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, Dr. Magnant, Dr. Lockham, Nurse Sayde, 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." 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.

This story is winding down now; there are a total of nineteen chapters, so pretty soon it's all going to be over. I timed this so hopefully the last chapter will be posted a few days before all-new Gilmore Girls episodes come back. I hope you like this chapter! Enjoy and please review if you wish! It's each and every one of yours' feedback, comments, likes, and dislikes that helps this story. Thank you all! A special thank you to smile who submitted one of the longest reviews I've ever gotten. That was a surprise and a treat to read!

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Rory allowed the party to stay in swing for about an hour, before she kicked guests out. The long good-byes the town was so fond of took at least another hour, so it was the middle of the afternoon before the only ones left were Lorelai, Rory, Sookie, Lane, Alicia, and Arielle.

Lorelai collapsed on the couch, "God, I missed this place." She laid her head on the back of the couch, and closed her eyes.

"This place definitely missed you." Rory smiled. She sat next to her mom, and stroked her hair back, "Do you want a nap?"

"I want some popcorn…cheese nips...Oreos…Cheetos…" Lorelai opened her eyes and got up, wandering into the kitchen to join Sookie. Rory got up to follow her, but changed her mind and sat back down.

"What's up?" Alicia asked, as she showed her daughter how to put different sized blocks in their different sized holes in the bucket.

"She needs to talk to Sookie. She hasn't…talked to anyone." Rory said, looking down, "She never talks to me."

"Oh, honey. She probably just doesn't want to scare you." Alicia said. She gave her daughter a few blocks and went to sit next to Rory.

Lane sat on her other side, "You're so much younger than she is, still. It's like she wants to talk to someone her own age about the scary stuff." Lane said, laying her hand on Rory's knee.

"But I can handle the scary stuff!" Rory said, "At least I think I can."

"I know you can…" Alicia began.

"And I know you can, too." Lane put in.

"But your mom doesn't. You're her baby. I can see her point of view as a mother myself; you just don't want to subject your baby to anything scary, whether she is 8 months old or 20 years old." Alicia said.

"Yeah. I guess I can understand that." Rory said, "I just wish she would."

"She will. When you're older, there will come a time." Alicia said, smiling down at her daughter. Arielle was looking back and forth from an oval block to a circular block and frowning in confusion.

Rory laughed, and got down on the floor next to the baby, "This one is called a circle, and this one is called an oval. And the circle one goes here…and the oval one goes here." Rory showed the baby where to slip the blocks in. The baby giggled and clapped her hands, "Here, you try the triangle."

"I can't believe she's going to be eight months tomorrow." Lane said, smiling down at the baby, "She's getting to be so big."

Alicia nodded, wistfully, "She really is. I worry about the equipment shed, she'd be getting into so much, there's so much work to do out there this spring."

"I don't know how many more times I can stand leaving my mom and you guys to go back to the dorms. I'm beginning to hate radiator quesadillas." Rory said in a disgruntled tone.

"Yeah. I don't know how much longer I can live with my band. They're nice and everything, but if I have to find one more half-eaten banana lying around on the counter I'm going to go nuts." Lane said, grudgingly.

"Not romance material, huh?" Rory asked, smiling.

"Not while I'm living with them." Lane said. She looked up at Alicia and Rory, who both began to grin, "No."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Rory asked.

"I bet I am!" Alicia said, looking down at Arielle, and grinning. She scooped up the baby and bounced her in front of Lane, "Pwease, Auntie Lainey! Pwease!" Lane began to smile as she reached for Arielle.

Lorelai headed into the kitchen, where Sookie was cleaning up after the party. She turned and gave Lorelai a quick hug as she entered, "Hey."

"Hey, Sook." Lorelai said, squeezing her best friend lightly.

"How are you doing?" Sookie asked.

"I'm fine. Now that I've got a Snoopy band-aid on up here," Lorelai pointed to her temple, "It looks a lot better to others." She took a seat at the table, and began fiddling with a stray plastic spoon.

"It's a cute band-aid." Sookie grinned, and turned back to the sink and rinsed her hands off. Sitting at the table next to Lorelai, she looked her best friend in the eye, "Now, how are you really doing?"

"I said I was fine." Lorelai said, not entirely convincingly.

"Yeah? Well, all I can think about was how terrified I was when Alicia told me you'd had an accident. How terrified Rory looked at the hospital. Yet, you were the one who actually had the accident. You must have been scared to death when you woke up." Sookie said, her voice soft, as to not attract attention from the girls in the living room.

Lorelai looked down for a moment, her voice dropped to a whisper, "It was scary."

"I know." Sookie said, putting her hand over Lorelai's.

"I didn't want to die." Lorelai said, in a quivering voice, "I thought they were going to tell me I was paralyzed or dying."

"But you weren't." Sookie said, her voice equally quiet.

Lorelai looked towards the living room, hearing her baby's voice, "No. I'd never leave my baby, and paralysis would never stop me from living my life."

Sookie smiled reassuringly, "No, you wouldn't, and it wouldn't. You're such a strong woman, you never cease to amaze me."

Lorelai smiled, "You are amazingly strong, too, and such a good mother to Davey. This little one is going to be so lucky to have him for a big brother and you for a mom." Lorelai said, laying her hand on Sookie's bulging stomach.

Sookie smiled, "Well, we certainly are cool mothers, then."

Lorelai chuckled, "That we are." She let Sookie pull her into a hug and hold her for a few moments before pulling back, "Let's go and be with those cool young women in the living room. Grab the popcorn."

"You got it!" Sookie nodded, and Lorelai headed into the living room.

"It's settled then. We'll go looking tomorrow." Rory was just finishing up saying in an excited tone when her mother walked in.

"Looking for what?" Lorelai asked, squeezing in on the couch in between Lane and Rory, "Going to stalk someone from a certain hospital?"

"Lane, Alicia, and I are…" Rory began, but was interrupted by Sookie.

"Okay! I got popcorn, I got cheese, and I got cookies! Let the video-fest begin!" Sookie practically shouted as she waddled into the living room, her arms full of goodies.

"Yay!" Lorelai cried, and helped Sookie place the food on the table. Arielle looked over at the table and grinned. She could see the cheese slices she loved so much, and got up on her hands and knees—the table was just a foot away.

"Look!" Alicia gasped, as Arielle inched forward on her hands and knees, crawling for the first time. She pulled up on the table, and reached forward, taking the cheese slices in her hands.

"Well, she really wanted that cheese." Lorelai laughed.

"Yeah, Ari! You're a big girl! You're mommy's big girl!" Alicia said, handing her daughter a few crackers. The girls watched as Arielle tasted a cracker, taking a small bite, and then licking a small slice of cheese. Arielle smiled, glad to be included in the snack-fest.

The girls selected a DVD, and settled in to watch. They'd wanted to leave Lorelai and Rory alone, but both Lorelai and Rory had insisted that they stay for a few hours. They all knew there was no changing a stubborn Gilmore girl's mind.