Chapter 1: Volunteered as Tribute
Lorelai Gilmore sat in her kitchen clutching a steaming mug of coffee, her head in her hands. Her brain was all but dead, only able to repeat those four little words that had turned her life upside down all over again.
"Mom?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm pregnant."
Rory's declaration had sent her into a stupor. Lorelai could only now vaguely remember running from the gazebo. A part of her was still wondering how the hell she had gotten back to her house. Her thoughts, or should I say lack of them, were interrupted (stimulated?) by her husband, Luke Danes, coming into the kitchen and sitting across from her. He took her hand. Looking up into his eyes, Lorelai observed the grin that the love of her life let few people see - the grin that betrayed his gruff exterior. The smile was tender, full of wisdom, almost brotherly.
"She'll be home. And when she does, we will work this out as a family."
As if on cue, the front door creaked as it opened. Footsteps came down the foyer. At last, a puffy-eyed Rory appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. Luke and Lorelai gazed at her silently, somberly. Finally, Luke spoke:
"All right, princess. Who do I have to kill?"
Rory blinked. "Kill?"
"Yes, kill! I'm gonna kill whoever did this to you! I want a name; give me a name!"
Rory actually smiled. She thought it was adorable how Luke was ready to tear people limb from limb to protect her when she wasn't even his child. Though to be fair, she remembered her mother telling her once, long ago, that Luke laid some claim on, some credit for, Rory - if not in blood, then in most other aspects of her life. At last, she spoke:
"I never took you to be the suicidal type, Luke."
"Suicidal?" Luke frowned. "That little punk who knocked you up might wanna start wishing he was suicidal, but not me! I'm gonna kill him!"
Rory shrugged. "Then your job's easy. You're just gonna have to kill yourself."
Lorelai looked between her daughter and her husband, thoroughly confused. "What are you on about, Loinfruit?" she asked Rory.
"You had to use that nickname?" Luke grumbled.
"I'm saying Luke is going to have to kill himself, if he's so hot and bothered, because it's his baby."
Silence. Luke looked sick, choking on his throat. "What?"
Lorelai, however, seemed to be remembering something. She knew that Luke would never... not in a million years…. but there was still another way...
Then it hit her like a ton of bricks.
"No!" she croaked. "Rory, you didn't!"
"But I did, and that's the end of it."
"How? Why?"
"I met up with Paris for lunch one day at Chilton, and she mentioned that you and Luke were discussing surrogacy. That you both had donated your..." her voice trailed off. "So, I volunteered."
"Wait a minute; let's put this tape into rewind!" Luke jumped in at last. "You're saying you volunteered to be your mom's and my surrogate?" He now looked to Lorelai. "I thought you said we were tabling that!"
"I did!" Lorelai gasped, concerned that he was getting so angry.
"Tabling means no, right? We changed our mind after donating..." His voice trailed off.
"No. Tabling means we are putting it on the back burner but are still considering it!"
"Impossible, because I don't speak Gilmore!"
"Well, then, get a thesaurus, buddy! As of a few weeks ago, you are a Gilmore!"
But Luke was now pivoting. "And even if your mom and I had been clearer in our communication," he emphasized while sending a look to Lorelai. "Why, young lady -" and here he faced Rory "- would you not discuss this with us first?"
"I wanted to surprise you!" Rory explained, sounding close to tears. "I... I wanted to give this to you! For... raising me, and... being there for me..." She broke down. Seeing her cry, Luke quickly tried to do damage control. He took his daughter in his arms, ignoring Lorelai's snide mutter of "Nice going."
"I wanted to... it's a gift... I..." Rory's crying turned her into an incoherent mess. "Please don't be mad."
Luke and Lorelai looked at each other, the tension deflating from each of them.
"Oh, sweetie..."
"We're not mad," Luke assured her, even though he had clearly blown up in the kitchen moments ago. "I think... I think your intentions are..." He suddenly found himself choking up, something the diner owner prided himself on rarely doing. "Beautiful. Just beautiful." He stepped out of the embrace to find both his wife and his stepdaughter just as teary. Tentatively, he stretched out a hand. Rory got his meaning and smiled through her tears.
"Yeah, it's OK. Go ahead!"
Luke placed a hand on Rory's abdomen, where he now knew a baby - his and Lorelai's baby - nestled within. Now overcome with thankfulness and love, Luke knelt at Rory's feet and kissed her stomach.
"I love you," he got out. Whether it was directed at his stepdaughter or the fetus she carried was left unclear. Though perhaps it need not be clarified. For, in this emotionally charged moment, Luke was surely thanking both.
