Words had always come easily to Rory Gilmore. Whether they be spoken or written, words rarely failed her. She had too much of her mother in her to be any other way. But as she sat now, in her childhood bedroom, with pen and paper before her, the words she needed to both break a heart and set someone free refused to come.

The quiet knock on her door came as a welcome relief as her mother stepped into the room with two coffee cups. "Decaf break!" She announced, surveying the crumpled papers scattered across the floor before handing Rory her cup. "Still at it I see?"

Sighing Rory leaned back against her headboard cupping the mug in her hand. "It would be so much easier if Hallmark had a line of cards for this occasion. 'I just thought you should know that I'm pregnant with your baby but I promise not to interfere with your life.'"

"Short and sweet, you should go with that," Lorelai said settling herself on the bed beside her daughter before taking a thoughtful sip of her coffee. "You're sure that this is the way you want to go?"

"I don't have a whole bunch of options. I've decided that I want to go through with this pregnancy, that I am committed to raising this baby on my own and most importantly that I do not want to disrupt anyone's life."

"You know that I'm behind you no matter what you do," Lorelai said shifting to face Rory. "But absolving someone of all responsibility when it comes to another human being, their child, is not nearly as simple as it sounds. I know you're trying to do the right thing kid, but I'm not sure this is the way to go about it."

Standing up and starting to collect the many discarded papers off of the floor Rory could only shrug. "I have to at least to try to do the right thing. It's really out of my hands after that."

Straightening she began to smooth the papers as she handed them to her mother. "I just need to get this written. Maybe we can cobble something together from all of these. Dads stopping by before he flys out to Paris and I want this done with before I break the news to him. I'm on a deadline."

—

Rory could not imagine any other place on earth was as beautiful as Stars Hollow at Christmas time. She said so to her father as they strolled around the square together later that afternoon.

Pausing to watch a group of carolers pass by Christopher Hayden nodded in agreement. "I used to think this place was a bit like falling down the rabbit hole, but I get it now. There's a type of magic about this town." He gestured for his daughter to climb the steps to the gazebo ahead of him.

Taking a seat he contemplated Rory for a moment. "We could make small talk or you could tell me what's on your mind."

"It's that obvious?" Rory asked ruefully

Christopher shook his head with a chuckle. "Your mother practically shooed me out of the house the minute I got there which is usually a pretty good indication that she's got a secret that's not hers to share and you've been a tad bit distracted. I think we've circled the square at least five times.

"Have I told you how great I think it is that you and Mom have been able to keep your friendship and that you and Luke have made your peace with each other?"

"We've been good for years, as you well know. And you're stalling."

Laughing Rory could only nod. "Definitely stalling. Okay, here it goes. Dad, I'm pregnant."

"Pregnant," he murmured after a moment of digesting the news before meeting Rory's eyes. "You're happy about this?"

"Well, I'm adjusting," she admitted. "But yes, I'm happy. And so you don't need to ask, I will be raising the baby on my own."

Leaning over Christopher gathered his oldest daughter into his arms. "If you're happy then I'm happy. And I think it goes without saying that if you need anything at all, you just need to say the word. I wasn't around much when you were growing up but I'm here now."

Smiling Rory gave her father a squeeze before standing up. "I know you are. And I'll be fine. I can do this."

"You will be spectacular," Christopher agreed taking her arm to assist her down the gazebo steps. "I'm going to be a grandfather," he mused. "I mean, that's not such a shock considering that I became a father at 16, but still. Is the news out yet, can I tell Gigi that she's going to be an aunt?"

"I actually spilled the beans in her Christmas present. I got her the complete works of Jane Austen and made the inscription out to Aunt Gigi. But I still have people to tell, namely the father. I've written him a letter just so he knows, but also that I understand that he has a life in progress and that I won't be making any demands now, or in the future.

"And I can see that you're biting your tongue right now," Rory paused to face her father, ignoring the customers coming in and out of Doose's Market on the busy sidewalk where they had stopped. "Like I told Mom, you're just going to have to trust me that this is the right decision, for all of us."

"I know I don't have a lot of room to talk Rory, but a child needs a father. I might not have always been there but I was always just a phone call away. What's going to happen when you have a six year old asking why all of their friends have dads and they don't?"

Not having an answer to the question she had already asked herself countless times Rory could only shrug her shoulders again. "I obviously don't have all of the answers. I am just taking this a day at a time and right now that involves me actually telling people. You're number four by the way. Mom and Luke know, and I haven't kept a secret from Lane since kindergarten. Gigi will be number five when you give her her Christmas present from me."

"And the father?" Christopher prodded gently. "Do I know him?"

After a short pause Rory nodded. "It's Logan, Dad."

"Huntzberger?" Christopher stopped in his tracks, visibly surprised. "I thought the two of you were over years ago? In fact I thought I heard he was married."

"Engaged," Rory corrected gently tugging on his arm to keep him moving. "And that is part of the complication. He's engaged to a girl his family approves of and I ended things for good before I knew I was pregnant. I thought about not telling him, but there was always a good chance that he would hear and put two and two together. This way he knows but also knows that I want him to move on."

"And you honestly think that will work?" Christopher asked incredulous.

"In most cases, no" Rory admitted "But when you consider that Logan is the heir to a multi billion dollar publishing company whose family never approved of me but very much approves of his finance, the french heiress, I think you can understand. He might not like it but Logan has to do the right thing by his family."

"And what about the right thing by you and his child?" Christopher all but exploded not quite able to process what he just heard. "You did not create this baby on your own Rory. Now I might not have known Logan well but I can't see him taking this sitting down."

All of a sudden unbelievably tired Rory was relieved to see that they had made their way back to the house. She wanted nothing more than to climb into her bed and forget about her problems for awhile. Smiling sadly she leaned in to kiss Christopher's cheek. "I don't think he has a choice."

—

Anyone witnessing the family dinner that evening would never have guessed the complicated relationships amongst the four adults seated at the kitchen table. It was true that Lorelai and Christopher were able to put their past behind them and become friends again but most surprising was that Luke and Christopher had come to an unspoken truce mostly based on their shared love of Lorelai and Rory.

"Dinner was delicious, Luke," Christopher said dropping his napkin on his plate. "And I meant it, if you ever decide to go into fine dining I want to be the first to invest."

"Why can people not just accept that I am happy with my dinner?" Luke groaned.

"Sore subject?" Christopher asked Rory who was seated next to him

"Any subject that involves Emily Gilmore is a sore subject," Lorelai piped up from where she stood loading the dishwasher. "But while the world has been denied a Luke's Diner franchise we will be expanding The Dragonfly."

Filling Christopher in as she worked she could only laugh when he offered to invest. "Business Chris kinda freaks me out."

"Yeah, me too," he admitted stretching. "I never thought I would be any good at the suit and tie thing but it turns out I am. Somewhere in the vacuum of time my teenage self is dying a slow and painful death."

Checking his watch, he looked over at Luke. "I have a few hours to kill before I need to be at the airport. Do you guys still have that hidden bar?"

"The Secret Bar," Luke corrected. "And yeah, I could use a beer." Turning to Lorelai and Rory. "Do you two want to come?"

"I'm headed to bed," Rory said stifling a yawn before standing up.

"And I'm just going to take Paul Anka for a quick stroll before I head on up to bed. THe PVR calls," Lorelai said leaning give Luke a peck on the cheek. "Before I forget though, called earlier and asked if you and I would meet her at the store after closing tomorrow night."

"Mrs. Kim?" Luke asked suddenly panicked. "What did you do?"

"Nothing, I promise. I haven't even worn my Jesus is my homeboy ugly Christmas sweater yet. I have no idea but she said it was time sensitive and that she needed to speak to both of us."

Shrugging into his coat Luke could only nod as Lorelai and Rory bid Christopher goodbye. "Wish Gigi a Merry Christmas for us," Lorelai called from the front door. "And tell her to open her present from Luke and I after she opens Rory's. Sequined Converse will take some of the sting out of the complete works of Jane Austen."

Lorelai shut the door and turned to a disgruntled Rory. "You do realize that they are off to discuss you, right?"

"I kind of figured as much." Rory said with a sigh.

—

The Secret Bar was doing a swift business that evening. "Taylor is having dinner with Hank from Woodbury tonight," the waitress confided as she took their order. "We have the all clear until at least midnight as they tend to spend the whole evening arguing and getting drunk."

"I'm not sure what that means," Christopher confessed after the waitress had left to fill their order. "I find that I usually need an interpreter when I visit this town."

"I've lived here my entire life and most of the time I have no idea what the hell is going on. That's Lorelai's job. I take out the garbage and kill the spiders, she keeps up on the town lunacy."

"Full moon around here must be a lot of fun." Accepting his drink from the waitress with a smile, he held it up in a toast. "To us, it looks like we're about to become grandfathers."

"Looks like," Luke agreed with a smile clinking his bottle with Christophers glass. "It's hard to believe. Grandfathers are supposed to be old and smell like mothballs. And Rory, well it feels like she should still be catching the bus to Hartford everyday, not a grown woman…"

"About to become a single mother," Christopher supplied. "Tell me, how do you feel about the whole situation?"

Pausing to take a slug of his beer Luke took a moment before meeting Christopher's eye. "Do you mean, how I feel at home or how I actually feel because those are two totally different things."

"This is still new information to me, but I have a feeling you and I share an opinion on the matter," Christopher said setting his drink down and leaning in. "I don't agree with how Rory plans to handle this and I don't think you do either."

"No, I don't!" Luke practically exploded, lowering his voice when several nearby heads swiveled their way. "It would be one thing if the father was some deadbeat son of a…" clearing his throat. "Well, he's not. I liked Logan. He wanted to marry her years ago and I know that she wasn't ready then but now is different. She's having his baby."

"She's having his baby," Christopher repeated. "And he's engaged to someone else."

"Some french heiress," Luke carried on. "And everyone, Rory included, seems to think that that's that. Like people don't change their minds everyday. Only difference here is that there is billions of dollars involved."

"Her family is basically the european version of the Huntzbergers," Christopher supplied. "I suspect it is more of a business deal than a love match. But that's speculation on my part."

"A happily engaged guy doesn't mess around with his ex girlfriend if you ask me," Luke muttered. "I don't like how it went down but I think the guy deserves a little more than a letter thanking him for providing his sperm and that his services will no longer be required."

Despite the seriousness of the of conversation Christopher let out a chuckle. "I can't believe Lor hasn't talked her out of this."

"She's tried. But you know what the two of them are like. She's team Rory. And at the end of the day so am I," he admitted with a sigh, obviously frustrated.

Christopher could only nod, because he had come to the same conclusion himself. "I would love to read that letter though."

Setting his beer down on the table Luke reached inside his jacket and pulled out an envelope. "This letter?" he asked setting it down between them on the table. "Rory asked me to mail it on my way in to work in the morning," he rushed to explain. "She wanted it out of sight."

Examining the plain white envelope addressed to Logan Huntzbergers office in London Christopher raised his eyes to meet Lukes. "Postal service at this time of year is so unreliable. How about I personally make sure that this makes its way to its destination."

Slowly leaning forward Luke held his hand out to shake Christophers. "I think that is the first good idea I have heard in the last month."