After much convincing from all the adults in the Gilmore Household Rory took the job at Hartford Daily,
"But Mom,"
"No Rory, you have put your life on hold for far too long already. Your office is like ten minutes away from the Grandparents. If something happens, you'll just be down the road. Please honey. This has been your dream, to work at a well established Newspaper. It's may not be the New York Times, but it certainly is a stepping stone towards that dream."
"But…"
"But what Rory, do you think I'm going to die?" Lorelai asked the obvious, knowing the root of her daughter's hesitation.
"No! I just…"
"I get it sweets, I really do. But I would rather have you out there living out your life, taking on challenging assignments than be here. Not that I haven't loved having you here every day, you know I do. I just think it's time kiddo." Lorelai paused before adding the final nail,
"Please, do it for me. We've dreamed about this moment for so long. For me, for us! Please!" Tearfully Rory nodded. Lorelai pulled Rory into a hug and held her tightly and for a long time. Rory lay beside her mother as Lorelai snuggled close to her daughter and held her close whispering words of encouragement and love in her ear. Rory remained in her mother's arms long after Lorelai had fallen asleep. These days Lorelai was constantly tired and lacking of energy. More often than not she was in bed, or on the couch in the den, or in Richard's study. Her waking hours were spent with Rory, Zeik, Luke and her parents. As promised she checked in with April daily. When Lorelai had reached her deep sleep Rory carefully untangled herself from her grasp. On her way up to her room she bumped into Luke who was back from the Diner. Lorelai had insisted he go in the mornings to help out Caesar knowing as much as he trusted Lane and Caesar he wanted to check on them regularly.
"Hey you, I take it by your face she won." He stated.
"Was there any doubt?" Rory replied dryly. Luke placed his hands on her shoulders.
"You know she's only doing it because she doesn't want you to miss opportunities just because she's sick." Rory nodded tearfully.
"I know, I just, I don't, you know, want to regret, what if?" she muttered somewhat incoherently. Luke pulled her into his arms. Rory wrapped her arms around his waist as his chin rested easily on top of her head.
"Kiddo, we can't live on could be's. We need to go by right now's. Right now, this is what she wants and it would mean the world to her knowing you're living out your dreams. You need to do this for both of you. You have both worked so hard for this moment. She would rather have you out there living your dreams for the both of you than have you cooped up in this house enduring purgatory. She would love nothing better than to hold you in her arms for all eternity, but you're not a child anymore Rory. You and Lorelai, the bond you have is indescribable, admirable, but your days of sharing the one dream is over. She wants you to have your own dreams and reach out for them. Her greatest dream was to give you the world, and in her own Lorelai Gilmore way, she has. Now it's your turn to show her what you can do with it."
"You'll call?" she asked hesitantly.
"Of course. Rory we're not throwing you out of the family, you'll still be living here, you'll still be part of the decisions big and small. We just want you to stick that toe out in the water and see how you like it."
"Okay then." She relented not letting go of her firm grasp around his waist.
"Good. All that aside, you must be excited?" Rory smiled up at him and nodded.
"So you should be. We're all very proud of you. Anna mentioned that April talks about nothing else but you and how smart and cool you are. She and Zeik are extremely proud of their big sister. Just as your Mom and I are along with your grandparents. We want you to take this opportunity and run with it. We'll be right here for you. I can hardly believe how you've grown. It feels like yesterday we buried Norman." Rory giggled at the fact that Luke remembered her Caterpillar's name. But then again that's what made Luke Danes more a father to her than her own father.
"Norman, I miss that guy!" Luke chuckled and ruffled her hair. He gave her one last kiss on the forehead before releasing her to make her acceptance call to Hartford Daily.
Luke went to quickly check on Lorelai and saw that she was still fast asleep. He climbed on the bed beside her, as though feeling his presence Lorelai unconsciously moved towards him. Luke enveloped her in his arms and held on to her tightly. She had begun to lose so much weight, unable to keep anything down the last couple of weeks due to her medication. Despite the fact that the poison was no longer penetrating through her veins, she was still throwing up. She had given him a fright only a few days ago when she threw up blood. She had calmly called out to him from the bathroom careful not to worry the others. He remembered the look of panic in her face when she showed him the toilet bowl from where was just sick. Trying not to show that he was reaching his full panic mode he gathered her in arms and reassured her that there had to be a logical reason. He carried her frail frame out of the bathroom and sat her on the bed handing her a sweat shirt hoody to pull over her T-Shirt and sweat pants as he went to tell Emily that he was going to take Lorelai to the hospital to get checked out. He tried to downplay the situation but she had learned how to read him well the last few weeks and recognized the panic in his eyes. He asked her to let the others know without worrying them. Emily nodded. Being Lorelai's primary carer, only they knew how much agony she was in because they were the only two she showed the torture in which she felt, and the two of them had taken it upon themselves to protect the rest of their family and shield them from the turmoil, as they knew Lorelai would want them to do. Everyone was worried enough and she hated that she was putting them through all this. Luke had called the Doctor on the way to the hospital while Lorelai weakly slouched over leaning against the door Emily and Richard's car. Luke regularly placed his hand over hers and gave them a squeeze. She would look up and smile at him before closing her eyes again. The doctor had given her check up and advised because there was nothing to throw up, her throat was just raw, that it was a part of the many side effects. He prescribed a couple of new drugs for Lorelai to ease her pain and asked Luke to keep a close eye on her to see what side effects may plague her with the new drugs. So far the drugs have helped ease her pain, and the bleeding had subsided and side effect that plagued Lorelai was exhaustion. Most of the time she spent all of her energy when the kids were around, catching up with them, playing with them, but the moment they leave the room it would literally be moments and she would be asleep.