By the time I made it back to the apartment the doorman had brought my box and frame upstairs. I sat at the dining room staring at it… My whole career at The Post, the last three years of my life, all come down to this: one measly bankers box. Oh and a new professional relationship with Mitchum Huntzberger.

I'm still wrapping my mind around this one. I can't believe I'm trusting the man who was once responsible for derailing my fledgling career with potentially saving it… speaking of, I need to send off that contract.

I begrudgingly drug my stuff to the office and propped up the framed article against the wall. I'm going to need some real inspiration if I'm going to come out of this on the other side.

I flipped through the file folders in the desk drawer to find my copy of the contract, pulled out a manilla envelope and addressed it directly to Mitchum Huntzberger at HPG. I pulled open my laptop and scheduled a messenger to pick it up from the doorman as soon as possible. I figured now was as good a time to email Dominic too, I just let him know we needed to talk when he had a chance. I probably should have given him a heads up about what was coming, but we'll cross that bridge when he calls.

I headed upstairs to throw some clothes in a bag. If I was going to Stars Hollow, I might as well stay for at least the night. It's not like I have a job to get back to. I left Logan a note on the counter to call me later and headed downstairs. After dropping my contract with the doorman I was on the road home.

By the time I got to Stars Hollow it was the middle of the afternoon; everyone would still be at work. Landon was probably at the diner with Luke, so I took the backroads straight to The Dragonfly. Sure enough, Mom's jeep was parked in the employee lot behind the Kitchen, so I pulled in next to her. I came in through the back entrance, grateful that although the kitchen staff was in there beginning their dinner prep, there was no sign of Sookie to create a scene before I could talk to Mom.

The inn was relatively busy for a Wednesday afternoon, a couple of tables in the dining room were occupied by late lunchers, and there were a few people lingering in the living room. I came around the corner and could hear Mom on the phone with a potential guest, "No, Sir, I'm sorry we're completely booked for the weekend… Yes, I know the Firelight Festival is this weekend, hence the booked hotels…" The Firelight Festival, I forgot about that… again! "Um, no I'm not interested in renting a room in my home for you and your wife to…"

She glanced up and noticed me standing in the doorway to the reception area. She was rightfully surprised and confused, but quickly finished her call, "Like I said we're totally booked, sorry we can't help you. Have a nice day…" She put the phone down and turned to me with concern, "Uh, hey… what are you doing here?"

"Not happy to see me?" I tried my best to be nonchalant.

"Well that's not fair, I'm always happy to see you, but… it's the middle of the week. Did something happen? Did…"

I could hear the panic beginning to creep into her voice, so I cut her off, "Yes, something happened, but… I think it will be…" I was caught off guard by my own emotions. I hadn't been this upset about getting fired all morning. Maybe I was just too mad, or maybe it was being here with my mom, but hot tears burned my eyes as I tried to get the words out.

"Oh honey.. Come on." She quickly ushered me into the thankfully empty library and shut the door. She sat me down on the plush couch with an arm around me, "What is up, Kid? Do I need to go Dog the Bounty Hunter on Logan's ass?"

I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped my mouth, which seemed to put my Mom at ease at least a little, "No, no. Logan is fine…" I took a deep breath, "I got fired this morning."

Utter shock registered on her face, "What?"

I nodded as Mom sat expectantly waiting for more information, "Are you going to give me anything else here, or just leave me hanging like the end of Dallas?"

I slowly began to fill her in on the events of the last few weeks, starting from when Mitchum showed up at my office. The story was peppered with her protests for not having been kept up to date in real time, but despite this she listened until she was completely up to speed.

"So you're teaming up with the Huntzbergers?" There was definitely an heir of skepticism in her voice.

"I know… Having them involved in my career was the last thing I wanted, but at this point…"

Mom sat silently and shook her head. You know things are heavy when Lorelai Gilmore is at a loss for words.

"And you're sure about this? I mean, you trust Mitchum enough to really be on your side here?" Disgust dripped from her lips as she uttered his name, not that I could really blame her.

"Honestly… I don't know how honorable his intentions are, or if he's just trying to stay on Logan's good side, but I don't think he would risk what they have going on. Whatever agreement they laid out seems to be working."

Mom exhaled audibly, "Wow… so, what now?"

I sank back into the back of the sofa, "Now? I have no idea. I…"

Like fate was my secretary, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Dominic's number was flashing on the screen. I explained to Mom, "It's my freelance editor, I have to…"

She put up her hands and excused herself from the room. I'm sure she had plenty to do anyway with how busy the inn would be getting this weekend.

I answered the call, "Hello?"

"You see it?" There was certainly excitement in his voice. Maybe it was a surprise to him too?

"Yea, I saw it."

There was a pause on his end of the line. "You don't sound thrilled. You should be thrilled."

"I am, this is…"

"This is great, Gilmore. You are definitely getting noticed over there." His voice was so optimistic, the most I'd ever heard him.

"Think they're still going to be interested when they find out I was fired from my previous position?"

"What?"

I was already getting tired of telling this story and I knew I had at least a couple more of these conversations ahead of me. "My editor is claiming breach of contract…" I explained that I had submitted a draft of the same story to him, and pitched a follow up before sending it to him.

"Well, shit…"

"Yep. The good news is that Mitchum seems to think that I've got a shot at a wrongful termination suit…" The words were out of my mouth before I had even realized it.

"Mitchum? As in Huntzberger?"

Oh, I've painted myself into a corner now. There aren't too many 'Mitchums' around, especially in the newspaper business. How to explain this? "Uh… yea, that's the one."

Silence. It felt like minutes before he finally spoke, "No offense, Gilmore, but if you're on a first name basis with Mitchum Huntzberger, what the hell are you doing worrying about a job at The Post?"

Ha. "Well, the short answer is that we go way back."

"And the long answer?"

Reluctantly, I continued, "I dated his son in college, and…"

"And?"

"And we're back together, but until now I've tried very hard to keep my personal life out of my professional one."

"Okay, then…" I swear I heard him chuckling to himself. "Definitely didn't see that one coming… and speaking of not seeing things coming, I was just as surprised as I assume you were this morning."

I zoned out for a second, very much appreciative of the fact that that seemed to be the end of the personal conversation but was brought back to attention when Dominic said something about calling over to The Times today.

"...and they kicked me around a bit until I got a hold of Zoe Coates. She's the editor that got this last piece pushed through at the last minute. Apparently… well it doesn't really matter why but they had a whole to fill and your piece happened to be at the top of the pile."

"So it was just dumb luck?"

"Well, a little luck, but it was good enough to make the pile, so there's that." I grunted in acknowledgement. "So, does this change things?"

"Change things?"

"Without The Post, are you still interested in what we've talked about?"

"Honestly… this all just happened this morning."

"I get it. I just want to get the lay of the land."

"That's totally understandable, I just…" Who am I kidding? Would I ever not want The Times? "You know what, yea... Yes, for now, we're still on."

"You sure?"

"Yes." If I have to reassess later, I will.

"Alright then, glad to hear it. If anything changes…"

"I'll let you know."

I took a deep breath as I put the phone down. Well, if nothing else, Dominic is one editor who seems to be in my corner. That's better than nothing.

I found Mom giving the waitstaff a rundown of their duties for the weekend, so I sat at an empty table in the back of the dining room and waited for their meeting to conclude. When they were done she came and sat down with me, followed closely by one of the waiters carrying two cups of hot coffee.

"So, how'd it go?"

I felt a little more at ease now that I had before I talked to Dominic, but the same concerns I'd had about quitting my job were creeping back in now that I was involuntarily out of a job. "Okay, I think… He doesn't seem to be too worried about it hurting my prospects of getting published at The Times, but…"

"But what? That's good news right?"

"Yea, I'm just not sure I can afford to be that picky if this is my only form of income right now."

Mom looked confused, "Do you need…"

I shook my head, "No, I've got a little savings…"

"Well, you know you have…"

"I know."

"And your dad is always…"

I shook my head. It would be one thing for me to dip into my trust fund, that money has technically been left for me, but asking my dad for money… "No. It won't come to that. If I have to be less selective about where we shop my stuff, then we will be. I am waiting for Dad to call me back though."

"About the Benefit?"

"Kind of. Mostly I really need to catch him up on life… I haven't really talked to him since before Logan came back and since then…"

"Life is looking a little different."

"Understatement of the century."

"On the upside, he always liked Logan. He should be glad to hear you're working things out."

I nodded. It's just going to be a bit of a bombshell to drop everything on him at once. Mom glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece and almost spit out her coffee, "Crap, I've got to get going, Kid. Sookie and Michele are both off today since it's all hands on deck this weekend. Are you sticking around for a while?"

I nodded, "If that's okay, I figured I'd stay at least tonight."

"Of course it's okay! Dinner at Luke's?"

"Definitely." Comfort food is always helpful.

"Okay, see you tonight." She kissed the top off my head, "You're going to be okay, Hun." And with that, she flitted off to whatever other urgent to-dos she had on her list.

I took a drive through town to check out what the decorations committee had in store for the weekend. They were already hard at work stringing twinkle lights and hanging stars. I could hear Kirk's muffled voice yelling something through a megaphone from the Gazebo, but it didn't look like anyone was listening to him. I would much rather spend Friday night here at the bonfire than at that stupid Benefit… Crap. I still need to find something to wear to that thing. Black tie… I don't own anything for a black tie function, so I guess I'll need to go shopping at some point.

I thought about heading into Hartford now to hit the mall, but as I drove past the music store, I noticed the door was propped open. Maybe Lane is around… I found a parking spot and as I walked up I could hear various instruments being played, but I'm not sure I would call it music.

No one was at the desk, but the noise was emanating from the studio set up at the back of the store. I tried to yell over the screeches, "Lane?"

No response, I tried again as I got closer to the partition, "Lane?"

"Alright, stop, stop, please!" I heard Zach's voice shouting as the instruments died down, "Everybody take five, at least five…" He came out from the studio looking exasperated, but surprised to see me, "Oh, hey Rory. How's it going?"

"Okay… teaching lessons?"

He rolled his eyes. "Beginner lessons for seniors. So not rock and roll…" As he spoke I caught a glimpse of an elderly woman putting down an electric guitar. Like a geriatric Joan Jet.

"Is Lane around?"

"She just went to pick the boys up from…"

Just then a tiny whirl of chaos entered the store in the form of Lane and the twins, Steve and Kwan. Immediately turning to drop the boys' backpacks and lunch boxes on the counter, Lane complained, "Guess who decided it would be a fun idea to give all of their classmates a huge cupcake just before they got picked up from school?"

"Ugh, don't tell me it was that Brady kid? Not cool." Zach turned to the twins, currently chasing each other down the aisle of the store, "Steve, Kwan, cool it."

I couldn't help but smile. It was so funny to see Lane and Zach fall so squarely into being parents… their own special brand of parents, but parents nonetheless.

"Rory?" Lane had finally unburdened herself enough to look up and realize I was standing there. She immediately came and wrapped me in a welcoming hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh you know, just killing some time now that I'm unemployed…"

"What?" I gave a sheepish grin in response. "What hap…" She was interrupted by a clatter of CD's hitting the floor. "Ugh, boys! Let's go!" She lowered her voice and turned back to me, "Come on, we'll let them run it off at the park and you can fill me in." As we were leaving we heard the band of seniors beginning their lesson again, not sounding a bit better than they did before.

We sat on the bench while the boys played, and I tried to get away with the abridged version of the story, but Lane wasn't having it. "Rory, the biggest drama in my life these days is which kid isn't abiding by Kindergarten's no sweets policy. Give me all the details."

By the time I'd finished retelling the story, yet again, Land was raptured, "Damn. I thought Laura Digby getting kicked out of the PTA for embezzling $30 from the bake sale was a big deal… Well, at least you know Mitchum has an army of high priced lawyers who can wipe the floor with what's his face."

That was true, but I'm not sure how much pleasure I would take out if it. Regardless, I was ready to be done talking about it all for a while, "Anyway, what's new with you?"

"Oh the usual… crazy kids, crazy husband, crazy mother…" The rest of the afternoon was spent hearing from Lane about how they had been the last few weeks. By the time the sun started to go down, the boys were worn out and it was about time for me to meet Mom at the diner.

Thankfully by the time I got there it seemed that Mom had mostly filled Luke in. He wasn't surprised to see me, nor did he ask about work, and I was grateful for it. I was happy to see Landon, who had found one of Luke's old ball caps upstairs this afternoon. With a little encouragement from Mom, he had taken to wearing it backwards around the diner. Luke pretended to be embarrassed by it, but we could all see how much he was enjoying it. It was nice to just be with family.

As we chatted over pie, I sat with Landon in my lap doodling pictures on pages from Luke's order pad. The diner began to clear out and quiet down, until a wrap on the window in front of us interrupted our reverie.

**I do not own any characters or content related to Gilmore Girls or any other entities mentioned.**

A/N - A little Stars Hollow love, getting back into the swing of writing for these characters whom I love so much!

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