Thank you for the continued support! Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy! :)

Chapter 27

Lorelai watched her youngest daughter from across the room with Michel at the reception desk. Mia had taken a liking to Michel and, surprisingly, Michel seemed to enjoy her company as well. She knew Rory and Charlotte used to enjoy winding him up when they were younger but Mia was a bit shyer than them and that temperament seemed to suit Michel. Sure, he still enjoyed complaining about Mia to her but she knew he had a soft spot for her youngest. She smiled as she saw Michel actually smile at something Mia said.

"Hey!" She said as she walked over to them. "What are you two up to?"

"Working. Isn't that what I always seem to do here when you're off gossiping with Sookie in the kitchen?" Michel drawled.

"Mia's 5 and you're making her work?" Lorelai raised her eyebrows.

"She's perfectly capable of sorting out my post it notes." Michel said. "At least one of your daughters has respect for my system."

Lorelai smirked as she remembered several times that Rory and Charlotte had swiped post its from him, usually just to wind him up. "Well is Mia allowed to have a break?" She asked.

"I like helping Michel!" Mia grinned.

"I know hon, but it's lunch. You can't work on an empty stomach. And I definitely can't so come on." She smiled.

"Can we go to the diner?" She asked excitedly.

"Where else?" Lorelai grinned.

"Yay!" Mia said immediately discarding the post its and grabbing her mom's hand.

"See you later, Michel." Lorelai smirked.

"If you say so." He said as he watched them leave.

Meanwhile, while Jess and Charlotte were visiting Lizzie in hospital in the morning, Richard had offered to watch Jack for them. Emily was at a function so it was just him. He decided to take his grandson to the park. He sat down on a bench as he watched Jack have fun in the kid's playground there. He smiled as he saw the happy smile on his great grandson's face as he whizzed through obstacle course and went down the slides. He started to think about whether Lorelai would have enjoyed going to the park with him when she was Jack's age. He thought back with slight sadness about how he hadn't really made the effort to take Lorelai out. He was always busy with work but he often wondered whether things between him and his daughter would have been different had he actually made the effort to spend the time with her. He was brought out of his thoughts as Jack came running over.

"Grandpa, can you push me on the swing?" He asked.

"Of course! And then how about we go and get an ice cream and then head over to mine and your Grandma's house until your mom and dad come and collect you?" He suggested.

"Ok!" Jack smiled happily.

April looked up from her desk in her room at MIT as the door opened. She smiled slightly as she saw who it was. "Hi." She said.

"Hey." Jamie said coming in. "How are you doing?"

"Fine. Nearly got all the reading done." She said.

"That's not what I meant." Jamie said giving her a look as he sat down on her bed.

April sighed. She hadn't wanted to go back to MIT but her mom had convinced her that dropping out would mean that Toby won and she didn't want that. However, since going back, she had tried not to go out too much as she had frequently heard whispers in corridors as she walked down it. Luckily she hadn't seen Toby but she knew it was all over MIT and she knew everyone thought she was lying. "I'll be glad when it's summer break." She admitted.

"Why don't we go out tonight?" Jamie suggested. "It might do you good."

"I'm ok." April said quietly.

Jamie sighed. "I know you're struggling but I hardly see you anymore. You're always in here or in class. No one's even talking about it anymore." He said.

"Yes they are. You don't know because you're never with me when I go out." April said. "I just...I can't deal with it anymore. He's in the wrong and everyone's talking about me. How is that fair?"

"It isn't." Jamie sighed. "I hate him for what he's done to you. But this isn't healthy, April. You staying locked up in here. It's not healthy and I'm worried about you. You say you don't want him to win but that's exactly what you're doing." He said.

"You don't understand what it's like!" April exclaimed. "Everywhere I go, all the whispering, it all reminds me of that night...I...I can't deal with it." She said with tears in her eyes.

"Hey, come here." He said getting up to give her a hug. "You're right. I don't understand what you're going through. I can even start to imagine what you're going through. But I'm here for you ok? I know you think you're alone but you're not. People may not believe you but I do. I'm here, April, and I'm not going anywhere." He said softly.

"I'm sorry I've been a rubbish girlfriend recently..." She sniffed quietly.

"You haven't." Jamie assured her. "You've been through something terrible. And then with the car crash as well, I get why you've withdrawn a bit. Anyone would. I just want you to know that you're not alone."

"I know." April said quietly. "I do know that. And I appreciate it. Really."

"I love you. I know I've made stupid mistakes but I really do love you." Jamie said sincerely.

"I love you too." April said softly. She took a deep breath. "So where were you thinking we could go tonight?" She asked.

"Really?" Jamie said. "I don't want to force you..."

"You're not." April assured him. "You were right. I need to show him he hasn't won." She said.

Later that afternoon, Charlotte and Jess went to collect Jack and found him and Richard playing a game of chess.

"Chess?" Charlotte said surprised.

"Grandpa's teaching me how to play!" Jack grinned up at his parents.

"Well you're more patient than me, buddy. I could never sit down through a game of chess." Jess smirked.

"So how's he doing?" Charlotte asked.

"Very well. He's very smart, your son." Richard said.

"We know that." Charlotte smiled proudly, ruffling his son's hair. "I wish I knew how to play. I always wanted to."

"You had an interest in chess?" Richard asked surprised.

"I always saw this chess set whenever we came over and always wondered how to play." Charlotte said.

"I never knew you wanted to learn." Richard said.

"You never asked." Charlotte shrugged.

"No." Richard said quietly. "I guess I didn't."

"Well maybe Jack can teach you when he's an expert." Jess smirked. "You ready to go, mister?"

"Yeah." Jack said. "How's Lizzie?"

"Getting better." Jess told him.

"When can she come home?" He asked.

"Soon hopefully." Charlotte smiled. "Thanks for watching him, Grandpa." Charlotte smiled.

"No problem. It was fun." Richard smiled. "Enjoy the rest of your day."

"You too." Charlotte said.

Lorelai arrived home with Mia, who had spent all the day at the inn with her now she was on her summer holidays from school. She smiled as she immediately smelt food wafting through from the kitchen.

"I smell food." She smiled as she walked through to the kitchen while Mia turned on the tv and sat down on the couch.

"Lasagne ok?" Luke asked.

"Sounds perfect." She grinned.

"Oh, Rory called by the way." He said.

"Oh yeah? How are they doing?" She asked.

"Good. Sam's still searching for a job but she sounded happy." Luke said.

"Good." Lorelai smiled.

"She said she'd call you back later." He said just as the phone rang.

"Maybe that's her." Lorelai smiled going off to answer the phone. "Hello?" She answered.

"Lorelai?"

"Dad?" She said surprised.

"Hello.." Richard said.

"Hi..." Lorelai said. There was a slight pause. "Are you ok? Has something happened?" She asked.

"Oh no, not at all." Richard assured her. "I just..uh..wanted to check in with you. How are you?"

"I'm good." She said still slightly confused by the call. Her father never called her.

"And Luke?"

"He's good too."

"And Mia?"

"She's good. Dad, is there something you needed?" She asked.

"Was I a bad father to you?" He asked finally.

"What?" Lorelai said surprised.

"Was I the reason that...that...?" He started.

"That I went off the rails and got pregnant?" Lorelai raised her eyes.

"I didn't mean it like that. You know I love Charlotte and Rory." He said quickly.

"I know." She assured him. "Where is this coming from?"

"I was watching Jack for Charlotte and Jess today. I took him to the park and it just got me thinking. He was so happy and excited and I just started thinking about if you ever wished you could go to the park with me when you were younger..." He admitted.

"Oh, well...I guess that would have been nice to spend time with you. You were always away on business and mom was always busy as well." She said honestly.

"I'm sorry." Richard said.

Lorelai sighed. "Dad, that was so long ago now. I may not have understood at the time but I get it now. It was a different time and you and mom were brought up in a different world. You needed to work. I get that. I may have wanted more attention from you both but I never thought you were bad parents." She said. "And I can't regret my childhood. If you it had been different, I never would have kept sneaking out to meet Chris and then I never would have had the girls."

"I guess that's true." Richard said slowly.

"Dad, you were never a bad father. It was just a different time." Lorelai assured him.

Richard sighed. "Thank you, Lorelai." He said. "I was thinking, well, hoping...that maybe I could spend some time with Mia. I want to be different and I want her and Jack to know that they can come to me whenever they need to."

"Well...I'm sure Mia would like that." Lorelai smiled softly.

"Ok good. Thank you." Richard said. "Well I better let you go. Enjoy your evening."

"Yeah...you too. Bye dad." She said hanging up, shaking her head at the weird conversation she had just had. The phone rang again suddenly. "Hello?" She answered.

"Hi mom!" Rory said happily.

Charlotte walked into the living room after putting Jack to bed that evening. They were finally back at their own flat. They decided it was time and they wanted Jack to have his own bedroom back. She smiled as she heard Jess on the phone.

"Doula, I said I'd come and see you tomorrow and I will." Jess said rolling her eyes at Charlotte, who smirked and sat down next to him.

"But you promised you would come on Wednesday but you didn't." Doula said.

"I know. I'm sorry about that. I had to help your Uncle Luke at the diner." He said.

"I miss you." Doula said quietly. "It's so quiet without mommy."

Jess sighed. "I know." He said softly. "How about this? I make a promise to you that one day a week, I'll come and see you or I can arrange with your daddy to bring you here and we can hang out. We can have some sibling time." He suggested.

"Really?" Doula said, perking up.

"If you'd like that, yeah." Jess said.

"Yes!" Doula said excitedly. "I'll ask daddy about it tonight."

"You do that." He smiled as he watched Charlotte turn on the tv quietly. "Look, I've got to go but I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow."

"Me too." She said. "Bye Jess. I love you."

"Bye Doula." Jess said softly. He hung up to see Charlotte smiling at him. "What?" He said.

"Softy." She smirked slightly, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah whatever." He said but smiled slightly. "So what are we watching tonight?"

So I hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you think. I know I say it all the time but I really do appreciate all your support. If it weren't for you guys, I probably would be too nervous to post anything so thank you. :)