What's In a Name

Emily stumbled down the long ICU corridor, glad that it dead-ended in the waiting room. She wasn't sure if she would have been able to find Rory otherwise. That word kept lighting up in her mind, as if it were seared by fire into her brain. It had to be the same one, didn't it? It had to be the one she used, in secret, the one that was special. He had to take that from her, just like he was taking her daughter.

"Grandma!" Rory jumped to her feet as Emily approached. One look at her grandmother's face and Rory crumpled. "Oh, no," she whimpered, clenching her fists tightly. Her face twisted in pain. "Oh, God, no, no..."

"He's awake," Emily reported tonelessly.

Rory blinked in shock. "What?"

"He's awake," Emily repeated. "I assume that means he's going to be okay."

"He's awake!" Rory shouted joyfully. "Grandpa, Sookie, he's awake! He's okay!"

"Oh, thank God," Sookie sighed in relief, getting to her feet and grabbing her purse. "Do you think we can see him?"

"I don't see why not," Richard said authoritatively. "We've been waiting long enough, I'd say we've earned the privilege."

"Let's go," Rory said eagerly to Emily, starting down the hall after the others. Quickly Emily reached out and took her arm.

"He called her Lorey," she hissed in a low voice. Rory looked at her, nonplussed.

"Yeah, he sometimes does," she said, smiling. "But only very occasionally, and absolutely no one else can get away with it. I know, I tried."

"I used to," Emily said in an oddly emotional voice.

"What?"

"When she was little. A baby. We'd always said that if it was a girl we would name her after our mothers, Lorelai Victoria. But Lorelai was such a big name for such a tiny baby…" Emily trailed off, hardly aware that Rory was still listening.

"I called her Lorey for short. She seemed to like it, that is until Richard's mother came. She informed me quite insistently that babies should not be given nicknames until they were old enough to distinguish between their real name and their nickname. She told me I was an irresponsible mother and that I was doing my daughter a disservice, and that I must call the baby Lorelai at all times."

"Wow, Grandma," Rory raised her eyebrows in amazement. "I guess Gran is a pretty opinionated lady, huh?"

"She was intimidating as hell," Emily declared darkly. "I was twenty-three years old, married for barely a year with a brand-new baby, and she scared me to death. I couldn't stand up to her." She paused thoughtfully. "I never stood up to her."

"I'm…sorry, Grandma," Rory ventured awkwardly, not sure what to say.

"Why does he call her that?" Emily asked wistfully.

"I don't really know," Rory shrugged. "I guess Lorelai is such a big name, to live up to…there's a lot of pressure that comes with it, isn't there? What with it being Gran's name, and a Gilmore name…maybe it's nice not to have to think about all that when she's with Luke. Maybe it's just a way of being herself for awhile, with no obligations."

"So being herself means not being Lorelai," Emily observed, offended. "Not being a Gilmore."

"No," Rory answered firmly. "Not at all. She named me Lorelai, didn't she? She passed that on to me. It was important to her."

"She passed a lot on to you," Emily finally gave a small smile. "Although she certainly didn't give you your tact."

"I must have got that from you," Rory said with a straight face.

"Oh, stop it," Emily swatted at her playfully. She sighed deeply and smoothed down her jacket. "She's going to marry him, isn't she?"

"What?"

"Luke," Emily sighed again. "She's going to marry Luke."

"Did he ask her?" Rory's jaw dropped open in delighted surprise.

"No," Emily answered. "But he will. And she'll say yes."

"Oh, I hope so," Rory gushed happily. "That would be perfect."

"You may be right," Emily agreed carefully. She turned to head back to Luke's room. "Shall we?"

Rory fell in step beside her. "Hey, Grandma? Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, dear."

"My real name is Lorelai, too. So why do you call me Rory?"

Emily smiled wistfully at her. "Because that's who you are," she answered simply. "And because I learn from my mistakes."