16.11.2006, 13:13
[Bild: herdream4.jpg]
credits to Patricia (und ich hab auch noch dran rumgedreht)
Okay, ich muss vorweg schicken, dass das nicht meine Story ist, allerdings darf ich sie hier posten, da die Autorin keine Deutsche ist. Ich werd die reviews übersetzen und ihr zukommen lassen (falls es welche gibt)
Chapter1: Back with news
Lorelai carried a sleeping Gigi, while Christopher was carrying their suitcases. They had just arrived back home from Paris, where they had visited Sherry, so that she could spend some time with her daughter. Lorelai had to admit that woman really had changed and she had tried very hard to get in contact with her daughter again.
So she and Chris had had a lot of time to themselves while Sherry was looking after Gigi and spending time with her.
They had had an amazing time, although the vacation didn’t go as planned. Thinking about everything that had happened during the past year, Lorelai didn’t expected to be married at that moment, especially not to Chris.
But it happened, and she was happy about it. With a smile she walked towards the car and waited for Chris to open the door, so she could place Gigi in the backseat. She buckled up the girl, while Christopher loaded their luggage into the trunk. She climbed in the passenger seat and watched how he sat down behind the steering wheel.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked her and gave her a flirtatious smile.
“Nothing.” She said in a girly voice and shrugged.
“What are you smiling about?” she asked him the when he was still staring at her and not starting the car.
“Nothing”, he smiled and gave her quick kiss.
“Gimme more!” she pouted and tried to pull him back in by his shirt.
“We have to go home” he told her and motioned to Gigi.
“But that’s mean and I don’t wanna go home without a kiss. Actually I will sit right here and pout the whole drive through and not say another word” she said and played being offended.
“Lore” he said and sighed.
“What? You are my husband, so gimme!” she claimed again.
“You are being annoying” Chris laughed and started the car. When the car started to roll Lorelai suddenly opened the door.
“Lore!” Chris yelled surprised.
“What? I told you we wouldn’t leave without you giving me another kiss” she laughed and hoped up and down on her seat, happy that her trick had worked and he had stopped the car again. He sighed again, gave her another short kiss, pulled back and started the car again.
“Gimme more!” she arrogated again and laughed.
“Oh Lore, come on, we will never get home like that!”
“I don’t wanna go home, I want another kiss!” she laughed again, knowing that she would win.
After the sixth time she had won, the last time threatening him she would jump out of the driving car she turned around to stare out of the window and stopped her babbling. She never thought she would be happy again, definitely not with Chris. After Sherry had gotten pregnant with Gigi, she had given up on the two of them. And when she and Luke had finally gotten together, well she didn’t expect that they would ever be apart. Well, she realized, things never turn out the way you expect anyway and then pushed back the thoughts about Luke. She didn’t want to think about him. He had pushed her away, he had let her walk away, he didn’t fight for her, she reminded herself and gave Chris another smile.
“You want to go to your place or mine?” she asked.
“Well, I would say yours, because we still have to move our stuff in there, but let’s go to Yale. Let’s go tell Rory first.” He said and she smiled at him and he smiled back.
“Yale it is.” She said and stared out of the window again. In the mirror she saw the sleeping Gigi and she was looking forward seeing Rory. This was like it was supposed to be: Father, mother, kids. Her dream had come true.
Chris was the one carrying Gigi now and they were standing in front of Rory’s new apartment. Lorelai had to admit that she was nervous. Everything that had happened, had happened so fast. It was as if the past few weeks had gone faster than light. It was now that she was standing in front of Rory’s apartment door, that she felt nervous. How would Rory feel about this? Would Rory be happy that her parents finally got married. It took them 22 years, so she would be happy right? She just had to be ready, because this was perfect.
Chris was completely oblivious to Lorelai’s nervousness and rang the doorbell, waiting impatiently for his daughter to open the door.
“What are you doing here?” Rory opened the door and was surprised to see her parents standing there. “Did you just come back from Paris?” she asked and they both pulled her into a hug. Rory noticed the giddy smile Lorelai wore and also Chris seemed very happy. Lorelai nodded when she gave her daughter free again.
“Can we come in?”
“Of course.” Rory stepped aside and let her parents in. She told them to sit down on the couch, when she walked into her small kitchen to make them some coffee. She waited until the coffee was finished before she joined her parents in the living room.
“So, how was Paris? Did you go to the Louvre and Montmartre? Did you see the Mona Lisa? How was Sacre Coeur? Did you like it?” Rory started, the giddy feeling from Lorelai infecting her as well.
“Nah, well, not everyone is such a nerd like you. We walked around bit and eat some great French desert. Oh, did you know that they put real chocolate into the Mousse au Chocolat over there? And it’s even fluffier than Sookies. I told Chris that I wanna take a bath in it, but he wouldn’t allow me.” Lorelai babbled and Chris took her hand to stop her, without success.
“And then the French Cheese? I mean it was good when we went backpacking through Europe, but add another fifty bucks per piece and you’ve got the experience of a lifetime! Paris is really so much better when you actually have some money to spend.” Lorelai giggled.
”So she spend all of your money on food?” Rory asked Chris.
“Nah she spend half of the money on food, the rest she spend for clothes, shoes and tips for the room-service, which she needed every five minutes, because they had to bring her coffee” Chris only laughed.
“So you had a good time?” Rory asked with a smile.
“God, ye it was so romantic. We had dinner every night in a fabulous restaurant from where you could see the Eiffel tower. They even had little Eiffel tower chocolates for desert” Lorelai said with a dreamy expression.
“I always thought the Swiss is known for it’s chocolate!” Rory said.
“That’s what I told you, see! That’s what I told you!” Lorelai pointed her index finger right into Chris face and bounced up and down on the couch. Rory gve her mother a strange look, but Chris only laughed, and Lorelai didn’t seem to notice.
“You seem very giddy” Rory said then.
“That’s because I am” Lorelai giggled.
“Wow, you really must have had an amazing time” Rory concluded and smiled. She was happy that her parents seemed to be happy.
“Actually there is something we need to tell you” Chris started and his smile got wider.
“What?” Rory asked suspiciously. Suddenly she didn’t like the smiles of her parents that much anymore.
“We got married” Loerlai blurted out and showed her the ring, she had hidden behind her back all the time. Rory was stunned. She felt like an anvil had just fallen on her head, but she smiled.
“That’s, umh… great” she finally pressed put and was tackled by her parents into a hug, the next second.
“See, I told you she would be thrilled.” Chris said to Lorelai.
“You are thrilled right?” he wanted reassurance from Rory then.
“Yeah, sure. I am thrilled, happy, ecstatic, all at the same time” Rory said, very unconvincingly, what seemed lost on her parents, though.
“Aw, that’s so sweet hon’” Lorelai gushed and pulled her into another hug.
“Rory where can I put Gigi down?” Chris asked then, because his arm was getting tired from the sleeping child.
“Uhm, put her into the bedroom. It’s right over there” Rory said, pointed into the direction of her bedroom, but her eyes never left her mother.
”I’ll fill her in bout the proposal in the meantime” Lorelai winked at Chris when he stood up and left the room.
“Actually, it was so romatic! We were at that restaurant we told you about and…” Lorelai started, but Rory interrupted her.
“Mom!”
“What? Should I start at the proposal directly? Right, okay, no set up. We were eating and suddenly...” again Rory interrupted her, more harshly this time.
“Mom, have you lost your mind?” she asked her and a bit of anger swung in her words, but it was rising steadily inside of her.
“Rory..” Lorelai looked at her daughter and had no clue what she was talking about.
“How could you marry dad? How could you? You didn’t plan this! You didn’t look for a wedding dres, you didn’t send out invitation. You had no guests and no bridesmaids. You didn’t even care that I wasn’t there, your own daughter! But how could you do this? Not a year ago you wereebgaged to Luke and you love him and you desperately wanted to marry him and now you just marry dad? Is this a joke? Then please tell me it is the first of April! You two can’t be serious. You’ve only been together for a few months and I honestly always thought this was just a fling for you. That ou were trying things out with dad as a distraction from Luke. And now you two are married? Mom….” Rory trailed off when her father came back. Again he was oblivious to the pained expression on Lorelai’s face, which she wore since Rory had said Luke’s name and he also stayed oblivious to Rory’s serious expression.
“Go, Gigi is out cold. The jetlag really got to her. I think she will be awake all night. You told her about the proposal?” he asked, placed a kiss on Lorelai’s cheek and sat down beside her.
“Yeah sure” she smiled and pulled his arm around her shoulder, wanting to show Rory how happy she felt.
-xxx That evening xxx-
April was staying over at Luke’s for another week, because her mother was still with her grabdmother. She enjoyed staying at her father’s and felt more comfortable around him every day. She liked helping him at the diner. If she was lucky, he allowed her to run the cash register. And when she did, he allowed her to keep the tips. They were closing up now and April helped him lifting the chairs on the tables.
“Hey Dad?”
“Yeah?” he asked and heaved another chair onto the table.
“Can I use the bathroom upstairs?”
“Of course, since when do you have to ask? We’re almost done here anyway. I’ll be right there with you.”
April nodded and climbed the stairs to Luke apartment.
Luke shook his head as he watched his daughter leave. A couple of years ago, he thought, he would never have wanted a kid. And now he couldn’t imagine his life without one. With a small smile forming on his lips he finished closing the diner. He checked if all the doors were locked and then climbed the stairs towards his apartment. He was surprised to find the whole place dark.
“April?” He switched on the lights and went to check her bed. She wasn’t there so he figured she was still in the bathroom.
“Do you want to watch a movie or something?”
He sat down on the couch and switched on the TV. He zapped for a few minutes, glancing at the bathroom door occasionally. Suddenly he got worried and walked towards the door. He knocked twice.
“April, are you okay?”
“Go away.” Came the harsh reply from inside
He shook his head, wondering what was wrong.
“April?”
“I said go away. Leave me alone.”
“Come on, you can talk to me.” He said, surprised what brought this on. Everything had been okay when she had gone upstairs, or?
“No.”
He thought for a while and felt pretty helpless. He had no idea what was going on with her.
“April, what is it?” he tried again
“Leave me alone.” Was the only reply he got.
He shook his head and walked away. He waited for 5 more minutes and when she still didn’t come out, he picked up the phone. He thought about calling Anna, but there was nothing she could do from there and she had enough trouble already with her mother. So he called the only other person he knew, who might know what to do.
-xxxxxx-
Lorelai was still shocked from her conversation with Rory earlier. She knew Chris knew nothing about it, and she wouldn’t tell him. He put Gigi into bed, and went upstairs to their bedroom afterwards. He told her to come upstairs, but she’d told him she wasn’t tired yet and wanted to stay downstairs to watch TV.
She couldn’t find anything good and was happy when the phone rang. She flew up and answered.
“Rory?”
“Sorry, no. It’s me, Luke.” Lorelai felt like she was punched in the gut. It was so good to hear his voice again and her breath caught in her throat and she couldn’t say anything for a moment.
“Oh hey. What’s up?” She was surprised how casually she got it out and desperately wanted to know why he was calling her, especially this late at night. Maybe he knew about her and Chris?
“Something’s wrong with April. She locked herself up in the bathroom and she won’t come out. She’s been in there for half an hour already and she won’t talk to me.” He told her with a hint of desperation in his voice.
She sighed in relief. Maybe he didn’t know after all.
“You asked her to come out?”
“No, I told her to stay in there. Of course, I told her to come out, but she told me to leave her alone.”
“Okay….” She stretched the word as she thought about things that could be wrong with April.
“Hey Luke?”
“Mmm..?” he grunted and she knew that he was still staring at the bathroom door.
“Do you know if April has started her period already?”
“What?” he nearl screamed into the phone and she held it a bit farther away from her ear.
“Does she already have her period, you know, as in menstruation, aunt flow, the red…” she started to ramble.
“She is way too young for that” he said and sounded so sure.
“Luke, she is nearly thirteen years old, I got mine with twelve. She’s at that age now. So, does she already..?” he cut her off, before she could finish her sentence.
“I don’t know. I don’t think so.” He said, clearly uncomfortable. Lorelai could picture him scraping his neck with one hand, his face beet red.
“Then maybe she did now? Rory locked herself in the bathroom for a full day until she would tell me what was wrong with her.”
“So it could be…” he said.
“Yeah. It could be. I assume you don’t have any sanitary products, like pads laying around?"
He rolled his eyes.
“Why would I?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you use them to dry your dishes, or something, who knows. You should get some” she quipped.
“Where? Everything is closed by now” Luke said, the desperation rising in his voice.
“Well, I could give you some, if you want, that is” she said, suddenly shy.
“Would you?”
“Of course.” she nodded.
“I’ll be right there.”
She ran upstairs and grabbed a pack of pads from the bathroom. She glanced at the bedroom door that was closed. She didn’t feel like explaining where she was going, so she just left without saying anything.
She drove her car towards the diner and Luke was waiting for her , the diner door unlocked.
“Thank God you’re here.” He exclaimed when he saw her.
“No problem.” She said, the shyness still there and followed him upstairs and knocked on the bathroom door.
“April, it’s Lorelai. Can you open the door for me?” she asked.
“Go away.” Came from the inside.
“Honey, I know what’s going on with you and I’m here to help. Just open the door okay?” Lorelai glanced at Luke, who was waiting impatiently and gave him a little smile.
After a few seconds they heard the door unlock and April opened the door a little bit.
“Are you sure you can help me?”
“Positive.” Lorelai glanced at Luke one more time before she entered the bathroom, closing the door behind her again.
“You got your dad pretty worried out there” shesaid and handed April the package.
“I don’t wanna talk about that with him.” April admitted.
“I can understand, but he was really worried.” Lorelai smiled at the girl who should have been her step-daughter by now. Her chest tightened.
“I just felt so weird talking about that with him.”
“Why don’t you see it from the scientific side? It’s a normal reaction of your body when your monthly cycle is over and a new one starts”
“True. According to the books it’s a pretty interesting topic. Did you know that a woman only looses a half cup of blood during one menstruation?” April was immediately in her element.
“No, not really. But I am happy to know that now” she smiled at April and stroked her over the hair.
“I better get going and leave you to your business” Lorelai said and pointed to the package. April nodded.
“You know how it works?” she asked the girl and opened the door to step out.
“Not yet, but the instructions on the back are very detailed” April smiled.
“Thanks Lorelai” she said then.
“You’re welcome” Lorelai replied and left the bathroom.
Luke waited outside impatiently.
“She got her first period. You’re daughter is a woman now” Lorelai told Luke with a small smile. She knew that this was a scary experience for all parents and she remembered how freaked out she had been when it had happened with Rory.
“But she is just a kid” Luke said and looked as helpless as he felt.
“Not anymore” Lorelai said. Luke only looked at her and for the first time since she had stepped into the diner she really looked at him. He looked good, even in the sweat-pants and T-shirt he wore, his sleeping clothes.
His hair was cut and his stubble there as always. He looked the same. Well, almost. Something about his eyes was different, but she couldn’t tell what exactly. That moment she wanted to go over, and hold him tight, let her hands glide over his cheek and share his worries about April. But he wouldn’t let her. He had pushed her away. He didn’t want her in April’s life. And she was married now, to Chris.
“I should go” she said quietly, after a long silent moment, where they had stared at each other.
“Thank you” he told her with honesty.
“No problem” she shrugged.
“Maybe I can make it up to you with a cup of coffee? Come by the diner tomorrow” he said and smiled that boyish smile she had always loved so much.
“I can’t” she said then, barely audible.
“Oh, uhm, if you don’t have to time tomorrow... I mean... I didn’t mean it has to be tomorrow, it could also, uhm…” he stopped when she just looked at him and didn’t stop his rambling.
“I married Chris” she blurted out the next second and then bolted out of the apartment. Luke just stood there and stared blankly ahead. He must have misheard. She didn’t say…
“Dad, I am sorry” his thoughts were interrupted the next second when April came out of the bathroom and gave him a hug.
Tell us what you think!
credits to Patricia (und ich hab auch noch dran rumgedreht)
Okay, ich muss vorweg schicken, dass das nicht meine Story ist, allerdings darf ich sie hier posten, da die Autorin keine Deutsche ist. Ich werd die reviews übersetzen und ihr zukommen lassen (falls es welche gibt)
Chapter1: Back with news
Lorelai carried a sleeping Gigi, while Christopher was carrying their suitcases. They had just arrived back home from Paris, where they had visited Sherry, so that she could spend some time with her daughter. Lorelai had to admit that woman really had changed and she had tried very hard to get in contact with her daughter again.
So she and Chris had had a lot of time to themselves while Sherry was looking after Gigi and spending time with her.
They had had an amazing time, although the vacation didn’t go as planned. Thinking about everything that had happened during the past year, Lorelai didn’t expected to be married at that moment, especially not to Chris.
But it happened, and she was happy about it. With a smile she walked towards the car and waited for Chris to open the door, so she could place Gigi in the backseat. She buckled up the girl, while Christopher loaded their luggage into the trunk. She climbed in the passenger seat and watched how he sat down behind the steering wheel.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked her and gave her a flirtatious smile.
“Nothing.” She said in a girly voice and shrugged.
“What are you smiling about?” she asked him the when he was still staring at her and not starting the car.
“Nothing”, he smiled and gave her quick kiss.
“Gimme more!” she pouted and tried to pull him back in by his shirt.
“We have to go home” he told her and motioned to Gigi.
“But that’s mean and I don’t wanna go home without a kiss. Actually I will sit right here and pout the whole drive through and not say another word” she said and played being offended.
“Lore” he said and sighed.
“What? You are my husband, so gimme!” she claimed again.
“You are being annoying” Chris laughed and started the car. When the car started to roll Lorelai suddenly opened the door.
“Lore!” Chris yelled surprised.
“What? I told you we wouldn’t leave without you giving me another kiss” she laughed and hoped up and down on her seat, happy that her trick had worked and he had stopped the car again. He sighed again, gave her another short kiss, pulled back and started the car again.
“Gimme more!” she arrogated again and laughed.
“Oh Lore, come on, we will never get home like that!”
“I don’t wanna go home, I want another kiss!” she laughed again, knowing that she would win.
After the sixth time she had won, the last time threatening him she would jump out of the driving car she turned around to stare out of the window and stopped her babbling. She never thought she would be happy again, definitely not with Chris. After Sherry had gotten pregnant with Gigi, she had given up on the two of them. And when she and Luke had finally gotten together, well she didn’t expect that they would ever be apart. Well, she realized, things never turn out the way you expect anyway and then pushed back the thoughts about Luke. She didn’t want to think about him. He had pushed her away, he had let her walk away, he didn’t fight for her, she reminded herself and gave Chris another smile.
“You want to go to your place or mine?” she asked.
“Well, I would say yours, because we still have to move our stuff in there, but let’s go to Yale. Let’s go tell Rory first.” He said and she smiled at him and he smiled back.
“Yale it is.” She said and stared out of the window again. In the mirror she saw the sleeping Gigi and she was looking forward seeing Rory. This was like it was supposed to be: Father, mother, kids. Her dream had come true.
Chris was the one carrying Gigi now and they were standing in front of Rory’s new apartment. Lorelai had to admit that she was nervous. Everything that had happened, had happened so fast. It was as if the past few weeks had gone faster than light. It was now that she was standing in front of Rory’s apartment door, that she felt nervous. How would Rory feel about this? Would Rory be happy that her parents finally got married. It took them 22 years, so she would be happy right? She just had to be ready, because this was perfect.
Chris was completely oblivious to Lorelai’s nervousness and rang the doorbell, waiting impatiently for his daughter to open the door.
“What are you doing here?” Rory opened the door and was surprised to see her parents standing there. “Did you just come back from Paris?” she asked and they both pulled her into a hug. Rory noticed the giddy smile Lorelai wore and also Chris seemed very happy. Lorelai nodded when she gave her daughter free again.
“Can we come in?”
“Of course.” Rory stepped aside and let her parents in. She told them to sit down on the couch, when she walked into her small kitchen to make them some coffee. She waited until the coffee was finished before she joined her parents in the living room.
“So, how was Paris? Did you go to the Louvre and Montmartre? Did you see the Mona Lisa? How was Sacre Coeur? Did you like it?” Rory started, the giddy feeling from Lorelai infecting her as well.
“Nah, well, not everyone is such a nerd like you. We walked around bit and eat some great French desert. Oh, did you know that they put real chocolate into the Mousse au Chocolat over there? And it’s even fluffier than Sookies. I told Chris that I wanna take a bath in it, but he wouldn’t allow me.” Lorelai babbled and Chris took her hand to stop her, without success.
“And then the French Cheese? I mean it was good when we went backpacking through Europe, but add another fifty bucks per piece and you’ve got the experience of a lifetime! Paris is really so much better when you actually have some money to spend.” Lorelai giggled.
”So she spend all of your money on food?” Rory asked Chris.
“Nah she spend half of the money on food, the rest she spend for clothes, shoes and tips for the room-service, which she needed every five minutes, because they had to bring her coffee” Chris only laughed.
“So you had a good time?” Rory asked with a smile.
“God, ye it was so romantic. We had dinner every night in a fabulous restaurant from where you could see the Eiffel tower. They even had little Eiffel tower chocolates for desert” Lorelai said with a dreamy expression.
“I always thought the Swiss is known for it’s chocolate!” Rory said.
“That’s what I told you, see! That’s what I told you!” Lorelai pointed her index finger right into Chris face and bounced up and down on the couch. Rory gve her mother a strange look, but Chris only laughed, and Lorelai didn’t seem to notice.
“You seem very giddy” Rory said then.
“That’s because I am” Lorelai giggled.
“Wow, you really must have had an amazing time” Rory concluded and smiled. She was happy that her parents seemed to be happy.
“Actually there is something we need to tell you” Chris started and his smile got wider.
“What?” Rory asked suspiciously. Suddenly she didn’t like the smiles of her parents that much anymore.
“We got married” Loerlai blurted out and showed her the ring, she had hidden behind her back all the time. Rory was stunned. She felt like an anvil had just fallen on her head, but she smiled.
“That’s, umh… great” she finally pressed put and was tackled by her parents into a hug, the next second.
“See, I told you she would be thrilled.” Chris said to Lorelai.
“You are thrilled right?” he wanted reassurance from Rory then.
“Yeah, sure. I am thrilled, happy, ecstatic, all at the same time” Rory said, very unconvincingly, what seemed lost on her parents, though.
“Aw, that’s so sweet hon’” Lorelai gushed and pulled her into another hug.
“Rory where can I put Gigi down?” Chris asked then, because his arm was getting tired from the sleeping child.
“Uhm, put her into the bedroom. It’s right over there” Rory said, pointed into the direction of her bedroom, but her eyes never left her mother.
”I’ll fill her in bout the proposal in the meantime” Lorelai winked at Chris when he stood up and left the room.
“Actually, it was so romatic! We were at that restaurant we told you about and…” Lorelai started, but Rory interrupted her.
“Mom!”
“What? Should I start at the proposal directly? Right, okay, no set up. We were eating and suddenly...” again Rory interrupted her, more harshly this time.
“Mom, have you lost your mind?” she asked her and a bit of anger swung in her words, but it was rising steadily inside of her.
“Rory..” Lorelai looked at her daughter and had no clue what she was talking about.
“How could you marry dad? How could you? You didn’t plan this! You didn’t look for a wedding dres, you didn’t send out invitation. You had no guests and no bridesmaids. You didn’t even care that I wasn’t there, your own daughter! But how could you do this? Not a year ago you wereebgaged to Luke and you love him and you desperately wanted to marry him and now you just marry dad? Is this a joke? Then please tell me it is the first of April! You two can’t be serious. You’ve only been together for a few months and I honestly always thought this was just a fling for you. That ou were trying things out with dad as a distraction from Luke. And now you two are married? Mom….” Rory trailed off when her father came back. Again he was oblivious to the pained expression on Lorelai’s face, which she wore since Rory had said Luke’s name and he also stayed oblivious to Rory’s serious expression.
“Go, Gigi is out cold. The jetlag really got to her. I think she will be awake all night. You told her about the proposal?” he asked, placed a kiss on Lorelai’s cheek and sat down beside her.
“Yeah sure” she smiled and pulled his arm around her shoulder, wanting to show Rory how happy she felt.
-xxx That evening xxx-
April was staying over at Luke’s for another week, because her mother was still with her grabdmother. She enjoyed staying at her father’s and felt more comfortable around him every day. She liked helping him at the diner. If she was lucky, he allowed her to run the cash register. And when she did, he allowed her to keep the tips. They were closing up now and April helped him lifting the chairs on the tables.
“Hey Dad?”
“Yeah?” he asked and heaved another chair onto the table.
“Can I use the bathroom upstairs?”
“Of course, since when do you have to ask? We’re almost done here anyway. I’ll be right there with you.”
April nodded and climbed the stairs to Luke apartment.
Luke shook his head as he watched his daughter leave. A couple of years ago, he thought, he would never have wanted a kid. And now he couldn’t imagine his life without one. With a small smile forming on his lips he finished closing the diner. He checked if all the doors were locked and then climbed the stairs towards his apartment. He was surprised to find the whole place dark.
“April?” He switched on the lights and went to check her bed. She wasn’t there so he figured she was still in the bathroom.
“Do you want to watch a movie or something?”
He sat down on the couch and switched on the TV. He zapped for a few minutes, glancing at the bathroom door occasionally. Suddenly he got worried and walked towards the door. He knocked twice.
“April, are you okay?”
“Go away.” Came the harsh reply from inside
He shook his head, wondering what was wrong.
“April?”
“I said go away. Leave me alone.”
“Come on, you can talk to me.” He said, surprised what brought this on. Everything had been okay when she had gone upstairs, or?
“No.”
He thought for a while and felt pretty helpless. He had no idea what was going on with her.
“April, what is it?” he tried again
“Leave me alone.” Was the only reply he got.
He shook his head and walked away. He waited for 5 more minutes and when she still didn’t come out, he picked up the phone. He thought about calling Anna, but there was nothing she could do from there and she had enough trouble already with her mother. So he called the only other person he knew, who might know what to do.
-xxxxxx-
Lorelai was still shocked from her conversation with Rory earlier. She knew Chris knew nothing about it, and she wouldn’t tell him. He put Gigi into bed, and went upstairs to their bedroom afterwards. He told her to come upstairs, but she’d told him she wasn’t tired yet and wanted to stay downstairs to watch TV.
She couldn’t find anything good and was happy when the phone rang. She flew up and answered.
“Rory?”
“Sorry, no. It’s me, Luke.” Lorelai felt like she was punched in the gut. It was so good to hear his voice again and her breath caught in her throat and she couldn’t say anything for a moment.
“Oh hey. What’s up?” She was surprised how casually she got it out and desperately wanted to know why he was calling her, especially this late at night. Maybe he knew about her and Chris?
“Something’s wrong with April. She locked herself up in the bathroom and she won’t come out. She’s been in there for half an hour already and she won’t talk to me.” He told her with a hint of desperation in his voice.
She sighed in relief. Maybe he didn’t know after all.
“You asked her to come out?”
“No, I told her to stay in there. Of course, I told her to come out, but she told me to leave her alone.”
“Okay….” She stretched the word as she thought about things that could be wrong with April.
“Hey Luke?”
“Mmm..?” he grunted and she knew that he was still staring at the bathroom door.
“Do you know if April has started her period already?”
“What?” he nearl screamed into the phone and she held it a bit farther away from her ear.
“Does she already have her period, you know, as in menstruation, aunt flow, the red…” she started to ramble.
“She is way too young for that” he said and sounded so sure.
“Luke, she is nearly thirteen years old, I got mine with twelve. She’s at that age now. So, does she already..?” he cut her off, before she could finish her sentence.
“I don’t know. I don’t think so.” He said, clearly uncomfortable. Lorelai could picture him scraping his neck with one hand, his face beet red.
“Then maybe she did now? Rory locked herself in the bathroom for a full day until she would tell me what was wrong with her.”
“So it could be…” he said.
“Yeah. It could be. I assume you don’t have any sanitary products, like pads laying around?"
He rolled his eyes.
“Why would I?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you use them to dry your dishes, or something, who knows. You should get some” she quipped.
“Where? Everything is closed by now” Luke said, the desperation rising in his voice.
“Well, I could give you some, if you want, that is” she said, suddenly shy.
“Would you?”
“Of course.” she nodded.
“I’ll be right there.”
She ran upstairs and grabbed a pack of pads from the bathroom. She glanced at the bedroom door that was closed. She didn’t feel like explaining where she was going, so she just left without saying anything.
She drove her car towards the diner and Luke was waiting for her , the diner door unlocked.
“Thank God you’re here.” He exclaimed when he saw her.
“No problem.” She said, the shyness still there and followed him upstairs and knocked on the bathroom door.
“April, it’s Lorelai. Can you open the door for me?” she asked.
“Go away.” Came from the inside.
“Honey, I know what’s going on with you and I’m here to help. Just open the door okay?” Lorelai glanced at Luke, who was waiting impatiently and gave him a little smile.
After a few seconds they heard the door unlock and April opened the door a little bit.
“Are you sure you can help me?”
“Positive.” Lorelai glanced at Luke one more time before she entered the bathroom, closing the door behind her again.
“You got your dad pretty worried out there” shesaid and handed April the package.
“I don’t wanna talk about that with him.” April admitted.
“I can understand, but he was really worried.” Lorelai smiled at the girl who should have been her step-daughter by now. Her chest tightened.
“I just felt so weird talking about that with him.”
“Why don’t you see it from the scientific side? It’s a normal reaction of your body when your monthly cycle is over and a new one starts”
“True. According to the books it’s a pretty interesting topic. Did you know that a woman only looses a half cup of blood during one menstruation?” April was immediately in her element.
“No, not really. But I am happy to know that now” she smiled at April and stroked her over the hair.
“I better get going and leave you to your business” Lorelai said and pointed to the package. April nodded.
“You know how it works?” she asked the girl and opened the door to step out.
“Not yet, but the instructions on the back are very detailed” April smiled.
“Thanks Lorelai” she said then.
“You’re welcome” Lorelai replied and left the bathroom.
Luke waited outside impatiently.
“She got her first period. You’re daughter is a woman now” Lorelai told Luke with a small smile. She knew that this was a scary experience for all parents and she remembered how freaked out she had been when it had happened with Rory.
“But she is just a kid” Luke said and looked as helpless as he felt.
“Not anymore” Lorelai said. Luke only looked at her and for the first time since she had stepped into the diner she really looked at him. He looked good, even in the sweat-pants and T-shirt he wore, his sleeping clothes.
His hair was cut and his stubble there as always. He looked the same. Well, almost. Something about his eyes was different, but she couldn’t tell what exactly. That moment she wanted to go over, and hold him tight, let her hands glide over his cheek and share his worries about April. But he wouldn’t let her. He had pushed her away. He didn’t want her in April’s life. And she was married now, to Chris.
“I should go” she said quietly, after a long silent moment, where they had stared at each other.
“Thank you” he told her with honesty.
“No problem” she shrugged.
“Maybe I can make it up to you with a cup of coffee? Come by the diner tomorrow” he said and smiled that boyish smile she had always loved so much.
“I can’t” she said then, barely audible.
“Oh, uhm, if you don’t have to time tomorrow... I mean... I didn’t mean it has to be tomorrow, it could also, uhm…” he stopped when she just looked at him and didn’t stop his rambling.
“I married Chris” she blurted out the next second and then bolted out of the apartment. Luke just stood there and stared blankly ahead. He must have misheard. She didn’t say…
“Dad, I am sorry” his thoughts were interrupted the next second when April came out of the bathroom and gave him a hug.
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