Chapter 158

"Hi, Mom," Rory smiled into the phone.

"Hey hon," Lorelai replied, clearly in the middle of things, "What's up?"

"Bad time?"

"Yeah, but I don't think there's a good time at the moment, things are so busy right now. So what's up?"

"Well, I'm calling about Paris' baby shower."

"Paris is having a baby shower?"

"No. That's why I'm calling," Rory explained, "At present, she's not having one. And I think she should."

Rory had been thinking about this all week. Paris moving, everything happening with Paris over the last month…Rory felt like she hadn't been showing up for Paris, really, just acting more possessive than anything else. She'd made things right with Jess this morning by phone. It was quick once she took a minute to realize how selfish she'd been over the last few weeks- with her mom, with Paris, and a bit with Jess, too.

Rory thought that type of selfishness would be gone once she sorted her life out. She thought that everything would turn itself around, everything would be fixed- she thought everything was. And things were a lot better, that much was true. But things weren't perfect, or rather, Rory herself wasn't. She'd assumed that when everything straightened out with life, she'd return to being the person she'd always seen herself as being- selfless, kind, good, compassionate, supportive, loyal. And she knew that at times, she was all of those things. But it was becoming more and more apparent to her that she wasn't always those things, and that she had proclivities towards some of the associated vices- selfishness and pettiness at top. She wasn't noting that to beat herself up. She was noting it because it was clear that some of those weaknesses were impeding the life that she now liked very much, and doing a disservice to the people she loved. She knew she wasn't perfect, and maybe, now that she knew she never would be, she could find the strength to face her own demons, be honest in her dealings with them, and navigate them more gracefully.

She was still stewing through all of this in her head, and the version Jess had received was much more abbreviated. He seemed to get it, though, and to understand she was working through things in her head, and he was giving her the space to do it. She was very grateful for that. And in her mind, it had occurred to her that she had some things she wanted to do to try to do right by her mom and Paris, particularly after the last few weeks. Her mom- well, that Rory was still trying to figure out. But the idea for Paris had occurred to her quickly. The one thing bringing Paris real, sustaining joy right now was her pregnancy. And Rory knew she was Paris' only real close friend, regardless of the small bits of branching out Rory had been noticing and reacting less-than-admirably to over the last several months. Rory had tried to think about what might bring Paris a little bit more happiness right now, something she could hold onto, and something that might help deepen both her connection with Rory and the connections she was trying to build outside of Rory. That's when it occurred to Rory that she could throw Paris a shower.

Hannah had asked if Paris was having one the other night, and Paris had said no very offhandedly, as though it was a given that she wouldn't be. Paris had gotten married without a bachelorette party, a maid of honor…she'd missed out on so many of those types of experiences. And as much as Rory knew those experiences, done in the typical way, might not be Paris' thing, she also knew from her own experiences, especially those involving Lorelai Gilmore, that she could make something for Paris that was uniquely her, and that would be meaningful.

"You want to throw Paris a baby shower?" Lorelai asked, taken aback. "You don't even like babies."

"…I mean, not totally true, and either way, irrelevant since it's still inside her," Rory rolled her eyes, "Look, I just…Paris could use the support. And I know how much she'd love to see you again. I know things are crazy busy with the wedding, but if I plan everything, will you come? And can we use the Inn?"

"Rory, of course," Lorelai answered immediately, "And yeah, things are busy with the wedding, and the Inn, but regardless, I'm going to help. I think it's a great idea, actually."

"Thanks, Mom. How's next weekend?"

"That soon?"

"She's moving this weekend."

"Moving? Where? Did she and Doyle…"

"No, they're both moving, together, to New York. He found another job. It's a little complicated, but I'm sure she'll catch you up when you see her."

"Wow…alright. That's fast."

"Yeah, I don't think…well, anyway. Let's just get this going for her, okay? No matter what else happens, we can give her a day that's about celebrating this thing she's really happy about."

"Got it. Can you make sure she gets into town?"

"Yep. Can you get Lane, Sookie, other Stars Hollow folks that she knows to come? And maybe see if Sookie can cook?"

"I'm sure Sookie would be delighted. She was very taken with Paris when Paris came to stay," Lorelai smiled. "Any other friends of hers that we should invite?"

"Um…oh!" Rory said, an idea occurring to her, "I'll invite the Truncheon guys and their girlfriends. Paris got along with them really well when she visited."

"It seems like there's a lot of 'Paris getting along well with people' going around lately," Lorelai mused. Rory sighed.

"Yeah, it's…it's great."

"Everything okay?"

"It will be," Rory promised, fighting her instinct to vent and whine and make Paris' transformation about her. "It's really a good thing. I'm happy for her."

"If you're sure, kid."

"Of course," Rory said, "Now, I'll send you and Sookie some ideas tonight and tomorrow, but I'm not sure what to do about gifts. She doesn't really have a registry, and I'm pretty sure she's bought everything she likes herself."

"…hmm. Let me think on that," Lorelai said, "Maybe we can find something that's more experience than stuff."

"Meaning?"

"Well, like babysitting, for example, or home cooked meals. It's harder because she doesn't live here, or there, but we can give it some thought. How much time is she taking off from work?"

"She's actually just starting a new job," Rory said, resisting the urge to be pleased that her mom didn't know yet, "She's taken an adjucnt professor position at Barnard."

"Barnard?"

"It's the women's college of Columbia."

"…that tracks. But she's leaving medicine?"

"Completely. She's lecturing in literature. She's even coordinating with Jess on some stuff for her class," Rory explained. Lorelai smiled to herself.

"Well, that's great. I'm glad she's found something that might be a better fit for her right now. Do you know when her maternity leave starts?"

"I think she's still not really fully taking any."

"Oh dear. Well, I'll talk to her, but yeah, that's her choice, I guess."

"I mean, I know she's working remotely for the first several months."

"Yeah, but…she still needs the leave. It's hard to understand until you go through it."

"Well, good thing she has you then," Rory said, keeping her tone light, "Make sure Lane can come too, okay? I know they aren't best friends or anything, but I think that Paris would like to have more mom friends."

"Of course. I'll coordinate with her to schedule," Lorelai promised, "And hon?"

"Yeah?"

"This is really great of you to do for her."

"Thanks, Mom," Rory smiled, "I'll talk to you later this week."

"Talk to you then."

Rory hung up the phone, feeling a bit better. At least she was on her way to making things right for Paris. She shot off a quick text to Paris, asking her to come to Stars Hollow with her the following weekend to help with some stuff for Lorelai's wedding, since she was snowed under, and stressing how much she'd love to see her. Unsurprisingly, Rory received the "Of course" she was expecting near immediately. She smiled. Sometimes there was an advantage to Paris' hypervigilance.

Now the question was how to make things right with her mom. She knew Lorelai wasn't holding any sort of grudge, and wasn't mad at her, but Rory was really grappling with the reality of how she'd been treating her mom lately, throughout the things she'd been dealing with, and Rory wanted to make it right. She wasn't quite sure how, though. She knew things were insanely busy at the Inn, and with preparing for the wedding, and that beyond all that, Lorelai was absolutely going to be very involved in planning and preparing Paris' baby shower. But she didn't know how she could help show up for Lorelai, in a way that might make this time even easier or better for her. She resolved to spend time during her break in the afternoon thinking that very thing through.