Before Rory: A Gilmore Girls Prequel

Chapter 6

Thursday, May 3, 1984

It had been ten days since Lorelai took the pregnancy test. She told herself each day since she would broach the subject of the baby with her parents and Christopher. Then every day, she chickened out.

Today, she knew she had to. But first, she would tell Christopher.

"Lorelai? Are you awake?" Emily's voice filtered through the closed bedroom door.

"Uh, yeah, Mom. I'm getting ready to take a shower."

"Hurry downstairs when you're done please. I need to talk to you about the ball."

"Okay."

The shower was hot, turning her skin bright pink. Lorelai washed her hair and scrubbed her body, letting her mind wonder again to how the news would be handled. If she knew her parents—and she did—they would try to control things and make plans that she wouldn't have any intention of following through with.

Once downstairs, Lorelai selected an apple and sat at the table. Her mother, while drinking coffee and eating a grapefruit, launched into a diatribe about what she expected Sandra to do to remedy the issue with the dress. Lorelai found it hard to focus on anything that was being said but she nodded and threw in an "uh huh" when she felt a response was needed. She absently bit into the apple, chewing automatically without tasting anything.

"Lorelai?"

Hearing her name caused her attention to snap to Emily. "What?"

"Did you hear anything I just said?"

"Um, well, no. Sorry, Mom."

Emily grabbed the napkin from her lap and dabbed at the corners of her mouth. "Is it really that hard to sit and listen to me?"

"Sorry," she muttered again, turning her attention back to her apple.

Ten minutes later, with an apple core in her hand, Lorelai stood from her seat with the intention of throwing the remainder of her breakfast away, only to hear Emily scoff. Lorelai stopped, shifting her attention back to her mother.

Emily was looking at her expectantly.

Lorelai's gaze was blank.

"Wonderful. You've completely ignored me for a second time. What is going on that got you so sidetracked?"

Panic filled Lorelai. She had to get control of herself. "Nothing's going on. I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well last night."

Her mother looked intently at Lorelai for another minute before shrugging. "It's just as well. You probably wouldn't have been interested even if you had been paying attention." Looking at her watch, Emily briskly finished her coffee before standing. "You better run upstairs and get dressed if you're going to get to the bus on time. I don't want to have to drive you to school."

Doing as she was told, Lorelai threw the apple core away and hustled to catch the bus.

°°°°°°

After last period, Lorelai found Christopher in the quad. She closed the distance between them and tucked her arm into his. "You're giving me a ride home today."

Christopher nodded and they began walking toward the parking lot. They no more than closed the doors to his car when Lorelai spilled the beans. "Chris, I'm pregnant."

His eyes wide, he turned to face Lorelai before a smile slowly spread across his lips. "You almost had me."

Chris started the car but before he could shift out of park, Lorelai put her hand on his. "I'm not kidding. I'm pregnant."