Lorelai sat in the family room at her dad's and Emily's. They were shooing the kids outside to play in the backyard. Rachel was out with Brooke and some other friends. Lorelai had come over to talk to her dad and Emily.

Aaron knew by the look on her face that it was not a subject that she wanted little ears to hear. Once the kids were outside Aaron sat down. Emily came in with cups of coffee and gave them to Lorelai and Aaron and grabbed her own before she sat down as well.

"What's up, Lor?" Aaron asked

"Well. As you both know the year is almost up, so I have a decision to make. Whether I go back to work or not. And I thought I had decided to yes go back to work. Then Hailey got sick. And yes I know kids get sick and it was an ear infection nothing too serious. Thankfully. But it made me wonder if she gets sick and neither Spencer nor I am here… How do you do it?" Lorelai asked

Aaron let out a breath. "I wonder that every time something happens when I'm not here. It's not easy."

"It's why it took me some time when I came back to DC to decide if I was going back to work," Emily said.

"But you have lots of people here whom you trust who would be there if you and Spencer can't," Aaron said. "It's how I did it. I had Jessica, You at times. Rebecca. Right now, Rachel. And other people whom I trust with them when I couldn't, and can't be here. But yes after Hailey passed I debated not going back."

Lorelai nodded.

"And it's not a bad thing to be a working mother. It will show Hailey as she grows that you are a person outside of a mother. That you work hard. That she can do anything because she sees that you kick ass when you need to." Emily pointed out

"Yes. But I could do something that doesn't take me out of the state so often…" Lorelai said

Aaron nodded. "Yes. You could. If that's what you want. But will you be happy doing something else?"

"Will I be happy leaving my baby for days or weeks at a time?" Lorelai asked

"Unfortunately, that is not something anyone else can decide for you," Emily said

"I know. And I hate it. I want someone to tell me what to do." Lorelai said

Aaron smirked. "I will tell you what you to do."

Lorelai tilted her head

"Make a decision," Aaron said.

"Ha. Ha. Not helpful." Lorelai said

Emily chuckled. "That was not nice Aaron."

Aaron stifled a laugh and looked at his daughter. "Okay. I'm sorry. I know it's not an easy decision to make but it has to be made. Whichever you choose. I will support."

"We will support you," Emily said.

"Thank you," Lorelai said

"How is Hailey doing anyways?" Emily asked

"She is much better. Pretty much done with her antibiotics. No more fever and her ear seems to be back to normal." Lorelai said

"Good," Emily said.

"How is your wrist?" Aaron asked

"Getting better," Lorelai said.

"Now that your icing it as you should?" Aaron asked

Lorelai sighed. "Spencer told you huh?"

Aaron nodded. "He was concerned. And frustrated."

"He knew what he was getting when we got married," Lorelai said.

"Yes. You are stubborn. But he like me thought we got past you not taking care of yourself." Aaron said.

Lorelai sighed. "I wasn't purposely avoiding icing my wrist. I was busy. I didn't have time." Lorelai said annoyance clear in her voice. "And I don't need you to lecture me about it." She added

"Well. You need to make the time and I will lecture you when you are ignoring your health and well-being," Aaron said he too getting annoyed

Emily put a hand on his shoulder. "Aaron." She said softly

Lorelai shook her head. "I'm a grown adult. And will not sit here while you lecture me about not taking care of myself. Because you are not there. You don't see what I do on a daily basis. You never had to take care of a newborn alone while your partner was away for days at a time." She said getting up. She left the house and got into the car. She had borrowed Spencer's and drove away stopping down the road and pulling over to cry.

Aaron sighed and put his head in his hands.

Emily sat next to him and let him think for a few minutes before she took one of his hands.

He looked up at her. "Was I too hard on her?"

"Well. Maybe. She is an adult. And yes she will always be your daughter. But she said she has been icing it. You didn't need to lecture her." Emily said

Aaron nodded. "You're right. I overreacted."

"I get it can't be easy going from being a dad of a teenager to a dad of a married woman," Emily said. "You two just have to figure out how you can still be her parent without making her feel like she is being treated like a child," Emily said. "I will help however I can."

Aaron smiled and nodded. He kissed her softly. "I admit it's hard navigating how much to step back and how much she still needs me to parent her."

"Like I said. You will figure it out. Together." She said

Aaron nodded again and took out his phone he called her, but she didn't answer. He sighed.

"Maybe give her some time to calm down," Emily suggested.

Aaron nodded.

Lorelai calmed down and drove home. When she got there she took a breath and went and found Spencer and Hailey playing.

"You and I need to talk," Lorelai said to Spencer.

Spencer looked up at her. "Okay." He stood up and picked up Hailey and set her in the playpen before going to the kitchen where Lorelai was sitting. He sat down.

"You were at your dad's everything okay there?" He asked

"We need to agree that you stop telling my dad everything," Lorelai said

"I don't tell him everything," Spencer said

"You told him I hadn't been icing my wrist. I don't need him lecturing me about something from a week ago that you and I talked about and dealt with." Lorelai said

"Okay. I told him that before you and I talked. But okay. I understand what you mean." Spencer said

"I get it you might need to vent to someone. But just not my father." She said

Spencer nodded. "Okay. I can agree to that."

"You okay?" he asked

She shook her head. "He and I got into a bit of an argument about it."

Spencer nodded and reached across and took her hands.

"Navigating this father-daughter relationship as an adult married woman isn't easy." She said

"I have a feeling it's probably not easy for him either," Spencer said.

Lorelai nodded.

"So. Call him. And try and figure it out." He said

Lorelai nodded and took out her phone. She called him.

Spencer got up to let her talk to her dad on her own.

Aaron answered. "I'm sorry if it feels like I'm treating you like the teenager you were when you came into my life."

Lorelai let out a breath. "And I'm sorry if I came off as disrespectful."

"No. I can't say you did. You stated your feelings. You weren't rude about it." Aaron said

"Okay. Good." Lorelai said.

"We need to figure out how I can still be your dad without treating you like a child," Aaron said

"Agreed," Lorelai said

"I'm sorry I came down on you. You're right. I don't know what it feels like to be raising a baby with her dad being gone a lot. But I do know you must be very busy. I was a single parent for many years. But you know when it comes to your health and well-being I… feel strongly about it." Aaron said

"Thank you. And yes I do know. Which I admit is part of the reason I was upset Spencer told you." Lorelai said. "But as I said I didn't ignore my well-being on purpose. Hailey's health, well-being, and entire life are completely dependent on me and Spencer. And she comes first." Lorelai said

"I get that. And I don't disagree. Jack and Lily come first for Emily and me. And you and Rachel did and still do as well." Aaron said. "And sometimes even now I forget you are an adult and see you as that sixteen-year-old girl you were. Especially when it comes to your well-being. It's why I reacted the way I did." Aaron said

"I get that. I do. But at this point, I have been icing it. And that issue was over a week ago and Spencer and I talked about it. Having it brought back up again. Was… annoying." She said

"Okay. I get that." Aaron said "Let's make a deal. I won't come down on things that Spencer has handled. But if it's something that I find out about from another source and has to do with your health and well-being I'm not going to keep quiet about it."

"I can agree to that. But you need to not come down on me without talking to me about it first. Finding out the reason behind it. I have grown out of ignoring my health issues. I know that it is important. So, if I'm not taking care of myself there is a reason beyond my control behind it." She said

"Deal," Aaron said

They finished their conversation before they hung up. She just sat at the table thinking. Spencer came over carrying Hailey.

"Everything worked out?" Spencer asked

"Yup," Lorelai said

Spencer sat back with Lorelai, Hailey in his lap. "Did you make a decision about the job?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No. I've always known what I wanted. Or had someone to guide me on what the right next step is. This decision is the hardest I have ever had to make, and I have to make it. And I know no matter what everyone will support me but that doesn't change that I just don't know what the right choice is. If I choose to give up being part of the team am I going to regret it? And on the flip side, if I give up time with our daughter and let someone else care for her for a significant part of her life will I regret missing out on her big moments?"

Spencer nodded. "I worry about missing out on her big moments too."

She nodded. "Yes. I know. But me going back to work means she won't have either of her parents for a big part of her days. As she grows is she going to grow to resent that her mother wasn't there for her?"

"You don't have to be there twenty-four hours a day to be there for her," Spencer said

"No. Your right. But if I'm away more than I am here?" Lorelai asked

"I get it. These are all things I struggle with too." Spencer said

"Why don't you ever talk about it with me?" Lorelai asked

"Because I don't want my feelings to influence your decisions." He said

"Well, how do you do it every day?" Lorelai asked

"This job. Provides for our daughter and us. Makes it so we have a roof over our heads and food on our tables. And if I didn't do this job I would be miserable. It's part of who I am as much as being a father and husband is." Spencer said

Lorelai nodded. "But if I could have a career. Where I didn't have to be away so much. I have had an offer from a different department of the FBI…." She told him

Spencer's eyes turned quizzical. "When?"

"A few days ago." She said

"What department?" he asked

She smiled. "Guess."

Spencer chuckled. "Crisis negotiation?"

Lorelai nodded. "Guess Dave and my dad were right. People have noticed."

"There is no denying you are great in a crisis. But is that what you want? If that's really what you wanted I don't think you would be having such a hard time deciding. I think you would have been able to say yes without a thought if it's where you wanted to be." Spencer said

Lorelai looked down. Spencer was right. It wasn't what she wanted. She knew what she wanted. She just was so afraid to admit it. So afraid to do what she knew was the right thing for her and her family. Afraid of how it would affect her daughter.

Spencer reached across the table and took her hand. "Choosing to go back to being a profiler. Is not abandoning our daughter." He said softly.

Lorelai looked up at him.

"Yeah. I know. I know that is what you are thinking. I know being an FBI profiler is who you are. Just as much as being a mom is. Our daughter is going to grow up knowing that she has a mom who loves her more than anything but that her career is important too. That a working mother is okay just as much as a stay-at-home mom is." Spencer said

"I have a love-hate relationship with the fact that you can read me like a book." She said

Spencer smiled. "I love that I can. It means you don't have your walls up with me."

"CeCe almost had me putting them back up," Lorelai said softly looking down.

Spencer nodded. "I've been wondering what she said to you. I mean I heard you say that you doubted your family while you were…. Defending yourself." He said

Lorelai shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

"Lor. Come on. Talk to me." He said

"Well. She was trying to convince me that she was my former foster mother. Had me asking her questions that she would only know if she was her. But I guess her best friend would know. But I was upset wondering how she knew all these things. And she tried to get me to believe that you all lied to me that she hadn't been killed. That all these years had been some manipulative lie…and I started to believe it. Until I asked her whom Jessica had an affair with and whom did it produce, and she couldn't answer it. That was the big dirty little secret." Lorelai said.

Spencer nodded. "You know that's not true now right?"

Lorelai nodded. "But my heart was breaking at that moment…"

Spencer nodded. "I get that."

They were quiet for a bit. "Anything I can do to help?" He asked

"No. Nothing anyone has to do. I know it's not true. I know you all have my back. I just need to forget about it." Lorelai said

He got up and went and kissed her head. "I'm going to put Hailey to bed. We can talk more after." He said.

Lorelai smiled and nodded.

Spencer got Hailey ready for bed and put her down for the night.

Lorelai went and took a shower before going back out to the living room with a cup of tea and picking up and reading an article from a parenting magazine.

Spencer came and sat with her. "You know if you need to talk through what happened we can." He said

Lorelai looked up at him putting the magazine down. "Nope. I'm okay. I think I have finally accepted and gotten over the fact that there will always be people who try to break me down. But you. And my dad. And my family has built me up so much that I can take it and let it fall off my back and move on." She said.

"I'm not saying that we didn't help. But -you put in the work. You worked hard to get to this place you are." He said

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "And a lot of therapy."

Spencer nodded and picked her up setting her in his lap and kissing her. She kissed back and before long they were making their way to their bedroom and making love.