UNEXPECTED

"Rory, I'm home!" called Lorelai when she entered her home. No response. "Rory, you here? I got pizza!" Still nothing. She set the pizza down and walked further into the house. Slowly, she heard it. She came to Rory's bedroom and saw her. She was sitting in the corner, hugging her knees with her head down, weeping. "Rory? Honey, what's wrong?" she said as she hurried to her side. She didn't speak. "Honey, come on, you're scaring me!" She looked up to her mother. Her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks wet from crying so much. "What happened? You okay?" That set off the water works to the max as she bowed her head once more. "Rory..." "It can't be... no... please let it be a mistake... no..." she faintly heard her whisper. "What is...?" she started. And then it caught her eye. The little stick on the floor, at Rory's feet. "Oh, God..." Lorelai said as she picked it up. That plus sign was clear as the sky. "Please... no..." continued Rory. "Sweetie, honey, when did this happen?" she asked picking up her little girl in her arms.

One month before...

"Tristan, leave me alone!" said Rory. "Oh, come on!" he said stepping in her way, "Please, Rory." "No!" "Just give me a chance! You never know! Maybe you'll... like me." "Okay, were you here for the past couple months? 'Cause I for one remember that I very much do not like you at all." "I do." Rory started walking away. "Please." "No." "Please." "No." "Please." "No." "Please." "ALRIGHT!"

THE NEXT NIGHT...

"Why did I agree to do this?" thought Rory, sitting in Tristan's car.

A FEW HOURS LATER...

"No way! I love that book!" said Rory, digging into her ice cream. "Isn't it great how it all just..." "Comes together. I know. It's just beautiful." "So are you." They looked into each other's eyes for what could have seemed like an eternity. And then they kissed. And then everything happened quickly.

THE NEXT MORNING...

"So... How'd the date go last night?" teased Lorelai. "Fine," said Rory, absent-mindedly, playing around with her cereal. "Did you kiss him?" "I have to go." "Ooh!"

THAT AFTERNOON...

"YOU WHAT?" "Lane!" "Rory, I thought you hated him." "Well..." "We better get outta here if we want to talk about this." "Talk about what?" said Lane's mother. "Nothing, Mama, school. Uh, we're gonna go for a walk." The girls hurried out.

"Rory, how could you have let this happen?" "I don't know!" "Did you tell your mom?" "Are you crazy? I can't do that!" "From past experiences, don't you know she's gonna find out anyway?" "I'll take my chances."

A few weeks later, the day before

"I'm late." "WHAT?" "Lane, keep your voice down!" "Rory, please tell me you're kidding." "Like I could kid about that. Lane, I'm worried. I've been throwing up too." "Rory..." "What am I gonna do if this is what I think it is? Do you know what's gonna happen the second my grandmother finds out? I won't even have to tell her, she'll just know! Why is this happening to me?" "Alright, let's keep calm. It's not for sure yet, so just... take a test." "I can't buy one! The minute I pick up the box, it'll be all over town!" "Okay, so... we'll go into another town." "Okay." "Let's go."

The next day, an hour before

She stared at the box. How could her whole future rest on what that stick said? "Okay, I have to do this." She opened the box and read the instructions.

Back to the present

Lorelai still held her, and they remained that way for an hour, silently crying. "We'll go to the doctor, okay? Those things aren't always reliable. Believe me." "But what if it's correct? Mom, what am I gonna do?" "I... I don't know. But you know I'm here for you, 100%." Rory tightened her grip on her mom.

The next day, Chilton

"I can't do this," said Rory. "You have to. Look, we're going after school. It'll be over before you know it." "Or it'll last my whole life." "Rory..." "Can you get us out of dinner with the grandparents tonight. I just can't face them." "Sure. Now go on." "Okay. Bye mom."

She walked inside, and as luck would have it, the first people she saw were Paris and her friends. "Hey, Rory!" said Madeline. She returned an uneasy grin. That got their attention. They hurried to follow her. "So, what's going on?" Paris asked. "Nothing," Rory said lightly. "Yeah, right." "LOOK, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" Rory yelled, nearly crying. She ran off. "What's HER deal?"

Of course, she met Tristan next. "Hi," he said calmly. Ever since the night of their date, both had been in a sort of daze whenever they met, moments they tried to avoid. "Hi," she answered. "You okay?" "We... we need to talk."

FIVE MINUTES LATER

Tristan was in shock. "Are you sure?" "I don't know. I took a test and it was positive, but my mom said it might be wrong. We're going to the doctor this afternoon." "I'm coming with you." "Tristan, no." "Rory, this involves me as much as it involves you. If it's right, then I'm not gonna be a coward. I'm gonna do what's right." "Okay," said Rory, unsure.

AFTER SCHOOL

Lorelai was waiting for Rory outside Chilton to take her to the doctor's office. Tristan and her came a few minutes later. "What's he doing here?" asked Lorelai, both angry and confused. Rory was silent. "Fine. But he's sitting in the back seat.

Waiting room

They sat, in a row, not a word from any of them. "Lorelai Gilmore," they heard. Rory looked to her mom, who hugged her, and to Tristan, who just looked at her, still a bit in shock.

A week later

Rory was pacing in her room, holding the phone. Lane, Tristan and her mom were sitting in the kitchen, also impatient. The phone rang and all four jumped a bit. "H... hello?... Yes, it's me..." She listened, and began to cry a bit as the caller spoke. "Oh, no," said Lane, who had a view into the room and saw Rory's reaction. "What?" asked Tristan and Lorelai at the same time. "Thank you," said Rory shakily before hanging up. She stepped to the door and all eyes fell on her.

"False alarm," said Rory, smiling for the first time in over a week. Lorelai got up immediately and hugged her daughter. "See, I told you," said Lane. Tristan stood up, not moving as he looked at her. She walked to him. "Thank you for what you've done in the past week. You really surprised me." He smiled.

THE END