A new mother in training
Surprinsingly, the night at Lane's went off without a hitch. Rory was not proud of using pop-tarts as bribery to get the twins attention and stop the fight, but, once the screaming was over, things just started to flow naturally.
Even though Rory was a 33-year-old woman, she had a life experience of silly movies, fun games and junk food - the perks of being Lorelai Gilmore's daughter. So it was not hard to bond with Kwan and Steve over a superhero movie and a giant bowl of popcorn.
After an excited discussion about the importance of post-credits scenes on Marvel pictures, the boys got ready to go to bed. They were already asleep when Lane and Zack returned, a little more drunk than they would ever admit.
As the couple barged in the house kissing and giggling, Rory knew it was her cue to leave. It was good to see Lane happy and she didn't want to kill the mood. So she quietly got off the couch, snatched the book they bought earlier and reached the front door unnoticed, without saying goodbye.
Outside, it was a cozy night in Stars Hollow. The streets were already silent and the weather was perfect for a lazy walk. Rory decided to enjoy the occasion and took the long way back home, eager for some time alone to unwind.
As she passed by the town square and the gazebo, Rory remembered how scared she was about the pregnancy at first, not sure about being 'mother material'. All her life has always been career-oriented and she feared to be one of those harsh women who push children away, like her ex-stepmother Sherry did with her half sister Gigi.
But these feelings began to fade away after tonight. Of course Rory is not expecting to be elected 'Mommy of the year' only because she babysat a couple of hours. Still, it was nice to see she could connect with children, not just freeze or be annoyed in the presence of infants. That was definitely a good start.
Smiling at this little achievement, Rory crossed the final distance to her house and walked up the porch stairs. From the window, it was possible to see it was pitch-dark inside. Mom and Luke are probably already sleeping by now, she thought and tried to make less noise as possible to open the door without disturbing anyone.
Expecting a deadly silent welcome inside the house, Rory startled when Lorelai's voice came out of nowhere in a warning, followed by the sound of footsteps rushing downstairs.
"Don't go into your room!" Her mother shouted, suddenly turning on the lights.
"Jesus! Is this some kind of police operation? Are you going to arrest me now?" Rory gasped, with her heart pounding in her chest.
"Why? Did you steal another boat?" Lorelai teased with a mischievous smile on her face. "I was really hoping to keep you out of prison from now on, hon. But if you do the crime, you've got to pay the time. And I've learned from the last Law & Order episodes it's better to cooperate if the cops ask for my help."
Rory gave her mom a cheerful fake laugh, happy they now could joke about that shameful moment of youth rebellion. "You're so funny. I think you should create a Youtube channel, go viral on the internet and win tons of money with your natural talent for comedy. You'd probably be one of the guests on The Ellen Degeneres show by now."
"Then I would have no more privacy. You know I don't exercise enough to run from the paparazzi," Lorelai replied with a clever grin. How her mother always could find a good comeback from any conversation amused Rory since she was a little girl. But, right now, she had no more willpower to continue the battle.
"Good night, mom!" Rory said, ignoring while Lorelai opened her mouth to speak again. "I'll tell you all about my babysitting adventure tomorrow," she continued, heading to her room.
"Well, I tried to warn you," Lorelai blurted in a muffled voice.
Rory stopped at the doorway in shock. After she turned on the switch, the light revealed a room full of boxes with pictures of chubby babies on them. Only her bed was free of stuff. The rest of the place was taken by tons of diapers, all kinds of toys, baby clothes, bottles, breast pumps, a huge crib, a fancy stroller and other maternity equipment she didn't even know how to use.
"That's what I was trying to tell you. Luke discovered online shopping," Lorelai chuckled. "He's super excited about the whole stepgrandpa thing. So he bought all he could think for you and the baby." She added, looking touched by his gesture.
"Luke's going to put pictures of the baby on the menu, isn't he? Just like he did with The New Yorker piece," Rory whined.
"He'd put a photo of you giving birth too. But don't worry! Mommy's got you covered," Lorelai winked her daughter.
Rory sighed. "It's like Babies R Us opened a new store in here. Some stuff I don't think we are going to need anytime soon," She murmured, staring at a toilet training seat on the top of what used to be her desk.
"Incredible what the man was able to do with a good Wi-fi reception and a credit card," her mother nodded.
"Why didn't you stop him? It must have cost a fortune. I know I'm practically broke and I don't have a job, but it's too much," Rory said, feeling a bit guilty. Lorelai and Luke were talking about having a kid when she moved back to Stars Hollow. But they've dropped the subject since she told about her unexpected pregnancy.
"He did it behind my back! I was surprised by the giant delivery truck parked on the driveway when I came home. If I knew Luke was in some kind of Becky Bloom shopping frenzy, I'd have tried to seduce him to buy me some new shoes or that nice skirt I have my eyes on."
"That cute one with stripes, right?" They paused for a moment and looked at each other.
"Yeah! There's a top still single in my closet waiting for her," Lorelai smiled with the sign of approval on Rory's face.
After a few seconds wandering about fashion, the room crammed with baby stuff finally draw their attention back. There was no way to organize everything now, even if they stayed up all night.
Hopeless, Rory pressed her hand against her forehead and groaned. "It's really sweet and I'll make sure to thank Luke for this. But I need my room back. In this mess, I can't even find my laptop. And I have a book to write. I was hoping to finish a few more chapters today. I need to have the first draft ready before the baby arrives. Because I don't think I'll be able to concentrate much with a newborn to handle."
"Hey, calm down. I'll help you sort things out and organize. We can return some of the stuff or make a giant baby garage sale," Lorelai suggested.
"Don't even joke about it," Rory grumbled.
"Hon, in a few months... Even if you use only oversized clothes - which are back in fashion by the way - people are going to notice you are pregnant."
"I'm just not ready yet for everyone to know. Once it's public. It's real."
Lorelai gave Rory a tight hug and rubbed her shoulders. "It already is. Since the moment you decided to have this baby."
Rory hesitated, holding back the tears. "I never thought I would do this alone." As much as she didn't want to, her mind brought back a memory of someone who would be the best partner down this road. They even played house once and she wore a Donna Read dress to make fun of him. Happy old days, lost somewhere in the past. She wondered once again if only they had met later in life... Or could have another chance now. But it was too late. Because he already has his own family.
While Rory was breathing slowly to get herself together, Lorelai reassured her. "Kid, you are not alone." She spotted another book about babies on her hands and then continued. "You know you can ask me anything about the whole pregnancy, the changes on your body, contractions, giving birth or whatever. You don't need to pull a Luke and buy all the books on the subject."
"I intend to hold you to that offer. But, for now, the books maintain everything technical and a little distant. It's what I need at the moment. The mother idea is still sinking in."
"Take your time, young Skywalker. But just believe me: no matter how complicated it may seem, everything will be okay. I'm saying this from my own experience. I was a teenage mother and my daughter turned out just fine." Rory started to crack a smile and Lorelai couldn't resist the punch line "... except for the fact she is an ex-con and dropped out of college for a few months!"
"You are the worst, you know!" Rory exhaled with relief, feeling more secure after she remembered her mistakes and how Lorelai forgave and helped her get back on track.
"Well, you are lucky I was really mad when I bailed you out of jail back then. If it wasn't for the short-circuit in this devious brain of mine, I would have tons of T-shirts with your mugshot to torture you FOREVER." Lorelai teased and planted a kiss on her daughter's hair. "Goodnight," she said before making her way back upstairs.
Alone again, Rory admitted defeat for the day and dodged the piles of boxes to get her pajamas in the dresser. On her way to the bathroom, she thought how moving around would be way more difficult in a few months and pictured herself with a full size pregnant belly. The image made her laugh while she took off the clothes and got in the shower. As the warm water ran down her body, Rory took a deep breath and placed her hands on her stomach for the first time.
"Hi, baby girl..." Rory whispered, wishfully.
A/N: Another chapter showing a little more about what's going on with Rory since she discovered the pregnancy. I was also going to explore more of the town characters, but it was already too long. So prepare to a big scandal in Stars Hollow next week! Review and tell me what you think of the story so far