A Gilmore Christmas

By: Alyson Tierney

DISCLAIMER: The characters of Lorelai Gilmore, Rory Gilmore, Richard Gilmore, Emily Gilmore, Luke Danes, Sookie St. James, Jackson Melville, and Davey Melville are solely the property of Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB network. The song is "All I Want for Christmas" by Roxanne. I'm just borrowing them for entertainment purposes. Don't sue; I'm a very poor college student who only paid $91 for 14 people's Christmas gifts.

NOTE: Yes, I am well aware that Christmas isn't for a month and a half, but I want to get this out of the way, so I can do other fics for this Christmas season, as this one takes place a year ago. I hope you will enjoy this, I wrote it last winter, and that's when it takes place. This is the seventh chapter, the second to last chapter in the story. Thank you to everyone for your very kind reviews! Enjoy this and review as always!

WARNING: This is the PG-13 rated chapter for moderate peril, abuse, and other adolescent and adult issues. It should be fine unless you're like eight years old, though. If you don't want to read angst, well, really, you're on the wrong story in the first place, but it would be wise to skip this chapter. Have a tissue if you need one! Enjoy!

Chapter Seven

Rory was silent the whole way home. She sat and watched the trees and the cars go by, as Lorelai navigated the icy highway. The girls glanced at each other and smiled a few times, but mostly they were lost in their own little worlds.

Rory watched as they pulled into Stars Hollow, the lights sparkling everywhere. There was no snow yet, but it was bitterly cold. Rory remembered many nights when she and her mom would curl up by the fire with some hot cocoa and watch movies. She really enjoyed that. The whole five days that she'd been held captive, she'd been thinking of that, and how much she wanted it again. Now, she just wanted to tell her mom all her fears and worries and have her kiss all the pain away.

Lorelai pulled into the familiar driveway, and turned off the ignition. She glanced at her daughter, who had pulled her mom's purse in her lap and was playing with the fabric handle. She could tell Rory wanted to talk, but perhaps she was afraid to. Lorelai knew just what else she was longing for though. She had the cocoa-and-warm-fire chill to her; Lorelai could always tell when her daughter was ready for one of those nights. They would be cold to the bone, maybe from work and school all day, maybe from a drive back from Hartford in freezing weather, maybe even from a day playing in the snow. Lorelai smiled a supporting smile as her daughter looked at her, "Shall I get a fire going and we can cuddle on the couch with some cocoa, babe?" she asked.

Rory smiled and nodded. Her mother did always know what she needed, "Yeah, I'll make the cocoa." Lorelai nodded in agreement. It was the routine, Rory would make cocoa and put Lorelai's in her "World's Greatest Mom" mug, and her own in her treasured Snoopy mug. Snoopy was wearing a Santa hat, and looked very merry. This was actually Rory's second special holiday mug; the first one had broken during a mad dive to answer the telephone one evening. While Rory made the enjoyable drink, Lorelai would make a fire, as she had done millions of times in her job as a maid at the Independence Inn.

Lorelai and Rory went into the house, flipping on the indoor lights and turning on the Christmas tree lights. Each girl went about their winter night chore, and then slipped into their pajamas quickly and met on the couch. Rory handed her mom her mug of steaming hot cocoa, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, sipping the toasty beverage, and snuggling under the blanket they kept on the back of the couch.

Rory watched the fire for a few minutes, taking dainty sips of her cocoa. She sighed, and ran her hand through her hair. Lorelai reached out and rubbed Rory's arm comfortingly. Rory smiled and then looked up at her mother, "Mom?" she asked.

"Yeah, sweetie?" Lorelai asked, reaching up to stroke Rory's hair a few times.

"It was so scary." Rory said in a trembling voice.

Lorelai's lips twisted into a pout and she looked into her daughter's eyes, taking her free hand, "You can tell Mommy, it's okay."

Rory was silent for a few minutes, and Lorelai let her daughter gather her thoughts. When Rory spoke again her voice was small and shaky, "He pulled me into one of the stacks of clothes. I started to scream for you, but he put a rag over my mouth with something that smelled, and I must have blacked out, because the next thing I remember is waking up in the closet."

"The closet I found you in?" Lorelai asked.

Rory nodded, "I could hear him on the phone talking to this other man, and he was telling him that...that..." Rory trailed off, and hiccupped back a sob.

Lorelai set her mug down on the coffee table, and took Rory's mug from her hands and set it there, too, and gently took both her daughter's hands, "What, sweetie?"

"It sounded like he was planning on selling me to one of those prostitution rings. He said...he had a girl for him and kept talking about me like I was a piece of property. The guy offered him $50,000 for me, and...I got so scared that I wouldn't see you again." Rory stopped for a second, and swallowed hard, her eyes shiny with tears.

Lorelai moved closer, taking her daughter's face in her hands and kissing her temples, "You're safe now. Mommy's here, sweetie. You're home." Lorelai was comforting Rory as much as herself. She could feel her daughter's pain as if it was her own, and it was destroying her inside. The only thing that kept Lorelai from breaking into the prison and killing the guy was the knowledge that she would go to jail and leave Rory alone, and she couldn't have that.

Rory took her mom's hands again and continued in a shaky voice, "I tried to get out a few times. Those were the only times he even touched me. He hit me...and pushed me, and called me a bunch of names and shoved me back into the closet. Once he started to choke me so I couldn't breathe. I just...I kept wanting to try and get out and get to you."

"You're with me now." Lorelai nodded, choked up, so she couldn't say much else.

"Yeah, I-I kept thinking of you, and thinking of everyone else we know, but mostly just of you. He had the radio on a lot, and at one point there was that one Christmas song...the one we really like? It made me cry so much, I just wanted you so bad." Rory said, tears beginning tracks down her face.

Lorelai reached out and wiped them away, "Mommy's here now." Lorelai reassured her.

"I-I just was so scared. He was going to sell me away that night, but you came. You came for me." Rory smiled through her tears.

"Of course I did. I will always come for my baby." Lorelai smiled back, and pulled her daughter into a long hug, "I love you, sweetie, and I'm never letting you go."

"I love you too, Mom." Rory sniffled. She squeezed back, and then lay down with her head in her mom's lap. Lorelai began stroking her daughter's hair and humming softly. Rory clutched at her mom's leg, but Lorelai soon felt her grip relax and heard her breathing even out.

Lorelai felt them coming, and coming fast and hard. She tried her best to choke them back, but her face was soon shiny with tears that were cascading down. She lifted one hand to wipe them away, but they kept coming. She sobbed with relief, with joy, with pain, with anguish. She sobbed until there were no tears left, all the while still stroking Rory's hair with one hand. Her baby was back, but not without bringing a whole lot of painful memories with her. She would help her through them, though, she had to. Rory was her life, her joy, and her heart. She loved her daughter more than life itself, and had always made sure Rory knew it. She kissed her daughter's head and then, slipping down further into the couch, she pulled the blanket tighter around them and fell into an exhausted slumber.