Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own these characters or anything related to the Gilmore Girls.
Chapter 1: The Invitation
Lorelai was stretched out on the couch breathing in the amazing smells wafting towards her from the kitchen. This, however, did nothing to calm her indignation. She had been exiled. Forced out of the cooking area by her own best friend- and her daughter! Too uncoordinated, sheesh. Maybe I did spill an entire bag of flour and then proceed to make the mess bigger upon my sad attempt to clean it. So what?
"Sook? I'm loving the smell of all this food, but I wanted to cook for you. You're the one with the birthday."
"Relax, I'm a professional. This is what I do. Besides, Rory is fast becoming an expert assistant."
"Oh, please. She can't cook. She's only good for adding up measurements in her head."
"Hey I heard that," Rory piped up.
"So? It's true, and you know it."
"You're just grumpy 'cause your genius cook Sookie a birthday dinner plan backfired. Mainly because you forgot you can't cook."
"Well can't I at least watch?"
"NO!" They chorused this together.
Resigned to her fate, Lorelai reached for the TV remote. She had it in her hand when the phone rang.
"I'll get it. Or, wait. Do I need permission from the lords of the kitchen first?"
"Just answer the phone, mom."
"Fine, fine." Lorelai picked up the phone. "Hello."
"Hey Lor."
"Chris? What are you calling for?"
"Isn't a guy allowed to call his girls every once in a while?"
"Oh, he's allowed it's just that you often don't."
"I know, and I want to make up for that."
"You do, huh?" Lorelai rolls her eyes and flops back on the couch, twirling a piece of hair in her fingers.
"Yep."
"So what's the plan?"
"Well, I was thinking a road trip- just you, me and Rory."
"Wow. And where would our wanderings take us?"
"Our old summer camp. It's empty this time of year. And it would be fun to show Rory all our old haunts."
"Yeah, huh, well when were you thinking of going?"
"How 'bout the weekend of the 18th. Rory could even stay with me in Boston for a night if it's okay."
"Yeah that sounds great Chris. I'll tell Rory, and she can talk to you about the lodging situation, and I guess I'll meet the two of you in Boston the morning of the 19th."
"Great, Lor. I'll see ya then."
"Bye Chris."
Lorelai hangs up the phone and stands up to put the phone back on the desk. "Hey Ror- that was your dad."
A rather disheveled Rory, in an apron no less, appears. "Really? What did he want?"
Lorelai grins at her daughter's appearance- and her enthusiasm for anything involving her dad. I will hurt you Christopher if you let this girl down one more time.
"He wants to take us to the summer camp he and I used to go to, up in Maine. Give you a tour."
"Cool. When?"
"In two weeks. He also said he wants some father/daughter time so he was wondering if maybe you could take the train up Friday after school and stay over. You don't have to if you don't want to."
"No, mom, that sounds fun. I've never been to his house in Boston. I'm gonna go e-mail him right now and say I'm coming. Oooo. Maybe we can even have a movie night!"
Loreali smiles as she watches Rory skip happily into her room and shut the door.
"Hey, someone seems happy. What was that all about?" Sookie nods in the direction of Rory's room from her station at the stove.
"Oh, Chris has invited us on a road trip and Rory gets to spend the night at his house."
"That's good, right?" Sookie turns around to look at Lorelai who is now sitting at the table. "You don't exactly look thrilled."
"I know. It's just- Chris doesn't have the best track record, and if he cancels like he always does I'm the one who's going to pick up the pieces."
"Hmmm…" Sookie shoots her friend a comforting look before turning back to the contents of the pot she was stirring. Lorelai sighs and silently wills Rory's MIA father to come through this time.
