I'm back. To be honest, I feel a bit weird to update this story after more than a decade. But I recently received a new review (yes, Gemmadog, this is partly your "fault" ;-)) and a few days later I was looking for an old document on my computer and I stumbled over this story. I decided to reread it, and what can I say, over the next three days, I finally finished it. So I decided I might as well share it with you. Maybe there are some old readers still around, or new readers who'd like it as well. And the good news is: it's finished! So no more long waits for updates.
Also, full disclosure, English is only my second language, and these last few years I mainly used it in business emails, so there may be some mistakes or awkward wording, but I hope you'll still enjoy reading. I'd be happy if you let me know what you think.
This first chapter turned into a little "previously on...", but I hope you'll enjoy it. It has a full dose of our favorite Gilmore girls. Have fun!
Straight out of a Lifetime movie
"Okay, what's his name?" Lorelai asked with a slightly annoyed, but more so amused impression on her face while she watched her youngest daughter play in the snow with Sookie's twins.
"Excuse me?" an irritated Rory asked.
She sat next to her mother on the porch, a cup of coffee in her hands to stay warm, enjoying the feeling of being home. But right now, it mixed with a little concern. Why would her mother ask about a guy? Did she hear anything about her and Roger? Normally, her life was too far away for her mom to get any gossip, but Lorelai Gilmore had her ways.
"Come on, Rory, I'm not stupid." Lorelai responded, now facing her grown-up daughter. When Rory didn't say anything, Lorelai just started talking. Because, really, what else would she do.
"Okay, let's check the facts, shall we? You told me you'd leave work early on Thursday so you could get here soon and help get everything ready for the party tomorrow. Yet you arrived in the middle of the night, 3:30 to be more specific - yes, I noticed you coming home, you may be grown up, but I'm still a mother, I'm not going to sleep before I know the fruit of my loins is safe home after driving in the snow - and you slept all morning instead of helping me decorate. Now, I'm wondering what would keep you in New York this long? That brings us to our second piece of evidence: you've clearly not slept enough tonight, yet you're not the slightest bit cranky. You've been smiling, and dancing around the living room when we put up the garlands, you even sang when you thought you were alone - not good I might add. So, I'm wondering what brought you in such a good mood, you, my oldest daughter, who has lately discovered her love for offhand remarks on the phone and grumpy reactions to my texts and calls. And, speaking of texts, your fingers have been practically glued to the phone ever since it beeped 20 minutes ago. Non-stop texting and smiling all the time? I may be an old, married woman, but I still know the way these things go. So, after laying open all the evidence, I repeat my question: what's his name? Who is he? Why didn't Mommy know you were seeing someone? Where would you, Miss Workaholic, meet anybody? And why, for Christ's sake, aren't you stopping this rant and start answering some of these questions!"
Rory couldn't contain her laughter anymore. "I just wanted to see how long you could go on for."
Lorelai raised an eyebrow: "You're my daughter, you know I can go on like this forever." she responded with a smirk. "But now, since you've inherited my genes, those responsible for the fast talking, I'd say it's your turn."
Rory sighed. "you are not going to let this one go, right?"
Lorelai simply looked at her oldest daughter. They both knew the answer to that question.
Rory, with one last sigh, began to explain hesitantly. "I am not really seeing anybody, and I didn't meet a new guy either." She stopped, taking a sip of her coffee to muster up the courage for the following words. "I spend the evening with Logan."
Lorelai almost spit out the coffee she'd been drinking. "Logan? As in Logan Huntzberger? As in the guy who proposed to you but left when you said no? Logan-let-me-steal-a-yacht-with-you-Huntzberger? Mr.-I'm-going-to-get-naughty-with-you-at-your-grandparents-vow-renewal? That Logan?"
Rory rolled her eyes at her. "Thanks for mentioning some of the most embarrassing and painful moments there, Mom. But yes, that would be him."
"But... but when? How? Why?"
"I see, we've left the land of full sentences." She decided, if she was going to do this, she might as well tell her mother everything. After all, she would need someone to talk to. As easy as everything had seemed with Logan yesterday, it wouldn't stay like this if anything more should happen between them. "Why don't we let Luke look after the kids and take a walk?"
"You know I don't do walking, but for this story, I'd climb Mount Everest. Let me get the cute boots I got in Hartford last week!" With that, Lorelai ran inside, leaving her chuckling daughter behind.
She walked down the stairs and towards Luke, who was just finishing the roof of the iglu he'd been building for his daughter. "Sure you don't have any Eskimo ancestors?" Rory asked him with a smile.
Luke shrugged his shoulders, slightly embarrassed, but clearly very pleased with his creation. "Well, what else am I going to do? I knew most kids love snow, but Lily is just obsessed."
"I wonder where she got that from." Rory replied dryly. Luke rolled his eyes with a smile. "Speaking of Mom, we're going for a walk around town. Is it okay for you to stay and watch the kids for a while?" she added.
Luke watched her silently for a moment. As soon as Rory had gotten up that morning, he had noticed she was different than the last time he met her. Good different. He almost didn't remember when he had last seen her this happy and relaxed. For months, Rory had been tense. Lorelai had noticed as well, and he was glad that the two women were obviously going to talk about it.
"Sure, Rory. You guys go ahead, I'll take care of the kids and cook some dinner to warm you up when you get back."
Rory smiled at him. She couldn't have asked for a better stepdad than Luke. And Lily, who came running towards them now, truly had the best Daddy a girl could ask for. Rory watched with a grin how Luke got down on all fours and crawled into the iglu after with his daughter.
Lorelai returned outside and put an arm around her. "Ready?"
Rory nodded.
"There better be room for me in that iglu later!" Lorelai called out to her husband and daughter, then began walking side by side with her eldest. Though impatient, she forced herself to remain silent, leaving Rory enough time to sort out her thoughts.
Rory herself was still arguing with herself on how honest she should be. Should she sick to the Logan part of the story, or open up about her affair with Roger as well? Her Mom wouldn't like how she had acted, that much she knew. But it might be good to get it all off her chest.
"I met him back in September, at the New York Journalists Dinner." She began to explain. "I needed to get some fresh air, so I got out of the Plaza, just as he arrived… with his fiancée." The last word was added reluctantly. As wonderful as yesterday had been, she knew Logan was still an engaged man.
"That perfect girl Shira Huntzberger was gushing about at Grandma's Thanksgiving dinner?"
Rory winced, but nodded. "That would be her. He had just asked her that night."
Lorelai sent her daughter a sympathetic look. Undoubtedly that had woken the memory of herself almost getting engaged to Logan. Lorelai herself felt her bad conscience rise once more. As relieved as she had been right after Rory had declined Logan's proposal, she had come to realize over the last few years that this loss had irrevocably changed her daughter.
"I had a hard time seeing them banter with each other, so I stayed outside. He came to see me." Rory closed her eyes before looking at her mother. "He kissed me, Mom." She whispered.
"Oh, honey…" Lorelai hugged her and fought her rising concern. Newly engaged man kissing his ex-girlfriend – sounded like the start of a great Lifetime movie, but that wasn't what she wanted for her oldest daughter. Nevertheless, she encouraged Rory to move on.
"He broke it off quickly and told me he couldn't do it. I understand that, but… I didn't take it too good that night."
Something in her daughter's voice told Lorelai she didn't really want to hear the next part. Still, she asked: "Which means?" Talking should help Rory, after all, not make herself feel good.
"I got drunk and slept with Roger." Rory mumbled embarrassed.
"So much for 'there's nothing going on between us'." Lorelai commented darkly.
"I'm sorry, Mom. I was too ashamed to admit." Weirdly, being honest made Rory feel better. Embarrassed, but better.
"Ashamed to admit a one-night-stand with your colleague, or…" the elder Gilmore girl trailed off. Talking about her kid's sex live would never get comfortable. Luke would be the one to have the talk with Lily, she decided then and there.
Rory blushed. "I… I guess I tricked him into an affair with me. I know it was wrong, but… I just had to forget about Logan. Seeing him again made me miss him so much and being with Roger… sleeping with him helped numb the pain."
"Oh Rory." Lorelai hated the thought of her precious little girl giving away her body so carelessly. And part of her was angry at her for choosing meaningless sex as a solution to her emotional problems. "Why wouldn't you come talk to me? Or Lane, or Paris, for Pete's sake? Did you really think sex with a random guy would help?"
Even more ashamed, Rory looked down at her feet in the freshly fallen snow. "I know it was stupid. But I did end it on Thanksgiving." Too late she realized what she had let slip there.
"Thanksgiving?" Lorelai shrieked and stopped walking. "Rory, please tell me you did not disappear to have sex with Roger during your grandparents holiday dinner?!"
"I know that this wasn't one of my finest moments. But we did end it there and decide to try for real."
"Okay, now I have to sit down." Lorelai didn't care about the snow, she just sat on the nearest bench in Stars Hollow's town square. "So, you've been in a relationship since Thanksgiving, and you didn't tell mommy?"
"Your pants are going to get all wet." Rory remarked.
"So not the point here, Rory. You've been in an affair-turned-relationship with Roger, but spent yesterday with your ex-boyfriend? That's not a Lifetime movie, Ror, it's a freaking soap opera!"
Rory chuckled despite her accusatory tone. Only her mother would phrase it like that. "I wouldn't say Roger and I were in a relationship. And I ended it last night before I drove here." She felt a pang of guilt hit her thinking about the late-night phone call with Roger. But the hours spent with Logan had made it clear to her that she would never be able to have real feelings for Roger, regardless of how things with Logan turned out. And she knew that it wasn't fair to the other man to give him hope for something that would never happen, so she had decided to end it right away. Ripping the band aid off, so to speak.
"But Logan is still engaged to Miss Perfect?" Lorelai addressed the elephant in the room.
Rory nodded. "Just for the record, I didn't end things with Roger because of Logan. It wasn't right from the start."
"Glad you realized that. But, honey, before we move on, can we agree that meaningless sex with a guy you don't have feelings for is never a solution? Can you promise me you'll find someone to talk to next time you feel bad?" Lorelai urged.
"I know, Mom. It was stupid." Rory admitted. "But please, can you get up now? I'm getting cold just standing around here."
Pleased, Lorelai nodded and got up. "Okay, tell me about your date with the one that got away."
And Rory did. The snow kept falling down on them transforming Stars Hollow to a picture-perfect little Winter town, and Lorelai silently thanked the snow for bringing back her daughter's happiness. Even if it had come in the form of one Logan Huntzberger.