Chapter 5: Hope
Trix
Lorelai woke up at eight am. It was unusually late by her standards but she had only finally fallen to sleep at 2am. She went downstairs to the living room (the dining room still dominated by Lorelai's Coffin from The Wake) where she was surprised to see her great granddaughter already eating her breakfast. It was an omelette that the six year old was devouring with relish, though she began eating far more daintily once she realised Lorelai was in the room.
The omelette smelled thoroughly delicious.
Moments later the omelettes creator entered the room.
"Rory! Rory! You need to try this it will taste amazi-" Sookie's voice faltered when she saw Mrs Gilmore. In Sookie's hand was a plate that had another omelette on it, albeit one that looked very different to the one Rory was eating.
Lorelai wanted to lick her lips, however crass that might be, as the culinary creation Sookie was holding looked even more appetising than the one Rory was currently chipping away at.
"Good morning Miss St James. I trust you slept well?" Lorelai asked.
Sookie managed to choke out a strangled "Yep" before darting back into the kitchen.
"I think you frighten Sookie Trix." Rory said truthfully, as she finished her omelette off. Lorelai didn't like the way the little girl looked at the omelette left behind so greedily.
Now that Sookie had left it behind (without specifying whose it was) that Omelette was HERS!
"I think one omelette is enough breakfast for anyone Rory. Wouldn't you agree?" Lorelai said as she casually picked up the plate before sitting herself down.
The little girl's eyes began to shine with tears. With the sheer love of food she was currently exhibiting, the girl was clearly a true Gilmore at heart.
"If you would like to sample this omelette though I am happy to oblige you." Lorelai replied.
Rory seemed to move with Olympic speed to appear next to Lorelai, plate in hand.
A part of Lorelai wanted to criticise her for rudeness, the other, far larger part, wanted to commend her for politeness in taking her plate over and waiting patiently for Lorelai to decide what she was allowed to have.
"I think this will suffice in allowing you to taste the fruits of Sookie's cooking. Best to eat slowly though and savour every bite." Lorelai said cutting away a generous third of the omelette and depositing it on Rory's plate.
Rory beamed happily and went back to her seat, plate in hand, and within seconds both Gilmore girls were eating.
Both were quickly finished.
"That was great" Rory said happily. Her plate wiped clean.
"It was very agreeable" Lorelai replied. Her plate containing not a scrap of omelette.
"I am going to get another omelette" Lorelai declared. "Unlike you Rory I have not had a full one yet." Lorelai continued with all the grace she could muster.
Rory giggled.
"Mommy would have wanted another one as well." Rory said.
Lorelai didn't pause when Rory spoke, although she wanted to for a moment. Instead she went into the kitchen, quickly asking Sookie (still panicking slightly on her reaction to the Gilmore matriarch), for another omelette.
When she got back to the table Rory was crying, as Lorelai had suspected she would when she had left the room.
"It's ok to miss her Rory" Lorelai told her great grand-daughter. The poor girl had almost seemed to forget what happened yesterday night. Now though…
"Why did she leave?" Rory asked quietly.
"Grandpa says I did nothing wrong but why else would she leave on Christmas?" The little girl wondered out loud. "Was it because I hugged Daddy a lot? I still loved Mommy the most. I just hadn't seen Daddy in ages…"
A large part of Lorelai wanted to cry.
Rory was old enough to understand about death. She was not yet old enough to understand the poor relationship a person could have with their parents. Rory was not old enough to understand the length of the ongoing feud between the wife and daughter of Richard. The child was bright enough to realise that something had gone wrong though and had reached the logical conclusion that it must be down to something, or more particularly someone. Rory had taken the idea that she must be the person to blame, having been the only person that Emily and Lorelai the second both openly expressed love for, and run with that idea at full pelt.
"Rory." Trix said affectionately, with great sympathy. "Your Mother and Grandma loved you very much. They weren't mad at you at all. What happened to them…" Lorelai paused a moment as the girl continued crying.
"What happened to them wasn't you fault." Lorelai concluded.
The little girl stopped crying but remained silent for a long time.
"She didn't hug me goodbye. Daddy did." Rory said. "That's how I know she was mad at me."
Lorelai wanted to curse her namesake, the second Lorelai, just for a moment. Then Lorelai remembered the picture, found in the shed of the Independence Inn, of a laughing woman, more a girl, of twenty-two years old. Lorelai the second had been stubborn, but not old enough to know any better. She'd never had the chance. Only twenty-two years old…
So young to die.
Too young.
The doorbell rang.
Rory seemed happy for the distraction.
"I'll go get it" the little girl said quickly getting out of her seat and making a beeline for the door.
Lorelai watched as the six year old opened the door and both she and Rory found a middle aged woman, who looked very familiar, staring back at them.
"Grandma?" Rory asked looking at the new woman.
The ghost of Emily Gilmore seemed to have arrived at the house.
Rory
Trix looked like she'd seen a ghost. Rory thought that was sensible because the lady, who looked exactly like Grandma, at the door probably was a ghost.
"Surprised to see me Lorelai." The Ghost said. Her voice didn't sound exactly like Grandma's.
"I thought we'd encounter you earlier Hope. You are cutting the time very fine." Trix muttered.
"Cauterets was snowed in. I would not suggest a Christmas celebrated in The Pyrenees as a good idea in the future. Especially when family tragedy seems to strike just when Boxing Day is beginning." The Lady, who Trix called Hope, shot back.
"You look like Grandma" Rory said bluntly.
"Yes I do." The Hope Lady smiled at Rory. "People have told us that all our lives."
"Grandma's dead." Rory said frowning. "It's weird having you here when you look so much like her. It's confusing. Especially when you're not her."
The Hope Lady laughed loudly. Trix looked slightly upset at Rory but looked far madder at The Lady
"Come now Lorelai the girl makes a strong case for me not being here. I'd have thought you'd leap at the opportunity." The Hope Lady teased Trix.
"Don't be mean to Trix. She lost her mommy too when she was little like me. She knows what it's like." Rory exclaimed.
The Hope Lady looked very sad when Rory said that. Trix seemed to be proud of Rory though. Rory like it when Trix seemed proud of her.
"Rory this lady is your Great Aunt Hope. She was your Grandma's sister." Trix said politely.
"Oh" Rory said back looking very closely at Hope. "Were you and Grandma Twins? You look a lot alike."
"No we weren't twins. Emily was three years older than me." Hope replied kindly.
"I wanted a little sister. I can't have one now though. Mommy and Daddy are both dead so it's impossible" Rory said truthfully.
Both Trix and Hope looked very sad again about that.
"What's the matter?" Rory asked. Adults were confusing she decided.
"When's Richard going to be down?" Hope (Auntie Hope? Rory wasn't sure what to call her) asked Trix.
"Hopefully shortly. I think he only got back at 6am." Trix replied.
"What happened?" Hope asked.
In reply Trix said something in French. Hope nodded back then replied back in the same language.
This continued for a little while.
Rory was getting frustrated.
"I can't speak French. Can you speak English again please?" Rory pleaded.
"Certainly Rory." Hope said. Both Trix and Hope looked at each other weirdly. That was annoying. Rory hated when adults hid things from her.
"What should I call you Miss Hope? Do I call you auntie?" Rory asked.
"Remember Rory she is your Great Aunt Hope. We add a great before we call her auntie in that circumstance." Trix replied but she was smiling nastily at Hope.
Great Auntie Hope didn't seem wholly pleased with the name but she smiled anyway.
"Did you know Rory that Trix is your great grandmother? As she is your grandfather's mother. That's why you could call her great grandma. You add a great there as well." Great Auntie Hope said. Rory didn't like the smile on her face either.
Rory made up her mind.
"Trix is my Trix. She is also my Great Grandmother but I will call her Trix. That works at the moment and she likes to be called Trix. You can be Auntie Hope. I think you like being Auntie Hope and not Great Auntie Hope. The last one makes you sound very old and you're only old." Rory said proudly to the women having found the perfect solution. "This way everyone is happy."
Both women glared at each other before nodding.
"She reminds me of Lorelai." Hope said.
"The similarities are there. The determination certainly." Trix said.
Once again Rory wished she understood what they were really saying but adults were confusing.
Richard
The alarm went off and Richard got out of bed groggily.
He'd had three hours sleep.
He staggered down the steps about to go into the dining room before remembering that Lorelai's body was still on the table from The Wake only due to be removed to the church later that day.
Instead he went into the sitting room and saw a ghost.
"Emily?" A sleep deprived Richard said.
"I'm Hope Richard." Hope replied gently.
"It was a long night Hope." Richard replied more than a bit embarrassed. The physical similarities between Emily and Hope had always been pronounced but he had never noticed them as much now that Emily was gone.
"Grandpa! Grandpa! Look at me! Look at me!" An excited voice came from behind him. There as expected was his granddaughter.
"Do you think Grandma would think I look pretty?" Rory asked hopefully. "Auntie Hope did my hair!"
Dressed all in black, with a black bow in her hair, Rory did look pretty…The exact correct way a child should dress for going to a funeral.
Richard realized he needed to have breakfast quickly before said funeral began.
Before the funeral began.
The Last Goodbye.
The tears began to well up in his eyes as he contemplated how the next 48 hours were about to go.
Emily's funeral this morning, Lorelai's funeral this afternoon, and Christopher's tomorrow. He wasn't sure how he was going to be able to cope.
Hope caught sight of his face and quickly grabbed Rory's attention quickly.
"Rory would you like to go up to my room and play some games? You're six aren't you? I have one of the best games in the world to play that's only for special children who turned six recently."
Rory was a very clever six year old, but even a highly intelligent six year old is still a child who can be fooled by an intelligent adult.
Excited the little girl ran upstairs, moments later Richard was sobbing in the arms of his mother. He hadn't cried at all since the night Lorelai died when he had done so along with Rory but at this point it had become too much to take. On this day the full scope of what had happened caught up to Richard.
"What am I going to do Mother?" Richard cried. "Without Emily, without Lorelai. Oh god Lorelai" Richard paused a moment full realisation of the latter event of the day sinking in. "I have to bury my daughter. My only child. My little girl." The tears resumed.
When Richard looked at his Mother he saw her at a loss for a moment.
His Mother had never dealt well with grief. Too much death in her early years seemed to have immunised her to it to an extent. Even when Father had died Mother's reaction had been muted in comparison to most people's reaction to the loss of their beloved spouse. Nevertheless, Mother gathered herself quickly and seemed to straighten noticeably.
"Sit up Richard" Mother said.
Richard sat up.
"What is it I've always said Richard?" Mother demanded. "One of life's most important rules."
"Life is a battle and you either entered it armed…" Richard sniffed. "Or you surrender immediately."
"To grieve is good Richard, to grieve is necessary, especially now, but to surrender completely to it would be a dereliction of duty. To lose the battle." Mother stated emphatically. "And Richard you have a duty of paramount importance now. Upstairs is a little girl, the last of our line, who has lost the only life she's ever known, a girl who is now an orphan. I ask you Richard what is it you need to do."
"Raise her?" Richard said. "How can I? I failed with Lorelai." Tears beginning to flow once again. "I failed so badly."
Mother wasn't having it.
"Rory is not your Lorelai Richard. She is already different from your daughter. They are similar yes, in many ways, but they are also different. The mistakes of the past will not be repeated this time. They will not be allowed to." Mother replied. "In addition this time you will also have an added advantage. One you did not have before during Lorelai's childhood."
"What advantage?" Richard asked confused. "How can things be different?"
"Because this time I-" Mother declared. "Am going to help you!"
Well if you were hoping Trix was leaving in the near future I'm afraid that ship is now officially sunk with this chapter. Then again the description of the fic kind of gives away that it was unlikely she'd be waving goodbye soon, as does the prelude. The Trix of the series does inform the Trix here but if you like Emily then rest assured Trix won't hold onto her hatred for her forever. The next chapters are going to be pretty heavy emotionally (the tragedy tag is there for a reason everyone) but rest assured Rory's situation will improve. I've been overwhelmed by this fics reception so far and am glad people seem to be enjoying it. Getting into Trix's head Is surprisingly easy given how much scope there is to play with the character and Richard and Rory are far enough away from the series (and affected by The Accident) that there is far less constraint in how to portray them as well. Any faves, follows, reviews are welcome. And I hope you continue to enjoy reading.