Wow I got the most reviews for the last chapter, thank you so much! :) Here's the next chapter! :)
Chapter 10
Lorelai looked across at Luke who was sitting quietly next to her on one of the benches outside the room the hearing was about to take place in. "Are you ok?" She asked softly.
"No." Luke admitted.
Lorelai reached over and squeezed one of his hands. "It'll be ok."
"I hope so." Luke said quietly.
They saw Anna come in and sit down on one of the other benches, glancing at them briefly but not saying anything. Soon their respective lawyers came out and invited them into the room.
"I'll be right here." Lorelai gave Luke a small smile. "Good luck." She whispered.
Luke gave her a small smile back and nodded and then followed everyone else into the room.
Luke was furious. Anna was making out he wouldn't be a good father, making up excuses that he's never liked kids and never gotten on with them. She even brought up the fact that he couldn't even hold down a relationship until Lorelai and even made a dig about that probably not working out because Luke wasn't known to being committed. His lawyer held him back as he tried to defend himself. He couldn't help it. He couldn't lose April. Not now.
"Just take a breath." His lawyer whispered to him.
Luke let out a deep breath and tried to keep his cool.
"We'll move onto the character references." The judge said. "We seem to have received two for Mr Danes." She said. "One is from Lorelai Gilmore." She continued, making Luke look up in surprise. He hadn't realised she had sent one in as well. "Miss Gilmore had several nice things to say about Mr Danes and they will be taken into account but I would like to read out this second one. It's slightly different to normal character references we tend to receive. This one seems to be co-authored." She explained.
Luke frowned confused. He knew Rory was writing one but who else?
"This is co-authored by Miss Rory Gilmore and Mr Jess Mariano." The judge read out.
Rory walked up to her usual coffee cart to get her daily coffee after a busy day of lectures.
"I knew you'd have to show up at some point." A voice behind her said.
Rory turned round and was surprised by who she saw. "Jess? What the...What are you doing here?" She asked.
"I need your help. So I came here but then when I got here, I realised I had no idea where you lived so I figured if I waited near a coffee cart you would hopefully turn up at some point. I'm glad I picked the right one." He smirked.
"Yeah well you know me. I always need my coffee." Rory smirked. "What do you need help with?" She asked.
"This character reference thing! I can't get it right. It doesn't sound right." He said.
"You came all the way here just to get me to check it?" Rory asked. "I'm sure it's fine, Jess. You're cutting it kind of fine to get it to the lawyer for the hearing."
"I know I am but I'm telling you it doesn't sound right! I want it to be good but I told you I was rubbish at this emotion crap!" He exclaimed. "You got me into this so you've got to help me!"
"Ok ok, I'll help." Rory said. "Come on, you can come back to mine and I'll have a look at it."
"Thanks." He said following her.
Once inside the apartment, Rory and Jess sat down at the table and Rory was reading over Jess' character reference. "See? It doesn't sound right." He said.
"It's good." Rory protested.
"Rory..." Jess said. "Look, this is important to Luke and I want to do it well. Just...will you just help make it better?"
Rory thought for a minute. "I have an idea." She said after a moment. "I've drafted one of my own. How about we try and combine the two and do a sort of joint one?" She suggested.
"Sounds good." Jess nodded.
Rory went to her room and got hers. She then returned to Jess and they spent the next hour trying to put it together.
"Finally!" Jess exclaimed. "I swear that was harder than writing my own book."
Rory smirked. "Sure it was." She rolled her eyes. She then sighed. "You think this could help him?" She asked.
"It better. I haven't just wasted all this time writing this for it not even to be worth anything." Jess said. He saw Rory's worried face. "Let's hope it does the trick eh?" He said.
Rory gave him a small smile and nodded. "The hearing's Thursday. You know, I'm sure Luke would love to see you if you wanted to come back for a day or two. My lectures have been cancelled for the Friday so I'm going to head back on the Thursday, you know, to support him for when he hears back."
"I'll see if I can change some things around." Jess nodded.
"To Whom It May Concern, we are writing on behalf of Luke Danes in regards to his custody case for April Nardini. It may seem like Luke has little experience in parenting but he has been a surrogate father for both of us. We've both written a paragraph about how he's been there for us over the years and how it has impacted our lives. We hope you take it into consideration as you make your decision." The judge started to read. "My father was never around for me much when I was younger. It constantly upset me that my dad couldn't be bothered to come and spend time with me. It was really hard for me to get my head round, especially when I was younger. However, when I got older, I realised I didn't need him. I had my mom and by this time we had met Luke. We saw him practically every day at his diner and he would come and fix things at our house. Luke and my mom became good friends and he sort of became a constant in our lives. He looked out for us and it felt nice. That hole that my dad left was filled again and I felt like I could really rely on Luke. He let me do my homework in the diner when my mom worked late. He taught me how to ride a bike and how to ice skate. He gave me extra pie when I was upset. He was practically the father I should have had. I know Luke and I aren't biologically related but I know I could go to him for anything, whenever I needed to talk or needed anything. Luke and April do share biology and they deserve to be able to continue forming that father/daughter bond. Luke wasn't given the opportunity to be there for April in her first twelve years but he should be given that opportunity now. Stopping April from seeing Luke would be the worst thing that could happen to April. Luke would be the best father to her just like he was to me over the years."
The judge stopped for a moment before continuing. "Luke took me in when he had no obligation to do so. My mother sent me to go live with him when I was a pretty messed up kid. Luke could have said no. I wouldn't have blamed him if he had. But Luke is all about family. He believes that you should be there for family no matter what and, personally, he was the best thing to ever happen to me and I will be forever grateful to him for that. He was the first person to tell me I could go on and do great things, he was the first person who had any faith in me at all and he was the first person to tell me I could do whatever I wanted to do in the world. He believed in me and it was that belief that helped me really turn my life around. I hate to think about where my life could have ended up like if it weren't for Luke guiding me down the right track. Any kid would be lucky to have Luke in their life and if you take that away from his daughter, then it would be worst thing to do for that kid. She deserves to have Luke in her life to help her just like he helped me. And he deserves to be able to be there for his daughter and trust me, he would be there through thick and thin. He would always be there. I, more than anyone, know that when Luke Danes is in your life, he is in it forever." She stopped and glanced at Luke who was looking down at the table trying to keep a neutral expression on his face. She then looked back at the piece of paper and finished reading. "In conclusion, we believe that Luke would be more than a suitable father to April and we think April deserves to experience what he has to offer her, and he has a lot to offer. Thank you for your time." She read. "We will adjourn there. I'll let you know my decision in due course after I finish going over all the information given to me." She said. "You're dismissed."
"I can't believe they did that." Luke said as they drove back to Stars Hollow. "You honestly didn't know?" He asked Lorelai.
"Rory didn't tell me anything. She didn't want to in case it didn't happen so I assumed it hadn't." She said. She smiled softly at Luke. "I told you, you didn't fail Jess."
"I know." Luke said quietly. "It was just different hearing it from him..."
They drove up to the Crap Shack and saw two figures sat on the porch steps. "Ok I know she somehow got him to do it but that's never a sight I thought I'd see again." Lorelai mused.
Luke looked over at the porch and saw Rory and Jess sat together quietly chatting and laughing. "Huh...I guess they've moved on from everything." He commented. "You know, Rory was always good for Jess." He said. He saw Lorelai's look. "Yeah ok, I know you never liked him. Probably still don't but it wasn't just me who helped Jess make something of himself. Rory was there for him too. She meant a lot to him." He said.
Lorelai sighed. "Yeah I know." She admitted. "And he meant a lot to her too. Even I could see that." She said. She looked over at her daughter and Jess. "I know Jess and I have had our problems but I agree that he has seemed to have grown up and matured a lot. And he really stepped up to help you which is always a plus in my books." She smiled at him. "Maybe it's time to let bygones be bygones." She said.
Luke smiled at her. "I'd like that." He said softly.
"Come on. Let's go let our weary travellers in the warmth." She smiled getting out of the truck. She waited for Luke to get out and they both started walking towards the house, ready to greet their surprise visitors.
So I hope you liked it! I hope I did this chapter justice. Please do keep the reviews coming. You have no idea how much I appreciate all of your support. It really has overwhelmed me so thank you! :)
