Chapter 182
That afternoon, after returning to the hotel, Paris went immediately back to her room to take a nap. The other women decided to grab a drink at the courtyard bar while she did.
"It sounds silly, since she's like, very obviously pregnant," Lane said to the others as they enjoyed their cocktails, "But I honestly forget she's pregnant sometimes. At that point I barely wanted to get up to go to the kitchen, much less trek across a city all day."
"Well, you were having twins," Rory pointed out, "And Paris is Paris."
"I really think it's more that than the other thing," Hannah giggled, "She's amazing. Kind of a force."
"She really is," Lane admitted. Rory smiled, her cheeks glowing.
"Wow, I never thought you'd forgive her for getting me to push you out of our dorm room."
"…I didn't say I had," Lane replied jokingly.
"Wait, you went to Yale too?" Hannah asked. She and Jane both looked confused.
"No, just crashed there briefly when I moved out of my mom's house," Lane said noncommitally. Jane nodded with understanding.
Hannah took a sip of her rosé. She turned to Rory.
"Paris kicked her out?"
"Well, she made me. But it was kind of time. No offense," Rory said apologetically to Lane, who laughed.
"Oh, it was way overdue. I overstayed my welcome so much I'm surprised you didn't change the locks."
"It may have been suggested," Rory admitted. Lane met her eyes and they both started laughing, quickly joined by Jane and Hannah.
"…so Paris has always been like that?" Jane asked. Rory nodded, and then paused, shaking her head.
"Yeah, but…also no," Rory said thoughtfully, "She used to be…well, she's still intense. She's just…a happier intense. It's read differently on her since she got pregnant."
"Did she always want kids?" Hannah asked.
"We never really talked about it," Rory answered, "But I wouldn't have thought so. I was a little surprised. And at first, things seemed pretty much par for the course. But…something shifted. I can't really explain it."
"I know what you mean, though," Lane nodded, "I met Paris a long time ago. I never knew her like Rory did or anything. But she's been different with me for the last while."
"Well, if she's happier, that seems like a good thing," Jane shrugged, taking a sip of her rosé as well.
"I hope so," Rory agreed, "It sure seems to be. I don't think I've ever seen her this happy, in spite of everything she has going on."
After an hour or two, Paris texted to let them know she was awake, and they decided to go grab dinner. This time, they went to a place that Rory had recommended, a tiny taco bar on the Lower East Side, where they'd be spending a good amount of their time the next day. As they walked over to the restaurant, Rory could see Lane mentally catalouging all the record shops and vintage stores she wanted to stop at the next day. She also noticed that Paris seemed more interested in downtown than Rory would have expected. Hannah seemed curious, and Jane seemed a little wary. That made more sense now- Jane had explained over drinks that she hadn't had many opportunities to travel, that she'd ended up in Philadelphia for her job, after spending most of her life in the suburbs, and that she still wasn't a big-city fan. She said that Stars Hollow had been about the size of the most of the places she'd lived. Given that, her reactions made much more sense. Rory sometimes forgot how much she took for granted her own experiences traveling and living in cities.
"You guys check in with Matt and Chris?" Rory asked Hannah and Jane casually, as they sat in a corner, holding their tacos in one hand and margaritas in the other. Lane noted to herself that Rory had not asked either her or Paris if they'd checked in with anyone, and for that she was grateful. Rory had always been relatively good at reading the room. Paris looked up, listening.
"Yep," Hannah nodded. "We touched base last night. Texted a little today. But we're both pretty independent, so we don't talk a ton when one of us is away." Paris nodded at this, and looked at Rory with faint amusement. As much as there was to say about her enviable relationship with Jess, she knew neither of them would consider themselves particularly independent from the other. And Paris thought that made sense- it worked for Rory and Jess. Paris herself, on the other hand, related more to Hannah on that front. She needed the space. They looked to Jane.
"I texted him," Jane shrugged, "He's not a big texter."
"I'm shocked," Rory said, deadpan, earning a laugh from Hannah and Jane. Paris nodded, her eyes fixed on the ground, and Lane looked away, clearly lost in her own thoughts. Rory, noticing Lane's reverie, quickly changed the subject.
"Lane, we should go to Dylan's candy bar tomorrow. To get things for the boys. I need to spoil them, as their godmother," Rory smiled. Lane grinned.
"They'd love that. Doesn't that place have the lollipops that are basically the size of their heads?"
"Yep. I'm getting them two each."
"You know I have to live with them, right?"
"Yes, but I don't," Rory pointed out, earning a laugh from Paris.
"Remind me to rethink your godmother position," she joked, raising her virgin margarita to her lips. Rory raised an eyebrow.
"You hadn't…"
"You had to know I was going to."
"I didn't want to assume."
"Well, I'm asking."
"…you know for most people, asking involves asking, right?"
"…do you want the gig or not, Gilmore?" Paris joked, raising her eyebrows. Rory smiled. She nodded.
"Of course I do. And she gets Mom by proxy."
"…that had occured to me," Paris admitted. Lane smiled.
"Lorelai was kind of my honorary godmother," she mused. Hannah and Jane turned to listen. "She…my mom and I didn't always see eye-to-eye. But Lorelai just kind of got it, you know? And she respected my mom, she didn't just let me go to her place and do whatever the hell I wanted or anything, but…she was a safe place to land."
"Do you and your mom get along now?" Hannah asked. Rory shook her head at Hannah from her spot behind Lane, but Hannah didn't notice until too late. The light dimmed from Lane's eyes.
"Sort of. It's…complicated," Lane shrugged, "Hey, I'm gonna go to the restroom and then grab another drink. You guys want anything?"
"All good."
"I'll come with you. Baby needs to pee," Paris smiled, standing up, with some difficulty. Lane smiled, still a little dimly, but helped pull Paris up and walked over to the restrooms with her. Hannah looked at Rory.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know I was stepping on any toes," she said apologetically. Rory shook her head.
"No way you could've. You didn't do anything wrong," she explained, "Lane's mom…isn't well. Part of why I wanted to do this was so that she could have a weekend away from thinking about it."
"…crap. I'm sorry for sticking my foot in my mouth."
"You didn't know. It'll blow over in a minute," Rory said. Jane nodded encouragingly. Hannah sighed, but nodded.
After exiting the restroom, Paris and Lane walked over to the bar.
"One virgin margarita and one regular. On my tab," Paris requested. The bartender looked at her and got right to work on their drinks. Another advantage of pregnancy, Paris thought, that people did their best to make sure she didn't have to wait. Lane turned to her.
"I have a tab."
"I'm buying you a drink."
"I'm not putting out."
"I already got mine. Figured it'd be obvious from the gestating a baby thing," Paris retorted. Lane snorted. She looked down and sighed.
"…I'm fine."
"…you're not. But I didn't buy you a drink to get you to talk to me. I just came with you to get a minute to myself, and make sure you had one too. I bought you a drink because I happen to have a lot of money, and I'm not used to having many friends to do nice things for," Paris admitted. Lane raised her eyebrows.
"We're friends?"
"…are we?"
"…actually, I think so," Lane nodded, "…well, once I get that margarita."
"Good to know you can be bought."
"Just not sold."
"…well that took a dark turn."
"My jokes tend to do that. You may want to get used to it, if you're planning to be my friend."
"Fair enough. But it'll be easier once I can enjoy a real margarita alongside you," Paris joked. Lane smiled, a genuine one this time, and they headed back to the table.
"Paris bought me a drink," Lane announced. Rory looked at them teasingly.
"…what's she bribing you for?"
"I'm not sure yet, but I'm pretty sure it's working," Lane said, taking a sip, "These are damn good. How did you find this place, Rory?"
"It's close to where my old apartment was," Rory admitted, "I never bothered to explore much. But this was close. I went on a bad date here once."
"With who?"
"Friend of a coworker. It was miserable. But the place was great. I haven't had the margaritas since that night though. I always grabbed take out."
"I feel like if I lived here, I'd want to go to the restaurants and sit down all the time," Lane mused, "It's just such a great experience."
"I'm sure it would be," Rory nodded. Something passed across her face that nobody could fully read. Paris, however, could make enough sense of it to know to change the subject.
"…I was bribing Lane for the secret to raising children. I figure she must have it, given that she has twins and hasn't spontaneously combusted."
"The secret to raising kids…hmmm…" Lane hummed, looking over at Paris. "The secret is…make sure you have two of them at the same time so that you can make them entertain each other when you need a break."
"A little too late for that," Paris said, a now-familiar smile crossing her face as she cradled her bump. Hannah and Rory smiled.
"I have a feeling you'll figure it out," Hannah smiled.
