True to her word, Lane called Rolling Stone the next morning. Once she explained who she was and what she wanted, she was quickly transferred to the editor, Mark. Mark knew Rory's name from her work on the Obama campaign.  Because of her previous work, he reluctantly agreed to allow Rory to freelance this article for them. He wanted the exclusive story for the magazine. He would have rather had one of his own writers do the job, but if it meant getting the story, he was willing to do it this way.  Mark requested to meet with Rory at some point to discuss the agreement.  Otherwise, Rory had the go-ahead to begin her article and an agreement that it would be published in the magazine.

Hep Alien had another show in Boston that evening. Since they were still set up from the night before, the band was able to sleep in a bit that morning. Lane had gotten up with the kids, but Zack was still asleep. She always shared a suite with Zack, Mrs. Kim, and the kids while Brian and Gil got their own rooms. Last night, and most of the nights Rory attended the concerts, she also stayed in the family's suite.

After hanging up the phone, Lane found Rory watching cartoons with Steve and Kwan. "Good morning everyone," Lane said walking into the room.

"Morning Mama," the twins said in unison. "Grammy went to get apples from the fruit party," Kwan told her.

"The fruit party?" Lane asked looking at Rory for clues.

"There is a farmer's market this morning in that big parking lot we passed last night. Mrs. Kim said she needed to get real food for these children. Apparently she didn't think strawberry Pop Tarts counted towards their fruit intake for the day," Rory said.

"I can't believe you still eat those things. For once, I agree with Mama," Lane said. "So...I just spoke with Mark at Rolling Stone. He was the one that came to visit us not too long ago begging to do a spread."

"You did? You talked with him already?" Rory asked excitedly. Her excited raised voice earned her a "shhhh" from Steve.

Rory got up and walked with Lane into the small kitchenette. As she poured herself another cup of coffee and Lane a first cup, she asked, "So, what did he say?"

"He agreed to treat you as a freelance writer. Basically, he will pay you for the story when it is complete. I didn't talk money with him. You'll have to do that when you go in and submit it all to him.  He would like to meet with you in New York to hammer out the details.  It will actually work out pretty well since our tour ends there.  We just have the one show in Albany first, then two in New York," Lane said.  "Considering he was talking about taking cover shots of the band, I imagine he will pay decent for this story," Lane surmised. "I know it isn't a job at Rolling Stone, but it is a good foot in the door."

"Lane, this is awesome. Thank you so much. I owe you big for this," Rory said hugging her.

"No you don't. You and Lorelai supported me and my music from day one. I owe you," Lane said.

The girls were still hugging when Mrs. Kim walked in loaded down with bags. "What is going on? Why are you hugging? Why do you both look like you are about to cry?" Mrs. Kim demanded looking at them.

"Happy tears, Mama," Lane said.

"Oh. Ok. Stop hugging and don't cry," Mrs. Kim said. "The children need fruit and vegetables. Aunt Rory must stop giving them sugar filled pastries," Mrs. Kim said looking at Rory. "I also bought vegetables to make Zack and Brian their smoothies."

"Zack and Brian drink vegetable smoothies?" Rory asked Lane.

Mrs. Kim answered for her, "Very good for vocal chords and asthma."

"Oh, I see," Rory said. "Looks like I need to get a notebook out already. Fans want to know the details."

"Fans?  Rory will write the article then?" Mrs. Kim asked Lane.

"Yes Mama.  I just set it up with Rolling Stone. I still need to clear it with Trudy and Brad, but I think it's a go,"  Lane answered.

"Very good.  You will write a good story on Lane," Mrs. Kim said cutting up fruit for the boys.

"Yes, I will ma'am,"  Rory said to Mrs. Kim.

"The Mrs. Kim seal of approval, better than Brad and Trudy," Lane whispered to Rory.

"It's taken years, but I finally got it," Rory said giggling.  Then she headed to get dressed for the day.

Mrs. Kim took the children to The Please Touch Museum after Zack and Gil finally got up. The band had a rehearsal and sound check scheduled for that afternoon. Rory joined them figuring she should start on her story as soon as she could. She hadn't been to a rehearsal in a long time, so it was interesting to see how things had changed over the years.

They arrived back at the concert hall.  Everything looked so much different during the day.  The place looked huge and empty.  Rory wandered around while the band set up and tuned their instruments.  She stepped over bundles of wires and cables careful not to disturb anything.  Every so often she would just watch Lane and the guys.  She was amazed how they interacted.  After all this time together, they barely needed to speak.  They all knew their roles and what to do to prepare for a show.  They didn't move robotically, but more like a dance.  Rory watched them assist each other and finish each other's tasks with merely a nod or an eye movement.  The four of them just knew and understood each other on a level that would make many married couples jealous.  There were few words, but several laughs to secret jokes.  She knew she wanted to include this feeling into her story somehow.

Her impressions continued as they started a sound check.  There wasn't even an official announcement that they were beginning that stage of things.  Every motion and action for them just seemed to flow.  Lane pounded on the drums giving Gil and Brian some unknown signal for their next movement.  Zack began to sing right on cue with the guitars.  They moved across the stage in a practiced yet natural movement that reminded Rory of a ballet.  Rory was watching in a way she had never watched Hep Alien before and knew she had to translate this into words.

A couple hours later, the band felt comfortable with their practice.  Even though they had done this exact show last night, they were treating it and preparing for it as though it was the first show ever.  They were confident and prepared.

"Hey, what were you doing the whole time?  I thought you'd want to start working or taking notes or something today?"  Lane said as she came over to where Rory sat.

"Today was about taking it all in,"  Rory said.  "How would you describe those guys?" Rory asked motioning towards the men on the stage jump roping with the microphone cord.

"Well, one is my husband, but they are all my brothers, my family, my best friends... aside from you, of course,"  Lane said without really thinking.  Then she wiped her brow and said, "I have to get a drink. It's hot in here.  I hope they turn down the AC in here tonight."

After Lane walked away, Rory approached Brian who was packing up some extra cords.  "Hey Brian, good rehearsal.  You guys haven't lost it, seem to work even better together."

"It's pretty easy when you know people as well as we know each other.  Half the time, I think we can read each other's minds,"  Brian said.

Rory smiled.  She knew this was going to be a very good article.