Disclaimers: I don't own anything except for Hope, Faith and Dustin.

Special thanks to Jayde who takes the time to help me improve!

Memories

Chapter 11: The mistletoe

Rory is feeding Leila her cereal when she hears the front door open. She asks, "Wow, this is a record. Only five minutes to go pick up breakfast at Luke's. You must have been running all the way!"  Instead of hearing an answer, she feels two arms holding her from behind.  A sob and a whisper are heard.

Then the new arrival starts to speak, "It wasn't a cruel rumor!  You're really back!  I arrived this morning and Mama told me that you were back, living in sin with some rich boy and that you had a baby!"

Rory turns around to hold her oldest friend in the world and whispers emotionally, "I'm sorry I disappeared for so long!"

"How can she leave without telling me?!  She's my best friend!  We tell each other everything!"

Tristan tries to calm a hysterical Lane by holding her by the shoulder.  He whispers, "She was my best friend too!  She didn't say goodbye either!"

Thinking that maybe the last two days were her way of saying goodbye, Tristan pushes this thoughts away.  Lane starts to cry and Tristan holds her tight.  Both of their tears are mixed in this tight embrace.

"What am I going to do now?"  Murmurs Lane.

"I'm asking myself the same question."

Leila is crawling on the floor smiling.  Lane immediately falls in love with the baby.  Finally, she asks the question that's been torturing her for the last half hour, "So, who's the father?"

Tristan enters back the kitchen door, carrying a multitude of food from Luke and a lot of coffee.  Lane suddenly understands and asks Tristan, "Why didn't you tell me you knew where she was?"

Tristan smirks while saying, "Because I didn't know."

Lane looks at Rory and accuses, "You kept a serious secret from your best friend for how long?"

"Two days!"

"Rory! Are you almost ready yet?  We're going to be late and you know how Emily tends to be when people are late!"  Rory is tying an earring to her ear while coming down the stairs in a long lilac dress.  Tristan is at a loss of words while he looks at her.

When she finally reaches Tristan, she gives him a light kiss and whispers, "Are you at loss for words?"

Taking Rory in a warm embrace, Tristan captures her lips and mutters, "You look stunning."  Tristan's hands travel between their bodies until he reaches her shoulders.  His hands move around it to rest in the back of her neck.  Rory feels something cold on her skin while Tristan pushes her backward a little.  When he stops, he is met by two questioning turquoise eyes; he chuckles as he raises his head to look at the ceiling declaring, "Poor little things, you've been waiting all day for someone to kiss under you!"  A smile escapes Rory's lips as she leans to give him a tender kiss.

"Why are you staying by the door Tristan?  It's a party; you shouldn't stay in one place for over an hour!"  Tristan smiles at Rory, he raises his eyes and she follows his gaze and sees the mistletoe.  Before she can object, he kisses her to finish by saying, "You wouldn't want to break tradition, would you?"

Rory sees Tristan leaning against a wall.  She walks toward him with Lorelai following her but he joins her midway and kisses her.  Once the embrace is over, she raises her eyes to see a mistletoe hanging on top of their head.

Rory smiles and asks, "Why do you always catch me under the mistletoe?"

"Because you won't let me kiss you otherwise!"

Lorelai looks at her daughter and friend with a tender smile on her lips.

"You know, I would have kissed you without the mistletoe."  Rory says while taking a step back to go look in the mirror what he put around her neck. 

"You wouldn't want to break tradition, would you?"  She looks in the mirror and sees a delicate white gold chain around her neck holding the ring he tried to give her a little while ago.  Turning around to face him, her previous comment is replaced by, "What is this?"

Tristan joins her in front of the mirror and says, "I won't pressure you, but I WANT to marry you.  When you're ready, slide it on your finger, and I'll know."

Rory is walking around her grandparent's house.  She starts to suffocate in this formal party where everybody congratulates her on her upcoming wedding.  Going up the stairs, she passes in front of her room to enter Lorelai's old room.

"Hey. Can I come in?" Lorelai asks as she passes her head in the room.

Without looking up, Rory answers, "It's your room."

Lorelai walks around the room and asks over her shoulder, "How are you doing?"

Looking at her fingers, Rory whispers, "I'm sorry I snapped at Grandma."

Lorelai looks at her daughter with a tender smile and says, "You are, huh? That was a pretty 'Freaky Friday' moment we had back there."

Rory finally looks up and exclaims, "She just went ahead and invited all these kids from Chilton."

Lorelai sits down on the bed beside Rory and asks horrified, "You're kidding. I thought she checked on that with you." 

Raising her tone a little Rory replies, "She didn't ask me or tell me."

"Oh, man, I'm so sorry."

"It just -- I don't know but it really made me mad."

"Oh, honey, why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you were happy. I mean, it's not very often that there's peace between the two of you. I didn't want to screw everything up."

"Rory, I appreciate you wanting Mom and I to get along but you shouldn't keep stuff like that from me."

"I feel terrible. I mean, I've never yelled at her before."

"Listen, you'll apologize, all will be forgotten. You'll see. Man. It's like time has stood still in this room."

"It must be weird for you to be in this room now."

"Yeah, it was weird for me to be in this room then…" pointing to a dollhouse near the window, "You know, they gave this to me with the glass on."

"I now officially know what it feels like to have grown up here."

"It's not official until you're huddled in the corner eating your hair."

Rory lets out a slight laugh then, "Do you remember your last birthday here?"

"Yeah. We had just had a fight and I was lying on the bed just like you are now."

"What did you fight about?"

"Well, I was pregnant."

"Oh, that."

"And I said something at the table about the pate smelling like Clorox and one thing led to another and I wound up here. I hadn't told anybody yet about me. And you."

"That must have been really hard on you."

"Yeah. I remember when I finally told them, it was the only time they ever looked small to me."

Starting to get up from her position, Rory says, "I guess I'd better go find Grandma."

Lorelai rests her hand on Rory's arm and says, "Mmm. Give her a minute."  At the same moment, the door opens and Emily is standing in the doorway.

She lets out a huge sigh and says, "There you are!"

"There you are!"

Rory is brought out of her reverie by the voice of her grandmother.  She is about to stand up when Emily sits on the place beside her.

She asks "Why are you hiding?"

Rory smiles a little and replies, "I needed to get out of the crowd a little." 

Emily smile tenderly at Rory and whispers, "I come here often, your room also.  I never realized how much I loved her until I lost her.  Maybe if I hadn't been so uptight with the principles we would've had a chance to be closer. I never even tried to understand her.  With you back, I'll try to understand you a little more."

Rory looks at Emily with her hand resting on the ring hanging near the hollow of her throat.

"I'm not sure I want to marry Tristan, Grandma."

Emily's features transform to show bewilderment, she asks softly, "But Rory, you have a child with him, he loves you and you're already living with him!  Don't you love him?"

Rory closes her eyes and whispers, "I love him and I want to spend the rest of my life with him.  But that doesn't mean I want to get married."

"But it's every little girl's dream!  To find true love and get married in white!"

"I'm not every little girl but if I was, I would want my mom there."  Tears escape Rory's eyes.

A third person enters the room and declares, "There is a saying that if you cry between Christmas and New Year, you're going to spend the whole year crying."

Rory doesn't have to look to know who is standing in front of her.

"I guess we should say our goodbyes. Nanny made me a special dinner. She makes a mean farturas."  Paris says as she approaches Rory.

"Well, good, I'm glad you found me. I wanted to say goodbye, too."  Rory says with a smile.

Smiling back, Paris says, "Good. Well, good luck." 

"You know, it's weird, most of the time I really hated you."

Paris smile is filled with sorrow as she answers, "Yeah, I really hated you, too."

They hug.

"I'll let you too talk.  Whatever you decide Rory, I'll try to be supportive."

Paris sits down beside Rory and asks, "What is it that I heard?  You had a baby with Tristan and you're living with him?!" 

Smiling at Paris, Rory says, "I guess feelings change with the years."

Paris starts to walk around the room talking to herself, "I knew it!  I knew from the first moment that I saw you that you would take everything away from me!  You became Valedictorian, you have Tristan and his love, and you have friends that love you so much!"

"Paris, I thought we were over all…"

"Don't Paris me!"

She walks from left to right, right to left, left to right before Rory screams, "Could you stop moving?  I feel like I'm going to throw up!"

Paris sits down beside Rory a little bit calmer and says, "Sometimes I hated you so much, but then when you were gone I realize that I envy you which has always made me hate you.  If you would have asked me when I was sixteen who I wanted to marry in the future, I would have promptly answered Tristan.  But he never liked me, so I got over it.  Now I'm over the fact the he loves you, that he wants to marry you, but…why don't you?"

"Because my…"

"Stop trying to find excuses to be unhappy.  I did that for so long!  I'm happy now, I'm dating someone who I can talk and argue with.  We've been dating for a little more than six months now and I have to thank you for that!"

"What are…"

"He had to get over you to be able to see me.  With you away, he finally saw me.  Now, stop finding excuses for not marrying Tristan.  He's doing everything to make you happy.  He's building a house in Stars Hollow for you!  He cut down on the luxury for you!  He took you back when you came back without question."

"How do you know all this?"

"That is not the point!  The world doesn't revolve around you Rory!  You are saying no to Tristan because you're mom won't be there!  He's doing everything to make you happy but what are you doing to make him happy besides being with him?"  Without waiting for an answer, Paris storms out of the room.

Rory goes back to the party looking for Tristan.  The minute she sees him, she also see Jess laughing beside him. As she gets closer, she sees Paris kissing Jess's cheek.

They are sitting on the town gazebo, looking at the story of how Christ was born. The Representation had been put-on by most of the citizens of Stars Hollow. Paris watches in wonder at the spectacle in front of her, captivated by the story she never heard before.  Jess looks at her in amazement while Rory leans, half asleep, on Tristan's shoulder.

"I love you Rory." 

"Hum… I think you might just be the love of my life Tristan DuGrey."  Rory closes her eyes again and falls asleep.

Authors note:  Christmas is not over yet.  Another chapter coming up soon!  The more you review, the faster I type!

Siaram