Sorry this has taken so long to update. I have been away from my computer this week. Thanks again for all of the support. I hope you enjoy!

A Place to Call Home

Chapter 14: The Wrong Gilmore

Rory, Ryan, and Ruby were standing in front of the house with their backpacks on. "Smile." Lorelai told them with the camera in her hand.

"Mom," Rory exclaimed. "You have taken a thousand pictures already."

"It is your first day of school. High school might I add. It is a very big deal. And as your mother I can take as many pictures as I want, and make you pose however I want."

"But mom."

"Oh come on. Just a few more." She snapped picture after picture. The kids had stopped smiling. "Now you look like I did in all of my first day of school pictures."

The kids didn't say anything they just frowned.

"Okay. I want to get one more of you walking to the car."

"Seriously." Ruby said with her hands on her hips.

"Yes. I'm always serious."

The kids groaned and moaned but walked to the car like their mother wanted.

"Perfect." Lorelai had tears in her eyes as she snapped pictures of her kids. She couldn't believe how fast they were growing up. They would be fifteen soon. She wished she could freeze Ruby and keep her six years old forever.

"Mom," Rory said from the car. "Can we go?"

"Yes. Let's go." Lorelai got in the car.

She dropped Ruby off first. Ruby was such a big girl. First grade was no big deal she said. She didn't need her mommy to walk her into school. She could handle it. Ruby gave Lorelai a kiss and told her to be a big girl, and if Lorelai didn't stay at school the whole day watching Ruby through the window then they could get a treat after school. Lorelai told her she would be okay and watched her big girl walk into school.

Lorelai dropped Ryan and Rory off at school. Ryan met up with Jess and Rory met up with Lane. Ryan promised to be on his best behavior.

Lorelai made her way to the Inn. She cried all the way there. She really wanted time to slow down. She walked into the Inn and then into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. Sookie was sitting on the floor, crying. "Sookie," Lorelai said as she sat next to her on the floor. "Did you hurt yourself again?"

"No." Sookie continued to cry. "My kid hurt me."

"Davey?" Lorelai questioned. "What did Davey do?"

"He started kindergarten. Damn kid. Why couldn't he be stupid and stay in daycare for another year."

"I've asked myself the same question about my kids. I don't know how we ended up with such smart kids."

"I know. I wasn't very smart growing up." Sookie told her. "I don't think Jackson was either. I don't know where he gets it. I just want him to stay small forever."

"I know me too." Lorelai started to cry.

"Do you know he wanted to walk in by himself? How dare he? I had to walk five steps behind him because he is a big boy. He doesn't need me. Before I know it he will be married with kids."

Lorelai chuckled. "I think you're going to have him around for a little longer than that."

"Oh yeah. Maybe he will be one of those kids who never grows up and lives at home forever. He'll be thirty-five, still living at home, and freeloading off of us. How sweet will that be? I'll be okay with that." Sookie rattled off.

"Oh Sookie." Lorelai rested her head on Sookie's shoulder. "We're going to be okay. We are going to make it through this. Once we finally get them out of the house, I have a feeling we are going to love it."

"Yeah. We can have a girl's night every night."

"Yeah." Lorelai smiled. "I think Jackson would love that." She had never really had a girl's night before. She had friends in Hartford, but they never had a night out. She was always so focused on her kids.

"Please tell me that you have had a girl's night before."

"Nope." Lorelai admitted.

"Well as soon as we can, you and I are going to have a girl's night."

"Sounds like a good idea."

"Girls." Mia said as she walked in. "What are you two doing?" She laughed.

"Oh sorry Mia." Lorelai stood up and helped Sookie to her feet. "We'll get back to work."

"Yeah sorry Mia. Our kids are growing up way too quickly." Sookie told her.

"I know exactly how that feels." Mia wrapped her arms around the girls. "But you'll be happy to now that they will always need you no matter how old they get. Being a mother is one job that you will always have."

"Well I better get to the job I really want to keep." Lorelai smiled.

"Oh yes. I've heard your boss is the worst." Mia laughed.

Rory finished her first two classes and found her locker at the end of the hallway. She wanted to put a few of her books away. She had brought a couple of books with her from home, in case she had a chance to read one.

"Hey." She heard a voice say as her locker closed.

"Hey why did you do that?" Rory asked the blonde boy standing beside her.

"I wanted to meet the new girl."

"Well that's not the way to do it." Rory told him angrily.

"I'm Tristan." He said smugly. "I'm the welcoming committee."

Rory rolled her eyes and tried to walk away, but he stepped in front of her. "What's your name?"

"Rory." She said softly, he was making her very uncomfortable.

"I think you look like a Mary, all innocent."

"I need to get to class." She pointed to her schedule.

"Let me see that." He took it from her. "Looks like we have a couple of classes together." He handed her the schedule back.

"Thanks." Rory sighed. He was such a jerk.

"I can't wait to get to know you, Mary." He whispered in her ear.

"That's not my name." She glared at him.

"It should be." He touched her shoulder. "We are going to have so much fun together.

Rory sighed as she followed Tristan into the classroom. He made her stomach crawl.

The whole time they were in class Tristan whispered, Mary, in her ear. He aggravated her the entire time and unfortunately Ryan, Lane, and Jess weren't in her class.

"See ya later, Mary." Tristan said as the end of class.

Rory shook her head. He was such a jerk.

"Hey Rory." Ryan was waiting on her after class. She jumped a little. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She lied. She didn't want anyone to know. She figured it would stop.

"You want to eat lunch with us? Jess is saving us all a seat."

"Sure. Sounds great." Rory was distracted.

Ryan could tell something was bothering his sister, but decided not to press her on it. Rory would talk when she was ready.

Rory finished the day. Tristan only bothered her two more times before the day was over. She was lucky that she a few of her classes with either Lane, Jess, or Ryan. Tristan didn't bother her in those classes.

Jess and Ryan went to the diner to work. Ryan was going to work for about an hour after school 3 days a week. That was the agreement he had made with his mom and Luke.

Lane and Rory were walking to Rory's house. Mrs. Kim had agreed to let her go to Rory's for one hour if she promised not to watch television or eat junk food, and they were supposed to start on their homework. Luckily for them they didn't have homework on the first day.

"Are you okay?" Lane could tell something seemed off with Rory.

"I'm fine." Rory shrugged. She wasn't a very successful liar.

"I don't think you are."

Rory didn't say anything for a moment. They walked in silence.

"What do you know about Tristan?"

"Oh. Tristan. He is the most popular kid in school and the biggest jerk. I'm surprised you have never heard of him. He's actually from Hartford."

"Why is here?"

"Stars Hollow High was the only school that would take him after he got expelled from Manchester."

"He went to Manchester." Rory was surprised. "His parents must be really rich. My grandparents couldn't even afford Manchester."

"I thought you said your grandparents are super wealthy."

"They are, but Manchester is extremely expensive."

"So why did you ask me about Tristan?" Lane wondered.

"He is in several of my classes. I was just curious."

"Do you like him?"

"Oh God no." Rory said quickly. "He seems like a jerk."

They made their way up the steps to Rory's house. "Did he bother you?"

"No. No. It's no big deal." Rory lied. "I was just wondering."

"Are you sure?" Lane wasn't completely convinced.

Rory nodded. "Do you want to get a snack?"

"Only if it's really bad for me."

"I can manage that, but don't tell my mom."

"She doesn't like you eating junk food."

"Oh she doesn't care what I eat, but she cares what you eat."

Lane looked at her with a confused stare.

"She cares because your mom cares and if she knows you ate unhealthy then she would feel like she had to tell your mom. It's mom solidarity or something." Rory explained.

"My lips are sealed." Lane pretended to zip up her lips and throw away the key.

Rory laughed. She was glad to have the distraction from her day.

At the diner, Ryan was working. He had helped Jess unload some boxes in the back, and now he was refilling empty coffee cups. Luke thought he was doing a pretty good job for his first day.

"What else do you need help with?"

Luke looked at his watch. "I think your hour is almost up."

Ryan shook his head. He seemed disappointed. "My mom won't care if I work a little longer."

"You sure about that?" He pointed to the door. Lorelai was walking into the diner.

"Mom." Ryan rolled his eyes.

"Hey," Lorelai said happily. "I thought I could walk you home."

"That's okay. You don't have to do that."

"Let me rephrase. I'm here to walk you home." Lorelai patted him on the shoulder. "Go get your stuff."

Ryan sighed but did as he was told. There was no use trying to argue with his mom.

"Where's your mini-mini me?" Luke asked.

"Sookie picked her up from school along with Davey. She was going to take them back to the Inn for ice cream sundaes. I've got to go back and pick her up later."

"Why did you come here?" Luke questioned as he walked behind the counter to pour her a cup of coffee to go.

"I wanted to see how Ryan was doing on his first day. How did he do?"

"He did great. He is a good kid." Luke handed her the cup of coffee.

"I love how you know me so well." She took a sip of her coffee. "It was a very hard day for me. My baby started first grade and didn't need me at all. And my other babies started high school. It is so scary."

"How so?"

"Well soon they will be the age that I was when I got pregnant." Lorelai sighed. "I just want them to enjoy being young, and I don't want them to make the same mistakes that I did." She admitted. Before she could say anything else, Ryan walked in carrying his things.

"I'm ready."

"Oh good. Me too."

Ryan turned to Luke. "See you tomorrow."

"Not tomorrow." Lorelai told him. "Every other day."

"Oh come on." Ryan made a face. "I thought I could do my homework here with Jess, if that's okay."

Lorelai was surprised, as was Luke. She was happy that he was talking about homework.

"That's okay with me if it is okay with your mom." Luke didn't think that it would be a problem.

Lorelai thought about it for a minute. "I'm okay with it."

"Awesome." Ryan said as he walked out of Luke's.

"Thanks for this." Lorelai was so grateful for Luke. She didn't know how she could ever thank him enough.

"It's no problem." For some reason, he liked to see her happy and wanted to do whatever he could to help her out.

Lorelai gave him a smile before walking outside to meet Ryan. "So tell me, how was your first day?" She placed her arm around his shoulder as they started walking. She knew he was embarrassed, but she didn't care.

"It was alright."

"Just alright?"

"Yes."

"Better than Hartford?"

Ryan didn't say anything.

"Huh?"

Ryan nodded as he escaped her grip. "Yeah. It's easier."

Lorelai smiled. "I'll take it. Are you beginning to like it here, after all?"

"I guess so. It isn't too bad. I like Luke. He is nice."

Lorelai was hopeful. At least Ryan had Luke. He seemed like a very good role model, much better than Christopher.

A few days later, Rory was worried about running into Tristan. He had been bullying her all week. She didn't say anything to her mom about what was happening at school. Anytime Lorelai asked her, she would say she loved it and had a great time.

"Hey Rory."

Rory cringed at the sound of his voice, but at least he called her Rory.

"Oh sorry. I meant Mary."

"Please leave me alone."

"Where's the fun in that." He followed her to the class door. "I'm going to sit right beside you." He touched her shoulder.

"I can't." She said as she turned away from the class and ran off down the hall.

Rory couldn't believe she had walked away from class, but she couldn't take it. Although, she didn't know where to go. She decided to sneak into the gym and read a book until her History class was over.

Rory was immersed in her book when she heard footsteps approaching. "Excuse me."

She looked up to see the principal standing in front of her. Her heart fell to her stomach. She knew she was in big trouble.

Michel and Lorelai were at the front desk at the Independence Inn. Lorelai was planning a guest wedding. "I can't believe how many flowers these people want."

Michel just looked at her.

"Lorelai," Mia walked around the corner. "The Turners just called to add fifty people to the guest list."

"What? That's crazy. How do these people know so many people?" Lorelai was frustrated. They had changed the guest list three times already.

"I know, but I told them that we would accommodate them."

"I will figure it out." Lorelai told her as she made a note in her notebook.

The phone rang and Michel answered it. "Hello. Independence Inn. This is Michel speaking." He turned to Lorelai. "It is for you."

"Me." She pointed.

He shoved the phone in her direction.

"Hello. This is Lorelai." Lorelai's facial expression changed. "What? Are you sure you have the right Gilmore. Okay. Yes I understand. Thank you. I will be right there." Lorelai hung up the phone. She was shocked.

"Is everything okay?" Mia asked.

"Rory got in trouble at school." Lorelai couldn't believe how it sounded coming out of her mouth. It was almost like a dirty word. Rory never got into trouble.

"Go. Go." Mia told her. "Call me."

"Thanks Mia." She grabbed her things and walked out of the Inn. It really had to be some kind of joke. They had the wrong Gilmore.

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