Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls.
At the age of thirty-eight, Lori Davis' life was still the same. Her children were older. Nicholas was now nineteen, Will eighteen, Connor sixteen, and the twins were fifteen. Life with five teenagers was hard, but Lori and Jack were used to it.
Lori and Jack had been married for ten years, longer than they had been dating the first time. They still didn't regret eloping, something that Lola was a little angry about. She had wanted a fantastic wedding for her daughter, something she still wouldn't get with Rhiannon. The twenty-eight year old was engaged to her boyfriend of three years, but they were planning a small wedding-just family and a few friends.
"I love you," Jack whispered to his wife. Lori giggled and kissed him. She regretted breaking up with him after high school because they could have been together for longer. She didn't understand why she had broken up with him then. He was great then, and he was still great now.
"I love you too," Lori told him. It was hard to get alone time with five hungry teenagers. Nicholas was in college, but home for the summer. And Will was going to start college in the fall, but he wasn't there yet. There would be three teenagers in the house in September. Lori had cried when Nicholas had left for college, and it would probably be the same with Will.
"What are we going to do tomorrow?" Jack asked his wife. They would be alone since Lola and Devin were taking the kids out for the day.
Lori shrugged. "How about we spend the whole day here?" she asked. She wanted to spend time alone with her husband without worrying about the food supply. The boys (and sometimes Anna and Melia) ate a lot. They were human garbage disposals.
"We could do that, but we could also go see a movie," Jack suggested. He and Lori hadn't been to the movie theater in awhile. Raising five kids was hard. He couldn't imagine having a sixth child. He was secretly glad that he and his wife didn't conceive and have another biological child.
"I like that idea," Lori declared. Going to see a movie would be fun. She and Jack didn't get a chance to get out often because of their kids.
The next day, alone without kids for the first time in a long time, Lori and Jack went to go see a movie. Afterwards, they came home and watched movies they hadn't been able to watch yet.
"How was your day?" Melia asked after she and her siblings got home. It was late, but they were all tired.
"Great," Lori answered. Despite the wonderful day that she and her husband had, they had still missed their kids. She wondered what life would be like when everyone was out of the house. She'd probably be suffering from empty nest syndrome or something like that.
"Will got a date," Anna sing-songed. She was glad that her brother had a date. He really preferred to study or hang out with his friends.
"That's great," Jack told his son. Will had dated a girl for seven months a few years earlier, but that relationship had been his first.
"Is she nice?" Lori asked. She was always curious about the boyfriends or girlfriends that her children had. Nicholas had been happily involved with his boyfriend, Eric Stevens, for two years. It looked like their relationship was going to last.
"Yes," Will answered, after glaring at his sister. She could be so annoying sometimes.
"What's her name?" Lori asked again. She had to get that out of her son.
Will sighed and rolled his eyes. "Her name is Peyton Arlestin. She's the same age as me. She's really nice," he explained.
"Peyton sounds like a great person," Jack said. He was happy for his son.
"Can you guys stay out of it?" Will whined. Everyone was bothering him, just like he thought they would.
"We'll try," Lori vowed. She doubted that they could. Nothing was a secret in the Davis house because someone always spilled.
Will rolled his eyes and went into his bedroom. His siblings followed a few minutes later, as did Lori and Jack. They were all tired.
Two days later, they were eating dinner with Lola and Devin.
"Rick and I are thinking about moving," Rhiannon told her parents and sister. She didn't want to stay in Hartford all her life. Lori was just thrilled to be living in Stars Hollow instead of Hartford. Hartford had stifled her for a long time.
"Why do you want to move?" Rory questioned. She and Logan were eating dinner with their family.
"We don't really like Connecticut," Rick explained. He and Rhiannon were thinking about moving to New York or somewhere big, like Pittsburgh.
"When are you planning on this move?" Lola questioned. She didn't want her baby too far away.
"Not for a long time," Rhiannon explained. She and Rick weren't planning on moving until after the wedding, which wasn't for another year.
"That's great," Lori encouraged. She was happy for her sister and future brother-in-law.
"I want to get married someday soon," Melia declared. She didn't have a boyfriend, but she wanted to get married in her mid twenties. That would be a good age. Her mother hadn't gotten married until she was twenty-eight, and that was kinda old. At least to Melia.
After dinner, the Davis family went home and played games all night. They loved having Davis Family Game Competitions. The games were really fun.
"When are we going to talk about the fact that there's only going to be three of us left after Nick and Will go to college?" Connor asked. None of his siblings were talking about that, and it was bothering him.
"I might cry," Lori confessed. Her sons were going off to college, and leaving her and Jack. It was a weird feeling because of the fact that Connor, Anna, and Melia were staying.
"You cried when Will graduated," Jack pointed out. His wife was sensitive when it came to their kids.
"She cried when I graduated," Nicholas reminded his father. That had been embarrassing. He loved his mother, but she could be really weird sometimes.
"She'll probably cry when the three of us graduate," Melia pointed out. She was dreading her future graduation because of Lori's reaction to it.
"I might," Lori conceded. She loved her children, and just didn't want them to grow up. What was wrong with that?
A few months later, Will started college and Nicholas entered his second year.
"My babies are growing up," Lori wailed to her husband. Connor, Anna, Melia, and Jack rolled their eyes.
"They'll be home for Thanksgiving," Jack comforted. His wife did have the strongest reaction to change.
"That's a long time," Lori cried, wishing that she wasn't this emotional when it came to her children.
"It's a few months," a confused Connor pointed out. He'd miss his brothers too, but his mother was freaking him out. Lori glared at her son, but hugged Will.
Things may be changing, but Lori Davis never would.
At Thanksgiving, Lori was so thrilled to have her sons home that she cooked for more people than there actually were.
"I love turkey," Eric whispered to his boyfriend. Nicholas laughed. Turkey was pretty good, and Eric was stating an obvious fact.
"I can't wait for Christmas," Anna declared. As much as she loved Thanksgiving (and turkey), she loved presents so much more.
"You live for Christmas," Jack told her. His daughter had always starting getting excited about Christmas in August. Lori had let it go because Anna had always been a hyper little girl. Now she was a hyper teenager.
"I do," Anna admitted reluctantly. Christmas had always been her favorite holiday.
"Let's just enjoy Thanksgiving," Lori told them. Why they were thinking about the month ahead? Just think about the holiday they were enjoying now.
"You just like the fact that we're all together," Jack pointed out. He knew his wife. He had known her since they had been eleven years old. God, he was old.
There was a lull in the conversation as everyone continued to eat.
"Did anyone watch the parade this morning?" Will asked. He and Anna had watched it this morning, but he wasn't sure if anyone else had.
"I did," Melia admitted. She had watched in her room because she thought no one else had been awake. That and the fact that Lori freaked out when she was cooking Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.
"You always did watch it," Anna remembered. She could remember a few Thanksgivings,-pre Jack, Nicholas, and Will-where she, Melia, and Lori watched the parade.
"It's awesome," Connor declared. He had also watched the parade with Melia. Lori scared him on Thanksgiving.
"I love this family," Nicholas said. He really did. He couldn't remember a time where things weren't hectic and chaotic.
"I do too," a happy Lori told him. Her family was perfect. Nothing could destroy the fact that they were happy.
The Davis family would always have each other and the holidays.
TBC
Told you that I'd update today. The next update will probably be Sunday or Monday. I love summer, even if it does occasionally get boring.
There's about two more chapters left after this-the final chapter and the epilogue. I didn't have a definite number yesterday, but I do today. The epilogue will probably be up a day after the next chapter.
How'd you like this chapter?