gold rush ♬ {𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐮𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐲}

xvi. dad

For Emma and Rory, the word "dad" was like an acronym for Debacle of Awful Destruction. When their dad is involved, it never ends well. The word was an alert for 'something bad is about to happen'. That siren screamed in their heads. The owner of the snowy motorcycle was non other than Christopher Hayden.

"Dad." Rory chanted the word of catastrophe.

"What is he going here?" Lorelai walked to the door. She opened it and he took off his helmet.

"Are you going to let me in or are you going to freeze my body and feed it to the horses?"

"I am not a advocate for food poisoning."

He was in the house. Their father was inside the house. The siren was the only thing Emma could hear.

"Hi, kiddo. How are you?" He hugged Rory. She was the twin who was standing. Emma was still on the couch, petrified.

"What are you doing here? Why did you drive in the snow? What are you wearing? Is that a chain?" Rory bombarded her father with questions.

"Emma. Hello. Aren't you going to give me a hug?"

She looked back at her father. She saw her sister and mother with begging eyes. Emma took a deep breath.

"Hi, dad." And she went to give him a hug.

"I've missed you so much. You'll always be my little girls." He invited Rory to the hug.

But...

But were they his little girls? They weren't so little anymore. They weren't his. How could they be his if he's never around? It's almost like the colonizers proclaiming a land and only visiting it every 2 years.

The next morning was a circus. Christopher slept on the couch. They didn't know how to act, how to function with a man, with their father in the house. He was out of place.

The town enjoyed the circus. He was the new clown, the new entertainer of the small town show. People argued if Christopher looked more like George Clooney or Brad Pitt. Well, I think he looks more like David Sutcliffe, but that's just my opinion.

The girls went to school and Lorelai had to babysit a 30 year old man.

"Chris. Enlighten me. What are you actually doing here?"

"Now I can't visit my own daughters?"

"No. You can. You totally can. But you haven't done it in 10 years."

Christopher was ashamed. He should be.

"But I want to change it. I want to change things, Lor. I want to be in my daughters' life." He took a step closer to Lorelai. "I want to be in your life."

Lorelai was startled.

"You think you can just come in with the snow, knock at our door and be welcomed with love?" He didn't say anything, because that's exactly what he thought. "You are still the same. It doesn't matter how much you want to change. It doesn't matter if you have a good job or anything. You'll always be the same boy who expects the world to fall at his feet. Wake up, Christopher! Money doesn't fall from the sky. Nor love. Nor happiness. Nor forgiveness."

"Lor-"

"Don't 'Lor' your way out of this." Her eyes were getting teary. "I'm happy that you're finally ready to be a father, that you want to be a decent human being. But you are too late."

"How is it too late? I am here, aren't I?"

"Because if you don't know, I was also 16. God knows I wasn't ready to be a mother! But I sure became one. I had to. I worked for it. And you don't have the right to burst into our lives with a smile when all you've done was hurt us."