Lorelai drums her manicured fingers against the tea table. This place is horrible. The last place in the world Lorelai would ever choose to come to. But still, Emily calls the shots. Emily always calls the shots.

As she looks down at her fingers, Lorelai notices that the table cloth must be primarily satin. The fact that she knows this horrifies her. She doesn't care about satin and tablecloth! She's Lorelai Gilmore! She cares about fun and spontaneity and passion and unpredictability. Or at least she used to. Getting older has done funny things to her. If she's honest with herself all she wants now is dependability. Maybe that's all she ever wanted. You can say what you like about Emily Gilmore but she is dependable. You can always depend on her to call the shots.

Emily swans in, breaking Lorelai's train of thought.

"Thank you for meeting today Lorelai, I have something I would like to discuss with you."

"Well mom, shouldn't we wait for Dwight and Johnson from marketing to arrive before we begin." Lorelai quips.

"What does that mean?"

"It's a joke mom, 'cus you made it sound like a business meeting."

"Oh, OK." says Emily, dismissively. "Lorelai this is very important. Listen carefully."

"I'm a high-tech microphone."

"Victoria is a lot like you."

"Really?" says Lorelai, pleased. "Thank you."

"No, it's not a good thing."

"Oh. Guess I should've seen that one coming."

"No, not like that. Don't be so sensitive Lorelai. I'm concerned. Concerned she'll be... too much like you."

"Mom! She is not going to get pregnant, ok? If that's what you mean. It's not gonna happen."

"I would've said the same thing about you."

"Mom, this is a ludicrous conversation and I'm not continuing it with you. I have work to get back to. Have a nice day."

"Lorelai please! Keep an eye on her. Look out for her!" Emily calls after her. Then finally, just as Lorelai is at the door. "I trust you!"

Lorelai stops, and turns slowly. "You what now?"

"I trust you. You'll do a good job. I love Rory, you know I love Rory, but I just don't know if, after everything, she'll be able to do enough to keep that child on the right path."

"She's learning. Jess is helping her."

"You're teaching her!" says Emily, exasperated. "Don't you see, Lorelai? You did such a good job with Rory! The things she did as an adult are... well, not to be dwelled on. But she was a good girl. You did it once. You can do it again. Rory can't on her own and god knows I'm hopeless."

Lorelai takes a deep breath and places her hand on her mother's shoulder, something she doesn't remember ever doing before. "Mom. Victoria is a good girl. I am not going to raise her. That's Rory's job, Rory's privilege. Not every teenage girl is me." Lorelai nods once and walks out onto the street.

"So when was the last time you cleaned out this garage?" asks Rory, kicking an old bag of prehistoric tech items.

"Umm, probably when you were in college." replies Lorelai.

"Mom! All of this junk has been sitting here since I was in college?"

"Some of it was sitting in the house for longer and then I moved it out here." Lorelai smiles. "I promise I don't have a problem. Anyway, I wouldn't be cleaning it now if I had a choice!"

"Jess and I need our own space, the house is too small."

"The house is fine. Where are these slackers anyway?" asks Lorelai.

"We're here." Victoria says as she hops down the porch steps.

"We brought reinforcements." says Jess, holding up a handful of garbage bags. The garage had been his idea. He respected Victoria's wish to stay in Stars Hollow and Rory's desire to be near her but the house was becoming far too full.

"Ok! Just throw anything and everything into a bag, let's clear this place out." says Lorelai.

"What if something has sentimental value?" asks Victoria.

"Honey, I'm old, everything has sentimental value."

"Got it."

"Hey, what are these?" asks Rory, holding up a tiny pair of tap shoes.

"Oh!" Lorelai puts a hand to her chest. "Oh Rory your tap shoes!"

"Why did you keep these?"

"Because look how cute!"

"Into the garbage bag they go." says Rory.

"No! Keep them! Who knows, baby might dance?"

"Baby has half my genes and half Jess's. Even if baby wanted to dance, baby can't dance."

"Fine. Throw them out."

"What's this?" asks Victoria, holding up a long, blue, ballgown-like dress. The fabric is soft but old.

Lorelai gasps "I made that!"

"My dress." says Rory, rubbing the fabric between her fingers. "I wore it to my first dance with Dean."

"Dean!" says Jess. "Man, I'd almost forgotten about Dean!"

"Wait, who's Dean?"

"I felt so pretty that night."

"You looked beautiful." says Lorelai wistfully, stroking her hair. "I still remember." Lorelai takes the dress and holds it up.

"Hey..." Rory says tentatively to Victoria. "Do you want it?"

"Yeah ok." says Victoria, after a moment. "Could be cool."

"Hey Rory, look at this." says Jess. He holds up a paper draft of a book. On the front it says 'The Gilmore Girls' but the 'The' is crossed through with red marker.

"Oh, I forgot I kept that."

"What is it?" asks Victoria.

"It's your Mom's book." says Jess.

"You wrote a book?"

"A long time ago."

"Did it get published?"

"Yeah, it sold a few copies. You can just throw that out."

"Sold more than a few, kid!" says Lorelai.

"I'm not throwing this out! This is historic. An emblem of success. This will one day stand in the Rory Gilmore museum." says Jess.

"Rory, can I...?" Victoria trails off.

"Yeah?"

"Can I read it?" asks Victoria.

"Oh! Um, if you want to... sure. You can read it."

"Can I go read it now?" asks Victoria, eagerly.

"Yeah sure, go. We got this covered." says Lorelai.

Victoria sprints off back to the house with the draft. It makes Rory feel uneasy somehow, like this could be a mistake. Her head hurts suddenly and she presses her fingers to her temple.

"I'm just gonna go get some more garbage bags." she says, vaguely. "You have more crap than I first thought."

"Hey! This is our crap, little girl!" Lorelai calls after her. Lorelai and Jess are left by themselves in the garage. This relationship has never been the smoothest. It's not like they bicker anymore but still, the two of them alone without Rory is a touch uncomfortable.

"I'm guessing this is garbage too, right?" says Jess, breaking the silence. He's holding a tiny white daisy, encased in glass.

"What? Oh, no! No, not garbage, here give me that!" Lorelai tries to grab it from him but Jess pulls his hand away.

"Woah! Gift from an old boyfriend or something?"

"What?"

"You haven't reacted like that to anything else being chucked but you almost pull a muscle trying to get this off me. Must be some kind of special."

"No, not from an old boyfriend. Nothing like that. Please Jess, just hand it over."

"Why?"

"Because I asked nicely?"

"Did you?"

"Please?"

"No, no, you've peaked my interest now. Where'd you get this?"

Lorelai sighs. "It was a gift from Victoria."

"An old flower? You would've thought she could've splashed out a little more."

"She was only five, ok?" says Lorelai, turning away from Jess. "Hey, can you pass me the screw ties?"

Jess has frozen, stunned. He stands in silence, staring at Lorelai's back, mind racing. Lorelai turns back round to face him.

"Jess, screw ties!"

"She was five?"

"Yes."

"You saw her when she was five?"

"Only once."

"Lorelai, what the hell?! Does Rory know?"

"No! No. And she doesn't need to. It's not important anymore."

"You have to tell me what happened."

London, 2022

Logan breezes through his office on the top floor of his building, followed by an entourage of assistants and note-takers and managers and some guy called Gary whose job Logan has yet to figure out. Although he lacks the self-awareness to see it, he looks just like Mitchum.

"So those figures need to be with Sasha by tomorrow and by tomorrow, I mean by four this afternoon. Get accounts to glance over them before though, make sure you get their stamp of approval before they go anywhere."

"Mr Huntzberger?" says Johnny, his secretary. "There's someone here to see you."

"I told you, I don't have time for visitors today, Johnny."

"I told her that, sir, but she wouldn't leave. She just kept babbling that it was important."

"Hi Logan." Lorelai interrupts. She's standing right in front of his desk.

"I told you not to come in here!" Johnny calls to her, exasperated.

"Johnny, everyone, go please." says Logan.

"But Mr Huntzberger..."

"Now. Please. Go." The office empties. Logan shuts the door and looks at Lorelai. She looks the same as she ever did. Painfully like Rory. Painfully like Victoria.

"You can't be here." he says.

"I know that."

"It's against the rules."

"I know that too."

"Lorelai, this is so dangerous. I can't risk this. You need to go, now. Go. Get on a plane get out of here, quickly."

"Logan!" says Lorelai, in an almost whisper. Her voice is choked with tears. "I need to see her."

"No! No, absolutely not."

"Please?"

"No! I said no."

"Logan you don't understand, all I do is worry. I wake up every morning and I worry. I go to work and I worry, I come home, I spend time with Luke, I watch TV, I go to bed and I worry about her. That worry feeling has had a tent pitched up in the pit of my stomach for so many years it might as well have squatter's rights."

Logan leans on the desk and taps a pen against his leg. "Does Rory know you're here?"

"No one knows I'm here. I booked the flight under the name Tookie Clothespin."

"Does Rory know I'm mad at her?"

Lorelai sighs. "Honey, she just assumes everyone's mad at her."

Logan shuffles through some paper on his desk and checks his watch.

"You can have two minutes."

"Thank you, Logan, thank you." says Lorelai, almost crying with relief.

"She's at school. I'll take you now and then I'll drop Tookie Clothespin off at the airport."

"Ok. Ok, let's go."

"Lorelai?"

"Yeah?"

"This cannot happen ever again. Do you understand me? I won't put her at risk. I won't do it."

"Just this once."

"Just this once."

"She's in the blue jumper." Logan says when they pull up outside Victoria's primary school. "I'll wait here. It's confusing if she sees us together."

"Ok."

"Obviously don't tell her... anything."

"I won't."

"Two minutes. Time starts now."

Lorelai climbs out the car and presses her hands against the mesh gate surrounding the playground and squints. She spots Victoria almost instantly. She looks just like Rory at that age. The resemblance is so striking that Lorelai's breath catches in her throat for a moment.

Victoria's playing football with the others, and one of them kicks the ball over to the mesh fence. Victoria runs to grab it, but stops when she sees Lorelai, and gives her a small wave.

"Hello." says the little girl.

"Hi." Lorelai says, quietly. She's built up this moment in her head for years but now she's in it, it's too much to process.

"What's your name?" asks Victoria.

"Lorelai."

"That's a pretty name."

"Thank you." says Lorelai. Then, just to make sure she asks "What's your name?"

"Victoria." says Victoria, then slaps a hand over her mouth. "I'm not s'pposed to talk to strangers." she explains, through her fingers.

"That's good advice." replies Lorelai sagely, bobbing down to Victoria's level. "Don't talk to strangers, stay in school, don't cut your own bangs..."

Victoria giggles.

"Hey honey, can I ask you something real quick? And then I'll let you get back to your game."

"Ok."

"Are you happy, sweetheart?"

Victoria considers this carefully, then nods. "Yes." she says.

"Really happy? Running through the fields kind of happy?"

"Yes." she says again. "I am."

Lorelai nods, and lifts herself up to standing height. "Well ok then."

Victoria picks up her football, but hesitates a second. "You're sad." she says, making a statement more than asking a question.

Lorelai waves her hand dismissively. "I'm old, silly things make me sad."

Victoria nods as if she understands, then drops the football and squats down on the grass, her little fingers scrambling for something Lorelai can't quite see. Then she stands up, squeezes her little fingers through the mesh fence and hands Lorelai a small, slightly crushed daisy.

Lorelai takes it from her gently. "Thank you." she whispers.

Victoria lowers her voice to match Lorelai's. "If you get sad again, you can look at it, and it'll remind you of being running through the fields happy."

Lorelai can't hold tears back anymore so she just smiles and says quickly. "Go back to your game, hon."

Victoria runs back to play football and Lorelai stumbles to the car and gets in, turning to Logan with tears streaming down her face and the daisy in the palm of her hand.

"You did so good."

Rory's alarm clock starts to buzz on the dot of midnight on May 21st. She sits up in bed. Jess rolls over, woken up too.

"I hate you." he mumbles.

"Shh. Go back to sleep."

"What are you doing?"

"It's not important, go back to sleep. Start sheep counting."

"You're seriously not gonna tell me why you woke me up at midnight on a Tuesday?"

"One sheep, two sheep..."

"Message received." Jess rolls back over and closes his eyes. Rory slips out of bed and out of their only-just-furnished garage and sneaks into the main house and into Victoria's room.

"Happy birthday, little girl."

Victoria opens her eyes. "What's going on?"

"You're turning seventeen! Shift over." says Rory, climbing onto the bed.

"Why are you doing this?"

"My mom always did this. Every year on my birthday at around four am. The time I was born. She'd tell me the story of the day I was born and every year, on your birthday, at two minutes past midnight, I'd wake up and think about you turning a whole year older on the other side of the world. I know 'cus of the time difference it probably wasn't when you were actually turning a year older but still..."

Victoria shuffles in her bed and rubs the comforter between her finger and thumb. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Yeah. Of course you can." says Rory, disappointed. She starts to get up but stops suddenly and holds her stomach. "Hey!" she grabs Victoria's hand. "Hey! The baby's kicking! Feel!"

Victoria sits up and feels the little feet push against her hand.

"That is possibly the coolest thing ever."

"Isn't it?"

They sit in silence for a moment or so, hands on Rory's stomach.

"I was born at two minutes past midnight?"

"Yeah. No one ever told you that?"

"No."

"You were born in the back of a cab too."

"Oh that part I knew. Dad said it was the scariest moment of his life."

"Oh really? He wasn't the one pushing a human being out of his body."

"Fair enough. Are you nervous about this one?"

Rory considers. "I honestly hadn't thought about it. With everything going on... I suppose I'm not so nervous. Even though Jess is. It's less... complicated for me. Personally. And I've done it already. Although I think I blocked most of it out."

"You'll be ok." says Victoria, gently. "But I am gonna get some sleep now."

"Goodnight angel." says Rory, kissing her daughters cheek. "Happy birthday." she whispers, walking back through the kitchen. Her book is sitting open on the kitchen table. Rory touches it carefully. Writing this book changed her so much. She notices that Victoria's highlighted one paragraph towards the end.

As I look down at my baby daughter, I wonder what kind of relationship we'll have. Maybe like my mom and me, although I don't know that anything will ever be like that again. I hope it's not like my mom and grandma. It could be nothing like I've ever experienced before. A baby is full of endless possibilities, and endless choices to be made.

Thanks for reading this chapter, leave a review and let me know what you thought! Also, do you think Rory's baby will be a boy or a girl?