Going public
After a tedious weekend going through the boxes of baby merchandise, Rory's room was still completely packed, but at least now there was a sense of organization in the mess. It was even possible again to have a glance at the garden outside from the small window near her bed. Not that Rory was going to enjoy the view. She got a little paranoid that someone was snooping around the other night and decided to keep the curtains closed for good.
Shielded within the comforting four walls of her mother's house, Rory followed Lorelai's instructions to sort the boxes in three piles: the diapers, some baby clothes, a stroller, a car seat, a bathtub and all the stuff that was going to be useful immediately after the baby was born went to the 'stay' pile, perfectly arranged next to the crib in the corner of the room; a play yard, a walker and other things that would be handy within the first year were put in the 'storage' pile and would be later removed to the garage; on the other hand, the 'to go' pile was made of many bottles of baby shampoo which would expire before they could be used, a tricycle and also an excessive amount of singlets and shoes that would never be worn because the newborn would quickly grow out of them. Lorelai struggled not to classify a ball pit and a slide shaped as a unicorn in the last pile, but after a long debate about the lack of space in the house, she finally gave in.
Rory already asked Luke to move some boxes to the garage tonight and he agreed to do it after it was dark. So there would be no risk of questions about the baby stuff from her friendly - yet nosy - neighborhood. He left for work while she was sipping her single dose of coffee for the day. Only a small cup was allowed because of the baby. That's why the mom-to-be was really taking some time to savour it.
In the meantime, Rory really tried, still she couldn't remember anything else to do after her breakfast. Then, she decided to kill the free time of whatever day it was to go online and start returning the extra gifts piled in her room. Maybe by the end of the week there would be some free space back there and she could concentrate again on finishing the first draft of the book.
A driven Rory grabbed the laptop, laid on the bed and began to read the return policy of Baby R US online shop. She hadn't even finished submitting half of the requests for refunds when she fell asleep. It was not her fault though. For the last couple of weeks, she was feeling completely exhausted. It was not due to the lack of coffee, or because she started a exercise routine to watch her weight. It was just one of the misfortunes in the first trimester of the pregnancy. Basically, mommy's body can never say 'no' to a nap.
Although there was so much to do, Rory skipped lunch and slept through the rest of the day. No point trying to fight the changing hormones inside her body. Everything was already dark outside, when she opened her eyes. Still feeling a little lazy, she stretched her arms and took a look at the clock. It was almost 7 PM.
Well done, Rory. One more day with not much done, she thought while trying to recover her senses and bring to mind what day it was today.
Rory suddenly jumped from the bed when she realized it was December 1st. Honestly, she lost track of the calendar because her head was still spiralling since her life went upside down... and December 1st wasn't exactly a special occasion, except she had a deadline. With Taylor Doose from all people. How could she miss something like that? She promised to publish early the first issue of Stars Hollow Gazette this month because he wanted to announce all the events that would take place in town until the Holidays.
The list included a tree decoration contest, a carolee choir presentation, a 24-hour live Nativity scene at the gazebo and even a surprise event to celebrate New Year's Eve - which Taylor was bragging to be something bigger than the drop of the ball in Times Square. Rory really tried a scoop about it for the paper, but the man was impossible to crack.
No one would expect less of Stars Hollow. There was literally something scheduled for every weekend of the month, starting this Friday with Miss Patty's Nutcracker ballet. Actually, the show was supposed to be front-page news as a charming prelude of winter's arrival in town. That's why Rory ordered the entire team to submit the articles and everything else a week earlier. This way she would have time to finish the layout, send the new edition to print on December 1st and guarantee all the papers were delivered on time, at least two days before the presentation. The only problem: it totally slipped her mind until minutes ago.
Rory pulled her hair into a ponytail and rushed out the house straight to Stars Hollow Gazette's building. Hoping all the material were on her desk as promised, she grabbed her phone and called the printing-office to assure the new edition would be ready and sent by email later tonight. It was really difficult to sound calm and professional while running down the street to get to the newsroom, but somehow she did it and bought some time to finish work.
Gladly, Rory was the only one who forgot about the deadline. All the local news, interviews and the special feature were duly delivered by the Gazette's writing team. As usual, she found a printed copy and a floppy disk labeled with the name of the author. Old fashion? Yeah. But right now she was in no position to complain.
On her desk, the Gazette's secretary also left a note to inform the commercial ads were all renovated and already on page. So, she only needed to check the spelling of the articles, define the headlines, adjust the layout with photos and finish the first page. It wasn't exactly a piece of cake, but the deadline was still doable. That was a relief.
It was past 10 pm when Rory gave a final check on the Gazette's new edition. The guy from the printing-office already called twice now to remember he would only wait more 30 minutes for the file. Even though the work was done in a hurry, the first page ended up as a perfect tribute to the magic of Stars Hollow. Sometimes Rory imagined her hometown was not real and only existed within a tiny snow globe in a different universe.
Smiling at this idea, the young journalist continued skimming the paper to correct any major mistake before releasing the final copy to print. She almost thought everything was okay, but she got to the back cover and realized a huge blank quarter. Last week that space was filled with discount coupons for the movie theatre. What the hell happened?
Panicked by the clock ticking, Rory looked down and saw one more floppy disk dropped on the floor with a pink post-it on. Almost out of time, she grabbed it. The note reminded her that she agreed to publish in the Gazette a column written by some girls from the senior class of Stars Hollow High. Apparently, they discovered the old version of Gossip Girl on Netflix and wanted to bring some of the twist to the small town. That's why there was a huge blank space on the last page.
As she inserted the disk in the drive, Rory read the message on the post-it. It was a note from the English teacher explaining the text was already checked and ready to print. So, she could just copy and paste the column to fill the last blank space in the way of the first December edition of the Gazette. If it were a true job, Rory would never publish something without giving it an overview. But how bad could this high school project be, right?
Anyway, Rory had only five minutes left to send the final cut to print. Tired from the stress of the night, starving and wishing for a warm bath, she selected the text, pressed CRTL C + CRTL V and adjusted the layout on page. The file had already been sent when the phone rang again and the printing guy confirmed he received the email at the last minute. Despite the delay, he assured the new edition of the Gazette would be tomorrow morning in Taylor's hands - who arranged himself a team to go door to door and deliver the newspaper to every citizen of Stars Hollow.
Satisfied, Rory turned out the lights of the small newsroom and locked it up to go home. She passed in front of Luke's hoping to ensure a decent meal to ease her pregnant empty stomach. The CLOSED sign was already on the door, but it has never stopped both Gilmore Girls to get in and order something if he was still inside cleaning the tables. And that was exactly the case.
Luke heard the door open and he was ready to shout something harsh at the intruder, but he immediately stopped when he saw Rory.
"You know, I read on Yelp! the food here is great and the service is the best. I was in the area. So I decided to check it out," Rory put her most innocent face on and smiled.
"You two are unbelievable," Luke chuckled with his typical grumpiness. "What can I get for you? Just don't insist: no more coffee for today"
Rory planned to use the hungry pregnant card with him, but it was not necessary. Once she asked for her favorites on the menu, Luke went to the kitchen and made everything fresh for her. That man really loved her as a daughter. It's true now and then he was a little overprotective, yet it was nice to know there's someone willing to take care of you like that.
Walking home with a hot burger and chilli fries in the bag, Rory imagined if the baby would have someone like Luke to lean on too. As much as she loved her dad Christopher, he never cared enough to be around. And it's not like she expected him to move to Stars Hollow. Just would be nice if he showed up once a month to see her, or if he called more when she was younger. But that didn't happen in the past because he was always after some big opportunity. Then, years later, he gave in and accepted his hole in the Hayden's family business. Nevertheless, nothing changed in their distant relationship.
Back in the warmth of her house, Rory took off her shoes and focused on enjoying her delicious big dinner in front of the TV. Lorelai had an emergency and was working late at the Dragonfly. So, all there was left for the night was watching a classic show from the 90's to chase away those bad feelings. Finally she let go all the worries for a while and fell asleep on the couch.
Rory had slept for hours, but it felt she lay down only for a few minutes when she woke up with her phone ringing insistently at 9 in the morning. She looked at the ID caller and saw it was Lane. As she answered the call, an agitated Lorelai entered the front door with a copy of Stars Hollow Gazette in hands. Everything seemed alright, despite her screw up yesterday.
"Hey! What's up with the early phone call? You know I've never been a morning person and..."
A worried Lane interrupted her. "It's an emergency. Did you read the Gazette today?"
"No, but I saw it yesterday and it was fine," Rory retorted, not sure where this conversation was going.
"All of it? Even the last page and that gossip column?"
Guilty, Rory felt a twinge in the pit of her stomach. The look in Lorelai's face, now sitting by her side on the couch, didn't help much. Somehow she wasn't sure if she really wanted to know what was all that fuss about. Anyhow, her mother handed her the newspaper and just stood there, waiting for Rory's reaction.
"What can be so bad?" She talked to Lane on the phone while scanning the words on the last page of the Gazette. "Oh, crap!"
Rory hung up the phone, shaken, finally catching up with the concern on Lane's voice. The secret she was trying so hard to keep was out there in the open, in printed word, among a lot of high school gossip:
"Rumor has it one of the most beloved Stars Hollow's family had a visit from the stork. A shipment of Babies R Us was seen at Gilmore's/Dane's residence, leaving us to solve the mystery about the identity of the future mother-to-be. Many boxes could be found stored in the old room of a 30-year-something town prodigy who has just moved back from New York, but the name of a very grumpy diner owner is the one addressed on the labels. Which Lorelai do you think is going to pop in a few months, shiny stars?!"
Definitely, that important lesson in Journalism about never publishing without reading also applied to small newspapers in quirky little towns like Stars Hollow. As a Yale grad, Rory should have known better. On the bright side, at least, she wasn't paranoid. She got one thing right: someone really was snooping outside her window the other night.
A/N: What a rookie mistake, huh? Before the revival, I'd never believe Rory would do something like this. But then she slept during that interview... This is just the beggining of one of those typical crazy days in Stars Hollow that we all love. Review and tell me what you think about it!