Disclaimer see chapter 1.
Author's note: Okay, folks. My 'stats' say that I had 105 visitors to this story, so thanks for reading. So far I have received 8 reviews for chapter one, which means that every 13th reader actually bothered to leave a review. I'm superstitious, so could we maybe work on that, please? ;o). I know I'm awful. *blushes* Thanks to Lori again for her betaing skills. And THANK YOU SO MUCH for your feedback
Stepping into the empty living room, her wet clothes draped over one arm, Lorelai felt somewhat ridiculous about wearing nothing but the robe. At least it was as comfy as she remembered. Back then she hadn't wanted to admit it, but her mother had been right when she had pointed out that this was the most comfortable bathrobe she'd ever worn.
Smiling her thanks to the maid as she took the clothes from her, she watched her leave, not sure what to do next.
Looking around, she wondered where her mother was. Lorelai walked over to sit in her usual spot on the loveseat, facing the patio doors, dragging her bare feet over the carpet, enjoying its fluffiness. Slowly sitting down, she felt conscious about every move. She was tempted to pull her legs up next to her and get comfortable, but was afraid to do so. Her mother would not approve. Or would she? How would she react if she'd found her daughter relaxing in her house? A house Lorelai had stopped calling her home half a lifetime ago.
Looking straight ahead, she watched the rain pour out of the almost black sky. She liked the sound it made against the glass. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the noises in the room; the cracking of the fire, the raindrops hitting the windows. It was nice. It felt nice. And calm. ... Strange.
Lorelai took a deep breath. It smelled of hot chocolate; of warmth, of the house and of chocolate. She furrowed her brow and opened her eyes, seeing her mother putting down a tray on the coffee table. 'When did she come in?'
"I thought you might like something warm to drink." Emily did not look at her daughter, but concentrated on not spilling the contents of the mugs as she set down the tray.
Smiling, Lorelai watched as first a silver coaster and then one of the mugs was placed in front of her. "There are little marshmallows in it."
"You like marshmallows."
Lorelai looked up and caught the same slight uncertainty in her mother's eyes that she had recognized in her voice. "Yes, I like marshmallows."
Emily smiled mildly, took her own mug, and sat down opposite her daughter. So she had remembered correctly; a strange kind of contentment warmed her heart.
Taking her mug, Lorelai carefully took a sip. She was a little unsure about whether or not she was allowed to just take the spoon that was lying next to the coaster and start fishing for the mini marshmallows that swum on top of the brown liquid. Deciding against it, she took a larger sip, trapping one of the sugary white blobs between her upper lip and the rim of the mug, before sucking it in.
Emily looked up as she heard the strange noise her daughter's action caused. Furrowing her brow slightly, she cocked her head to the side, an annoyed look on her face. "You know, you could just take the spoon."
She swallowed the marshmallow without savoring it the way she had intended. "Sorry." Lorelai mumbled grudgingly, but at the same time glad for the official admission. Grabbing the spoon, she eagerly fished out another marshmallow, and slowly closed her mouth around the silverware, placing the half melted marshmallow in the middle of her tongue. She pressed it against the roof of her mouth, enjoying the gooey texture, while already fishing for the next. Looking up she realized her mother was watching her over the rim of her mug and felt herself blush slightly. "This is good."
Deciding not to say anything about her daughter's behavior, Emily hid her smile by taking another sip of chocolate. For a moment she was tempted to admit that she had made the chocolate herself, but something inside of her stopped her from doing so. Instead, she just nodded and put the mug down on the coaster on her side of the coffee table. "Are you sure you're warm enough?"
Lorelai nodded, "Yeah. My feet are still a little cold, but that's all." Watching her mother standing up, she furrowed her brow as she saw her leaving the room and called after her. "Mom?"
Emily returned moments later with a dark Pashmina, handing it to her daughter. "Just put your feet up on the couch and put this over them."
Gaping at her mother, she didn't know what to say.
"What?" Emily studied her daughter's face closely, almost sounding offended.
She opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally finding her voice again. "Uhm... you never allow me to put my feet up on the couch."
Her mother shrugged. "I don't want you to catch a cold."
"My feet are dirty." Lorelai glanced at her bare feet then back up at her mother.
Emily crossed her arms over her chest, cocking her head to one side. "You were up there for at least twenty minutes; don't tell me you didn't take a shower."
"Well, I did." The younger woman shrunk back a little, having the feeling she had to defend herself.
Shrugging her slim shoulders, her mother went on. "So; your feet are not dirty."
"But I walked around." She didn't even understand how they had gotten into this argument, but she would not lose it, stubbornness making her temper rise steadily.
With a broad hand gesture, Emily tried to make her point. "The floor is clean." Even though she tried to keep calm, her voice showed her slight agitation.
Lorelai huffed, looking down at the immaculate carpet. "The floor is more than clean."
Raising her eyebrows, she looked down at her daughter, a triumphant sparkle in her dark eyes. "So how could your feet be dirty?"
"They aren't." Lorelai held her stare.
"You said they are." This was getting ridiculous, but she couldn't just let it go. She couldn't just let her win. How on earth had they gotten into this in the first place? She had just wanted to do something nice, right?
"Well," Lorelai tried to come up with a logical explanation. "That's what you always said when you caught me with my feet on the couch."
Emily brushed her off. "That was over twenty years ago, it's not like it would matter anymore."
"There are many things that happened over twenty years ago that still do." She stopped immediately. This had not come out the right way.
The house was deadly silent. The only sounds that were heard were the pouring rain and the soft cracking of the fire; the same sounds that had made her feel so comfortable not even ten minutes ago. Lorelai watched her mother turn around and stood up. "Mom."
Emily tried to sound as calm as possible, her hands balled into fists by her sides, while she willed herself not to run from the room. Slowly walking to the small end table on which the phone lay, she spoke over her shoulder. "I will call you a cab."
"No."
The sound of her daughter's voice made her stop in her tracks. Closing her eyes for a second, she took a slow, deep breath and turned to face her again. "Why is it that every time I try to do something nice for you, you turn it into something ugly?" Emily realized her voice trembled. She clenched her jaw muscles and forced herself to breath slowly through her nose.
Lorelai looked down. "I ... I don't know." Meeting her mother's gaze, she fought the tears that were burning behind her eyes.
The answer was not satisfying at all; it never was. At least she hadn't started yelling. Nodding slightly, Emily took the cordless phone from its station on the small end table next to the couch. "Where did you park your car?" When she saw the confused look on her daughter's face, she added; "We should at least get your car to the shop, while you're waiting for the rain to stop."
Nodding, Lorelai tried to smile. Of course, that made sense. "It's, uhm," she tried to remember. "Hey, why don't I make that call and you get us some more hot chocolate?" She reached out and took the phone from her mother's hand.
Emily held her tongue. With another nod, she stepped towards the coffee table and quietly put the mugs on the tray. She knew she should have just called the maid and let her do it, but she needed an excuse to get out of this room; if only for a moment. Lifting the tray without making a sound, she headed towards the kitchen while her daughter dialed the familiar number of Gypsy's garage.
Author's Note: Cute, huh? And a little dramatic.... It will get worse, but in a good way. Don't understand me? Yeah, well... you'll have to come back and find out then. Muahahahaha! I have the next chapters sitting right here *gently pats external hard disk drive*. So if you give me a review, I will give you the next update. What is that you say? 'Bribery'? Yes, maybe. But it seems that it's the only way I get what I want nowadays. Ask my cousin.
Now to my favorite part: Re-reviewing ;o).
lilienprinzessin - Wow, you're quick. AND you write long reviews... I like that. :oD No WAY I forgot about my other story. I just had this one sitting on my HDD for months already and thought I should post it before the fandom is getting even more quiet. Well, the 'clothes in dryer' thing actually was written differently but then Lori said it was too wordy and that was the change she came up with. I wanted to post this, so I just took it without reading over it again. Guess it's my fault after all.
Yes, I'm sure Emily paid for the robe. I mean, I can't believe that the Spa wouldn't recognize they're missing.
Well, since Emily had been the last one speaking, I thought it was pretty obvious that it was sadness in her voice.
Thanks for the magnificent review! I am glad that you found the time to write all this. ;o)
Curley-Q - Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
RedheadLVR - *curtseys* Thank you, honey! Oh yes, those were great scenes indeed! And so early in the show too. I just wish we would have had more E&L in later seasons. Oh well, that's what fan fiction is for, right? ;o)
Loridhhp - Okay, I will have to hunt it down and correct it. So you are enjoying the story a second time? Well, you said you like reading it after the changes are made and concentrate on 'just' the betaing while doing so... I'm glad you still find it worth reading. :o)
Slovesemmett - What a funny user name. May I ask the meaning behind it? :o). I'm very pleased that you 'love' E&Ls interactions. Guess I kept them in character then, did I?
DramaQueen1103 - A sucker for Lorelai/Emily, huh? That's good to now. If you can live with some serious Emily/Richard you will find Lorelai/Emily interaction in my other story 'Having the Guts to Change', which, by the way, I'm going to update again today or tomorrow.
Valerie - *lol* Yeah, if Lorelai doesn't babble in a situation like that then she's either ill or written out of character ;o). I'm glad we share the same sense of humor and yes, I thought the same about the robe. I hadn't really planned to give it to her but once it came to the scene my Muse just hit me over the head with the robe belt. ;o)
Jenni-Wren - Thanks. I'm glad you like it so much.
