Disclaimers: I don't own anything except for Hope, Faith and Dustin.
Author's Note 2004/03/12: Chapter completely revised. I tried to kill every misspelling and grammatical errors but I'm not sure if I won the final battle.
Memories
Chapter 4: The Search
Montreal city
Hope is sitting at her kitchen table in front of her laptop, seeking for phone numbers over the internet. She's kind of worried about Lorelai Leigh Gilmore. She hasn't found any Gilmore listed in Stars Hollow, she found three in Hartford but when she tried to call, two said that they didn't know anyone by the name of Lorelai. The third one…
"Hello, may I please speak with Lorelai Gilmore?" Hope asks.
"Hold on a second." She hears the phone being put on the table and she hears whispers in the back. A woman comes to the phone and asks very politely, "Hello, my maid must have misquote you but she said you wanted to speak with Lorelai Gilmore, is that true?"
"Yes, I'm worried about her; I need to talk to her. Do you know where I could get in touch with her?"
Anger appears in Emily Gilmore's voice, "Is this some kind of cruel joke?"
Confused, Hope says, "No! She…"
She is cut by the woman saying: "Look, you might find my daughter in Star Hollow's graveyard." Emily hangs up the phone leaving a Hope more confused than before.
Dustin enters the room and asking, "Any luck finding Leigh?"
Looking at her husband, Hope replies, "Yes, a woman told me to look for her daughter in Stars Hollow's graveyard. If she's dead, what do you think happened to Leila?" Hope rests her head on table, sorrow covering her face. Dustin walks to his wife, makes her stand up and holds her close.
"What would you say if we were to go spend Christmas in Stars Hollow?"
Giving Dustin a wry smile, "It's too far away; I can't wait three weeks to find out!"
Dustin takes a deep breath, "Okay then, why don't you go and if you're not back in a week, Faith and I will join you."
A smile comes across Hope's features and she exclaims, "You're the best ever!" And she kisses him before going to pack her stuff.
Back In Stars Hollow
Rory is coming out of the shower; Tristan is asleep on the couch with Leila in his arms. A tender smile crosses Rory's features. Leila has accepted and has felt comfortable in her daddy's arms very fast. Rory goes in her old room, takes a book for the shelf and walks back inside the living room. She sits in the rocking chair near the window and watch over Tristan and Leila while they're sleeping. After an hour of reading, she closes her eyes and falls asleep.
"Yahhhhhh! Whayahhhhhh!"
Hearing her daughter cry, Rory wakes up immediately. She sees Tristan rocking Leila and whispering soft words. He tries to calm her down but has no experience with babies. He doesn't know what to do, looks up and sees Rory smiling at him, "Rory, I need help! I don't understand what she wants!"
"From the smell in the room I say she needs a diaper change." Tristan makes a gesture to give Leila to Rory but she just smiles more and says, "You need to learn. It's easy, I'll guide you." A horrified look appears on his smooth features and Rory adds, "Come on! You're a big boy; she's not going to hurt you!"
Rory walks to her room to get the baby's stuff and hears him mutters, "But what if I hurt her?"
"Hope, you can't leave now!"
"I have to, visit hours are finished."
"But I don't know how to take care of a baby! What if she wakes up? What if she needs a diaper change? What if she cries? What if I hurt her?"
"You have to learn, that's the way it works."
"But the only contact I had with children happened after a fire, I was to entertain them and I was bad!"
Laughing softy, Hope says, "For now, you have to learn to hold her, so get up I'll show you how!"
Pain strikes Leigh's face has she gets up. She asks, "How long will that hurt?"
Hope smiles and shows her how to take the baby, making sure the neck is supported, how to change the diaper… Just before leaving, she says, "I must say, you're a natural with her. Try to get some sleep, I'll be back tomorrow."
Stars Hollow, Luke's dinner
Hope sits on a stool at the counter; she has looked around town, looking for a cemetery with no luck. She has rent a room at a local Inn 'The dragon fly' a really nice place. Now she is extenuated, she is starving. A man with a backward hat comes in front of her and asks with a grumpy voice, "Ready to order?"
"Yes, I'll have a hamburger with fries and a coffee."
She sees the man blenching a little before he answers, "Coming up."
He disappears behind a door. She starts looking around the place. It is deserted, except for a man near his forty's sitting alone by the windows. The grumpy man returns and walks up to the lonely man, "Kirk, it's the fifth cup of coffee you have, don't you have anything better to do?"
"No, I'm bored, shows are on reruns, and mom is having one of those weeks where she wants me to do everything for her. I just need distractions."
"Can't you find it somewhere else?"
"Nope, I need some action." Kirk replies.
"The dinner is deserted, there's no action here!"
"Well, there's a lady I've never met before, maybe if you deprive her of coffee she'll give a spectacle of herself like Lorelai used to do!"
Not bothering replying, the man goes inside the kitchen. Having heard the words, Hope gets up to join the man named Kirk. "May I sit with you?" Not used to this kind of thing, Kirk shakes his head in agreement. Hope waits for Kirk to speak but since he doesn't say anything, she asks, "I overheard the name Lorelai when you spoke with the waiter. Do you know where I could find her?"
"In the graveyard, where she's been for a while now."
"I don't understand, Leigh told me to look for Lorelai Leigh Gilmore in Stars Hollow. Am I at the right place?"
"Yes, you're in Stars Hollow, you should seek for Rory. Sad story, she left a year and a half ago during her mother's wake. They had the same name and were best friend. Nobody saw her leave, not even the three boys that were in love with her. And we all figured that as long as Tristan or Jess stayed around, we'll know when she comes back." Kirk replies.
"Do you where I could find this Tristan or Jess?"
"Tristan is probably going to come by soon to grab a burger and a coffee. You can't miss him; he's a younger version of Brad Pitt, while Jess is Luke's nephew, he's working here. Well, it was nice meeting you but I have to go, my mom is probably waiting for me." Kirk takes his belonging and leaves the dinner leaving Hope alone.
A young man comes out of a curtain and walks to her asking, "Has Luke take you order already?" Guessing the man with the flannel is Luke, she nods. The dark haired man takes the dirty dishes Kirk left and walks inside the kitchen.
Gilmore House
Leila is asleep in Rory's old bed, surrounded by tone of pillows to make sure she can't fall. Walking inside the living room, she asks Tristan, "How do you feel?"
Raising his head, Tristan looks at Rory with tired eyes, "Happy, sad, confused, I don't know."
Sitting down beside him, Rory takes his hand in hers, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Slightly moving his head, "Not really."
"Do you want to do something?"
"Eat junk food and watch a movie would be great. What do you think?"
"I would love that."
Smiling a bit Tristan takes Rory in his arms and whispers, "Have I told you how much I'm happy you're back?"
Smiling, Rory hold him back, "Yes, you have. Have I told you how much I missed you?"
Looking into her eyes he replies, "No, you haven't. How much have you missed me?"
"I cried myself to sleep every night, the only comfort I had was thinking of you."
Tristan smiles than he kisses her, a soft kiss filled with love. "What would you say if I go to Luke's and bring back burgers, fries and tones of coffee?"
"I missed Luke's coffee so much!" Giving Rory one last kiss, Tristan gets up saying, "I'll be back soon."
Luke's dinner
Hope is eating her meal when a young version of Brad Pitt comes in. She wants to get up and go to him. She wants to ask him about Leigh but something is holding her back and she looks and listens from her place.
"Hey, Jess! Can I have four burgers, four fries and eight coffees to go?"
"Tristan, why don't you take a night off? It's freezing outside. Why don't you stay here instead of sitting on the porch all alone waiting for her?"
"I can't."
Jess takes a deep breath, "You look like you haven't sleep for the last year, your eyes are red, and you still hope she'll come back. You have to move on! I have, Dean has, now it's your turn!"
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Will you keep a secret between us for a while?" Tristan asks.
"You know I'll keep you secrets, I couldn't think of sharing them with anybody except the whole town, so spill!"
A smirk appears on Tristan face while he replies, "Please, I really need to talk to someone."
"You know I loved her right?"
"And you knew I love her too."
"I used to hate you because you were some kind of competition for me."
"And now?"
"I moved on and our love for her brought us close. Move on Tristan. She's not coming back."
"What if she comes back tomorrow? Will we go back to hating each other?"
"No. I'll still love her but I'll let her free."
"I'm a daddy."
Hearing Tristan's words, Jess starts to laugh, "Sure, you're the best sugar daddy for every woman on earth. You'll even be more of a sugar daddy the day you'll die!"
"Jess, I'm serious. I'm a daddy, she's beautiful, and she's seven months old. She has my eyes."
Stunned, Jess replies, "Congratulation, who's the mommy?"
"Rory."
Still sitting on her chair, Hope thinks 'I found her. I just have to follow him now.'
Author's Note: Every comments are welcome, just push the little button.
Siaram