A/N: Okay. This is the sequel to 'Lorelai Lorinn Gilmore Mariano' and it's probably going to be a ONESHOT because I really like how the story ended. It basically depends on if I can come up with anymore really good ideas and what the reviewers think. You should probably read the prequel. It will be less confusing if you do.
Background:
This takes place about 10 years after LLGM. Lo, Tabby, Justin, Lexis, Mike, Tara, and Stacie are 27, Jess and Rory are 46, and Lorelai and Luke are 62. Richard and Emily have passed. Mike and Lexis got married and are the only ones to have tied the knot between the friends. Lo, Justin, and Tabby are single and live together in an apartment in New York. Stacie and Tara are dating their managers. They both travel around the US doing commercials for different products.
Disclaimer: Don't own…
On with the story…
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"Ms. Mariano," Lucy Dunfield started, "is it true that you have written 4 books, one of which with your mother?"
"Yes," Lo started, "The one I wrote with my mother is my personal favorite. It shows how much love I grew up with, but also the hardships we went through together."
"Now, everybody's asking the same question about your first book, Small Town Lives Collide," Cindy said.
"What's that?" Lo chuckled.
"Is it true?" she asked.
"How do you mean?"
"The story…the characters; they seemed so real. Were they? Was it a true story?" Lucy leaned in as the audience fell into a hushed silence awaiting her answer to the inevitable question.
"I'd like to read you a passage from that book if I could. Maybe it will answer your question," Lo smiled warily and waited for someone to hand her a copy of her beloved book.
"Of course," Lucy hastily searched the table for the book and handed it to its author.
Lo flipped through her book to a particular page and cleared her throat, "No one ever told me that I couldn't be whomever I wanted to be or do what I wanted, but no one ever told me that I could either. I may have been book smart, but I was a naïve child with no real outlook on my world. As soon as my fantasy was shattered I broke down. As soon as I found my parents, my walls burned and my heart ached. At first, unbeknownst to anyone around me at the time, I was furious with the adults around me. One had taken me away from my parents; the other two were the parents that gave up on me. That was my naïve outlook on what was happening around me."
Most of the crowd had tears in their eyes and Lucy was seated on the edge of her chair, riveted.
"The reality of the situation at hand was that the parents that I was taken away from were ready to embrace me and the woman who tried to protect us from struggle and hardship was ready to let me go. I hadn't realized this until the devastating tragedy of my ex-boyfriend dying. That was the end of the line for any innocence I had left. That was the point in my world where the fairytale ended and the reality began. That was when I learned to love what I had and never forget to cherish the time I had with the ones I loved. From that moment on, I was embarking on the rockiest roller coaster I had ever been on: my life," Lo finished and looked up from her book and out into the crowd.
Most audience members were crying, Lucy was sitting stunned in her chair and Lo, herself, was about ready to cry.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Lucy started, "I think we have our answer. This story, beloved by many, was the true-life story of one Lora Mariano," Lucy stated.
Lo smiled slightly and nodded, "I was taught to write about what I knew. When I started writing the only thing I knew of was love and pain and how they coincided. Other than that, I knew that for a long time I hadn't lived in the reality of the world, but in my own little pain free fantasy," Lo explained.
"I see, so all of the characters, they're real?" Lucy questioned.
"Every single one of them, although with different names," Lo confessed.
"So, Lauren, Rachel and Jake Miller are you and your parents?" Lucy questioned.
"Yes," Lo smiled and looked out at her mother and father in the crowd.
"Your other books, are they real too?" Lucy questioned.
"The book I wrote with my mother, Mother, Daughter Tails of Different Worlds, was based on my mother's life before I happened and my life after I was taken. My second book, Photographs of a Teenage Heartbreaker, was loosely based on my love life, mostly on the boys whose hearts I broke back in my day. Finally, my last book, Unloved and Pain Free, wasn't based on anything in my life besides the feelings I had when certain things happened to me," Lo explained.
"I see," Lucy said, "Well, we're going to have to take a commercial break," she started with a smile as she turned to a camera, "This is Lucy Dunfield here with Lora Mariano, more questions will be asked, when we come back!" Lucy and Lo smiled at the camera and then dropped them when they were told they were off-air.
"I can't believe everything in that book is real!" Lucy exclaimed to her old rival.
"Lucy, how could you not know?" Lo asked incredulously, "You were in the book! Not to mention Tony and a whole bunch of people from Woodbridge."
"You didn't use anyone's real names Lo; they could have been anyone," Lucy defended herself.
"Well, the whole book is true," Lo crossed her arms and looked out at the crowd.
"We're back on in 5…4…3…2…1," a man said from off set. Lucy and Lo set themselves up plastering smiles to their faces and sitting up straight.
"We're back New York and waiting for your calls," Lucy said, "You call and you can ask Lora a question."
"Hannah B. from Baltimore, Maryland," a voice said into Lucy's ear.
"We have Hannah B. from Baltimore, Maryland with us. Hannah, what is your question?" Lucy asked.
"I was just wondering if in your first book, the part where you say that you were sold to your great-grandmother's maid; is that really true?" Hannah asked.
"Absolutely," Lo answered, "I never met my parents until I was 16."
"Wow," Hannah gushed.
"Yeah, my life was very complicated," Lo smiled and waited for the next question.
"We're now talking to Dean F. from New Haven, Connecticut, Dean, what do you have to ask Ms. Mariano?" Lucy smiled.
Lo froze at the name Dean and waited for voice confirmation of her father's worst enemy, Dean Forrester.
"How're your parents Lo?" Dean asked.
"What do you want Dean?" Lo narrowed her eyes.
Dean was going to answer, but was quickly cut off by Lucy, "And now we'll take questions from the audience!"
The talk show went without a hitch after the Dean encounter. It was now 12 o'clock in the afternoon and Lo was on her way to meet her family and friends outside the studio after a long morning.
Lo walked lazily over to her group.
"Hey babe," Lorelai said and went to hug her grandchild.
"Hey Gran," Lo sighed and leaned into her grandmother's touch.
Lo sighed, "I can't believe him."
"If I ever see him I'm going to kick his ass," Jess said.
"I can't believe I ever went out with him," Rory quipped.
"Where's Tabby and Justin?" Lo asked curiously, pulling away from her grandmother's embrace.
"Trying to round up your little monster," Lexis answered, holding David, her 3-year-old son on her hip.
"She didn't want to leave when you went off the stage," Mike explained.
Lo smiled, "So, they'll be here any minute then?"
"Yup," Lexis and Mike chorused.
"And Tara and Stacie are in Orlando right?" Lo questioned.
"Yes, they called to tell you that they watched and you looked great. They said you handled yourself amazingly," Lexis recited back to Lo.
"They would say that," Lo laughed and then heard tiny footsteps.
"MOMMY!" a little girl with chestnut locks in pigtails and bright blue eyes came running to Lo.
"Hey baby!" Lo knelt down and scooped the girl up into her arms when she reached her.
"You looked pretty on stage!" the little girl told her mom.
"Did I?" Lo chuckled and looked beyond the girl at her two best friends.
"Hey Cheerio," Tabby said.
"Hey Fruit Loop," Lo answered.
"Mommy?" the little girl said.
"Yes Stevie?" Lo smiled down at her daughter.
"Why does Aunt Tabitha call you Cheerio?" Stevie's brow furrowed and she tilted her head to the side.
"Because we're silly!" Lo answered.
"Otay," Stevie said and wiggled out of her mother's grasp, "Uncle Justin," she whined and tugged on Justin's pants.
"Yes, sweetie?" Justin smiled down at his godchild.
"Up," Stevie said.
Justin chuckled and leant down to pick her up.
"Let's go home," Lo said.
"Let's," they all agreed.
"Wait, which home?" Mike asked.
"Mine," Lo answered.
"Alright."
The group headed towards the subway to take it back to Lo's apartment in Manhattan. The group consisted of Lo, Rory, Jess, Lo's daughter Stevie, Lorelai, Luke, Tabby, Justin, Mike, Lexis, and their son David. Once they had entered Lo's apartment, she collapsed on the couch. Stevie squirmed out of Tabby's arms and ran to her mother, repeating her actions. Granted a tad slower; she did have to climb up onto the couch first. She was only 2 years old. Everybody laughed at the little girl and found their own seats.
"That was exhausting," Lo breathed, "Gramps," she said, referring to Luke, "can you make some lunch?"
Luke grunted in response.
"Pretty please Gramps? I am so hungry," Lo whined.
"I guess," Luke smiled slightly and set off to the kitchen.
"So, how many phone calls do you think I'll get for interviews?" Lo asked.
"20 zillion," Lorelai quipped.
"My thoughts exactly," Rory agreed.
"Ditto," Tabby piped in.
"What do you think baby girl?" Lo asked Stevie.
"20 gazillion billion," Stevie answered.
"I think you're right Stevie," Justin smiled at her.
Stevie smiled back and cuddled closer to her mom with a yawn.
"Hunnie, why don't you and Stevie go into Stevie's room and lay down," Lexis suggested to her son David.
"Otay mommy," David said and went over to Stevie and tugged on her arm.
"Where you takin' me Davie?" Stevie asked drowsily.
"To your room. Mama says that we needs to lay down," Davie answered.
"'Kay," Stevie said, leaning on Davie.
"They are so getting married," Lexis gushed as she watched her son and best friend's kid walk down the hall.
"Probably," Lo laughed.
"Definitely," Tabby quipped.
"Is mommy ever going to get married?" Rory piped in.
"I thought you were," Lo joked.
"Mhm," Rory said.
"I don't know mom," Lo sighed and looked down.
"Aw, babe, I didn't mean to upset you. I just want you to be happy," Rory insisted as she went over to the couch and wrapped her arms around Lo.
"I know," Lo sighed, "I just wish it was easier to find someone that can really love me for who I am. Not because I'm a best-selling author, not because I have a kid, not because my parents are Marianos or Gilmores and not because I'm pretty."
"You'll find him baby. Soon enough, when you least expect it, a guy is going to slip into your life and you'll just feel this amazing connection with him. You'll never want to let him go and that's when you'll know that he's the one," Rory whispered to her in comfort.
"Promise?" Lo whispered back.
"Cross my heart and hope to die," Rory assured.
"Okay, I guess I have to believe you. You are my mother," Lo tried to play it off as a joking matter.
"It's okay to be upset," Tabby tried.
"No, it's not okay to be upset anymore. My time to be upset was over when Stephanie Leigh Gilmore Mariano was born," Lo reasoned.
"That's not true," Jess insisted.
"It has to be," Lo looked her father in the eye and walked off to her bedroom just as the phone began to ring.
"Hello?" Lexis answered.
"Hey Lex, is Lo there?" Jimmy Forrester asked.
"Sure, one minute," Lexis said, "LO!"
"What?" Lo called form her bedroom where she was changing.
"Jimmy's on the phone," Lexis called back.
"Okay," Lo said and picked up the phone in her bedroom, "Got it!"
"Okay!" Lexis yelled back and hung up the phone, "Wonder what he wants."
Tabby shrugged her shoulders while everyone else watched whatever Jess had put on the TV.
"Hello?" Lo said distractedly into the phone.
"Hey Lo," Jimmy started, "I'm so sorry about my dad."
Lo sighed, "Don't worry about it," Lo said tiredly.
"You see, my dad's staying at my house because of the divorce. I was watching you on TV and he saw you," Jimmy sighed into the phone, "One minute I went to get a soda, the next my dad is harassing you on television."
"Really Jimmy, it's fine. Worse has happened to me," Lo smiled at how worried Jimmy was.
"He's just taking the divorce so hard," Jimmy said.
"I'm sure he is. Well, the clan is here, so I have to get back out there," Lo confessed.
"Okay," Jimmy smiled, "I'll talk to you later."
"Bye Jimmy," Lo said and they both hung up.
Lo sighed for the millionth time that day and got herself ready to go back out there, but first she walked to her daughter's room. She peeked in and what she saw brought a grin to her face. Davie was lying on his back and Stevie on her stomach. Davie's arm was under Stevie's head and she was curled into his side, her small hand on his tiny chest. Stevie was steadily falling asleep while Davie watched TV.
"Davie?" Stevie whispered.
"Yeah Steph?" Davie said back.
"I," yawn, "love you," Stevie said with closed eyes.
"Love you, too Stevie," Davie replied and kissed her head.
Lo smiled and silently closed the door and went out into the living room.
"Oh, they're so getting married."
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A/N: Okay, so what did you think? I'm pretty sure I'm going to continue this. If I do, the father of little Stevie will be revealed and other things will happen. I hope you liked it! Press the pretty little button!