Paris and Rory sat on the Gilmore couch, staring at the television. Rory
was content to sing along and occasionally toss a piece of popcorn into her
mouth, but Paris was determind to find a logical explanation for
everything.
"I just don't understand. What makes their hair green? Is there a chemical reaction taking place in their bodies that causes it? Is this a discovery we could make? Because you know that it would look wonderful on my application to Harvard if I had discovered a chemical that causes an unnatural hair color in midget men. And the orange skin!"
"Paris, shut up. They have green hair because they're wearing wigs. Their skin is orange because it was the early days of sunless tanner. Now be quiet and watch the movie. I've heard that Harvard rejects anyone who can't sing the Oompa Loompa song on command."
Paris glared at Rory, who smiled innocently and gestured towards the TV.
"Look, the blueberry song is the best song. You have to learn at least this version. Come on—the girl is a giant blueberry with absolutely no pronounced appendages. It doesn't get funnier than that."
Paris sighed, and then forced herself to stop thinking about the hours all of the other Harvard applicants were logging for community service while she sat on a couch and watched 3 foot tall men dance and sing and stand on their hands.
"Where's your mom? I thought she never misses a showing of Willy Wonka."
"She's at work right now. Something about a crisis. Apparently Michel complained about Sookie's blueberry-to-batter ratio in the pancakes, and she blew up. Threw a mixing bowl at him. Now Michel's demanding that another suit be dry-cleaned, and my mom had to see how deep the cut on Sookie's forehead was."
"How did Sookie cut her forehead?"
"The mixing bowl was glass, and when her weapon of choice hit Michel, it then fell on the floor and broke. One of the pieces ricocheted up and hit Sookie in the forehead."
"Wow. Remind me never to get involved in the hotel business."
"Duly noted. Now hush, and watch the movie. You still have to learn the Golden Geeses song."
====
Loralei sighed. It had been a long day, and it was only 2:30. On the upside, the ER staff now knew Sookie by sight, so their wait had decreased significantly. On the downside, Michel wouldn't speak to Sookie until she had apologized. And Sookie wouldn't speak to Michel until he had apologized. Loralei put ten bucks into a pool that said Michel would crack first, due to his daily need for pancakes.
She glanced out of the window as she drove towards the airport. Now that she had time to actually stop and think, she had begun to worry. What should she say to Mia when she picked her up? How do you comfort someone whose child has died, no matter how old that child was? Mia's daughter had already left the house and graduated college by the time Loralei turned up in Stars Hollow with Rory, and Loralei hadn't ever met her. She knew that Mia had been close to her daughter, visiting her quite frequently. She couldn't remember a time when Mia's daughter visited Stars Hollow though. What could be the reason for that?
The exit for the airport appeared, and Loralei eased the Jeep onto the ramp. A few minutes later, she had parked the car and was walking into the terminal.
"Gate A29, A29. Where are the damn baggage claims? I should fly more often.", she muttered to herself as she wandered down the walkway. "Ah-ha! There you are, baggage caroseul! I've found you."
A few minutes later, Loralei spotted Mia walking through the doors that led to the terminals. Mia rushed over to Loralei and hugged her as hard as she possibly could. The two stood like that for several minutes before breaking apart to say their hellos.
Loralei looked at Mia like a concerned mother hen. This woman had done so much for her and for Rory, and she couldn't stand to see her in pain.
"Mia… I'm so sorry."
"Thank you. It's been a difficult few days. The accident actually occurred four days ago. I flew here from the funeral—oh, that's my bag. The navy blue one."
Loralei hefted the bag off of the belt, pulled out the handle, reached for Mia's hand, and began to lead the way out of the airport to the Jeep. They began the drive back to Stars Hollow, Mia explaining more details about the accident, Loralei occasionally lightening the atmosphere with a story about she and Rory's latest escapade.
===
An hour later, Loralei and Mia were seated at the kitchen table of the Gilmore house. Rory and Paris were easily persuaded to leave when Loralei handed them each ten dollars and gave them strict instructions to go to the bookstore and not to come back until they'd found two books neither of them had read before. She figured that would take them at least two hours.
"Mia… you said you needed my help. What can I do? I'll do anything I can."
"Well, Loralei—that means so much to me. But you may want to wait on the unlimited offers of help until you've heard what it is I need help with."
Loralei looked concerned. What could possibly be so big that Mia thought she might actually not want to help? She would do anything for Mia—anything at all.
"Well, try me. What's up?"
Mia sighed, and looked down at her coffee mug, her hands clenched tightly around it.
"My daughter and son-in-law lived in northern Virginia. He worked for the government, she was a high school math teacher. They had a child. Her name is Sara, and she's sixteen. A junior in high school. Excellent student. Atheltic, musically talented, completely unaware of how special and beautiful she is—she reminds me a lot of Rory, actually. I think that she'd rather stop breathing than stop reading."
Loralei smiled. "She sounds like a wonderful kid."
Mia shook her head. "Oh, she is. I don't think I could ask for a better granddaughter. That's not the problem. My son-in-law's parents are deceased, and he has no brothers or sisters. My daughter was my only child, so there are no aunts or uncles. I'm not as young as I once was, Loralei. It wouldn't be fair to a young girl if she was asked to spend her high school and college years residing with me."
Loralei began to get an idea of what Mia's favor might be. She could feel the gears in her head turning as she tried to think.
"Loralei. I know that you're so busy. And I know that Rory means the world to you, and that it's been just the two of you for so long that to add another person, especially another kid the same age as Rory is, into the mix would be so difficult. But I just hate for Sara to have to relocate across the country to live in a neighborhood where driving above 15 MPH is seen as speeding. It wouldn't be the end of the world, but I just want to try any other option first."
Loralei made a decision in that split second. Sure, she was used to it being just she and Rory. But this kid deserved some resemblence of a normal high school life, even if Stars Hollow would be an odd place to try to find that.
"Mia, don't even think for a second that I wouldn't want to do this. I think it sounds like a wonderful idea. And hopefully this will get you to visit here more often. The only thing is that I will have to talk to Rory. I can't decide until I've heard what her thoughts are."
"Loralei, I completely understand. Talk to Rory when she gets back from the bookstore. We'll have dinner tonight at the Inn, and you can let me know what your decision is then. If it's yes, we can go over the specifics—where Sara will go to school, how much money you'll need each month for her food and clothing and things of that sort. I'm in need of a rest though, so I'm going to go check into a room. Why don't we meet for dinner at seven?"
"That sounds great. We'll see you at seven."
===
Loralei heard the door slam, followed by Rory's shout of "Mom! I'm home! We got the books, and Paris's driver picked her up from the bookstore because her nanny wanted her to go home for dinner. Something about her never getting enough vitamins when she spends too much time in Stars Hollow. Rich people are crazy."
Rory flopped onto the couch next to her mom as she finished up her rambling of information. She glanced over at Loralei, who was figeting with the corner of a throw pillow and staring absentmindedly at an infomercial for a weight machine.
"Mom? Are you sick?"
"Wha? No, no—why would you think I was sick?"
"Well, you're watching an infomercial for a piece of workout equipment. According to you, the people in the second circle of hell have to spend every minute of eternity using said workout equipment. So, the fact that you're watching it with apparent disregard for the evil it represents leads me to believe that you are not quite all there."
Loralei chuckled and reached for the remote, turning the television off. She shifted on the couch so that she was facing Rory.
"Kiddo, we need to talk. A serious talk. Mia left a little while ago, and she told me what the favor she needs is."
"Oh? Is she OK? I mean, obviously not, since her daughter died, but under the circumstances? Did she need help with the funeral? What is it?"
"She's doing well, sweetie. And the funeral already happened this morning. No, that's not the problem. The thing she needs help with would really change our lives and the way we live them."
Rory looked questioningly at her mother, wondering what this could possibly be about.
"Mia has a granddaughter, honey. She's your age—sixteen. Anyway, it seems that Mia is her only living relative now that her parents are gone. And Mia just doesn't feel that she can give Sara—that's her name—the proper environment she needs while she's in high school and college. She just doesn't think it would be fair for Sara to have to move across the country to live in a retirement neighbornood with Mia while she fnished high school. And so she asked if there was any way Sara could come to live with you and I."
Rory sat, slightly stunned, and tried to process the information her mother had just given her. Another girl? Living in the house? Where would she go to school? At Chilton, or at Stars Hollow High? What would it be like to have a sort of sister living with her? Rory tried to imagine how awful it would feel to be so alone in the world, and in that second, she made her decision.
"Mom, we have to let her. If something ever happened to you, I'd hate to think that people would do whatever they could to make things easier for me."
Loralei smiled at her daughter, and wondered millionth time how she'd ended up with such a great kid.
"OK then. We're agreed. This will be Sara's new home. I thought we could fix the attic up. Clean it out. Make it into a bedroom. We could just buy basic furniture, and let Sara either bring her own things to fix it up with, or we can take her out to get new stuff."
Rory grinned, and nodded her head in agreement. "Aren't we having dinner with Mia tonight?"
"Yup. And seeing as it's already 6:45 and we're supposed to meet her at the Inn at seven, we'd better get going."
The two Gilmores strolled out of the house, electing to walk to dinner since it was such a nice night. Both wondered what life would be like with a third resident in the house. What would Sara be like? What would she look like? How smart was she?
"I just don't understand. What makes their hair green? Is there a chemical reaction taking place in their bodies that causes it? Is this a discovery we could make? Because you know that it would look wonderful on my application to Harvard if I had discovered a chemical that causes an unnatural hair color in midget men. And the orange skin!"
"Paris, shut up. They have green hair because they're wearing wigs. Their skin is orange because it was the early days of sunless tanner. Now be quiet and watch the movie. I've heard that Harvard rejects anyone who can't sing the Oompa Loompa song on command."
Paris glared at Rory, who smiled innocently and gestured towards the TV.
"Look, the blueberry song is the best song. You have to learn at least this version. Come on—the girl is a giant blueberry with absolutely no pronounced appendages. It doesn't get funnier than that."
Paris sighed, and then forced herself to stop thinking about the hours all of the other Harvard applicants were logging for community service while she sat on a couch and watched 3 foot tall men dance and sing and stand on their hands.
"Where's your mom? I thought she never misses a showing of Willy Wonka."
"She's at work right now. Something about a crisis. Apparently Michel complained about Sookie's blueberry-to-batter ratio in the pancakes, and she blew up. Threw a mixing bowl at him. Now Michel's demanding that another suit be dry-cleaned, and my mom had to see how deep the cut on Sookie's forehead was."
"How did Sookie cut her forehead?"
"The mixing bowl was glass, and when her weapon of choice hit Michel, it then fell on the floor and broke. One of the pieces ricocheted up and hit Sookie in the forehead."
"Wow. Remind me never to get involved in the hotel business."
"Duly noted. Now hush, and watch the movie. You still have to learn the Golden Geeses song."
====
Loralei sighed. It had been a long day, and it was only 2:30. On the upside, the ER staff now knew Sookie by sight, so their wait had decreased significantly. On the downside, Michel wouldn't speak to Sookie until she had apologized. And Sookie wouldn't speak to Michel until he had apologized. Loralei put ten bucks into a pool that said Michel would crack first, due to his daily need for pancakes.
She glanced out of the window as she drove towards the airport. Now that she had time to actually stop and think, she had begun to worry. What should she say to Mia when she picked her up? How do you comfort someone whose child has died, no matter how old that child was? Mia's daughter had already left the house and graduated college by the time Loralei turned up in Stars Hollow with Rory, and Loralei hadn't ever met her. She knew that Mia had been close to her daughter, visiting her quite frequently. She couldn't remember a time when Mia's daughter visited Stars Hollow though. What could be the reason for that?
The exit for the airport appeared, and Loralei eased the Jeep onto the ramp. A few minutes later, she had parked the car and was walking into the terminal.
"Gate A29, A29. Where are the damn baggage claims? I should fly more often.", she muttered to herself as she wandered down the walkway. "Ah-ha! There you are, baggage caroseul! I've found you."
A few minutes later, Loralei spotted Mia walking through the doors that led to the terminals. Mia rushed over to Loralei and hugged her as hard as she possibly could. The two stood like that for several minutes before breaking apart to say their hellos.
Loralei looked at Mia like a concerned mother hen. This woman had done so much for her and for Rory, and she couldn't stand to see her in pain.
"Mia… I'm so sorry."
"Thank you. It's been a difficult few days. The accident actually occurred four days ago. I flew here from the funeral—oh, that's my bag. The navy blue one."
Loralei hefted the bag off of the belt, pulled out the handle, reached for Mia's hand, and began to lead the way out of the airport to the Jeep. They began the drive back to Stars Hollow, Mia explaining more details about the accident, Loralei occasionally lightening the atmosphere with a story about she and Rory's latest escapade.
===
An hour later, Loralei and Mia were seated at the kitchen table of the Gilmore house. Rory and Paris were easily persuaded to leave when Loralei handed them each ten dollars and gave them strict instructions to go to the bookstore and not to come back until they'd found two books neither of them had read before. She figured that would take them at least two hours.
"Mia… you said you needed my help. What can I do? I'll do anything I can."
"Well, Loralei—that means so much to me. But you may want to wait on the unlimited offers of help until you've heard what it is I need help with."
Loralei looked concerned. What could possibly be so big that Mia thought she might actually not want to help? She would do anything for Mia—anything at all.
"Well, try me. What's up?"
Mia sighed, and looked down at her coffee mug, her hands clenched tightly around it.
"My daughter and son-in-law lived in northern Virginia. He worked for the government, she was a high school math teacher. They had a child. Her name is Sara, and she's sixteen. A junior in high school. Excellent student. Atheltic, musically talented, completely unaware of how special and beautiful she is—she reminds me a lot of Rory, actually. I think that she'd rather stop breathing than stop reading."
Loralei smiled. "She sounds like a wonderful kid."
Mia shook her head. "Oh, she is. I don't think I could ask for a better granddaughter. That's not the problem. My son-in-law's parents are deceased, and he has no brothers or sisters. My daughter was my only child, so there are no aunts or uncles. I'm not as young as I once was, Loralei. It wouldn't be fair to a young girl if she was asked to spend her high school and college years residing with me."
Loralei began to get an idea of what Mia's favor might be. She could feel the gears in her head turning as she tried to think.
"Loralei. I know that you're so busy. And I know that Rory means the world to you, and that it's been just the two of you for so long that to add another person, especially another kid the same age as Rory is, into the mix would be so difficult. But I just hate for Sara to have to relocate across the country to live in a neighborhood where driving above 15 MPH is seen as speeding. It wouldn't be the end of the world, but I just want to try any other option first."
Loralei made a decision in that split second. Sure, she was used to it being just she and Rory. But this kid deserved some resemblence of a normal high school life, even if Stars Hollow would be an odd place to try to find that.
"Mia, don't even think for a second that I wouldn't want to do this. I think it sounds like a wonderful idea. And hopefully this will get you to visit here more often. The only thing is that I will have to talk to Rory. I can't decide until I've heard what her thoughts are."
"Loralei, I completely understand. Talk to Rory when she gets back from the bookstore. We'll have dinner tonight at the Inn, and you can let me know what your decision is then. If it's yes, we can go over the specifics—where Sara will go to school, how much money you'll need each month for her food and clothing and things of that sort. I'm in need of a rest though, so I'm going to go check into a room. Why don't we meet for dinner at seven?"
"That sounds great. We'll see you at seven."
===
Loralei heard the door slam, followed by Rory's shout of "Mom! I'm home! We got the books, and Paris's driver picked her up from the bookstore because her nanny wanted her to go home for dinner. Something about her never getting enough vitamins when she spends too much time in Stars Hollow. Rich people are crazy."
Rory flopped onto the couch next to her mom as she finished up her rambling of information. She glanced over at Loralei, who was figeting with the corner of a throw pillow and staring absentmindedly at an infomercial for a weight machine.
"Mom? Are you sick?"
"Wha? No, no—why would you think I was sick?"
"Well, you're watching an infomercial for a piece of workout equipment. According to you, the people in the second circle of hell have to spend every minute of eternity using said workout equipment. So, the fact that you're watching it with apparent disregard for the evil it represents leads me to believe that you are not quite all there."
Loralei chuckled and reached for the remote, turning the television off. She shifted on the couch so that she was facing Rory.
"Kiddo, we need to talk. A serious talk. Mia left a little while ago, and she told me what the favor she needs is."
"Oh? Is she OK? I mean, obviously not, since her daughter died, but under the circumstances? Did she need help with the funeral? What is it?"
"She's doing well, sweetie. And the funeral already happened this morning. No, that's not the problem. The thing she needs help with would really change our lives and the way we live them."
Rory looked questioningly at her mother, wondering what this could possibly be about.
"Mia has a granddaughter, honey. She's your age—sixteen. Anyway, it seems that Mia is her only living relative now that her parents are gone. And Mia just doesn't feel that she can give Sara—that's her name—the proper environment she needs while she's in high school and college. She just doesn't think it would be fair for Sara to have to move across the country to live in a retirement neighbornood with Mia while she fnished high school. And so she asked if there was any way Sara could come to live with you and I."
Rory sat, slightly stunned, and tried to process the information her mother had just given her. Another girl? Living in the house? Where would she go to school? At Chilton, or at Stars Hollow High? What would it be like to have a sort of sister living with her? Rory tried to imagine how awful it would feel to be so alone in the world, and in that second, she made her decision.
"Mom, we have to let her. If something ever happened to you, I'd hate to think that people would do whatever they could to make things easier for me."
Loralei smiled at her daughter, and wondered millionth time how she'd ended up with such a great kid.
"OK then. We're agreed. This will be Sara's new home. I thought we could fix the attic up. Clean it out. Make it into a bedroom. We could just buy basic furniture, and let Sara either bring her own things to fix it up with, or we can take her out to get new stuff."
Rory grinned, and nodded her head in agreement. "Aren't we having dinner with Mia tonight?"
"Yup. And seeing as it's already 6:45 and we're supposed to meet her at the Inn at seven, we'd better get going."
The two Gilmores strolled out of the house, electing to walk to dinner since it was such a nice night. Both wondered what life would be like with a third resident in the house. What would Sara be like? What would she look like? How smart was she?
