Worrying News

The lights were on in the Crap Shack. Rory considered the possible scenarios that should make her dread the talk that was coming, and out of the blue started laughing. What was she afraid of? Of her grandmother, who had more than once forced people to act her way for selfish reasons and by cunning means, with terrible consequences for the ones she loved the most? Of her mom, who had messed up her own love life many times, delaying her happiness for years? She took a step and felt the tenderness at her core, a flesh reminder of a different way of doing things, of a new and whole approach to life, filled with love and self-acceptance and joy, of the person that represented that for her – of Jess, who everyone had mistaken as the wrong option, but who seemed to her as the only one who had got it right time and again. She pressed on, the memory of his sex in her body a keepsake of everything that was fair and worth fighting for. She got in the house and her mom jumped to hug her.

"Where is grandma?"

"Oh, I've missed you, too, loinfruit. She's waiting for you at the inn – she'll be staying there." Rory went for the door, but Lorelai stopped her. "Not so fast! Don't you want to talk about it?"

"Well, yeah… but I also want to find out who told her and get it over with as soon as possible. Do you know who told her?"

Her mom shook her head. "I can imagine two options, though."

Rory sighed. "Same as me, and I couldn't tell which one seems worse."

Her mom kissed her. "Go ahead. I'll wait for you here."

Rory nodded and went to the door, but turned before leaving. "Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I do know my it."

Her mom smiled softly. "Well… in that case, I couldn't be happier for you."

"For real?"

"For real… this time." Rory felt a tear falling down her cheek and a weight being lifted, a weight that was so old she hadn't even realized it was there. Her mom must have understood because she nodded, wiping a tear from her cheek that mirrored her daughter's. "Go on, kiddo – face that Nantucket kraken, and then go and be happy."

Rory inhaled deeply and headed for the inn.

She found her grandma having a Scotch in the deserted reading room of the Dragonfly Inn.

"Rory!" Her grandma got up and hugged Rory warmly, confusing her a great deal. "Oh, don't be surprised, I still love you and I'm happy that I'm going to be a great grandmother. But that doesn't mean I'm not angry for the way the news were broken to me. Do you know how hard it was to face that man without knowing, how utterly clueless I felt? It was mortifying, and you've been appallingly silly – to give up the kid's share of what's rightfully his or hers! Are you mad? Still, I believe things will be looking up to you very soon."

"Was it Mitchum? What did he tell you?"

"Oh, it was typical Mitchum. He first scolded me for my voluntary work in the museum, as if it somehow tainted him in any way. I was mystified – why did that man care what I did or didn't do with my spare time? And then he started blabbing about how great Logan had been doing these past years without you, and how wealthy and wonderful Odette's family was, and how inappropriate of Logan was to cancel the whole wedding for your stupid little mistake, that should have been taken care of in due time – his words, not mine."

It was as if her worst fears were coming to life. "Logan cancelled the wedding? What else did he say?"

"He said that it was your silly – my adjective, his was cruder – contract, so unselfish, so forgiving, that had sealed the deal for him, that had made him realize there would be no way of doing things the proper way if he married Odette, and that Logan had cancelled the wedding to be the father that the kid deserved, and then came another long-winded speech about her family's suitability as opposed to ours. Oh, I'm so glad that Richard wasn't there to hear him, he would have died right there. So, what do you have to say?"

There was only one way to put it, and there were no manners in the world to hold it back. "Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck. What a pig-headed idiot! Doesn't he know what no means? Fuck! Fuck, fuck!"

"I'm starting to regret all the money spent in your education, young lady." Rory looked at her grandmother, who seemed eerily calm. "What is it, Rory? Are you not happy by the turn of events? Because, to me, the whole situation seems quite convenient. Logan is free now."

There was something off, she could feel it. It all sounded typically Emily Gilmore, all very pragmatic, all very convenient, but she didn't seem excited about that particular turn of events. "You don't want me to marry him, do you?"

She saw the slightest nervous tremble in her grandma's eye, indiscernible to anyone who didn't know her well, but she saw it. Her grandma emptied her Scotch gracefully and left the glass on the table with enough force so as to call the waiter's attention, who looked terrified at her. She pointed at the empty glass with an inane smile. "Who cares what I think? Nobody tells me anything, I'm just a clueless old lady who was a mean mother, forcing her daughter to live in a barn when she got pregnant at 16. What do I know?"

Self deprecation never suited her grandmother, but Rory pitied her. "Grandma: let me save the whole year in my schedule to try to make up to you for not telling you earlier, but, please, tell me now – what do you think? Your honest opinion." That confounded her. Emily Gilmore hesitated, and Rory pressed on. "Let me warn you, though – your opinion is not going to make me change mine in regards to what's already decided. But, still, I want to know. I always appreciate your insight."

"I… don't want to say anything that could push me away from my great grandkid. I don't want to miss it. It's the first thing I've really looked forward since… oh, it doesn't matter."

It did. Rory felt a lump in her throat. She always tried to fight off the sorrow when thinking that his grandfather would never meet the baby, regardless of how angry he would have been for the whole situation, and she suddenly felt grateful that her grandmother was still there. "It does to me, grandma. I'm so happy that the baby is going to have you. I'm so scared about so many things, and I've messed up, I've messed up more than I'd like to admit, but if I think about that, about the amazing things that the three Gilmore girls are going to enjoy together about this baby, it doesn't seem so bad, you know?"

She could barely finish without sobbing. Her grandmother was crying too, so she hugged her. "Thank you, Rory. It doesn't really matter what I think anymore – only that I'm happy. I thought I would never feel like this again, so thank you. I never want to say anything to push you away like I did with her."

"I don't want to be with Logan, grandma."

"Good, his father is a self-entitled twat so he probably is as well by association, and I would hate to become his family. But please, will you consider making a dent on his fortune? I so want to see that hair-implanted head of Mitchum's bursting."

Rory laughed. "I'm sorry, but I won't. I want to do things properly, away from the Huntzberger influence."

Her grandma stilled, considering. She finally sighed. "OK. I'll respect your decision."

"Let's go home, grandma. You can stay in my room and I'll sleep on the couch."

Her grandmother smiled and kissed her cheek. "Rory, there's no way I'm spending another day listening to your mother babbling. I'm actually quite looking forward to a quiet night. But thank you." Rory returned the kiss and got up. "Rory? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Honestly?" Her grandma nodded. "I was afraid you would throw a tantrum at Mitchum before Logan signed the contract."

Emily smiled. "That really does sound like something I would do. I'll see you both for breakfast tomorrow before heading back."

Rory went out of the inn confused with the news and with how well her grandmother had taken everything. She didn't know if it was the therapy, his grandad's death or her pregnancy reminding her how she lost Lorelai once, but whatever had prompted that change in Emily Gilmore, she was grateful for it. And her mom seemed OK with her loving Jess... Perhaps she would be able to focus on making things right from then on without having to worry about what everyone else thought about her decisions. She grabbed her phone to ring Jess before going home.

"Hey."

"Hi. So… I talked to my grandma already, everything's OK, so you don't need to worry, but if you can get out for a while I'd like to tell you the details in person." She didn't want to discuss the most worrying part over the phone.

"Thanks for ringing, and I'm glad everything's good, but I don't think I can get out right now… I'm, huh, getting a makeover and watching Frozen."

"Ask me for anything in the world and I'll give it to you if you send pictures – the Golden Fleece, a unicorn's horn, whatever. Gosh, I so wish I was there."

Jess laughed. "I'm so glad you are not. It's getting very gender puzzling, I'm extremely disturbed. And high on nail polish."

"You are the best. I l…" She stopped right before blurting it out. "…See you tomorrow?"

Jess was quiet for a few seconds. "Sure, Ror. I'll call you after breakfast, I'm making Doula my infamous pancakes."

"Stop this, honestly – it's cruel. Could the Golden Fleece buy me at least some of those pancakes?"

"Sleep well, Ror. I'll… miss you."

"Me too, Jess. A lot."