Sugar and Spice
By Misha

Disclaimer and Rating in Part One.

A.N- This is the end of "Sugar and Spice", but not the end of Christa's journey. There'll be a second story, coming soon, continuing her adventures and detailing the next chapter in her life (and the next season in the lives of the Gilmore girls). Some things are going to change, others will stay the same, but it will all weave together to fit my ultimate plot (and I have all seven years worked out-I'll diverge from cannon pretty much completely by book 5). The next saga in Christa's life covers a new city, a new school and the entrance of Sherri into her life with Christopher. Our girl is going to have some serious troubles adjusting and I hope you'll continue reading and see how our favourite bad boys help her deal with them. That's all, I hope you've enjoyed "Sugar and Spice"!

Chapter Forty-Seven: Life-Changing Moments

"Hey princess."

"Hi Dad." Christa said, smiling into the phone.

It was a Thursday afternoon and school was almost over for years and things were generally going really well. There was a week of school left and Lorelai was almost done their dresses for Louise's party. She and Tristan were going to the concert the next day and she had a date with Collin for Saturday and she was generally having a good time. Life was good.

"I got the job." Christopher announced. "In Boston. They want me to start in two weeks. When do you want to go apartment hunting?"

Christa sat there in stunned silence. Boston. Two weeks. Wow.

"I mean, you do want to go to Boston with me, right?" Christopher asked.

"Yeah." Christa assured him, not knowing what else she could possibly say. "Of course, I do, Dad." And she did. Sort of. She loved her father and had missed him, but she'd gotten into a groove here, at Chilton, with her mom and Rory, with her friends. And yet... The school year was almost done, Boston was a lot closer to Stars Hollow than California, and Collin and them were leaving for Yale in the fall anyway.

"Can I spend the summer here?" She asked hesitatingly. "At least the next couple weeks."

"Sure." Christopher told her. "You sure you don't want to pick out the new place?"

"Wherever you pick will be fabulous." Christa assured him. "So we're definitely doing this?"

"We are." Christopher told her. "I think it's finally time for me to grow up, kiddo. These last few months without you taught me that. I missed you too much and I realized I needed to do what was best for you."

"Dad..." Christa said softly, not sure what to say.

"No, Christa, I'm serious." Christopher told her. "We're a team, you and I against the world and I've missed that. I know it's going to be great living in Boston, plus we'll be closer to your mom and Rory, which'll be nice."

"It will." Christa agreed, trying not to let her sadness show in her voice.

It would be nice to be closer, but after living in Hartford, she wasn't sure it'd be enough. She'd had her mom and Rory in her life every day, getting to do the simple things with them, and now she'd have to go back to sharing weekends and holidays. Yes, it was better than visits twice a year, but it still wasn't enough. Not by a long shot. Still, she would never tell her father that, because he was right and they were a team.

"Any requests for your room?" Christopher asked, breaking her out of her reverie. "Purple, right?"

"You got it." Christa answered with a grin.

Her father did know her so well and she was happy to be living with him again, because she'd missed him, but... It felt strange to end this chapter of her life, but life was a series of bends in the road and she'd just reached another one, that's all. She'd always known this one would come, she just never thought it would come so soon...

---

Rory knocked on Dean's door, screwing up all her courage. She'd gone to Dosey's to talk to him, but he wasn't there, even though it was Thursday and he normally worked Thursdays.

She was pretty terrified about talking to him and had even had a nightmare about his sister answering the door and Rory traumatising her, but she'd screwed up her courage and decided to do it. She figured that if Tristan could reunite with Christa, than she could reunite with Dean. Rory knew it wasn't even remotely the same, but she'd been impressed by Tristan's courage and the fact that he'd seen what was missing in his life and decided to get it back. She could do the same.

"Rory." Dean said, answering the door. "What are you doing here?"

"I love you." Rory blurted out, screwing up all her courage.

Dean just stared at her, not saying anything. Rory stood there, waiting for him to say something, but he kept staring.

After a moment, Rory felt herself turn pink and looked away. She was an idiot, she shouldn't have come. Of course, he didn't want to hear those words. It was too late, months too late, he'd moved on and...

Suddenly, Dean was pulling her towards him, making her look at him and then he was kissing her and all other thoughts flew out of Rory's brain. She was with Dean and they were kissing. Everything was okay again!

"I love you." Dean told her after they finally broke apart. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." Rory told him. "More than anything."

She wanted to tell him how miserable she'd been, how awful their months apart had been, but the words didn't come.

Instead, she decided to show him and kissed him again, not caring that they were standing on his front porch for all of Stars Hollow to see. She and Dean were back together, all was right in the world!

---

"Marry me."

Lorelai looked at Max and then at the thousand yellow daisies which he'd filled the lobby of the Independence Inn with. It was definitely a grand gesture, that was for sure. And there was an intensity to his words. It was definitely magical, she'd give him that.

The night before, he'd proposed as a way to end their argument about how they'd spent their time apart and she'd told him that a proposal needed to be magical and well... This was definitely magical.

"Marry me." Max repeated. "Lorelai, I love you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Lorelai just stood there, staring at him.

"You were right last night, I shouldn't have proposed to you. It was stupid. It was the wrong place and the wrong time, but it was the right sentiment. I didn't propose to you because we were fighting, I proposed because I love you." Max told her passionately. "We're not children, Lorelai, there's no reason for us to wait any longer, our relationship's been stuck in a weird holding pattern and I want to move forward. So marry me."

"I..." Lorelai began.

"I know you need time." Max told her. "You'll need to talk to Rory and Christa, because they're part of the package, and I expect that. I can be patient, I just needed to get that our there."

He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek and then, before he could say another word, he strode out of the Inn, leaving her shell-shocked staring after him.

This was a huge, life-changing moment and she honestly had no idea how to react. It was just... Wow.

---

"Mom, I have news!" Rory called as she ran into the house, but after a moment she realized it was empty.

Then a second later, she heard a car pull up. "Mom, Rory! I've got big news!" Christa called as she ran into the house.

"Me too!" Rory told her sister, but before either one of them could speak, another car pulled up.

"Rory! Christa! Mommy's got big news!" Lorelai called out.

Rory and Christa were waiting for her, repeating the sentiments.

"You first!" All three of them shouted, pointing at a different woman. They all laughed.

"Dean and I are back together!" Rory announced, unable to contain it any longer.

"Oh, Rory!" Lorelai exclaimed, giving her a big hug. As soon their mother was done, Christa did the same.

"Your turn." Lorelai said, pointing at her other daughter.

"Dad got a job in Boston." Christa told them. "I'm staying here for at least part of the summer and then going there."

Rory felt her stomach sink. Christa was leaving. Oh, she knew that it couldn't possibly last forever, that some day Christa would have to go back and live with their dad, but she just hadn't wanted some day to come so quickly. Or at all for that matter. She'd wanted Christa to stay in Connecticut with them.

"Boston, that's close." Lorelai said after a moment. "You'll be able to come visit on the weekends."

"That's what Dad said." Christa said, struggling to smile. "And Rory, you should be able to come stay with us, once we're settled."

"That'd be great." Rory said weakly, still trying to process the fact that Christa was leaving. But at least Boston was better than California. "I'll miss you at Chilton."

Christa made a face. "I'll miss you too, but at least we can see each other on weekends and stuff, it won't be like it was before and I promise, as long as Francine and Straub can bribe the admissions people to let me in, I'll go to college wherever you do."

Rory smirked. "I'll hold you to that."

"Deal." Christa commented, then she looked at Lorelai. "Rory and I have dished, now your turn."

"Max asked me to marry him!" Lorelai announced.

Rory stared at her mom in shock. She knew her mom was seeing Mr. Medina again, but she hadn't known they were that serious.

"Seriously?" Christa asked, grabbing Lorelai and pulling her into a hug. "Mom, that's amazing!"

"Yeah, it's great." Rory echoed.

"I haven't said yes yet." Lorelai told hem. "I wanted to discuss it with you two first. It's a big change."

"Not for me." Christa pointed out with a shrug. "I'm only your part-time kid."

"You're always my kid, no matter where you live." Lorelai told her. "You still get a vote in this, your life still changes."

"I just want you to be happy." Christa told her, though Rory could tell she was conflicted about the news.

But then so was Rory. She liked Max, she wanted her mom to be happy, but... Some part of always hoped that if Lorelai ever got married it would be to Christopher and she knew that Christa shared her hope. A hope that had been able to stay alive as long as neither Christopher or Lorelai ever got serious about anyone else, a dream that was now being dashed forever.

"What do you think, Ror?" Lorelai asked, looking at her.

"I just want you to be happy too." Rory said, echoing her sister, then she smiled. "Plus I like Mr. Medina, he's nice."

It was true, Max was very nice and if he made Lorelai happy that was all that mattered.

"You know, if he marries Mom, you're going to have to stop calling him Mr. Medina." Christa pointed out with a smile.

Rory laughed. "True." She looked at her mom, "are you going to say yes?"

Lorelai paused for a moment, looked at her two girls, then smiled. "I think I am." Both Christa and Rory shrieked and ran to give their mother a huge.

Rory stood there, huddled with her mother and sister in a group hug and realized that however much their lives changed, there was constant: They'd always have each other .

- The End