Disclaimer
Emily and Richard, and all other recognizable Gilmore Girls characters belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino, Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions, and the WB. I use these characters without permission, but am not making any profit from the copyrighted characters. No infringement is intended.
The night was pitch-black as they drove home in silence. Dark clouds hid the full moon from her view as she stared out of the front window, deep in thought. Her husband didn't take his eyes off the road, knowing her well enough to keep quiet for the entire ride.
When they pulled into the driveway, she blinked a few times to make herself snap out of the trance she had been in. Hearing her husband getting out of the car, she took a deep breath and unbuckled herself, waiting for him to open the door for her.
She gave him a small smile when she accepted his offered hand, letting him pull her out of her seat. The cool air was harsh against her skin and she quickly followed him to the front door to get out of the cold again. In a way, she was grateful that it brought her back to reality. She didn't want to think about tonight anymore.
Tonight had tugged at old wounds. It was just a scratch on the scars that covered her heart, but it hurt enough to want to get rid of the memory.
If only she could find a way to get angry at her daughter so that the dull aching in her chest would stop. She would find a way to cover her sadness, that was for certain. But she would need help.
She kept on pondering as her husband helped her out of her coat and she walked through the foyer. Emily felt drained. Her head was beginning to ache and the muscles in her neck felt sore from holding her composure. How she wished to relax but she couldn't. If she'd relax, she would start thinking again. She wanted to sleep, to forget, and to dream of better times.
She was just about to walk upstairs as she heard her husband call out to her while he strolled towards the drink cart.
"Care for a drink?" Richard asked.
Emily took a hold of the banister but stopped and turned towards him, sighing, "No thank you. I just want to go to bed."
Grabbing some ice cubes from the bucket, he furrowed his brow. She sounded tired and it concerned him more than he wanted her to know. Concentrating on preparing his scotch, he addressed her again before she ascended the staircase. "What was that about you not knowing our daughter?"
Emily let her hand fall to her side and slowly walked towards him as he poured the brown liquor into the glass. "Let's just say that I found out some things tonight that proved it." Taking the drink from his hand, she walked over to loveseat and dropped down on it.
Richard nodded to himself while he fixed another drink, walking over and sitting down next to her.
They were both silent for a moment, staring blankly ahead, occasionally taking a sip of liquor.
Furrowing her brow slightly, Emily addressed her husband without looking at him. "Did you know that she broke her leg?"
Richard raised his eyebrows. "She did? Well, she didn't seem to have any trouble walking tonight..."
Turning her head towards him, she snapped, "She didn't break it recently; she broke it three years ago."
He turned his upper body towards her, staying calm. "Oh?"
Emily crossed her free arm over her chest, holding her glass up, still facing away from him. "She broke her leg and didn't tell me." Her voice held frustration, anger, and a trace of sadness.
"Well-" he started but she cut him short.
"She could have at least called."
He tried again, "Yes, she could have..."
"But, of course, she didn't." Emily rolled her eyes, her anger rising as she thought about it further.
Richard knew she wouldn't let him get another word in, so he just nodded and stayed quiet.
"And you know what reason she came up with when I asked her?" She finally looked at him, her eyes sparkling as she shot him a look that was meant for Lorelai, her index finger pointed at him.
Looking at her expectantly, he kept quiet, cocking his head slightly to signal to her to continue.
"She said it was no big deal," she waved her hand in the air, "and 'If I'd been really sick you would have known'," Emily squinted her eyes, "Can you believe that?"
She saw him raising his eyebrows, nodding and looked away.
Bringing her glass closer to her lips, she mumbled, "If I'd been really sick." Taking a sip, she felt another wave of anger washing through her along with the alcohol as she thought of her daughter's words again.
"Goodness! If breaking your leg isn't being 'really' sick what is?" She shrugged her shoulders, turning towards her husband again. "Of course I know the difference between breaking something and sickness, but that's not the point. What if she had broken her neck instead of her leg? Would that have been a kind of medical condition severe enough to tell me about?" Looking into Richard's eyes, she huffed in frustration. Staring into the distance, she spat, "I should call her and give her a piece of my mind right now." Emily brought the glass to her lips again and downed the rest of the watered-down scotch.
Taking a close look at his wife, Richard waited another moment before he put his glass down slowly and turned towards her.
His voice was calm and steady as he spoke. "I know you're upset about this, dear, but you also know that three years ago our daughter had no reason to call us." She shot him a look but stayed quiet. "The way things were between you back then, you should know that she would have been afraid of your reaction to her being hurt."
He watched her as she looked away, pouting. He had to suppress a smile. He didn't want her to get angry at him and knowing her as well as he did, he knew better than to grin at her when she was facing defeat.
Gently taking the empty glass from her, he put it down on the coffee table before he placed his hand on her forearm."Today has been rather exciting," he stated simply, brushing his hand down to take hers as he moved to stand up. "I think it would be best for you to get a good night's sleep." Richard pulled her up as well, wrapped his arm around her, and kissed her temple. "See if you still feel like calling her tomorrow morning."
Guiding her towards the staircase, he knew that she would calm down enough to not call their daughter in the morning.
He was glad that she had let him talk her out of it, knowing full well that she had wanted him to all along.
Author's Note: Okay folks. So I decided to put this into chapters since Sweetie and I agreed that the splits fanficDOTnet comes up with are just awful. Hope you like this first scene. Thanks to UnaVitaSegreta - my sweet Sweetie - for all her help. I'm really impressed that your ears haven't started bleeding yet after all my whining.