"And Dad, which makes three, and then Jess is four, Justin and Will are six, Kurt's seven…." Diane shakes her head and leans back into her chair. "I'm just glad that Dave's not here. And that Kaitlyn has two moms."

"Yeah, we'll have to have a girls only night soon."

"Yes, let's!" Diane grins, excited now. Lorelai smiles.

"I'll have to get that arranged." Lorelai glances over her shoulder as someone yells for her, and she stands. "I've gotta go, sweets. Gonna stay here and watch the front desk for me?"

Diane shakes her head. "I've got homework."

"Okay." Lorelai squeezes Diane's arm and then turns to leave.

"Mom?"

"Yeah?" Lorelai turns back around to face her daughter.

"Where's Rory?"

"Um, I think she's in the back study." Lorelai points over Diane's shoulder, and the teenager smiles.

"Thanks." Diane waits until Lorelai has been swallowed by a group of concerned employees, and then she bolts towards the back study, what has become her sister's haven of sorts. As she reaches the door, she sees that it is slightly ajar. She taps quietly, startling Rory Mariano from her reverie.

"Oh! Hi!" Rory smiles at Diane through the door, and then stands and walks over to her. "Come on in."

Diane obliges, choosing to topple into a large armchair near the picture window, her favorite. Rory settles back into her seat at her desk slowly. Diane notices Rory's fatigue, the only remnant from her bout with ovarian cancer a year ago.

"Anything in particular you wanted to talk about?" Rory asks after a few minutes. Diane sits up straighter.

This is her big chance.

She sighs and resettles into the chair.

"Diane?" Rory prompts a second later. Diane sighs and leans forward.

"Why are boys so weird?" she asks conspiratorially, an uncertain look on her face. Rory bites her lip to keep from laughing, and then leans forward also.

"I have no idea."

Diane sighs again, and then flops backwards. Rory stifles a smile at the obvious personification of both Diane's parents—the sighing and the flair for the dramatic.

"Tell me about this weird boy," Rory commands, gathering her various scattered papers into their folder.

"How'd you know it was a certain boy?" Diane asks suspiciously, sitting up and staring at her sister.

Rory smiles. "I had a weird boy of my own when I was your age."

"Dean?" Diane asks.

"How'd you know?"

The teenager shrugs. "Mom sat me down at the start of my sophomore year and told me about when you were fifteen you had your first boyfriend and you didn't tell her about him till after you had your first kiss and she didn't want me to do that, too."

Rory shakes her head and collects her folders. "Mom's a character." Finished organizing, Rory spins her desk chair around. "Is this weird boy watching you and following you around?"

Diane nods, remembering the incident that afternoon. It's only one in a list of many.

Rory smiles. "And is he cute?"

Diane blushes. Rory takes this to mean a yes.

"He likes you," she says softly, resting a hand on Diane's knee. "Go talk to him tomorrow. See what happens."

Diane thinks over these instructions in her head, and then nods. "Thanks." She smiles at her sister.

Rory nods and stands. "That's what I'm here for." Rory hugs Diane, and they leave the back study, arm-in-arm.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sam sighs as he enters his father's diner. His younger brother and friends are huddled in a corner, being their rowdy selves. He spots Luke out of the corner of his eye and ducks upstairs. He enters what has been dubbed "the homework apartment" by the parents in his family-like group. Kaitlyn and Amy have finished their homework and are engrossed in the TV in a corner of the apartment. Sam dismisses the young girls and heads to his desk, situated in a corner of what used to be Jess' room. He pulls out his English textbook; it falls open on his desk. A long, official looking letter spills from the pages. Sam snatches up the note from his English teacher and makes it into a little ball, before shooting it into his wastebasket.

"Score!" Baylor Clarke announces, walking into the apartment. "Great shot," she grins at Sam, and then looks around for her daughter.

"Kait sweet, we've got to get going. We're meeting Paris for dinner."

"In Hartford?" Kaitlyn asks, springing to her feet. Baylor nods, and Kaitlyn squeals and gathers her stuff together. Amy watches her friend go, and then turns the TV off and walks over to her cousin.

"Why did you have to stay after school today?" the pre-teen asks, pulling a chair up to Sam's desk. She puts her elbows on the wood and leans her head in her hands.

Sam groans. "Who said I had to stay after school today?"

"I'm not an idiot," Amy says defensively. "And besides, Grandma tells Mom everything, and vice versa."

"So you eavesdropped?"

"It's not eavesdropping when they're practically yelling right outside my bedroom."

"They are loud," Sam agrees, pulling out homework. He glances quickly at the note lying in the trashcan. Amy notices, and walks over and picks it up. Sam doesn't notice, thinking she's walking away. After taking the note, she does.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rory enters her home, gazing at the knickknacks and memories scattered around. She hasn't been home for a week, staying instead at the Inn, working through her days and writing through her nights. Everyone, from her mother to her best friend's young daughter, have told her that it's not good for her to not get sleep…her body's already tired from fighting off the cancer. She refuses to listen, choosing instead to finish her book.

And she's done it. It's over; done with. The only thing left to do is get the manuscript to her contact at the publisher, and then edit accordingly. She grins, lifting her folders from her briefcase and setting them on her bedside table. She glances at the made bed, and then wanders back into her living room.

"Just as I thought," she murmurs, noting the sheets tangled on the couch. She sighs and begins to straighten them, sorry that she's spent so much time away from her husband. She decides to forget about the novel for at least a week, and spend time with her husband instead. She wonders if she can convince him to take off work for a week.

As she makes her way into the kitchen, the front door opens.

"I'm in the kitchen," she announces, pulling out things for dinner.

"Mom!" Amy yells, rushing towards her mother's voice. The preteen throws her arms around her mother and breathes in. Rory smells of gardenias and pen ink; for the rest of her life, Amy will always equate gardenias and ink to her mother. Jess Mariano, also, equates those smells with his wife, and he smiles and follows his daughter into the kitchen.

"Rory," he smirks, getting a water bottle from the fridge. Rory smirks back at him, and then separates from her daughter.

"I have to talk to Dad. Why don't you—"

"'Go up to your room for a while?'" Amy mocks her mother, and then leaves the room in a slight huff.

Rory looks at her husband. "Where are the boys?"

"The homework apartment," he answers, walking over to her. "They're watching TV."

She sighs happily as he slips his arms around her. "I've missed you," she says quietly.

"I've missed you," he repeats, kissing her forehead.

She sighs again, and mushes her face into his shoulder. "We've got dinner with my grandparents tonight," she moans, muffled by his shirt.

"And your parents. And all the kids."

"Oh, joy," she says dryly, moving her head so that she's resting her cheek on his shoulder.

"Oh, joy," he repeats in the same tone of voice, with the same enthusiasm.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Just what exactly was in that letter Amy has? Will she use its contents to blackmail Sam into doing…something?

What will happen if Diane talks to that weird boy? Will he have anything to do with the title?

Why do Lorelai and Luke and Sam and Diane and Jake and Jess and Rory and Amy and Justin and Will and most possibly Kurt have to go to Emily and Richard's house?

Why on earth are there 14 main people in this story?

Stay tuned for the next chapter!!

(Don't forget to review while you're waiting!)

~~Samantha