everlasting • gilmore girls

𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒

ʲᵒ'ˢ ᵒᵘᵗᶠⁱᵗ ᵈᵃʸ ᵒⁿᵉ ⁱˢ ᵒⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ˡᵉᶠᵗ, ᵈᵃʸ ᵗʷᵒ ᵒⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ʳⁱᵍʰᵗ

"You get to choose who you are. Legacy, memories of the past, can serve us well. But we cannot let them define us. When heritage becomes a box instead of an inspiration, it has gone too far."
—Brandon Sanderson, Skyward (Skyward, #1)

(unedited)

◯ ◯ ◯ ◯

"Do you guys think I got a perfect gift?" Rory asked with a shopping bag in her hands as she, Jo, and Lane walked through the town's square. "I don't really know what the appropriate gift for your absent father's pregnant fiancé that you only had two conversations with."

Jo chuckled at how it sounded out loud. "I don't think there's a perfect baby shower gift in that scenario."

Lane nodded. "I agree. But baby clothes are a safe option."

Rory furrowed her brows. "What's an unsafe option?"

"Breast pumps." Lane and Jo said in unison.

Rory made a face of disdain. "Remind me never to have a baby." She said, pulling her arms across her chest to shield them.

"Speaking of making babies, I heard what Lorelai said at the Career Day meeting." Lane said with amusement hidden in her voice.

It was a couple of days ago when Jo went to help Nathan study. One thing led to another, and a heavy make-out session was happening on his bed. The mortifying thing was Lorelai walked in on them. Lorelai thought since Jo lacked a mother figure in her life, she might offer her 'advice'. The 'advice' happened to be a sugar-coated word for sex talk. Jo left the Gilmore residence that day embarrassingly mortified despite Lorelai's insistence that there's nothing wrong with exploring one's sexuality.

To make matters worse, yesterday, during Lorelai's Career Day, when students bombarded her with questions about her teenage pregnancy, she mentioned how she promotes having safe sex talks and how she just had one with Jo. That gossip spread like wildfire over school today. She had to endure a day of people whispering her back. Luckily she had Lane and Dane to distract her.

Jo grumbled, "Don't remind me. I still can't believe not only did she say that in front of my peers but my uncle!"

Rory laughed, "She apologizes profusely!"

Lane rubbed Jo's arm tenderly. "How is Luke taking it?" She asked concerningly.

"Besides the fact he can barely look me in the eyes or that he refused to let Nathan in the diner, I'd say he's taking it well." She said sarcastically. "God! All he knows is that Lorelai had a safe sex conversation with me. It's not like anything happened."

"Did you want something to?" Lane frowned at Jo's somber mood.

Jo sighed, almost like she was forcefully expelling all her bad energy. "No." She stared at the floor ahead of her. She hadn't had the chance to talk to Nathan about what happened face to face since the past day; Luke had not let her go anywhere without his supervision. He refused to leave her side. When Rory and Lane came by, she literally had to convince him for twenty minutes that it was just the girls that she was hanging with.

"It's not like I don't want that with him. I do. I just don't want that now. Me and Nathan are new, and I don't want to mess that up."

Rory nodded empathetically, "That's completely okay, Jo. Take things at your own pace, Nathan will understand. And if he doesn't, which I highly doubt, I will kick his ass." She declared with ferocity.