Author's Notes: Thanks to my 3 reviewers, kinda sad after recieving 7 reviews and then I get 3? Oh well, can't complain :) Thanks,

Chloe2007- Tried of telling me you love the story? How could I ever tire of hearing that?! It's actually reassuring! What's a good story without a litle mystery. And Lorelai, tell her parents? Yes, they're getting along more...but I'm not so sure they're at that level just yet...maybe.

Jermey Shane- Thanks for your review anyway, I'm sure you'll find something to say next time :)Thanks for reading still.

kat321- A special thanks to you for BOTH of your reviews! I was sad when I didn't get a review from you for chapter 16 and then you reviewed not only last chapter...but 16 as well! Yay, really put a huge smile on my face...thanks!! And, they're long reviews! So happy. I know what you mean when you were talking about Luke and Lorelai's lack of communication and I am not too thrilled in writing their rough patch...but I can promise you that things will get better. Where I'm up to now, things couldn't be any better. Their marriage is still rather new right now and neither were the marriage types...so yeah. Everything will work out in the end and things will start to smooth out soon enough.

Chapter Eighteen: Is it over??

'Lorelai? Is everything alright?' Emily asked in concern as she followed her daughter and grandson into the living room.

'Yeah, I just…are you and dad going out?' she asked then, seeing her father coming down the stairs while still re-adjusting his tie.

'No' Emily said and Richard glanced up in surprise.

'Lorelai, Richie? What are you doing here?' he asked.

'We've just decided to come visit for a few days, you don't mind do you?' Lorelai asked, her tone even and firm. She clearly wasn't in an enthusiastically happy mood tonight.

'No, not at all…stay as long you need' Richard nodded. 'Are we still going out?' he then asked his wife and as Emily went to say "no", Lorelai butted in.

'Go ahead, Richie and I are kind of tired anyway…don't worry about us' Lorelai gave a light smile and led her son upstairs with their bags.

Emily watched them in deep concern as Richard rushed over to her.

'What happened?'

'I don't know' Emily sighed. 'We'll deal with this later, give her time' she nodded. 'Your coat Richard' she then reminded him and headed for the door again.

--

'Mum?' Richie asked as they went into her old room. 'Can I sleep with you?'

'Sure hon' Lorelai nodded and grabbed his pyjamas from one of their bags. 'Get dressed and hop into bed, I'll be back' she told him.

Richie nodded and watched her leave before reaching into his bag and pulling out a photo of himself, Luke and Lorelai. He smiled at it and placed it on the bedside table before climbing onto the bed.

It wasn't until around midnight that Emily and Richard finally arrived home. And the moment Richard headed up to his study, Emily went wandering around until she paused at Lorelai's room and peaked inside. She smiled a little sadly at the sight before her. Lorelai was lying wide awake, just staring at the ceiling while Richie snuggled up to her, fast asleep. Emily didn't know what was going on with them, and she could only pray it wasn't too serious. But there was a time for everything and now clearly wasn't the time to pressure Lorelai for information.

Emily watched them for another minute and then headed towards her own room, hoping Lorelai would be more talkative in the morning…

Lorelai and Richie awoke the following morning feeling a bit weird and disoriented. They got up and Lorelai wandered off to talk to the newest maid, Tami.

Emily sat down at the table with Richard and waited for Lorelai and Richie to emerge from upstairs. Both were shocked however, as the pair came into the dining room wearing clothes that looked slightly out of place on them. Richie was dressed in black pants, a long-sleeved, white shirt and even had his hair carefully brushed. Lorelai was in a nice dress, but it was very prestige and not at all inappropriate or overly decorative. She helped Richie into his seat and then sat in her usual chair.

'Morning' Lorelai smiled at her parents. 'What?' she then noticed the weird looks they were giving her and Richie.

'You look…nice' Emily stated.

'And me? Do I look nice?' Richie asked eagerly.

'Indeed' Richard nodded. 'Very handsome young man'

'Yay' Richie grinned and looked around for food. 'What's for breakfast?'

'Anything you like' Emily told him, still watching her daughter though.

'Really mum, I'm fine' Lorelai said and then called for the maid since she was starving.

'What now?' Richie asked once he was finished his breakfast. 'I'm bored'

Richard wiped his mouth with his napkin and noticed the look Emily was giving him.

'Oh, I know!' Richard got up. 'I have something that may interest you' he told Richie.

'Can I?' Richie asked his mother in excitement.

'Sure, go ahead hon' Lorelai smiled as the boys left the rooms. 'I'm fine mum' she said again, turning to see her mother's concerned but suspicious expression.

'Are you and Luke still together?' Emily asked, raising an eyebrow.

'Yes' Lorelai replied with a sigh. 'I…need some time away'

'Why?'

'Because…I just do' Lorelai frowned. 'I'm stressed and I need a break, okay? It's no big deal'

'Fine' Emily nodded.

'Um, and mum?' Lorelai asked after a pause. 'Can you…can you not tell anyone we're here? Please?'

'Well if it's no big deal then why the secrecy?' Emily asked knowledgably.

'Please?'

'I won't tell' Emily said, annoyed that Lorelai won't talk to her. 'Excuse me, I have a maid to fire'

'No, no don't fire her!' Lorelai hastily followed her mother into the kitchen. 'I like Tami!'

'Hello? Dragonfly Inn, Michel speaking?' Michel answered when Lorelai called just after lunch.

'Michel, it's Lorelai…can I talk to Sookie please?'

'Why of course' Michel said sarcastically. 'Why on Earth would you want to talk to me? Oh and don't worry, it's no problem that you didn't bother to show up for work today. No message, no call-'

'Put Sookie on!' Lorelai said loudly and then sighed, not in the mood to deal with Michel.

'Fine' he said and went into the kitchen, handing the phone to Sookie angrily.

'Hello?' Sookie asked uncertainly.

'It's Lorelai' she said.

'Oh! Hey, we were worried about you' Sookie said in relief. 'Are you okay? What happened? Luke called me three times, asking where you were'

'What did you say?'

'That I didn't know, why? Was I supposed to know?' Sookie then felt bad, as if she'd done something wrong.

'No, no…sorry' Lorelai sighed. 'I'm just under a bit of stress right now, so Richie and I are on a little trip…away'

'Oh, okay' Sookie smiled. 'Where are you? The beach? Ooh I bet Richie would love the beach! Oh, oh! What about that new carnival place near Woodridge? I heard it's nice at this time of year'

'No, I'm ah…at my parent's house' Lorelai confessed, unaware that Richie had walked into the room behind her.

'Oh' Sookie said but then became very confused. 'What?'

'It's a long story, I promise to tell you later' Lorelai told her. 'I just wanted to let you know that you can call off the search parties' she joked. 'And can you keep the Inn from collapsing to the ground for a little while?'

'Sure honey…how long will you be away?' Sookie wondered, still concerned.

'Ah, I don't know…a few weeks maybe?'

'That bad huh? Did something happen with you and Luke?' Sookie asked.

'No, nothing happened. Just stress, and…well, I'm just going through a tough time right now'

'Okay, but don't be gone too soon, Luke's really worried'

'I won't, bye Sookie' Lorelai hung up and sniffed a little. She turned around to see Richie standing there with a toy sailboat in his hands, looking upset.

'Are you mad at daddy?' Richie asked, clutching his toy tightly.

'No, oh sweetie' Lorelai went over and picked him up, comforting him. 'I'm just feeling a bit sad right now. I thought it would cheer me up if you and I went on a little trip, that's all'

'Why are we here?' Richie asked. 'You yell at grandma and grandpa' he pointed out.

'It's a long story, but don't worry okay? Everything is going to be fine, it's just a little break'

'Promise?' Richie asked.

'Promise' Lorelai nodded. 'Now, what is this?' she looked at the boat.

'Grandpa gave it to me' Richie grinned. 'He said it's a model of some big ship in war. Did you know that grandpa has a friend that used to drive this ship? Cool huh?'

'Yeah, cool' Lorelai nodded with a sigh. 'And you're okay with this? Staying here I mean. Getting to know your grandparents a bit more?'

'I'm okay' Richie nodded. 'Are you okay mum?' he asked.

'I will be' Lorelai smiled and then her phone started to ring. She put Richie down and he left the room while Lorelai answered her phone.

'Hello?'

'Mum?' Rory's panicky voice reached her ears. 'Are you okay?'

'Wow, the news travels fast huh?' Lorelai sighed and sat down.

'Luke called; he said you and Richie went on some kind of trip? What happened? You just took off, poor Luke. He's so worried about you!'

'I'm fine, just taking a little break from everything' Lorelai said and was surprised to find herself lying to her daughter, or at least not wanting to tell her where she and Richie were.

'But you're okay…right? Nothing happened between you and Luke?'

'Everything's fine, don't worry. It was just sort of last minute' Lorelai said.

'Okay. You know you can tell me anything, right?' Rory asked.

'I know. Tell Luke not to worry, bye Hon' Lorelai then hung up and took a deep breath, feeling guilty.

'Whew, he's asleep' Lorelai sighed later that night as she rejoined her parents at the dining table.

'He's very mature for his age' Richard said.

'I know' Lorelai replied. 'He's so smart too'

'Very smart' Emily agreed. 'He was helping me with a crossword earlier'

'You do crosswords?' Lorelai smirked, trying to picture her mother doing such an activity.

'Just that one' Emily frowned.

'He asked me the strangest thing today' Richard said, thinking aloud. 'I was sitting in my study and he came in, asking me what sport was. So I explained it to him and gave him a few examples, like golf. He then became very interested and asked me if I could show him how to play it. Then he showed me a picture of some boys playing soccer and he wanted to know what it was' Richard nodded. 'You should sign him up for sports Lorelai, I think he would enjoy it'

'Wow' Lorelai said. 'Interesting. You like sport dad…but so does Luke. Guess the genes there kicked in. I mean you say "sport" to me and I get tired just hearing it, whew' she said as if she was exhausted. Lorelai then realized she was actually rather tired. 'Hey um, I'm gonna go get some sleep. It's been a long day. Goodnight' she smiled and headed upstairs.

'I'm sure Richie would love to play sport' Emily smiled but waited until she was sure Lorelai had gone out of hearing range. 'What is going on Richard? Have they told you anything?' she asked, irritated by the entire situation.

'No' Richard replied, also becoming serious on the matter as they headed upstairs to his study to discuss it further. 'Do you think something happened with Luke?'

'I don't know!' Emily said angrily. 'She won't say anything. And at that little gathering after lunch…did you see how they were? Richie was having fun, being polite to guests and…Lorelai loved it!'

'That was strange' Richard agreed. 'I introduced her to some of my business associates and she was thrilled to meet them, no inappropriate jokes or anything of the sort'

'She and Luke broke up! It has to be!' Emily said. 'Maybe she's pregnant? That would explain the change in her behavior'

'But Richie too?' Richard asked.

The couple sat in silence for a moment but couldn't figure out what was going on.

'I'm worried about her' Emily sighed.

'I know, me too' Richard nodded. 'But we'll just have to give her time, let her come to us'

'Yeah' Emily scoffed. 'Because that happens everyday' she said sarcastically. 'I'm going to bed' she said and left the room.

'Hey' Lorelai smiled at the new maid Jana as she entered the kitchen the following day. 'Hello Mrs Danes' the maid nodded.

'My mother filled you in on that huh? But it's actually Gilmore-Danes' she nodded.

'Oh, I'm so sorry!' the maid panicked.

'It's okay, I'm not my mother' Lorelai assured her and the maid calmed down a bit. 'So…you're making cookies?' she wondered, seeing the box of cookie mix.

'Um, yes' the maid nodded and wasn't sure what to do, which made her nervous all over again. 'Would you like to help?' she asked, unsure.

'Help? Cook?' Lorelai asked fearfully.

'Hi mum' Richie smiled as he came into the kitchen for a drink.

'This woman is scaring me' Lorelai pointed to the maid, taking a few steps away from her.

'You're not Tami' Richie noticed.

'Who's Tami?' Jana asked worriedly, not knowing that Tami was the maid before her.

'The cat' Lorelai lied. 'She's making cookies' she then told Richie.

'Let's help!' Richie grinned.

'Help? Cook?' Lorelai asked again.

--

'Lorelai, there you are!' Emily said as she walked in a few minutes later. 'What are you doing?' she then asked as the sight of Richie's floured hands, cheeks and hair. Lorelai was standing beside him, mixing some dough in a bowl.

'We're making cookies, mum' Lorelai smiled.

'Should I feed the cat Ms Gilmore?' the maid asked as an angry expression was shot in her direction.

'What cat?' Emily asked. 'And it's MRS Gilmore, not MS Gilmore. You're fired'

'Why are you making cookies?' Emily asked. 'That's the maid's job'

'Yes well, you don't have a maid now' Lorelai pointed out as the maid left the room. 'Come on, it'll be fun' she smiled.

Emily watched them disapprovingly but lately she'd felt as if she and Lorelai had bonded a little, reached a common ground. That they had finally put some of their differences aside, so any time they spent together wasn't a game of cat and mouse anymore.

'Well, fine' Emily rolled her eyes and joined in.

--

'Emily, I'm home!' Richard called out as he hung his coat up and looked for his wife. 'Oh, ah…' he wasn't sure what to say as the maid rushed past him with her belongings. 'Hm…Emily?' he called out again.

'Kitchen!' Lorelai called back.

Richard couldn't think what his daughter was possibly doing in the kitchen, but he wandered in and found the most bizarre sight in front of him. Richie, Lorelai and Emily were laughing together as they placed chocolate-chipped dough onto a baking tray.

'Grandpa!' Richie grinned. 'We're making cookies!'

'As I live and breathe' he gasped. 'Well, mind of I join in?' he asked, wanting to be a part of this historical moment in the Gilmore Family.

'Sure dad' Lorelai smiled, pushing the bowl towards him. 'I'll get another tray. We've got chocolate chipped, m&ms topped and chocolate-chocolate!' she smiled. 'The next lot is for marshmallows' Emily added, still rather amused by Lorelai's topping choices.

'Well, I better get to work then' Richard said in amusement, not being able to suppress his giggle.

'Yeah' Richie nodded. 'We're the Gilmore Cookie Factory!' he cheered.

'I like that' Emily smiled. 'We should do this again sometime'

'For sure, I wanna try the peanut butter topping and the jam, oh! And caramel is also a big seller' Lorelai smiled at her family. 'This is fun' she then realized before moving to put the second tray in the oven.

'Hello?' Luke answered the phone once he got back from the diner.

'Hey, it's Rory' she told him. 'Luke, ah…mum and Richie? They're in Hartford' she told him, feeling he should know since he was probably losing his mind in worry.

'Hartford?' Luke repeated. 'What the could they possibly be doing in Hartford?'

'They're with Emily and Richard' Rory sighed. 'I just…I though you should know. Don't worry; they're fine. Apparently they're just taking a little trip away. Mum seems relaxed; I'm sure she'll call soon'

'Okay, thanks Rory' Luke sighed and hung up. He stared at the floor for a moment and thought that whatever was going on must be more serious than he realized. Lorelai wasn't usually one to go to her parents unless it was serious enough to. Luke didn't know what to do, but he knew that ultimately he'll just have to take Rory's advice and just hope Lorelai calls…

'Yeah, right' Luke rolled his eyes and sighed.

Author's notes: Okay! So there it is, please reivew...but don't panic. I am NOT going to break Luke and Lorelai up! The next chapter will contain more flashbacks and...I think you'll like next chapter. Any until then...please review and let me know what you all think of this one! Any questions? Etc.

-Mel