Lorelai and Rory were out for a walk, enjoying the beautiful fall weather, when they found the Independence Inn. "Look, Rory, this is where Mommy will be working in a couple of months. Should we go inside and check it out? I think we should. Let's go, sweet girl."

The pair entered the lobby and Lorelai admired the inn's quiet elegance as she freed Rory from some of her blankets. "This is it, Rory. Isn't it pretty?"

"Hello, you must be Lorelai."

Lorelai spun around to see who had spoken and came face to face with a smiling, tastefully dressed woman. "Oh, uh, yeah. I mean, yes, I'm Lorelai and, uh, this is Rory," Lorelai responded while moving Rory's stroller so the older woman could get a better look at the infant.

"Hello, Lorelai and Rory. I'm Mia Bass."

"Oh! You're William's friend! The one who owns this inn."

Mia chuckled. "That's right."

"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Bass."

"Please, call me Mia. It's very nice to meet you too. Did you come to see where you will be working?"

"Uh, sort of. We were out for a walk and kind of found the inn by accident, so I thought we could check it out."

"Well, what do you think?"

"It's beautiful."

"Thank you. I'm glad you like it. Would you like a tour?"

Lorelai smiled widely. "Yeah, I'd love a tour."

Nearly an hour later Mia led Lorelai and Rory into the kitchen. "I thought we'd end out tour with a little snack in the kitchen."

"Oh, um, I'd like to, but, um, I have to get home to feed Rory."

"Not a problem," Mia said nonchalantly as she wrapped an arm around Lorelai's shoulders and led her out of the kitchen and toward the office where they'd left Rory's stroller earlier. "You can use my office to feed Rory and when you're done feeding Rory, you and I can talk while we have our snack."

"You really don't have to do that. I'm sure she'll be fine until we get home."

"I'm sure she would too, but I insist."

"Oh, um, okay."

"Good, good. Well, here we are. You two make yourselves comfortable. I'll be back in, say, thirty minutes?"

"Yeah. Thirty minutes is fine. Thanks."

"You're welcome, Lorelai." Mia left her office, pulling the door shut firmly behind her.

L&L L&L L&L

As Mia was walking back to her office, she realized the door was open again and she could hear Lorelai softly singing. Mia stopped in the doorway and couldn't help but smile as she listened to Lorelai sing a lullaby to Rory while she swayed back and forth, rocking her daughter to sleep.

Lorelai swayed gently as she slowly turned to face the door, knowing that Mia should be returning soon. She was surprised to find Mia already standing in the doorway and smiling at her. "Oh, hi, Mia."

"Hello, Lorelai. I've brought milk and chocolate chip cookies for our snack. I hope that's okay."

"Yeah. It's great. I love chocolate."

"I find that a little chocolate every now and then is good for the soul."

Lorelai laughed. "I agree."

"Shall we sit over here?" Mia asked, gesturing toward the couch at one end of her office.

"Sure."

Mia led the way and placed the tray holding the milk and chocolate chip cookies on the coffee table in front of the couch before taking her seat on one end of the couch. Lorelai placed Rory in the stroller and sat down on the other end of the couch. Mia waited for Lorelai and Rory to get settled and then asked, "So, how are you doing?"

"I'm great. We're great."

"I remember when my son was born. My husband and I were terrified. I can't imagine how scared I would have been if I was on my own."

"Oh, well, I'm not really on my own," Lorelai countered with a shrug.

Mia smiled. "That's right. You have the boys."

"The boys?"

"William and Lucas Danes."

"Oh. Yes. I have the boys."

"How are William and Lucas treating you and Rory?"

"Great. They're great. I don't know what I would do without them."

"I'm glad you don't have to find out."

"Me too."

"William mentioned that you were interested in working here."

"Um, yeah. He said you might need a maid."

Mia chuckled. "I always need maids."

"Well, I have no experience, but I'm sure I can learn and I promise to work really hard. I'll be the best maid you've ever had."

"Relax, Lorelai."

"I'm sorry. I just really need this job."

"It's yours."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. The starting wage is $5.00 an hour."

"That's great."

"Good. Then, you and Rory can start the first full week of January."

"Me…and Rory?"

"Yes, you and Rory. I presume you'll want to bring her to work with you."

"I do. I really do. I just wasn't sure that was an option and I didn't want to, um, ask."

"Well, you didn't ask and it is an option. We'll just get you one of those baby carriers and you can carry her around with you while you work. When you need to nurse you can use my office."

"I don't want to interrupt your work every time she's hungry."

"There's always work that I can do around the inn or at the front desk."

"You're really okay with me bringing Rory to work with me."

"I'm really okay with it."

"So, I have a job," Lorelai said with a smile.

Mia smiled back at Lorelai. "You have a job."