AN: Thanks for the reviews: I decided to post the second chapter early because of them :) I will go ahead and give a little gift: Tristan is in this story, but this is not a Trory. I found a new place for him, I hope. There will be one more chapter, and then a time/location jump to D.C. Also, the boy in question will make his appearance in the first D.C. chapter.
Chapter 2:
It took Rory a few frantic days in Chicago before she could officially say goodbye to the campaign trail. She called her grandparents, sidestepping all inquiries into her future living arrangements, her Dad, Francine, Lane and Hugo. Hugo had assured her she could write for him until she found a new job and seemed disappointed he had already published her last article. Still, he was extremely proud of the work she had done and excited for her. She met with Anne, the First Lady's Communications Director as well as the few other campaign staff who were staying on with the President and his wife. She mailed some of her luggage home, knowing she didn't want to check a bag. She also managed to buy lots of the election night goodies that hit the streets the day after the election. Lorelei would proudly sport the "Yes We Did" shirt all over Stars Hollow.
By the time she plopped down into the first class seat her dad insisted she put on his credit card, it was Monday and she was looking forward to the downtime she had coming. Rory didn't need to officially be in D.C. until the first of the year and she planned on soaking up the crazy in Stars Hollow as well as Hartford through Thanksgiving.
"Rory!"
"Mom!" Rory raced towards her mother standing in baggage claim in Hartford.
They fell to the ground in a hug, ignoring the stares of their other passengers.
"I'm so glad you are here!"
"Me too! I'm looking forward to being home and drinking real coffee and eating at Luke's and even Friday night dinners."
"What about hanging out with your dear old Mom, huh?"
"Well, yes, that's a given."
"Hey Rory." A voice from behind her caused her to remember where she was, and quickly stand up.
"Hey April. Sorry you had to see that."
"Oh I get it, I do the same thing with my mom when I get to see her." April sounded a little sad and Rory knew that the subject was touchy one. April had been living with Luke and Lorelei since the beginning of the school year: Anna's mom having taken much more of her time and energy than she had expected. Still, April mostly seemed happy at Chilton these days, and she had been very excited to find out her step-sister was going to be home for a few weeks.
"Well girls, we should get home. Luke is waiting to feed you like you've never been fed before!" Lorelei exclaimed dramatically.
"Or like every other time I've come home?"
"Exactly. So how was your flight?"
"I'm going to become one of those obnoxious people who insists on flying first class. I also might be a tad tipsy. There was free champagne and I felt like celebrating."
"Well, get excited because I made sure there was champagne on ice (and vodka in the freezer, she added from behind her hand) so we could properly celebrate my daughter, the White House staffer. April and I have been binging on West Wing episodes since you called."
"Because that's exactly what it will be like." Rory said dryly.
"Of course. Oh and here." Lorelei said as they slid into the Jeep, April crammed into the back seat. Rory grabbed the mug of hot coffee that smelled like Luke's.
She smiled brightly, "Its good to be home."
It wasn't until they passed the sign for Stars Hollow that Rory remember just how much had changed. They weren't headed to the house she and Lorelei had shared for years. Lorelei was going to turn into the driveway of the old Twickham house, now the Gilmore-Danes home. After they were married in the spring and after the lengthy discussion surrounding April's residence, both Luke and Lorelei realized there really needed more space. Lorelei wanted Rory to have a room, even if she wasn't going to live there and Luke wanted April to have a space of her very own. The Twickham house was still up for grabs and after Luke suggested they let Lane and Zack rent Lorelei's home, everyone agreed that a move was in order. Still, Rory had been busy, and while she had seen pictures of her bedroom in the new house, she had yet to actually visit.
"We're home!" Lorelei exclaimed, a bit hesitantly.
Rory smiled, letting her know she was OK. "I can't want to see my room. And the whole house."
It was certainly large. There were six bedrooms. Luke and Lorelei's on the first floor, the rest on the second. April and Rory had already claimed two of them. And Gigi had claimed a third for when she was there. Shaking her head, not wanting to think about the drama surrounding her parents, she dropped her bag in the entry way as she walked through.
"Wow, you guys have done a lot of work. Well, Luke has done a lot of work."
"Hey I helped! Sort of. Mostly by staying out of the way. But it does look great, doesn't it?"
Rory could tell from the smile on her face that Lorelei was finally happy and she was genuinely happy for her. She was glad she could still visit the old place, and she knew that Lane and Zack were happily making the house their home. And, she stubbornly reminded herself, she was moving again. Most likely into a home owned by her until-recently absentee grandmother. Again, she shoved aside the family drama for another day.
"April, want to show me my room?" She could see her mother smile in gratitude.
"Sure." She said before turning to Lorelei, "What time do we need to go to Dad's?"
"We can go when you two get down. I'll call him now, let him know we are coming."
"Great! Well April, lead the way!"
It wasn't until hours later, after burgers and coffee and hugs from the entire town, that Rory and Lorelei got to catch up alone. Luke headed to bed and April to her room to call her own mom, Rory and Lorelei spread out in the living room with a bottle of wine.
They chatted about Babette's newest cat and Kirk's latest job and Ms. Patty's latest dance recital before Lorelei abruptly brought the family drama to the present.
"So, Tristan's going to bring Gigi over tomorrow. She's been dying to see you since she found out you were coming home and apparently we are all having dinner together with the Gilmore's on Friday." Lorelei rushed out, not making eye contact with her daughter.
Rory turned to look at her mother wondering just what to say.
The reemergence of Tristan DuGrey in her life was as sudden as it was surprising. Christopher had been looking for a new partner for his tech company and Tristan, having just graduated from Duke with a degree in computer science, was looking for just that type of opportunity. After a few drinks and an apparently awkward conversation about Tristan calling Rory 'Mary' in high school and their mutual love of the Gilmore girls, they had agreed to become partners. And apparently the brother neither one of them had. The business had taken off, but what was most surprising to Rory was the profound effect that Tristan's presence had on her relationship with her Dad, her younger sister, and her grandmother. Christopher and Tristan had formalized their partnership two weeks after Rory left for the campaign trail. At the time Chris called to tell her the news, knowing that a partnership with her former high school tormentor was probably news he should share himself, Rory was feeling particularly lonely and about to click send on a slightly drunken email to Logan. Her dad rescued her from the inevitable mistake and the pair ended up talk for hours. Because Rory was slightly inebriated, when Francine came up in conversation Rory let Chris have it. She had repressed years of anger and the bottle of wine she had just consumed spilled out over the treatment she had received from the Hayden's.
"Do you know how good it would have felt to throw Strobe and Francine in Mitchum and Shira's smug faces?!" Rory had exclaimed. "I spent all of college surrounded by rich, snobby snobs and yes, I was Richard and Emily's granddaughter, but I was also still The Scandal. And Shira treated me like scum to scrape of the bottom of her shoe and there were a couple of times I just wanted to look them in their stupid faces and remind them I was a Hayden. Yes, one of those Hayden's. But I couldn't. And with everything with Mitchum and my writing and not getting a job, which I know is somehow his fault; I wish I could change my name sometimes. I thought about writing as Lorelei Hayden, or Ella Hayden or something but I didn't think Francine would approve and it all just sucks sometimes."
Christopher had managed reign in Rory's anger and after she fell asleep on him he began to think about what his daughter needed from him. His first call was to his now ex-wife. The words The Scandal struck him deeply and he realized that whatever he was about to do he needed to do with Lorelei's blessing. Finally, Chris suggested that they meet face-to-face and work out some of their issues. He would bring Tristan and she could bring Sookie, both to mediate, and the two of them would work towards putting everything behind them. The conversation took hours and lots of yelling and yielded more than a few surprising results.
The first was that Tristan managed to surprise Lorelei. He had grown up, first through military school and then college. He reminded Lorelei that at sixteen she made more than a few mistakes as well, but they had turned out for the best. He also seemed to be a good balance for Christopher and Lorelei finally realized that while she had Rory and Sookie and Stars Hollow, Christopher mostly had her rejection and his father's disapproval. Tristan had Rory's rejection and his own father's disapproval; somehow, the pair finding each other seemed to be a good thing.
Secondly, Gigi and Lorelei would get to spend time together. This would take hours to explain to Luke later, but Lorelei didn't want to be another Sherry in Gigi's life and she wanted Gigi to know that she cared. Tristan volunteered to be the go between, having quickly cemented his place as 'Uncle Tristan.' This would eventually lead to a friendship between Tristan and Lorelei, built on the love of a six year old and the disdain for Hartford society.
Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly to Rory, the conversation between her parents had led to a new relationship with her grandmother. Christopher told Lorelei that he was going to approach his mother about Rory. 'It is time,' he said. He figured he knew what needed to be said, and things between the mother and son had been much better since Strobe's death. He didn't want Rory to feel like The Scandal and he didn't want his mother to miss out on a relationship with Rory just because all of the adults in this situation were acting like children. Lorelei, after much hemming and hawing agreed that if Francine and Rory wanted to have a relationship, she wouldn't stand in the way (Maybe because she knew that Emily Gilmore would.)
All of this led to an extremely eventful and loud Thanksgiving. It seemed that Francine's last straw was discovering how Shira Huntsburger deigned to treat Christopher's daughter; she was willing to put aside her anger and pride and proposed that she and Rory begin a new relationship. Although Rory had been skeptical and more than a little hesitant, a new relationship with her eldest granddaughter had Francine shaking off the last of her grief over Strobe's death and finding a new lease on life. Rory found Francine, unlike Emily, in complete support of her future endeavors and less interested in her social life. By spring, there were weekly emails and Rory enjoyed Francine's witty repartee and political commentary.
But what changed everything for Rory was the meeting Rory and Francine had the weekend of Luke and Lorelei's wedding. Rory stole away for breakfast with her grandmother, much to the chagrin of the Gilmore's. Francine managed to meet Rory in the space between Emily and Lorelei that Rory was so desperately trying to fill on her own. It was the place she began to find at Yale. On the one hand, she was the ambitious, daring Gilmore Girl of Stars Hollow, the daughter of the heroine of Hartford society. Lorelei Gilmore was the bogeyman Logan and Colin and Stephanie had grown up on, before she became the person they would all idolize. Still, Rory was no less Richard and Emily's granddaughter: debutante, Chilton and Yale grad and LDB, even if adjacently. She had been ignoring the money left to her by Lorelei the first, she couldn't touch it for a few more years anyway; and she didn't like to consider anytime when Richard or Emily or Lorelei weren't walking the earth, so she never considered the Gilmore fortune or her future inheritance of it. And while she knew Christopher was now loaded and she had no doubt there was another trust waiting for her, she never forgot the incident at Andrew's when she was in high school and so she was never quick to consider any of that money hers. But as Francine pointed out, very soon Rory would have money. Lorelei the first was a generous woman, particularly towards her namesakes, and despite all claims up until now, Rory was in fact one of those Haydens.
"You can't apologize for having money, Rory." Francine said as she sipped her coffee.
"Despite how it feels to you, it just comes off as conceited. Still, you don't have to act like me or Emily or Shira. You don't have to be the kind of girl Logan ends up marrying, desperate to make a name for herself. What infuriated Shira was that you didn't need to marry her son. You already have the Gilmore name. From here on out, you are my granddaughter: you have the Hayden name too, if you want it. Embrace the freedom of it all. You don't have to play their game. If you think Mitchum has compromised Rory Gilmore, then by all means, become Lorelei Hayden. Take what is offered, but don't do anything you wouldn't already do. You can still work your ass off and be an heiress. You don't want to admit it, but you are a millionaire. A multi-millionaire. But you can still live your passion. And strut it like those boys do. You are every bit as wealthy, if not more so, than Logan Huntsburger or Colin McCrea or even Tristan. They don't apologize for their wealth, why should you?"
Rory didn't admit it to anyone then, but that conversation changed her. It also forged her relationship with Francine. It was clear then, that Francine didn't think she needed directing: not towards a particular job and certainly not towards a guy. 'Embrace the freedom' had become Rory Gilmore's mantra.
Rory turned her attention back to her mother, knowing she wanted Rory to say something.
"Who is everyone? And is this going to be ok? I don't want a fight…"
"Well my parents, and you and me and April, Luke has to work, and your Dad and Gigi and Tristan. And Francine." Rory almost spit out the sip of wine she had just taken.
"All of those people are going to be in the same room? Is that safe?"
"I think so. Tristan's really good at the whole mediating from the outside thing. And apparently Richard and Emily and Francine have all had dinner since the wedding. Tristan made everyone realize they needed to work this out, for your sake." Rory wondered what rabbit hole she had fallen into that made Tristan DuGrey the voice of reason in her family. Or that made Tristan DuGrey family at all.
"I can't wait to see Gigi," Rory answered truthfully. Rory the only child was now embracing the fact she had two sisters. One was going to look to her for guidance on Chilton boys and college selection and one currently thought she was the greatest thing since Madonna. Not that she yet knew who Madonna was.
"It will be ok, hun. We are all doing better. And everyone will be happy to see you and everyone is excited about the new job. I think Emily might be willing to concede the housing issue, but you better gear up for a luxury SUV."
Rory laughed, hoping that her mother was right. "Well ok then. I should go to bed," she said as she swallowed the last of her wine. "I know everyone will leave early in the morning, meet you for lunch at the inn?"
Lorelei grinned, "Sookie can't wait to see you. Make sure to wear your eatin' pants."
Rory chuckled, "Will do. Night Mom."
"Night Ror."
