Author's Note: For all of you confused about Laylee's paternity, he was no one we have yet met. Later, most of the story is told, but for now just know he was a man Rory met while on assignment in Italy, Salvatore d'Arielli. Laylee is closest to her Aunt Viviana on that side of the family, and she and her mom spend every summer in Italy with the d'Arielli family. Salvatore and Rory were engaged, but not married, when he was killed in a car accident in Italy. Rory was six months pregnant. I'm not against Rory/Jess or Rory/Logan, I just think that limiting Rory to those she has already been with is a little silly. Whether it will shift back to a Rory/Jess or Rory/Logan remains to be seen. Also, for those of you craving L/L, it's coming soon, I promise!

Chapter Four: And the moon's never seen me before…

There was still a quiet sadness in Rory as the green truck (same make, same model, newer vehicle) pulled up to her front door. This sadness was different from the visceral, searing grief of Salvatore's death or the slow pangs of longing when she thought back on her numerous regrets. It was deeper than the latter and more selfish than the former.

Her mom and Will had walked from the stadium home, and Jack was out with Natalie until curfew. Luke had driven the two Gilmore girls home, and little Laylee fell asleep as soon as the engine turned over, half her body draped over Rory's lap. Rory paused as the engine cut off, pondering what to do with the sleeping girl.

"Don't move her," Luke said softly, "I'll get her." He slid out of the cab, walking around the front and opening the passenger door. Slipping his arms around her, he lifted the little girl gently.

Rory followed, shoes crunching on the new layer of autumn leaves freshly fallen. "Thanks, Luke," she whispered as she opened the door for him.

He smiled slightly. "Not a problem, Rory."

She watched him expertly navigate his way through the clutter to Laylee's cracked door, then witnessed the way he slipped off Laylee's shoes and jacket before tucking her in tightly and kissing her forehead.

"You might want to get a washcloth," he advised as he joined her in the kitchen.

Rory wrinkled her brow.

"To wash off the paint before it stains the pillows," he clarified.

"Right."

God, could she not even understand that much about raising her own child? The sadness sank deeper.

"So, you hear about Taylor's newest hare-brained event?"

"Laylee showed me the flyer. She told me Jack asked her to go?"

"Yep."

"He's a great kid, Luke. I forgot to thank him, though I guess he was a little too surrounded by attention tonight for me to get a chance. His gesture really meant a lot to her."

"He's gonna be a good man, someday soon. And he can sure as hell throw a ball."

Rory grinned a little at the pride in Luke's voice. They stood in a silence that had become familiar to them over the years, one that was not quite awkward, but not quite comfortable. She had found she enjoyed them as something unique she shared with Luke. Their quiet was broken as Luke cleared his throat.

"So… Rory… About this, uh, dance-thing. Do you, uh, want to go?"

Rory paused a moment, the sadness forgotten for that instant. She let a wide smile grace her face.

"Well, since it is a father/daughter dance, I would say that would be appropriate."

It was his turn to grin, and he did not fail to do so as his eyes met hers.

"I'll be the guy looking uncomfortable in a suit."

"Well then, how am I supposed to tell you from Jack?"

That brought a snort out of him. "Fine then, I'll be the old guy looking uncomfortable in a suit."

"Will told me he's renting a tux."

"Ah, jeez."

"Only the best for Mom."

Luke's voice softened. "Well, at least he's got that part right."

On impulse, Rory hugged her step-father and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Luke."

"For what?" Luke asked, a little embarrassed by the affection after almost thirty years of knowing her, even though he loved her as his own.

"Being the greatest dad a girl could ask for."

Luke left not long after, and the sadness returned to sit heavily on Rory's chest. Her only consolation was that Laylee couldn't wish for better parents: they'd done a great job raising those boys, and even Rory herself.

"No, no, Jackman, put your money away. Tonight, Stars Hollow's star eats free!"

Jack froze for a moment. "Mr. Doose, did you just say free?"

"Of course! You just murdered Woodbury! I'm sure those boys cried all the way home."

"Uhh, thanks, Mr. Doose," Jack said, taking Taylor up on his extremely rare offer before he had a chance to change his mind. He returned his wallet to the back pocket of his jeans before handing Natalie her ice cream cone. They quickly ducked out of the crowded store, Jack nodding in gratitude to all the praise and congratulations he was receiving.

"Hey, what'd the scout say when he came to talk to you and your parents after the game?"

"Mostly that it was too early for anything definite, but if I keep playing like this for the rest of the season, there's a pretty good chance UConn'll offer me a full ride. He's asked Coach to keep sending him the tapes, and says he'll be back for a couple more key games."

"Wow, Jack! A full ride! And you don't want to go far away, so UConn's perfect. Storrs isn't much further than Hartford. I bet your grandpa would be at every game. Hey, why didn't they come tonight?"

"Grandpa was planning on it, but he called Mom this afternoon and said he couldn't make it 'cause Grandma had signed them up for some function without him knowing."

"Well, I guess I'll meet them on Sunday." She shifted her ice cream to her right hand and threaded the fingers on her left through Jack's. "Hey, Jack?"

He looked down at her and smiled gently. "Yeah?"

"What really happened to Will's eye?"

"He jumped a guy in English class."

"English class!" she exclaimed. "He's even more passionate about his books than you are."

Jack laughed a little at that. "I guess you could say that. They were reading The Scarlet Letter, and Will took some guy's views a little too personally."

"Did he get in trouble?"

"A week of detention and a two-game suspension."

"So I guess we're not going into Hartford tomorrow."

"Nope. And that's a fairly light sentence, considering he could've been suspended or even expelled."

"Probably because he's so close to the headmaster."

"Probably," Jack sighed, removing his hand from Natalie's and instead wrapping his arm around her. "What time do you need to be home?"

"Midnight," she answered, glancing at the watch on her wrist as she snuggled in close. "We have twenty minutes."

"We should probably start heading over there."

"Jack, it's a five minute… Oh, right," she grinned.

"'Morning, Burger Boy," Laylee yawned.

Luke turned around with a hidden smile as the spindly girl climbed onto the counter stool. He was waiting for "Fill 'er up," the second part of their bit, but it didn't follow, so Luke couldn't deny her the coffee she didn't even want. He was immediately a little worried, especially since she looked a little green despite her sleepy grin.

"Good morning, Laylee. What can I get you for breakfast this morning?"

"I think I have appendicitis," she grumbled.

Luke rolled his eyes at her chronic hypochondria.

"I think you ate too many red vines with Nonna last night during the game," Luke told her, setting a cup of her usual herbal tea in front of her.

"I had half as many as Nonna."

"And she's still in bed with a stomach ache."

Laylee laughed gently. "Really? So's Mom."

"You came in alone?" Luke asked, scanning the diner and the sidewalk outside and realizing for the first time that Rory was not present.

"Yup. Mom says I'm allowed to now."

That made Luke nervous, but he knew it was not his place to intervene.

"So, anyway, I have appendicitis. Make me mashed potatoes."

Luke sighed. "Laylee, you don't have appendicitis."

"Yes, I do!" She stood up on the stool. "I can feel it right here." She pointed to a spot on her lower abdomen, right above her hip.

"No, you don't."

"Well, my belly still hurts. Make me mashed potatoes." She put on a puppy face, a deadly mix of the Rory face and the Lorelai pout.

"Ah jeez," Luke groaned. "It's nine o'clock on a Saturday morning, and you want mashed potatoes?"

She leaned over the counter, skinny knees resting on the top, and kissed his scruffy cheek.

Luke tweaked her nose with a small grin and set off with a sigh to make her the damn potatoes. The regulars smiled at the gruff diner owner's easy affection with his young granddaughter.

About thirty minutes later, Laylee was on her third plate of mashed potatoes and had perked up significantly, chattering aimlessly to her Luka while he went about his diner duties, the scene reminiscent of many mornings with another Lorelai. Will had arrived and was busing tables and taking orders. Jack had just come in and was getting ready to take to the kitchen.

The bell above the door rang, and the two other Lorelais joined Laylee at the counter, the eldest still stuck on slightly cleaner versions of the previous night's Trojan jokes, despite Luke's admonishments to "quit it".

The breakfast rush dwindled to one table, so Will slumped onto a stool with an icepack to his throbbing eye, Luke wiped down the counter while he observed the girls, and Jack emerged from the kitchen to start work on dividing up the breakfast receipts.

The bell rang again, followed by an exuberant "Where's my girl?"

Laylee spun around on the stool and hopped down.

"Hi Grampa Christopher," she grinned, wrapping her arms around his middle. "Want some mashed potatoes?"

"Umm, no, Lay, I'm okay. Thanks. You ready to go?"

"Yup yup. Bag's right here. Oh, Grampa Christopher, guess what! We beat Woodbury last night, and there was a scout here for Jacky. And Mom, Nonna, and I had a red vines eating contest during the third quarter, which Luka said was silly, 'cause we knew Nonna was going to win all along."

"And did she?" Chris smiled at the wild girl.

"Duh."

"Yeah, Dad, 'duh'," Rory mimicked, casting a glance at her mother who was leaned over the counter in conversation with Luke, who grinned and shook his head at whatever she'd said and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. Will, oblivious, continued to hold the ice pack to his eye, which hurt a whole hell of a lot more than he thought it would. Jack eyed Chris as warily as ever as he sorted. The Danes-Hayden relationship was one of necessity, bridged only by Rory and Laylee. That went for Lorelai, too, who recognized Chris's right to be involved in Rory's and Laylee's lives, but kept herself as distanced as cordially possible.

"Hey, kid," Chris smiled, kissing his daughter's cheek. "How's work going?"

"Well. I'm really busy."

"Understandable. Well, take a break this weekend. Put your feet up. Don't worry about this little one. I'll have her back by Sunday night, probably after dinner."

"I'm missing dinner?" Laylee pouted, since she always enjoyed Stars Hollow Sunday Night Dinners best.

"Yeah, sorry, kiddo, but tomorrow's the only day GiGi can come over, and she really wants to see you."

"Really? GiGi's gonna be there?"

"Yep," Chris smiled, picking up to duffle bag at Laylee's feet, brought over earlier by her mother. "Say goodbye to everyone; my car's right out front. 'Bye Rory, Lor, boys."

As he left, Jack and Will barely nodded in acknowledgement of his farewell, Jack immediately caught up in Laylee's forceful goodbye.

He remembered the complete and utter shock of the first time he'd met the twins.

He hadn't seen or spoken to Lorelai since her parents' vow renewal. He still saw Rory, though not often, and his daughter never mentioned her mother in his presence. One weekend in the fall, a little after Rory's twenty-fifth birthday, when he knew she was still in town, he decided to drive out to Stars Hollow to surprise her and take her out to dinner. Respecting her wishes, he would make as little contact with her mother as possible, but at least this way he would have to at least see Lorelai Gilmore.

As he parked his car in front of the Gilmore home, he noticed a small blond child, bundled up in a blue plaid scarf and navy pea-coat, toddling at full speed towards him, a dog bounding behind, barking excitedly. Curious, he'd climbed out of his car just in time to hear a voice shout to the child and canine.

"Freeze! Both of you!"

The child complied a few yards from the curb, staring at the outsider standing in the street. He was young, Chris observed, still a toddler and unsteady on his feet at times. The dog, grey and up in his years, skidded to a halt as well, right beside the boy, tail wagging enthusiastically. The boy had an adorable, mischievous grin that seemed familiar and blond hair brushing his ears. Chris froze as he got a good look at the boy's eyes for the first time. Before he could recover, the boy began to take a few testing steps towards the curb, and consequently Chris, while the dog looked warily back towards the house, woofing a sort of warning to the boy.

"Jackman Gilmore Danes, what did Mommy just say?" a very familiar voice, closer this time, admonished.

Chris was still in shock. Even after all that, Lorelai and the diner man were not only still together, but probably married, and with a son! Why hadn't Rory told him?

Still not noticing the new arrival, Lorelai swooped in and grabbed the boy up, depositing him on her hip after kissing the top of his head.

"You know the rule, Jack. No playing in the street."

In response, the boy, called Jack apparently, merely stuck his thumb in his mouth and laid his head on his mother's shoulder, his free hand pointing towards Chris. Lorelai followed her son's finger with her eyes.

"Christopher! What… what are you doing here?"

The dog began to growl at Chris, hiding behind Lorelai's legs.

Before Chris could answer, Luke interrupted, coming up behind her, also seemingly oblivious to Chris's presence. There was another boy in his arms, a replica of the one Lorelai held, except his plaid scarf was green. Twins!

"Lorelai, have you seen Will's loader? The red one? We looked everywhere, but… Chris…"

"Um, hi," was all Chris could manage. "Uh… wow… twins…"

"Daddy, who dat?" the second boy, Will, asked of his father, pointing as his brother had earlier.

"Sweetie, that's Rory's daddy," Lorelai explained, her voice gentle. "How about you and Jack go get Rory so she can see him?"

Will nodded enthusiastically, as did Jack, though less so. Mother and father each set down a son, both of whom took off back across the front yard, shouting: "Worwy! Worwy!" The dog loped off after them.

"This is, uh, a surprise," Luke started, breaking the awkward silence, taking a step protectively closer to Lorelai, glancing at her as he asked his next question, "Did we know he was coming?"

"Nope."

"I was coming by to surprise Rory as a sort of belated birthday thing," Chris offered lamely. "Sorry. I guess I should've called first. I don't mean to intrude…"

"You're not intruding," Lorelai politely assured him, even managing a somewhat realistic smile. "Nothing going on here but backhoe-loaders and front-yard baseball." She nudged the wiffle ball at her feet with her toe. That must have been what Jack was after before he got distracted by the new arrival.

"Backhoe-loaders?" Chris asked, a little confused as to just what those were, and also more than a little uncomfortable, both with the situation and the death-glare Lorelai's husband (he was pretty sure by now that they were married: he'd seen the giant ring) was directing at him.

Lorelai chuckled a little, glancing towards Luke as if sharing a joke. "Among other construction equipment. I forgot; you have a little girl. Hey, speaking of which, where is Georgia?"

"Her grandma took her to the ballet this afternoon. Seems Sherry got her wish after all: GiGi is enamored with becoming a ballerina."

"Too bad she's not around to enjoy it."

She said that with such certainty that he knew Rory had filled her in on his life. So why hadn't she done the same for him?

Luke cleared his throat. "I, uh, guess we should invite you in. It's getting a little cold out here."

"Ooh! Maybe it'll snow!"

Luke rolled his eyes before affectionately humoring her with a "Yeah, maybe it will," as she threaded her arm through his, and they started to lead Chris back towards the house.

"The boys are finally old enough to enjoy the snow this year."

"And catch hypothermia."

"Bah humbug," Lorelai teased, just as Rory came out of the front door, escorted on either side by a little brother pulling on her hands.

"All right, all right, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, I'm coming."

"Will, Jack, stop manhandling your sister," Luke scolded gruffly but warmly. The boys released Rory, who looked up in surprise upon recognizing her father. She glanced worriedly at Luke and Lorelai, who had turned their attention to the hungry sons who had pulled their father close to whisper in his ear.

"Okay, okay. One gingerbread man each. Let's go." He hefted a twin into each arm and carted them off into the house, their giggles audible long after they were out of sight.

"So, Lor… You're married."

Well, duh.

"Yep, three years." She unconsciously twirled her two rings around her finger with her thumb, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"And kids. Twins."

"Yep, twenty-nine months old." The smile was beginning to break free merely at the mention of her sons.

"And a dog?" This one was quite a shocker.

"Paul Anka," Lorelai grinned a little bigger.

"Rory's forgotten to mention any of this," Chris said, trying to stay calm. He looked to his daughter, who looked a little sheepish, but mostly in shock at the situation. It was getting a bit cold, as Luke had noted, but neither Gilmore (or, he guessed, neither Gilmore or Danes) made a move to go inside.

"Sorry, Dad. There never seemed a good time. It's a hard subject to work into conversation."

And, Chris knew, Rory didn't want him doing anything stupid to mess things up as he had attempted last time.

"The boys were at her graduation. Just a few weeks old," Lorelai supplied, the unspoken message of "But you weren't" hitting him loud and clear.

"Mommy! 'ook! Bread man one foot," one of the boys interrupted the conversation, though which one he couldn't tell since the boy was sans scarf, just little jeans and a long sleeved navy shirt. He was brandishing a one-legged gingerbread man, and had somehow managed to open the front door with one hand.

"Well, what happened to the other one, Will?"

Will grinned and pointed to his stomach. "Belly. Yummy."

"Oh, I bet. Can Mommy have his arm?"

"Mine!" Will objected, holding the coveted, and crummy, item against his chest, cheeks flushed with warmth and giddiness.

"You need to share, Will."

"Worwy." With that, he broke off the arm and offered it to his sister.

"Thank you, Will," Rory graciously accepted the crumbling gift with a smug smile towards her mother.

"Fine. I'll eat the head."

Will looked horror stricken. "No!"

"Okay, I'll eat your head."

"NO!" Will giggle-shrieked, taking off inside, Lorelai quick on his heels, ready to swoop up and tickle.

"Hey, no eating your own young, lady!" Rory called after them.

There was an awkward silence.

"Sorry, Dad. I was just… protecting them. I thought if she wanted you to know, she would tell you."

"She would." Which meant she didn't want him to know.

"You really hurt her last time, Dad."

"I know. They're a beautiful family. Must take amazing Christmas card pictures…"

"Yep."

That was all he got?

"So, um, forget about it, kid. I know now. I didn't expect her to be here pining for me when I showed up. The sons threw me for a loop, but I'll get over it. You wanna catch some dinner?"

Rory agreed, and she quickly ducked inside to grab her coat. She returned and started towards his car. He followed her for a few moments, then glanced back over his shoulder to see three noses pressed against the living room window, one black and two pink. Behind that, he saw Luke wrap his arms around Lorelai's waist and pull her close as she rested her head on his shoulder, the tension visibly draining even from his distance. And something broke, deep down inside.

As he watched Laylee warmly embrace everyone in farewell, taking extra care to kiss her grandparents goodbye, he once again felt the same jealousy he had always felt towards Luke Danes, especially since that day. Luke had it all, everything Chris wanted, including the Gilmore girls.

Now Chris loved GiGi, but a part of him had always wanted a son to carry on the name. And Luke had two, twins no less, who were probably two of the nicest boys anyone would ever meet. And they were Lorelai's sons, the woman Chris had always envisioned eventually ending up with. Chris was also well aware of the special bond between Laylee and her Luka, something he had long ago given up on trying to match.

Laylee bounced out of the diner, and Chris was momentarily caught in what a genetic replica of Lorelai she was. Chris didn't need pictures to remember the ten-year-old Lorelai, and looking at Laylee was like being transported back forty years.

"Alright, Grampa Christopher. Let's get this show on the road."