Chapter 116
January 23rd, 2022
"Which one of us thought this was a good idea?" Lorelai complained as she'd just sat down on the freezing cold stone bench in the back courtyard by the faculty parking lot, at Chilton. She'd brought along a bag of Chinese food to share. She'd insisted she and Rory needed to have lunch together, having missed Rory the past few weeks.
Lorelai was up from the ice cold bench almost as fast as she'd sat down. The picnic idea had seemed like such a good idea, but apparently she'd neglected the fact that it was January.
"Not me," Rory replied with a shrug, rolling her eyes. She gestured towards one of their cars, suggesting they take their lunch there instead.
"Can't we just go inside? After all I am the mother of a 2003 Valedictorian," Lorelai suggested.
"That sounds like a car model," Rory replied, not liking that little detail to be brough up too much. It was bad enough there was a picture of her from those days in the hallway. She technically could invite her mother in, it just wasn't really encouraged. She didn't want to pull the special treatment card either, having a bit more of a personal relationship with Max, who was the headmaster, compared to some other teachers.
"600 horsepower, 4-wheel drive, automated cruise control, can quote unpronounceable Russian authors by heart...," Lorelai said, imitating what she thought a car ad might sound like along with some rowdy engine roars, but showed no intention of relenting and heading for her car. She sounded surprisingly chipper, considering Luke was still at the hospital, though as far as Rory had understood doing a lot better.
"Fine, you can come inside," Rory replied, feeling relieved that she had a free period after lunch hour. If they were lucky she could pull off having a parent-teacher conference or something, or just not draw any attention at all. The elder Gilmore's had also been significant donors to the place so that also bought her some privliges by extension.
Her mother already had that smile on her face - you know, the face she had when she got her way.
"This place truly hasn't changed much, has it?" Lorelai commented, as the heels of her suede Joie boots clinked against the black-and-white tiles.
"Just the content, the bones are still the same," Rory commented, removing her wool coat as they walked and draped it over her forearm. She wore a simple sweater dress with a braided leather belt.
"More Gossip Girl than Degrassi?" Lorelai suggested by the looks of a couple of short-skirted seniors passing them, one of them with a lollipop in her mouth. The long hemlines certainly weren't an issue anymore.
"Definitely a lot more boring than either of those," Rory replied, as they reached the dining room.
"Glee? Saved by the Bell?" Lorelai didn't quite stop, the thought of recalling every high school TV show she remembered providing quite entertaining for her.
"Parts of Glee, but a lot less singing," Rory replied.
"Which parts?" Lorelai continued.
"Some faculty affairs, freshman underdog falls for the jock… you know, usual high school stuff," Rory commented, already knowing that mostly her mother was curious about whether there were any teenage pregnancies or other scandals.
"Aw… juicy," Lorelai exhaled.
The dining room was pretty empty - just a couple of seniors working on some group assignment at one table and Mr. Blankenship, looking like he was ready for retirement in his brown sweater vest and suspenders, sipping his pumpkin soup with a shaky spoon, at another. There was a separate faculty break room, but that was definitely off limits to outsiders, but some of the faculty preferred to be around the students anyways, believing seeing them at their most natural gave them an advantage in the classroom.
"Over here," Rory said, and gestured for them to take a seat at one of the long tables in the distant corner.
"So, how was yesterday?" Lorelai asked, unbottoned her own coat and hang it to the back of the chair.
Rory hadn't quite expected that question. From the sound of her mother's phone call the day before she'd almost expected that it was her that wanted to talk - mostly about Luke. And it was Rory who felt guilty for not having inquired after both her mother's and Luke's well being nearly enough in the past weeks, having been so preoccupied herself.
"It was okay," Rory replied with relief in her tone. "Having it at Honor's and having dad around definitely helped," Rory added.
"For once I am glad not to be included," Lorelai replied, raising her palms. She continued to unpack the Chinese containers - way less than their usual amount.
"Dad's been a huge help, with the house… everything," Rory sighed.
"I know… it's kind of funny though. How for years you were sort of distant. You know, after college… but then when you…," Lorelai began but realized that it'd be a sore subject. Rory's relationship with Christopher had truly picked up when he'd been the one around when Rory had had the miscarriage and her mother had not been around to offer her shoulder. Christopher had supported her without knowing a lot of the answers to his questions, and more importantly had not judged her. He had tried throwing money at the problems too, but thankfully that too had come with spending time with him, which was really all she'd needed at that point.
"Yeah, it's been good," Rory replied.
"So what did you all talk about?" Lorelai inquired, biting into some sweet and sour pork.
"This and that - the wedding, work, Em, there were some things that were a little borderline I guess, but Shira was pretty well behaved all things considered," Rory explained.
"Like a sedated but spiteful Chiuaua?" Lorelai asked.
"No… more like… trying but not entirely knowing how to?" Rory tried to explain it. "It was dad actually who poked at the topic of babies, believe it or not," she added, laughingly.
"He did!?" Lorelai exclaimed, her eyes wide from surprise.
"He did, but he didn't do it in a prying way. Maybe he even assumed that was what Shira essentially wanted to ask about and did it that way as to avoid her poorly served question, I don't know…," Rory continued with a shrug. "But Logan handled it well. Said that we're not ruling anything out, left it a little vague," she added.
"So you're actually considering it?" Lorelai asked.
"Well… yeah," Rory admitted. "We went to Dr. Mueller last week," she added, but knew better than to flirt with the experience they'd at at the doctors, having to take the pregnancy test and those nerve wrecking
"What did she say?" Lorelai inquired, her mouth half full.
"That in theory everything is in working order," Rory summed it up for her. Going into details wasn't her plan.
"Aren't you worried though? Last time was pretty scary," Lorelai added, but could've added that last times had been rather scary. Rory hadn't had an experience with pregnancy that hadn't been scary, both times ending with a lot of bleeding. "And now you have Em to consider," she added.
"I'm not saying it isn't scary… but I guess… yeah, I'd like Logan to get to experience that, I feel he deserves that," Rory explained.
"But is that really a good enough reason to risk your life?" Lorelai added but the look on Rory's face made her retract with an, "I'm sorry… I shouldn't. I'm sure you know what I mean… and that you've calculated all the risks and thought about all the scenarios. It's your body, your fiance, your child. It's none of my business."
"It might not even happen, mom…," Rory said, somehow not feeling very optimistic right at that minute. The harsh facts were that for a woman over 37, 38 by the time she would actually have the baby theoretically, her chances were rapidly declining - 29% to be exact. And even the man's age mattered too, Logan being a little older than she was, dropping her odds by at least a few more percentages. There were added risks of miscarriage - 18%, chromosomal abnormalities and so forth. She couldn't deny that the thought had crossed her mind that perhaps it'd be easier when it just didn't happen - that perhaps it was just not supposed to and they'd just need to accept it or look for other means. Maybe it'd be easier if they were spared all the tension, worry and potentially - sorrow. But she just didn't want to bury that hope just yet. She felt she couldn't do that. She loved Logan too much for that.
"I get it," Lorelai nodded, having been in her shoes in a way.
"Oh, I actually meant to ask you something," Rory suddenly recalled, and swallowed the bite she'd been chewing.
"What?" Lorelai mumbled with her mouth full.
"Do you have any letters or documents about grandma? You know - journals, something personal like that?" Rory asked.
"Um… I don't know, I might have something," Lorelai replied and swallowed a gulp of water. "Why? What for?" she added.
"I've been working on something, a biography of sorts... I'm not really sure what it'll be yet. But I guess I just realized how little I knew of her, especially before grandpa. And I've been trying to research her," Rory explained. She continued to fill her in what she'd already found and what materials she already had.
"Okay, wow…," Lorelai exhaled.
"Wow, what?" Rory asked, unsure what her mother was noting presently.
"Just haven't seen you digging like that in a while," Lorelai replied.
"It's been kind of fun, actually," Rory admitted and smiled a little.
"I'll see what I have," Lorelai promised.
"And maybe sometime you could tell me the things you know. I know we don't talk about her much, but I feel like she just didn't share things with me that much," Rory explained.
"Okay, sure," she replied.
"So… how's Luke?" Rory asked after a few more bites of the General's Tso's Chicken.
"He's okay," Lorelai replied, being quite kurt in her response.
"When is he coming home?" Rory asked.
"Um… I'm not sure," Lorelai replied. "I'm not sure if he's coming home," she added, causing Rory to stop chewing.
