Chapter 51: Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world.

(Marilyn Monroe)

Lorelai waited for Rory to calm down, strangled sobs decreasing to hickups before untangling from her, making her look up at her.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

Wiping away the tears and smearing what was not already underneath her eyes of her mascara while doing so, Rory took a deep breath.

"If I knew that… I… in the last months everything I was working for somehow became unimportant, and somehow I was fine with it, thinking that something would come up. I may not have told you about the tiny editing jobs that I got from the Stamford Eagle-Gazette, but I was bickering with Jess over what a pain in the ass it can be to edit stuff from people that simply cannot write… and how in the end it feels good to make something good out of a piece of work that normally would not have made it into the paper…"

Once more running her hands over her face, Rory did nothing to improve her Panda looks… actually, she was aiming for a rather weird version of Gene Simmons now, but Lorelai tried very hard not to make any KISS references now that her daughter was spilling her guts.

"I knew for quite some time now that I was not cut for being a foreign correspondent. And then Jess came along and asked me to help with the fairy tale book… and I had fun with it and was already writing the recension in my head for the Stamford Eagle-Gazette, should the Truncheon really publish it…"

Another heavy sigh made the older woman almost sigh along. "Kiddo, what happened?"

"Someone told me to not come running crying about my boring life when writer boy has his breakthrough in about 20 years and leaves me for a younger version of myself, while I sacrificed all my dreams, stayed at home with our 2.3 kids, supporting the artist genius."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes at that.

"Do you want me to castrate Logan now, or rather later? You know, when I'm in labor, I might actually get away with it."

That got a tiny laugh out of Rory. She turned earnest again, then.

"He was right, somehow… I gave up on my dreams, and I am staying at home with…"

"No."

"But, Mom…"

Lorelai answered with another fierce "No!"

Then her voice got softer again. "You did not give up on your dreams. They have changed, and you just don't know what to do next. And you are staying at home with Doula because you are on holidays. Before, you have been working your ass off to finish your finals, and you have been working really hard for it! You are doing it again, Rory, you feel overwhelmed by what is happening to you and what is happening around you, and this little shit managed to make you even more self-conscious, just like Mitchum did back then. Please, don't go stealing any more yachts, will you?"

Rory gaped at her mother.

"But… what am I supposed to do now… except for stealing a yacht?"

"Exactly what you are doing now. Don't bottle things up. If you don't feel comfortable discussing stuff like that with Jess, then come to me. Make your Pro/Con lists. Would it hurt to start out at the Stamford Eagle Gazette? Does it really matter that it belongs to Mitchum? Or would it mean that you can shove it into his face what exactly he was belittling back then? Do what you normally would do. Ask around, you have been discussing other newspapers with Jess before. You will soon be finished with college and I know this can be overwhelming and frightening, not knowing what will come afterwards. But you have me, you have Jess, and Luke and your Grandparents. Nobody here will think less of you just because you don't know yet what exactly you want to do with the rest of your life. Do you think I wanted to be the manager of a hotel when I started out as a maid? I loathed making the beds of other people… and see where I am now."

Before Rory could answer to that, a knock on the door made both women look up as Luke stuck his head into the room.

"Is everything all right in here?" he asked, frowning at the disheveled appearance of his step-daughter.

"We may have to hide a corpse sometime soon", Lorelai answered, dragging the younger woman close and giving her another hug.

"Just tell me when to get the shovel", Luke said, before disappearing again, making both Lorelai and Rory laugh.

"You know that Jess would never leave you, don't you? The boy's been pining for you since he first saw you", she whispered against her daughter's hair.

"Yes… of course I do… I just had another Huntzberger crawling around in my head again."

Sitting up on the bed, Rory looked at her mother.

"Thank you, Mom… I actually might annoy my fiancée this night with making a couple of Pro/Con lists instead of going to bed."

"I think he might be delighted, Sweets. Can we go downstairs again, now, Mr. Simmons? Luke made chocolate pudding for desert."

Rory's answer was a questioning frown, then her hand reached up to her face.

"Oh… I'm gonna wash my face, I guess. And then we can show our men what it means to have the stomach of a Gilmore girl."