Title: Crazy Little Thing Called Love
PDLD
Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!
Rating: PG (or "K+" as they're calling it now… I personally like the old rating system better but Times Are A' Changin' I guess…)
A/N:
So… this is very, very, very long overdue… I feel HORRIBLE to have kept you all waiting and all I can say is that I'm sincerely sorry… please don't hate me… I was just a bad combination of way too much to do and absolutely NO INSPIRATION… but there is one consolation (a peace offering if you will) – This is the longest chapter to date… Really, I could have split it up and given you a nasty cliffhanger to contend with but I thought you probably hate me enough as it is lol…
Oh, also, the wording is a little screwy… not sure what exactly happened (I blame my English teacher for teaching me the "proper" way of writing…) but anyway if it's hard to follow – I'm sorry… I'll try to make the next chapter better…
Now, without further ado, here is the long awaited 12th chapter…
CHAPTER 12: The Meddling Mothers
Rory sat in a daze as random bits of conversation fluttered through her mind. It seemed odd that with all this mindless chatter it could still be utterly silent in her head.
And utterly silent it was… she hadn't said a word in the last half hour. Daniel and Richard had long ago retreated into Richard's office to discuss a small business matter (much to the cringe of their wives). However, despite this setback, Emily and Sylvia still carried on… and it seemed that there was no limit to the amount of conversation they could cram into one meal. The rest of the table chose to stay quiet, getting lost in their own thoughts, much like Rory at that very moment.
As the minutes ticked by Rory began to look around at the people surrounding her. She saw Finn to her right quietly chewing on his food and trying painstakingly hard not to make a sound so as not to attract attention to himself… this thought amused Rory to no end, because this was probably the ONLY moment in Finn's life when he WASN'T trying to get attention. Rory would have laughed outright at this had it been another place and another time…
"What?" Rory asked, suddenly realizing she had been addressed.
"Your career…" Sylvia reiterated. "Emily says you work at the Times… that must be very exciting."
"Oh… I don't know if I'd use the word exciting…" Rory replied slightly frazzled by the sudden new direction of conversation. She could feel all eyes turn toward her, as if waiting for her to say something enlightening about her so called "fabulous" career.
"Oh come on honey, your job's always interesting…" It was Lorelai who spoke this time. Immediately Rory felt a rush of relief flow over her… however that feeling of relief left as quickly as it came when Rory turned to see that mischievous "I'm-board-and-I-need-entertainment-even-if-I-have-to-make-it-myself" look in her mother's eye. "I mean weren't you telling me just moments ago how YOU were the only one who caught that potentially COLOSSAL mistake just before the article was about to go to print?"
Unfortunately for Rory, neither Sylvia nor Emily caught the amusement in Lorelai's voice as she said this.
"You caught the mistake yourself? They must have some sort of reward for that?" Sylvia inquired.
"Oh yes, they do," Lorelai replied. "They gave her a plaque and made her employee of the week!"
"Your humor isn't appreciated here, Lorelai," Emily told her daughter sternly. "We're trying to have a serious conversation here." Then turning back to her granddaughter Emily continued. "What was this mistake that only YOU were able to notice?"
"Well… you see…" Rory replied hesitantly as she threw daggers at Lorelai with a deadly glare. "There was this woman… Mrs. Zither… who supposedly died last Sunday… anyway her obituary was all ready to run, and the paper was about to go to print when I noticed that there was another story we had run last Monday in the Personal Interest section about a woman also named 'Mrs. Zither' who had miraculously awoke from her coma mere moments before her family was about to pull her life support… anyway I thought it was weird… its not like 'Zither' is a popular last name… so we checked it out and found that both stories were actually about the same woman…who is currently recovering in the hospital from her 3 year coma… and the obituary was pulled last minute."
Emily and Sylvia sat in stunned silence. As Rory glanced to her left she saw Lorelai almost bubbling over with amusement as she tried to hold in her laughter. Looking to her right, Rory noticed that Finn too was having a difficult time containing his own laughter.
"Well…" Sylvia said in an unsure voice. "That was certainly… 'interesting'…"
"Well, most weeks at the office aren't this eventful," Rory piped in, trying to figure out a way to rectify the conversation.
"No…" Sylvia said. "These types of …occurrences… are few and far between."
"Well…" Emily said, interrupting the awkward silence that followed. "Who's ready for coffee and desert?"
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Rory glanced at her watch as she made her way into the living room with a very tense Finn at her side… His new quiet persona was starting to worry Rory. It was now 9:15, which meant, at most, only 45 more minutes in the lions den.
"You know Rory… I feel we really haven't had a chance to chat all evening…" Sylvia said as she walked into the parlor (obviously over the awkwardness of only moments ago.)
"To chat?" Rory echoed, not really knowing how to respond.
"Yes… chat" She replied with a cheery smile… so cheery it was almost scary.
"Well…" Rory said, still not quite sure how to respond…She looked around to see that her mother was engaged in a conversation with Emily, while Finn was fixing himself yet another drink…
Deciding that she would have to handle this one on her own Rory decided to proceed with caution… "What would you like to… ummm… chat about?"
"Oh, don't get that worried look in your eye dear… were all friends here…" Sylvia said in that same cheery voice – but, although this comment was meant to comfort Rory it only served to unhinge her even more. "What would you like to do with your life? I mean you're a talented young writer, with a bright future ahead of you… but you must still have things you wish to with your life…"
"Well… I like my job at the Times… It's challenging, and in general I like the work…and I do enjoy living in New York."
"So you're happy with your life at the moment… there's nothing more you'd want or need…"
"Well I wouldn't say that Mrs. Morgan. –"
"Please… call me Sylvia…"
"Sylvia…" Rory repeated with discomfort… "Like I said, I enjoy my life at the moment… but that's not to say I still don't have aspirations…"
"And these 'aspirations'… would they include… say… marriage?… family?"
And there it was… the "M" word… Rory felt her heart plummet at the mere mention of it… It would be a blatant lie to say she had not thought of it before… being married to Finn… but it had only been thoughts, musings… hearing the word spoken aloud… that was a whole other ballpark
"Well…" Rory said trying to stall for time.
"Let's just say… hypothetically… if you were to marry…"
"To be honest… I haven't really given the topic proper thought…"
"Well these are things you MUST think of darling… you won't be young and in love forever… and if you don't start planning now it will simply be a nightmare later on…"
"But—"
"No excuses my dear… Now as far as locations go Martha's Vineyard is absolutely perfect if you're planning on a spring wedding… Emily," Sylvia said, calling Emily over to join in the conversation… "Tell your granddaughter that there simply isn't a better choice for a spring wedding than Martha's Vineyard…"
"Sylvia's right, Rory, the Vineyard is absolutely to die for…have you had any thought to what flowers you would like, dear? Well it's no matter…" Emily continued, not even bothering to stop for her granddaughter's input. "Really, if we are going to plan this properly, the color scheme should be established first, and THEN the flowers…"
Rory sat in utter shock as her grandmother and Sylvia began to talk a mile a minute, discussing everything from florists to caterers… She could not believe that this was happening; only moments ago she had been all but congratulating herself that she had made it into the home stretch of the evening… that it would be all down hill from that point onward… oh how wrong she had been.
"You can't be doing this…" Rory said in a quiet voice still trying to calculate when exactly the evening had become some horrific scene from the Wedding Planner, "I cannot believe that you are actually doing this…" Rory said slightly louder
"Doing what, sweetheart?" Emily replied finally realizing her granddaughter had spoken.
"Doing… DOING THIS!" Rory replied while making violent gestures with her hands so as to further express her outrage for the entire situation… "You can't just… you can't just… take control… of our lives simply because we aren't what you want us to be… what you expect our relationship to be by this point… that is for US to decide!"
"Darling…" Sylvia said jumping into the argument… "I'm not sure your grandmother, or I for that matter, understands what you are… insinuating…"
"Like hell you don't" Lorelai piped in under her breath. She had been watching then entire conversation unfold over the last few moments and even she could not believe the nerve that these two women of supposed "high society" possessed.
"Lorelai!" Emily gasped upon hearing her daughter's comment.
"What mom?" Lorelai asked incredulously… "Did you honestly expect me to just go along with this… to just go along as you two manipulate Rory and Finn's relationship into something that suits YOUR taste… Rory was right! This is not for you to decide! When Rory and Finn are ready they will go ahead and make all these plans… but you can't force them—"
"Who's forcing? We are simply making suggestions—"
"Enough!" Rory yelled, getting the attention of both her mother and grandmother. "The bottom line is, Grandma, that you cannot do this… you can not control THIS… THIS being MY LIFE! I know you mean well… that in some odd way you fee that you are doing what you think is best for me—"
"That is EXACTLY what I AM doing, Rory… I am TRYING to do what is BEST for you…"
"That is the same thing I am trying to do for Finn," Sylvia piped in. "You think that you can just go on living your life like this forever?" She said turning to her son, who prior to this point in the argument had been all but ignored. "Acting is a wonderful career, darling, but you need some stability in your life… Rory can provide that stability…"
"These decisions are for THEM to decide!" Lorelai countered. "Both of you cannot just take over and begin dictating ever aspect of their relationship… these things take time…"
"Oh and you're an EXPERT on TIME and RELATIONSHIPS now aren't you Lorelai?" Emily shot back in a condescending tone. "And besides, they've had TIME! They've had MONTHS! The truth of the matter is that neither I nor your Father are getting any younger…"
"Oh…"Lorelai said as realization donned on her… "So, yet again, this is all about YOU, mother!"
"THAT'S IT!"
The room went silent at the sudden outburst and all of the women turned in surprise to see that it had been Finn (who had not uttered a sound since the "discussion" had started) to speak (or rather yell).
"PLAN THE WHOLE DAMN THING MOTHER! PICK OUT THE CATERER AND THE LOCATION AND THE FLOWERS AND ALL THAT OTHER HOILY TOITY SHIT! TO BE HONEST I JUST DON'T GIVE A DAMN ANYMORE! JUST LEAVE ME AND RORY AND OUR RELATIONSHIP ALONE!"
"What!" Rory said in disbelief, as she mentally convinced herself that she must have heard her boyfriend wrong.
"Come one Rory… we're leaving…" And with that Finn grabbed Rory's hand and, in effect, dragged the too-stunned-for-words Gilmore out of the room… grabbing their coats off of a very stunned and frightened maid… and then out the door, slamming it shut behind him while Lorelai make a quick exit in the same fashion.
The two women left in the living room stood very quietly in stunned silence.
"Well…" Emily Gilmore said in a very quiet voice as the events of the last few minutes began to sink in… "Let's call the caterer…"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"What the HELL was that?" Rory asked as Finn pulled her towards the car.
"That was our daring escape, my love…"
"No," Lorelai replied as she caught up with the couple… "THAT was freakin' AWSOME!"
"NO it wasn't!" Rory yelled. "You know that at this very moment they are calling their wedding planners and decorators and florists and basically PLANNING the rest of our lives for us!"
"So…?"
" 'So?' SO! So they are AT THIS VERY MOMENT making plans for a life WE DON'T HAVE!"
"Actually they are making plans for a wedding…"
"Same thing! A wedding that you TOLD THEM TO PLAN!"
"True. I did tell them to plan the wedding… however, I never said ANYTHING about us showing up…"
"Ahhh… nicely done young grasshopper…" Lorelai said in a cheesy fake accent as she mockingly bowed to him.
"But… but…"
"Relax love… let the parents (or grandparents in your case) do what they will… they can plan the wedding of their dreams… and while they're doing that we can live OUR lives…"
"But eventually…"
"Yes eventually we will have to deal with the parental units… or in your case the grand-parental units… but take if from an old pro… giving them a little pet project will keep them out of our hair for a while…"
"Yes but—"
With that, Finn had had enough, he leaned forward and silenced his persistent girlfriend with a heart stopping kiss…
"You think you can just kiss me every time you want to shut me up?" Rory asked as she attempted to hold Finn off.
"Hey it worked didn't it?" He replied nonchalantly as he leaned in for another, even deeper, kiss.
"Ewww… cease and desist people" Lorelai cried out after a moment, while making wild hand gestures. "Incase you haven't notice I just ate a very large thanksgiving dinner and the site of you two sucking face is not exactly making that last piece of pumpkin pie feel too happy…"
"Is she drunk?" Finn asked, pulling away slightly.
"There's a very good possibility," Rory replied.
"Seriously though, Love… Don't worry about what the Gilmore's and Morgan's are currently plotting… whatever it is we'll be able to handle it… and if we can't there's always the option of fleeing the country…"
"Thanks Finn," Rory replied as she struggled to hold in laughter… "That makes me feel much better…"
"It's what I'm here for love…"
"That and because someone has to play the role of the sexy foreigner…" Lorelai piped in, (to which Rory only groaned) as the trio began to walk back to the car…
XXXXXXXXX
TBC…
A/N: Ok so that was it… This chapter was very hard to write (haha incase you couldn't already tell from the writing)… but I have a favor to ask regarding the next chapter… I'm not exactly sure where to go… I have ideas but I'm interested in seeing what you guys would like... so any ideas you might have PLEASE send them my way via Review, I'm not promising I'll end up using all of them, but every little bit helps… and even if you don't have any ideas please review… I could really use the encouragement ; )
Oh, before I go, I want to give out one humungous Thank You to Problem Child1, who just rocks in every way possible…