Bring It On
A/N: Okay, so I only got twelve reviews on my last story, but I have a review addiction and now I want more. Cure? Publishing another story. So here you go! I hope you've all seen that I have posted a timeline in my profile. This particular fic takes place before Twenty Questions, about a couple months before. Now, this time, I mean it: I don't get 20 reviews, I don't publish. Thanks for the reviews I have gotten, they've been wonderful. Read on!
No, I'm sorry, I lied. Once again, just to remind you, I have no beta at the moment, so I apologize for any and all mistakes. Okay, this time, seriously- Read on!
"Luke!" Lorelai bellowed. Her two-year-old grandson and husband both looked at her.
"Not you, sweetie," she told her grandson lovingly before turning back to Luke Danes. "Honey, where's Rory?"
"She's looking for something in her room," her husband replied gruffly. He was still a little nervous in the presence of the toddler, constantly worried that he would do something 'wrong' and somehow managed to hurt his grandson. Rory thought it was adorable; Lorelai thought it was mockable.
"Lukey," Lorelai said sweetly, and once again both of them turned to look at her. "The baby, hon, not you," she told Luke, frustrated. "Ro-ry!" She whined when her daughter reappeared. "Why'd you name your son after cranky Luke?"
"Cranky, cool hand Luke?" Rory asked with a grin.
"Good movie," Lorelai agreed. She pointed an accusing finger at her daughter, "But bad naming!"
"There is no such thing as bad naming."
"Uh, I'm sorry. Must I remind you of that poor child whose initials were H.P.V.?"
"Yeah, well, that was just harsh. And a fluke."
"Yeah, well, it proves me right."
"As if!"
Lorelai tried to stop herself from laughing. She was unsuccessful.
Rory glowered. "What?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. That 'as if' was just very Bring It On."
Rory grinned back at her mother. "I'm sexy," she sang, "I'm cute, I'm popular to-"
"Stop!" Lorelai cried laughingly, and Lucas laughed delightedly.
Seeing his sweet baby smile, Lorelai was reminded of their previous topic. "Explain yourself, Lorelai Gilmore," she told her daughter.
"Huntzberger," Rory corrected automatically, and in the corner of her eye, she saw her mother's face fall the slightest amount. To make up for it, she said simply, "Because Luke has been a big, awesome part of my life. There's no one better to name my child- my male child," she added quickly when Lorelai opened her mouth, "after than Luke."
"Aw, jeez…" Luke muttered, embarrassed.
Rory shot him a quick smile and Lorelai smiled at the two of them. "Aw, Luke, she loves you."
Rory glared at her and shoved her away playfully. "Way to ruin a moment and be weird at the same time."
Lorelai's eyes lit up. "Is that some sort of record?"
Rory took her son from her mother. "I think so."
Lorelai punched the air with a fist. "Yes! Luke, I have a new record. We need to have celebratory coffee. And sex."
"Lorelai!" Luke stared at her. "Your daughter and grandson are in the room."
"Luke, honey, I know it's hard for you, but you do know that, in order to have a kid, Rory had to have sex."
"Mom!"
"Lorelai!"
"We're being open with each other. Calm down, both of you. I mean, Luke, I know that the mental images can scar your brain a little, but I think it's pretty safe to say that Rory and Logan have a lot of sex."
"Oh, my God." Rory's face had flamed to the colour of a fire engine. "I'm leaving. It was nice to see you, Luke. Kiss Will and Emma for me, okay? Goodbye, crazy lady."
"That's the thanks I get for bringing you into the world and loving you unconditionally?" Lorelai called after her.
"No, that's the thanks you get for having a discussion about my sex life!"
"I'm sure it's good, sugar," Babette called from her porch. "You've got one hunk of a husband."
Rory made a face at Lorelai. "See what happens!"
"I love you, kiddo!" When her daughter didn't reply, she called, "Rory!"
"Love you, too, Mommy," her daughter called, poking her head out of the window.
Lorelai smiled softly. "Drive safe, sweets!"
Inside the car, Lucas babbled on sweetly, using all the words he knew. Rory smiled at him. "You know what, honey? You do sort of remind me of Luke sometimes."
"Dada?" asked Lucas.
"I was talking about grandpa, baby. But we'll see Daddy when we get home."
"Dada, Dada," he chanted happily, hitting his car seat gently to keep time.
It wasn't long before Rory was driving down the intimidating street she lived on. Houses that towered high, with large gates guarding them, loomed on either side of her. There was one in particular that always reminded her of Edward Scissorhands.
Her heart skipped a beat and all thoughts of movies flew out of her head as she spotted an ambulance, a fire truck, and a couple police cars parked in front of her house. She stopped her car in the middle of the street, hastily undid all the buckles and straps keeping Lucas secure, picked up her little boy, and half-walked, half-jogged down the rest of the street, a little unsteady in Lorelai's stiletto heels.
"Logan?!" she called uncertainly as she approached the crowd around the uniformed officers. She made her way through the crush of her nosy neighbours and went to step towards the ambulance, her panicked eyes searching for her husband.
"Whoa, ma'am, step back, please," one officer said. He looked tired and annoyed, and she could easily sympathize if he'd been dealing with the mob around them.
"No, I-" she began.
"Listen, Lady, is this really your business? All of you?" he asked, raising his voice. "Do you really have any business being here?"
It took all of her willpower not to start name-dropping Emily Gilmore style, or just plain out yelling at him in true Lorelai fashion. Just because she was wearing those stupid heels on a Sunday afternoon and had a Birkin bag draped over her arm, it didn't mean that she was some bitchy neighbour. She drew herself to her full height as if she intended to stare him down. "I live here."
"O-oh," he stuttered. "I'm sorry…are you…"
"Rory!"
"Logan!" She saw him running toward her and the tension eased its way out of her body. "Thank God, you're okay!" She flung her free arm around him and allowed herself to be crushed against him.
He released her gently and caressed her cheek softly with the back on his hand. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's Finn. Can you go with him to the hospital? I have to handle paperwork stuff."
"What…"
"I'll explain later, Ace. Please?"
"Yes, of course," she said, slightly flustered. She handed Lucas over and kissed both of them.
Lucas, who, until that moment, had been looking cranky, cried happily, "Dada!"
"Yeah, kiddo," Logan told him with a quick smile. "It's me. Thanks, Ace," he said again, looking back at his wife."
"It's fine, babe." She gave him a reassuring smile and climbed into the ambulance.
Finn was lying there with an oxygen mask on his face. One of his legs seemed to be resting oddly and Rory heard one of the paramedics say: "We have to make sure those broken ribs don't affect his spleen."
"Finn!" Rory cried, partially worried and partially…stunned.
"I'll be fine, love, don't worry," he told her weakly, his voice muffled by the mask.
"Of course you will, you idiot," she said affectionately, gently pushing his purposefully messy away from his face.
When they arrived at the hospital she could do nothing but watch as he was wheeled off, the doctors around his called out codes and analyses that she couldn't follow as they went. She was stuck standing there awkwardly in the midst of crying kids, sickly adults, and moody teenagers.
"Mrs. Huntzberger?" asked a nurse.
Rory turned around quickly, glad for something to do. "Yes?"
"I'd just like to ask you a few questions, see if you can confirm what happened here?"
"I wasn't there at the time…but I'll do my best," Rory offered.
"Fair enough. Why don't we sit?" she asked, gesturing to a couple chairs. "So, from what we've been told, he climbed on top of your garage…"
"Oh, God, Finn," she muttered, pressing her hand to her forehead as if to ward off a headache. "Did he jump?"
"Yes," the nurse told her. "He jumped, and missed the trampoline."
"Fuck, Finn," Rory muttered, suppressing a smile.
"I'm sorry?"
"No, excuse me," Rory said quickly. "He was planning on landing on a trampoline?"
"Yes, and he hit his upper body on one of the edges but his feet hit the center, so he bounced back up a little before hitting the concrete. Mrs. Huntzberger, what we really need to do here is make sure that this wasn't a suicide attempt."
Rory almost started laughing. "Um, I don't think people usually use trampolines when they're trying to kill themselves."
"It's a formality. So he's never shown signs of depression?"
"No. I promise you, Finn is not depressed. He's just…well, he's Finn. Is he going to be okay?"
"I'm sure he'll be fine, Mrs. Huntzberger, don't you worry. We'll keep you updated."
"Thank you." She sat back in her chair and listened to a little girl nearby say, "Mommy? My throat hurts. It really, really hurts."
Rory smiled at her little face. She was so adorable. As much as she loved Lucas (and she did love him, so much that sometimes her heart ached), sometimes she longed for a daughter, too. Her relationship with Lorelai meant so much to her that she wanted to experience the other side of it.
She watched the little girl out of the corner of her eye until she was called into the exam room. After that she read three magazines, watched the weather channel, and played solitaire on her iPod, which happened to be in her purse. Finally, the nurse reappeared.
"You can see him now, if you like," she told Rory with a smile.
"Oh, thank you. Thanks so much. Is he okay?"
"He's going to be totally and completely fine. He just needs a few days to recuperate."
"Okay. Thanks…again, thank you."
"You're very welcome."
She entered Finn's room to see him lying in bed, his eyelids falling.
"Hey there, moron," she greeted him, her worry seeping into her words. "Would you like to tell me why the hell you jumped off of our garage?"
"I would rather be dead than live my life without your love, kitten. It's just too horrible," he declared.
She would have smacked him upside the head if he wasn't already clearly in pain. "Finn," she growled.
"I'm sorry, love. I was trying out a mini-version of the latest LDB stunts."
"You," she said simply, "are so stupid."
"Didn't mean to worry you, Rory."
She waved it aside. "Be more careful next time, please?"
"I swear on all the alcohol in the world, love."
She rolled her eyes and sat down next to him. "Well, I guess I owe you a hospital visit, huh? You've always been there for Lucas."
This time is was he who waved aside her words. "Don't be silly. I was only doing what was…" he yawned, "right."
"Same here," she said softly, kissing his forehead. "Go to sleep."
Five minutes later, he was dead to the world, so she left him a note and headed out. She spoke with his doctor, thanked him for everything, and called Logan for a drive home.
He was there in twenty minutes, with Lucas nestled in his car seat. "Hey, babe," he greeted her. "Thanks."
"Hey, he's my idiotic friend, too," she told him with a smile. "Really, it was no problem."
"Do you think I should run up to see him?"
She shook her head. "He's sound asleep. We'll come back tomorrow."
Logan nodded and drove out into the traffic once more.
She was quiet on the drive home, but he didn't say anything. Lucas was asleep in the backseat and he must have assumed that she was just still worried about Finn. He put on her favourite CD but made no attempts at conversation.
When they got home, he parked in the driveway, got out, and got Lucas out from the back. She remained sitting in her seat.
He bent down by her window, peering in. "Hey, Ace- babe, we're home. Are you coming in?"
She turned to him and smiled at the sight of Lucas cuddled in his arms. "You're a good dad."
He smiled back. "Thank you, Ace. You're a wonderful mother. You wanna come inside?"
She bit her lip, gathered her courage, and stared straight at him. "I want to try," she said very simply, and at his puzzled look, she continued, "For another baby."
Logan was quiet for a moment, almost stunned into silence. Then he smirked and said, "Right now?"
Laughter rich with relief bubbled within her. "Yeah," she said with a grin. "Now would be good."