"Okay, kiddo, you're all set."

"Looks that way!" Rory grins and shrugs off her backpack, which lands with a thump on the small chair. Lorelai smiles and shakes her head.

"Rory, you know you didn't have to bring all those books. You can't read them all yet!"

"But I want to show the teacher," Rory says, her blue eyes round and excited. "I want to read all the books!"

"And I'd say you're ahead of the game, Girl Friday. Well, what do you think of the place?"

Rory looks around the brightly-coloured classroom, filled with chattering children and bites her lip.

"It's okay."

"Just okay?" Lorelai asks gently. Rory's eyes land on a corner filled with beanbags and books and her face splits into a wide grin.

"It's great!"

"Good," Lorelai laughs, kissing the top of her head. "Oh Rory, I think that's your teacher!"

An old woman in a long dress comes over and bends down to talk to Rory.

"Hello!" she says. "I'm Mrs Anderson. What's your name?"

"Rory," Rory says in a small voice and the teacher frowns, flipping through the papers in her hand.

"I can't see a Rory, dear."

"She's under Lorelai," Lorelai answers, putting her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Lorelai Gilmore, but she goes by Rory."

"Oh yes, that's right!" Mrs Anderson says cheerfully, ticking the name off. "Are you her big sister?"

"What?" Lorelai asks and Rory says indignantly,

"She's my mommy!"

"Oh!" exclaims the teacher, blushing. "I'm sorry! You just looked so young -"

"I am young," Lorelai says in a tight voice. "It's okay."

"My mom named me after her," Rory says proudly. "She said was lying in the hospital bed doped up on -"

"Honey, that's enough," Lorelai says gently and Rory frowns. Her mother always loves sharing that story.

"Well," says the teacher, composing herself. "It's very nice to meet you, Mrs Gilmore. At the end of the week we're going to have a special picnic with all the parents. Maybe you and Rory's daddy would like to come?"

"Yeah!" Rory cries happily but sombres as Lorelai replies quietly,

"I don't know if we could arrange that. Rory's father lives out of town."

"He doesn't come by much," Rory put in and the teacher nods, her face redder than the Elmo doll a kid left at the inn. Lorelai squeezes Rory's hand as the teacher smiles again and says,

"Rory, you're all ready to start Kindergarten. My, that's a very interesting shirt you're wearing!"

"Thank you!" Rory says proudly. She picked it out last night and doesn't understand why her mother tried to talk her into wearing a dress or her rainbow shirt instead. They both love Chico and The Man. "Do you like the show?"

"I don't believe I've seen it," says Mrs Anderson delicately. "Do you want to go and make something at the table?"

"Can I go look at the books?" Rory asks eagerly and the teacher says in surprise,

"Can you read already? Storytime isn't until later, honey."

"Oh. Okay."

"You say goodbye to your mommy," the teacher says, "and I'll talk to her once you've settled down."

She sweeps away before Rory can ask what that meant, and Lorelai bends down, pulling Rory into a hug.

"Rory, if you want to look at the books, go look at the books, okay?"

"Okay."

"Mrs Anderson is nice, she won't get mad and if she does, well, screw her, but don't tell her I said that. And don't repeat it. And I'll come back at twelve o'clock. You see the hands on that clock? When they're both on the twelve, pointing right at the very top, I'll come and get you. It's just a few hours."

"I know. It'll be okay."

Lorelai looks at her and suddenly burst into tears, tugging Rory into a deathgrip.

"Mom!" Rory gasps. "Mom, what is it?"

"You can't go, you're too little!"

"I'm not too little!"

"Yes you are, you are, and I can't leave you here all alone!"

Rory tries moving to get some air, also dimly aware of tears soaking into her shoulder. Lorelai weeps even harder and moves away only when Mrs Anderson walks over, stooping to talk to Lorelai.

"Mrs Gilmore -"

"It's Ms, not Mrs! I'm not married, don't you get it! I was sixteen when I had Rory and I was too young to get married, no matter what my parents said!"

"I see," Mrs Anderson says, after a pause. "But can I ask what the problem is?"

"Rory's too little to go," Lorelai sobs. "She's just a baby!"

"I'm not a baby!" Rory says indignantly and Mrs Anderson backs her up.

"Ms Gilmore, Rory is almost six years old, according to my records. She's absolutely old enough to start Kindergarten and she's going to have a wonderful time."

"How do you know?"

"Because I have taught Kindergarten for more than thirty years."

"But that means you know how mean kids are, and I don't want Rory getting hurt by mean kids, or missing me, or wanting to go home or -"

"Ms Gilmore!" Mrs Anderson says loudly. "Rory is going to be fine. She will be here for three hours and if she is unhappy in that time I will call you."

"It's going to be okay, Mom," Rory says firmly and finally Lorelai nods, wiping her tears.

"Yeah. I'm sorry."

"That's alright," Mrs Anderson says kindly. "A little separation anxiety is very common on the first day of Kindergarten."

"I'm betting it's more with the kids though, huh?" Lorelai sighs. "I'll take that look as a yes."

Bending back down, she wraps Rory into a hug, thankfully lighter than before.

"Bye, sweets."

"Bye, Mommy," Rory says, burying her face into her mother's neck. "I'll be okay."

"Oh, I know you will," Lorelai says with a shaky laugh. "You were born ready."

"I'll see you at twelve."

"Right. Make me one of those little kid paintings or something."

"Sure," Rory says, stepping away with a big smile. "See you later, Mommy."

Lorelai gets up, hesitating, and Mrs Anderson says diplomatically,

"How about Rory walks you to the door?"

"That sounds right."

Hand in hand, mother and daughter walk across the classroom. A draft ruffles the blue ribbon Lorelai tied in Rory's hair that morning, matching her new blue shoes.

"Thanks for walking out with me," Lorelai says sheepishly. "Sorry for the big scene."

"It's okay to be sad."

"You're a great kid, you know that?" Lorelai asked, kissing her hand and Rory smiles. Her mother tells her that a lot.

Their conversation is broken by a shout of,

"Lane Kim!"

A girl runs through the door, her black hair flying out and her smile stopping halfway. She breaks to a halt, turning to see a stern woman behind her who says something Rory can't understand and then adds,

"Be a good girl, Lane."

"Yes, Mama!" the girl calls. She waits, watching, and once the lady had disappeared the girl takes out her hairties, shaking her hair out.

"Hey!" Lorelai calls. "Are you going to Kindergarten, sweetie?"

"Yeah!" the girl says brightly. Dropping her bag, she races over to Lorelai and Rory and says breathlessly,

"I'm Lane."

"I'm Rory," Rory says, smiling at this funny girl. "Nice to meet you."

"Hey, do you want to sit with me?" Lane asks. "Do you want to share my crayons?"

"Yeah!"

Lorelai laughs at them but asks,

"Lane, are you all alone? Isn't someone coming in with you?"

"My mom talked to the teacher before," Lane said matter-of-factly. "She said I'm big enough to go in without her holding my hand."

"Oh, but - honey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Lane says happily. "I can sit with Rory."

Lorelai smiles as Lane grabs Rory's hand.

"Yeah. You can sit with Rory. Bye, girls."

"Bye, Mommy!"

"I'm glad I can sit with you," Lane tells Rory. "I was scared I'd have to sit with Chuck Presby and he's really mean. He pushed me over at the playground once. He'll probably push you too."

Rory is unsure of what to say and Lane says,

"I like your shirt."

"Thanks!" Rory exclaims. "It's the best show ever. Have you seen it?"

"No, my mom doesn't let me watch much TV."

"Oh. Well, you can watch it with me and my mom. She knows all the best shows."

"Your mom's nice."

"Yeah. She's my best friend!"

"Hey, Rory, do you want to be my best friend? I don't have one."

"Okay," Rory says slowly. She thinks she can have two best friends at once. "Yes! I want to be your best friend!"

Lane jumps up and down and glances behind her.

"Rory, your mom's still waving at us!"

"I know," Rory grins, turning and waving until Lorelai's gone. "She's okay. It's just separation anxiety!"

"What's that?"

"I don't know, but she's my best friend and you are too!"

The girls laugh and skip into Kindergarten together.