Chapter 8

"He's late."

"He's not late, Mom. He's got 20 more minutes before we have to leave."

"He's going to make us late, and Emily will have yet another reason to yell at me. It'll be all my fault. Not Christopher's, oh no. Darling Christopher is too perfect," I said, it mock-Emily accent. I began pacing throughout the whole downstairs of the house, as my daughter looked on in amazement of how hysterical I was.

"Look, there's his motorcycle now," Rory said, looking out the window. Chris hopped off his motorcycle and walked up to the porch, as if he had done nothing wrong.

"Finally!" I stormed out the front door with Rory on my tail, exasperated that he was late. "Chris, what took you so long? I thought you said you were going to be here at 3?"

"Well, I got caught up in traffic," he said, a lot more calmly than I would've preferred.

"Get in the car, we have to go."

"But Mom, we have 10 minutes, and I wanted to talk to my dad a little before we left."

"Fine. You've got ten minutes, and then we're out of here."

"Hi, Dad."

"Hey, kiddo." They hugged, much to my dismay, and stared at each other.

"Well?"

"We can go."

"Thank you."

I made him sit in the back. I don't know why I was so mad at him, but I was. I was absolutely fuming. Maybe it was because he was going to make me go through what I did with my parents so many years ago, again. Maybe it was because he's the one that caused my oh-so-frequent trips to the bathroom and morning sickness. I don't know. But what I did know is that he was the last person I wanted to spend my evening with, so this was going to have to go as quickly as possible.

"Are you sure you want to do this tonight?" Chris asked, obviously as scared as I was. I was starting to feel sympathetic. I was being so mean and distant, and all he was trying to do was the right thing.

I looked at him with understanding eyes, and said, "Yeah, Chris. It's now or never."

On the way up to the door, I wouldn't stand by him. No matter how sympathetic I was feeling I was still mad at him. Nothing could change that so easily. After standing in front of the giant door for five minutes, Rory finally reached out and rang the doorbell.

Before her finger even left the button, Emily opened the door.

"Mom! That was quick."

"Well, yes. I saw you walk up the drive, and I was wondering when you'd ring the bell. I was beginning to worry. Christopher! To what do we owe this pleasant surprise?"

"Oh, I don't think it's so pleasant," he said as we all walked through the door and into the sitting room.

"Nonsense. It's always a pleasure to see you. Now, what would you like to drink?"

"Something strong."

"All right, how about a gin martini?"

"You don't have anything stronger than that?" he whispered.

"What was that?"

"A gin martini is just perfect, Emily. Thank you."

"Here you are." She handed Chris his drink, and sat in an armchair. Christopher, Rory and I all sat together on the couch across. "Richard won't be joining us tonight. He's on business in Canada. I swear, if he comes back here saying 'eh' every other word, I'll just die."

"Grandma, 'eh' isn't all they say up there."

"Well, if he comes back with one of those cars that you plug in, I don't know what I'll do."

"Grandma, I-"

"Just give it up, Rory. It's hopeless," I whispered to her.

"So, is there anything new and exciting in the lives of the younger Gilmores?"

"Uh, well, Mom, actually, yes. There's a reason Chris came with us tonight. A very big reason."

"Oh my God!"

"What? What?" I had no idea why she was already this excited. She stood up, and immediately gave Chris and me the biggest hugs of our lives. We both exchanged confused looks. "This is just wonderful! Isn't this wonderful?"

"What's wonderful?"

"Yeah, Mom, fill us in on the big surprise."

"Oh, don't play dumb with me. I swear, the younger generation and their idea of jokes," she said, with a grin on her face. "I'm just sorry Richard isn't here to hear the great news. It's about time you two got married."

"What?" Chris gaped, and Rory gasped.

"Mom, no, we're not getting married." I almost felt sorry for her at that point. She was so happy, and now I was about to disappoint her again.

"You're not? Oh." She sat back down in her chair, and already looked extremely depressed. I had no idea how she would live after this. "If you're not getting married, then what's the big news?"

"Well, Mom," I said solemnly, "I'm… I'm…"

"Oh, just spit it out, Lorelai."

"I'm pregnant."

The room fell silent, almost too silent. The silence was so obvious, it was almost deafening.

"Well, of course you are. I wouldn't expect anything more from you," she said. She wasn't surprised, and I couldn't really expect her to be.

Dinner was perfectly pleasant, and why wouldn't it be, because no one said a word the entire time. After dessert, we all said our goodbyes, and walked towards the door. Rory and Christopher walked out, but my mother grabbed my arm to hold me back before I could escape. So close, I thought.

"Lorelai, I'd like to have a chat with you before you go."

"About what, Mother?"

"About this pregnancy… I can't believe you did this again. I am absolutely disgusted with you!"

"Me? It takes two to make a baby, Mom! Why aren't you disgusted with Christopher too?"

"Who says I'm not? But I'm not his mother, so I can't tell him that. I'm telling you. I just want you to know how much you've disappointed us, Lorelai, how much you've humiliated us," she told me, on behalf of herself and my father.

Then, it got quiet. "Ya know, Mom, I always knew you had your pride. You are one of the most proud women I know, next to myself. That's the one thing I've gotten from you. But what's different about us is this: You just don't know when to stop." I walked out of the house with a tear running down my face. I hoped to hell she'd seen that tear. I wanted her to see that no matter how much I had disappointed her and humiliated her, that would never amount up to how much she had hurt me.

I walked out to the jeep, and handed Christopher the keys. There was no way I was driving after that. He got out of the back seat and into the front, and I lay down in the back and cried. I cried so hard and so long, I didn't even notice when Rory climbed back there with me and held onto me like there was no tomorrow.

When we got home, my sobs had subsided, and Rory and I both said goodbye to Christopher. I had forgiven him, for whatever it was that he had done, and insisted that he stay the night, that it was too late to start driving again, but he wouldn't. He left, and I cried some more.

Some how, Rory had gotten me to go upstairs and change into something comfortable and go to sleep. She stayed there with me all through the night. I'm not sure when, but at some point in the night, Luke had come, and he had ended up sleeping right there next to Rory and me, never letting go of my hand. I didn't really want him there at first. But after I thought about the night again, and what my mother had said to me, I buried my face in his chest, while Rory rubbed my back.

That, right there, was all I ever needed. Nothing and no one else. That was my family.

Tbc.

My longest chapter yet! I think… Anyway, read and review! I've never updated any of my stories this fast, so you should thank me with a review!

Random Question: If a fly has no wings is it a "walk"?