Arielle

By: Alyson Tierney

Disclaimer: I do not own Lorelai or Rory Gilmore, or any other character associated with Gilmore Girls the way it is seen on television. Those characters and other related things and ideas belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB Network. However, I do own Alicia and Arielle, since I made them up.

Author's Note: This story idea is taken from the book "Baby" by Patricia MacLachlan, so I'd like to thank her for the terrific story idea, and I hope I did it justice in this story. It takes place this Christmas, and is an idea I've been working on for awhile. I will put the first two or three chapters up before Christmas, but then will take a break for about three or four days before the next one is up, just as fair warning. I hope you like this, and have a very good Christmas season.

CHAPTER ONE

The snow twinkled in the sunlight as Rory Gilmore drove through the familiar town of Stars Hollow. Christmas decorations were everywhere, as it was only nine days until Christmas. Rory couldn't wait to celebrate Christmas with her mom and her other family and friends. Her last final had been just a few hours ago, and after a quick lunch and last-minute packing; she hit the road to drive the 22.8 miles to Stars Hollow from New Haven. As she drove past Luke's, she smiled at the sight of a wreath on the front door, and Christmas lights adorning the windows. Lorelai had to have put them there; her mother had a special way with the stubborn Grinch-y Luke.

She stopped at the only stoplight in Stars Hollow and grinned as she saw a young woman, no more than 20 years old, crossing the street, pushing a baby carriage. She thought the young woman looked strangely familiar. Maybe she'd known her from Stars Hollow High.

Rory turned down the road that would lead to the Dragonfly Inn. This was the inn's first Christmas, and Rory was betting that her mom and Sookie had it completely decorated in wreaths and lights and a huge Christmas tree. Lorelai loved decorating things. Next to naming things, she liked making them look pretty. Take the hammer she'd given her daughter to aid her in building a house for Habitat. Her mom had covered the poor, defenseless hammer in pink gauze, ribbon, and feathers.

As she turned up the driveway to the spacious inn, she grinned at the sight. Sure enough, the windows and the porch were decked out with lights, and a large wreath hung on the door. Through the window that looked into the main room where guests checked in, she could see a large Christmas tree, fully lit. She turned off the engine, and got out, locking the car, and walked the newly shoveled sidewalk to the front porch. As Rory entered the inn, she could smell ham and potatoes and beef, mixed with a cinnamon and pine smell. It smelled just like the Independence Inn smelled on Christmas.

"Hello, Rory!" Michel greeted her, sounding more cheerful than he usually sounded when she came to the inn.

"Hey, Michel! How's it going?" Rory asked, leaning her elbows on the front desk to talk to the manager.

"Well, I could actually have to be outside in that pathetically cold and snowy day, so I could be worse. But I am also stuck in here with this revoltingly cheery Christmas tree staring at me. There are angels and nutcrackers staring at me." Michel grumbled.

Rory giggled, "Well, maybe they think you're cute." She'd missed Michel's dry humor. She hadn't seen Michel for almost a month, since she'd last been at the inn around Thanksgiving.

Michel smirked at her, so she changed the subject, "Where's Mom?" she asked.

"She is in her personal box working on god-knows-what. It can't possibly be more important than manning the desk with ornaments grinning at you like you're dinner." Michel informed her.

"She's in her office? Thanks, Michel!" Rory grinned at him, and then skipped behind the desk and into the small hallway that led to three offices. Her mom, her mom's best friend and co-owner, Sookie, and Michel all had their own office, but they were quite small.

She knocked quietly and opened the door. Her mom was sitting at her desk, poring over papers and notes. Her glasses were on, and she looked perplexed. "Michel, I told you not to bug me unless Rory got here." Lorelai said, not looking up.

"Rory did get here." Rory said, simply. Lorelai, recognizing her daughter's voice, looked up and grinned. She practically leapt out of her seat and into Rory's arms, holding her daughter close.

"You're home! Welcome back! How were your finals? I missed you!" Lorelai said, kissing her daughter on the forehead and pulling back, taking a good look at her daughter.

"You missed me?" Rory's eyebrow rose, "You saw me six days ago."

"Yes. Six days ago. Everyone knows that I start missing you after one hour. Six days is like 500 hours!" Lorelai insisted.

"144 hours, actually." Rory corrected her.

Lorelai pouted, "Well it felt like 500!" She grinned again, and took her daughter's hands, "How were your finals, babe?"

Rory grinned, "They were fine, actually. I was pretty worried about some of them, but they actually went pretty well. I may have aced philosophy."

Lorelai gasped, "Even after Logan and his 'I want Rory' act?"

Rory rolled her eyes, "Mom, Logan does not want me. He does nothing but make fun of me and get me to do things I would never otherwise do."

Lorelai grinned, "He wants you."

Rory pouted at her mom, "Well, he's off to Spain visiting relatives, so we don't have to worry about him."

Lorelai nodded knowingly, "But he has our number, doesn't he?" she teased.

"Mom!" Rory blushed.

"You gave him our number!" Lorelai exclaimed.

Rory blushed harder, "Only because I wanted him to be able to contact me if there was some sort of emergency."

Lorelai wasn't buying it, "You gave him our number so he can call you and you two can talk and talk and talk and talk…"

Rory pouted, "Fine! I did!"

Lorelai squealed, "Ha!"

"So, how's Luke?" Rory asked.

"Changing the subject. Clever. Actually, Luke's fine, I feel bad for him though, feeling like he has to hide every year on the day of his dad's death." Lorelai said, plopping down on the small couch across from the desk.

"Me too. I can't imagine what it must be like to lose someone that close to me." Rory sat down, and looked at her mom sadly.

"You're not going to lose me." Lorelai said, firmly.

"But you're older and…" Rory started to protest.

"You're not going to lose me." Lorelai insisted.

Rory smiled, "Okay."

"Okay, well let me just finish up, and then we can head out ok?" Lorelai said, getting up and crossing back to her desk.

"Okay. Is there anything I can do to help?" Rory asked.

"You can eat this candy cane. Why anyone makes them in Jolly Rancher and Sweet Tart flavors, I'll never understand. Candy canes should be restricted to peppermint only." Lorelai said, tossing a brightly colored candy cane to Rory.

"It's the new century, mom. Colorful candy canes are in." Rory explained as she caught the candy cane, and tore off the wrapper. Rory loved that they made new flavors, because she'd been kind of sick of only peppermint. Lorelai, however, wanted to stick with the original peppermint, and nothing else. Rory leaned her head back on the couch and focused on the treat, letting her mind wander from school and homework. She was done now, for four whole weeks. She hadn't imagined the amount of stress she'd experienced was even possible, but it was. She closed her eyes, listening to her mom's mumbling about numbers and money and tie tacks.

Soon, the mumbling was replaced with a "Ha! Finished!" Rory opened her eyes to see her mom stuffing the papers back into a folder with a triumphant grin.

"Finished?" Rory repeated, looking at her mom sleepily.

Lorelai looked at her daughter, "Yes, and we even have, wow, 68 cents left over!"

Rory giggled, "Well, that's good. You can buy a pop."

"Not anymore. The price of soda in this town is now 70 cents instead of 65." Lorelai grumbled.

"You're kidding!" Rory exclaimed, "It's been 65 cents since we moved here!"

"Well, dear, as you said, it's a new century." Lorelai grinned sweetly.

"Uh-huh." Rory nodded, as she stood.

Lorelai gathered her things, and then slung an arm around her daughter, "Come on, let's say bye to Sookie and Michel, and then hit Luke's."

"You got it!" Rory agreed, following her mom out the door. She smiled as they headed for the kitchen. She was home, back with her mom, finals were done, and Christmas was coming.