Arielle

By: Alyson Tierney

Disclaimer: I do not own Lorelai or Rory Gilmore, or any other character associated with Gilmore Girls the way it is seen on television. Those characters and other related things and ideas belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB Network. However, I do own Alicia and Arielle, since I made them up.

Author's Note: This story idea is taken from the book "Baby" by Patricia MacLachlan, so I'd like to thank her for the terrific story idea, and I hope I did it justice in this story. It takes place this Christmas, and is an idea I've been working on for awhile. I hope you like this, and have a very good Christmas season. The next chapter will be available in a few days, but if you guys want to check out my story "Gunshots and Secrets" you can access it on my profile.

CHAPTER THREE

Even though Lorelai and Rory made it home before six, Rory was falling asleep by the time they got halfway through the second DVD. She barely noticed her mom moving her to her own bed and tucking her in, kissing her goodnight and turning out the light. She heard Lorelai move around in the kitchen before she went to bed, but by the time Lorelai headed upstairs, Rory was fast asleep.

Rory awakened the next morning to light streaming into the bedroom window. Outside was cold and grey, but it was warm in the house. She could hear the TV playing softly in the living room, and guessed that even though she'd gone to bed before her mom; her mom had been up for at least half an hour, since she usually had coffee and something to eat before watching TV on off mornings.

Rory rolled over to check the clock and groaned. It was nearly eleven. That meant, since she'd fallen asleep at not even eight thirty last night, she'd slept over 14 hours. She'd lost so much sleep this semester, but wasn't sure it was a good thing to sleep for that long in one night. She yawned and stretched, climbing out of bed and putting her feet in her furry slippers. She padded out to the kitchen, where her Snoopy mug was already waiting by the coffeepot. She smiled, and poured herself a steaming cup, and then, grabbing a piece of toast from the plate on the table, shuffled into the living room where Lorelai was watching TV.

"What's on?" Rory asked, sitting next to her mom and pulling her feet under her.

"Bugs." Lorelai said, pulling Rory to her and playing with her daughter's messy hair.

"The insects?" Rory looked at the screen, "Oh, the bunny. Aren't we like…ten years too old for this?"

Lorelai looked at Rory, "Says the girl with the stuffed chicken, the Hello Kitty notepads, the Spongebob mouse pad, the Powerpuff Girl…"

"Ok, ok, I get it." Rory interrupted, "We're not."

"Not by a long shot. Besides, it's Christmas. We automatically become the right age for anything." Lorelai said, seriously.

"Right." Rory nodded, sipping her coffee and snuggling closer to her mom.

"Speaking of Christmas, we gonna get the tree today?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes!" Rory exclaimed, "Can Lane and Alicia come over and help decorate?"

"Absolutely!" Lorelai sounded excited.

"I'll call Lane!" Rory jumped off the couch and picked up the phone, dialing her best friend's number. Lorelai watched her daughter as she talked excitedly to her friend, all the stress and anxiety of school and finals washed away.

An hour later, Lorelai and Rory were crunching through the snow, dressed warmly in sweats and jackets, to the Christmas tree lot. Rory took in a deep breath, as she took in the fresh, clean, snowy smell. "I love this place." Rory said out loud.

"So do I, babe," Lorelai returned, "So do I."

They didn't have to walk far before they heard a familiar voice squeal, "Rory!"

Lorelai and Rory looked up to see Lane and Alicia standing next to the entrance to the tree lot. Lane was jumping up and down excitedly, or maybe it was because of the cold, and Alicia was smiling. Rory ran towards her friends, stopping in front of them, "Hi!" she squealed.

"Hey, Rory!" Alicia smiled and held out her arms for a hug.

Rory squeezed Alicia tight, and then pulled back, fingering her chin-length red hair, "You cut it? You swore you were never going to!" Rory said with a mock gasp.

Alicia shrugged, "That was in ninth grade. It wasn't really practical in college to have hair that you could sit on. You cut yours too!" Alicia pointed out, fiddling with the ends of Rory's shoulder-length brown hair.

Rory nodded, "Yeah. It was time for a change."

"But our Laney grew hers out." Alicia said, turning to Lane and running her fingers through Lane's black hair, which was quite a bit longer than the old shoulder-length cut she'd had all through high school.

Lane nodded, "Yeah, I was sick of short hair."

"So how you been, girl? How's Yale treating you? I can't believe you chose Yale over Harvard!" Alicia exclaimed.

Rory grinned, "I know! Mom and I decided that overall, Yale would be better. I'm closer to home, and it had more of the classes I need for my major."

"And your major is still journalism?" Alicia asked.

"Yes, she's going to have to find her own personal plane and foxhole pretty soon." Lorelai put in, walking up next to Rory, "Hey, Alicia!"

"Hi, Lorelai!" Alicia hugged her briefly, "I went to check out the new inn this morning, and it looks fabulous!"

Lorelai smiled, "Thanks! If I could tempt you three girls into giving up some of your spare holiday time to come and cheer up the grumpus that would be great."

Alicia smiled, "Michel's still around, huh?"

Rory nodded, "Oh, yes." The three girls looked at each other and smiled, laughing a little.

"How's your life been, Alicia?" Lorelai asked, as they walked into the tree lot, passing Kirk and Babette arguing over the proper sizes for pine needles.

Alicia shrugged uncertainly, "Oh, it's been fine. You know, school, college, boring old stuff."

"I saw you with a baby yesterday. Been baby-sitting some?" Rory asked.

"What? Oh, yeah, yeah…I was baby-sitting the neighbor's kid, she's just a few months old." Alicia explained.

"She is? Oh, I remember babies! Those were the days…" Lorelai looked fondly at Rory and reached out to stroke her daughter's hair. Rory smiled at her mom, five years ago she would have pulled away from physical contact in front of her friends, but now she welcomed it whenever she got it.

Alicia turned to the tree in front of them, "What do you guys think of that one?"

Lorelai smiled, "It's nice. Could we get it through the front door, Rory?"

Rory stepped back and looked the tree up and down, and then put out her hands to measure it, "Probably," she finally assessed.

"Then that's our tree then." Lorelai announced, "Let's get it out of here, I'm freezing my nose hairs."

"Don't be gross." Rory admonished her mom, as she pulled the tree out of its stand. Lorelai staggered a moment, and the three younger girls rushed forward to catch the tree before it hit the ground.

"Whoa!" Lorelai groaned, "Good save! Guess my muscles aren't 20 anymore."

"My muscles were never 20." Lane remarked, as she hoisted her section of the tree over her shoulder.

"You are 20. Aren't you?" Alicia asked, "Or wait…was it Rory who had the October birthday? Oh, God, I'm a terrible best friend."

Lane's face softened, "No, honey, you're not. But, yes, Rory is the October birthday. Mine's…"

"February." Alicia put in, smiling, "You're still 19 ½ then."

Lane smiled, "Yeah."

"She's the only teenager left." Rory smirked, and grinned when Lane fixed her with a steely glare.

"So, what do you girls say we get this thing home and we can watch a movie while it's settling enough to decorate?" Lorelai asked.

"You got it!" Rory said, happily. She was feeling so much lighter now. For several weeks straight she'd been feeling like a giant elephant and his giant brother were sitting on her chest, but now she was free. Free to smell the clean air, free to watch movies and eat junk, free to sit around all day and talk to her mom and her friends.