I hope you guys enjoy the update. Please tell me what you guys think of the counsellor. I had a specific personality in mind for that particular character and I'm aware that he undoubtedly will not be what you all expected. But I just couldn't help myself.

Enjoy and don't forget to review.

P.S: Do tell me what you think of Rory's course load mishap. It is based in fact, as I myself am guilty of having committed the same mistake ; )


When it Snows

By TheBlueSwan


Chapter 8: The Infallible Cookie Monster


Saturday September 25th 2004, Yale (Advisor's Office) 9:28 a.m.

Rory stared at the counsellor's dimpled smile as she fought against the instinct to flee out of the office's ornately carved doors. She emitted a nervous chuckle before hesitantly shuffling forward. Her movements were stiff and somewhat awkward as she took a seat, placing her messenger bag onto her lap. Rory clutched at the brown corduroy, unconsciously propping it up against her as a shield.

"So?" Sweets prodded, his smile having grown into a full blown grin.

Rory frowned as she realised that the man was amused by her fidgeting. It made her think that, despite the dimpled cheeks, her initial fear of the mysterious figure behind the desk had weight. The man truly was hiding a pair of horns somewhere on his pasty, gangly form…

Rory groaned and shook her head to clear her mind. Distantly, she heard the man chuckle at her antics, but chose to pointedly ignore it. Taking a deep breath, Rory steeled herself for the coming ordeal.

"Something…" Rory began, floundering for a moment, "happened."

A slight frown creased the counsellor's brow, and for the first time the man appeared to be taking the meeting somewhat seriously. "What happened?" Sweets asked.

"I… Well I… You see – urgh!" Rory exclaimed, annoyed at her own inability to form the words.

At her fumbling attempt to address the situation, the small modicum of solemnity in Sweets countenance drained away. With a hint of mischief in his eyes, he brought the meeting back on track. "Look, Miss. Gilmore – should I call you Miss. Gilmore? Or do you prefer Rory? May I call you Rory?" Sweets gestured towards her.

Startled, it took Rory a moment to register what he had asked of her. Once it had, Rory had nodded emphatically, and even managed to eventually croak out, "yes."

His hand still extended towards her, Sweets stared at her for a moment, his lips slowly pursing. It wasn't until she noticed that the man was fighting the instinct to laugh that Rory realised that her answer lacked specificity.

"Yes," Rory squeaked out, propping up at attention. "I mean yes, you can call me Rory."

"Rory," the counsellor intonated, pulling back his hand and brushing it through his hair. Rory could just tell by the way he was biting his lip that he was valiantly attempting to regain some form of decorum.

"Uh-hum," Sweets cleared his throat. "I'm going to take a guess and say that whatever it is that you have to tell me is less tragic than it is embarrassing. Which is good," Sweets smiled. "You had me worried for a moment there," he leaned back into his leather swivel chair. "But I think, in cases like these, it's just best to yank the Band-Aid off. Trust me, whatever it is, it's not as bad as you think. I have students coming to me every other day with some embarrassing little tid-bits," Sweets chuckled. "I remember this one time, a freshman came in to see if I could help him convince the housing admin to relocate him to another dorm because his dorm mate had pulled a prank on him and the poor guy had wound up in the hospital with his hand superglued to his –" Sweets broke off, seemingly realizing that the story at hand might not be altogether proper in the present situation. Not that the man had left much to the imagination by that point, as his right hand was still pointing down towards his lap, leaving Rory with no doubt as to which part of his anatomy the hapless freshman had superglued his hand to.

Noticing that Rory's gaze was trained on his hand, Sweets awkwardly dropped it into his desk. He fidgeted for a moment, before finally deciding to clasp his hands together in front of him on his desk. "So…" Sweets pursed his lips and nodded his head. "As I've said, whatever it is, it won't be the most embarrassing thing I've dealt with before."

"I'm pregnant," Rory deadpanned, "and now I'm wondering what my options are."

A slight frown marred Sweets brow for a moment, and Rory had begun to fidget nervously in her seat once more when he asked, "that's it?"

"What?" Rory startled. "I mean yeah," she nodded her head, "that's it."

Sweets looked down at his desk and fished out a file with her name on it. Rory nervously wrung her hands as he read over her file. Several times the counsellor glanced over the file, and a smile slowly began to tug at his lips. Chortling, Sweets exclaimed, "would you stop? I'm trying to concentrate here and all that twitching you're doing is distracting me. Geez, you would think I was on the verge of kicking you out by the way you're acting."

Startled, Rory's movements halted altogether.

Sweets frowned as he stared at the tense, pale, immobilized form before him for several moments. "Seriously?" Sweets exclaimed, "You can't honestly believe that you would get expelled just because you have a life outside of academia. Granted, you are somewhat younger than the average Yale student in your situation. But still, you're an adult. You can't have honestly believed you'd be expelled?"

Rory slumped down into her chair and released a relieved sigh. For the first time she smiled at the young counsellor before. "Honestly?" Rory chuckled, "No. But a girl can still have her nightmares."

"Yeah," Sweets snorted, "however illogical those nightmares might be."

Rory laughed, "Given that the nightmare in question involved a mob of angry teachers with pitchforks, I think it's safe to say that logic had very little to do with it."


Saturday September 25th 2004, Stars Hollow, (Gilmore Residence) 2:40 p.m.

For the fourth time in a row, Lorelai caught her keys with her right hand. She was stubbornly tossing them in the air, attempting to pinch the key to front door with her thumb and index finger. Her left arm was laden with paper work and folders pertaining to the Dragonfly Inn. Her mouth, in the meantime was occupied clenching down on the strap of her purse. Most anyone else would have admitted defeat by now, and condescended to unburdening the left arm. But Lorelai, however, was not most anyone, and she refused to give up the fight on the grounds that she really didn't want to have to stoop down twice. As such, when hearing the ruckus at the front door, Rory opened the door to find her disheveled mother cursing around the strap of her swaying purse, closed in fright from having accidentally thrown her keys into her face.

Said keys glittered innocently upon the porch even as Lorelai stomped her right heel upon them in retaliation.

"Mom," Rory sighed and leaned back against the door frame. "I think you can stop now. The keys are dead."

Startled, Lorelai looked up, finally noticing the open door and her spawn standing within. "Ack a do har?" She asked.

"Huh?" Rory frowned.

Rolling her eyes Lorelai repeated, "ack a do har?"

When no answer came forth, Lorelai huffed in exasperation and glared at her daughter. In response, Rory pointed at the purse swinging from her mother's mouth before bending down and retrieving the fallen keys. "Ho," Lorelai intoned before removing the purse strap from her clenched teeth.

Handing over the keys back to her mother, Rory raised an eyebrow as Lorelai worked out the pain in her jaw. "Thank you," Lorelai said as she crossed the threshold, gracelessly setting her pile of paperwork down on the accent table.

"Now," Lorelai said as she smiled widely. "Do you mind telling me what you are doing here? I distinctly remember you telling me, several times I might add, that you wouldn't be back this week-end," her mother chuckled. All in all, it was pretty brave face that her mother managed to put on. Rory, however, could tell that her mom was worried over her unexpected return. Lorelai gave herself away when she asked, "You had your meeting with the counsellor this morning, didn't you?" she smiled nervously. "How did it go?"

Rory smiled, and decided to put her mother out of her misery, "Great, actually."

"Great?" Lorelai repeated, "Really?"

Rory smirked as dropped down onto the couch, "Really."

A relieved smile overtook Lorelai's features as she settled down next to Rory. "So everything's fine then. Your pregnancy won't affect Yale?"

"Well," Rory sighed, "it will. But not as much as I was worried it would. I talked it over with Dr. Sweets, and together, I think we came up with a plan that would minimize the disruption as much as possible."

"Dr. Sweets," Lorelai frowned.

"Yeah, Dr. Sweets," Rory repeated, confused, "my counsellor?"

"Your counsellor is named Dr. Sweets?" Lorelai asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Rory confirmed, "and?"

"And? Where did this doctor come from? Sesame Street?" Lorelai guffawed. "With a name like that, he might as well be called Dr. Cookie Monster."

Rory grabbed the throw pillow behind her back and threw it at her mother. This only succeeded in setting Lorelai off on a bout of hysterical laughter. After several moments, during which she grew more annoyed by the second, Rory scowled at her mother and said, "Seriously? Can you stop laughing long enough for us to talk? In case you've forgotten, before you became so fixated on my counsellor's stupid name we were kind of discussing the future of my academic career?"

Sobered by the reminder, Lorelai regained a hold of herself. However, that in no way meant she would drop the subject so easily, "So, you and Dr. Cookie Monster came up with a plan?"

Exasperated at her mother's needling, but realising that reprimanding her would be pointless, Rory continued, "Yes, we did."

"So," Lorelai smirked, "what is it?"

"Well," Rory sighed, "the first thing we had to figure out was what my options were for the winter semester."

Lorelai frowned, "The winter semester?"

"Yeah, the winter semester," Rory confirmed, "I'll be due sometime around the beginning of April, which would be perfectly fine, if it weren't for the fact that I'd be giving birth a week or so before finals."

"Oh," Lorelai bit her lip. "So, what kind of options did Dr. Cookie Monster give you?"

Rory rolled her eyes at her mother's euphemism, "He couldn't give me much in the way of options yet. He said that the most practical solution would be for me to take the semester off."

"So you would graduate a semester later than planned," Lorelai frowned. "That's not so bad when you think about it…"

"Not necessarily," Rory smiled. "If I do decide to take the semester off, I could feasibly make up for it by taking on a heavier course load for a few semesters. That way, I could still graduate in June of 2007."

Lorelai grinned at the news, "That would be great, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, it would," Rory sighed, "but I haven't decided what to do yet."

With a furrowed brow, Lorelai asked, "What do you mean? Why not? It sounds like a pretty good plan to me."

"It is," she conceded, "but I'm not sure I could bring myself to take an entire semester off. And, as Dr. Sweets pointed out, it would be a shame for me to lose out on an entire semester, just because I'm due to give birth just before finals. So I asked him if there was another option for me."

"And?" Lorelai prodded.

"After taking a look at my student record and current class schedule, he suggested that, whatever else I decide, I should take on a heavier course load this semester and he would see if any of the English Lit. teachers would be willing to offer me an independent study. That way, I could still feasibly get my full credits for the year without having to worry about going into labour during finals – or having to miss a full semester at Yale."

"Intriguing…" Lorelai pursed her lips in thought. After several moments of silence, her mother began to frown. "Rory?" she asked, "Didn't the academic counsellor in charge of your record last year force you to reduce your course load because he thought it was too much for you?"

Rory bit her lip and avoided looking her mother in the eye, "Yes, he did."

Lorelai's gaze narrowed, "Then why is it that Dr. Cookie Monster thinks it would be a good idea for you to increase your course load this year?"

"Well," Rory fidgeted in her seat, "you see…"

"Rory," her mother prodded her.

"It's not my fault! I swear!" Rory beseeched petulantly.

"Ro-Ry," Lorelai sing-songed, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "My darling spawn, tell mommy what you have done now."

Rory pouted, but didn't try to dissemble. She knew all too well her mother would hold this over her head for years to come. "There were just so many classes! Interesting classes! And quite a few that would only be offered that year, on account of guest lecturers. I didn't want to miss out on the best ones!" Rory exclaimed.

"But, you see," Rory bit her lip and wrangled her hands, "they were all 300 and 400 classes."

"Rory!" Lorelai exclaimed, somewhat slack jawed.

"I didn't think it would matter!" Rory insisted, throwing her arms up in the air. "I honestly thought I could handle it. I wouldn't have done it otherwise."

"Rory," Lorelai laughed, "you know as well as I do that those classes are geared towards junior and senior students. What were you thinking by sitting them in your freshman year?"

"I was thinking that I didn't want to miss out on any great opportunities just because I happened to been a freshman," Rory scowled.

"Doesn't Yale frown on this sort of thing?" Lorelai asked incredulously.

"No, they don't," Rory answered sullenly, to which Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "Okay, fine. They strongly advise against it," she conceded, "but they don't actually stop you from doing it! Besides, all the classes I have sat Yale were 300 or 400 level courses, and the worst grade I got was an A-."

Lorelai's gaze narrowed, "After your course load was reduced."

Rory grimaced at the pointed remark, but had no means of contradicting it. It was true, her grades in the first half of the fall semester had averaged at a B before the counsellor had forced her to drop one of her classes. After which, her grades had improved to the point where she was able come out of those classes with one A- and three A's. Despite this, Rory liked to maintain that she was able to handle the more advanced courses – she just wasn't able to handle as many as she could have if she had restricted herself to the 100 and 200 level courses.

Seeing her sulk, Lorelai couldn't help but laugh at the predicament her daughter had found herself in. And although Lorelai was certain that her daughter's fearsome glower was meant to detract her amusement, it only served to send Lorelai into a fit of hysterics.

Having had quite enough of her mother's antics, Rory yanked the throw pillow out of Lorelai's hands and whacked it in the stomach of the laughing fiend. "Could you stop laughing and take this seriously?" Rory reprimanded.

"Maybe," Lorelai chuckled.

Rory's scowl became vehement as she prepared once more to attack her mother with the throw pillow in question. Realizing that her daughter was set to strike, Lorelai raised her hands in surrender and valiantly attempted to calm herself. And save for a few stray chuckles, she mostly succeeded.

"Okay, fine," Lorelai snickered, "I give. Why don't you just tell me what all of this means."

Glaring at her mother, Rory settled down once more. Despite this, he did not, however, relinquish her hold on the throw pillow. As such, Lorelai realised that her daughter had reached her limit, and would undoubtedly attack at the slightest provocation.

"It means," Rory began somewhat peevishly, "that my schedule has changed. Dr. Sweets convinced me to drop the classes that I had picked out in favor of getting the required 100 and 200 level classes out of the way this semester –"

"Hang on," Lorelai interjected, "the required 100 and 200 level classes? Are you telling me you set aside the boring required classes in favour of the interesting electives?" she laughed.

In that moment, what bluster Rory had gained evaporated and was swiftly replaced with a grumpy little pout.

Lorelai bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing at the sight.

"As I was saying," Rory grumbled, "I will be focusing on completing the required introductory classes this semester. And given my stellar record with the advanced level classes, Dr. Sweets thought I would easily be able to handle all six of them this semester –"

"Six!" Lorelai exclaimed.

Rory frowned, "Yes, six. So –"

"Rory!" Lorelai chastised, appearing put out for the first time.

"I know okay!" Rory conceded, "You don't need to chew me out. I know that if I had just followed the recommendation I would never have been limited to a four class schedule. Trust me, I get it. Can we just move on now?"

Lorelai sighed, but nodded her head.

"Anyway," Rory continued, "Dr. Sweets signed the necessary permission slip that would allow me to take on all six classes this semester. As such, I would have half of my credits for next semester already completed. Hopefully Dr. Sweets will be able to find a couple of teachers willing to give me an independent study next semester. But if not, at worse I would have to take an extra class for a couple of semesters."

"Okay," Lorelai said, "but what, exactly, would that mean for your schedule? I mean, not that I'm not happy to see you kid, but given that you now have six classes to attend this semester, I'm kind of surprised to see you kid."

"Yeah, I know," Rory conceded, "that's what so ironic about the situation."

"What do you mean," Lorelai frowned.

Rory chuckled, "The one good thing about the boring introductory classes is that they are available as elective for all degrees. Because of this, there are multiple segments offered for each class, all on different days and times, and some are even offered by different teachers. Since there were so many options, Dr. Sweets was able to condense my schedule quite a bit. I now only have classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from nine to twelve in the mornings and one to four in the afternoons. So, despite the fact that I have a heavier course load this semester, my schedule will actually be a lot less hectic."

"So…" Lorelai grinned, "That would mean you would be free to come home on Thursday and wouldn't have to leave until Monday afternoon."

"Yeah, which would be a good thing, since I'll need to find some kind of part time job to pay for things for the baby," Rory answered absentminded.

Lorelai pouted, "I guess. But you should focus on your classes for now. I'll see if there aren't any small jobs you can do around town to earn you some money."

"Okay," Rory conceded.

For several moments all was quiet, both Gilmores absorbed in contemplating the future. Naturally, such a state could not be maintained indefinitely in Lorelai Gilmore's presence.

"What's so funny?" Rory asked as when her mother began to giggle.

Smirking, Lorelai replied, "Dr. Cookie Monster."


Posted August 3rd 2017.