sniffing. He growled and turned around to see Richie was upset. 'Fine!' he said. 'What do you like?'

'Running, building stuff…snow…' Richie thought aloud.

'Okay, how about we play hide and seek?' Jess offered sarcastically, wanting to get away from him since he wasn't a big fan of kids.

'I'm not a baby' Richie frowned. He knew Jess was really tough so he wanted to sound very grown-up, maybe then Jess will want to play with him.

Jess raised an eyebrow and gave in. 'I have a baseball, how about we toss that around or something?'

'Yeah!' Richie grinned and turned to Luke. 'Please dad? Pleeeease?' Richie pleaded and used the famous pout that he'd learnt from his mother.

Luke did not like the idea of leaving Richie with Jess, which was probably the craziest thing, anyone in his or her right mind could do.

'Don't worry' Jess said, rolling his eyes at the skeptical look Luke was giving him. 'It's not like I'm going to push him into a lake' he frowned, a hint of meaning behind that statement.

'One hour' Luke sighed, hating the pleading look on his son's face.

'Yeah, if we're not back then, alert the media' Jess joked, grabbing the baseball from his bag. 'Come on' he sighed and grabbed hold of Richie's outstretched hand.

Lorelai wandered into the diner and slumped onto a stool. She sighed and held up a mug to Luke.

'Coffee' she pleaded.

Luke grabbed the coffee mug and poured her some coffee into it and then quickly handed out the ordered food to several tables. The afternoon rush had kicked in and he had been busy for the last few hours, getting food to people all over the place every couple of minutes…it was crazy.

Lorelai took a big sip of her coffee and then glanced around for thier son. 'Hey, Luke?' she asked him once he returned to the counter with an order.

'Yeah?' he asked, distracted.

'Where's Richie?' Lorelai asked, concern leaking into her tone and expression.

Luke paused and then whipped his head around, glancing down at his watch.

'Why are you checking your watch?' Lorelai started to panic. 'You shouldn't be checking your watch…Luke?!' she got up as Luke grabbed the phone and called someone quickly.

'Jess? Yeah hi…' Luke started talking.

'Jess?' Lorelai echoed. 'What-' she hardly got another word out as Luke grabbed his keys and rushed out the door. 'Luke!' Lorelai cried out after him and jumped into the truck beside him. 'Where. Is. Richie?' she asked slowly and in a very dangerous tone.

'He's with Jess' Luke replied, starting the engine.

'Jess? Jess as in…Jess?' Lorelai snapped. 'Why is he with Jess?! What happened?' she then started to hyperventilate at the very thought.

'They're fine' Luke replied. 'Jess's car broke down'

'Why was Richie in the car with Jess?' Lorelai asked, remembering when Rory had been in the car with Jess years ago, that hadn't ended very well at all; but the truck had stopped. She got out and rushed towards the group on the side of the road.

The police officer glanced up as Lorelai ran over and picked her son right off the ground, hugging him tightly.

'Mum, I'm okay' Richie gasped.

Lorelai acknowledged that he was fine before turning to glare at Jess.

'We were on our way back, the car broke down cuz of the stupid junk that it is' Jess explained, giving his car a frustrated kick.

Lorelai was so mad that she couldn't even speak. She gave Luke a hurtful expression before turning towards the nearest police officer.

'Can you give me and my son a lift back to Stars Hollow please kind officer?' she asked with a friendly smile on her face.

'Ah, sure ma'am' he nodded, opening the door of his car to let Lorelai and Richie in. Lorelai just sat there with Richie and did not look at either Jess or Luke.

'Drive, please' she frowned.

To be continued…

Author's Notes: This wasn't intended to be the end of the chapter so sorry for the clifhanger, it's slightly overdramatic sounding, but I just had to end it here as this chapter would have been waaaay too long otherwise...hence the "part one" factor. Anyway, please review!! What are your thoughts on Lorelai having anyohter child? I mean, Richie is four and time is running out. Or your thoughts on them moving house? (although it may or may not stick). Anything you'd like to see? Any questions, etc. Also, some more Rory/Logan stuff are coming soon, not too centered, but it's a part of the story since Rory is getting older and I can't focus 100 on only Lorelai and Luke, unfortunatly, since it's a fic about their family too. Anyhow, enough babbling...please review!!