Spoiler Warning: don't read any of the following if you're not into the spoilers.
Hi everybody. This is Lilianna's Gilmore Girls Season 4- in my own happy little world, this fun stuff would happen. To set the scene:
it's late June 2003. Rory's graduated. Jess hasn't left for his own spin off yet. set after the fire at the Independence Nicole's still around, Lorelai is juggling Max and Alex. They both still have bad hair, because some things you can't write away.*****
Chapter 1
Four Slices of Bacon.
*****
"Coming right up." Luke weaved his way through the crowded diner towards the counter "Two eggs scrambled, side of bacon Caesar." He leaned over a stuck the order slip on the turnstile and gave his cook a smile. It was early, and business was good. He started another pot of coffee, paused, and started a second pot too, grinning to himself. Lorelai was coming in early. She certainly had complained about it enough yesterday.
*****
"Seven a.m. It's insane. Who wakes up at seven, let alone MEETS at seven? Insane people, that's who" she had said, violently stabbing the last remaining bits of her pie before stuffing it into her mouth.
"I wake up at five." said Luke
"See, insane people. I told you." she rolled her eyes and slid off the seat, dragging herself into the hallway. "Rory! Get your butt down here!"
"You could go up there instead of yelling." he quipped. Lorelai turned, a mocking look of shock on her face.
"And interrupt teenage passion with the suddenness of my presence? You are a mean one." Luke blushed at the implication. Lorelai plopped herself down on a stool, exaggerating her impatience.
"And yelling doesn't have the same affect?"
"Oh, it does. It does-like a bucket of cold water right on the wriggling balls of hormones. But then I don't have to SEE anything." She shuddered and smiled. "It's all about my own self preservation."
"Ah." Luke went back to cleaning the tables, closing up shop for the night.
"Rorrrrrrr-eeeeeee!" Lorelai whined from her stool.
"Geeze, mom, I'm here already. Drama queen." Rory said as she entered the diner.
"Drama queen huh?" Lorelai stood up, looking intently at Rory's neck. She pointed. "Is that.. oh my god, is that a hickey?"
"What?! Where?!" Rory jumped and grabbed her neck, Luke looked up, embarrassed and surprised.
"Gotcha brat. Now we all know what you were doing up there el smoochie." Rory turned red and smacked her mom on the arm.
"Not funny. You gave Luke a heart attack." both Gilmores turned to him, making him blush.
"Aww, isn't that cute! Lukey's embarrassed."
"Don't call me that." he grouched, unconvincingly. Lorelai gave him one of her stunning smiles. His knees went a little week for a second. Damn, he hated how she did that to him.
The soft jingle of the front door broke their gaze. "Luke?"
"Hey Nicole." Luke put down his cleaning rag and went to give his girlfriend a kiss. It was quick. Nicole smile thinned as she turned to the Gilmores.
"Rory. Lorelai. Hello." She said shortly, Her body language was subtle, but Rory and Lorelai had been picking up on the looks and change in tone ever since the Inn had burned and Lorelai spent the night at Luke's. He's mine, her gaze said, silently. Luke, they were sure, was oblivious.
"Well, we have to be off, I must get to bed." Lorelai said dramatically. "Come, darling," she leaned on Rory and they made their grand exit.
*****
Luke was jolted from his memory with the sound of the door. In walked- no, waddled- a very pregnant woman, struggling to balance the door and her briefcase. One of the customers gave her a hand.
"Thanks," she said, brushing a blonde curl out from her eyes, flashing him a charming smile. She turned towards the counter and started waddling towards Luke.
"Hi. Bathroom?" She asked, her pixie-shaped face smiling hopefully as she danced back and forth a bit. "Like, now? Really, the bladder control thing is the first to go." She gave him a pained look.
"Oh, yeah, sure, right through there-" he pointed, flustered. She grinned and walked-no, that was definitely a "waddle"- towards the back. He watched her as she made her way to the bathroom.
"COFFEE!" came a familiar cry. "Do you KNOW how early it is? Who the heck are all these people?" Lorelai glanced at the unfamiliar faces.
"These are the people who get up at a decent hour."
"Oh. The crazies" she whispered purposefully. "Seriously. What's with the hold up? Coffee. Now. " She glanced around as he poured a cup. "Well, it doesn't look like there's any lawyer-types around here."
"Lawyer types, huh?" he raised his eyebrow. She shrugged, knowing full well that Nicole was a lawyer. She had a "lawyer-type" about her too.
"You know, lawyer types, talking on cell phones, chattering away" she said waving her hand whimsically, looking off into the sky. Luke frowned at her reference to Nicole.
"What is this meeting about again?" he asked. Lorelai sighed.
"Well, with the inn an absolute wreck, Mia's got a lawyer coming down here to work on all the logistics of stuff and help me sort this mess out. I really wish Mia was coming it doesn't feel right without her here too. But she's got her family and everything out in California it's just like she doesn't even care." Lorelai dropped her head down and looked mournfully into her coffee cup.
"I'm sure she cares. She sent the lawyer, right? You'll see, things will start to look up." he reached out and scruffled her hair and she smiled.
"Well, if this lawyer turns out to be an absolute nightmare and a colossal bore, you are going to have to save me Luke Danes. I mean it. You do not leave me alone for a second if you see me getting all glassy-eyed. We should have a signal, a secret code, like, if I order three pieces of bacon than I need your help."
"Three pieces of bacon? How many will you order if everything is o.k.?"
"Four, of course how long have you fed me?"
"My mistake," he rolled his eyes.
"Thanks so much," a voice came from behind Lorelai, "that was a close one." Lorelai turned to look at the woman. "You must be Lorelai. Mia's told he a lot about you. I'm Annabelle Goodspeed. The lawyer-type." She flashed a bright smile to show she was teasing. "Mia described you perfectly. Did you want to have a seat? Well, let me rephrase- we're sitting, at a table, because there's no way I'm hoisting myself up on one of those little stools. I'd probably break it." She turned, and Lorelia followed, raising her eyebrow in approval towards Luke. " You picked a hopping place," Annabelle said, glancing at the full tables forlornly.
"Babies are a joy, aren't they?" said a strange voice from the table in front of the ladies. Annabelle and Lorelai glanced down.
"Hi Kirk." Lorelai quipped. Kirk continued.
"They are truly a miracle, every last one of them. So when are you due?" Kirk asked innocently.
"Due? Babies? What are you talking about- oh my God did you just call me fat? You horrible man!" Annabelle looked horrified, tears welling in her green-blue eyes. Kirk squirmed uncomfortably, stammering.
"Umm, well, yes, um, I assumed, well, oh, just great." he collected his coat and practically ran from the diner. Annabelle chuckled to herself.
"I do have to admit, I love doing that. Just love it. People are so silly with pregnant women. I know he was being nice, but it's the principle, you know? And look, we have a seat." She clasped her hands together with happiness and they sat.
"I know what you mean," said Lorelai, nodding approvingly. "It's like hi, can I touch YOUR belly when you're done rubbing mine?"
"And if I want to know how much weight YOU'VE gained, would you tell me? Would I even ASK?" They giggled knowingly. "I almost forgot, Mia said you have experience in this area- Rory right? your baby would be" Annabelle shuffled through her notes, " not really a baby. In college? It says here Harvard bound.'" Lorelai smiled. Mia would remember that.
"Well, for the longest time we thought so- she's chosen Yale instead though. She'll be a freshman in the fall. I've got two more months, then I'm the mom of a college kid." She shuddered purposefully, but smiled.
"Good. Yale rocks. I graduated from law school there. I should probably tell you about myself, I guess, and what exactly I'm doing here. Can we order first, though, I am starving?"
"You won't have to ask her twice." said Luke from behind her, pen in hand. "What can I get you?"
"Annabelle?" Lorelai prompted.
"Please, call me Annie. My mother calls me Annabelle. Anywho, I'll have eggs, scrambledtwo pieces of toast, a side of pancakes and well- three or four pieces of bacon Lorelai?" she asked, her eyebrow raised playfully. Lorelai smiled.
"Four is good." They smiled. "I'll have the same. And oh, look, Luke, this poor coffee cup- it's so cold and lonely, because, my goodness, there's no coffee in it. None at all!" She flashed the empty mug towards Annie and pouted.
" I do believe that is against the law. I'm just a lawyer though, so what would I know" Annie looked knowingly at Luke. He threw up his hands.
"Go ahead, kill yourself all day with that garbage Lorelai. And for you- Annie, is it?"
"It is. And you're Luke?" he nodded. "I'll have some orange juice, I guess." she looked sadly at Lorelai. "Baby doesn't like coffee."
"Rory loved it from the womb."
"I wish. It's been torture." Luke looked at both of them and shook his head, walking off to place their orders.
"So, you were going to tell me about yourself" Lorelai prompted.
"Right. My name's Annie, I'm a lawyer- you know all that I work for Crawford and Baines out of Boston. I was educated in contract law, though I've done some trial work. I graduated from Yale Law six years ago and have worked with C and B for the past four. In January of 2001 I took a leave of absence from Boston to take care of some personal things in North Carolina at Camp Lejeune. I was there for a year, but while I was there, I assisted on some military law cases. I know that doesn't mean much to you, but I've been getting a lot of crap from people at the office about taking the time off- like I was sitting on my duff, waiting around to get knocked up."
" Is your husband in the army?" Lorelai asked gingerly.
"I'm not married." Annie smiled thinly. "And it's a marine base. They'd kill you if you called it the army." She smiled more brightly. "My boyfriend was thereit's a long story. Anyway, I'm just saying, I wasn't off forgetting the law or anything."
"Great. So, why exactly has Mia sent you here? Thanks Luke," Lorelai sat upright as Luke slid the food in front of her. He set down her coffee and Annie snatched it.
"Hey now- I know that's not good for" Luke stopped as he and Lorelai watched Annie hold the coffee up to her nose an breathe in deeply. She sighed, and handed the cup to Lorelai with a sad grin.
"Thanks. You were saying, Coffee Nazi?" Annie asked Luke
"She called you a Coffee Nazi!" Lorelai snickered.
"For the love of" Luke set down the remaining plates and walked away. The girls grinned.
"He's easy to fluster" said Annie
"I know, I know. It's my favorite past time." Lorelai smirked.
"Anyway. Mia sent me out here, obviously, to take care of the ruins that once made up the Independence Inn. I'm going to go through the insurance claims and zoning regulations with the clean up and everything. I have to see Taylor Doose later."
"Poor you."
"Yeah, I heard. I know his lawyer- she's a snot. I can't stand her." Lorelai jumped slightly at the comment and looked at Annie as she shoveled a huge forkful of pancakes into her mouth. "But anyway, that's not all. I have strict instructions that I'm not to leave here until your new Inn is up and running."
"Mia's rebuilding? I thought for a minute" Lorelai looked wistfully outside.
"She's not. You are." Annie pointed at Lorelai. "You have a partner too, right" she shuffled the papers again. "Sookie St. James?" Lorelai sat upright, her face reflecting her surprise
"Wait. Just a minute. What do you mean?" Lorelai stammered.
"I mean what I said. Mia's known for a while that you wanted to start up your own place. She's getting older and wiser and even more independent, and she deserves her own place' she said to me on the phone. Mia's got a lot of respect for you. The Independence burning down probably through a wrench in a lot of people's plans, and Mia wanted to make certain you had some help getting things moving as quickly as possible. I'm not going to pick out your mattresses- but I am going to tell you which warehouse has the best contracts. I'm not going to pick out your site, but I'm going to help you get the best mortgage rate. You have an opportunity to move quickly with your own place, and Mia knows it. She wants this for you, and I guess that makes me your gift."
"How can you have time for this, or, wow I'm flustered. I didn't even know Mia knew for sure I had plans. She knows me well, but" Lorelai got up and started pacing. "There's just so much to do and so much to get going with. Sookie and I needed our kick-start but I didn't think we'd move for another 6 months on any of this"
"Really, Lorelai, Mia's right. You have a chance to capture the tourism market here in Stars Hollow. You can hire the people you've had to let go and build a great place. This is a good time. Mia thinks you can do it. She's a shrewd woman. And as for me, well, I'm officially on maternity leave with C and B. I'll be getting an apartment out here until everything's handled." Annie continued to chow down her food as she let Lorelai think things over.
My God, here it is, the chance we've been waiting for. I mean, it's terrible what's happened but if we can make something wonderful happen here I have to talk to Rory. And Sookie! Of course, Sookie! And Alex-or Max- damn dating both of them is a pain how on Earth did I think that would ever work, I can call them bothabout what? Oh God, the Inn. My inn. Mine and Sookie's. The inn. oh God. There's so much to think about I wonder if this is right, no, of course it's right, if not a little morbid with the death of the Independence. there's just so much. stay calm. focus. FOCUS
"Lorelai?" Luke put his hand on her shoulder, jarring her from her thoughts. "I told you too much coffee would make you crazy"
"I'm not crazy." she said unconvincingly. She stood up straight and repeated herself with more conviction. A huge smile lit up her face. "I'm not crazy. I'm going to build me an Inn. Oh my god it's really going to happen!" She jumped Luke, hugging him fiercely. Luke tried to recover from the sudden "attack" without spilling the coffee pot he was holding. He hugged her back as he regained his footing. Annie smiled at them, and took another huge bite of pancake.
*****
Annabelle Goodspeed is a character in one of my personal fiction stories- it's all still locked in my head, but maybe I'll put it on paper someday you'll find out more about her, her military man and her baby later in the chapters. I hope you all enjoyed it so far!