Less Than a Second
Part 5: What May Have Been
__________
Pairing: Lorelai and Luke
Summary: Luke and Lorelai met in Stars Hollow while Lorelai's pregnant with Rory. Sixteen years later, they've found happiness with each other and the entire past (as fans know it) has been changed (for the better, perhaps :). This is a response to a challenge posted on the Luke and Lorelai Fan Fic group at Yahoo.
Rating: PG 13 (to be safe, for now)
Disclaimer: I do not own or in any way have connection to those that do own the Gilmore Girls.
A/N: In this chapter, we leave Lorelai and Rory and go to Emily and Richard. I really wanted to get them into the whole mix of the story. Please review, thanks!
__________
Emily Gilmore couldn't just sit there anymore thinking about Lorelai. She had mulled over the situation for too long. Lorelai was gone. She was in a new town with a new daughter. She had a job. She had a house. She had a family. And Emily was here. Alone in the large house while Richard was at work. She'd done the mourning bit, almost as if Lorelai had died, and she'd let herself just *be* since Lorelai left, her days without purpose. Now, she realized, she had to stand up, go outside, garden, clean, *anything*...she just needed to be doing something.
So, she cleaned. There were maids who sat in wonder, thinking that they should ask her to stop or take over for her. She dusted dust that wasn't there, she made beds that were already made, and she washed dishes that had already been washed. The maids had already done all of the cleaning, but she convinced herself that there was more to do just so she didn't feel so useless anymore.
Somehow, Emily ended up in Lorelai's bedroom. She found herself gazing at the cream-colored walls, the white trim. She hadn't been in her daughter's room since morning of the day Lorelai left and she'd strictly forbidden anyone else to enter it, as she thought it might contain something that would... She didn't know what the thing would do, but if there was such an object, she didn't want it to be carelessly thrown away or lost.
Emily sat down on the bed. Lorelai had made it, neatly, before she left. She touched the fabric of the comforter spread over the mattress. She could remember pulling it up around Lorelai's shoulders when Lorelai was just a child. *She is 'still' just a child,* Emily thought suddenly. There was a teddy bear on the bed and she lifted it in her hands. Tears began to fill her eyes and slowly make their way down her cheeks.
She closed her eyes and let herself think of what could have been for Lorelai.
Lorelai was to have been presented at a debutante ball and Christopher would have been her escort. She could imagine the dress, long and white with a delicate floral trim around the neckline and on the hem. No sleeves because the gauze would have bothered Lorelai's arms. Long, white gloves, a tiara in front of the twisted black hair piled on top of her head. *She would have hated it,* she thought, almost laughing out loud through her tears...
Lorelai's high school graduation. The white gown with matching cap. Lorelai taking her diploma in one hand, shaking the principal's hand with her other. Then, as she made her way across the stage or platform, Lorelai would move the tassel from one side of the cap to the other. She would smile, broadly, clapping, Richard sitting next to her doing the same. And then Emily would cry thinking about how Lorelai would be leaving for college in the fall. Which college? Richard had always dreamed that his daughter would go to Yale and follow in his footsteps. Emily didn't have a preference, as long as she would get a good education and be happy there...
Then, years later, Christopher and Lorelai would marry (they were always meant to be, in Emily's mind). They'd be successful and content. They'd start a family and live just outside of the city. They would, with their children, come to family dinners and parties...
It was then that Emily heard someone at the door and looked up to see Richard peering in at her. She wiped away her tears. "I tried," Emily said, softly, shrugging her shoulders subtly, "I tried to be the best mother I could be." She looked down at the bear and then around the room, gazing at the things that had meant something to her daughter. "And somehow I let her down." Richard walked over to her and sat down on the bed beside her. He folded her in his arms and kissed the side of her forehead.
"Things happen," he said, quietly. He paused. "You were-you *are*-a wonderful mother. You love Lorelai, you taught her to be a good person, and you made sure that she was always safe."
"It wasn't enough." She answered, shaking her head, slowly.
"What more could someone ask for?" He paused again. "We need to stop lingering on what was and what may have been and think about what is going to happen *now.* We just have to go on loving Lorelai and loving that little girl of hers."
"I miss her." Emily said. "Do you think she knows?"
He nodded, "she knows." He kissed her cheek then stood and took her hand in his. She stood with him and put the teddy bear down on Lorelai's bed, where she'd found it. "Come on, dinner's ready."
__________
A/N: An unusually short chapter. I may do chapters that focus on them every so often and they probably will tend to be shorter than others. It was refreshing writing for someone else. I enjoyed writing this chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much! :) Lorelai (and possibly Luke...I'm not positive where I'm going next so I don't know when he'll show up) will return in the subsequent chapter. Please review! Thanks, I appreciate it! :)
Part 5: What May Have Been
__________
Pairing: Lorelai and Luke
Summary: Luke and Lorelai met in Stars Hollow while Lorelai's pregnant with Rory. Sixteen years later, they've found happiness with each other and the entire past (as fans know it) has been changed (for the better, perhaps :). This is a response to a challenge posted on the Luke and Lorelai Fan Fic group at Yahoo.
Rating: PG 13 (to be safe, for now)
Disclaimer: I do not own or in any way have connection to those that do own the Gilmore Girls.
A/N: In this chapter, we leave Lorelai and Rory and go to Emily and Richard. I really wanted to get them into the whole mix of the story. Please review, thanks!
__________
Emily Gilmore couldn't just sit there anymore thinking about Lorelai. She had mulled over the situation for too long. Lorelai was gone. She was in a new town with a new daughter. She had a job. She had a house. She had a family. And Emily was here. Alone in the large house while Richard was at work. She'd done the mourning bit, almost as if Lorelai had died, and she'd let herself just *be* since Lorelai left, her days without purpose. Now, she realized, she had to stand up, go outside, garden, clean, *anything*...she just needed to be doing something.
So, she cleaned. There were maids who sat in wonder, thinking that they should ask her to stop or take over for her. She dusted dust that wasn't there, she made beds that were already made, and she washed dishes that had already been washed. The maids had already done all of the cleaning, but she convinced herself that there was more to do just so she didn't feel so useless anymore.
Somehow, Emily ended up in Lorelai's bedroom. She found herself gazing at the cream-colored walls, the white trim. She hadn't been in her daughter's room since morning of the day Lorelai left and she'd strictly forbidden anyone else to enter it, as she thought it might contain something that would... She didn't know what the thing would do, but if there was such an object, she didn't want it to be carelessly thrown away or lost.
Emily sat down on the bed. Lorelai had made it, neatly, before she left. She touched the fabric of the comforter spread over the mattress. She could remember pulling it up around Lorelai's shoulders when Lorelai was just a child. *She is 'still' just a child,* Emily thought suddenly. There was a teddy bear on the bed and she lifted it in her hands. Tears began to fill her eyes and slowly make their way down her cheeks.
She closed her eyes and let herself think of what could have been for Lorelai.
Lorelai was to have been presented at a debutante ball and Christopher would have been her escort. She could imagine the dress, long and white with a delicate floral trim around the neckline and on the hem. No sleeves because the gauze would have bothered Lorelai's arms. Long, white gloves, a tiara in front of the twisted black hair piled on top of her head. *She would have hated it,* she thought, almost laughing out loud through her tears...
Lorelai's high school graduation. The white gown with matching cap. Lorelai taking her diploma in one hand, shaking the principal's hand with her other. Then, as she made her way across the stage or platform, Lorelai would move the tassel from one side of the cap to the other. She would smile, broadly, clapping, Richard sitting next to her doing the same. And then Emily would cry thinking about how Lorelai would be leaving for college in the fall. Which college? Richard had always dreamed that his daughter would go to Yale and follow in his footsteps. Emily didn't have a preference, as long as she would get a good education and be happy there...
Then, years later, Christopher and Lorelai would marry (they were always meant to be, in Emily's mind). They'd be successful and content. They'd start a family and live just outside of the city. They would, with their children, come to family dinners and parties...
It was then that Emily heard someone at the door and looked up to see Richard peering in at her. She wiped away her tears. "I tried," Emily said, softly, shrugging her shoulders subtly, "I tried to be the best mother I could be." She looked down at the bear and then around the room, gazing at the things that had meant something to her daughter. "And somehow I let her down." Richard walked over to her and sat down on the bed beside her. He folded her in his arms and kissed the side of her forehead.
"Things happen," he said, quietly. He paused. "You were-you *are*-a wonderful mother. You love Lorelai, you taught her to be a good person, and you made sure that she was always safe."
"It wasn't enough." She answered, shaking her head, slowly.
"What more could someone ask for?" He paused again. "We need to stop lingering on what was and what may have been and think about what is going to happen *now.* We just have to go on loving Lorelai and loving that little girl of hers."
"I miss her." Emily said. "Do you think she knows?"
He nodded, "she knows." He kissed her cheek then stood and took her hand in his. She stood with him and put the teddy bear down on Lorelai's bed, where she'd found it. "Come on, dinner's ready."
__________
A/N: An unusually short chapter. I may do chapters that focus on them every so often and they probably will tend to be shorter than others. It was refreshing writing for someone else. I enjoyed writing this chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much! :) Lorelai (and possibly Luke...I'm not positive where I'm going next so I don't know when he'll show up) will return in the subsequent chapter. Please review! Thanks, I appreciate it! :)
