A/N: Confession time - I watched the TV movie "Remember Sunday" starring our girl Rory opposite Zachary Levi and realized he is exactly who I would cast as her love interest in my little post-finale universe, which prompted this random nugget of a tale to give him a proper introduction and give our girls a mother/daughter chat. Hope that's all right with you all - enjoy!
XXX
May 4th, 2013
The trees and flowers were blooming all sorts of vibrant greens and pinks and blues as Rory steered her car down Pine Street, this route now almost as familiar as the one to the old Crap Shack closer to town. It still took her a moment, every time she crossed town lines into Stars Hollow, to adjust her sense of direction and head for the house her mom had settled into three years ago, though this way had allowed her trip companion an excellent first-look at the square.
Rory glanced at her passenger and smiled at his expression as he stared eagerly out the open window. "What's that face about?" she asked.
Greg turned his head and raised his eyebrows high, his enormous, infectious grin covering the bottom half of his face. "You so grew up here," he said teasingly.
"I told you I did!"
"I know," he agreed, eyes back on the scenery. "But I've heard so much about this place that actually seeing it… it's everything you said it was. I can just picture a little you running around that gazebo."
Rory looked at him again. "Then you couldn't have been listening closely. Me? Running?"
Greg laughed. "All right," he acquiesced, "how about sitting under one of the big trees reading an obnoxiously large book?"
"That's more like it," she said. She put her blinker on and took a right onto the long driveway leading up to her mom's house. As she parked she added, "I'm surprised you noticed the gazebo through the festival decorations."
"I'm a scientific researcher, honey," he said, and tapped beside his eye. "I'm a very keen observer."
"And quite modest about it," Rory quipped, smirking at him. He rolled his eyes and unfolded himself from her compact car. She watched him take in the two-story white house with the wrap-around porch, the idyllic fence and hulking tree with the tire swing dropping lazily down from rope on a branch. Suddenly she felt strange, having Greg here in Stars Hollow, showing him this house she'd never actually lived in. He was the first guy she'd brought home since Logan Huntzberger back in college – was it too soon? Was this not the right day? Why had she chosen the Hey May! Festival to be their first town festival together? Stupid, she thought.
The front door swinging open forced Rory to momentarily table her concerns, and she smiled brightly and opened her arms for her little brother to run into.
"Rory!" he exclaimed happily, letting her squeeze him before presenting some sort of Lego creation with both hands.
"Hey Will! Very cool," she praised, not sure what she was looking at.
Greg had retrieved a bouquet of flowers from the backseat and came around to meet Will. The young boy lifted his head comically slow, his blue eyes wide as he took in the extremely tall man standing beside Rory. "Is he a giant?" he asked his sister, making her laugh out loud.
Greg smiled and crouched, offering his hand. "I'm Greg. Not a giant, as far as I know."
Will stared at the big hand and then stuck out the Lego Thing. Greg glanced at Rory, who shrugged, and then he poked one of the red pieces. "Nice," he said. "I used to love Legos."
"Used to?" Rory remarked. "Your apartment tells a different story."
Greg straightened to full height and squinted at her. "They're good for the brain," he defended.
"Uh huh," she said as they started across the lawn for the door. Will ran ahead, chanting, "Rory's here with a giant! Rory's here with a giant!"
Lorelai emerged from the living room, an assortment of ribbons in both hands and draped around her neck. "You're here!" she said, and Rory kissed her cheek. Lorelai turned to Greg. "Greg! Nice to see you again!"
"Thanks for inviting me," he said.
"Of course! I'd shake your hand or hug you or something but, uh—" Lorelai attempted to juggle the ribbons.
"That's okay. Uh, these are for you," he said, holding out the flowers.
"Aw, thanks! This one certainly knows his etiquette," she said to Rory, winking. "Just, uh, put them on that table right there and I'll put 'em in water later—"
"What's up with all the ribbon, mom?" Rory asked as Lorelai headed back into the living room, where there were little stuffed baggies all over the couch and coffee table.
"Ugh, the inn, someone had this bright idea to make baggies full of stuff promoting the place, coupons and pens and candy, to hand out at the festival. I've been working on them all morning."
"Was that someone you?" Rory asked, picking up a baggie to look at it.
"No comment."
"You have a great home," Greg said, gesturing around.
"Luke likes to keep things tidy. You shoulda seen our old place," Lorelai said, using some ribbon to tie a baggie shut. "Did Rory tell you what we named it?"
"I believe the word 'crap' was involved?"
Rory held another baggie out so Lorelai could tie ribbon around it. "It was pretty good to us, though," she said to her mom.
Lorelai shrugged. "Maybe she can take you by it later. Don't let its fancy exterior fool you, though – it's had more work done than Joan Rivers."
"That'd be fun," Greg agreed. "I want the total Stars Hollow experience while I'm here."
"Ah, nothing gets more 'Stars Hollow' than a festival," Lorelai assured. "Be glad the theme isn't based on a song. Or hay. Wait 'til you see the ones based on the town's history, oh my God."
"Bad?" Greg asked, confused, tying closed a baggie with sparkly gold ribbon.
"No no, those are the best ones. That's usually when Taylor and Kirk are at their most ridiculous."
"Oh, can't wait then," Greg said. "Hey, mind directing me to the bathroom?"
"Yeah, it's just around the corner past the stairs," Rory said. She returned the smile he gave her as he left the room and then picked up some ribbon, fiddling with the bouncy end of it. "Is it weird that I brought him today?" she finally asked her mother.
Lorelai frowned, putting baggies in a huge wicker basket. "I don't think so. Do you think it's weird?"
"I don't know," Rory admitted, leaning against the couch arm.
"If this is about the festival, it's their fourth year doing it so they've pretty much got all of the kinks out, plus last year they finally figured out which flowers were giving Taylor those vicious allergy attacks."
"I guess it's just weird now that he's actually here, in Stars Hollow, wanting to meet people and see the Crap Shack and spend time with us here on our turf."
"'Our turf'? Is there a West Side Story thing going on here that I don't know about? Is he from Woodbridge? The town would never stand for it," Lorelai joked.
"My obviously poor choice of vocabulary aside," Rory pushed, "I haven't brought anyone here since…"
"Logan," Lorelai finished.
"Right. And I mean, it's so different now. You aren't even in the same house."
"Well, things change, hon," Lorelai soothed. "But not much has changed in Stars Hollow itself. We hate progress here. We even struck down that proposal to put a CVS at the edge of town!" She softened, smiling at Rory. "But look how much you've changed since back then. You're a big girl with a big girl job and a big girl apartment."
Rory heard the pride in her mother's voice but still felt oddly. "Exactly. Bringing someone here, to this place… I'm not in college anymore. This feels so much more… serious."
Lorelai stopped what she was doing and stared at her daughter. "Well, do you think it's… serious?"
Rory could practically see the mix of anxiety and intrigue on her mother's face at the question. "I guess… I guess it could be."
"You're exclusive, aren't you? He's met your family, you've met his."
"Yeah."
"That seems pretty serious to me."
"Is it moving too fast, though?" Rory asked, feeling like a teenaged girl again.
Lorelai smiled. "Rory, you're asking the woman who's always done this kind of stuff out of order. That only depends on how you feel."
"I didn't think it was. But now having Greg here, it feels like maybe I'm making some kind of statement with my actions."
"What statement is that?"
The gears turned in Rory's mind, trying to work through this strange tide of feelings she couldn't control. "The last guy I brought here proposed to me."
"Do you think Greg wants to get married?" Lorelai asked after a moment.
"I don't think so."
"Do… you?"
"No!" Rory assured, crossing her arms over her chest and casting a look at the doorway. Lorelai nodded and they both lowered their voices. "Not right now, of course not."
"But maybe… in the future?" Lorelai wheedled.
"Is this crazy?" Rory asked suddenly. "Am I being a crazy person? I sound like a crazy person. What am I doing?"
"You're trying to figure things out," Lorelai told her. She put a hand on Rory's shoulder. "And when you do, let me know, 'cause if he's sticking around I wanna put your pictures into that program and see what my grandkids are gonna look like."
"Mom," Rory whined.
"I'm kidding. Take him around the Hollow, enjoy yourselves, and hopefully by the end of the day you'll have a better idea of how you're feeling."
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right."
Lorelai looked at her. "You're gonna make a pro/con list, aren't you."
"No comment."
"For what it's worth, Luke and I really like him."
Rory frowned. "Luke doesn't likeanyone I date."
"Well, you know what I mean. For Luke's standards, he likes Greg enough. He doesn't wanna beat him up or push him into a lake or anything."
"High praise," Rory deadpanned, though she did love her stepfather and his protective nature.
"Speaking of… where is your gentleman friend?"
Rory found Greg a minute later in the kitchen, looking ridiculous sitting on one of the toddler stools at the kiddie-sized drawing table. He was showing Will an illustration of a poorly-drawn figure holding a green stick. "So the Jedi use the lightsabers as their weapons."
"The good guys got green ones and the bad guys got red ones," Will said.
"Exactly. And they all use the force, that's where their power comes from. And today is May 4th. So that's why when you see people today, you want to say, 'May the fourth be with you,' and they'll think you're really clever."
"Cool," Will said, scribbling on the paper.
"Am I interrupting a nerd lesson?" Rory asked, stepping over to the little table.
"May the fourth be with you," Will told her seriously.
Greg looked up at her, sheepish. "He accosted me as I was leaving the bathroom and dragged me in here," he explained. He leaned closer and murmured, "How do you guys ever say no to this kid? The eyes alone, sheesh."
Rory nodded conspiratorially. "He knows how cute he is and uses it to his advantage. You'll become immune soon enough." She offered him her hands and helped pull him out of the miniature seat.
"He's a cool little dude," Greg said, smiling down at Will.
"Don't say that too loudly or my mom will rope you into babysitting," Rory threatened, trying not to melt a little at the entire scene of her boyfriend and her brother. Her conversation with her mother played on a loop in the back of her mind as they headed back to the living room.
Lorelai was struggling with three baskets full of Dragonfly Inn baggies. "Let me help you," Greg said, rushing to grab two of them from her.
"Thanks," she said. "I was gonna put them in my car – did you guys want to ride over together?"
"Sure," Rory said.
"I'll bring these out," Greg offered, grabbing the third basket with ease and heading out the door.
"Very chivalrous and accommodating," Lorelai said, passing by Rory. "Don't forget to put that on your list."
"Oh, quiet you," Rory said, bumping her mother's shoulder.
"Will, honey, let's go! Festival time!" Lorelai called, grabbing her coat and keys and a light jacket for Will.
The boy came sprinting into the front hallway, his sneakers slapping against the wood floors. "May the fourth be with you!" he shouted joyously.
Lorelai raised her eyebrows and looked at Rory as she helped Will put his jacket on. "Is that a Star Wars reference?"
"I believe so."
Will scampered out the door, Lorelai and Rory following behind. "Did your boyfriend teach him that?"
"I believe so," Rory repeated.
"Hmm," Lorelai said as they headed for the sedan, Greg standing nearby looking at his phone. "I can't decide if that's a pro or con."
"Let's leave it neutral for now," Rory suggested.
Greg put his phone in his pocket and opened the front passenger door for Rory. "I'm ready to say 'Hey, May!'" he said cheekily.
"Dork," she told him, getting in the car, realizing maybe it wasn't so scary how much she wanted him to get to know this part of her life.
"To the festival!" Lorelai called, backing out of the driveway.
"To the festival!" the others echoed.
XXX