Title: Rory Gilmore, This Is Your Life!

Chapter 9: Interviews and Decisions

Summary: Rory does work. Who knows why? Another ex-flame shows up. Who cares why? Lane makes a boo-boo. It's a big boo-boo, but she and Dave decide something good first. Lor freaks over Lane's boo-boo.

Spoilers: Yes, actually. We learn all of the names of Sookie's kids and the fact that she had three in five instead of four in four.

(Okay, that wasn't a real spoiler. That was a made-up spoiler. I made it up. Good, huh?)

Disclaimer:  I own everything, including Tom Cruise, who is currently getting punished for divorcing Nicole Kidman. He's almost as bad an asshole as Todd thinks Greg is.

Distribution: Sami57peace2u@hotmail.com Thanks so much!

A/N: Okay, I'm back. Big whoop.

And please, if ever I express interest in trying out for the school musical again, shoot me on sight.

Although I did get a date to prom out of it.

But I also got more chances for my friends to make fun of me and stupid songs about a stupid Dickens novel (No, not Oliver! It was Great Expectations: The Musical) stuck in my head.

Seriously, you have permission to shoot me.

~~~~

"So how close do you think we are to finding a cure for cancer?" Rory asked, aiming her voice towards the tape recorder in the middle of her mother's kitchen table.

"I wouldn't go so far as to presume that we can do anything within the decade, but we're definitely getting closer and closer. If I had to venture a guess, I would say, at the very most, fifty years. Definitely in my lifetime." Paris answered.

"And once again, you're twenty-seven, correct?"

"Yes."

"All right, thank you very much Miss Gellar."

"My pleasure."

"I wish you the best of luck at the Nobel ceremony."

"Thank you, Rory."

"You're welcome." Rory picked up the tape recorder. "Interview with Paris Gellar, nominee for Nobel Prize. 22 May 2011. End time: nine forty-five a.m." Rory pressed stop and lowered the tape recorder, scribbled a few more notes, and looked up at Paris. "Thanks a lot," she smiled.

"Whenever. We done?"

"Completely."

"Okay. I've got about ten thousand stacks of work to do today."

"You gonna be holed up in the Inn?"

"Yep. Till about Sunday, I'd say."

"Okay. See you then."

"Bye," Paris waved and left.

Rory gathered her notes and straightened them into neat stacks in her binder. Standing up from the table, she rewound her tape and pressed play.

"22 May 2011 interview with Paris Gellar, Nobel Prize nominee. Start time: nine oh-two a.m." Rory's own voice floated back to her. She smiled, pressed stop and rewind again, and headed into her room.

"All set," she said to herself, placing her binder of notes near her laptop and the tape recorder on top. She walked back into the kitchen, poured herself a fifth cup of coffee and fixed two more Pop-Tarts. Taking a sip of the dark liquid, she slowly made her way back to her desk, and after a few seconds procrastinating, she opened her laptop and turned it on. Setting her coffee gently on the desk and the Pop-Tarts carefully on top, Rory sat in her desk chair and pulled up Microsoft Word. She typed an introduction and pressed play on the tape recorder once again.

"22 May 2011 interview…."

~~~~

"AGH!" Lorelai screamed that afternoon.

"Mom, calm down. It's mainly going to be an interrogation of me."

"Oh, yeah, like it ever turns out like that," Lorelai scoffed.

"It'll be fine."

"Why the hell would you agree to that? Dinner! With her!"

"She's my grandmother," Rory stressed. "And I want her to be part of my wedding."

"Oh, there is no way I'm doing anything with her."

"You'll be sitting next to her. And I just want her opinion on a few of the bigger details for the big ceremony."

"Ugh. I'm dreading this."

"I'll owe you."

"Oh, you won't just owe me. I'll own you."

"Sure, fine, you'll own me. She's your mother."

"Greg, you have a good relationship with your mother?" Lorelai turned to the silent third person in the room.

"Civil," Greg shrugged.

"See? Normal people don't get along as well as we do. We're abnormal."

"Okay, whatever, we're abnormal, but we're still—the three of us—going to Grandma's for dinner tonight."

"AGH!"

"Mom!"

"Sorry. The words just spark some kind of weird reaction in me."

"Just…try not to do that with Grandma."

"Yeah, that'll happen."

~~~~

"So we're all alone tonight?" Dave asked his wife in Luke's that afternoon. Lane nodded.

"Rory, Lorelai, and Greg are all heading into Hartford for dinner at Lorelai's parents; Paris is holed up in her room for the next decade and a half—or at least till Sunday; Greg's parents are still avoiding Lorelai, Rory, and anything to do with them, and Greg's brother is off…doing stuff I don't want to think about," Lane made a face of disgust.

"You know so much."

"I have a gift."

"You're a busybody."

"Uh! No!" Lane reached out and slapped Dave playfully on the arm.

"Sorry, but it's true."

"Ugh, fine. So what do you want to do?"

"I was thinking we could…. I dunno, be bored?" Dave shrugged.

"We need to do something. I can't handle just being at home."

"I know. Believe me, I know."

"And I don't want to go too far out of town, either. Ugh! What is there to do?"

"We could go shopping for porcelain unicorns."

"Mmm, yeah. Great fun."

"We'll just have to think something up."

"And how," Lane agreed, sipping her coffee.

The bells over the door jingled and Sookie, Jackson, and their three kids walked in.

"I'm sorry, honey, but it's a last minute thing and Emily wouldn't let her out of it." Sookie was saying apologetically as the family settled into a table near the window.

"It's our anniversary!" Jackson exclaimed.

"I know, sweetie, but we don't have anyone to baby-sit."

Over in the corner, Lane perked up and glanced at Dave. Knowingly, he nodded slowly. Lane smiled and jumped out of her chair.

"We'll do it," she said breathlessly, arriving at the Melvilles' table.

"You'll do what?" Sookie asked.

"We'll baby-sit," Lane explained. Dave, coming up behind her, nodded.

"You will? See, Jackson, Lane and Dave'll baby-sit."

"If we leave now, we can get changed and make the reservations," Jackson said, glancing at his watch. He and Sookie jumped out of their chairs, kissed their children goodbye, spouted some last minute instructions, and headed for the door, leaving Lane and Dave looking at the seven-, five-, and three-year-old.

"So. You guys want to go to Lorelai's house?" Lane asked. The kids nodded, and Dave pulled out his cell-phone to call the older woman.

~~~~

"Thanks for letting us do this, Lorelai," Lane gushed as Lorelai let her, Dave, and the three children into the Gilmore home.

"No problem. You know, if the night turns out the way I think it will, I'm gonna go ahead and will the house to you guys."

"Mom," Rory scolded as she entered from her room, struggling to fasten a necklace around her neck.

"What? I have a bad feeling about tonight. Something unexpected will happen, and I'm almost certain it's a bad unexpected thing." Lorelai said, crossing to her daughter and fixing the necklace.

"Not everything unexpected is bad. Lane and Dave unexpectedly met, and that turned out well."

"Very well," Lane smiled at Dave.

"Don't go all mushy on me now, Kim," Rory scolded, slipping on her heels.

"It's Rygalski, Gilmore."

"It's almost Adams, Rygalski."

"I don't like Rory Adams," Dave said suddenly.

"Well, she doesn't like you either," Rory said defensively.

"No, the name. I don't really like the name 'Rory Adams'."

"That's why my professional name will most likely be Lorelai Adams."

"Ooh, that's pretty." Lorelai said.

"I know." Rory nodded. "So people will know me as Lorelai Adams, or Rory Gilmore, maybe. I'm not sure yet."

"I like Lorelai Adams better," Lane said.

"Yeah, me too, but I'm afraid my readers won't know it's me."

"That's the wonderful thing about writing for a magazine. You can always ask your editor to stick a little picture of you and Greg at your wedding on the editor's page, with a caption that says 'Rory Gilmore gets hitched, loses identity, and becomes Lorelai Adams'." Lorelai held her hands in the air as if imagining the caption. Rory hit her with her purse.

"Ow!" Lorelai yelled, holding her head.

"Oh, it did not hurt that bad."

"Yes, it did! Owowowowwww!" Lorelai jumped up and down in pain. The three children in the room, along with Dave, giggled.

"I hit you on the shoulder."

"Oh." Lorelai stopped hopping. "I thought it was."

"Nope, that feeling's just the way your head is. Come on, let's go." Rory started out of the door.

"Okay. Hey!" Lorelai followed her, and then pulled the door closed behind her.

"Well. We finally got rid of them," Lane breathed a mock sigh as she turned to the three children.

"I wanna watch a movie," Annette, the seven-year-old and oldest of the bunch, whined.

"Okay. What do you want to see?"

"Cinderella! Cinderella!" she called, jumping up and down.

"That's one vote for Cinderella. What about you two?" Lane turned to the other two children.

"Thomas!" Charlie, the five-year-old middle boy, said.

"Oh, good, two different movies. How about you, Luce?" Lane asked the three-year-old little girl.

"Candy Land!" she exclaimed.

"Okay, so that's one vote for watching Cinderella, one vote for watching Thomas, and one vote for playing Candy Land."

"I wanna play Candy Land too!" Charlie piped up.

"Okay, two votes for Candy Land. Annette?"

"Mmm, can I still watch the movie?"

"Sure. Dave, why don't you set Annette up in the living room, and I'll set these two up at the kitchen table."

"Okay. Uh, do they have Cinderella? Or Candy Land?"

"What, are you kidding? We spend more time here than we do at home," Annette snorted.

"Really?"

"No, not really." Annette turned to Lane. "He's not the smartest guy, is he?"

"Not really, but I love him anyway." Lane smiled and kissed Dave. The three children all spouted an "Ewwwwww!"

"Oh, stop it. Come on, Charlie and Lucy, let's go." Lane walked into the kitchen, followed closely by the two littlest ones. Dave looked at Annette, who looked expectantly at him.

"Come on, let's go watch Cinderella." Dave walked into the living room.

"You don't have to watch with me, you know." Annette tailed him.

"And why not? I just happen to love the movie Cinderella."

"You?"

"Yes, me."

"But…you're a boy," Annette said the last word as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Yeah, well, not all boys are poopyheads, and this boy happens to like Cinderella." Dave paused in his ransacking of the Gilmores' video closet. "It's a Disney cartoon, right?"

"You don't know?"

"I know, I'm just making sure," Dave said defensively.

"If it's your favorite movie, shouldn't you already know?"

"I didn't say it was my favorite movie, I just said that I loved it."

"Oh, really? If you love it so much, what's Prince Charming's name?" Annette challenged, putting her hands on her hips.

"Prince Charming," Dave said back, imitating Annette's stance.

From her spot in the foyer, Lane smiled at her husband interacting so well with the little girl. He was gonna make a great father someday. He was only slightly clueless—but in a good way—and he was practically dad-like to Zach and Brian in the band, who were completely, utterly, and hopelessly clueless…they hadn't even realized that Lane and Dave were going out until the end of the band's first tour, when the couple had decided to get hitched in Vegas. They whole-heartedly supported the union, of course—just as long as they didn't break up and ruin the band. Lane and Dave had promised that they wouldn't ruin the band, and Zach and Brian were happy after that.

"I wanna be green!" Charlie screeched from the kitchen, pulling Lane out of her thoughts.

"Calm down," she said automatically, walking back to the two kids.

~~~~

"I hate my mother," Lorelai muttered under her breath.

"Shh!" Rory hissed, elbowing her mother in the ribs. "She's in the other room."

"I know, that's why I was muttering," Lorelai shot back.

Rory rolled her eyes. "You're very childish, you know that?"

"Of course. It's part of my charm," Lorelai grinned.

"Well. I'm sorry about that," Emily apologized, breezing back into the sitting room. "It looks like your grandfather isn't going to make it after all, Rory."

"Aw. I was hoping to introduce Greg to Grandpa."

"He said he's very sorry, and he'd certainly like to meet you soon." Emily directed the last part to Greg, who nodded.

"Hmm, is dinner ready yet?" Lorelai asked, leaning into Rory and trying to get a glimpse at her watch. Rory shifted her weight slightly, causing Lorelai to fall onto the couch.

"Really, Lorelai, why aren't you letting the newly engaged couple sit together?"

"Because I'm incredibly rude." Lorelai muttered as she stood to switch seats with Greg. "There. Better?"

"Much," Emily smiled at her daughter over the two feet of space between them, as compared to the ten of before. Lorelai groaned.

"This is gonna be a long night."

~~~~

"And the young man who usually reads to Mom dropped out suddenly, so we've had to look for a replacement for him." Emily was saying later that night as the four ate dessert, gathered around the dinner table.

"Oh! How is Gran?" Lorelai asked.

"Much less insufferable now that she's been confined to the house. Her house," Emily smiled.

"I haven't seen Great-Grandmother in so long," Rory commented.

"Well, why don't you?" Emily said, as if the thought had suddenly hit her.

"What, visit Great-Grandmother?"

"Yes! You and Greg can go visit Mom, and I can spend the time talking to Lorelai." Emily gestured to her daughter, who suddenly got a look on her face like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Oh, but we came together. So they're my ride home. So I have to go with them to see Gran." Lorelai laughed—slightly, nervously.

"Oh, nonsense. Rory and Greg can visit Mom, and you and I can chat, and then they can swing back around here and pick you up."

"That sounds like a great idea, Grandma."

"I thought so," Emily beamed and turned her attention back to her dessert. Lorelai shot Rory a "RORY!" look; Rory shrugged.

~~~~

"You're evil," Greg commented as he and Rory walked from their car up to Great-Grandmother Gilmore's front door.

"Why, thank you!"

"It wasn't a compliment."

"Hey, my mom's been complaining about my grandmother for twenty-seven years, and non-stop for the past eleven, so I decided I'd pay her back."

"And how many times have you 'paid her back'?"

"Hmm, about twenty since I moved out."

"I thought so." Greg smiled and leaned in for a kiss. The kiss lasted a few minutes but was stopped suddenly as the front door burst open and a very familiar voice—at least to Rory—shouted "I'll see you next week, Mrs. Gilmore."

Rory stiffened and immediately broke off the kiss. She stared at the guy as he closed the door and then looked up into her eyes.

"R—Rory," he forced out.

"Noel," she nodded.

"What are you doing here?"

"Uh…I dunno."

"Rory," Greg, with one arm still around her waist, said pointedly.

"Oh, uh, Greg, this is Noel, my ex-boyfriend. Noel, this is Greg. He's my, uh…my, uh…."

"Fiancée," Greg introduced himself, holding a hand out to Noel.

"And this is my great-grandmother's house. That's why I'm here." Rory said triumphantly. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, I read to Mrs. Gilmore."

"Ah."

"I had no idea she was related to you."

"Well, Lorelai Gilmore, Hartford…it's kinda obvious."

"Right. Uh, well, I've got another reading to get to, so I'll…see you later, I guess."

"Okay. Bye." Rory turned and watched Noel go.

"Uh, Rory?" Greg asked.

"What? Oh, right, Great-Grandmother. Let's go." Rory pulled a bewildered Greg into the house behind her.

~~~~

"They're all sleeping," Dave observed, walking from Rory's room, where Charlie was sleeping, to the foyer, where Lane was standing, watching Annette sleep with Lucy in her arms.

"They're so peaceful when they're sleeping."

"Yeah," Dave slid his arms around Lane's waist. "They look deceptively sweet."

"You had a good time tonight, right?"

"Yeah, pretty good." Dave grinned. "My favorite part was when Charlie and I threw ice cubes at the three of you."

"You still have to clean that up, you know."

"I know."

Lane sighed happily. "But you did have fun, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"What if we could have fun like this every night of our lives?"

"You wanna try to have a baby?" Dave twirled Lane around slowly until she was facing him.

"Yeah, I think I do. It's been four years, and we're obviously happy together. The band just finished a tour, and we have yet to write our fifth album, so we're obviously not going to go back on tour for a while."

"So you want to have a kid."

"Yeah."

Dave smiled. "Okay."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It sounds like a cool idea, and besides—how rocking would our baby be?"

"Pretty rocking. So, we're gonna try?"

"Yeah, we're gonna try."

"Cool." Lane kissed Dave softly and sweetly.

~~~~

"You can't come in," Lorelai turned around as she was unlocking her front door.

"Why?" Rory asked.

"Because I forbid you, and I don't like you very much anymore."

"Mom…."

"You were mean!"

"I know, and I'm sorry. I won't be mean ever again."

"That's not true and you know it."

"Fine, I won't be mean again until after the wedding."

"Hmm, big wedding or little wedding?"

"Big wedding. Although you'll have to talk to Grandma every once in a while, and civilly."

"You drive a hard bargain, but I agree," Lorelai finished unlocking the door and slowly pushed it open. Lane and Dave met her at the door.

"Good, you're home. Listen, Sookie and Jackson haven't come back yet, but we need to get going," Lane said the last two words with a glint in her eye.

"The kids are all sleeping, the girls on the couch and Charlie in Rory's room." Dave said, as eager to get out the door as Lane was.

"Okay, so I'm guessing you guys want us to watch the kids for you." Lorelai said.

"Yeah. Sookie and Jackson know they're here. Oh, and I performed a few matron-of-honor duties and invited some people to the planning of the wedding. They should be here soon."

"Okay," Rory said. "You guys go."

"Thanks!" Lane started running out of the house, Dave holding on to her hand.

"They're off to have sex," Lorelai observed as she and Rory walked into the house.

"Mom!"

"What? It's true, you can tell by how happy they are. And the fact that they've obviously been making out for thirty minutes."

Rory shot her mother a look.

"That perfect purple hair was all disheveled," Lorelai offered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Oh, yeah. They're gonna go get it on."

"God, could you be any cruder?"

"Yeah, probably. If I tried."

"Well, please don't try. I beg of you."

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it. It's probably Sookie and Jackson," Lorelai offered, walking away from Rory in the kitchen and to the front door.

Sure enough, after a second, Sookie came bustling through the kitchen to Rory's room.

"Night, Rory," she smiled as she carried her sleeping boy back to the front door. Rory smiled back after her. There was a slight hubbub at the door, and then it closed and Lorelai locked it. Sighing, she walked into the kitchen.

"What a night." Lorelai grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and leaned against the counter next to her daughter.

"Very fun filled," Rory commented, smiling. Lorelai just groaned as the doorbell rang again.

"This is crazy. Why is our house always the busiest after ten o'clock?" Lorelai asked, glancing at the clock. Rory shrugged. Lorelai left her bottle of water on the table and walked to the front door. She could make out what looked to be two adult human forms through the door, so she pulled it open, expecting to see Sookie and Jackson back for a missed toy.

She was very surprised when she saw it wasn't Sookie and Jackson. It was, of course, a couple she, unfortunately, knew very well, with a daughter that she didn't recognize quite as quickly.

But she knew the couple. Especially the man. She knew the man very, very, well.

"Christopher," she forced out.

"Lorelai," he nodded.

"And…" the perky blonde woman said pointedly.

"And Sherry, of course. And little G.G."

"It's Georgia," the eight-year-old scowled.

"Yeah. Uh, I'll be right back." Lorelai held up one finger and walked back into the kitchen. "Your dad's here."

"What?" Rory asked, standing up straighter.

"Uh-huh. Your dad's here, along with her." Lorelai spat out the last word.

"Which her?"

"Both hers. God, what's he doing here?"

"I dunno. Lane probably invited him."

"Lane's gonna die, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

"So?" Lorelai asked pointedly.

"What?" Rory asked, confused.

"So your father and stepmother and half-sister are all freezing outside."

"It's eighty degrees out."

"Okay, so they're melting. The point is, they're out there."

"Yeah." Rory paused and took another sip of her water as Lorelai just stared at her. "Oh!" Rory exclaimed as a thought hit her. She walked out of the kitchen and to the front door. Lorelai stared after her.

"Boy, she's slow at night."

"Won't you come in?" Lorelai could hear Rory asking. She panicked. She didn't wanna see Chris. She especially didn't wanna see Chris' new family and spoiled brat. Her eyes darted all around the kitchen, until she finally grabbed a beer from her fridge and ran out the door.