It was Friday again and Rory trudged down the hallway. She had the dream
against last night. It hurt so bad.
Would it ever go away?
No, probably not. She would never stop missing her.
"Hey." Tristan showed up beside her.
"Hi." Rory said, somewhat detached.
Something was wrong and Tristan noticed it right away. "What's wrong?" He asked.
Rory tried her best to cheer up, "Nothing."
"What is it?" Her fake smile didn't get past Tristan.
She sighed, "Nothing, it's nothing." She persisted.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"Alright." Tristan put an arm around her shoulder, "So are we still on for today?"
"Yep." Rory really did brighten this time, "I can't wait to meet your cousins!"
"They can't wait to meet you either." Tristan said.
"You told them about me?" Rory asked looking up at him.
"Yeah, I told them you were coming today. I didn't want to show up with a complete stranger."
"Makes sense." They reached the classroom. "Only six more classes until freedom."
They walked to their desks and sat down, Tristan said, "Only?"
But the rest of the day didn't go by as slow as Tristan initially thought it would. Six classes later they were on their way to Tristan's car.
"We have about a forty five minute drive, just to forewarn you." Tristan said as they clambered into the car.
"Don't worry, I brought a book!" Rory held up one of her favorites, The Catcher In the Rye.
"What, my conversation isn't good enough for you?" Tristan asked indignantly as they pulled out of the parking lot.
"It's okay I guess," Rory said thoughtfully. "But it's not as good as J.D Salinger."
"Oh, I see how it is."
But Rory didn't end up reading much of her book, They ended up talking almost the whole car ride.
Rory looked out the window, surprised. "It looks like were on out way to Stars Hollow."
"We are kind of. Stars Hollow is only like two minutes from the town they live in."
Then they started talking about Stars Hollow and the crazy people that lived there and Tristan brought up a question that he had been longing to ask for awhile. "What happened between you and Dean that makes Jess so bitter?" He asked curiously. "I mean, he hates the guy more then I do."
A look of hurt streaked across Rory's face but quickly disappeared. She knew now how to hide her feelings. "Oh, that." She paused. "It's a long story."
"We have a long car ride." Tristan pointed out.
Rory sighed, "Well, if you really want to hear it."
"I do."
"It all started last year when Jess and I became good friends." Rory began telling the story of the end of her so called loving relationship with Dean. "I can talk to Jess about everything, I could never really do that with Dean. He's not interested in all the things I am, like books. I could talk and debate about books for hours with Jess. And sometimes we did. Dean didn't like that."
Tristan knew that she and Jess were just friends, but he still couldn't help but be envious of their close relationship.
"I guess he's sort of the jealous type, he just couldn't trust me. He thought I was cheating on him. I wasn't, I would never do that to him even if I had wanted to." Rory let the last part slip out.
Tristan raised his eyebrows, "So there was something between you and Jess?"
Rory blushed, "At one point I guess there was. He was so different from Dean, he understood me like Dean couldn't. I couldn't help but feel something for him. But I never acted upon those feelings, as small as they were."
"Did he?"
Again a pink color descended onto Rory's cheeks, "Not until after the breakup, but I'll get to that part later." Rory fidgeted with her book, flipping threw pages randomly. "Since Dean thought I was cheating on him he decided to get back at me. He cheated on me."
"Bastard." Tristan muttered.
Rory shot him a look but continued. "I found out. Needless to say it wasn't pretty. He finally figured out that I was never cheating on him in the first place and the whole thing was his fault. He begged me to stay together even after the trust was gone. I forgave him, but I couldn't be with him. That pretty much sums it up."
"What about the part with Jess?" Tristan persisted.
"Oh, well we kinda kissed after I broke up with Dean. Needless to say I felt like I was kissing my brother, he felt the same way. He's just a friend, it could never be anything more." Rory shrugged. "So there's my personal life in a nut shell."
"No wonder Jess hates Dean so much." Tristan mused.
"Oh, don't be a "Jess", I can't believe he's still so bitter." Rory shook her head. "There's no reason to be, it was between me and Dean. I forgave him and now we're on friendship terms. There's no reason to be angry anymore."
"You're way too mellow. I would hate the guy if I were you" Tristan finally pulled into his cousins driveway.
"And thank God you're not me." Rory said, she stared at the small brick house surrounded by flowers. "Are we here?" She breathed.
"Yeah, this is it." They both got out of the car.
The small, brick house was surrounded by flowers in every shape and colors imaginable. Bright, yellow daises stuck up from the ground in an indignant manner, lavender lilies sprung from the soft soil, and roses stemmed the ground creating a fragrant breeze.
Rory looked around her amazed, "This is amazing." She stopped to smell a lilac. "Who does all this?"
"My Aunt Di, she's a definite flower power freak." When Rory gave him a surprised look he added, "Both my aunt and uncle were hippies back in the day."
They walked up to the door which Tristan opened and they walked in. "We're here." He called into the warmly furnished house.
Rory looked around, they were in the family room now. Toys were strewn in random places, books were piled on the tables, and favorite videos were left out to watch a fiftieth time. It reminded her of her own home.
"Tristan!" A small boy ran into the room and straight into Tristan's arms. "You're finally here!"
Tristan scooped him up and placed him on his shoulders, "Finally? I'm here the same time as I was last week."
"No, you're ten minutes later." The little boy declared from atop his shoulders. "Mom's been teaching me and Clara how to tell time." He was small for his age with bright blue eyes, that looked a lot like Tristan's, his hair was jet black and falling over his face.
"Is she? Well that's great." Tristan turned to Rory. "Aden, I want you to meet my friend Rory, Rory this is my little cus Aden."
"I'm not little!" Aden said indignantly but he stuck out a small hand. "Hi." He said rather shyly.
Rory reached up and shook his small hand in hers, "It's nice to meet you."
Tristan asked, "Where's your sister?"
"She's coming." Aden said knowingly.
All of a sudden a girl came scrambling into the room, "Helloooo!" She ran to Tristan and grabbed his legs. "Guess what I did today?" She didn't wait for Tristan to answer. "I learned how to tell time and then I played in the sandbox and then Aden stole my baseball but I got it back and then we cut my Barbie's hair and dyed it with food coloring but don't tell mom because she says were not supposed to destoy stuff. So don't tell her okay?" The girl looked up at Tristan trustfully. She was almost an exact replica of her brother expect she had long black hair pulled back into a slightly lopsided pony tail, her blue eyes sparkled with child mischief and freckles were sprinkled across her nose.
Tristan was about to answer when a voice sounded from the doorway, "I already found out missy."
In the doorway was a woman who looked very much like her children. She held a Barbie with only one leg and shaved green hair, she looked toward Tristen, "Hey Tristan."
"Hi Aunt Di." Tristan said.
The girl's eyes widened, "Aden did it." She pointed to her brother.
"I did not!" Aden denied. "She said Barbie's were bad and we should cut their hair, I only helped a little."
"Clara, how many times have I told you not to do this to your dolls?" Diana Clemmens put her hands on her hips and glared at her daughter.
"But I don't like them!" Clara protested.
"That doesn't matter. How would your grandma fell knowing that you deprecated her present to you?" Diana said.
"But, but I didn't depecate it! I just made it look pretty!" Clara said looking at the ground.
Diana struggled not to smile, "Okay, but next time you make it look pretty don't pull of it's leg." She looked at her son, "That goes for you too Aden."
Aden nodded fearfully.
Diana turned to Rory and offered her hand, "Hello, I'm Diana Clemmens, Tristan's aunt. You must be Rory."
"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Clemmens." Rory said politely shaking her hand.
"Just call me Diana or Di preferably." She tossed the mangled Barbie aside. "So where are you guys going today?"
Tristan's eyes sparkled, "It's a surprise."
"Ohh, a surprise!" Clara clapped her hands together, she then stared up at Rory. "Who are you?"
Rory leaned down next to her so she was eye level, "I'm Rory, Tristan's friend." She held out her hand.
Clara took it with both hands and shook it enthusiastically, "Tristan said you were really, really pretty!"
"He did, did he?" Rory smiled and shot a look at Tristan who blushed slightly.
"Yep! And he said that you were coming with us today. Are you?" Clara asked hopefully.
"Well, duh! Of course she's coming, why else would she be here?" Aden said from Tristan's shoulders.
"Shut up Aden!" Clara yelled.
"I am coming with you guys today." Rory said standing back up.
"Oh, good." Clara hugged her legs, she was obviously a very out going girl.
"Alight you guys, make sure your good for Tristan." Diana went to a closet and took out two small jackets.
"We will!" Clara and Aden chimed together. "JINX!" They said again at the same time. They glared at each other, quiet.
"Finally!" Diana said putting a jean jacket on Clara, "They won't talk for awhile now." She winked at Rory. "Okay Aden come down now and put your jacket on."
Tristan helped Aden climb down off his shoulders. He silently put his jacket on.
"You guys have fun while I'm at work." Diana said putting on her own jacket. "Thanks for doing this again Tristan." She said meaningfully.
"No problem." Tristan answered.
Fifteen minutes later they were on their way, Tristan and Rory in the front while Aden and Clara sat quietly in the back.
"How long will they do this for?" Rory asked Tristan.
"Until the other talks." Tristan glanced at them through the rearview mirror. "Usually Clara cracks first." He whispered.
Rory laughed, "I'm sure she would, I've never heard so many words out of a little girls mouth before. I can't believe she ruined her Barbie like that." Roy added.
Tristan grinned, "She's a huge tomboy. She loves baseball and plays in the dirt." He glanced back again, "Isn't that right Clara? You love baseball and dirt?" He said to Clara a little louder.
She just smiled at Tristan and shot her brother a look who was looking on carefully.
"I wonder if they'll ever talk again." Rory mused.
"Oh they will, once they see where we're going." Tristan said.
"Where are we going?" Rory asked again hopefully.
"Oh you'll see, we're almost there in fact." His eyes sparkled with mischief.
Rory folded her arms across her chest, "You're mean." She stared out the window. All of a sudden she sat up straight, her eyes glowed with surprise and happiness. "We're in Stars Hollow!" She yelled happily.
"Thought you'd never guess." Tristan said turning into the main part of the town. "We're going to the carnival, I saw the signs the last time we were here."
"Yay! We're going to a carnival!" Clara yelled happily and then clamped her hand over her mouth.
"You lost!" Aden exclaimed. "I won, I won!"
Clara only scowled at him and then said to Tristan, "Are we gunna go on rides?"
"Definitely." Tristan said pulling into a parking space for the carnival.
"Are we gunna go on the big ones?" She asked hopefully, her eyes gleaming.
"If you want to."
"No!" Aden cried out. "I don't like the big rides."
"You're such a baby." Clara rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry Aden, I don't either." Rory helped him out of the car. "You can stay with me when they go on."
Aden grinned up at her, "Okay." He stuck his tongue out at Clara who stuck hers out back.
"They're crazy! Aren't they Clara?" Tristan asked Clara as he grabbed her hand.
Clara nodded wildly, "Who wouldn't like big rides anyway?"
While Tristan and Clara went on all the rides, Rory walked around with Aden and played games. Turns out he had a very hard throw.
"That's another set of bottles knocked down!" The game tender said looking flabbergasted. Hardly anyone ever won this game much less a little boy. "You can pick a bigger toy now."
Aden scrunched up his face and scanned the toys. "Which one do you like, Rory?" He turned to her.
"Hmm." Rory also scanned the booth for a good toy. "That stuffed elephant is pretty cute."
Aden's face brightened, "Okay! I want the elephant!" He said to the booth tender.
The man gave him the stuffed animal. Aden shyly held out the toy to Rory, "Here I got it for you."
"Oh! Aden, you don't have to give that to me!" Rory said, what a sweet boy!
"But you're supposed to! They always do in the movies." Aden shoved it into her hands.
Rory smiled, "Thank you Aden." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. He would only get upset if she didn't accept it. "So where'd you learn to throw like that?" She asked as they walked away from the booth.
Aden shrugged, "Baseball, I'm the pitcher."
"Wow! You must be the best pitcher they have!" Rory exclaimed.
Aden beamed shyly, "I'm okay I guess."
"I'd say you're more then okay."
"Clara says I'm going to pitch for the Mets someday and she's going to be their number one hitter. They're our favorite team! What's your favorite team?" Aden asked curiously.
"Well, I've never really been into sports been but since you like the Mets then I will too."
Aden grabbed her hand and looked up at her, "Tristan was right, you are pretty." And then he blushed.
"Oh, thank you!" Rory hugged him and then they resumed walking.
"Aden!" Clara came running up from behind them. "Oh my gosh! You should have come one! We went sooo fast!" Clara danced about in front of them. "We went on twice too because the line was so short, Tristan was scared but I wasn't at all! I held his hand though just to be nice because I am a good cousin."
Rory turned around when she heard Tristan say, "Good thing you were there or I never would've been able to go on!" Tristan smiled and winked at Rory, "So what'd you guys do?"
Rory held out her stuffed elephant, "Look what Aden won for me at the bottle booth! He has quite an arm!"
"Aden has the best pitch ever!" Clara threw an arm around her brothers shoulders. "He has the best arm in the WHOLE league! And he's going to pitch for the Mets someday and we're gunna beat the gosh darn Yankees once and for all." She kissed her brothers cheek and hopped about.
Aden just shrugged, "It wasn't that hard."
"Yeah right! I can't even knock those cans over!" Tristan said amazed.
Aden dug his toes into the ground and then looked up for his sister, wanting to change the subject. "Clara how was that ride again?"
But Clara wasn't listening, she was staring at the Stars Hollow gazebo where Ms. Patty's dancers were putting on a tap dance. "What are they doing?" She asked mesmerized.
"They're dancing of course." Aden answered, he couldn't understand what was so great about a tap dance. When did Clara become interested in dancing anyway?
"Wow, can we watch them?" Clara began walking towards them.
Tristan watched her astounded, "Aden, when did Clara start liking dancing?"
"I didn't know she did." Aden shook his head also amazed. "Can we go on the Ferris wheel now?"
"Yeah, in just a second." Tristan said.
Rory walked up beside Clara who was still staring, fascinated. "Do you like dancing?"
Clara glanced up at her, "I didn't think so but this is pretty cool."
"You know you could learn how to do that if you wanted to." Rory said looking on with her. "Really?" Clara looked up at her hopefully.
"Yeah, you see that woman over there?" Rory pointed to Ms. Patty who was standing by the gazebo instructing the girls whenever they needed help. "She teaches it."
"Can I do it too?!" Clara asked excited.
"We'll talk to your mom about it, okay? But for now why don't we go on the Ferris wheel."
"Okay, lets go!" Clara took her hand and led her back to Tristan and Aden. "We're going on the Ferris wheel."
Rory and Clara ended up sitting together on the Ferris wheel.
"Do you like my cousin?" Clara asked as they reached the top.
"Yes, I like Tristan a lot. He's a very good friend."
"No. I mean do you like him, like him." Clara looked at Rory, her eyebrows raised.
"I might. But don't tell him that." Rory smiled down at her.
"I won't, I promise." Clara stuck out her pinkie, "Pinkie swear." Rory hooked pinkies with her. "Now we have to spit."
"Spit?"
"It's part of the pinkie swear." Clara said plainly. So they spat out the side of the cart. Rory hoped it didn't land on anyone.
"I didn't know you had to spit." Rory said when they were done.
"Me and Aden made that part up, it made it less girly. But my Mom gets mad when we do it in the house." Clara looked up at Rory. "Would your Mom let you do it in the house? Because Mom says other children don't do it in the house, but I said maybe they did. So does she?"
Rory winced and her throat closed, "I don't think my Mom would've liked it much either."
"How come we haven't seen your Mom yet? Don't you live here?"
While they were in the carnival Rory had seen many of the Stars Hollow townies who had all been introduced to Clara and Aden. They obviously weren't going to seen Lorelai. "I used to live here." Rory said slowly.
"How come you don't anymore?" Clara asked full of curiosity.
"Because I live with my grandparents now." Rory answered as best she could.
"But why? What about your Mom? Does she live by herself now?"
"No."
"Does she live with you?"
"No." Does this kid ever stop?
"Then where is she?"
"She's not here anymore."
"Where'd she go?"
"Away." Don't cry, don't cry.
"How come?"
"Because she died." There, she said it.
"Oh."
Clara didn't speak for the rest of the ride but she held onto Rory's hand tightly.
Would it ever go away?
No, probably not. She would never stop missing her.
"Hey." Tristan showed up beside her.
"Hi." Rory said, somewhat detached.
Something was wrong and Tristan noticed it right away. "What's wrong?" He asked.
Rory tried her best to cheer up, "Nothing."
"What is it?" Her fake smile didn't get past Tristan.
She sighed, "Nothing, it's nothing." She persisted.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"Alright." Tristan put an arm around her shoulder, "So are we still on for today?"
"Yep." Rory really did brighten this time, "I can't wait to meet your cousins!"
"They can't wait to meet you either." Tristan said.
"You told them about me?" Rory asked looking up at him.
"Yeah, I told them you were coming today. I didn't want to show up with a complete stranger."
"Makes sense." They reached the classroom. "Only six more classes until freedom."
They walked to their desks and sat down, Tristan said, "Only?"
But the rest of the day didn't go by as slow as Tristan initially thought it would. Six classes later they were on their way to Tristan's car.
"We have about a forty five minute drive, just to forewarn you." Tristan said as they clambered into the car.
"Don't worry, I brought a book!" Rory held up one of her favorites, The Catcher In the Rye.
"What, my conversation isn't good enough for you?" Tristan asked indignantly as they pulled out of the parking lot.
"It's okay I guess," Rory said thoughtfully. "But it's not as good as J.D Salinger."
"Oh, I see how it is."
But Rory didn't end up reading much of her book, They ended up talking almost the whole car ride.
Rory looked out the window, surprised. "It looks like were on out way to Stars Hollow."
"We are kind of. Stars Hollow is only like two minutes from the town they live in."
Then they started talking about Stars Hollow and the crazy people that lived there and Tristan brought up a question that he had been longing to ask for awhile. "What happened between you and Dean that makes Jess so bitter?" He asked curiously. "I mean, he hates the guy more then I do."
A look of hurt streaked across Rory's face but quickly disappeared. She knew now how to hide her feelings. "Oh, that." She paused. "It's a long story."
"We have a long car ride." Tristan pointed out.
Rory sighed, "Well, if you really want to hear it."
"I do."
"It all started last year when Jess and I became good friends." Rory began telling the story of the end of her so called loving relationship with Dean. "I can talk to Jess about everything, I could never really do that with Dean. He's not interested in all the things I am, like books. I could talk and debate about books for hours with Jess. And sometimes we did. Dean didn't like that."
Tristan knew that she and Jess were just friends, but he still couldn't help but be envious of their close relationship.
"I guess he's sort of the jealous type, he just couldn't trust me. He thought I was cheating on him. I wasn't, I would never do that to him even if I had wanted to." Rory let the last part slip out.
Tristan raised his eyebrows, "So there was something between you and Jess?"
Rory blushed, "At one point I guess there was. He was so different from Dean, he understood me like Dean couldn't. I couldn't help but feel something for him. But I never acted upon those feelings, as small as they were."
"Did he?"
Again a pink color descended onto Rory's cheeks, "Not until after the breakup, but I'll get to that part later." Rory fidgeted with her book, flipping threw pages randomly. "Since Dean thought I was cheating on him he decided to get back at me. He cheated on me."
"Bastard." Tristan muttered.
Rory shot him a look but continued. "I found out. Needless to say it wasn't pretty. He finally figured out that I was never cheating on him in the first place and the whole thing was his fault. He begged me to stay together even after the trust was gone. I forgave him, but I couldn't be with him. That pretty much sums it up."
"What about the part with Jess?" Tristan persisted.
"Oh, well we kinda kissed after I broke up with Dean. Needless to say I felt like I was kissing my brother, he felt the same way. He's just a friend, it could never be anything more." Rory shrugged. "So there's my personal life in a nut shell."
"No wonder Jess hates Dean so much." Tristan mused.
"Oh, don't be a "Jess", I can't believe he's still so bitter." Rory shook her head. "There's no reason to be, it was between me and Dean. I forgave him and now we're on friendship terms. There's no reason to be angry anymore."
"You're way too mellow. I would hate the guy if I were you" Tristan finally pulled into his cousins driveway.
"And thank God you're not me." Rory said, she stared at the small brick house surrounded by flowers. "Are we here?" She breathed.
"Yeah, this is it." They both got out of the car.
The small, brick house was surrounded by flowers in every shape and colors imaginable. Bright, yellow daises stuck up from the ground in an indignant manner, lavender lilies sprung from the soft soil, and roses stemmed the ground creating a fragrant breeze.
Rory looked around her amazed, "This is amazing." She stopped to smell a lilac. "Who does all this?"
"My Aunt Di, she's a definite flower power freak." When Rory gave him a surprised look he added, "Both my aunt and uncle were hippies back in the day."
They walked up to the door which Tristan opened and they walked in. "We're here." He called into the warmly furnished house.
Rory looked around, they were in the family room now. Toys were strewn in random places, books were piled on the tables, and favorite videos were left out to watch a fiftieth time. It reminded her of her own home.
"Tristan!" A small boy ran into the room and straight into Tristan's arms. "You're finally here!"
Tristan scooped him up and placed him on his shoulders, "Finally? I'm here the same time as I was last week."
"No, you're ten minutes later." The little boy declared from atop his shoulders. "Mom's been teaching me and Clara how to tell time." He was small for his age with bright blue eyes, that looked a lot like Tristan's, his hair was jet black and falling over his face.
"Is she? Well that's great." Tristan turned to Rory. "Aden, I want you to meet my friend Rory, Rory this is my little cus Aden."
"I'm not little!" Aden said indignantly but he stuck out a small hand. "Hi." He said rather shyly.
Rory reached up and shook his small hand in hers, "It's nice to meet you."
Tristan asked, "Where's your sister?"
"She's coming." Aden said knowingly.
All of a sudden a girl came scrambling into the room, "Helloooo!" She ran to Tristan and grabbed his legs. "Guess what I did today?" She didn't wait for Tristan to answer. "I learned how to tell time and then I played in the sandbox and then Aden stole my baseball but I got it back and then we cut my Barbie's hair and dyed it with food coloring but don't tell mom because she says were not supposed to destoy stuff. So don't tell her okay?" The girl looked up at Tristan trustfully. She was almost an exact replica of her brother expect she had long black hair pulled back into a slightly lopsided pony tail, her blue eyes sparkled with child mischief and freckles were sprinkled across her nose.
Tristan was about to answer when a voice sounded from the doorway, "I already found out missy."
In the doorway was a woman who looked very much like her children. She held a Barbie with only one leg and shaved green hair, she looked toward Tristen, "Hey Tristan."
"Hi Aunt Di." Tristan said.
The girl's eyes widened, "Aden did it." She pointed to her brother.
"I did not!" Aden denied. "She said Barbie's were bad and we should cut their hair, I only helped a little."
"Clara, how many times have I told you not to do this to your dolls?" Diana Clemmens put her hands on her hips and glared at her daughter.
"But I don't like them!" Clara protested.
"That doesn't matter. How would your grandma fell knowing that you deprecated her present to you?" Diana said.
"But, but I didn't depecate it! I just made it look pretty!" Clara said looking at the ground.
Diana struggled not to smile, "Okay, but next time you make it look pretty don't pull of it's leg." She looked at her son, "That goes for you too Aden."
Aden nodded fearfully.
Diana turned to Rory and offered her hand, "Hello, I'm Diana Clemmens, Tristan's aunt. You must be Rory."
"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Clemmens." Rory said politely shaking her hand.
"Just call me Diana or Di preferably." She tossed the mangled Barbie aside. "So where are you guys going today?"
Tristan's eyes sparkled, "It's a surprise."
"Ohh, a surprise!" Clara clapped her hands together, she then stared up at Rory. "Who are you?"
Rory leaned down next to her so she was eye level, "I'm Rory, Tristan's friend." She held out her hand.
Clara took it with both hands and shook it enthusiastically, "Tristan said you were really, really pretty!"
"He did, did he?" Rory smiled and shot a look at Tristan who blushed slightly.
"Yep! And he said that you were coming with us today. Are you?" Clara asked hopefully.
"Well, duh! Of course she's coming, why else would she be here?" Aden said from Tristan's shoulders.
"Shut up Aden!" Clara yelled.
"I am coming with you guys today." Rory said standing back up.
"Oh, good." Clara hugged her legs, she was obviously a very out going girl.
"Alight you guys, make sure your good for Tristan." Diana went to a closet and took out two small jackets.
"We will!" Clara and Aden chimed together. "JINX!" They said again at the same time. They glared at each other, quiet.
"Finally!" Diana said putting a jean jacket on Clara, "They won't talk for awhile now." She winked at Rory. "Okay Aden come down now and put your jacket on."
Tristan helped Aden climb down off his shoulders. He silently put his jacket on.
"You guys have fun while I'm at work." Diana said putting on her own jacket. "Thanks for doing this again Tristan." She said meaningfully.
"No problem." Tristan answered.
Fifteen minutes later they were on their way, Tristan and Rory in the front while Aden and Clara sat quietly in the back.
"How long will they do this for?" Rory asked Tristan.
"Until the other talks." Tristan glanced at them through the rearview mirror. "Usually Clara cracks first." He whispered.
Rory laughed, "I'm sure she would, I've never heard so many words out of a little girls mouth before. I can't believe she ruined her Barbie like that." Roy added.
Tristan grinned, "She's a huge tomboy. She loves baseball and plays in the dirt." He glanced back again, "Isn't that right Clara? You love baseball and dirt?" He said to Clara a little louder.
She just smiled at Tristan and shot her brother a look who was looking on carefully.
"I wonder if they'll ever talk again." Rory mused.
"Oh they will, once they see where we're going." Tristan said.
"Where are we going?" Rory asked again hopefully.
"Oh you'll see, we're almost there in fact." His eyes sparkled with mischief.
Rory folded her arms across her chest, "You're mean." She stared out the window. All of a sudden she sat up straight, her eyes glowed with surprise and happiness. "We're in Stars Hollow!" She yelled happily.
"Thought you'd never guess." Tristan said turning into the main part of the town. "We're going to the carnival, I saw the signs the last time we were here."
"Yay! We're going to a carnival!" Clara yelled happily and then clamped her hand over her mouth.
"You lost!" Aden exclaimed. "I won, I won!"
Clara only scowled at him and then said to Tristan, "Are we gunna go on rides?"
"Definitely." Tristan said pulling into a parking space for the carnival.
"Are we gunna go on the big ones?" She asked hopefully, her eyes gleaming.
"If you want to."
"No!" Aden cried out. "I don't like the big rides."
"You're such a baby." Clara rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry Aden, I don't either." Rory helped him out of the car. "You can stay with me when they go on."
Aden grinned up at her, "Okay." He stuck his tongue out at Clara who stuck hers out back.
"They're crazy! Aren't they Clara?" Tristan asked Clara as he grabbed her hand.
Clara nodded wildly, "Who wouldn't like big rides anyway?"
While Tristan and Clara went on all the rides, Rory walked around with Aden and played games. Turns out he had a very hard throw.
"That's another set of bottles knocked down!" The game tender said looking flabbergasted. Hardly anyone ever won this game much less a little boy. "You can pick a bigger toy now."
Aden scrunched up his face and scanned the toys. "Which one do you like, Rory?" He turned to her.
"Hmm." Rory also scanned the booth for a good toy. "That stuffed elephant is pretty cute."
Aden's face brightened, "Okay! I want the elephant!" He said to the booth tender.
The man gave him the stuffed animal. Aden shyly held out the toy to Rory, "Here I got it for you."
"Oh! Aden, you don't have to give that to me!" Rory said, what a sweet boy!
"But you're supposed to! They always do in the movies." Aden shoved it into her hands.
Rory smiled, "Thank you Aden." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. He would only get upset if she didn't accept it. "So where'd you learn to throw like that?" She asked as they walked away from the booth.
Aden shrugged, "Baseball, I'm the pitcher."
"Wow! You must be the best pitcher they have!" Rory exclaimed.
Aden beamed shyly, "I'm okay I guess."
"I'd say you're more then okay."
"Clara says I'm going to pitch for the Mets someday and she's going to be their number one hitter. They're our favorite team! What's your favorite team?" Aden asked curiously.
"Well, I've never really been into sports been but since you like the Mets then I will too."
Aden grabbed her hand and looked up at her, "Tristan was right, you are pretty." And then he blushed.
"Oh, thank you!" Rory hugged him and then they resumed walking.
"Aden!" Clara came running up from behind them. "Oh my gosh! You should have come one! We went sooo fast!" Clara danced about in front of them. "We went on twice too because the line was so short, Tristan was scared but I wasn't at all! I held his hand though just to be nice because I am a good cousin."
Rory turned around when she heard Tristan say, "Good thing you were there or I never would've been able to go on!" Tristan smiled and winked at Rory, "So what'd you guys do?"
Rory held out her stuffed elephant, "Look what Aden won for me at the bottle booth! He has quite an arm!"
"Aden has the best pitch ever!" Clara threw an arm around her brothers shoulders. "He has the best arm in the WHOLE league! And he's going to pitch for the Mets someday and we're gunna beat the gosh darn Yankees once and for all." She kissed her brothers cheek and hopped about.
Aden just shrugged, "It wasn't that hard."
"Yeah right! I can't even knock those cans over!" Tristan said amazed.
Aden dug his toes into the ground and then looked up for his sister, wanting to change the subject. "Clara how was that ride again?"
But Clara wasn't listening, she was staring at the Stars Hollow gazebo where Ms. Patty's dancers were putting on a tap dance. "What are they doing?" She asked mesmerized.
"They're dancing of course." Aden answered, he couldn't understand what was so great about a tap dance. When did Clara become interested in dancing anyway?
"Wow, can we watch them?" Clara began walking towards them.
Tristan watched her astounded, "Aden, when did Clara start liking dancing?"
"I didn't know she did." Aden shook his head also amazed. "Can we go on the Ferris wheel now?"
"Yeah, in just a second." Tristan said.
Rory walked up beside Clara who was still staring, fascinated. "Do you like dancing?"
Clara glanced up at her, "I didn't think so but this is pretty cool."
"You know you could learn how to do that if you wanted to." Rory said looking on with her. "Really?" Clara looked up at her hopefully.
"Yeah, you see that woman over there?" Rory pointed to Ms. Patty who was standing by the gazebo instructing the girls whenever they needed help. "She teaches it."
"Can I do it too?!" Clara asked excited.
"We'll talk to your mom about it, okay? But for now why don't we go on the Ferris wheel."
"Okay, lets go!" Clara took her hand and led her back to Tristan and Aden. "We're going on the Ferris wheel."
Rory and Clara ended up sitting together on the Ferris wheel.
"Do you like my cousin?" Clara asked as they reached the top.
"Yes, I like Tristan a lot. He's a very good friend."
"No. I mean do you like him, like him." Clara looked at Rory, her eyebrows raised.
"I might. But don't tell him that." Rory smiled down at her.
"I won't, I promise." Clara stuck out her pinkie, "Pinkie swear." Rory hooked pinkies with her. "Now we have to spit."
"Spit?"
"It's part of the pinkie swear." Clara said plainly. So they spat out the side of the cart. Rory hoped it didn't land on anyone.
"I didn't know you had to spit." Rory said when they were done.
"Me and Aden made that part up, it made it less girly. But my Mom gets mad when we do it in the house." Clara looked up at Rory. "Would your Mom let you do it in the house? Because Mom says other children don't do it in the house, but I said maybe they did. So does she?"
Rory winced and her throat closed, "I don't think my Mom would've liked it much either."
"How come we haven't seen your Mom yet? Don't you live here?"
While they were in the carnival Rory had seen many of the Stars Hollow townies who had all been introduced to Clara and Aden. They obviously weren't going to seen Lorelai. "I used to live here." Rory said slowly.
"How come you don't anymore?" Clara asked full of curiosity.
"Because I live with my grandparents now." Rory answered as best she could.
"But why? What about your Mom? Does she live by herself now?"
"No."
"Does she live with you?"
"No." Does this kid ever stop?
"Then where is she?"
"She's not here anymore."
"Where'd she go?"
"Away." Don't cry, don't cry.
"How come?"
"Because she died." There, she said it.
"Oh."
Clara didn't speak for the rest of the ride but she held onto Rory's hand tightly.