A/N: There's no apology in the world that can make up for such a slow update, only more chapters. I hope I can make it up to you soon. Thank you for reading.
Summer, 2017
8. What not to expect when you are expecting
"Are you sure you don't need anything else, Rory?"
Lorelai huffed. "Could you bring the temperature of the Earth down at least 20 degrees?"
Luke frowned. "I'm sorry, but I was asking Rory. I've built you girls a swimming pool. I've filled it with ice cubes. I've put an awning on top of it. There's enough Cherry Garcia on the freezer to feed Connecticut for one year. Are you telling me you're still hot? Because I get that Rory complains about temperature in her state, but you, Lorelai? What prevents you from going inside and turning the A/C on?"
"It smells like cabbage in there."
"That's for your 9-month pregnant daughter and her miraculous new acquired taste for vegetables. You sure wouldn't want me to stop feeding her properly, would you?"
"Of course not! That's why we need you to bring the temperature down here, so she can still have her awful, awful green concoctions but I don't die in there." Luke grumbled as he turned and left for his truck, while Lorelai looked at Rory mischievously. "Bye, dear husband! Bring popsicles when you come back!"
Luke shouted before turning the engine on. "Make sure to call me if it starts, Rory. I wouldn't trust that crazy mother of yours to get you to the hospital in time, she'd probably stop ten times to get ice coffee and who knows what."
Luke drove away, and Lorelai smiled while resting her head against the inflatable pool. "I wouldn't do that. Everybody knows ice coffee is not real coffee."
Rory rubbed her belly. "I'd actually kill for one right now."
Lorelai stood up. "I'll make you one. A decaf."
"Oh, don't worry, mom! I'm fine!"
But there was no stopping Lorelai, who was already on her way to the kitchen. Rory gazed at the sunlight behind the tree leaves while leisurely moving the water with her hand. It could start any moment. She was surprisingly calm – she had been for over a month. At some stage she had stopped worrying about her future and had just been present. Right there and then, her love life was of no importance. She was about to be a mother. Everything else paled in comparison. Her phone, placed on a plastic table beside the inflatable pool, buzzed. Rory struggled to get up, she felt bigger than a mountain. With great difficulty she made it out the pool and dried her hands with a towel before grabbing her phone, that suddenly ended rumbling. It had been Logan calling. Rory panicked. Whatever peace of mind she had entertained the previous days had suddenly vanished, and she started worrying. Why was he calling her? They hadn't been in touch since she got pregnant, and Logan had got married since then. A cloud crossed the sun and Rory felt a chill. Could he know? Her phone started buzzing again and, startled by the vibration, Rory dropped it. Her mother went out of the house at that moment.
"Why did you get out of the pool, square loinfruit? Are you OK?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for the coffee."
Rory knew her mom could sense that something was amiss. "Who was calling?"
Rory hesitated. "Oh, it was Lane. I'll get dressed and perhaps go see her."
Lorelai frowned. "Are you sure you are OK? Do you think it's a good idea to go?"
Rory gulped half of the coffee. "Yeah. I'm tired of waiting. I think a walk will do me good."
"Do you want me to go with you?"
"Nah, I'm fine. I got a little antsy, that's all."
Lorelai conceded. "OK, then. Do you have a full battery? I want you to be able to call me at any time."
Rory kissed her mom before going in the house to get changed. "It's at 98%. Don't worry mom, I'll be back shortly."
Once Rory turned her street she rang Logan.
"I thought you would not return my call."
"Why wouldn't I? How… how are things?"
"Things are messed up. Are you free this afternoon?"
"Well, yes… what is it?"
"I'm actually in Stars Hollow and would like to talk to you."
Rory fretted. The moment she had dreaded since becoming pregnant had arrived, and manifested as a real pain in her lower back. "Well, it's not the best time to be honest. We could talk over the phone maybe."
"That won't do. Turn around."
Right there, at the other side of the street, was Logan, and if she had dreamed of concealing her pregnancy until the baby was born, that wasn't a possibility anymore. She couldn't be any less pregnant in front of Logan's eyes. He walked towards her.
"So it's true, Ace. You're pregnant."
"Well… yes, I am."
"Who's the father?"
Rory hesitated for a second, but she had prepared for this moment. "It's Paul's."
Logan seemed disappointed. "That's a load of bullshit, and you know it."
Rory started her monologue, which she had rehearsed a thousand times in her head. "Why would it be? It's Paul's. We slept together one last time after breaking up, and here I am."
"You didn't sleep with him, and you know it."
"And how would you know?"
"You never really fancied the guy."
"I didn't know you were in my pants. Whoever I fancy is none of your business."
"I'm positive the baby is mine. How far along are you, tell me."
"I'm 8 months pregnant."
"Bullshit, again. You're about to burst."
"I never knew you were such an expert in pregnancies, and I never heard a cruder way of referring to a pregnant woman. And anyway, say it was yours – how would that matter?"
"Seriously, Rory? After everything we've been through?"
"Yes, seriously." Rory suddenly felt her panties wet. "Oh, shit."
"Exactly. Someone else's feelings are involved in this, and now shit's hit the fan."
"Will you shut up already? I think I'm in labor."
Logan froze, and mirrored Rory's bedazzled posture. "So… 8 months, right, Ace?"
"Oh, shuddup, and get me to the hospital already." Logan looked scared. "Now!"
Logan nodded and grabbed Rory by the arm, and both walked stunned to his car.
"Miss Gilmore, this is going fast. We're going in."
Rory could have never imagined a bigger pain. It was so colossal that it was loud on her ears, a big buzzing, and she could not focus on anything else. But as soon as she heard her doctor telling her that this was happening, an abyss opened before her, and she suddenly realized that Logan had been holding her hand since they admitted her in, and she saw with a clarity she had never experienced before, and addressed the doctor sternly.
"I need two minutes. Alone."
She would never know if her resolve was so palpable that the doctor had no choice but to grant her that, or if she looked so deranged that Dr. Suarez was scared of her – either way, the doctor nodded, and for the years to come, she would be grateful that luck, or fate, or whatever it was, gifted her that moment of lucidity.
"I'm going in with you, Rory. I won't leave you alone."
Rory held her breath and tears. "You won't. I need to do this alone." Logan seemed to hesitate, but Rory held his hand strongly. "Listen to me: it's your daughter. I'm sorry I didn't tell you… everything's been a mess. I needed to become better, OK? I needed to grow into the mother my daughter needs. And now I need to do this alone. But know this: she is your daughter, and my door will always be open for you, forever. OK?"
Logan started crying. "OK, Ace. But just so you know, I couldn't think of a better mother for a child in the whole wide world." Rory felt a contraction tearing her soul, and out of the blue, she remembered Jess. Logan let her hand go, and she saw the nurses and doctor coming in behind him. "I'm going to call your mom, Ace, is that OK?"
Rory shouted as she was pushed away from Logan and into the delivery room. "Please, don't! I need to do this alone. I need to know that I can do it – for her!"
She saw Logan nod and throw her a kiss, and then she saw nothing else as she clenched her fists and cried and pushed and left the old Rory behind. And then she opened her eyes to a new world, one in which a small and delicate Anna was her everything.
