I wanted to give a shout out to Nancy, thanks so much for reviewing every chapter! I'm always excited to see your reviews. I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to review with feedback or even just a quick mention that you're enjoying the story enough to follow it.

After going back through the story, I realized some parts seem a little choppy since I was more so writing scenes I had in my head rather than a day to day storyline. I mostly wanted to paint an overall idea of the future I envisioned for Gilmore Girls, so hopefully it's ok, but let me know.

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February 2015

"Rory, look at the dinosaur I drew last night!" Andy exclaimed trying to pull a piece of paper out of his backpack while walking.

"We're almost at school, why don't you wait and show me then?" Rory replied trying to avoid everything spilling out of her brother's backpack and into the middle of the street. She had ended up with a free Friday of no meetings and little work to do while Marcus was in Chicago for work, so had decided to come home to Stars Hollow on Thursday night for a long weekend. It was now Friday morning, and her siblings were very excited for their big sister to walk them to school.

With Andy on one side of Rory and Valerie on the other, they approached the school with throngs of kids heading inside to get to class. Andy and Valerie were excitedly pointing out everything from where they lined up after recess, to where they had performed a science experiment last week. Rory found it amusing but didn't want them to be late to class. She was about to tell them it was time to go inside when a woman approached her, "Hi, you must be Valerie and Andy's mom, Lorelai. I'm Tanya, Hannah's mom," she said perkily, holding out her hand for Rory to shake.

Rory reached out to take her hand and was about to reply but didn't have the chance before her siblings burst into laughter, "That's not my Mom! She's my sister," Valerie blurt out, still giggling, "But her name's Lorelai too," she added thinking the whole situation was hilarious.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the woman replied quickly, clearly embarrassed as color rose to her cheeks, "I just assumed…"

Rory felt bad for her and interjected, "Don't worry about it, you're definitely not the first to do it," she replied with a smile and saw the women relax. "You can call me Rory. If there's something you needed to tell my mom, I'd be happy to be the messenger," she added.

The woman seemed to regain her composure and immediately became very business-like, "That would be great, thank you. I've been trying to get a hold of your mother for months now, but every time I'm in the same room as her, she seems to disappear. That's probably why I mistook you for her. I'm the PTA president, and we have been in desperate need of a secretary since Debra quit after her divorce," she paused, and Rory could tell she clearly did not think this was an adequate reason for abandoning the role. After the brief moment, Tanya continued, "Anyways, I was hoping your mother would consider taking over the position. She does have two children in the school, and I don't see her involved in many other school related activities," she finished somewhat passive aggressively.

Rory put on a tight-lipped smile holding back her laughter. She was sure it hadn't been a coincidence that this woman hadn't been able to talk to her mom, Lorelai had definitely been avoiding her. "I will be sure to bring it up to her," Rory assured Tanya, thinking that it just probably wouldn't be presented in the way she hoped.

"I appreciate that. It was nice to meet you, Rory," Tanya replied as she headed towards her car.

Rory turned to Andy and Valerie who were still giggling to each other over Rory being mistaken for their mom, "Ok, you two, time to get inside or you're going to be late," she said trying to usher them towards the doors.

"It's so funny when people do that," Andy said smiling.

Valerie nodded in agreement, "We could play tricks on people and make them all think you're our mom! It would be hilarious!" This caused both the twins fall back into fits of laughter.

"Glad you two find it so amusing," Rory deadpanned , "Now go to class before I tell Daddy about the sip of coffee I let you try this morning," she finished threateningly.

"But I didn't even like it! I was just curious," Valerie defended herself, but she was already moving towards the doors.

"Have a good day!" Rory called as her siblings hurried inside the building.

After dropping Andy and Valerie off at school, Rory headed over to the Dragonfly to help her mom out at the inn and get some of her own work done like she used to do after school. When she entered the lobby, Lorelai was on the phone trying to explain to a guest why they would not be receiving a refund after canceling the day before their reservation. Rory walked behind the front desk and sat down, waiting patiently to deliver the PTA president's message.

Lorelai finally set the phone down with a little extra force than necessary and groaned, "No, we cannot fill your room in day. No, I don't care that little Johnny got the flu. No, the world does not revolve around you," she buried her hands in her face for a second and then popped back up wearing a giant fake smile, "So that's my day so far. How's yours been?" she asked Rory with artificial cheeriness.

"Just listen, I think this may help with your mood," Rory said with a grin, "Do you happen to know anyone at school by the name of Tanya?" she asked innocently.

Lorelai's face scrunched up into of disgust, "Oh that lady? She's awful. 'I'm the PTA president. I devote my life to fundraisers and memorizing the school handbook word for word. Why don't you?'" she mimicked. "I know she thinks I need to join that stupid committee so I avoid her at all costs."

Rory laughed, "Well, you're doing a pretty good job. She said you always seem to 'disappear' from the room when she's around and so she never has the chance to ask you about being PTA secretary," Rory started cracking up.

"Oh God, I should have been disappearing faster," Lorelai replied seriously.

"And this the best part," Rory continued, "At first, she thought I was you, which of course Andy and Val found hilarious and made sure to let her know it in, let's just say, not the most gracious way. She was so embarrassed," Rory was laughing remembering the scene.

"Awww, I would have paid to see that smug little look she always has wiped off her face," Lorelai replied clearly very amused, "This day is looking better, thanks babe," Lorelai added happily.

"Glad to be of service," Rory replied taking a bite of the chocolate bar she'd just stolen from her mom's behind the desk candy stash.

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Later that evening, Rory was in her room, a million notes sprawled across her bed, attempting to get some work done. It'd been fun spending the day at the inn with her mom. It reminded her of her childhood. She was in a good mood and getting into a writing groove, when her cell phone buzzed, pulling her back to reality. She looked at the screen and was unsure of what to think when she saw the name that popped up.

"Hi Dad," she answered, curious as to why he was calling. She hadn't heard from him since telling him Luke was going to walk her down the aisle, which wasn't the most pleasant conversation, but he had seemed to accept it. At least she hoped. Maybe he was calling to tell her whether or not he was still coming to the wedding.

There was a brief pause, and then suddenly Christopher was shouting, "How could you do this to me, Rory!?" his tone aggressive.

Rory was taken about. In hindsight, she should have expected a reaction like this, but she had been doing her best to push Christopher out of her mind. She didn't know what to say and before she had time to figure something out, her dad continued angrily, "I mean come on, that's my one right: a dad gets to walk his daughter down the aisle. I deserve that much! You don't get to take that away from me!" By the end, his words became slightly slurred and Rory realized he must have been drinking.

Rory was fed up. She did feel guilty about telling Christopher she didn't want him to walk her down the aisle, and still had an internal debate as to whether what she did made her a bad daughter, but something in his words ignited her and she started screaming back, "No, you don't deserve it! For you to have the rights of a father, you have to actually act like a father!" It felt like all the hurt he'd caused her over the years was bubbling to the surface and all the pain was adding together and hitting her all at once, "You know what Dad? I deserved for you to keep your promises. I deserved for you to remember my birthday. Those were my rights as a daughter and you violated them, so maybe it makes me a bad daughter to not ask you to walk me down the aisle, but you cannot claim that you deserve it," Rory finished strongly but then immediately burst into sobs.

Christopher quickly shot back, "I'm so sick of hearing about how horrible of a father I've been. I tried my best, but I was sixteen when you were born, Rory. I was a mess myself. And I know, I know, I grew up, but it's not so easy to start a perfect relationship when your kid's already half grown!" he continued, his voice still raised.

"Mom was sixteen too!" Rory sobbed back to him. She was in a complete breakdown now and just wanted to get off the phone.

"And then you expect me to be just fine with showing up to your wedding and watching your replacement daddy walk you down the aisle?" Christopher continued completely caught up in his own rant by this point, "I'm not that pathetic, Rory, so you can go ahead and make your seating chart without me."

Rory was mentally telling herself to hang up, but she couldn't physically make herself do anything except continue to sob. She wanted more than anything to not care, but she always had, and all that past pain she hadn't felt in years was resurfacing.

"I'm so done with this, Rory, so done! Go enjoy your life you new daddy dearest," Christopher ended with a sneer, his voice filled with jealousy, and then immediately hung up.

Rory pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself as she continued to sob uncontrollably. She felt horrible. Had what she'd done been wrong? But he'd also done so many things that were wrong throughout her entire life.

Just then there was a knock at her door and Lorelai's voice floated into the room, "Rory everything ok? I thought I heard shouting," she asked concerned.

When Rory didn't respond, but kept sobbing, the door opened and soon Lorelai's arms were wrapped around her, "It's ok babe, you're ok," she said soothingly rubbing Rory's back. Seeing her daughter's bed covered with papers, Lorelai guided Rory down the hall towards her own bed where she continued to hold her until she was calm enough to speak.

"Dad called," Rory eventually hiccuped between sobs, "To say he's not coming."

Lorelai could only imagine what else must have been thrown in there to make Rory so upset. "I'm sorry Rory," Lorelai whispered back, wishing she could do more to take away her daughter's pain.

"It's not your fault," Rory croaked out as tears streamed down her face and she tried to catch her breath.

Just then Andy burst into the room, "Mommy, I need you!" he called out as he skipped into the room.

"No, I need Mommy!" Rory shouted at her brother through her tears, and immediately felt even worse than she had a second ago, "Andy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," she tried to apologize as even more tears dripped from her face.

Andy looked taken a back, "It's ok," he said quietly, his head down.

"Hey Andy, can Daddy help you? If not, I'll be there in a little bit, ok?" Lorelai said, now attempting to soothe her son as well. Andy nodded and slinked out of the room.

"I'm horrible," Rory said looking at her hands, her sobs finally subsided into quiet tears.

Lorelai pulled her closer, "No you're not, you're upset," she said attempting to stop Rory from beating herself up, "You'll apologize later, and all will be forgotten," she added confidently.

"It's still not ok," Rory said shaking her head, "And God, I shouldn't need my mommy more than six-year-old," she berated herself. She was angry with herself for ever feeling jealously when Lorelai's attention was focused on Andy and Valerie. It was ridiculous when she knew she and her mom had a special relationship, and Lorelai had never failed to be there for her when she needed it, but she had been an only child for twenty-three years.

Lorelai grinned, "You'll always need Mommy, forever and ever," she said cheerfully squeezing Rory even tighter.

"I do," Rory replied seriously, hugging her mom back tightly.

Lorelai turned serious again, "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked looking Rory in the eye.

Rory wanted to get the conversation off her chest and began slowly, "He just started saying all this stuff about deserving to walk me down the aisle, and I was just like, how can he deserve anything after he disappointed me so much when I was little, you know? I just started remembering everything and I got so mad, and then all the pain came back. He was also talking about Luke and by the end, I just lost it," Rory did her best to summarize.

Lorelai was clearly working hard to hold back her anger towards Christopher, "If he deserved it, you would have asked him. You would have wanted to ask him," she said simply.

"Yeah I kind of thought that," Rory started and then paused, "But another part of me still feels guilty. I mean he obviously was never the model father figure, but he is my dad, and it must have felt like a stab in the back when I asked Luke and not him…" Rory trailed off tears beginning to form again in her eyes.

"I'm not going to tell you it felt good or didn't cause damage," Lorelai responded honestly, "But I think that's something you had to consider before making your decision," she reached out to put her hand on Rory's wrist, "And the hurt will wear off with time. Knowing Christopher, he'll cool off and eventually forgive you."

Rory shook her head, "Why do I even care if he forgives me?" Rory asked helplessly but then a fire lit in her eyes, and she continued angrily, "You know what? I don't. I don't care, I don't need him," she finished confidently.

Lorelai looked at her daughter, knowing the anger would fade and she would care eventually, "Because he's your dad," she responded softly to Rory's original question, "And you can't change that even if you want to, and you can't change the feelings that come with it," she said honestly, rubbing Rory's arm.

Rory looked like she didn't want to accept this, "I have you and Luke, that's all I need," she said defiantly and then changed the subject, "Now, I think I have a little brother I need to go apologize to," she said standing up and wiping at her eyes to try make the crying less evident.

Lorelai nodded, knowing Rory also needed time to cool off before thinking about forgiving her dad. She wished it was as easy to cut ties with family that hurt you as it was with anyone else, but she knew from experience this was not the case. "That sounds like a great idea," she responded to Rory allowing them to move on from the conversation for now.

They found Andy at the kitchen table with kiddy scissors and construction paper spread out in front of him, "He hon, do you still need help?" Lorelai asked walking over to him.

Andy looked up from his project, "No, I just needed help finding the scissors, but Daddy helped me," he replied, seemingly content, "I'm sorry I interrupted. I didn't know Rory was crying," he added sincerely.

"You don't have to say you're sorry. You didn't do anything wrong, Andy," Lorelai firmly reassured him, "You can always ask me for help," she added squeezing his shoulder.

"Andy, I'm the one who should apologize," Rory spoke up, "I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you. There's no excuse," she added clearly still upset with herself.

"It's ok, Rory. You were crying so I know you were sad, and I know sometimes people are mean by accident when they're sad," Andy replied matter of factly.

Rory smiled at her brother's logic, "Exactly, it still isn't an excuse though," she replied.

"I hope you feel happy again, Rory. It's not fun to be sad," Andy said in the same logical way as he went back to cutting up his construction paper.

"Thanks Andy, I already do feel better," Rory replied honestly, relieved that her brother was not too upset and amused by the 6 year old's understanding of emotions. She wished she could explain how she was feeling so easily.