A/N- Alright boys and girls here is your chapter four. Okay so decision time. Luke and Lorelai's baby: boy or girl? See I already know which way I am leaning but I want your opinion too because you guys are my readers and if you are leaning the other way then I'll have some serious things to consider. So yeah just let me know in the review that I just know you're going to leave me.

Pictures

He sits in a hard chair in the cold waiting room picturing her bruised and battered face while running her daughter's words through his mind over again. He pulls out his wallet and opens it. The first thing he sees is her picture. Her bright smile committed to film just for him. Behind it is a picture of Rory, and another of April, and on the inside is the horoscope that he just can't bring himself to get rid of. He hears Rory's voice.

"God, she should be your wife anyway, if you would have just married her like you were supposed to none of this would have ever happened."

And she is right.

Let's elope.

He feels completely responsible for everything that Lorelai is going through right now.

Come on, Luke. Grab your keys. Let's go.

After all, he pined for her for years, and then when he finally got up the nerve to tell her how he felt he yelled at her for not seeing his side of things.

You said that would be fine at Martha's Vineyard. Didn't you say that would be fine at Martha's Vineyard?

He told her that he was in. Not just in, he said 'all in' and she believed him.

Come on, then! Let's go! We can drive to Maryland. What the hell, right? I mean, you have to see Maryland eventually. We can drive there, get married, and then come back here. And you'll get your stuff, and you'll move in.

He made her believe him.

I mean we have the plan already, right? We just have to put the plan in motion.

Then there was Christopher at her parent's vowel renewal drunk and spouting off at the mouth, and even though he knew nothing had happened between them he left her there. She told him she was all in, but he took himself out all the same.

Yes, we do, because we've been waiting and putting it off, and I don't want to put it off anymore.

He broke her heart once and hearing her shaky voice on the answering machine…that just about killed him.

Yes, now is the right time. It's the best time because it's now!

When they worked through it he told himself he would never let anything like that happen again but he did.

Your car or mine?

He didn't tell her about April.

No I don't wanna talk, all we've done for months is talk. I want to do. I want to go.

The look on her face when he emerged from the kitchen and saw her talking to his daughter is forever embedded in his mind.

Why not, Luke? Don't you love me?

He never wanted to cause her that kind of pain.

But I love you, Luke. I love you. But I have waited, and I have stayed away, and I have let you run this thing, and no more. I asked you to marry me, and you said yes.

He never wanted her to question his love for her but she had.

We fixed up the house, right? We have a bigger closet, and I didn't get the purple wallpaper because you didn't want the purple wallpaper. And if it's between you and the purple wallpaper, I pick you!

And in the end he let her walk away.

Do you care about me?

He wanted to be the one to protect her but in the end he became the very thing he hated most.

Because I'm going crazy here. I made a commitment to you, and I need to make it happen.

Just like all the others had.

But once we're married, everything with April will be fine. Anna said so.

In a way he was worse than all the others because in the end he knew what he was doing.

When I talked to Anna…

Because he was the one to pick up the pieces of her broken heart every time something went wrong, every time Christopher left her again.

I know. I'm sor… God, no! I'm not gonna defend myself! For months now, I've been skulking around not saying anything, not having an opinion, like I'm Clarence Thomas or something, and I… I'm done with that. I-I've been waiting for a long time, and I don't want to wait anymore.

He remembers being the only one she'd ever shown herself too.

You're gonna have to figure out how April fits into our lives, not the other way around.

He was the only one she really opened herself up for.

Well, try married!

He saw the scared senseless sixteen-year-old girl that she kept buried underneath brilliant blue eyes and a dazzling smile.

I don't like Mondays, but unfortunately they come around eventually.

"None of this would have ever happened." He hears Rory say again.

Well, I'm sorry to hear that.

He hurt her. He hurt her and he hurt their baby.

And I have to go.

Just as Luke wonders if he will ever be able to earn her back his cell phone rings, with a vibra-melody combo that Lorelai applied to it when he first got it. He flips it open and presses the cool medal to his ear without first looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?" he answers in a tired voice.

"Luke, It's Anna," he hears.

"Oh, hey, Anna," he breathes, "What's going on?"

"I hate to do this but I was wondering if we could meet up," she says and he can hear the hopefulness in her voice.

"Um," He glance around the waiting room and then lets out a weary sigh. "Sure."

"…Lorelai…" Emily repeats for the third time.

At the sound of her name, Lorelai glances up at her mother briefly before turning away again. Nothing in her head makes sense. Her brain is like an interstate highway in the mist of afternoon traffic. Jam packed. There is just so much information to process, so many questions to ask. Where to begin? Lorelai lies back on her pillow picking her first question. It isn't an easy process either. She hears her name a fourth time and determines that she isn't going to be able to come up with anything if Emily keeps calling her name like that. She turns her head to look at her mother but catches Rory's eyes first and keeps her focus.

"So you're…" she trails off, not realizing that she is speaking out loud. "You're my…"

Rory nods. Lorelai exhales. "Wow," she breathes out. It really is amazing. "You're….tall," she compliments trying to find something to say.

"Um…thank you," Rory returns.

Another moment of awkward silence passes between them. "I'm sorry," Lorelai says plainly. "This is weird."

"Kinda," Rory agrees.

"Lorelai, don't slouch over like that," Emily scolds, watching Lorelai's posture change.

"I'm not comfortable, Mother," Lorelai returns with a grumble.

Emily rolls her eyes, "How do you feel about all this?" she asks.

"How do I feel about what?" Lorelai retorts. "Losing twenty-two years of my life? Finding out I have a grown daughter? Being confined to this bed? Mother, how exactly am I supposed to feel about it?"

Emily doesn't know how to respond to her daughter's sudden outburst. "Don't take that tone with me, Lorelai Gilmore," is all she can come up with in response.

"Whatever." Lorelai rolls her eyes wishing that there were someone there who understood her. "I want to see Chris," she proclaims.

Rory watches the both of them go back and forth feeling severely out of place. She zones out wondering if anything will ever be the same again until she realizes that Emily is standing and talking to her.

"Rory!" her grandmother calls again.

"What?" she asks coming to.

"Call your father," she repeats. "I'll be waiting outside," she continues in a huff.

"Oh, okay, Grandma." She pulls out her Sidekick and flips it open to dial the number, all the while not noticing her mother staring at the device with blatant curiosity.

"Hello?" Christopher answers from his car.

"Dad," Rory states looking up to her mother.

"Rory? What's going on? Is everything okay?" he asks genuinely concerned.

"Um, everything is fine, the same actually, it's just… Mom is asking for you," Rory tells him. She also notes the change in her mother's face when she says the word 'mom'.

"Okay honey, I was on my way back anyway," he says.

"Okay good, um, I guess we'll see you soon then." She smiles. "Bye."

"Bye," he replies and Rory hangs up the phone.

"Rory," Lorelai tries, speaking the name for what seems like the first time. She notes how weird it sounds coming out of her mouth and narrows her eyes. "That's your name, right?"

Her daughter nods. "That is correct." Rory smiles before shaking her head. "Actually it's Lorelai," she remembers.

"Lorelai?" Lorelai repeats questioningly.

"Yeah," Rory confirms with a smile, thinking of every birthday, when her mother would crawl into bed with her at 4:03 in the morning and tell her the story of the night she was born.

"You, um…" Rory blushes, suddenly feeling weird about explaining the situation. "You, were laying in the hospital bed thinking about how men name babies after themselves all the time so why couldn't you, and thus…" Rory concludes motioning toward herself.

"Lorelai," her mother finishes for her.

"Exactly, although I think a large amount of Demerol actually went into that decision."

Lorelai laughs softly. "That's actually really smart," she starts. "I was thinking about it and I couldn't come up with anything good enough."

"You've thought about it?" Rory asks.

"All the time," Lorelai answers. "Not just a name, but…everything,"

"What do you mean?" Rory urges genuinely curious.

Lorelai shrugs, "Lots of things, I wondered if you would be a boy or a girl, what you would look like…things like that," she explains shyly. "I guess I know now," she laughs, "I never pictured you, you know, so…grown but I guess I always knew you'd be a girl."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I mean I wondered what it would be like if I was wrong but I dreamed of baby girls and that had to mean something right?"

"I guess."

"After I finished freaking out about it I got really excited, I wasn't really that far along I mean I hadn't even told Emily and Richard yet." She sighs, "I just wanted to see you, hold you, I guess I'll never get my chance now," she finishes sadly. "I feel like I've missed so much."

"Mom," Rory sighs shaking her head before she is cut off.

"Could you not…" Lorelai starts trying to find a way to not sound harsh, "I mean could you just…um…call me Lore, for now?" she tries gently.

"Oh…uh…sure," Rory says nodding her head. "Lore," she says trying it out. "Seems disrespectful."

Lorelai laughs, "I don't feel disrespected."

"Good,"

The room goes quiet again. "I brought you some stuff from home," Rory says breaking the silence. "Nothing big, some photo albums, my baby book, I just thought it might help you remember."

Lorelai shrugs a little, "I'll look at them, but I can't make any promises," she says. Rory wonders if the tone she hears in her mother's voice is defiance but shakes her head and lifts her bag from the floor to hand the items over.

Christopher walks into the hospital again wondering what to expect when he enters that hospital room. He pictures Lorelai at fifteen. The violent storm that was looking into her blue eyes. He could think of that Lorelai all day but a face first collision with another person about the same size as himself breaks him from his reflection. He catches himself before losing his balance completely and looks up.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you," Luke says.

"No, my fault, I wasn't paying attention," he mumbles in response. "You leaving?"

"Just for a bit, I'll be back later," Luke tells him in way that tells the other man he is marking his territory.

"Drive safe," Chris mutters halfheartedly before walking toward the ICU leaving Luke to his business.

He approaches the room and takes a deep breath before knocking on the door. A nervous few seconds pass before Rory opens it. "Hey kid," he says softly with a smile. He walks into the room and hugs her as the door closes behind him.

"Dad," Rory sighs into his embrace.

Chris gives her a small laugh as she hugs him tighter. "Hey kid," he repeats. "How's it going?"

Christopher glances up at the bed and can't help but smile. "Lore."

Rory lets go and Chris smiles down at her before walking over to Lorelai's bedside.

Rory, sensing their need to be alone politely excuses herself. They watch her leave and then Chris returns his focus to those bright blue eyes. "Hi," she says shyly.

"Hey," he reciprocates.

She smiles at him as she reaches out and touches the side of his face. "Christopher?" she whispers. His eyes fill up with tears as he thinks about just how close he came to losing his best friend. She grimaces at his display of emotion and pulls away but he grabs her hand before she move away completely. "I thought I was going to lose you," he admits.

Lorelai shakes her head, "You of all people should know better," she giggles. "I'm invincible, remember?"

Chris chuckles and wipes his face. "You look so different," she mutters. "I feel like I'm dreaming,"

"Want me to pinch you?" Chris smirks and she grants him a wide smile in return.

"No… I want you to tell me everything," she requests.

"Everything?"

"Yeah, I've been waiting for you."

"What do you mean…everything?"

"I mean how we ended up here?" she implores. "What happened after…well let's just start from after I told you I was pregnant. That seems to be the last thing I remember." Chris sighs and looks down. "What?" she says questioning his change in his form.

Lorelai senses his sudden discomfort. "It's okay," she tells him, "whatever it is, I just really need to know."

He looks up at her and nods. "We…uh…we told our parents," he starts. "and they…just…freaked out." She nods signaling for him to continue. "They sat down and discussed it and decided that we were going to get married and move in with your parents and raise Rory together." Lorelai scoffs knowing that, that was something she would never go along with.

"But…" she coaxes.

"But…you didn't want to get married."

"Sixteen is too young, we wouldn't make it."

"I know that," he says.

"Sorry, continue."

"Okay, so Rory was born and we decided not to get married and you dropped out of school to raise our daughter and I didn't do anything-"

"What do you mean?" she asks cutting him off.

"I mean I wasn't there to help you Lore," he explains, regret clear in his voice. "With any of it."

"Oh."

"I turned 18 and moved to California."

"And I… stayed in Hartford?" she questions.

"No…you left before I did. You said you didn't want Rory raised the way we were so you packed up your stuff and left."

"Where?"

"Stars Hollow."

Lorelai nods although she still had no idea where that is. "Okay," she says deciding not to dwell on the details. "So then what happened?"

"Then you got a job and brought up Rory."

"Why'd you go?"

Chris shrugs, "I was just…really stupid. I thought that your turning down my proposal gave me an out as a father and that just wasn't right."

Lorelai nods and watches Chris hang his head. "I'm not angry with you Christopher," she tells him softly as she runs her fingers through his hair. "She seems…well adjusted."

"It's all you."

"What?"

"Everything that she is….you did," he sighs. "I wish I could take more responsibility for the woman that she is but I can't."

"And now?" she asks suddenly.

"What?"

"What about now? You and me, where do we stand?"

Chris lets out a weary breath. "I don't know."

"Why not?"

"Because some things have happened recently that changed everything."

"From…" she asks getting frustrated with his vagueness.

"We got back together a couple of months ago…" he tries.

"Okay…so what's the problem?"

"You got pregnant."

Lorelai looks down at her swollen stomach and runs her hands over it. "I kinda figured."

"It's not mine," he continues reluctantly. "You were already pregnant before we got together."

"Oh," she says sounding surprised. "Who then?"

"He was you fiancé," Chris supplies

"My fiancé?"

"Ex fiancé…Luke," he tells her.

"His name is Luke?" she asks trying to keep up.

"Yeah," he says with a shaky smile. "His name is Luke."

"Luke!" Anna calls when she sees him walk into the coffee shop.

"Anna, hey," he returns walking toward her. She hugs him when he enters her arms length and then motions for him to sit down. Anna takes note of the bags under his eyes and his uncut exterior.

"How is she?" she asks referring to Lorelai.

He smiles thinking of her and replies, "She woke up yesterday," he says.

"That's great Luke," Anna tells him sincerely.

"Yeah, I think she's going to be okay…I mean she has this with her memory and I haven't actually seen her yet but I just have a feeling, you know."

Anna smiles. "Yeah, absolutely."

"So you uh…wanted to meet?" he asks suddenly remembering their surroundings. "Is it April? Is she okay?"

"Yes Luke," Anna chuckles a little. "April is fine. Calm down," she assures him. "It's just I have a problem,"

"Anything I can help with?" Luke offers.

"Actually yes."

"What is it?"

"Well…my mom is having back surgery next week," she begins to explain.

"Oh."

"Yes and being the only child I am the only one who can go down there to New Mexico and take care of her but I just don't want to pull April out of school like that."

"I understand," he nods.

"So I was sort of wondering if she could stay with you."

"With me?" he questions.

"Yes Luke, I mean if it's a problem—"

Luke cuts her off. "No! It's no problem."

Anna smiles, "Good, I am so happy to hear you say that."

"It's my pleasure," Luke tells her, happy that he is finally getting more parental responsibility.

"So I'll call you and we can work out the details," she says standing up.

"Yeah….uh…that sounds good."

After spending the last hour telling her all about his life with his four-year-old daughter and revealing to her his decision to move to another continent he watches her face widen in shock.

"Paris," Lorelai repeats.

"Yes Paris," he says again.

"But Paris." She groans. "Why Paris?"

"That's where her mother lives," he tries to explain.

She nods. "When do you leave?"

"Soon," he replies.

"And you're just going to live there?"

"It seems important."

Lorelai sighs and tries to process how she is going to get through this. A moment later Chris speaks up. "I have to get home to Gigi," he says.

Christopher leans over and kisses Lorelai's cheek before he stands up. "Bye Lore," he says.

"Bye Chris," she returns as he walks out the door.

Truthfully she is exhausted from the eventfulness of her day. Glad that it's finally winding down Lorelai closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She has a lot to think about. So much information being suddenly sprung on her is making her head spin. She puts her hands on her stomach and wonders about the baby inside her, pushing all other thoughts away. Opening her eyes again she notices the stack of books that Rory left behind. With a tired sigh she sits up and reaches over for one and brings it to her lap. She runs her fingers over the words LORELAI and RORY slowly taking in the detail to each letter. The cover flips back and the first page reveals a photo. A single picture of a little baby. Lorelai touches the glossy Polaroid and traces the features of the child. Her child. The one she never got to know. Underneath the caption is a short description written in her own bad handwriting.

Lorelai Leigh Gilmore

October 8th 1984 at 4:03 am

6lbs 11oz

She smiles thinking that in her wildest imagination she couldn't have picture a more beautiful baby.