Fate Can't Deny: Childs Play
"I've never been inside a house like this," Tristan said, standing on the porch of the Gilmore house. It was two stories high, with blue painted window boxes that were completely void of any plant life. The door looked like it was lacking a lock or any security at all.
Rory shrugged, as she jiggled her key into the front door with succession. "It's just like any house here," she said. "Except it's got really poor maintenance... But you learn to get around these things."
"Yeah," Tristin said. "I guess." He didn't want tot let on how truly awestruck he was. He'd never been into such a smile house. Anything his parents would likely let him see would have to have been something amazing, great of value, or equipped with some ingenious device.
Rory let him inside. The hallway floor was made of a dark cherry wood. A giant wicker reindeer stood in one corner. Someone had put a baseball cap on its head, and equipped it with some sunglasses. Down the hall they were met with a medium-sized living room. There were pieces of movie memorabilia everywhere. Tristin even thought he recognized some of the movies. Casablanca. Pippi Longstocking. The Wizard of Oz.
"My mom and I are into movies," Rory told him when she noticed Tristin staring. The she noticed something else. A wrapped package sat on the coffee table, and the card had her name on it...Technically. Rory went over and carefully opened the envelope. LUKE DANES was printed on the face of the card in classic Verdana letterhead. Inside it read: For Lorelai. Love always. Luke.
"What's that?" Tristin asked. "Is it your birthday or something?" he continued, although he was sure it wasn't. He was sure he'd have remembered something like that. And he was sure that if it had been, he wouldn't be the one here, with her.
"Nope." Rory said. She gently placed the card back in its envelope, picked up the box and placed it on the stairs leading up to her mom's room. She was curious about what was inside, but she knew she'd feel guilty if she opened more then she already had. She had no idea that Luke could be as romantic to be sending her mother secret packages, and love notes. He still managed to surprise her sometimes.
"So what do you want to eat?" she asked Tristin, assuming he was hungry and leading him down the hall, into the kitchen." Luke usually leaves Danishes and doughnuts whenever he comes over. I be there are still some left." Rory was presuming that he'd been there of course. But only because the usual scattered look the house portrayed was very organized. And everyone knows Lorelai Gilmore isn't one for cleaning.
Rory located a cookie tin on top of the marble kitchen counter and opened it. She pulled out a doughnut and took a bite. "My mom's not exactly the best cook," she informed him. "The idea of my mother making toast is a complete joke."
"Hey! At least your mother tries," he argued. "I bet my mother had never stepped into a kitchen in her life. She was a French Princess who lived on restaurant food or catered meals at dinner parties."
Rory nodded, her eyes glued to him as he made his way over to where she was standing. She'd early on told herself to be prepared for anything while he was with her. But she still couldn't for the life of her figure out why she'd invited him. It was as if her thoughts spilled out to him, the moment they crossed her mind, which was potentially dangerous. He pulled a danish from the tin, and inhaled it with 3 bites. Rory's eyes took on a bigger sized as she watched.
"So. Why are we here again?" he posed.
"Well..." Rory began, placing her maple dipped doughnut on the counter. "I am here to see Sookie's baby...Her new one, it's a girl. I'm so happy. We needed a girl."
Tristin frowned in confusion. "Why do we need a girl?" he questioned her.
Rory's mind raked for a semi-plausible answer. "I don't...know, we just do." she said slowly giving any needed time for a good answer to pop in her head. "You..." she quickly continued, diverting the attention from her last response. "Are here, because I invited you. But that still doesn't explain it. Considering I was only inviting you out of the kindness, and politeness of my heart. I did expect you to accept. So you know, it's kind of awkward and all," she joked.
Tristin smirked boyishly. "Fine then," he proceeded to play the brat-boy act. "I'll leave!" he pouted. This seemed to be a reoccurring thing with the ladies lately. Of course they were always kidding, who wouldn't want a guy like Tristin Dugrey around?
He proceeded to march out of the kitchen and down the hall, Rory was at his heels. "Let's go!" he called once more, his pace quickening.
A vibrating halted Rory's progression down the hall, she could here the continuous footsteps of Tristin who'd carried on, and had yet to notice her lack of presence behind him. The movement in her back pocket continued, as she pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open, pressing it to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Daughter dearest!"
"Hey mom," Rory smiled.
"I see you survived the party. How was it? Are you still eating well...? And by well, I mean... Are you all right enough to be consuming an unhealthy intake of junk food? Twinkies. Pop. Chocolate bars. Chips."
"While some have called the most meaningful experience in their life, to me it was something more akin to doing the splits on a crate of dynamite."
"See now, I would laugh, but I'm not sure if what you said is actually funny?"
"Anything said quickly can seem wittier than it is."
"You're learning a lot at Yale."
"Actually... I learnt that from you"
"Ha! I knew it. I'm so much better then that big school of yours. At least I'm not full of silly college students and smelly teachers. You could learn so much from me, your mother. The one that gave you life! The one you depended on for food, and clothing, and cleanliness the first years of your petite life! I could give you so much more! And I-"
"Mom." Rory interrupted.
"What?"
"You're babbling again."
"It's like a disease." Lorelai whimpered.
"You should get it looked at."
"I should." she agreed. "Where are you?"
"Home."
"Home?"
"Home."
"Home?"
"We're not starting this again!"
Lorelai giggled, "Aw, at least you can't say I didn't try!"
"I wouldn't dare!"
A loud crash startled both girls. It was on Rory's end. When she shifted her gaze up, she saw the front door, still open. Outside she managed to capture a view of Tristin laying face-first on the lawn.
"What was that?" Lorelai asked, worried.
"We should really get the porch fixed," Rory told her, before bursting out into hysterical laughter.
"Are you okay? Did you fall?"
Rory managed to let out an "I'm fine," in between her outbursts.
"Okay, now, answer the latter," Lorelai told her, impatiently.
Rory walked down the hall, and perched herself in the doorframe. Tristin rolled himself onto his back; his eyes squeezed shut and moaning in pain. Rory was sure he didn't know she was there. She lowered the phone from her ear, pressing her hand over the receiver, and resting it lightly on her shoulder. "Good job college-boy," she called out to Tristin who was now in the process of spitting out grass. He groaned, chuckling a bit. "Did they teach you that at Princeton too?" she asked, once again bursting out into laughter.
Although the sun was setting they were still provided with enough light to continue on with normal exercises, such as…walking down the stairs. Or so one would think.
"Quiet, you," he advised her, weakly pushing himself up into a sitting position.
Lorelai listened intently to the voices on the end. She huddled herself in Sookie's bathroom, so not to be interrupted. This was wishful thinking in a house of not one, but now two infants.
"Lorelai. Out of the bathroom!" Jackson yelled, slamming on the door.
"Shhh, Jackson. I'm busy."
He only banged louder with her response, causing her to jump up from her seat on the counter. She shot an evil glare…at the door. But she told herself it was for Jackson, and the door would be as kind as to pass it along to him.
"You'll wake the babies!" Sookie's voice cut in to warn her insane husband. "I just got them both asleep. BOTH. At one time… Do you know how rare?" The couple erupted into their usual bickering. Lorelai, as always, attempted to tune them out, or simply keep it as a subtle background hum.
"Everything's fine," Rory finally told her. "Tristin jus-" she regretted it the moment the name passed through her lips. Her mom wasn't supposed to know; this could do nothing but induce another infamous lecture about relationships. But she continued, there was no use of hiding anything from her mother. "…just fell off the front steps."
"Huh..." Lorelai knew this had to be bad, if Tristin; Golden Boy; A vision of Christopher in his early stages was there. "So what're you doing in Stars Hollow, again?"
"Oh, well. I'm coming to visit the new baby. I had an opening in my schedule, and thought I'd jet on out. Tristin was just going to….tag along."
"And what about-" she cut off, due to the increase of yelling outside the bathroom. Pulling the phone away from her ear, she swung open the bathroom door. "Hey!" You two! I'm on the phone. Therefore, I'm not going to be here to referee, but if you'd like to continue this in proper etiquette … Get the butter, and the saran wrap…and get busy!" she yelled out to them. "Is this funny, or just face" she pondered to herself.
Jackson gave her a confused look, but Sookie who was used to her ruptures of useless babbling stood silent. "I don't even want to know why we'd need butter…or saran wrap," Jackson muttered.
Lorelai proceeded to shut the door again. " And do it outside, so there won't be such a mess to clean up. The body bag is in my trunk, for whoever wins and has to dispose of the evidence," She added.
She returned to the phone conversation, "What about…. Boyfriend?" she asked.
"What was that?" Rory responded.
"Kid, you don't answer questions with more questions."
"Logan? Well… I lost track of him at the Gazette."
"But he's still the boyfriend, is he not?"
"He is," Rory assured her. "So. I'm coming over to Sookie's…Can you be okay with me bringing Tristin?"
"How did you know where I was?" Lorelai asked in a sudden panicked disposition.
"Butter, and saran wrap."
"Ah, well. I can be cool…" She told her. " I promise. I'll be so cool.. You'll mistake me for Shaft!"
"As long as you're okay," Rory smirked.
"Mmkay, Bye," Lorelai gushed.
"See ya, Shaft."
"It's been a while since I've been here," Tristin said as they strolled through the town on the way to Sookie's house. The sun was setting slowly off in the distant but the night was beautiful and so they'd decided to walk to Sookies.
"Right before the play," Rory responded, looking at him out of the corner of her eye, surprised at how comfortable she felt with him.
Tristin smiled at the memory and it sparked a question he couldn't stop from passing by his lips. "So whatever happened to Bag Boy? When I left you two were on you're way to marriage and a happily ever after," he stated, feeling an odd bitterness when he thought about those times.
Rory took a moment to respond. "We broke up a little after you left," she said. "He's actually married now."
Tristin seemed surprised to here that as they neared Sookies house. "My condolences," he said.
Rory shook her head. "its fine, I'm okay with it," she told him, smiling at the fact that she really was okay with it.
Tristin let that familiar smirk spread itself onto his face. "I wasn't talking about you," he said smoothly making Rory laugh. He held out his hand for her as they turned onto the driveway.
"What I am going to do with you?" she asked sarcastically and placed her hand in his.
"Well I'm up for anything with you Mary!" he breathed. "They say it's the quiet one you gotta watch out for."
Rory blushed at his comment but held his gaze, not backing down. "Really? That's exactly what Paris said."
"Paris?" he asked, almost stopping.
Rory laughed. "She's my roommate and one of my best friends too," she said. "Surprised?"
Tristin let the shock wear off and dived back into their banter. "Pleased. I might even be up for a threesome!" he exclaimed, winking suggestively.
"Idiot!" Rory stated pausing at the door.
"Oh come on Mary, you know you want to."
Rory turned to look at him, her free hand poised at her hip. "You know usually being called an idiot takes people out of the mood," she said smartly.
"It actually kind of turns me on," he told her.
Rory just looked at him for a second. "I fear you," she finally said walking into the house.
The two of them walked into the house, flinging themselves against the wall and out of the way when Jackson came storming by.
"Jackson! You better start being quieter or you'll be up in the middle of the night breastfeeding!" Sookie yelled, following Jackson.
Jackson threw his hands in the air and turned around. "I don't have breasts!"
"Well grow some!" Sookie retorted.
Rory and Tristin were now standing, watching the fight unfold. Rory was highly amused, but Tristin on the other hand was half amused and half frightened. They only looked away when they heard someone walking towards them.
"Hey Kiddo," Lorelai greeted Rory and then turned to look at Sookie and Jackson. "Sorry about this but it's been going on non-stop for…well a long time," she said, bringing her hand up to her forehead.
"Not like I'm not used to it," Rory replied and then turned to Tristin. "Mom, this is Tristin," she introduced.
"Ah! E.T nice to meet you," she answered.
Tristin sifted his hand through his blonde hair in a confused manner. "E.T?" he questioned.
"Evil Tristin," Rory said simply.
"Right. Nice to meet you Mrs. Gilmore," he greeted politely.
Lorelai backed away a few steps, an affronted look on her face. "Mrs. Gilmore's my mother," she said, like it was the worst insult she'd ever received. "I'm Lorelai."
"Lorelai, of course," he said laying on his natural charm. "How could I have mistaken, you look nothing like your mother."
Lorelai looked at suspiciously before pointing a finger at him. "You're trouble, I can smell. It's like a sixth sense."
Tristin smirked. "Actually that's one of the five," he told her smartly, making Rory laugh.
Lorelai glared at her daughter before turning around and walking into the living where Sookie and Jackson have moved, muttering under her breath: "Stupid smart college kids!"
As they walked into the room they caught the tail end of the argument.
"Sookie I'm telling you, it's impossible for a man to grow breasts!" Jackson said.
"Well then what the hell are man boobs?" she asked.
"Uhh…" Jackson mumbled, at a loss for words.
Tristin couldn't stop himself from cutting into the argument. He stepped forward and held out his hand. "Actually it wouldn't matter if he had man boobs or not because men don't produce milk," he told them suddenly becoming the centre of attention. "Man boobs are just for overweight men."
"Thank you!" Jackson said but then turned around to face Tristin. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Actually that's not true," Lorelai said, cutting off Tristin's reply. She turned to face Rory, a thoughtful expression on her face. "You remember Marilyn Manson had boobs."
"Yeah, but weren't they implanted?" Rory asked.
Sookie's eyes lit up and she turned to Jackson. "We're getting you those," she declared.
Jackson's mouth dropped open, frozen, until he heard Tristin laugh from behind him and he broke out of his trance. "Well let's hope I don't get the big nurse again," he said dryly.
"Yeah well you never know with Marilyn Manson thought, he's a freak!" Rory added.
Lorelai nodded and then whipped her head back to look at Rory. "Wait!" she exclaimed, gathering everyone's attention. "Are you wearing my sweater?" she asked pointedly.
Rory looked down, her eyes suddenly landed on a powder blue sweater that was indeed her mom's. "Yeah?" she responded, weary with confusion. She didn't see the big deal she'd worn this sweater before, along with many others that belonged to her mom.
"I thought I told you to ask me, before you took my stuff," Lorelai informed not only her daughter but the entire room.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Rory shrugged it off, her tone gentle.
"It's okay," Lorelai finalized, leaving the room brief silence. "I just didn't think it was a big deal. Just a simple, 'Hey mom can I wear this.'" Apparently she wasn't finished, her eyes glued to the young Gilmore.
"It's not," Rory confirmed.
Lorelai nodded once again going silent before starting up, a tension lingering in the air between them. "It's my favourite sweater though," she murmured.
"Since when?" Rory asked incredulously.
Lorelai nodded her eyes, searching the room, as if to convince them as well as herself and her daughter. "Since always," she spat.
"This is not your favourite sweater." Rory counteracted her mother.
"I just don't want you to borrow certain things…because you'll end up stretching them out, like everything else you borrow."
Rory looked slighted and she opened her mouth a few time before settling on something to say to that. "That's insane, I don't stretch out your stuff, it's impossible, your boobs are way bigger then mine!" she exclaimed, forgetting they weren't alone in the room.
"That is not true," Lorelai responded.
"Yes it is!"
"Your boobs are totally bigger then mine!" she yelled throwing her hands in the air.
"You're crazy!" Rory said, looking at her mother like she had three heads.
"Do you want to measure?"
Rory's blue eyes went as wide as saucers and her face screwed up. "I'm not going to measure my boobs!" she cried.
Tristin who was watching with mixed emotions couldn't help but weigh in. "Would it be rude of me to offer my services for that act?" he asked, but his question went ignored by everyone else in the room.
Lorelai turned to the side. "Yeah that's because you know you're totally bigger," she scoffed.
Rory was about to answer her when she heard the baby crying upstairs. "I gonna go check up on the baby," she said.
"Fine, don't measure," Lorelai pouted, turning to look at Rory as she walked to the stairs. "We'll just compare bra's!" she yelled.
"You're cracked!" Rory told her before disappearing around the corner upstairs.
"You're…bigger!" Lorelai yelled, bringing her hand up to cover her face, when she met the confused and worried looks of everyone else in the room.
Tristin had quickly snuck away from the chaotic happenings going on in the ground level of the house. He'd mounted the stairs and turned down a random hallway but changed directions when he heard the unfamiliar gurgle of a baby. He followed the sound straight a half open door, from where he could see Rory sitting on a bed holding a small bundle wrapped in yellow. He moved closer, leaning against the door frame and just watched her with the baby. She was beautiful, he'd always known that but right now with a baby in her arms…it shocked him how domestic this picture really was. Rory with the baby and him watching her.
Tristin quickly shook his head, getting rid of those thoughts. He wasn't going to let himself fall back into the rip tide of emotions that had made up his years at Chilton with Rory. He had Sam now and that was all that he needed.
And so with that thought permanently in place he rapped his knuckles against the door, grabbing Rory's attention. Smiling he walked into the room and sat down next to her, reaching over and pulling the fleece blanket away from the baby's face. He'd never really been around a baby before and so he just kind of looked over her. She was so small, everything about her was tiny.
"How old is she?" he asked, looking up at Rory, who seemed captivated by the baby too. Maybe it was just something about a being so pure and innocent.
Rory slowly looked over at Tristin and she thought about it for a moment. "She's almost a month," Rory responded. "Do wanna hold her?" she asked, moving the sleeping baby closer to him.
Tristin vehemently shook his head, bringing his hands into the action. "No, I can't," he said, a note of finality in his voice but also something else.
Rory had never been able to really read people, especially Tristin. But right now it was like every one of his feelings was swimming around openly in his cobalt blue eyes. She could see the fear in them easily and she softened at that. "It's not that hard," she told him. "You just gotta support her head and hold her tightly," she explained, gesturing down at how she holding the baby. "But not too tightly."
Tristin didn't really have the choice as Rory handed him the little girl. He tried to imitate how he'd seen Rory been holding the baby. It hit him like a ton of bricks how much he liked the feeling of having a baby, although he knew if it was his baby that feeling wouldn't be so happy and fluffy. He'd never thought about kids, never even thought about being in love before. 'It's funny how one person can change so much in your life,' Tristin thought, looking over at Rory.
"What's her name?" he asked, going back over their conversation so far and realizing the name had never been said.
Rory laughed and scooped her legs up onto the bed. "Well I know her first name's Martha," she said, reaching out, tracing the little girls face contours with the tip of her finger. "The middle name or names…I think one is Rupert."
"Rupert?" Tristin repeated, very much confused. "And here I thought that was a guy's name."
Once again Rory laughed and she smiled at how crazy the people in this town really are. She just shrugged though, not going into detail about how her middles names came to be. "I think you're safer not knowing, trust me."
"Okay," Tristin said, rolling his eyes good naturally. "So I'm guessing you were there when she was born right?" he asked.
Rory's face twisted and she shook her head. "Me?" she asked, pointing at herself and laughing dryly when Tristin nodded. "I really don't do birth," she told him.
Tristin was surprised to hear that. Rory looked like someone who would film it and call it the beautiful miracle of life. He took a moment to think, looking down at Martha still curled up, asleep in his arms. "You don't want one?" he asked softly.
Rory looked at him gently and she smiled. "Of course I want one," she replied. "I've always wanted one."
Tristin couldn't stop the smirk from spreading itself across his face. He flashed it at her and his eyes twinkled mischievously. "Well I don't know what's stopping you right now," he started. "I mean you have the bed and the privacy."
Rory blushed at his suggestive words and felt them slipping back into their familiar banter. "You're right, I do have both of those," she said, laughing inwardly at his obvious surprise at her words. "To bad I'm missing the guy," she finished.
Tristin quickly got over his shock and leaned closer to her, careful of the baby in his arms. "No your not Mary," he breathed. "I'm right here."
Rory's pink cheeks easily turned crimson and she pulled away from him, just in time to see his victory smirk. "Well fortunately for me," she said, getting off the bed and smoothing out her clothes. "You're not the boyfriend," she concluded, a teasing note in her voice but also a lot of the truth.
Tristin fell a tiny sting at her words but pushed it away. "I think the word you were searching for is unfortunately Mary," he enlightened her.
Rory looked at him barely nodding her head before she gave up, shrugging her shoulders. "Fine you win Tristin," she said, reaching in to take the baby from his arms to lay he down in the bassinet. "I'll let you live in your little imaginary world."
Tristin laughed and stretched his arms out in front of him. "Oh no, my minds clear," he told her waiting until she turned back around before smiling innocently. "Crystal."
"How nice," Rory said, not even trying to fight the smile lengthening her lips.
The two of them stood there for a minute or two in companionable silence, before Tristin remembered the reason he'd actually come looking for Rory. He motioned at her shirt with his finger making her look down expecting to see something on it. "What was with you're mom?" he asked.
Rory frowned at that, she'd forgotten about their little fight. She shrugged and turned back to the bed, sitting down. "I don't know," she told him, although she knew exactly what was wrong. Her mom was mad at her for bringing Tristin to Stars Hollow, when she was dating Logan. She'd been disappointed in her when she found out that Rory was casually dating and Rory guessed that she thought maybe she was slipping back into that.
Tristin knew that wasn't true but he also knew this was bugging her, a lot. He wanted to get the frown off her face and so he bent down in front of her. "So I was thinking," he stared, gathering her attention. "How about you show me where your coffee obsession came from?" he asked, smiling knowingly when a smile lit up Rory's face. When in doubt with a Gilmore always bring up coffee.
Rory wanted to hug him for changing the subject but she quickly curbed that impulse and settled on a wide smile. "Well the obsession came from my mom," she let him know. "But, I can bring you to Luke's. Worlds best coffee."
Tristin raised an eyebrow but stood up and held out his arm motioning for her to go before him. "Lead the way," he said.
Rory laughed and walked past him, checking once on the baby before she grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her.
On the way to Luke's Rory had shown Tristin everything about the town. She loved talking about Stars Hallow, Tristin could tell. Her stories were so animated and her eyes were wide with wonder and excitement. Tristin found himself quickly being drawn in by the small town's charm and he listened intently to her.
"Okay, this is Luke's," she announced holding out the door for him and following behind him.
Tristin looked around the quaint diner and he instantly liked it. He didn't know if it was because of how simple it was or how different, or maybe it was because it was this big part of Rory's life. Whatever it was Tristin loved it. "So what do we order?" he asked, sitting down at a table, suddenly conscious of all the stares he was getting.
"Coffee," she told him straightly. Rory then leaned forward and Tristin did the same. "Don't' worry about them," she whispered, meaning the townspeople who ere gawking at Tristin. "You're new and will be the number one gossip story for a week or two."
Tristin nodded his head, not really understanding. He smiled nervously at the people watching him and they turned around and stared talking to each other. "Wow," he stated. "So this really is a small town."
Rory laughed and was about to answer him when she saw Luke coming over. "Hey Luke!" she greeted happily, hoping Luke wouldn't be to rude to Tristin. "This is my friend Tristin," she introduced them, hearing the subtle din in the diner turn up a notch now that they had his name.
Luke looked from Rory to the blonde kid sitting across from her. To him he looked very much like the limo boy Rory was dating. He only nodded at Tristin. "What do you want?" he asked.
Rory smiled her thank you at Luke, knowing a nod was the best she was going to get out of him. "Coffee and curly fries," she told him.
Luke jotted that down and looked at Tristin. "And you?"
Tristin felt very uncomfortable under the intensity of this man's gaze and he pulled at the collar of his shirt. "I'll have the same," he answered and Luke walked away. "That's your mom's boyfriend?" he asked.
Rory laughed and plated her arms on the table. "Yeah," she said. "But he's only being like this because he's really protective of me," she explained, not that it comforted Tristin really.
The two shared simple conversation and quick wit until their food got there and Tristin agreed with Rory about Luke's coffee being the best. After they were done, they walked out of Luke's with Tristin leaving a generous tip on the table behind him. They walked up the street again, ignoring the townspeople.
Rory suddenly looked at Tristin and cocked her head to the side. "I'm sorry, did we just spend a day whole together?" she asked, stopping on the sidewalk.
Tristin laughed at her surprise and he nodded. "It's true Mary," he told her.
"And no one ended up murdered?" she asked, teasing.
Tristin stroked his chin, like he was deep in thought until he struck his hand in the air like a light bulb went off in his head. "You know I think we might have actually grown up," he said loudly and they started walking again.
Rory smiled to herself. "A whole day with E.T and I actually had fun," she said not really talking to anyone but Tristin laughed at it. "Well I guess miracles really do come true."