Disclaimer: Don't own 'Gilmore Girls'
Spoilers: None
AN:This story takes place in 2007. LL are married and have a little daughter - Lilly. The parts of the story written in italic are memories.
Please R&R :)

Love, Snow, Forgivness and Stuff

Christmas Day 2007

Lorelai walked down the stairs surpressing a yawn. It was early in the morning and she felt exhausted. After she had fed and put Lilly to bed she couldn't fall asleep. She had tossed and turned but sleep deprived her. Assured that she hadn't disturbed Luke's sleep she had climbed out of the bed and decided to make herself coffee.

The kitchen was lit by the hallway light and Lorelai tried to move silently around. She didn't want to wake anyone up. Her plan left the building when she slightly stumbled and knocked a mug over. Thankfully it didn't break but it woke up Rory. With messy hair and sleepy eyes Rory walked out of her room.

"Mom?"

"Oh, sorry hon. Go back to sleep. I just…sorry that I woke you up." – Lorelai said feeling guilty.

"It's okay. I had a rather unpleasant even scary dream anyway." – Rory said and sat down on the next chair.

"Really? You wanna talk about it?"

"There were books everywhere. Even in my bed."

"Why is that scary? You do have books everywhere."

"You didn't let me finish."

"Sorry, go on."

"The books weren't only everywhere they were also following me the whole time. I couldn't escape them."

"That is scary." – Lorelai agreed.

"Yeah. What are you doing up so early? It's barely five."

"Lilly needed to be fed and afterwards I had hard time falling back asleep."

"And the cure against insomnia is coffee?"

"You sound just like Luke." – Rory smiled faintly and then the room fell silent.

"Is everything alright?" – Lorelai asked her daughter and Rory snapped out of her reverie.

"Oh, yeah. Everything's fine. I just can't turn my mind off. I'm thinking about the upcoming exams."

"And maybe about a certain cute guy with dark curly hair and brown eyes?" – Rory smiled at the mention of Marty.

"Yeah, maybe." – She answered and thought just how lucky she was to have him in her life.

During their second and third year at Yale their friendship had cooled off and they barely saw each other. Marty had fallen in love with Amelia a girl he met in philosophy class. They had seemed pretty serious until Amelia decided to change to Stanford.
Rory herself was busy with experiencing life on different and more exiting levels. Logan Huntzenberger had won her heart and turned her world upside down. At first she denied it and she fought against her feelings. In the end she lost the battle against herself. It was the first time she didn't mind losing. Logan showed her a different side of the world and even a different side of her.
Together they proved that opposites definitely do attract. After fourteen months as a couple they also proved that love was not enough to keep a relationship alive.
Rory was devastated for weeks after the break up. She knew it was the right thing to do but that didn't help her cope with the heartache. They were at point in their relationship that didn't lead them anywhere. Even after fourteen months none of them were able to fully adjust to the others lives. Their ideas of a shared future were too different.

Months later during summer break she met Marty in Hartford. They both had summer jobs there and accidentally met on lunch break in a park. For the rest of the summer they continued to have their lunch together and sometimes even met after work. When their fourth year at Yale started they were friends again like they used to be before. They were even closer and more comfortable in their friendship. No one was surprised that they ended up together only a few months later.
At first Rory was slightly surprised how strong her feelings were for Marty. She was almost overwhelmed by them. Although they were only dating for a few months Rory was sure of her love for him. She knew she was in love and she knew Marty felt the same. That's why she didn't hesitate at all when he asked her to move in with him.

After graduating from college they spent a week with his family in Detroit before starting to work in Hartford again. Most of their time they spent in Stars Hollow . They even lived for some time above the diner while they looked for their own place in New Haven.
Now they occupied a small apartment near Yale while they tried to keep up with their busy schedules at Yale. Besides working for their master's degree they also both have jobs to be able to pay the bills. Marty was supposed to be with her on Christmas but his mom got sick the week before and he left to visit her.

Now Rory was sitting at the kitchen table while her mother made herself a sandwich.

"I know my sandwiches are not as good as Luke's but are you sure you don't want one?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm not that hungry but I'd like some of those cookies Luke made." – Rory said pointing to the plate next to Lorelai. She handed the cookies to her daughter.

"Do you like the gift Luke got you?"

"Oh, yeah. I can't wait to try it on for him. Who knew Luke would ever buy lingerie."

"Eew, mom! I meant the slide-projector." – Lorelai laughed at the expression on the face of her daughter.

"I like the slide-projector too. I was so sad when my old one conked out. Hey, what do you say we reminisce for a while?"

"I set up the projector and you find the slides." – Rory replied eagerly and got up to look for the projector. Ten minutes later they were sitting on the couch. Rory with a plate of cookies in her lap, Lorelai was eating her sandwich. Coffee was in front of them on the table, the projector was set up behind them and they watched the pictures on the wall above the fireplace.

"Aww, you were such a cute kid Look at you. My little ballerina."

"Yeah, yeah. Next picture please." – As the slides changed they remembered the stories behind every picture. Their laughter came to a short end when a picture of Richard, Emily and Rory appeared on the wall. The night that picture was made brought unpleasant memories to Lorelai. On that night Lorelai and Emiliy had a fight. One week later that fight led to another one. The second fight ended with Lorelai walking out of her parents and not having any contact with them for two years.

"I forgot about that picture. You look beautiful babe."

"Mom."

"No, it's okay. It's in the past. Everything is alright again."

"Yes, it is."

"I'll be right back. I need to go to the bathroom." – Lorelai ran upstairs and Rory focused back on the picture. Sometimes it seemed the fight had never happened although she still could remember it like it was yesterday.

TBC