Author's Note: I'm sorry! Okay! Combine senior year, varsity soccer, and a depressingly out of character second half of the Gilmore Girls season, put it in a blender, and what you get is something lethal for A. Windsor's muse. So, I'm sorry. Really, really sorry.

Also, with the close of the sixth season, this story is officially AU, not just speculative. Luke and Lorelai married in April of 2006. Luke didn't keep knowledge of his daughter from his fiancée for TWO months. Anna Nardini was not a witch with the largest B I have ever seen (this becomes more important later on in the chapter). And Luke was not, in October of 2005, replaced with a pod person.

That being said, my pretty little college acceptance letter posted on my wall, varsity soccer complete, and graduation within throwing distance, enjoy this next chapter. Hopefully this Gilmore-Danes clan is still in character. Thank you for your patience. Your reviews remind me of the true nature of Gilmore Girls.

Chapter Fifteen: The moon's never seen me before…

"C'mon, Mom, we're gonna be late," Jack called up the stairs. "It's just a stupid town event in Miss Patty's studio… You don't have to get all dolled up."

"Jackman, you are getting more and more like your father every day," Lorelai admonished, coming down the stairs.

At the door, Jack held her jacket open for her and she slipped in, grabbing her purse off of the nearby table. She then grabbed her son's wrist and twisted it so he could see the time on the watch he wore.

"Ha! Not late yet."

"Ah jeez."

"There we go again! Where is your dad anyway?"

"Diner. He's closin' up early though."

"Hopefully he's bringing coffee."

"You don't think about much else, do you?"

"Ouch, baby boy…"

Jack rolled his eyes and pushed his mother out of the door, closing and locking it behind them.

As they walked towards Miss Patty's, Lorelai caught Jack glancing at her sidelong. She grinned.

"Trying to figure out why you hang out with me?"

Jack nodded.

"Comin' up with anything good?"

"Other than the fact that you birthed me, I'm fresh out," Jack responded with the calm, quiet wit he saved for the few people close to him.

"I'll give you a few more minutes to figure it out."

"How nice."

As they crossed the town square on the way to Miss Patty's, Luke caught up with them, Laylee and Rory in tow and, blessedly, coffee in hand for his wife.

"Nonna! Guess what!" Laylee exclaimed, as bright and exuberant as ever, right arm tucked neatly in her vibrant sling, completely ignored by the bouncing girl.

"What?"

"You have to guess," Laylee sighed, exasperated, grabbing onto Jack's hand with her free hand, but turning all of her attention to the grandmother who walked to her right.

"Alright. You broke something at Luke's again?"

"No!" Laylee objected. "That was just once."

"Twice," Rory corrected.

"I know of three," Jack added.

"Three?" Rory asked, surprised, "Laylee?"

"It's four," Luke sighed, "Keep going Laylee."

"Anyway!" Laylee said loudly, reverting to the previous subject, "Mom wants you and Luka and the boys to come to dinner tonight at the Crap Shack."

"Who's cooking?" Lorelai asked.

"Take a wild guess," Luke grumbled, the affection not at all hidden by his gruff act.

"Well, I guess we'll be there. Jack?"

"Sure," Monosyllable Jr. answered.

"Any occasion?" Lorelai asked.

"I have an announcement," Rory explained.

Lorelai opened her mouth to question, but Laylee cut her off: "Don't bother asking. I tried everything; she's not telling."

"Alright, Mini-Me, I guess we'll just have to be patient."

"Yeah, that sucks."

Any further conversation was halted as they entered the Dance Studio and each member was grabbed away by some townsperson or another and wrapped into conversation: Luke and Noah Makepeace discussing the Red Sox's prospects after the last season, Laylee and her henchmen Jake and Nicholas plotting their next prank on Taylor Doose, Rory and Andrew catching up on the newest releases at the book store, Lorelai sustaining a grilling for gossip by Patty and Babette, and Jack and Natalie rearranging the night's schedule to fit in his family dinner.

A few minutes later, Will hopped onto the stage occupied by two baby-grands and whistled through his fingers for attention. The room settled down to a dull roar, and Will leaned into the microphone set up between the pianos and grinned at the crowd.

"Good evening, citizens of Stars Hollow, and welcome to the Stars Hollow Dueling Piano Night. In case you've been living under a rock somewhere, I'm Will Danes-"

"Oh, we know who you are, Willy!" Miss Patty called from near her punch bowl with a broad grin.

Will had the decency to blush a little and continued with a wide, charming smile: "…and I'll be playing one of the pianos tonight. My partner in musical crime will be Mr. Morey Dell, who hopefully will go easy on a young 'un like me." A ripple of low, appreciative laughter filled the studio, and Luke rolled his eyes as usual at the boy. "On behalf of Stars Hollow Elementary, my alma mater, I'd like to thank you for coming out tonight. All proceeds, even those in the tip jar, go to buying new instruments for the school music program, so open up your wallets. There's paper for requests over on the table to the right of the pianos, so keep the songs coming and we'll keep playing. Natalie?"

With that, Morey joined him on stage and settled at one of the pianos, while Will went to grab a request out of the already half-full request bowl and Natalie worked her way onto the stage.

"Alright, spill," Lorelai commanded as she plopped into her chair next to her oldest child, plate full of Luke-prepared goodness. The rest of the family was crammed around the kitchen table, caught up in discussion of the Dueling Pianos and the townspeople present.

This caught Laylee's attention, and she swung her pig-tailed head around to get in on the action.

"Hush, everyone! Mom has an announcement."

The boys of the family quieted, bringing all attention onto the big sister as they waited for her big news. Rory swallowed a bite of dinner and set down her fork.

"Okay, I've put in my two weeks' notice at the paper."

Her announcement was met by silence.

"I've taken an editing position through Jess's publishing house. I can do it from home more than my job now, and it pays well."

"So… no more traveling?" Laylee questioned, a stranger to silence.

"Not nearly as much," Rory answered, catching her mother's eye. Lorelai's face was unreadable.

"You're giving up on reporting?" Will asked, brow furrowed at the sudden announcement. Rory usually told him these things in advance.

"Not giving up," Rory clarified, again looking to her mother. "Taking a break. It's good for all involved. You guys will be seeing a whole lot more of me."

"Can't go wrong there," Jack said, returning to his dinner.

"Sounds great, Rory," Luke echoed his son's sentiment and action, scooping up some more salad.

"I think this calls for a movie night!" Laylee announced, diving in anew to her meal and grinning at the other two Gilmore girls. Lorelai returned the smile, then shifted her gaze to her daughter, to whom she gave an encouraging nod. Rory grinned slightly.

"Alright, Lay. When do you want this movie night?"

"Tonight. Duh."

"Less attitude toward your mother," Luke reprimanded lightly. "And eat your vegetables, please. Otherwise you'll grow up like your grandmother."

"That's the plan."

The next morning Jack rose early, as usual. He had slept a little later than normal (7:30) since he didn't have to work at the diner and he'd been out late last night with Natalie. After getting dressed and ready (ten minutes, at a sleepy pace), he banged on the door to his brother's room.

"'Morning, Will. We've got places to be. Breakfast'll be on the table; we leave in twenty."

The response he got was a muffled groan.

"Commitments, Will. Let's go."

"Screw you…"

"Bacon, eggs, and hot coffee."

The door swung open to reveal a mass of sleep pants and tousled hair barely recognizable as Will.

"Coffee?"

"Get dressed."

Will was ready and downstairs in a record seven minutes, sliding into a seat at the kitchen table and looking to his brother eagerly: "You said something about bacon, eggs, and hot coffee?"

Jack rolled his eyes and plopped a plateful of breakfast and coffee in a travel mug in front of him. "Eat quickly. You can savor your caffeine while you drive us over to Woodbridge."

"Ten-four, Baby Boy. Eat quickly, savor coffee in car."

Seven more minutes later, the boys, jeans, hat, and ratty T-shirt-clad, dumped their dishes in the sink and made for the door.

"Mom! We're out!" Will shouted up the stairs. Their father was already at the diner.

The only response was a muffled, agonized groan. Jack grinned.

"I see where you get it from."

"Get in the car."

The boys arrived in Woodbridge fifteen minutes later, parking Will's Accord in front of an old house and playfully racing each other up the front walk and to the front door. Will rapped out a silly knock on the door, grinning as it opened to reveal the resident of the home.

"'Morning, Ms. Nardini," Will greeted. "Second Saturday of the month and your regularly scheduled Danes handymen are here, at your service."

Anna Nardini smiled. "Come on in, guys. Did you have breakfast yet?"

"Yes, ma'am. Jack cooked. He spoils me."

"He's just unbearable otherwise," Jack grumbled in explanation, moving with his brother and Anna into the house.

"Heard April, Laylee, and Jack kicked yours and your Dad's butts on Halloween, Will," Anna teased as they all moved into the kitchen.

"Don't remind me," Will groaned, removing his forward facing hat now that he was inside. "It's pretty embarrassing when your ten year old, one-armed niece can slide into home plate for the winning run when you have the pumpkin in your glove."

"It was a nice slide," Jack added helpfully. "Any specific jobs this month, Ms. Nardini?"

"Leaky faucet, clogged gutters, and the usual," Anna told them, knowing that seven years into their monthly ritual there was no use protesting or hiding any sort of dirty jobs from the boys.

They had, from the first moment they'd hopped the bus over without their parents' permission at the age of nine, insisted upon cutting her lawn and doing any sort of hard chores around the house. They claimed, especially since April was gone, Ms. Nardini certainly needed their help around the house; at home, there were four (six including Rory and Laylee) of them to divide up the work, but Ms. Nardini was all alone. It had been amazingly adorable, though at first a bit anti-feminist. While she had acquiesced only after they called their parents and even then only let them do little things to feel useful, as they grew older they became more adept at finding the dirtier jobs and getting a bit miffed she hadn't told them. By now, she was just used to letting them do it. The only payment they would ever take was lunch and the occasional batch of cookies.

"Alright, we'll get started," Will said. "Yell if you need anything."

"Will do, guys."

"So, Piano Man, lawn or gutters for you?"

"Gutters."

"Figures. Your mind is always there."

She scanned the crowd for signs of her daughter's father, clueless as to how he would find her among the thousands of people in the stadium. She checked her watch again, noting that he had thirty minutes before their daughter graduated eighth in her class from NYU, hoping to God he would make it.

"Hi, Ms. Nardini!"

The young voice caught her attention, and her eyes locked on the twin boys (nine as of recently) who were slipping through the heavy crowd to her side. The reddish-blonds looked especially handsome today. The one who had greeted her (Will) was wearing a black suit and hunter green tie, smile easily spread across his face. The other had been bribed into black dress pants and a white dress shirt unbuttoned at the collar, tousled hair barely calmed. They were adorable boys, each charming in his own way, and both reminded her of their father. They were her daughter's half-brothers, and April was incredibly fond of them.

"Hi guys. Where's your dad?"

"Comin'," Jack answered, motioning to the direction from which they had come.

She followed Jack's directions and saw Luke appear from the crowd, a curly-haired little girl perched on his shoulders and his wife pushing him in the direction of their sons. She was struck for a moment by the ease with which Luke handled the pretty toddler, slipping her off his shoulders and pretending to drop her before hiking her up in his arms as she giggled. She couldn't help but wonder if he would've been this way with April, given the chance. She also wondered who the little girl was.

"Anna," Luke greeted with a grin, "Sorry, took us a little longer to get out of the house than we had planned. Someone changed three times, not to mention any names." He looked pointedly at Will. "And someone else still thought jeans and a baseball cap were acceptable ten minutes before we left." For that Jack received the glare.

"Boys… can't take 'em anywhere," Lorelai quipped, ruffling Jack's hair.

The quiet boy blushed and became engrossed in the sneakers Anna guessed he hadn't been talked out of.

"Once we finally got these prima donnas into the car, Lay had to go to the bathroom about every five exits," Luke finished explaining. At this, the child in his arms turned the blue eyes shared by the twins and Mrs. Danes to Luke with a playful twinkle. Luke finally realized Anna's confusion. "Oh, sorry. This is Laylee, my granddaughter. Lay, this is April's mom, Ms. Nardini. Can you say hi?"

"Hi," Laylee beamed, then held up one hand with haphazardly folded fingers, "I'm a'mos' three."

His granddaughter. She suddenly felt very old, what with her daughter graduating from college and her ex the grandfather to a three-year-old little girl.

"Rory's working today," Luke further explained, "And Laylee wanted to see her April."

There were moments when she forgot how large of a family Luke now had, when she forgot he was no longer the loner living above his diner, when she forgot how integrated into the family April had become in the weekends and holidays she spent with them without her mother.

"Luka, cookie, please."

"Not right now, Laylee," Luke groaned. This obviously wasn't the first time she'd made an inquiry as to where her next food was coming from.

"Yes, please," Laylee demanded again, more insistent this time.

Beside Anna, Will counted down under his breath: "Three… two… one…"

"Alright. Just one," Luke acquiesced just as his son finished, earning a snicker from both twins.

"Pushover," Jack accused, settling onto the stadium bench next to his mother and stealing the afore-mentioned cookies from his mother's purse to spread between the family members. "Cookie, Ms. Nardini? Aunt Sookie made 'em for the trip down here."

Those were probably the most words the boy had ever strung together in her presence and in her state of shock she agreed with a thank you to the white chocolate macadamia nut cookie proffered and returned to her seat on the bench. Will slid in between her and his brother, stealing an extra cookie while Jack's back was turned.

"I saw that," Jack informed him.

"Cookie-Nazi," Will mumbled through the cookie he'd stuffed in his mouth.

Several hours, and a nap for Miss Laylee, later (mind-numbing hours filled with waiting and one brief moment of excitement), Anna waited with the Danes clan for April to wind her way through the crowd to them. The recently woken toddler rested in her grandmother's arms, curly head on Lorelai's shoulder as Lorelai whispered softly in her ear. Jack, who Anna noted had yet to outgrow his mother-obsession, stood just to his mom's right, scanning the crowd and trying not to look bored. Luke had put Will on his shoulders to be more of an obvious target.

"Wow. Couldn't be more conspicuous, could ya?"

Anna recognized the sarcasm in her beloved daughter's voice and threw her arms around her. "Hey there, graduate. How do you feel?"

"Like I should have picked more sensible shoes."

Anna pulled away to look into her grown daughter's eyes just in time for April to be distracted by the brothers clamoring for her attention.

Jack and Will embraced their sister and offered congratulations. April asked them how they liked graduation, and Will responded with a grin.

"Well, I think I'll remember more of this one, since I'm actually aware of my surroundings."

April laughed. "I remember that one. You know, even newborns get heavy after holding them for so long."

"Are you trying to say we were fat?" Will sniffed playfully, hugging his sister again quickly before Luke swooped in to steal the show.

"My daughter, my turn," he informed them, to which they stuck their tongues out and retreated to find the cookie they'd saved for April, claiming she would probably be hungry (because they sure were). April talked briefly with her father, got a Laylee around her neck, and then grinned and gave her stepmother a one-armed hug while juggling the toddler on her hip. Then Lorelai fished a camera out of her purse.

"Alright, picture time. Most important ones first. April get over by your mom now and freeze your face into a smile."

"You like wearing tails a little too much to be a real man," Jack commented as he laid back on Will's bed and read Sports Illustrated while Will put the finishing touches on his bow tie and then grabbed white gloves off of his dresser.

"You are far too much of a whipped boyfriend to be talking about real men," Will returned.

"Hey, at least I'm not escorting other girls around."

"Julia said it was fine!" Will defended. "I'm just doing Caroline a favor. It was either me or that idiot brother of hers, Reynold."

Jack snorted. "His name is not really Reynold, is it?"

"Can't make this shit up. So how do I look?"

Jack looked over the top of his magazine skeptically, "You're asking me?"

Will sighed. "Good point. I'm gonna go ask Mom and then head out."

"Aren't your pants gonna get wrinkly on the way there?" Jack teased.

"Wrinkle-resistant, thank you very much," Will assured him, stealing the SI and thwacking Jack with it as he left the room. "'Bye, brother. Go hang out with your girlfriend."

"Actually, I'll be here with yours, working on a chem project. Since Nat's visiting her grandparents in Maryland and you're running off to Hartford, Julia and I are spending our pathetic Friday night studying."

"You whine so well for a real man," Will mocked as he ran down the stairs, pushing the dying balloons out of the way. The helium-leaking balloons were left over from the "impromptu" birthday party Lorelai had thrown for his father, against Luke's wishes, on the preceding Sunday and had been floating around the house haphazardly ever since.

"Mommy, how do I look?" he questioned playfully, finding his mother on the couch watching a rerun.

"Very handsome, Piano Man. You headed out?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Alright. Drive carefully, call when you're on your way home, and don't laugh at the fan dance: that's frowned upon."

"You got it, Mom," Will grinned, kissing Lorelai's cheek briefly before grabbing his keys off of the dining room table and heading out of the door.

"My God, Penny, Caroline's escort is so charming! And handsome. Are they dating?"

"He's a Gilmore. Emily and Richard's grandson," Penny Brewington beamed, sipping her champagne as she watched Will Danes lead her daughter onto the dance floor. "And no, not dating that I know of. He's been showing her around Chilton, though."

"What perfect grandchildren you'd have!"

"I think it's a little early for that, Sarah," Penny laughed a little, "They're still children. But this is one of the reasons I'm so glad we've moved back to Hartford. Caroline would never meet such well-bred boys back in Manhattan, at least none who don't come with years of scandal already attached."

Over on the dance floor, Caroline grinned at Will and said lowly, "My mother is bragging about you."

Will glanced over to the gossiping society women briefly and then moved his eyes back to Caroline. "Women tend to do that about me."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "You have some self-esteem issues."

"What?"

"Too much self-esteem."

Will laughed a little.

"Make sure to thank the girlfriend for me," Caroline said quickly and little uncomfortably. "This was very cool of her."

"Julia's a cool girl. I'll tell her you appreciate it. Right now she's studying with Jack."

"The twin," Caroline affirmed as they spun around the dance floor.

"Right."

"Wow, you really can waltz. Do they teach you that at Chilton?"

"Nope, my dad taught my brother and me when we were little."

"Did he also teach you how to deal with all this?" she motioned to the craziness of the society event around them.

Will laughed. "Meet my dad and you'll get why that's funny. Heh, no, my dad didn't teach me that. How to fix stuff? Yes. How to grill a burger? Yes. How to fish? Yes, but I'm ridiculously bad at it. Most of this stuff comes from my grandparents' tutelage."

"Best of both worlds then."

"I guess," Will shrugged and the music stopped, a brief intermission before the last set of songs began. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Sure," Caroline smiled as they exited the dance floor. "Coke."

"Coming right up, mademoiselle."

Will stepped up to the bar and made easy conversation with the bartender as he poured the cola into a glass. Thanking the man, Will sought out Caroline and found her seated at a back corner table, abandoned due to mingling and dancing.

"Taking a break?" he smiled, handing off her soda and pulling a chair out beside her.

"Escaping from the crowd," Caroline grinned in response, a little tiredly.

"What are our chances of getting out of here a little early?" Will questioned, glancing at his watch. "My car's in the parking lot and I'd have you home by midnight. We came, we walked, you fan-danced, I laughed. I say we've fulfilled the quota."

"I guess I could ask my parents," Caroline answered, the idea breathing new life into her. She rose from her seat gracefully, Will rising with her as was expected, and squeezed his arm before seeking out her parents. "I'll be right back."

She came back, a new pep in her step. "You really have charmed my mother. Let's hit the road, Jack."

"Ha. I'm Will, thank you very much."

Caroline extended her hand to him. "Yeah, sorry, bad joke."

Will grinned and accepted the hand. "How do you feel about ice cream?"

"You're a regular at an ice cream shop in Hartford?" Caroline asked, brow arched. "You are a man of many secrets. And you're rather strange."

Will laughed. "I wouldn't say many secrets, Caroline, but I'll agree with the strange."

"Regular? Regular!" Caroline continued to marvel as the friendly clerk handed over her double chocolate caramel ice cream cone.

"It's not like I'm in here every day," Will defended, taking his fudge cone with a nod to the clerk. "Thanks, Ben."

"You know the clerk by name!"

"He's come in here maybe six times this month. Usually with a little girl," Ben responded, eyeing the well-dressed couple skeptically. "You guys coming from a wedding or something?"

"No, debutante ball," Will answered. "See you later, Ben."

"Little girl? Is that your big dark secret? You're a teen father?" Caroline inquired, mostly teasing, as they headed for the picnic table outside the door.

"Heh, no," Will coughed, "Laylee's ten."

"Alright, so not your kid. Who is she then?"

"My niece. She's taken a liking to this ice cream place, so Jack and I like to take her here."

"That's sweet," Caroline smiled. "Not much of a gap, though, between you and your niece. How old's your…?"

"Sister. She's thirty-nine."

"How old are your parents?"

"My mom's fifty-five."

He watched her do the mental math. "Is that the secret? Your mom had your sister at sixteen?"

"Yep."

"Damn, that's lame, and so disappointing. From my mom's reaction, I thought she'd slept with the Headmaster or something and been expelled. Wait, she didn't, did she?"

"No," Will chuckled, amused by her frustrated pout and trying not to cringe at how sort of true Caroline's guess had been. "Sorry to disappoint."

"It's alright. Though I must admit you've lost some of your allure now, hometown hero."

"Oh really?" he grinned.

"Yep," Caroline returned, nudging him with her shoulder. "So sorry."

"I still have secrets, you know," Will defended, popping the rest of his cone into his mouth.

"Oh really?" Caroline's brow quirked as she finished her ice cream. "Elaborate, please."

"Alright," Will said, leaning in conspiratorially. "I've lived in the same square mile my entire life."

Caroline feigned a yawn.

"Fine then," Will pretended to be offended, "I hate to be called Willy. Unless it's by my sister."

She yawned again, grin in her eyes.

"When we were little, I blamed stuff on my brother that I actually did. And got away with it, even if there were witnesses. To this day my parents still think Jack fed the dog two dozen of Dad's peanut-butter cookies."

"God, you're even more boring than I thought!" Caroline cried playfully.

"Okay, Miss Brewington. What are your secrets?" he asked, still close enough to whisper.

"I have a crush," she admitted, grin still plastered on her face but her eyes turning more serious.

Will swallowed hard and averted his eyes briefly. When he returned them to her dark eyes, she was still looking at him intently. He put on his best charming smile to hide his discomfort and played dumb.

"Oh, really. Who's the lucky guy? Maybe I know him and could set you two up."

"Don't be an idiot, Will. You play the genius much better."

Will looked away again, though he couldn't hide his grin at how forward she was, despite it all. He returned his eyes to her once more and felt himself lean in closer before he even realized what was happening. His lips met hers briefly, and he felt the kiss about to deepen when a vibration in his pocket caught his attention. This buzzing was followed by the blaring of "Vertigo" by U2, which served as his ring tone. Will pulled away and fished in his pocket, looking apologetically to Caroline and then catching the caller ID on the face of the phone: Julia.

"Hey," he answered, trying to sound as casual as possible, turning his back to Caroline. "No, no. I'm still in Hartford. Just about to drop her off…"