Chapter Text
“ Let’s make a baby, ” Christopher said, rousing Lorelai awake. She laughed. It was strange way to initiate sex, but she appreciated the enthusiasm. “ I’m serious. ” She was not awake enough for this.
“ Christopher .” She laughed again.
“ What ?” What does he mean, “What?” He can’t actually be serious.
“ What are you talking about? ” She doesn’t want to be having this conversation. She wants to be blissfully drifting back to sleep, ready to dream and real- and dog-Paul Anka.
“ Why not? ” Oh. He was serious.
“ What?! ” She was awake now.
“ Why not ,” he repeated.
“ Because we haven’t talked about it at all. Ever. ” Where was this coming from?
“ Well then let’s talk about it. ”
“ Okay… ” She didn’t understand why this conversation needed to happen right as she was falling asleep.
“ You want another kid, don’t you ?” She did. At least, she used to. Before.
“ Oh god. I don’t know. Uh, sure…maybe… ” Doesn’t he realize that the last time they had a kid together, she ended up raising said child on her own? He’s not exactly known for sticking around when things get hard. And kids are hard.
“ Well, me too. And the last one turned out pretty good, you know. ” How dare he? How Rory turned out had nothing to do with him.
“ The last one didn’t turn out pretty good. The last one came out and, you know, a lot of work went into getting her pretty good. ” Which he would know, had he been around for it.
“ You’re right. You’re right. I’m sorry. You’re right. You’re absolutely right, but, um, it’s different now. We’re adults. We’re married. It’d be easier. ” Maybe she wasn’t being fair to him. After all, she married Chris for a reason. He had come so far from the absent father that he used to be.
“ Yeah. I guess. I don’t know. I think…I want…another kid. ” She shouldn’t be sounding this unsure, she knows that.
“ Okay, well then we’re on the same page. Let’s go for it. ” He started kissing her enthusiastically, each kiss feeling more insistent.
“ Seriously, ” she tried to push him away. “ Seriously. I don’t want to go for it right now. ” She tried to play it off like a joke, but she could feel a shift in his demeanor that made her uneasy.
“ Why not, ” he demanded.
“ Why not? We just got married. I mean Gigi’s not even back from France. ” She laughed nervously.
“ So you don’t want to because of Gigi? ” He doesn’t sound convinced. “Not because I’m not the man you pictured having another baby with?”
“What? Of course it would be you,” she lies. “I’m not married to anyone else as far as I’m aware.” She isn’t sure at which point she should stop trying to diffuse the situation with jokes and actually get out of bed.
“I saw you with him today Lorelai. I saw the way you two were with that baby. You wanted it to be him. Is that why you don’t want one right now? Are you just buying time with me until he’s ready to be with you?” She could feel his anger rising.
“No, Christopher, YOU are my husband. I chose YOU.” Joking wasn’t working, so she hoped her reassurances would.
“Exactly, Lor. I am your husband. And if you want a baby then why shouldn’t it be now?” He started to forcefully kiss her again.
“Christopher, stop,” she said trying to push him away from her. “Let’s just get some sleep and talk about this in the morning.” But her attempts to stop him seemed to be making him more aggressive.
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“You’re mine, now, Lorelai. You want a baby. I want a baby. I’m not going to wait around just because you’re still pining over your ex.” One hand covered her mouth as he pushed her nightgown up.
Eventually he finished, got dressed, and left the house. Lorelai layed motionless in bed, feeling numb and wondering how things got out of hand so quickly. She knew Chris had a temper, but she had never in a million years thought he could be capable of the violence he had committed against her that evening.
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A couple days later, Babette and Miss Patty were sitting at Luke's Diner discussing the recent development in the Gilmore household.
“He just left?” Miss Patty pried Babette for more information.
“Gone! Late at night! My Morey was up getting a glass of water about 11pm and saw him get in his car and drive off. Hasn’t been back since.” Babette’s raspy voice failing to be discreet. “Supposedly Andrew saw him at KC’s shortly after that, but he definitely wasn’t at Lorelai’s house when I got up in the morning and hasn’t been back since.”
“I heard Lorelai hasn’t been to the Inn in two days. Won’t answer the phone or door for anyone trying to check in on her. The poor thing.” Miss Patty shook her head. Luke usually did his best to avoid Babette and Miss Patty’s gossip, but this caught his attention. He worried his fight with Christopher the other night was the reason he was gone, which he would be grateful for if it didn’t sound like Lorelai was really broken up over it.
“Between you and me,” whispered Babette, “I think something bad happened. I saw her yesterday morning letting Paul Anka out and her lip looked like it had been split open! And Morey swears he saw some bruising on her neck, but I wasn’t close enough to see anything.” Miss Patty gasped but was interrupted by Luke storming out of the diner.
Luke was seeing red. He never liked Christopher. The hold he had over Lorelai. His absence from Rory’s life. The way he was always there while simultaneously never being there infuriated Luke. But this was something else entirely. The thought of Christopher bringing any harm to Lorelai made Luke wish he hadn’t held back when Christopher ambushed him outside the diner the other night. Then he stopped. What time had Christopher come after him? He had been out fishing and camping to clear his head after his meeting with the lawyer, but gave up and headed back to Stars Hollow around midnight. If Christopher had hurt Lorelai, had it been before or after? Was their fight what caused him to hurt her? He bent over with his hands on his knees, nearly dry-heaving at the thought of his hatred for Christopher getting Lorelai hurt.
He needed to see her, to make sure she was okay, but he needed to get his anger in check. He didn't want to scare her. And what if she knew about his fight with Christopher? What if she didn’t want to see him? Maybe he was the last person that should be going to check on her, but he decided that he was selfish. He needed to know if she was okay. To know if this was his fault.
When he got to her house he knocked on her door. “Lorelai, it’s Luke, please open up.” Paul Anka barked at the door, but still no one came to answer.