Unconscious Fears
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, Alicia and Arielle's characters are figments of my own imagination, so I do own them. Please do not use them without my permission. Thank you.
Author's Note: This story is the sequel to my story "Arielle." If you don't read it first, you will be quite lost as far as the Alicia and Arielle storyline. Everything that has happened up to the Gilmore Girls episode "Not as Cute as Pushkin" is consistent with this story, but after that, it takes its own path, so relationships and other facts may be different than on the show. I am not a dream doctor, nor do I know anything about dreams, so if the dream interpreter is way off, please don't shout at me. Thank you to those who reviewed the first two chapters, I'm glad to see some familiar faces as well as some new ones. Enjoy and please R&R!
CHAPTER THREE
Lorelai peered out the living room window of the Gilmore house a little while later. She turned around and smiled at Alicia and Lane, who were playing with Arielle on the floor. Arielle reached for a stuffed penguin, getting up on her hands and knees, but grabbed it before she had to crawl an inch.
"She's so close." Alicia said, smiling, "She wants to, but she can't quite make herself do it."
"She'll get there. Trust me, when we're baby proofing the inn, and keeping her out of things, and cleaning up one mess while she trashes something else, you're going to miss these days." Lorelai said, looking wistful.
Lane laughed, "Yeah. Mama kept mentioning how I always used to get into the pots and pans and make the evil death rocker music."
Alicia smiled, "A musician from the start. I wonder what Ari will be?"
"She better not be something like an electrician or a plumber." Lane muttered, and then picked Arielle up, holding her to her level, "You hear that, sweetie? No plumbers or electricians ok?"
Arielle squealed and grabbed for Lane's glasses. Lane chuckled and kissed the baby's nose. "So, can she date an electrician or a plumber?" Lorelai asked, going to check out the window again.
"No!" Lane and Alicia cried at the same time.
Lorelai chuckled and then looked out the window and gasped at the sight of her daughter coming up the steps, "Rory!" she squealed, and bounded to the door as Rory let herself inside. Lorelai flew into Rory's arms and hugged her tightly, "I missed you!"
Rory rolled her eyes, "Mom. I saw you last weekend. Remember—I came home to study for midterms?" Rory gently reminded her mom.
Lorelai looked puzzled, "That was you? Are you sure? It might have been Alicia or Lane, or maybe Arielle skipped about a hundred years…" trailing off she grinned and cupped Rory's face with both hands, planting a kiss on her forehead, "How are you doing?"
"I'm home, so I'm good." Rory said, dropping her bag and walking into the living room, "Lane! Alicia! What are you guys doing here?" Rory exclaimed, a huge grin on her face as both of her best friends got up to envelop her in a hug.
"We just decided to drop by…we were in the neighborhood." Lane smirked.
"You're always in the neighborhood." Rory grinned, leaning over to scoop up Arielle, "Hey, baby! How's my little niece?" she asked. Arielle grinned and clapped her hands.
"She's great." Alicia smiled at her daughter, fingering the yellow Pooh Bear jumper she was wearing, "She likes to move. She's got the slithering across the floor thing down."
"That's good." Rory said giving Arielle's tummy a few kisses. Arielle giggled madly, and Rory smiled, setting the baby down on her blanket again, "So, what's new? Is there anything exciting happening in Stars Hollow?" Rory asked, plopping herself down on the couch, slipping out of her shoes and pulling her feet underneath her.
"It's Stars Hollow." Lane said, not needing to say anything else as she sat next to her best friend.
"Gotcha." Rory smiled, "How are things at work for you guys?"
Lane blinked, "Who cares about work? You've got a guy now! Come on, spill!"
Rory looked over at Alicia, who handed her daughter a bright red chunky block and came over to sit on Rory's other side, "Don't look at me! I haven't had a boyfriend or a girlfriend in months. Having a 7-month-old isn't exactly conducive to having a love life."
Lorelai chuckled, "I can attest to that!" she agreed.
Rory laughed, "Well, there's not much to tell. I'm not even sure he's my guy, technically. We just have coffee or go to the pub or study together."
"They went out for dinner earlier this week." Lorelai chimed in, making kissing noises at her daughter. She plopped down next to Arielle, and smiled at the baby when Arielle offered her a blue block.
"Mom!" Rory exclaimed, to which Alicia and Lane both burst out laughing.
"He's her guuuuuuuuy!" Alicia said in a singsong voice.
Rory rolled her eyes, "Well, guy or not, he said he'd stay in Connecticut over break, and he wanted to know if maybe you guys would want to go out to a party or dinner tomorrow night."
Lane nodded, "Sure, I'd love that. Is there going to be good music there?"
Alicia chuckled, "I don't think Rory would dare bring you to a party that had tasteless music."
Rory smiled, "Nope, I learned that lesson years ago. Remember Whitney's party in eighth grade?" she asked.
Alicia groaned, "That was horrible. Lane spent the first five minutes in shock that they would dare play that music at a party for teenagers, the next five minutes complaining about it, and the last five minutes bolting down the street in terror."
Rory laughed at the memory, and Lane pouted, "Okay, that is such an exaggeration! I was walking fast!"
"Walking fast enough to go over the speed limit." Alicia put in, as she and Rory chuckled.
Rory unzipped her jacket, and removed her gloves, setting her purse on the coffee table, as the girls watched Arielle for a few minutes. The child took a green block from Lorelai, but when Lorelai handed her a blue one, she wrinkled her nose and handed it back. She then got up on her hands and knees and looked towards the kitchen, where her stuffed platypus was on the floor where it had been tossed earlier. Wrinkling her brow, she rocked back and forth a few times.
"Is that Mr. Tomlin? Do you want to go get Mr. Tomlin?" Lorelai asked the baby, who looked up at Lorelai and smiled. She plopped down on her belly and pulled herself towards the platypus. Lorelai got down on her stomach and followed Arielle, tickling the baby's toes to get her to go faster. Arielle squealed with laughter, and Alicia chuckled.
"What about Arielle?" Alicia asked, "I don't want to bring her to the party."
"Oh, Ari can hang with me. We're old buddies by now, aren't we Miss Ari?" Lorelai asked, as the infant finally reached the platypus and grabbed it with one hand. Lorelai tickled Arielle's feet, and then scooped up the baby, bringing her back to the blanket.
"That would be great. Thanks, Lorelai." Alicia said.
"Anytime, sweetie." Lorelai smiled at her, as she tried to interest Arielle in a rubber ducky. Arielle grabbed the duck, and stuffed it in her mouth, using her other hand to play with the patterns on the blanket.
"Does anyone think we're spoiling her?" Alicia asked, glancing at the mound of toys surrounding Arielle.
"Nah!" Lorelai, Rory, and Lane all chorused.
Alicia smiled, "That's what I thought."
"Are we going to dinner tonight, Mom?" Rory asked.
Lorelai rolled her eyes, "We sure are. Your newly-married-again grandparents are going on a trip to the Gulf of Mexico tomorrow, but they wanted to see us before they went. Something about needing to make sure we had all the emergency numbers and whatnot."
Rory grinned, "Got it. We have to have the emergency numbers." Lorelai and Rory both knew the real reason; they didn't want to miss any more dinners than necessary. They may have completely different personalities, but in the end, Emily, Richard, Lorelai, and Rory were family.
