Finally, here's an update. I guess you all have your own little theory about where Suzanah is, huh? Well, let's see if anyone nailed it.
The Lioness Returns by Ane Berentsen
Emily was shocked to receive a phone call from her daughter at this time of the day. She quickly did the maths in her head and figured out that it had to be around midnight in Conneticut. This had to mean that there was something wrong.
"Lorelai, what is it? Is it Suzannah?" she asked with fear in her voice. Lorelai hesitated.
"Uhm, yeah, kinda, well, yeah, I guess..." Lorelai wasn't sure what to say.
As Lorelai rambled on, Rory decided to lie down on the bed for a while and rest before the explosion. As she walked through the kitchen she could hear Lorelai's desperate delaying of what had to be said. Rory felt really sorry for her mother. She went into her room and was about to lie down, when she realized that the surface of her bed wasn't as level as it normally was. She turned around to check what was wrong with it. Two seconds later she had thrown herself towards the door to the kitchen .
"Mum, hang up, HANG UP!" Rory yelled. Lorelai was so shocked that she pushed the "off" button on impulse. Then she turned to her daughter.
"What is it?" Lorelai asked. She hadn't expected this kind of behaviour at all.
"She's here! Suzannah, she's in my bed!" Rory explained. She was so excited that she didn't know where to keep her hands and just kept waving them around. "Luke, she's here!" she called out even louder. Luke came storming into the kitchen.
"Where!" Luke quickly searched the whole room with his look, as if he was expecting to find Suzannah dangling from the ceiling or lying on the floor.
"She's in here, she's in my bed!" Rory ran back into her old room with Luke racing after her. Lorelai was about to get up and follow them, when the phone on the table in front of her started ringing. She picked it up and answered it.
"Hello?" she asked, even though she already knew who it was.
"Lorelai, you are going to tell me what has happened and you are going to tell me right now!" Emily yelled into the telephone. She was becoming hysterical. Lorelai was about to answer, when Rory came back into the room.
"Don't tell her!" Rory whispered. The expression on her face was begging Lorelai not to say anything. Lorelai smiled at her and covered the phone with her hand.
"Do you think I'm stupid, or what?" she whispered back. Lorelai was her old self again.
Rory was extremely relieved as she went back into the bedroom. Lorelai raised the phone again. At first she wasn't sure what to say, but then she had an idea.
"Mum, I called because Suzannah didn't have that disgusting teddy bear with her. We even went over to your house earlier to get it, but it wasn't there. How do you explain that?" Lorelai knew she had her mother up against the wall. Emily tried to figure out a good way of talking her oldest daugther into dealing with this matter.
"Oh, Lorelai, you know I'm not very good at handling things like this..." she began, timidly.
In the mean time, Luke had run over to the bed, picked the little girl up and twirled her around.
"Suzy! Boy, am I glad to see you! I thought we'd lost you forever!" he exclaimed. Rory came up to them and gave Suzannah a peck on the cheek.Suzannah smiled when she saw her. All though she had no idea what was going on, she was too tired to ask any questions.
"Why on earth did you come down here?" Rory asked her. Suzannah yawned before she answered.
"I couldn't sleep upstairs, I can only sleep here." she mumbled, as if this needed no further explanation. Rory just smiled and went back into the kitchen. Luke sat down on the bed and put Suzannah on his lap.
"Now, don't you ever scare me like that again." his voice sounded serious, but relieved. "I don't think I've ever been that scared in my entire life."
Suzannah looked up at him and ran her hand slowly over his cheek.
"Don't worry, Luke, I wont." she said calmly, as if she knew perfectly well what he was talking about, before she yawned once more and leaned against his chest. A happy, almost touched smile appeared in Luke's face, but he quickly wiped it off when Rory came back into the room. She came over to the bed and sat down next to them.
"Try to go back to sleep now, alright?" She whispered into her little aunt's ear.
Suzannah simply nodded, she was half-way into her sleep already.
When Lorelai had finished her conversation she came into Rory's room. Suzannah had fallen asleep on Luke's lap, so Lorelai tiptoed over to them as quietly as she could. It was hard, because the only thing she felt like doing was jumping up and down and screaming. Her face radiated relief and happiness as she sat down next to Luke and reached out her hands. Luke carefully handed her the sleeping child.
"I could have sworn I checked this room." Lorelai whispered while brushing Suzannah's hair out of her face.
"I know you did," Rory had a sly look in her eyes. "But if you just opened the door and took a quick look, you wouldn't have noticed her. The quilt totally covered her from that angle."
"I'm impressed, Sherlock," Lorelai smiled at her daughter as she got on her feet. "I'll get her up to our room."
"I'll go with you," Rory followed Lorelai out of the room and left Luke to himself.
"Well, I guess that means I'll go tell the rest of the town they can get back to bed…" he mumbled to himself as he got onto his feet and left the room as well.
Lorelai placed her sister on the matress again. When she had tucked her in, both she and Rory flung themselves onto the bed. Lorelai leaned over the head of the bed and looked down on Suzannah with a pleased look on her face.
"She is so adorable…for some reason she is more adorable right now then ever before," she whispered. "Did you know I almost named you Suzannah?" she asked as she turned and lay down next to Rory.
"Yep. You told me when we went to New York to see The Bangles…" Rory said while staring up at the ceiling. "How come you never told Grandma about that?"
"Because then she would have changed her mind and named her something boring instead, and I wouldn't have had the chance to giggle inside and think about "Eternal Flame" every time they called her name." Lorelai said with a smile.
"Do you still do that?" Rory wondered.
"Naah, it wore off years ago. Fun while it lasted, though…" Lorelai said with a sigh. Rory was about to answer when she remembered something and got out of the bed in a hurry. Lorelai became confused.
"What is it, hon, is something wrong?" she asked.
"I totally forgot that this is both your AND Luke's bed now. I can't lie on the bed you share with your husband!" Rory said it as if she had just committed a crime.
"Why, is there a rule or something?" Lorelai couldn't see what Rory was freaking out about.
"No, it's just…creepy! I mean…it's your bed. It's a privat area. Don't you get it?"
"Sure, and with the four-year-old on the floor right next to it it's a scene of action every night!" Lorelai said sarcasticly. "Seriously, baby, you were on my side of the bed, on top of the blanket, so I'm pretty sure it's OK. Please lie down again, huh? I love talking to you like this, I've missed it."
"You sure it's OK?" Rory wasn't convinced.
"Totally. Come here." Lorelai reached out and arm and Rory crawled back into the bed and rested her head on it. Lorelai kissed her daugther's forehead before she continued.
"Honey, I'm so sorry we didn't get to talk about your problems tonight. All this stuff with Suzy, you know…"
"I know… I don't really feel like talking about it anyway. I'm just glad to be back," Rory said before she closed her eyes and yawned.
"He must have been special." Lorelai mumbled. This made Rory's eyes pop back open.
"Why would you say that?" she asked
"I mean…you moved in with him and everything. That means he must have been at least a little bit special," Lorelai concluded.
"He was..." Rory nodded. "He was…caring and he had a sweet face, a pretty smile…He was strong and independent…" she looked up into her mother's eyes. "I really thought he was the one, Mum. When I found out about the other girl, I thought I was going to die, I swear." Rory's eyes filled up with tears, one tear escaped and ran quietly down her right cheek. Lorelai wiped it away tenderly. She hesitated for a second, because she was unsure whether she should let Rory cry or try to make her think more positively. She decided to do the latter.
"Hey, hey, slow down." she said in a determined voice. "This guy crushed your heart, and all you do is list up his qualities? Come on, Rory, you're a woman now. You should be listing all the bad stuff you know about him, all the things you defidently won't miss. Let me hear at least ten reasons why you're glad you'll never have to see him again."
Rory thought it over before she answered.
"I can't think of anything," she exclaimed with a sigh.
"Oh please!" Lorelai wasn't satisfied with that answer. "He's a guy, there has to be a whole bunch of negative sides to him. What is he, Superman or something?"
Rory had to smile.
"Mum, it's not that hard to name a negative side to Superman. He wears his undies over his pants, for crying out loud," she giggled.
"See, there are bad things to say about everyone." Lorelai smiled. "Now, let me hear something about Danny."
Rory had to think for a few seconds.
"Well, I guess…I guess I wish he didn't have such a good relationship with his ex…"
Lorelai's smile became wider.
"See, this is good. Keep 'em coming!"
"He used way to much gel in his hair, he had this obsession about always being in control of the remote, he hated dogs, even cute puppies, and he always nagged at me when I was in the bathroom." Rory had to smile, this wasn't as hard as she had imagined it to be. Lorelai smiled back.
"There you go, you're much better off without him," she said before she rubbed her nose against her daugther's.
For a while, they just lay there without saying anything. After a few minutes, Lorelai had to ask her daugther something.
"So...have you had any time to think about...you know...what you're going to do next?" her voice faltered. "You know you're welcome to stay here for as long as you like."
"I know." Rory answered in a tired voice. "I haven't really thought about it all that much yet. Do you think I could do some work at the inn? Temporarily, I mean, until I figure out what I want."
"Like you used to do before college?" Lorelai smiled. "Of course. You're over-qualified though, how often can I get a Yale graduate to flip the sheets?"
Rory chuckled.
"Thanks, Mum..." she mumbled. Then she yawned and closed her eyes. This could work out really great. She thought to herself just as she felt the tiredness winning her over. Just like being a kid again, only without the homework. But then again, homework wasn't always that bad...
The next morning when Lorelai came downstairs with Suzannah on her arm, Rory was up already. She had made breakfast and was sitting at the kitchen table all by herself sipping coffee when Lorelai entered the room. Both of the Gilmore sisters were in their pyjamas, they both had typical "pillow-hair", and they both yawned constantly. Rory was fully dressed and seemed to have been awake for quite a while.
"Good morning, sleepyheads!" she said cheerfully. She got two grunts in reply.
"Have you seen Luke?" Lorelai asked while she sat down by the table with Suzannah on her lap. Rory got up and poured her mother some coffee. She knew that that would get her in a better mood.
"Yeah, he's in the bathroom" she said and sat down again. "Poor Luke, he spent the night on the couch! I'm sorry I sent him out of his own bed."
"Don't be, I'm sure he didn't mind." Lorelai took sip of her coffee. "That couch is excellent sleeping material, look at what it did to Kirk."
"Did what to Kirk?" Suzannah asked curiously while she stretched out for a pop-tart. Lorelai and Rory exchanged some sly looks.
"Nothing!" they both replied at the same time. Suzannah looked suspiciously at Rory.
"Rory, did you sit on me yesterday?" she asked. Rory had to smile.
"Yes, I'm sorry. I didn't see you." She answered. Then she remeberd something. "Hey, Suzy, why don't you run upstairs for a moment and see if Luke's ready soon?" she suggested. Suzannah nodded and took of. Rory turned to her mother.
"So, you never told me how you handled Grandma yesterday?" she asked. Lorelai sighed.
"I had something on her. She's thrown away Suzy's favourite toy. You remember Lumpy, right?" Rory nodded.
"That disgusting thing we had to dig out of the toilet once, right?" she asked, clearly disusted.
"Exactly. So I told her that was the reason why I called. Then she asked me if I could "make up something". Apparently, she thinks I'm good at that."
"I see..." Rory waited for her mother to continue.
"Yeah. Typical of her, isn't it? I don't get that many compliments from my mother, but when I do get one, she tells me I'm a good liar." Lorelai sighed once more. "Anyway, I told her I won't. She's on her own with this one."
"That's probably the best way to do it." Rory nodded.
"Yeah...So, it's going to be extremely interesting to hear what she has come up with when they return on Friday." Lorelai barely managed to finish her sentence before her sister came running back into the room. "Hey, was Luke ready?" Lorelai asked while she picked the girl back up onto her lap.
"Almost." Suzannah reached for another pop-tart. Lorelai chuckled. The little girl had obviously inherited hers and Rory's eating habits; as much and as unhealthy as possible.
"Lorelai?" Suzannah had taken a bite, and began talking with food in her mouth. That's my sister all right, Lorelai thought to herself. Suzannah continued.
"Can you take me to ballet class on Monday?" she asked her older sister. Lorelai shook her head.
"Mum and Dad will be back by then. Mum will take you," she explained. Suzannah didn't seem to be happy with the response.
"Can't you take me anyway? Please, Lorelai!" she had stopped eating and was staring deep into her sister's eyes.
"Why? Don't you want to go with Mum?" Lorelai asked. She was surprised that Suzannah had brought up this subject.
"Uhm...If you take me, the other kids will think that you're my mum. When other kids see me and Mummy together, they always think she's my grandmother..." Suzannah explained, while she avoided eye-contact with either of them. "Then, when I tell them that she's my mum, they look at me like I'm reallt weird..."
Lorelai wasn't sure what to answer. She could see Suzannah's problem, but she was unsure what to do about it. She looked at Rory, but she just shrugged.
"I'll...I'll talk to Mum about it." Lorelai heard the words coming out of her mouth, but she wasn't sure why. Suzannah smiled at her.
"Thanks!" she said before she jumped off her sister's lap and ran into the livingroom to watch TV.
Lorelai emptied her cup of coffee at a single gulp.
"First the Lumpy-thing, now this. This Friday just keeps getting more and more interesting..." she mumbled.
Lorelai was only half-right. In all the excitement of the new toys her parents had brought with them, Suzannah completely forgot about the teddy bear, at least for the moment. The other thing, however, she had not forgotten about. In the short ten minutes Richard and Emily were there, Suzannah managed to look suggestively at Lorelai 14 times. When she started hawking as well, Lorelai couldn't take it any more.
"Hey, Mum, would you mind coming upstairs with me for a moment?" she asked as she got onto her feet. Emily looked at her daughter questioningly, but decided to follow her nevertheless.
"What is this about, Lorelai?" she asked as she sat her foot on the last step.
"It was just...Suzy, she asked me if I could take her to ballet class on Monday..." Lorelai explained. Emily wasn't sure what to say, she was clearly confused.
"Why would she ask you to do that?" she wondered. "I thought I was taking her...I've been looking forward to taking her." Emily had awaited this ballet class for weeks, she had always seen Suzannah as a very graceful little girl, very different from her older sister. She had bought her daugther a tailored costume, and she had found Lorelai's old ballet slippers in the basement. And now, all of a sudden, Suzannah didn't want her to be there?
"Actually, Mum, she asked because..." Lorelai stopped in the middle of a sentence. She didn't want to hurt her mother's feelings, and she was defidently not in the mood for a discussion. Somehow, Suzannah would have to deal with the situation. Lorelai knew it would be esaier to talk her sister into letting Emily go with her, then to talk Emily into not going.
"She asked because she didn't think you'd be home by then. Now she knows you are, so I guess...everything is all right!" Lorelai knew that wasn't a very good explanation for having pulled her mother with her to another room, but she couldn't think of a better excuse. Instead, she just turned around and walked briskly down the stairs. Why can't Suzy see how lucky she is? She thought to herself. I wish Mum had been that eager to do something fun with me when I was little. She skipped a few steps, as she wiped away a tiny tear from her left eye. She even admits it to me, she said it straight out "I'm looking forward to taking her..."
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she pulled herself together. Suzannah was sitting on the floor right in front of her, playing with her brand new barbie doll. Lorelai waited until her mother had passed them and gone out to the others on the porch before she kneeled down next to her sister.
"Look, I forgot that I have to work on Monday, so I can't take you to that ballet-thing." Lorelai said with her fingers crossed behind her back. She could see the dissapointment on Suzannah's face. "But Mum will take you, it will be great. You're there to learn how to dance, right? Not to listen to what the other kids might say..."
Suzannah nodded.
"Yeah, I guess..." she mumbled. Lorelai could see that she was dissapointed, but she didn't have anything comforting to say. Instead she just went out to the others.
Suzannah followed her big sister outside, where Richard and Emily were torturing Luke by talking about golf, while Rory was reading a book. Suzannah went over to her and pulled on the sleeve of Rory's pullover.
"Rory, can I talk to you?" she whispered. Rory put her book away.
"Spy talk, all right! I'm in," she let her aunt pull her into the hallway. Suzannah let go of her arm.
"Lorelai can't take me to ballet. Can you?" she asked with a begging expression on her face, like a dog who wants a cookie. "Maybe they'll think you're my mum. You look old enough."
Rory sat down on the floor and pulled the girl onto her lap.
"Look, I know you think it's creepy when other kids look at you," she said in a gentle voice."But trust me, you'll regret it if you don't do stuff with your mum."
"How do you know?" Suzannah looked up at her.
"Because my mum wasn't like all the other mummys either." Rory said in a low voice. "Always when I'd bring new kids home, they'd ask me how old she was, and then they'd calculate how old she was when she had me. Always the same drill. I didn't like it very much."
Suzannah nodded understandingly, so Rory continued.
"But then I'd always think "What if I wasn't born when my mum was 16? Then I would never had been born at all, I wouldn't have been me. Do you see what I mean?"
Suzannah nodded again.
"It's the same with you. You can't let Gra..I mean, you can't let you mummy suffer for having you when she did. If she hadn't, then you wouldn't have been you. You should be happy that you are who you are, and that you have a mother who wants to do nice things with you. Don't throw that away, Suzy, you're way to smart for that." Rory ran her hand over Suzannah's forehead. Suzannah was about to answer when they heard Richard calling from outside.
"Suzannah, we have to go now!"
Suzannah got up, and pulled Rory's hand to get her up as well. Rory smiled at her.
"Now, you're going to go to that ballet practice with your mummy, and you're going to have fun. Have I made myself clear?" she asked and pretended to be strict.
"Yes, Rory." The little girl smiled at her.
"Good. Now, let's go." Rory opened the door, picked Suzannah up and carried her out to her parents.
Please leave me a review, it's extremely inspiering. I'll try to be quicker to update this time. The next chapter will be mainly about Richard's relationship to Suzannah.