Two
Friday Night Dinner
"Well, this is it, " Lorelai said to Rory and Luke, who were standing on both sides of her. Luke looked confused. "This is what? We do this every Friday, and you've been doing it for the past eight years. What makes this time any different?" he questioned.
"We're telling my mother about the baby tonight, Luke!" Lorelai scolded. "I told you that before we left the house!"
"Right," Luke suddenly remembered. He was at first shocked by the cold demeanor of his wife, but then remembered that her doctor had said that the pregnancy hormones might leave her moods a little unbalanced for a while.
Lorelai knocked on the door and waited, and then one of her mother's many maids answered the door. "Hello, welcome. What'll be your business here today?"
"It's Lorelai, her daughter. Please tell her I'm here with her granddaughter and son-in-law for our usual dinner," Lorelai explained.
"Ah yes," the maid remarked. "She's expecting you, I'll tell her you've arrived," she said, opening the door. Lorelai thanked her, and the group entered. Emily was upstairs, but started walking down when she saw her family come in. "Hello everyone," she greeted. "You can go to the dining room, plates are being set out. I'll be there in a minute,"
The family did as they were told. Upon entering into the dining room, they noted the always-fancy china dish sets being placed out. For as long as Lorelai grew up in this house of opulence (which was for 16 years, before she moved to Stars Hollow with a then three month old Rory), she was always shocked at the pure glamour of everything. She never felt that she belonged in the high society world her parents created for her family, and even now, at forty years old, married, pregnant with her second child, and no longer being forced to fit into that group, she still didn't feel right being around such high class staff and furniture. It just wasn't her culture.
Everyone sat down and began being served their dinner of steak with a salad and vegetables. It was quiet for a minute as everyone started eating, and then Emily spoke.
"I'm so glad you all could be here with me tonight. I needed some company desperately It's been so lonely and quiet without Richard around- there's no calls to discuss business at all hours, nobody to kiss me goodnight at night, nobody to order the maids around. I live in such a giant, fabulous home, and it feels so empty without him," she began getting choked up.
"Aw, Mom. I know it's hard, but when someone we love is in pain, sometimes the most compassionate thing we can do for them is set them free," Lorelai touched Emily's hand sympathetically (this was the main way she felt comfortable showing affection to her mother, and her mother to her).
"You're right," Emily was now dabbing her eyes with a tissue that a maid had offered her. "I just wish I could kiss him goodbye once more, or to a more extreme extent, that I could pass on before him as he once promised."
Rory turned to her grandmother and hugged her. She knew that this would be a hard adjustment for all of the people in her family, but also knew that the Gilmore women came from a long line of strong people, and they all could get through it together.
When the dinner was finished, everyone started helping out in preparing the various necessities and decorations for the funeral in the morning. As they worked, those in attendance Ed shared stories of Richard. Emily recounted the happy day that was their wedding. Lorelai shared a Christmas morning story that she held particularly close of building a snowman with her dad on the first Christmas snow in years. Rory offered the story of when she was fifteen and went golfing with her grandpa, unexpectedly loving the experience, the classiness which she was not used to, and the people she met. Telling all of these stories was a nice happy distraction from all the heartache.
Later on in the night, Emily was putting together a photo collage of pictures of her and Richard when they were young and first married, when Lorelai walked over. "Can you come with me for a minute, Mom? I have something to tell you. It's really important,"
"What is it, Lorelai?" Emily questioned, setting down the photo album that she was taking pictures out of. She followed her daughter up the stairs and into the hallway, the only place that wasn't bustling with maids making preparations for the service or cleaning up from the dinner.
"Well, Luke and I, you know we love each other like crazy, and we have for a long time. We're just about to celebrate our fifth anniversary on the third of December, and we figured, since I'm forty and he's forty-five, with us not getting any younger, if we wanted a child, now was the time to do it. We started trying in September, after Rory went back to London from her summer break here, and a few weeks ago, I started not feeling well," Lorelai recounted.
Emily gasped. "Are you saying what I think you're saying, Lorelai Victoria?
'Yes," Lorelai nodded. "Luke and I are having a baby,"
"Lorelai, do you know what you're getting yourself into? You're forty. Being pregnant at this age could be detrimental to your health,"
Lorelai sighed. She got the reaction she was expecting. "Yes, mom, what you say is true, but we really wanted this."
Emily sighed back. "Whatever you feel is best, I guess. I wish you the best and I'm excited to meet my new grandchild."
"Thanks, Mom. He or she is due in early June,"
Lorelai saw her mother back to the dining area, sure the maids needed bossing around, and then went up to her old bedroom. When she entered, memories filled her mind. She remembered hours of playing with her dolls and dollhouse here, tea parties with her friends from the private schools, and the freedom she felt walking out of this room for the last time to catch the bus to Stars Hollow to start her new life.
As Lorelai lay in her childhood bed, she realized all she truly wanted was in her life, except for one thing. She had an amazing husband, a daughter she viewed as her best friend, and soon, a new baby to love. The only thing missing was feeling accepted by her mother.
Rory was helping out downstairs, but went up in search of her mother once she had noticed her absence. She walked into the bedroom, noting Lorelai was tearful.
"What's wrong, Mom?" she asked, climbing onto the bed next to her mother.
"I just want to be accepted by Grandma, I admit, I've made mistakes, but I've moved past them and she should, too,"
Rory smoothed her mother's hair comfortingly. "I know. Never mind her remarks right now, I'm sure it's just because she's struggling. She's a good person at heart, I know that somewhere deep down she loves you,"
Lorelai smiled tiredly. "Once again, babe, you're the smartest girl I know," she hugged her daughter.
Around ten that night, everything had been prepared for the funeral, and by ten-fifteen, the Gilmore-Danes family was back at home. Rory was now preparing to go to bed in her old and cozy bedroom, when Lorelai walked in. She stood in the doorway.
"Well, tomorrow's the day we'll be saying goodbye to Grandpa," Lorelai said blankly. "All night, I've been trying to come up with something to say about him at the service, but nothing's coming to me,"
"Just speak from your heart, that's what he would've wanted," Rory advised. She finished putting on her pajamas and lied down in the bed.
"That sounds like a great idea," Lorelai responded. She walked over to Rory's bed. "Good night, little girl," she said. "Love you so much," and quietly walked out of the room after shutting the light off.
"Love you too, mom," Rory said back loud enough that her mother could hear, and then drifted off, thankful to be home with her family, where she most loved to be.
