A/N: I could say that school refused to give me a break. Which it did. I could say that I had a really bad year. Which I did. I could say that my muse got bored and ran off to other fandoms. Which it did. I could use any of the many feeble excuses that come to mind. But I won't. Yeah, if anyone is still out there I really don't blame you for being mad at me. A year without updates. So… while you plot my untimely demise…on with the chapter! To all of you people who read this please drop a review, I would appreciate any criticism you have so I can improve.
A cry, the soothing voice of her best friend, the panicked mutterings of Brian as he tried to find Kwan's- not Steve's- pacifier. Because apparently the wrong one wasn't appreciated. Rory sat up gingerly, absently patting her hair down, while she tried to gain her bearings. She was on the couch with a worn quilt draped over her. Lane was gently rocking Kwan in her arms while watching Steve in her perphial vision- who was somehow able to sleep through the commotion his twin was causing. That much Rory could see through the open bedroom door at the end of the hall. Brian gave out a victorious chuckle from the kitchen as found the pacifier- in the tube of no name chips- and ran it to Lane. The crying stopped. A sigh of relief was shared between the two as Rory watched her friend place her son beside his brother and hastily tip toe away- with Brian behind her. The door was closed softly before a small victory dance was shared with the once again room mates.
"Hey! You're awake!" Rory smiled slightly as Lane padded into her kitchen, grabbing an empty mug and filling it with warm water. "Want anything?"
"No, thanks. I think I'll just head over to Luke's and see how he's doing." Lorelai had called after Rory had been at Lane's for an hour or so the previous night, just before Zack got back from closing up the diner, notifying her daughter of Luke's less then graceful manoeuvre in their living room. Knowing her mother wouldn't be home for the rest of the evening Rory had taken up Lane's offer of the couch. "Thanks for letting me sleep here. And for last night. I just needed-" Rory paused, searching for the right words. "I just…"
"I get it, Rory. Believe me." Lane leaned against the counter, stirring sugar into her tea. "I get it. If you ever need to just talk you know I'll be here."
"Thank you." Relief. After having been at Lanes for twenty minutes Rory had broken down and told her. Everything. It felt good to know that at least two people understood. Knew and were just- there. Brian looked between the two women with a confused expression on his face.
"What are you two talking about?" A thought struck him. "Lorelai?"
"What makes you think we're talking about my mother?" Rory asked distractedly as she hugged her married friend goodbye and grabbed her bag from off of the stool at the counter. She was almost at the door when she stopped, frozen.
"Well, Babette was saying she's pregnant. At least that's what I heard her telling Ms. Patty yesterday." Dread coiled in Rory's stomach. A day, I've been back for a little over a day and they already know. Well, sort of know. They just got the wrong Gilmore.
"What?" A nervous laugh escaping her lips, it didn't sound very natural but she wanted to play it off as if it were nothing. "Why would she think my mother's pregnant?" Brian looked like he very much regretted bringing it up.
"I don't know. Forget I ever mentioned it. You know, Lane? I think I'll go grab some groceries."
"Brian, you went last time."
"It's fine. I like going to Doosie's. Maybe I'll stop by Sophie's store too. See if she's got any new music in. I could use something different to practise. Be back later. See you, Rory." With a rushed wave almost as rapid as his speech and a quick swipe for his wallet resting on his bunk bed Brian was gone.
"Rory-" The Gilmore could feel her friends concerned stare boring into her back.
"I've got to find my mom. Thanks again, Lane!" The door clicked shut once more and Lane found herself alone in the living room of her home. A cry shattered the tense silence. The young mother sighed before placing down her tea and moving her tired feet towards the sound of her boys.
"I told you already. If you count the blueberries you can't have the pancakes." A spatula slapped away at the hands moving over the pancakes, the owner of said hand mouthing the number of berries he passed over.
"But I-" The angry, whining voice made the accent more pronounced. It was a rather amusing sight to see as the two people faced off. A tall, pouting French man and a short, pregnant red head. Bitter rivals.
"No." Sookie St. James-Melville, swatted at her co-workers hands further for good measure. Lorelai sat on a stool watching the encounter, sipping at a cup of coffee in her right hand while in her other she absently twirled a fork.
"Evil woman!" Michel Gerard barked before stomping off to his post at the front desk.
"I told you he would count the blueberries!" Lorelai smirked before snatching the plate of pancakes and triumphantly digging into them with her fork.
"He told me today was Crazy Day and that he could eat whatever he wanted. So I thought I would make him the stupid pancakes he's always asking for and never eats. But does he actually follow the rules of his Day? No. Of course not." The chef continued her ranting as she took out her irritation on the carrots she was dicing for the Dragonfly's lunch time meal. A huff escaped her lips as she patted her swollen stomach once. "Okay. I'm done now. And focusing on you." She pointed her knife in the direction of her best friend, who had yet to pause in her devouring of the pancakes. "How's Luke?"
"I have him set up in his apartment, grumbling. He broke both of his legs and one of them in two places. He's not going to be able to work for awhile. And he isn't entirely pleased with his extended vacation."
"Who's going to take over the diner?" The brunette stopped, a forkful of blueberries halfway to her mouth before she returned the fork to the plate, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"I hadn't really thought of it. Caesar?"
"Remember how he was with running the diner for two weeks?" Sookie smiled slightly before her thoughts drifted towards the frozen bananas he had served. Frozen bananas. She would have to have Jackson add that to the list of foods she was craving.
"Right. Um, Zack?"
"He leaves for his tour in a few days." That was all the blonde seemed to be able to talk about lately.
"Oh. Well. I don't kno-" The fast talking woman stopped suddenly.
"Lorelai?" Sookie stopped in her mad chopping of the carrots to stare at her best friend.
"He would too."
"Who would do what, sweetie?"
"Think Sookie. Who else knows the diner well enough to work there." A list of all the people the chef had ever seen work behind the counter of Luke's flashed through her mind. Well, she was obviously out of the question. And that had only been because the Inn had burned down. Lorelai and Rory had manned it temporarily. But they both worked now. Well, Lorelai did. And Sookie knew that Rory would want to be out of the spotlight for as long as possible due to her unexpected return to town. And then there was…
"Oh."
"I'll be back in a bit." The reigning Lorelai was halfway out the door, and in her haste she left her cell phone charging on her desk in the office, unaware of the multiple phone calls she was receiving from her distressed daughter and congratulatory townsfolk.
"Mom? Are you there? Come on, mom. Pick up. Not there? Agh. Call me. Immediately. I'm going into Luke's now and then I'm heading to the Inn. If you're not there I'll be waiting for you at home. Okay? Love you. Bye." Closing her mobile Rory entered her childhood sanctuary and waved easily to Caesar before parting the curtain and heading up to the stairs to Luke's apartment. She could hear the television playing quietly in the background and what sounded like Luke talking on the phone. Raising her hand to knock Rory felt her hand hover over the pane of glass that read "Williams Hardware Office."
"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow then? Great. Bye." What? Shaking off the odd feeling of foreboding that gripped her, Rory knocked.
"Come in."
"Hey, Luke!" Closing the door behind her Rory noted how most of her mothers boyfriends possessions had been moved in a manner similar to the one Lorelai had around her bed after she and Luke had broken up the first time. A cooler, a plate with a burger probably courtesy of Caesar, a pile of books on baseball and fishing. A radio with some cassettes next to it and other objects used to pass the time. "How are you?"
"I've been better." He replied while placing the phone he held in his hands on the night table.
"Who was on the phone?" Was it Rory's imagination or did Luke look slightly guilty?
"Just a business call." Noticing how uncomfortable he seemed Rory dropped the subject before moving onto the reason she had come there.
"Do you know where my mom is? She's not answering her cell and I needed to talk to her."
"She's at the Inn. She'll probably be there for another hour or so."
"Okay, thanks. Sorry to leave so soon but I just really need to talk to her. I'll see you later Luke!" And just as quickly as she had come she was gone in a swirl of brown hair and innocent, but sad, blue eyes.
"Bye, Rory!" He couldn't stand the knot in his stomach. Lorelai killing him was one thing. Hurting Rory was another. "It's not like I had a choice," he mumbled as watched yet another talk show making the same jokes as the others.
As it had turned out Rory didn't need to go to the Inn because as she came out from behind the counter she almost ran into her mother.
"Mom!"
"Oh, hi." Lorelai blinked as though coming out of a dream.
"I have something I need to tell you. Now." Eyes fixed on the staircase to her boyfriends apartment but hearing the urgent tone in her daughters voice Lorelai nodded before allowing herself to be guided out the door. Her conversation with Luke could wait. The sound of the cars, as well as the laughter and shrieks of children from the park across the street would drown out any words, leaving Rory with no fear that they would be overheard. Unless of course Kirk managed to be lurking somewhere. This idea instantly became nullified when the Yale graduate noticed the towns eccentric friend being tied to the monkey bars in the park by the Banyan Boys. Again. Poor, man.
"Babette, for some reason, thinks your pregnant." Rory blurted out, her hands knotting anxiously.
"Why would she possibly think that?" This wasn't the first time it was speculated that she was pregnant. Sookie had driven her nearly insane a year or so ago with the questions simply because she had asked for a large amount of food.
"I don't know! It's not like there was a pregnancy test to be seen. Only that piece of paper. So unless Babette broke into our house and dug into my suitcase she didn't find out that way." Lorelai gave her daughter a calculating look as though she were actually entertaining the possibility.
"Mom!"
"What! I'm just thinking it might be possible." She trailed off, once again seeing images of Babette breaking into her house, it wasn't like it was that hard to do. Rory continued to stare, clearly not amused. "Oh, fine."
"What did we do that made her think that?" Lorelai absently reached out and hugged her daughters shoulders as she began to walk them down the street, not wanting to cause attention to be brought to them due to their intense chattering in front of Luke's. Thinking back over the past day Lorelai tried to recall when she had last seen her cat loving neighbour. A flash of green caught her eye. Looking up she saw the sign for Doose's.
"The apples. I bought you apples yesterday and Babette was at the market." She could vaguely recall the loud woman in the checkout line.
"So what do we do?"
"We tell them I'm not pregnant, obviously."
"How do we explain the apples?" Why would we have apples in the house? The only time we ever do is…
"Carmel apples. We were going to make carmel apples." Lorelai replied, thinking of the treats she hung from the trees in the autumn.
"In summer?" Ignoring her daughters doubtful tone the elder Gilmore continued.
"We didn't want to wait for Halloween."
"That's ridiculous."
"It's us." Rory's eyebrows rose ever so slightly as she took this in, thinking to the multiple pools around town based on what antics the pair would perform next.
"Good point."
"Are we calm?"
"A bit."
"Oh, and Rory?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't eat the apples in public. Or near a window."
"Are you suggesting I eat apples alone with the drapes drawn."
"Yes."
"Just checking."
"I need to head back to the Inn. Michel and Sookie may have killed each other. It's Crazy Day."
"I'll head home and eat some apples in the dark." Rory drew her mothers arms away from her shoulders before stepping towards the curb, preparing to cut across the town square.
"Have fun."
"I will."
"I'll bring home pizza for dinner." Lorelai called as she watched her daughter dart across the street.
"With cheesy bread."
"Yeah!"
And with that they parted ways, their words lost in the noise of street.
Rory felt satisfied when she got home. On the way she run into several people who had wished her mother well and she had set them straight. Lorelai Gilmore was not pregnant- well the senior one wasn't anyway. And so like a pebble falling into a pond the rumour rippled across Stars Hollow. Slowly but surely it began to disappear. Clicking on the lights in her room Rory noticed that piece of paper, now on the ground. Probably fell out when I was going through my suitcase.
Digging around for matches in the kitchen Rory lit a scented candle she been given for her birthday a few years ago and purposefully held the doctors notice over it. The flames licked the page and she watched tendrils of smoke rise into the air.
Maybe it will all turn out okay.
1:36 am. The dashboard lights brought an eerie glow to his face as he drove back into a town he had sworn never to return to on the night he had fled with a girl staring at him with a perplexed expression on her face as she stood among carnival stalls and swirling snow.
Welcome to Stars Hollow. He passed sign after sign. Doose's Market. Taylor's Ye Olde Fashioned Soda Shoppe. Gypsies' Garage. Sophie's Music. Kim's Antiques. Al's Pancake World. Luke's Diner. It was here that he stopped. Engine idling by the curb as he took in the sight of it. The paint looked fresher, hinting at a slight remodel. He parked just outside it, not fearing any townspeople realizing he was there because of it, it was a new car. Standing outside the building he thought of the first time. His thoughts then? Welcome to Hell. His thoughts now? Welcome home to Hell. Because in some strange, twisted way that he didn't really want to admit he was at home in Stars Hollow.
Pulling out his bag from the trunk he locked the car and found the spare key over the door to the Diner. Right where he remembered it. The bell jingled. Just the way it had almost four years ago. The door to the apartment upstairs was locked. It was easily broken into. Exactly the same difficulty too. He would need to recommend a new lock to Luke, who would not be pleased at his way of entry. Something's didn't change. His bed was still in its corner. Luke was still snoring away on his side of the apartment. Dumping his bag he fell onto his bed and thought of the repercussions of his return.
"Hello?" A drowsy voice called. Raising his head a bit, he could see the owner of the apartment and diner below him propped up on his elbow. Looking at him.
"Jess."
"Hey, Uncle Luke."
A/N: Look! Stuff is actually happening! Isn't that exciting? It only took me a year to write it! And it's even longer then usual. So, please leave a review. I can actually say with some certainty that it won't take a year before my next update. Because my muse appears to have returned. Huzzah.
Fairy Struck.