the only exception

𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐

Lorelai stood there in shock, "He's your what?"

"My dad," Mason laughed.

Lorelai nodded, "Yeah. Okay, um. How old are you?"

"I'm seven," he answered.

A familiar male then walked toward them.

"Hey, Lorelai. Hey bud," Daniel smiled, then realized what just happened, "Lorelai, I'm so sorry I meant to-"

"Can we not? Not here. Let's just go inside," Lorelai shook her head.

Daniel sighed in defeat, "Yeah."

"I'll walk you in!" Mason innocently beamed.

Although Lorelai was slightly confused and mad at the moment, she smiled at the young boy's enthusiasm.

"Grandma! Lorelai's here!" he led her into the kitchen with Daniel trailing right behind.

An older woman turned around, "Hello! It's so lovely to meet you. Daniel talks about you all the time. I'm Laura."

She brought her into a hug.

"Nice to meet you too," Lorelai smiled.

Daniel sighed softly, at least this is going well.

"I made some lasagna and some pesto pasta. Daniel mentioned that you were Italian so I thought I would make some Italian," Laura grinned.

Lorelai smiled, "That sounds lovely, thank you."

"Of course. The lasagna still needs a bit more cooking, but you guys can go to Dan's old room. I'll have Mason call you down," Laura smiled.

Mason nodded, "I'm gonna help Grandma."

The two adults nodded as Daniel led her upstairs to his old teenage bedroom. As they walked in, she looked at the walls and saw what seemed to be a baby Mason and teen Daniel playing with building blocks.

Daniel sat on his bed, "Go ahead. Ask me any questions. Yell at me. Hit me. Anything you'd like."

"I just want to know why you didn't tell me," Lorelai sighed.

Daniel nodded, walking aimlessly around the room, "I didn't want to scare you away."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, when you tell people, especially someone you're interested in, that you've got a kid. They seem to lose interest," he answered, "I've lost relationships with friends and family members."

Lorelai nodded, "Okay, and you didn't think that I was different? Maybe I would've gotten to know you still?"

He shook his head, "No. I didn't. When I gave you my number. I didn't think you would actually call."

"But I did," Lorelai argued, "I did."

"I know, you did," Dan sighed, "I know. Lorelai, I'm sorry. I didn't tell you."

Lorelai shook her head as she paced back and forth.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Thinking," she responded.

Daniel nodded, "I know you probably don't want to continue our relationship. That's fine, I understand. But please, just hear me out and I'll tell you the whole story."

"Go ahead," she looked at him.

"I was seventeen, junior year. We went to her house, no one was home so we both decided to do it," he sighed, "She was on the pill, at least that's what she told me. She stole her dad's condom to be extra safe. Turns out 98% effective doesn't mean anything. She then moved two weeks later," he continued, "I didn't hear from her for 9 months. Then one day, there was a baby at my door with a birth certificate and a document stating that I had full custody of the baby."