TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
Rory on the campaign trail or perhaps not, something I think could have happened had ASP ended the tale herself with Rory pregnant at 22.
Disclaimer: Nope not mine, just borrowing them to make my tales fun.
A/N: Posting this to answer the big question.
Chapter the eighth - What is in a Name?
Rory was sitting at her computer, hand rubbing her belly as she researched her latest author, while she waited for the baby to arrive she was filling in for other reporters, this week it was a book reviewer the author was a Romeo Soldado, he wrote teen romance, great name she thought and perfect for romance. She couldn't find a picture and figured that was intentional, all the stories were about a boy who adored a girl named Mariah, she was all things beautiful, intelligent and innocent. Rory read a few of the books and, not to sound vain, the character reminded her of her sixteen year old self, but she guessed many girls were like that when they were young. She loved how enamored the young men were, how totally devoted, caring and kind. She wished she had met a boy like that in high school, instead she had possessive Dean, monosyllabic abandoner Jess and provocateur Tristan, sure he had been beautiful and she was mildly flattered by his attention, but it would have helped had he been nice, she had only seen the goodness he possessed on a few occasions, but if he had been that guy all along things may have been very different for both of them.
tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
Tristan had argued long and hard, he didn't want to meet with Jenna Starr from Huntzberger publishing, he had before and the woman was beyond off-putting, at some sixty years, she was overweight, unkempt and smelled of cat. He was sure she had never married and lived in a single apartment, rent controlled, with at least a dozen of them. His manager explained she was out on vacation and a Leigh Hayden was covering, she was pregnant, but not at all off-putting. That is how a reluctant Tristan found himself face to face with one Rory 'Gilmore' come Huntzberger on that fateful day.
tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
"Tristan?" Rory was amazed at the man before her, "You are Romeo Soldado? How is that possible, how did you arrive a that name?" a very pregnant Rory sat down at his table, she was the book reviewers replacement, the irony was not lost on him.
She had set out a recorder apologizing and blaming pregnancy brain for the need of it.
"Rory, I can't believe I am seeing you again after all this time. How have you been?" She laughed at him.
"Tell you what, I interview you, then you can buy me lunch and I will let you interview me, deal?" She set out her hand for a shake on agreement.
He took it, adoring the softness and warmth of the gesture, "Deal, you won't believe it but it is a combination of the best and worst times of my youth. The best playing your Romeo, the worst playing soldier, Soldado meaning soldier in Spanish and I figured the two romance languages were close enough, it sounded nice, and I went with it, also it looked better than the Italian Soldato, too close to gato and I wanted romance not kitty cats." He chuckled."Tell me Mary, how is it you never interviewed me before?"
She laughed at the moniker, "Do I look like a Mary to you", she gestured to her overlarge pregnant belly, "I am married to the owner of this paper and in his infinite efforts to keep me close to home so close to the due date, he has me covering for errant reporters, its fun actually, and, surprise bonus, I got to find you again. I always wondered what became of you. Tell me, who is the girl that inspired Mariah? Is she real or just a gift from your muse?"
Tristan really looked at her and quirked a brow, pregnant Mary was even more beautiful than his sixteen year old memory, he wondered if he should let her know, "Well, going to a military academy at sixteen will do strange things to a boy, it'll even make him idolize and canonize the girl he tormented, you know Mariah means Mary right?" He looked at her meaningfully.
She gave him a bright smile, "I thought I saw a bit of my 16 year old self in her, and thought myself vain, you honor me Tristan, I wish you had been that boy then, you might have saved me from heartache."
"Mary, I couldn't be that boy, still can't, but I knew the boy you deserved, so I recreate him again and again; I hope you don't mind?" He looked at her as if he wanted to paint this picture the beautiful and iconic pregnant Mary. "Seeing you like this, now, makes me want to write her pregnant, glowing, angelic, you are still one of the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." He stopped, "Don't worry, its my 16 year old self that is your stalker, this guy in front of you, realized when he saw your wedding picture in the paper that it was over. I saw that picture and closed our chapter, but my readers love you, so I can't let them down. My 16 year old personas of us they have to keep falling in love, or what is the point of my writing. I am glad you found the love I wanted for you, sure I am sorry it wasn't with me, but that is the difference between reality and fiction, right?" He placed his hand on hers. " We will always have Stars Hollow, or as it is in my stories, Diamond Ridge, if ever you have an idea, send it my way, I will even tribute it to the real Mariah." He lifted her hand and kissed it sweetly.
They chatted amicably and when they were through, they were friends, he wanted to get together, meet Logan, see Paris again and maybe even Maddie and Louise, it would be a homecoming of sorts and he looked forward to being back in Hartford for once in his life.
tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
"Grandma, you cannot call him 'Little Richard, the women laugh because that is the name of a fifties singer, just call him Richard, Rich, Richie or Eli, those are perfectly acceptable..." Rory listened to her grandmother rant on, "No, grandma, we can't call him junior because grandpa is not his father, you see, it's just icky. Now just call him Richie, or Eli and everything will be fine, you can explain I named him for the Grandfathers and everyone will coo. Yes grandma, if I have a girl I will look at naming her after the grandmothers, just not Shira, since she sounds like a cartoon character." Rory smiled at Logan as he choked, she knew he was thinking of He-Man's sister, "Love you grandma, see you soon." She disconnected the call.
Logan laughed as he reached for her to pull her close," Little Richard, really, your grandmother is a hoot, and Junior, I know Hartford is incestuous, but that is too far."
"You have no idea, I spent twenty minutes arguing with my dad about why we didn't name him Straub. I had to explain how the man basically hated that I was alive, why the hell should I curse my son with his name? In the end he realized his mom was just jealous, and it was dropped, but really now, I would sooner name him William after Luke's dad, whom I never met than Straub, who hated me." She sighed into Logan's chest.
"My great-grandfather was William, Elias wouldn't mind if you preferred William, he hates his name, hates my middle name, he would prefer William and you would honor three families, we could change it to William Richard and call him Bill, let your grandma have her Bill from her song." He offered.
"Logan, you are perfect, this solves everything, if you are sure Elias won't mind, let's take him to a private lunch before we make any changes." She suggested. He agreed and they sat together comfortable in the closeness they shared.
tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
A/N: Hope this clears up the Tristan story line, I really like having a character who is part of the story but not, it was a plot twist to help me work a name change in. Hope you enjoyed the Tristan / Rory exchange.
