So, apparently, I lied when I said I was done. Bonus chapter!
It was 6:45a.m. when Lorelai quietly slipped into Liam's room. She pressed a kiss to his forehead and Liam's eyes opened to see his mother smiling at him.
"Good morning, birthday boy," she murmured as she slipped under the covers beside Liam and cuddled with him.
"Hi, mama," he smiled, knowing what was coming as he snuggled close to listen.
"So, six years old. How does it feel?" Lorelai asked.
"It feels the same," Liam smiled. Lorelai smiled back and squeezed him.
"You know, you are an awesome kid, and the best little boy a mom could ever dream up," Lorelai said. Liam grinned as she continued, "and it's hard to believe that six years ago, at exactly this time, I was lying in the same position. Only I had a big, fat stomach and huge fat ankles, and I was swearing like a sailor on leave."
"'Cause I was in your belly," Liam interjected, excited to help tell the story. Lorelai nodded.
"So, there I was, waiting for my good friend Demerol to kick in, and deadening all the nerves in your father's right hand. It seemed that the only way to get my thrills was to pelt the doctors and nurses with ice, a great pastime of mine. I even got your dad to throw one or two, he was about as annoyed by the medical establishment as I was by the end. He had a very good aim."
"Daddy got one of the nurses, and the ice went down her shirt," Liam added.
"Yes, the nurse was scandalized and your dad was beet red," Lorelai said as Liam giggled.
"Then grandma and grandpa came," Liam said.
"Who's telling this story, me or you?" Lorelai asked in amusement. She gave him a little tickle, causing him to laugh. "Yes, they did show up, and then I started pelting ice at grandma. I swear she was, even more, wound up than I was."
Liam giggled.
"Many have called it the most meaningful experience of their lives, but to me, it will always be akin to doing the splits on a crate of dynamite," she continued, "The doctor held you up in the air, all covered in goo. Your dad, the look on his face. It makes me laugh just thinking about it. Awe, disgusted. But man, the way he looked at you when he got to hold you. Pure love."
"Daddy cried," Liam said with a grin.
"He sure did, he was so happy to see you," Lorelai said to Liam and kissed the side of his head.
"I did not cry," Luke said from the door of Liam's room, arms folded over his chest. He had come downstairs to head to the diner and had stopped to listen quietly to Lorelai tell Liam the birthday story, smiling as he remembered everything clear as if it were yesterday.
"No need to be defensive, Luke. We both know you cried, don't even deign it."
Luke shook his head and sat on the bed,
"I didn't cry. If you remember, you woke me up at 11:50 that night and I had only gotten about an hour and a half of sleep before that. I was tired, my eyes were bloodshot."
"Oh aha, I see," Lorelai nodded with a smirk, "Hey, did you know that denial is also a river in Egypt?" Luke rolled his eyes and looked at Liam.
"Happy Birthday, Liam," Luke said as the boy crawled over into his lap. Lorelai smiled sleepily as she watched Luke engulf their son in his arms.
"Mom, you forgot to tell the Rory part," Liam said from Luke's lap. Lorelai put her hand on her hips.
"I did not forget, your dad interrupted me," Lorelai said with a glare at Luke.
"No need to be defensive, Lorelai, we both know you forgot," Luke shot back at her with a smug smile. She responded by sticking her tongue out at him.
"Anyway . . . your sister stayed out in the waiting room with your grandpa, she was always so squeamish about childbirth, and she especially didn't want to witness me going through it. But when the doctor finally went out to tell her and your grandpa, she was in the delivery room faster than Jeff Gordon at the Indy 500."
"And she got to hold me after daddy," Liam added.
"Yep, and you will never see anyone hold a baby as awkward as your sister. It was like she was holding a bomb." Luke chuckled at that, remembering how he had handed Liam over to Rory and how she had held the baby away from her body. Watching Rory had made him nervous and he had tried to help her out, with little success.
"I smiled at her," Liam said.
"Rory claims that you smiled at her first, but I am pretty sure it was just gas," Lorelai said with a grin.
"April had wanted to be there when you were born, but she couldn't get out of New Mexico in time," Luke added.
"April got to come a few weeks later," Liam said, "She made me the solar system mobile."
"Yeah, she did," Luke said with a smile, "She did a really good job, too."
"Are Rory and April going to call today?" Liam asked.
"You know it," Lorelai said, "and they sent you some presents."
"Awesome," Liam said and was now fully awake, while Lorelai wanted to go back to bed. She yawned and stood up.
"Time for coffee," Lorelai said.
"You can go back to bed if you want," Luke told her, "I can handle the kid."
"Nah, might as well get to the Dragonfly early and get some work out of the way so I can focus on Liam's birthday party later this afternoon."
"Right," Luke said as he remembered his own responsibilities, "and I still have to get all the food prepped."
They walked out into the kitchen and Luke got Liam's breakfast ready while Lorelai went up to get a shower.
Later that day, the Stars Hollow Ballpark was filling with guests for Liam's birthday. Lorelai found herself missing Sookie as she set out the cake from Weston's that Liam picked out. It was shocking when, out of the blue, Sookie had announced that she was publishing a cookbook.
Now suddenly, Sookie was flying across the country on a book tour where she was cooking recipes from her book and awing the masses. Sookie had become officially too fabulous to hang out with, in Lorelai's words, and Manny was entrusted to handle the Dragonfly's kitchen until Sookie's return. Sookie promised it wouldn't last long and she would return to her to the inn before the year was up. Lorelai still got to see Sookie in between trips when her friend was home to be with her family, but Lorelai still missed her and knew Sookie would be sad she couldn't bake Liam a baseball cake this year.
"I don't know why you chose this filthy place to hold a party," Emily's judging words breaking into Lorelai's thoughts. She groaned inwardly as she placed the cake beside the hamburgers that Luke had provided. Why had she invited Emily again? Oh right, because Liam wanted to invite her. He was lucky he was cute.
"Liam wanted to have a baseball party. Ergo the baseball field," Lorelai said.
"Baseball. I suppose that's all Luke's doing," Emily muttered. Lorelai rolled her eyes.
"Nice mom, just when I think you finally accepted Luke as my husband. It's been almost eight years now, he's not going anywhere. I like that he shares his favorite things with Liam. I want him to have what Rory and I have."
"But it's such a low-brow sport," Emily said, "Why couldn't be cricket or rugby?"
"Well, for one thing, Luke isn't English. Besides, those sports are more aggressive than baseball is."
Lorelai glanced over at the baseball diamond where Liam and his friends were lined up to swing the bat with Luke standing on the mound to pitch the ball.
"Hey, Lorelai, sorry we're late," Lane said as she entered the field with her boys beside her. Steve and Kwan stood with their mother, nine years old and already standing a head under Lane's five feet. It was had to believe that this woman, who once danced to Rancid under Lorelai's own roof, could be the mother of these two young boys.
"Hey guys, everyone is taking a turn trying to hit a homerun before we all eat," Lorelai said.
"Okay," the boys' said in unison and ran over to the line of kids.
"So Lane, how was that gig you guys played in San Diego?" Lorelai asked as she took Lane's offered gift and placed it on the table with the others.
"It was really great. There were so many people there, I think it was the largest audience we've ever played for! Did I tell you the latest song Brian wrote is 112th most downloaded on iTunes? Zach was pretty jealous that it was one of Brian's songs and not his, but I was able to bring him around."
"Lane, that is amazing! Man, with Sookie in Cincinnati for her book tour and Hep Alien playing hits, makes me wish I had followed through on my plan to join the Bangles for their comeback tour," Lorelai joked.
"From what I hear from Rory, having the Dragonfly featured in Travel & Leisure magazine is nothing to sneeze at," Lane said.
"You never told me you were featured in Travel & Leisure!" Emily cried in disbelief, revealing that she had been eavesdropping on her daughter's conversation.
"I hadn't had a chance to," Lorelai said. Lane winced and mouthed an apology.
"Honestly," Emily grumbled.
"Okay!" Lorelai called out to the kids, "if you'll come on over, it's time to sing Happy Birthday!"
The party had been a success and even Emily seemed to have a good time in the end. Luke and Lorelai were cleaning up after, while Liam was playing with his friends.
"Good job with the food, burger boy," Lorelai teased. Luke smiled as he smashed down the trash in the park's can to fit more. Lorelai linked her arms under his and laid her chin on his shoulder. Luke turned so he could hold her.
"Is my taking out the trash getting you hot?"
"Burger boy is getting me hot," Lorelai grinned, before Luke kissed her. For a short time, they kissed before Lorelai pulled away.
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you," Luke answered.
"We did pretty good, didn't we?"
"With the party?"
"No," Lorelai said, "not just that, all of it. Our life together."
Luke gazed at her in that way that made her giddy and sometimes clumsy.
"You bet."