Touch of Hellfire (Original Version)

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"We forgot the MoonPies!" Mom exclaimed. "That's the best part of going on a road trip."

"You know that we have twelve billion tons of work," Rory reminded her. "We told Mia this and she totally understood."

"Of course she did," Mom said to us. "She understood when I was seventeen and arrived at the inn holding two tiny baby. Or when Heather broke her teacup.."

"That was an accident," I piped up.

"She is an understanding, kind and loving woman who loves both of you."

"Well Logan is being a big grump but I have to be there," Rory told her.

"Please come with me," Mom begged us. "It's Mia's wedding."

***

I was moving some of my stuff out to mine and Jess' new place. "Think we should get a dog?" I wondered. "A dog?" Jess raised his eyebrows.

"There is a kennel outside," I pointed and Jess turned around. "Oh..so there is. You stopped by the shelter didn't you?"

"What can I say? Puppies are my Kryptonite," I told him, shrugging.

"What did the dog look like?" Jess asked me. "Black, white chest, lab cross collie, most adorable thing on the planet." I gave him a good description.

My phone started ringing. "Hello?"

"I'm going to the wedding, come," Rory ordered. "Fight with Logan?" I assumed.

"Yes," Rory murmured. "Alright," I agreed. "North Carolina."

I hung up. "I guess that's your next destination."

"Wedding," I told him.

What I didn't know was that Grandma was coming as well. "Mom, if you're gonna go this slowly, put the hazards on," Mom groaned. "By the time we get there the wedding will be over!"

"I'm not risking a speeding ticket," Grandma insisted. Mom pressed the button to make the window go down. "What are you doing?" Grandma asked her. "It's too hot," Mom answered her.

"Well it's too cold to have the window dow...Lorelai would you stop that! Stop playing around with that!"

"I'm not playing! I just want it down!"

Grandma pressed a button, locking the windows and me and Rory were cowering in the back seat.

"Are we there yet?" I whispered to Rory.

***

We stopped off at a restaurant called Winkie's. "There's pictures on the menus," Rory cheered. "I'm having shrimp."

"I'm having lobster!" Mom piped up. "And I'm having fried chicken," I smirked. "Well I'm having the turkey club," Grandma said. "Are you sure you don't want to come to the spa?"

"We made a commitment," Mom reminded her. We had to stay in a motel overnight. "Hey Mia!" Mom piped up the second the phone rang.

"Hi Mia!" me and Rory wanted to hear the phone but we couldn't really hear her.

"Is Emily there? Bring her to the wedding, I insist. I'd love for her to be there."

"She'll be there," Rory told Mia. "Oh now I can't say no," Grandma sighed.

Later in the night, I got a text from Jess.

Okay, I thought about what you said and that dog gave me the damn sad eyes so I had to.

You got the puppy? I thought you were against it?

Well, I changed my mind, but a dog will make this feel like our home. Apart from her peeing everywhere.

Do you have a name for her?

Roxy?

I like Roxy.

Roxy it is then

I only pitched it, I didn't think Jess would agree to it but I was truly touched that he did.

***

"Mia!" Rory squealed. Mia came over to us and hugged us all tightly. "Did you get here alright?" Mia asked us.

"Thank's to Mom's GPS," Mom told her. "It's great, if you know how to use it."

"Let's go in," Mia said. "I feel so lucky to have all the Gilmore Girls under one roof."

"You have a charming home," Grandma told her. "Thank you Emily," Mia smiled. "This is my Howie."

Howard came over to us and shook our hands. "Hang on, did you say one of the girls was Heather Gilmore?" he asked Mia.

"Oh yes!" Mia exclaimed. "Heather darling, we saw your movie, 'Final Body' at the Sundance Film Festival, it was amazing, shocking ending, I thought Astrid would run off with him."

"She wanted a stable guy," I joked.

Mom read out a poem for Mia and Howard and we all made a toast. "Oh that was wonderful Lorelai!" Mia was nearly in tears.

I looked over and I saw a familiar face and my eyes nearly bulged out of my skull. "Is that Logan?"

"Unbelievable," Rory sighed and got up. She came back two minutes later. "I told him to get lost."

I wrapped my arm around her. "Me and Jess got a dog."

I showed her a picture that Jess sent me this morning. "Aw," Rory cooed. "What's his name?"

"Her name is Roxy Mariano because Jess got her," I told her. "Roxy? That's adorable."

"Now we need to find dog sitters so Jess is making friends with the neighbours," I explained. "And actually the girl next door is Amilia, who I worked with in American Eagle Outfitters so she said, she'd dog sit Roxy anytime for us because now she works at Pratt."

"The art institute?" Rory asked me. I nodded. "So you moved out of the apartment?" Rory wondered. "I moved some of my things, not all of them but by graduation I'll be totally gone out," I told her.

"This is great, things are going well for you guys," Rory smiled. "I should talk to him, he's waiting out there."

***

I walked into the house and I looked into the back garden to see Jess and Roxy.

I opened the door and Roxy looked at me. "You'll never guess what happened," Jess told me as he sat down. "She's whining at two in the morning and I put her outside to pee but she won't and the minute she goes back in, she pees."

I hugged Jess and he hugged me back. "This way I'm kind of pitching in for the house."

"You made up for it perfectly," I said. Roxy barked and sat on my foot.