Chapter 4: Return of the Potting Shed
Everyone in Stars Hollow had pretty much figured out that Rory was back in Stars Hollow on a more permanent basis. And unlike the summer, Rory no longer felt the need to refute them. She still had her job at the Gazette, and was living with her... parents. It felt easier to refer to Lorelai and Luke collectively as that instead of the more awkward phrase 'my mother and stepfather.' That said, Rory longed for having her own home in which to nest and prepare for the baby, then raise it. But Taylor didn't pay her enough at the paper for her to even afford an apartment, let alone a house.
She had considered asking Luke if she could move into the loft above the Diner, but felt weird about broaching it. The place where her stepfather had once lived served as an office now, but it seemed to hardly be used. Luke either did most of his paperwork downstairs in the Diner after working hours, or around the kitchen table at home with Lorelai. Nevertheless, Rory did not want to risk upsetting her stepfather and taking over a place that had to hold a sense of nostalgia for him.
She thought back to her days living with her mom in the Potting Shed out back of the Independence Inn. But there were new owners there now, so even if Rory had proof of her once living there as a child, she had no idea if the new owners would lease it out or even see it as a suitable residence. So for now, she stayed in her childhood room off the kitchen at Number 37 Maple, despite the fact that even if it was not too small now, it would definitely be too small soon. Even before the baby was born.
Luckily, Luke and Lorelai had been watching Rory run around to her job at the paper by day, writing the book by night, and using any remaining time to search for both jobs and affordable housing. If only they could take at least one of those tasks off her mind.
That was when Luke got a crazy idea, and called up an old contractor buddy of his in Hartford...
Rory came home from the Gazette one winter's day feeling tired. She trudged in the front door of Number 37, and was trying to perk herself up to do what had become her favorite activity - writing her book - when her mother and stepfather suddenly jumped on her.
"Put on this blindfold, missy, and don't argue!" Lorelai chirped.
Rory frowned, confused, even as Luke tied the blindfold around her eyes himself. "Mom, Luke, what's going on?"
"A surprise!" Luke whispered in her ear.
"But it's not my birthday. Or Christmas!"
"Oh, come on - do you really think those are the only two days of the year when surprises are allowed?" Lorelai brushed aside.
Rory sensed her parents guiding her through the kitchen, to the back door leading to the back porch. Onto the back porch and into the backyard. "Keep your eyes closed!" Luke ordered as he removed the blindfold. Then: "Open them."
Rory opened her eyes and gasped.
It was the Potting Shed. The same one she had lived in for the first ten years of her life. But how was it here, and not at the Inn? "How did you...?"
"We bought it from the Independence, and your stepfather had a house-moving business he knows cart it here. It's yours. The inside is exactly the same as we left it; I was amazed the new people didn't touch it!" Lorelai explained honestly.
She all at once had the wind knocked out of her as her daughter threw herself at her in a hug. Rory broke down in tears on Lorelai's shoulder while Luke patted her back awkwardly. But this gesture from him did not get him out of a hug of his own, and Rory covering his cheek with kisses, same as she had her mom.
"I... I... Thank you! I love you both so much!" And she ran to her room to begin shuttling stuff out to the Shed.
Luke put his arm around his wife and watched with a smile. "Question: how is she going to get mail?"
"We label it 37 1/2 Maple Street," Lorelai answered seriously.
