You Jump, I Jump | A Gilmore Girls Fanfiction

Chapter Seven

Although Rory had bought the house, she was still staying at Lorelai's until it finalized and she could move her furniture in. It was the middle of the night and Rory was happily asleep in the warm bed of her old room, when Lorelai came in and threw the window open, letting in the icy December air, and inhaled deeply. She laid down beside Rory and nudged her awake.

"Rory... Wake up," Lorelai whispered into Rory's ear.

"What's going on," she grumbled, still half asleep.

"Shh," Lorelai said, resting her hand on Rory's chest, "do you smell that?"

Before Lorelai even said it, Rory understood what was happening; it was sort of a tradition that had been going on for as long as she could remember.

"I smell snow," Lorelai sighed happily. Only Lorelai believed snow had a smell, but every year she could smell it and every year she was right. Rory slid out of her warm bed rather reluctantly. Ever since she was young, regardless of where they were or what they were doing, Lorelai and Rory would take a walk on the first snow of the year. It was something Rory always treasured and looked forward to, even if it was 4 in the morning.

She followed her mom to the front door where they both grabbed their coats and headed outside. Before they had walked five feet, snowflakes started falling slowly, sparkling in the moonlight and Lorelai grinned. The pair walked arm in arm down the empty, quiet streets, watching the first snow of the year.

"Hey it's baby's first snow walk!" Lorelai exclaimed suddenly. She stopped and knelt down, putting her hands onto Rory's stomach, "Hey little baby this is your Grandma Lorelai. Wow that sounds weird. Anyway, this is your first snow walk. Your mom and I do it together every year and even though you're not quite here yet, someday you can do it with us too. We're going to share a lot of adventures together, because I'm going to be a cool grandma."

Rory laughed at her mom's antics, then smiled softly and put her hand on her stomach, looking out on the quiet beautiful snow kissed town square, thinking of all the adventures they would, indeed, have. It was crazy to think that soon she would be a mom. She only hoped she would be as good at it as her own mom had been. She looked at Lorelai and they shared a smile, happy to be back in each other's presence, and happy that Rory was finally home for good this time.

***

A few days later, the whole town was practically drowned in snow, and Rory and Lorelai were sitting at the kitchen table, bundled up in blankets, with bowls of popcorn and cranberries sitting in front of them. Rory grabbed some popcorn, stringing it on her garland as Lorelai sat back, eating more than working. Luke was hard at work, as usual, dragging a Christmas tree in through the front door.

"Thanks for the help," he said sarcastically, shooting a glare at Lorelai and Rory.

"Aw, you're welcome," Lorelai replied sweetly, smiling.

Luke looked at Rory and she held up her hands in defense. "Don't look at me, I'm pregnant. Can't be doing any heavy lifting."

"Fine. But that doesn't give you an excuse," he said, looking back at Lorelai.

"Excuse me I am hard at work making a popcorn garland thank you!" Lorelai explained and returned her focus to her barely worked on garland.

"More like you're eating the popcorn."

"Well we don't want bad tasting popcorn on our tree," Lorelai said as if it was an obvious fact. Luke sighed and continued hauling the tree through the foyer, giving up on getting any help.

As soon as Luke's attention was diverted, Lorelai got up and started replenishing their plate of Poptarts, Christmas cookies, and other various treats, while Rory refilled their mugs of hot chocolate. Somehow, despite their sneaking, Luke noticed their snack choices, and shook his head. "The amount of sugar you two eat," said Luke, "Rory, I know you probably won't listen to me, but I'm not sure if your usual diet is very good for the baby."