TEA FOR TWO, TEA FOR THREE
The sequel to 'A steaming hot cup of coffee'
By MoonSwirl


NOTE: This is set approximately three months after 'ASHCOC'. (In 'present time')


Hartford, Connecticut - 1973

Lorelai Gilmore was playing in her room, when she heard the sound of the doorbell. Immediately, she ran out of her room and up to the stairs. She stood silently by the ramp, waiting for her mother to open the door, so she could see who it was.

"Lorelai, come down here, please," her mother called from below. She hesitated shortly before doing it. Once she'd reached the bottom, her mother spoke. "Lorelai, we have some new neighbors and I've invited them over for dinner. Please try to be nice."

Lorelai hated that her mother had already assumed she would misbehave. But knowing that a reply would only result in punishment, she remained silent and offered a fake smile. Her mother nodded and opened the door. There stood a woman and a young girl.

"Hello," her mother greeted them, "You must be the Coopers. I'm Emily Gilmore, and this is my daughter, Lorelai."

"Hello, I'm Margaret Cooper, and this is my daughter, Lucy." Lorelai paid no attention to Margaret Cooper and simply observed the girl. They were about the same height. They both had brown hair, but her eyes were blue and Lucy's were brown.

What got her attention the most was Lucy's smile. It was the same she'd displayed just seconds earlier, the kind that said, "I don't wanna do this, but I don't have a choice." The girl seemed to have noticed it too.

"Lorelai," her mother said suddenly, "Take Lucy up to your room, will you?"

"Yes, mother," she mumbled, and then waving her hand at Lucy, the two girls ran upstairs. Once they'd reached the room, Lorelai closed the door.

"I hate these dresses," Lucy said, playing with the edge of it.

"Yeah, me too," said Lorelai, "You can put on some of my clothes until dinner, and then change back."

"Okay!" said Lucy. Lorelai opened a drawer and pulled out two shirts and two pairs of shorts. The girls changed.

"There, that's better," said Lorelai.

"Yes, thank you."

"How old are you?"

"Five."

"Me too!" said Lorelai. The girls spent the afternoon talking and playing. Lorelai found out that Lucy's father had passed away a year before, and also that Mrs. Cooper was actually a very sweet woman. She was only strict, really, in times like these, visiting or receiving people.

Ten minutes before dinner, the girls quickly changed back into their dresses and joined the adults downstairs, each knowing they'd found a great friend, a true friend.

*

One year later

"Lo to Lu, Lo to Lu! Lucy, are you there?" Lorelai spoke into her walkie-talkie, walking to her window. From there, she could see Lucy in her window.

"I'm here!" Lucy responded.

"I got your note. What's going on?"

"New neighbors next to my house."

"Do they have any kids?"

"My mom said they have a son."

"How old is he?"

"Eight, I think. His name is Christopher Hayden."

*

Early 1984

"Lucy?" Lorelai whispered shakily into her walkie-talkie. She paced in her room, waiting for a reply, "Are you there? Please respond."

"Lorelai, are you okay? What's wrong?" Lucy asked in concern.

"Can I come over, please?"

"Sure." Lorelai quickly climbed out of the window and down to the ground, more careful than usual. She made her way up to Lucy's room, through her window.

"Will you please tell me what's going on before I go crazy here?"

"I think I..." started Lorelai, in an apparent state of shock and denial.

"What! Come on..."

"I think I'm pregnant," she blurted out finally, Lucy was silent for a minute.

"Lorelai..." she started, but her friend interrupted her.

"What am I gonna do, Lucy? My parents will flip! And what do I tell Christopher? He's so close to graduation."

"Alright, calm down, we don't know for sure..."

"I'm two weeks late."

"Okay... that WOULD be cause to worry." At that point there was a small knock at Lucy's door and her mother came in. "Mom, we..."started Lucy, but again was interrupted.

"I couldn't help overhearing," she said, walking in.

"Mrs. Cooper, please... you won't tell my parents, right?" Lorelai asked, frantically. The woman walked to her and took her into a hug.

"Your secret's safe with me." Lorelai smiled.

"What do I do now?" she asked.

"I can get you a test," said Mrs. Cooper.

*

About an hour later

Lorelai and Lucy sat silently in the bathroom, waiting for the result of the test Mrs. Cooper had went to buy her.

"It's gonna be okay, Lorelai. No matter what, Mom and I are here for you." She smiled.

"Thank you." The small timer rang... it was done. "So how does this work?" said Lorelai.

"If it's blue, it's negative. If it's pink..." Lucy explained to her. Lorelai took in a deep breath. She got up and slowly walked to the stick. She gasped and covered her mouth as she saw the pink square staring back at her.

*

A few weeks later

Lorelai had barely gotten used to the idea. Now, she would have to tell her parents soon, or they would realize it by themselves... she didn't want that. She and her parents were having dinner, while her mother was raving about the gown Lorelai had chosen for her coming out party and how lovely she looked while they were taking pictures. Lorelai wasn't paying attention. She sniffed around, searching for the odor that had 'assaulted' her nose.

"Lorelai, what are you doing?" her mother asked.

"Ah! There it is," she said, picking up the pate, wrinkling her nose in reflex, "It smells like... man, it smells like Clorox!"

"Excuse me?" said her mother.

"How can you eat this stuff?"

"What is wrong with you lately? This behavior is really starting to annoy me."

"Well sorry for the inconvenience," Lorelai said, some tears sliding down her cheeks.

"That's it, go to your room."

"Gladly," she said getting up, running out of the room. She climbed the stairs into her room. She slammed the door and lied down on her bed. She rested on her side, her back to the door. She cried silently, knowing her parents would soon come into her room to continue the argument.

As though on cue, she heard the door open. She sat up and eventually turned to them. After taking in a few very deep breaths, she looked them right in the face and spoke evenly.

"I'm pregnant."

Their minds took a few seconds to register the information, before their faces fell. They didn't say a word and simply exited the room. Lorelai immediately rose to her feet and climbed down to the ground and ran to Lucy's home. By now, she knew she could go to the front door. She rang the bell and Lucy answered.

"I told them," said Lorelai, her tears returning. Lucy pulled her inside.

"Are you alright?"

"It was awful, Lucy..." she said as her friend hugged her.

"It'll be okay. Why don't you sleep here tonight?"

"Okay."

"You still haven't told Christopher..."

"I gotta tell him...tomorrow... before someone else does."

*

The next day

"I can't do this," said Lorelai, turning and walking back towards the school doors.

"Yes, you can, you have to, come on," said Lucy as she pulled her along, "Now, remember, we did this last night, we practiced for like two hours..."

"I'm dropping out," Lorelai mumbled. Lucy stopped, halting Lorelai as well.

"Are you serious?"

"If I stay, it's not gonna be pretty... Do you see me in October, going into labor in the middle of class? And besides, I'm gonna have to take care of... Oh, that reminds me, I have an appointment this afternoon... I'm gonna find out what it is." No matter how horrible the whole experience was she couldn't ignore the fact that she was getting excited. "Will you come with me?" she asked Lucy.

"Of course."

"Will you ask your mom if she can drive us?"

"No problem." At that moment, they spotted Christopher heading their way. "Here he comes. Will you be okay?"

"Yeah... sure... go on." Lucy gave her a small smile and walked off to go call her mother. Christopher finally reached her and gave her a deep kiss.

"Hello," he said.

"Hi," she said. She was silent for a few seconds, and then she grabbed his arm and pulled him to a corner.

"Lor, we have class soon, this..." he started.

"Chris, shut up for a minute and let me talk, this is important," she said quickly.

"What is it?" he asked seriously now.

"Well... okay, here goes. I'm pregnant," she said, suddenly feeling a slight weight leave her. He looked at her in shock... then laughed.

"Good joke... don't do it anymore, okay?" But her face wasn't changing. "You're serious," he said as a statement, "You're really?"

"Due in October," she said with a slow nod. He was silent. "Wow, you're taking it better than I thought... your eyes are still in their sockets and everything," she said, trying to relieve the tension.

"Are you sure I'm the..." he asked eventually.

"Who else?"

"Lor, I'm..." he started.

"I don't expect anything from you. I won't let you ruin your life for... us."

"Will you marry me?" Christopher found himself saying. She couldn't believe her ears. Had he just said what she thought he'd just said? She opened her mouth to speak, when the bell rang. She felt relief at the arrival of the opportunity to get out of there.

"I gotta go, I'll be late for chem. lab." And she walked away. Christopher would have gone after her, but he had a class too.

*

That afternoon

"Lorelai Gilmore," the woman at the desk called. Lorelai, Lucy, and Mrs. Cooper stood up, slightly nervous.

"I'll stay here while you're in there, okay?" Mrs. Cooper said.

"Okay," Lorelai said hesitantly. Lucy followed her friend and they entered the office. Not too long after, Lorelai had talked to the doctor and she was now lying down, waiting anxiously to find out if she would have a boy or a girl. Lucy sat close by, oddly quiet. "Something wrong?" Lorelai asked her.

"No, of course not," she lied.

"Lucy..." Lorelai insisted. Just then, the doctor came in.

"Uh, Miss Gilmore, you have a visitor," he said. Lorelai was confused, and then shocked, when she saw Christopher walk in.

"How'd you know?"

"Lucy called me," he explained, as the girl attempted to look elsewhere.

"Lucy!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Look, I'm sorry. But he DOES have a right to be here for this, and you know it." Lorelai sighed.

"Fine." Christopher stood a bit to the side as the doctor began. But the moment the image appeared on the screen and he heard the sound of the heartbeat, Christopher stepped forward slowly. Lorelai looked at him with a tiny smile.

"You can come closer," she told him. A few seconds later, he stood right next to her.

"Would you like to find out the sex of the baby?" the doctor asked kindly.

"Yes," Lorelai and Christopher said at the same time, causing them to look at each other shortly.

"It's a girl."

*

Shortly after

Lorelai was back in her regular clothes, and they were now heading out of the doctor's office. "I can't believe we're going to have a daughter," Christopher said. Lorelai took in a deep breath and stopped him.

"Could you excuse us for a minute?" she asked Lucy and her mother.

"We'll wait for you in the car," said Mrs. Cooper as she walked away with her daughter.

"Something I said?" Christopher asked Lorelai.

"Listen... Your proposal was sweet, but you know we can't do this. Sure, you mean it now. But in a few months, it'll be a completely different story, and you know it. This isn't something you can just throw away when you're bored with it. It's a human being. You're still young, and so am I. We're not ready for married life. You should get to have the life you were meant to live. I can manage on my own. I'm... really sorry." She turned and walked away quickly.

*

Shortly after

Lorelai walked into her home slowly. It had never occurred to her until then that a few months from now, she would have to deal with her parents AND she wouldn't be able to climb down from her window. She didn't want that one bit. She hurried up into her room and dialed Lucy's number. Luckily, Mrs. Cooper answered quickly. After they talked shortly, Lorelai grabbed her luggage set out of her closet and packed up the things she felt she would need.

Two large suitcases and a backpack later, she headed down the stairs. Just as she was about to open the door, she heard footsteps behind. She turned to find her parents standing like statues.

"I can't stay here. I'm going to live with Lucy and her mother... at least until my baby is born."

"How can you do this to us?" her father said. Her heart twisted. Her father had never sounded like this. "You're actually keeping this..."

"Don't talk about my daughter that way," Lorelai said through gritted teeth. She'd had enough. She carried her suitcases out the door and had to use every ounce of control she had not to slam the door shut.

*

Months later

It was still dark outside, when on that October morning, Mrs. Cooper drove rapidly through Hartford towards the hospital. Lucy was in the back with Lorelai, trying to keep her calm. As for Lorelai, no one could have calmed her. In the duration of the ride, she had spoken so many censor-worthy words that Lucy didn't bother telling her to watch her language.

Once Lorelai had been settled into her room, she managed to gain a calm-like state. "It's almost time," she said happily, "And my parents didn't ruin it." As though on cue, the door swung open and in walked Richard and Emily Gilmore. "I spoke too soon," Lorelai mumbled.

It happened so fast; she didn't have time to protest. Nurses came in and wheeled the bed along with Lorelai out of the room. Across hall after hall, they moved in silence, until they reached the "new" room. They passed the Hayden's and Lorelai felt very small. Straub and Francine Hayden were nearly shooting daggers at her, while their son stared at her with sadness.

*

Hours later

Lorelai knew it was almost over and she was glad for it. She couldn't see Lucy anymore because of all those doctors. She screamed non-sense as she threw her ice chips at the lot of them. She wasn't so much in pain, thanks to the Demerol, but she was pissed off that her parents had swooped in like this.

Her mental rantings were interrupted by the distinct sound of a baby's cry. She looked down and her eyes fell on her newborn daughter. As soon as she was rested in her mother's arms, the child opened her blue eyes to meet her mother's, and she greeted her with as much of a smile as she could manage in her minute-old state.

"Leave us," Lorelai told the doctors. Thankfully, they obeyed. Lucy stepped forward from the back of the room.

"She's beautiful," she whispered.

"Isn't she?" Lorelai said with tears of joy.

"What are you gonna name her?" Lorelai thought for a few seconds.

"You know... there's all these men, naming their sons after themselves. Why aren't any women naming their daughters after themselves?" Lucy didn't know what to answer. Lorelai looked down to the infant. "Well, I think they should." She smiled. "Hello Lorelai," she whispered, her finger trapped in the girl's grasp, "Welcome to the world."

*

Almost two years later

"Well I guess this is it, then," said Lucy as she walked up to her home's front door, where Lorelai stood.

"I wish you didn't have to go all the way on the other side of the country. Why couldn't you pick a closer college?" she said. Lucy knew what she meant.

"I'm sorry. But we'll still talk! It's just school. I'll be back."

"LULU!" came the tiny voice of a child. Lorelai barely managed to step aside as her daughter ran up to Lucy and jumped. Lucy caught and hugged her.

"Don't give your mom too much trouble. Okay, Rory?" The girl nodded, her brown hair bouncing around in her ponytail.

"Just 'nough trouble!" she giggled.

"That's my girl," Lucy said, kissing her cheek and handing her over to Lorelai. "I should go now. Beat traffic and all." Lucy hugged her friend and finally went down to the car. "Bye!" she called as she waved to them.

"Bye!" Lorelai yelled.

"BYE!" Rory yelled even louder