Lee emerged from the bathroom dressed for bed just as Amanda was wrapping up her call with Emily Gilmore. "You all finished?" she asked.
He nodded and gestured to the phone, "What did she have to say?"
"Well, as I expected, she wasn't very happy when I told her that Lorelai didn't plan on going home, but she did agree to her daughter's terms and as Lorelai requested, I set up a dinner meeting for tomorrow."
"Which means we have a lot of time to kill," he replied with a flirtatious smile as he sat beside her on the bed.
Picking up on his cues, she responded, "Just what on earth will we do to pass the time?"
He softly kissed her lips and then whispered in her ear, "I'm sure we can think of something if we put our heads together." He bent to lightly nuzzle her neck, testing the waters to see if she might have had second thoughts like he had about waiting.
She was just reaching for him when they were interrupted by an insistent knocking on the door. "It never fails, does it?" She shook her head.
"Never. You'd think on an out-of-towner, we'd at least get a little peace."
"Oh, I know just what you want a 'piece' of," she teased as she rose from the bed, walked to the door and opened it to find a panicked Lorelai on the other side.
The young woman barreled into the room and began in a flurry, "I can't do it. I just can't let them come here. It's like inviting a vampire into your house – of course, when you don't know they're a vampire, 'cause who would really be dumb enough to do that if they knew – but you know, once you invited them in, that gives them free rein to do whatever they want to you and they usually want to just suck all the life out of you. My parents are just like that, especially my mother and I just know the second she's here, she'll-"
"Lorelai, Sweetheart, it's okay," Amanda told her in a soothing tone. "You can calm down. I just spoke with your mother and she's agreed to meet on your terms."
"Oh, God, you already called her? Call her back and tell her it's off…seriously, I can't have her here. I finally have a life that I've been building for myself and for Rory and I can't let her destroy that."
"Speaking of…" Lee interjected. "Where is Rory?"
"She's sound asleep in her crib. One of the night housekeepers is looking after her for me."
"Well, that's very nice of her to do," Amanda commented. "But this thing with you parents, you really shouldn't work yourself up like this. I already told your mother that you aren't planning to come home. Plus, remember, Lee and I will be with you every second."
"Right," Lee agreed. "If things get out of hand, we'll be right there to step in." He wasn't thrilled with the idea of playing moderator to a runaway teen mom and her uppity mother, but he knew they had a job to do and he also knew that if anyone could keep the bloodshed down to a minimum, it was his much cooler-headed partner. "If anyone is good at diffusing volatile situations, it's us. Not to brag, but we're generally considered to be the best team in our office."
She eyed them both warily. "Are you sure you really want to do this?" She thought about what Lee had said earlier about living in the potting shed and he didn't even know her. She could only imagine what her mother, who'd made a career out of telling her that nothing she did was good enough, might think. "I mean, what I said earlier about inviting a vampire into your house, it's really true when it comes to Emily Gilmore – and I know this isn't really my house, but I've made a home for Rory and me here, so it feels like it is…for now anyway…at least until I can afford to buy us a real one."
"Yes, we really are," Amanda assured her. "If it makes you feel better, why don't we all meet for breakfast in the morning before you have to work and we can sit down and strategize exactly what you're going to say to your mother when you see her? How does that sound?"
She breathed a sigh of relief, "Sounds good."
"Good. We'll see you in the morning then," Amanda patted her shoulder and led her to the door. "You really should get some sleep if you want to be ready to face your parents with a clear head."
"Yeah, you're right. Thanks."
"My pleasure," Amanda replied as she closed the door with a sigh. "This may be harder than I thought."
"Hey…" Lee took her hands in his. "If anyone can handle this, it's you. You know how good you are at talking people off the ledge. Look what you just did there. She came in here climbing the walls and you got her to calm down and think rationally.
"Yeah, but what if she's right? What if Emily just comes in here tomorrow and tries to take over again?"
"We won't let her and more importantly, I get the sense that Lorelai won't either. Like she said, she's got a life for herself here and plans for her future as well as her daughter's. I don't think she's willing to let anything get in the way of that."
"You're right. I'm probably worrying for nothing." She took a deep breath to calm herself. "I…uh…" She gestured to the bathroom. "I should get ready for bed too."
"It's all yours," he replied.
She nodded, reached for the overnight bag that she hadn't yet unpacked and hurried to the bathroom, quickly closing the door behind her. She let out a deep sigh as she opened the bag and surveyed its contents. She'd come prepared for whatever the night might bring, having packed both her normal modest nightgown and one that wasn't quite so modest. She cast a wary glance at the door and thought of Lee on the other side of it as she tried to decide which one to wear. A slight shiver ran up her spine as she reflected on just how flirty he'd been, showing that he was up for whatever she was just before they'd been interrupted.
"It never fails," she repeated her earlier comment. She thought back for a moment to just how many times they'd been interrupted before things could progress between them, by her mother, by the job and most of all, by Francine. That thought brought her to remembering Francine's 'opening night' wisecrack and that made her decision for her. "Too many damned interruptions," she grumbled as she began to get undressed. She was determined now that they needed to seize the moment while they had it, fight or no fight. They'd just have to figure out the details of their future later, but for now, she wanted to just live in the moment for once.
A few minutes later, she stepped out of the bathroom to find Lee casually lounging on the bed idly channel-surfing. She cleared her throat loudly to get his attention as she slowly walked toward him.
"Wow," he exclaimed when he saw her and quickly clicked the TV off and cast the remote aside. "You look-"His breath caught in his throat as he drank in the sight of her. "You look beautiful," he finally said softly as he rose to meet her.
"Thank you," she replied shakily with a slight flush in her cheeks, suddenly feeling a little shy now that she could see the way he was undressing her with his eyes. But isn't that the whole point of wearing this? She argued with herself. She smiled at him and in a more certain-sounding voice, added, "I'm glad you like it." She took his hands in hers and urged him back toward the bed. Once they were sitting side by side, she leaned in to brush her lips against his.
When their kiss ended, he squeezed her hands. "Amanda, you know, if you still want to wait awhile, I'm okay with that. We don't have to do this tonight."
"I know that, but I was thinking about it and why should we really wait any longer when we've already waited three years? The rest of the stuff, we'll…I don't know…we'll figure it out as we go, but this…" She gave a nod to the bed. "I really want this with you and I think we've waited too long already."
"You're damn right we have," he agreed as he tugged on her hand to pull her closer. "No more waiting."
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The next morning, Lee and Amanda walked happily hand-in-hand down the stairs to meet Lorelai for breakfast as planned, but they were soon dismayed to find that she wasn't in the dining room.
"Maybe she's just running a little late; maybe something came up with Rory," Amanda suggested optimistically as she released his hand and turned to face him. "I remember what it was like when the boys were that little and how hard it was to make concrete plans when one of them would get sick or would decide to have a temper tantrum out of nowhere."
"Or she's hiding because she really doesn't want to see her parents," he countered.
"I was afraid you were going to say that," she sighed dismally.
"Either way, I think we should check it out." He took her hand again and said, "Come on, let's head back out there."
When they reached Lorelai's home at the backside of the inn, before they could even knock, she shouted through the door, "GO away!"
"I guess she saw us coming," Lee sighed.
But Amanda was not to be deterred as she knocked firmly on the door. "Lorelai, listen, whatever's bothering you, we can talk about it. I'm sure we can work something out."
The door was flung open by a red-faced Lorelai dressed in her uniform and it was clear that she'd been crying. "What? What is there to work out? You can't work things out with the devil incarnate and expect things to be okay. I read Faust in school and it went pretty badly for him."
"Oh, I don't know about that," Amanda replied. "In the Goethe version, he was redeemed in the end."
"But look at all the hell he had to go through to get there," Lorelai pointed out and then shook her head. "But the point is that I'm not doing that. I am not going to let my mother run in here and tell me how wrong I am for wanting to do what's best for my daughter or that I'm throwing my life away because I don't live in a stuffy, stale mansion like she does."
"What brought this on? When we talked last night, I thought we were going to help you plan your strategy."
"That was before I came back here and took a good look around this place." She finally opened the door wide enough to allow them in. She nodded to Lee. "I mean, you were right when you said it wasn't the best place to raise my kid." She gestured around the room. "My mother will take one look at this place and call child services on me."
"Okay, I was wrong when I said that," Lee confessed. "But you should also remember that I changed my mind once Amanda here pointed out everything you'd done to turn it into a real home. Maybe your mother will too."
"No!" Lorelai exclaimed in a wide-eyed panic as her heart began to pound. "She can't see this place! I'll lose everything. It won't matter that I'm doing the best I can for Rory; Emily will do anything and everything to take back control and I'll lose my daughter."
"We-ell," Amanda began as the wheels started turning in her head. "We do still have several hours until she arrives and maybe…just maybe she doesn't have to see it."
"How is that going to be possible? The first thing she'll do is demand to see where I'm living."
"So, show her, only maybe show her something different. What if she thought you and Rory actually lived in the main part of the inn instead?"
"What are you talking about, Amanda?" her partner questioned. "What if she insists on seeing it? Besides, I can't believe that you of all people, is suggesting that she lie to her mother when you hate how much you have to lie to yours."
"Okay, yes, that's true, I do hate to lie to her, but some lies are for the best to protect the people we love and in this case, I think this situation warrants it too since Lorelai is trying to protect Rory."
"What are you thinking?"
"Well, Lee, you and I have a perfectly nice room upstairs if Emily wants to see where Lorelai lives."
"Filled with our stuff," he argued.
"But like I said, we have hours before they arrive. I'm sure we could fix that."
Lorelai gaped at them wide-eyed. "You guys would really do that for me?"
"Sure, why not? You'll help won't you, Lee? I mean, as many times as you've changed apartments, you must be an expert at moving things around by now," she teased him.
He rolled his eyes. "But you know very well that I usually hire someone to do those things for-" he began to protest, but in seeing the hopeful looks on the faces of both women, he grudgingly conceded, "Fine, but you're gonna' owe me big-time for this one."
Amanda planted a quick kiss on his cheek and replied, "Thank you, but first, breakfast."
"This day just keeps getting better and better," he groused. Knowing Amanda, she'd probably try to force-feed him a four-course meal for breakfast since she was always on him about not eating properly in the morning.
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That evening, Lorelai fidgeted nervously as she balanced Rory on one hip. "I wish they'd just get here already. If I'd known she was going to be late, I'd have taken the time to change out of my uniform."
"Lorelai, you've got to calm down or you're just going to upset Rory," Amanda informed her. "Babies can sense when the people around them are nervous or agitated and they get that way too."
"I'm trying, but I-"
"Here, why don't you let me take her for awhile so you can collect yourself?"
Lorelai nodded and handed Rory to Amanda, who smiled brightly at the wide-eyed little girl while Lorelai sank into the dining chair nearest her. "I need coffee!" she barked at the nearby waiter. "Bring me the biggest cup of coffee you can and while you're at it, leave the pot."
"Lorelai, we're still here," Lee interjected. "We're not going to let anything happen to you or your daughter and if things get out of hand, we can always insist that they leave."
"Absolutely," Amanda agreed. "Our main focus is you and your daughter." She turned her attention to the younger Lorelai, "Isn't that right, Rory?" She laughed when the baby happily clapped her hands in response. She had to give the young mother credit; while it was clear the girl worked way too hard, she had a very happy and well-cared for daughter.
Lee couldn't help the smile that crossed his face in watching Amanda interacting with Rory. She really was a natural with kids. He just hoped that someday, she'd see that despite how he'd tried too hard and failed the one and only time he'd really been around a child, that he was willing to learn so that he could be a full-time part of her life.
His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp, "Oh my God," from the doorway of the dining room.
They all turned to see Emily with a stunned look on her face. "What is the meaning of this?" she snapped as she pointed at Lorelai's uniform. "Please, tell me you wore this just to get a rise out of me, Young Lady."
Lorelai rose and squared off with her mother. "No, Mom, I wore this because it's my job. Unlike you, I work for a living."
"As a maid?"
"Yes, Mom, as a maid, though the preferred term is 'housekeeper.'"
"Well, that's just ridiculous. You were brought up to hire a maid, not to be one."
"I was also brought up not to get knocked up at sixteen, but here we are," Lorelai fired back.
"I think we're all getting a little too upset here," Richard Gilmore interjected. "If we could all just sit down and talk things over like rational adults…" He turned his attention to his daughter and stated plainly, "Lorelai, I know that you like to do outrageous things simply to set your mother off - the more outrageous the better - but I also know just how smart you are and as such, I know there is some rational part of your brain that would just like to get things resolved; if not for yourself, at least for your child. Do you really want to deprive Rory of the only grandparents who actually care to be a part of her life?"
Lorelai nodded. "Fine, let's talk." She gestured to the nearby table she'd had the dining room staff set up for all of them.
Emily looked alarmed when Lee and Amanda joined them. "Are you two staying?" She glared at Amanda holding her only grandchild.
"Yes," Amanda answered. "Lorelai asked us to be here for this."
"That's moronic. You've done your job, now if you don't mind, this is a private family matter."
"Actually, we do mind," Lee responded tersely.
"I do too, so here's the deal," Lorelai began in a firm tone. "Either they stay, or you go."
"Lorelai!" Emily scolded.
"I mean it, Mom, I want them here. I've had more support from them in less than a day than I've had from you ever since you found out I was pregnant."
"Well, what do you think I was doing all those months when you were expecting, trying to make sure you ate right for you and the baby and then looking after Rory after she was born if not supporting you even after you made your asinine decision not to marry Christopher?"
"Emily…" Richard said in a warning tone, reminding her of her promise not to bring up the subject of marriage.
"Not only that," Emily barreled on, "But I hired the best nurses and nannies for her and you turned your nose up at every single one."
"Because I'M her mother!" Lorelai snapped as she rose again to stare her mother down. "Rory is MY child, not yours and not some nanny's! I needed to take care of her myself. How was I ever going to learn to be a mother if you never let me?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Lee jumped in as the other occupants of the dining room began to stare. "Let's all just take a deep breath and calm down."
"I agree," Amanda joined in. "I don't think it's going to do any good to rehash the past hurts. What's important now is that you're all here together again and you can move toward a brighter future."
"Why don't we all just order dinner while we calm down?" Richard suggested as he picked up a menu. "That was the purpose of setting this meeting for this time wasn't it?"
Emily took a deep breath and nodded with a slight smile to Rory, still in Amanda's arms. "My, Rory's grown so much," she gushed in an attempt to change the subject.
Lorelai flinched and gestured to Amanda who was sitting beside Emily. "I'll take her back now," she told her as she reached for her daughter and wrapped her arms around her protectively earning her a scowl from her mother.
"So, now I'm not even allowed to address my granddaughter?" Emily questioned hotly. "Honestly, Lorelai, I don't know what-
Richard cleared his throat loudly to cut off his wife's tirade before it could begin. "Lorelai, since you've been working here for awhile, perhaps you could suggest something for dinner," her father proposed in an attempt to keep the peace and indicated the menu.
"Oh, what does she know?" Emily scoffed. "She's never spent the hours that I have with meal planning as part of running a household. She probably hasn't had a proper meal since she ran away from home."
"She actually knows a lot," Lee jumped in before Lorelai could make a smart remark again or Emily could continue with her pointed barbs. "She made a recommendation for us last night that was delicious." He gave Lorelai an encouraging nod. "Maybe you could do the same for your parents."
Lorelai took a deep breath and complied, tailoring her recommendations to her parents' tastes. Once they'd all ordered and that was out of the way, she blurted out, "I'm not coming home with you." When her mother's eyes widened again, she added, "Just so we're clear. I know that's what you want and why you agreed to come – because you thought you could talk me into it - but I'm happy here and more importantly, Rory's happy here. We have a life. Granted, it's not the life you wanted for me, but it is the life I want and it will get better. I'm working full-time and saving money and I want to go to school and buy a house and a car –or maybe the car first since I'll need a car to get back and forth to work once I have a house – but the point is that this isn't just some temporary thing. Stars Hollow is my home now and Rory's."
"You have a perfectly good home in Hartford," her father gently reminded her.
"I know you think so because it's perfectly good for you, but for me it's not; it's stifling. I need a place of my own and to find my own way as an adult and as a mother."
"But why did you have to move so far away?" he mother inquired, a sharp edge in her voice, but when she saw the stern, disapproving look her husband was giving her, she took a deep breath and switched gears and suggested in a gentler tone, "What about the pool house?"
"What about it?" Lorelai questioned, her head cocked to one side curiously.
"Well, it's just sitting there and it's plenty big enough for you and Rory. We could redecorate it for you to your liking to make it your own. It has its own kitchen and bedroom and that way you could still have your own place, but still be close to home."
"Don't you get it?" the teen snapped. "I don't want to be close to home because it would be too easy to fall back into old habits of just being quiet about you controlling my life…and Rory's. I love you both, but I can't live with you anymore and the pool house would just be more of the same thing because it's still part of your home."
"Fine, but won't you at least let us help you in some way?" Emily pleaded. "If you want a car, we'll buy you one – or even the house that you want so you don't have to live here. I know you said you want a place of your own, but this isn't really yours if you're living in a motel."
"It's an inn, Mom…and no," Lorelai shook her head adamantly. "I don't want you buying me a car or a house or a boat or anything. I need to do this on my own."
"Well, how about this? Richard chimed in. "You said you wanted to go to school. If you won't accept our help for anything else, at least you could let us do that much for you. After all, had none of this ever happened, we'd have paid for your college education anyway."
"No," she insisted. "How many ways can I say it before you get it? I have to find my own way and I need you to understand that. Dad, you always told me that Gilmores value hard work and take pride in a job well done. Well, I'm still a Gilmore –unless you've disowned me since I've been gone – but either way, I still learned that lesson from you. That's why I'm working so hard here to build something for us; for Rory and me."
"So, you won't let us help you at all and you'll just never come home again?" he questioned.
She shook her head. "Not to live." When she saw her mother tear up a bit, something she'd never seen in her life before, she softened slightly and relented a bit, "Maybe Rory and I will visit for holidays."
"You will?" Emily's face lit up.
"If you'll agree to just let me live my life in peace, even if you don't approve." She gave her mother a pointed look "And stop trying to throw money at me. I'm working so hard so that I don't have to depend on you or anyone else." She let out a resigned sigh, "But…I guess…I guess visits are okay."
"Well, good because you know we do have our annual Independence Day barbeque coming up in a couple of months. Remember how excited Rory got by the fireworks last year?"
"Yeah," Lorelai replied fondly. "I remember thinking she'd be scared by all the noise, but she just loved it."
"Oh, and when the finale came, remember how she squealed with delight," Richard added.
Amanda smiled at Lee as they silently watched the Gilmore family interacting and whispered, "I think our work here is done."
"I think you're right." He beamed back at her, not even bothered by the fact that contrary to Lorelai's fear that her mother would demand to see her living space, it now looked like he'd done all the work for nothing. He was just happy to see Amanda so happy and he hoped to see more of that kind of happiness in the future.