Finally where we should be

Going Public

After a tedious weekend going through the boxes of baby merchandise, Rory's room was still completely packed, but at least now there was a sense of organization in the mess. It was even possible again to have a glance at the garden outside from the small window near her bed. Not that Rory was going to enjoy the view. She got a little paranoid that someone was snooping around the other night and decided to keep the curtains closed for good.

Shielded within the comforting four walls of her mother's house, Rory followed Lorelai's instructions to sort the boxes in three piles: the diapers, some baby clothes, a stroller, a car seat, a bath and all the stuff that was going to be useful immediately after the baby was born went to the 'stay' pile, perfectly arranged next to the crib in the corner of the room; the playard, a walker and other things that would be handy within the first year were put in the 'storage' pile and would be later removed to the garage; on the other hand, the 'to go' pile was made of many bottles of baby shampoo which would expire before they could be used, a tricycle and also an excessive amount of singlets and shoes that would never be worn because the newborn would quickly grow out of them. Lorelai struggled not to classify a ball pit and a slide shaped as a unicorn in this last pile, but after a long debate about the lack of space in the house, she finally gave in.

Rory had already asked Luke to move some boxes to the garage tonight and he agreed to do it after it was dark. So there would be no risk of questions about the baby stuff from her friendly - yet nosy - neighborhood. He left for work while she was sipping her single dose of coffee for the day. Only a small cup was allowed because of the baby. That's why the mom-to-be was really taking some time to savour it.

In the meantime, Rory really tried, still she couldn't remember anything else to do after her breakfast. Then, she decided to kill the free time of whatever day it was to go online and start returning the extra gifts piled in her room. Maybe by the end of the week there would be some free space back there and she could concentrate again on finishing the first draft of the book.

A driven Rory grabbed the laptop, laid on the bed and began to read the return policy of Baby R US online shop. She hadn't even finished submitting half of the requests for refunds when she fell asleep. It was not her fault though. For the last couple of weeks, she was feeling completely exhausted. It was not due to the lack of coffee, or because she started a exercise routine to watch her weight. It was just one of the misfortunes in the first trimester of the pregnancy. Basically, mommy's body can never say 'no' to a nap.

Although there was so much to do, Rory skipped lunch and slept through the rest of the day. No point trying to fight the changing hormones inside her body. Everything was already dark outside, when she opened her eyes. Still feeling a little lazy, she stretched her arms and took a look at the clock. It was almost 7 PM.

Well done, Rory. One more day with not much done, she thought while trying to recover her senses and bring to mind what day it was today.

Rory suddenly jumped from the bed when she realized it was December 1st. Honestly, she lost track of the calendar because her head was still spiraling since her life went upside down... and December 1st wasn't exactly a special occasion, except she had a deadline. With Taylor Doose from all people. How could she miss something like that? She promised to publish early the first issue of Stars Hollow Gazette this month because he wanted to announce all the events that would take place in town until the Holydays.

The list included a tree decoration contest, a carolee choir presentation, a 24 hour live Nativity scene at the gazebo and even a surprise event to celebrate New Year's Eve - which Taylor was bragging to be something bigger than the drop of the ball in Times Square. Rory really tried a scoop about it for the paper, but the man was impossible to crack.