* * *
"What do you say we go back in there for some dessert? Hmm?" Grandma asks me. "I made Raspberry possets. They go wonderfully with champagne!"
"I'd love some." I say wiping my left eye. "But, what about.." I trail off.
She sighs. "It'll be alright."
"She told me to be nice during dinner and the whole time here! She's going to be so upset."
"She's already ruined dinner. Now's a chance to make dessert pleasant." she says. She looks me in the eye. "Now, lets go in there, have some dessert and make good conversation. Your sister and grandfather are probably really concerned about you." she tells me.
Oh right! Rory! And Grandpa! I totally forgot.
"Alright, Grandma. Lets go in." I agree.
She smiles. "Good." she guides me back to the dining room.
Grandpa stands up. "Callie," he starts.
I expect him to be mad. To yell at me for being so rude on the first night I've been here. But instead, he rushes over to me and hugs me tightly. "Are you alright?" he studies my face.
"I'm fine. I'll be okay." I answer.
"Oh good." he exhales.
Rory rushes over to us. "Callie. I'm SO sorry!" she apologizes.
I give her a hug. "It's okay."
"I swear, I didn't know Mom was going to do this. At least not tonight." she promises.
I pull away. "I'm okay." I tell her. "Lets just have some dessert." I walk over to my seat and put my napkin in my lap again.
Rory sits in her seat and Grandpa follows. Grandma, however, stays where she is; observing the table.
"Where is Lorelai?" she asks Grandpa and Rory. "She didn't leave did she?"
Grandpa shakes his head, but has a sour expression on his face. Rory winces. "Well, Emily, she went for a drive." he admits.
"What?!"
"Just around the neighborhood." Rory clarifies. "She said she wanted some air."
Grandma rolls her eyes. "I don't need you to defend your mother, Rory. She's perfectly capable of doing that herself."
Rory nods.
"So, she just left you here?" Grandma exclaims.
"She'll have to come back." Rory says. "For us. Me and Callie."
I sigh. Maybe she'll skip the Callie part and just take Rory. After all, that's who she likes best. I try not to tear up but it's hard with everyone around here. "May we have dessert now? I hear we have some Raspberry possets!"
Grandma nods. "Right. I'll go tell the cook. I'll be right back." she heads for the kitchen, leaving us in silence.
As Grandpa reads his newspaper, I lean over to Rory. "Do you really think she'll come back?" I whisper.
She thinks for a second. "I hope so." she decides is the best response.
"Me too." I stare at my napkin as we wait for Grandma and the desserts.
* * *
"Hi, Mom, it's Rory. You still haven't came back and Grandma and Grandpa are getting worried. I know you guys don't really get along or whatever but we're here, it's late and we're worried about you. Don't leave us. Come back." Rory leaves the 4th message on Mom's cell.
We ate dessert and sat out in the living room talking, but Mom's still not back. Grandpa is quieter and Grandma always changes the topic when any of us bring up Mom. It's pretty bad. Rory is calling everyone she knows, Sookie, Lane, Luke, Patty, Babette, Michel, Dad, and Gypsy. She even called Kirk, Mrs.Kim, Dean, Taylor and Fran. She told them to spread the word around town.
I don't think she's coming back anytime soon..
"Why are we here?" I ask aloud.
Everyone stares at me. "Because your mother isn't here and you can't go home alone." Grandpa replies.
I shake my head. "No, I mean, why did we come here in the first place?"
Grandpa and Grandma exchange a look.
"I know it's not a holiday thing since Mom only brings Rory and because it's completely out of the blue! So? Why did my mom bring us both here?" I ask my grandparents.
Grandpa stares at Grandma and she sighs. "Chilton." she says.
"What about Chilton?"
"You're mother couldn't pay the tuition. Not even one of yours. She came to us for help." Grandma tells me.
"Wait, you're paying our tuition? Mine and Rory's?"
"Yes, we are."
"But then why are we having dinner here tonight?" I inquire.
"We couldn't just let your mother go with our money, of course she would pay us back but that's not what we wanted." she says. "We offered you mom a deal."
"What deal?"
"The deal was for her, Rory and you, to come here for dinner. Every. Friday. Night." she tells me.
I slowly start to smile. "Dinner? Here? Every Friday?"
She nods.
I leap up and hug her. "I can't wait to start spending more time here." I whisper.
She exhales. "I'm sorry for all those years." she tells me. "I should've done something. Convince your mother a long time ago to bring you here."
"You didn't know. She hid me from you." I sigh. "But I'm here now!"
"Thank god!" she chuckles.
* * *
"Are you sure you're okay in here? You don't want to go sleep in the other room,with Rory?" Grandma asks me, for the third time.
"Yes, Grandma. I'm fine staying in Mom's room. It's only for tonight, right?" I say.
She nods. "Hopefully." she smiles. "See you in the morning for breakfast."
"Can't wait." I mumble.
She grins and turns off the light. "Goodnight, Callie."
"Goodnight Grandma." she shuts the door. I can hear her heels clicking down the hall. But as soon as I don't hear them anymore, I jump out of bed and run to a small lamp on a dresser. I turn it on and look around the room.
I want to investigate Mom's room for some stuff about Dad. Maybe some pictures, photo albums, diaries, anything like that. I start the search in her dresser. I find a photo album and a series of pictures of Mom and a guy. They took it at a photo booth in a mall or something.
I turn the picture around. On the back, it says, "Lor & Chris, New Years, '84." Chris, Christopher. The guy in the pictures is Dad. Okay. And '84, what does that mean? Before I can figure it out I hear a gentle knock on the door. I try to put the picture somewhere, but I don't have any pockets or time to do anything because the door knob turns.
Rory steps in wearing pink sweat pants and a grey sweater. "Rory!" I exclaim. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"
She closes the door. "Sorry." she sees me holding the picture. "What is that? What are you doing? Does Grandma know?"
I roll my eyes. I press my hand over her mouth. "Shush before they hear you!" I whisper. "Come here." I lead her to the dresser, where I show her a photo album.
I take my hand away from her mouth. "This is a picture of Mom and Dad. Right?" I hand her the picture.
She looks at it closely. "Uhm...I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?!" I yell. I remember that we're not in our own home, so I lower my voice. "Mom tells you everything."
"Yeah, but family history isn't her favorite subject." she replies sarcastically.
"C'mon Rory! Be serious."
She sighs. "I know just about as much as you do. I only knew that he lives in California and that it was hard for him to get a job for a long time."
"Didn't he come to visit us once? Or twice?" I question.
Rory sits on the bed. "You don't remember?"
"I don't think so. How old were we?" I sit on the bed as well.
"You were 5, I was 6." she starts. "It was Halloween. Dad had missed my birthday. He was mad, so he showed up for Halloween, dressed as a clown. I hated clowns back then so I cried immediately. Mom was very mad."
"I bet." I mutter.
"She yelled at him. Saying that I was afraid of clowns, he said he didn't know and she said it was because he was never around. They argued a lot and soon enough, he left. We kept trick-or-treating, but every year Dad would show up. Dressed as a tiger or horse or something. Mom kept pushing him away and finally, when I was 9, he stopped showing up." Rory explains thoroughly.
I lay down. "Do you miss him?"
"Yeah." she replies. "Don't you?"
I toss my head from side to side on a pillow. "I don't know him. I don't think I ever will." I sigh. "Now lets go back to bed. We have a lot to do tomorrow. Shopping for school supplies, studying, we can't let all that money go to waste." I fluff the pillow and re-adjust my blankets.
"Okay." Rory gets off and turns off the lamp. "'Night Callie."
"Goodnight." With that, Rory leaves me alone in this room, with only my thoughts.
No matter how mad I am at Mom, I hope that she's safe and not drinking. Maybe coffee, but no other drinks. I want to see my mom tomorrow and to finally, apologize.