Chapter 25

"Hello?!" Rory called, walking into her house a few hours later. "Mom!"

"Hi!" Lorelai ran past them, chasing Paul Anka.

"What are you doing?" Rory followed her.

"Stop him!" Lorelai cried as the dog doubled back and headed straight for Rory.

Jess was the one to lean down and grab the dog, finally getting it to hold still.

"Thanks!" Lorelai took the dog by the collar and lead him back into the living room. "Rory, help me get his vest on."

"His what?"

"His vest," she repeated.

"Okay, rewind," Rory shook her head.

"I volunteered to run a booth for the carnival, and Paul Anka is going to be the Doggy Swami!"

"Poor guy," Jess frowned down at him. "You picked the wrong owner."

"Hey!" Lorelai glared at him. "I'm a great dog owner!"

"You're making your dog tell people's fortunes in a vest and hat."

"It's not a hat it's a turban," she argued, but this did nothing to dissuade him.

"I'm going to go see Luke," Jess shook his head. "I'll meet up with you later."

"You better," Rory glared. "Or else I'll tell Kirk you want to be his best friend."

"Wow, pulling out the big guns," Lorelai nodded approvingly. "I taught you so well."

"Bye," Jess rolled his eyes at the both of them, and made a run for the door.

"So why is Paul Anka telling fortunes?" Rory asked, turning back to her mother.

"Well, the other day, Taylor called a town meeting at three in the morning, so I was awake really early and the idea just came to me! Apparently I get super productive between the hours of four and seven."

"Good to know," Rory nodded. "Is the hat really necessary, though?"

"Yes! It sets the scene! Without the hat, he's just a dog in a shiny vest telling people's fortunes." She struggled with the dog for a few more seconds, attaching his leash, then took a step back and smiled proudly. "Got it! Okay, we can go!"

Rory just followed as her mother ran out the door, shaking her head at the insanity she had just walked in on.

As promised, Jess joined them a couple hours into the evening, dragging Luke with him. Luke and Lorelai quickly wandered off to talk, however, leaving Rory and Jess to man the booth.

"This is ridiculous," Jess observed, as someone was given one of many fortunes that were nothing but gibberish.

"It's fun," Rory corrected.

"It's demeaning."

"It's better than the last idea she had for a carnival booth," Rory shrugged. "A couple years ago she tried to convince Luke to help her with a dunk tank."

"In January?" Jess gaped at her. "That's insane!"

"That's Lorelai Gilmore," she shrugged. "So, you know, in comparison to that level of crazy, this is totally normal."

"Your family is weird," Jess sighed.

"Your mother sells jewellery at fairs where people pretend they still live in the dark ages," Rory pointed out.

"Good point. Truce?"

"If you go find me some coffee," she agreed.

Jess nodded and headed back to the diner, passing Luke and Lorelai as he went, who seemed to be having a pretty serious conversation. Unfortunately, he couldn't get close enough to hear it. When he got back to the booth, Lorelai had returned, Luke was nowhere in sight, and Rory was pestering her mother about why she was upset.

"I'm fine, Rory!" She was insisting. "We'll talk about it later. Why don't you go walk around?"

"But-"

"Rory!" She suddenly snapped. "Drop it, go for a walk with Jess."

Rory looked slightly taken aback, but nodded and did as she was told, leaving her mother to her misery.

"What was that all about?" Jess asked once they were a couple stalls away.

"I have no idea," Rory shook her head. "She went and talked to Luke and when she came back she was like that, and she won't tell me what's wrong."

"I saw them talking when I went to get the coffee," Jess admitted. "It looked pretty serious, but I couldn't hear anything."

"Do you think they finally talked about April?" Rory mused. "I mean, I've been telling her to since before Christmas, but she just keeps edging around the subject."

"I know," Jess agreed. "I've been doing the same with Luke. They're too stubborn for their own good. Thank God we're nothing like them."

"Thank God," Rory snorted. "So, are you going to win me a teddy bear?"

"No," Jess shook his head. "But I could be persuaded to buy you a corn dog."

"Okay," Rory shrugged.

"Rory!" Lane called her over to the booth she was running for her mother. From what Rory could tell, you threw a bean bag into a bucket decorated with flames, then got a pamphlet about how you were going to hell.

"This looks festive," Jess observed.

"I would think it would be right up your alley," Rory mused. "This is as Grinch as you can get."

"Will you let it go?" Jess asked, "Christmas is over."

"Christmas is never over," Rory shook her head at him. "So, how are you doing?" She turned back to Lane.

"I'm fine," she shrugged. "I mean, I'm living at home again, and my band is still broken up, but other than that everything's fine."

"How's it going being back in the Kim house?"

"It's not as bad as it was before," Lane shrugged. "I mean, it sucks, but I don't have to hide everything under the floorboards anymore."

"At least that's something," Rory tried to find a bright side.

"How are things with you?" Lane asked. "How's it feel to be back at school?"

"It's great," Rory admitted. "I didn't realize how much I missed it until I went back, although I do miss Philadelphia."

"And me," Jess piped up.

"I was actually talking about Truncheon, but sure," she nodded. "I miss you too."

"You're playing with fire, Gilmore," Jess warned.

Lane watched them with a smile on her face.

"What?" Rory asked her.

"Nothing, it's just nice to see you happy again," she observed.

"It's nice to be happy again," Rory smiled softly.

As they chatted, Taylor wandered past them, his hood pulled up and sunglasses on, muttering in different accents.

"I thought he was snowed in," Rory looked at Lane.

"Apparently he's back," she shrugged.

"And he's finally lost all his marbles," Jess added.

"Either that or Luke threw another frying pan at his head," Rory mused. "We should probably go back to check on Mom."

"I'll come by in a bit and get my fortune told," Lane offered. "Once Joe comes back."

"Joe?" Jess raised an eyebrow.

"My uncle," Lane explained. "My mother somehow convinced him to come visit and help run the game."

"Alright, see you later," Rory waved and led Jess back to the booth, where Lorelai was heckling the fortune teller two booths over.

"Mom!" She scolded.

"Well, she's just as real as he is!" Lorelai cried. "And she keeps looking over and judging me with her beady eyes."

"I'm going back to the diner," Jess said.

"Alright, I'll see you when this is done." Rory reached up to kiss him, then joined her mother again. "So... are we going to talk now?"

"We're postponing the wedding," she sighed.

"What?"

"Luke thinks everything is just too much right now, with the wedding only being a few months away and him trying to get to know April, so I told him we could postpone."

"And you're okay with that?" Rory watched her mother with concern.

"If it means that Luke will be ready to get married, then yes," she sighed. "I mean, it sucks, but I guess it will be for the best."

"Okay," Rory nodded. "As long as you're okay."

"I am," Lorelai wrapped an arm around her daughter and smiled. "Or at least, I will be. I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier."

"That's okay," Rory smiled and hugged her mother back.

"So, did you guys see Taylor?"

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Rory laughed.

"I have no idea," Lorelai shrugged. "I think he's finally lost it, though."

"Definitely," Rory agreed.