Title: Always You
Chapter 14: 99 Red Balloons
I love all of my reviewers! Love ya, love ya!!!
~~~~
Chris was sitting on the couch the day before Thanksgiving, his laptop on his lap. Files were spread all around him, and he was meticulously working through them, trying to finish up the last of his work before his real holiday began. He'd taken off Wednesday just to catch up, and he'd thought that he and Lorelai had had a doctor's appointment, but she'd called a while ago and said that it was canceled. It was all right to Chris, who just continued working.
Rory was sitting at the counter at Luke's, Jess standing in front of her, and they were chatting about nothing in particular--books, movies, whatever. Every once in a while Jess would leave to fill someone's order, or he'd pour Rory another cup of coffee, but mostly they just talked. Luke didn't glare at them as long as they were talking, instead of kissing, which was okay for Rory. Even though she adored the kissing--they really worked well in that department--she liked the talking almost as much, because that was one of the reasons she'd been drawn to Jess in the first place.
Lorelai had spent the last hour laid out across a bench on the Inn's grounds. Her ears were covered by the headphones of her Walkman, and the tape was an eightie's mix tape that Chris had made a while back, one day when Lorelai was feeling particularly crappy. Lorelai was perfectly content waiting out the rest of her work day outside, because the weather was that perfect temperature, just between hot and cold, even if it was late November. Lorelai's hands stayed on her six-month pregnant stomach, feeling her little one moving around, and songs that reminded her of her first pregnancy flowed around her ears.
You and I in a little toy shop, Nena sang, not in German, but in English,
Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got.
Set them free at the break of dawn,
'Til one by one, they were gone
Back at base, bugs in the software
Flash the message "something's out there"
Floatin' in the summer sky
Ninety-nine red balloons go by. . .
The soft beat of the song faded away and the pop beat really started. Chris gathered the last of his papers and stuffed them into the manilla folder at his right side. He picked up that folder and the rest of the stack, arranged them so they looked business-like, and slid them into his briefcase. He set his laptop on the coffee table, turned the volume on the puny speakers all the way up, stood, and started dancing, the kind of stupid dance he'd done when Nena had first come out with the German version of "99 Luftballoons."
Ninety-nine red balloons
Floatin' in the summer sky
Panic bells, it's red alert
There's something here from somewhere else
The war machine springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky
Ninety-nine red balloons go by.
Rory nodded her head to the beat of the song, snapping on the drum beats. Jess shook his head and reached out a hand to lead her upstairs. She took it, grabbed the radio, and followed him, still dancing. Jess, just thankful she'd stopped singing, allowed himself to be led in a funky little dance she was doing, moving to the beat.
Ninety-nine decision street
Ninety-nine ministers meet
To worry, worry, super-scurry
Call the troops out in a hurry
"This is what we've waited for.
"This is it, boys, this is war!"
The president is on the line as ninety-nine red balloons go by.
The frenzied beat of the drums slowed down a little, and Lorelai, now sitting up, felt the baby slow down too. He'd been jumping around for a while, and Lorelai was thrilled to learn that her baby had his mother and father's taste in music. Lorelai nodded her head to the right on every drum beat, and before long, she felt like she was re-enacting "A Night At The Roxbury." But she didn't care.
Ninety-nine knights of the air
While super high-tech jet fighters
Everyone's a silver hero
Everyone's a Captain Kirk
With orders to identify, to clarify and classify
Scramble in the summer sky
Ninety-nine red balloons go by
Rory had started laughing at the "Captain Kirk" and hadn't stopped since, picturing Kirk in a jet fighter from "Star Wars," going after red balloons. Jess had walked over to Luke's closet and pulled out a ratty old "Star Trek" shirt, and that certainly didn't help matters.
As ninety-nine red balloons go by
Chris's dance was so embarrassing, that even though he was alone, he almost didn't want to do it. After a while he started moving and dancing like Emilio Estevez in "The Breakfast Club," kicking and bobbing his head around.
Ninety-nine dreams I have had
In every one a red balloon
It's all over and I'm standing pretty
In this dust that was a city
If I could find a souvenier
Just to prove the world was here
And here is a red balloon
I think of you
And let it go. . . .
The pop beat faded away, and the soft music started back up. Lorelai sang along to the anti-war song as she walked back into the Inn, her hand unconsciously rubbing her stomach. Nena's voice faded out, and then finally the sound of the keyboard, and Lorelai pressed stop on her Walkman, slipped her headphones off, and signed out for the day.
Chapter 14: 99 Red Balloons
I love all of my reviewers! Love ya, love ya!!!
~~~~
Chris was sitting on the couch the day before Thanksgiving, his laptop on his lap. Files were spread all around him, and he was meticulously working through them, trying to finish up the last of his work before his real holiday began. He'd taken off Wednesday just to catch up, and he'd thought that he and Lorelai had had a doctor's appointment, but she'd called a while ago and said that it was canceled. It was all right to Chris, who just continued working.
Rory was sitting at the counter at Luke's, Jess standing in front of her, and they were chatting about nothing in particular--books, movies, whatever. Every once in a while Jess would leave to fill someone's order, or he'd pour Rory another cup of coffee, but mostly they just talked. Luke didn't glare at them as long as they were talking, instead of kissing, which was okay for Rory. Even though she adored the kissing--they really worked well in that department--she liked the talking almost as much, because that was one of the reasons she'd been drawn to Jess in the first place.
Lorelai had spent the last hour laid out across a bench on the Inn's grounds. Her ears were covered by the headphones of her Walkman, and the tape was an eightie's mix tape that Chris had made a while back, one day when Lorelai was feeling particularly crappy. Lorelai was perfectly content waiting out the rest of her work day outside, because the weather was that perfect temperature, just between hot and cold, even if it was late November. Lorelai's hands stayed on her six-month pregnant stomach, feeling her little one moving around, and songs that reminded her of her first pregnancy flowed around her ears.
You and I in a little toy shop, Nena sang, not in German, but in English,
Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got.
Set them free at the break of dawn,
'Til one by one, they were gone
Back at base, bugs in the software
Flash the message "something's out there"
Floatin' in the summer sky
Ninety-nine red balloons go by. . .
The soft beat of the song faded away and the pop beat really started. Chris gathered the last of his papers and stuffed them into the manilla folder at his right side. He picked up that folder and the rest of the stack, arranged them so they looked business-like, and slid them into his briefcase. He set his laptop on the coffee table, turned the volume on the puny speakers all the way up, stood, and started dancing, the kind of stupid dance he'd done when Nena had first come out with the German version of "99 Luftballoons."
Ninety-nine red balloons
Floatin' in the summer sky
Panic bells, it's red alert
There's something here from somewhere else
The war machine springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky
Ninety-nine red balloons go by.
Rory nodded her head to the beat of the song, snapping on the drum beats. Jess shook his head and reached out a hand to lead her upstairs. She took it, grabbed the radio, and followed him, still dancing. Jess, just thankful she'd stopped singing, allowed himself to be led in a funky little dance she was doing, moving to the beat.
Ninety-nine decision street
Ninety-nine ministers meet
To worry, worry, super-scurry
Call the troops out in a hurry
"This is what we've waited for.
"This is it, boys, this is war!"
The president is on the line as ninety-nine red balloons go by.
The frenzied beat of the drums slowed down a little, and Lorelai, now sitting up, felt the baby slow down too. He'd been jumping around for a while, and Lorelai was thrilled to learn that her baby had his mother and father's taste in music. Lorelai nodded her head to the right on every drum beat, and before long, she felt like she was re-enacting "A Night At The Roxbury." But she didn't care.
Ninety-nine knights of the air
While super high-tech jet fighters
Everyone's a silver hero
Everyone's a Captain Kirk
With orders to identify, to clarify and classify
Scramble in the summer sky
Ninety-nine red balloons go by
Rory had started laughing at the "Captain Kirk" and hadn't stopped since, picturing Kirk in a jet fighter from "Star Wars," going after red balloons. Jess had walked over to Luke's closet and pulled out a ratty old "Star Trek" shirt, and that certainly didn't help matters.
As ninety-nine red balloons go by
Chris's dance was so embarrassing, that even though he was alone, he almost didn't want to do it. After a while he started moving and dancing like Emilio Estevez in "The Breakfast Club," kicking and bobbing his head around.
Ninety-nine dreams I have had
In every one a red balloon
It's all over and I'm standing pretty
In this dust that was a city
If I could find a souvenier
Just to prove the world was here
And here is a red balloon
I think of you
And let it go. . . .
The pop beat faded away, and the soft music started back up. Lorelai sang along to the anti-war song as she walked back into the Inn, her hand unconsciously rubbing her stomach. Nena's voice faded out, and then finally the sound of the keyboard, and Lorelai pressed stop on her Walkman, slipped her headphones off, and signed out for the day.