Gilmore Girls: More in the Life

Chapter 73

       

Lorelai stood, looking at the pile of discarded clothing on her bed. Nothing fit anymore. Her protruding belly eliminated the possibility of her normal shirts buttoning or even pulling down to meet the tops of her pants. Frustration rose, hot and angry, within her and she let out a scream.

Not that she ever minded shopping but it was different now since her clothing didn't fit due to the pregnancy. Yes, she knew she had to gain weight for the babies but that didn't make her feel any less like a whale.

And poor Luke, he was caught in the cross hairs. He told her she was beautiful but she wasn't sure whether to believe him or chalk it up to his hoping to avoid a fight. How could a sweaty, blotchy, swollen woman be beautiful?

Lorelai sighed. She couldn't go to the inn looking so disheveled. Maybe Rory would want to head to the mall with her.

*****

Three hours later, Rory and Lorelai entered a maternity clothing store in the middle of their favorite mall. Lorelai glanced around at the store's offerings, her heart sinking. All of the tops looked like someone's elderly grandmother's curtains.

Lorelai noticed that Rory had wandered to the back of the store which contained the clearance selection. Moving toward her daughter, she decided that there had to be a maternity selection at other stores that was worth checking out.

It was apparent that Rory didn't agree, as she had several shirts draped over her arm with more on hangers she held in her hand.

"Mom, there are a bunch of great options in here!"

"Uh, I don't think so kid."

"What? Look at all of these!" Rory went through all of the shirts, explaining what she planned for each one.

Lorelai realized that the clearance offerings were much more appealing than the full price options. As she peeked through the somewhat picked over racks and shelves, she found a good amount of shirts that she should be able to make work. Turning to a yet-explored section, she realized that maternity pants would also be helpful. Excitement filling her, she found a bunch of dress pants in her size with even more jeans that looked somewhat stylish.

"Do either of you need a fitting room?"

Lorelai jumped, startled at the sudden appearance of a sales clerk. "Yes, that would probably be a good idea. I need to make sure these fit over my belly."

"When are you due?"

Lorelai feigned a mock hurt expression. "Oh, I'm not pregnant. Just fat."

The sales clerk's eyes widened, clearly embarrassed. "I am so sorry!"

Laughing, Lorelai held her hand up. "Kidding! Pregnant with twins." She rubbed her stomach. "I'm nineteen weeks, due in August."

The sales woman breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I would have felt awful if I had really made that mistake." She showed Lorelai to an empty fitting room and assisted with distributing the merchandise between hooks and a roomy bench.

Fifteen minutes later, Lorelai felt much better at having found clothing that actually fit her. As hard as it was to be getting bigger, she knew that, logically, her waist would be increasing as she got closer to her due date. She supposed that it was the price she'd pay for carrying Luke's two babies.

*****

Later that afternoon, Lorelai walked into the Dragonfly Spa. Michel looked up from his place behind the desk. Without even seeing it, Lorelai knew Michel was scoping out her clothing.

"Oh, you've been shopping. Very nice!"

"Thank you Michel. I had trouble buttoning a top this morning so I figured I should probably get some new clothes."

"Yes, well, we've all noticed that your clothes were stretching to the max, even though you insisted on still wearing your pre-pregnancy items."

Lorelai's eyebrows furrowed together. "Hey! That's not true. My stuff hasn't looked that bad."

Michel laughed, sarcasm evident in his words. "Okay. My mistake."

Rolling her eyes, Lorelai looked at Michel. "Well, it doesn't matter now. I bought maternity clothes this morning so no more stretched buttons or tight pants."

"Good. We do have standards here at the Dragonfly."

Biting back her own sarcastic reply, Lorelai displayed a forced smile. "Is Evette available for a full body massage?"

"Let me look." Michel reached for the computer's mouse and began a barrage of clicks as he moved from screen to screen. Several moments later, he turned his attention back to Lorelai. "She isn't available now but does have an opening at five o'clock this evening. Would you like to book that time?"

Looking at her watch and deducing that she had a little under two hours, she nodded. "I'll head over to the inn for a bit and will be back at five o'clock."

Michel dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

It was times like this that Lorelai seriously questioned her sanity for keeping him around this long.

Once at her desk at the inn, Lorelai did a few small tasks that didn't take much time. She had already begun reducing her time there, only to give herself more time to prepare for the babies' arrivals. Her thought, also, was that she would be able to ease Aubrey in while she was still able to work.

With the remodel on the apartment complete, Luke had commissioned Tom to add on a large second bedroom upstairs, which would also add another area downstairs beside the kitchen. She found she was excited for both, as the newly planned work would give more living space in the house while also allowing the nursery to be on the same floor as her and Luke's bedroom.

The downstairs area would be larger than the upstairs addition and encompass a larger kitchen— something Sookie was thrilled about— and an extra room that Lorelai had been toying with first using as a downstairs nursery of sorts then as a playroom for the twins. The thought of having an area for them on both levels soothed her mind. She hated the idea of the babies being on another floor of the house, especially at night.

Lorelai smiled. Everything was coming together. It was coming together nicely.