A/N- I love reviewsssss! Just thought I'd say that...
A/N 2- Questions! I love the over-cheesiness, but I tried to throw a little bit of drama into this chapter... I'm sorry if I made you throw up from sugar overload ;)... Also, yeah, I figured out later about the chapters and the repetition and I have no idea why... whatev, lol... when you see A/N, for future reference, remember that that's always the beginning of the chapter.
Dedication #1- To... omg this is a long list of people... those who knew that the CD that Rory was listening to was Rooney (and that the song was "I'm a Terrible Person)... That would be Ally (plus she gave me the cd, so bonus points there!), Arlene (AKA Bridget... AKA Bee), Carpanthers21, PrincessSparkle09, TJ6, NIk, La Petite Rose, Iheartmusic, Chelsea, Snowboardbaby526, silentdaydreamer,and Harmmac82... woah... I def thought I was the only one who listened to Rooney, because most people I know have never heard of them. But then again, most people I know aren't obsessed with the OC, so then again...
Dedication #2- Special dedication to Ally, because I know she'll pull through this... And maybe she'll actually go to sleep...
New Challenge: When Lorelai's sitting on the couch later in the chapter, she's watching a movie, and I put in a little bit of the dialogue from that movie. Anyone who can name it gets the next chapter dedicated to them... Same rules as always...
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for the movie ticket I'm gonna get when I go see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants tomorrow. I've been looking forward to this for a long time...
Decisions
Lorelai rushed through her house frantically at six-thirty in the morning, a wailing Josh planted in her arms.
It had been two weeks since the birth of the Danes' twins, and one since the babies were taken out of incubators and given the ok to go home.
The minute that Hannah and Joshua were brought home, everything changed. Luke and Lorelai were always rushing; when they weren't changing a diaper (which was rare), they were feeding a baby. When a baby wasn't spitting up, a baby was crying. Whenever a baby was asleep, a teenager needed to be driven somewhere. Life was hectic.
"Jess, get up!" Lorelai rapped on the basement door with her free hand, "You have to leave for school in an hour and you still need to shower, eat breakfast, and get dressed," when she received no answer, she added, "Or you could stay home today and be on diaper duty all day."
"I'm up, I'm up!" his tired voice echoed up the stairs. Satisfied that three of her children were now awake, she proceeded to the fourth... the first, really she mused. She placed a pacifier in Joshua's mouth and placed him in a car seat, proceeding to Rory's door. She rapped a few times, prepared with a quip if Rory didn't answer, but to her surprise, the door flew open, a showered and dressed Rory emerging,
"Can I help you?" Lorelai shook her head, grinning. She leaned in and kissed her eldest daughter's cheek, beginning to coo,
"Rory's the best! Yes, she is! She gets up and dressed all by herself. Yes, she does." Rory glanced skeptically sideways at her mother as she poured herself a cup of coffee (which she promptly coughed back out; it was decaf since her mother was still nursing) and made a mental note to stop at the diner for some real coffee before heading off to school,
"Mom. Baby talk goes with the small ones. The little versions," she pointed at Josh, who was now asleep again in his seat, and dumped the coffee down the drain.
"Sorry. Back to regular mode now," she rubbed sleepily at her eyes, "What's on your agenda for today?"
"School. Then studying. Out to get final touch-ups for Halloween costumes for tomorrow. Then maybe out to see a late movie with Ryan, if that's ok with you." Lorelai yawned,
"It's ok with me. Just check with dad."
"Where is he?"
"Upstairs. Hannah needed a change and I'm on Josh duty at the moment." Her eyes blinked rapidly and fell together as Lorelai fought sleep.
"Mom?" Rory said softly. No answer, "Mom?" A little bit louder, but still no answer. "Mom!" She said loudly, startling Lorelai awake, "Are you ok?"
"What? Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine... I need to run a load of the babies' clothes, though. While I have a moment of peace." Rory sighed and shook her head,
"Mom, you're exhausted. Why don't you and dad go upstairs and go back to sleep. Jess and I will keep an eye on the twins until school. At least this way, you guys can each have an hour." Lorelai smiled sleepily at Rory,
"That's sweet, but there's really so much to do. And you have stuff to do also. Go finish getting ready."
"I am finished, mom. Let me help." Lorelai sighed and took in her daughter's appearance; she was clad in a pink sweater and jeans and did indeed seem ready to go. She was just about to give in when she heard cries coming from across the kitchen. She stood up, muttering,
"Joshy, go back to sleep, baby. C'mon," but Rory stopped her, gently pushing away her arms. Instead, Rory leaned forward and nestled Josh in her own arms,
"Back to bed."
"But, Ror..."
"Bed."
"Rory..."
"Bed!" Lorelai sighed, defeated, and trudged upstairs, Rory trailing behind. When her mother veered left into her bedroom, Rory turned right, into the pale pink-and-blue nursery. Luke sat peacefully in the rocking chair, Hannah resting in his arms, dozing off. Rory shook her head and leaned forward to take her sister; she had perfected the art of holding two babies the first night she had been allowed to hold her siblings. Luke's grip instinctively went slightly tighter around the baby. Rory sighed,
"Dad, go back to bed." He opened his eyes slowly, taking in his surroundings,
"What?... Rory. Hey, honey. What's up?"
"Go back to sleep, dad."
"No, no. I'm ok."
"You're not ok, daddy. I've never seen you doze off at six thirty in the morning. Give me Hannah. Go back into your room. Jess and I will watch the twins until we have to go to school. Get another hour of sleep in."
"Rory, that's great of you, but I really have a lot..."
"A lot to do. I know. I've heard the speech from mom. Who, by the way, is asleep in your bed right now. So go and join her," she paused and considered before clarifying gently, "Get some sleep." He sighed, defeated, and handed his youngest daughter to his eldest.
It was going to be a long eighteen years.
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"Seth, no."
"C'mon, Ry."
"No."
"Ryan..."
"No!" Kirsten glanced up from the ice cream store manual at her boys,
"What are you two arguing about?"
"Halloween," Ryan answered, grabbing a mug from the cabinet and proceeding to pour himself a cup of coffee. Their argument had been long-standing, and now, the day before Halloween, they still were costumeless.
"Oh. Seth, what do you want to dress up as now?"
"I wanted to do a Simpsons thing. I'll be Homer, Rory can be Lisa, Jess can be Bart, and Lane can be Maggie."
"You conveniently left out my part." Seth sighed,
"So I want you to play Marge to my Homer. What's wrong with that?" Kirsten choked on the coffee already in her mouth,
"Seth, that's worse than the Disney Princesses idea!"
"Why?" Seth whined.
"You honestly want your brother to dress up as Marge because you want to be Homer?"
"Oh, sure, take his side."
"If Ryan wanted you to dress up as the Nana to his Grandpa, then I would take your side."
"Now there's an idea." Ryan shook his head vehemently and picked at a piece of toast already on a plate before sitting down next to his mother,
"We almost ready for the opening?" Kirsten nodded nervously. The scheduled opening had been postponed two weeks to the next day (Friday the thirty-first- Halloween) due to the premature birth of the Danes twins. They had vowed to be around to help as much as possible. Besides, other than their sons, the main people that Kirsten and Sandy wanted at the opening was the Danes family, and that would be impossible with Hannah and Joshua in the hospital.
"Just about there. The ice cream shipment is coming in today since opening is tomorrow. We're actually going to need you boys after school. Do you have any plans tonight?" Both boys (along with Rory and Jess after some negotiations with Luke and Lorelai) were going to be allowed to miss school the next day to help with the opening. Seth shook his head,
"Lane's on probation since leaving Sam to go with us when Josh and Hannah were born, so no more dates for another two weeks or so." Ryan shrugged,
"Rory and I had semi-plans to see a lateish movie, if that was ok with you, but I can postpone."
"No, no. You can go. What we need shouldn't take too long. As long as you do your homework, it should be fine." They heard whistles outside the house and Ryan nodded towards the front door,
"Jess and Rory are here."
"Our chariot awaits," Seth joked.
"Bye, mom," Kirsten tapped her cheek and Ryan rolled his eyes but obliged, kissing the spot where his mother's finger had just been.
"Mother dearest," Seth followed suit as Ryan waited. They called a goodbye to their father, who was upstairs peeling through a sign catalogue and made their way outside.
"Hey," Ryan called, closing the front door behind him, "You been waiting long?" Jess yawned,
"Two minutes." Ryan leaned over and kissed Rory on the cheek.
"You'll excuse me if I don't greet you similarly," Seth told Jess, watching his brother and Rory wrap their arms around each other.
"I will."
"So, how are you?" Ryan glanced down at her red Rutgers sweatshirt that she wore over a blue tank top. She yawned,
"Exhausted. Jess and I gave my parents the morning off to sleep and we watched Hannah and Josh. I had to change my shirt four times." He sniggered a little, but restrained himself when he saw the look in his girlfriend's eyes,
"Why?"
"Josh spit up on me. Then Hannah spit up on me. Then I poured powder all over myself accidentally."
"Aww, poor baby."
"I was wide awake this morning. Then I watched the twins. I can see why my parents are so tired all the time lately."
"Yeah, you look terrible," Seth contributed.
"What do you mean by that, Seth?" She was suddenly angry and defensive. Seth held his hands up,
"I just mean that you look tired. You need to get some sleep." Rory sighed and wiped tears from her eyes,
"I know. I'm stressed. With all the extra activities and the whole waiting for acceptance into Chilton and the babies. And I know we're all going through it. All four of us. But for some reason, it's really affecting me. It's more difficult with the two of them, though. They're always crying or hungry or need a diaper change. I have no idea how my parents do it." Ryan wiped at the tears on her cheeks and glanced at Seth, who mouthed,
"What was that?" Ryan shrugged, confused, and they finished their walk to school.
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"Oh, Hannie, c'mon, baby doll. You're so tired. Go to sleep," Lorelai rocked with her youngest daughter as Luke finished changing his son.
"C'mon, big boy. All done."
"Feel a little bit refreshed?" Lorelai asked her husband in baby talk.
"Honey..."
"Right, right. I'm normal now. It's hard for me to jump in and out of it sometimes."
"Yeah. I am. The kids are probably exhausted, though."
"Probably. Jess was insanely tired the minute he woke up today."
"He's a teenage boy. We'll be going through that with this one in about fourteen years."
"Were you that way?"
"Always sleeping?"
"Yeah."
"I went to sleep late and woke up late. Not so much of an always-sleeping kinda guy. I actually used to fight sleep." Lorelai nodded,
"Well, at least we know where Hannah gets it." They had quickly learned that Joshua was the twin who could, and would, fall in and out of sleep easily, much like his mother. Hannah had a tendency to fight sleep as long as she could and become overtired.
They heard the rustle of footsteps outside and Luke sighed,
"Mail's here."
"You go get it. Gimme Josh." Luke handed his son to his wife and took a backwards glance at three of the five people he loved most in the world, all looking tired, worn, and covered in spit up.
"Hey, Kirk. Mail already in there?"
"Luke. I saw you took off of the diner."
"I'm just staying home for a few weeks to help Lorelai with the twins."
"Ahh, yes. I heard that you had twins. Two boys?"
"No, Kirk. Hannah and Joshua."
"So, two girls, then?" Luke furrowed his brow at Kirk and made a mental note to make sure to never drop the twins on their heads; this was a terrifying indication of what the future could hold.
"No, Kirk. Hannah's a girl. Joshua's a boy," he was about to explain further but stopped himself, knowing it would be fruitless, "What are you doing?"
"Sorting through the mail... Heyyy. Why aren't you inside with the babies? Isn't that dangerous?"
"Lorelai's inside with them, Kirk," he reached for the pile of mail in Kirk's hands, but Kirk pulled it away,
"But isn't that dangerous? I mean, what if they double-team her?"
"They can't hold their heads up yet, Kirk. They're not going to double-team Lorelai."
"You should keep an eye on that," Kirk offered, handing Luke the mail, "Just remember, there's four kids and only two of you."
"Thanks for the advice, Kirk," he said sarcastically, sifting through the mail and making his way slowly back to the house.
Bills. Catalogues. You may've won a million dollars. Suddenly, two nearly-identical envelopes caught his eye.
"No. No way," he whispered. He ran his finger over the blue logo in the corner of one of the envelopes before breaking into a sprint and running inside, up the stairs to Lorelai.
He found her hunched over Hannah's crib, Josh already in his.
"Lorelai," he panted.
"Shh... I finally got her down," she turned on the mobile, grabbed her baby monitor, and motioned for Luke to join her in the hall. They slipped out of the serenely-colored room,
"What's going on?" Luke looked her intensely in the eyes,
"They came." Lorelai gave her husband a puzzled look,
"What came?"
"The letters."
"Honey, I'm gonna need a few more words to understand." Instead of answering, Luke thrust the two envelopes gently into her hands. He watched as her eyes opened in surprise and she ran her fingers over the emblem, much as he had done not a minute earlier. She mustered up the energy to ask,
"Both of them?"
"Both of them," Luke answered. She ripped open the top envelope,
"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore-Danes," she read, "We are happy to inform you that we have a vacancy at Chilton Preparatory starting immediately. Due to your daughter's excellent credentials and your enthusiastic pursuit of her enrollment," Luke rolled his eyes; his wife had often joked about different, semi-unethical ways of ensuring Rory and Jess' acceptance, "We would be happy to accept her as soon as the first semester's tuition has been received." She smiled up at Luke, tears shining in her eyes as she ripped open the second envelope and read a near-identical letter, the only words changed being "daughter" to "nephew" and "her" to "his". Despite the lack of originality in the letters, Luke and Lorelai were thrilled. Both wiped tears from their eyes as they leaned in to kiss. They broke apart upon hearing Kirsten's excited voice echo through the house,
"Luke! Lorelai!" They ran downstairs to Kirsten, holding two envelopes identical to the ones that Luke and Lorelai had received while Sandy stood, beaming, behind her.
"The boys got in?" Lorelai asked excitedly. Kirsten nodded,
"Your kids, too?" Lorelai nodded back and both grabbed each other, shrieking, laughing, and crying, jumping up and down. Sandy and Luke shook hands, both smiling excitedly,
"We really do everything together, don't we?"
"Literally."
"Congratulations, man."
"Yeah. You, too."
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Ring. Ring. No answer. Ring. Riiing. Still no answer. Lorelai sighed. She heard the click of the voicemail and her sister-in-law's voice,
"Hi, you've reached Liz Danes. I'm not here. You need to talk. Leave one after the beep and I'll see what I can do about that."
"Hey, Liz. It's Lorelai. Umm... Everyone here is fine. Jess is being a, uh, great big..." she paused and considered; they considered Jess the twins' brother rather than their cousin, and called him big brother in passing. However, when asked the relationship between Jess and the babies, they explained it as him being the big cousin, but Lorelai often told him in seriousness that he was an "excellent big brother". She finally decided to go with it and finished, "a great big brother to Hannah and Joshy. You should really come and see them... Look, Liz... we, um... we have some exciting news. Jess got into Chilton. Yeah, we're all really jazzed up about it here. Rory got in, too. Just thought you'd wanna know. Talk to you soon. Bye, Liz."
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As they walked home from school, Seth babbled about Halloween, Ryan countered (he was not dressing up as Pocahontas in front of his girlfriend), Jess yawned, and Rory was uncharacteristically quiet.
Once they turned onto Kelly Road, Ryan fell back from Seth and Jess, taking Rory's hand in his own.
"Hey," he said softly; he didn't want to sound accusatory; he remembered her blowup and mood swings from before school, "I barely got to see you today." She sighed,
"I know. But we'll spend all day together tomorrow."
"Working at the store. Being busy," he finished. She toyed with Ryan's hand,
"We'll spend tonight together, ok?" He nodded; truth be told, he was worried about her,
"Ok." He leaned it for a quick kiss, but was interrupted by Seth's echoing voice,
"Yo! Mickey! Minnie! Move it or lose it!" They both rolled their eyes and walked back to the Danes' house.
"Mom? Dad?" Rory called into the house as they walked in, "Your eldest are home!" She looked around and glanced at Jess, "No mom and dad. Maybe they're upstairs with Josh and Hannah?" Jess shrugged as they turned into the kitchen.
"Surprise!" Their parents yelled. Holding her chest over her pounding heart, Rory glared at the adults in shock,
"What was THAT?"
Lorelai brushed off the comment, shifted Joshua in her arms, and instructed the four teenagers to take seats at the kitchen table.
"Ok. On the count of three," said Kirsten, Hannah squirming in her arms, "One. Two. THREE!" Sandy and Luke each brought two gift bags from behind their backs and placed them in front of their children. All four teenagers glanced at each other before digging into their bags.
"We're gonna be in a Britney Spears video?" Seth asked, pulling out the plaid uniform. Rory snapped her fingers animatedly,
"Damn, Seth. On the tip of my tongue."
"Umm... is there something someone would like to tell me?" asked Jess, holding up the plaid skirt he had pulled from his gift bag. Everyone laughed as Luke hastily threw the skirt back in the bag, switching it with Rory's.
Seeing that none of the kids were getting it, Kirsten sighed,
"Plan B?"
"Plan B," Lorelai shifted Joshua in her arms, "Jess, could you change Joshy for me?" Jess eyed his aunt curiously,
"What do I get in exchange?"
"Well, I just may let you keep that pretty little skirt that you pulled out before." Jess rolled his eyes and took Josh from Lorelai,
"Your mother's crazy, you know that?" Lorelai turned to Rory,
"Ror, go change your sister for me?" Rory gave Lorelai the same look that Jess had previously, but agreed,
"C'mon, Ry. Help me change Hannah." He followed her obligingly, putting his hands on her hips as they walked up the stairs. Seth rolled his eyes,
"I might as well go help Jess. If it's a two-person job to change Hannah, it'll probably be a two-person job to change Josh." He scurried up the stairs into the nursery.
"10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2..." An excited scream permeated the silence. Luke, Lorelai, Kirsten, and Sandy all turned to run upstairs.
"Show time," Sandy muttered, grinning. They entered the nursery to find four excited teenagers standing in the middle, two changed babies resting in their cribs, the teens clutching diapers.
"Mom? Dad?" Ryan asked quietly.
"You guys did it. All of you. You all got in," Sandy told them as tears welled up in Kirsten and Lorelai's eyes.
"All of us?" Rory repeated quietly as the adults nodded,
"Four kids got kicked out for a practical joke. Apparently, they don't look kindly on those at Chilton," Sandy explained, the implied subtext not lost on the laughing teenagers.
"We'll try and stop ourselves..." Rory said as she looked up at Ryan and smiled through tears of joy, "We got in..."
"We got in..." He leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips as Luke glanced away,
"Ok, ok! Enough! Father in the room!" They pulled apart and Rory stepped forward to hug her parents. Everyone was quiet for a minute, embracing their family members, until Rory spoke up,
"Diapers? You had to put it on the next clean diapers in the pack?"
"We couldn't put it in the dirty ones... otherwise, how would we frame it?" Jess laughed,
"As long as you thought about it beforehand." Almost everybody was laughing, joking, and ecstatic.
But, unbeknownst to everyone else in the room, Seth's face had just turned a pale gray, his excited smile fading to a worried frown.
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The Cohen boys lagged behind as they and their parents walked home at five. Seth and Ryan were going home to get changed; they had made plans to go out to celebrate with Jess, Rory, and Ally (Jess had called her to tell her the news shortly after finding out, and her mother had given her permission to go out for a few hours), and were going to meet in a half hour. Distractedly, Seth kicked at the gravel as his brother talked about Halloween,
"So, I'm thinking that our first idea- you know, the fallback?- is probably our best bet. I mean, we already have the stuff for it in the house. So, is that ok with you?" Seth shrugged,
"Sure." Ryan glanced at his brother, his brow furrowed. Suddenly, he took Seth's arm in his hand and stopped walking,
"Ok, what the hell's the matter with you?" Seth kept his gaze glued on the floor,
"Nothing."
"Seth..."
"Ryan..." Seth echoed. Frustrated, Ryan shook his head,
"Don't tell me nothing's wrong."
"I'm not lying."
"I didn't say you were. I just know when something's bothering you."
"I'm fine, Ry. Really."
"You're not fine. Tell me."
"No."
"Spill."
"No."
"Spill or I'm telling Mom, and you know she won't leave you alone until you tell her." Seth sighed,
"You mean, like the incredible talent that you seemingly inherited from her?" Ryan nodded, and Seth knew that he wasn't going to leave him alone until he told. He took a sharp, deep intake of breath before mumbling, "IfIgotoChiltonI'llhavetoleaveLanebehindatStarsHollowHigh." Ryan stepped back,
"Woah! I'm sorry, I wasn't clear enough. Spill in English." Seth shook his head as he stared determinedly at his shoes,
"If I go to Chilton, then I'll have to leave Lane behind at Stars Hollow High." Ryan stared his brother down,
"Have you talked to her about this yet?"
"We just found out we're going to Chilton, Ryan. Were you not there?"
"Yeah, Seth, but we've known we were on the waiting list for... three months now? It never came up in conversation?"
"It did... but it was in passing. It was like 'Parents. Math Test. Chilton. The Daily Show.'"
"I really need to listen to your conversations more often."
"Ryan..."
"Seth, you're being crazy."
"Yeah, you can say that. Your girlfriend is going with you. Mine isn't."
"Jess' isn't either," Ryan pointed out.
"Yeah, but Jess and Ally are different. Ally has other friends other than us. Lane has you, me, Jess, Rory, and Ally. And a few other people that she talks to occasionally. I mean, who's she going to play paper football with in study? Whose lunch is she gonna pick from in lunch? I feel like we're abandoning her." Ryan paused and considered how to answer,
"I think... I think you need to talk to her. She knows about Chilton. She knows this is a big opportunity for all of us. And she knows we'll see her every day after school. That is, assuming she gets off of parole within the next two years."
"Yeah... who knew that running away from a future Korean doctor with two non-Korean boys to go see the birth of your best friends' twin siblings is punishable by house arrest?" Ryan shrugged,
"I knew."
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Lorelai leaned back on the couch in the den, re-watching an old favorite,
"And you won't be angry?"
"I will NOT be angry."
"Abby someone."
"Abby someone... Abby who?"
"Abby Normal."
Hannah was nestled comfortably in her arms, once again resisting sleep. As usual, Joshua had passed out easily, and Luke had taken him upstairs to rest in his crib. She laughed audibly at the exchange on TV, but Hannah began to cry in response. She sighed and rocked gently with the baby. When Hannah had calmed, she called up to her husband, quoting the movie,
"Eye-gor!" He responded in kind,
"Yes, Froderick?"
"Your daughter is still wide awake. And I blame you!"
"This is my fault how?"
"I never had trouble falling asleep! This is all you, Mr. Up-at-four-thirty-asleep-at-twelve-perky-without-the-use-of-coffee Danes!" There was a small silence before he asked,
"I thought I was Eye-gor?" She laughed and sighed,
"Make sure Joshy has his mobile on!" She turned her attention back to the movie before hearing a light, rhythmic knock on the door.
She placed Hannah in the bouncy seat (which was turned off) and gave her daughter a pacifier as she turned to open the door.
"I'm coming, I'm coming." She threw it open and stepped back in surprise at who was on the other side, "Liz," she breathed, "I wasn't expecting you... Was I expecting you?" Liz shook her head,
"No... I just..." She paused and asked, "Can I come it?" Lorelai laughed self-incriminatingly,
"Of course! I'm sorry... I just... I was surprised, is all. I thought we weren't gonna see you again until Christmas. C'mon in. Jess will be thrilled to see you," Lorelai wasn't completely sure of the truth behind that statement, but she figured that she'd add it in for good measure.
Liz looked aroung the house at the pictures. There were photos everywhere.
Rory. Baby Rory. Rory with Luke. Rory with Lorelai. Rory dressed up for Halloween. Rory graduating from Junior High.
The twins. Sonograms. The day they were born. The day they came home.
And... Jess. Jess at his Junior High graduation, beaming at the camera, Rory waiting patiently in the background for her turn. Jess with Luke. Jess with Lorelai. Jess with his arm around Rory- there were quite a few of those.
And, finally, one last picture. A family portrait. Luke and Lorelai on Lorelai's hospital bed. Luke held Josh. Lorelai held Hannah. Rory and Jess sat on either side of them. She sighed; they looked like a real family.
Jess had a real family.
And she was just the pesky aunt who came to visit on holidays.
She turned her head at the sound of Luke bounding down the stairs,
"Lorelai, who was at the do..." He stopped short, "Lizzie!"
"Hey, big brother..."
"Hey..." Lorelai turned to Luke,
"Where's Josh?" Luke shook his head, seemingly waking himself from his reverie,
"Sound asleep in his crib. Any luck with Hannah?"
"None." They both sighed as their youngest daughter began to wail again; her pacifier had fallen out of her mouth.
"I'll get her," volunteered Luke. As he picked her up, he soothingly muttered, "Hey, baby girl... Shhh... go to sleep. You're so tired... So are mommy and daddy... and Rory and Jess for that matter..." Liz laughed,
"She won't sleep?" Lorelai shook her head, "I had the same problem with Jess when he was that age." As she smiled softly at them, Luke and Lorelai erupted in laughter,
"He doesn't have that problem anymore."
"He's a big sleeper?"
"We have to threaten him with diaper duty to get him up." Liz laughed, but it was followed by an awkward silence. Threatened by the quiet, Lorelai stuttered,
"Well, Liz... Jess is... he's out with his friends and his girlfriend."
"On a school night? Doesn't he have homework or something?" Lorelai shook her head,
"Our best friends are opening an ice cream store tomorrow and he and Rory are gonna miss school to go help. They're best friends with our friends' kids."
"Oh... Brian and Sam?"
"Ryan and Seth. Close. Jess has told you about them?"
"Once or twice..."
"I could call his cell phone or..."
"He has a cell phone?" Lorelai nodded,
"Both of the kids got them as Christmas presents. They pay half of their monthly bills with money they earn from helping at the diner and the inn. Luke said it teaches responsibility with money."
"Oh... sounds like Luke..."
"Do you want me to call him?"
"Oh, no... No, no... I actually just came here to give you this," She handed Lorelai a thick white envelope as Luke appeared behind his wife, Hannah propped up on his chest.
"What is this?" Liz stopped her from opening it,
"Please. Don't open it until I'm gone. I'll see you in a month and a half. Bye, Hannah." Liz turned and left without another word.
Confused, Luke and Lorelai glanced at each other, but respected Liz's wishes, returning to their business as usual.
Ten minutes later, Luke returned from the nursery to find Lorelai sitting cross-legged, staring at the plain white envelope sitting on the coffee table,
"Hannah's out. She's got a good few hours before she's up again." Lorelai nodded and wasted no time,
"Let's open it." Luke bore a hole into the blank white paper with his eyes and sat down next to Lorelai, placing a hand on her knee as she ripped it open. Silently, she ran her eyes over the words on the paper. When she finished, she gasped and passed the letter to Luke. He exhaled loudly,
"Oh, Liz..."
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Lane sat at her desk, poring over a gutted copy of some book called Religion and the Modern Korean, which was filled instead by a borrowed copy of The Nanny Diaries, The Dandy Warhols playing through her headphones (which were only on one ear, so she had time to put it away should she hear her mother coming.
Unexpectedly, she heard a knock at the window. She jumped and turned to see Seth's nervously smiling face peering in. She sighed and help her hand over her heart, opening the window and helping her boyfriend in. He climbed through the window and leaned in for a soft kiss hello, which she returned before pushing him away,
"What on earth is wrong with you! You almost gave me a heart attack! Those are not common in fifteen-year-olds!" He laughed awkwardly,
"I'm sorry..." She shook her head,
"It's ok... you know, you could've come in the front door? My mom's at her 'Crochet for Christ' meeting tonight. You know that." Seth shook his head,
"I needed to give Esther a little workout anyway. We're all getting bigger and harder to hold, and if Esther's gonna hold me, Rory, Jess, and Ryan at once, she needs practice." Lane laughed and leaned in to kiss him again. He kissed her back softly, but unenthusiastically.
"What's wrong?" She asked as she pulled away. Seth looked at her, squinting in fear of the situation at hand,
"Sit down, Lane."
"Sit down?"
"Please. I need to talk to you about something." She complied and sat at the foot of her bed as Seth paced nervously in front of her.
"Seth, what's the matter?" He took a deep intake of breath,
"Lane... you and I have been going out for a while now, right?" She nodded, "And we've known each other even longer," she nodded again, not quite sure where this was leading, "And the whole time we've known each other, we've been in school together. We always played together at recess and at study and you always took a piece of my bologna and some of Rory's cake and a few of Ryan's chips and a cookie of Jess' and..."
"Seth, I eat your lunches! I get it! Move on!"
"Right. Off topic. I get it...How would you feel if... we didn't go to Stars Hollow High anymore?"
"You and me?"
"No..."
"You and Ryan?" He nodded before reluctantly adding,
"And Rory and Jess..." Lane regarded him skeptically,
"Seth Cohen, what are you trying to tell me here?"
"All four of us got into Chilton and we start on Monday!" He blurted out, silently reprimanding himself for not handling the situation better. Lane stood up and moved slowly to her desk chair. After thirty seconds of silence, she smiled up at him,
"Congratulations."
"Congratulations?" He echoed, confused, scratching his head.
"Yeah, congratulations." He stared at her and she stared right back at him.
"Lane... We're not gonna be at school anymore. We're going somewhere else... You're not gonna have us anymore... You're ok with that?" She nodded,
"Yeah... I guess..."
"You are?"
"Yeah. I'm happy for you guys. You've worked hard and you deserve this. Mazel Tov, as you've told me a million times before." Seth sat down on the bed and pulled her onto his lap,
"You're ok with this?" She shook her head,
"To be honest, it scares me to death that I'm not gonna have you guys in school with me. But you should do this. It's a great opportunity... I am gonna miss you, though."
"I'll see you after school. And on weekends. And in the summer."
"I know..."
"You're the best. You know that, right."
"Yeah. I do." Seth laughed and leaned in to kiss her,
"I love you."
"Ditto." They leaned in for another kiss as they heard the closing of the front door downstairs. Seth and Lane jumped up,
"I'll call you later."
"You'd better." He kissed her once more and shimmied down the tree, back to his waiting friends and brother at the diner.
Still, Lane's eyes shone with fear.
And it didn't escape him.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rory slunk into the house early; she had told Ryan she was simply too tired to hand out and wanted to go home. Without making her presence known, she tiptoed through the kitchen, into her bedroom, and threw herself onto the bed; she closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the house. She heard her father's voice and caught a few words that he was saying... excitedly? nervously?
"We... worried... money... Chilton." The conversation quickly caught Rory's attention.
"Two kids... Chilton... expensive," Her mother's voice echoed through her ears.
"Plus twins!... Money... Hannah and Josh... Chilton... Liz..." Why are they talking about Aunt Liz? She shook it off and continued to listen to their conversation for another five minutes, left to her own deciphering devices.
Money! Of course we're having money problems! The twins need everything at the same time. And me and Jess? Clothing and food and computers and cell phones... and now we both need money for private school? Mom runs an inn! And dad owns a diner! We don't have the money for this! She stewed with her thoughts for a moment before deciding what she needed to do.
She stood up and tiptoed out of her bedroom towards the back door, which she promptly opened and closed again, loudly and deliberately,
"Mom? Dad?"
"Rory?" Lorelai's voice boomed jovially back to Rory. Must still be excited over Chilton, despite the money problems.
"Where are you?"
"Den!" She took her time ambling into the room. Luke and Lorelai were laughing as she walked in, but their faces fell when they saw their daughter.
"You're home so soon?" She nodded, plastering on a small smile,
"Tired... and I needed to talk to you about something." Luke and Lorelai shared a worried glance,
"Sure, sweets. Sit down." She did as she was told and inhaled deeply before beginning,
"Mom, Dad... I've given this a lot of thought- over the past few months... since the twins were born... past few hours... I don't know how to say this... I'm not gonna go to Chilton." Luke began to laugh; he didn't want to believe that she was saying this,
"Nice one, Ror." She shook her head,
"I'm not kidding, Daddy." He glanced from his wife to his eldest daughter, to the Chilton letters still lying on the coffee table,
"Rory, you'd better be kidding!" She couldn't bring herself to meet her parents' eyes,
"I'm not," they were silent for a minute before Rory added, "I can't..." And please leave it at that...
"Why?" Lorelai asked gently. If Rory had a valid reason (though there were none that she, personally, could think of at the moment), then maybe they could talk her through it.
Rory prepared to speak up, but Luke stopped her, fuming, before she could lie (she knew her parents would come up with an excuse or a lie to allay her fears over money),
"No, Lorelai! No why! We should not even be having this discussion right now!"
"Luke..."
"No! She's going to Chilton! And that's final!"
"Mom..." Rory pleaded.
"Don't turn to your mother to help you. She'll support me a hundred percent on this!" He looked to Lorelai, who glared angrily at him- a look that said I agree with you. I just don't agree with the way you're handling it. He understood the look and motioned to Rory.
"Rory, sweets, I'm backing Dad up on this one."
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"I'm sorry. I backed you up when you wanted Chinese last week and Dad wanted pizza." Perhaps a joke to lighten the mood?... No? Ok... Rory braced herself to yell back,
"I can't believe you two! You always tell me I'm old enough to make my own decisions! Well, I'm deciding! I'm not going to Chilton!"
"There are some things that you can't decide."
"What? Dad! As much as this bothers you, I'm not your little girl anymore! I'm not gonna say, 'Yes, daddy, whatever you say' just because you want me to! I'm almost an adult! I can make my own decisions!"
"Rory..." Lorelai started softly, but Luke cut her off again,
"Rory, I am not letting you do this! You will not throw your life away! I won't let you make that mistake!"
"It's my life, it's my mistake to make!" With tears in her eyes, she turned on her heel and strode to her bedroom.
"Rory, get back here! We are not done discussing this!" Rory glanced back at her parents, tears threatening to spill over, before entering her room and slamming the door.
Upstairs, Hannah and Josh began to cry.
"Are you happy, Luke?... I wouldn't be surprised if Jess was crying right now, too. Make sure all four are."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Luke sighed. Lorelai was downstairs, warming a bottle for Hannah, who was, an hour after the fight with Rory, still wide awake. He rocked slowly with his youngest daughter as he thought about his eldest.
The first time he met her. She was so tiny.
The first time she called him "Daddy". She was half-asleep.
The wedding. She loved that little dress.
When she first started dating Ryan. I was this close to locking her in her room.
She really was growing up fast- and occasionally, he couldn't deal with it. He kissed Hannah on the forehead as Lorelai reentered the room, carrying a warm bottle. As she took the baby from her husband, Luke sighed,
"I'm gonna go try and talk to her." She nodded,
"Good. I'm the best friend, but you're the daddy. See if you can talk some sense into her... without fighting with her, please."
He walked purposefully down the stairs and into the kitchen, pulling out a box of Rory's favorite cookies and a glass of milk.
"Ror?" he said as he rapped lightly on the door, but got no answer, "Rory? Princess... I want to talk to you..." Still no answer, "Ok... you can listen, I'll talk. I brought you cookies," still no answer, "Rory, I'm coming in no matter what, so if you're indecent, let me know." When he got no response, he gently pushed open the door, flipping on the lights. Though he saw Rory's form under the blanket, he knew that, at seven at night, there was no way that she was asleep. He sat down at the head of the bed, next to Rory's ear,
"Sweetheart, listen to me. I'm not making you go to Chilton because I want to ruin your life. But there is no excuse that you can give me that will make me let you not go. This is a great opportunity for you and Jess. It'll help with Harvard. Mom and I just want what's best for you- you know that. We love you so much... you're our first baby... Plus, you cry a lot less than Josh and Hannah. And you're a lot easier to get up than Jess...We love you so much, Princess..." He leaned in to move the blanket off of her head to kiss her through her hair, but was met with a silky pink substance instead.
Confused, he pulled the blanket off the bed.
Rory wasn't there.
Pillows were arranged to look like her.
Almost out of instinct, Luke looked up at the window.
It was wide open.
And Rory could easily fit out of it.
"Shit," he mumbled, before getting up and calling up to Lorelai, "She's gone!"
"What?"
"She's gone! Rory! She's not in her room, there's pillows to make it look like she was, and her window is completely open! Rory's not here!" Lorelai quickly ran down the stairs, Hannah resting in her arms,
"Who are you calling?" He fumbled with the phone in his hands,
"Her cell." They waited impatiently, hoping to get an answer. However, they soon heard Rory's ring ("Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", due to Rory and Lorelai's Monty Python obsession) coming from her bedroom.
"Shit," he muttered again.
"No answer?" He shook his head, "Call Sandy and Kirsten," she said, her voice in slight panic.
"I am," he swallowed deeply as he tried to remember the usually-familiar number. The phone rang twice before Sandy's relaxed voice answered,
"Hello?"
"Sandy, is Rory there?"
"What? No... None of the kids are here... Why?"
"I'll let you know later. I'm trying to find her and she didn't take her cell."
"Oh, ok... Let us know if you need us for anything."
"I will. Bye." Lorelai shook her head,
"She's not there?"
"No." She swiftly moved to pull out Ryan's cell phone number from the junk drawer,
"Call Ryan. Maybe she's with the kids." He nodded and dialed the phone number, his fingers trembling. Ryan picked up almost immediately,
"Hello, my dearest?" he said sarcastically. Luke pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it skeptically before saying,
"Ryan, hey, it's Luke."
"Oh... hey, Luke... I thought you'd be Rory. Sorry." Luke shook his head,
"No, it's fine. Listen, is Rory there with you?"
"No... she went home a little while ago... Did she not get there?"
"No, she did. But then... words were exchanged and we think she might've run away..."
"That doesn't sound like Rory..."
"Neither did the fight we had tonight."
"We'll go look for her."
"Call your parents. Get them to help. I'll meet you out front in ten minutes, ok?"
"Sure." He hung up,
"We have a search party. You want to stay here with the twins or should I?"
"I want to go look for her. Hannah's almost out anyway." Luke looked at his youngest child, who was gurgling happily in her mother's arms; she was in no way near sleep, but Luke knew Lorelai was frantic and would never not look for her missing best friend.
"Ok... take your cell," he said, taking Hannah from Lorelai. She paused as she pulled on her coat,
"What's your plans for when we find her?"
"Hug her, tell her I'm sorry, and then kill her," he said without hesitation.
"As long as you have a plan..."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lane lay silently on her bed, her music blasting through her ears again, though she was engrossed in her thoughts,
The only way I'm gonna know how I'm really gonna feel is once they all go to school without me on Monday. I guess we'll find out on monday. But until then... I'm happy for them... I swear, I'm happy for them...
She sat up straight at the loud knock coming from her bedroom window.
"Seth!" She breathed, scrambling to open the window, "What's going on?" She noticed his panicked look.
"Rory's gone... she ran away and we're all trying to find her."
"What! Why!"
"She had a fight with her dad and she left..." She knew her mother was home, and she knew she'd be in giant trouble for leaving, but she didn't care.
"Gimme a sec," she grabbed her coat and a pen and paper, scribbling a note,
Mama-
I know I'm grounded, but Rory needs me to help her. She's having a big problem...
I think, maybe, Christianity can help guide her in her quest, and I need to show her the true way to be.
Be back soon,
Lane
Seth peered over her shoulder and sniggered as she pinned the paper to her door frame,
"Christianity will do what?"
"It's more effective to lie sometimes, Seth. Learn it."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Rory!"
"Rory Danes!"
"Droopy Drawers!" Everyone looked at Lorelai, perplexed, "What? I called her that once when she was three. Ask Luke. He was there." Sandy shook his head,
"I don't doubt it." Lorelai, Sandy, and Kirsten walked towards the gazebo together. They and the kids had split up to look for Rory; they were taking the outside, while the kids chose to quiz the people in the stores.
The kids chased after Taylor in Doose's, trying desperately to get his attention. They had already been to the diner to check that Rory hadn't hidden out there (or gone to get a burger), to the makeup store to ensure that she wasn't stocking up for the first day of Chilton, and the book store to make sure that she hadn't immersed herself in books to forget her problems. Every response was the same,
"No, I haven't seen Rory, but I'll let you know if I see her."... except for Kirk.
Kirk, for some reason, reacted with a scream and a,
"See! It's happening already! She's gonna take those two little boys and her cousin and Luke and Lorelai will be in danger! DANGER!" to which the Cohens, Lane, Ally, and Jess only responded with a nod and a slow back-away.
At this point, they only wanted Taylor to stop moving.
"Taylor," Ryan called across the market.
"Ahh, yes. The Cohen boys. Making trouble, I assume?"
"Always," Seth panted.
"Taylor, we don't have time for you to indict Seth and Ryan right now. Have you seen my cousin?" Jess asked exasperatedly as Ally pulled on his arm,
"Things are never boring when we all hang out together," she muttered under her breath, panting from running.
"I'm sorry, Jess. Who, exactly, is your cousin?" Jess glared at Taylor incredulously,
"You have to be kidding. You know my cousin. You know all three of my cousins. You've known Rory since she was one! You see my uncle- her father- every day! You see my aunt- her mother- in the diner, in the market, walking through town... hell, she's right outside right now!"
"There's no need to curse, young man."
"Taylor," Lane pleaded, "Just let us know. Have you seen Rory or haven't you?" Taylor regarded her; she was, in fact, deeply religious (or at least her mother was), and he held her in high regard,
"Within what time-frame, Miss Kim?"
"The past hour or so, Taylor." He paused and thought for a second,
"Yes. I have."
"You have?"
"Where?" Ryan asked frantically.
"Why?" Taylor asked curiously, "Are you off to do more inappropriate things for children your age?"
"What? Taylor, just tell us where you saw Rory!"
"Because kissing in public is quite inappropriate for young teenagers."
"Taylor..."
"It leads to other things, and soon we'll have little Cohens running around, making a mockery of this town..."
"TAYLOR! WHERE IS SHE!" Taylor looked taken aback,
"I saw her about an hour ago, taking a cab in front of her father's diner."
"Thank you!" All five said exasperatedly, turning away and running towards the adults,
"We have a spotting!" Lorelai turned around quickly at the sound of Lane's voice,
"Where? When?"
"And hour ago. In front of the diner. She was taking a cab."
"A cab?" She repeated, perplexed. At the same time, her cell phone began to ring with Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville", "It's Luke," she picked up, "Hello?... Oh, thank G-d. Where is she?... You're kidding, right?... Ok, I'll be right home," She flipped the phone closed, "You'll never guess where she went."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Luke and Lorelai held Hannah and Josh close to them as they knocked on the door to the spacious mansion, Jess standing behind them. It hadn't occurred to them, in their frenzied state, to leave any of their children at home. Besides, they were uneasy leaving them home considering the fact that one had already run away.
"We're Luke and Lorelai Danes. We're here to pick up our daughter, Rory," Lorelai announced to the maid as she opened the door.
"Of course," the woman nodded as Emily appeared around the corner,
"Lorelai. Luke." Lorelai shook her head,
"You haven't acknowledged the kids coldly yet, mom." Emily rolled her eyes,
"Hannah. Joshua." They knew she was still angry with them for not telling her about the fact that Hannah and Josh were going to be twins, so Lorelai added in another comment,
"You've said hello to three of my children today. Care to acknowledge the fourth's?" Emily shook her head, muttering something about Lorelai's unintelligible fondness for that hoodlum, and told her daughter,
"Rory's angry with you. Especially you, Luke," She grinned a sinister smirk.
"And you seem to be getting a lot of pleasure out of that, mother."
"No. I just find it interesting, is all."
"Mom, where's dad?"
"He's on a business trip, Lorelai."
"Ok. Let's cut the small talk. Where's my daughter?"
"In your husband's arms, Lorelai."
"Don't toy with me, mother. Where's my kid?"
"She's in the house, Lorelai. Shouldn't you use your power to locate her?"
"Mom, I have to get Josh and Hannah home, I want to talk to Rory, and Jess is getting really uncomfortable right now. I can tell. He keeps scratching his nose," Jess regarded his aunt strangely, though he knew it was true, "It's mischief night, and G-d help me, if you don't lead me to Rory, your house will be egged and t-ped to no end."
"Very mature, Lorelai," she sighed, "Follow me." Emily lead the family up to Lorelai's old bedroom, knocking slightly, "Rory, dear? There are people here to see you..." she turned to Luke and Lorelai, "I'll leave you six alone to talk." She stalked away, glancing back only once to see their reactions. Luke and Lorelai glanced at each other before opening the door slowly,
"Ror?"
"Sweets, you're in here?" They walked in slowly to find Rory sitting cross-legged on the bed. She looked up at them briefly before abruptly looking back down as tears spilled silently over her eyelids,
"I'm sorry." Luke and Lorelai rushed towards her and threw their free arms around her.
"It's ok, baby. We know you are."
"What in the world made you do that?" She choked back tears as her cousin came and joined his family,
"Ryan's ready to kill you. Thought he'd lost his 'one true love'."
"He didn't say that."
"I'm paraphrasing." She shook her head and coughed out,
"Money."
"What?"
"Money, mom. We don't have the money to send me to Chilton. So I thought I'd save you the trouble and not go. But then daddy got all mad and I've never really had to deal with him mad at me without being concerned before... that was always Jess' thing, getting into trouble."
"Gee, thanks."
"No... I didn't mean it like that..."
"I'm kidding. Go on."
"I was just... I didn't know how to deal with this situation, so I decided it was a better idea to just leave it. And I couldn't tell you why I was worried, so there was no way I could remedy it." Lorelai sighed,
"Honey, you need to look at the letter that Aunt Liz left." Jess handed over the letter that he had put in his jeans pocket after reading them. Rory opened them slowly and methodically, poring over every word,
Dear Luke, Lorelai, Rory, Jess, Hannah, and Joshua (My gosh, that list has gotten long),
I'm about to do something that I should've done a long time ago.
Enclosed is money for Jess' tuition to Chilton. I know it's not a grand gesture like, say, raising him, but I'm trying...
Jess- I know I haven't been around much, but I knew that in order to give you the life that you deserve, it had to be with Luke and Lorelai. I love you, and I'm doing this as at least one of my few motherly gestures I've done for you in your life. Don't use it against Luke and Lorelai, please (Though I know that they've done right by you and you probably know better than that). I love you. Be good.
Rory- Good luck in Chilton. Help Jess stay out of trouble. Be good for your parents- your mom and dad deserve a great kid like you. Make sure you stay that way.
Luke and Lorelai- Don't do what I know you're going to do. I have this money. Turns out, without a kid, the term 'expendable income' actually means something. I have enough with the new Renaissance Faire booth that I'm doing with this guy, TJ. He seems sweet. Don't worry about me. Thanks for everything. I love you guys. And I love what you've done for Jess.
I'll see you all soon.
Love,
Lizzie Danes.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
That night, Luke and Lorelai put the twins to bed, sent Jess off to his room, and went in to tuck in Rory, much as they had when she was a little girl.
"Goodnight, princess. I love you."
"I love you, too, daddy."
"And if you ever scare me like that again?"
"The light of day will be blinding when I finally get off of house arrest. I know."
"Good girl." He kissed her head and made sure to close and lock her window before walking out of the room.
"Mom?" Rory asked.
"Yeah, sweets?"
"I need to talk to you about something."
"Woah. Really bad de-ja-vu."
"I'm sorry... I just... Mom, when I went to Grandma tonight, I went because I knew you'd look for me with Ryan or at Sandy and Kirsten's or at the diner and I really just needed somewhere that you wouldn't think of. But grandma... Grandma was really nice, mom. And I want... I want to get to know her."
"You want to what?"
"I want to get to know her... I feel like, if she, y'know, passed on and I never got to know her, I'd be really miserable." Lorelai sat down next to Rory,
"Oh... ok... What do you want to do about that?"
"I want to have dinners," Rory said definitely, "Maybe twice a month. We get together and have dinner tonight. Maybe on Thursday or Friday nights." Lorelai sighed,
"If that's really what you want, then I'm ok with it."
"It's really what I want."
"Ok... we'll talk more about this tomorrow. Good night, baby."
"Good night, mommy."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rory stood behind the counter, dressed in a pink t-shirt reading "Gas, Grass, or Ass- No one rides for free." and a pair of ripped jeans. Jess stood next to her, wearing a flannel t-shirt over a white t-shirt, and a pair of jeans, tending to Joshua, who was sitting in a carseat, wearing an identical outfit. Rory picked up Hannah, who was wearing the same outfit that she was (only smaller), and danced with her around Sandy and Kirsten's store,
"See, I told you that 'attack of the clones' was a good theme for Halloween."
"Yeah, but did it have to be clones of our parents?"
"I pick. I made the costumes." Jess shook his head,
"Fine." Ryan and Seth entered from the back, carrying containers of hard ice cream, arguing (in character) about the gazebo,
"I don't know, Kirk. I don't think it's appropriate to set up an homage to Rocky because of the dance festival in the gazebo," Ryan said, wearing a pillow under a dress shirt and khakis, a gray beard and mustache painted on his face with eyeliner.
"C'mon, Taylor. It'll only be for two months time," Seth answered, and Rory and Jess couldn't help but laugh; Seth looked ridiculous (and a lot like Kirk) in a doctor's uniform, with a mailman's hat on his head, a teacher's pencil behind his ear, and an Olympic Diver's medal around his neck, an obvious jab at Kirk's many jobs around town.
Rory laughed and muttered,
"We have problems." Ryan nodded and kissed her gently,
"Yes, we do... but at least we all have them together." Jess laughed,
"That's because no one else could deal with them."
"We're a special group of kids."