Title: Life As I Know It
Chapter 14: Settling In
Disclaimer: Don't own the Gilmore Girls; sorry to disappoint you.
~~~~~~
Week 2
Lorelai unlocked the door to her apartment. She backed into the room, her arms filled with a pack of diapers, a roll of fabric, and Rory in her car seat. Lorelai threw the keys on a table near the door and dropped the diapers and fabric. She picked her way through the clothes strewn all over the floor and dropped the car seat softly on her bed and picked up the ringing phone.
"Hello?" she answered wearily.
"Lorelai, this is your father." Dad, this is your daughter, Lorelai thought but didn't say.
"Hi, Dad." Lorelai started rocking the car seat on the bed, trying to get the screaming baby to calm down.
"Uh, hello." There was an awkward pause.
"Dad, why'd you call?" Lorelai cut to the chase; she had things to do.
"To get you to come home."
"Wow, Dad, right to the point. Mom's not in the room, huh?"
"Uh, no, she's not. But we both want you to come home."
"I know." Another, longer pause.
"Are you coming?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Dad, I already told you. I need to do this for me. And I'm sorry, but right now, I can't come home."
"Alright." Richard sighed. "Goodbye, Lorelai."
"Bye." Lorelai hung up the phone. She looked at the now sleeping Rory. She unbuckled the car seat and lifted Rory out. Rory fussed and Lorelai rocked her as she looked around her apartment. It was actually the potting shed behind the Inn. Mia, the owner of Independence Inn, had surprised Lorelai with it only a few days before. There was a bathtub behind a curtain and a nice-looking bed that Lorelai had saved from storage. Lorelai's suitcase stood in the back, empty, and her clothes were in a modest little dresser, with one drawer pulled out for Rory. Lorelai placed Rory on top of the piles of baby clothes and blankets. Rory moved a little but settled down, and Lorelai relaxed for the first time in twenty hours. She collapsed on the bed. She had gotten almost no sleep for two weeks. Rory slept all day and played all night, the opposite of Lorelai.
~~~~~
Week 5
Lorelai spent her free time for five weeks making a dress for herself and one for Rory, and now the moment of truth was here. She boarded a bus for Hartford, spending the trip staring at the sleeping Rory and seeing Christopher. Lorelai steeled her nerves and entered the Gilmore house, handing her coat, Rory's coat, and the car seat to the maid who opened the door. She then carried cute little half-awake Rory through the house, navigating the halls without looking up. She made it to the large sitting room, and stopped. She kept her eyes on Rory for a minute and then looked up, only to find that she knew no one at the Christmas party. She breathed a sigh of relief and made her way through the crowd to her parents. She heard the whispers but ignored them. Her baby, her business.
"Lor."
The whisper came near her ear. Lorelai ignored it. He went to California over a month ago. Their parents weren't on speaking terms. It wasn't even Christmas for another two weeks. What would he be doing here? But, still, it sounded just like him. And, maybe it was him. Lorelai spun around to face him, but he wasn't there. Her face fell and she continued toward her parents, passing a waiter with a tray of apple tarts on the way. She grabbed a few and showed one to Rory.
"You will love these, too, if you're really my kid."
Lorelai popped a tart in her mouth and stopped in front of her parents seconds later. They were surprised to see her, and she spent about two minutes chewing before she could swallow.
"Hi."
"What are you doing here?" Emily looked weak and pale.
"I've never missed a Christmas party, I can't stop now. And I brought you a present."
"Really? What?"
Lorelai unwrapped the blanket from around Rory and showed the five-week-old baby in all her glory. She handed her baby to her mother. Emily smiled, and Rory smiled her first smile back.
~~~~~~~~~
Month 6
Lorelai woke up at four o'clock in the morning on purpose. She knew that later in the day she'd think she was crazy, but today was important. Lorelai picked the sleeping Rory out of the car seat where Lorelai had left her three hours ago. Rory stretched and yawned. Lorelai waited until three minutes after four, and then whispered, "Happy first half-birthday, baby girl." Rory smiled and Lorelai smiled back.
~~~~~~~~
Month 9
"No, sweetie, stay on the bed."
Lorelai, the Inn's brand-new seamstress, was using her brand-new sewing machine to repair a huge hole in a very pretty dress. Rory had recently learned how to crawl and Lorelai knew she couldn't make trouble on the bed, so that's where she stayed. The phone rang, and multi-tasker Lorelai grabbed Rory from going off the bed with one hand and answered the phone in the other.
"Hello?"
"Lor."
"Chris."
"How's it going?"
"Good."
"How's Rory?"
"Great?"
"Walking yet?"
"Me? Yes, I don't have a car."
"Good for you. Is Rory walking yet?"
"No. Crawling."
"Wow. Good for her."
"Yeah. It's a little hard on her already exhausted mother. I've lost all my baby weight, though."
"Good."
"Yeah."
"Can I talk to her?"
"Sure."
Lorelai pulled Rory into her lap and held the reciever to her ear. Rory's eyes lit up as she heard Christopher's voice. She said her only word, "Bye-bye" and crawled off. Lorelai lifted the phone to her ear only to hear a dial tone.
"Luv ya, Christopher." Lorelai hung up the phone.
~~~~~~~
Year 1
Mia threw Rory a birthday party in the Inn's dining room. The big dessert special was a big cake all the guests got. The cook also made Rory a little cake for her to dig into. The staff all showed up at the party; in twos and threes, on their breaks. Rory got presents from all of them, and congratulations from the guests. By the end of the night, when Rory had cake on all of her presents and in her hair, Lorelai decided it was time to take her home.
Lorelai unlocked the door to their apartment, and the girls entered the room, Lorelai loaded down with presents and Rory trailing behind, equally loaded down. Lorelai dropped her pile on a table and Rory dropped her pile on the floor next to the table. Lorelai scooped up Rory and fell on the bed, soliciting a string of giggles from Rory, exactly what she wanted.
"Did you have a good birthday?"
Rory nodded.
"Did you like the party?"
Rory nodded emphatically.
"What'd you like the most?"
Rory thought for a minute. "Cake!" she finally shouted.
"Oh, really?" Lorelai laughed. "Can I take your presents back, then?"
"No!"
"Did you like your presents?"
"Yes!"
"What was your favorite?"
Rory walked over to the piles and thoughtfully looked at them. She slowly extracted a velvet jewelry case and opened it. Out spilled a gold locket. Rory stuck it in the pocket of her overalls and patted it. She turned back to the piles and extracted a sparkly pink sweater. She pulled it on and padded back over to the bed where Lorelai lay stretched out looking at Rory.
"You like my present and Daddy's present, huh?"
"Pretty." Rory nodded and stroked her sweater.
"Thank you, sweetie." The phone started ringing. "Oh, the phone's ringing! Do you think I should answer it?" Rory nodded. "Yeah? Okay." Lorelai rolled over the bed and came to a sitting position next to the bedside table and the phone. Rory padded over to the window and looked at the Inn. Lorelai answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Can I speak to Rory, Lor?"
"Christopher, it's midnight! What if we were sleeping?"
"Are you?"
"Well, no, but--"
"I know you too well, Lorelai. Can I talk to Rory?"
"Why are you calling now, anyway? Why not just wait till tomorrow?"
"There was traffic! And besides, tomorrow's not her birthday!"
"What do you mean, there was traffic? Why would that affect your phone call?"
"Daddy!" Rory pointed out the window.
"Yes, sweetie, I'm talking to Daddy."
"Daddy!" Rory jabbed her finger toward the window and jumped up and down excitedly.
"What?" Lorelai ignored Christopher on the other end of the phone and walked over to the window. She saw Christopher standing in a window in the Inn. Lorelai threw the phone down, picked Rory up, and raced out the door.
~~~~
Christopher spent a few days on the couch in the shed. Just when they were getting used to him being there and Lorelai was starting to forgive him, she woke up one morning to find him gone. She was only slightly surprised.
~~~~~~
Year 2
Lorelai was promoted to a job at the front desk and bought herself her first dress in two years. Christopher called every Wednesday but Lorelai forbade him to come and disappoint Rory again. He obliged, and Rory's birthday came and went without a sign of Christopher, and Lorelai's heart fell with each passing day.
~~~~~~
Year 3
Lorelai and Rory spent nights sitting on a chair outside facing the Inn. They watched the lights of parties and read the complete works of Dr. Suess.
~~~~~
Year 4
Lorelai was promoted to desk manager. Rory spent more time on the sofas in the Inn reading books (or just looking at pictures.) The first whole book she read was "Go Dog Go!"
~~~~
Year 5
Rory headed off to kindergarten with a book under each arm and more in her backpack. Lorelai celbrated her twenty-first birthday and her promotion to assistant manager of the whole Inn the same day. Rory helped celebrate by being her mother's dancing partner to the Bangles and the Go-Go's.
~~~~~
Year 6
"Hi, sweetie, how was school?"
"Good." Rory settled into her chair behind the front desk at the Inn. "I finished all the Amelia Bedelias in the school library."
"That's great. Hey, don't you wanna know what I did today?"
Rory put down the book she was reading. "What?"
"I got promoted!"
"Mommy! That's great! Why did you let me babble on about Amelia Bedelia? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Oh, never mind about that. Guess what els is happening?"
"What?"
"We're moving to a house!"
"Really? That's wonderful!"
"I know! You wanna go see it?"
"Okay!" Rory put her books away and jumped up.
"Okay! Hey, Jimmy, watch the desk."
"Whatever." Jimmy waved a hand and continued staring at his magazine.
"I can leave in the middle of the day, cause I'm the manager of the Inn."
"That's so cool, Mom."
"I know!"
They squealed and left the Inn.
Chapter 14: Settling In
Disclaimer: Don't own the Gilmore Girls; sorry to disappoint you.
~~~~~~
Week 2
Lorelai unlocked the door to her apartment. She backed into the room, her arms filled with a pack of diapers, a roll of fabric, and Rory in her car seat. Lorelai threw the keys on a table near the door and dropped the diapers and fabric. She picked her way through the clothes strewn all over the floor and dropped the car seat softly on her bed and picked up the ringing phone.
"Hello?" she answered wearily.
"Lorelai, this is your father." Dad, this is your daughter, Lorelai thought but didn't say.
"Hi, Dad." Lorelai started rocking the car seat on the bed, trying to get the screaming baby to calm down.
"Uh, hello." There was an awkward pause.
"Dad, why'd you call?" Lorelai cut to the chase; she had things to do.
"To get you to come home."
"Wow, Dad, right to the point. Mom's not in the room, huh?"
"Uh, no, she's not. But we both want you to come home."
"I know." Another, longer pause.
"Are you coming?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Dad, I already told you. I need to do this for me. And I'm sorry, but right now, I can't come home."
"Alright." Richard sighed. "Goodbye, Lorelai."
"Bye." Lorelai hung up the phone. She looked at the now sleeping Rory. She unbuckled the car seat and lifted Rory out. Rory fussed and Lorelai rocked her as she looked around her apartment. It was actually the potting shed behind the Inn. Mia, the owner of Independence Inn, had surprised Lorelai with it only a few days before. There was a bathtub behind a curtain and a nice-looking bed that Lorelai had saved from storage. Lorelai's suitcase stood in the back, empty, and her clothes were in a modest little dresser, with one drawer pulled out for Rory. Lorelai placed Rory on top of the piles of baby clothes and blankets. Rory moved a little but settled down, and Lorelai relaxed for the first time in twenty hours. She collapsed on the bed. She had gotten almost no sleep for two weeks. Rory slept all day and played all night, the opposite of Lorelai.
~~~~~
Week 5
Lorelai spent her free time for five weeks making a dress for herself and one for Rory, and now the moment of truth was here. She boarded a bus for Hartford, spending the trip staring at the sleeping Rory and seeing Christopher. Lorelai steeled her nerves and entered the Gilmore house, handing her coat, Rory's coat, and the car seat to the maid who opened the door. She then carried cute little half-awake Rory through the house, navigating the halls without looking up. She made it to the large sitting room, and stopped. She kept her eyes on Rory for a minute and then looked up, only to find that she knew no one at the Christmas party. She breathed a sigh of relief and made her way through the crowd to her parents. She heard the whispers but ignored them. Her baby, her business.
"Lor."
The whisper came near her ear. Lorelai ignored it. He went to California over a month ago. Their parents weren't on speaking terms. It wasn't even Christmas for another two weeks. What would he be doing here? But, still, it sounded just like him. And, maybe it was him. Lorelai spun around to face him, but he wasn't there. Her face fell and she continued toward her parents, passing a waiter with a tray of apple tarts on the way. She grabbed a few and showed one to Rory.
"You will love these, too, if you're really my kid."
Lorelai popped a tart in her mouth and stopped in front of her parents seconds later. They were surprised to see her, and she spent about two minutes chewing before she could swallow.
"Hi."
"What are you doing here?" Emily looked weak and pale.
"I've never missed a Christmas party, I can't stop now. And I brought you a present."
"Really? What?"
Lorelai unwrapped the blanket from around Rory and showed the five-week-old baby in all her glory. She handed her baby to her mother. Emily smiled, and Rory smiled her first smile back.
~~~~~~~~~
Month 6
Lorelai woke up at four o'clock in the morning on purpose. She knew that later in the day she'd think she was crazy, but today was important. Lorelai picked the sleeping Rory out of the car seat where Lorelai had left her three hours ago. Rory stretched and yawned. Lorelai waited until three minutes after four, and then whispered, "Happy first half-birthday, baby girl." Rory smiled and Lorelai smiled back.
~~~~~~~~
Month 9
"No, sweetie, stay on the bed."
Lorelai, the Inn's brand-new seamstress, was using her brand-new sewing machine to repair a huge hole in a very pretty dress. Rory had recently learned how to crawl and Lorelai knew she couldn't make trouble on the bed, so that's where she stayed. The phone rang, and multi-tasker Lorelai grabbed Rory from going off the bed with one hand and answered the phone in the other.
"Hello?"
"Lor."
"Chris."
"How's it going?"
"Good."
"How's Rory?"
"Great?"
"Walking yet?"
"Me? Yes, I don't have a car."
"Good for you. Is Rory walking yet?"
"No. Crawling."
"Wow. Good for her."
"Yeah. It's a little hard on her already exhausted mother. I've lost all my baby weight, though."
"Good."
"Yeah."
"Can I talk to her?"
"Sure."
Lorelai pulled Rory into her lap and held the reciever to her ear. Rory's eyes lit up as she heard Christopher's voice. She said her only word, "Bye-bye" and crawled off. Lorelai lifted the phone to her ear only to hear a dial tone.
"Luv ya, Christopher." Lorelai hung up the phone.
~~~~~~~
Year 1
Mia threw Rory a birthday party in the Inn's dining room. The big dessert special was a big cake all the guests got. The cook also made Rory a little cake for her to dig into. The staff all showed up at the party; in twos and threes, on their breaks. Rory got presents from all of them, and congratulations from the guests. By the end of the night, when Rory had cake on all of her presents and in her hair, Lorelai decided it was time to take her home.
Lorelai unlocked the door to their apartment, and the girls entered the room, Lorelai loaded down with presents and Rory trailing behind, equally loaded down. Lorelai dropped her pile on a table and Rory dropped her pile on the floor next to the table. Lorelai scooped up Rory and fell on the bed, soliciting a string of giggles from Rory, exactly what she wanted.
"Did you have a good birthday?"
Rory nodded.
"Did you like the party?"
Rory nodded emphatically.
"What'd you like the most?"
Rory thought for a minute. "Cake!" she finally shouted.
"Oh, really?" Lorelai laughed. "Can I take your presents back, then?"
"No!"
"Did you like your presents?"
"Yes!"
"What was your favorite?"
Rory walked over to the piles and thoughtfully looked at them. She slowly extracted a velvet jewelry case and opened it. Out spilled a gold locket. Rory stuck it in the pocket of her overalls and patted it. She turned back to the piles and extracted a sparkly pink sweater. She pulled it on and padded back over to the bed where Lorelai lay stretched out looking at Rory.
"You like my present and Daddy's present, huh?"
"Pretty." Rory nodded and stroked her sweater.
"Thank you, sweetie." The phone started ringing. "Oh, the phone's ringing! Do you think I should answer it?" Rory nodded. "Yeah? Okay." Lorelai rolled over the bed and came to a sitting position next to the bedside table and the phone. Rory padded over to the window and looked at the Inn. Lorelai answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Can I speak to Rory, Lor?"
"Christopher, it's midnight! What if we were sleeping?"
"Are you?"
"Well, no, but--"
"I know you too well, Lorelai. Can I talk to Rory?"
"Why are you calling now, anyway? Why not just wait till tomorrow?"
"There was traffic! And besides, tomorrow's not her birthday!"
"What do you mean, there was traffic? Why would that affect your phone call?"
"Daddy!" Rory pointed out the window.
"Yes, sweetie, I'm talking to Daddy."
"Daddy!" Rory jabbed her finger toward the window and jumped up and down excitedly.
"What?" Lorelai ignored Christopher on the other end of the phone and walked over to the window. She saw Christopher standing in a window in the Inn. Lorelai threw the phone down, picked Rory up, and raced out the door.
~~~~
Christopher spent a few days on the couch in the shed. Just when they were getting used to him being there and Lorelai was starting to forgive him, she woke up one morning to find him gone. She was only slightly surprised.
~~~~~~
Year 2
Lorelai was promoted to a job at the front desk and bought herself her first dress in two years. Christopher called every Wednesday but Lorelai forbade him to come and disappoint Rory again. He obliged, and Rory's birthday came and went without a sign of Christopher, and Lorelai's heart fell with each passing day.
~~~~~~
Year 3
Lorelai and Rory spent nights sitting on a chair outside facing the Inn. They watched the lights of parties and read the complete works of Dr. Suess.
~~~~~
Year 4
Lorelai was promoted to desk manager. Rory spent more time on the sofas in the Inn reading books (or just looking at pictures.) The first whole book she read was "Go Dog Go!"
~~~~
Year 5
Rory headed off to kindergarten with a book under each arm and more in her backpack. Lorelai celbrated her twenty-first birthday and her promotion to assistant manager of the whole Inn the same day. Rory helped celebrate by being her mother's dancing partner to the Bangles and the Go-Go's.
~~~~~
Year 6
"Hi, sweetie, how was school?"
"Good." Rory settled into her chair behind the front desk at the Inn. "I finished all the Amelia Bedelias in the school library."
"That's great. Hey, don't you wanna know what I did today?"
Rory put down the book she was reading. "What?"
"I got promoted!"
"Mommy! That's great! Why did you let me babble on about Amelia Bedelia? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Oh, never mind about that. Guess what els is happening?"
"What?"
"We're moving to a house!"
"Really? That's wonderful!"
"I know! You wanna go see it?"
"Okay!" Rory put her books away and jumped up.
"Okay! Hey, Jimmy, watch the desk."
"Whatever." Jimmy waved a hand and continued staring at his magazine.
"I can leave in the middle of the day, cause I'm the manager of the Inn."
"That's so cool, Mom."
"I know!"
They squealed and left the Inn.