What am I going to do? Lorelai thought, still sitting on the floor of the bathroom. I need to tell someone… But who? I can't tell Luke, not until I'm sure he remembers. Sookie would just insist I tell Luke, and I can't do that. And Rory's at Yale and I can't tell her over the phone… But it's the weekend. Maybe she'll come home. Lorelai stood up from the floor, looked in the mirror, and wiped her eyes. I am not going to let this get to me. I will not cry. She walked out of the bathroom, down the stairs, and grabbed the phone. Sitting on the couch, she dialed Rory's number and silently prayed for her to pick up.
"Hello?" Rory said, making Lorelai breathe a sigh of relief.
"Hey, kiddo!"
"Hey, Mom. What's up?"
"I was just wondering what your plans are this weekend," Lorelai said, as cheerfully as she could.
"Um… nothing, actually."
"Really? Great. Uh, do you think you could come home?" she said, almost instantly regretting her choice of words, as they would immediately make Rory worry.
"Oh, sure, that'd be great. But, why? Is something wrong?" Rory replied, concern dripping from her voice.
"No, nothing's wrong. I just need your help with something," she said, trying her best not to let her voice break.
"Okay. I'll leave in a little bit."
"I look forward to seeing you! Hurry home!"
"I will!"
Lorelai clicked the phone off and dropped it to the ground. She covered her face with her hands and sighed.
Luke Danes was never the messy kind of person. He had always kept things pretty much in order to avoid the need to clean up on a daily basis. He spent all day, every day, in the diner, always cleaning up after other people. The last thing he needed was to have to clean up after himself too. But, there were always those times when he felt that his apartment could use a little pick-me-up, though he'd never admit to using that particular phrasing. There were only ever two time; once in the spring and once in the fall. The time had finally come for his fall pick-me-up.
After taking the day off and leaving the diner in the capable hands of Ceasar and Lane, Luke prepared himself to clean his apartment from top to bottom. Looking under his bed for his favorite red flannel shirt, he realized that in all the years that he had made his apartment shine, he had never cleaned the underside of his bed. As he though this over, he decided, the first thing he was going to do was clean it up.
"Honey! I'm home!" Rory said, as she burst through the front door of her Stars Hollow home.
"My baby!" Lorelai shouted, running to the foyer from the upstairs bathroom to meet her daughter.
"Mom!" They tacled each other in a hug. When they let go, Rory said, "Why were you upstairs?"
"What?" Lorelai said, not understanding why her daughter cared about her previous location in the house.
"The only time you're upstairs is when you're sleeping, dressing, or using the bathroom."
"Well, I was using the bathroom," Lorelai said, with a "duh" expression on her face.
"Oh, right," Rory said, now feeling dumb because of her previous question.
"So… living room?"
"Yeah."
The two girls awkwardly walked to the living room and sat on the couch. After moments of silence, Rory said, "So, you needed my help with something?"
"Oh, yeah… I id. Um, I guess we can jump right into it."
"What's going on?" Rory asked, noticing the apprehension in her mother's voice.
"Uh… Well, uh… You know how I was in the bathroom before?"
"Yeah…?"
"Well, there was a special reason for my being in the bathroom just then."
"Okay? Mom, I'm really confused."
"Rory, you've entertained the idea of being a big sister, right?"
"Sometimes. Why?"
"Well, Rory, you're going to be a big sister."
"What? Cool! Is Sherry pregnant again?"
"No, Hon, I'm pregnant," Lorelai said, frustrated that her daughter wasn't getting the point.
"What?" Rory said, standing up from the couch.
"Rory, please, sit down." She pulled Rory back down to the couch and held one of her hands in two of her own.
"But… uh… how? No, I mean, I know how, but… who?"
"I'm not sure I'm ready to tell you that yet."
"Okay, but… Is it someone I know?"
"Yes, Rory, it's someone you know."
"Sorry. I just don't know what the appropriate questions are to ask in this kind of situation."
"No, it's fine. This is an awkward situation."
"Yes, it is. How far along are you?"
"About month."
"Wow."
"Yeah, wow."
The Gilmore girls sat in silence for a few minutes, Rory taking in this new information, and Lorelai breathing a sigh of relief that someone knew.
"So, where are you going from here?" Rory asked after a few minutes.
"I have no idea. I figured I'd get your input on that."
"Well, I, uh…" Rory pondered for a few moments over what to tell her pregnant mother to do. "I think you should tell whoever the father is."
"See, there's a little problem with that."
"What?"
Lorelai went on to tell Rory all about her desperate need for comfort on the night she left her one and only daughter at Yale. All throughout the story, however, she was careful to leave out the name of the offending comforter.
"Wow, that's quite a story."
"I know."
"Look, Mom, I'm trying to act like I don't want to know ho this guy is, but it's just not working. I really, really, really want to know."
Lorelai smiled. "If you promise to keep your lips sealed, I'll tell you."
"Okay. I promise."
Lorelai took a deep breath and sighed. "It's Luke."
About an hour had gone by, and Luke was nearly finished cleaning out the underside of his bed. All he had left to take care of was an unidentifiable pile of clothes from who knows when. It was a pair of his jeans, a green flannel shirt, and an old undershirt. Nothing out of the ordinary. Luke stood up from the ground and picked up the flannel to throw it in the pile of laundry he had created earlier in the day. It was what fell out of the flannel that caught Luke's attention…
A pair of pink panda, "Tuesday" panties.
Tbc.
So? What'd'ya think? Review please!
