And Then There's My Path. . . Author: Actrez Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls belongs to the brilliant Amy Sherman-Palladino along with the many other wonderful producers, etc. that make this show possible. Date started: June 26, 2003 Rating: PG Summary: Moments of Lorelai and Rory's lives from the time Lorelai stops being a child to the first episode. Author's Note: I've tried to use as much information about Lorelai and Rory that the show has given us thus far. Sorry if I missed anything.

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There are many paths in life. There's the- Hey you're cute and sure
I'll marry you after graduation and med school and hey can you drive
Susie to soccer today 'cause I have a pedicure path. And then they're
my path-where I found myself sixteen and pregnant and I realized-I
have to get a job, I have to raise a kid. And being me-I have to do it
all by myself. Not easy. But this thing with my path is when I reached
the end, I turned around and realized I'd ended up someplace really
good.

Part 1

"Lorelai dinner!" Lorelai heard her mom call from downstairs. She ignored it and continued to focus on the timer that was slowly ticking down the seconds. Her gaze moved to the small stick sitting next to the timer. A loud buzzer filled the room causing her to jump. She stood on shaky legs and grabbed the pregnancy test, "Oh God," she gasped.

"Lorelai," her mother called from outside the door, "dinner is ready."

"I'll be there in a second," she said, surprised her voice didn't quiver.

Her mom sighed and a few seconds later Lorelai could hear her walking away. She threw the test away and splashed some cold water on her face before opening the door and heading down for dinner.

"Honestly Lorelai," her mother said as Lorelai sat down, "It's your birthday dinner, I would think you would at least be on time."

"Let's eat, shall we?" Richard asked from the other end of the table.

Lorelai sighed and began picking at her food, "Why aren't you eating?" Emily asked her.

She groaned, swallowing the bile rising in her throat, "The pate smells like Clorox," she said, pushing her plate away from her.

Emily let her fork drop onto her plate loudly, "Lorelai-"

"I'm not going to eat food that smells like a cleaning product Mom."

"It does not smell like a cleaning product," Emily insisted.

"Yes it does, it smells like Clorox."

"Lorelai can you please just sit through one dinner and be civil."

"I just said it smells like Clorox! It's not like you made it."

"Lorelai-"

She gagged and shoved her chair back, "I can't sit by this stuff anymore," she said before leaving, while her mother called after her. She collapsed down onto her bed with a sigh. Her hands fell to her stomach and tears instantly filled her eyes. A knock on her window broke the stillness of the room and caused her to jump.

She wiped at her eyes and walked over to the window, "Happy Birthday," Chris greeted her with a quick kiss before noticing her red eyes, "What's wrong."

Lorelai sighed and leaned against the window, "Lor?" Chris questioned when she still didn't respond.

"I'm pregnant."

He stared at her blankly for a moment, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

~~~~~

The room was quiet as they ate dinner, the tension from Lorelai and Emily's last argument still hanging over them.

Lorelai glanced down at her father. She wondered how far through her nine months she could get before she had to tell her parents. Her hand feel to her slightly bulging stomach that she had managed to hid under an oversized shirt. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath, "I'm pregnant."

A short silence followed before Emily spoke, "Lorelai that is not something to joke about."

"I'm not joking."

The silence that followed was only broken by the clatter of Emily's fork as it fell onto her plate. Lorelai looked from one of her parents to the other. Neither of their faces held any emotion but there was something in their eyes she had never seen before. She wondered for a fleeting moment if her comment had shrunk them. They seemed much smaller than she remembered them being when they had sat down for dinner.

"I'm going upstairs," she said, wanting to get out of the room before her parents had digested the information.

Lorelai was listening to John Mellencamp when her mom walked into her room twenty minutes later, "Lorelai please come downstairs. Christopher and his parents will be here soon." Emily left without waiting for Lorelai's response.

"Great," Lorelai muttered as she followed her mother downstairs.

~~~~~

"There is no discussion on this Lorelai," Emily said as Lorelai sat with Christopher on the couch. "You will get married and raise the baby here."

"You can't make me get married!" she argued.

"Lorelai you are pregnant."

"Oh, thanks for the update."

"When you get pregnant you get married."

"We don't want to get married!"

"Christopher does."

"Stop talking about him like he's not here mom."

Emily ignored her and turned to Christopher, "Do you want to get married?"

Lorelai turned towards him also, looking at him expectantly.

"I think it's the right think to do," he finally answered.

"That's not what she asked," Lorelai told him, "She asked if you want to." He was silent, "Chris you know as well as I do that we can't."

"Then what are we supposed to do Lor?" he demanded.

"We'll figure something out."

"Lorelai you are being completely irresponsible. A child needs a mother and a father."

"It will have that, just because we're not married doesn't mean Chris isn't the baby's father."

"You can't raise a child on your own."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence mom," Lorelai said before standing up and leaving.

"Lorelai," her mom called. She ignored her and continued upstairs.

~~~~~

"Lorelai would you please hurry up, our guests will be arriving any minute," Emily called from the bottom of the stairs.

Lorelai appeared a few seconds later. "Why do I even have to be here tonight mom? They're all your friends," Lorelai muttered, crabby at the idea of this 'little get together' with a hundred plus people and no apple tarts.

"Because you are a part of this family Lorelai," Emily stopped and looked Lorelai over, "That's not the dress I bought you."

"No, it's the dress I bought me."

"What happened to the dress I bought you?"

"It doesn't fit," Lorelai said, gesturing to her expanding stomach.

"Oh." The doorbell rang, stopping the conversation from continuing. "Nancy, please get that," Emily called to their current maid.

"Let the games begin," Lorelai muttered as her mom walked away.

"Richard, the guests are arriving, please get off the phone," Lorelai heard her mother say from her father's office as she went to fix herself a cup of coffee.

Lorelai sat in the living room a few hours later, eating some of the fancy crackers the caterers had provided, and trying to overhear the argument between the couple behind her.

"Lorelai," one of her mother's friends said as she sat down next to her. "How are you feeling?" she asked, staring more at Lorelai's stomach than her face.

It's not like I'm the first person to ever get pregnant, she thought. "Fine," she said, managing a polite smile.

"So have you started planning the wedding yet?"

"I'm not getting married," she told her quickly.

"Oh," the woman seemed shocked by this, "I just assumed you and Christopher would get married since-"

"Well we're not," she told her quickly, "Excuse me," she said before standing up and leaving.

Lorelai walked into the kitchen and found her mother yelling at the cooks to hurry up. "Are you telling people I'm getting married? She demanded.

"Lorelai, what are you talking about?"

"Why did one of your friends just ask me if I'd started planning the wedding?"

"People assume you're getting married Lorelai. That is what you do when you get pregnant."

"And you haven't been telling them I'm not?"

"No."

"Do you think they're just not going to notice?"

"Lorelai I don't want to discuss this. I have guest to attend to," her mom said before leaving the kitchen.

Lorelai let out a frustrated sigh before going over to the freezer and grabbing the pint of chocolate ice cream and heading upstairs.

End of part one.