Christopher opened the front door, expecting it to be just another guest, but outside stood three people from whom he recognized two, Colin and Finn. They had visited a couple of times over the last seventeen years. With them was a woman with red-blonde hair and it wasn't until he had looked into her piercing blue eyes that he had recognised his daughter. She had changed so much since the last time he had seen her. Rory had disappeared the day after her late husband's funeral, only leaving behind two things, a letter, in which she had explained why she had to get away from her life here in Hartford and that they didn't need to worry about her, that Colin and Finn had followed her, and her infant daughter. That had been seventeen years ago, they hadn't seen or heard from her until this very moment.
His mouth dropped agape as he stood in the doorway of his home, complete and utter shock on his face.
"Hello, daddy." To Christopher, it sounded like she was having a hard time getting the words out. The sound of her voice surprised him, she sounded different, yet so familiar. He stared at her intensely, like she was going to vanish, his mouth still gaping open.
"You should close that mouth, mate, you wouldn't want to catch a fly," Finn tried to joke, to make this less uncomfortable, emphasis on tried. All he got was a hard nudge in his side from Colin, Rory seemed oblivious and Christopher was ignoring his comment, though he did school his features.
"Rory?" he said with a smidge of disbelief, he still thought he might have been dreaming. God, he missed her so much.
Rory took a step forward, toward her dad, slow and unsure. Afraid that if she were to loosen the grip on Colin and Finn's hands that they would somehow disappear. "It's me, dad. I'm here." Finn and Colin gave her an encouraging smile when she looked over her shoulder and they released her hands from their grip.
"Oh, Ror," Christopher collided with the body of his daughter. He hugged her as tight as he could.
"I'm so sorry." Rory's cries were muffled by the shirt her dad was wearing.
After a good minute, Chris released Rory from his arms to look in her eyes as he wiped the tears away, "We'll talk about things later, kiddo," he said. "Right now you have to see your daughter, but let me talk to her first, okay?"
"How big is the chance she is not going to want to see me?" she asked him. after all, Chris had raised Ari when Rory wasn't capable, he probably knew her better than anyone.
"She might be a little mad but she is going to want to see you, I'm sure of it," he told her reassuringly. "wait here." With that, Chris walked off to where, Rory remembered, the livingroom was.
"Only a little mad, huh? Try full-on rage whirlwind, a pure combination of Gilmore girl rage and Huntzberger rage, and I'm not talking Logan, I'm talking the dark lord, before he softened," Finn mumbled to Colin, from whom he received his second side jab. "Ouch, what was that for?"
"You are so not helping, man," he said. "You did realise she could hear you just now." He pointed toward Rory with subtlety, she was now pacing back and forth with this freaked out expression on her face.
"No, no, it's okay. Now I know a little of what I can expect. I just forgot that you guys have been back here a couple of times, well that, and you mentioned his name, it was just really unexpected that's all." She raked her hands through her hair, "I am doing the right thing, right?"
"I'm sorry, love," Finn apologized. "I shouldn't have mentioned his name."
"Finn," she said harsher than the intended. "It's alright!" Her breathing got harder, and her heart started beating faster. Not now, not here. Her eyes got cloudy and she slid her back against the wall, her head in her hands.
