"Here we go ladies and gentlemen! I think this is where we would leave off. This is short but I am thinking a chapter a week is going to be great for this story. Please give me reviews, comments and suggestions. The rating is M for future chapters that may include some Gilmore love story's."

A moment in time

"Mom"

"Yeah"

"I'm pregnant"

The silence that followed was deafening. The only noise that could be heard was the sharp intake of breath from my mother as her eyes scanned my face to show any sign of teasing, then her eyes on my stomach an back to the ground. It was as if time stood still and this would be one of the moments that I would look back on forever. Her eyes turned toward me and the looked right through into my soul. I was this woman, just sixteen years later. I was her. Maybe a different time frame and different set of circumstances but I was her. Scared, jobless, and alone.

No. Not alone. I had this family of misfits that would watch after me. I would be okay and the book. The book would bring money in but now it would hold a whole other section...

"You're what?"

She stated it not like a question but not like a statement either. It was this breathless sequence of words that didn't fit together. I looked behind her for a moment until I realized that she as speaking to me. I was the source of her confusion. My child was the source of this worry. The bomb I had just dropped would make anyone feel as if their world was spinning, epically my mother.

"I'm pregnant"

There it was again. Those two little words that had just completely changed everything. It was like a wrecking ball had completely dropped into our lives. It was no longer just Mom and I. It was. It was. Oh lord, who was going to tell Grandma….

A hand went to my stomach and another grabbed hand and held on. This would be another moment. This would be another picture I would hold inside my mind again and never let go. A breath went out of my body I didn't know I was holding on to.

And then the walls fell.

An arm was thrown over me and pulled me closer, but her hand never left my stomach. It was like she wanted to protect us both. This woman who had spent the last thirty-two years sacrificing everything for me, she was still doing just that. The love that it promised and gave was enough to feel okay in the moment. I grabbed her body and held it back to mine. My hand laying on top of hers, fingers interlocking, I was always okay in her arms. I always have been and always would be. When I held her hands I knew we could handle everything. I breathed in a whiff of her hair. The same smell. The same safe smell. I closed my eyes and let the tears fall. What felt like forever ended. She pulled apart first and I looked away. Her hand never left mine my stomach and my hand never left hers. I had to be strong like her. I reached to wipe my tears away before she stopped me.

"Hey. It's okay. You're going to be okay"

"Mom. I just…"

"Rory. Just. Just stop for a second and let me process this. It will be okay but I just need a moment to process this"

There it was. I knew it was there. The big elephant in the gazebo dressed in a tutu and a shirt labeled in disappointment. It had to have been there. I couldn't expect it not to be there. This was never the plan. This was never the way things were supposed to play out. I looked out into town. This perfect little whack job of a town. My entire life was in these streets, in these building, in these shops and homes. The way the air felt against my face, the way the sounds made me feel at home.

My eyes went to my stomach. No bump. Just over seven weeks along. I had only known for a few days but I wanted to wait until after the wedding. My mother thumb grazed over my stomach. Calming her fears and mine. There was life here. My child. My baby. Life would never be the same now. Our hands still there over my child. It would never be the same.

And for once that would have to be okay.