An: Yes, I am back and a year hasn't passed since the last update.

Here is your chapter.

Enjoy and Review!

Side An: Anyone watch Modern Family? Doesn't that little kid, Manny, look like Caesar's child? Just a thought.

Disclaimer: I don't think I'll have enough money to make Gilmore Girls mine. I love shoes too much.

Chapter 21- Doubts and Decisions

Lorelai spent the remainder of the night on a hard hospital waiting room chair near William's room. By now it was morning and she woke when she felt the weight shift when someone sat down next to her. She slowly sat up straight and saw Luke in different clothes.

"Hey, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," Luke apologized.

"No, it's OK. I needed to get up. What time is it?" Lorelai asked.

"It's around 9. Did you sleep OK?"

"I guess," she let a breath out. "Did yesterday really happen or was it all a dream? Please tell me it was a dream," she begged as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes.

"I really wish I could," he told her and gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"Well I have a few more hours before I have to pick up Rory from school. I should probably get there early before my mother beats me there and holds her hostage."

"I'm sure she wouldn't do that."

"Oh, you so do not know my mother. Be grateful."

"I just want to let you know again that I am here if you need to talk about anything. It is not good to keep it in."

"Look who is talking," she pointed out.

"I know, but you like to share and you like to talk. You've been awfully quiet since you came back last night."

"Well I have nothing much to say. I've been thinking."

"About what?"

"About what I am going to do. I can't stay with my parents anymore. The house is Christopher's and I don't want it. If I stay there, there will be too many strings attached. What if I go to the inn and Mia has filled my spot and can't give me a job? Where am I going to live? Why did I even come back here to begin with? I was happy in Stars Hollow."

"I'm sure it will all work out," Luke reassured her.

"How do you know?"

"I know, OK? Listen, you can stay at the house if you like right now. I'm not there much so the house is just sitting there empty."

"Thanks, Luke. I may have to take you up on that. Thank you for being such a great friend."

"Stop thanking me."

-X-

After picking up Rory from school, Lorelai quickly stopped by the bank to withdraw some money for herself. She slipped her card into the slot in the ATM and entered her pin number. The word DENIED flashed in front of her face in red. Thinking she made a mistake, she tried her card and pin again, but the same thing kept happening.

"What the hell?" Lorelai exclaimed to herself. She turned around and headed back to her car. "Rory, sweetie, we have to go inside.

-X-

"I'm sorry, you're account has been frozen," the bank teller told Lorelai.

"What do you mean frozen?"

"The account has been frozen; neither deposits nor withdrawals can be made."

"I know what frozen means. What I don't understand is why? How?"

"I-"

"May I speak to the manager please?" She forced a smile, hoping to get more answers.

Once the woman left to get the manager, Lorelai turned to Rory and asked, "I'm sorry honey, this might take a while. How was school?"

"It was good. I learned a lot of things."

"That is nice. Sweetie, do you want to go color a picture for me over there while I talk to the man," she pointed the kid's table in a corner with crayons and coloring books."

"Can I read instead?" the young girls asked.

"Sure, whatever you want," Lorelai answered and saw the woman returning with a man in a suit following behind her as Rory went over to the table. Lorelai forced a smile on her face and waited for the man to approach.

"Ms. Gilmore was it?" the manager addressed.

"Yes, it is," she shook his hand.

"I am Mr. Dunning. What is the problem here?"

"Well apparently my account has been frozen and I have no idea how that might have happened."

"Why don't you follow me to my office and we can discuss this."

"I have my daughter over there," she began to explain.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure Donna can keep an eye on her for a while," he told her, referring to teller.

"Yes, it is no problem. I can watch her. You go on ahead," Donna assured her.

"Thank you," Lorelai said and followed Mr. Dunning into his office and took a seat in the chair front of his desk.

"OK, let me take a look here," Mr. Dunning sat down and took out her file with her account information.

"Well, your account has been frozen,"

"Yes, the nice lady in the front told me that. What I want to know is how and why," she tried to explain while keeping herself calm.

"We have received a call from someone regarding a matter of debt which has caused us to further freeze all accounts under this name," Mr. Dunning told her reading from her file.

"A matter of debt? What is that supposed to mean? Who called you?"

"Well, it says here that-" The man was interrupted by Lorelai.

"Oh, my god! Seriously? My mother did this!" She exclaimed. "How do I unfreeze the accounts? I have a daughter. She has gotten used to eating."

"You need to contact your mother and perhaps a lawyer."

"A lawyer?"

"Most of these cases involve fraud or debt which results in frozen accounts."

"So you can't just unfreeze them and let me withdraw some money?" She inquired, but the man shook his head.

"Ok, well, thank you for your help, Mr. Dunning, but I believe I need to have a chat with my mother," she said as she stood up and headed towards the door.

"I apologize for not being of more assistance than I am."

-X-

Lorelai fumed her way to the hospital to drop Rory off to spend some time with William and Luke. Next, her trail of anger was followed to the Gilmore mansion. She rang the doorbell several times before a frazzled maid appeared at the door. Pushing her aside, she invited herself in.

"Mom! Mom! Where are you?" she yelled while walking from the foyer to the living room.

"It's not polite to yell, Lorelai," Emily calmly spoke as Lorelai walked into the room. She was sitting on the couch reading a book.

"Do you have anything to explain?"

"Stop beating around the bush and speak to me properly, Lorelai," Emily told her.

"Arrgh! Why did you freeze my bank account? How do you even know what bank I bank at?" She asked with frustration.

"Because I knew you would be paying a visit to the bank today," she simply stated.

"And…"

"And what?"

"You are not answering the question! And you tell me about beating around the bush," she muttered under her breath.

"I had the account frozen to stop you from running away from this wedding. You can have it all back the day after your wedding."

"Mom, I am not getting married. There is no wedding!"

"Please don't act childish and stop running away when things don't go your way," Emily scolded.

"What the hell are you talking about?""

"Rory needs a house, clothes, and a proper education. Do you think $2000 is going to cover that?"

"I'm looking for a job and trying to get my old one back, the one that you thought was beneath me. That is all I have saved right now."

"That is barely enough to get by," Emily pointed out.

"Yeah, I know, Mom. I need to get a job and save some more," she attempted to explain.

"Working as a maid is not going to support your child!"

"Do you believe marrying Christopher is going to solve that?"

"Yes, he has a very good job where he gets a good salary. Rory can go to the top private schools in the area and can have her pick at her Ivy League college."

"His job is where he screws around with other women, Mother!"

"Let it go, Lorelai. Stop being selfish. He is acting childish and he will grow out of it. You think I don't know about your father's 'secret' lunch date with his ex-girlfriend for the first five years after we got married? Yes, I do know about them, but I choose to the look the other way because he is a good husband and provider. He just needed time to grow out of it. Your daughter needs her father. He will grow out of this eventually."

"Mom, please do not use that guilty trip on me. Please do not make me go through with this."

"Lorelai, Christopher may be weak and immature. He certain does not make good decisions, but it is the right thing to do," she looked her daughter in the eyes and told her.

"It is not the right thing for me! Please don't force me," she pleaded. "Besides, he can still provide for Rory without being married to me. I don't want Rory to grow up without a father."

"Can you please find some way to make it work?"

"I am not going into an unhappy marriage."

"If you don't marry Christopher, I am going to take custody of Rory," Emily announced suddenly.

"Oh, my god, not this again," she threw her hands up in disbelief.

"You are not fit to raise her nor do you have the resources to do that."

"No! I raised her by myself for five years in Stars Hollow. Doesn't that prove something?"

"Those are my terms. You choose not to marry Christopher, you lose Rory. Where is your daughter anyway? Did you remember to pick her up from school? You should have kept that nanny I hired."

"Of course, I picked her up and I knew I should bring her here. You are not taking her away from me. I am her mother."

"An unfit mother. You are still behaving like a child. You need to acknowledge your mistake and take the responsible that goes with it. That includes marrying the father of your child."

"My daughter is not a mistake!"

"A sixteen year old should not have a child. She should be in school and attending debutant balls."

"Yes, the timing was bad, but she is not a mistake!"

"If you want to keep her, then marry Christopher. The plans have been made. RSVPs have been returned, the reception seating is set."

"I am not promising myself to Christopher!"

"Then find a lawyer because I am raising Rory. You are cut out of this family!"

"You can't do that!"

"Yes, I can!"

"Would you let someone take me away if you were in my position?"

"I wouldn't get pregnant at 16 or disobey my mother. I wouldn't bring upon that shame to my family," she spat back.

"Bring shame upon the family? Is that why you kicked me out?"

"What?"

"Five years ago, did you kick me out to hide the shame in this family and ignore my existence?"

"I didn't think you would actually leave. Now I know you take threats seriously."

"I left and lived on the streets with an infant."

"And Rory was in the hospital with hypothermia."

"And I was left raped and beat up on the side of the road! Does that mean anything?" She shouted back.

"It shows how you cannot make it by yourself. You needed help. Someone handed you a place to live and work. You couldn't find anything by yourself."

"This is unbelievable!" she began to head to the foyer.

"I give you one day to rethink your decision before I begin the process of having legal custody for Rory over to me," Emily announced.

"You are not going to win!" She slammed the door behind her.

-X-

Lorelai got in her car and drove straight to the hospital, not wanting to spend another moment without her daughter. She rushed into William's room and saw her beautiful daughter smiling and listening intently to whatever story William was telling her.

"Hi everyone!" Lorelai put on a fake smile and greeted everyone.

"Hi mommy," Rory greeted her mother back.

"Everything go OK," Luke asked.

"I'll let you know later, right now I just want to hang out with my munchkin," she said as she walked over and grabbed Rory on her lap. "So what's going on? What was William telling you about?"

After about 30 minutes of chatting, Luke took Lorelai into the hallway to talk about what happened.

"OK, enough wasting time, what happened?" They took a seat in the waiting room.

"I went to the bank to get some money and my account has been frozen by my mother. So naturally I went to my mother's after I left Rory here. She is threatening to take Rory away from me if I don't marry Christopher," she told him as tears which had been held in for so long began to spill.

Luke put his arm around trying to figure out how to comfort her. "Shhs, everything is going to fine. She is not going to take Rory away from you."

"But she is right. If she keeps her, Rory can have everything I can't give her. I have no money, no job, not even a high school diploma. I should have just listened to my mom to begin with."

"Hey, don't doubt yourself. You did fine with Rory. She is incredibly smart."

"Exactly, she is so smart. She loves school. She was telling me the other day that she wants to go to Harvard. She can't get into Harvard from a public school."

"You don't know that."

"Harvard costs a lot of money."

"Look, just because you aren't marrying Christopher doesn't mean he gets to skip out on everything. Ask him for alimony or something if that is what you are worried about. Now I am not telling you what you should do but I believe that you can do this. You can raise your own and everything will be fine. If you come back to Stars Hollow, the whole town will help you out. That is how they are. You can do it. I believe in you," Luke reassured her.

"Thanks. It really needed to hear something positive right now. My mother told me that I put this family to shame and that they are going to cut me out of the family."

"I won't let her take her away."

"Thanks for trying, but you don't know Emily Gilmore. She gets what she wants. She told I have until tomorrow and that I should get a lawyer. Obviously I can't afford a lawyer."

"Do what your heart tells you. Everything will work out. What were your reasons for not going back with your father that night in the hospital?"

"I didn't want that life. I don't want that life for Rory. Yes, money has it perks, but I don't want to be a socialite trophy wife who arranges parties and has high tea in the DAR. Before I even got pregnant I was going to leave somehow. It may have been after college, but that life was suffocating me. I never had a normal life with the Gilmore's."

"You need to consider all of that and think about what decision you are going to make. I am sure whatever you decide will be the best thing to do," he confidently told her.

"Since when did you become a believer in fate?"

"Well, right now, all I can do is have hope. One of the doctors spoke with us while you were gone. His kidneys are failing, so they are going to put him on dialysis, but that is just a temporary solution. They said other organs are next. There isn't much time left," Luke revealed to her.

"Oh, I am so sorry, Luke. Here I am going on about my problems which seem so tiny compared to losing your father," Lorelai told him.

"No, it's OK. I understand. Listen, why don't you go to Stars Hollow now and try to get your job back from Mia. That is if that is what you want."

"Please watch Rory for me until I came back. Do not let her out of your sight. Do not take her out of that room," Lorelai told him with fear in her voice.

"Don't worry. I will take care of her."

"Thank you. I owe you so much."

-X-

-Independence Inn-

"Hey George!" Lorelai greeted the concierge at the front desk.

"Hello, Lorelai, what are you doing back here," he happily greeted her.

"I thought I would stop by and say hello to everyone," she returned his smile.

"Well I am glad. We have not seen a maid here as quick and efficient as you since you left," he told her.

"So you haven't filled the job position yet?" Lorelai inquired.

"No, for some reason every time we hire someone they end up quitting within four weeks or less."

"Wow."

"Wow, indeed. How is little Rory?"

"She is great. She's in Kindergarten now and she absolutely loves reading. You cannot get a book out of her hand," Lorelai praised.

"Oh, she has always been a smart girl."

"Yes, she has. Is Mia in here office?"

"Yes she is. Go on back. She will be happy to see you."

"Thanks George, it was really nice seeing you again."

"Same here, Lorelai."

Lorelai walked back to where the offices where and knocked on Mia's door. She heard a "come in" and push the door open.

"Hi, Mia," she greeted.

"Oh, hello, Lorelai. What do I owe for this surprise?" she genuinely smiled.

"Nothing. I just wanted to see how the inn was doing. I really miss everyone and this town."

"I know that the town misses you and Rory as well. I hear there is a wedding in the coming weeks."

"I don't know anymore," she quietly admitted to her. Ever since she had gotten the job at the inn. Mia had been like a surrogate mother for Lorelai, the person who she would go through to talk about any problems she had. Mia had learned to read her like a book.

"Lorelai, what is wrong?"

"Mia, I was wondering if you had any job openings. I understand that I may not seem like an ideal worker considering how I left but I would really like to have a second chance."

"Why don't you tell me what is wrong and we will see," Mia compromised and Lorelai nodded and took a seat in the chair.

She took a deep breath and admitted, "Christopher has been cheating on me, basically for five years. My mother won't accept that I will not be marrying him anymore and instead of being supportive she wants to get custody of Rory."

"Oh, dear."

"I understand if you have already filled my old position, perhaps maybe you know someone in town that might be hiring. I just want to be prepared in case this threat is not a ploy to get me to marry Chris," Lorelai continued.

"Well, sweetheart, you are in luck. I just fired a maid yesterday," Mia announced.

"Thank you, so much! When can I start?" she got up from her seat to give Mia a hug.

"Tomorrow is good."

"I will be here. You really do not know how much this means for me."

"Yes, I do. Now honey, do not worry about anything else."

"Thanks! Actually, I hate to ask for something else, but-"

"Is anyone staying in the potting shed? No. It is all your."

"Thank you."

"I am happy to help. Remember if you need anyone to talk to or if things are getting bad with the family, I am here and I will do anything to be a help like watching Rory."

-X-

TBC...

I was going to add more to this chapter, but I couldn't decision what to add. So all of that will be in the next chapter.

Now back to the school. I have interviews for professional year so wish me luck and don't forget to review!