Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or anything else.

Lorelai didn't know exactly how it happened, but Zoe was now five and starting school. She remembered getting emotional when Rory started school but this felt different. She was almost thirty now and truly did not see a time in the near or distant future when she would even consider having another baby.

"Mum, were going to be late." Almost thirteen year old Rory called out.

"I want to take a picture of Zoe on her first day of school." Lorelai said coming down the stairs with a camera.

"Well can you make it quick," Rory asked now. "I don't want to be late."

"Yes, it will be quick," Lorelai rolled her eyes at her almost teenager as she got Zoe to stand for a photo. "Look how cute."

"Mum!" Zoe said now. "I want to go to school."

"Okay, were going," Lorelai muttered. "You know nothing will happen if your one minute late."

Rory walked with them to the school and said a quick goodbye to Zoe before rushing over to the middle school which was just across the street. Lorelai walked the five year old over to her classroom and helped her hang her bag up.

"Okay," Lorelai grabbed her shoulders as she crouched down. "You have a good day."

"Mummy?" Zoe looked at her with her big blue-green eyes. "I'm scared."

"You'll be fine, kid," Lorelai promised. "I'll be right here as the bell rings at the end of the day to pick you up."

"Okay." Zoe said as she walked into her classroom. Lorelai waved at her when Zoe turned her head to see if Lorelai was still there.

"I didn't think it would be this hard." Another mum standing near Lorelai commented.

"It gets easier," Lorelai smiled. "I have a twelve year old but I barely remember how awful it was leaving her the first time."

Rory had somehow convinced Lorelai to get to school an hour before it even began. They were sitting outside and Rory was walking around and looking at all the classrooms. Lorelai had never seen someone this excited so early in the morning.

"This place is awesome." Rory beamed.

"Oh yeah," Lorelai yawned. "It's great."

More people started showing up and Rory wanted to go into her classroom right away. Lorelai had to grab her hand to stop her.

"Are you going to be okay?" Lorelai asked.

"I'll be fine," Rory reassured her. "I'm a big girl."

Rory confidently walked into her classroom and barely even acnowledged Lorelai walking away. Lorelai got to her car and started crying at the fact that her baby was now in school.

Lorelai was there to pick Zoe up right after school and they went back to the inn. Zoe spent the entire drive talking about school and the kids that she had met. Rory had told Lorelai that she was going to the library after school and was doing homework in the kitchen when they got home.

"How was your day?" Lorelai asked.

"I have a lot of homework," Rory looked up. "Oh, and I got my period today."

"What's a period?" Zoe asked.

"It's something you'll get when you're a little older," Lorelai brushed away the answer. "Can you go upstairs and get ready for your bath."

"Okay." Zoe said as she walked up the stairs.

"Are you okay honey? Do you have-" Lorelai began as she sat down.

"I'm fine, I took a pad from your bathroom." Rory said now, concentrating on her homework again.

"Well I am getting pizza for dinner." Lorelai grabbed the phone.

"Mum, don't make a big deal of it." Rory said now.

"But it is a big deal, you aren't my little girl anymore. You are a grown woman." Lorelai mocked.

"Mum, you are disgusting," Rory rolled her eyes. "Can we get ice cream for dessert?"

"Anything you want sweetheart." Lorelai smiled.

Lorelai got up in the middle of night and walked past Zoe's bedroom. Her first day of school had exhausted her and she fell asleep the second her head hit the pillow. She walked downstairs and Rory was asleep too. Lorelai knew that her girls were going to grow up, that was a given, but she was about to have a teenager around the house and that terrified her more than anything else.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews. Starting from next chapter it kind of run parallel to the show so you'll meet all the characters soon enough.