A/N: Sorry I haven't updated this sooner. Truth told, I finished this last Tuesday, but just didn't got to posting it. I feel pretty bad about it, but okay. Here it finally is! The weather was awesome this weekend so I've been outside most of the time. Today I went on a trip with an oldtimer all afternoon, which was a lot of fun, except for the horrible wind. I had to shower because my face was totally black of all the sand. And now I'm eating and typing at the same time to update this, then I have to pack my stuff and leave again. And that all with 20 minutes left ;) But yeah, it's all worth it.
Thanks to those of you who read and reviewed the last chapter! And I really hope you like this one!
Chapter 20 The differences in lifeWhen Richard and Emily came home, Emily was still mad at Richard for not understanding her opinion on the Rory situation. She had given him silent treatment in the car, but knew they had a lot to talk about. "Do you want some tea?"
He nodded. "Yes please."
She walked into the kitchen, while Richard went into his office to check for messages. Emily filled the kettle with water and put it on the stove. She waited for the water to boil, when Sophia walked in. "Mrs. Gilmore. I can do that for you."
"That's okay Sophia. I can do it."
"I wouldn't mind."
"I know. But I can do it. Why don't you finish cleaning upstairs and leave after that."
"Oh no. You already sent me home early yesterday."
"I'm sure you have a lot to do at home. You can spend the afternoon with your daughter."
"My mother is looking after my daughter today. I really appreciate that you are willing to let me go home, but I can't afford to go home."
Emily suddenly realized why the maid wanted to stay. "You don't have to worry about the money Sophia. We're paying you just as much as we're paying you every week."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. I just need some time alone with my husband."
"I understand. I'll go upstairs now."
Emily nodded. "I'll see you again tomorrow then."
"Thank you Mrs. Gilmore."
Emily smiled. "You're welcome Sophia." She knew Richard was in his office and decided to leave him alone with his messages until Sophia left. After she heard the front door close, almost half an hour later, she boiled the water again and filled two cups with tea. She put them on a tray and walked into the living room. She put the tray on the table and then walked towards Richard's office. She knocked on the door twice, before she entered the room.
Richard looked up. "Hey."
"Hey. I have tea ready in the living room."
"I'm coming."
"Did you have any messages?"
"Only about the Japan account. But I'll deal with it later. I think I can send someone else to Japan and hopefully they'll be able to safe the account."
"I'm so sorry you can't go now."
"I talked to Floyd and he understands. Maybe we can come up with a temporary solution and then I'll go to Japan a few weeks from now, when things are back to normal."
Emily doubted if things would ever be back to normal, let alone a few weeks from now, but wisely remained silent. They both sat down in the living room and stared at each other in silence for a few minutes, while sipping their tea. Emily was the first one to speak. "I'm sorry about earlier at the hospital. I was out of line."
"No, I was. You were right. You're the one that has to tell Rory and you have to do it when you feel ready to do so."
Emily smiled slightly. "Thank you. Do you think Lorelai is still mad at me?"
"I think she understands. Why don't you call her later to apologize?"
"I will do that." They were silent again.
"Emily?" Richard asked after a few minutes.
"Yeah?"
"I'm fine with whatever you want. It's your body and you have to decide what you think is best."
She shook her head. "I don't know what's best anymore. Part of me wants to keep the breast if there is a full chance of recovery, but part of me wants it gone."
He looked her directly into the eyes. "Why do you want it gone?"
"Because… it feels like my body is letting me down. There is this thing in my body that doesn't belong there. I'm just scared."
He took her hand in his and squeezed it. "I'm scared too."
Tears filled Emily's eyes when she heard Richard say those words. He was a man that was scared of nothing and it hurt to see that he was truly scared at this moment. She could see it in his eyes.
Richard pulled Emily against him. "You can let it all out."
"But I don't want to cry. I don't want any of this."
"I know. I know you don't." He hold her tighter as she started crying. He whispered words of comfort in her ear as he hold her tight.
When Emily composed herself, she pulled away from Richard. She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and looked away. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I understand how you feel and you have to let it out. You have to promise me you won't hold it in."
She looked at him and saw sincerity in his eyes. "I promise."
He pulled her closer to him once again and kissed her on the top of her head. "Why don't we talk about this later. Why don't we think about what is the right thing to do?"
She shook her head. "No. I have to make a decision now."
"If that's what you want, that's what we're going to do."
"Thank you."
He sighed. "I've done a lot of research this morning, and a lot of women have breast retaining surgery with success. But you shouldn't keep your breast for me. You're beautiful to me no matter what."
Her eyes filled with tears once again at the honesty of his words. "I'm not beautiful. My body is completely scared and it will be only worse."
He shook his head. "Don't ever talk about yourself like that. I married the most beautiful woman I've ever seen many years ago, and every time I look at you, I'm still astonished by your beauty. You've only become more beautiful over the years, and there is nothing that can change that."
She had to swallow hard to keep herself from crying again. "That's the most beautiful thing you've ever said to me."
"I meant every word." He smiled and she smiled back. "This is your decision Emily. You have to do what you think is right."
She nodded. "When we were in the hospital this morning, I decided that I want to keep my breast, unless you would feel better if I have it removed."
"I'm okay with whatever you choose."
"I think I want to keep my breast. If the doctor says they can remove the cancer without removing my breast…"
"Then that's what we're going to do."
"Okay." He kissed her on the top of her hand and they stayed in each others arms for a long time.
-xxxxxx-
Rory woke up in Warren's arms the following morning. She smiled, as she opened her eyes slowly. She had a lot planned for the day, and knew he had an eight-thirty lecture. She lifted her head a little so she could look at the alarm. It was already nine. She sat up straight, pulling Warren with her. "Wake up."
He slowly opened his eyes. "Huh?"
"It's nine o clock. Your class started at eight-thirty."
"No use in getting up then." He lay back down and pulled a pillow on top of his head.
Rory pulled the pillow away. "Warren."
"What?"
"We have to get up."
"It was really late last night, and I already missed my class anyway. They won't let me in if I'm 45 minutes late. My next class isn't until 10.30 so we have more than enough time."
"But…"
He sat up and kissed her. "Will you just shut up and get back to sleep."
"No. Maybe you can afford it to miss classes and to sleep in, but I have a lot of work to do today."
"Come on. Five more minutes." He lay back down and pulled Rory down with him.
"Warren please."
"Rory please." He used the same tone she did, just to tease her.
"Come on. I have so much stuff to do before graduation."
"Graduation is not until June."
"And it's almost May. I'm the one seriously thinking about a future here. You don't even know where you're going to be next year." She regretted the words right after they came out of her mouth. "I know you're seriously thinking about it. I'm sorry."
"I am seriously thinking about it." He got out of bed and walked towards Rory's desk where he picked up his backpack.
"What are you doing?"
"Showing you how much I thought about our future."
Rory raised her eyebrows. "What do you have in there? A permanent green card?"
He smiled. "Something like that." He took something out of his backpack, making sure Rory didn't see it. Then he climbed back in bed with Rory, holding his hands behind his back.
"What do you have there." She tried to grab his arms.
He smiled as he sat down on his knees. "From the first moment we started dating, I've thought about our future. I knew you had to go back to America and for me this was the perfect opportunity to come with you. I know that the year is almost over and, and that technically I have to go back to England, but I don't want to. I want to finish my school here, at Yale."
Rory smiled. "Really?" She worried about this a lot, and even though they never really talked about it, she knew he was too.
"Absolutely. There's no place in the world I would rather be. I love you Rory Gilmore."
"I love you too." She placed a soft kiss on his lips.
"Then marry me." He showed her the ring he was holding behind his back.
Rory's eyes filled with tears. "What?"
"Rory Gilmore. I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"
"Yes."
He slipped the ring on her finger and then kissed her like he never kissed her before.
They had to pull away after a few minutes, when there was a knock on the door. "Just a second." Warren kissed her again. "We'll continue this later. We have to see who's at the door." There was another knock. "Yeah yeah, I'm coming. Be patient a little" Rory got out of bed and slipped into her robe when Warren lay back down in bed, pulling the sheets up to his chin. Rory opened the door and was surprised to see her grandmother standing on the other side. "Grandma."
"Why aren't you dressed yet?" Emily was surprised that Rory was still in her robe.
"We overslept. And then Warren distracted me a little. Look." She showed Emily her hand. "Warren asked me to marry him and I said yes. He's going to stay in America with me and we're getting married." Rory squealed.
"Congratulations Rory." Emily pulled her granddaughter into a hug.
"Just promise me that you won't tell mom okay? I really want to tell her myself."
"I promise."
"Well, I'm being completely impolite here. Please come in."
Emily followed Rory into the living room of the small apartment, when Warren just came out of the bedroom. "I heard congratulations are in order."
Warren looked at Emily shy. "I hope that you're okay with me marrying your granddaughter. I promise that I'll do everything possible to take care of her."
"I know you will. Now, why don't you leave me and Rory alone to talk?"
"Of course. I have to go to the library to check on a few things before my class starts anyway." He walked back into the bedroom for his backpack, then put his coat on and kissed Rory goodbye. "I'll see you later."
"Bye." Rory kissed him once more. When Warren closed the door behind him, Rory turned to her grandmother. "What are you doing here this early? I'm sure you didn't came just to see how I'm doing."
Emily swallowed as she realized she had to break her granddaughter's heart and was about to ruin one of the best days of her life. "It was nothing. I can come back later."
Rory looked at her grandmother. "There's something. I can see it. Why don't we sit down and I'll make some coffee, and then you tell me what it is."
"It can wait. I don't want to ruin your perfect day."
"What do you mean, ruining my day? You're scaring me grandma."
"You're to intuitive for your own good." Emily sat down on the couch and motioned for Rory to sit down next to her.
"What is it?"
"I don't know how to say this." She shook her head. "I had mammography pictures taken two days ago. They found something…"
Tears filled Rory's eyes as she sensed what was coming next. She took her grandmother's hand in hers and squeezed it lightly to let her know that she was ready.
"I have breast cancer Rory. But they caught it early and I can have breast retaining surgery in combination with radiotherapy."
Rory swallowed as tears filled her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"There was a lot I had to discuss with your grandfather first. Your mother offered to tell you, but I told her I wanted to tell you myself. Don't be mad at her, okay?"
Rory nodded through her tears. "When is the operation?"
"Thursday next week."
"That's quick."
"I was lucky that there was an opening in the schedule. It's going to be okay, I promise."
Rory nodded again. "Okay." She had so many questions but had trouble getting the words out. The big lump that formed in her throat made it hard for her to talk.
Emily pulled Rory against her. "I'm so sorry I ruined your day."
Rory shook her head. "No. You didn't. It's okay."
"No it's not."
Rory tried to control herself and when she finally did she pulled away from her grandmother and looked in her eyes. "You didn't ruin my day. I promise. You already waited too long to tell me. I just… why did you went to the doctor to have the x-rays taken? I mean, did you feel something?"
"No. But my mother died of breast cancer when she was only a little younger than I am now, and your mother thought it was a good idea that I had myself checked out."
"So if it wasn't for her…?
Emily nodded. She wasn't planning on telling the complete truth. If Lorelai wanted to tell Rory about the cyst they found in her breast, that was her decision.
Rory didn't know what to say anymore. All she wanted to do was talk to her mother. And she wanted to talk to Warren too. But she didn't want to send her grandmother away after what she had just told her. "Do you still want that coffee?"
"No. I have to get back to your grandfather."
"Are you sure? I make pretty good coffee. I mean, I learned from the best."
Emily smiled. "Your mother makes the most horrible coffee there is. It's much too strong."
Rory smiled too. "I guess it's a good think Luke doesn't allows her to give Lucan any coffee, or to drink it now that she's pregnant with the twins, otherwise they'd be just as bad as me. He tried saving me once he met me and my mom, but it was already too late."
"It's a good think he's in your mother's life now then." Emily smiled. "Will you come to dinner on Friday?"
"Absolutely. Warren and I will be there at 7. You know, you can tell grandpa if you want."
"Are you sure you don't want to tell him yourself?"
"I'm just a little afraid as to how he's going to react." Rory admitted.
"Don't be. He really likes Warren and he'd be very proud if you tell him yourself.
Rory nodded. "Then I will."
"Go to your mother okay, and tell her that I'm sorry."
"About what?"
"We had a small fight yesterday about who was going to tell you."
"Just call her. I'm sure she understands. But I'll tell her too, just in case."
"Good. Then I'll see you on Friday?"
"You'll see me on Friday." Rory hugged her grandmother. "I love you grandma."
"I love you too Rory."
-xxxxxx-
Warren was still in the library when he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. He left the books on the table and walked outside to answer the phone. He smiled when he saw Rory's name on the display. "Hello, my beautiful fiancée."
"Hey. Are you still in the library?"
"Just outside. I thought they wouldn't be too pleased with me answering my cell phone inside."
"I guess not."
"What did your grandmother want?"
Rory sighed. "I'd rather tell you in person. I want to drive to Stars Hallow to see my mom. Do you think we can meet each other for dinner?"
"Sure." He sensed something in her voice. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be after the way we woke up this morning."
He smiled. "Call me when you're on your way back here okay? Then I'll make sure dinner is ready when you come home. Are you in the mood for something yet?"
"You pick. I choose last night."
"Okay. Then I'll see you later."
-xxxxxx-
When Rory was just outside Stars Hallow, she called her mother, not knowing if her mother would be at work or at the diner.
"Hey sweetie."
"Hey. Where are you?"
"The inn. Where are you?"
"On my way to see you. I'm just outside Stars Hallow. I'll be there in about 5 minutes."
"Did grandma come to see you?"
"Yeah she did. She asked me to tell you that she's sorry."
"I'll call her later to apologize. Why don't we meet in the diner and talk over lunch?"
"Sounds good. So I'll see you in a few minutes?"
"Yeah you will."
Lorelai hung up her phone and dialed her mother's number after that.
"Emily Gilmore."
"Mom it's me. I wanted to say that I'm sorry about yesterday."
"I'm sorry too."
"You don't have to be. You were right. You were the one that had to tell Rory. Did she took it okay?"
"Yeah she did. Did you talk to her yet?"
"She's on her way to see me now. I'm meeting her at the diner in a few minutes. Have you talked to dad yet?"
"Yes I did. We've talked about what is best and I decided to keep my breast."
"That's good mom. I think that's the right decision."
Emily was silent for a few seconds, then said "Thank you Lorelai."
"For what?"
"For everything. If it wasn't for you…"
"Don't say that okay."
"Okay. Now go to Rory. She needs."
"I will. I'll call you later, or maybe I'll stop by with Lucan in the afternoon. I mean, if that's okay with you."
"I would love that."
"Then you'll see me later."
Lorelai hung up and stood up, putting on her jacket in one quick motion. When she entered the lobby, Michel looked up immediately. "Don't tell me you're already leaving."
"I'm meeting my daughter for lunch and then I'm going to Hartford to see my mother. I'll be back tomorrow."
"I see. And we'll do all the work around here. No problem."
"Glad to hear that." Lorelai ignored Michel's sarcasm and left the inn without saying goodbye to Sookie. When she got in her jeep, she dialed the number of the kitchen instead.
"This is Sookie."
"Hey Sook, it's me. I'm on my way to see Rory at Luke's and go to my mom after that. Michel said he's okay on his own, but Claire is there too."
"Sure. Take all the time you need okay? You don't have to come in tomorrow if you don't want to."
"I appreciate the offer, but I will come in. I'll see you tomorrow okay?'
"Okay."
-xxxxxx-
Luke looked up when the bell rang and smiled when he saw his stepdaughter walk in. He noticed the expression on her face like the one he'd seen on Lorelai's for the past two days. He walked around the counter and took her in his arms. "Hey." He placed a kiss on top of her head. He tried to pull away, but she kept her arms around his waist. "You're mom is at the inn."
"She's coming here soon." Her voice was muffled because she was talking into his chest.
"Why don't you go upstairs and wait for your mom?"
"I want to stay here."
He took her hands from behind his waist and pulled away from her, feeling a little uncomfortable talking to her while she was holding him so tight. "This isn't the best place for the two of you to talk. Lunch rush will start soon and the place will be crowded. You can talk quietly upstairs."
She shook her head lightly.
"I'll make you burgers and chili fries."
Rory smiled. "Throw in a large cup of coffee for me and you got yourself a deal."
He nodded. "Okay."
Rory sat down at the counter when Luke walked behind it and filled a large cup with coffee, placing it in front of Rory, then he turned around to turn in the lunch order. When he focused his attention back on Rory, she looked him in the eye. "I don't understand why they waited two days to tell me."
"Your grandmother needed some time to process it all. Your mother wanted to tell you, but she respected your grandmother's wishes for once."
"I just… I could have been there for her."
He shook his head. "There was nothing you could have done. Your mother went to the doctor's appointments with your grandma, but after that she wanted to be alone with your grandfather and your mom came home."
"I could have been there for mom."
He took Rory's hand in his, giving it a squeeze. "Rory, I know that this is hard. But they made a choice and you have to respect that. Your mom's doing okay."
"And she has you."
"Of course she does."
"But I'm her daughter. I have to be there for her too. They don't have to protect me. They don't…"
"They know that. They told you as soon as they could. Your grandmother just needed a little time. But you have more than enough time to be there for her now. And now your grandmother is asking for that so please, don't be mad but just do as they want."
Rory nodded. "I will. Thanks Luke."
He nodded. Rory picked up her cup and sipped her coffee. Luke stared at Lorelai and noticed the ring on her hand. "What is that?"
She put the cup on the counter. "What's what?"
"That ring on your finger."
Rory played with her ring, as a smile appeared on her face. But before she had a change to answer Luke's question, Lorelai walked in.
Lorelai had been standing outside the diner for a while, observing Luke and Rory through the window. She noticed how Rory had played with her finger after Luke asked her something. She couldn't hear what was said, but knew from what she saw, that it was time to get in. "What is that?"
"What is what?"
"Show me your hand."
Rory showed her left hand to her mom. "I don't see anything special, besides the nail I broke yesterday."
"No, your right hand."
Rory started smiling. "You mean this?" She pointed her hand towards her mom, who started squealing.
"When did this happen?"
"This morning. We overslept and while I wanted to get out of bed, Warren wanted to stay in bed because he already missed his first class anyway. I started rambling about the future and he got out of bed, got something out of his backpack and back in bed he just proposed to me, saying he wants to stay in America and spends the rest of his life with me."
Lorelai pulled her daughter in a hug. "That's great sweetie. I'm so happy for you."
Luke walked around the counter and when Lorelai let her daughter go, he pulled her into a hug as well. "Congratulations Rory."
"Thanks."
Both women sat down at the counter so they could talk, when Luke went back to his usual spot behind it.
After talking about the proposal for a few minutes, Rory's tone suddenly changed. "Mom?"
"Yeah sweetie?"
"I feel so bad that I'm happy about this. It's the first thing I told grandma when she showed up at my apartment this morning, and I just…"
"It is something to be happy about sweetie. Even when bad things happen, it's good to have good things happen as well. It's because of the good things, we can manage to get past the bad things."
"Maybe." Rory wasn't convinced just yet.
"Two days ago when I came back from the hospital I was really sad about what happen. Grandma had the pictures taken and they saw something. They did an ultrasound and took a biopsy, and we had to wait until the following day for the test results. I was so upset because I was afraid that she had it, and part of me knew she did, but part of me also refused to accept that. But after I cried for a while, I took Lucan in my arms and we started playing. I put him on the floor so he could walk around, and when Luke kneeled down in front of him, I let go of his hands. He took his first steps. He walked. And I forgot about all the bad things. That moment grounded me and brought me back to reality. And Warren staying and the two of you getting married, it's just like that."
"How?"
"Because it reminds all of us that our live will go. That we have something to look forward to. That we have a reason to get past this."
"But grandma…"
"Let's be honest with you. It won't be easy. The surgery will be hard and the time after that will be even harder. Radiotherapy will exhaust your grandma and take a big part in her life. But I know she's happy for you and that she's really proud at you. And maybe it's weird these things happen at the same time, but that's how close happiness and sadness are."
Rory smiled. "You're being philosophical."
"Yeah well, I got that from you." Lorelai smiled now too. "But seriously, it will be okay. We have to believe in that. We're lucky they caught it early and they're going to do everything possible to make your grandmother better."
Rory nodded. "That's good."
"And we have to be there for her, but grandma wants us to go on with our own lives too. Like you have to focus on graduating and Warren and I have the inn and the house and the twins. And of course Luke and Lucan."
"I'm just not sure how to do all that."
"I believe it will work out by itself. Just do what you feel is right and grandma will tell us when she needs us or when she needs to be alone and we'll have to listen to that."
"That's going to be hard for you."
Lorelai smiled. "Yes it will be, but we've done this last year and we can do it again this year."
Rory nodded. "We're in this together, right?"
"Right."
Luke watched his two girls from a distance and smiled, proud at how they handled the situation. He knew the next few months wouldn't be easy on them, but he also knew that they would all get through it, as a family.
T.B.C.